Seeking Inspiration

For me, the renovation process goes something like this:  become frustrated with room -> begin tracking down inspiration -> get super excited and buy supplies -> begin renovation -> realize you don't have all the supplies and get more -> get bored/frustrated -> finally finish a few weeks later. Yeah. Guilty.

Admittedly I do feel extremely proud every time I enter that finished room.  And I do appreciate the huge change that even a coat of paint can make.

But this time I'm going to go in with a more concrete plan than usual and I'm on a deadline.  You see...I've decided that while my fiancee is away at class this weekend, I'm going to repaint our dining room. A week before Thanksgiving. :)  Keep your fingers crossed for me guys!

So we've already decided that we're going to continue the gray paint that we've used in our family room on in through the living and dining room rather than awkwardly trying to split it in one of the corners. Which, yes, could have looked neat, but we decided that we'd take the simple route and use furniture and accessories to make things more exciting.

Sorry for the picture quality...but I'm absolutely in love with those kelly green cushions and that geometric floor!

So...on to the inspiration. I've been Pinning a few gray living rooms and some of the trends I seem to be drawn to are long dark curtains, patterned carpets, and bold dining sets.  We did inherit a dining set from the previous owners, and while I like it, I do think it could use a bit of updating.  I think initially I'll just switch out the cushion fabric, but this picture has me reaching for some paint in a major way...

So in the meantime, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Hopefully all goes well and my fiancee will come home to a nice surprise. Hopefully. :) I'll keep you posted.

So how about you...where do you look for inspiration? Any tips for the remodeling process?

Bringing Fall Home

There are a few things that Fall always brings to mind for me. Camping, chili, football, just spending time taking in the changing leaves... There were so many traditions tied up in the changing seasons for us as kids and now every year I start to ache for those things.

Unfortunately without being able to travel this weekend, I'm going to have to bring fall to Phoenix.  So here is the group I came up with, obviously the leather chair is a splurge, but I think I could manage one or two of the other elements.
































This definitely has a masculine undertone, but I think there's some whimsy to the gilt deer head or some elegance to the patterned pillow that keep it from going too far in that direction. I'd definitely be curious to hear your thoughts: do you change decor with the seasons?  Do you find yourself craving elements inside that remind you of the season outdoors?

And speaking of fall traditions, if you're looking for an amazing chili recipe, look no farther. I was a little intimidated initially to add wine to my chili base, but this works incredibly well. It provides a slightly different, richer taste that I really enjoy.

Anyway, hope you have an amazing weekend and get to enjoy the beautiful start to Fall!

New Spaces

Do you ever find yourself getting antsy waiting to start your next project?  I stumble upon a gorgeous bathroom or kitchen photo and just like that I'm ready to go!

As if the room isn't amazing enough--check out that ocean view! Can you imagine?

Now I know once I actually get to work, I might get a bit burned out. I know I'll be surprised by costs I didn't see coming, etc, but for right now the inspiration is going strong and all I can think about is making my bathroom/kitchen into everything it currently isn't: chic, fun, contemporary.

Beautiful black and white inspiration! I love how the floor adds color and character.

 

We bought the house knowing that it needed some updating, and it is definitely fun to leave your mark on a place. Plus nothing beats the feeling of walking into your new room the day after you finished and enjoying that hard work.  The peace, happiness, and just plain rightness of the new space is striking.

This has a more traditional feel, and I love the character and classiness that it provides.

So tell me: do you get antsy waiting to start on a project, home or otherwise? Has that energy carried through the project for you? How did it turn out?

Kitchen Dreaming

Do you ever see a room that resonates with you, one that you’d love to walk into every day?  This kitchen does that for me—just strikes a chord. 

Our house has saltillo tile running through the family room and kitchen that we frankly weren’t sure what to do with.  Those red tones seemed daunting to style around, but we knew one thing: the tan textured walls that were there just weren’t doing it for us!  Enter this image: the beautiful blue-gray wall color and dark woods contrast nicely with the red tone of the brick floor.  It adds a lot of interest yet creates a soothing, well-thought-out environment.  

While we aren’t yet able to remodel our kitchen, we did put this color combination to work in our family room.  Because our tiles have a slightly bolder tone (and are more in the orange family) than the bricks shown, we chose darker wood to compensate.  Overall I love the effect!  And I think the before and after pictures really say it all.  The changes?  New paint on the walls (we used Behr’s Premium Plus in the eggshell finish and managed with one coat) followed by painting and installing baseboard (this time in a white semi-gloss).  We also pained the existing sconces bracketing the fireplace white to match the baseboard. There was a decent amount of sweat equity (more than I expected going in, honestly), but I think the end results are worthwhile.

Before: This is actually the listing photo from the previous owners. Super sweet older couple.

After: Gray walls and white baseboard.

There are still a few things I'd like to tweak, but I'd like to think the overall effect is cleaner and more inviting. Obviously, to each his own tastes, but it was a neat project.  From here? I'm thinking either a graphic rug or some graphic throw pillows to add interest. I'd also love to stain the mantle a dark brown to match the book cases.

So, any advice?  Yeeeah... before painting, go over your walls more thoroughly than we did.  The texturing on the walls disguised some problem areas that we should have fixed before painting. Instead we wound up having to go back afterward, and some parts still aren’t quite right.  Other thoughts?  I think the baseboard was a huge change for the better.  The old trim was plain and colored to match the walls, now we have extra detail and contrast that I think makes the room look more interesting.  Ok, biased opinion. :)  Big caveat: this was a lot of work.  I may post a tutorial later on how we (read: my fiancee) installed baseboard, but just know that you'll probably want to invest in some tools (the air compressor and nail gun were a life saver!) and some extra boards just in case. :)

Have you remodeled a room?  Did you use a picture as inspiration or did you create your own vision?  And the big one: did everything go as planned?  I hope so!  Either way, hopefully the end result was worth it.  I think more than anything it gave a feeling of making the house "ours".  Which is all I could've hoped for.