things to keep

i don't know if you can tell in previous pics, but we've really procrastinated in pulling together a nice living room (& any dining area whatsoever).  the excuse is that "we should start from the bottom up" - meaning we need to get the wood floors down before we can really think about doing anything else.  well... since we've made quite a bit of progress with the wood floors, i guess the time to pull it together is fast approaching - eek!

it's not that we err i haven't been thinking about it... in fact, i have all kinds of ideas jotted down, pictures saved & websites bookmarked - hello designsponge.  it's just... making a final decision on what approach to take it so difficult!   i definitely have commitment issues ;D

so yesterday i made a list of 'things to keep' - which are things we already have (that will go in either the living or dining room) & 'thing's i'd love to own' - which are things that i'd like to incorporate or use as inspiration.  

on the list of 'things to keep':

yellow chair.  i reupholstered this chair last year & - as dj constantly reminds me - it still needs a cushion

fancy chair.  another reupholstery project from last year that is a couple hours shy of being finished...

the credenza we built (project courtesy of the fantastic ReadyMade magazine)

ah... sophia - so beautiful.  she will always be my favorite.  the breakfast sign i found in the scary basement of a diner i worked at in college.  

this beauty may be introduced to a can of spray paint in the near future.  we bought it at Grandview Mercantile for a steal.  it surprisingly gives off a lot of light & is just lovely to look at overall.  

next up... 'things i'd love to own' ;)

still working on the bathroom...

we're so close! sometimes i get so excited to complete a project, that i exaggerate - or over simplify - how little is left.  in this case, when i said "all we have left to do is hang the doors", what i really meant was "all we have left to do is: hang the doors, select the molding that goes around the doors, put up the molding, prime & paint the molding, finish tiling around the door (to the molding), finish grouting the tile around the door, paint the ceiling, purchase/make the accessories & move everything else in!

whew... so, although we're still working on the bathroom, we're finally to the point where we just have to finish decorating,  yay!!  

here's the molding around the door...  

also...a super cute catchall i picked up in berlin, ohio (amish country).  i'm thinking it will be a nice place to drop my rings when i'm washing my face + the orange is a nice pop against the blue-green walls  :)

oh... & we finally picked out a shower curtain!!  personally i could have easily continued vacillating on the perfect shower curtain for months.  i really like this one though... the grey flowers are the same color as our pigeon grey towels  :)

 

wood floors

one of our upcoming projects – as you may remember from the 2009 resolution list – is installing hardwood floors in the dining & living rooms.  i’m super psyched for this one.  i feel like it will give the house much more charm, character & warmth… plus, we’ll have to move the horrible in-your-face wall back in the process!!

although i love the idea of reclaimed wood floors, our budget just won’t allow that.  lucky for us, we have a backup  J  i remember last summer - when we were remodeling our kitchen - finding a local distributor with really reasonably priced beautiful hard wood floors.   ironically it was the same place we ended up getting our granite countertops from (also very reasonably priced).  dj recently stopped in to pick up flooring samples... all the samples below are acacia walnut (with different stains).  Although they’re all beautiful, we’re leaning towards the "natural".  we like the contrast of light & dark + think it's more traditional & characteristic of the time period our house was built in (1920s).  

(port)

 

(natural)

(royal)

new bathroom pics

check out the bathroom!  isn't it beautiful?? i'm so proud of the work dj did (you know... building the walls, dry walling, tiling, grouting, etc).  of course, i'm proud of my own work & assistance too.  i don't think the pictures do it justice.  for some reason i had difficulty getting the lighting to look right.  

also- it's still missing a door.  after we fix up the new door, we'll have it professionally framed & hung.  next time we post pics, it will be decorated & ready to use (eeks with excitement)!

(this wall is where we'll put our cheddar silhouette)

bathroom doors

we bought doors for the bathroom (& closet) today!!  old ones from columbus architectural salvage.  i'm in love with these doors!

dj & i are perpetually in a state of give & take between the old & the new.  i love the idea of vintage, salvaged or re-purposed goods, while dj is more keen on being the first owner  ;)   so... we agreed to used salvaged doors inside the house and buy a new exterior door when we re-do the front of the house.  a smart exchange in my opinion :D

bathroom design board

(click on image to enlarge)

so this is my amateur attempt at creating a design board for the bathroom  :)   i thought it would be a nice way to "picture" what all the different design elements will look like once complete...  & in the process, be a good test for mixing styles, patterns, colors, shapes, & what-not.  

obviously we already have the floor & sink.  we also have a pottery barn light fixture similar to the mercer style shown (& i  bought the floral hand towels from basic french months ago when the co. was featured on design sponge).   

it's really exciting to be at the point where we get to decorate the room... plus i think it will be really fun to make silhouettes of cheddar, dj & i  - maybe use printed paper - & put in ornate thrift frames painted glossy black.  all-in-all it's nice to be this close to being finished.  the only renovation part left is to buy & frame a door (which we're working on).  yay!! 

bathroom color

 below is the color we chose for the bathroom (vintage map blue - martha stewart for valspar). it's a more muted version of the teal wallpaper in the kitchen (right off the bathroom - see layout).  i'm super excited... i think it will look great against the off-white subway tile.

i usually like to use sherwin williams duration interior paint (due to it's low voc content, clean-ability, coverage & awesome pour spout - not shown online), but the last person i know to have them match a color went through some terrible ordeals... so we'll give martha a try :)

you'll get to see the results soon, because i'm painting today!

  

(vintage map blue - martha stewart for valspar)

(wall paper in the kitchen)

2009 new year's resolution

wow.  so keeping up with a blog is harder than i thought! (as evident by the lack of postings). well no worries...  one of my new year's resolutions is to get back to it.  specifically, to update dandelion living with at least 2 posts per week.  i want this goal to be attainable ;D

not surprisingly, we've made quite the progress on the bathroom.  especially with the extra time we had over christmas break.  look for a bathroom update soon!  

in the meantime, here is the agenda for 2009: 

1.  finish remodeling & decorating the bathroom
   
2.  install wood floors in dining room & living room
   
3.  create a real dining room (right now it's just a room full of drywall dust, tools & an old couch - see below.  in it's defense, it is right outside of the work-in-progress bathroom)
   
4. turn the 2nd bedroom into a functioning guest bedroom/craft room/computer area (this is already in the works)
5. push back the wall you run smack dab into when you walk in the house (the intention is to create a more open layout)
   
6.  tear out the horrible cement wall in front of the house & replace with a stone or brick retaining wall.  at the same time, create steps leading straight up to the front door  (you'll understand when you see the front of the house)
   
7.  replace the front door
   
8.  build a wood fence for the back yard
   
9.  lay a foundation for a garage (& hopefully build a garage - fingers crossed)

well, when you write it all out like that it seems like a lot of work (haha)... but we are up for the challenge :)

(our soon to be dining room - & you thought i was exaggerating) 

anthropology fun

last weekend i was running errands and made a quick pop into anthropology & boy was i glad i did!!  check out the cuteness below!  as if it couldn't be better... the vases were only $8 each! (the other 2 items were on clearance for $3.95).  so here is the plan....

i don't know exactly what i will do with the yellow & blue vases.  right now they are on the credenza we built over the summer.  they look really good there though... so that may end up being their new home.  

the other items are going to be accessories for the new bathroom.  the green vase is for our toothbrushes, the cream & yellow dish is for my hair ties/barrettes & well... i'll just have to start wearing perfume  ;)  

more bathroom decisions

so we went to lindeys this year for our anniversary... & what do you think we talked about most over dinner?  their bathroom tile - haha!!  we actually went back later & dj took a picture of the of it (see below).  we both like the black & white hexagon look & agree that black grout is the way to go... (i like it because i'm hoping it will show less dirt & grime + it is a very classic look that will go really well with white subway tile).  the only problem is we can't find find this exact pattern  :(

lately we've been talking about different black & white hexagon tile options & came across this design (see below).  the flower tile is not glazed though (boo)... so we're going to duplicate it by purchasing the all white design & replacing the pattern tiles with black ones - & then have every other tile be a flower pattern.  cute huh? 

upholstery class #3

i can't believe i'm already on upholstery class #3.  i'm very excited to finally work on leggy chair!  this one will be all about learning how to make buttons, diamond backs & cleanly folding fabric around arms & legs.  the fabric i'm using is a japanese print by kokka that i got at sew to speak (my favorite fabric shop ever).   it's so pretty!  this is a tiny sneak peak of just how adorable this chair will look... i will update later when it's complete.  (i'm confident that there will be no tears this time - haha)

ikea list

we'll be in cincinnati visiting family this weekend... which means we'll be stopping at ikea on the way home.  yay!  i heart ikea.  on the ikea list:  

• bookshelves (for upstairs project) 
• potential overhead lighting (for almost any room... we have so many ceiling fans to replace)*

*so... a little backstory:  when we purchased our house we didn't have central air conditioning... what we did have was this ceiling fan in almost every room  - i know :)   so far we've replaced 2... so only 4 more to go!

bathroom shopping

dj & i took a trip to lowes over the weekend to look at bathtubs, toilets & sinks... and it was one of the best shopping times we've ever had together!   it's reassuring to know we share similar tastes in at least 1 area, even if that area is toilets  :)  

seriously... we like the straight, clean, classic lines of the pieces below...  & pretty soon i'll have enough compiled to share our "vision" of what the new bathroom will look like.  

memoirs toilet (kohler)

i like the idea of having a flat top on the tank.  i think a nice tray on the back will provide a place to keep pretty things while keeping the bathroom looking tidy & organized.  

memoirs pedestal sink (kohler)

this sink comes in a 24, 27 & 30 inch version.  the 27 inch has the 3 extra inches added directly to the basin - which is nice & deep.  originally we thought about getting the 30 inch, but decided it was unnecessary & might look out of proportion in our larger - but still small by most standards - bathroom  :)

archer bathtub (kohler)

honestly... there are not a lot of great tubs to choose from out there.  we like this tub's simplicity 


oh... & all of these items will be white