Not So Mellow Yellow

Ever since we changed up the curtains and added a new pillow to our master I’ve been wanting to add more goldenrod to the bedroom.

After seeing this tour linked on Apartment Therapy, I became convinced me that what I really need to do over the shoe cabinet (above this) is hunt down an ornate oval frame to go over the shoe cabinet.  We already have two mirrors in the bedroom, so I’d probably back the frame with screen  to hold my earrings.  We’ll see if that happens, I’ve been scouring eBay, Etsy, and a few thrift stores but I haven’t found anything yet. 

I also want to add a few goldenrod accessories to the dresser to help balance things out.  Maybe something like a laquered tray, or a bright picture frame.  Probably whatever I can find at HomeGoods or Goodwill and spray paint.

Oh, and after reading Russet Street Reno I am about 85% certain that I need to head to Ikea soon for some new bedside tables.  (Sara recently replaced her table with something else and you should go look at its cuteness!)  Don’t worry, I probably won’t paint them yellow– but I make no promises about a distressed finish blue.  (Distressed because with the recent jewelry holder addition I feel like the room needs more rustic.  If i wasn’t so in love with our bed I’d do a rustic headboard like these.)   I would love to add a chevron runner to our hallway like the one Sara has, but I don’t think West Elm has those anymore(my bad, they do still have it!) Helper Dog would have far too much fun sliding on it (do they make really, really sticky rug pads?)

April Showers

With the weather beginning to warm up here in Florida, I’ve been thinking a lot about our outdoor shower (and our tank pool, but that’s another post).  The idea of rinsing off out in the sunshine after a long bike ride or a day at the beach sounds pretty heavenly.  It might even be a great alternative to washing the dogs in our guest bath during the summer (except that wet white dogs + dirt = terrifying idea).  I’ve been kicking the idea of having fun/funky gauges in the outdoor shower ever since this house tour on Apartment Therapy, and then seeing the shower in Emily at Merrypad’s post about Hamilton Productions pretty much cemented the decision.  I’m sure Robert can come up with something completely awesome, he has yet to let me down when I pose weird design problems.

Left from Merrypad, right from AT

Initially we thought a wooden shower stall around an existing concrete pad in our backyard (I would show y’all a picture, but it is housing a lawn mower beneath a pollen-coated motorcycle cover at the moment- classy).  After seeing Emily’s post we started thinking a 4×4 post frame with either corrugated plastic or the corrugated metal like Kara used for her headboard (which was recently featured on AT!)  Robert is leaning towards corrugated metal, and I was thinking plastic because I like the idea of it being at least semi-translucent, so that it’s not just a big thing in the yard (I am obviously always really eloquent).  It seems like it would get really gross, really quickly though (and it might be completely see through, we didn’t remember to look the last time we were at Lowe’s). 

Left from Merrypad, right from Charles and Hudson

For some reason I never noticed that gorgeous Dwell rug before! Now I love Kara’s guest room even more!

Here’s hoping the shower can be completed (oh hey, even started is good with me) soon!

Fired Up

As I mentioned a while back, the ideas floating around in my head for our eventual fireplace redesign were partially inspired by Katie Bower’s old den.  I love that mantel so much.  For our fireplace I was thinking about using flagstone for our surround since our front porch is flagstone and I thought it would be a nice way to carry outside elements into the house.

our fireplace

Katie Bower’s fireplace

Then this Apartment Therapy tour reminded me of my ridiculous love for rustic wood mantels.  We mentioned the idea to a coworker from one of Robert’s previous jobs and he told us that he has already sent a mysterious piece of wood to a sawmill for us.  Yessssssssssss!

Apartment Therapy tour

In the interest of incorporating one of my other favorite elements I thought about adding white brick instead of drywalling (and texturing it, to match the rest of our plaster walls).  I did a quick Google image search and came up with this picture.

source

It’s not exactly what I had in mind because I’d prefer the bottom of our fireplace be the same depth out as the top, and I’d like our mantel to be more rustic, but it’s close enough.  I showed the picture  to Robert and he agreed that he liked the way it looks, and he said it might be easier (if the faux brick we talked about here is heat-resistant enough, at least).  Score!

Build-in Envy, Part 2

As I alluded to in my last post*, I’ve been rethinking the idea of the build-in in the library.  We were going to use Expedits, but I started having second thoughts about how that would look and those are “last chance” at Ikea now.  I know we can probably make our own build-in a lot cheaper than our former brilliant plan (of buying six Expedits), but I have no idea when we’re going to get to that.  What’s the line about the best laid plans…  (The real line, not the Eddie Izzard line involving mice putting all the cheese in the back of the Mini.**)

We are currently discussing the idea of making something that is sort of a cross between the CB2 3.14 shelf, the DIY version featured on AT, the Expedit and a build-in like the ones below in Kara Paslay’s bathroom & the living room of one of YHL’s house tours.  We like the idea of molding at the top & bottom, but we also like shelves that are not perfectly symmetrical.  The whole eventual process should be interesting, to say the least.

Left from AT, right from CB2

Left from Kara Paslay Designs, right from YHL

Other build-ins that I love are the one in Sara at Russet Street Reno’s den/woman cave, and of course we’ve all seen YHL’s painted bookcases.

*Ok, my last post was random and fueled by coffee, this one was random and spurred by tiredness & Eddie Izzard.  Oops.  Meatier, heartier posts soon.  Hopefully.

**Don’t sit there, there’s a mouse making a plan!