Curb Appeal

Switching gears for a bit to discuss the exterior of our house.  For the last two years, we've spent the majority of our time and funds working on the inside of our house.  We did quite a bit of landscaping last year, and earlier this Summer, but, for the most part, the exterior of the house sat idle.
Not that I didn't have big plans for it, we just try to find balance of time and budget for our projects.  I've always felt our house had a big case of the blahs - not an eyesore by any means, but not a lot of curb appeal, either, and that killed me.  I strive to take a house to its best potential, and that has been the driving force in me with this house - the unmet potential it has.

The style of our home is traditional - a standard colonial built with brick and metal siding. The siding was faded, and needed to be cleaned, but otherwise, it was in good condition (i.e. no hailstorm dents, etc)  I can't even tell you how many door-to-door salespeople we've had trying to sell us vinyl siding!  Replacement just didn't seem necessary, and the control freak in me didn't want to be limited in my color selection when it came time to update the exterior.

This is the house as it looked when we bought it

So, we hired a local company that specializes in painting siding.  We discussed general color options, noting the benefits of going with a higher-contrast color combo, like medium-to-dark siding, with a darker color for shutters, and true white for the trim.  I knew I wanted to stay out of the true beige arena, but the brick on our house tended to pull me in that direction until I decided to ignore the brick altogether, and go with what I liked!

We ended up choosing Sherwin Williams colors: Functional Gray (as it turns out, a perfect "greige") for the siding, Peppercorn for the shutters and garage door, and Extra White for the trim.

...and here's how it turned out

I can't get over the change.  I keep driving up wondering if it's my house!  

Now, to be fair, we replaced the doors last year, which has made a huge difference in our front entrance.  We also added a crossbeam above the pilasters to bring some architectural interest, added fresh house numbers, and replaced the sconces.   Still, the power of paint!

I no longer feel like our house has the blahs, but instead is one of the happiest houses on the block!

Master Bath Transformation - Before and After

It's been a long stretch since I stopped in here for an update, so I figured I'd bring you up to speed on our bathroom redo.  When we moved into our house, I had a long list of "I'd like to change that." Our master bathroom, however, fell more under the S.O.S. category.  Still, I think there's benefit to living with a space, no matter how discouraging, for a while to really get a sense of what works, what doesn't, and why.  About six months ago, we decided to lift the quarantine.
Before I jar you with the "before" images, let's cleanse the palate and see what I envisioned for the renovation.

Now, brace yourselves for the "before"

(image from the MLS listing when we bought the house)

I like to call it:  the Mid 70s Builder-grade special.  With a splash of hospital. 

Original mauve tile, with walls painted to match.  Original vanity, which was curiously squat - even for a short stack like me.  Needless to say, there wasn't anything worth salvaging.

I use the word "master" bath loosely because, although it is ensuite, it is tiny.  Yes, it would be lovely to have dual sinks, but we actually don't overlap too much in terms of use.  We also didn't have much option to expand the space without creating a weird jut into our bedroom, or taking up valuable closet space.  So, the footprint had to stay.
The good news was that having a small footprint meant I could go a little more luxe in terms of finishes.  More than anything, I wanted to brighten it up, and try to expand the space visually.
I believe we accomplished that.

The design plan was pretty straight forward - I wanted marble subway tile to the ceiling in the shower, then to wrap around the other walls at a half-wall height.  The floor tile needed to have a higher grout-to-tile ratio to prevent slipping, so I opted for a small marble herringbone mosaic.  I carried the same tile from the vanity area into the shower to continue the visual line - another trick to make the space seem larger.  We designed a small vertical panel of the mosaic in the facing wall, because, hey, I couldn't get enough of it.  We were able to keep the lines all nice and clean by tucking two shampoo niches into the back wall.   So again, not an inch larger, but it feels soooo much more open!

P.S. - Artwork by my daughter and I (yay for freebies!)

I went with brass fixtures to warm up the color scheme, but mixed in polished nickel for the towel bar and tp holder to keep it from feeling too Liberace.

The other major component to visually enlarging the space was to mirror that baby up!  It was tricky, but I had plate mirrors cut for the dimensions of a mirrored medicine cabinet.  It's a nice, layered finish, and bounces tons of light.

The vanity base ended up giving me a bad case of the willies.  I envisioned converting an antique cabinet into a vanity, and searched for something with the perfect dimensions (we had no wiggle room), that would still function like a true vanity - to no avail.  Having a custom vanity built was out of budget, so I had to go with a standard vanity base.  Little disclaimer:  Unless you can't tell the difference, I'm not a fan of using Big Box store items for renovations, and I really felt like I was selling out, design-wise to use one, but I held my nose and did it. By topping it with a custom volakas marble top, though, I think I'm at least somewhat redeemed. ;)  It also meant there was room to splurge on the radiant floor heat, which. is. a. game changer.  Toasty toes instead of frozen-stuck-to-the-marble feet is a huge luxury in my boat!

I think it's fair to say the space was completely transformed.  Before, it was painful to see.  Now, it's a  pleasure to use. 

Sources:
Marble Subway Tile  ~ Marble pencil trim  ~  Herringbone mosaic tile (similar to)  ~  Shower fixture  (similar to) ~  Basin fixture  (similar to) ~  Vanity base (similar to, but think ours was more, and is nicer)  ~  Vanity top  ~  Mirrored Medicine Cabinet 

Powder Room Idea #1001

Just when I think my blogging days are over, the whim hits me to post, and I feel like I wanna share.  It praaaaably has something to do with the fact that I've been doing a cleanse this week, the last two days of which were a fast.  Brutal.  But today, I am fla fla flying with inner energy, so here ya go.

The last I stopped in here, we were in demo mode for our kitchen.  Happy to report kitchen is beautifully complete, but there's still things I wanna tweak before she's ready for her close-up.  So, patience, peeps.

We've been trying to tackle other rooms here and there.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned the scoop on the house we bought in our frantic quest for a home Stateside.  In a nutshell:  perfectly livable, but really generic.  Trying to add in character and style from scratch takes time.  And moolah.  Neither of which I have the buckets of I feel I deserve (please read: sarcasm).

For the last few months, I've been going back and forth over wallpaper choices for our tiny powder room.  It's the only bathroom on our main floor, and because of the micro nature of it, it needs a major injection of personality.

We replaced the old sink with a wider pedestal, and in the process discovered the lovely circa '74 floral wallpaper.

I've been all over the map with new paper ideas, but know I want a bold pattern, with a big repeat.  My first thought was to reach back to our Brazilian roots with tropicali afternoon - purchasable via Spoonflower.

I love this pattern, but here's my hang-ups:  Unless you specifically do a rush order, Spoonflower's shipping time is ridiculous.  Secondly, they price and parcel in single rolls.  It makes it more expensive, and more tedious to hang.

So, I never ordered it, and one day stumbled upon Enchanment from Thibaut.  A gorgeous Chinoiserie, in a bold color way, and a big repeat.  Perfect.  Ordered.

The only thing left to source is a mirror.  Because of the sconce placement, I need a tall, narrow mirror, but want it to have some shape.  I've been toying with something with beveled edges to bounce the light around (there's no natural light), but spied this black lacquer framed one, and think it might just work.  The dimensions are perfect, but is the outline too strong.  Hashtag: overthinking it.

Oh yeah, we're Keeetchin' ReeenOvaTORS

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do.  With Insta giving the 1000-words-in-a-snap synopsis, it might be redundant to blog, but I'm feeling optimistic.

When we bought this house, we hoped to do quite a bit to bring it up to speed.  It was, for the most part, totally livable, just not the style we would choose.  For example, over the past few months, we've had the basement completely renovated from a dark, cold cave to a warm, usable space.  Hopefully, I'll get around to detailing that, but today is about the KEETCHIN.

To preface:  I have some guilt over redoing this kitchen.  The people we bought the house from apparently prepped the kitchen for selling purposes - painted, and put it new granite.  They put a fairly nice face on what was still a 1970s builder-grade kitchen.

Just a note of opinion, here, while I'm at it:  Why do people renovate only to sell their home?  Why not put in the nice features to enjoy them while you live there?  As a buyer, I'd rather you leave the old stuff, and knock a few grand off the asking price, so I can make my own selections when it comes time to remodel. Sans the guilt of feeling wasteful.
So, yes, I feel guilty busting out a kitchen someone else thought was the bee's knees. 

We've lived with it for about six months to really get a feel for what did and didn't work for us in the space.  It's a decent-sized kitchen, but didn't maximize the space. There's the working wall of all the appliances, which left little counter/prep space.  Then, there was the fridge and pantry - pushed into a small walkway outside the main part of the kitchen.
Strange.

The little side bar area (on right in pic) wasn't deep enough for any small appliances, nor were there any outlets.  Basically, nothing more than a catch-all for all for the papers, lunch boxes, etc that traffic through here.

I liked the idea of having an eat-in area, but a round table (staged for selling) ate up a ton of real estate. 

After visiting with our contractor about the feasibility of moving appliances around, I came up with a rudimentary sketch that included plans to replace the double ovens with a single range, move the fridge into the main kitchen area, and add additional counter space with the sink placement under the window.  

The area vacated by the fridge in the passage-way would become a coffee station, with storage underneath for heavy small appliances (cuisinarts, etc), and the pantry would rotate to be accessible from the main kitchen.

We needed the storage the side cabinet provided, but planned it to be more of a standing desk/computer situation.

It'll be a tight fit, but we plan to put in a petite banquette/table along the back wall.

...Cabinet company rendering

I've been inspired by the greige kitchen movement.  I want ours to be classic - with touches of brass, nickel, white and black.  

 Well, you know - in a non-Martha/realistic version.

My working design board...

Some decisions are still in flux, but we're going with a shaker-style cabinet in a warm, mid-tone greige.  I think the color is actually called mushroom.  Or is it stone?  Not sure. 

We're about nine days in, have endured demo, and living with the essentials in a mock-kitchen.  Amazing how complete you can feel with an espresso machine and a hot plate.

And.  There's progress to report. 

So it's a good day to blog.

Surprises of the House and Non-House Kind

We took a little staycation in DC this weekend. We were having some work done in the house that was best done with us out of dodge, and honestly, we needed a little time away from all the craziness of living in as-yet-unpacked boxes and ongoing renovations.
The weekend started off with Avery losing her first tooth at school. She didn't even realize it - I think it went down with her lunch.
Saturday, however, just as we were getting settled into our hotel with room service and PJs, Isla fell off a chair, and hit the edge of a coffee table - putting a deep gash into the back of her head. Ben spent the rest of the evening in the ER with her, while I held down the fort with the baby and Avery, all the while feeling so guilty that I wasn't there when my little girl got three staples in her head.

Frankenbaby.
Apparently, they were out of the skin glue.
So, chalk this weekend up to two firsts: toofers and stitches.

We went on to have a good time in the city, and all was not lost.

After all, we came home to this:

 Before:

 

So, stairs got a B&W paint over, walls went from beige to Cornforth White.  Can't see, but the interior doors also went black.  Then the Stark Antelope runner(s) went down.  I bought them over a year ago on OKL, and have been waiting.  And waiting. to use them.  They feel so good, and offer a tremendous buffer against stompy little feet.

In the words of one Ferris Bueller, It is so choice.

 

We're trying so hard to put our stamp on this house - to make it our own.  I think this is one small step for Mankind.

P.S. - Stay tuned....Barring any other crash and burns, nursery reveal coming rurl soon.

Stateside, and a Project Update

What?  Where am I?  I think I'm having serious displacement issues.  We made the big move from Brazil about three weeks ago.  It was so bittersweet:  happy to be moving Stateside, and closer to family/friends, but very sad to leave the Country we've grown to love, and which has been the only home our kids have known.  Now that we're back in the US, we definitely have the reverse culture-shock thing going on, but have thankfully been distracted by good times catching up with peeps.
We took a two-week stopover in Texas before heading up to our new place in Virginia, and I had a chance to check in on some progress going on with an e-design client.  It's not often I get to see the fruits of my design ideas in person.  Considering the clients are still unpacking boxes from their recent move, I think we can agree they have been super-motivated in pulling this room together.

When they moved in, the entire house (trim included) was painted a nice, muddy peach color, so a fresh coat of glossy white paint was numero uno on the agenda.
The house has fantastic, classic bones, so the idea is to bring in a hint of modern lines with clean, neutral furniture.
I think we're accomplishing that nicely so far...

Remember, we were working off this design board.   

We subbed in a large traditional rug the clients already owned, and went with the neutral colorway of New Vase on the cane chairs.

Looking back towards the entrance.  I'm kinda bonkers over the door.

 Detail of the chest with the clients' own photography work.

Everything in our life is so crazy right now, the calm color palette going on here feels really good to my brain.
Speaking of OUR situation, I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have a whole house of our own to decorate!  We're actually starting from the basement level (again, a new thing for me) and will work our way up.  There's demo work happening there as we speak, so I'll get my blogging act together soon to give ya'll the scoop scoop on those plans.
In the meantime, I'm scooting kiddos off to new schools, and snuggling on a baby who is growing way too fast for my own comfort.
Thank you to all of you who have left sweet comments of welcome on my 'gram feed - it feels good to be Home.

Hacked by Hague

Well, it only took me about a month, but I can finally say I'm finito with the hack of my old, Ikea media cabinet.  Thanks to the generosity of Kathy from My Interior Life, who sent me a color-match of Hague Blue,  I was able to have my own Brazilian version made.  The paint mixer here was so "impressed" with my obsession dedication to having it just right that he renamed my custom color "Azul Americana." I'll take that as a compliment. ;)

I also subbed in the same gorgeous, brass pulls we used on my sister's hack.  They play very well with Hague.

The space above the odd-height cabinet will be earning some new artwork from Miss Jenny. 

 

Loving that reflective finish SO. MUCH.

...and since we're starting Halloween weekend, I'll go ahead and show you the Before again - it's kinda SKEEEERY!

Have a Spooktacular weekend, Peeps!

It's Saturday: Making and Doing

It's Saturday, and I have two things of note:
1) Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins. Make Them. Trust.

Follow the recipe at my food blog - here

2) Still have this going on....and oh, it is SO good!

Hacking Update: That's more like it! *Updated with paint color

My sister ahem, client sent me pics of the improved color of her dining room buffets.

Remember, these are Ikea's Edland two-drawer chests - which have good lines to begin with.

But, nothing much beats a few coats of high-glossy plus extra lacquer for funsies. Oh, yeah, and some stepped-up hardware. **The paint color is "Daring" by Sherwin Williams - and it was professionally sprayed. We found the Indian hardware at a local antique co-op.**

The first go-round was a little pinky-peach....

While our goal was for true coral. Check it with the chevron kilim and fuchsia velvet.  Looks amazing against the wallcolor, too.  BTW, the walls are painted in Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray.

Some finishing touches are in store, but I'd say this room is well on her way to outright fabulousness.