Crushing on...

I was organizing my photos tonight and found these pics from our trip to Boston last summer.

Oh, and a photo of our (formerly a) kitten, Ollie.

Did my heart good, it did...

Don't photos of your family just make you swoon?

Colour ME Happy!!!

{me & maria}

We got a visit from Maria Killam of Colour Me Happy this week!!!  Maria flew down to DC (really Virginia) from NYC this week and we had such a great time!  Maria is everything she seems on her blog and more: super-stylish, quick-witted, thoughtful, frank and so much fun.   She's continually looking to grow & learn and is a natural teacher.  This may sound cheesy, but she's a very wise, self-aware person.  . 

 I got to go on a Colour Me Happy color consultation to see her in action and (of couse!) she's so good.  I have no doubt her client will be thrilled with the results.  She also picked out some colors for me at our house for when we get to those rooms!!  yayyyy

{the perfect little turquoise vase she brought me}

Maria also filled me in on the latest color trends and one of my favorite descriptions was "Pretty Ugly."  Click here to read more about it.   I also learned that I'm totally in the stoneage as far as technology goes and have a lot of things to learn like twitter, snaggit and windows live writer.  Maria is so generous with info and I have a mental checklist of all the things I need to get on like a Pure Style Home facebook page, etc.  Anyway, it was awesome to meet another amazing blogfriend and we can't wait to see her again!!  She's amazing!!

xoxo,

lauren

Colour ME Happy!!!

{me & maria}

We got a visit from Maria Killam of Colour Me Happy this week!!!  Maria flew down to DC (really Virginia) from NYC this week and we had such a great time!  Maria is everything she seems on her blog and more: super-stylish, quick-witted, thoughtful, frank and so much fun.   She's continually looking to grow & learn and is a natural teacher.  This may sound cheesy, but she's a very wise, self-aware person.  . 

 I got to go on a Colour Me Happy color consultation to see her in action and (of couse!) she's so good.  I have no doubt her client will be thrilled with the results.  She also picked out some colors for me at our house for when we get to those rooms!!  yayyyy

{the perfect little turquoise vase she brought me}

Maria also filled me in on the latest color trends and one of my favorite descriptions was "Pretty Ugly."  Click here to read more about it.   I also learned that I'm totally in the stoneage as far as technology goes and have a lot of things to learn like twitter, snaggit and windows live writer.  Maria is so generous with info and I have a mental checklist of all the things I need to get on like a Pure Style Home facebook page, etc.  Anyway, it was awesome to meet another amazing blogfriend and we can't wait to see her again!!  She's amazing!!

xoxo,

lauren

Welcome to your next stop on the Parade of Homes!

I was so honoured when Andy at Poppies at Play asked me to be involved in her Parade of Homes Tour. There are some very beautiful homes being featured, and I hope my little house can keep up! Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of the post so you can be directed to the next house on the parade.

Let the tour begin!

************************************

Welcome to our home!

We live in a back-split bunglaow/rancher which we built in the summer of 2006. It is the fifth house we built, and much of it was done by us. We don't shy away from DIY projects, which is a good thing since our budget doesn't usually allow us to hire out that which we can do ourselves.

I hope you enjoy the tour. It is always a work in progress as we think up new ways to improve and make the most of our living space, both inside and out.

Our Kitchen:

Dining Area:

Living Room:

Master Bedroom:

Main Bathroom:

Reading Nook:

Laundry Area:

Sophie's Playhouse:
(full tour is here)

Our Pool area:

http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/2007/07/keeping-coolby-pool.html

***********************************

Thanks for stopping by and, again, thanks to Andy at Poppies at Play for hosting this fun tour!

Now, allow me to direct you to the next stop on the tour:

House of Smiths.

Family Matters...Modern Family

How can I adore a character so much when she looks like this:

Maybe because she says stuff like this:

"You be the wind in his back, not the spit in his face.' ...It's gorgeous in Spanish."

and this:

" I'm Colombian. I know a fake crime scene when I see one."

And my favourite male character:

He makes me spit out my drink with his wanna be the cool dad ways.

Phil-isms, if you will:

"Trust me, I had plenty of fun in my time. Then, I met your mom."

and this:

"You never want your kids to see you scared. You want to be that rock that they grab a hold of in a stormy sea. Actually, a rock would sink. So a floating rock."

**********************

Never watched it before? 

Gasp!!

You don't know what you're missing!

 

I. Never. Miss. It.

 

And it's on tonight!! (ABC)

Just a Year Ago...

Today I'm joining the Poppies at Play Parade of Homes Tour!  So if this is your first time stopping by- welcome & thanks so much for coming!! 

...  Just a year ago we moved into our new {70s} home.  We've made so many changes to it that I thought a before& after post of the whole house would be fun.  I'll put links throughout the post to the specific rooms in the house so if you've got any questions, check those post for answers, sources, how to's, etc.  Also, the pics have been taken throughout the past year as we completed the projects which is why you'll see so many seasons in the different pics.

 

Our house had been vacant and on the market for about 4 years before we came along & bought it. (above) You can read the original post I did about it here.  I was totally IN LOVE even though it was a bit sad-looking.  We were told by numerous family members (and even one of our realtors!) what a mistake it would be to buy this house.  Well, my husband & I aren't known for listening to others (Sometimes to our detriment & sometimes to our benefit!)...  so we took the plunge anyway. 

We painted the cedar a dark gray and added a trellis with climbing jasmine and as many shrubs as we could afford.  (Still planning on adding more :)  Here's a photo I took "after" during one of the blizzards we had this year: 

The entrance (below) was in need of some loving:

...And here's what it looks like now (errr on Halloween ;):

{Bright orange front door, new lantern, rug, paint, etc.}

Our foyer was really bad.  I'm not even sure the photo below does it justice.  The linoleum floor was beaten up & grimy and the pendant cast a sickly yellow light in the space:

{Before}

I wanted something interesting and a little "off"...  and something that would have a big impact when you first walked in... so we hung a bunch of DaVinci sketches randomly along the walls:

{After: fresh paint, custom frames, new caged lantern, orange door & seagrass carpet}

The living room is one of my favorite parts of our house.  We're up in the trees and it feels like a treehouse, especially with all of the windows open and a breeze blowing through.  Here's a photo of it before with wall-to-wall carpet:

And here it is now (or last week; I've already rearranged since this pic, something I do all the time)..

{My husband, Dave, installed hardwood floors and we had a custom wool rug cut for a soft spot to play for our kids}

And here it is this week:  (I promise I don't have too much time on my hands!! ;) ;)

Here's a view of the side wall before:

And here it is now:

{photo by Helen Norman}

{We added an a mantle with a mirror for a focal point on the once bland wall.  Dave also did an awesome job stencilling the wall with an allover pattern... )

Here's the bookshelf we jam-packed with books & things we've collected over the years.  The 2 lower shelves house toy boxes:

The dining room is smaller than it looks and is open to the living room.  Here it is "before:"

And here is is now:

{After:  New chandelier, furniture, blown-up 15th Century Drawing  on wall...  For details on the dining room click here}

Our kitchen met with its end the second day after closing on the house...  Here it was before:

And here it is now:

{We removed the upper cabinets, added beadboard & shelving, painted the lowers, did hardwoods and painted out old fridge with chalkboard paint for fun}

Here's our little breakfast nook now:

{It's a great place to hang and I love our old-fashioned wallpaper...  For details on our kitchen redo, click here}

Ok, now onto the bedroom!  Here's our bedroom 'before' in all its glory:

{yum! yum!}

And here it is now:

{That's Ashby on the bed.  We found the brass headboard on the side of the road and it sort of guided the design of the room which is a mix of old & new, white and metallic.. for more details, go here  ...photo by Helen Norman.}

I hung up some of my jewelry on the wall & I wear it so much more than I used to:

...Like I said, things move around a lot...  Here's a view of my nightstand with the chair over there:

{photo by Helen Norman}

Our preschooler's (Christian's) bedroom is a tiny fun spot in the house:

We hung up pages of the Saggy Baggy Elephant on the walls (above) and turned his closet into a little play area with a chalkboard paint hill and a green vintage wallpaper lion:

We just finished decorating our new baby's (4 month old Justin) nursery.  We went dark & a little nutty in here:

The walls are a dark navy and we made the canopy out of a stencilled dropcloth.  we made sure to include a place for Christian to hang out in Justin's room so he feels included:

{Christian chillin in his reading nook}

Now onto the lower level.  (And I'm only showing you one room down here because the rest are still in progress and are NOT pretty) Here's the space before, planned to be a combination family room and office:

{lovely linoleum}

And here it is now:

I love having this huge table to spread projects out on.  We had wall-to-wall seagrass carpet installed and we love it.  (It can't be hurt!!) I wanted it to feel happy & airy down here so the panelling got a fresh coat of aqua paint. 

Before we moved in, there was a weird  fenced in elevated area with a drop ceiling.  Don't ask because I don't know why:

...So we knocked it all down & leveled it and it's now the TV/ seating/ play area:

Having a ton of hidden toy storage is key to keeping me feeling sane:

We've got an ever-growing collection of flea market paintings so up they go above the sofa:

And finally, here's another veiw of the family room before:

{Gotta love that 70s stone}

We debated & debated about what to do with the stone and the wood-burning stove but in the strangest way the stone started to grow on me and now I love it.  The wood-burning stove was awesome & so cozy in the snow storms, so it's definitely staying for now:

{Lanterm, Ikea  Chairs & Ikea ottoman with custom washable slipcover...  For details on the lowerl level redo, click here}

...And that's about it for now!!  We always have something going on over here so I hope you'll come back.  (And everyone who is always here, thanks for bearing with me for all the repeats!)

Anyway, thanks so much to Andy for inviting me to be a part of the blogger home tour!! I'm honored to be included!!  :)  I hope everyone  enjoyed it and now it's time to head on over to House 

 at All Things Thrifty!!   

xoxo,

lauren