As we revealed on Saturday, we spent the last week soaking up the sun on a tiny island off the west coast of Florida called Madeira Beach. We’ve returned to Virginia with slightly tan skin, a boatload of shells, and tons of fun stories to share… starting with the tour of the totally sweet cottage we stayed in all week long. From the start we knew we wanted a unique, tropical experience, so we avoided the ubiquitous beachfront hotel and sought out something more private (and dog-friendly). That’s how we stumbled upon the Island Paradise Cottages of Madiera Beach – the affordable and stylish answer to our lodging needs just steps from the beach. Island
Our Messy Detached Basement
Ok, so between all the pics and video tours you may think you’ve seen every inch of our house. On the contrary our dear readers. We have an entire room that you’ve never been privy to. Until now. You see, under our sunroom is a private entry basement. This means that the only way to get there is to walk outside and down a few steps. And since it’s not exactly easily accessible (or easily seen) we’ve been using it as more of a dumping ground than an extra room. We hesitate to show you the chaos that inhabits our little basement, but here it goes: Now granted, this isn’t exactly a finished room, so
How To Pick Granite Counters
At a recent open house, our suspicions that a last-minute countertop switch saved our kitchen were confirmed when we saw this kitchen with a granite countertop in Blanc Noir- the style that we almost chose: In fact, we did choose Blanc Noir, but when we viewed the full slab (as opposed to a tiny sample that Home Depot provided) we pulled a last minute switcheroo from Blanc Noir to Pashmina. And this open house kitchen was all the proof that we needed to be sure that we absolutely without question made the right decision. Here’s our granite counter in Pashmina for comparison: Our fears that the Blanc Noir granite would be more busy and patterned
If This Were Your Bookcase…
…what color would you paint it? We adopted this snore of a bookshelf in Manhattan about three years ago and it’s one of about ten pieces that made the move to Richmond with us in a minivan. We’ve always treated it like an “until we get something better” piece because there’s nothing terribly special about it, but somehow it has lasted this long, so we figure it’s about time we make it work. We’re going to give it the ol’ Young House Love paint job (the wood is a little too red for our house anyways). And seeing a pretty painted green bed on google gave us the confidence to try something other than white…
Dryin’ To The Oldies
A recent bout of spring cleaning turned into an archaeological dig when Sherry uncovered this piece of ancient history: Ok, so it’s no dinosaur bone, but who expects to find something this dated in their own filing cabinet? What we had stumbled upon was the installation manual for our old – wait, scratch that – REALLY OLD dryer, which has since been donated to make way for our new front-loaders. (Below is the only pic we have the old stuff, which was taken mid-demo. It was too ugly to photograph otherwise.) Somehow we didn’t see the manual during our first flip through the files we inherited from our home’s previous owner. But based on the
How We’re Liking Our Arietta Vent Hood
Ever since we first posted about our vent-tastic Arietta hood back in October, it’s been one of the most asked about items in our home. Does it work? Does it really look that good? Is it too good to be true? We had to dodge those questions for months while the hood just sat on the floor waiting for its friends, the cabinets. But now it’s been up for a few weeks and we’ve been able to put it to the test. So let’s put all the speculation to rest. Yes, it works. Yes, it looks pretty darn fine. And no, it’s not too good to be true. For all of you out there who
An Updated Video Tour Of Our House
Every good movie has a sequel (Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, anyone?) so it’s about time we debuted the follow-up to last fall’s partial-house tour. Sherry’s back in her starring role as “tour guide” and I’m directing again, but the set is much improved this time around. Not only do we have a completed kitchen to share, but this time we take you through the bedrooms, the other bathroom, and even let you a peek inside our fridge. As you’ll see, a lot can change in five months. So grab some popcorn, silence your cell phones and enjoy. (Also, please excuse Sherry’s blurry face in the very beginning. The censored look wasn’t intentional.)
How To Hang An Asymmetrical Gallery Wall
We gathered some photos, images, and articles along with a bunch of white frames and hung them on the wall in an asymmetrical pattern for charm and style in our third bedroom.
3 Sweet & Sentimental Art Ideas
A while back we promised another post about wall art, so here it is. Being sentimental- and on a budget- we’ve had to get creative in the art department. So until we can afford that original Warhol piece we have our eye on (yeah right), we’ll stick to providing interesting art alternatives. For example, take this vintage map project that Sherry surprised me with this Christmas. She found this amazing map (from 1907!) on eBay for around ten dollars, picked up a white frame at Ikea, and then removed the glass and added some cork backing and pinned the map in place. Then she stuck more pins (actually called “map pins” from Office Depot) into
Making Personalized Initial Art To Hang Over The Bed
We made custom bedroom monograms and framed them above our bed to personalize our room and add a bit of black and white charm.
Breaking The Mold
We promised more photos of our two guest bedrooms sporting their new crown molding, so here they are. First, we bring you the second bedroom, with crisp white three inch molding to swank things up: And the third bedroom (also known as our old converted dining room) looks mighty fine with the same polished white molding adding some architecture: But the real transformation took place in the master bedroom, with the addition of an 8 inch plank of wood that makes the wardrobes look like custom built ins. Stay tuned for the juicy reveal tomorrow. We can hardly wait…
How Much Did Our Kitchen Renovation Cost?
After our big kitchen reveal yesterday, it seems like the million dollar question still lingers: how much did it cost? (Hint: It wasn’t millions… and it was WAY below the national average spent on a major kitchen remodel, which is $44,000 according to realtor.org) After crunching some numbers last night we figured out exactly how much our wallets really bled during this project and (thankfully) how much we managed to save in the process. And we’re talking start to finish- wider doors, new floors, electrical, lighting, appliances, etc, etc. This wasn’t just your average cabinet and countertop update. Here’s the breakdown: Demo & Construction: $1,400 (negotiated down from $2,400) A local contractor and mason removed
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