Archive for July, 2012
Reader Redesign: Red Room
Okay, so maybe the red bathroom Melissa and Ian inherited with their house isn’t bad enough to deserve a nod to The Shining, but it was pretty killer on the eyes. Fortunately they remedied things with an awesome redo that they sent our way. Here’s their letter:
Hi John and Sherry! We bought our second home up north in good ‘ole Canada in April of 2011 and started our DIY magic – or whatever you wanna call it ;) So far we’ve done 2 bathrooms, an office, a guest room, and our master bedroom and I still feel like we have tons to do (I’m sure you know the feeling). However, we’re really happy with how our master bath turned out. Let’s start at the beginning. Here is what we had to work with:
Where to begin? The pink floors? The vanity that was about as tall as my lower thighs? I was barely able to wash my face without sitting on the floor.
The room looked a bit like a rainbow exploded in it. We don’t do rainbow guts.
In all reality there were no words. We just knew we wanted to change the ENTIRE thing. I had been saving up tons of ideas and we pretty much knew what we wanted: a ‘spa’ feel with light, bright colours, and a clean look. We also really wanted to incorporate a little bit of architectural detail somehow. We had seen paneling done in a variety of different forms, and we figured this might be a good place to try it out. We ended up choosing picture frame style wainscoting. Overall, this process wasn’t as difficult as it sounds.
Sooooo… here it is: our pride and joy!
We did a lot of other things besides the wainscoting ourselves – just to stick to our tight budget – like doing the shower tile pattern ourselves, making our own curtains, and searching high and low for the best priced materials and fixtures (the tub is from Costco and the mirrors over the vanity are from HomeSense – which is also known as HomeGoods in the states).
Thanks again for being a huge inspiration for a young couple like ourselves. All the best, Melissa and Ian (oh and Clover, our 85 pound golden doodle who thinks of herself as an 8 pound chihuahua).
Oh to have a master bathroom that large and that gorgeous! Nicely done Melissa and Ian (and Burger gives two paws up to Clover, to whom he gives all the credit). You can see more photos of their beautiful bathroom on their blog, where they’ve also got a full source list as well as a breakdown of projects like the paneling and the curtains.
Psst- Got a before and after of your own that you’d like to submit? Send your best pictures, links to any blog posts, and brief description to submission@younghouselove.com.
Psssst- We’re sharing our latest Clara-conversations over on Young House Life (she’s definitely the comedian of this family).
An Ocean of Gratitude
**Psst- We know most Fridays we just post once, but every month on sponsor shout out day we double up. So we’ll be back in a few hours with a bathroom-related before and after.
It’s time for our monthly showing of thanks to our sponsors (the folks who help make the other 30+ posts happen). And since we’re still hanging on to the memory of our recent beach vacation, we pulled together items from each sponsor that reminded us of the sand, surf, and other sorts of summer fun (oh but we haven’t been gifted any of ‘em – here’s our no-swag policy). And as always, if you’re looking to save some cashola, don’t miss the round-up of special discounts at the bottom.
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- Fun letterpress prints for every state (including our vacay spot) from 1 Canoe 2.
- Earth (and therefore ocean) friendly eco-yet-still-stylish solutions from Naked Binder.
- Mirror Mate‘s many frame styles (like “Waterside”) for updating your bathroom mirror.
- Z Gallerie‘s many sea-inspired pieces, like this awesome framed shell print.
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- Joss & Main‘s “Best of DIY” curator event that includes some of our favorite picks.
- This beachy and eco-friendly recycled glass jug lamp from Shades of Light.
- Hawaiian-themed removable decals from WallQuotes. Oh to be there right now…
- This glass and stone mosaic from The Tile Shop. I feel calmer already.
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- This summer vacation-tastic sentiment on a greeting card from Silhouette Blue.
- Affordable wedding sparkle from Little White Chapel like this $22 blue pearl bracelet.
- Nice Girl Notes‘ funny take on a summer family fun list. Yes that says “lab mice.”
- Liberty Hardware‘s new collection with Delta that offers interchangeable designs.
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- This cheery Octopus Hook Pillow from Jilly’s Happy Home (and it’s on sale)
- This beach house-ready “Sea Scroll” stencil from Royal Design Studio.
- Chic Shelf Paper‘s “Pink Scallop” pattern… which now has me craving seafood…
- This vintage pennant representing our fav. family beach spot from Ruby Lane.
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- Fabulous Stationery‘s fun and, well, fabulous selection of $1 greeting cards.
- When Madcanvases goes beyond canvas, like these custom photo collage trivets.
- Smock Paper‘s eco-friendly letterpress “”jotter” notepads, like this “Seersucker” pattern.
- Heart & Stone Jewelry‘s endless combinations of sterling silver charm jewelry.
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- Professional-quality streek-free window cleaner from Fish Foam (fish are very ocean-y)
- Mixing FLOR carpet squares for a unique (and in this case calming) color combo.
- With that, we’ll conclude our look back on our beach vacation last week…
- …and we’ll look forward to Monday’s big $3,000 giveaway (that image is a hint)
And here are the deets on those DISCOUNTS:
- Shades of Light: 10% off using code YHL0811
- WallQuotes.com: 15% off with the code YHL15
- The Tile Shop: 10% off when you use the code YHL10
- Heart & Stone Jewelry: 10% off your with the code YHL10
- Royal Design Studio: 10% off stencils with code YHL10
- Little White Chapel: 15% off with code YHL15
- Madcanvases: 15% off with code YHL15
- One Canoe Two: 10% off with code YHL10
Isn’t That Special?
Yes, that’s an SNL reference. But before I go any further I have to say thanks and I love you to you guys. Your kind words from this morning have literally lifted me up on a day that has been soggy and sad. You guys rock. Hard.
Now onto a very important post that many of you have requested. Photos of what I put on our new craigslist buffet. I tried to pick a variety of items that are functional and special to us (hence the title of this post). So this is what the entryway looks like now:
And just for fun, this is what it looked like when we laid eyes on our house for the first time back in late 2010:
Isn’t it funny to see the same corner of a room decorated by two different people? I love it. I wish I could poke my head into every house in the neighborhood, just to see what they have going on (which is why whenever anyone asks me what superhero power I wish I had, invisibility is always my answer – for no other reason than all the house snooping I’d get to do).
On the subject of what I put on that buffet, figuring out what to put on top of any new (to us) furniture is one of my favorite pastimes. So I relished the thirty minutes during Clara’s nap time that I spent playing with different items that we already had around. Which included:
- glass lamps that used to live in our first house’s living room and then our bedroom until we upgraded to some artichoke-y ones (these were from Target from our wedding registry, so they’ve been with us for five great years)
- a big yellow urn that used to live in the corner of the kitchen (from HomeGoods a few months back)
- a stack of decorating books from my stash under the built-ins in the dining room (and my hallway ottomans)
- a scalloped bowl from the kitchen that I ended up using for something sentimental (more on that in a sec)
- a white resin pineapple (from HomeGoods about a year ago)
- a faux red coral (from Kohls about six months ago)
- a thrift store leaf dish (for spare change) that I got for 50 cents
My “buffet decorating” process was just trial and error. Stepping back. Looking at it all. Shimmying something over. It was sort of like picking the right outfit… for my furniture. Totally normal, right? I just wanted to mix equal parts meaning, function, and beauty. Because I really think that’s the trifecta. People say form and function are two important things, but I’ll up the ante and toss “meaning” in there too. Because something that’s useful, pretty, and meaningful is especially awesome, right? Anyway, here’s where I ended up for now (you know I like to swap things around all the time – plus I’d love to decorate the top of this buffet for holidays).
Here’s a breakdown of all of the items in those three categories:
Functional:
- two lamps to provide light in a room with zero point zero zero (another SNL reference for ya) overhead lights – so they’re very necessary!
- a dish for loose change, buttons, and other small items that tend to collect on various surfaces (when you know small clutter is bound to happen, a little tray, dish, or basket to deal with it when it pops up makes things easier)
- the yellow urn, which offers concealed storage that’s easy to access (we have an extra dog leash and some other Burger-phenalia hiding in there)
Meaningful:
- a pineapple near the door, which is said to be a symbol that says “welcome to our home”
- a change dish that I put 43 cents (our lucky number) into (it won’t always stay that way, but it made me smile to “hide” that number up there)
- vacation postcards that we have sent to ourselves, full of memories from the last seven years spent together (more on that tradition here)
Just Plain Pretty:
- a stack of cute hardcover books to add color and height (and inspiration whenever I crack them open)
- a bright red piece of faux coral for some fresh color (adding modern pops/pieces to an older item of furniture is one of my favorite ways to integrate it into a room so it doesn’t feel theme-y or stodgy)
My favorite thing is definitely the scalloped serving bowl (purloined from a cabinet in the kitchen) that I shoved all of our vacation postcards into. I just love that they’re out to remind me of all of our adventures and I can read through them and switch up the one in the front whenever the mood strikes. Right now one from Hawaii gets top billing, just because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything prettier…
Oh and you might wonder why that pop of yellow in the urn is up there being all sunny and happy, but I thought these pictures would best explain it.
Doesn’t it look sweet with our yellow front door?
And for anyone wondering where Clara is when we’re shooting things for the ol’ blog, she’s usually right in the middle of everything. Doing something hilarious. Like kneeling at the front door and waving at the school bus as it drives by. Told you. Hilarious, right? No idea why she thought waving and kneeling should go hand in hand.
So there it is. Our new (actually very old) buffet with some meaningful, functional, and just plain pretty stuff on it. Nothing is being stored in it yet, but you know I can’t wait to fill it with stuff (I’m thinking it’s a good spot for more formal dining stuff like cloth napkins, some runners, a few large vases, and some other serving stuff). Oh and that big blank wall above it? Definitely needs a little somethin’ somethin’. You know we’ll keep you posted…
Psst- We announced this week’s big giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.
