Category: Inspiration

Inspiration: Windows & Doors

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I have never really paid attention to windows. Yes I know there are solid windows, ones with grids, etc. I know you either open them or don’t. But now that I am actually having to pick windows for my own home, I didn’t realize how many options there are. And then I was of the mind frame they all have to match, but apparently not.

So I thought I knew what I wanted, but then I didn’t, and then Sue (MIL) has her ideas which I had never thought of and now my brain feels like mush. For example, we had all our windows being 5 ft in height. She pointed out, well if you have 9ft ceilings, I think they need to be 6ft windows. ohhhhh….that makes sense, shit.

Then there’s the issue with I like the “look” of crank windows, because they are more open, non-view obstructing. Kyle hates them due to the fact too many parts to break. Always so rational.

I feel like the only thing I know for certain is the windows will be white…except sometimes I dream of black. But Kyle has vetoed that, so they will be white.

Then there is doors. You can see my original Door post here. Well I had my dream door picked out…but now I’m considering grids. Ok. Then I was for certain my laundry room was going to have a dutch door, but now its not and I forget why. Then I was for sure not going to have a door going to the patio off the dining room, but now I probably am.

Are you keeping track of all this or have I lost you too?
House of Turquoise: Clean Design- Laundry Room doorPossible Laudry door option: House of Turquoise.
This wood-and-glass door nearly fades into the background as it's painted the same ivory hue as the rest of the house and could easily be mistaken for a window: http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/door/exterior/farmhouse-front-door/?socsrc=bhgpin042114goingincognitopage=4
Possible Front door option- mine will have windows on sides & top
Window wants…don’t know if its gonna happen
Window “look” I love.
If you have any tips, suggestions or alcohol to help me with this please speak up! Thanks.

Inspiration: Master Bath

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I am actually a little stumped on this one. One minute I like large marble tiles for the flooring, or tile that looks like hardwood. And then there is cabinet color, I like white or I like grey- light or dark. So…I feel I have no real focus yet for this room. I do know I want a pedestal tub, and we will have a walk in shower (no door thing).

Here is the layout of our bathroom:

And here are photos I’m inspired by, again you’ll see I’m a little all over the place. What’s your favorite?




Inspiration: Master Closet

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Oh the master closet, its every girls dream. And every husbands headache. Though I was surprised at how much Kyle did not gripe about the size once it was drawn out. Maybe I’m rubbing off on him. Kyle and I are closet people, in the sense that we don’t like dressers and such in our bedroom. We like everything to be in the closet. So we are big “system” people. And we are big slobs. So if we can keep all our mess in a room where we can close the door, perfect.

Some pics of closets I look at are just over the top. I like pretty and functional. But mirrors galore is not my thing. Some of my main wants are: 1) Shoe wall (hellooo!) 2) Jewelry station 3) bench 4) Display hooks.

So this is the layout of our closet. I guesstimated at the measurements. I could be off a foot or so. But its close.

I really like the idea of having a pretty wallpaper, and a fun light/ chandelier. Kyle will hate that.

This closet if from a blog I follow Honey We’re Home. I really like her displays and layout.

This closet is from the YHL Show house. I really like what they call the “Vestibule”. Its this space between the master bath and closet. We have this space! and So again I want a fun light and this is where I’ll place my large full length mirror. 

Love these great door knobs as hooks to display that days outfit. Must have!

 And a shoe wall of course. Not sure if I have enough to fill a wall. But I can quickly fix that.

What are your closet must haves? Do you have a closet system?

Inspiration: Laundry & Mud Room

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Never in my youthful dreams did I ever think I would be getting excited about designing a laundry room. That room that becomes the catchall for STUFF when you get home from work and school and everyday activities.

But the truth is I’m not youthful, I’m an adult with mommy dreams. And mommy must have an amazing laundry and mud room to deal with all her family’s shit. Can I get an Amen.

My HOUZZ and Pintrest boards have so many configurations of this room it’s a little ridiculous. What is the exact perfect flow? How many hooks, baskets, cabinets is just right? There are laundry rooms out there that are the size of my master bedroom. We will not have that, that is silly (secretly I would totally have that). But when I was designing mine, I kept telling Kyle..more sqft, little wider. I’m feeling content with how it looks on paper. And I hope that it will feel just right when the beams go up, otherwise Kyle will just have to fix it.

If you are an avid follower- I know you all are- You will see I have linked to the Sunny Side Up blog a few times. I’m kind of stalking her because I LOVE her style and she’s super organized and well she’s already done this building thing so why not copy a good thing.

I know my room is 10 ft wide. I am guessing at the exact length, but its roughly 20 ft long.

So these are some of my must have features:

1. Built in laundry baskets.

2. Drying rack

3. Back-pack shoe station
How smart is this! Charging station in cubbies for kids electronics.
 
4. Cute lights

5. Fun upper cabinets

6. Chalkboard wall with the weeks activities, etc. I see this going on the back of the pantry wall

7. Drop off counter. I don’t have a pic for this, but you get the idea. Its where when I open that door I can fling my purse, the days mail, etc. Charging station for phone. Pin board above for important notes etc.

The pictures for 1, 2 and 3 are all from the Sunny Side Up Blog. You can see her full laundry room and Mud room tours on her blog.

Tell me about your rooms! What is your favorite feature, or what do you feel is a must have?!

Inspiration: Office

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Last weeks INSPIRATION:FLEX ROOM was successful. I’m not sure how this all works but it says 99 of you ‘viewed’ the post, but only 7 took the survey. I don’t understand how all 99 were not tempted to give me their opinion. So 5 of you said the flex room needs to be the Beer/Wine room, 1 vote for craft and 1 vote for gym. Clearly I have to go with such a strong vote for the beer-wine room.

 

I realize this post title says “inspiration: office”. I’m getting there.

I post on the YoungHouseLove forums and sometimes I get responses. I posted about the flex room and got some good ideas like:

     Do three things with it – use the banquette and some great old piece of secretary to do a beer and     wine thing, but also put in a long counter and storage for homework / crafting on the entry wall – I might make that wall like 54″ high so the space was more connected to the foyer . . a place where you could set up a romantic dinner for two at a round table at the banquette, but a place where happy hour can happen before you entertain . . but day to day, where kids do homework, where you might craft (get a wall of storage that looks good and not kitchen-y, a banquette in the far corner under the window with a small round table, and some great vintage looking piece full of wine and cocktail serving stuff ..-LibraDesignEye

     I’m not sure about your lifestyle, but for me, an extra “flex” room would immediately become a place for my overstuffed, extra wide chair, matching ottoman, console desk, maybe a live (or faux) plant, and a pile of books (actually, I only read kindle, so make that a USB charging station). I would call it “The Reading Room” and it would be super fancy and people would assume I am cultured and magnificent (instead of overly romantic and famished for a new-cheesy-Harlequin-read). But maybe that’s just me. What are the dimensions of this room? Are you open to knocking down the wall between the door and the room, thereby making it into a larger foyer area– or leaving it partitioned off and creating an area for shoe, coat storage. Maybe add a bench and some hooks? I guess it all depends on the dimensions of the room– I love the idea of a study there. In the past, I’m sure it was meant as a formal dining area or formal living area– somewhere visitors got to sit, where no living actually took place. –MrsG_103.

So I thought about the survey, and my lovely responders and here is what I decided: I am going to make the FLEX room the entertaining/wine/beer room. But I really like MrsG and her overstuffed chair. I can read my racy books while drinking a glass of wine. Its a win-win. The room is 12-6×14 (?) so I think I can make all that work.

So now this office room across the way…..

NOTE: The door to the office might get moved to the living room side….undecided.
 

In my head and on my idea boards I had this lovely single desk office picked out. So classy. But Kyle was like…that is so not us. And I agree. So I went back to my flex room idea and decided this will be our office/craft area. And this is my inspiration picture:

And BONUS I found a blog where someone built this exact center table. So that is flagged.
 

And I really want this as the office door:

Kyle said he likes more cabs and counter for his office needs and kids studying. I agree, this is a room for the whole family to use. So essentially I’m getting 2 out of the 3 rooms I wanted.  I’m thinking I can make a gym space in the bonus room. Can we say CAKE AND ICE CREAM TOO! something will burst this bubble I’m sure of it. But I’ll take it for now.

So if you’d like to fantasize with me, about a pretty single office, here is a picture.

 
You can also check out my HOUZZ office board for more pics. 

Inspiration: Flex Room

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So after you enter the foyer, there is a room to the right. I’m calling it the flex room for now. One, because I’m not sure exactly what it will be. To visualize what I’m talking about here is a pic:

Click here to see the entire floor plan

Right now it’s drawn where the room is just open. We are probably (for Truss reasons) going to extend that kitchen wall out, and we can make it have a door. Lots of ideas have crossed my mind for what to do with this space. 1) Craft room and study room for kiddos; 2) home gym; 3) entertaining room aka Beer & Wine room. All are great options I think. It’s just picking which one, becase let’s be honest I can’t have them all. So I’m going to break down my ideas for each option and then you get to take a SURVEY!!! and tell me what you would do with the space. I know you missed the survey’s.

Option 1: Craft Room/Study Room
I’m not a super crafty person…but I could be more if I had a special room. Right. I love wrapping paper and ribbon, and I have a nice collection. It’s always been stored in that extra closet, and the ribbons fall down on my face when I try to grab one. So If I had a wall and counter dedicated to this that would be awesome. I have attempted scrapbooking, and I have some nice papers and other scrappy stuff. And If I again had a counter and space to do this in and be organized perhaps I would do it more. I do like to sew and I recovered a chair in our living room. Its actually not half bad, I just haven’t finished the ottoman. So this would be a space I could do little DIY projects with sewing. See, endless option. Plus I do like the idea of having the family computer in a corner, with a desk for the kids to have a study space. I think seeing what the kids are doing on the computer is important, especailly as they get older (porn surfing, BOYS!) It happens people. By then who knows what the computer world will look like and they’ll have screens installed in their backpacks or something.

   
Option 2: Home Gym
I surely would work out ALL THEM TIME if I had a gym right. Well, I would like to think I would. And it would be something Kyle and I could do together. I live out in an area where there is no local gym down the street. To have a membership to a gym is silly for me becasue it would be a 20min drive to and from, and well I don’t have 40min I’m willing to give up for driving. And I have I job I work at from 730a-5p so there isn’t daytime for squeezing that in. Also, I think if we had a gym it would encourage the kids to exercise. They are getting older and starting sports so they will hopefully see the benefits of that.

  

Option 3: Beer & Wine room
This was my first idea for the space when I considered that wall more open. I thought it would flow nicely to be a space you could wonder into while entertaining. And, that it’s kind of off the kitchen. I liked the idea of a corner seating area and then a wall of cabs with fridges for wine and beer. Or a keg fridge for Kyle. My MIL says this is encouraging alcoholism. I say we just like to entertain. And when we had our own home we did.
So those are my options. Whats a girl to choose?! Do you have any of these spaces in your house? Do they get used? Which option just makes sense? Take my survey and tell me! *click NEXT to submit survey.
**As per the promise I made in Monday’s post to update you regarding Kyle’s meeting with the county- Kyle meet with the permit office Wednesday, and he only has to fix 2 little drawing things. Other than that they said it looks good to go. He planned a meeting with them next Wednesday to submit the whole thing! #miracle. This might be really happening.  


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Inspiration: Foyer

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So lets move back into the house for inspirations. And to move back into the house, you must walk through the front door….and enter the foyer. My foyer is about 10ft wide. It will have a high 16ft ceiling so I can have a great statement light, of course. I definetly picutre wainscoating here on the walls, with a painted light grey of some sort above. I stumbled upon the Sunny Side Up blog last week and found a nearly identical foyer layout. I’m pretty happy copying this, and it will serve as an inspiration. Kyle is not happy about maybe copying the floor. So that is debatable. But doing something different to defne the space is what I’d like to do.

The hallway will be solid, like the above pic, with no doors and the entry will open into the living room. The below pic shows another great way to tile a foyer and define that space. And if I could have the dog too that would be perfect.

 
Another fun option I found was just criss crossing the hardwood, and doing a different stain. This may be more up Kyle’s alley.  

Now having a great mirror, picture and table are a decor must for the entry. My friend Alexis has a great old church pew, and I would be pretty happy with something like that too. And as you can see, Erin@SunnySideUp just added a great mirrored table to her entry.

 
 
This picture is pretty much just becasue I liked it. I love the lights, and the rug, and the table… and if I had the space and the courage to do something like this I would. But for now I’ll just pin it and like it.

Now on to the lighting for such a space. I really love Restoration Hardware, who doesn’t. And I would be pretty happy with any of their lights. These two are what speak to me the most. I like how they are a combination of industrial and traditional with some sparkle.

Whats your dream foyer? What do you think is a must have? What makes a foyer feel inviting to you?

Inspiration: Front Doors

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Doors I feel are such a focal point. And something that really makes a statmement about your house and what you are about to walk in to. The minute I saw this door, I said this is THE door for my house. Whats not to like.

 Paul Moon Design: Yarrow Point House
 
If I will have a black door, blue door, yellow door or red I do not know yet. But it looks great in fun colors too
  
For those of you that missed out on my artwork on Mondays post, here is some more with me attempting to still pick colors. So you get an idea of where our door is placed, etc.
 
 
I know, you’re amazed at my skills. Its like an exact version. I’m a visual person and I have to see it somehow on paper or person to understand what it will look like. Telling me does not work. I charge a small design fee if you like to send me pics, I can color your house too 🙂 I’m sure my inbox will be overflowing with requests.
 
Now as you can see from our exterior , there is a family entrance/mud room entrance whatever you want to call it. Here I want a dutch door.
 


Don’t go visit, her blog outshines mine. j/k
 

 
I doubt my mudroom will ever look this clean. Maybe on day 1, but doubtful. There is no poll for this inspiration because my mind is made up on these decisions. 1 of 1000 I know. Hope you like my inspirations. See you Monday. 

Inspiration: Exterior

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So I am told that the first major design decision I need to make is the exterior. Like what siding do I want, what pattern, etc. Color comes later (I think) but it has to be all planned out. I have thought a lot about this, and there are tons of different options. So I’ll show you my faves, and what the pros and cons are to me. Then you take the survey below and help me. Who doesn’t love a survey?!

Option 1: I LOVE this color. This is the Young House Love show house. The color is called newburg green by Benjamin Moore. I think its a nice pop of color without screaming. I see it being a nice alternative to the greys and browns. And I like how this house has a cozy PNW feel to it with the natural cedar.
Pros: Color, Ceadar accents, white trim, rock trim, single post, shingle siding painted and lap siding.
Cons: Can the same concept be acheived on a single story, kyle is not a fan of painted shingles

Option 2: I like how clean and neutral this look is. Its a classic, something everyone likes. I like how it uses a combo of all the materials: lap, shingle and board & batten. Plus the rock. And this has the dlb post colums.
Pros: Color, materials.
cons: Do I want grey like everyone else? Well all the materials make it look pieced together?

Option 3: Now you could go grey or blue with this scheme….which I like. Again, great PNW feel with the natural shingles. I don’t like the rock they used, but thats easy to change. Has shed and peak dormers like us. And its hard for me to tell, but I think this house has grey windows.

Pros: mix of color and materials.
cons: Looks like we counldn’t decide and threw everything on the house.

Whats a girl to do?! Kyle is on the fence about blue. He loves grey. He hates white…but its so clean and crisp. But we do live in the PNW where it rains, so would the house also have dirt splats on it?
This house is Chip and Joanna Gaines (Magnolia) house in Waco, TX. Of course I have a special place for that since I lived in waco for almost 3 years. I love Joanna’s style and so wish I could go visit her shop for some decor. You can watch them on HGTV on their show Fixer Upper. They have great ideas.
 
Now granted, all these pics show houses with WHITE windows and WHITE trim. BUT, I’m not married to that. Because I have seen a lot of houses with black or grey windows too. And I kind of like it.

 
 So what would you do? To remember what our exterior looks like, go to the Floor Plan page and they are almost at the bottom. There is no pic of the back, but it too has two peaks.  
 I think the survey’s are fun. I love getting your feedback. Do you like the surveys? Also, I think I set the answers to let you pick multiple answers, if you can’t commit to just one- story of my life. So that may or may not be helpful 🙂
*Click NEXT at the end to submit the survey.

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Inspiration: Living Room

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Survey says: There is a survey at the bottom of the post. Help a girl out with all these decisions! Click NEXT button to submit survey answers. Thank You!!

I Figured I would focus on this room next, since its in the main area of the Kitchen and dining too. We have a large open concept as you will be able to see from the layout on the floor plan page.  So everything needs to flow together well. Not sure how I will pull that off, but I’m gonna try. Again our walls/ceiling will be 9ft and vaulted. So it’ll have a nice big feel. I’ve seen pictures with a big lighting piece in the middle…and I like that sometimes. Kyle will most likely want to just go with can lights, and I’m ok with that too. My “not gonna budge” platform is pedants above the island in the kitchen. So I could spend more there if I don’t get a big light above the living room.  Also, there will be a big light hanging down in the entry way, and you will see that from the LR. So I don’t want to over-do it (can’t belived I said that!)

One feature that Kyle and I agree on is the patio slider. We were originally going with a 16’w x 8’h slider. Kyle consulted with some GC’s he works with and they don’t love them. They said for some reason the 16′ tend to have leak issues, and if you go down to the 12′ they just haven’t seen that happen. So we were like “eh, 12′ works.” So it will be a 4-panel 12′ slider. Like this, except no upper windows on ours, these are most likely 10ft walls/ceiling:

Now, as far as furniture goes, I’m all over the place I feel. I think I really want a sectional couch. This way a lot of people can sit in the LR, its comfy, etc. I also like chairs with fun patterns and a rustic/industrial sort of coffee table. I don’t feel I’ll need lamps, or a bunch of tables for knick knacks- not my thing. But side tables are good for beverages.

So I am a visual person. And I have found it hard to find pictures of living rooms without a fireplace as the main focal point. We will just have a wall with a TV mounted on it. Might do a built-in cabinet, might not. The wall is not a full wall, there will be an opening to go to the hall to the kids rooms. This one picture seems to be an exact replica of what we’ll have, just flip flopped (opening to hall on left, not right)

Okay, now side point- What is the story with all this white boards/planks for walls and ceiling?! I get that its part of the farmhouse look. But I just don’t think I can make that design commitment. All I can think about is how 30 years ago cedar/wood paneling was big, and now it looks horrific. And in every remodel show people are ripping that off the walls. So would I be doing that with the white boards? HELP! What do you like in your living room? Is it all about comfort? Style? or just a hodge podge of sutff?

 


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