Weekly Roundup

Happy Friday!

Earlier this week, I played tourist in my hometown and explored the Hotel Del Coronado. The rambling 1888 Victorian beach resort is quite the looker. Since beaches aren't my thing, I enjoyed hanging out in the lobby checkin' out the woodwork.

It isn't even May yet, but Domino is listing the best design blogs of the year. Which are your favorites? Are any missing from the list?

Before we got rid of cable, I used to have HGTV or DIY network playing in the background while I cleaned the house or did projects. The voices kept me company, and I'd find inspiration during periodic glances at the screen. Without the comfort of Rehab Addict marathons, I don't have a show to keep me company that I can tune in and out of as I putter around. Until now. Grand Designs is finally on Netflix and I'm so into it. Each episode covers the build of unique houses from start to finish. This home in the middle of the countryside built from shipping containers and clad in rusty panels is a stunner.

Speaking of TV shows, are you watching The Handmaid's Tale? I remember how gripping the novel was when I read it years ago, and the TV show is just as moving. In addition to a marvelously chilling plot, the sets are beautiful. That paint color looks pretty close to Salamander, eh?

Luxury designer brand Balenciaga designed a $2,145 purse that looks nearly identical to the $0.99 IKEA bag that many of us have in our closets. IKEA's reaction is on point.

Does this mean I shouldn't pull out all the weeds?

Have a great weekend!

One Room Challenge Week 4 - Sourcing The Artwork

It's already week four of the One Room Challenge! We're over halfway there and the room has earned dark green paint and picture rail molding. This week, I got to hang the artwork!

This image of a man pulling a girl out of a hole is my favorite piece in the whole room. I'm obsessed with all of the collage pieces by this artist, Richard Vergez. I got this piece and (and all of the others in this post) from Society6, which is such a great resource for framed art by independent artists. The beauty of it is you can get your favorite design printed as a framed print, mug, duvet, tote, or pillow, like this one!

I can't have a room without florals! This print as a pillow does the job.

There's so much beautiful artwork (and bad artwork!) out there so deciding is such a feat. I've rounded up a few more of my favorite artworks from Society6. You can also find more of my curated pieces that I'm crushing on here.

Sources from top left: Rainier Eunice Lake / The Dreamer / Colors / D24 / Mountain Trees / C16 / By the Hills, revisited / Crown / Into Abyss / El Matador / Close Noir / Glacial

While I ultimately bought my prints from Society6, Minted is another great source for art. Here are some swoon-worthy pieces.

Sources from top left: Spiced Cider/ Blue HIlls / Road Trip 2 / Torched / Dance / Abstract Watercolor / A Slight Chance / Conversation II / Broken Clouds / Whispered Rain / Reflections III / The Forest

I shared last week how much I love picture rail molding and how to install it. Well, here's how to use it! Simple dimple.

You can find picture rail hooks in a variety of finishes, shapes, and sizes, so pick whatever works for your home's style and your decor. I got these from House of Antique Hardware for their simplicity and the way the brass matches the aged brass of the switch plates.

Attaching the hook to the frame is as simple as twisting on a wire. The key is to select a wire that can withstand the weight of your frame. The Society6 prints are quite lightweight so I was able to go with a thinner gauge wire, but this same wire previously snapped when I tried using it to hang a mirror. Oops. If you don't want to use wire, rope or chain are great alternatives. I prefer how subtle the thin wire is because it doesn't take attention away from the main attraction, yet you still see a glimmer of it when the light hits just right.

I like to start by twisting the wire on to the hook so I can focus on making the twist as clean as possible, since you'll see it. After measuring how high the image will hang, cut the wire to length, leaving several inches to twist into the back of the frame. For a strong hold I like to twist the wire on, then double twist over it again.

After a bit of finessing, you have a photo hung on the wall without any holes! While I adore these new prints, and plan on enjoying them in this room for the long haul, I love having the flexibility to move them around the house without having to patch nail holes. 

The two large prints over the couch are by Lucie Birant. Deciding on a diptych is tricky because you want them to go together, but not too much. The key is for them to be sisters, not twins. Rather than picking two pieces that are nearly them same, but slightly different, I opted for two very different images, but by the same artist. They aren't matchy matchy, but they go together because they still have the same pencil work and overall style. Emily Henderson has a great PSA on avoiding generic art and how to make diptychs look grand.

While all of the new artwork for the room was sourced from Society6, I searched high and low on lots of other websites such as Minted, Artfully Walls, and 20x200. Society6 had the best prices and the quickest turnaround for a room makeover on a tight timeline, but I really had to sort through the artwork, because I didn't love it all (remember, bad art good walls). I like Artfully Walls for the easy search features that help you curate based on themes and colors. 20x200 sells limited edition art prints that are really unique (I'm still waiting for this one and this one to arrive in the mail). Minted has a lot of great pieces that are easy to love. They aren't generic, nor too quirky like the painting of the Denny's Parking Lot I ordered from 20x200. Check 'em all out! Or, if you have your own artwork or an existing piece you want to frame, take a look at Framebridge for custom framing options at great prices.

To recap, the prints I chose for the room are Minimal and Palm by Lucie Birant, Let Me Go Or Squeeze Me Tighter by Richard Vergez, The Path by Carlos ARL, and Mount Cook Lily (Night) by Andrea Stark.

If you're here because of the One Room Challenge, I hope you'll subscribe to the blog to get future blog posts in your email! Be sure to follow along on Instagram, too!

One Room Challenge progress:One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

Be sure to admire the other rooms that are four weeks into being completely transformed! So many featured and guest bloggers are doing big things!

Weekly Roundup

This beautiful restaurant used to be a pharmacy built in 1914. What a stunner!

The only bummer about working on the One Room Challenge is it cuts into my TV viewing time. There are so many HBO shows on this top 25 list that I haven't event started. How ever will I catch up??

Did you see Orlando's new kitchen reveal? Hubba hubba.

Does anyone else get HomeGoods paralysis? Real Simple has some tips.

Our new rug for the One Room Challenge arrived last week from eCarpetGallery and I'm totally crushing. It has me considering laying rugs everywhere.

Did you see my Instagram Story over the weekend? I went looking for an open house and had a hard time finding it. Not enough signage.

Hope you have a great weekend! I'll be reupholstering a chair. Or, sourcing artwork, or touching up paint, or pulling weeds. Or, all of the above. I truly can't wait!

One Room Challenge Week 3 - How To Install Picture Rail Molding

I'm back for week three of the One Room Challenge! If you're just tuning in, I'm mid-way through transforming an unloved spare bedroom into a cozy, moody space. Last week, the room underwent a metamorphosis with radically different paint in a deep green. This past week, we tackled installing the picture rail molding.

If you're unfamiliar with one of my all-time favorite old house features, picture rail molding is a narrow piece of trim that runs the perimeter of the room near the top of the walls. My house's picture rail molding sits atop the door and window frames. Some homes have the molding closer to the ceiling where crown molding would go. If you're in an old house with crown molding that doesn't quite touch the ceiling, then you may just have a picture rail! This lil' piece of wood trim has a notch at the top that allows you to put a small hook over it from which you can hang a frame from a wire. This is oh-so-handy because you never have to put holes in the wall to hang artwork. It saves me from patching holes whenever I want to change pieces - which is a big deal for someone that has major art indecision. It's also great for an old house because you don't risk damaging the plaster (that we all know I'm a fan of) by pounding a nail into the wall. (Side note, hammering plaster walls can really damage them so I always use screws rather than hammering a nail if I ever put anything into the wall). The living and dining room still have their original picture rail molding, but the rest of the house was stripped of their decorative trim at some point over the years. It's my job to put it back!

Enough about why I love this molding, let's get into how to install it.

Supplies:

• Picture rail molding

• Tape measure

• Level

• Studpop for plaster walls or traditional stud finder for drywall

• Paint, primer, and brush

• Sanding sponge

• Miter Saw

• Nail gun and nails

• Putty

• Caulk

• Picture rail hooks (from Rejuvenation, House of Antique Hardware, or vintage)

• Wire, rope, chain, or ribbon (of appropriate strength)

The first step is to find molding that fits with your home. The profile we bought was the closest we could find to the existing molding that is still intact in select rooms. If your home never had the molding originally, or you don't know what it looked like, you can research profiles for colonials, victorians, etc. to find what would have likely been in your home. If you have a unique profile and can’t find it at any salvage shops, online retailers, or specialty wood retailers, you can have a blade custom made so wood can be milled to match your existing profile. Finding someone local that does millwork can help you to either make a custom blade to cut your profile or even see if they have one already made.

The brand new molding has such crisp edges, but the existing trim in the house has a softer edge, so I took some sandpaper to each of the planks to give them a less brand-new look. The piece on the left is right out of the package, and the one on the right received a light sanding. Can you spot the mild difference?

After smoothing the edges a touch, I primed each plank with my go-to primer while Ross drafted up the plan of lengths and angles we would need.

We measured each length needed, and noted the direction of the cut. Drawing it out on a floor plan helped us keep track of where each cut would go, then labeling the backside of each piece ensured we didn't get any mixed up.

The trim spans the perimeter of the room so it sits on top of the white doors as well as the green walls. I could have painted it all white to match the trim, but I decided to match the trim color to the surface color it would sit on. So, door and window pieces would be Simply White and the wall trim would be Salamander. Once we had a plan, Ross cut the pieces, while I gave them a couple of coats of their corresponding paint color.

Once we cut all of the pieces, we did a dry fit. Using a level and several hands, we held up multiple pieces to see how each piece would fit against the next and how that would fit with the next and so on and so on. With old walls that aren't totally square, we had to sand down the edges a little, and we had to pull a few pieces from our spare cuttings.

Since the molding would need to hold the weight of heavy frames, mirrors, or whatever I choose to dangle from the trim, it needed to be darn strong. The only way to do this is to nail the trim directly into the studs. Since plaster walls are constructed with wood throughout their backsides (learn more about old walls here), a traditional stud finder (the electronic ones that beep) won't work. THE best way to find studs in plaster walls is with this handy $10 tool. Seriously. It’s the best.

Once you find a stud, measure from that stud a distance that you think your studs may be spaced out. Common distances are 16" or 24." My house has studs 16" apart, so I used blue tape to mark each stud. You could repeat finding each studs with the handy tool, but this is more efficient. This is one of the few occasions when I actually use blue tape on walls.

After we found the studs and dry-fit all of the molding, came my favorite part. We quadruple checked level before I nailed in each piece into the stud. We used this cordless electric nail gun that was such a beauty to have around because it was free of needing a noisy air compressor. Not having the buzzing compressor noise ongoing in the background made the cha-chunk sound of the nail gun so much more satisfying!

It felt great to finally cap the door with trim it always should have had. The doors are grateful to get their hats back.

After all of the trim found its home on the wall, I retraced our steps to fill in all of the nail holes with putty, and cleaned up the seams with caulk. Two walls had long stretches without interruption so they needed more length than the 8' trim piece, so we had to sister them together. My trusty putty,  caulking, and another coat of paint erased all of the blemishes.

I'm still finalizing the artwork. Until then, the hooks will rest patiently on the trim.

And there you have it! That, my friends, is how you add oodles of charm with a few pieces of wood. Oh, and I jumped the gun and put the couch in the room already. I'm in love with these colors.

If you're here because of the One Room Challenge, I hope you'll subscribe to the blog to get future blog posts in your email! Be sure to follow along on Instagram, too!

One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

Make sure to check out the other room transformations that are coming along swimmingly! So many featured and guest bloggers are doing amazing things!

Taking The Bathroom Down To The Studs

I've been distracted with working on week 1 and week 2 of the One Room Challenge (this week's update coming Thursday!) so I've left you hanging since first introducing you to the bathroom remodel. Sorry! But, we're back and headed into demo.

As a refresher, here's what the bathroom looked like.

Since most everything was leaking, rusting, failing, sinking, or otherwise not super pretty, nearly all had to go. But as an old home lover, original features don't get ripped out that easily. Only a few elements had been there for a century. The original medicine cabinet would need patching and cleaning, but it could get freshened up to be a real stunner. The hardwoods were original but were rotten beyond repair rotten and couldn't be salvaged. The bathroom door and trim were original and would definitely stay. So, those keepers would get saved, but  the rest of the bathroom would go.

That tubular thing in the crawlspace is our HVAC, but it reminds me of the dragon in The NeverEnding Story.

Isn't a wall of exposed lath so pretty? It's like my very own Agnes Martin installation.

It isn't uncommon during remodels to demo only select parts of the room. You don't always need to pull all the drywall down and demo into the attic and crawlspace like we did. Yet, demo only happens once, so it's the only chance to expose everything and repair anything. With evidence of bigger problems, and knowing the plumbing has been there for a century, we didn't hesitate to take everything out to start from scratch.

A contractor that I interviewed to do the project proposed putting the new floor tile directly on top of the existing hardwood. Let me count the ways that it was not a good option. 1. Adding tile on top of existing flooring would leave a perfect place to stub my toe walking into the bathroom with the floor an inch higher than the hallway. 2. The hardwoods and the subfloor were visibly rotting, so adding a new floor atop certainly wouldn't resolve that issue. 3. The plumbing would have never been revealed to see how corroded it was.

Yum.

Thank goodness we didn't heed the advice of that contractor because those 100-year-old pipes were at the end of their life. We also found that the vent pipe had a big crack down the back of it.

Also, inside of the exterior wall, we found a beehive. A hive! 

I suspect that the bees found a hole in the exterior wall and started to build their home, only to get locked out when someone noticed the buzzing and sealed their entrance. I saved the honeycomb but have yet to find a use for it. Any ideas?

Even though we spent a bit more time gutting the whole room, we've gained so much peace of mind having fresh materials. I realize most renovators know that the advice to layer new material on top of failing material isn't the smartest move, but if you ever had any doubt, let this be a lesson. You just might find a beehive!

For more bathroom progress, click the link below, and then subscribe for more - I’ll be adding a new bathroom in 2019!

Weekly Roundup

Did you see the incredible kitchen transformation that Julia, Chris, Kim, Scott, and Daniel (from the respective blogs Chris Loves Julia, Yellow Brick Home, and Manhattan Nest) accomplished? Talk about dream team! These folks completely gutted and rebuilt a kitchen in three days. Yes, three DAYS. Oh, and for a mere $4,500. Click the links above to see how these insanely talented people did it.

I mentioned the other day that I'm loving the podcast S-Town - and I'm not even that far into it! NYT rounded up 9 podcast episodes that are worth discussing, and I can't wait to tune in to each one. The article fails to mention Radiolab's episode Playing God which totally moved me when I heard it last summer, and I still can't get over it. Seriously, it was so thought-provoking and emotional. I do not cry easily yet I was a mess listening to those stories. That episode will stick with me forever, just like each episode of the show Black Mirror surely will. What do you recommend I watch/listen to when I want to be an emotional wreck?

Hunting for new artwork to use in the One Room Challenge has been all-consuming. I spent some time exploring historic photos in Google's LIFE free image archive. But I took a pause when I learned that The Library of Congress recently digitized rare 19th-century photographs of black women activists. They are gorgeous and rich in remarkable history.

If you're looking for Museum artwork images that have been made available for free, click here for several resources.

Happy Friday! See you next week with more progress on the One Room Challenge!

One Room Challenge Week 2 - It's All About That Paint

The biggest transformation for the One Room Challenge's makeover of the den/guest room is the paint. And we're getting into it first!

I had loads of inspiration and lists of paint colors that had been used successfully in multiple spaces. I was trying to marry the wall color with the blue velvet couch that I planned for that room to give it a dark-on-dark upgrade without making the room look monochromatic. As a reminder, here's the before, inspiration, and design plan.

Clockwise from upper left we have Salamander by Benjamin Moore, Hunter Green by Benjamin Moore, Pine Grove by Clark + Kensington, Tarrytown Green by Benjamin Moore, and Narragansett Green by Benjamin Moore.

I painted swatches on the back of a foam core presentation board, since I already had it on hand (I use it as a reflector for photos) but you could instead buy the paint sample boards at the paint store. I was quick to rule out a few colors, then painted my favorites on the wall. By the end, Salamander won our vote.

While rolling on the paint in broad strokes provides immediate satisfaction, my painting specialty is cutting in the edges. I don't use blue tape to get crisp edges, rather a steady hand and some trusty tools.

I use the HANDy Paint Cup whenever painting edges, when I need to be more mobile than a gallon of paint allows, or when I'm working with small amounts of paint. This convenient tool fits in your hand, has a magnet to hold the brush, and cleans up so easily (just let the paint dry in the cup, then peel it off - so satisfying!).

The Wooster Shortcut paint brush is perfect for cutting in. I'll use almost any 2" angled brush for the job, but this lil' one is so comfy with its rubber handle.

When scooching around on the floor to paint the edges on the baseboard, a kneeling pad is a must. I use it for gardening, painting, tiling, etc. While I don't think you'll find this crouched painting position recommended on HGTV, it works for me.

In addition to the walls needing a couple of coats of paint, the baseboards hadn't been touched since before the floors were refinished. They were scuffed up from the sander and I just left them like that for two years. A nice coat of Benjamin Moore's Simply White was all they needed to look their best. The baseboard, three doors, and a window all needed some paint love. Lucky for me, I had the S-Town podcast to keep me company during the hours and hours of painting.

After a weekend's worth of cutting in, I'm swooning over the freshly painted room. The green is so pretty and has a velvety look when the light hits it mid-day. At night, it's nearly black - which is just what I was going for.

Next week, I'm tackling the picture rail moulding installation! Come back over the next few weeks as this room gets a total overhaul. Don't forget to admire the work of the featured and guest bloggers participating in the One Room Challenge!

If you're here because of the One Room Challenge, I hope you'll subscribe to the blog to get future blog posts in your email! Be sure to follow along on Instagram, too!

One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

Weekly Roundup

Who finished Big Little Lies? That show was so good. The apartment featured in the final episodes is on the market! The seashells lined up on the end of the bed isn't my fave design element, but the Monterey setting is so pretty.

Speaking of that show, Laura Dern's home was featured on Architectural Digest. Is it any surprise that the black exterior and the greenery has me all heart eyes? Did you see Laura's show Enlightened? I love/hated her character in that series. It's well worth a watch.

If you aren't interested in buying an apartment on the beach in California, how about a 10-foot-wide house in Boston? The Skinny House (aka Spite House) is for sale for $895k.

I can't wait to tune into this new show hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman! They are actively casting, so apply now if you're a crafter.

This week, the One Room Challenge is on my mind. I'm participating, but I've also been sucked into exploring all of the transformations-to-be. Have you checked out the featured and guest participants in this season's challenge? There are nearly 300 bloggers participating - wowza! 

This weekend I'll be doing lots of painting for the One Room Challenge. Hope your weekend is just as thrilling!

One Room Challenge Week 1 - A Moody Makeover

I'm currently digging moody colors. Deep blues, forest greens, and dark grays are all I'm pinning as of late. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was contemplating painting my kitchen cabinets (again!) to give them a deeper hue. Since it's not the best use of my time, I've directed my color affection to another space. Luckily, the One Room Challenge is starting at the perfect time to scratch the moody color itch! Scroll through to see the room I'll be transforming over the next six weeks.

If you found me through ORC, welcome! I'm Ashley and for the past two years I've been restoring a craftsman bungalow in San Diego, CA. Learn a touch more about me here, and preview the before-and-after room transformations here.

Without further ado, here is the inspiration.

Studio McGee

Haley Weidenbaum

Deuce Cities Henhouse

Chris Loves Julia

Emily Henderson

See where I'm going? What I particularly love about these spaces is how they play with dark on dark tones. Studio McGee's emerald couch against the navy walls and Julia's black sofa on the deep green are what moody dreams are made of.

So which space will earn its dark makeover? The family room/den/media room. What is a good name to call a space that we pretty much use only to fold laundry and watch TV in? The internet tells me that an alternate to the word "den" is "snug." I kinda like it. Please weigh in.

This room has received little to no love over the past two years. 100% of the furniture pieces were brought from our rental, so I've grown tired of them. The paint color is a reject color that I bought for our master but didn't like once painted on all of the walls. (lesson learned: paint BIG swatches before you buy a gallon of paint). Also, the trim never got its final coat of paint. 

The room is fine, but it could become the dark hued space of my dreams. I'm looking forward to spending the next six weeks transforming it. I hope you'll stay tuned and check out the featured and guest bloggers participating in the spring 2017 season of the One Room Challenge!

Sources: couch / rug (one of a kind) / lamp / pillow / chair (existing) / chair fabric / credenza (vintage) / painting

If you're here because of the One Room Challenge, I hope you'll subscribe to the blog to get future blog posts in your email! Be sure to follow along on Instagram, too!

One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

Bathroom Plans

Last week I shared some of the inspiration for our bathroom. The collection of images made a few must-have elements pretty clear: subway tile with dark grout, moody walls, hex tiles, marble, and period-appropriate finishes.

SOURCES: paint / medicine cabinet (ours is original) / faucet / hex tile / sconce (ours is vintage) / cabinet latch / pendant (ours is vintage) / register (ours is vintage) / subway tile / grout / console sink

We had a pretty good idea of the plans for the bathroom, but small tweaks were made over the course of the renovation. The below designs were drafted early on, so don't take these measurements as an exact blueprint of the finished product. Rather, a starting point for where we were headed.

The layout of the existing bathroom had no reason to be changed. I like having the toilet tucked in the corner, the sink has ample room around it, and the tub configuration allows for storage at the foot of it. Many bathrooms like this are only 60" wide which gives the tub just enough room to fit wall to wall. Since we had another foot of space, we could have gotten a longer tub to stretch the length of the room, but we opted to make two spots for storage, seen in the upper right corner of the above image. The little square that measures 6.5" deep is accessible from the shower. A perfect place to nestle bottles of shampoo without having them on display.

The 13" space on the right is a cabinet for toiletries, refill bath products, cleaning supplies, and more. I think it's my favorite feature in the whole bathroom.

The window shown here is a sizable improvement from the existing one, but we ended up going even bigger!

Because the sink is floating in between the toilet and the tub, I didn't want a traditional vanity. I think vanities are really pretty when they look like built-in cabinetry as an extension of a wall. But on their own, vanities can look like boxes floating in the middle of a room. Thus, we opted for a console sink that visually opens the space. Sure, we gave up storage, but I'm a-okay with that. Neither Ross nor I own a lot of products for primping, so the storage at the end of the tub is perfectly adequate for us.

Other than a few tweaks, those are the plans for the bathroom! If you want to jump two years into the future, you can see the finished bathroom here and here and here.

For more bathroom progress, click the link below then subscribe so you don’t miss out when I add a bathroom in 2019!