Bragging about the Country

1.30.2012

Bathroom Update!

After a restful weekend, Monday began bright and early with a return to the "Face Lift Bathroom." The first project was measuring and leveling the border line, followed by a fresh coat of "Abingdon Putty" by Benjamin Moore (the second room colour). Very time consuming and tedious, but when done properly...looks great! Then the trim got a fresh coat of paint, "Cloud White" by Benjamin Moore and the hardware came off the cabinets. The most exciting part of the day was lifting the carpet... Overall, a typical productive day and a HUGE change...the end is in sight!

Taping the border

Taping complete and first coat of accent colour

Off with the hardware...

Buh-bye antique-like handles!

One last look at the bathroom carpet

My husband taking up the carpet

Almost done!

Clean and ready to lay the tiles

1.28.2012

Bathroom Face Lift

Well, Christmas has come and gone and so has the New Year celebrations. While January is a month to reflect on the past year, it is also a time for new beginnings. As changes are being made in our lives and resolutions come to be discovered, why not apply some changes to your home? The winter always tends to bring out the tendency to hibernate and most people wait till the Spring or Summer to start projects around the house. However, once the nice weather makes an appearance, everyone wants to enjoy the missed sunshine. When I was contacted about redecorating this bathroom, I was delighted...what a great time to give any room in your house a makeover!

From the doorway looking into the bathroom

Window Treatments and Accessories

Vanity

Bathtub/Shower

Yes! That is carpet flooring...Quite the fancy bathroom in its day!

Wicker towel stand

The only accessories being salvaged is the beautiful antique jug and basin set, which is difficult to see with the busy wallpaper pattern

The function of this room is mainly for guests when they come to visit. This bathroom is one of three in the home, as there is a bathroom on-suite in the master bedroom and a gentleman's bathroom in the finished basement. While, this bathroom is in immaculate condition and quite spacious, the decor has not ever been changed in over 30 years. The layout is long and narrow, and while we aren't rearranging the layout of the shower, stool or cabinets, almost everything is being updated! As this is the most current project, here are some pictures to keep you up to date with the changes being made.

As the paper comes off....the walls begin to crumble

You never know what you are going to run into...but it was coming off slick as butter

The room opened right up!

After washing walls and scraping off extra glue ...then taping the trim

Clean white canvas

Repaired walls and ceiling painted

Shower ceilings painted

Coat #2 of ceiling paint: Benjamin Moore "Acadia White" Coat #1 of wall paint: Benjamin Moore "Cable Knit"

Coat #2 Complete!!!

11.15.2011

Corbels

The house I grew up in was always decorated beautifully. My mother, who loves Colonial Decor, (for its timelessness and richness) decorated the majority of our home with this flare in mind. For those of you who aren't familiar with what Colonial Decor is, it is a style of furniture inspired by the 17th & 18th Century, when America was being Colonized by Europe. The easiest way I can explain it is, "Not as frilly as Victorian, but not as rustic as Country...somewhere in the middle." In my mothers house, there is a lot of wood pieces and rich colours, but that may also be in large part due to the fact that jewel tones were very trendy in the 90's when she did her decorating. While I used to make fun of my mom for loving this style and urged her to update her home and go for a more modern look, she remains true to still loving Colonial Decor. Now that I am in love with decorating and go for a Traditional look, which is the bridging of the old with the new, there are elements of my moms house that I now love and want to replicate. For example, the corbels mounted in her doorway are one of these things.

They are not unique to the Colonial period, as they have been used since Ancient times to glam up the exterior and interior appearance of buildings. They can be carved out of stone and wood, or molded out of plaster and they can be found in Rustic, Victorian, Traditional, and even Modern Homes.

Colonial Corbel

Rustic/Country Corbel

Victorian Corbel

Modern Corbel

Exterior Corbel in Ancient Architecture

As you can see, a corbel is a decorative pieces that can be found mounted on the inside corners in door frames, fireplaces, under tables, on kitchen islands, under or above cabinets, shelving and even hang from ceilings.

My house is a Century Home, and I am shocked to say, we do not have any corbels....But not for long! They have become the inspiration of my next project (The Laundry Room) and I cannot wait to get started. While antique corbels can be quite expensive, Home Depot sells them from $10-$20 a piece. Best part, they are almost weightless as they are made from foam. Once mounted and painted you would never know the difference and they look like they belong to the house. Stay tuned as I tackle my next project and give this house its first set or Corbels!

11.14.2011

Dining Room turned Family Room

In previous decades this room had been used as a fancy Living Room. During my husbands childhood this room had been turned into a Dining Room. However, because it was a room that only had the opportunity to be used a few times a year, it eventually turned into a room that was almost never entered and slowly became a hoarding den! The walls had been papered cranberry red with a boarder running along the ceiling in a paisley pattern. This made the room very dark and gloomy. I decided it needed a face lift. It already had great potential as it had beautiful stained glass windows above the bay window, nice think trim, and sliding wood doors. I decided I wanted to brighten it up and use this room on a regular basis, not only because it could be beautiful but because the flow of our house depended on it. So it became our television room or Family Room. The space beyond the wood sliding doors wasn't really quite big enough to be its own room as it sat between this room and the front entrance hallway. I decided to leave the wood doors open at all times and allow the family room to spill into that joining room. It now works as an office/den space.

Changes Needed

Wall Detail: Textured Cranberry Wallpaper, Paisley print border
Lighting: Pink Glass with Gold detail ceiling light
Furniture: Bragg Antique Sofa, and dining room table

Changes

Wall Detail: Textured Cranberry Wallpaper Painted light green, Lion-Behr - HomeDepot

border: Paint-able white molded paper - HomeDepot

Lighting: Stainless Steal chandelier - Lowe's

2 table lamps- Home Sense

Furniture: 2 Faux Swede Sofas, 1 Sofa Chair, Sage Green- The Brick

2 Wood End Tables- Home Sense
Leather Ottoman- BouClair

Window Treatment: California Blinds, White- HomeDepot

2 Panels of Ready to Hang, Loft Size Curtains, White -Walmart

Before

Afters

Living Room Update

This room in previous years had always been used as a casual room where family would gather to watch television. It has a beautiful bay window, a large fireplace, original wood floors from the early 1900's and nice crown molding. Due to the fact that this room already had these wonderful features, I wanted to glam it up a bit. I thought it would make a great living room for guests to gather, as it is directly off from the kitchen. However, my biggest challenge; I was not allowed to paint out the original wood trim. Rather than fight with it, I made it work to my advantage!

Changes Needed

Wall Detail: 1980's Dusty rose pink wall paper with blue floral design.
Crown Molding: painted stripe, Baby Blue
Curtains: Lace
Couches: Blue wing back, reclining sofas
Wood furniture: Honey
Accessories: pink and blue