Archive for September, 2008
Jules’ Design Dilemma
When Jules tasked us with swankifying her pink on pink lavatory, we couldn’t wait to inject some fresh and fabulous flavor. Here’s her letter:
Thanks for tackling my pink bathroom project! As you know, my family and I live in a 1958 red-brick ranch in southern California. The Mamie Pink bathroom is, obviously, original. We plan to renovate down the road (3-5 years), but in the meantime want to have lots of fun with the pink sinks, tub, and toilet. Let’s face it, when we redo the bathroom, we aren’t going to buy pink fixtures–so why not live it up while we have them? But the reason I’m asking you both for help is because while we love the pink, there isn’t much else that doesn’t cause shivers. The floor is an unspeakable horror. I am sure someone, somewhere, finds the lighting charming, but not us! Last year we scraped with wallpaper off and painted the walls a very soft pink and while it’s pretty, it does absolutely nothing for the bathroom. Meh. The Mister says he is willing to tear out the tub enclosure and replace it with something like this and a faucet like this. I am looking to do something fun and happy. This bathroom is not only the guest bathroom, it is also our sons’ bathroom (ages 4 and 1). I do want the room to flow with the rest of the house, but I don’t mind a hip kids bathroom. They are only young once, and I have the rest of my life to design a “serious” adult/guest bath. I hope all this information helps rather than horrifies. You’re earning your clams on this one. – Jules
This vintage bathroom has charm to spare but could use a few fun, punchy accessories to create the playful kids bathroom that Jules craves. So without further ado, our happy little mood board:
Here’s the mood board breakdown.
Read the rest of this entry »
Reader Redesign: Home Is Where The Hearthroom Is
When we got this sweet note and some great before and after pics, we just had to share ‘em. Here’s Sarah’s letter:
My husband and I bought our first house in May of 2007, and immediately went to work painting every. single. room (the previous owners had 4 girls, who were apparently fans of varying shades of pink and purple). This room (we call it the “hearthroom“) was the first one that we finished, and we’re quite proud of it. We painted the walls in Behr’s Olivine, which was a major departure from our previous apartment beige. We then painted the back of the built-ins the same color, and slowly added our own touches over the first few months – I think we were so eager to finish it because it flows from the kitchen, and we knew that we would spend a lot of time in this general area. The former owner used this room as their dining room but I love that my husband Ryan and I were able to rework the space into a fun room in which to lounge by the fire and play board games, or just have a casual dinner or read a book. – Sarah
So here’s the muli-colored country dining room as it looked before Sarah and her hubby moved in:
And the newly transformed “hearthroom” (we love that name!) for lounging, reading, and general chilling out after a long day:
Sweet, no? Fabulous job Sarah! Here’s to a chilly night or two to make that fireside lounging extra cozy.
Top Design: Auf Wiedersehen Big Daddy
Here’s the recap for last night’s Top Design. Project Runway designers return and the Top Design wannabes are charged with creating window displays to show off the designer’s newest fashions. Ondine scores the top design for Sweet Pea’s butterfly-filled window and poor Kerry gets a one-way ticket back to Georgia thanks to his busy and dark window for Jeffrey Sebelia. Guessers, give yourselves a pat on the back: Ondine was on just about everyone’s top 3 list, while Kerry was on no one’s. We’re on a roll people!
I must vent a bit, however, because Top Design is starting to rub me the wrong way. Here’s why:
- Shazia: Why is that girl still there? At least Kerry (aka Big Daddy) was somewhat entertaining.
- Window Displays: Not really the same as designing a room, so it’s no surprise most of the designers stumbled. Can we have some more home-based challenges up in here? I wanna see the designers do what they’re best at.
- Individual Challenges: Throw us one, please. I know it’s expensive to furnish and makeover so many rooms, but c’mon, your budget is showing.
- BravoTV.com: Can we get some decent photos of the final rooms? Everything looks uglier as a screen shot, so pay the designers some respect and take a few decent hi-res photos of the final spaces. It would certainly give us bloggers a hand.
Not that any of that will stop us from watching. What can I say, we have no shame when it comes to our addiction to reality shows.
And here’s your updated contestant sheet sans Kerry:
