ShareOh man, I love a good excuse to make a list. What better time to write down our renovation goals than January of this fresh new year? Ken and I have an insane amount of work to do, but we’re also pretty proud of how far we’ve come. Take a look at what’s on our to-do list this year, and be sure to check back every Wednesday as we mark things off.
The dining room, oddly enough, is one of our most finished rooms. Just a few things left to do before we can call it officially done!
ShareOh, furniture planning. It’s always been the bane of my existence (along with lighting plans, as you may very well recall). I’m much better at shopping for unique finds, mixing them with a few modern items I own and throwing it all together in a day or two. I get a crazy rush of excitement with the happy accidents of decorating: when the mismatched end tables work with the sofa scale, the floor lamp provides the perfect accent and that throw pillow I scored years ago makes the pattern in our new rug sing.
Of course, there are unhappy accidents that occur all too often, which is why Ken and I have taken to rendering a furniture plan to prevent those inevitable surprises along the way. Sure, it’s much more effort, but a furniture plan definitely saves time and energy in the long run. I’d rather not admit how many times I had to return an end table in our living room before realizing that furniture plans are, indeed, a wise decision. Besides, with a new year comes new habits, and I’m ready to pick up some good ones.
I thought we’d share with you our furniture plan for the sunroom renovation we’ve been working on for the past few months. Care to take a peek?
Let there be furniture!
ShareFor our final video of 2011 (really, where does the time go?), Ken and I wanted to do something special. We’ve spent so many hours filming processes, tutorials, reveals and makeovers this year, but realized that you only get to see half of the story. Why not share our very favorite renovation moments, including never-before-seen bloopers?
Happy New Year, friends! We’re so grateful for your support and encouragement and can’t wait to share with you plenty more inspiration (and bloopers!) in 2012 and beyond.
ShareI mentioned last week that we have been decorating like insane little elves this holiday season. We just can’t help but be thrilled that this is our first Christmas in our newly-renovated home, and I suppose that means every corner is fair game for glitter, tinsel and pine cones. I know you thought we were exaggerating, so I’m here this week to present photographic evidence of our Christmas Decor Extravaganza.
We dare you to find a corner un-decked.
That’s right; even our entryway dons a festive feather tree and metallic twig creation. After all, Santa comes through the front door when there’s a fire in the hearth, right? (By the way, kids’ silver beads make for stunning holiday decor. Cheap and chic!)
A festive entryway.
We, of course, continued the boosting of the entryway with a handmade tinsel wreath and turtledove, nestled safely between our winter coats and hats (and yes, a smashing swan purse that I house our dog leashes in). I don’t know if the swan can withstand the Christmas temps, but we’re rooting for her.
Of course a glittered bird is in order!
In our entryway shelving unit, a DIY glittered bird guards all Scrooges from entering. Her name is Francis Bea, and she’s quite the vibrant elder. Careful, friends.
Meet Edgar.
Of course, Francis Bea isn’t the only glittered forest creature that lies within. Gracefully resting in our living room is Edgar, our other DIY animal who is much less feisty than Francis Bea, but still makes a mean eggnog. We love him dearly for that highly valuable skill.
What? You don't have holiday coasters?
Speaking of the living room, we go to great lengths to ensure a festive TV-watching experience, even down to our tree-trunk coasters and metallic-wrapped pine.
Sweet dreams, mini trees!
Even our bedrooms have mini Christmas trees on each nightstand, perfect for late-night wishlists and sugarplum-dreaming.
A very plywood tree.
And yes, the office has been decked out in its own unique way. A traditional tree just won’t do, so this handy plywood number (from Modernica) is the perfect accent to our plywood shelving and wood ceiling. Also? White tinsel. Always, always white tinsel.
More DIY Christmas!
In the kitchen and dining area, Christmas is in full swing with plenty of lovely little accessories to see. Near our oven, metallic spray-painted rocks and a vase house glittery leaves, branches and twigs from the local craft store.
Finally --- a solution for extra baubles.
And those pearl strands and spare ornaments that didn’t quite make it to the tree this year? A glass bowl rounds them up nicely. After all, it’s Christmas — no ornament should have their feelings hurt.
Wreaths everywhere!
In the dining room, another tinsel wreath hangs with glee, introducing the most lovely Christmas decoration of all:
Behold --- the tree!
Ah, yes — the tree! You all had a sneak peek last week, but isn’t it just glorious? It’s our perfect little Scandinavian cabin tree, and we can’t wait to box it up year after year until we grow tired of the color white.
Which, of course, will never happen. Ever.
Happy holidays, friends! And do share your own decor in the comments below — I can’t wait to see!
ShareChristmas decorating is in full swing here, and we can’t stop hanging garland in every corner of our home. Perhaps it’s because we love this season so much, but I think it also has to do with the fact that last year? Last year we only had a ladder to decorate, as our renovation home was hardly liveable.
Needless to say, our first Christmas in our newly renovated home will be a memorable one indeed. And just to kick the season off right, we’re popping in to share a super holiday DIY (holi-DIY?) we just finished moments ago!
Our plywood stockings!
After searching high and low for our dream stockings, we couldn’t find anything that quite reflected the Scandinavian aesthetic we love so much. So, of course, we put on our designer hats and created something ourselves. Introducing: our plywood stockings!
So festive, yes?
The project was super fun to create and we’re thrilled with how the plywood warms up our white mantle. Even better? The boxes on each stocking are magnetic, so you can easily remove them to stuff goodies inside, or this could be an excellent advent calendar for a daily treat! Want to give it a go in your own home? Instructions below:
Complete with removable boxes for Christmas surprises!
1. Create a template for your stocking out of cardboard. I like long, skinny stockings, but get creative here! Next, trace the cardboard template onto plywood and cut each stocking with a jig saw.
Our cardboard template
2. To create the removable magnetic box, use a rotary tool to cut out a space for a super-strength rare earth magnet (this is key, as the magnet will need to be very, very durable) on both the stocking and box.
Time to hide those magnets!
3. Use a super-strength glue (I love Gorilla Glue) to adhere the magnet into the space you’ve carved out of the stocking and box. Use sparingly, as this glue expands. Let dry overnight.
Super magnet action over here!
4. Finally, center and secure the L bracket to your plywood stocking for hanging. We pilot drilled with just one screw so the stocking can hang at a natural angle.
One screw does the trick.
5. Admire, and fill that box with something special for your loved ones!
The big reveal, waiting for their boxes until Christmas Eve!
What do you think, friends? Are you up for giving it a go? And how sweet would it be to wood-burn your family’s initials on each stocking box? Go forth and craft away!
ShareI’ve shared before that Ken and I have a tendency to ignore the finishing touches on one project in order to move on to bigger and better projects. And when you’re renovating, there are always bigger and better projects. Which is precisely why there are no doors hanging inside our home.
Correction: there is a door to the guest bathroom, because we like to consider ourselves both hospitable and somewhat considerate. Yet throughout the rest of the home? Nothing. And we’ve been doing a very good job of living with our open door policy – until we realized that for Christmas, we’ll be hosting a slew of family members who might appreciate having a door on their bedroom.
Procrastination no more - it's time to hang the doors and trim!
So, this week has been the week of hanging doors, which isn’t the funnest topic to write about, but bears mentioning for a few reasons:
1. In my opinion, the hardware is everything. (We chose Emtek’s line, which is both gorgeous and affordable.) You can hang the cheapest of doors (we did!), but if your hardware is statement-making, the door takes a back seat. I like to consider door hardware the chunky metal necklace that can dress up even the plainest of white tees.
2. As usual, we’ll take any opportunity to get quirky. Because our laundry room houses a toilet (weird, I know!), we often direct guests to this room rather than sending them to the back of the house where the real guest bathroom exists. And because the laundry room is adjacent to the garage door, there are many clarifications as to which door the toilet lies behind. So, in an effort to direct our guests to precisely the right place, behold:
Ah, there's the restroom!
I scored these wooden dolls at a craft store a few months ago and couldn’t wait to transform them into a DIY restroom sign. With black spray paint, the process took 20 minutes – and the result gives us lots of giggles and questioning glances – two of our favorite things!
We’re in love with the quirky touch this door brings to our home and are already brainstorming fun ways to dress up the rest of our doors.
Definitely the weirdest DIY I've ever completed.
What about you, friends? Do you think of your doors as blank canvases, or are they strictly utilitarian? Spill below!
ShareOur sunroom deadline has come and gone (clearly we have increasingly poor time management skills), but I still wanted to check in to share our progress. After all, it’s not every day you see a transformation from bare studs to framing, windows, doors and siding – in just under a month! Indeed, a lot has changed since our last video tour!
And with that, we’re off to prepare for some insulation magic! We’ll check in with another video update next month – complete with finished drywall and insulation. In other words, it will almost look liveable! My estimate? We’ll be completely finished by February. But you all know exactly how my estimates work….
ShareThanksgiving is tomorrow, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t spend a few minutes showing gratitude for this crazy renovation that has been trying, rewarding, surprising and endlessly satisfying. And after a quick walk down memory lane (including my Thanksgiving post from last year!), I realized I owe an enormous thank you to you, readers, for experiencing this adventure with us.
It's been a long road since these days...
So, in an effort to share my endless appreciation for the support, comments, encouragement and more that you have all shared in our quest for renovation finish line, I thought I’d share with you a few of my favorite renovating moments – and a few I’m thankful are behind us!
I still get butterflies when I see this table!
1. Building A Dining Room Table
I’ve dreamed of a massive farmhouse table for years and years, so to own one (that was handmade by Ken!) is such a treat. I love that we can host our entire families – and then some – for family functions, impromptu dinners and random game nights. Isn’t that what makes a house a home?
Still a work in progress, but such an improvement!
2. Nearly Finishing Our Laundry Room
Yes, you haven’t seen an update in a bit because we haven’t progressed on our finishing touches, but I can’t begin to explain how grateful we are for a working washer/dryer. Earlier in our renovation days (remember this?!), we dreamed of the moment we could wash our rags, sweatshirts and rugs in a machine on-site. And to have our laundry machines in a room we paneled ourselves? Icing on the cake.
My bright and sunny office.
3. A Working Office
I spend so, so much time behind the computer, so having a working, inspiring office has been such a blessing this year. Long gone are the days when I’d work at coffee shops while Ken power drilled his way through studs and drywall!
4. Our Kitchen Makeover
I’m so proud of the space planning, lighting and architectural changes we made in this kitchen. Plus? Our wallets (and waistlines!) are loving that we don’t have to order take-out and delivery during huge remodeling projects. Bonus all around!
And, of course… a few memories I’m grateful to bid adieu to – forever!
1. Mold Remediation in the Basement
This one needs no further explanation, right? Ugh.
I am sooooo thankful this is over!
2. Siding our Exterior
Oh my goodness. The heat! The math! The torturous 12-day project! I am so, so grateful that we never, ever have to side our house again. (Knock on fiber cement!)
3. Living in Two Places
I’ll be honest – as blessed as we were to live offsite during part of our renovation, it was really, really difficult. I’m so happy to be living in our own home – even amidst renovation dust and chaos. Nothing beats the joy of being in a space that you’ve built for yourself!
As for future gratitude, I’ll be endlessly thankful when our sunroom project is done, our basement makeover is underway and all of the finishing touches throughout the rest of the home are in place.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends! What are you thankful for this year?
ShareI absolutely, 100% cannot live without music. It’s not that I’m one of those cool, music junkies where I know all of the indie bands and hit songs before they’re even released. No — I just need the tunes. Whatever, however, whomever … sing to me and I’m yours.
Which means that, in our home, there are always speakers blaring. And because my husband’s speakers (and receivers and synthesizers and every other technological box that ends in an -ers) are less than well-designed, I had to request back-up. We got a few in-wall speakers, and we loved them so much we purchased more to disperse throughout our entire home. In other words, we can now jam in every room of our house. Yes, even the restroom. We’re nerds.
But because this is a design blog and not a music/technology blog, I thought it might be fun to share how we placed the speakers strategically in a few rooms. Even though they’re far from an eyesore, we decided to camouflage a few of them — just to keep our white walls seamless and fresh.
You can't even see them... can you?
Exhibit A: The Office. I definitely didn’t want anything to compete with my favorite art shelf, so we purchased breathable fabric (linen and silk) to frame and place in front of each speaker. Smart, yes? I love when guests try to figure out just where that music is coming from. And just because I like you, here’s the “before” image — sans fabric art:
The disappearing speakers.
Cute, yes? And if you’re wondering, the two pieces we framed are a Leah Goren scarf (my favorite!) and Spoonflower fabric. Highly recommend both, either and or. In that order, preferably.
Round 2: can you spot the speakers?
Exhibit B: The Kitchen Island. We had a rough time figuring out where to place our speakers in the kitchen until Ken did a bit of finagling and realized we could install them directly into the kitchen island. Genius!
Hoorah! There they are!
So — in honor of our new, technologically-advanced home, I thought I’d share a few of our favorite (super random!) tunes we play on repeat while we work on that beautiful sunroom.
Billy Joel “Uptown Girl”
Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers “American Girl”
Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way”
U2 “The Sweetest Thing”
Spice Girls “Stop”
Esthero “Everyday Is A Holiday”
Cee Lo Green “Forget You”
Elton John “Bennie & The Jets”
Told you it was random! So, friends — what do you listen to when you have a work day in your home? Spill it! We need all the motivation we can get to finish that sunroom before the holidays!
ShareLast week, we headed to the hardware store to pick up some supplies for our massive sunroom makeover and found ourselves in the plumbing aisle, inspired by this recent DIY we spotted right here on HGTV.com. We’ve been spending so much time working on huge projects with even huger deadlines, crafting something small and fun seemed like a perfect evening activity to take our minds off the gigantic sunroom renovation.
Our latest DIY project.
Bonus? Halloween was right around the corner and we’re always up for a bit of creepy chic in our home.
I don’t have a DIY to share because the process is completely self explanatory: choose your favorite pipes and build away! Yes, just like Lego’s. Who says kids get to have all the fun?
Creepy chic indeed!
If you’re DIY shy and need some templates to work from, here are a few fantastic options from around the web!:
1. Nick Fraser’s pipework series is by far my favorite, but requires a powder coating process. Perhaps spray paint would do the trick?
2. This plumbing pipe candelabra makes for a unique holiday decoration, yes? I love the look!
3. And finally, a DIY candelabra video for those of you who really play by the rules.
Happy crafting, friends! I’ll be checking in next Wednesday to share another chic lighting surprise – this time in our master bedroom! See you then!
Love this wool rug in a pretty lavender and white design
DIY: lacquered boxes #hgtvmagazine
This cool yellow pouf works in almost any room. Try the pop
Transform a neutral space into a colorful living room with
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