A new phase – What do you want your home to be?

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

A new phase begins. What do you want your home to be?

So now that the kids have left or about to, how do you want or need your home to function? This is the key to making your home work for you and your partner. Think about how you want to live. 

What are your goals? 

For example, do you want to entertain or travel more, start or continue a hobby, or just get out from under the clutter?

What path would you like to go down? 

More entertaining?

If entertaining is key to you, then perhaps an open concept kitchen/dining/living area will allow you to host those larger groups more easily.  Perhaps removing some walls (once an expert has determined this is doable), will make this a reality. 

Maybe you need a guest room or bathroom for out of town family and friends, then it is time to redo a few rooms to suit grown ups.

Want to travel more?

Than how about making your home more maintenance friendly. Easy care and durable finishes are a must. Declutter spaces for easy cleaning and installing internet capable thermostats and alarm systems will give you peace of mind travels. Perhaps you want to travel so much that a condo may be the ideal move for you. No yard or exterior to maintain may just be the ticket….pun intended.

Planning on playing?

Perhaps continuing with or starting a new hobby is exactly what you want to do in the next phase. Think about changing up that extra room or space into an art studio, music, craft, sewing or even a theatre room, so you can indulge your inner movie critic. Rooms DO NOT have to stay as they are advertised on your floorplan.

Or do you just need a refresh? 

Something to make your home feel shiny, fresh and new! 

Decluttering of course, is almost always necessary. First, check with the kids about everything they may want or need. Than be pretty ruthless about this, you DO NOT want six storage units full of stuff that no one wants and that you are paying monthly fees on.  Those units should be for temporary use only. Such as if you’re moving and want to store some furniture while you are staging your home or you are keeping items for a university student to use when they get their own home (hopefully sooner than later).

I know grandparents stuff can be sentimental or valuable, if so keep the best pieces that you love and can incorporate into your home, but not the entire dining room set that you don’t care for or have the room for. That chandelier that is priceless and unique can be the focal point in a contemporary room. A mix of design styles makes your home personal and interesting so don’t be afraid to challenge the norm. Breaking rules can be just the thing. That chandelier could be a showstopper in your master bedroom or bath. It doesn’t have to be in the dining room.

Paint or new flooring can also go along way to revamp a home. If you have worn and stained carpet, install hardwood. It is timeless, especially a mid-toned brown one with medium sized planks. Think of a french chateau with those beautiful hardwood floors, they never date. A stunning herringbone pattern will be cherished forever. Just choose what you love and not what you see everywhere, because that is likely a trend.

If hardwood is not your style, then a stone such as marble, slate or granite is another classic choice. If these are too pricey, then a great faux stone tile can also work. Typically porcelain tile is more durable than ceramic, but always ask your tile supplier about the durability of your selection and make sure you tell him/her where it is going. What is durable for a busy hallway versus a hardly used powder room can be vastly different.

Keep grout in mind as well for ease of maintenance, ideally it should be mid toned as well and now there are many stain and water resistant versions on the market. They are costly but well worth the investment.

Paint should always be chosen last on a project, yes dead last. There are millions of paint colours available but not millions of sofa or drapery fabric or tile choices. And also keep in mind paint should always complement your fixtures so DO NOT ignore the pinky beige carpet or tile (if you are keeping it) or you may end up highlighting it instead of working with it.

So think about what your goals are for your home and then you can start making your Reclaim your Home plan. 

I’ll be posting more in depth information on all of these options in the next few weeks so keep checking back. 

Lisa

Update on my updates

So I thought I’d give everyone a little update on what’s been happening at my house this December. (Click here to see my previous post about what we were planning). We’ve had the painter in for 3 weeks now and it looks like we will be done early next week.  Phew! It’s been a bit of a long haul having the whole house painted at once, every night is spent putting a room back to together and taking another one apart.  I’m so looking forward to that being over.

So the living room, lower and upper hallways have been painted in Benjamin Moore’s Grandma’s China and doesn’t it look so very fresh and clean?

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The kitchen is soft and lovely in Subway Tile.  I love the way the gray/blue looks against the warm wood.

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We also decided at the last minute to do the den in the same colour, instead of Picket Fence.  Pics of that room later, we are still putting it back together.

I hate to play favourites, but the dining room is the best….shhh…don’t tell the others. This is Andes Summit and I’m in love with the colour, so rich and dramatic. Perfect for entertaining.

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My master bedroom went just a bit darker than it was, as I was keeping the wallpapered accent wall.

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The family room, sunroom, guest bathroom are also done but I haven’t got a great picture of them yet as we are having this done as well and the mess is encroaching on those two rooms.

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I know, I know, I’m crazy for doing this now.  But really, it should all be done by next Tuesday….fingers crossed.

Lisa

Rustic and soft beachy bedroom

Today’s post is how to get a rustic yet soft beachy bedroom.  But first, I must apologize for that large blogging break! I was away in sunny California – San Francisco and Yosemite to be exact. What a beautiful place California is and we enjoyed it so much.

And now I’m back and a little swamped with all the spring fever that is going around over here.  I’m knee deep in lots of designs and plans.  And I had just enough time to do up a post for Wicker Emporium a few weeks ago (when the weather was still cool and pretty miserable here).  So if you are itching to freshen up your bedroom decor for summer, look no further.

soft rustic beach bedroom-001 And if you are looking for the links to the items above, they are below.

From top left:
Metal sand dollars; pillows;  New Haven Queen bed; artwork; glass lamp; drapery; dresser; area rug; cabinet

Have a great sunny week!

Lisa

 

 

Budget friendly, feminine and beachy guest room

This basement guest room was badly in need of some TLC.  My client called me in, when she became stuck, after she had painted and bought some linens. I did up a mood board and did some sourcing and here’s how it turned out!

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It had the typical very small window at the top of the wall and very limited light sources.  The flooring was already installed, a great wood look laminate and that together with the blue/grays of the linens inspired the beachy and feminine feel we went with.

Here’s some before pictures:

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The criteria was:

1. Small budget, as it was a guest room and my clients’  had just completed a major renovation.

2. Use the existing wall colour and bedding. this was not hard since both were great!

3. Easy for my client to finish off on her own, since I would just be providing the inspiration and sourcing of items.

4. There could be some DIYs as she was willing to roll up her sleeves.

So with these items established, off I went to come up with a design plan.

The mood board: (I originally posted about this mood board here).

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I used the existing paint colour as the background of the mood board and suggested that my client, paint out the two wood and black end tables in a beachy blue as shown.  The two tables were the same height and I like using mismatched end tables, as long as they have some cohesiveness, and painting them the same colour would do just that.  And it was certainly budget friendly, as she was more than willing to paint them herself.

Here they are before:

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And after:

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I selected a reasonably priced sand coloured linen upholstered headboard (Bouclair ), which was perfect for the small room, as it didn’t take up much space (no footboard), added some great texture and it would be comfortable for guests to read in bed.  A simple white dresser (Ikea, the knobs will likely be changed to crystal ones shortly) and an interesting white mirror were practical and pretty choices for the room.  A small striped area rug brings a little more beach feel into the room as does the pretty little shell artwork.

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My client found the perfect damask tone on tone simple roller shade at Ikea for the amazing price of $19, cut to size it’s the perfect compliment with the damask bedding.

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This entire room was completed under $1000 and has been a huge hit with the female exchange student who was the lucky first occupant, she even emailed photos back to her Mom in Germany as she found it so pretty.

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Lisa

Guest Room Makeover

This room was transformed from a teenage boy’s bedroom into a serene and soft guest room. The feature wall was stenciled with a modern graphic pattern to add some pop and to highlight the upholstered headboard.  An antique dresser adds interest and it all  makes this small guest room feel simply luxurious.