DIY weekend

Regardless of this and the previous post I am not, I repeat, am NOT a DIYer.  I am a quitter.  Better yet, I'm an ideas gal.  I come up with the concept, but my execution lacks finesse and often lacks actual finishing.  This is why I am a great purchaser and hire-er.

Any-who.

I purchased a Moroccan Wedding blanket on my honeymoon in Marrakesch and since then I've wished that I snapped up a few more or at least a more flamboyant and sparkly one.  I can buy them any day of the week online, but it's nice to know I actually picked mine out in a souk.  While out yard sale-ing earlier this month, I spotted a huge and very shimmery wedding blanket and snagged it for $20.

See?  Shimmery!

I did my best to spot clean it and got it in my head I wanted to use it to make a large ottoman for my dressing room.

Not a new idea, people.  Have your very own from Calypso Home.

However, I like it and thought I could do it cheap.

So, I purchased a hideous looking ottoman of the right size from Home Goods.

I even talked them down on price because there were two tiny tears in the bonded "leather," which I learned after lugging it home & flipping over is cancer causing.  Really. A tag on the bottom said that this darn thing causes cancer.  Decoration before health though, right? *

I wrapped the wedding blanket around it like a present,

And then nailed the fabric to the bottom frame with small picture nails.  I also had a staple gun, but because I was not ready to cut the blanket up, using fewer nails on the corners worked well for now.

Voila!


*This author does not condone bringing cancer causing agents into a home.  Prospective clients, please fear not.


Also - harmful carcinogens result if the ottoman were to burn.

powder room power

A powder room is my favorite place to decorate.  It's small and intimate.  It is used for small amounts of time & it requires lighting and a mirror.  Two of my favorite things!  For all of those reasons you can go bold and bizarre or glam and dramatic.  Our last renovation resulted in a super cool powder room.  It was a tiny space, but one of my favorite rooms.

The walls were lined in beautiful walnut flooring thanks to Jeffrey Katz & Kevin Musumano from C & J Katz Studio.  They had this vision on another project and it really worked well for mine. It created this warm enveloping texture.  I painted the ceiling metallic gold while the floors that ran from the kitchen were painted Farrow & Ball's Arsenic.

A truly amazing color.  The contemporary pedestal sink with streamlined faucet had a solid presence.  It looked more or less like this:

and the sconces were

the Punch sconce from one of my favorite resources, Urban Electric Company.
I love EVERYTHING they make.

This time I've made the powder room more classic and glamourous.  I had some more room to work with and have been making design decisions based more on the type of house and re-sale capabilities. Here some pretty drastic before and afters!

Before....

Clunky ugly vanity

Old school gravity toilet with wooden seat, ugh.

Terrible lighting.

I considered re-using the pedestal sink from upstairs.

Or finding a salvaged sink with real history.

But didn't I want to transform the space away from that old-timey look?

I decided on the Gramercy glass washstand from RH:

Painted the walls & trim the same rich blue, Ben Moore's Kensington Blue.  This is a good dark blue that has a touch of gray if you want to keep away from having a nautical feel.

The old threadbare red rug is a great contrast with the wall color.  Also it gives the room an old library feeling.  (Sorry about the toilet paper in view.  It wasn't complete at this stage!)

I choose a metallic pewter paint for the ceiling which combines the golds and silvers.  There is a mix of polished nickel & antique silver in the hardware and some gold tones on two mirrors in the room.  Yes, there is that infinity effect because there are mirrors facing each other.  Very cool in person.

I used the classic Bryant sconce from Visual Comfort because my beloved Punch sconces did not provide enough light.  We couldn't add an overhead chandelier so the two sconces are my only light source.

Moody & chic, non?

The last touch is the window treatment which will be a Roman shade made from this metallic linen that is going to kick ass. 

I'll make an update when the treatments are installed.  Hopefully soon.  I don't want to meet my neighbors that way.

Stay tuned.

xxL

guest bedroom

I feel like a real adult because I can now have overnight guests.  This room now has heat and air conditioning and it's own closet instead of a hidden walk-through to our room.

Before, it was a lovely shade of turquoise.

 I sampled a few paint options.

And settled on a very soft gray-taupe from Daryl Carter's line for Benjamin Moore, DC-08.

 It's now starting to feel like a nice place to stay.  Missing items like a dresser or desk to serve as a second bedside table, drapery and a comfortable chair to flop on will round out the space.  Until then, at least there is a bed for family on Thanksgiving!  It's looking a tad traditional, so I am going to go with really modern art in here.

moved in and motivated

Moving is always madness.  No matter how prepared you are, it's overwhelming.

Boxing up all your belongings does a few things.  It makes you realize how much STUFF you have and it makes you realize the insignificance of so much STUFF.  A good time to purge and cleanse.

Then you come into an empty space, and what happens?  You have the desire to fill it up!

The blank canvases.

The kitchen bare no longer.

Family Room is overly cluttered!  I've since weeded out the cushions and have started cleaning out/organizing the bookshelves.  It was all sort of thrown there to start.  Editing is the skill I've been honing.

first phase for floors

A good part of the floors have been sanded down and I love love love them.

There are a few different varieties of oak in the house.  The living room looks awesome.  Next step is a coat of water based "Naturale" finish.  It is supposed to come out looking pretty similar to this, but adds protection.  Fingers crossed!  I like the chalky, dull finish and would leave it just like this if I could.

Decided to paint the floor in this bath because it's a completely different species and from a newer renovation.  Nothing original about these floors, but the soft "Pale Powder" from Farrow & Ball paint really lightens up the small bath.

paint update

More decisions were made today.
Repeat: choosing paint colors is difficult!

Big surprise here: walls will be white!

Going with Stonington grey on the lower walls (below chair rail).

What's your favorite here.  Really?  You wanna keep it turquoise?  Me, Not summuch.

Muy deliberations.