The Sprayer is Getting Good Use

After the wall were done, we got busy putting the sprayer in to more good use...Here's a peak on what we've been working on.

Yup, spraying down all the base boards and trim in a nice, white, semi-gloss paint! We picked out a large, flat, base board to add a bit of a modern touch to our some-what traditional house. Basically, we just stole the idea from my brother, whose house we can all only dream of owning one day! I'll share some better pictures once we install them.

In other news, it's moving day! (We thought this day would never come.) Here's to 2012 in our first home! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! 

Oyster Shell...AKA: The Color We Finally Agreed On

Micah's holiday gift to me may have not excited most women, but I did a little happy dance when I saw it....

  

It's hard to tell with the cute bow, but it's a paint sprayer.

Oh, the projects we can do! Of course, we put it in to good use right away, painting the walls and finally, yes finally, finishing them! Each time we painted, my contractor husband kept seeing minor imperfections he had to patch, which led to three more coats over the compound. Frustrating!

By the way, I don't think I shared with everyone the paint color we finally agreed on for the house. This was such a point of contention between Micah and I, but our deal is to always find an agreement, and it always turns out that our compromise is the best choice!

I really just wanted white walls. I thought that white would be bright and open up the space and I was afraid that any color would close the house in. Also, in a living space that is constantly changing, I prefer to have a neutral backdrop with constant-changing accessories. Micah was gung-ho for beige (also neutral.) After several, and I mean several, swatches we agreed on Oyster Shell by Gliddon:

We then had the shade reduced by 25%. I'm stoked because in the light, it appears white, unless you look at the trim, which is a bright white. So while my kids were doing this (they have been such good sports with this whole house renovation!):

I was busy painting the ceiling where the paint had infiltrated due to the back spray of the sprayer.

My husband was spraying the walls away for a final product that looked like this:

We are having the placed cleaned today and painting, and installing, the trim tomorrow! It's all coming to an end and our projected move-in day for this Saturday is looking good!

Master Bath Motivation

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday! We spent a week in the Keys and got some much needed R&R. This whole house business has utterly consumed us, and as much fun as its been, its become our kryptonite. We hope, let's cross our fingers, that we start moving in this Saturday. (We'd really like to avoid paying an extra months rent.) Now that means two things 1. We will be moving in without a kitchen and 2. We will be moving in without the master bath completed. We'll make due though. We have one entirely functioning bathroom and there is also a small bathroom off the pool. The kitchen, well that will pretty much suck, but we do have plans of putting together a make-shift kitchen to tide us over. 

So let's focus on the master bathroom. It has come a long way since we first purchased the house.

We started out with a tiny little space and thoughtfully came up with the idea to remove two small closets, which then enlarged the bathroom considerably.

We got the idea for the shower nook from this picture:

So, you are probably sitting at the edge of your seat wondering with anticipation what in the world we have planned for this little space. Sadly, we are still in the early planning stages of this project. Here are some inspiration pictures that we are referencing...

I love the simplicity of this bathroom. What we hope to take away from this, is the open vanity.

I love this color scheme, and I also love the little storage nook built in to the wall. We plan on doing something like that in the shower to house all of our cleansing necessities. If I could, I would splurge big time on that vanity. It's from Restoration Hardware and comes with a hefty price tag...

You can own one of these lovely stainless steal and Cararra marble vanities for $2000. Uh, yeah, that is three zeros after that two. I have searched and searched, to no avail, to find a similar vanity. If anyone has seen one, please let me know!

And there it is again, taunting me! Other notable items in this bathroom are the marble tiles and the built-in look of the tub.

That mirror is gorgeous! Much too big for our master bathroom. The vanities are great, and are very craftsman.

 This is such a bright bathroom! We are considering using subway tiles too.

Micah was really attracted to two things in the above bathroom. The first was the floating vanities, and the second was the gray tile.

We liked the idea of closing in the shower and creating a door, but we haven't committed to this idea. 

Another floating vanity that Micah loves.

All in all, we are struggling with making one decision. Whether to tile all the bathroom walls, or just the shower area. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated! 

So back to our ideas for the master bath. While at our favorite flooring store, Floors and Decor, I snapped this shot and sent it to Micah:

It was pretty much love at first sight. I knew that Micah really wanted the floors to be gray and I thought it would be a nice compliment to the gray walls in our bedroom. We've committed to this tile and are stoked to put it down. Now the white Cararra marble tiles are me just dreaming. I would LOVE to have these installed in my bathroom, and heck, I would take it just in the shower. At $12 a square foot though, it would cost us about $1000 to just tile the shower! A girl can dream though.

As for the vanity, we are still looking around for something affordable,  but we are considering building one. Here is our inspiration:

We think we could bust one of these babies out for cheap. We both love how open it feels, while still providing some space for knick- knacks.

So seriously, what do you guys think, tile the entire bathroom or just the shower?

Pantone's Color of the Year.....

Every year, Pantone announces their predicted color of the year. This year, its......

 

Tangerine Tango, or what most of us would call red-orange, burnt- orange, or orangish red. Pantone describes this as "an orange with a lot of depth to it. Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy." 

It's remarkable how much influence Pantone's announcement has on the fashion and home-design world.  Who knows what else will be influenced by this prediction. Will we all be wearing orange eye shadow this spring? Will my iPhone case be blinged out in tangerine? Will my kids be crying until they get their hands on burnt-orange sneakers? 

Last year's color was a lovely pink, coined Honeysuckle:

Pantone's color choices are quite bold, and I can see using them as accents in a room, but an orange room just doesn't do it for me (neither does a bright pink one for that matter.) I mean, for a little while I would love it, but I prefer a clean, classic look that doesn't go out of style.

Here are some Tangerine inspired rooms I found that I did like:

OK, so this room isn't exactly using the color Tangerine Tango, but it is making use of the color combination quite nicely. I love those tufted chairs and that coffee table rocks the house. Um, check out those windows! Are they bifold or are those Nana windows?

Bold. Enough said. My sister-in-law has that owl umbrella stand and I just adore it. Not sure how I feel about the two-tone effect going on in the back room though.

I really, really, really like this bedroom. Everything from the use of colors, the mixture of patterns, the headboard, the black lamps, I could go on and on. Micah would never go for it, but I could see it being an adorable guest room.

I spy both last year's and this year's Pantone colors!

Gotta love the use of complimentary colors! Orange and blue (go Gators!) Check out those baseboards! We are doing something very similar, just without the decorative molding on top.

Here are some house-ware options using Panetone's color of the year, for those of you bold enough to venture out of the "neutral zone."

Parlour Chair, $699

Pouf,$89.95

ARC Chair $349

Martini Side Table, $129

Biscuit Tin, $9

Jonathan Adler acrylic tray, $79

Flecked Striped Sheet Set, $268

Madeline Weinrib

Urban Outfitters decal, $49

Wise Ol' Owl Canister, $128

Dalloway Arm Chair, $1098

Scroll Headboard, $450

So what are your thoughts on Panetone's color choice this year? Do you see it being a hit? Do you plan on using it in your home?

The Floors Are Done!

We have finally finished all the floors in the house! Micah and I worked on the master bedroom this week....

You are probably looking at these pictures and wondering what the heck the little blue pieces of tape are doing on the wall. Well, after we painted two beautiful coats of Heavy Goose on the wall, we noticed some imperfections ("some," might actually be an understatement.) It wasn't only in this room, but nearly every room in the house!

We're the kinda folks that believe, if you put this much work in to something, you better do it right! So we are having to skim these babies and then off to yet another coat of paint. I'm crossing my fingers I will be able to get away with just spot painting.

This house has been a labor of love, and obviously there were some things we just couldn't do, but doing everything that we could, really has paid off. Here's a little break down of what we've saved:

         

         Demolition                                   $500       

         Painting the ceiling and the entire house    $1800

         Labor to lay down the wood floors            $2400                 

         Total Saving                                 $4700

If you add in trim installation, which we will tackle after Christmas, that grand total is really $5700! Now that's money going to our kitchen fund!

Well, we are off to a much needed week long vacation in the Keys. Wishing everyone a happy holiday!

There's Always Option B

I have been doing some serious window shopping on the web. Not that I can afford anything right now (my pockets are feeling very light ever since renovations started.) What I have found though, is that nearly everything has an option B (except for that pesky Jenny Lind bed...more on that here.) Here are just a handful of examples on how you can easily find a cheaper version of anything.

Overstock - $227

Walmart - $129

This is the bed I mentioned in a previous post. Exact same bed, nearly a $100 difference!

Restoration Hardware - $2095

Home Decorators - $469

I love Restoration Hardware, but all their stuff is so darn expensive! While browsing for a bathroom vanity for the master bath, I found a very similar vanity at Home Decorator's for almost $1500 less! It even has an extra shelf. I am not digging this for me, but it's a great bargain regardless!

Crate and Barrel - $1659

Home Decorators - $799

Love the juxtaposition of the reclaimed wood and the metal legs! Loving that the Home Decorators dining table is half the price.

Room and Board - $424

Overstock - $145.53

What a deal. At Room and Board, you can get your hands on just one of these classic white Eames chair for $424, or you can head on over to Overstock and pick up two of them for $145. I actually have these chairs and I can attest that they are great quality chairs.

Room and Board - $799

Walmart - $159

Here's the bed I featured in my mood board for the bedroom. I found the same exact Parsons style bed al Walmart. for way cheaper. 

Madeline Weinrib - $1000

Overstock - $155

I have been coveting the Madeline Weinrib zig zag rug for years. But I am just too cheap to drop a G on a rug. I am totally planning on getting the Alexa Chevron rug though, either for my room, or the kids. 

Room and Board - $440

Home Decorators - $129

Love the metal chair, hate the price tag. In comes Home Decorators, yet again, knocking off a few hundred dollars from the price tag.

You do have to be careful about the quality, but in situations like the white twin bed, it's a no brainer!