A Rainbow of Books

18 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Accessories, Inspiration, Living Room

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Book Shelf Styling, How to Style a Book Shelf

While I love my new built in bookcases, I couldn’t quite squeeze all of my books into them. I mostly reserved the collection of novels we have from the built ins because they’re easier to find places for since they aren’t as big as a lot of our other books. And since we’ve done so many posts about book shelf styling here at C & B, I decided that I’d try out the rainbow effect when arranging them in this antique window cabinet that I picked up about a decade ago at my friend’s annual fall festival just outside of Cleveland, Ohio.

I forgot to take a before picture, but the cabinet needed a makeover anyway, and I think I’m going to change the artwork in this area too. I also need more seaglass!

I’m quite pleased with the look (although I could have done a better job on the pictures–nice reflection, eh?). I’m sure my book club is laughing at me right now. I have an awful lot of books for someone who almost always shows up without having read the month’s selection. One of these days I’ll have the time. In the meantime, having so many books at least makes me look a little smarter, doesn’t it?

Seaport Shutter Company Takes Your Exterior to a Whole New Level

15 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in furniture, garden, Inspiration, Outdoor

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Cape Cod Style, Coastal Style, Custom Doors, outdoor furniture, , Seaport Shutter Company

Since our front yard is currently being torn to pieces to install French drains, as much as I’ve been trying not to look at the giant mess, I’ve also been really focusing on how to make the front side of our house really shine. I mean, now that we’re doing all this work, there’s a good chance that it is my forever and ever house so I’d like to make it one that I’m really proud of. I actually really like the antique doors that we have on our mudroom as you enter the house from the driveway, but they are starting to fall apart (like I gently pushed on a pane of glass the other day and it fell out and shattered on the steps level of falling apart). However, they’re also unique in that we can swap out the glass for screens which isn’t very common in new doors. But ever since the moment it flashed into my mind that we should replace the two doors in the mudroom, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the doors from Seaport Shutter Company. I mean I’d essentially just like to makeover my house to look exactly like the one above, except that I don’t plan to cover my Dutch door with a screen and am looking to replace my side door.

The doors can be made with either an applique or a cutout. I’m rather partial to the anchor cutout, especially since my mudroom has a nautical theme. Other options include a shell, starfish, fish, shark, crab, tennis racquet, golf ball, compass, windmill, bee, or Nantucket basket for the appliques. The cutouts include a sailboat, anchor, starfish, martini glass, crab, whale, and lighthouse, just to name a few.

They also make screen doors for French doors and you’ve got to admit that these sure look a lot nicer than your standard ones. I love the compass coordinates included on these doors as well.

They make shutters too! You probably aren’t surprised seeing as it’s the Seaport Shutter Company. I love these pink ones with the star fish; such a sweet little cottage look.

And I love these sailboat ones painted a bright aqua!

And lastly, they also make Adirondack chairs with the same cutout options. Or they can carve your home’s name or another significant word on the front rail at the base of the chair. You know how sometimes you find a company that just feels like they get you? That’s how I feel about Seaport Shutter Company. I don’t know what their pricing is like, but I think I better start saving my pennies so I can get myself a new door (and maybe a few other things)!

Before & After: Powder Room Makeover

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Bath, Before & After, Flooring, House Tours, Inspiration

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Antique Washstand, Bathroom Ideas, bathroom makeover, Powder Room Makeover, Tile Ideas

This has been my sad half bath for the past six years. And you wonder why I haven’t shared my entire house with you yet? Now you know. It takes time (and moolah!) to get these places to a point where I can expose them! These are actually the photos that I took when we were looking to buy the house, and I really didn’t do anything other than throw a rug down since. So what’s your favorite part of this beauty? The beige tile on the floor? The pink and beige wall tile? The hideous vanity? That fab light fixture? Really, any of these on their own are pretty bad, but all together, they’re even worse. As I mentioned earlier in my outline of what we planned for this space, I’ve been collecting items to re-do this room for quite some time. But the time has come that it is finally finished!

Before the big reveal, I just want to share the before picture of the antique washstand that I bought awhile back for this project. I paid $40 for it, and I love it! For such a small space, it’s perfect as you’re about to see.

Voila! Here is the new powder room! I painted the washstand in Ralph Lauren Shoreline Blue. The walls are the same color, although the paint actually looks darker. I think it may be because I painted over the green whereas I primed the washstand. Either way, they still look ok together, and I really like the color (even though it brings my grand total of blue rooms in the house to five!).

The tile is this basic white hexagonal tile which I bought way back when as well, but which will never go out of style–a key factor when choosing the more permanent fixtures for a space. I also learned a cool trick from my contractor, Pete from Sachuest Construction. Instead of using grout on small tiles like this, you can just use a gray mastic (the powdered kind) and mix it with a polymer to harden it. Because the mastic tends to creep up between the tiles anyway, this makes the installation process easier and gives a more uniform appearance. You also don’t have to wait a day for the mastic to dry before you grout so it’s a great idea when you are pressed for time to get your reno done!

I was a bit torn as to where to put the towel ring. It doesn’t seem like a big decision, but hanging it on the beadboard made the towel hang much too low, and putting it where our old towel bar was opposite the toilet just seemed random since it’s only a ring. The only other option was on the back of the door, but I decided to just take it higher and put it right next to the sink. On top of the washstand, we put a large bowl sink. Because of this, there wasn’t enough space for a faucet on the stand so we switched to a wall mount faucet.

I’m totally obsessed with the one I found which is the . We had a small issue with the soap dish being broken, but since I ordered it from Amazon at nearly half it’s regular retail price, we just glued it back together rather than dealing with the hassle of returning or replacing it. I have to say that I looked at a lot of faucets and was really frustrated that most of them were nearly $300 and not that attractive. I was really thrilled to find this one. I don’t mind spending money when I love an item, but I hate dishing it out for something that isn’t exactly what I want. Amazon turned out to be a great source for faucets; much better than the high end plumber’s supply store in my town.

Above the sink, I hung this pewter mirror from Maison de l’Etain which I bought back in my days at Rue de France. It’s been hanging in my dining room and I love it, but it wasn’t until I was about to go mirror shopping the other day that I realized it would be perfect in the new bathroom. I did have a little debate over whether I should mix the pewter frame with all of the other chrome pieces, but I think it works. The light fixture is nothing special. It’s a Home Depot special that is apparently the only vanity fixture I like from them because I realized after I bought it that I picked out the same one for our upstairs bathroom when we redid that five years ago. I promise that if we go ahead with the master bathroom addition, I will pick out a different light!

And a little detail shot. My ranunculus are still hanging in there a week later, and if you want to indulge in the most divine smelling soaps in the world, pick up some of those Yves Delorme hand soaps. Oh, they are so amazing! The little dish was a gift from my old boss and is by Gien.

There are still a few things I need to finish up like hanging the pictures. I’m also loving all the light that has been pouring in the window without the blinds up. It needs to have some sort of window treatment for privacy since it’s right next to the deck, but I’m thinking of putting up a roman shade that I can keep open most of the time.

Between my new built ins and the bathroom, my house is pretty happy. Well if you don’t look outside where they’ve been digging up my yard and tearing apart my front steps to install French drains this week!

New Custom Built Ins Add Depth to the Living Room

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Accessories, Before & After, Inspiration, Living Room

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Book Collections, Book Shelf Styling, Custom Built Ins, Sachuest Construction

This is a really bad picture of my living room in the middle of us having the house turned upside down to do the new bathroom and built ins and having the basement flood multiple times in two weeks so when I show you the after you’re going to be really wowed! It’s kind of like how they make up gorgeous models to look ugly and then give them a “makeover” to reveal the “stunning transformation” in fashion magazines. Ok, my living room wasn’t actually that gorgeous to begin with, but it’s getting there. Ever since I laid eyes on our living room I’ve been dying to put built in bookcases flanking the fireplace (remember the facelift that just got too?). And six years later, it has finally happened!

Ta-da! While I had really always envisioned floor to ceiling bookcases, there were a few problems with that. The primary one being that I adore the arched doorways from our living room into the hallways. Taking the bookcases to the ceiling would block the view of the arches and just look wrong proportionately. So we decided to go about halfway, but we also had to take into consideration the mantle. I still wanted that to be the focal point so I wanted the bookcases to be lower than it. But I also had a light switch on the right side which prevented them from really falling where I wanted them to. Oh, and it’s an old house so of course nothing was level either vertically or horizontally. Luckily, my builder, Pete from Sachuest Construction, handled the hard thinking for me and came up with a way to make them still look straight and fall at a height that I’m happy with!

And while we’re looking at the hideous tile and hearth surrounding the fireplace, I just need to point out that that project is going to be tackled very soon as well.

Oh, and the off center television will be corrected too. We need to either move the wall mount (but it’s currently in a stud which is important) or switch it back to its stand.

Despite my husband’s request that I get as many books on the shelves as possible, I really like to mix the directions of the books. On the bottom shelf this actually allowed me to squeeze in a lot more books, but that isn’t always the case. As you can see I also need to finish touching up the paint!

I also like to mix in some objets which shockingly I realized yesterday I don’t have that many of. The added bonus of these new bookcases is also that I got to empty the basement of books and actually put them on display and in a place that is easily accessible. Finally, the toys that the kids still play with are moving to the basement, and my living room is looking like a grown up space again, and the entire house is feeling less cluttered!!!!

In addition to switching up the direction of the books, I like to organize them by color like I did in Amy’s house as well to prep for her HGTV shoot. I’m also excited to have the new top shelf for added display space, and it helps anchor the painting that my brother-in-law, artist Mark Fernandez, gave us as a wedding gift. Note the new and soon to be installed Dutch door peeking in on the right side too!

I also discovered that we could probably open our own library dedicated to sailing and possibly even just to the America’s Cup.

I, of course, am a little more partial to my design inspiration books (and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to give a little shout out to my sister’s book, Ready, Set, Green).

I think there’s still a bit of tweaking that needs to be done on the styling, but I’m totally thrilled with the way that the built ins came out. It’s amazing how much of a difference such a seemingly small change can make. I keep saying that I’m finally taking our house from JV to the varsity team this year. It’s the details like built ins that give a home the custom quality that truly adds depth to the space and makes it unique.

Stay tuned for the bathroom reveal coming tomorrow!

Spring Blooms!

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Accessories, Bath, garden, Inspiration

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Aqua Mason Jars, Flower Arranging Ideas, flowers, Mason Jar Vases, Ranunculus

While peonies are my hands down favorite, their little sisters ranunculus aren’t far behind on my favorites list. My bridesmaids carried them in my wedding and I just love how soft and feminine they are. So when I made the rare trip off island this morning to Trader Joe’s I was so excited to see these bright blooms greet me when I entered the door. There’s just nothing better than fresh flowers, and especially in the spring after a long, gray winter. These are currently perking up my new bathroom. It may not have a final coat of paint, but it looks ten times as great with these beauties–the magic of flowers!

Bella Lino Monogrammed Bath Accessories

04 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Bath, textiles

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Bath Linens, Bath towels,

I really wanted to share my powder room makeover with you today, but it could use another coat of paint and a few more finishing touches so I want to wait until it’s all done. I promise, good things come to those to wait! But if you want to see a sneak peek of it, follow us on . Keeping in line with the bath theme that’s been happening over here, I thought I’d share this fabulous source for beautiful bath (and bed) linens that I found last week while working on a post about master bedroom decor. There are few things I love more than a monogram, and Bella Lino offers a really nice selection of classic monograms in great colors and in many variations.

I have to say that I’m also started to be a big fan of tissue box covers. There is something about them that seems so old lady-ish, but at the same time, there’s just no such thing as an attractive tissue box and covering them up with something as beautiful as this embroidery is much more attractive, and really much more sophisticated.

But I think my most favorite items from Bella Lino are these monogrammed linen guest towels. I love the variety of monogram styles, and they start at only $22 apiece (including the monogram!), making them a fantastic hostess gift or shower gift for the bride-to-be. Or maybe just to buy a little something for my new powder room!

Keep Calm and Carry On

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Accessories, Inspiration

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Keep Calm,

As I mentioned last week, we had lots of crazy things going wrong. This week wasn’t off to a much better start as we had to put our 13 year old pup down yesterday. I’m hoping that we have worn out our bad luck, and that things are only looking up from here. I’m  kind of over the whole Keep Calm trend, but there may have never been another seven day period in my life when it was so appropriate for me. I say if you’re going to do it, stick to the classic message instead of all those knock offs (Keep Calm and Love Whales?), and if you’re going to do it, get a print in a bold color like this pink one from Etsy shop Honey Pixels because if you’re having a bad day (or week!) it will cheer you up as well.

Bathroom Renovation in Progress

21 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Bath, Before & After, Flooring

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Tags

Bathroom Design Ideas, Coastal Inspired Decor

This is my powder room. Pretty, huh? It may not be right now, but it will be by the end of next week as we are finally knocking it off our to-do list. I started planning this renovation just over five years ago, but life got in the way. But I’m thrilled to finally have the project underway.Truthfully, it doesn’t look exactly like this at the moment. This photo was taken in the middle of day one. Since then the contractor has finished removing the flooring and the baseboard heaters and has laid the radiant flooring and concrete sub-floor.

On top of the concrete will be this (horribly photographed) honeycomb tile. I wish I could tell you where it is from, but it’s one of the things I bought five years ago, and there is no brand on the boxes.

I also picked up this antique washstand at a consignment store and a modern bowl sink to sit atop it back then.

The washstand is going to get painted Ralph Lauren’s Shoreline Blue which actually has more green in it than it appears to here. There will be white beadboard on the walls and I think the blue washstand against the white is going to be really pretty.

Above the sink will be this . It’s a small space and the washstand doesn’t have room for a faucet. I love the vintage feel of this faucet, but I think it’s also pretty timeless.

I also picked up a new light fixture which I didn’t realize until this morning is the exact same one that we have in our upstairs bathroom. Apparently, I have a very narrow focus when it comes to vanity fixtures at Home Depot.

Unfortunately, our bathroom reno got sidetracked today when our basement completely flooded. This photo was taken after about three hours of wet vac action so you can imagine how fun that was. We haven’t quite gotten to the root of the problem yet, but hopefully we will have answers tomorrow and quotes to fix the issue that aren’t outrageous!

We had to move lots of stuff out of the basement, including a lot of books. Luckily, we’re also having built-in bookcases installed in the living room so these will soon have a new home anyway.

Stay tuned for the final results, and if I happen to not make my way back to posting again until next week, these activities along with the kids being home on school vacation and all sorts of ridiculously odd and unexpected life events hurdling at me this week are why, but I’ll have some very fun things to show off very soon!

Alice Supply Co. Makes Chores More Fun

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Accessories, D.I.Y., garden

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Alice Supply Co., Garden Tools, Household Tools

Chores aren’t exactly at the top of the list of the most stylish things to do. But Alice Supply Co. is doing something to change that by creating a line of mundane household items that are big on design. Fix-it projects would be much more fun with a toolbox like this.

Even the tools that go in the toolbox get a makeover. As you could probably guess, I’m partial to the stripes, especially the marine stripes.

And don’t worry, there are tools for your outdoor living too. Up your curb appeal with a fun hose (just beware that these are only meant for light watering).

Speaking of curb appeal, you’ll have the most fashionable garbage cans on the street with these garbage bags, and you won’t need to worry about having an eye-sore of a trash bag at your next party.

Even the most unmentionable but necessary household objects are more appealing when you add fun patterns. And there’s much more! Spring cleaning is looking a bit more attractive now.

Etsy Pick: Origami Lanterns

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Celebrations, Inspiration, lighting, Parties, Weddings

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Paper Lanterns, Party Decor, Tent Decorating Ideas, wedding decor

Everyone loves a party lantern, right? But why go with your typical lantern when you can get something so much cooler? Check out these origami lanterns from Etsy shop Fiberstore. Their 3-dimensional quality makes them so much more visually interesting and I love, love, love the colors!

The mint color is definitely my favorite.

But if you prefer earthy colors, the bordeaux is quite striking as well.

And they offer some very cool light fixtures as well like this origami snowflake lantern. Everything is available in more than 60 colors which means you can get exactly the look you want!