I love my husband.  Insert gratuitous picture here:

Wishy woo. I married him because of his body mind DIY abilities.  My grandmother constantly reminds me how lucky I am because he saves me so much money.  You know, in gigolo fees.  Oh yeah, and not having to hire a plumber, electrician, or general contactor during our house makeover. What can I say? He is multi-talented.

When I left to visit my family in the UK for 9 weeks, I left him a to-do list, written on some old whiteboard we had hanging around from my PhD days:

Ok, I didn’t expect him to do ALL of this stuff.  Just most some of it.  I thought of the list as a good way to focus his attention on specific projects around the house.  You see, I know my husband.  Over the past 10 years of being together, I think we both have a pretty good handle on each other’s great and not-so-great characteristics.  Rick tends to have a little bit of “need-a-bit-of-get-up-and-go-itis” (aka “my-get-up-and-go-has-got-up-and-gone”), coupled with a smidge of DIY Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.).  I wasn’t too concerned about the former – Rick usually likes to keep really busy while I’m away as it makes the time go faster. I was a little worried about the DIY A.D.D.  In the past, he has had a tendency to start new projects… and there are many around our house … rather than finishing old ones.  Seeing as we outlined our renovation goals for 2010, I thought it would be useful to focus his more-than-capable DIY skills on these projects, rather than starting a new one.

It was a great idea. In theory. 

Two days after arriving in the UK, he informed me that he was working on a surprise project.  I need to mention for anyone that doesn’t know us as a couple, typically I am the pragmatist and Rick is the creative dreamer.  So a new project can range anywhere from “surprise, I installed a new faucet!”  to  ”surprise, I ripped down the garage and am building a new 3 story extension!”.

So, needless to say the surprise project was  not on the previously mentioned to-do list.  After a few days of working on said project, he finally let me in on the secret.

Yep, he’s sanding and restaining our stairs! The orangey pine-ish (that’s a word, right?) color is being replaced with a lovely deep chocolate walnut-ish color.  And eventually those white wooden spindles will be replaced with wrought iron ones.

So far, he’s done most of the sanding and has stained the rails…

I think it’s going to look fantastic! When it is finished. So, I guess we’ve just added another project to our 2010 to-do list

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my mum here in the UK. That means I have been going shopping.  A lot.  And after visiting every single shop within a 100-mile radius from her home in Chepstow, I am starting to get a feel for the current shopping trends.  One thing I’ve noticed is that black and white seems to be “in”. The ol’ monochrome is cool. Wicked. Sweet.  Bangin’.  Slammin’. Totally dizzy makin’.

A quick googley of black and white decor brought up many inspiration photos, like this one courtesy of Laura Ashley:

The great thing about black and white decor is that it is an easy way to make your home look sophisticated, elegant and let’s not forget dramatic. It is versatile and can be the backdrop to a variety of styles and accent colors. The stark contrast and sleek lines make the room seem more orderly and clean, not to mention giving it an modern edge.

If you’re concerned about making too bold a statement with solely black and white decor, try incorporating an accent color: a photo on the wall, a pillow case or a few small accessories.  Another design tip to bear in mind when using a monochrome scheme – only use one or two items that are both black AND white. Have some pieces be only one color to avoid making the room look too busy.

Check out some of these fab black and white finds:

1. Graham & Brown Deauville Linen Canvas Art ($119), 2. Salton table lamp ($159.99)  3. Normann Swing vases (from £15), 4. Sophia wallpaper in Charcoal ($74.99), 5. Asterisk clock by George Nelson ($300), 6. Alberto Mantilla salt & pepper shakers ($30), 7. Coach House leisure chair (£366), 8. Modern Dose flower mirror ($615).

Do you have a favorite? Personally, I love that floral mirror and the chair/footstool, but they are way beyond my budget.  What is it they say? Champagne taste on a beer budget. Yep, that’s me.

For those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, today marks the summer solstice; the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year.  The weather in Chepstow this week is uncharacteristically good:

Maybe the UK might actually get a little summer weather this year?  Wonders will never cease.  Of course, it’s nowhere near the temperatures Rick is having in North Carolina…

You’ll notice that the current temerature in Bahama (22 degrees Celsius – about 72 degrees Fahrenheit) at 8am is about the same at 1pm in the UK. In other words, it’s gonna be a scorcher in North Carolina today.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you’re having a fabulous sun-filled day. Well, unless you are in the Southern hemisphere and today is your Winter solstice.  Or, if you’re in Eastern Asia and it’s currently night time. But hey, you get the idea.

A few weeks ago, I managed to score two free chairs on Craigslist.  

 

They have seen better days, hence the price tag.  Although the fabric is a little worse-for-wear in places, both chairs are structurally sound. When I return from the UK, I am planning on tackling my first furniture makeover by reupholstering these beauties-to-be.  I’ve been on the lookout for some graphic, punchy upholstery fabric to take these chairs from ugghh to aahh-mazing. But so far, I haven’t managed to find any fabric that I really love,  and that is in my price range.  Although I got the chairs for free, I’m too frugal (aka cheap) to spend hundreds of dollars on fabric.  Online fabric yardage guestimators suggest that I might need up to 7 yards of fabric per chair.  At up to 30 bucks a yard, that can get expensive really quickly. 

So, I’m wishin’, and hopin’, and thinkin’, and prayin’, planning and dreamin’ (name that tune!) to find some inexpensive but good quality upholstery fabric.  In terms of design, I’m looking for a modern, graphic and vibrant pattern (no stripes, not too heavy on the florals).   Just like Goldilocks, the pattern on the fabric has to be just right – not too big or too small (too small will make the chair look busy, and too large will make it disjointed). I’m not too fussy on the color, although I’m naturally drawn to teals/blues/turquoises, muted greens, black & white. 

Here are some of the fabrics I’ve come across that have caught my eye.  I’m not loving (just liking) these fabrics, but so far they’ve come closest to meeting my criteria: 

Source List:

1. “Passion” by Amy Butler
2. “Coriander” by Amy Butler
3. “Modern Floral” by funkyfabrix.com
4. “Bauhaus Ring” by funkyfabrix.com
5. “Verisimo Teal” by dunelm-mill.com

source list

source list

Have you come across any good online sites that sell modern, graphic and punchy upholstery fabrics for a good price?  Do you know of some great designers that might meet my meeellions of criteria?  Please spill the beans!

I’ve been promising to reveal our downstairs bathroom makeover for months weeks, and now the time is upon us!  The actual bathroom has been complete for a while, but I’ve just procrastinated in writing a post about it (on account of the millions of photos you’re about to see).  So, before I reveal what the bathroom currently looks like, let’s see how it used to look…

 

Yowza.  This is exactly what we saw on the day we first visited the house.  It’s amazing we didn’t run away screaming, don’t you think?  Fast forward to the day we moved in, with all the clutter removed, the bathroom revealed more of its potential…

Check out the sea-foam green wall paint, shell-shaped cultured marble vanity and green floral themed plastic mirror.  This bathroom was calling out for an update.

Just over a month after we moved in, Rick had demo-ed the bathroom, ripping out the vanity and toilet (which we offered for free on Craigslist and were snapped up within hours).  The wood floors had to come up as well because of the underlying rot…

The plumbing under the toilet was fixed, the missing floor joists were put back in and the sub flooring was reinstalled.  This gave us the basic canvas to start tiling with these large 18″ neutral-colored porcelain tiles… 

Whilst we were working on the walls, we decided to move the light switch closer the the door. 

For some reason, the previous owners had placed the light switch about 20 inches in from the door frame.  Meaning that short people like me had difficulty reaching the switch when entering the bathroom.  Rick removed some drywall and moved the switch much closer to the door.  As an added bonus, he changed the switch so it is now motion activated.  Whenever you enter the bathroom, the light automatically turns on.  After you leave the bathroom, it automatically turns off after about 1 minute.  Now we don’t have to worry about accidentally leaving the light on. Plus, we don’t have to worry about what kinds of germs might be on the light switch from unwashed hands.  So, this switch helps cleanliness and our electricity bill – score!

Next, we transformed a vanity we got for free on Craigslist…

… by painting it brown and installing new brushed chrome hardware, adding a new granite countertop, vessel sink and waterfall faucet.

Then we hit a snag.  A couple of the tiles developed small cracks running along the joint where the cement backerboard pieces met below the tile.  Although all the tiling was finished, we didn’t want to grout before this problem was solved. Solution?  To pull those tiles back up. It was a little disheartening to see all our hardwork being demo-ed again, but knowing that the tile would be set properly sans cracks made it worth it.

Once we tiled, again, we were ready to grout…

…and paint.  We also installed contemporary track lighting and ceiling molding to finish off the space.

A few decorative accessories and the bathroom was ready. And so here we are.  Finally. Here it is. The bathroom reveal…

The photo above shows the view as you enter the bathroom.  Below is a photo showing the opposite corner of the bathroom.

A shot of the madeover vanity:

Let’s see a close-up of that vessel sink and waterfall faucet.  As I mentioned previously, the faucet might eventually be changed to this one on account of the impossible-to-remove water stains on the glass.

Above the toilet are three photos depicting lighthouses on the North Carolina coast…

Opposite the facilities is a small magazine bin, so you can catch up with all your essential reading while you are … cogitating.

And here’s a close-up photo of the painting that adorns that wall.  It was the first gift I bought Rick on my very first trip to the USA.  The image ties in nicely with the lighthouse photos on the opposite wall and the color really pops against the gray-blue walls.

This is the new track lighting we installed to give the bathroom a more contemporary feel – gotta love that we found this on clearance at Lowes a couple of years ago for 10 bucks!  I also really like how the molding gives the whole bathroom a polished look.

So there you have it.  Our bathroom makeover. 

Let’s check out the before and after photos…

Rick and I are thrilled about this bathroom makeover.  The space seems a lot bigger and more contemporary after removing the large outdated vanity, installing tile and updating the paint and accessories. What do you think?  Do you like the transformation?  What’s your favorite part?

Following on from Monday’s design inspiration post for the spare bedroom, I started searching the Interwebs to find some nice bedding sets.  Let me preface this by saying I am not a big home decor shopper.  Shocker, I know (in fact, I’m not much of a shopper at all).  So, when I found myself perusing the web for hours some time, oohing and aahhing over duvets and pillows for the spare bedroom, I was a little surprised at myself.  

I managed to find a number of great contenders for the spare bedroom.  So I thought I’d share the eye candy (if you’re not into duvets, then please save yourself the time and don’t bother reading on!).  It’s been several years since I lived in the UK full time, so I was surprised to see that Next, a store that usually deals with fashion and clothing, has a home decor section too.  I spied a cool duvet set when I was out one day this week and made a mental note to check their selection online.  Helloooo my sweeties….

I love the turquoise blue and black combo of this duvet – it would fit nicely with the color scheme I have in mind for the bedroom. 

And talking of turquoise, this duvet had me at hello because of the eye-catching color…

Check out those cute ruffle cushions!  They seem to be in a lot of stores here in the UK, so I guess I’m on to a trend. I do have a hesitation with this bedding though – I’m not sure about all that white. With 5 dogs in our house, keeping white white is quite a task.  Although the duvet is destined to go in the spare bedroom (and therefore mostly a dog-free zone), I still wonder how difficult it would be to keep the white crisp and clear.  So that’s why this blue/black combo caught my eye…

Love it.  Especially with a few colorful pillows thrown on top.  But I also like the monchromatic schemes in these bedspreads…

I think the black & white combo is so versatile – you can literally pair these duvets with any color scheme, like the hot pink shown in the photos on the right.  The benefit of this is that you can swap bedding between bedrooms if the beds are the same size.  So satisfying when design, functionality and frugality come together!

And talking of pink, how about this piiiiiiiink bedspread?

Love the design.  In theory.  Not so sure about the shocking pink actually in situ.  I wish they did this design in another color – teal, turquoise or even black.

So, there you have it.  Which duvet above do you like the most?  Have you checked out the bed linen on the Next home decor site?  Is there another duvet that floats your boat?  Do tell.

When I win the lottery, find a sugar-daddy or some other quick get-rich scheme, I dream about having a fabulous outdoor living space out back. Picture a large multi-level deck …

with an outdoor kitchen…

a firepit/ bbq/ pizza oven …

and let’s throw in a free flowing waterfall for good measure. 

Don’t want much, do I?  Whilst all of those things might not be feasible, it is possible for us, one of these days, to build a moderately sized deck and create an open and welcoming outdoor living space. 

To get the most out of the deck, I figure you need to maximize the time you would spend using it.  So, that means not only during sunshine hours, but in the evenings too.  To do that, we need to shed some light.

We saw some of these small solar-powered deck lights on a DIY tv show.

You simply bore out a small hole where you want the light placed, pop it in and it sits flush to the deck.  The sun’s solar power charges the lights and they automatically switch on/off at dusk/dawn.  How simple is that?  Some deck lighting kits you can get are wired, whereas others are battery powered.  Accordingly, the prices online can vary widely: for example, you can get a set of 10 lights here for $144.99, but on this UK site, you can get a set of 6 for £29.99 (approx. $50.00 with current exchange rates). 

Although these deck lights aren’t on the same level of grandeur as the outside kitchen / firepit / waterfall, they are the first step towards creating a welcoming and usable outside living space.  Now I can’t wait to get started rebuilding our dilapidated deck!

Image sources: Large Deck  |  Kitchen  |  Fireplace  |  Waterfall  |  Moderate Deck  |  Lighted Deck

In addition to the master suite, we have three bedrooms upstairs.  Well, technically, at the moment we only have two spare bedrooms because one is in the process of being turned into a library (we eventually have plans to turn the attic into a guest suite).  When we have guests over to stay, we usually put them up in the guest room with the adjoining bathroom (this room has been dubbed the “Helen” room in honor of our first house guest, Prof. Helen Haste, last year).  However, this bedroom is no longer usable because of the air handler leak which damaged parts of the ceiling and floor of the Helen room (and not to mention completely trashed the bed!).

Since moving in last year, we haven’t really done much to the second spare bedroom (dubbed the “blood room” because of a dubious stain we uncovered when the carpet was removed). For the last year, it has remained largely in an empty state:

In preparation of sprucing up this room, I thought I’d whip up a little moodboard; some design inspiration if you will…

I’d like to paint the walls a lovely duck-egg blue, replacing the dark mocha color that we inherited in the room.  The duck-egg blue walls will be paired with rich chocolate furniture, and accents of turquoise and silver and a few contrasting pops of red.  I like the idea of having a muted black bedspread, but funking it up with some black and white sheets and some fun pillows.  I love the sleek design of the Hopen dresser from Ikea – it’s actually pretty large so offers plenty of storage space for the unmentionables.  Although this gorgeous leather turquoise chair is way out of budget, I think it is possible to find a similar, much cheaper alternative for this space.  I’m not 100% decided on the lighting for this room.  I really like the architectural lines of the Fillsta light from Ikea, but I am not sure I can quite picture it in the room. I like it, but do I love it?

I am excited to be getting to the fun design and decor aspect of our house makeover.  What aspects of this moodboard catch your eye?  How about that expensive turquoise chair? Are you liking or hating the blue/red color combo?

We’ve been making good headway with our renovation goals for 2010 (read about the goals here and how we are progressing here).  Lately, I noticed that the photo header that sits at the top of the blog is a little outdated and no longer reflects the changes we’ve been making throughout the house.  Here is the original header from when we bought the house and started the blog last year:

In the 3rd photo above we no longer have the outdated brass chandelier in the foyer, having swapped it  for a more modern chrome one last summer.  Similarly, in the 2nd photo above the fireplace in the front room is no longer brown, as it was primed and painted to within an inch of its life during one of our paint partays.  Plus, all that brown chair rail has been removed from the premises.

In short, it’s time for a header makeover.

The new photo banner shows a few of the changes we’ve been making round here lately.  The first photo gives a more comprehensive view of the entire house (taken on a blisteringly hot and stunningly clear blue-sky day).  The 2nd photo gives a view from below of the new foyer chandelier. The third photo shows our most recent acquisition – a steal of a deal found at Home Goods – this mirrored clock currently sits atop of the formerly brown fireplace in the front room.  And lastly, the vessel sink and waterfall faucet are an integral part of our downstairs bathroom makeover. The bathroom reveal will be made shortly – I promise (I know, I know.  I’ve been saying that for months, but I promise it’s coming s.o.o.n).

So there you have it.  A little blog makeover to represent our renovation progress.  I’ll be back with more posts next week. I’m back in the UK again visiting family, so although I am not at the house in the midst of projects, I’ve got a bunch of reveals to show you: the long awaited downstairs bathroom makeover, the dining room and its new trim boxes and the office reorganization. It’s going to be a before-and-after extravaganza.