Holiday House Rules

Progress on the fireplace!

Okay, so some may call it a jinx if you call out an unfinished DIY project, but I found it to work some real karma! Just days after I posted about my shameful stalled fireplace surround project, I came home from a weekend trip to Minnesota to find, propped against my front door, a new mantel!

Behold!

Notice the lack of "feet" on the bottom. That was a hack to get the old one to fit. And, in terms of fit, look at this glorious side view!

It's not what you'd call "perfectly flush" but it's close enough that a little finish trim will do the job. The top now has squared edges too, so the finish trim will fit with mitred corners. Want one more to share my joy?

You may also be saying "Where did that tile come from? What happened to the sexy orange brick?" Well, a little while ago I had to refinish the kitchen floor to solve a few other, ahem, problems, and while I was at it, I re-tiled the back entry area, and while I was at that, I had them do the surround. Lovely, right? I feel like I am very near this:

And just a hop, skip and a jump to this:

Ahhhhh, I feel so peaceful just looking at it. Anyway, a little wood filler, some trim and some paint and we are off to the races! I Also plan on using this product when painting, I'll let you know how it goes.

(If you want to see the original fireplace post, go here.)

photos: HHR and Pottery Barn

Public Service Announcement.

At my paying job we call these "PSAs." Cue the royalty-free music.

This past week, as news stories of smushy "giving thanks" messages were everywhere, I was thinking about, you know, giving thanks. I kind of came to the conclusion that it's one thing to say you are thankful for something, but what if we were more compelled to actually act thankful? What would that look like? I think it might comprise of a few steps. 1) Communicate gratitude at unexpected times and in unexpected ways, and 2) Go forward in a way that is mindful of that gratitude.

I know, too much yoga, right?

Anyway, as Thanksgiving approached at Holiday House I thought, "Yeah, I'm thankful for health and prosperity and all that, but what really made a difference in this last year?" And, of those things, is there one that I have not acknowledged properly?

Oh, yes, there was:

You see, it all started last summer, when we had to finally come to terms with the fact that the stain on our house was failing. Wait, back up a sec, and let me tell you that when we bought HH we thought cedar shingles were maintenance-free. Hahahaha, they are not, you silly girl. So, in May 2009 we had invested heavily in a power-wash and re-staining effort that was meant to undo those few years of our ignorant lack of care. But, fast forward to 2010 and, weeeellll, those guys just did a horrible job, and it showed. So, this was actually take 2 of the re-stain.

Okay, so the new painters, they were much slower, but also more fastidious and quite friendly, really. Good vibes all around. They even cleaned up each night and neatly piled their equipment in the side yard. Hooray for finally finding the good guys.

And then, one night, as they were just about done, The Bun called out to me at around midnight for some typically unnecessary service like a drink of water or a lost stuffed animal. Good mother that I am, I scampered downstairs to her room. To my horror, though, as I passed the hall windows, I saw a flashlight moving outside in the yard! Yikes! I did my best tough guy "Hey, you there, whatcha doin' in my yard?" yell. Midnight fear turned me into the cranky old guy from Scooby Doo, it seems. But, fear was not needed, it was just my next door neighbor, and his response to my, now viewed as quite rude, inquiry was to tell me that he was putting out a fire in my yard! You see, dear friendly painters, if you leave stain soaked rags under a tarp, you get "spontaneous combustion." Who knew?

Apparently, my neighbor's wife knew. As they sat watching tv that evening, she kept telling him that she "smelled spontaneous combustion." Right. Yes, dear...But, no, not my neighbor! He made no less than 3 trips outside that night in search of the source of the smell. It was not until the midnight foray that his flashlight fell upon a rising column of smoke. And, god love him, he was going to put it out without even waking us up!

So, thankfulness. Yes, for the neighbor who surely prevented our newly-stained (and therefor ripe like oil-soaked kindling) house from going up in flames, and for him not holding a grudge that I yelled at him like a common thief and then probably said "thanks so much" and went back to bed. But now, considering my new 2-part thankfulness regimen, I knew I needed more. So, I dropped off a very nice bottle of wine and a heartfelt note as #1. And, for #2 I am calling attention here to this little-known phenomenon. Go forth and stain safely.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/50964182.html

And, for some drama:

via www.youtube.com

Etsy is my Secret Santa.

It's Cyber Monday, so it seems fitting to give up my holiday shopping secrets. They boil down to: shop early for all the kids (Amazon.com has huge toy sales in the summer), and use etsy for anything else. From artwork to stocking stuffers to hostess gifts, the stuff I get from etsy artists is unique and delightful. Here are some of my favorite new things:

Ornaments from Mis Colores.

Felt food from My Little Olive:

 

Hair Clips from May Crimson:

Fee Vertelaine is my new favorite Canadian:

 

And, etsy is not "all things felt," I get the cutest little person dresses from Mountain Aven Baby:

Mud Puppy has a dish that always makes me think of a small girl named Livvy, for some reason. I don't question it, it just is.

Someone on my list is getting one of these awesome clutches from Bagitarian.

 

And, if anyone is wondering what I'd like Santa to bring me, it's on Adam Ambro's page.

 

Teeny Tiny.

My parents were just here for Thanksgiving. And, again, they expressed their deep desire for me to install a lavatory on the first floor. I'd love to, thanks. But where? There is no obvious place. But I still have been scoping out teeny bathroom options.

All lovely ways to get a bath into a small or narrow space. My fave is the first one with all the tile. That tile is just to die for, no? And the color is so soothing. I find the closet one a bit odd. I mean, once you close that door you are really in the dark, right? Perhaps reconfiguring the door to a single panel would help you forget you are in a closet? Or paint the room a color other than the one of the main room (I mean, do they leave the doors open like that?) Or a faux window or transom? Yeah, I think a transom above the door(s) would do wonders. But, still, props for fitting it in there...now, up I trudge to my second floor bath...darnit!

Am I the only person without one?

The IKEA expedit. It's ubiquitous, and, sometimes, quite lovely.

 

A place to rest my weary legs.

Okay, I'm a little bit obsessed with places to sit. As Churchill once said, "never stand up when you can sit down." And, in kids' rooms, with kids, you have a lot of time where you are just standing there saying, "Put your clothes in the hamper please. Put your clothes in the hamper, please. Where are your shoes? Can you get your shoes, please? No, clothes in the hamper, not shoes, oh, just come here!" So, a place to sit while you teach all these self-help skills is essential. And, the little play chairs? Yeah, cute, but not really built for a grown up sized bottom.

In the November 2009 issue of Better Homes & Gardens a designer named Bonnee Sharp did a great IKEA hack. I wonder if it would hold up? (here is a link to a how-to) But, it's cute and does double duty as a place for kids to reach their own toys and an a place to take a load off. I could even see reading a story or two.

A few other ideas, came around, too. The P'kolino toy box:

The Mod Mom Furniture line is, in general, awesome:

The Ioline changing-table-cum-seat is interesting, it sits on a dresser and then when you are done with the diaper stage, becomes a toy box and bench. It's expensive, but it's cute and I do love multi-function.

The "Embrace" is an even prettier multi-use piece from John Green - if you can stomach the cost:

Also, expensive, but sturdy as hell, Community Playthings has an option (they call it a boot locker, because they are all things practical no-messing-around kind of people):

Lastly, another Ikeahack from Mondo Cherry via Apartment Therapy:

(photos: via links provided)

 

As I peer out my window...

I see a house that is decidedly un-cool. It's a cold, pale blue, and brick, with air conditioners hanging out all the windows and gauzy curtains and brass light fixtures, and they have paved most of the front yard. Do I even need to get into the use of plastic flowers and pinwheels as landscaping elements? I'm talking about the house across the street from mine. In some ways, its curb appeal is more important than even what my own house looks like, in that I look at it from all my windows. All. Day. Long. So, I fantasize: maybe someone will buy it and go all super-freak on it!

And, now it's for sale. It's not getting much traction, for reasons stated above, and for a very, ahem, optimistic price. I want to sneak over at an open house and staple these pictures to the back of the MLS listing sheet:

 

Cute, right? Dan Davis Design in Michigan did this work, and the details can be found at Design Sponge. I think it pretty much proves that there is hope for even the most bland of exteriors. Hey, Dan, want to move to my block?

(photos: Design Sponge)

Evolution of a trend.

Okay, I get it. People think they need to hang something over the kid's crib and if the kid is a girl, that thought takes them in pretty short order to birdies, or butterflies or flowers. So cute.

But, what I have noticed lately is that where last year I saw decals, decals decals - mostly of trees or parts of trees with flowers, birds or the occasional manly owl, this year things have gone 3D. As such:

 

But, where did his come from out of the blue? I first became aware of it on a post somewhere regarding Gossip Girl (I don't watch the show). The poster was wondering about the butterfly art:

Aha, pretty cool. And then I stumbled upon this at beloved apartmenttherapy:

Just “a bit of movement in the air” can cause these delicate, one-of-a-kind butterflies to flutter. Artist Paul Villinski reworks crumpled aluminum beer cans into “images that suggest the possibility of change itself.” Villinski is enthralled with the transformational symbolism of the butterfly, and his pieces seem to transform blank walls into multi-dimensional canvases.

via www.apartmenttherapy.com

Okaaaay. But we may be approaching the ubiquity of the decal at this point. These folks both have them for sale:

 

exitinteriors.com (http://tiny.cc/24h5p)

the-funkymonkey.com (http://tiny.cc/3k7ii)

And these folks have handy how-to guides:

creativeruminations.com (http://tiny.cc/gs0li)

daveandjoi.com (http://tiny.cc/bghhy)

 
mineforthemaking (tiny.cc/pbro6)

(photos: AT (x2) and Design Dazzle unless otherwise noted)

Fire in the hole.

Okay, here I go. I'm outing myself on a semi-failed home improvement project. We are ONE YEAR into it, and it's not done. I'm not sure when to throw in the towel and call a professional, but I'm close. Basically, we had the World's Ugliest Fireplace and now we have the World's Longest Unfinished Fireplace Project.

The story: This is the dining room fireplace as we acquired it. Not only did it not suit the 1898 house, it also was so large, and tall, that it impeded the footpath from foyer to kitchen and made furniture placement a challenge. (Note how the corner of the mantel extends beyond the door frame? Yeah, I have caught an elbow or two on that edge...).

Now, you see, the room next door has this beauty, so I'm not off my rocker that this beast was just a mismatch (ignore the super high-end playhouse and focus on the glorious woodwork).

What to do, what to do. I researched some online folks who would build me a new mantel. They seemed pretty good and I corresponded with one in particular that seemed feasible. (http://www.designthespace.com/) But, I'm cheap. So I called my Dad. He has tools.

Poor, long-suffering JWH and I started ripping up the fireplace in August (of 2009, mind you). We started by pulling off the old mantel and found out that it was actually quite new. We think it might have been a pre-selling quick fix. We also found that it hid a ginormous gap between the wall and the brick surround. All was not square in river city. The hole was full of old, old stuff that must have fallen behind the original mantel. There were more hairpins than you could shake a stick at, a few safety pins, knitting needles, and a lovely hand-engraved bracelet for "Barbara." Oh, and horsehair plaster. And, most fun of all, you could peer in the gap and see the basement. Hooray for energy efficiency. Not.

So, here is what I wanted:

Oh, and if you want to throw in the Wegner chairs, that'd be fine, too. Other inspiration:

Note the simplicity. Ahhhh, like breath of fresh air. So, we continued our demolition. We took a chisel to the top 2 rows of brick, since we wanted to lower the overall height of the mantel to accommodate a humongous family heirloom painting, and because the current fancy "art deco" look also meant that the top rows stuck out farther than the lower part of the surround. I wanted a more flush-to-the-wall surround. So we chipped away at the orange-y brick and we chipped at some old brick that was under the plaster, and we chipped and chipped and chipped. And then we patched the large hole with a few small pieces of drywall and some mud. And then we sanded and sanded and sanded.

And then, good 'ol Dad was on the case, and he built this great mantel/surround. And we popped it into place.

Note the trim work deficits, and the patching. We were far from done, this was kind of a dry fit to test it all out. And lucky we did, since the lack of a square wall continued to thwart us. You see, the wall is bowed, and when you place new mantel on it, well, East does not met West. And due to the rounded corners that Dad put on there, I can't just plop a piece of molding up there to bridge the gap.

Still, I soldiered on with the trim, finding the absolute best resource for trim at a throwback place called Anderson McQuaid (http://www.andersonmcquaid.com/). We took in the scraps of our chair rail and baseboard and they hooked us up with 1' samples free of charge. Hooray! And then I painted the whole room Benjamin Moore "Vellum". See, at this point I still thought I was going to be done by Thanksgiving (2009) and wanted the new surround to really pop. I even hung the heirloom/scary dude.

Looks good, right? Gee, glad you like it, since this is exactly where we stand as we approach Thanksgiving 2010. Oh, the shame. Maybe I'll remove the blue tape before next week, but don't count on it.

UPDATE: new post with new pictures here.

(photos: pottery barn catalog)

Someday this will be my kitchen.

It's only a 4.5 million dollar penthouse in Harvard Square so what's the big deal?

Perhaps I should aim a little lower and just try to bring some of the elements into my future (ground floor) kitchen.

To match that expansive storage, how about a wall of appliance-hiding cabinets?

Or, some cabinets with the little glass-front mini-cabinets above?

Or, just a little nook for a microwave would ne nice, too.

(photos: Inspiration for Decoration. apartmenttherapy and beyond)

Thrifty Decor Chick's Staircase - oohlala

Thrifty Decor Chick makes over her stairs!

From this:

To this:

Okay, anyone who knows me will be shocked at the inclusion of a post advocating cutesy words on a wall. And, while it is not my style, the staircase project is fantastic. Way to take a plain new-construction-ey stair and give it a little depth. I'm advocating that my sister do this in her home. If she does, I'll report back on the ease quotient and the result. Well done, TDC.

Oh, and I just found another great example - perhaps even more striking!

Decor Chick's Makeover

To this:

And I will never...

Okay, a bit of a snark here, but when looking at pink rooms I came across this:

And, hmmm, it kind of rang a bell. You see, "Santa" just took delivery of a dollhouse for the bun. Behold the Sugar Plum Bedroom.

Crazy right? I'm now on a hunt to find rooms that resemble all the other little cutesy sets. I know, you're soooo excited. Play along, please, it's been a trying day...

(photos: interiorhit, amazon)

If I ever...

If I ever had another kid...well, is it bad to admit that the room design is one of the things that makes me wish for antoher kid?

I would paint this for a boy, and pair it with this rug from IKEA:

 But, what if mythical #2 was also a girl? When the bun was enroute I was adamantly against pink. Weeeeell, times change. These cute litte buggers in their little pink tutus, they just melt your hard heart. So I'd think pink. A very subtle, pale, pink with a hint of coolness. (coolness as in a blue/gray base rather than a hot magenta base). The minute the US tech said "girl" I'd be headed to Benjamin Moore for a sample pot of Wild Aster. There, I said it. A pink room. In. My. House. I think I can hear Jayme cackling somewhere.

Pink rooms I do not hate:

(photos: Cookie mag, AsianCajuns, kidsomania, inspiration for decoratio (x2), decorpad, apartment therapy, making it lovely, hus & hem)

Enter if you dare.

Q: I have been looking at pictures as part of a face lift for my entryway — and have been struck by the idea of a table that can shelter 2 stools as an option for kiddums coming in and needing to take off boots, etc. I attached some pics that I found inspiring.I'm looking for ideas on tables and stools that would work like this. Stools have to be light so a preschooler can pull it out when needed. The walls are Manchester Tan and nearby areas are Sweet Daphne green, and a light blue/gray. Any wood tones would work, and a little color in the stools would be welcome, too!

via www.apartmenttherapy.com

So, I'm an apartmenttherapy addict. I said it. And I have grabbed my 15 milliseconds of fame by asking a "Good Question" or two. Above reflects my hunt for stools for an entryway makeover. My inspiration photos are here, but not the horror of my initial situation. Bland, right?

And, then, I put a little elbow grease into it.

The table is an IKEA fold out card table. The top pops up and 2 wings flare out to make it a handy 36" square extra table that we tack on the end of the room on Thanksgiving. Gotta love the dual-purpose. The mirror is a placeholder only, it's from Target, and it shows. The vases are Crate and Barrel and Simon Pearce. The rug is Flor. The stools? IKEA, of course. I had grand plans for a round stool and a red stool, and then they just did not happen. But I think the current set up is dandy and handy.

My current obession. The hall bath.

I know I babble on about paint below, but really the one post I'm really ready to shout out with all the available pieces and parts, is my future hall bath renovation. Now, I have not yet decided what to do, but I have ideas, oh, do I have ideas. Let me show you some inspiration and tell you that the number 1 goal in this bathroom is to have the !@$# kid's stool no longer be in the doorway 24/7. I want to forgo the vanity and get myself a console sink. Call me crazy, but I want it, I want it, I want it. This, specifically.

See, it's clean, it's small (like my bath), but there is a clear, IKEA-stool-free path.

 

All nice choices, but I think the winner is:

Cute girlie just reinforces that this may well work in Holiday House!

What do you think, am I crazy to give up the counter space, or will lack of counter space just help keep down the clutter (how many Pooh toothbrushes does one kid need, anyway)?

Welcome.

Hi. Well, that's a fine place to start now isn't it? I can follow up, semi-automatically, with: Welcome, glad you're here.

And, now on to the meat of the matter. What color is your living room? If you said white, then I'm SUPER glad you are here. You need help. I can help. I like color. I know color. I have a decidedly un-digital, un-hip, un-fashionable job that deals with color, but I can tell still you that the pink shirt that gal's wearing has a touch too much blue in it to really go well with black pants. See what I mean? I have enough sense to keep those observations to myself most of the time. But, when it comes to home design I have a hard time not passing judgment. I visit a new house, say a friend's or an open house (yes, I am obsessed with real estate) and I can't help re-coloring the home in my head. I bore my poor husband with, "Don't you think their bathroom would be great in Dove Gray?" He has the good sense to just nod.

So, anyway, what you can expect here are some ramblings about color and home improvement projects I have done or am considering, ample inspirational photos regarding home design, pretty pictures of things I think are cool, and, once in a great while, I will spare my husband the pain and tell you all how I'd repaint a house I have encountered. He'll be thrilled.