Little Tile Big Impact

I've been working on a new SUPER gorgeous display kitchen for my friends at DesignLine Home Transformations for awhile now. It's going to be very clean and classic looking with white cabinetry and lots of special little details. There is a rather impressive hood that's getting some special tile for the backsplash area. Here's a sneak peek at the hood in progress

And here is a little look at the options for the tile

Which one would you pick?? I'll show you more in a few weeks when everything gets installed! Stay tuned...

A Friday Sneak Peek

Here's your pretty for Friday! Last night I went to a party for a client.  I finally got to see her finished kitchen and bath.  She was such a lovely and sweet person to work with. We had such fun shopping too! It was so nice to see her grinning from ear to ear after having to cook her dinners in a microwave in the laundry room for the last 3 months!  Here's a sneak peek of the new bathroom and kitchen.  I will do a more in-depth post in a few weeks when I have real pics.

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you have a great weekend.

Kitchen Deconstruction

On Tuesday I started to show you the Parents new house and all the work that they are doing to make it their own.  Today it's all about the kitchen.  The situation is very similar to the master bath.  Lots of wallpaper and border, unprepped walls,  with lots and lots of hard work.  So hard in fact that we wore out the dog.

Who am I kidding this is what George likes to do everyday!  Okay on to the kitchen!  Again, the existing color palette was mauve and teal...everywhere.  From the walls to the floors to the countertops it was on almost every surface.

Before:

from the dining room looking into the kitchen

the sitting/breakfast area off the kitchen (hi Dad!)

And now the in progress shots during all the hard work.

In Progress:

from the dining room into the kitchen

the sitting/breakfast area off the kitchen

Did I mention that the Parents will have an incredible view from their kitchen and sitting area.  You can start to see it out the windows in that last pic.  It was also close to the peak of color for Fall where they live so I got to fast forward my Fall and see some really beautiful color.

As of last night my Mom and Aunt have been working on the kitchen walls for 11 days, peeling paper, washing down walls, priming and now painting.  I have a great shot of them hard at work but I'm sure they appreciate that I'm not sharing with the world.  They are standing on a ladder, their butts in the air, trying to peel the last of the paper from around the refrigerator.  I can't wait to see it again when I return in a view weeks.  There is still a bit of work to be done.  Walls are being painted, countertops are being selected and I need to get cracking on some great fabrics for the windows.  I'll update you as this story progresses. 

And So It Begins

My parents bought a new house.  This is a huge change for them.  They moved into their old house the year before I was born. Now they are packing it all up and moving to town (with the exception of several boxes of my childhood junk that they sent packing with me over the weekend!) They have been working slavishly hard for several weeks now to make the new house their own.  I went for a visit and to lend a hand over the weekend.

The new house originally had LOTS of wallpaper.  I mean lots, as in two different patterns plus a border in several rooms. But even more heartbreaking, the walls were not properly prepped so the paper was only coming off in tiny little pieces (insert Mom's tears of frustration here).  My Mom and my Aunt have worked for over a week to get all of those little pieces stripped away plus washing the walls several times, patching, standing and priming before the real transformation can happen. Let's all take a look at their hard work.

Behold the Master Bath Before:

Notice the three patterns and a border in that last shot!  Now here it is with all of that stripped away but before Dad and I started priming.

Even it's raw state it feel 100 times better in the room.  Moving forward there are a few things that are still going to have to be worked around.  Did you notice the pink tub, pink vanity counter, pink shower and all the gold fixtures??? Yep, they are all staying for now.  When I shot the before pics a few months ago I didn't even notice all the pink fixtures because of everything else going on in the room.  I had envisioned watery blue walls and clean white fixtures.  Clearly we are going in a different direction now.  I'll keep you posted. 

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you the kitchen progress. 

Before & After Sneak Peek

I am happy to report that I am finally on the mend from that terrible cold that had me down all last week.  Now I have a few exciting things to show you.  First up, here's a little peek at at family room project that's still in progress.  The fireplace is one of my most favorite things.  It's another reminder that I really need to do something with my own fireplace!

Here's the before:

And here is the newly paneled and painted after!

Construction by DesignLine Home Transformations

The recessed panels, silestone hearth and surround, gas logs, and brass sconces have taken this focus pulling corner fireplace and really turned it into something you want to focus on.  I also love the warm terracotta of the new wall color that really gives a lot of life to the room.  

I really need to do something about my own fireplace!! Happy Monday to you. 

Friday Inspiration: Parent Addition

This one's for my Mama. They just bought a new house and are moving for the first time in almost 40 years.  There will be lots of new house brainstorming and planning in the next few months. I know I'm excited. You can follow along with the conversation as we figure out how to make this new house their home. 

Hey Mama, I've been completely consumed with ideas for the new house. I know that you mentioned that Dad liked the dark green guest bedroom and that you would keep that.  Well, I have been completely inspired to make that inky blue guest room work as well!!  One less thing to do on the project list!  Here are some images to get yourself excited too.

Once the country border is gone, and all the dolls and lace have been put away I think we can make this room very cozy and a little masculine for a change of pace.  Remember it's not replicating the picture but more about the feeling of the room.  I love the combination of the warm wood with those deep walls. I was thinking we can use your old bed and put the white iron bed in storage for a bit.  The wood will be beautiful with that dark color.

Source: lonnymag.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Or maybe like this (without the lanterns but with the wall full of photos and art) 

Source: houzz.com via Aimee on Pinterest

It's the touches of orange that makes it for me in those previous images.  Love it!  If you were thinking something a little softer and more feminine, we could go that direction too.  Here's another one with a luscious orange upholstered bed.

Source: decorpad.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Or we could use my new favorite color combination of navy and aqua.  My white iron bed would be beautiful with this kind of look.

Source: decorpad.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Did you notice that all of these images had a nice mix of lighter neutrals to keep it from feeling to dark and heavy like you've fallen into a black hole?

Of course, if you want to be dramatic (though I've never known you to be dramatic!) we could do something like this.

Source: mackenziehoran.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Love that pop of pink on the ceiling of the canopy!

So what do you think?  Think we can make the dark green and the dark blue work?  That would mean two fewer rooms that have to be painted.  

Have a happy weekend everyone! 

A Library: After

If you where here yesterday you saw the library before.  Now here's the (almost) after.  I'm still missing a pillow or two and I did no styling for these photographs.  You can look past that, right?  It's now a true library that's warm and cozy with a comfy place to curl up with a book.  It's also bright and cheerful with plenty of places for the family to kick back and put up their feet. Take a look:

My client has been a dream in every sense of the word.  It was so much fun making this room happen. 

A Library: Before

Today I wanted to share another project that I'm wrapping up.  It's actually part of this project that I shared a couple of weeks ago.  This room was the main tv watching area for the family.  It had a hard working wood burning fireplace but NO storage.  My client is an avid reader (an understatement) and wanted a place that she could display and store her books instead of keeping them squirreled away in closets and under beds.  She also wanted it to still be a comfortable place for the whole family to gather for movie night as well as a place to curl up with a good book.  Let's look at the befores.

As you can see the work had already begun.  The trim was painted white.

The fireplace mantel, hearth, and fireplace insert were removed.

And some of the kitchen appliances were stored.  Then as an inspirational jumping off point I left the client some paint swatches to get a feel for what she wanted for the room.

This is typically not how I start designing a room but it was the nature of how this project needed to proceed.  A color was picked and then the real fun began.  Tune in tomorrow for the big reveal!

A Kitchen & Family Room After

On Friday I got to stop by a project that's wrapping up.  It's always so exciting to see a room finished.  I snapped a few pictures.  I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a few extra minutes to style everything properly.  This may be the push I need to get a few projects photographed properly.  I had given a sneak peak of the project a few months ago which you can check out here. But I'll also remind you where we started.

 

And here's the view on Friday.

Here's the before from the kitchen into the family room.  The stone fireplace was the only thing we were not allowed to touch.

And the oh-so-warm and cozy after

Happy Monday everyone!

I've linked up with Brooklyn Limestone for Real Room Makeovers, and the Mustard Ceiling (see below) Check it out!  

A Peak at an After

Remember this in progress project from a month or so ago?  Well, I got to see it finished on Friday and couldn't wait to share a little bit of it's fabulousness.  I just snapped a few picks (beware the rooms aren't styled).  Hopefully I will get to go back soon for better photos of the whole project.

Here's the Master Bath:

And here's a look at the A-MAZING kitchen.  I didn't show you any befores before but I thought it would be nice to drool on the afters.  

Here's a close up of the island marble and of the cooktop backsplash.  My client has a great eye and hand picked all the marble.  Isn't this gorgeous?!