Next Up (aka, my husband's nightmare)

Now that I am "done" with my house, I am ready to be done done.  It's kind of like when I first had my house cleaned by someone who doesn't live here, and after she left I was like, hey, this lampshade is DUSTY.  Compared to everything that was sparkly and clean, I noticed the things that were not.  Now that things are substantially finished, decor wise, the bits that aren't really stick out.

sneak peek of the girls room, above, and the guest room, below 

from photographer Melissa Oholendt's Instagram

Don't get me wrong: I LOVE being in my house now.  I LOVE walking into a room and being delighted by not only how it looks and feels, but by all the things I don't need to think about doing because they are done.

But at the same time, the itch.  (ALREADY?)

So here is the list for the next phase.  I am trying to argue that we should just do it and be done once and for all, kinda like pulling off a band aid.  We'll see if my husband agrees.  Posts coming on each of these.

- Runner on the stairs
- Flushmount lighting and ceiling fans upstairs
- Re-upholster my Nonny's chairs
- Replace master bedroom dressers
- Art in the laundry room
- Switch out the mirror in the powder room
- upgrade the art in the entry

Oh, and a whole-house sound system.  THAT, my husband can agree too.

I'd like to think that when I finish, I will leave things alone for a good long while, until we are ready to redo the guest room for one of the girls, or when we save up the dough to do up our basement, which is currently cement floors and drywall.

I'm ready to just really, truly enjoy it all.

Scandinavian style for a 6 year old

Especially loving the unusual combo of red, yellow, and mint, and the strong graphics of the black and white.

Cute, no?

Done!

We are just back from a gorgeous wedding in Connecticut, and my list is a mile long, but I wanted to pop in and say hello.

I have always been deadline-driven, and last week, with a photographer coming to my house, I had a doozy of a deadline.  The goal, in a nutshell, was to finish.  Yup, finish.  Like, everything.

I remembered that I made a list of home goals, way back in the beginning of 2012.  It was funny to look at it and see the things I checked off, 2.5 years later, that I didn't even realize I had planned for, like "amazing modern adirondack chair for the front yard," which my husband designed and built, by the way, or "indoor tree in dining room window," which is done, courtesy of Ikea.  Lots of other specific little things changed all together.

I'm holding off on sharing much in pictures, but here's just a quick list of what we have recently accomplished, and why I haven't been too available lately:

- Exterior paint
- Wallpaper powder room
- Wallpaper laundry room
- Wallpaper upstairs hall and frame and hang gallery of (105!) family photos
- Paint girls bathroom
- Paint inside of office bookshelves
- Re-organize and style office bookshelves
- Redo front entry
- Sew accent pillows for girls room
- Polish brass urns for dining room
- Replace dining room light fixture
- Spraypaint outside chairs
- Spraypaint this little chair for entry
- Buy(and spraypaint!) hardware for the little desk
- Make a new painting to hide the TV

Whew!

In terms of "being done," well, I am realizing today that I faked a bunch of things that I will now have to finish.  Like, the new shower curtains for the girls bath is really a pair of curtain-curtains and will need to be adapated for water-resistance.  Or, the trim I added to the guest room bedskirt is actually just pinned on, and not even on all three sides.  Or, those pillows I sewed for the girls room are still open on the bottom, where you can't see them.

The good news about all those odds and ends is that I will have plenty of little projects to share in the coming weeks.

I will say this: it is so interesting to look back over photos of the house these past four years.  I absolutely love where I have landed.  I completely Love My Space,

I hope you'll stick around!

Heather

Magic

When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a small powder room with gold damask flocked wallpaper, a shiny gold sink, and fluted gold faucets.  There was a conservatory full of plants, complete with the small brass spray bottle for misting the leaves.  There were dressing rooms for the pool that smelled of cedar and bathrooms upstairs with seemingly endless doors.  It was magic.

My own parents had a redwood coffee table with nooks and crannies perfect for parking our matchbox cars in "caves."  There was a lazy susan coffee table that served as the kids table for big events, and the fun of rotating dinner plates with cousins was endless.  The dining room had a wall of mirrors behind a huge assortment of potted plants; the doubling effect turned the room into a jungle.  The leafy beige wallpaper didn't hurt, either.

When I came home yesterday, the tree wallpaper was up in the powder room.  Clio, who is eight and weary of all the changes around here, went in and declared "I love it in here!"  and immediately started finding hidden words in the leafy design.

I remind myself often that decorating is a luxury.  But sometimes I am reminded that design can be magic.

The Story of a Project: The big reveal!

Thanks for following along as I take you through the process on an ongoing project!

Monday we looked at the before and talked about the plan, Tuesday we chose a floor plan for the living room, Wednesday we perused some design boards, Thursday we tweaked the accents.  Today is the big reveal!

As a reminder, this is how the living room and dining room looked before.

And here is what they look like now:

And some details:

The living room from the dining room:

I often feel like I want to move in when a project finally comes together, and this was no exception.  Now, my client feels like memories of her family are all around her through the beautiful things they collected, but they are not overwhelming HER presence in her home.  I love the way we were able to accomplish that, and all the personality that her parents' thing imbue to a very current sensibility.

I'm sort of sad that this one is over!  Though we do still have her office to work on.....

Have a great weekend!

The Story of a Project: Tweaks

Yesterday we looked at design board for my client's living room.  She chose a layout for casual entertaining, and the key piece was a sectional.  I mentioned yesterday that we made some tweaks to the chosen design, the biggest was changing from a grey sectional to a more glamorous piece in teal with nailhead trim!  We also went with a chair more on the "save" (versus splurge) end of the spectrum, this classic '50s design from Ikea.

With our large pieces pinned down, and key lighting selected, it was time to pin down the accents.  We needed two side tables, a table lamp, and baskets for under the console, and I gave her three "looks," shown in columns.

Can't wait to share the reveal, tomorrow!

The Story of a Project: Design Boards

Picking up where we left off yesterday:

For her living room and dining room, my client chose from a selection of floor plan options.

Her choice?  Casual entertaining.

We knew we were taking our colors from this rug, 

and she also had an amazing tree-slice coffee table that we decided to keep.  

I shared the dining room options on the blog here.  This was the final:

Since the living room is open to this space, the two rooms had to play nice.  We decided on a couple of key elements before I even started sourcing: grey sectional, natural fiber rug layered under the silk one, and white linen curtains.  From there it was a question of where to put the color, and pinning down a "look."

Look 1: Slightly Coastal

This one has natural wood elements to play off the vintage coffee table, and crisp white, glass, and nickel for clean contrast.  One strong pop of coral is fun and fresh.

Look 2: Modern Organic

Here the color palette emphasizes teal and black, and the accent elements are more streamlined in shape but incorporate rustic finishes.

Look 3: modern pop

The most contemporary, this look has classic mid-century lines on the console, chair, and lighting, ans slick finishes and bright coral to contrast the natural textures.

I won't make you guess: Look 3 was the winner.  BUT, we changed a lot when it came time to implement months later.  Tweaks up next, tomorrow!