The New Light

As promised, here's a picture of our new family room light.  

My husband also put up the medallion which this room was lacking.

And, here's the fireplace mantle in place.  We bought the mantle off of Craigslist.  It was taken from a house that was built in 1893, the same year as our house.  The mantle (and the trim) still need a couple coats of paint, but it's definitely coming along.

And here's the room. You  get a glimpse of the paint color.  It looks so pale in pictures.  It is very soft in the room so we're going to have to punch up the color with the rest of the decor. I was a little unsure about the light (and still am a little) since it's so modern.  It's growing on me though and it gives out a lot of light which I love.  I'm blind as a bat and need as much light as possible.  My husband, on the other hand, must have emanated from a cave because he hates too much light.  I see a dimmer in our future.  

Color Pariahs?

My husband and I used to watch "Trading Spaces" back in the day when it still aired.  I remember watching when the designer du jour would unveil the paint color that was to go up in the room.  Most of the time we would cringe and think that the chosen color was hideous.  By the end of the show (usually, but not always)  we'd have to pick our jaws up off the floor in amazement of how the room came together.  I learned from that show to reserve my judgement until I could see everything put together.  A lot of times I dismiss something without seeing the bigger picture.

I've been thinking about this since I posted about the color purple.  Poor purple got a somewhat lukewarm response.  Certain colors are definitely not for everyone, but I've found that some colors that I thought I hated have actually looked good  when I've seen them in a room.  I thought it would be different to pick some colors that aren't necessarily popular and see if I can find pictures where the color works.  I may not make believers out of you (or me), but It might be interesting.  Sometimes it's good to revisit things instead of completely ruling them out.  

I'll start.  I hate the color peach, even though peach and I have an extensive history.  My childhood rooms consisted of either peach and green or peach and seafoam green.  Ick!  Of course at the time I loved it. It probably was an "in" color back in the "Miami Vice" days of my youth.  It certainly hasn't been on the most popular list in a looong time though.

So here goes.

Peach as the headliner?

traditional staircase design by new york photographer Vanni Archive

eclectic home office design by boston interior designer Amanda L. Reid

traditional living room design by seattle home staging Andrea Braund Home Staging & Design

traditional dining room design by newark interior designer Maureen Fiori, AKBD, Allied Member ASID, CAPS

Marshall Watson

House Beautiful- Barry Dixon

Or peach in a supporting role?

modern spaces design by san francisco interior designer Kendall Wilkinson Design

via Luster Interiors-Jay Jeffers

kids design by los angeles interior designer Elizabeth Dinkel

eclectic bedroom design by little rock interior designer Tobi Fairley

contemporary bedroom design by austin interior designer PPDS

traditional hall design by dallas design-build Hull Historical

Source: designspongeonline.com via tulips on Pinterest

Decorpad

This last one is giving me flashbacks.  Maybe peach really is best for a girl's room.  

So, any takers?  My favorites are the bookshelves and the bathroom picture. I'm also kinda loving that non-peach chair in the Tobi Fairley design.    I think that, for me, a little bit of peach goes a loooong way, and I definitely lean more towards the darker rather than the paler peaches.  I'm going to remain open minded, however.  I don't know if I'm going to allow peach back into my life anytime soon but I'm not ruling it out completely.  

Do you have a color that you can't envision working in a room?  You can't pick purple though.  I gave that my best effort.  If you don't like it after seeing the pictures I posted then you just don't like purple;)  

Welcome To My Historic Hood

This last week was completely unproductive in the house.  My husband was out of town and I don't have anyone to watch my boobear while I tackle projects.  So not too much to report, unfortunately.  I did buy a light for the family room which is a huuuge accomplishment.  I've been looking for one for a couple of months and just couldn't come up with anything that I really liked.  It's hard to try to be true to the style of the house and still get what you want.  I decided that, yes, my house is almost 130 years old, but it's not a historic museum so I'll make a conscious effort to get some period looking pieces but I'm not going to stress over it.  Sorry, that was a bit long-winded.  Anyway, I haven't put the light up yet so I'm still not even sure if I'll actually like it once it's hung.  I'll try to get my husband to do that this week and post pictures.

Instead of working in the house, boobear and I just had fun together.  It's been raining and gray here lately so when  "Mr. Golden Sun", as my daughter refers to it,  made an appearance this weekend we were thrilled to get outside and go for a walk in our neighborhood.  I thought I'd bring the camera along and take some pictures of some of my favorite homes in the hood.

I love this old victorian.  It has 14 fireplaces!  I've been in it and it practically is a museum.  There is not one square inch of the walls that isn't covered with some type of art.  And, the owner is a former librarian who has more than 10,000 books (literally) in the house.

My favorite roof in the neighborhood.  I've seen pictures of the inside of this house.  It's basically my dream home except for the fact that there is no garage.  Very common in my neighborhood and the reason why we moved.

This house used to have the largest wrap around porch I've ever seen.  I wish they'd bring that back.

This is my all time favorite in the hood (although this is probably the worst picture I took).  I love the black shingles, and the stone which is marble.  Yes, marble.  It would cost a fortune to build this house today.  An opera was written in the house and President Taft had dinner here.  How awesome is that?

Historic homes are so incredible.  They just don't make them like they used to.  All the old houses here are triple brick.  I think today they just use a brick facade.  And there's just so much character and charm.  On the other hand, they can be soooo painfully high maintenance.  Charm comes with a price tag...in this case it may very well be my sanity. 

Simple Ideas For Wall Art

A house isn't a home until something goes up on the walls. Needless to say, our house is still a house.  We actually have a lot of paintings since my husband's friend is an artist.  We were able to get some awesome pieces (before he made it big).  Our "new" house is bigger than the last one, however, and we've got a lot of walls to fill which got me thinking about how to be creative.  Art can be expensive, but it doesn't need to be.  I think there are a lot of ways to get great looking art without breaking the bank.  Here are some examples  that anyone could pull off.

traditional living room design by austin architect Hugh Jefferson Randolph Architects

How cool is this?  They used ceramic tile as art.

contemporary bedroom design by san francisco interior designer Dara Rosenfeld Design

Got shells?

eclectic dining room design by boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors

Pieces of wood stained or painted and arranged on a wall.  Simple yet makes a statement.

contemporary living room design by other metros media and blogs Busy Bee's blog

I love these framed scraps of wallpaper.  You could use scraps of anything really...wrapping paper, scrapbook paper or...

How about DVD covers?  Lisa from Trapped in North Jersey came up with this ingenious idea for her little boy's room.  Love this.

eclectic bedroom design by other metros media and blogs Heather {The Lovely Cupboard}

  Paint samples cut into triangles.  How do people come up with this stuff?  So creative.

eclectic bedroom design by little rock interior designer Tobi Fairley

Stenciling a canvas.  I'm not sure which I love more...the stencil or the furniture.

eclectic bathroom design by new york interior designer Nirmada Interior Architectural Design

How about a nice collection of plates.  Pretty sure these plates weren't inexpensive though.  Also, is it weird to have plates in the bathroom? I guess if they're decorative rather than functional.  Just a thought.

modern living room design by boston architect Studio One-Off Architecture & Design

Fabric on canvas.  Great idea.

eclectic hall design

Fabric covered pieces of wood.  I love these colors.

traditional home office design by seattle architect Bosworth Hoedemaker

Framing maps as artwork.

asian staircase design by san francisco interior designer Michael Merrill Design Studio, Inc

Twig art.  Ok, I think this one is probably a little more difficult than it looks.  Anyone want to try it?

modern media room design by other metros interior designer Charline Lancel

Kidding!  I think this is pretty cool looking though.

contemporary laundry room design by other metros media and blogs Atypical Type A

How cute is this?

eclectic living room design by vancouver media and blogs The Locker

I've seen this done before.  Love the fan.

eclectic kitchen design

Wine corks...sprayed gold?  That's a lot of wine!

Source: 5isthemagicnumber.blogspot.com via Jack on Pinterest

Source: igobykatie.com via Shannon on Pinterest

What about a wall of mirrors?

Source: simpleblueprint.typepad.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: casasugar.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Picture frame art anyone?

Or, how about buying a prestretched canvas and some paints and have at it.  Art can be whatever you want it to be.  Just have fun with it.

I have a feeling some of these ideas might find their way onto my walls. Do you have any favorites?     

I'll Be Stenciling

So the powder room tile is in.

Ignore the icky yellowish trim.  That's going away.  So now that the tile is in I can truly appreciate how little wall space there really is.

Yep that's pretty much it except for the wall with the door which I couldn't take a picture of since the room is so miniscule.  I had my heart set on wallpaper, but I just can't justify buying the minimum 2-3 rolls that most companies make you buy for a room that would be good with probably 1/2 a roll.  C'est la vie.  So it's stenciling for this room.  Now to figure out which one.  Here's what I like:

via designinspiration.typepad.com

The Willow Pattern from The Stencil Library.  I think it's pretty, but my husband hates it with a capital H.A.T.E.  He doesn't get chinoiserie at all.  I may have to override him on this one;)

Source: etsy.com via Natalie on Pinterest

The Small Corsini Damask from Royal Design Studio

via etsy.com

And last, but not least,  the Butterfly and Peony stencil, also from Royal Design Studio.  This is the top contender since this is the only one that we can agree on.

I thought it would be easy to find a stencil for the room.  I was soooo wrong.  There are some really nice ones available, but my husband is being Mr. Picky and has vetoed somewhere on the order of 99.9% of the ones that I like.  

Then I was thinking that I might try to freehand some design on the walls.  And returning back to reality...stenciling it is.  

I still have to do something with the trim.  When that's done I'll tackle the stencil...when and if I can pick one. 

Painted White Or Stained Trim?

I've been a painting fool this past week, with the kitchen and trim.  We've also been replacing some of the rotten/gross baseboard and casement moulding in the hall and family room with fresh new wood.  It's gotten me thinking about how to finish the wood trim.  I've always preferred crisp white trim, but stained wood can be very attractive as well. What do you prefer?  White trim?

traditional living room design by portland interior designer Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

traditional entry design by charleston architect Wayne Windham Architect, P.A.

contemporary bedroom design by san francisco design-build Urrutia Design

contemporary bedroom design by minneapolis interior designer Martha O'Hara Interiors

traditional family room design by dallas design-build Hull Historical

Or do you like stained trim?

traditional hall design by charleston architect Frederick + Frederick Architects

traditional kitchen design by chicago kitchen and bath Rebekah Zaveloff

contemporary hall design by san francisco architect Noel Cross Architect

contemporary living room design by new york architect David Howell Design

eclectic family room design by new york architect Neuhaus Design Architecture, P.C.

I'm painting our trim white but some of the pictures of the stained trim are awfully beautiful.  Maybe next house...kidding!