Holiday House Rules

Finishing up 2011, getting ready for 2012.

I'm not saying I knocked it out of the park on my 2011 to do list or anything... A full accounting of that is still to come. But. let's just say that I made enough progress on it to already be dreaming about what will be the biggies of 2012. 

Mudroom. 

Yes, mudroom. The architect friend never did re-materialize. I heard through the grapevine that she decided to keep her current job...and then I had another architect over (for a playdate among our 4 year olds) and she emphatically declared that no bathroom should ever go into that sunroom. Ah. So. 

She also forbade me to paint the woodwork in the second floor hall. JWH cackled with delight at all this validation.

But, anyway, the sunroom. She agreed that it could be a mudroom with minor changes: a bench, new windows (so it's not so damned cold) some hooks, and good-god, better tile on that floor. So, I have started moving along in that direction. Slowly of course. I bought some more Flor tiles in Needlepoint Stripe (Laurel) since they were way on sale and I will need more when I, eventually, make the front door runner go up and hang a right into the sunroom/mudroom.

And I started thinking about curtains. Soft, relaxed, linen roman shades. Nothing to block the light, or the view, but something to soften it up. Like these:

(Decorati Access)

(Apartment Therapy)

So, paint the room, install a bench, re-tile the floor, replace the windows, hang curtains, remove the door, and make the front hall rug lead you inside. Yeah, I got that last bit covered. Now I just need Greg, the builder, to come back to me. Pretty please? Anyway, without Greg I see this as a project that I will chip away at, doing what I can by myself. Maybe I will even tile the floor. I mean, why not? I got skills. 

*Oh, and I have offically decided to ignore spell check and use "mudroom" and "sunroom" as legitimate words. Take that.

A refresh of an otherwise successful project.

So, about a year ago I posted about my ugly, ugly fuse box cover. (In truth, my pictures were pretty ugly, too, I promise to wait for daylight from now on). I'm happy to report that over that year we have had great service from this little DIY project. It has stayed put when desired, and come off easily when needed.

But, and there is always a but, my decor has changed a little up there in the master sanctum: I added the orange frames and the orange sheets, and dipped the stool legs in ...orange. So, it's a little fresher up there now. The flowers just seemed out of place.

As a remedy, I ordered some fabric that was a still not making a huge statement, but is a little bit cooler, I think. I dithered a bit on which piece I liked best from this collection, but ended up on the second one.

(Fresh Modern Fabric)

And, well, that was a total flop. Didn't see that coming did you? But, luckily, the lovely Alice at Fresh Modern Fabric sent a little swatch of something in the Hometown collection called "Town News."

Yeah, it was perfect. More subtle than the flowers, and yet kind of interesting.

The big reveal!

The bun's pink room is ready for prime time! The Wild Aster color has sunk in, and I can now honestly say I love it.

Here you go:

What did I do (beyond struggle to get decent pictures of this space)

1. I replaced the white frames between the windows with wood ones with new, smaller art (yes, of an owl, mouse and whatnot)
2. I hung some pretty garland
3. I got an owl pillow and made the bed using some pale pink bedding I had on hand
4. oh, and I just kind of chilled the heck out

Yeah, it's pink. But it's pale, and kind of lovely. I do miss the green...

But, it's not my room!

 To see more pics and sources, see here, here, here, here, here, here and here. (Yes, I spent a great deal of time on this ;)

It's a holiday here.

So, no posts today or tomorrow. See you all Monday when I fully expect to be 10 lbs. heavier. No, not turkey. Pie. All pie.

 

Dutch doors!

One gets bonus points for also being a mud room. (Or maybe I should deduct points for reminding me that I still do not have a mud room....) Another gets bonus points for managing somehow to go with a pretty sophisticated hallway. That wallpaper is amazing.

(Honey + Fitz)

(The New York Times)

(Content in a Cottage)

(Honey + Fitz)

I'm not a fan of moose.

And neither is Martha Stewart, it seems. At least that's why I suppose she put rocks in her boot tray...oh, wait, maybe it was because the rocks kick ass as a way to get the shoes to dry out overnight?

Oh, wait...Martha probably does not say "kick ass." Well, whatever. I copied her idea last year in a kind of low-budget way (plastic boot tray from Target), and it worked. Really well. So this year I went on the hunt for a nice long metal tray in white. 

Nope. Nada. 

So I did the next best thing - I ordered the cheapest metal tray they had on Amazon.com. Moose and all. And I painted it.

Pretty fancy, right? Totally Martha. Until you get to the part where I stood in the garage and primed and painted the thing. She probably has a spray booth. Wait, no...a spray staff. But, anyway, it was not a big deal. The nice neighbor Nellie did comment on how I was standing in a haze of paint fumes at one point. But I simply took that as cue to move the car a little farther away from the garage door. 

Priorities.

Anyway, the how-to:

• Purchase ugly boot tray.
• Lay it out on some paper or the grass, or wherever you are okay with a collection of paint fumes and perhaps some paint spillage.

• Spray on a nice coat of primer. Note the instructions on the primer. Mine told me to put the real coat of paint on something like 20 minutes after the primer. I had not expected to be on such a tight time frame, so plan accordingly.

• Put 3-4 coats of spray paint on. All coats should be light. Do not attempt to get full coverage on your first coat. Take it slow, or the fumes will overtake you. And you will have a gloppy mess, btw.
• Pop this puppy in your house and fill it with rocks. 
• Oh, and another note, since it's metal, and the rocks make it heavy, put some of those foam pads underneath it to make it easy to slide. You cannot easily pick it up once it's full of rocks!*

 *Note, sine I needed to be able to slide my tray away from the sun room door on occasion, I actually sat it on 4 Flor tile samples, thereby making it the same height off the floor as the rug, so it slides over to the rug and onto the rug with not so much as a stone disturbed. It's the little things like this that keep me up at night...

A little yellow basket.

You may remember, here, that I have spent the last decade or so searching for a basket to hold the kiddo's hats and mittens near the back door. 

This was the picture of what I had in mind. 

Perfect, right? Why, yes, yes it is:

Where did I find it? IKEA! Really. We went in early September to, you now, get a lot of things that we totally do not need (and drinking straws, which we did need...and I forgot to get). And, as I rounded the corner to exit, I spied one of these hanging in their bathroom display. Poor JWH looked so stricken when I said, "one sec, I just need one more thing." But really, they were like 10 feet away and it was no big deal. Had they been stocked further away I may have had to whimper or tear up or something. When JWH is ready to go get his cinnamon bun, he does not want to be delayed!

De-Pinkify: Part Three-B.

Well, yeah. While browsing linens I went ahead and used up an old Pottery Barn Kids gift card. I used it at PBTeen, which you can totally do. And I kind of find the teen stuff cuter sometimes. A little more timeless, you know they are not babies forever. 

Anywho*, I ordered this little pillow on sale. The Bun loves owls, and it's kind of the colors I'm hoping to use to draw attention away from the pink (brown and green). We'll see how it looks when it gets here...and when I choose new bedding, too. 

*A pun. Get it?

I feel like I'm making progress, really I do.

(BTW, here are links for the original post, the sneek peak, and for parts 1, 2 and 3 of this little adventure.)

Soft and nubby things from etsy.

It's coooold. So I'm thinking about soft and nubby things. Felt and whatnot. And, Christmas shopping season for you mere mortals) is just around the corner. So, how about some etsy love for these fine folks:

(The Loft Full of Goodies)

(ScratchCraft)

(Urban Fringe)

(Inspire Me Gifts)

(benzie handmade)

(anonimaMente)

I feel warmer already. And I'm seriously considering the wreath and garland for the holidays at Holiday House!

And, a set of felt coasters in gray would be a great stocking stuffer in the stocking with an "A" on it...just sayin'.

De-Pinkify: Part Three.

Okay, I need to stop hating on the pink. I think I'll start by calling it "the Wild Aster." There, that's better. 

But still, I had my list of to-dos to make this room feel like my inspiration photo, and so, I march along - with perhaps a little less discontentment each passing day.

This week? The bedding. It's amazingly hard to find sheets for girls that are not treacly. And, you know my goal here is pretty anti-treacle. So, I present my options:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Garnet Hill signature Hemstitched percale in "Honey," third color from top)

(Land of Nod green polka dots)

(Garnet Hill mini print percale in the gold stars)

(Restoration Hardware flax stripe bedding)

  
(Restoration Hardware european pin dot in dove or petal)

I think this is a place where I am going to have to order a few options and see what looks right...

Oh, and BTW, in case you have not been following the saga, here are links for the original post, and parts 1, and 2. And the sneek peek of the room itself.

Make your own lampshade.

I know, I know, you're thinking, "how could she have not picked up on this before?" But, really, it just occurred to me that I could just buy fabric and make a lampshade for the guest room.

Sometimes I'm a tad slow... but, anyway, today I was browsing etsy for some fabric for 2 little upcoming projects and then I turned to Apartment Therapy, and only because I had just been looking at Thomas Paul and Dwell Studio Fabrics in particular, did these 2 lamps jump out at me:

(Apartment Therapy here and here)

I mean, these pictures were within inches of each other on my handy Google Reader...so it truly was like being hit over the head. I might even have said "well, duh" out loud.

Now I just need a drum shade. Oh, and a screw to replace the one JWH threw away when replacing the fixture in the Bun's room this weekend (we swapped out the bronze canopy for a white one, to go better with our new pinkness. Who takes down a (1 month old) fixture and throws away the screws? That Guy.

De-Pinkify: Part Two.

Oh, yeah. The pink. Part of making the room read more like my inspiration photo is adding some more wood tones and muted yellows, etc. 

So, I hit up IKEA for my favorite wooden frames (the RIBBA collection) and re-framed her birth announcement in the light wood, rather than the white seen here. I also moved it to above the bookcase.

The Bun normally does not like change, but she was cool with this move.  But also asked that any further pictures we add to the room be of a "mouse, owl or cow." I'm on it. I really do take direction well...

As I shared last week, the color is Wild Aster by Benjamin Moore. I swear I'll share even more pictures of the whole room soon. Just need a little more time to, ...um, adjust. You do see above, though, a peek at the felt garland I bought as part 1 of the de-pinkify effort. I'd say we are really on the way now!

(FYI, link to the original post.)

Random things I like and have collected.

I'm sorry to say that I have nothing exciting to share with you this Friday morning. It's a holiday and I'm off to a wedding shindig.

So ,to tide you over, here are a few pictures I have collected along the way that I always meant to share. Consider them shared. Points for you if you can figure out what I especially liked about each one.

(Jojo's Room)

(eclectic revisited)

(Apartment Therapy)

Baby, It's cold outside.

Time to think about putting the extra blanket on the bed.

And, if I had a cabin (god forbid) or a little boy (not likely), I'd put this on the bed:

It's a hand knit blanket from Affinita' Moderne. So rustic, so boyish. Love it. A great alternative to a duvet with trucks or trains or whatnot. 

(Seen at Bliss, photo from Affinita Moderne)

Sneak peek.

At the pink. It's actually a very muted color called Wild Aster by Benjamin Moore. Since I'm doing a lot of grumbling about it, might as well show you what I'm up against!

Oh, all right, that's hardly fair...here is a bit more...

These pics are from early morning with no flash, and so a bit shadowy, but at least on my screen it does a god job with the color. It almost heads toward lilac as the day turns to night. Stay tuned for more "improvements" and pictures! In the meantime, I'll entertain you with better-time-of-day pictures of other rooms painted Wild Aster.

(all three photos from Making it Lovely - a woman who has clearly embraced pink!)

 

A river does not run through it.

At least not anymore. My basement is no longer a Brad Pitt movie. Feel free to stop here and do your super-bad impression of Brad Pitt doing a super-bad job with an accent in that Tibet movie: "I am not German, I'm owwwstreean." We looove to make fun of that line at Holiday House. We made it about 3 days in Tibet before returning that movie to a weird little video store/convenience store in rural Canada. Our time was much better spent clearing the three neighboring hamlets out of cans of remarkably chap maple syrup. 

But, I digress. Just trying to entertain a bit in a post about a basement trench....Anyway the French Drain is done. Woot, woot!

Here you go, you jackhammer junkies, a finished, working French Drain*:

Sexy right?

Here's a before photo if you have forgotten what I was dealing with. In the photo above, the dark area is the wet concrete. And you can even see that the floor in front of that is in the process of drying out. I take that as a good sign.

Since I also did not know what all this entailed, here's an illustration even better than what I shared before:

We already had the sump pump in place. (Yay, small victories!) So we just had the trench, pipe and crushed rock put in, and then the fancy conrete on top of all that.

And dry? We will see...I'm hoping for rain for a test run, but I also need a dry week for the gutter repair. Oh, the conflicting desires in my sexy, sexy life.

De-pinkify: Part One.

Okay, so you all know I have a pink room in my house. Yeah. I'm coming to terms. And I'm beating back the pink accessories with a stick. 

Phase one? I ordered some nifty felt garlands from a nice lady on etsy. I plan to hang them on the curtain rods. Nothing huge, just a little way to make those windows a little more weighted and contrast-y. And, you know, to start sneaking in some non-pink colors. 

My inspiration for this was this garland from benzie:

I wanted less pink. Much less pink, but a multi-colored garland with some brown or yellow and a warm green (like the room used to be) and maybe a hint of hot pink. Yes! Unfortunately, benzie is not taking custom orders right now. So I forged ahead, and found Applesauce Crafts:

Her garlands are even nicer, I think. And she was kind enough to make me a custom listing for two 6" garlands in a custom palette. I think it will be just the thing! I'm excited to get them and hang them and share them with you all!

 

What's on your doorknob?

Clearly, doorknobs are an underutilized decor space. An opportunity waiting to be seized.

But not in our house. The 4 year old has taken it upon herself to accessorize them all. Hand-made cards, beads, bracelets...it's all just so...lovely.

Be warned: unauthorized moving of doorknob decor punishable with whining and foot stomping.

Pretty things that are not re-upholstered.

And never will be. 

Seriously. $74o each to re-upholster these chairs. Plus fabric (estimated at $200-$300, each). Each, people. Each. For chairs that cost maybe $400 new?

So, while I hate to be a churn and burn environment killer. Really. No one in their right mind spends $1100 to reupholster ad $400 chair. Right? Right!?!?!

So, let's look at some pretty alternatives:

 (West Elm)

(Macy's)

(Overstock)

(Crate & Barrel)

Or, how about a show of hands for who thinks I could figure out how to re-upholster the existing chairs myself? I'm told that all you need is a good staple gun and a little bit of time...

 

No, really, this is not a post about curtains.

It's about curtain rods. Gotcha!

But, really, look at these cool peeps using pipes as curtain rods. Truly inspirational. Truly.

(The Boo and the Boy)

(silk felt soil)

If you have a lot of ground to cover, or just a small budget, this could really be the way to go. Painting them like the top picture is pure genius.

Hell hath frozen over.

How can you tell? Head on over to Holiday House and see the bun's room. It's pink. PINK. In. My House.

I'm still reeling.

While it made a little girl extremely happy and she demonstrated mad roller skills in the 4 and under category, for me, I feel like Pottery Barn Kids puked in my house. It's partly my own fault, because when her room was green, I was pretty lenient with the buying of pink accessories. I mean, why not, right?

Well, here's why not: 15 shades of pink all going on. So, my mission for the next few weeks is to de-pinkify. How? Here's phase 1:

• replace any and all pink sheets with their green or yellow brethren
• infuse some warmer browns and grays into the room
• put up more art to cover more of the pink
• paint the (pink) play table top

In the end, I hope to end up more in this realm. 

via www.ohdeedoh.com

Still pink. But, warm and cozy. Ahhhhhh. Stay tuned for pictures and my progress in making a pink room palatable to the over 5 set. I'll share pictures next week, once I'm able to execute at least some of the bullet points above.