Friday, August 30, 2013

A New Found Love of GRAY!!

   


GRAY HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING!



I would imagine that most of you are thinking, “What is the big deal?”  "Everybody, and their brother have GRAY in their house." 

I will have to admit it is a color that has been on-trend for a very long time. However, it is not a color that I have used before in my own home.

Adams Gerndt Design Group
via 
I have not been a fan of gray. I enjoy it in images and, in other people's homes, but it has always felt a bit dreary to me.

This girl loves her Springtime colors, happy, cheerful, crisp, and clean!!

love this
When my son asked to paint this room gray, I agreed to it. The reason I could agree is my son has exceptionally good taste, and design aesthetics, so I could trust his judgement in selecting the right gray.

Waterfront Townhome - Bedroom - Suzanne Lovell Inc.
He painted the room, and did a great job and I have to finally admit. I love this GRAY!!! 

Soft, subtle and soothing, are all perfect adjectives I like to use when describing a room in my home.

Here is just a peek of how the color is in the room……….


The wall color is Behr’s Silver Drop you can see it on the color card below:
Behr Paint Samples - we use Silver Drop and it is neutral but adds a nice color to the room.
The trim is swiss cofee, and the ceiling is a half formula of  the blue I used in my master bedroom,  as seen in the image below......... 



It is a formula I worked on with my tinter to formulate years ago for the softest, palest blue that would still read blue without looking like a baby’s room.

Here is the formula, make sure you use the lightest tint base to put the pigments in………

Blue ceiling formula  in a gallon of light tint base:

B-1/2
A-1/4
E-2
L-2

A good tinter can mix this up for you they will know exactly what the formula means.

Simple white desk gray walls 002 (768x1024)
Simple clean lines will be in the furnishings. More to do, but SIMPLICITY is going to be the look, and feel in here.

 All white furnishings to go with the white trim work.
Always more to do, and more to plan so this will be another……….

To Be Continued!
 
 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I Am NOT Afraid Of GRAY Anymore!!

   



fresh and clean ...

Black + White = GRAY!

You would think since I am such a lover of the combination of black and white I would like gray, wouldn’t you? 

For some reason living in a gray room  feels a bit dreary to me so it is not a color choice I have ever made.

If we are talking Carrara marble and it’s subtle touch of gray veining I can live with that gray and I have done so in my entry hall flooring and my guest bathroom.

Nice Gray on walls and headboard

My son decided he wanted to change out the paint color in his room to guess what? GRAY! Luckily he wanted a light gray with all white accents. I said sure and showed him some choices of gray that I thought he might like. The other lucky part is he is doing all the painting.

 A soft greenish gray, Revere Pewter works well in any room of the home
This particular room in our house gets good light, and it also gets a reflection of green from plants outside the window, and a reflection of blue from the swimming pool. 

All of this plays a big part in what hue of gray we go with. Since the blue, and green reflections make a cool hue I decided we needed a warm gray. After swatching 4 different grays we came up with a winner.

Behr’s Silver drop………..

marcs room 012 (1024x638)

Silver drop is the very first swatch on the left.

947fcb1312be76c47e265935f3df79ab


I highly recommend  silver drop, it is soft, pleasant, and warm enough to not give the room a dreary cold look. 

It has almost turned this Non-Gray-Loving-Gal into a gray lover. I am still not sure I could handle it in my main living areas, but for a bedroom or a den/office I find it quite soothing.

love this

The ceiling in this room has a very, very pale blue  tint with white crown molding. The gray looks very pretty with the ceiling color. 

New blinds are going in, and a little furniture re-arranging so not finished yet but the painting turned out great!!

I will keep you posted on our progress. So much going on this week in my home. Painting, new light fixtures going up in three rooms. Whew! It is exhausting watching others work!!

 
 

Monday, August 26, 2013

I Can Hardly Wait!


Have you ever waited for a long time to have something done and when the day finally arrives to get it done, you can hardly believe it?!!

Well that is what is going on with me today. 

TODAY is the day an electrician is coming to my house! For those of you who know me, or who have been following along with my journey in blogland you might remember a few of the things I am about to show you….

Lighting #1

Lantern 005 (800x600)
Colorful? Yes! Big? Yes! Functional? NO!

This lantern will be going in this room…..
time to play

Right in the middle of the room hanging from the ceiling!

playroom



Lighting #2

IMG_2183

Hanging already? Yes!  Pretty? I like to
 think so! Do they light up? A big fat NO!!

Lighting #3


I had a little fun on my Facebook page this weekend. I showed this image on my page, and asked everyone if they knew what it was…….

Capiz lights 001 (1024x768)

There were so many funny answers and guesses. Here are just a few:

1. a bait loader? you separate your bait, or your hubby does and when you want to load your hook you simply put the hook in the bait inside baggie so you don't have to touch the bait? or wind chime...

2. A floating device for children?

3. It's a device that scare seagulls away? Instead of a scarecrow, it's a scareseagull? Or white noise for when I take my nap at the beach it'll relax me? Or a dinner bell for people with very good hearing? Homing device for kids playing in the water to be able to find our beach blanket? Oh heck, I don't know. Can you tell I'm guessing?

4. Ah! Hah! , you'll be collecting sea shells and placing them in the bags to make a mobile. Being the clever interior designer that you are the sand will be contained in the baggies so it'll save you time when you do your dusting chores

In all fairness to them I did give them some hints that probably led the astray….

HINT: It has something to do with the BEACH!
HINT: It makes a noise.
HINT: It uses something you use to fish with!

All of my hints were true, but misleading, on purpose.

There were a couple of friends that guessed right!

A CAPIZ SHELL CHANDELIER!

West elm capiz


Here is mine hanging in the playroom reading nook. I used this handy dandy way to hang it while I unwrapped every single little bag that was protecting the shell strands as pictured above!

Capiz lights 004 (768x1024)

My last hint was that it looks good in the morning or at night…….


Capiz lights 008 (768x1024)

Here it is all lit up!! An extra bonus is the shadows it will cast on the wall.

My HINT about it makes a noise is very true, it makes the most wonderful tinkling sound.

I am mesmerized by these types of lights. I can not walk by one without touching them. 

I not only have one but I have TWO!! Now let me show you where they will be going……

master bedroom collage
One on each side of my king size bed in the master bedroom.

So now you can see why I a very excited, our handy-dandy electrician will be installing all of these lights today!
I will keep you posted!!

Friday, August 23, 2013

Kitchen Details Tour & A Giveaway!

 

If you live in a home you probably have a kitchen but as varied as personalities can be so can the differences in kitchens, and how they function.

When I think of a kitchen I think of all the details that go into making a pretty, and functional kitchen…

Design
Decoration
Function

Today I am going to take you on a tour of my very own little kitchen. It is truly the hub of our home and it is very well used.

The Design

The design/layout of this small kitchen is one of the reasons we purchased this home over 34 years ago. There were three things I wanted in my kitchen….

Ribbet collage kitchen

…..A breakfast bar large enough(3ft.X6ft.), to seat  three little boys.

A back window to watch my three son’s swim in the pool.

A front window to watch my three son’s play ball in the court .

I also loved the fact that the kitchen sink was at an angle making the design a little more interesting than a typical U-shaped kitchen.

Kitchen tour ribbit sink 045

Times have changed since we had three little boys sitting at the kitchen bar, or playing ball out front, but this is the little kitchen that still keeps on giving.

The boys are all grown up and the kitchen still remains giving to my family and friends.

1978

Gone are the days of the wood stained cabinets, linoleum flooring, recessed fluorescent lighting. The cupboard that once hung over the breakfast bar is no longer there either.

DECORATION

When we decided to make some cosmetic changes to our 1978 kitchen we thought painting would make a huge difference. 

Since there were no existing moldings on the cupboards we decided before we painted  it would be a good idea to add some character. 

molding on cupboards  ribbit(695x729)
We started by adding a small crown to the top. At the bottom edge of all the cupboards we added a skirt molding. 

We also added a molding square on the end of the bar area where it was just flat and plain. 

Let me tell you this made such a huge difference in the appearance of our kitchen.

Next came the feet! I wanted feet like you see on furniture pieces. After looking on line I found them to be very expensive. I put on my thinking cap and decided that the look I wanted looked like brackets.

Ribbet collage cupboard feet

We purchased $2.00 shelf brackets and placed them under the skirt molding on the bottom edge of the cupboards. 

I discovered it made a difference how much the detail would show up once it was shadowed by the cupboard. 

It is important to keep that in mind when choosing any detail. Shadowing can make or break the detail.

Next came the jewelry of the room, the knobs and pulls. I wanted a little sparkle so I went with glass.

Restoration Hardware had the perfect knobs, and pulls. I chose these particular ones because of the oil rubbed bronze backing that tied in with the hinges and the touches of black I like to add to my décor.

Ribbet collageglass knobs b

We also decided to change out two of the cupboard doors next to the kitchen window with glass paned doors.


Kitchen tour glass door cabinets 017 (1024x768)


Inside the cupboards we placed strip lighting. I chose this type of lighting because of the warm glow it gives at night.

Ribbet collage lighting in cupboards


There are mirrored backs on the inside of the cupboards to reflect more light and it also gives a window effect to that part of the kitchen.

The other addition in this part of the kitchen was adding the vintage crystal chandelier where there use to be plastic panels hiding the fluorescent lighting.

You all remember that beautiful lighting we all had in the 70’s, don’t you?

Instead of fighting with the open box I decided to make it a feature by adding stacked moldings and a frame around the opening to finish off the edge.

Kitchen tour light box ribbit 004 (1024x768)
We placed a medallion in the center and hung our small vintage crystal chandelier. You will also notice the molding treatment we used to frame the kitchen window above the sink. It just finishes it off nicely.


We had more than enough cupboard space, but we added a very large pantry in the dining room.  It is hiding behind the mirrored doors……

dining mirrored doors ribbit (478x640)_thumb[2]
I had a pantry in my first home so when this home was being built we extended a wall in our dining room to accommodate a large pantry.

This is where Design and Decoration  meets up with  Function!

pantry closet ribbit049_thumb[20]

As you can see it is a multifunction pantry, it holds food, dishes and appliances it is big enough to hold it all and I love it!!

Ribbet collage inside pantry

Here is a close up of the shelves.

FUNCTION

I recently read a quote from the designer Barbara Barry that articulated perfectly how I feel about my home as a whole, but especially my kitchen!!

In a passage called "Inner Beauty", Barbara writes,  
"As much as I love the part of my work that is all about what is seen when we walk into a room, I also love the part of my work that is about what is not seen.  Or at least not by everyone- the inside of the cabinets, the full refrigerator, the silver drawer, and the well-stocked pantry; they too can be things of beauty, artfully arranged to inspire when given a cursory glance."

I could not agree more!!

I love to see pretty bottles, and produce inside my refrigerator so I do what I like to call, “FRIDGESCAPING!”


Fridgescaping Ribbet collage

There is nothing I love more than fresh produce in pretty bowls in my refrigerator. I will always have several choices for my family and guest. I also love to have a good variety of cold drinks on hand.

Inside the door you will find what you might need for a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or tea. The cute little bottle with the stopper holds simple syrup for your drinks.

Speaking of drinks let’s take a look at my coffee bar that I use daily……

Coffee Bar grab a cup 013 (800x600)

Now it is time to pick out your choice of hot drinks……

Ribbet collage coffee drawer
When I have company I put out a tray next to the coffee maker on my stove for easy access to anything they might need to add to their hot drink of choice……..

Ribbet collagecoffee tray


The next very functional feature in my kitchen is the spice rack……

Ribbetspice rackcollage
I ordered these handy-dandy little clips Here! I highly recommend them! They are extremely functional.

My sweet little kitchen is pretty in my eyes and it has functioned beautifully throughout the past 34 years for my family and friends. 

This concludes the tour of all the In’s and Outs of my little kitchen!

Ribbet final kitchen collagethankyou



Ribbet little kitchen collage

Don't miss the rest of the kitchen tours this week!
Thursday, August 22
Friday, August 23

And now for the giveaway!


Kitchen Tour Giveaway!
There will be two winners for this giveaway! Pfister generously donated a prize for this giveaway, so one winner will receive a free faucet worth up to $300, and a second winner will receive a $250 Visa gift card! 

To enter for your chance to win, just follow the steps below, and good luck! (drawing for US residents only) 


Step 1: 
Follow one or all of them on Pinterest in order to get more entries in the giveaway!

Step 2:
 Enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter link below! Follow one or all of them in order to get more entries in the giveaway!


Good Luck Eveybody!!

Winners will be announced on:
 
August 30th
SHELBY PATTERSON BALTZLEY
IS THE WINNER Of:
The $300 Pfister faucet


MICHELE UNDERWOOD

IS THE WINNER OF:
The $250 Visa Card


CONGRATULATIONS LADIES
and
THANK YOU FOR JOINING IN ON THE FUN!!