Bathrooms on the Brain

We're home! After an 11.5 hour drive last night, we pulled into Alabama early this morning. By the time we got to our house my eyes were playing some serious tricks on me. Who knew that not getting enough sleep could lead to crazy visions of moving floor tiles. I swear it looked like there were snakes underneath them. I had to keep telling myself I was just tired, and that my altered state of awareness would eventually wear off. A couple hours after we got home, I went back into the bathroom to see whether or not our tiles were still twitching. Thankfully, they were not, and other than feeling like I will probably need to go to bed early tonight- I'm back to my normal, stable, self. :-)

Speaking of bathrooms- Kevin is anxious to get back to work on ours despite his swollen, stabbed thumb, and a super sore shoulder thanks to a tumble down a flight of slippery stairs yesterday. He's normally not so accident prone. Must be the lack of sleep thing or something. ;-)

Here's a few photos of another bathroom I love. It's from the 2007 Cottage Living Idea House I blogged about the other day...






Designer, Lane Leyens, used lyrics from the Johnny Cash song, "Flushed from the Bathroom of your Heart" on the walls around the room. The brown wall color was pulled in from the guest bedroom, and the pink color of the letters came from the nearby girl's bedroom. Using the two colors bridges the two design schemes and creates a fresh and unexpected palette in the whimsical bathroom.

You can order vinyl wall words of your favorite song or poem from several websites online.

Hmmmm...we do have some big, blank walls around our bathtub...



...but I think we're going to stick with our initial idea for the walls, which will also inject a big dose of unique, cottage-style charm. More about that as soon as Kevin finishes the vanity side of the room!
(PS...if you're new to our blog, don't worry- the bathroom is currently painted a soothing shade of "Sea Salt" by Sherwin Williams. No more 'Lectric Lavender!) :-)

Hope you're having a wonderful and warm, winter weekend!

Layla

PS...I'm excited to watch Sandra Lee's special "Season of Surprise" on HGTV tonight at 8/7c. Kevin and I had a chance to meet her in the green room at CBN the other day, and she was so much fun! She's just as effervescent and inspiring in person as she is on TV. On tonights episode, Sandra will visit a couple who gave birth to premature triplets. She'll show them easy ways to preserve family memories, update heirloom party decor and create unforgettable family holiday recipes, so that despite the chaos, they'll be able to plan perfect parties for years to come.

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Cottage Living 2007 Idea House- Custom Chalkboard Paint Color

Cottage Living's 2007 Idea House has always been one of my favorites.
Do you remember it?



The home sits at 4505 Camp Street- a historic neighborhood, in the heart of New Orleans. It has 2400 square feet of living space, three bedrooms and two baths.
Cottage Living teamed with the New Orleans Preservation Resource Center to build the modular "shotgun" style home, which was designed by Eric Moser of Moser Design Group...



The term "shotgun house" is often thought to be named for the tradition that if a shotgun were fired through the front door, the bullet would exit straight through the back door. Recent studies suggest the name may actually come from the word “shogon", which means “Gods House" in African.
Shotgun houses are typically made up of a simple, single row of a rooms that run perpendicular to the street. This compact style allows for more houses to be built per city block. They almost all have front porches, and they often have gabled roofs.

Cottage Living's 2007 Idea House is definitely one of the prettiest shotgun houses I've ever seen!
Even the exterior paint colors drive me wild...

Photo by Artsy-Craftsy

Photo by Artsy-Craftsy

One of my favorite parts of the house is the chalkboard wall in the kitchen...

Photo by Robbie Caponetto

Photo by Artsy-Craftsy

...and thanks to the custom chalkboard paint color instructions they listed in Cottage Living magazine, we're no longer limited to just black or green chalkboard surfaces. Their recipe allows you to mix whatever color you want, so you can create a chalkboard that coordinates perfectly with any palette.

Here are the steps...

1. Pour 1 cup of acrylic latex paint, in the color of your choice, into a clean, 1-gallon bucket.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of dry, unsanded tile grout mix into the paint. Mix with a kitchen whisk until the paint is smooth and clump-free. (Use plain grout mix without added pigments to prevent color shifts.) Repeat the mixing process until you have enough paint to complete your entire project. (For the pantry area in the Idea House, they mixed their chalkboard paint in 1-gallon batches)

3. If necessary, prepare the wall with a light sanding or priming. Apply the chalkboard mixture to any paintable surface with a roller or brush. (In the Idea House, they used two coats of chalkboard paint to build up a thick surface.)

4. Allow the paint to completely dry, then sand the surface with fine sandpaper until you achieve a texture that accepts chalk. Next, "color" the surface with the side of a piece of white chalk to get a chalkboard-like patina.

5. Wipe away excess chalk with a damp cloth.

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If you'd like to see more of this magnificent house, click on the photo below to take a video tour...



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We're in Virginia Beach today, and we've got a great view of the water from our hotel room. (I'll post photos tomorrow night) We're excited about shooting our "shopping day" segment tomorrow. If you'd like to see what we score in the stores by the shore, our segment will air, live, Tuesday morning on ABC Family.

Wish us luck!

Layla

Raised In Cotton

The other night after reading our blog post about our transom opening, I received an email from Carol of "Raised In Cotton". She sent us photos of the transoms in her 140 year old farmhouse.

We were so excited to see they looked just like the one we had just cut out!




Her transoms made us feel even better about the impulsive decision we made to cut a hole in our wall! :-)





Of course, because we're obsessed with fixing up houses, we asked Carol if we could see more photos, and if it would be alright for me to blog about them. She sweetly obliged, and emailed us a handful of photos that literally had Kevin and I gasping as we scrolled through them...



Carol and her husband, a.k.a "Mr. PracticalPants", purchased the farmhouse this summer. One of the first houses in Jackson County, Missouri- it was built in 1865 by a farmer and his wife, who at the time owned 500 acres. The home sits on one acre today- which sounds a lot easier to mow. :-)
Painted in creams and whites, with nine foot ceilings and crown molding throughout, Carol said she "pretty much lost it upon stepping inside the front door".
Among other amazing details, the home has three porches with stained glass doors, a center staircase and formal foyer, and the most spectacular antique chandeliers hanging everywhere you look. Carol adores a "clean, farmhouse style with a just a bit of elegance", so for her, this house is perfection!
She described the experience of buying the place as a "dream come true" and was so surprised to find out that it sat just 5 minutes away from their previous home.

Since moving in, they've been doing renovations, such as replacing the wooden lap boards on the exterior, and re-doing the master bathroom- which actually started out as a closet. Carol has so many ideas, and I for one will be anxiously awaiting her blog posts as they lovingly restore this fascinating old place!











The dining room has a darling built-in window seat...



Carol's cuddly dog "Belle" likes it too...







The family room also has a window seat. The attention to detail in old houses like this really fuels our passion to buy a much older home in the future.



From the original doors, stained glass, mouldings and chandeliers throughout, to the amount of natural light flooding into each room, this house is simply breathtaking!



Thank you for allowing Kevin and I to blog about it Carol, and good luck with all of your renovations. We're so happy and excited for you!

Layla :-)

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The Old Painted Cottage

She purchased her first antique, an old "Big Ben" clock, when she was 11 years old. It didn't keep time, but something about the way it looked completely captivated her...

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My friend, Jennifer, has loved decorating as long as she can remember. As a young girl, she would use her determined little legs and feet to re-arrange her bedroom furniture, in the middle of the night, because she couldn't bear to wait until morning to bring her latest design vision to life.

Currently, Jennifer has successfully finished pushing all of her "grown-up" furniture into place at her home she calls, "Cottage8".
Thankfully, (especially for her legs and feet) nowadays, she's got a sweet, helpful hubby to help her push around the heavy stuff. :-)
The happy couple (married 12 years this October) closed on the house during the second week of July in 2008, and started priming and painting the walls the very next day. Twelve months later, you would never know the two of them had little (to no) experience in home renovation, or that they had done it all on an extremely limited budget.



She describes her style as "cottage, with a modern, romantic, French flair".
When asked where she draws her inspiration from, she says, "From the set design of a great, period movie. From booths at antique stores, design blogs and window displays".
(Even her answers are inspiring!)


I had the pleasure of collaborating with Jennifer on both her Living and Dining rooms, and feel so honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of the design process in these oh-so-inspiring spaces! If you haven't already taken the tour on her blog, be prepared to fall head over heels for the home you're about to see. If I could only choose one word to describe it, I would choose dreamy. A fresh palette and time worn elements brought their kitchen, living and dining rooms to life in most breathtaking of ways. Her attention to detail is impeccable.

Just inside the front door of Cottage8, you're greeted by the living room.
It's a delightfully welcoming space that is filled with an array of mostly vintage furniture and accessories.
In the evening, as the sun slowly slips below the horizon, Jennifer often sits on the white slipcovered sofa, by the window, and admires what she describes as a "glorious view"...





At the left end of the slipcovered sofa sits an old, tufted love seat. Jennifer purchased it at an antique store. It's graceful lines, sweet floral fabric, and button tufting make this little lovely Jennifer's favorite piece in the entire room...



Her enchanting tabletop vignettes are perfectly orchestrated. It would be impossible for me not to stop and gaze at them each time I walked by.



Regarding the accessories she creates these picture-perfect scenes with, she says that other than the occasional trip to Anthropologie, she usually steers clear of "cookie cutter design" retail shops. Instead, she prefers perusing antique stores and flea markets for unique treasures that have character, and that "have a story to tell".

One such treasure, located in the kitchen, is an antique brush and comb display...



...she uses it to show off her favorite, old Ironstone plates...



The rest of the room is equally as charming. Take a look...






Each morning Jennifer and her husband meet in the sun-drenched dining room for breakfast and conversation...





Custom-built shelves display Jennifer's ever-growing collection of Ironstone plates, platters and pitchers...



Vintage silver pieces, sprinkled across the bottom shelf, add subdued sparkle and elegance to the room...



I can't wait to see what kind of magic she works in the rest of the house. If these rooms are any indication of what's to come, I just know the bedrooms are going be spectacular!

It will never cease to amaze me how a sweet, little old house can actually change you, as much as you can change it.

:-)
Layla

PS...Visit Jennifer's blog to see more of her lovely home here: The Old Painted Cottage

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Foggy Day becomes Attitude Gray

"Honey?" (Layla)

"Yes dear?" (Kevin)

"I think the dining chairs look a little too blue" (Layla)

"Really?" (Kevin)

"Yeah, look at them next to this paint chip of Attitude Gray" (Layla)

"I guess they do, but you're not suggesting that we re-paint them, are you?" (Kevin)

"I'll be your best friend!" (Layla)



"Okay, but you're buying the new paint" ;-) (Kevin)

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So after a quick trip back to Sherwin Williams, with a new sample pot of "Attitude Gray" in hand, I found Kevin waiting in the driveway, sporting his best "bring on the chairs" look...



As you can see, the new color (the one on the right) is much more muted...







Once Kevin was done re-painting, I set him up with a pencil and a piece of paper I had printed the numbers "1", "4" and "3" on...



It works best if you print the numbers out backwards...



Color in the number with the pencil...



Cut out each number and hold them in place, with a couple of pieces of tape. The side you just colored in should be facing the object you're painting it on...



Using your pencil, firmly scribble all over the number...



Once you pull the paper away, you'll see your number...



Then, using a small paint brush, fill in the number with the color of your choice. We used a mixture of "Attitude Gray" and a small amount of black so that the numbers would be a slightly darker shade than that of the chair...



Kevin didn't want to attempt the hand painting, so I did it, but seriously- don't be intimidated by hand painting. Rest your hand firmly up against the chair, take your time, and you'll be just fine- I promise! And don't forget, it is just paint. As long as you have a wet paper towel handy, you can just wipe it off before it dries if you mess up.

Here is the finished product...



I just love the way they turned out...



I was walking into the kitchen through the dining room last night, while Kevin was outside with Max, and the chairs caught my eye as I was passing by.
I glanced at them, and was starting to glance away when I did a complete double-take. The numbers are so subtle, and so many hours had passed since I'd painted them, I had almost forgotten they were there! I unconsciously clasped up my hands together, near my chest, and said "Oh!" with a huge grin across my face. It was such a beautiful little "surprise", experiencing them that way for the first time. I could feel Kevin's presence in the room, sending me a sweet mental message through those three simple, tiny, painted numbers. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm telling you, it was so surreal. I'll never forget it. :-)

The chairs aren't quite finished though. I've got some great, fluffy, chair cushions that will sit on top of the burlap seats.
We've also done a lot of new decorating in the dining room itself that I can't wait to blog about. Everything we used was found at flea markets, so it was cheap, cheap, cheap yet chic, chic, chic. Our favorite, favorite, favorite!

Have a great weekend!
Layla