House to Home Projects
I'm starting to get more confident with this home decorating thing. I'm sort of rug obsessed and buy them whenever they are a killer deal. Yes I live in California and it's hot most of the time, but I live half way up a mountainside so it's really cold in the winter and rugs are so comforting and insulating on these bare floors!!
So I guess I did the thing you are supposed to not do and bought items from the clearance rack. When I got them home nothing really matched...oops.
I am a novice at this, but since I've been working in a home goods store for over a year now I've been reading up on the subject and having to become a semi-expert...I'm far from that for sure. However I am learning and get to work with creative people who fuel me with ideas and opinions and talent!
A highlight of my year was when I lady brought in her husband to meet me.
" This is the girl who decorated our house, she helped me pick every thing out and it looks amazing." she said as she introduced me to her smiling husband.
It was so nice to hear that a young couple have started out in a place furnished in a way that makes their home inviting and comfortable to them and others. I remember her style was very Bohemian 70s & they were living in an older building with a lot of retro features. When the husband is smiling about the home furnishings you know you've done a good job!
Recently a man came in looking for rugs and he is in a 40s build and wanted some thing to complement the history of the place. We didn't have anything at the time that would work with his color scheme but it was fun helping him. Most of our customers have very pleasant things to say. I won't blast the mean ones here...really they are seldom and not worth the effort.
So my place has slowly been taking shape, our house had A LOT of thrift-ed furniture and family heirlooms that we are storing for the wider family...we were gifted a wonderfully solid dining set from an aunt, it even has extension panels. Now I know how much a dining set costs, I'm extremely grateful for the gift. It's lasted 3 generations of family members, we are the 4th! I love thinking our one day larger family will get to enjoy life over this wooden hub. My husband always has to eat at the dining table also, some of that is family tradition, some his height and needing to sit comfortably to eat.
Over the last few months I've been working on those house projects that turn a house into a home. Putting our own unique stamp on the furniture layout. One of the things I did was turn the china closet into a book cabinet. I really value my books over my china, so I bundled up the "nice glass ware and plates" (more hand me downs), and relocated the sensible glass door-ed wooden cabinet to the living room. This blog really got me thinking about our combined needs for a home to suit our personalities. I loved how she articulated the INTJs need and love of books and that I wasn't weird for valuing this in my home! I plan on adding some wall paper to the inside wall of the cabinet to make the books stand out from the wood overload that took over these foothill homes in the 50s and 60s.
Where the china cabinet once lived I put an accent chair and a homemade painting. We laid down a large area rug for the dining table to sit on and I reconfigured the clearance pillows so we have a very neutral, earthy slightly modern twist to our dining area. I'm saving up for a comfy storage bench that can be used as bench seating at dinner. The theme lends nicely to the sliding doors that overlook a creature laden front yard. Yes I bird watch ( I'm planning a BIG YEAR). We had a fox come through recently, we always have skunks ad racoons at night, but we do have a huge beautiful stag and his companions that travel through here. We have bushes they like to rest in and eat from.
My camera phone pictures do not do him justice, his antlers are amazing, I secretly hope he survives hunting season. That'll be tough round here, there are a lot of hunters in this region. These are people who know a lot more about these animals than I do, so I have no real opinion on what they do, but I enjoy seeing the animals in the wild. It makes me wonder about heaven and living side by side with the animals worshiping God.
Last week I finished up in the bathrooms, clearance bath mats and shower curtains, $1 store vanity trays and very functional cleaning stations. I redid these in the kitchen and bathroom and utility so all the supplies are easily accessible. Easily my favorite project!
The pantry got an overhaul with glass jar storage. Peeling off that nasty drawer liner paper and rearranging the shelving. My husband loved this so much, he likes to be in the kitchen and has his own Japanese knife and cutting board and sushi set?! I added a coral tray to the counter to put my plants in and go to snacks like fruit and crackers.
We are lucky to have a designated coffee/breakfast station. Everything from toaster to coffee maker are here pushed flush against the wall, because there is an over head cabinet we have to pull the items forward to use them, but instead of keeping them in cupboards we decided to leave them all out on the counter. Who has time in the morning for a fussy coffee station?! It's working well so far. I got mostly red appliances, so the kitchen doesn't really match the dining room at all and I've heard these two rooms are meant to have some consistency to give the space flow, but well, I'll have to work on that some how. They do feel like to spaces in two different houses right now..there is NO FLOW! I like the happy vibrant red in the kitchen though. As my least favorite place in the house I needed some color in there to make it warm and inviting. There is a lot of Union Jack and British items in the kitchen too, my aprons and tea towels remind me of home. The primary colors don't go so well with the earthy neutrals, but maybe turning the kitchen blues into green will help.
A few months ago we really worked hard on making my husbands office/spare room a cleaner more accommodating place. The bed still squeaks and the desk is far to huge for the room, but we moved the nightstands into our room as there were none in there, we adjusted the heavy wooden pieces, some went into storage others remained if they were functional. I added thin voile drapes to let in some light and more accent pillows! Ladies I have a man who loves pillows??! I know?! The rare unicorn that he is!
My little writing desk is in our bedroom, I organized it this last week, added filing trays for manuscripts and my closet makeover is working really well. I got a whole bunch of velvet hangers from Costco for $10...I love these things, nothing slips off them! They have changed my organizational life! I would gift them to everyone if they weren't such a lame uncreative gift! I do want to add a rug to this room, but so far this hasn't happened....it may never. What did get added was a canvas map of France. Seriously I love this piece of art so much. It's not overly Paris/Eiffel Tower French (you've seen those tacky Eiffel Tower decor items around), it's all vintage map Europe, there is even pieces of England and Spain on there. I got some Edison bulbs to lower the lighting in there too. It's obnoxious at night when your eyes have been in commercial building lighting all day to have those 60 watt CFLs blaring at you.
All the lamps in the house are old, they all need updating. It's a huge project in itself, especially as I'm learning about lamps and lighting and as the cost could rocket I'm holding back for now. The main change will be the dining room dropped pendant. It's dropped SO low we always bang out heads....the ceiling isn't high enough for that kind of style lighting....it's a pet peeve! I will need an electrician for that though. :(
I've not really touched the living room, the sofas, curtains and accent furniture needs to be overhauled. For now a small rug and accent pillows, a few cream sheets and some home made art are the band aids on this sad little room. I wanted to go with a Modern Southwestern theme in there, but my clearance pillows are really not going to work with that too well! So I'm still mulling over ideas for that room.
I haven't worked on the man closet yet, that is a project on hold. I really want him to be involved so it functions the way he needs it to, so I'm open to suggestions and ideas on this one!! Maybe I can coral his bestie to build him a closet organizer?
All in all though a lot of home updating has happened this 2014. I'm really happy with the changes and enjoying the current use of space.
So I guess I did the thing you are supposed to not do and bought items from the clearance rack. When I got them home nothing really matched...oops.
I am a novice at this, but since I've been working in a home goods store for over a year now I've been reading up on the subject and having to become a semi-expert...I'm far from that for sure. However I am learning and get to work with creative people who fuel me with ideas and opinions and talent!
A highlight of my year was when I lady brought in her husband to meet me.
" This is the girl who decorated our house, she helped me pick every thing out and it looks amazing." she said as she introduced me to her smiling husband.
It was so nice to hear that a young couple have started out in a place furnished in a way that makes their home inviting and comfortable to them and others. I remember her style was very Bohemian 70s & they were living in an older building with a lot of retro features. When the husband is smiling about the home furnishings you know you've done a good job!
Recently a man came in looking for rugs and he is in a 40s build and wanted some thing to complement the history of the place. We didn't have anything at the time that would work with his color scheme but it was fun helping him. Most of our customers have very pleasant things to say. I won't blast the mean ones here...really they are seldom and not worth the effort.
So my place has slowly been taking shape, our house had A LOT of thrift-ed furniture and family heirlooms that we are storing for the wider family...we were gifted a wonderfully solid dining set from an aunt, it even has extension panels. Now I know how much a dining set costs, I'm extremely grateful for the gift. It's lasted 3 generations of family members, we are the 4th! I love thinking our one day larger family will get to enjoy life over this wooden hub. My husband always has to eat at the dining table also, some of that is family tradition, some his height and needing to sit comfortably to eat.
Over the last few months I've been working on those house projects that turn a house into a home. Putting our own unique stamp on the furniture layout. One of the things I did was turn the china closet into a book cabinet. I really value my books over my china, so I bundled up the "nice glass ware and plates" (more hand me downs), and relocated the sensible glass door-ed wooden cabinet to the living room. This blog really got me thinking about our combined needs for a home to suit our personalities. I loved how she articulated the INTJs need and love of books and that I wasn't weird for valuing this in my home! I plan on adding some wall paper to the inside wall of the cabinet to make the books stand out from the wood overload that took over these foothill homes in the 50s and 60s.
Where the china cabinet once lived I put an accent chair and a homemade painting. We laid down a large area rug for the dining table to sit on and I reconfigured the clearance pillows so we have a very neutral, earthy slightly modern twist to our dining area. I'm saving up for a comfy storage bench that can be used as bench seating at dinner. The theme lends nicely to the sliding doors that overlook a creature laden front yard. Yes I bird watch ( I'm planning a BIG YEAR). We had a fox come through recently, we always have skunks ad racoons at night, but we do have a huge beautiful stag and his companions that travel through here. We have bushes they like to rest in and eat from.
My camera phone pictures do not do him justice, his antlers are amazing, I secretly hope he survives hunting season. That'll be tough round here, there are a lot of hunters in this region. These are people who know a lot more about these animals than I do, so I have no real opinion on what they do, but I enjoy seeing the animals in the wild. It makes me wonder about heaven and living side by side with the animals worshiping God.
Last week I finished up in the bathrooms, clearance bath mats and shower curtains, $1 store vanity trays and very functional cleaning stations. I redid these in the kitchen and bathroom and utility so all the supplies are easily accessible. Easily my favorite project!
The pantry got an overhaul with glass jar storage. Peeling off that nasty drawer liner paper and rearranging the shelving. My husband loved this so much, he likes to be in the kitchen and has his own Japanese knife and cutting board and sushi set?! I added a coral tray to the counter to put my plants in and go to snacks like fruit and crackers.
We are lucky to have a designated coffee/breakfast station. Everything from toaster to coffee maker are here pushed flush against the wall, because there is an over head cabinet we have to pull the items forward to use them, but instead of keeping them in cupboards we decided to leave them all out on the counter. Who has time in the morning for a fussy coffee station?! It's working well so far. I got mostly red appliances, so the kitchen doesn't really match the dining room at all and I've heard these two rooms are meant to have some consistency to give the space flow, but well, I'll have to work on that some how. They do feel like to spaces in two different houses right now..there is NO FLOW! I like the happy vibrant red in the kitchen though. As my least favorite place in the house I needed some color in there to make it warm and inviting. There is a lot of Union Jack and British items in the kitchen too, my aprons and tea towels remind me of home. The primary colors don't go so well with the earthy neutrals, but maybe turning the kitchen blues into green will help.
A few months ago we really worked hard on making my husbands office/spare room a cleaner more accommodating place. The bed still squeaks and the desk is far to huge for the room, but we moved the nightstands into our room as there were none in there, we adjusted the heavy wooden pieces, some went into storage others remained if they were functional. I added thin voile drapes to let in some light and more accent pillows! Ladies I have a man who loves pillows??! I know?! The rare unicorn that he is!
My little writing desk is in our bedroom, I organized it this last week, added filing trays for manuscripts and my closet makeover is working really well. I got a whole bunch of velvet hangers from Costco for $10...I love these things, nothing slips off them! They have changed my organizational life! I would gift them to everyone if they weren't such a lame uncreative gift! I do want to add a rug to this room, but so far this hasn't happened....it may never. What did get added was a canvas map of France. Seriously I love this piece of art so much. It's not overly Paris/Eiffel Tower French (you've seen those tacky Eiffel Tower decor items around), it's all vintage map Europe, there is even pieces of England and Spain on there. I got some Edison bulbs to lower the lighting in there too. It's obnoxious at night when your eyes have been in commercial building lighting all day to have those 60 watt CFLs blaring at you.
All the lamps in the house are old, they all need updating. It's a huge project in itself, especially as I'm learning about lamps and lighting and as the cost could rocket I'm holding back for now. The main change will be the dining room dropped pendant. It's dropped SO low we always bang out heads....the ceiling isn't high enough for that kind of style lighting....it's a pet peeve! I will need an electrician for that though. :(
I've not really touched the living room, the sofas, curtains and accent furniture needs to be overhauled. For now a small rug and accent pillows, a few cream sheets and some home made art are the band aids on this sad little room. I wanted to go with a Modern Southwestern theme in there, but my clearance pillows are really not going to work with that too well! So I'm still mulling over ideas for that room.
I haven't worked on the man closet yet, that is a project on hold. I really want him to be involved so it functions the way he needs it to, so I'm open to suggestions and ideas on this one!! Maybe I can coral his bestie to build him a closet organizer?
All in all though a lot of home updating has happened this 2014. I'm really happy with the changes and enjoying the current use of space.
I loved reading this. I could "see" all of it in my mind's eye from your clear descriptions. I'm missing having my own home right now so this was inspirational and fun to read! :)
ReplyDeleteI was nervous to start doing anything, but a little goes a long way...it's good to remember! On our budget mixing thrift store with a few newer pieces is working ok...and if time up cycling items can be a lot of fun.
ReplyDelete