Lead Gray, a love story.

I'm re-doing a client's guest room, and we're thinking of using the most beautiful color... So I had to share. The color is Lead Gray by Benjamin Moore.



I hope she let's me high gloss it up. I love the depth this room has, and her guest room has similar nooks and crannies.


I love the way this color works with other really rich tones, like reds, brassy yellows, and other blues.

All images from my Pinterest.

->>

How Fantastic is this Bar Cart Makeover?

Rita over at How Fantastic did the cutest little makeover on what was a sad looking bar cart. I thought it was fantastic (get it?) and wanted to share with you! You can find her original post here.

The chevron looks so fresh spliced up like this. She used gold leafing, and you could also spray paint. 

She also added a wine class holder to the underside.


I think she did such a great job!

->>

Attic Renovation Part 1: Walkthrough and Inspiration

Sheesh. Well, we're finally doing it. We've started to re-do the attic, which will serve as a master bedroom and en suite bathroom. Exciting! and kinda "Ahhh what are we doing" all at the same time.

When we started, we really had no idea what the potential was for the space. You had to duck to move around, there was a creepy beyond creepy closet space towards the back, and no room on either side. Did I mention there was 2 inch thick blue and yellow shag carpet? Cause there was. This was it when we moved in:


Once the walls and the ceiling were ripped out, it was amazing how much space we had.

We put in lights across the whole roof. I don't love overhead lighting, but in certain spaces it's necessary.


I've collected inspiration images over the years. Here are some of them (and all from my Pinterest)

Love this use of color. You REALLY have to commit if you're doing something like this. And hey! There's my light!


Heavenly bathroom.


Love the bookshelves along the wall.


Again with the bookshelves. And this carpet! The carpet here is fantastic.


These guys have so much light! Lucky ducks.


I love the use of the space under the stairs. We are going to build out our staircase so that it comes away from the kitchen and you enter from the living room, which makes more sense for a bedroom. This is so open and lovely.

I am so excited to keep you guys updated on the progress!

->>

Furbish

Have you discovered Furbish yet? It's a beautifully curated store run by Jamie Meares who writes the blog I Suwannee (one of my favorites).

The store is filled with goodies, and I recently used a bunch in an inspiration board for a client.

I highly recommend checking out her items.

->>

some thangs...

...from the insta.

It snowed a whole friggin lot.

I think Miles Redd bought my great grandmother's mirror.

I be trimmin pillas.


I found these at TJ Maxx.

And put them here.


OH and we have lights! But they were too low so I made the guys move them up. So the whole day was like this big, awkward-fest when we crossed paths in the kitchen.

->>

#TBT DIY: Union Jack Dresser

About three years ago I painted this old dresser with a Union Jack. My husband's parents brought it over when we first moved in and had no furniture. It was in need of a new paint job so...


...naturally I spray painted the whole thing gold. I did two coats, in two different shades of gold (because it's all I had).


I taped the Union Jack free hand using 2 inch, and 1 inch painter's tape to give the "flag" a more authentic feel.

Once the whole thing was taped, I used an exacto knife to cut the tape around the drawers so I could paint them each separately while sticking to the Union Jack's lines.


Last, I painted over all the tape with a few coats of white paint, using a roller.

It was a happy accident that I peeled the tape off too early, because the lighter gold was able to peek through the top layer of gold. Rarely does being impatient work in my favor this way, but I'll take it.


It was a really fun project, and I thought appropriate to post about now because we just moved it next to our front door, so it feels brand new again. (Yay to shopping in your own home).


The knobs are from Ikea (they have similar styles here). I like these because they don't get in the way of the flag, but I can still open the drawers.


I change what's on top of the dresser pretty often. Currently there's a lucite tray from Home Goods, a Staffordshire dawg, and a little Chinese dish.

You can see where the first layer of gold is showing through the 2nd over on the right corner.


This is one of my favorite DIYs. So easy, and a great way to "rescue" furniture.

->>

DIY Rope Shelf

This post comes to you courtesy of my sister Daphne, who's currently serving in the Peace Corps in Guyana (goooo Daphy!)

She had this great idea to make a shelf using rope and a plank of wood.


That's her dog, Coconut, in the background.


Isn't this shelf cute?




She also made this one for her shoes.

She's so clever. And coming home in March for a few days! I can't wait.

->>

DIY Under the Stairs Dog Bed

In our kitchen there is a large pantry under the stairs, which has seen everything from an overflow of pots and pans, to a wine fridge. It wasn't until I had one of those "Aha" Oprah moments that we decided to turn it into our doggy den (and get rid of the crate! Which we never locked, but they liked sleeping in there).


The first step was to tear out the bottom shelf (which is already gone in the picture below), and add some paneling (we used scraps from our attic renovation).


We had some leftover paint from the Bathroom Makeover (see that post here), and were able to use it all up. I'm happy we were able to use it all, because throwing away oil based paint is a betch. 

 

Moose and Otter are very happy in their new digs, and were happy to test out the new sleeping arrangements with a long AM nap.


Not that they did anything to make them remotely tired enough to nap. 

Not the most dramatic before and after, but makes a huge difference for our doggies.

->>

Faux Bamboo Light

Our attic renovation is in full effect, which means that I can begin thinking about the stairway landing, where I'm going to put my faux bamboo light that I found at the thrift store.


It needs to be painted, so I've been hunting down inspiration photos (all from my Pinterest)

I love the red. And that this is the exact same light for sale on 1st dibs for $1500.


This grayish-blue could also work, because I'm pretty sure we'll be painting the landing the same color as the living room.


This is fun. But probably not gonna happen.


Same with this. Cute but probably not.


Love this one! I'd probably go a bit more coraly...


MAYBE I'll just paint it the same color as the Belladwella Monkey...

What do you think??

->>