Deck the halls

My interior design project with our architects, Albertsson Hansen, was completed just in time for Christmas, woo hoo!  (see post-remodel but pre-decorating pics here) I decided we’d have to host a little holiday get together  - it would force me to get everything wrapped up, otherwise these things just drag on. There are so many beautiful options available, but at some point you just have to decide.

{family room, complete with wreath, stockings, garland, new rug & sofa!}

{so happy with the window treatments, new table & chairs, and side table}

{O Christmas Tree! The glass and silver ones are from CB2}

{only thing we did here was add the roman shades, Marimekko Kirsikka fabric}

Despite my new cook’s kitchen, we decided to treat our friends to food catered by a local food truck, Gastrotruck. They were great to work with and the food was outstanding! My personal favorite was the pork belly… mmm mmm good.

Top to bottom: crudites with garlic spinach dip, dates stuffed with blue cheese & crispy prosciutto, roasted potatoes with sour cream mousse, and Thai beef salad in a cucumber cup.

Wish I had a pic of the hot dishes, but I was too busy eating to grab one!  The Gastrotruck crew also served us chicken skewers with caramelized onions and blue cheese sauce, smoked pork belly mini slider with kimchee and ginger aioli, and beer braised brisket mini slider with horseradish sauce and arugula.

We definitely kicked off the season with eating, drinking, and yes, merriment. But before we can go for round two, I’ve got to finish menu planning for Christmas Day dinner (can’t outsource everything to food trucks!)  So, in case I don’t make it back to the blog before Christmas, enjoy the holiday season with your friends and family!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The silence is broken. I’m still here. If barely… hanging on with the tiniest bit of energy I have left to write these few words and upload a few pictures. What, pray tell, has been the hold up?

Let’s just say, life has gotten in the way of the blog this month!  Lots of demands at work AND at home. Mostly fun on both fronts, but nevertheless, time-consuming.

However, happy to share that even though it may not look like Christmas in Minnesota outside (no snow? not that this girl is complaining!), it sure does inside at our house. We love “Christmasing” and have already started listening to Christmas music, put up two trees, four wreaths, hung the stockings, lights, and garland.

{Wreath #1 over the fireplace mantle}

{“Jesus is the Reason for the Season”, right? — trying to teach kids this…I think they still think the reason is presents}

{Kids’ Tree, fully decorated, crammed as many ornaments on as they could!}

Hope you’re enjoying the merry season, and <20 days to the big day!

Done. Major dining room makeover

We finished our main floor remodel months ago, and this summer I started the redecorating process.  Still not ready for the “big reveal” of the whole thing yet, but I did pretty much get the dining room finished, which is cause for celebration!

So, this makes me sad that I never took a good picture of the “before”, because it was pretty dated. You can see the corner of the room here, through our kitchen from a pic I took during the construction.  But imagine along with the rust colored walls, dated narrow casement windows with ranch style wood trim and a sad little flush mount “boob light” above the table.  It hardly felt like a place you’d want to sit and eat.  Even less so for special occasions.

Fortunately for me, our windows in this room were in rough shape.  The trim on the outside was beginning to rot from weathering and age, not to mention woodpecker damage!  So, this was just the excuse we needed to remove them altogether and put in nice new double hung windows with new trim and paint colors to match the ones we had just put in our family room area. Also repainted the walls in Benjamin Moore French Canvas, a gorgeous, creamy white that lets everything else really stand out.

{Fab new mirrored light from Pottery Barn, just the right scale and shimmer}

{Furniture, rug, and drapes were from when I redecorated the old house – phew! Added new drape hardware from West Elm in a clean, modern style}

Just need to find some inexpensive artwork for the little bit of walls and re-stage the cabinet in the corner with my goodies. Then we’re all ready for the holiday entertaining season!

Interior design project well underway

Once our main floor remodel project wrapped up in April, I took about a month off from house projects and resumed life as normal. A life that didn’t involve looking at samples, poring over shelter magazines, or generally considering my home as a work in progress!

But… just as a bird must feather its nest, so must I continue to finish what I started with our remodel.  I retained our architect, Christine Albertsson from Albertsson Hansen, to help with an interior design project for our main floor. It just made sense, because she and I had already developed a rapport and I felt like she understood how we live and our tastes.  I also liked that she would charge us a flat fee rather than taking a cut of what we ordered from manufacturers (which is how most interior design professionals work).  This way, if she orders things and gets a trade discount she passes it on to us.  We also benefit in that there’s no disincentive for her if I want to look at furniture or accessories “off the rack” rather than custom ordered pieces.

I’m pleased to report that about a month into the project we’ve already made some selections and are narrowing in on a few others.  The first one to go in was our rug to pull together the back section of the great room:

Color is a natural linen, herringbone textured pattern in parquet set up.  Seating area at right stays as is, dining table and chairs being replaced, you can see some ideas we had on my Pinterest board that Christine and I have been using for the project.

The genius of this is it is from FLOR — ultra-durable, nylon, and easy to replace individual tiles if any incidents with my kiddos should occur! I initially wanted a sisal rug for this area, but was way too concerned about wear given it is a natural fiber and not easily cleaned. My sister suggested FLOR because she’s used it in her house and it is a very modern and clean look.

We also chose and ordered the shades for the family room windows. We decided to hang fabric panels for the window treatments layered over inside-mounted roller shades in a natural fiber.  Our backyard is very private, but we needed the shades to block glare on the TV in the family room and to help shade the room in the late afternoon, as it can get a lot of sun.  We haven’t installed ours yet, but it looks like this:

but more of an espresso brown to match our dark brown window sashes – it’s a 90% paper product, very light and adds tons of texture and interest.

The big decisions now are the fabrics for the window treatments — there are so many directions you can take it:

I started taping some samples up to see how they’d fit into the space and work with the wall color, light fixture, floor, and rug, as well as the furniture that I am keeping.  At left is a very cool and large-scale print called Teablossoms by Kravet, here’s a close-up:

At right is another botanical print called Poppyfield by Thom Filicia for Kravet:

I also looked at a stripe from Barbara Barry that is definitely “safer” but very elegant (pictured at right in my first pic of this post).  I think all three could work, but it somewhat depends on other choices that I haven’t made yet, like the dummy roman shades we’re getting made for the kitchen windows:

At left is a bold graphic pattern from Marimekko, works great with the light fixtures, right?  And at right is a more geometric pattern in a blue that bridges the lights and the gray wall color. If I go with the bolder print in the family room then I would choose the geometric or another more subdued pattern in the kitchen. Whereas if I went with a less busy print in the family room I could do the Marimekko in the kitchen.

I also must reserve final judgement until we evaluate new sofas and the rug for the TV sitting area, since these things will all need to work together and I’m wary of making the space too visually cluttered, but want to avoid the equally dangerous snoozefest if I keep it too neutral! What do you think? Any favorite patterns that jumped out at you?

Que Sera (sera)!

Love the local interior design shop Que Sera, their style is luxurious and beautiful in a whimsical yet casual way.  I found the special pendant lights over our kitchen island here when the shop was at the Galleria in Edina. I can’t say how many people have remarked on them – they make a statement in such an understated way!  Much like many of the unique finds sourced by the talented designers at Que Sera.

So, though I was sad to see them move out of our ‘hood to their new home in Excelsior, I was excited to see the new digs and to receive the snazzy invite to their grand opening event!

Last Thursday night my mom, a friend of mine, and I all headed west to check it out, nibble on some treats, shop, and dine alfresco afterwards on Water Street. As expected, the new store is lovely, filled with so many special pieces.  My friend remarked that the shop’s relaxed-posh vibe seems almost more at home near the water, away from the “city” bustle of a mall (even as chi-chi as the Galleria).  She took home a sample of a Dash & Albert rug while my mom admired a Trina Turk throw pillow for her master bedroom decorating project. A good time was had by all, really, what’s not to like? Wine, shopping, girl talk, and maybe a little more wine.

{A delicious spread of small bites, loved the salmon crostini and the prosciutto wrapped asparagus, perfect for a summer-like evening}

{Que Sera has the most fabulous lighting!}

{A cool system of bins with fabric swatches from a who’s who in design}

{Again with the light fixtures! I think this one’s from Currey & Co.}

A girly dressing room makeover

Since our remodel ended about a month ago we’ve been busy ordering furniture, hanging art, and oh, yeah, even enjoying our new space!  Though the kitchen/family room was the biggest project, there are many other little ones in the queue.

One of the first I’ve tackled is making over the small bedroom next to our master from what was mainly a storage room during our remodel into a fun and very girly dressing room! I started with an ultra-pink paint from Benjamin Moore (Peony) in a satin finish for a little more sheen than the usual eggshell finish.

I’m planning to add tangerine and navy as accent colors on the windows, rugs, throw pillows, etc. Grey and white are the neutrals (on couch and armoire, possibly in the rug) to help keep it from getting too crazy.  It is so cute, you can see that my girls were so excited they already wanted to have their little vanities moved into the room. As for me, still shopping for the right vanity. I like things like this:

{Love the mirrored vanities, and this one isn’t too “frilly”, but it IS too expensive!}

{This metal wrapped Parson’s desk from West Elm is a cool, more modern take, and definitely more within my budget}

We bought this great Hudson collection armoire for more than half off at the Room & Board furniture outlet, the grey wash and clean lines caught our eye.

Part of the purpose for the dressing room besides the vanity, lounge area, was to use the room as a second closet since our walk-in in the master isn’t that big.  Outfitting the dressing room with an armoire for handbags, costume jewelry, scarves, and other accessories was a great solution.

I even threw in a few pairs of shoes, overflow from my closet!
Then I had this idea to make a fabric covered board to display and store some of my necklaces on. As it was they were tangling in my crowded jewelry box and since I couldn’t quickly see everything I was forgetting about a few of them.

{I got a plain cork board, spray painted the frame navy, and picked out this beautiful printed fabric}

A DIY project? Maybe I’ve been on Pinterest too much! But it turned out great and I even hung a few of the necklaces my daughters made for me on it…that made my 6-year-old ecstatic.

And lastly, lighting… ah yes, one by one we are replacing the “boob lights” (see left) currently in almost every room of our home, with lights that have a bit more character and design appeal.

I’m thinking some fun options like these chandeliers:

{too fussy?}

{I like the mirrored finish, but is the shape boring?}

{too “Vegas”?}

{LOVE. Too expensive, again, darn it!}

Lots of options, and I know the right light will transform the room. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the cheery pink room and my handiwork so far.

The new Jonathan Adler store, my “happy place”

Jonathan Adler has a point of view.  People either love it or hate it, but whichever group you’re in, it is certain you will feel something when you view his work.  I LOVE the man’s design aesthetic — it is so vibrant, cheery, retro, and yes, preppy but in a cool and modern way (not an old stuffy way).  For me, it would be hard to walk into his new store in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis  (near American Apparel) and not feel my spirits lifted. The crisp colors, mix of textures and sheens, and interesting shapes are all arranged in such a cozy setting.

Here are a few shots from my visit the other day – and no – I didn’t find anything to bring home because I was making an appearance with my two girls in  tow, which seemed like a reckless decision given how many glass and mirrored surfaces and breakable vases, bowls, and dishes were within reach.

{love the chandelier hanging above}

{the rugs! the throws! the pillows!}

{bedroom set-up for the coolest kid on the block}

Given my love of all things Adler, you can imagine my sheer delight when a good friend brought me this gift the other day:

{love that there was no expense spared in the packaging – so special}

This juicy, citrus-scented candle is in a bright yellow glossy cup, and when I light the candle and take a deep breath, I’m in my happy place.

Our remodel is over – see the “before” and “after” pics

After about five months, yes people, nearly HALF a YEAR, our “little” remodel project is officially done. There were many bumps along the way, but rather than bore you with those details from the past I’ll instead summarize the process as extremely challenging and more emotional than you’d think, but in the end, totally worth it. Must give props to our architect, Christine Albertsson of Albertsson Hansen Architecture in Minneapolis. She brought our vision to life with the utmost attention to detail regarding both form AND function.

Here’s what you really want, the before and after shots. We bought this house almost exactly one year ago… it was a nice house in need of a refresh in many places, and in my opinion, a total overhaul in the kitchen.

{from the realtor’s website, trust me, this is the BEST it could look}

{the opposite side of the kitchen, notice the narrow doorway into the family room/eating area and the awesome vinyl tile-look-a-like flooring}

{the fridge died a few months after we moved in, and that range was SO old!}

Here’s the NEW kitchen, ta-dah!

{view looking in from the family room – removed the wall between the areas}

Outer cabinets are painted Benjamin Moore white in Icicle, island is quarter-sawn white oak with clear, non-glossy finish. Floor is white oak stained a walnut dark brown, but not quite as far as espresso because I was afraid it would show too much dust and scratches — it may still, but such is life.

{always wanted a marble island, this one’s honed Calcutta gold, 9 ft of gorgeous!}

Window sashes are painted in Benjamin Moore Bittersweet chocolate. I saw dark sashes with white trim in several magazines and really wanted to try it. It highlights our view and adds more interest to a house which doesn’t have a lot of inherent architectural detail. I also love that at night it blends into the dark so you don’t see white mullions. Also, our architect did the best job of making sure our divided light windows were done on a larger scale, which I prefer versus a lot more small panes.

{love having a view from the kitchen sink out to the deck and back yard}

{also longed for double ovens and more storage – done and done}

{this Vent-a-hood is mighty, very few fried food odors make their way out of it. Also, I LOVE the royal mosa glossy white backsplash tile, compliments of our architect, Christine}

{the old informal eating area, fireplace, and family room adjacent to the kitchen} Note the flooring and the wall of painted brick for the fireplace – also, the rows of tall narrow windows in back.

{view from kitchen of the new fireplace surround with white oak mantel that wraps around into a deeper shelf}

Now I’m hunting for some art to put above as well as a new couch and two arm chairs. This space is to watch TV (mounted off the right of the pic, you can’t see in this one), and a long comfy couch is in order. This one is an old one of my mom’s, and the arm chair is one I bought for the living room, temporarily used here.

{back of the family room is a bar area at left, family eating area in back, and another seating area/reading area to right}

The place is still looking sort of naked since I haven’t decided on window treatments or rugs yet, and our art hasn’t been hung by the handyman yet either.  But look at how beautiful the windows are with the yard and woods behind them!

{bar area in quarter-sawn white oak to match the island & sliding door to deck}

This is conveniently just around the corner from the kitchen, so the bar is great to set up as a buffet or to set food on when you come in from the grill. I love having so much storage above for stemware and specialty glasses, vases, ice buckets, etc. We’re also enjoying the beverage fridge so people don’t need to come through the kitchen to the fridge to help themselves!

{Can’t forget the mudroom! Small, but a huge impact in our daily lives, we each have our own cubby + an extra with magnet board and shelves}

They also added a cool pocket door just off to the right of the pic, which is the top of the stairs to the basement. Much safer and neater as well. I still need to get the woven baskets for the upper portion to hide all our mess, and am on the lookout for a fun mirror to hang as well as a little runner to catch all the muddy, salty drips that will inevitably come in the winter.

Details: we have a 50″ TV mounted to the wall, this pic was taken before my hubby got everything set up in the A/V closet off to left of pic, where all of the equipment is wired in through the ceiling and back into the wall behind the TV. We also had 6 speakers installed flush in the ceiling as well as two out on the deck, so we can run our music through the main system from his iPad, iPhone, whatever, and the TV or Blu-ray sound through the same.

{TV wall will be open, I’m thinking I will have two x-benches or a narrow console table underneath it}

{open shelves for cookbooks underneath island counter}

{pull-out pantries hidden in recessed panels on either side of kitchen archway}

{glass jug light over the island are by Cisco Brothers, found at Que Sera shop, I fell in love with them the instant I saw them, and they are awesome with these Edison marconi bulbs}

{Room & Board pendant in orange smokebush, the right mix of casual and modern for our family room}

{dual-zone beverage fridge from U-line, wine up top, soda and beer below}

{prep sink already getting lots of use – the faucets for this sink and the main farmhouse sink are Elkay, sleek, functional, and love the single-lever for both hot/cold and on/off}

So that’s it for our remodel, thanks for taking a look! I will be sure to post a few updates when the place is fully decorated too. But, for now, we are all just really soaking in the ability to cook and hang out together in our new space. After many months of cooking in our basement storage room I have been baking with my girls almost every other day! I guess my next post should be about starting an exercise regimen…

Domestic daredevil: grasscloth and kids

I’m thinking about using this cool printed grasscloth wallpaper from Designers Guild in our newly redone entry hall. This image doesn’t do it justice since you can’t fully see the texture.

{close-up}

{full repeating pattern}

However, I’m torn, because while I love the beauty and unique texture mixed with the geometric print, I’ve also heard warnings that grasscloth could be too delicate or impractical for a family with young children. The reason being it isn’t easily cleaned, can fray, and would be difficult or next to impossible to replace a section if a portion were damaged.  I’m tempted to just throw caution to the wind and put it up anyway – it’s just walls. Besides, I’m a bit old school in how I deal with the kids in regards to our home.  I’m trying to teach them that the entire house isn’t a playroom, just designated areas, and to respect our belongings — i.e., do not eat and drink on my sofa, do not color on walls, tables, or other furniture, do not play with fragile objects, etc.  If that sounds like a lot of “do nots” to you, consider the fact that I have taught my kids these things so that they will not do those things when they are visitors in your house either!

A more selfish reason to do it was because I did not want to live with college apartment-like furniture in my thirties just because we had kids. I noticed many people with young kids put off getting anything nice for themselves because they were afraid of what their kids would do to it.  Further shock when I saw the trend toward furnishing what would’ve been formal living rooms or dining rooms with toys, play houses, and kitchen sets. So it was, that when I redecorated our last house I decided to get the furniture I really wanted long-term rather than waste the money on less durable furniture that would have to be replaced (and that I didn’t love) just because of our two toddlers.  Doesn’t a mom make enough sacrifices?!  My husband was very wary of the idea, but went along because I think he could see my determination.

Fast forward four years – guests are often surprised when they spy a crystal bowl or ceramic sculpture on a side table or shelf, but I am proud to say that my four- and six-year-old girls have learned to admire these things without breaking them.  And to use furniture as intended, not as launch pads, climbing structures, or kitchen tables.  Sure, incidents have happened, I’m not a warden.  But, they’re fewer than you’d think, and yes, they do play in our house, build forts, do art projects, be kids and have fun.  We don’t treat our home like a museum (though I wasn’t sure if I should be embarrassed or proud when my then five-year-old saw one of our friends put a beer on the side table and came over to offer a coaster!).

So, back to my wallpaper situation… the main reason I’m hesitant is because this is the entry hall and I’ve had enough experience with my kids’ friends to know that this could be inviting trouble (see above: coloring on walls, living rooms as playrooms). Not that my kids are perfect (see above: “incidents”).

So, as I was waffling back and forth on the decision I came across this post on one of my favorite home design sites, Houzz.com. Definitely mixed thoughts on if, how, where to use this cool design tool.

traditional dining room design by minneapolis interior designer Twist Interior Design

Details, details, and another delay in our remodel

So close, yet so far. That’s how the end of our remodel is feeling.  Will it ever be over? Will there actually be a time when we can stop living out of our basement? A week ago everything was feeling so promising and we were filled with hope and optimism.  But those hopes were dashed when our large, nearly 9′ x 3′ Calcutta gold marble slab showed up at our home with the hole cut for the prep sink 2.5″ off from where it was supposed to be. REALLY?!  Such a minor mistake, but one that would make it a stretch for me to reach the faucet (at 5’1″these things must be considered) and that made the sink location look a bit odd, just a hair off-center from the width of the island rather than clearly positioned to face one side of the island.

{beautiful stone, but see how far sink is from the front edge of the counter}

So, we rejected the stone. I was trying to balance out what would be reasonable with what we had originally worked out in the design with our architect. It helped the decision that she, too, felt we should reject the counter top.  I knew it could be a fight because our contractor would be asking the fabricator to remove the stone, eat the substantial cost, and then order and fabricate a new slab.  But, I also knew if we didn’t push to get it perfect, then every day I looked at that thing it would annoy the $%^# out of me.  Luckily the fabricator, while putting up a little argument, did finally agree to make it right. We were also lucky that we found another almost identical slab from the same lot quickly.

What this meant though was just further delays, as it threw off the plumbing, the some of the final ceiling/crown work, etc. Meaning we are not going to be finished next week like we’d hoped. We’re already 1 week later than we’d been told in our last timeline update, and 5 weeks over our initial timeline due to time lost in the initial structural and framing work due to unforeseen complexities.  And I’d say we’re about 2 weeks past having much patience for living this way and for eating take out almost every night! We were able to cook in a temp kitchen set up for most of the project, but just Tuesday they hauled away our old stove and oven, so now we’re left with our microwave.

Everything is looking so good, if only we could actually FINISH! It is so painful to watch the slow progress, to see my appliances which just arrived sit there uninstalled, in boxes. They did just put the oven in yesterday, but it is not yet operable.

On the plus side, the gray paint I finally settled on turned out awesome, our granite countertops and fireplace surround and hearth are beautiful, and the trim work is finally done. Trying hard not to be a totally impatient brat about this whole thing, but am also feeling myself walking around with my shoulders up to my ears with tension just waiting to get our life back to some normalcy. Wish me luck (both in reigning in my inner brat and in returning to normalcy)!

{you can see how nice the dark gray granite is with the marble}

{The view from the sink to our deck and yard, and I love these windows!}

{The dark sash with the white trim and gray walls works great, will look even better when the floor protection is removed}

{Fireplace is 100% better from where it was, can anyone remember this below?}

{the white paneled doorways turned out beautifully, a much nicer transition}