Finally Found a Home.

Nick and I purchased these mirrors over a year ago and during Christmas we finally hung them. This is the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Before it was really dark with teal carpet, one overhead light and mismatch walls. We installed three can lights, painted the walls and ceiling Decorators White, removed the carpet to expose the hardwood floors and installed white baseboards which made the hallway so much brighter. We needed a focal point, so Nick decided to hang the mirrors. The different angles of the mirrors reflect light from the bedroom windows down the hallway making the space even brighter. I know these mirrors are “patterned” from a designer, but I have not been able to find the reference. We purchased these from the Bombay Store (who knew they had cool stuff).

Projects for 2008 at No. 462

I am not normally a person that makes New Year’s resolutions. However a new year gives me a great chance to layout the plans for the house in 2008. Here is my list for projects in 2008:

1. Complete kitchen island and pantry.
2. Recover brown sofa and peach chairs in the kitchen.
3. Update window treatments for the entire house.
4. Find a paint color I like for more than a month for the guest bedroom.
5. Organize my office (mostly my magazines, tear sheets and stationary).
6. Update the fireplace.
7. Buy the new sofa for the den.
8. Finish small open projects (painting touch ups, baseboards, window treatments, etc).

I am already planning for 2009. That year will be for the big projects, bathroom remodels and refinishing of hardwood floors. I hope Nick is on board for this plan.

Sofa Slipcover?

In the beginning of my search for our new sofa I was dead set on a white slipcovered sofa. During my search I have realized that finding the perfect shape and size in a white slipcover is difficult. I have accepted buying a sofa that is the perfect shape and size first and then having a slipcover made later on. After I found this image on The Scoop, I am excited to have a slipcover made with the same box pleat. Actually if I could just have this exact sofa I would be so happy.

Happy Holidays!

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. We celebrated with our family in the new kitchen and dinning room and it was so nice to have everyone hanging out, eating and opening presents. Here are some images from the weekend and a few of my amazing gifts. You cannot see the best gift, my new (pink) Sony cyber shot camera! (Lulu sleeping in giftwrap was my first photo.)

My pink Le Creuset round oven. Yes, it is pink!

Great vintage books from my mom and my first Hermes orange box (with a deck of cards).

In search of the perfect sofa

I have been searching for a living room sofa for over four years. I know exactly what I want, but I cannot find it (in my price range) anywhere. I want a traditional and simple silhouette with slender arms, exposed feet and slipcovered in white duck. Are my requirements unreasonable? I can always find something on First Dibs, but the prices are way out of my range and the sofa is typically located in Bridge Hampton or Miami Beach. I keep checking auctions and consignment stores in hopes I can find a vintage sofa I can get recovered, but that will still be expensive after I purchase the fabric and have it recovered. I don’t just want to buy any sofa because I know I will be stuck with it for years, but why can I not find what I want?

Here is a selection of sofas I like, but these are still not perfect.


This would need a slipcover, but has great classic lines.


I love this sofa. LOVE. The grey linen is beautiful and I could have a white slipcover made a few years down the road. But at $19,100 it is completely outside of my price range.


This Drexel sofa meets all my requirements, but the slipcover. I could just order in another color and have slipcover made later or order it in white and use Scotch Guard as long as possible and then order a slipcover. I don’t know what to do.

Not Blueprint too?

Very sad news reached me today while at work. The January/February issue of Blueprint will be the last issue of the magazine. I cannot believe that not only is House and Garden gone, but now I will no longer have the thrill of finding a new issue of Blueprint in my mailbox when I get home. Since the first issue that inspired our front door, I have poured over every page of Blueprint for inspiration. I think I can find an interpretation of every issue somewhere in our house. I must admit I am very disappointed in Martha.

"The Barn"

Another project we had in progress over the fall was our new shed. Nick had a friend with an Amish work crew build it for us when they were between jobs. It was a long time to wait for it to be started, but was completed in a few days. We are only waiting for the sliding door to arrive and it will be complete. Finally we have a place to store our lawn furniture, tools and extra garage items. This spring we will paint, install lighting and add landscaping to improve the view for all the neighbors.

I Love - Ruthie Sommers

Cottage Living
In Style Home

I am anticipating the March 25, 2008 launch of Ruthie Sommer’s book L.A. House. The article about her home in the first issue of Domino provided we with a lot of inspiration and courage in decorating my own house. Since my first exposure to her style in Domino, her home has been showcased in numerous design magazines. Recently I came across two articles showcasing her living room published a few months apart. The flow of the room remained the same, but the majority of key pieces in the room had been changed. Even her sofa received new upholstery. I cannot wait to see what beautiful images and refreshing ideas her book will provide.

Surprise.

Nick had a surprise for me when I came home from work this week. He moved the china cabinet we had in storage into our new kitchen-living area. This was an auction purchase from over a year ago that we kept in storage until we had a place to use it. There is a 100lb counter weight we need to add before we can use the cabinet and we need to agree on a color to paint it. We could go classic black or use a fun color like you would find at Pieces Inc. I forgot how cool this cabinet is and think we will enjoy it as is until we can choose a color. Great surprise.

Still a work in progress...

Well here is our kitchen! I know it is still not finished, but I love this room. We are able to do so much in this room and now spend most of our time at home here. We are going to take the holidays off from home projects and start back up in the new year. I think we will at least get switch plate covers up before then.


The chandelier is hung too high, but we need to buy a longer chain and ceiling cap before we can get it lowered. Also there is nothing on the walls, but I don’t want to rush and put unneeded holes on the nice smooth walls.

The biggest item still on the to do list is our island. For now we are using this stainless steel table. I am also learning how to get items off the counters.

Here is Nick’s tile work. It looks amazing.

Borrowing from J.Crew

J.Crew always provides great inspiration for my wardrobe and this holiday they have added Christmas decorating to that list. I love the wreath (and yellow coat) in the catalog I received last week. I normally only like white lights, but I think I am going to try to recreate for our front door.

The Kitchen - Almost there

The month of November has been spent working on our kitchen remodel. We are still not done, but it is back to a livable space. We took three rooms (kitchen, dining room, and sun porch) and made one large living space. Besides the drywall, we did all the work with the of our families. A major thank you to my father who helped support rafters, remove sub-flooring and install the new flooring. Here are recent work in progress photos.

The space with drywall. The area with the french doors used to be the sun porch.

The slate-like flooring in the kitchen area. This flooring spans the whole new room and down the hallway to the front door.

Nick spent over 11 hours tiling our backsplash. We ordered handmade white subway tile.

Happy Holidays

November has been a very busy month and I cannot believe it is already December. After all the work on our kitchen, I am finally ready to take a break and enjoy the holidays. Here is our first real Christmas tree. Somehow we managed to get 100 ornaments on the very skinny tree. I love the holidays!