:: media room mood board

So, I need a little advice from my fellow decorators & designers.  I am finally getting around to updating our bonus/media room. I've found furniture and accessories I like, but I just can't seem to decide on the color of the room, I'm personally leaning towards the blue.  Help! I can't decide!

Which wall color do you prefer with the furnishings above, blue or gray??  

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

Pin It

:: a lake house renovation - the kitchen

{ Driftwood Cottage }

Now that all of our renovations are over the dust has cleared & we've christened it with fun weekends with friends & family... I'm finally ready to document all the changes we made to our vacation home on the lake. Welcome to { Driftwood Cottage } our little slice of lake life.

Of all the spaces in the lake house, the Kitchen is my absolute favorite. I love how everything turned out. I love the newly painted white cabinets with their new bronze hardware. I adore all of the new lighting, and I'm especially in love with my new bookcase/banquette... it was the perfect solution to hide the fridge at the end of the cabinets.  I had to share the after first because I think it's just so much prettier than where we began.  The kitchen wasn't so bad to begin with, the cabinets were relatively new as well as the tile backsplash and granite countertops... so they stayed and the cabinets got a paint job and new hardware. I'm happy enough with the granite countertops, if I changed anything it would be the tile backsplash, but it works and doesn't bother me...not worth the money to change it. The major changes in the kitchen & throughout the house are the ceilings and the flooring. We had all of the popcorn ceilings removed throughout & also had bamboo flooring installed through the whole house. We went with bamboo because of the durability & the fact that it plays well with water... that's pretty important on a lake & when you have a basement. 

Here is the kitchen before we purchased the house. That's vinyl flooring not tile & though it's not horrible & was in good shape, we wanted a cohesive look throughout the house.

Here it is with the ceilings stripped & paint swatches on the walls, 

it took me forever and about a zillion paint pots to decide on a color.

We decided to keep the appliances because they were all in good working order, 

In fact the black ties in nicely with the bronze hardware I chose.

Here are the cabinets with their first coat of primer, looking better already.

Cabinet doors & shelves being painted in the basement, all that nasty carpet has to go anyway.

Looking a bit less stark with the new paint color, also blends a bit better.

At this point I also contemplated leaving some of the cabinet doors off.

I decided for practical and visual reasons to put them back on. 

The bookcase ended up being all the open shelving we needed.

Woo Hoo the flooring was going in...what a huge difference!

The new bookcase wall is up to mask the fridge,  and the new lighting has been installed.  

The fixture above the sink is Bristow by Allen Roth from Lowe's, and the lovely Twig Orb is from Shades of Light I ordered the Large.  I just adore it & I think it adds the perfect rustic touch. 

Then came the best part of all, the built in bookshelf & banquette. 

This is my absolute favorite part of our whole renovation... it absolutely makes the kitchen,

now it's so much more functional and quaint. We also now have a much better view from the living room not looking into the side of a refrigerator. It took a little bit of research to figure out the whole banquette thing. I had never had one before & I've never designed one until now ;). I wanted it to be deep enough for lounging {in fact it's large enough to sleep on...my kids have done it ha! ha! } but easy enough to get in and out of, and oh there are so many different opinions on the depth of a banquette seat on the web. I decided by sitting in a comfortable wicker chair that I loved measuring the depth then adding an additional few inches for throw pillows in the back.  I also chose to leave the seating open underneath so feet could swing under comfortably. It looks a bit low to the ground in these photos & it is, but I had to account for the 4" of foam cushion that would be the seat.

Here we have our beadboard back in place & our new coat of White Dove,

and she's all ready for some cushions, a table & some goodies for the shelves.

Starting the decorating process my favorite part. 

We have uncovered foam, a few throw pillows, vintage books and baskets. 

It was and still is such fun looking for treasures to add to { Driftwood Cottage }

Lots of vintage and used books for relaxed weekend and summer reading.

I found a great stash of vintage Reader's Digests all with the great printed covers,

I love the pops of color they add to the space, and they are great for weekend reading.

Here it is again in all it's finished splendor {so you don't have to scroll back up}

I absolutely love this space.  It's where we all gather for morning coffee & conversation,

where we read, craft & even play on our computers.  This is truly the perfect spot for lounging & laughing with family & friends, and we are so blessed to have it and share it.

Oh & here she is our little { Driftwood Cottage }

{ lake side }

{ street side }

Just wait till you see the changes we've made outside...

more photos coming soon!!

{ peace, love & a hug }

Carrie

Pin It

:: a lake house renovation - the kitchen

{ Driftwood Cottage }

Now that all of our renovations are over the dust has cleared & we've christened it with fun weekends with friends & family... I'm finally ready to document all the changes we made to our vacation home on the lake. Welcome to { Driftwood Cottage } our little slice of lake life.

Of all the spaces in the lake house, the Kitchen is my absolute favorite. I love how everything turned out. I love the newly painted white cabinets with their new bronze hardware. I adore all of the new lighting, and I'm especially in love with my new bookcase/banquette... it was the perfect solution to hide the fridge at the end of the cabinets.  I had to share the after first because I think it's just so much prettier than where we began.  The kitchen wasn't so bad to begin with, the cabinets were relatively new as well as the tile backsplash and granite countertops... so they stayed and the cabinets got a paint job and new hardware. I'm happy enough with the granite countertops, if I changed anything it would be the tile backsplash, but it works and doesn't bother me...not worth the money to change it. The major changes in the kitchen & throughout the house are the ceilings and the flooring. We had all of the popcorn ceilings removed throughout & also had bamboo flooring installed through the whole house. We went with bamboo because of the durability & the fact that it plays well with water... that's pretty important on a lake & when you have a basement. 

Here is the kitchen before we purchased the house. That's vinyl flooring not tile & though it's not horrible & was in good shape, we wanted a cohesive look throughout the house.

Here it is with the ceilings stripped & paint swatches on the walls, 

it took me forever and about a zillion paint pots to decide on a color.

We decided to keep the appliances because they were all in good working order, 

In fact the black ties in nicely with the bronze hardware I chose.

Here are the cabinets with their first coat of primer, looking better already.

Cabinet doors & shelves being painted in the basement, all that nasty carpet has to go anyway.

Looking a bit less stark with the new paint color, also blends a bit better.

At this point I also contemplated leaving some of the cabinet doors off.

I decided for practical and visual reasons to put them back on. 

The bookcase ended up being all the open shelving we needed.

Woo Hoo the flooring was going in...what a huge difference!

The new bookcase wall is up to mask the fridge,  and the new lighting has been installed.  

The fixture above the sink is Bristow by Allen Roth from Lowe's, and the lovely Twig Orb is from Shades of Light I ordered the Large.  I just adore it & I think it adds the perfect rustic touch. 

Then came the best part of all, the built in bookshelf & banquette. 

This is my absolute favorite part of our whole renovation... it absolutely makes the kitchen,

now it's so much more functional and quaint. We also now have a much better view from the living room not looking into the side of a refrigerator. It took a little bit of research to figure out the whole banquette thing. I had never had one before & I've never designed one until now ;). I wanted it to be deep enough for lounging {in fact it's large enough to sleep on...my kids have done it ha! ha! } but easy enough to get in and out of, and oh there are so many different opinions on the depth of a banquette seat on the web. I decided by sitting in a comfortable wicker chair that I loved measuring the depth then adding an additional few inches for throw pillows in the back.  I also chose to leave the seating open underneath so feet could swing under comfortably. It looks a bit low to the ground in these photos & it is, but I had to account for the 4" of foam cushion that would be the seat.

Here we have our beadboard back in place & our new coat of White Dove,

and she's all ready for some cushions, a table & some goodies for the shelves.

Starting the decorating process my favorite part. 

We have uncovered foam, a few throw pillows, vintage books and baskets. 

It was and still is such fun looking for treasures to add to { Driftwood Cottage }

Lots of vintage and used books for relaxed weekend and summer reading.

I found a great stash of vintage Reader's Digests all with the great printed covers,

I love the pops of color they add to the space, and they are great for weekend reading.

Here it is again in all it's finished splendor {so you don't have to scroll back up}

I absolutely love this space.  It's where we all gather for morning coffee & conversation,

where we read, craft & even play on our computers.  This is truly the perfect spot for lounging & laughing with family & friends, and we are so blessed to have it and share it.

Oh & here she is our little { Driftwood Cottage }

{ lake side }

{ street side }

Just wait till you see the changes we've made outside...

more photos coming soon!!

{ peace, love & a hug }

Carrie

Pin It

:: tiny interiors

Sharing a few inspiring Tiny house interiors today. 

They may be cute on the outside, but how do they function inside.

The tiny homes below all have great functionality & STYLE.

image source

Traditional Dining Room by Little Rock General Contractors Bret Franks Construction, Inc.

Traditional Living Room by Little Rock General Contractors Bret Franks Construction, Inc.

Farmhouse Living Room by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Shabby-chic Style Bedroom by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

{peace, love & hugs}
Carrie

Pin It

:: my favorite rug pad

Since moving into our new home, rugs & rug pads have become very important....

especially good ones that do what they are supposed to & actually hold a rug in place. 

With wood floors in nearly every room in the house minus two baths, plus two very energetic dalmatians who think it's their job to ruffle my rugs {especially this round woven rug at the bottom of our stairs}. Cooper {our big puppy} loves to leap from the third step landing on the rug & sliding it across the floor into a heap.....he seriously thinks it's his job {it makes him so happy}....for me it was more than a little irritating & a pain to constantly fix....

UNTIL NOW....

with my new super duper RUG PAD {what what}

This new rug pad keeps my rug perfectly in place & it doesn't budge.

I LOVE IT...it's true, i'm in love with a rug pad.

I've tried several rug pads in the past and this one is by far my favorite & it works better than any other I've ever tried, especially those cheap ones that look like shelf liners sold in most stores.

This rug is for use on multiple surfaces even carpet, one side is smooth & a little tacky, and the other is rough a little like velcro & it grabs the rug & holds on tight. It's nice and thin so it doesn't leave the tale tale pad line under your rugs. I have a couple of the heavy duty ones & while they work okay, they show under the rug because of the thickness....not too pretty.

Now, I cannot attest to the way this works on carpets because I have none, but I'm willing to guess that it probably does just what it says & works on every surface perfectly.

I'm so glad to have found this rug pad

It's DALMATIAN tested & MOM approved.

You can check it out HERE.

The opinions I am sharing are entirely my own based on my own experience. I am receiving no compensation for sharing these opinions ( though some free rug pads would be nice ; ).

{peace, love & hugs} 

Carrie

Pin It

:: vintage glass & silver

s i m p l e   b e a u t y

A vintage bottle collection & heirloom pocket knife 

grouped on a tarnished silver cake stand.

Love this corner of my desk.

HAPPY WEEKEND

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

Pin It

:: orb - it

Lately I have orbs on my mind. Orb Chandeliers to be exact. I'm trying to decide on one to replace a less than lovely ceiling fan in my new living room. I've known since I moved in that an orb was what I wanted for the space. I'm not one to make quick decisions, so I've been doing my due diligence researching orb chandeliers that I could love in my home. Below are a few options I've come up with. If you know of others, do share. I figure now might be a good time to buy since so many stores are having christmas sales & I'm looking for a good deal.

NATURAL JUTE ORB

This jute orb is actually one of my favorites, unfortunately it's no longer available

(kicking myself for waiting). I like the texture of the jute twine ( one of my favorite things ), and also the realistic look of the candles with drippy wax and silicone bulbs.

BALLARD ORBS

I like the Ballard Orbs, they have several finishes to choose from and they have good reviews. I personally would lose the crystal ball at the bottom...... & luckily it's removable. So this is a contender for sure.

STRAP ORB

This strap orb is quite interesting, although maybe a little too heavy & masculine for my space. I do like it a lot though for the right room.

TWIG ORB

I adore all things TWIG, so of course this caught my eye immediately. Still not sure if it's quite the right look for my space. I could so see this on a screened porch ( hmm, maybe I can find a place for this one after all. )

YOUNG HOUSE ORB

I really like the simplistic style of this light with it's bare Edison bulb, very cool...though possibly to spare for my taste with it's single bulb. This one though is a contender & the price point is perfect.

FOUCAULT'S ORB

Last, but certainly not least Foucault's Iron orb by Restoration Hardware. This is truly where my obsession with orbs began, this one has had my heart from the beginning, I just haven't decided to let it have my purse strings yet. I sometimes believe however that it's best to go with your gut and in the end it's important to have what you love even if it costs a little bit more.

So, which one is your favorite?

Here are a few photos of my new living room... I just took these shot sans tripod and it's late afternoon with little natural light so it looks a bit drab. I almost hate to share because it's still a work in progress & looks a bit unfinished & plain. I would love to hear your opinion on the light choices. Maybe you would even suggest something totally different.

Would love to hear your thoughts on overhead lighting for my room.

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

lighting can be found here

Pin It