J'adore New Doors!

We are officially in the final stretch. In fact, the tile saw, the compressor, and other large (and noisy) construction equipment has been removed from the premises and it's just detail work from here on out (for this project at least). Can I get an amen?!

One of the last things on our checklist, as you might recall, was new doors. Not just new front doors, but a new back door, side door, and garage door entry too. Here's how they looked before:

Appealing, right? Did I mention that you could see daylight through the gaps between the doors and the walls? What about the need for a draft guard? Yeeesh.

I'm happy to report that they're all looking better now that they have been removed. Perhaps the biggest transformation has been the front door, though- take a look!

With details like the ones below, the front of the house is nearly perfect. Can't wait to post a picture of the finished facade.

Welcome home!

WPJE

When I was a child, my uncle Mark gave me the nickname 'WMPC' which stands for, obviously, World's Most Perfect Child. I probably didn't even have to tell you that. As it turns out, after climbing up (and tumbling down) Fool's Hill more than a few times, the nickname doesn't really ring true anymore (to anyone but me, that is). In the end, a nickname is a nickname, and usually- regardless of the truth associated with the moniker- a nickname sticks. And to answer your question, yes, you can call me WMPC.

I share that not to delight in a fuzzy childhood memory but to illustrate that I feel like acronyms are everywhere. For instance, when I was known as WMPC, I was wearing a WWJD bracelet, attending a school called GPS, working at the YMCA, taking the SAT, and probably making plans with my BF or BFF. Do we live in a world where there are an acronyms out there for everything? It's easy to sometimes feel like Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle when he's looking for Jonah and the only thing out of the mouth of Jonah's friend Jessica are letters.

Tara's main bathroom has recently been bestowed with her own acronym, WPJE. Let me first say that initially I thought this sounded like some sort of rehabilitation center, but it's not. However, this we can learn from any rehab program:

The first step on the road to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.

For us that problem has a name: Worst Paint Job Ever.

OMG. Our bathroom paint was a mess. Overall mistake: we selected it in a hurry. After all, let's remember that I was 8 months pregnant and we needed to get in the house. So, when it came time to tell the painters what color to paint the bathrooms, we told them to just paint the beadboard white and paint the walls the same color as our master bedroom, a silvery sage green from Restoration Hardware (tip: don't buy your paint at Restoration Hardware, but do grab the chips of the colors you like. Then take the chips to a paint store and they can usually match the color perfectly.)

There are several issues with this bad decision. First mistake, the color was all wrong. It's a muted green that *should* have gone with everything, but no color REALLY goes with everything the way you think it might, no matter how much you love it. Second mistake, the finish was all wrong. We have an eggshell finish in our bedroom, and bathrooms need a semi-gloss, no exceptions. Third mistake, the painters were terrible, and we were so anxious to get in the house that we let their careless mistakes slide. For instance, they didn't sand the beadboard before they painted it, resulting in a rough mess. Sheesh.

Fortunately, this is all fixable for just about 30 bucks. PTL. Not all mistakes are so easy to fix, but if your paint job is all wrong and you have your own version of WPJE, no worries. We used a power sander (clarification: I thought it was too loud so Rhett used it) to sand down the beadboard and we then repainted it white (so smooth now!).

For the walls, we found a color we liked (hooray!) that looks beautiful with the existing decor and *voila* our bathroom nightmare was saved. TG!

Out with the old, and in with the new.

TTYL, WMPC

Fine Dining

There have been numerous requests for more photos...so, here you go!

In honor of the upcoming holiday of feasting, I give you (drumroll!) my dining room.

This is one of my favorite transformations because it wasn't flashy. It didn't require hacking anything apart or doing a major overhaul. We really capitalized on what was already in the room, and by simply using paint colors wisely and paying attention to the furniture we already had, we really got a lot of bang for our buck here.

Here's what we started with:

The chandelier was not something I would have originally gravitated towards, but keeping it proved to be a smart decision. You'l notice that there's a lot of natural light the floods the living room and illuminates the dining room. The corner china cabinets represent a sense of whimsy but also evoke something about the 1950s-1960s that I can't quite put my finger on- needless to say, we loved them and kept them, too.

Halfway through...

In this picture, the floors were sanded but not yet refinished. We used a color on the walls called Reisling by Ralph Lauren. I loved it because it changes with the daylight. Sometimes it looks almost taupe, and other times it has a beautiful soft lemony tone. We used bright white on the ceilings and a softer white on the trim and cabinets. The color contrast and the fresh paint really made the cabinets pop!

All finished!

I like to give you the view of the room as you see it when you walk in the door, but of course since this is about the dining room more than the living room, I included a picture of just the dining room for good measure. Quite a contrast from the first photo, right?

The room, as large as it is, needed a bit of color and a bit of texture, and hopefully that's what it now has. Don't worry, I'll talk more about adding those aspects to the dining room and living room in the next few posts. :) Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!



Kidding around, take 2

…we got THIS!

Fresh coats of paint can work wonders, and combined with super cool vintage furniture, mismatched fabrics (blackout polka dot curtains with airplane finials!), retro art (a surfboard bulletin board and a “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster) and toys that are usually all over the place, this room has it all. Note the super cool swing/hammock/leaf chair made by my friend Maggie- our daughter would sleep in it if we let her.

She was out of town when it was finished, so she came home to her dream room. “I’m never leaving!” she proclaimed. So much for sending her to her room if she misbehaves…that’s exactly where she wants to be!