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23
Feb

Wordless Wednesday

posted by rachel, February 23, 2011

I’ve been trying to get back in the swing of taking photos more often – here were a few outtakes from this week!

25
Jan

I was thinking the other day how much I love a great before & after. And as I was cleaning up some of the files on my computer, I found a lovely little gem: the online tour of our house from about a year before we bought it that I had saved to my hard drive. We bought our house from a friend of my sister. This friend, Kristine, was a house flipper DE-LUXE. I mean, the girl has mad style and an amazing vision. Amy had called me and said, “You have GOT to see this next house that Kristine is doing. It is going to be fab, AND they’re going to sell it.” The majority of the houses that Kristine flipped were million dollar homes, and well worth it. We knew she had excellent taste, but the difference in this house was that it was in a more reasonably-priced (for us) neighborhood. So my interest was definitely piqued.

I first saw the house in February of 2008, in the dark, led by a flashlight. It was stripped down to drywall, but knowing the previous projects she’d completed, I had a pretty good idea of what it was going to look like. So once we moved in, I really had very little to do to this house, unlike our previous home that needed a lot of work. All we’ve done is paint here, unlike new floors, new lighting, etc., that our old house required.

But I’m really amazed at people who can walk into a space and envision how they will totally change it. To be fair, had we seen the house for sale as it was before Kristine had her way with it, we probably would’ve thought, “Ok, we can make it work and do something with this.” So here you go — a before & after.

Pretty! But slightly different than today. Two dormer windows were added to the roofline (our bonus room).

Formal living room. The original owner really liked pale blue. EVERYTHING was blue.

The dining room.

The kitchen. TOTALLY different!

When we bought it:

The breakfast nook.

The family room. Check out the original wood around the fireplace. And the delightful TV encased in wood paneling. Niiice.

Maybe one of the biggest changes was the removal of the wall between the family room and the kitchen. That was one of the things I loved about this space. I could envision us all hanging out in here while making supper.

The master bedroom. Again with the blue.

And finally, the upstairs bath before:

And after –

How about you? Do you like redoing a space just the way you envision it or do you want to move in and live in it as-is?

Let's Chit-Chat { 0 }

3
Sep

Found my camera battery charger!

posted by rachel, September 3, 2010

Hooray! I found my camera battery in the bottom of one of my purses, and I was so happy to discover it there. Relief! Now for the big reveal of a few things.

Here’s the coffee table base that just needs a piece of glass on top. Or a mirror, I guess, if I were so inclined. But I think I’ll go with glass so I can get safety glass.

I moved my grandmother’s green buffet from the front entryway into the living room. Admittedly I am a little shocked that the TV took up the entire space. I really didn’t imagine that it would. It’s a lot taller than our old IKEA cabinet that the TV was sitting on previously.

So in the entryway, I put the campaign-style desk that I had purchased off of eBay. I kinda like it there. Just a different vibe. Oh, the runner in there is at the rug cleaners’. It got lipstick on it.

However, there is a toy-a-palooza going on now on the fireplace. I swear the toys reproduce and multiply overnight. I don’t even know how they get this out of control. I totally hate it. A plastic explosion.

The books don’t bother me. I’m thrilled to pieces that Jude loves books, so I have no problem having books lying about anywhere and everywhere.

But sometimes I just get so sick and tired of picking up the same toys over. and over. and over again. Like footballs.

So my mom got me this at Hobby Lobby and I love it. It’s so true:

See, before, the toys all lived inside the TV cabinet. They were hidden. Said TV cabinet is relegated to the corner for the time being, along with the old kitchen table. The kitchen table will go upstairs for crafts, etc. BUT, the old iKEA tv cabinet is going the way of the dodo. Or Craigslist.

All in all, I guess I am grateful for the hail storm because it allowed us to change up things, and it was all covered by insurance. Hooray for insurance! Rug by Madeline Weinrib. Drapes found on clearance at Ballard Designs. Coffee table was previously in the other living room – an estate sale find for $30.

I’m trying to interject pops of turquoise into the room to link the front living room and the entryway with this room.

Also, I would like to say thank you to everyone who chimed in with their opinion on the dining room chair makeover! After much hemming and hawing and indecision, I went with the cream. It matched our cabinets and it will be easy to match fabric to at some point. For the time being, I haven’t planned on recovering the chairs because (1) they’re pleather and easy to clean and (2) my child likes to smear nutella and peanut butter right now. So I’m probably not going to freak out too badly if he does it on these chairs for the moment. I’ll recover them later. I also need to paint the table base. I did all the painting of the chairs while Simon was out of town, and I just couldn’t get the table out of the door all by myself without doing damage to myself or the table or the house.

Let's Chit-Chat { 7 }

14
Jun

Rain, rain, go away!

posted by rachel, June 14, 2010

It’s raining here as I type. As in, monumental rain. Serious flooding. End-of-the-world, better-get-your-ark-built-NOW flooding.

And it’s now raining in our living room as well. There’s a lovely leak in the ceiling. Simon and I joked about sticking some piece of furniture under the leak that we really didn’t like – hey, gotta make lemonade outta lemons somehow, right?

Right. I’m trying not to feel a wee bit discouraged after this ridiculous month of hail and now water damage.

In the meantime, I’ve been brainstorming some ideas for painting Jude’s room. I was so inspired by all those Lucy & Co. painted walls, but I really don’t want to add much more color to Jude’s room. Doing a tone-on-tone gingham might be the answer for me. I did some mockups to see how it would look.

Thoughts on this? Any thoughts welcome – too much pattern? Weird? Difficult? Adorable? Best thing you’ve ever seen?

Let's Chit-Chat { 3 }

28
Jan

Lately

posted by rachel, January 28, 2010

Let’s see … what’s new around here?

New pillows for a STEAL from Gilt.com. Thomas Paul at an incredible discount.

Cheapo glitter wreath from Hobby Lobby for $6. I realize now that it looks kinda silly with my star wreath hanger. Ha!

And finally, a new computer thanks to my sweet Mom & Dad. My PowerBook had seen better days. It was missing a few teeth (the F4 and F5 keys, actually) and the battery was good for, oh, 3 minutes. Jude and I had fun taking pictures with the built-in camera at breakfast this morning, before BSF. Then Simon swooped in, and Jude thought it was the funniest thing ever.