Thursday, December 30, 2010

14 Days

We have been in our new home for 14 days and I have to say I am proud of the amount of unpacking we have done! Now there are no pictures on the walls or true inspiration...yet...but boxes are emptied, things are put away and this place is already feeling like home. So now it is time for the long awaited house tour! Here is a glimpse of our starting point.

Disclaimer: I did my best to capture the wonderful natural sunlight in our home but lets be honest it is Wisconsin in winter. So needless to say it is a grey sad day with no sunlight to speak of.
Lets start in the family room (please ignore the now undecorated Christmas Tree, which I need help taking out of the house)...



Check out the big pics of the dogs over the fireplace. I know this is not the traditional mantel art but these shots represent the laughter and fun of my family and I think are the perfect personal touch to the room.

The "Grand Piano" room is next. But since we don't have a piano that isn't made by Playschool this space is my office and reading room. Can't wait to add some color in here! I am thinking a slate blue. Still deciding what to do with the chair rail and the space below it....hmmmmm.


Our dining room is a great size, has great architectural detail in the ceiling and large front windows. But the crowning jewel is the mirrored wall, including a first class matching mirrored vent cover! I didn't even know these existed! Clearly a project we will have to get to at some point, but to be honest I am very intimidated at the thought of removing mirrors. In the meantime a blue on the walls to coordinate with the Piano Room would be great in here. And an area rug to take away from all the white carpet will help to spice things up.





And now the kitchen. A great space! Just needs a pop of color and some personal touches to finish it off. Loving the new barstools!


The final room on the main floor is the sunroom. We love this room, actually it is one of the reasons we bought the house. But because it is January and there is no sun to speak of and the fact that we have no furntiure for this room it became the unpacking staging area. But if you can look beyond the boxes and paper you will see a beautiful fireplace, window seats and the only color in the entire house. Check out that green!


Lets go upstairs. Not much effort has been put into the bedrooms yet, but we will get there. Our Master is a great size, has two large windows and a huge walk in closet, yippee! Otherwise my husband says it feels like a hotel room. Not good...needs work! But as always the case this will probably be one of the last rooms we get to.





The nursery you have see before but here is another shot. I picked up the paint for this room today so hopefully painting will get started this weekend and you will see pics soon. I can't wait to see how it turns out!


The guest room is also a nice size but pretty basic for now. I have absolutely no vision for this room right now. Any ideas? Anyone? Anyone?



And finally MY ROOM! (My husband hates it when I call it that, hehehehe.) I have laid claim to the fourth bedroom. I plan to use it for all my projects & materials but I refuse to call it a craft room. To Martha Stuart for me. So the name is a work in progress. For now it is just "my room". I plan to design this room around a great yellow chair that I bought at my favorite local antique shop, which you will no doubt hear more about, for $20 and a lovely little lamp which was my grandmothers. Both are very country feeling so my challenge is to utilize paint and other accessories to tone down the country and make it feel more modern.


So that is the grand tour! I left out the basement because this space is officially my husband's and I'm scared to go down there :) Maybe one day he will decorate it and can contribute to the blog!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

But which sander do I need?

Ah yes, the age old question...which sander do I need? But lets first take a step back, do I even need a sander? If you plan to do any kind of refinishing or wood repairing at some point you will need to sand. If you are simply repairing scratches or small holes in wood you can easily do that with a hand sander, but if you want to re-stain or paint furniture you will need an electric sander for sure. Simple enough, until you walk into Home Depot and see 30 different options. So which one do you need?

The main types of sanders are a belt sander, a detail sander and an orbital / sheet sander. A belt sander is the heavy duty sander that looks like a small tank. It removes larger amounts of material faster, but can be an intimidating place to start.



A detail sander is smaller, often less expensive and great for getting in the nooks and crannies of a piece of furniture. This work can often be done by hand so this is where you have to decide how much sanding you are going to do. If you are only going to do one project then maybe this isn't necessary, but if you are going to take up sanding as your new hobby then spending the $30 - $40 on a detail sander is well worth it.

But the place to start is an orbital or sheet sander. An orbital sander is, yes you guessed it, round. A sheet sander is square. They are both great for your basic sanding needs. This is what I used to refinish the kitchen table! You want to pick one that you can easily hold in your hand. I stay away from cordless only because I never remember to charge the battery and this isn't something you need to walk around the house with. And it is also nice to get one with a bag that collects the dust (well collects some of the dust). Here is a pic of an orbital sander and the sheet sander I have - Makita Sheet Finishing Sander.




















There are also lots of different brands out there. So first decide how much you want to spend. Do a little research online before you go to the store. I usually plan to not buy the cheapest one, no matter how tempting it is, or the most expensive - no risk of that happening. I always go for the middle price range. Then I ask a sales person. Ask them what they use at home! They are usually honest about which brands are quaility and which will fall apart on you. Then pick them up. See which one feels better in your hands, not to mention which one looks prettier! And you are done...you just bought your first sander.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Busy Day

The presents have been opened, family has left and another wonderful Christmas has passed. OK, well I have to admit it wasn't the perfect Christmas...we all came down with the stomach flu and spent Christmas day in bed. But the rest of the week was wonderful and we will always remember the Christmas we had peanut butter & jelly for dinner!

Now today is a busy day putting the house back together, cooking the 16lb turkey that was still sitting in my fridge and getting back to work on projects. I went to ACE this morning to get started picking out colors for my daughters room. (A pic as a reminder...)




I am having a little trouble because the current wall color and carpet color put off a yellow hue in the room (you can even see it in the pic) and I am trying to avoid this from happening again. I already have a plan for the walls (my little secret) but before I get started I have to find just the right non-yellow creamy color so that you don't look like a fake tan gone wrong when you enter the room! Any colors out there you love?


Last night I also got started on another project, the kitchen table. I want a black pedestal table for our kitchen eating area. I think it will be just the right transition from the kitchen to the family room. But I just didn't want to spend the money on a new one, which pretty much means PROJECT! So I ventured out into the Craig's List world and made my very first Craig's List purchase, a gently used oak pedestal table for $150...such a steal!




If you have ever been nervous to buy something on Craig's List don't be. I was, but this was so easy! I knew what I wanted so I set up a search. I went back to it quickly each morning until just the right thing popped up. I emailed the seller, went and looked at the table, did a little haggling and brought it home a few days later. Easy as that, really!

The plan is to sand it, prime it and paint it black. Now this is all new to me but I have been reading up and I am confident I can take this on. My goal is to have it done by my daughters first birthday party, which only gives me two weeks! So I better get to work!


PS - I will share all the "how to" details of this project so you can do it at home.





Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas to All!

I hope everyone enjoys this wonderful time of year. It is such a blessing to share memories of the year with friends and family. Be safe, be happy and be full of all things holiday (including food!). I am looking forward to sharing a wonderful new year of design with you. Merry Christmas!


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

New Furniture

My husband and I set aside $3000 to buy the important pieces we knew we would need in our new house. As all the professionals say, you spend the money on quality staple pieces in the room and then you decorate around them. So that is what we did. We searched high and low for what we were envisioning in our minds and then we hit the jackpot. We were able to find everything at one store and they were having a 33% off sale! So we managed to get everything we needed for $2200! The furniture just arrived minutes ago and I can't wait to share it with you...

We bought two beautiful chairs for our study. (I don't really know what to call this room. It is the first room on the right when you walk in the front door. The last owners had a grand piano in it and nothing else. We have our great Pottery Barn corner desk, our antique Asian hutch and now these two wonderful chairs in the room. So any suggestions for a better name?)

But where was I...oh yes BEAUTIFUL chairs. These chairs are statement pieces. The fabric is bold and they are the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. It is clear to me that I am going to have to design the whole room around them.

Did I mention, my whole house is white. But once we get some color on the walls these will be amazing! Check out the fabric up close...


Next we were on the hunt for a TV console that didn't look like a TV console. I really wanted something that looked like a quality piece of furniture rather then a dorm room special. And let me tell you this was not easy to do, but finally we found it!


This piece has all the functionality we need and tons of character. It is made from reclaimed wood from a ship. The colors and detail are beautiful...



The final two purchases were a great leather ottoman to go in front of the couch and 3 bar stools for our kitchen counter. The leather ottoman is hopefully the push we need to stop eating dinner in front of the TV and actually make use of the kitchen table. One problem is I still have to refinish the kitchen table I bought on Craig's List...but that is a whole nother post :)



This is my dog Sammy's big debut. She really wanted to be in this picture.




We thought the bar stools blended the kitchen cabinet color and the black furniture we have throughout the room perfectly. We hope you agree!

Friday, December 17, 2010

The Mission Begins

The big move was a success! The weatherman's prediction of snow was wrong. The movers didn't totally ruin the white carpet, as I had stayed up for hours worry about the night before. And the furniture we do have worked better then I thought it would. But there was one casualty.

About a year ago I was at an art & wine festival with a girlfriend and I bought this great hand made, hand painted, one of a kind tissue box sized chicken. Yes, I said chicken. It was adorable, painted in bright colors and it totally made me smile. Now there may have been some wine involved in the purchase but I would never admit that to my husband.

Speaking of my husband, he totally hated the thing. He humored me when I displayed it on the kitchen counter top but he would never miss an opportunity to comment on it. (Mostly sarcastic comments, I should add.) Well, he was downstairs unpacking boxes this afternoon and claims that he found it broken in the box. The poor thing wasn't just slightly broken it was totalled. Now, I have no proof that suspicious activity was involved but I'm just saying I have my doubts about the story. Rest in peace little chicken...you will be missed.

Now, back to business. As soon as we get the boxes unpacked and the house cleaned up (anyone want an Everest sized mountain of paper?)




I will get to work posting pics of the house as it is now. And if you are curious about how it is now, the answer is white. White walls, white carpet...lots of white. Now don't get me wrong, I have lived in this house for 24 hours and already love it! The layout is perfect. The rooms are spacious but cozy. And the natural sunlight during the day is brilliant. We just need to spice it up a little bit, or a lot bit. The plan is to begin with the babies room, so here are a few pics "before" pics to get us started. Wish me luck!