Breakfast Room - PLANKED

My first house related post of 2018 is a little project we had done at the verrrry end of last year...

We added planks to our breakfast room walls!

Our breakfast room is a space we use a lot, but you have seen very little of here on the blog. The area sits right off the kitchen and is a highly utilized area of our home. We eat there, we work there, I fold laundry there, it's really a central hub for us. The space is big and currently holds our china cabinet and a large 6' round table we purchased right after we moved in.

The Before:

Not bad, just a little plain. 

This house is full of giant walls and this space is no exception. I've done pretty much nothing in this area since we moved in because I am stumped on how to decorate the big blank wall. One element that really helped add life and interest to another big, blank space in our house was the shiplap or planking we added in our mudroom area, so we started talking through the idea of adding it in this space as well. Not only were we sure the planks would up the cozy factor, but we thought it would add some nice balance to the back of our house. We have an open floor plan and the breakfast room is in the same visual area as the mudroom; So, the addition of planks here would add cohesiveness. 

This conversation got kick started as we made plans to have our first floor painted. We didn't want to pay to have the wall painted only to cover them with wood. So, Brent asked the painters if they did trim work. Turns out they did and were able to provide us with a very reasonable quote to add 1 x 8 planks to our breakfast room.  It caused us a little heart ache to pay for something we knew we could do ourselves, but at the end of the day it just made sense to go this route this time. Time being the main reason. 

Much like the mudroom, the results were instant and we are SO happy with the vibe now

Still no art, but the room feels 10x's warmer and more interesting. The crisp white color and additional 4 chairs we got for Christmas help too! Oh, and I'm testing the universe and TRYING to pull some of my plants out of the hospital to see if they can thrive in other areas. Fingers crossed!

All photos are my own. 

Painted it White

This month has been a bit of a whirlwind on the home front because we finally pulled the trigger and hired painters to take our house from beigey-non white to white!! When we originally moved into this house I was thankful the walls were light and all the same color. It was definitely a vibe we could work with, and considering I was 7 months pregnant at the time I was happy to leave it be at least for awhile. However, as room after room began to take shape, I found myself growing increasingly annoyed with our off-white background. The mudroom was the final straw. We were so excited about the progress we were making on this remodel, but it was SO hard to take progress pictures. The hallways itself was already dark, and even after we changed out our garage entry door to one with glass, those pictures were blah because of the creamy trim around our pretty new blue door. We were over it so we decided it was officially time to go white. Once we wrapped up the actual build of the mudroom, we made some calls, got some quotes, and decided it was worth it to hire someone to do this big job. I have to admit it was a hard pill to swallow, seeing as how we know we are more than capable of painting, but we knew it would take us weeks to accomplish a task this big with a little Croix-Boy running around, so we decided it was worth the investment.

So...the game plan was all walls, trim, ceilings, stair rails and treads on the 1st floor + the stair hall and upstairs hallway were to be WHITE. Benjamin Moore's White Dove OC-17 to be exact.

The crew showed up and in a matter of minutes our house was covered with plastic. It looked like a scene out of Dexter, but to me the whole scene equaled PROGRESS, so it was all good with me. It took the guys 2 1/2 days to get everything completed and one quick return trip to get a few odds and ends tidied up and they were done. It was as if they were never even here, well, except for the fact that now our walls were white! A crisp, clean, beautiful white.

Here's a little preview.....

I know this is only a tiny peak, but oooooh the difference. Makes my heart AND eyes happy!

All photos are my own. 

Our Mudroom Reveal

We have a mudroom! A functioning, pretty mudroom that adds personality and organization to our life. It's a dream! To recap we took our back hallway, that was full of doors and nothing-ness and decided to give it life and purpose.

Over the last few months you've seen us add planks, change out our entry door, update our laundry door with an antique barn door and a few weeks ago I showed you how we revitalized our antique bench. As visually impactful as all of these updates have been, no mudroom has street cred without some storage and organization.

From the beginning we planned to build out storage around the bench. We knew we couldn't do anything super heavy, as we didn't want to make the hallway feel closed in, but I definitely wanted to incorporate as much smart storage as possible. After a lot of deliberation we decided to add 6 open cubbies to the right of the bench with one long shelf spanning over the bench with hooks mounted underneath.

We picked up our supplies from Home Depot and Brent and Croix headed out to the backyard to start building. The overall design was pretty simple and straight forward, so a little measuring.....

......some cutting and then a few nails later.... 

... and our open cubbie structure was built. 

We used the same material to bridge across the bench while simultaneously acting as a "top" for the cubbie structure. We searched high and low for the perfect brackets to hold up our shelf, but ended up  going with these simple inexpensive black ones from Home Depot. Interestingly enough, the same thing happened with the hooks. There are so many options out there at every price point, but the selection that felt right for our space were these simple $5 hooks from Home Depot. I swear, we weren't trying to select the cheapest thing, although we are happy we did, we just honestly liked these the best! Home Depot is full of treasures if you dig a little!

The storage element took a Saturday to complete, so we've had a fully functioning mudroom for a few weeks, we have just been waiting on the paint. Thankfully, all painting was wrapped up this week, so I'm excited to finally be able to show you the finished space.

Now, I'm a firm believer that a reveal isn't nearly as sweet without a little preview of the BEFORE, so let's take a look at what we started with....

And now, here she is today:

Eeeek! What do you think? We are so happy with how this space turned out and can't believe a hallway is officially among one of our favorite areas in our whole house! 

For now we've decided to use our top shelf to display some original artwork we found at an estate sale a few months ago. We opted for simple black frames and I just love the interest and height these pieces bring to the space. Another fun addition to the hallway was the lighting. Originally the hallway had a boob light (very technical design term) and a can light. Early on we switched out the boob light for a semi-flush light we already had from our last house. But as the mudroom began to take shape we decided we wanted to add a second matching light where the can light was for a more cohesive look. Luckily, we already had another light fixture (again, from our last house - remember them from this post?), we just had to buy the can light converter to make the switch.

                                      

Let's talk details: For baskets we did a little mix and match action with 2 woven baskets we picked up at Marshalls and 3 metal baskets from the Hearth & Hand Collection at Target. Our rug is from Urban Outfitters and was a 2016 Christmas present. The little mail holder is from the Magnolia store in Waco, the plant holder is from Amazon and the pot is from Anthropology (old). We ended up painting the walls + trim Benjamin Moore's White Dove OC-17 and couldn't be happier with the crisp, clean background it provides. 

It's so nice to have a dedicated area to corral all of our stuff and help us stay organized and tidy. And who knows, maybe we introduced this whole "put your bag in this cubbie and your coat on this hook" thing early enough in Croix's life that he will maintain these "skills" forever. I just know his future spouse and teachers will thank me someday if he does...:)

All photos are my own. 

My Kitchen Part 3 - Backsplash

Remember that time, I designed my own kitchen and then took F O R E V E R to show it to you? Yeah, sorry about that! Good news, I'm back today to tell you all about how Brent and I DIY'ed our backsplash.

So, last we talked our marble countertops had been installed and the space was really coming together.

The finish line was in sight and with 3 weeks left until our wedding we were grasping for that light at the end of the tunnel. If you've ever renovated a space before, you know that the whole process goes really fast and then really slow and then really fast and then really slow. It's the whole hurry up and wait scenario. So, we demoed, which wasn't exactly fast, but fast-ish compared to the 6 weeks we waited for cabinets. Then, the countertop people rushed out to template the tops and then we waited for a week for the install. Once the tops went in, it was time to put rush into overdrive and get the backsplash installed. We had from Friday afternoon until Sunday, exactly 2 1/2 days to install our backsplash before appliances went in on Monday. 

We had long ago decided we wanted a brick backsplash. We planned to paint it white and take it to the ceiling. Because the space is small and we already had some focal points in the yet to be revealed refrigerator panels and the veining in the marble, we wanted the backsplash to be powerful, but quiet.  So we researched around and ended up purchasing brick pavers from a local tile store.  

All green space (in the first picture above), aside from inside the refrigerator opening, would be getting bricked. Looks simple enough, but there were a lot of cuts to be made, around the window, at the ceiling, where the brick would meet the underside of the cabinets, around the vent opening, etc. There was a lot to consider and it is at moments like that when I am SO thankful to be married to a brain. A brain that rises to the occasion during uber technical situations like this. Brent took measurements and began cutting the bricks with his wet saw.  Because we have neighbors and the wet saw is loud, we didn't want to be cutting too late into the night, so Brent made sure to get a lot of the bricks cut before the sun went down so we could get them installed as late as we wanted. Once the bricks were cut and ready to go, we applied thin-set mortar, like butter to the back of each brick

and stuck the bricks to the wall. 

Initially we had planned to grout in-between the bricks, but after lining it up, we decided we liked the look of the bricks butted together with no mortar lines between.  The process was messy, but thankfully there was a clear film on the countertops which protected them from the brick dust and thin-set mortar drips. All brick had to be installed by the end of the day on Saturday so the thin-set mortar could set up and dry and we could begin painting on Sunday. It was late and we were tired but we got it up there.

Bright and early Sunday morning we got out the Benjamin Moore White Dove Paint (same color as cabinets and wall) and went to town.

Because we didn't have mortar lines between the bricks, there were gaps where many of the bricks met, as many of the pieces were not perfectly rectangular.  We liked this look because it gave the wall depth and texture. However, painting these little nooks and crannies was THE hardest part. Trying to push paint in tiny little holes, with no drips and without getting paint all over the other finished parts of the kitchen was challenging to say the least. The painting literally took hours and a few coats, but the transformation was so powerful it was incredible watching it come together right before our eyes. 

Standing back and looking at our work that Sunday night was SO satisfying. Every step of this project was fun and important, but for some reason these bricks really made the space feel alive. As I've said before, anytime you design a space with a reoccurring color (for this space it was white) it is imperative to mix up the textures to create interest and depth and the bricks did just that. Once it was all said an done we were SO happy we skipped over the grout because the spacing between the bricks (the black part) creates the perfect amount of drama.

The next day the appliances rolled in and our renovation train kept on chugging along, but that's a story for another day, another blog.

All photos are my own. 

100th Post - Ask & You Shall Receive

Today marks my 100th post! To celebrate I will be answering YOUR questions as promised. I figured a question or two may have come up over the course of 99 posts and boy was I right.  I was so stoked to receive so many questions over the past few weeks and I've done my best to answer them, so without further adieu, let's dive in:

Question: I enjoy your blog and notice that your husband, Brent, is often working with you on design projects. You make a great team, Beauty and Brawn! Have you ever come up with a design idea for your own home that he hated and you had to talk him into it? If so, can you tell us about it.

Who us? Disagree? NEVER!

...

OK, OK, fine.....The answer is YES, but before I elaborate let me explain a few things:

I'm always thinking about design, even when I don't mean to be, and I have a tendency to obsess over things. 

With that being said, because my world is so consumed with all things design, I'm often inspired by random things which cause me to think up ideas. Some of these ideas are good and some are wacky. Often times Brent does require some coaxing on certain ideas and sometimes he flat out squashes them. But there are other times when he wants to squash them but it's too late. I've already decided on it in my mind and begun the process of obsessing. Once that happens it's hard to talk me back off the ledge. 

A few examples of this: 

1. Painting the chair rail and paneling in our dining room black. 

After it was all said and done I think Brent is pretty happy with the outcome and we are both pleased with how the space has come together. 

2. Painting the brass chandelier blue. 

Brent was NOT on board with this but I talked him into it and....he was right. Gosh, that was even hard to write. But alas, he was, the blue was all wrong for the space. 

3. We have a three piece octopus painting hanging over our couch in our living room. Now, I know I haven't posted about our living room yet, so you are going to have to trust me here but this picture works. It's the perfect mix of weird and cool. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on it while shopping in Chattanooga. Brent literally laughed in my face, dead against the octopus. He now hangs in our living room and I'm pretty sure Brent likes him more than me. 

These are just a few examples, but the important thing here is the fact that Brent and I are truly a pretty good team. Sometimes I'm right and sometimes Brent's right. We both have our strengths and weakness and we both bring good qualities, ideas and expertise to the table. We balance each other out and, together we have completed some pretty great projects. The easier question might be how many projects do we start out completely in agreement? The answer: very few...but we aways end up on the same page by the time it's all said and done. 

Question: What was the final resting place of the turquoise chandelier? Have not seen it in recent posts?

Who, this guy? 

After the blue chandelier was replaced with our new chandelier in the dining room the blue one went to the basement where it resides to this day. It's final resting place is still TBD. 

Question: I have beige tiles around my fireplace (including the floor that connect to the carpet). I want to have a more cohesive look with the white mantle and trim. What are my options for painting the tiles white? The grout is an off-white color. 

Great question! I think a lot of people can relate to this issue. I know I had a similar situation at my house, except our tile was peach (yack) and connected to hardwood floors... 

To improve the look of the tile surround we simply painted the tiles white. Before painting we primed the tiles and then gave the entire fireplace including the mantle a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore's White Dove, OC-17. Our tiles were ceramic, so before we painted them we sanded the surface so the paint would easily adhere. 

The entire process was quick and easy and drastically improved the look of the space.

Question: So I love our Kitchen, but I feel like it is so builder grade and plain! What would you recommend to spice it up a bit and make it a little more unique? We have black appliances, dark granite counter tops, and oil rubbed bronze hardware on our light brown cabinets. You have seen it before, but I can send you another pic :) HELP please!

Another great question I think a lot of people can relate to!  To get everyone on the same page here is a shot of the kitchen in question:

When I look at this kitchen I don't think builder grade. The space feels warm and layered thanks to the contrasting colors and textures from the cabinets to the countertops to the hardwood flooring. To add another layer of interest you might consider adding a tile backsplash. Because the cabinets are a warm brown tone they will go with pretty much anything, so my suggestion would be to find a backsplash that compliments the granite countertops. Tile comes in so many different forms (travertine, ceramic, glass, metal, etc..) making it a great avenue to really add your own spin and personality to your space. I would also suggest looking into adding crown moulding to the top of the cabinets. You can buy crown moulding from Home Depot or Lowes and have it cut to the length you prefer and install it yourself. You would have to stain it to match the cabinets which might get tricky. If you can't find a stain that matches or  task of installing crown moulding seems daunting, then you might consider getting in touch with a local cabinet company to see if they could install crown moulding and color match it so it blends seamlessly with the stained cabinets. 

Question: You have mentioned the large Christmas tree in your front yard in several posts- what are the plans for decorating the tree this Christmas?

OH, we have plans, big plans. Decorating the tree for our first Christmas has been the only thing standing between the Christmas Tree and a big ol' axe. We wanted at least one holiday season so we could decorate it. Stay tuned for the final results of that! 

Question: Courtney, I love reading your blog and am fascinated by the way that you make seemingly-daunting home improvements seem relatively easy (though I know a lot of sweat - and maybe some tears - have gone into some of your projects!). My question is in regards to the outdoor kitchen. I know your post mentioned that you had to add some additional supports underneath the deck to support the weight of the concrete and the stone. How did you and Brent do that? And, how did you know how much extra support was needed? I'm curious to know if you built additional concrete supports or what!!

Great question and a popular one! During the process of the Outdoor Kitchen I was asked multiple times about the support under the deck. Now, to be fair, about 75% of the time my Mom was the one asking as she had this vision of the entire deck crashing to the ground due to the extra weight of the outdoor kitchen, but she wasn't the only one. As the posts started detailing the stacked stone for the pizza oven, the questioning became more frequent. I mentioned in this post that structural support was added but to ease EVERYONE's mind below is a shot of the supports under our deck. 

We started with 3 posts, but ended up adding 4 more as the process continued.  The 4 far posts are directly below the pizza oven and are connected at the top with (2) 2"x10" boards on either side.  The near posts provide additional support for the rest of the deck. As far as knowing how many supports to add, we kind of just guessed (welcome to Brent's process), but aired on the side of more is better. To install these columns Brent and Mark (Mark = major player in project outdoor kitchen, he helped with supports, stacked stone and concrete counters. It takes an army, folks) dug holes in the ground, placed the posts in the hole and then poured concrete in the hole to set the posts. So, FEAR NOT, our deck, outdoor kitchen, and the people enjoying them will NOT be falling to the ground anytime soon. 

Question: What is your favorite flooring for the kitchen?
Regardless of the specific type of flooring, my favorite look is when the flooring in surrounding areas matches that of the kitchen. There are so many finishes and surfaces throughout a kitchen. I like the idea of the flooring being a backdrop, instead of a focal point. Looks wise, I prefer hardwoods in the kitchen. I like the warmth they add aesthetically and the ease of maintenance. 

Question: What are some creative options for storing spices so they are out of sight, yet easily and readily accessible to the chef?


This is a great question with all kinds of options! Today, I find myself placing spice storage in a variety of locations per the specific clients needs. A popular option for a lot of clients is pullouts to the side of the cooktop as shown in Chattanooga Project below: 

Photo by Gentle Giant Photography. 

This option keeps spices within reach and provides adjustable shelves for customization depending on the height of your various jars and containers. For those people turned off by the concept of bending down to retrieve spices, I also have some options for storing spices up higher. Another bonus, word on the street is it's not good for your spices to be too close to heat. So, with that in mind the next two options might be more appealing:

Photo from Rev-A-Shelf website. 

Spice storage installed to the back of wall cabinets is a great option for easy access storage. The model shown above is from Rev-A-Shelf and offers adjustability as well for various sized containers. Another plus, because this unit is installed on the door you still have usability inside the cabinet as well.

Photo from Rev-A-Shelf website. 

Spice storage inside a drawer is another great option. Again, the unit above is from Rev-A-Shelf and is tiered so you can see all of the spices you are storing in this space. Obviously, the number of spices you can store would be limited to the space allotted, but this is a great option for everyday spices you want on hand. 

Well, there you have it, answers to some of the most popular questions. This was such a fun post to write and I'm so thankful to all of my readers and everyone that submitted a question!  It was fun hearing from you all and I enjoyed answering your questions. THANK YOU for tuning in each week, you've made these past 100 posts a joy to write!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all photos are my own. 

Dining Room Details

You may have noticed that I kind of went MIA regarding my kitchen remodel. Oh, that's right, I have two kitchens now, let me clarify, I'm talking about my INSIDE kitchen...:). Earlier this summer I realized I had to pump the breaks on posting the reveal of the kitchen because some contest opportunities came up and I entered my space! To be eligible to win, the project can't be published. So, until I hear the results I have to keep the kitchen reveal under wraps. Fingers crossed!!

Since the kitchen is off the table I thought I could show the dining room some love. In getting ready for the kitchen space to be photographed we completed several projects in the dining room, just in case it came into play. If you remember, the dining room sits right off the kitchen. The only thing separating the kitchen and the dining room is the peninsula, because we tore the wall down during the kitchen renovation.

Below is a shot of the dining room standing in the kitchen.

Let's dig into some details starting with the chandelier. Back in June I posted about transforming our brass chandelier to blue. I ended that post  kind of on the fence about the results. While I loved the color and the concept, the chandelier just didn't fit the vibe of the space. In July, we were in Highlands and found the chandelier you see above. The colors and proportions were perfect and we knew it was "the one." Lucky for us my Mother-in-law Cindy gave it to us as an early birthday present! The whole room changed the moment it was installed.

The next big improvement was the curtains. My mom, sister and I went fabric shopping one day and came across this fabric.

The material and pattern really spoke to me in an elegant-meets-light-and-airy and sophisticated-but-still-fun kind of way. It took a little convincing Brent to go with a floral pattern, but I knew the space could use the pop of color and once the panels were made it wouldn't read girly, it would just read awesome. He agreed and again, Cindy helped us out by sewing the curtains herself! I swear this blood line has it going on in the crafty department! 

The moment these panels were installed the whole room, heck, the whole house felt more pulled together. It's our first window treatment we've added to the house and this one packed a lot of punch. The antique brass rod was hung just under the crown moulding and the panels pool ever so slightly at the floor. Not only do the curtains make the room feel taller, but the added color these curtains bring to the space really makes the room feel warm and happy. 

As you can see, only one wall has wall decor. We plan to take our time and not rush into any decisions regarding art, especially because we have plaster walls. Plaster walls = devil to patch. But, I'm so glad we took the leap and completed this corbel/succulant idea of mine. 

For awhile now I've been collecting cool corbels I would find at antique stores. I wanted all of the corbels to be different in shape and size and I didn't want to spend very much on them (I believe the most expensive one was $22.) Below are the corbels I ended up with:

I painted each corbel the same color as the walls - Benjamin Moore's White Dove OC-17.

I realized one thing present in every well designed space is plant life. It adds such depth and texture to the space not to mention color.  So I went out in search of some succulents. I ended up finding my succulents at IKEA of all places.  Who would have thought???   They actually have a pretty good selection of both large and small live plants and you can't beat the price! 

One by one the corbels were installed. 

Because there wasn't as much open wall next to the curtain we put the biggest corbel there and the other three went on the perpendicular wall installed at varying heights. I wanted the corbel locations to be random, so we just eye-balled the locations and went with what felt right. Next, we potted the succulents in little white pots (also from IKEA) and put the succulents atop the corbels. Again, we played around with which succulent goes where, until we felt like everything looked balanced. 

What a happy little corner! Notice the little antique brass dangle hanging from the highest corbel? The corbel had this piece when I bought it and I decided to let it stay gold. It's my favorite part!

As far as the furniture pieces go - the round table was from my house growing up. My parents got a new kitchen table a few years ago and let me have this one. We sanded it down to lighten the color and then moved it right in. It's as if this table was made for this small dining room - it fits perfectly. The chairs are from World Market and were a wedding present from my Grandmother & PapaJack. The hutch piece is from Crate & Barrel and was the first piece of furniture Brent and I bought as a couple. We weren't even engaged yet and had decided if we broke up I would get the top of the hutch and he would get the bottom - haha. 

Well, there you have it, you're all filled in on the recent dining room happenings. The dining room/kitchen area is definitely one of the most finished spaces in our house. We really like how everything is coming together - hope you do too!

P.S. I'll keep you posted on the contest....wish me luck!

P.P.S.... yes that is a horse head made out of drift wood in the middle of the table. Brent is still learning to love this one.......... :)

All photos are my own.