Weekend wishes...


After a very busy week of design, kids and hauling furniture around- I am wishing you a wonderful weekend spent relaxing and enjoying life... it is spring after all right?

I however will not be relaxing - I will be working.. 
but just knowing you are out there enjoying yourselves it will be so much better!


image via john jacob

Meanwhile just North of Copenhagen...











Loving everything here!  I will take the dog too!!

What a comfortable and inspiring place.

Images via indenfor

Hamptons Redo from Haynes- Roberts design





Is in not just beautiful.  The library is to die for and the table and chairs... and the floor that is a whole other story!

images house and garden 2006

Colour ME Happy!!!

{me & maria}

We got a visit from Maria Killam of Colour Me Happy this week!!!  Maria flew down to DC (really Virginia) from NYC this week and we had such a great time!  Maria is everything she seems on her blog and more: super-stylish, quick-witted, thoughtful, frank and so much fun.   She's continually looking to grow & learn and is a natural teacher.  This may sound cheesy, but she's a very wise, self-aware person.  . 


 I got to go on a Colour Me Happy color consultation to see her in action and (of couse!) she's so good.  I have no doubt her client will be thrilled with the results.  She also picked out some colors for me at our house for when we get to those rooms!!  yayyyy

{the perfect little turquoise vase she brought me}

Maria also filled me in on the latest color trends and one of my favorite descriptions was "Pretty Ugly."  Click here to read more about it.   I also learned that I'm totally in the stoneage as far as technology goes and have a lot of things to learn like twitter, snaggit and windows live writer.  Maria is so generous with info and I have a mental checklist of all the things I need to get on like a Pure Style Home facebook page, etc.  Anyway, it was awesome to meet another amazing blogfriend and we can't wait to see her again!!  She's amazing!!

xoxo,
lauren

Dining inspired - online design ideas



Feeling a little more formal... Online Dining lifestyle board

Luxury in Holland




Vintage mix makes for some of the most interesting and wonderful spaces. Don't you think?
I love that chair!

images via inside home page

Grey and the Traditional Modern



Loving that mirror!!!  Don't forget to enter for a chance to win our giveaway from RAMSIGN!

image via vogue living australia

Metropolitan house number giveaway!


Today's giveaway is from RAMSIGN, they are offering their Metropolitan house number.  This classic design has been a standard in street signage since the days of Hans Christian Andersen. Metropolitan is simply European sign tradition at its best.  This sign can be made with up to 5 numbers!  I am loving these and cannot wait to order mine!

Best of  luck!  

For a chance to win please visit RAMSIGN and leave a comment below.  The winner will be chosen at random on May 1st.  

Congratulations to Anita @ Dreamer's Den - she won!

The Shiny Pebble Designer Challenge today



Thank you to Catherine at The Shiny Pebble for including me in her Designer Challenge.  Our design is up today on her blog.  Please go by and take a look!!

linen and lavender love and Bobby McAlpine's new book






A BIG Thank you to Linen and Lavender for posting about the new Bobby McAlpine book The Home within Us.  I am a huge fan of their design and I am super excited to get this book!!  (I just ordered it from Amazon).  I will have to tell you more once I receive it. 


images via McAlpine Booth and Ferrier and Linen and Lavender

Holly Hunt New York and Los Angeles






The Holly Hunt Showrooms in LA and New York are just perfect I think.. They seem to be screaming Greige at me...

Just a Year Ago...



Today I'm joining the Poppies at Play Parade of Homes Tour!  So if this is your first time stopping by- welcome & thanks so much for coming!! 




...  Just a year ago we moved into our new {70s} home.  We've made so many changes to it that I thought a before& after post of the whole house would be fun.  I'll put links throughout the post to the specific rooms in the house so if you've got any questions, check those post for answers, sources, how to's, etc.  Also, the pics have been taken throughout the past year as we completed the projects which is why you'll see so many seasons in the different pics.


 

Our house had been vacant and on the market for about 4 years before we came along & bought it. (above) You can read the original post I did about it here.  I was totally IN LOVE even though it was a bit sad-looking.  We were told by numerous family members (and even one of our realtors!) what a mistake it would be to buy this house.  Well, my husband & I aren't known for listening to others (Sometimes to our detriment & sometimes to our benefit!)...  so we took the plunge anyway. 

We painted the cedar a dark gray and added a trellis with climbing jasmine and as many shrubs as we could afford.  (Still planning on adding more :)  Here's a photo I took "after" during one of the blizzards we had this year: 

The entrance (below) was in need of some loving:


...And here's what it looks like now (errr on Halloween ;):

{Bright orange front door, new lantern, rug, paint, etc.}

Our foyer was really bad.  I'm not even sure the photo below does it justice.  The linoleum floor was beaten up & grimy and the pendant cast a sickly yellow light in the space:
{Before}

I wanted something interesting and a little "off"...  and something that would have a big impact when you first walked in... so we hung a bunch of DaVinci sketches randomly along the walls:
{After: fresh paint, custom frames, new caged lantern, orange door & seagrass carpet}

The living room is one of my favorite parts of our house.  We're up in the trees and it feels like a treehouse, especially with all of the windows open and a breeze blowing through.  Here's a photo of it before with wall-to-wall carpet:


And here it is now (or last week; I've already rearranged since this pic, something I do all the time)..

{My husband, Dave, installed hardwood floors and we had a custom wool rug cut for a soft spot to play for our kids}

And here it is this week:  (I promise I don't have too much time on my hands!! ;) ;)



Here's a view of the side wall before:


And here it is now:


{photo by Helen Norman}

{We added an a mantle with a mirror for a focal point on the once bland wall.  Dave also did an awesome job stencilling the wall with an allover pattern... )

Here's the bookshelf we jam-packed with books & things we've collected over the years.  The 2 lower shelves house toy boxes:


The dining room is smaller than it looks and is open to the living room.  Here it is "before:"

And here is is now:

{After:  New chandelier, furniture, blown-up 15th Century Drawing  on wall...  For details on the dining room click here}

Our kitchen met with its end the second day after closing on the house...  Here it was before:



And here it is now:


{We removed the upper cabinets, added beadboard & shelving, painted the lowers, did hardwoods and painted out old fridge with chalkboard paint for fun}

Here's our little breakfast nook now:


{It's a great place to hang and I love our old-fashioned wallpaper...  For details on our kitchen redo, click here}

Ok, now onto the bedroom!  Here's our bedroom 'before' in all its glory:

{yum! yum!}

And here it is now:

{That's Ashby on the bed.  We found the brass headboard on the side of the road and it sort of guided the design of the room which is a mix of old & new, white and metallic.. for more details, go here  ...photo by Helen Norman.}

I hung up some of my jewelry on the wall & I wear it so much more than I used to:


...Like I said, things move around a lot...  Here's a view of my nightstand with the chair over there:

{photo by Helen Norman}

Our preschooler's (Christian's) bedroom is a tiny fun spot in the house:


We hung up pages of the Saggy Baggy Elephant on the walls (above) and turned his closet into a little play area with a chalkboard paint hill and a green vintage wallpaper lion:




We just finished decorating our new baby's (4 month old Justin) nursery.  We went dark & a little nutty in here:


The walls are a dark navy and we made the canopy out of a stencilled dropcloth.  we made sure to include a place for Christian to hang out in Justin's room so he feels included:

{Christian chillin in his reading nook}

Now onto the lower level.  (And I'm only showing you one room down here because the rest are still in progress and are NOT pretty) Here's the space before, planned to be a combination family room and office:

{lovely linoleum}

And here it is now:


I love having this huge table to spread projects out on.  We had wall-to-wall seagrass carpet installed and we love it.  (It can't be hurt!!) I wanted it to feel happy & airy down here so the panelling got a fresh coat of aqua paint. 

Before we moved in, there was a weird  fenced in elevated area with a drop ceiling.  Don't ask because I don't know why:


...So we knocked it all down & leveled it and it's now the TV/ seating/ play area:


Having a ton of hidden toy storage is key to keeping me feeling sane:


We've got an ever-growing collection of flea market paintings so up they go above the sofa:


And finally, here's another veiw of the family room before:

{Gotta love that 70s stone}

We debated & debated about what to do with the stone and the wood-burning stove but in the strangest way the stone started to grow on me and now I love it.  The wood-burning stove was awesome & so cozy in the snow storms, so it's definitely staying for now:



{Lanterm, Ikea  Chairs & Ikea ottoman with custom washable slipcover...  For details on the lowerl level redo, click here}

...And that's about it for now!!  We always have something going on over here so I hope you'll come back.  (And everyone who is always here, thanks for bearing with me for all the repeats!)

Anyway, thanks so much to Andy for inviting me to be a part of the blogger home tour!! I'm honored to be included!!  :)  I hope everyone  enjoyed it and now it's time to head on over to House 


xoxo,
lauren
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