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!

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?

🙂