Foyer Flip

One of the areas of our home I rarely mention here is the foyer. The last time I tagged it in a post was way back here when we finally hung a new light (4.5 years after moving in). Things move slowly in this zone of the house for some reason...

Which is funny because it is one of my favorites, despite being completely neglected and only partially renovated. I've decided to focus on giving this area a vibe that meshes well with the rest of the house. The little tweaks other areas have undergone as far as more modern/minimalist tones in the past year never seem to translate in here. So we are starting somewhat fresh.

Here is one of the recent 'befores' of this area, and actually this dresser has also moved out of here and the metal one was the last piece of furniture to live here. But of course I got carried away and started rearranging before I thought to take a photo!

My only *new* purchase was a Ribba Frame from Ikea (meaning the Ikea desk, Target lamp and vintage chair came from CottageK, but yes, they are technically new as well)

Don't let my beautiful model distract you! But yes, the stairs are yet to be finished (we finally got our new railings just this Thursday!!! Now I have to prime and paint them and we can get them and the rest of the wood installed)

I wanted clean lines, all white furniture (to avoid competing with the wall of water paintings) and modern items to also contrast the paintings.

A couple baskets add a little texture and storage for quick access to scarves and mitts.

(big, striped basket from HomeSense, smaller woven basket is here at Ikea)

To add some impact I moved my $10 gallery painting from the talented Sarah Swanson over here and layered it over this graphic from TaraPhotoGraphics. This was so much more affordable than ordering a print large enough, the graphic was $5 to download and only $4.33 to have printed off at Staples!

I am really happy with how much lighter is is in here, with summer just around the corner.

Are you brightening up any of your spaces to get ready for warmer days?

Foyer light FINALLY hung

 

This was one of those projects that just seemed like a MAJOR pain to tackle. Not because it was a hard job (we've rewired dozens upon dozens of lights over the years) but simply because it required locating a virtually skyscraper height ladder to get it done. So while I've embarassingly had this light for 2 years now (you can see the first mention of it here) it was only recently hung. However the crazy high ladder still needs to be returned. We suck at this project, hey?

And by recently hung I mean back in January, which you will see by the glimpses of Wren's party decor. As you can tell, I'm a little behind on keeping up with things.

Here was our Foyer pre-new lighting. Unfortunately even my afters are pre-new door. But I am hoping that will be a Summer switch-out. The frosted glass half panels HAVE TO GO!

The chrome plays up nicely with all the chrome in the kitchen as well, and I think it was a good, safe bet for us. Nothing surprising or ground breaking, but a necessary switcheroo.

 

So if you've been dutifully waiting to see this for 2 years, THANK YOU for your patience. 

And if I owe you your ladder, I promise you won't have to wait 2 years to get it back.

AND if you've been patiently waiting to see an update on ParkView, pop by tomorrow! I have some fun stuff to share.

Toodles~

Mining Map and a Pediment Impediment

Has Jack Frost made an appearance in your neighborhood? It feels like he is sitting right on my doorstep today. It is a chilly -20 outside and while it is supposed to be warmer by the end of the week it sure feels like I should see penguins and polar bears playing in the yard!

When it is this cold there isn't much painting going on (at least in my studio) so I tend to focus homeward, making a few changes. Today I am breaking out the trusty old paint brush and do a few minor paint jobs, like painting the frame on this auction find.

It is a 1911 mining map and I absolutely fell in love with the colors in it, they will look fabulous in our office. Sean has a love of maps so I threw up my paddle and brought it home for $10 (along with another engraving that I gave to my sister). It has been beautifully preserved, matted and framed but I am not too keen on the natural wood frame so I am goint to paint it a dark grey.

A little more exciting addition to the house is this old door pediment.
We want to paint it out, but we have those little butterflies about altering such a beautiful and perfect piece. Our first thought was to paint it a light grey and mount it over the door since the wall is so tall and bare up there.

But it also occurred to us that it might make a fun contrast to hang it above these simple, modern photos.

Wherever it ends up, we feel like it is one of those cool pieces that you don't see very often and will be a cool conversation piece. And every house needs a few of those!

A good start to a great day!

When your day starts with this beautiful package on your door step you just know it can't go wrong! Not only is Kate so generous as to giveaway the key cabinet but she surprised me with a few little trinkets (which I will be sharing soon) that completely melted my heart (let's just say they involved birds!). And don't forget to get all your entries in before 9pm tomorrow, Friday!!!

Besides that beautiful surprise, I was still glowing over my find from yesterday. Now that Halloween is over and all the decorations have gone back into the storage room I have been hard at work transforming our foyer. It was so nice to have our spooky lamp there to give a more intimate light so I wanted a replacement for the rest of the year. I found this one on clearance at HomeSense for $38 in the exact lines and proportions I envisioned! I am not sure about the metalic rim of the shade, but that is not too tough to fix.

I also gave our beat up Halloween entry dresser a fresh look with some warm grey paint. It is hard to properly photograph our entry way but it is pretty large and this dresser is the perfect height, depth and width for this corner, so I doubt I will let go of it now that I have fallen head over heels for its sleek new look. The original hardware kept it from feeling too new.

About a month ago I decided that I really want to have a round mirror above the dresser and added it to my treasure hunting list.

And if you look closely in the first photo of this post you can see the future mirror hanging out in the background! Stay tuned for the final unveiling of the entry way~

As my day continued it only got better when I hit my favorite store with my Mom and sister after an early lunch. I regularly get my inspiration from Wellington. If you are in the city and haven't visited them please go over and spend an afternoon browsing, you will not be disappointed! Today I came home with this string of pearls plant. In honor of their extravagent displays I planted it in an urn I had laying around then placed it on an antique silver platter I found for $1 at a flea market years ago with one of my cloches over top (protecting tiny fingers from plucking the little pearls!).

A pretty way to make a house plant feel special.

And as the season approaches I decided to also pick up some paper white bulbs. They had some gorgeous potted bulbs but I decided that I could beat the $25 price tag.

Mercury glass is perfect for this time of year so I found a container for $9.99 at HomeSense and grabbed 7 bulbs at $1 each.

But a little later in the day while picking up some furniture I spotted this container at a thrift shop for $3.99 and actually preferred it's shape. So the mercury glass went back!

For $11 we now have one of our holiday flower arrangements on the grow~

And besides all that Wren and I had the best day hanging out with family and then with Dad. A perfect day for some one as obssessed with decorating as me!

What's your idea of a good day? Does it involve decorating, family, or maybe just a comfy couch and a good book?

Door progress

Remember how our front door looks like it had molars carved into it?

Then I tried to distract your attention with some jazzy chandeliers and plants?


We installed the door we found in our basement last month, and I actually have had the door painted for a LONG time, but I kept putting off sharing it because I have not yet sealed it completely. I still have to do 2 more coats of semi-gloss verathane, but I thought I would show you now before I forget!

We haven't gotten the new, non frosted glass, windows yet, and keep in mind that we plan on having the whole exterior painted grey (one reader suggested getting rid of the stucco but that just isn't going to happen on our budget LOL), but I am MUCH happier with the front door now. And to think we transformed it for only $17 in paint!

ps- yes, I still need to get candles for the chandys... I'm just too lazy to make a special trip for some.

PPS- Don't forget to get your latest paint projects ready for Fresh Coat Friday!!

Can you believe it is Wednesday already? Me neither! I looked at the computer today and realized that I hadn't even turned it on in about 2 days. The weather finally smartened up and we have been making the most of it! Getting more work on the yard done, and while I never thought I would consider using an axe in terms of gardening Sean made great use of one while removing some shrubs. And I have been digging up sod, rocks and stepping stones to make way for our new pea-gravel pathways in our new old-english garden. It's good to finally see some progress outside and I am looking forward to sharing!

And speaking of progress, while the outside of the door is still awaiting a final coat of varnish and the installation of a beautiful antique door knocker that Sean's Mom brought us home from Europe I am beyond smitten with the inside!!!

Now that is has been changed, I can't believe how much the clashing wood tones ruined the atmosphere at the entryway.

We are still working on getting the new windows and a new light fixture, but the calm coastal vibe now feels a little more complete without that orange wood staring me down everytime I go past the stairs. And we are totally loving the old brass hardware too (never thought I would utter those words) because it has really aged beautifully and has the perfect patina, specially on the outside.

Another recent development occured last week when my Sister and her Fiance took possession of their new house and our family dropped one digit in size. Our beloved Rosy has been relocated over to Torri's place. We are really sad to see her go (and Mung Kee has been beside himself until just the last few days), but she was just getting too bosy with Wren. She has always loved and adored Wren, but she had a hard time with her too because she has always been the dominant dog and didn't take kindly to sharing toys and the couch. We just thought is was best to seperate her from the situation before she got aggressive. But the good news is that we still see her every few days and she seems to really love her new house and yard, not to mention all the attention she had been craving since Wren came into the picture.

Now hopefully I can go get that front door done today, with a little sunshine and some luck!

Custom Art

I get quite a few emails and comments asking about various frames and art around the house, so here is a breakdown of what is what and where we got it! I truly and firmly believe in original art. If you just open your eyes and wait patiently for that perfect piece to come along you can find original art at reasonable (if not cheaper than new retail) prices. Besides the oil paintings and sketches around the house, we also love photography.

To keep the house from feeling too busy or cluttered (you know I love a clean, white space!) we stick to only black and white photos, and prefer to use our own family photos. I know some people cringe at filling the house with photos of yourselves, but we love it! The one thing we try to do is use photos from daily life, not just posed photos from big events and holidays. I think it feels much more casual and relaxed.

As soon as you walk in our front door we have a mini gallery on one wall with a photo of each of us. We wanted it to feel like a real gallery and so we wanted a clean, modern frame.

You can use any size, style or color, but we went with the Ribba square frames from Ikea strictly because you cannot beat the $16 price tag for a frame and mat. I slapped some paint on them (what's new?) and instead of mounting the photos behind the mat I cropped them just short of the mat and placed grey paper behind them so that there is a tiny border all the way around the photo.


Besides Ikea, my other staple for frames is none other than Home Sense! You HAVE to check out their clearance isle because the prices cannot get any better.

I loved the contrast of this huge frame (which had a few scratches that I just took a black sharpie to) with a 4 by 6 photo. It also has a slightly "gallery" feel, without the cost of custom framing. And I really like the mix of clean lines and more rustic furniture. This pictures regularly floats around the house~


Because this grouping of frames from Home Sense was so chipped and beaten up they all were priced at $1-$2.

With some new paint and a little distressing to play up the flaws they now fill a wall in our powder room depicting various moments from a sunny day at the park.

It was easy,fast and the total cost was only $18 for the photos and frames!

Custom framing is quite pricey, but with a little creativity you could easily fill a wall or just a tiny corner with special memories that look like a million bucks!

Guess what I'm doing right now???

1 coat down, and one, maybe two to go!

When one door opens...

Today was a great day! Yes it was nearly freezing when I woke up to yet another wet grey day, but it was destined to be great.

Wren, my mom and I all went out of town to visit my grandparents so that was amazing (as it always is). But I always know it is going to be a great day when I start it out by proposing a project to Sean and he is on board with little to no discussion needed to convince him.

It all started when he patiently took me to Home Depot last Wednesday night where I was free to draw up plans for my new dream front door with a designer. The only catch was that he wanted to bring home the plans, look them over and do a little price comparison before handing over the cash. Fine by me! Then our story takes a bizarre twist involving me heading down to the basement (a rare event) looking for some accessories to jazz up a dresser I was photographing. Some people could tell you where to find things in their basement, I couldn't tell you how to even get into some of the rooms in our basement until recently (Don't ask), let alone what is down there or where it is! So imagine my shock and surprise to find a lone front door hanging out, waiting to be found (I also found a pond, lot's of cool books I forgot about after we moved and what appears to be an ancient Chinese scroll, but that's a another story for another day).


I am SOOO happy I didn't pull the trigger on that new front door so quickly! We plan to sell our current, unique door on craigslist and whatever we get for it will be put towards replacing the 70's frosted glass with updated windows, some exterior paint for the new door and some decorative moulding to jazz up the blank spaces beneath the windows. So instead of spending thousands we are now getting a full frontal makeover for make a couple hundred bucks! Hello new staircase railings!!

Can't wait to get it started!

Door scores

So now that I have told you all about my crazy chandelier/plant frenzy of yesterday afternoon I am happy to report that I actually got the front porch all spiffy today and won't leave you hanging indefinitely.

Well, kinda. Here is what our door looked like this morning. Please don't laugh, and no, I haven't the faintest idea what is etched into our door. It could be some type of native american curse, but I am leaning towards just plain weird.

In fact I am very excited because tonight we spent a whole hour drawing up custom door designs to switch out the door and 70's side windows to a set of black french doors. Won't that look great?? The outside has been on our back burner but I really want to add a little curb appeal this year before the frost sets in again...


Now back to our make-over (part 1, part 2 being the new door...).

I saw this chandelier on clearance at HomeSense yesterday for $60 and thought it was mighty cool. But what do I need another chandelier (without electricity mind you) for around the house?
Then I saw another in a different aisle and it hit me that I should hang them over my urns!



Just before that we had picked up some boxwood for the urns. I didn't want to go too girly and fussy with flowers, specially because it is a covered porch and doesn't get a lot of direct light. And I like to think these feel a little old-world France or Italy.

So now I just need to:
1. get new french doors.
2. have stucco painted grey.
3. get a new light fixture.
4. actually put candles on the chandeliers...

hopefully not in that order, and hopefully sooner than later.

Keep in mind that our front porch is WELL protected with huge trees as well as a portico so the chandeliers are really protected from wind and the elements. Definitely don't attempt this in front an antique stained glass window on a windy hill or anything, k?

Now tell me the honest truth, is it pure genius or just crazy?