A Remodel Update and New Neutral Decor

I'm super happy to tell you that our master suite remodel was finished last week! 

Yay!

You can't believe how good it feels to have our house back to ourselves after eleven long weeks of sharing it with a constant parade of subcontractors. It feels SO Good! Our new master bedroom and bathroom are so different now, moving back into them was almost like moving into a different house. I'll share the whole remodel story and all the details soon, but for now here's a quick before and after look.

Before

Do you remember this before picture of the hunter green faux marble Formica counter in the master bathroom?

After

Here's the new shaker style cabinet and gray quartz counter. What a difference, right? (Wait till I share the new shower with you next week. It'll blow your mind!)

Before

 Here's a refresher picture of our old ruby red and hunter green bedroom. Yikes! 

After

 And here's our new soothing neutral colored bedroom. Honestly, I'm in heaven every time I walk into this room, I love it so much! I have lots more to do in this room, and I'll be sharing it all with you as each project is finished. (Later this week I'll be sharing my DIY bedside lamp makeover.) 

Are you as bowled over by the difference in these two rooms as we are? It is so much fun to live in them, and we feel so lucky. It was worth every minute of living through the stress and saga of a remodel to have these perfect rooms, and I pinch myself each time I see them again. (Which I do about every five minutes because I just can't get enough of them!)

During the remodel I was busy redecorating our entry way and living room to be more in line with the new neutral color scheme and style of the kitchen we had redone last fall and with the rest of the house. Out with the bright jewel-toned traditional decor we used to have, and in with the new neutral-colored farmhouse theme. I had to do it all in my head and online because I didn't actually have access to the living room and entry area during the entire remodel. My studio was filling up with things I'd purchased and made, and I was pretty nervous to see if it would all work out. There were moments I really questioned just what the heck I was doing. 

Over the past couple of days I was able to put things in order, though, and I'm excited to share with you what I've done so far. I still have a lot to do, but I'm relieved to say I like the direction in which it's going. I've never tackled such a completely new and different decorating theme before, and I'm finding it to be quite a fun and interesting challenge.

Here's the entry way, which is actually just one side of our long living room that we've separated with this white homemade cupboard we placed behind the sofa. Lots of needed storage is here next to the dining room for linens, crystal, silver, and china. I considered a cushioned bench in the corner with baskets below and coat hooks above to define this area as the entry, but having the antique dresser there is just a more practical use of our limited space for us.

  

This is the part of the living room behind that white cupboard in the last picture. 

Our comfy new neutral sofa! 

(I need to make new pillows. Summer pillows, fall pillows, Christmas pillows...  I can't wait!)

The dining room and kitchen. 

I feel like all the rooms are finally starting to flow well and speak to each other properly, and this is what I hope they're saying: "I'm a one hundred and four year-old house, and I'm proud to show it!"

Thank you so much for stopping in today to see what's going on around here. I hope you'll stop back again later because I'll be sharing the details of our remodel and lots more pictures of all these rooms. I also have tons of fun DIY projects planned for all of our new spaces.

Have a great day, and see you again soon!

  I hope you'll join me this week at these wonderful parties!

The Scoop 
 Cozy Little House
Between Naps On The Porch
Mod Vintage Life
Elizabeth & Co.  
Homework 
Our Home Away From Home
Savvy Southern Style
The Charm of Home
From My Front Porch To Yours 
Shabby Art Boutique 
 

 

A Statement Chair for the Family Room

When One Kings Lane recently asked me to help them introduce their Home Décor Resource Guide by writing about a statement chair from my home that reflects my personal style, I jumped up and down at the opportunity. If you’re not familiar with them, One King’s Lane is a website that sells gorgeous top-brand, vintage, and designer items. It’s an understatement to say I was flattered and thrilled to be approached by them.

To be honest with you, though, I didn’t really know what a statement chair was. I’d just given my two living room wing chairs to my daughter and wasn’t sure I even owned a statement chair.  

Whenever in doubt, I always search for information. I simply went to the One Kings Lane Home Décor Resource and typed “statement chair” in the search box. Up came an article about how to incorporate statement furniture into any room, and in a few minutes I knew all about statement chairs. 

According to the article:

The purpose of a statement chair is fairly self-explanatory: it makes a statement. It has the power to draw attention to a particular room or nook, define a space, or add a pop of color, pattern, or the unexpected. They’re mobile and functional ways to express your aesthetic. Whether you have a contemporary dining room, a traditional bedroom, or a sleekly modern living room, you can breathe new life into the space (and the rest of your furniture) with one seriously unique chair.

As I read that description, I realized I was literally at that moment sitting in my family room in the perfect example of a statement chair. After we finished our kitchen remodel just before Thanksgiving, the very day after the plastic came down in fact, we had a new leather sectional delivered to replace the old saggy one in our family room. We loved the size, shape, color, and comfort of our new sectional, but it didn’t illustrate what we wanted to convey with our decor.  

We still needed a new armchair for that space, and I now realize that as we shopped for it, we were looking for a statement chair, a chair that would clearly define the vibe in the room as vintage. It had to be a strong statement because it was just one chair competing with a huge sectional. We saw many plain armchairs that were the right color and size and were comfortable, but the one we finally chose from a local merchant has more than that; it has a unique shape and fabric pattern that makes a very clear statement. It defines our family room as vintage, fun, and a bit funky. 

A cool thing about having a relatively inexpensive statement chair is that when we want to change the vibe of our family room, we can just recover this chair or find a new statement chair that reflects whatever our new vibe is perfectly. We won’t have to buy a whole new expensive sectional. We can just change our chair. 

 Smart!

For lots more smart ideas check out the One Kings Lane Home Décor Resource Guide and bookmark it for future reference. You’ll be amazed at the wealth of information there, from a Home Decor Shopping Handbook to The History of Chairs; it’s a great decorating resource.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and taking a look at our new statement chair. I have a few more projects left to do in our family room and then I hope to share the rest of it with you soon.

I hope you have a great week!

(I wasn't compensated in any way for this post, and all my opinions are my own.)

It's a great day to party!

Mod Vintage Life
Our Home Away From Home 

Cozy Little House
Common Ground
From My Front Porch To Yours
The Vintage Farmhouse 

 

A New Neutral Guest Room

It's taken me a long time to figure out that I love living in neutral rooms. 

Don't get me wrong, I love color!

But I've found that living with a lot of color tends to  overwhelm my senses and actually tires me out, while neutral rooms seem to calm and soothe me. As I redecorate our home, I'm trying to create neutral backgrounds on which I can sprinkle bits of color here and there until I reach my color saturation point. 

It's been a fun learning process that's constantly evolving. I began in our new guest room where I'm experimenting for the first time with neutral layering and textures. Once I started getting more experience with different shades of beige, brown, and gray along with patterns and textures, it became easier. I've grown to love the subtlety of decorating with neutrals. 

I began with Benjamin Moore bone white satin paint on the walls, then anchored our queen size guest bed with a cozy warm white duvet, white pillow cases and sheets, and a white quilted bed skirt.

 I splurged on washed linen ruffled euro shams from Pottery Barn in a flax color, then I layered on pattern with an embroidered pillow from Pier One Imports and texture with faux fur and ruffled pillows, also from Pier One. 

 

 The turned wood lamp bases and printed lamp shades are from Target.

 I bought this snugly quilt on a different shopping trip and didn't even notice it's the same pattern as the lamp shade until I put it on the bed. The window panels are voile sheers that soften the view during the day with a privacy room darkening window shade under them for sleeping in late.

This maple dresser was a gift for our nursery when my first daughter was born twenty-seven years ago. I'm a bit torn over my plans for painting it white. Since I ran out of time to get it painted before my Thanksgiving guests arrive in a couple days, I'll have more time to think about it. What do you think? Should I paint it or leave it?  

I still don't have anything hanging on the walls. My old self wanted to run out and buy some vibrant colorful artwork, but the new neutral me is slowing down and taking my time to find (or make) just the right thing to add another interesting layer of pattern and texture. When I find it, you know I'll be sharing it with you!

I'm so glad you stopped by to see my new neutral guest room decor, and I'm so excited for my company to arrive and try it all out!

I'll be busy in the kitchen cooking and baking for the next few days now, so I'll wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving today. I hope you have a wonderful week and a very 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

 I'm partying today at
Coastal Charm 

Mod Vintage Life  
Confessions of a Plate Addict  
Cozy Little House 
From My Front Porch To Yours
Green Willow Pond 

A Joyful Cottage