Making Progress!

I had a vision of what our next house was going to be like.  I was craving a modern farmhouse meets a charming ranch. When we fell in love with this house, I was pretty sure I could achieve my goal(but maybe not 100%)! So, for the last month, I have been busy choosing all of the different finishes, flooring, stone, paint, majority of the lighting, etc. as well as overseeing the construction...opening up walls, upgrading plumbing and electrical, and replacing some of the doors and windows, as well as the roof.  It has been a whirlwind but so much fun!  My husband, Mark said to me the other day after we left the house, " I am finally getting excited..it is starting to look like a home."  Pretty funny (and scary..haha), I said to him. "You are just now getting excited." Fyi, We have been emotionally invested in this house for at least 3 months now.  I guess better late then never:)

While I felt happy about all of the choices I made, I was also getting a little anxious as they were about to be installed, as well as during installation. Is this going to achieve what I was looking for? Did I make the right decisions? A little bit of self doubt certainly set in.  And, today, it was such a sigh of relief. It is all starting to come together and it felt really good:)

A few of the big projects we are working on right now...

 This is where our family room stands currently: We are about to paint and are waiting on the pocket door system and barn wood flooring to arrive which will completely change the space.  I can't decide between a cream or a gray greige or a taupy greige for the walls!! There will be a large lantern in the space..either driftwood or black. I am trying to persuade my hubbie to let me paint the ceiling a creamy color. I think he can be persuaded:)

 

 

 

But this is not what it has always looked like. Not only was the family room wall to wall carpet but part of the room was sunken in...how badly does this scream 1969!!  But it was probably quite stylish back in the day.  It is always interesting to think of a house and its inhabitants in their prime.

 

The filling in of the floor was one the easiest and fastest thing we have accomplished to date..kind of surprising.  It took one day and it was filled with concrete and now it is all perfectly level, so spacious, and everything is cohesive. A photo below of before. This picture is taken from the entry and looking toward the room.

 

 

 

While some people loved the wood mantle, it is just not our style.  We did give it to somebody that is so excited to give it a new home.  Also, anything that was truly salvageable from this renovation, was donated. 

 

Another major project of the moment is our son's room.  Here are some before pictures. My sweet little boy, I could not have him endure pink tile, bad wallpaper, or cabinets that do not close.

 There a couple of cool features already about this bathroom...the size (very spacious) for #1 and the roman tub/shower #2.  It is half shower and half tub and just fabulous.  With a nice new coat of porcelain paint the tub will be as good as new!

 Progress=charcoal gray subway tile and porcelain floor tile that looks like wood. It is striking and soothing at the same time. This may be one of my favorite rooms in the house..my son is certain of it. The walls will be a pale gray, the double sink console will be black concrete with creamy white legs, and of course, there will be some industrial lighting and wood mirrors. I am so excited for the finished product. And, even better, it is right next to the laundry room.  How is that for some easy laundering??

 

A little closer look at the floors

 

One more project that has made a huge difference was opening up the space between the family room and kitchen.  Before, it was approximately 3 feet wide and now it is 7 feet wide.  Instead of framing it with your typical wood, we used some barn wood from our favorite antique wood source, Vintage Timberworks.  I am so happy with how it turned out.  We will bring the drywall flush to the wood so hopefully it will look like it has always been here.

 

An upcoming transformation will be the kitchen-The kitchen cabinets will be a creamy white and the concrete countertops, huge farm sink, and most of the stainless appliances have been ordered. We will be doing a cozy breakfast nook with either a settee or built in seating.  The built ins that flank the seating area will be a charcoal gray. The barn wood flooring will continue in here. And lots of great lighting and hardware:)

 

 Until next time!! xo, Paige

Before and a peek into the after

I wanted to start sharing a few photos of our 1969 fixer.  She was covered in wallpaper from head to toe and shag carpet with a sunken living room. But she had so much potential.  I was talking with my mom the other night and she said" You have more vision than anybody I know".  I asked her,"What do you mean...can you not see the potential in our new home?" And, she said she does but she stated that she thinks it is so much easier to start from scratch.  When building new or remodeling...both parties are making hundreds and probably thousands of decisions.  This is a personal decision..one that is different for everybody. But, when you find something worth remodeling and you like the general floor plan..in my eyes it is so much easier and the prize comes so much faster..hehe (i.e. much faster time frames).  I am ready to start making memories in this home. And we will be in with several months versus 2 years.

So, here we go.. a few photos of what we are dealing with...lovely red wood (not my particular taste), a sunken great room, and lots of carpet

 

I do love this high  wood beamed ceiling...we have a lot planned for this room

 

Again, lots of red wood and wall paper...an easy fix

 

Lovely orange master ..let's see what we can do here

 

The media room...this will be our fun room:

 

And this is the direction we are going to take it...lots of barn wood..mixed barn siding and floors

 

 

 

and gray

 

Inspiration from horses and other animals

 Unique lighting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great sliders and pocket doors to really take advantage of California outdoor living

 

 

Lots of comfy and slipcovered seating to mix with our leather sofa and chairs

 

 

 

We are making progress so quickly over there, so I will be posting some room tours soon!!

 

xoxo, Paige

 

 

Our modern rustic home

You may be wondering how are we going to transform this diamond in the rough into a modern rustic and charming home?

A few inspirational photos are below. They may seem kind of random, however, there is at least one style element from each photograph that we will be implementing in our new home.

I love the look of this rustic beach house via Coastal Living.  The casual and playful feel does it for me.  Also, I heart the barn wood shutters.

Ellen DeGeneres' barn via Elle Décor.  I would live in a barn if I could (ha ha).  I love everything about a barn...the animals, the rustic nature, and wood.  We are incorporating quite a bit of real barn wood...it will be on our floors, mantles, as well as a few focus areas through the house.

 

 

 Erin Martin's party barn...love the cream wood contrasting against the wood beams and the iron light fixtures. We will have a lot of iron and rope fixtures going on.

 

 The Coastal Cottage via Coastal Living with a white picket fence, the brick chimney, shutters, and flower boxes.  Our house already has a bit of brick so we will be working with that charming feature.

 

 Jay Jeffers home in CA Home and Design.  We will be incorporating exterior barn lights and a concrete fire pit. His remodel is a stunning mix of modern and rustic!

 

 My favorite dream house from the movie, It's Complicated.  I believe this image is via Hooked on Houses.  I was on the hunt for a house that we could turn into a modern Spanish farmhouse but it did not work out that way.  This movie house is about as charming and adorable as homes get!!

 

 The Live Oaks Ranch via their website.  The white wood, barn lights, and rustic nature of the property is amazing!

So, back to our house and a before picture

And this is what we are planning to do with her to turn her into a modern rustic farm house:


Paint her a creamy white...even though this looks gray from some strange reason. The window sills and frames will be a slate gray.

 

A mix of rust barn lights...we ended up going with these from Restoration Hardware...I really love the color and arch.

 

And electric copper lanterns that will appear to have a gas flame

 

Wood shutters, white-washed

Or maybe natural barn wood

I would like to do something special to the front door...love these doors from a local San Diego restaurant..the wood is from Vintage Timberworks and the steel frames are gorgeous!!

 

And, finally, spruce up the landscaping like our friends' gorgeous yard.  Ok...ours may never look like this, after all, they do own Terra Bella Landscaping, the premier landscape development company in San Diego!!

I can't wait until everything starts happening with the exterior...will be back with photos very soon:)

 

xo,

Paige