Whitewashed fireplace

Here is our before shot of our family room. You can't see our entire fireplace here as I was showing off the rug, but you can get the gist of it. The bricks were in good condition but the color of them made the room darker and with the position of this room in our house it doesn't get a ton of nautural light (though this picture makes it look like it does). We've wanted to whitewash the brick for awhile but were SO nervous to do it. It's not like painting a wall; once the bricks are painted there is no going back. We took an informal facebook poll and I would say that it was pretty evenly split. Quite a few people understood why we wanted to paint the brick. Many others thought we were crazy and would ruin the room.

 

After months of debate, we finally decided that it was our house and we knew what would make us happy. So Saturday we washed the brick, mixed up our paint, and got our whitewashing on.

 

I used this tutorial to figure out the basics, and then we just took off. We ended up with a mix of about 2/3 water to 1/3 paint as our perfect ratio. One of us would paint it on with the other person rubbing it in with a rag to make sure the paint was evenly distrubuted in color everywhere. We ended up going through about 10 rags- they were destroyed to complete shreds. We taped off our crown molding and our mantle. I had originally wanted to leave the two arches with regular brick, not painted, but they didn't have enough contrast, so it all went to whitewashed.

 

After we were completely done, I went through and darkened a few bricks here and there. I thought it needed a little more contrast. It's very subtle but it definitely added the visual interest it needed.

 

And.......here's the final product!

 

 

We are so happy with it! I definitely think it lightens up the room but still allows the brick to be present in the room. I think a solid paint job would have blended in too much in this room, so the whitewashing was a perfect solution.

 

Now, if anyone has any better styling ideas, I'd love to hear them! Decorating mantles is tough!!

 

Feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments. I fully understand how nervewracking doing something permanent is!! Hope you like it!

Spencer's big boy room

It's FINALLY done!! All the little details have come together, and we are finished with Spencer's nautical big boy room. He's been sleeping in their for over a month now with no difficulty, but it's taken us awhile to pull together the last little details.

This is the main wall.  We painted it navy as we wanted the sail to really stand out against the wall.  The sail is a full sized sail (that we actually had to cut down because it was too big!).  The beds are antiques that we found at a great antique store up in Petoskey.  We didn't want to pay the price they were asking, so we walked away.  Two weeks later they went on sale, my mom offered an even lower price, and they took the offer.  We were beyond thrilled and know they'll stay in our family forever!!

The nightstand was one we had around the house that was hideously ugly.  We sanded it down and painted it the same color as the white walls.  It's a touch smaller than I would ideally want, but it was free, it holds tons of books, and the lamp and the sleep sheep fit on it perfectly.

This is the wall that is in the front of the house.  I made the seersucker curtains out of the table runners we made for our wedding.  We had 28 of them sitting in our basement collecting dust, so I took 8 of them, made larger panels, made a pocket for the rod, and love the way they look in the room.  They aren't blackout shades, obviously, but Spencer has never slept with blackout shades, so I didn't think it would be a big deal.  Normally I would have hung them to opposite sides (as is typical with curtains), but the built-in bookshelf didn't allow for that, so we had to go to the left on both.  I am totally okay with it!

The sailboat oil painting hanging between the windows.

We hung the painting with a cleat and line.  B's idea, and it was the perfect thing to do.  It just ties in the nautical-ness throughout the room.

We used the same line (it's red, blue and white) for the curtains and used the same cleats for the tie backs.

The wall across from the beds.  We hired someone to build the built-in.  There was a weird cut out space in the wall that was begging for something, and we decided that a built-in was the way to go.  Both of us think it was sooooo worth the money.  There is so much storage which we aren't in need of now, but I'm sure we will be in the future as toys start to overwhelm us, and as the boys share a room in the future (they don't have to share as we have plenty of bedrooms, but I love the idea of them sharing for a few years).

SYT's dresser.  We repurposed an old dresser- stripped it and painted it the same blue as the accent wall.  I painted the knobs to look like nautical flags, and I ordered really reasonable wood letters from Etsy to hang the monogram over top of the dresser.

The bed linens are from Company Kids.  Solid yellow fitted sheets for the box springs and the mattresses and solid yellow duvet covers with yellow gingham flat sheets and pillowcases.  I love the color and the softness of the linens, but gosh do they wrinkle so badly.  Even when I pull them out of the dryer when they're just barely dry.  I suppose Spencer isn't going to care though!

A shot from another corner.  The artwork on the wall is 5x7 canvases that I picked up at Joann's and painted with blue, red, and yellow craft paint.  If you "read" it in nautical terms, it spells out Spencer's name.

S-P-E

N-C-E

star-R-star.

The stars were added for balance as his name doesn't divide evenly.  I love, love, love it!!  The wood you see in the corner is his closet.  You can also see his toddler bed rails on the bed.  Not necessarily the most flattering decor but definitely a necessity as he is all over the bed when he sleeps!!

B and I are so proud of this room.  We really put a lot of thought into making it toddler enough for now, but we also know that it will transition well over the next 10 years.  We're also happy that it's DONE!!!  Yea!!

These are a few of my favorite pins.......

Perhaps it's the fact that it has been really hot here or perhaps it's that I always dream of what it would be like to have my summers off, but the past few days, all I can think about is the sound of the lake as it comes rolling in at night, the summer breeze through the trees, and the fabulous nights when you need just a little nightie, a thin sheet, and you're just a tiny bit chilly.

The pictures below help me to dream this just a little bit further.....

Do any of you dream of a sleeping porch? 

Happy 4th of July week!

(via Country Living)

Wouldn't you just love to live in this house?  I adore houses with porches and I love the way this is all decked out for the holiday!!  Can't you just imagine it on Main Street, USA?  L-O-V-E!!

Summertime rooms that make me happy

These rooms all just scream summertime to me.  I can't imagine B letting me be this bold in our current house, but if I ever am lucky enough to own a cottage, you better believe it is going to scream pink, green, and yellow with florals, checks and stripes all over the place. 

Bright, bright, bright, but still warm and clean and oh so preppy.

(source unknown)

No way on earth would I ever do this to a kitchen, but, on the other hand, wouldn't you want to be friends with someone who does?  So grown up girlie, so fun, so interesting!

(source unknown)

Clean lines, love the beadboard, love the limier (is that a word?) green.

(via Sunset)

This would be a lovely room for a Southerner.  The ceiling is my favorite.  Oh and all the windows that let in all the light.  The flowers are a perfect compliment for this room.

(via BHG)

Those walls are a delicious shade of pale pink, I love the pillows, and I adore cabinets that have the inside of them painted a different color.  That round coffee table would be perfect for little peanuts to run around without fear of being hurt too!!

(via BHG)

So, could you paint your kitchen the same color as your toenails?  Do you adore yellow rooms?  Would you put beadboard on your ceiling?  Do you dream of screened in porches with great flowers?

Our project is done (well, almost!!)!

We've been working for awhile on our laundry room and 1st floor guest bathroom.  The bathroom was hideous and since the laundry room was right across the hall and only needed a little bit of work, we decided to tackle it as well. 

In this picture of the laundry room the floral wallpaper has been almost completely stripped off, but you can see it in the upper corner and it gives you a good look at the color of the cabinets.

Here's the wallpaper in its full glory.  It covered all four of the walls.  It was in fine condition, and we didn't hate the cabinets, but it certainly wouldn't have been what we would have picked out had it been our choice.

The laundry room now.....

Above you can see the just barely pink walls and the window that looks onto our front yard.  Below is the doorframe where we will be marking the heights of Spence at each year! 

Presenting the (previously) ugliest bathroom in America....ours!!!  Yellow walls with burgandy and forest green splatter paint, burgany countertop, gray sink and toilet, ugly mirror, gold fixtures.  UGGG..... 

And here it is now!!

Really, really pale pink walls, new mirror, new light fixture, quartz countertop with a white sink and white toilet, all new polished chrome fixtures..........ahhhhhhhh

We also painted the cabinets a really deep, dark gray and the trim an ivory.

(I'm not sure why it looks like we have a plaid grid on our wall.  There are not really lines there.  AND the back of the door we kind of forgot, so we're working on that one!!)

The gorgeous countertop!  I love, love, love it!

We are planning on redoing the floors in both these room and the entryway.  We're going to do a large gray tile with gray grout.  We also need new light fixtures (which have been ordered but are backordered til JULY!) for the laundry room and two in the hallway.  I would like to get a some kind of artwork or decor for the laundry room but I haven't found anything I'm interested in yet, so I'm just going to keep my eye out for awhile.  I also need to get new doorhandles for all the doors- ours are currently shiny gold and they don't match the *new* look.

I do have to say how proud I am of B- he installed the toilet, the sink/countertop, and the light fixture all by himself!  He's becoming quite handy since we've become homeowners.  Thank goodness for youtube videos and google.  We'd be lost without them!  I'm really happy with the changes we've made and I'm excited to finish the rest!!

Help with lighting

B and I are in need of new 3 new light fixtures for our breezeway and our laundry room.  Currently ours are completely awful hobnail glass with the bulb exposed.  I don't have a picture, but trust me, they're just bad.

We definitely are looking for a silver base, a semi-flushmount, and I don't really want the bulb to be exposed.  A few of the ones I am thinking about are below.  Do you have an opinion on any of them?  I really can't decide at this point, so I'd love some guidance!!

Classic Schoolhouse Design from CSN

Sussex from CSN

Surrey from CSN

Covington Manor from Bellacor

Has anyone ordered lighting online?  Anyone have suggestions for me?  We're definitely getting places in our redesign- I just wish I had a week off to GET IT DONE!!!  Oh well, it'll be a sweet sigh of relief once it's finished!

Which nook in my house.....

needs this piece of art?

I know my fellow BV/Up North friends (and TPP!!) are going to LOVE this one!!  How could you not?  We have an empty wall in the entry way that may just be the perfect spot.  Check out the etsy shop.  She has other cool pieces there as well! 

Lovely decor

J'adore this island

This floor is gorgeous

Love it all, but especially the painted ceiling.  I'm going to have a painted ceiling in our bedroom.  Someday!

Perfection personified.  Or porchified. 

Pretty, pretty.  Love the blue, love the built-ins, love the storage.  Could you imagine having a bad morning if you got to eat breakfast in this room?  I think not!

Love the bedding, the window and the floors.

Any of these capture your attention?

Big boy rooms

I am starting to dream about Spencer's "big boy" room.  Before Spence was born, we knew his nursery would always stay the nursery, and that he would have to move up when any subsequent kids were born.  While we aren't on the path of having to move him up yet, I still find myself daydreaming about where we are going to go with his room.  I figure if I start looking for pieces now, I won't feel so pressured to "have" to buy something just because I "need" it, I can search and wait for the right pieces to come along and fall into place. 

When we did the nursery, I knew exactly what I wanted.  Even though we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, I wanted the nursery to be blue and white.  I love blue, B was on board, and I knew that we could easily accent with pink in key places to make it "girlier".  I still feel that the room will be perfect for a girl if God blesses us with one- I have the perfect spot for her monogram!

So, what to do when SYT moves into his new room?  I adore navy and white with red accents and I've always wanted to do his room in these colors.  B is fine with this as long as the room doesn't scream "You're a Grand Old Flag, You're a high flying Flag".    Spencer's future room is quite large with a good size closet and a great indented spot that we're hoping to find a great bookshelf for.  We already have two twin beds that will remain in there as well.

 A few of my inspiration rooms are below..... 

(love this, but white coverlets with a toddler boy??  I think that may be a bad decision.)

(this one may be too much like our nursery)

all via Nestegg

via Coastal Living

(Soooooo fabulous!)

Pheobe Howard

(Love the graphic wall, abhor the headboards)

via decorpad

(Currently on the hunt for a used white or red sunfish sail for this look!)

via PBK

via Gramercy

I love the idea of a bold statement wall, whether it is stripes, a sail, or two really cool headboards (we've talked about making them ourselves!).  We definitely are leaning towards a loose version of a nautical theme as well.  Anything above strike your fancy?  Any ideas you want to share with me?