Wednesday, January 27, 2010

{finding the perfect outdoor lighting}

the first picture is what i have up right now...i bought this collection got home and opened the boxes, pulled them out and guess what???  the 2 wall lights were black instead of the rubbed bronze!  the ceiling light was the right color and i really like it...i went back to the store to see if maybe i just had 2 bad boxes and turns out they were all the same color...uggggh
we went ahead and put them up & i just don't like the difference in color...my husband thinks it's okay but,  i just can't get over it....i'm sure you can't even tell..lol
so, back to shopping for outdoor lights...here are a few i like..can't decide!
              
so far this is my favorite! i like the cottage farmhouse style..it's in a pewter color...this is from lowes
this on is different but, not sure how 2 would look at each end of the house?  home depot
 
or this one?  lowes


i have to decide quickly...my brother in law will be over in a few days to take the old ones down....

xoxo's Nan

Sunday, January 17, 2010

{a few reno pics of our NEW old home!}

our new hallway..my husband and I were the architects and general contractors for our renovation & addition.  we used a software from office depot to draw up plans...it was easy to use!
It took us a bit to figure it out the layout b/c we kept changing our minds.....bathroom here, jack & jill bathroom, 1/2 bath....but, finally we agreed on a plan & ended up with an additional 900 sq.ft. & plenty of room to spread out!.......since, we were adding an addition we had to pull construction permits and then, it started! 
 Our house is on blocks so, my husband & I hired a subcontractor to help us layout the foot print{gosh i remember it was super hot out...we tied several tarps to give us shade and worked underneath digging holes & leveling out the dirt...after all that effort they kept blowing away...can i get an awwww?lol } ....after that phase we hired a framer to frame out the addition...that was such a joyous day! we actually were able to see the space we worked so hard to create!
before, we had a modest 1300 sq  foot bungalow a 2 bedroom 1 bath....we took out our old bathroom and added 2 new bathrooms~1 in the hallway & the other in our new master bedroom, added a huge {huge to us} master bedroom w/ large walk-in closet, re-configured the old master bedroom into an extra room, added my daughters room & an office!
..the picture above is the hallway to all the rooms...i have always loved the look of the paneled walls and decided to add the look all the way down the hallway....we put in a shelving unit w/ storage underneath for my photo albums..{eventually, i'll put mirrors on each shelf }
 we decided to make the addition  w/ 9 foot ceilings...the rest of the house is 8..I love the high ceilings.
 all wood painted in navajo white {sw}
walls~kilim beige
 ceiling~ devine white {sw}
we matched the floors to the rest of the house ~red oak 3/4 inch.
My handy man husband put in ALL the hardwoods! I think he did a fabulous job!! 
 We  hired out a floor re-finisher since, this was something we really weren't sure how to tackle.. first, had him stain the floors a lil bit darker than the rest of the house & I didn't like how it turned out......I had a vision of what i wanted it to look like and this was not it...so, he came back and sanded & re-stained...an expense we didn't count on..... 
also, the pic above shows the attic stairway finished out...per COH we were not to code and had to take out the stairway & put in a bigger one...another expense we were not counting on...since, we were the general contractors on this addition WE definitely learned as we went along good & bad!


here's the dining room...wood paneling again....


my new office space...i designed the layout & hired a local cabinet maker to bring my vision to life!
  I love my new office!!
i used navajo white for all the wood work thru-out the house
kilim beige for all the walls
devine white for ceilings

will post more pics as I gather them....come back and see the rest.

as i type we are in the middle of our kitchen reno..will this ever end? :)

Friday, January 8, 2010

{feeling the winters blues?}




the warm color of the wood beams, the abundance of pillows, duvet filled w/ down comforter....simplicity is sometimes more....




this grouping of pastels screams "SPRING IS NEAR!"









this room say's "summer"...windows up letting some fresh air in...a fluffy down comforter and warm color of the large wood plank floor to the side table in it's natural patina!