Episode 1-The Livingroom

For the past two and a half years we have been renovating our main house at the beach. Yes, I said two and a half YEARS! Let’s just say that reno makes even the worst Holmes on Homes episode look like it should air on the Disney channel! And that’s all I will say about that house.

BUT, since we had to live somewhere we decided to invest in a house to live in while we were renovating. Something we could put a little money into and hopefully make a little money on, instead of renting the whole time where you definitely lose money [which we did for the first year and a half]. What we ended up buying was a home that was basically “That 80s Show”, but it’s slowly coming around. One of the first rooms I’ve finished is the living room. My apologies for this poor quality “before” photo as it was from the realtor’s original sales brochure, but I think you can get the idea of what I had to work with:

With a little love and the magic erasers of time and hard work, it now looks like this:

When shown the before pictures, I’m often asked what I saw in the house to begin with. Basically, it has location at the top of its list of pluses, and it has great bones [and a new kitchen, a pool, and a great yard]. With some elbow grease, a little money, a few modern updates, and some decorating I believe the rest of the house will be a great too. For example, here is all we had to do in the living room:

1) we removed the mirrors and oak trim from the walls on either side of the fireplace and had a contractor replace them with drywall [~$1000];

2) we had the brass-trimmed, gas fireplace insert removed and a WETT certified inspector assess what needed to be done to turn it back in to a wood burning unit. The repairs were then carried out by a professional [inspection $250, repairs ~$500];

3) Next, we painted out the mint green walls (yup, mint green!) ourselves in a linen color and freshened up the trim [paint cost $70-I use Home Hardware's Beauty Tone Designer Series because it covers better than the more expensive brands I used to buy. I simply have them computer match the color to whatever/whoever's paint I want];

4) After that, our own furniture was arranged in a way to make this large living room function well but feel cozy at the same time;

5) Lamps were added to augment the lighting in areas that had appeared dark due to the new furniture placement [on a sofa table behind the sofa and one in a darker corner of the room].

I still need to find drapery, but for under $2000 we now have a cozy room that mirrors our UrbanCountryStyle and a real fire to cuddle up by in the evening. In flip dollars, for what we’ve accomplished, I think it was money well spent.

From my house and home to you and yours,

Love,

Suzie

Episode 2-The Office

If you’ve been following along, you know we bought an investment house to live in while we are renovating our main house. You might also recall that it’s a bit of “That 80s Show”, complete with brass door knobs and/or brass builder-grade boob lighting (yes, I said it).  But, other than that, and aside from wanting a couple of new bathrooms, it was only in need of some space-defining, some decor, and a few odd tweaks.

This house had a dedicated office in a large room in the basement, and the guest room was in a small room upstairs. I decided that the flow for all would work better if I switched these rooms around.  The old guest room was handy to the kitchen, ideal for an office and when one needs cookies to snack on while writing or researching. It’s also close enough to hear pots boiling, kettles whistling, etc. So, with that in mind I set out to turn this:

into this:

WARNING: my skeleton Stella is in the next photos

For a couple of reasons, I also wanted to add the perspective from my desk. First, because the window behind the desk is west-facing and the light can be intense in the afternoon, I wanted the light to come in from over my shoulders instead of in my eyes. However, there is a lovely, forest-like outlook through that window and I wanted to enjoy it too. To solve this, a mirror was hung a little higher than the window on the opposite wall in order to allow me to still see out, but hanging it higher does not allow the light directly in my face. Second, the bookshelves were placed along the wall that is shared with the hallway. This is a working office, and placing the books in a pretty manner on the shelves is not practical for me (instead, they are grouped by research area). Just because I love them, I didn’t want everyone walking down the hall to see them. Now when anyone passes by, their quick shot of the room is cohesive with the rest of the house’s decor since my books are tucked around the corner and out of sight. [When we sell the house, they will be boxed, moved, and replaced with pretty objects and decor books.]

Last, what you don’t see in the before picture of this room is that it was a lovely shade of mint green, and the ceiling was dark sage! To update it, and to have it appeal to a broader base of potential buyers when we sell it, this is what we did:

1) we painted the walls the same color as the living room and hall (Home Hardware Beautytone Designer Series paint in a better-than-builder-beige, linen color ($35 on sale), and we painted out the ceiling in a soft white ($60).

2) we removed the original light fixture and replaced it with a new one from Home Depot ($59).

3) we replaced the brass door knob and hinges with brushed nickel hardware (~$50).

4) we layered in our own furniture as well as the additions of the desk (free-a Pottery Barn table one of my son’s co-workers didn’t want), Ikea Billy bookshelves ($50 each), Ikea area carpet ($200), and Ikea drapery ($39).

I think what we ended up with, for under $500, not only reflects our UrbanCountryStyle, but is neutral enough to appeal to others (even with Stella in the room!). I now sit in here happily typing and researching, or just goof off on my blog . I love that this space is comfortable and quiet; yet, I don’t feel so far removed from the rest of the household. I really hope this encourages you to create your own personal space that reflects your style and inspires you too.

From my house and home to you and yours,

Love,

Suzie

Episode 3-The Master Bedroom

If you have just started following along, we bought a temporary house to live in while we renovate our main house. It started out as “That 80s Show”, but slowly I am making it over in hopes of selling it when we are able to move back to our permanent digs. I am also hoping to make a little profit in the process to offset the cost of living out of our real home for so long. If you would like to see the rooms I’ve completed thus far, take a peek on the “ASuzieHouse” page found on the top header.

For the past week, I’ve been working on a cosmetic makeover in the master bedroom. Finally, I’m sort of done. I say sort of because I am still deciding on a beautiful antique candle chandelier I have in a box and whether or not I am going to put it up. It requires poking a hole in the ceiling, which means when I move out of here, because I would not leave that heirloom, I would have to repair the ceiling and repaint the whole thing again. I’m not sure I want to ever paint another ceiling, so I’m thinking I can live without it. But I have been known to change my mind! If I do, I’ll post an update.

So, what I started with was an odd blue room, with an even odder dark blue ceiling. Prior to moving in, I painted it a softer blue and returned the ceiling to white (it took several coats to cover that dark blue!). I don’t have pictures of the before before, but here’s what it looked like last week when I began the makeover:

You will notice the lovely black lacquer furniture, which looked great when we had it in the city condo we were living in just previous to this house. It’s not so great in the UrbanCountryStyle house!

So I decided to countrify the room and furniture using accessories only (because furniture refinishing is not my strongpoint). I switched out the lampshades, added a jute area rug under the bed, some baskets to the night tables, new bedding and pillows mixed with my existing linens, and my beautiful gate headboard that I have had for years. I think UrbanCountryStyle has now been achieved!

I’m loving how this has come together. It’s taken furniture with some pretty sharp lines and softened the whole grouping. I also love how the baskets hide the pile of books the Mr. and I always have under our night table. Now, if only I could figure out how to disguise the TV! When I stayed at the Plaza in New York this past fall, they had a gold picture frame around theirs with beautiful light sconces on either side. The TV looked like artwork! I’ll have to consider that. But for now, I’m happy and looking forward to finishing the tiny master bathroom that is just awaiting my tile guy to show up. I can’t wait to show you when we’re done!

From my house and home to you and yours,

Love,

Suzie