Be prepared

Flanking Byrd Park in Virginia's capitol city of Richmond, is a special yellow brick mansion.

The home served for two decades as the headquarters of the Robert E. Lee Council, a Boy Scouts of America district.

 The home was originally built by a successful Coca-Cola bottling franchise owner in the 1920s. It was given, by the original owner's granddaughter, to the Boy Scouts of America in 1958.

Owners, Steve and Amy Williams, had some renovation to do when they purchased the 8000+ square foot home from the Boy Scouts.

Take a look and read more HERE in Virginia Living Magazine

 The mural is truly enviable.

Very Charlotte Moss-y.

Curtains, blankets and divorce,oh my!

Yesterday, my husband said to me, " You'll have to find a curtain for that window over the front door."

He meant the clerestory window in the entry hall.

I replied, " That is not the sort of window you put a curtain on." and it began...

the arguement about what to do in the summer when the sun blazes through the window and heats the house to an unfriendly temperature.

He said, " If you don't find something I'll hang a blanket on it."

gasp

"You let me hang a blanket on that back one so I'll just find another for the front."

This, friends, is where I confess a shamefull but necessary blanket hung as a window covering.

When we bought the house it came with partial vertical blinds on a sliding glass door.

I won't get into my feelings about the sliding glass door, since its staying but I draw the line at vertical blinds.

The other day it was 87 degrees in the afternoon and the sun is blinding during dinner most days. That day it was hot too so we hung a blanket. I am in the process of ordering a curtain.

Black velvet I ordered for a chair

I have chosen a few linen samples from Fabric.com. They have superb prices and an array of colors that I like.

I have a whole host of samples that are somewhere in the mail, just frustrating me.

I called my old workroom in Pennsylvania and got a quote for everything I want. Just waiting for the swatches to confirm.

Upholstery fabric for the sofa in steel gray



Robert Allen Dwell Studio Vintage Blossom



I am using the Vintage Blossom in Citrine for drapes on a row of four windows behind the sofa. The sofa will be in steel gray and a chair in black velvet will be in the room.

The linen curtain is for the eating area adjoining the family room and kitchen.

I really hope it all works together.

The good news is that I found a heat blocking window film at Lowe's for about $35 and will remain married despite the comment about chandeliers in bedrooms being stupid.

Yay.

Dream House

Dream house Entry Hall

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate my house. Its the biggest one I've ever lived in.

I am in the very earliest stage of decorating it so figuring out what I want is on my mind.

Pairing what I want with what I already have and considering the constraints

 of budget, existing architecture, and time make it complicated.



Last week I browsed through my inspiration files looking for the elements of my dream house.

I was looking for both things that are possible in my home and things that I love but are fantasy for the moment.

This is my dream kitchen...

This is my real kitchen and the two won't be meeting anytime soon.

A version of this dining room is totally possible, Yay!

I'd like a less pink version of this family room but a large TV and kids make this room impossible.

The general style of this room could happen in my formal living room, minus the bookshelves.

That is what the library is for.

I have plans for a dark, masculine library which will ironically be my "mom cave".

My dream master bedroom has a lot more fabric than my real one.

My 16 year old son does not share my romantic ideas of a boy's bedroom, like the one above.

I've talked him into a bit of midcentury modern combined with his rock star aesthetic.

I have a thing for bed coronets and luckily I should be able to accomplish that in both daughter's rooms.

I'd like a more subdued version of this for the littlest.

At the moment I am living with many white walls, uninspiring light fixtures 

 and one fifth of the furniture I own.

What would your dream house look like?

Do you already live in it?

Doric columns, Aaaagh!

This is the view from the dining room in my house into the formal living room. The front door is just to the left.

I hate the carpet but we're stuck with it for the moment.

This is the view into the dining room. It has lovely paneling and chair rail which stops at the dining room side edge of these stupid Doric column room divider.

The dilema is that I would like to have the rooms different colors.

I would like my dining room to be this color (SW6601 Tanager) the color of my old living room.

I'm going for the full-on-Ralph Lauren-equestrian-chic look.

I would like the living room to be a very pale creamy yellow like this, although my browser turns into an awful insipid mess.

It is actually a pale yellow leaning toward the red side of the wheel not green.

The trouble is how do I create the dividing line?

I thought of turning it into built ins-- the husband says its not gonna happen.

 My other option is a pilaster against each wall ending the chair rail and lining up with the columns.

Like this.

Suggestions?

 

Love this

I love everything about this room.

Generally, my eye goes to the window treatments after a once over.

The cornices flow with the ornate fireplace here and the neutral drapes are something I would choose for my own home.

I am not hugely in love with sectionals but the gray velvet and honeysuckle pillows are making me rethink my color scheme in my family room.

Lastly, I must have that coffee table!

Eye Candy

Just a quick peek at a room from Homes and Gardens UK edition. I love the sophisticated mix of traditional and modern with clean lines and plenty of texture.

Even though there is a piece of art above the fire place in this photo, how do you feel about putting TVs above the mantel?

I personally hate TVs up there but lots of people do it, would you?

opinions, please

I just moved in and the pictures are limited to finishes mostly. Who wants to see empty rooms and  a sea of boxes?

I really want opinions on paint colors to offset the existing finishes.

The hardwood floors in the entryhall and stair are rather orange and we have the dreaded builder beige wall-to-wall carpet in living and family rooms. As soon a the budget allows the flooring will change but in the meantime I want walls that are not so white.

This wall color and perhaps my gold silk drapes will make their way into the dining room.

This antique coffee grinder lamp will replace the alabaster one in the entry.

This settee will be in the formal living room that I hope to make a pale gold but it is totally up in the air.

This red and gold Duncan Phyfe settee will be in the library along with the wing chair you see in the background.

These are the fiinishes in the kitchen. The floor is an unfortunate vinyl that will be the first to go.

The kitchen and eating area adjoin this family room.

Let me know your opinions.

Pantone color of 2011, Honeysuckle is verboten.

Meet me in St Louis

When my husband and I watch movies that have castles or other fabulous places to live I count the seconds until, without fail, he says, "Is that the house you want, Honey?"

Besides being my favorite Christmas movie, Meet Me in St. Louis has one of my favorite houses.

I am not so much in love with the Eastlake Victorian decor but I do love the scale of the rooms and the interesting architecture.

It is a bit over accessorized.

And lacy.

Looking very closely at the hairstyles and fashions you can see the anachronistic influence of 1940s style. I think it is also apparent in the interiors. I think my grandma or at least somebody's had a vanity mirror like that.

I wish I could find better pics of the kitchen in the movie. The copper pots, wooden cabinetry low and shelves above are my ideal and I am blessed to have an antique French canister set like the one behind Mama, played by Mary Astor.

Do you have a favorite "movie house" ?





Making things suck less

This is such an embarrassing photo of my pantry but it is the beginning of what we affectionately call "making things suck less" or getting our house ready to sell.

None of these things are showstoppers. They are the fixes that just make the house not suck.

In defense of the pantry, we have an 18 month old and must overstuff all of the high shelves to keep most of it out of her reach. In a few weeks the bulk of it will be moving with me, leaving only the best looking items in nice and neat rows.

I'll continue the humiliation with these kitchen renovation pics.

This is the early part of the $3000 update.

The plans are simple because we are not staying.

The walls originally had this wall paper (before the orange which was my biggest color mistake ever)

We've removed lots of dated wallpaper in this house. 

The cabinets went from this...

to this...

$300 for paint and hardware (and my husband's one week vacation in time invested)

$ 1700 for new solid surface counters and sink

$ 400 for new faucet and an additional cabinet to replace the peninsula in the photo above.

$40 for fabric and boards to make three custom valances.

The valances were super easy. I got 1 1/2 yards of fabric on sale and used lining I had left from other window projects.

I cut 18 inch pieces, this worked on my window width with 54 inch fabric, and sewed three sides with right sides facing each other. Turned it right side out to iron flat and then iron in the center pleat. It is then stapled to a fabric covered 1x3 board and mounted using "L" brackets.

I have done this in several rooms where I never got around to dressing the windows. I like the custom look and its cheap and easy.

We did not remove the goofy cabinet valance because it woulld expose an unsightly light fixture.

This week instead of decking the halls and stuffing the turkey my talented and patient husband is taking our kitchen floor from this crime...

to this, in progress $400 improvement.

Making things suck less has involved bunches of boring stuff like painting the underside of the gutters and  the fascia around the screened porch along with replacing 45 year-old plastic swichplates with new plastic ones.

It won't make anyone say, "Wow" but they won't say ,"Ewwww" either.