March 11, 2013

Cottage Update: Kitchen 90% Done

Ugggg. I pulled my back out this weekend. I think the universe is trying to tell me I’m taking on too much. In preparation for my first house guests next weekend, I’ve been furtively trying to finish up the One Room Challenge early AND pull together the entire house. Too many rooms, too little time, money and physical strength. It ain’t gonna get done.

The idea of entertaining without things being perfect kinda tweaks me out. It’s hard sharing a design mid-process, whether it be on the blog, or in person. I’m fully aware that it’s my own expectations that are too high and my friends will not judge me so harshly. Ultimately, come Friday, I’ll let out a big sigh, pour a glass of wine and relax with my besties. But until then, its obsess, work, and spend my evenings making magic happen.

The good news is the kitchen is functional and 90% complete. My old cabinets are painted and in place, my island is assembled, my countertops are down and tools and food are put away. The dishwasher is broken, (thanks a lot, previous owners,) but at least the sink is working. I still have some finishing touches to do: lighting, hardware, stools, shelf styling,and the whole back wall. Overall though, it’s looking good and functioning well.

I did this kitchen on an extreme budget. The cabinetry, appliances, sink and faucet were re-used from the original kitchen. I hope to be able to upgrade in a few years, but at least I don’t have to live with ugly in the meanwhile. Isn’t it impressive what a coat of turquoise paint can do 80′s laminate cabinet doors? The paint is Benjamin Moore Deep Ocean.

Need I remind you what this wall used to look like?

PS- all you need is a good primer. Ask your paint specialist.

I did a mixture of open shelves and closed cabinetry on the sink wall. I have a great collection of glassware- mostly from my Nana- and I wanted to enjoy seeing it.

The shelf brackets are Ikea, sprayed gold. Still need to fill the screws.

The shelf below my wall cabinet is my mug shelf. I plan to only stock it with blue and white mugs. More on that soon.

For countertops, I did the cheapest thing possible; White Laminate. I like that its clean and simple- it’s not the focal point in this kitchen. Obviously laminate is not great function-wise. I can’t put down hot stuff and its not good to let water sit on laminate counters. Eventually I’d love to have quartzite counters, but for now, it’ll do.

The microwave looks a little lonely hanging out above the refrigerator. It was the best place for it as I definitely didn’t want it on the counter or above the stove, Still, I think I may need to add a shelf above it or utilize the height some how. Also, the dish strainer… the bane of the kitchen. Hoping to come up with something more chic, but at least it functions.

While my perimeter cabinets are blue, I decided to paint the island black. I think it helps the kitchen feel more classic and not too saturated or juvenile. The cabinet and the wood top are stock Ikea pieces. The feet are supposed to be stainless, but I spray painted them gold. The hardware will be brass. No stools yet, so I’ll share them on the next update.

I love this island! This is where I do the majority of my prep work. It has great storage. The wood top sucks though. It needs about two more coats of polyurethane.

From day 1 I knew I wanted my favorite pink and blue tribal rug (a vintage find at a local thrift store) in the kitchen.

Here’s my new range wall. I re-used all of my appliances but I did buy a new hood from Ikea. I love a black hood. Stainless was never an option for me. I don’t mind it for a range or even a refrigerator, but for the hood I wanted some clean and classic that didn’t compete with my brass and gold accents. Black is forever. Plus it goes with my island.

Did you notice there is no backsplash tile, just drywall.? Of course I’d love subway tile here, but it doesn’t make sense right now. Since this is a cheapo-temporary kitchen, we didn’t want to put it up and then rip it down in two years…and take all the new drywall down with it!

The DM team hung shelves in the deep window well. I haven’t organized this area yet. I think it will be a mix of snack in glass canisters, cookbooks, and a few plants. I love that everything here will be in easy reach, but won’t junk up the counter.

I have something special planned for the back wall, but right now its naked. I’m also saving my pennies to replace this door with a 15-lite glass door. This is the south side of the house and it gets great light. I want to brighten up the first floor and enjoy the view of my little back yard.

And that is the kitchen, so far.

I’m planning a post on storage and function soon.

What do you guys think?

See the floor plan HERE.

And full before shots HERE.

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Hood / Island / Wood Countertop / Cabinet Color (Blue)

March 4, 2013

The State of Things

Mornin’… Monday already? This was my first weekend living in the house. I expected a quiet weekend spent at home unpacking, nesting and relaxing. Unfortunately the social side of me won out again and I ended up out both nights and much of the days. How is a girl supposed to decorate and have a life?

Last night I pulled up all of the drop cloths to reveal my new wood floors. It was a exciting moment to see them in all their glory as they were covered up as soon as they were installed. Budget was a big factor here and I did quite a bit of shopping around to find a a suitable brown stain in my price range. I went with Mullican’s St Andrew’s series in Oak Dark Chocolate. The wood is prefinished and I did 3″ wide planks. We painted to the baseboard black for a little drama. I love the contrast of dark floors, dark base and white walls (BM Swiss Coffee.) I can’t wait to fill them with art!

first floor empty

That’s my new kitchen island you see in the back. More on that soon.

Things are really moving along, though and I have so much to share. It’s just a matter of photographing and deciding the best way to reveal spaces. This is where you guys come in. Do you like the weekly progression- similar to how I am sharing the One Room Challenge for the bedroom makeover? Do you want me to stick to one room at a time? What room do you want to see next? Or do you like random updates about everything? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I also just wanted to take a moment to address the state of this blog. In the past, I have done product round-ups and shown a lot of room inspiration on top of my own work. Recently, with business being so busy (thank goodness!) and the cottage renovation in full swing, the blog has pretty much been dedicated to Cottage updates along with an occasional project reveal. I simply cannot make the time to come up with other content. I hope you guys will forgive my singular focus. Actually, I hope you really enjoy it. Certainly when the Cottage is complete, I will return to a more well-rounded blog, but until then, this is what I can offer you.

Thanks, as always, for following along. Toodles…

living room before

The First Floor, Before.

See more of the original space here.

February 21, 2013

Cottage Update: 3rd Floor Lounge ready for its makeover

When it comes to the Cottage, I’m all over the place. Due to the One Room Challenge, I’m committed to finishing my bedroom, but after that I don’t really know what room I’ll do next. I don’t have the budget to do my living room properly right now, so instead I think I’ll focus on my 3rd floor lounge. I’m re-using pieces up there and its going to have a really loose bohemian feel.

My dad hung my string ball chandelier this week and I was just so excited I had to share a little snapshot.

string ball chandelier design manifest

Here’s how it used to look in the old loft. (Note about loft pictures- I’m still getting that page set up but you can see all loft related posts through this link or the tag on the left “Naomi’s Place.”)

dining room naomis loft image: Courtney Apple Photography

Also, if you missed it on instagram, here is the lounge all painted. Well actually the floor needs another coat, but you get the idea. Remember way back in October I was debating between refinishing the wood or painting it white? Well I went against what most of you voted for and did what I wanted. And I love it. With all the angles in one room I really just like the walls, ceilings and floors being the same. This is going to be where all the cool kids hang out.

3rd floor lounge painted white design manifest

PS- I must say that instagram is really my favorite form of social media. I’m so often on the run and don’t have time to compose long blog posts, but its really easy to share updates and pretties this way. If you don’t follow me, you really should. Wink Wink. (DesignManifest)

3rd floor 2

Let’s not forget where we started. Don’t miss that carpet one bit.

That’s all for me guys. Happy Thurzday.

February 20, 2013

One Room Challenge, Week 3: The Curtains

Dayum, Guys, I’m not going to lie: I impressed myself this week. With some serious help from my amazing mother, I took some simple white Ikea curtains, fuschia Greek key trim and made myself some custom window treatments for my bay window. I just love love love the way they frame the windows and soften the room. The white is the perfect crisp pop against the teal walls and the little bit of pink is both girly and tailored.

orc week 2 curtains

There are three windows in the bay and 4 curtains.

Yes, they are functional, but I may just use the shades.

orc week 3 curtains closed

The curtains have Greek Trim on both long sides, but not on the bottom.

(I felt that would be too busy.)

My mom sewed the trim. She is so awesome!

orc week 2 greek key curtain detail

Speaking of the trim, I’m OBSESSED!

I told you the room would be a little preppy and a little bohemian. This is one of my preppy touches.

orc pink trim detail

First of all, I need to say that I was totally inspired by this blog post by Emily A Clark. She also has bay windows and her curtains look fabulous. Armed with the information she shared, I headed to Ikea to buy curtain rods and bendable corner units to go in between windows. I went with the thinner rods in black. In my opinion curtain rods should always be thin and always be black. Finials at the end should be petite as well. I actually don’t have any ball finials yet, but I’ll probably add some to keep the ends of my curtains in place.

window components

Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the rods I used (it was the thinnest one) but above are the other components- brackets, rings and Racka corner units. The rings come with clips and hooks and I opted to use the hooks for a cleaner finish.

brackets

We used 4 brackets and then attached the three rods and two corner units.

windows with hardware up

For the middle curtains, I put half the rings on one side of the bracket and half on the other. This way I can open and close the curtains. Also, I used 7 rings per panel. I could have used 10, but I would have run out!

For curtains, I used Ikea Ritva. I absolutely love these curtains. They are 100% cotton and $25/pair. You really can’t beat that. Since this curtain comes in 98″ length, we also had to cut them and add a new hem. We used Stitch Witchery which is an easy no-sew option to shorten the hem. I won’t bore you with the details on that- I’m sure a million other crafty blogs have given that DIY.

curtain trim detail

I ordered 30 yards of THIS trim in deep pink from M&J Trimmings. (PS- for 6 panels I had JUST enough. I would recommend getting yourself an extra yard or two.) I ironed the panels and cut the trim into curtain length sections (plus 2″ to fold over edges) while my wonderful Mama did the heavy sewing. Had I done this alone it would have taken me days and been a crooked ugly mess. I’m very fortunate to have a helpful family. I could never do my DIYs without them!

orc week 3 curtains and nightstand

I did steam the curtain after I hung them, though I may go back again and hit the edges. See how they don’t lay totally flat? It bugs me, but its not too bad for a DIY.

I haven’t finished the set for the 4th window yet because I’m not super human and my mom had to watch Downton Abbey. I’ll share it if we finish it up. Or maybe I’ll just never share that wall again. I kid, I kid.

And that, my friends, was a busy week! Be sure to check in with my friends below.

Chattafabulous

Chinoiserie Chic

Classic Casual Home

the Cottage Mix

Cottage & Vine

Design Indulgence

Everything LEB

Hodge Podge

Kim Macumber Interiors

Little Black Door

Matters of Style

My Crafty Home Life

Nicole Scott Designs

Pacific Family Homes

Pawleys Island Posh

the Peak of Tres Chic

the Pink Pagoda

Powell Brower Home

Simple Details

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Coming Up Next Week:

Honestly I have no clue. I be tired. But I promise to pull something together

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Previous Bedroom Updates

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

February 13, 2013

One Room Challenge, Week 2: The Essentials

Here we are again, One Room Challenge! If this past week didn’t break me, then there is a good chance I’ll make it through this whole process. In the past 7 days I… flew back from Mexico, came home to a back-log of work, fought off a cold, painted my butt off and moved most of my belongings into the Cottage. Beginning my bedroom makeover on top of all of this was extremely daunting, but I’m just trying to break it down piece by piece, week by week.

Last week I painted the walls and came up with a design scheme, so this week was all about setting up the essentials- bed, shades, and nightstands. It feels so good to see the room to take shape!

Monday night we installed my new bed. It’s the high Malm from Ikea. I love the crisp white against my teal walls.

orc week 2 bed nighstand

For nightstands, I am re-using my Rast cabinets (also Ikea) that many of you may recognize from my loft. Yes, these are $30 unfinished wood cabinets that I hacked to black and gold perfection. These guys have been in storage for a year and I was so happy to see them again!! Please check THIS POST if you want to know more about these cabinets.

orc week 2 ikea nightstand rast

It’s important to me to have a good balance in my bedroom between organic elements and colorful elements. With my lacquer cabinets, teal walls, and white bed dominating one wall, I opted for natural woven wood shades on my windows. I like how they tie into the floor well and filter just the slightest amount of light through them. (No need for lining, which means they are prettier from the outside.)

orc week 2 woven wood shades bay window

The best part about the shades? Tops down, Baby! I love having light in the room while still having privacy. I absolutely detest bedrooms that have the blinds shut 24/7, so I splurged on these for my master. You can find them HERE. I chose Franca Walnut and I’m really happy with them.

orc week 2 shade detail

Since I will be using the adjacent room as a dressing room, (I know, I’m lucky!) I don’t plan to put a dresser in the bedroom. Instead, I want the room to have very few furnishings. I put my little carved wood console table near the slanted corner, and I plan to add a tree in front of the 4th window.

orc week 2 other corner