Wrapping The House

After waiting months upon months

+ living with our poor Dutch colonial

 in its so-sad Haunted House mode . . .

. . . there’s finally progress being made to its exterior!

See for yourself:

It’s being wrapped before it gets sided.

First up, the pink layer.

According to G.O., the pink stuff is

1/4″ fan fold insulation.

In addition to its insulating properties,

the pink stuff also provides

a nice, flat surface for the installation of the siding.

Next up, house wrap:

It serves as a vapor barrier,

+ also gives one the idea of how awesome our house will look!

Remember, here’s my inspiration:

White siding downstairs + pale gray upstairs.

G.O. is very happy about this, as am I.

The siding’s been ordered, so it won’t be long now!

Stay tuned!

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Restoration Hardware Bath Inspiration

We recently had what I call a GOOD MAIL DAY,

when this stack o’  10 Restoration Hardware catalogs

landed on our front porch:

Yes, that’s right.  TEN!

I shan’t list all of them, but my one of my faves was BATH:

Last March, when my blog was new, I posted this love letter to RH bath ‘stuff’:

https://redbirdv.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/my-restoration-hardware-bathroom-dreams/

* * *

Alas, I can’t afford to spring for anything major

(maybe one of their awesome industrial-style light fixtures?) . . .

. . . but Restoration Hardware provides plenty of inspiration

for tricking out our budget bathrooms!

Speaking of inspiration, look at the hardware on this vanity:

How cool is it!?  Very!

Combining the metal label slots with extra-long pulls is genius!

It’s called the Early 20th C. Mercantile vanity . . .

. . . no wonder I love it!

I may try to replicate this look on the drawers of our kitchen cabinets!

Stay tuned!

Wicker + Bench Dining Room Trends

So.  Yesterday I mentioned that our new house dining room

will be half dining + half home office.

Let’s discuss the dining half, shall we?

We’ll have a round table here in the window bay:

My inspiration:

While these  homeowners chose to a build window seat,

I’d like to opt for a bench in our window bay.

I think that’s a ‘thing’ now.

See for yourself,

in my own dining room (from a while ago):

* * *

And in this oh-so Scandinavian room:

vtwonenl.jpg

I like the office chair at one end of the table, too + might ‘borrow’ that idea.

 * * *

Next up, another dining bench in a glam** dining room:

BHG

**Glam is not my favorite décor style.

* * *

This, on the other hand, is more like it:

Southern Living

I’m a fan of the striped upholstery,  the modern pendant + papered accent wall.

Notice please, the wicker dining chairs.

This, too, is a ‘thing’.

Polished Pebble blog

I’d kill for that ^^ table.

* * *

Pottery Barn

I love the work of the Pottery Barn stylists, don’t you?

* * *

Look closely at the lower front of these wicker beauties:

pub1emagazine.se

Is that a number I see?

Okay, now my head is spinning with inspiration!

What on earth did we do before Pinterest?

* * *

So.  Let’s recap.

I’ve been musing about the following 2 décor trends:

1. Dining bench + 2. Wicker dining seating

Well, coincidentally, my plans include using both  trends in 1 piece of furniture!

A wicker bench!

This is the Himara All-Weather Wicker Wingback Settee

from World Market.

Was $349.99  Now $244.99

I’m seeing some ticking stripes on the cushions in our dining room.

Look at those lines!  I love it!

A wingback can’t get much more traditional,

+ the wicker makes it a little more modern!

So, what do you think of my wicker hopes + dreams?

I think I’d like to save myself a $35 delivery charge

by finding it in a World Market store!

Road trip!  Stay tuned!

Combination Dining/Home Office In Our New House

Announcement: we’ll be seriously downsizing

when we move into the Dutch colonial.

No more 3 bedrooms + separate sewing/bozoputer room!

YIKES!!

Natch, this has me thinking the following:

1. organization + 2.  purging

+ lots of both!

Take the dining room.  Please.

We never dine here, at our current hacienda . . .

.

. . . so one would assume that we won’t do so in our next hacienda, either.

Speaking of which,

our Dutch colonials’ spacious + bright dining room

is open to the kitchen:

.

Here’s my plan:

Instead of it being just a room for dining,

half of it will be our home office!

First, the dining half.

Check out the room’s spacious window bay:

.

 It shall include a small-ish, round table

for puzzles, Scrabble + the occasional meal.

It is imperative that it be charming + attractive, along these lines:

http://www.ppebble.blogspot.com

or these:

Source unknown

For the home office half,

it’s up to ME to somehow create a tasteful + organized home office.

YIKES!

Luckily/coincidentally,

I have a new, favorite designer (sorry, Sarah Richardson!),

Allison Kandler .

Here she is now:

http://www.alisonkandler.com

And here’s the combo family room/home office

in her own Santa Monica, CA home:

http://www.hookedonhouses.com

2 words, people: awesome built-ins.

* * *

What a dream!

Sadly, our budget would never permit such awesomeness,

so it’s time to do what I do best — punt!

I can totally do this!  Here’s how:

I will re-purpose our existing farmhouse table into a cool desk . . .

.

. . . + place the top, cubby portion of my postal sorter on top of it!

WINNING!!!

Now it’s time to search for cool yet good-looking storage

to fill those cubbies,

something along the lines of those red boxes

in Alison Kandler’s room:

Please.  That alone is worth its own blog post.

Meanwhile, you’re no doubt dying to see the rest of her house.

Go here now:

http://hookedonhouses.net/2014/05/06/creating-happy-rooms-a-colorful-farmhouse-in-the-city/

Stay tuned!

I Want A German Beer Garden Table!

SO.

Today it’s damp + cold, our furnace is roaring + I’m sportin’ a cardigan.

I am not amused, but let’s think summer anyway, shall we?

First up:

for alfresco dining at the Dutch colonial,

I want this from World Market:

It’s  a replica of an old German beer garden/hall table.

Red = perfect!

It’s collapsible, too,

which means easy winter storage!

The table is $229.99, + each bench costs $139.95.

Keep those prices in mind.

* * *

First, let’s take a look-see at couple of vintage beer garden/hall tables:

Refinery 29

Don’t you love the way it’s so slim?

One could put this in one’s small space — no problem!

* * *

Meanwhile, here’s another:

Three Potato Four
$425 No longer available

Um.  Check out the price of the old versus the new knock-off.

$425 for the vintage set

Approximately $510 (before shipping!) for the knock-off!

I could write an entire post about buying vintage instead of reproductions.

Stay tuned for that.

* * *

Here’s what you need to know:

Three Potato Four

is a crazy good online source for all things vintage!

Go here, now!

http://threepotatofour.com/

You’re welcome.

Farmhouse-Style Vacation Home

My May-June 2014 issue of Midwest Living arrived this week — yay!

 Imagine my excitement

when I spied this farmhouse-style vacation home

in SW Michigan:

lakehomebuildersmi.com

I immediately recognized it as one I’d seen before,

 when it appeared on the cover

of the late, great Chicago Home + Garden magazine:

Summer 2012

That issue was so divine, I just had to save it!

Are you a magazine saver, too?

In my world, there are some that are just so wonderful

that you just can’t bear to part with them!

* * * *

Anyway, there’s that same front porch, now:

I love the classic white siding!

The grays of the industrial-style sconces+ galvanized pots

 complement the black door + sidelights very nicely, too.

Those handsome homeowners on the porch are Tom + James,

who are partners in their Chicago interior design firm.

http://www.jamesthomaschicago.com

Obviously, the guys live + work in Chicago

+ spend weekends + vacations at their farmhouse,

about an hour + a half drive away in SW Michigan.

Here:

All the cool kids in Chicago own vacation properties

 in the super charming beach communities

along Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

My cool friend, Alan, vacations here + assures me that I would love it, too!

Stay tuned for this summer, fingers crossed!

* * * *

But back to the house.

Here are Tom and James again, sharing a moment in their cottage-y kitchen:

I’m a fan of the ceiling planks,

the cute schoolhouse light over the farmhouse sink,

+ the pale wood tone of the floors.

I’m seeing lots of non-kitchen-y rugs in kitchens lately, + I approve!

* * *

Speaking of approval, here’s my favorite space in the house, a screened porch:

I love its rustic, cottage charm, + that red Vermont Castings stove is wonderful!

* * *

In contrast, the living room is a tad more formal:

While it’s furnished in too formal a style for my vacation home taste,

there’s no denying it’s a gorgeous space.

That tall ceiling + those clerestory windows + all the white!  Love!

* * *

Meanwhile, here’s one of the guest bedrooms:

I’m a fan of the twiggy side table, the iron bed

+ that cool, vintage photograph.  (I’ve always wanted one of those!)

The pale blue paint, which rules, is Benjamin Moore’s Northern Air.

* * *

So.  What do you think of hanging plates in a bedroom?

I’ve always liked it, but I know some people don’t.

It’s so sweet!

* * *

And now, speaking of sweet, look at the kids’ room — it’s so cute!

The layout is genius, + I love all the red!

I have a similar lamp, repurposed from an old gas can,

that I bought decades ago (yikes!)

* * *

The bathroom’s very nice + on the plain Jane side:

* * *

But c’mon, Tom + James!  This is a vacation house!  Let’s have some fun!

Okay.  Here’s fun:

Who doesn’t love an old, wooden sign?

I’ve been making old-looking signs, too.  (I’ll share later.)

I really like that vintage column + that topiary housepant, too!

I like them so much that every spring, I’ll ‘spring’ for one . . .

. . . knowing full well that the poor thing won’t survive the winter at our house.

The humanity!

Fingers crossed for this year — hope ‘springs’ eternal!

* * *

So.  I’ve saved the most fun feature of Tom + James’ farmhouse . . .

. . . a gallery wall of paint-by-number paintings, at the stairway!

Way to go, Tom + James!

And how cool is it that their houseguests

often bring them a new paint-by-number painting

as a “thank you” host gift!

Isn’t that the most adorable idea, ever?

🙂