the virgin renovators

#27: confession of a virgin renovator

admin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:42:50 +0000

Well, it’s fessin’ up time. I’m back, and I think I have to own up to what I did… and what I’ve been avoiding writing about.

At least let me preface this post by saying it’s a lot harder to be a blogging virgin renovator than I had originally anticipated! It’s one thing to have your friends and family watch your renovation and make suggestions/ comment on your decisions… it’s a whole other thing to have readers from anywhere and everywhere looking in on your first-time remodel! Especially on the rare occassion when you go out on a limb and do something entirely unexpected…

And so it happened, a few weeks ago, that the virgin renovator (and her love muffin) went to Home Depot, picked a paint color that struck her fancy in the moment, painted the entire guest room with it, and then was so (what’s the right word?) shocked at the results, that she was afraid to show the world for fear of what everyone would say.

We painted all 4 walls “tropical paradise”… BLUE.

But not some serene, ethereal, light blue… Rather, in-your-face, unrelenting, gasp-inducing, Miami dream-house blue. This, my friends, is visual exclamation point blue.

I’ll admit, I was largely horrified. I begged the Love Muffin to let us repaint. But because of our tight deadline, and the amount of effort we put into painting in the first place, he refused. Or rather maybe, he knew better. The man who notoriously loves beige stopped me and told me I just needed to have a little vision. He promised that with furniture, new floors, crown and baseboard moldings, and some big canvases on the wall, it would look great.

And, you know what? I think he was right. After weeks of hiding our guest-room-in-process, here they are… pictures of our guest room.

…And with lighting…

So, what do you think??? And just for the point of comparison, here are a few pics of the room just a few weeks ago…

#26: disappearing act

admin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:11:34 +0000

Hi everybody! Just wanted to let you know that we’re in the process of switching servers, so the blog will probably look a little different to you for the next few days. Sorry about that!

Rest assured, I’ll be back with all of my old pictures next week, and in the meantime, there will be lots going on this weekend so stay tuned!

As always, thanks for droppin by, and especially for all of your comments and ideas!

#25: fun with paints!

admin — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:35:47 +0000

On the advice of Jenn from Let Your Creativity Flow, I decided to get experimental this weekend and test out some color on my guest room wall (before painting the whole thing).In the neutral-with-splashes-of-color vs all-over-yellow debate, I’ve been leaning more towards going the neutral route in the past few days. I finally decided to just put some up and see how it looks. After all, as Jenn pointed out in her advice to me, I can always paint over it.Then, while perusing the paint section at Lowe’s this weekend, I came across the “mistinted” paint shelf. I glanced at the options and found a can with a few bright yellow drops on the lid, and for the $2.50 it cost for the mistinted can, I decided to pick it up. “Why not?” I said to myself…Low and behold, there are no guarantees with the mistinted paints. I got home, opened the can, and inside was a soft melon-y orange! Soooo not a color that I would have picked on my own. But, in the spirit of experimentation, I decided to throw some of that on the wall too!… And here’s the neutral I’m currently leaning towards…Sorry about the pictures without natural light… The colors were hard to capture with light streaming in from the adjacent window. But you get the idea… What do you think?For me, I really liked the neutral oatmeal color, but after seeing that the melon-y orange wasn’t that bad, I was filled with a renewed sense of confidence and optimism… It really isn’t the wall color that makes the room, but rather the furnishings and accessories and how it all works together. And, of course, you can always just re-paint!

#24: every workaholic needs a chic desk!

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:33:06 +0000

I must say, while my work can be completely overwhelming and consuming sometimes (nothing’s off-limits when you work at a production company…), I do love it. My office is absolutely beautiful: very modern and minimal, with a 25′ window, 30′ ceilings, and a fabulous sound system. It’s definitely a space that makes an impression. And a space that makes working 60 hour weeks a little more bearable…

I’m about to say goodbye to my current office though. We’re moving! We built to spec for ourselves, and thankfully, it’s just as beautiful as our current office .. We even chose to use the same architect.

And now for the big decision… my new desk! My current desk is a gorgeous one custom made from metal and wood, but it’s staying at our old place. Here’s the dining table from Hudson Furniture that I tried convincing my boss to buy for my new desk…

Isn’t it outrageously beautiful?! Too bad it’s the price of a car.

My boss agreed that it’s fabulous (and did concede that I would look very “commanding” behind it), but suggested some other options…

What do you think of this one from Crate & Barrel?

It’s our current compromise, but we definitely don’t love it…

So I thought I’d tap into the power of my super-fab blogging community and ask… Where can we find a chunky wood desk, very squared off, with angled joints? Kind of like this West Elm table…

Any ideas? I want to see the most fabulous dining table/ desks that you’ve found!

#23: out with the closet

admin — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:20:50 +0000

The Love Muffin and I have been planning to get rid of our hideous closet doors in our guest room, but haven’t picked replacements yet. I’ve been looking for some sleeker, more stylized options…

But then Walter Allen came over this evening and suggested a different direction. What about removing the doors completely and leaving it open? On the plus side, it would add some space to the room. On the negative side, it would reveal everything… including the pole for hanging clothes, which I’m not such a fan of.

Walter Allen’s arguement is that it’s a guest room, so we won’t be storing anything in there anyway. He thinks with nice looking hardware for the pole, and maybe some pretty pillows stacked on the shelf, it might actually add to the look of the room.

you

#22: Special Edition Birthday Blog

admin — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:01:31 +0000

It was my mom’s birthday this weekend, and in her honor, here are images of some spaces I think she’d love.

Happy birthday!

#21: Road trip!

admin — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:13:32 +0000

We’re taking off a little later than I’d hoped, but yes, we’re finally making our way to the Sacramento Ikea today!

I’ll post pics from our little adventure tomorrow. Wish us luck!

#20: Guest Room “Before” Pics

admin — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:03:16 +0000

So here it is! My minty-green, blank canvas of a guest room! Currently its only inhabitants are a mattress, boxspring, and a table of my brother’s. But that’s about to change!

I must say, these pictures make the room look really, particularly sad! They’re like those diet pill before pictures where people stick out their stomachs and pose with no make-up and their hair a mess.

As you can see, we’ve done absolutely nothing with this room since we moved in. There are actually still glow-in-the-dark stickers on some of the outlet covers. I’m so excited to rescue it!

#19: Sweet Tooth

admin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:23:00 +0000

When I was little, I used to spend my $2 weekly allowance at the candy store. If I had an allowance now, I think I’d spend it at Chiasso.

While browsing the website looking for more guest room furniture today, I came across (and fell in love with) these things…

This light is making me reconsider the one I thought I was going to order for my kitchen/ dining table. It’s beautiful and so similar to the one I found at Habitat (one of my favorite Reno furniture stores), but a third of the price. The only thing is, it is very very round, and I’m thinking maybe something squarish might fit better. The fireplace is so strong and straight-lined, I’ve been trying to repeat that throughout the rest of the house as much as possible.

Is it a mirror, or an art piece? Regardless, it’s beautiful and would look fabulous in our entryway (once redone).

Love the nature-themed prints of these pillows, and beautiful colors. I’ve always been a sucker for chocolate.

#18: Indecision Abounds

admin — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:57:19 +0000

Big thanks to everybody who’s been weighing in on my guest room dilemma! Especially Jenn, who dedicated an entire blog post to answering my question on Let Your Creativity Flow, the interior design blog that inspired me to start my own!

I’m feeling a little bit like America on Super Tuesday night… undecided! I’ve had a few responses that encouraged me to go “neutral with a splash,” and some others who voted yellow (including the Love Muffin, to my surprise!). Normally the Love Muffin and I make all of our renovation decisions together, but in the guest room, he’s giving me carte blanche.

So I think I’m going to sleep on all the advice I received today, and look forward to a busy weekend! We’re planning to do painting prep (taping etc), paint, and visit Ikea this weekend. Also, we have some hideous folding closet doors in the guest room that we’ll need to replace.

Stay tuned for guest room “before” pics!