Bookcase solution

I have been struggling with magazine storage , I need a lot of it , as this is a wonderful resource for decorating , I need to keep these magazines, but they are over flowing , I have no where for a bookcase , my space and cost saving solution was to move my linen covered bench to this nook by the stairs where we really love it , I was lucky to easily find these black baskets that fit the bill, these two floor cushions were a mere $4.00 each can you believe that , a comfy spot for kids or the dogs . The baskets were $10.00 , the shopping gods were on my side today .

Lighting spectacular

I am on the hunt for the perfect dining room fixture, I have looked at a few hundred fixtures and have not found just the right one .I want to elevate the feel of my dining room a tad bit more formal it feels a little flat right now to me with the candle fixture in there right now . I bring you a lighting spectacular. Enjoy the room candy.

I love this one as the light is vintage and the shade is hand wrapped with cream ribbon.

I adore this blue drop look . Very shabby chic.
I really enjoy this ship fixture , it is over $700.00
This white beaded one is perfection.

This one is Home Depot a very nice copy .

Pine flooring

Not too many modern day house have pine flooring , however this was used for hundreds of years , it is a charming feature in century old homes ,they were often used on the upper floors , modern wood floors have turned into a very pricey option from $2.50 sq ft to $10.00 s ft plus installation, it is an investment. We no longer cover up wood floors we install them where ever we can , they are beautiful who can doubt that ? I have wood floors throughout my main floor however the upstairs was all carpeting , which I did not like and still do not like and will change out as I get around to it . I decided to think outside the box for my landing , so I installed pine flooring . A very affordable option , if you like a rustic floor which I do .

This is before I finished it with a dark stain , looks very pretty , but I prefer the dark wood .

Here is the before , you can see why I needed to change it , it looks pink although it was oatmeal , and most of the time it does look beigeish for the most part , it was a happy day when I ripped it up .You can also see how tiny the casings were which I replaced with a 5 inch baseboard.

Just in case you are not familiar with my or my work , I do this work for myself , and I love to do it .

Pottery Barn style room

I have tried to maximize storage and space in this bedroom , there is plenty of space for sleepovers with friends , lots of shelving for books and display , because girls have a lot of stuff.
This bunk bed was a fraction of a PB bed that I have had my eye on , this shows when you just spend some time looking you can find things for less , much less , for instance this bed which is solid wood was $300.00 the PB version was $1300.00.You just have to know where to look , and I do , I am always sourcing and finding hidden gems and out of the way places, at times it means doing some work like painting , but it saves so much money for other projects .

The family room completed

The family room , the place for family gatherings , movie watching , or catching up on emails , this really is a family room , not a room for the ugly stuff the old sofa and college furniture , and shelves full of dvd's , no no , things like that have no place here , you can have comfort without chaos, the dogs make a mess on on the sofas , kids eat here , thankful for slip covers and wood floors , much easier to live when both of those materials are utilized.
Use side tables with storage for concealing dvd's , trunks for toys and blankets , there is such a peace when all of the clutter disappears at the end of the day when you have earned some time to relax .

Kitchen before and after

I think these photos speak for themselves , a lot has changes and now I have my dream kitchen .I suppose I should elaborate on the changes here . The cupboards are standard builder oak cabinets , I don't like wood toned cabinets , I love white and painted cupboards , I could have opted for white plastic but that would not be something I could be happy with , why couldn't I paint the wood well I could and I have many many times, it takes well to paint and wears quite fine , it may need to be touched up at times but not often, every few years or so . Adding a backsplash is a must , whether it is tile or glass or beadboard or those great tin ceiling tiles it is much easier to clean than painted wall, the nice surprise I got was the added reflection that my subway tile added , & texture, and it cleans so well, I wanted to do blue glass tile but I went with the classic white subway , which never goes out of style , I also love the tiny version of the subway , very appealing. I designed and built an island in place of the table, this is a great option for a family on the go and for homes with young children as meals tend to be very casual, like at my house , for family times we have a dining room and there is always eating out , which I love , no cooking and no dishes. The island has doubled the storage , it is my pantry , as I don't have one nor do I have room for one , now I don't need one. We only used one trade here that was an electrician , they moved the junction box and added one so that I could have these school house lights I have always wanted , I believe it is important to always find affordable options before over spending , for instance the lights , I could have easily spent $150.00 for each fixture , yet I found them for $50.00 each , it can be done , I am always on the look out for a great deal , that way there is money left to get the full job done whether all at once or a little at a time. These are both options working with me , we can start with a design plan and get it done in a timely manner or take our time and work at it as the budget allows.
Hope you enjoyed my kitchen transformation.

Before back in 2003.

The cost of a beautiful custom kitchen

What does it cost for a wonderful dream kitchen , a kitchen that has personality function and style . I once heard Oprah refer to a $100,000.00 kitchen budget as being reasonable , to whom is that reasonable , not to me , and trust me not necessary . Take this kitchen , it is wonderful , but is it costly ?, well the cabinets are as they are frame style , this is more challenging to make for the cabinet maker , most cabinets out there are frame less , which is fine I assure you , as long as your doors are a good design and material. The splurges here are the cabinets and the sink as well as the appliances , however the wood counters will save you money and they are so gorgeous a great alternative to stone , Ikea sells butcher block which is a fantastic choice. The open shelving is much less expensive than cabinets and gives so much style to this kitchen a opportunity for display. The bead board back splash is a very cost effective finish not to mention a wonderful detail to add to a kitchen , trust me easier to install and would save you hundreds over tile .
This second kitchen is perfection , your may be beautiful with just a little bit of work , those are standard cupboards , painted white , easy , new dark metal handles update what was there , which was most likely awful. The marble counters were the splurge here and why not the rest of the improvements were very affordable, like open shelving again very affordable. A fresh white palette and new appliances , and you have one of the nicest kitchens out there. Now this could have easy been a gut job , which could have cost $40-50 thousand , where as it was most likely under $6000. including top line appliances and marble , now that is a lot of savings and I am all about making the most of the money being spent.
This kitchen is wonderful and charming , we should take a few simple ideas from this kitchen , consider painting the lower cabinets a soft tone , the uppers white, adding some glass doors , a spectacular back splash and stainless appliances , not need to purchase a stove of this caliber mind you this is a $7000 stove , you can get this look for much less.that being said I would much rather spend money on a fabulous stove and making the most of the cabinets you have by painting them or removing some or simply replacing ugly doors with nice ones than doing a gut job and skimping on new appliances. Add a wonderful playful light and this kitchen sings ,enjoy me !
This kitchen using classic black and white linoleum tiles , very cost efficient . Open shelving again , white paint , good counter and sink are the only splurge here .

So I hope you can see that having a dream kitchen does not require a big loan , if you have good solid cabinets , frame less wood doors , or better , no synthetic cabinets allowed nor the seventies oddly carved doors with center pulls , they will need to go ,keep in mind that not all reno's need to be expensive nor time consuming I assure you I can do it for much less .

Where I would spend money , would be on nice appliances , most likely upgrading the counters , making sure the backsplash is stunning , it should be a feature , not bathroom tiles , always take the time to find good lighting , and great hardware which does not need to be costly .

Your dream kitchen may be closer that you think .

I love to say why move , just improve , it is not as hard as you may think to get the home you want , you just need the right help.

A run down

For the dining room I painted the harvest table and chairs two shades of cream they were 80's honey pine , I added a candelabra instead of electric fixture , recovered the chairs and added nail heads for style, I also added wall sconces to add ambient light for dinners , to start off I added recessed panelling to the walls painted white to give the house an older more character home feel as opposed to brand new suburban house feel.

Here I added mouldings to the staircase and painted white and black , as well as I added a berber runner. I painted this table blue and distressed it , and recently painted the wicker chair that was yellow this crisp black .
To the floating shelf I added old salvaged brackets I found at an antique market and cleaned up with a fresh coat of paint and added a pair of mirrors to reflect light and fill the enormous space of this double height room , it is one of the family's favourite spots to hang out , and floods with light in the afternoon.

Texture to the ceiling

So much time is spent on mouldings for walls and casings as well as baseboard , well spent time , it all adds the proper amount of style and character if you get the mouldings right, it make a huge difference, imagine your room empty , it should be beautiful without anything in it ,those are the bones, if you think of your home in this way you realize that a beautiful home is about the layers and the details, so look up , is your ceiling a forgotten surface well usually it is, some people paint it , an accent colour, I do not suscribe to this theory , mine here was popcorn as they call it , I removed it and installed this beadboard ceiling painted it a fresh glossy white called of all things funny "popped corn" and it is a welcome addition to add more style to this room , the bones of this room are completed , moving on of course to other rooms now.