Upstairs Progress With A Little Art History

G.O. has been a busy guy upstairs,

painting the walls white + the woodwork a neutral gray/beige (a.k.a. “greige”).

So far, the hallway has been transformed from drab . . . .

. . . to FAB!

We chose Pittsburgh Paint’s Delicate White for the walls

+ Ghost Writer for the woodwork + wainscoting.

Yes, all this talk of gray + white

means it’s time for us to go down memory lane again,

with me, with my perm, + my gray kitchen cabs, circa 1985!

I loved it then, I love it now!

Please.  How stunning is our beautiful, original door hardware with the greige?

Very stunning, especially so, considering its amazing before + after!

The beautiful pattern of that hardware is called Art Nouveau,

which was an art + architectural style in fashion between 1890 + 1910.

That makes sense because we think our house was built in that era!

Look closely!  There are ferns!

New England Today

Art Nouveau was inspired by natural forms,

particularly the curves lines of plants + flowers.

Well-known examples of Art Nouveau include the Metro Stations in Paris:

Yet more Art Nouveau awesomeness, closer to home,

is the former Carson Pirie Scott store in Chicago,

designed by architect Louis Sullivan,

who was Frank Lloyd Wright’s mentor:

Sullivan also designed my personal favorite,

The fabulous Wainwright Building in downtown St. Louis:

This concludes today’s Art history lecture.

Did you know that I used to be an Art teacher, in grades 7 – 12?

Meanwhile, back at the Dutch colonial,

G.O. continues to restore the beautiful original woodwork,

literally one piece at a time!

I’ll share more photos, soon — so stay tuned!

BEFORE, DURING + AFTER BATHROOM PHOTOS

Disclaimer:

I don’t know why, but I typically don’t take lots of before photos,

+ believe me, there have been really horrific ones, like this,

in our main bathroom downstairs:

The befores make the after photos so much more dramatic!

Wow — viva la difference, am I right?

Earlier this week, I forced myself to grab the camera

+ head upstairs for some epic before AND during photo ops.

Let’s start with the bathroom’s tub + shower surround,

which are already finished + are actually afters.

I chose white subway tiles because they are classic + timeless.

My design for the window surround turned out well, I thought, modestly:

I’ve already shared the Sherwin-Williams paint we chose:

Unusual Gray (at the bottom) for the walls,

with Contented (third from top) at 50%, for the ceiling.

Very neutral!  Very pretty!

But as often happens in a room’s during stage, it’s kind of a blah!

What does it need?

I’m not sure, but here’s a start.

These IKEA cabinets in white contrast nicely

with the darker-than-I-thought-they’d-be Unusual Gray walls:

I’ve already shared my love for the tall cabinet’s black legs.

They, combined with the black in our floor tiles,

mean I need to repeat more black, for continuity purposes.

How about a black metal mirror for above the vanity?

I’ve chosen this one, because it’s modern yet rustic at the same time.

Another disclaimer: this was $90-something from Target,

but they’re out of it online,

+ you’ll have to search for it in their stores.

We are going to Target right now, so stay tuned!

QUICK UPDATE:

Trips to 2 different Target stores ensued,

+ we ended up buying this one, which was $35-ish!

Have you shopped for mirrors lately?  That’s a great price!

Now it’s time for G.O. to hang the bathroom door.

Here’s what that looks like, about midway though:

He sez that all this wood stuff is called door casing,

+ it’s taking longer than I’d hoped.

I have to remember that he is a perfectionist, so I shan’t ask him to work faster.

HA!  Most of the time, I don’t!

Here you can see where the finished woodwork will be positioned:

Here’s a wider view, looking to the hallway + bath.

What’s up with that embossed-looking wainscoting — you’re wondering?

Here’s a close up:

It was surely very beautiful when the house was built,

but right now, parts of it are in rough  shape.

Speaking of being in rough shape, notice our beautiful-but-sad staircase

+ how the wainscoting extends down those stairs!

Back to our upstairs.   Right now, my goal is to find an even grayer gray/green.

I want something more neutral for the upstairs woodwork,

but I don’t want just gray; we’ve got that downstairs.

As always, I shall head to Pinterest first + see what others have chosen.

Stay tuned!

 

Kitchen Windows + Door

Last Christmas we had wreaths like this in every window.

I wanted to hang them on the windows outside this year.

Like this:

Or this:

How charming is that?

G.O. wasn’t on board, sadly, so maybe next year.

Meanwhile, the wreaths do look good on windows inside the house,

don’t you think?

The cute, little trees were from IKEA a few years ago,

+ my favorite Guy Wolff pots were from Smith + Hawken.  RIP

Those sweet red checked curtains started their lives as a bed skirt

from when Martha Stewart still sold stuff at K-Mart.  RIP

Watch here to see a K-Mart commercial starring Martha Stewart.

F U N !

Awwwww!  That cute Dachsie card was sent to me by cousin, Gwen.

Those red light fixtures were from Ballard Designs.

We hung another wreath on our kitchen door:

How adorable!

But now I must ask for your opinions.

We painted all of our interior doors Black Magic by Pittsburgh Paints.

Here’s the door to the powder room:

Here’s our bedroom closet doors:

We just assumed that the kitchen door

would receive its own coat of Black Magic paint someday.

But wait.

My friends were here for brunch a few days ago,

+ they both thought the door looked good, as is!

I had never thought to do that!

Of course, I am now kind of obsessing about it.

See Exhibits A + B:

What do you think?

Black Magic?

Or chippy white?

 

Time will tell, so stay tuned!

Small Updates

Long time — no blog!

Here’s why:

G.O. , not pictured, has been busy

painting everything at our old house.

 I’ve been sewing like a bee on some new merch

for my biz, RedBird Vintage Home.

Like these:

Zoom zoom!

All this working + sewing means not much progress on the Dutch colonial.

Fear not, though . . . we have completed a few projects.

Let’s start with the new closet doors in our bedroom.

Those 6″ long window sash pulls came from Menards.

They’re big, beefy + slightly industrial, don’t you think?

The doors, while new, have the same 5 panels as our originals.

See for yourself:

G.O. painted them the same dark color, Black Magic by Pittsburgh Paints.

Let’s have a look-see at our powder room door:

Don’t you love the way the black doors pop

against the pale colors of our house?

And please.

How swell is my very beloved, vintage LADIES SIGN!?

It used to hang over the powder room in our old house,

+ not long ago, G.O. finally brought it over.

There’s more to share,

so stay tuned!

A Beautiful Old Door + Gorgeous Original Hardware

Our bedroom is nearly up + running at the Dutch colonial.

There’s a bed, a rug, a nightstand + a leaning floor mirror in there now,

but stay tuned for photo ops.

Today G.O. finished painting the door

Pittsburgh Paint’s Black Magic,

just like all the interior doors throughout.

Here ’tis, as seen from the kitchen:

The powder room door is just to the right:

Next up, we have a view of the door from inside the bedroom.

This view is out into the kitchen, with the powder room door at the left:

Check out the original hardware!

That beautiful plate was covered with paint,

so G.O. stripped it + scrubbed it with a brass bristle brush.

Stunning, don’t you think?