makeover: sunny days

February 4, 2016March 11, 2016 | circadee

It’s been awhile. But for good reason. Just last weekend I wrapped up a makeover project with a great friend. I am excited to share the results today. I can pretty much guarantee fewer posts in 2016 but when I do post, I hope to knock your socks off with reveals like this one.

Let’s start from the beginning. The beige, boring before. This room wasn’t given much attention nor was it used frequently. It was where all of the random pieces of furniture ended up. Some with great bones, others not so great and a few left behind by previous owners. The one thing all of these pieces seemed to have in common was that they were a shade of brown. The walls too! Beige and brown are almost always the default “safety” color when arranging a room. Am I right? We needed to inject color and personality into this space immediately!

When consulting with the couple, we discussed how they wanted to use the room and the feeling they wanted it to evoke. This space is going to be used, as intended, as a living room for hosting friends and family. No television, just conversation. We also determined that the adjacent space beyond the pocket doors needed to be defined. This would become the library anchored by wall-to-wall built in bookcases.

In our initial consultation the couple described their style as “minimalist modern” although I might argue that it’s “contemporary traditional” but who’s keeping track. In fact, let’s go with “organic modern”. I think that sums up the outcome. The project was a healthy dose of DIY, vintage, home store finds and shopping the house, my favorite. A full source list can be found at the end.

One specific influence kept surfacing when flushing out their style and it was Kimpton Hotels which is known for bold interiors. Specifically their use of contemporary patterns, intense color and often natural elements juxtaposed with metallic & reflective finishes. The most important element being “pops of color” as described by my friend.

We started with a relatively neutral color scheme by painting the walls a soft gray and then worked in the “pops of color” and texture. The sofa is gorgeous and so comfortable. It is a classic gray velvet Chesterfield accessorized with bold throw pillows that can always be changed out down the road or seasonally for a new look. Crown molding and windows were updated before we got to the fun stuff.

Nature is an important element to the couple since they are avid gardeners and Renee is a floral designer. The vintage botanical print above the sofa was a find that I’d been hoarding for just the right project. The set of wing chairs initially started out as a bird motif but after that pattern was discontinued we came across these butterflies which were a great consolation. The birds landed on the twiggy side table.

It was a no-brainer that the rug needed to be yellow, Renee’s favorite color. We cycled through a few choices, even sending one back, until we found this one with a simple over-sized pattern. I stumbled upon the perfect mirrored, coffee table with geometric cut outs mimicking the pattern on the area rug. We debated over pattern vs. solid panels for the windows but ultimately settled on navy and pulled that deep color onto the walls in the library.

Can we talk about the lamps and end tables? Two of my favorite elements in this room perhaps because each set is totally unique – a vintage treasure and a DIY. Would you believe those end tables were sourced on Craigslist in mint condition? When first reviewing the listing, we anticipated painting them white but lucked out. The natural wood is very pretty and didn’t need any updating. Check out the lattice-work on the bottom.

The lamps were hideously dated but the perfect shape, scale and a matching pair. At 5 bucks they were a steal. They even came complete with pleated shades which we ditched for ruched drum shades. A simple DIY with high gloss spray paint gave us the ginger jar shape lamps we were looking for and a fun pop of color.

Library

Turn your attention to the newly minted library. The couple took the momentum from the living room and ran with it in a series of DIY projects in the library. We flipped the color scheme just a bit with navy taking center stage on the walls and gray taking a backseat.

Bye bye beige! The bookcase is an Ikea hack. A set of five Billy bookcases were framed and painted to create a wall-to-wall bookcase. Signature pops of color, of course, are found stenciled across the back. The displaced books and mementos from the living room all found a new home organized on the shelves.

Vintage and contemporary pieces are right at home in this new space. The fantastic natural light doesn’t hurt to showcase all of their finds.

Dining Room

It wouldn’t be a home project without a little project creep, naturally. In this case the dining room is adjacent to the living room which means the crown molding needed continuity as well as gray owl paint on the walls.

Changes in the dining room included updating the light fixture to reflect the organic modern direction as well as the bird art. I convinced them to anchor the dining table and chairs with an area rug which Renee did a great job of selecting. I enjoy the quiet simplicity of the dark stained Windsor chairs, trestle table and humble bench but I do think the room feels a bit warmer with the bold rug. Do I dare say that it adds a “pop of color”?

Well that sums up the entire makeover which is Olive approved…

Source List

Living Room

Sofa – Macy’s Saybridge
Paint – Behr Dolphin Fin
End Tables – Vintage Craigslist
Lamps – DIY via Craigslist
Lamp Shades – Target
Throw Pillows – Homegoods (patterned) & Vintage (solid)
Area Rug – Wayfair
Coffee Table – Homegoods
Wing Chairs – Macy’s
Pouf – Wayfair
Twig Side Table – Pier 1
Mirror – Vintage
Botanical Print – Vintage
Curtains – Boscov’s
Top Down Cellular Window Shades – JCPenney
Magazine Rack – Vintage

Library

Bookcase – Ikea Billy Hack
Paint – Behr Very Navy
Chair – Ikea Poang
Throw Pillows – Ikea (patterned) & Vintage (solid)
Rocking Chair – Vintage
Curtains – Wayfair

Dining Room

Furniture – Vintage
Rug – Ikea Vidstrup
Bird Print – Ikea
Light Fixture – Overstock

another day, another drop leaf

June 17, 2014June 18, 2014 | circadee

I can’t stop with the drop leaf tables. There’s more where this one came from too! This is another one that we picked up in Brimfield. It is the perfect size in my opinion. I like drop leafs for their versatility. This one is petite when closed. Just right for a cottage beach house kitchen that can open up to accommodate additional diners around the table. However it could also make a really functional sofa table that can open up as a game table or home office if need be. Anyway, enough imagining its future life. Let’s discuss its former.

When I acquired the table, it felt really primitive to me. Too primitive for my taste. It needed color. A little pizazz.

I started with a coat of tricycle MMS milk paint which is such a good, vibrant red. Why I haven’t I used it in so long? However, red on this piece still felt primitive. I punched it up with french enamel MMS milk paint, a gorgeous light blue that I also don’t seem to use enough.

The twist, though, is that I created a resist once again using hemp oil. Just like the last drop leaf I painted. The red peaks through in just a few chipping spots on the legs and apron of the table.

I considered staining the top with curio, the dark brown MMS milk paint. It is getting increasingly popular as a stain for table tops and dresser tops. But it turns out that just a coat of hemp oil did the trick to revive the dehydrated wood top. I love the nicks in the top too. It gives so much authenticity.

Ahh, the magic of hemp oil!

This table is for sale at West End Garage in Cape May. The chairs are not. They’re mine! The entire Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint product line is also available so you can achieve this look on your own piece of furniture.

Have you made over any furniture lately?

how to: dresser to vanity

March 13, 2014April 1, 2014 | circadee

Thanks for all of the nice feedback on our new bathroom. I just love how it turned out! I am going to share how we constructed the vanity with you today. There are many tutorials out there outlining how to do this but our approach was a little bit different since we went with an over counter trough vessel sink.

Many of you who know us, know how things work around here. Typically I conjure up an idea (sometimes crazy) that utilizes salvaged or vintage materials, develop the aesthetic and then get my husband, Ryan, on board to help execute it. Ok, to mostly execute it. I will fully admit that I don’t have the patience to DIY some of the things I come up with on my own. Hello, blue print wallpaper! I like to think of myself as the Art Director and Ryan as the Engineer around here. Do you have self-appointed titles at home? The bathroom reno followed the same suit until it came time to complete the vanity. We called in assistance from my father who is a Plumber. So without further adieu, our Circa Dee/ Marston Mechanical collaboration!

First things first, we started with prepping the dresser. I mentioned that I had been holding onto this for a while because I knew it was just the right size for this bathroom. I thought I’d paint it with a fresh coat of white. My plan was to use MMS milk paint in Ironstone but as we considered the dresser further it actually had just the right chippy look that I was going for, only in latex. We scrubbed the dresser and pulled off a few of the chipping pieces to find blue/green paint underneath. Perfect.

Three coats of polycrylic sealed the distressed paint and created a durable top coat so this could be used in a bathroom. I chose polycrylic because it won’t yellow the white paint like polyurethane will. Plus it is water based which makes for an easier clean up. Bonus.

Then it was time to bring in the big guns and work around the plumbing. After positioning the dresser in place, we cut out a hole in the back of the dresser to make way for the drainage pipe using a hole saw drill bit.

Next we positioned the sink in the center of the dresser and determined where the sink and faucet holes would need to be. They were cut using the hole saw drill bit too.

Next the faucet was installed.

Everything was secured in place with caulk. The sink was caulked to the dresser. The dresser was caulked to the wall.

We chose this over counter trough vessel sink for several reasons…

As I mentioned, the over counter trough vessel sink helped to preserve as much drawer space as possible. We would have lost half of the drawer storage to accommodate for the drop in.
The dresser is small so if we dropped a large sink in it we’d need to cut a large hole in it which may have ruined the integrity of the dresser and made it weak.
We could have chosen a bowl vessel sink but that just didn’t fit our aesthetic. Too modern so we went with a rectangular trough style.
Bonus. The combination of the over counter sink and the dresser created a nice comfort height vanity.

After the plumbing was reattached, it was time to figure out what would become of the drawers.

I was fully prepared to lose the top drawer to make space for the drain pipe which means it would just become a facade of a drawer. Buuuut they were able to salvage about 20% of the drawer because there was not a drop sink taking up the space. The short drawer is perfect for storing soap, toothpaste and other small bathroom toiletries.

The deeper bottom 2 drawers only lost about 2-3 inches off the back to accommodate for the pipes. The new drawer backs were cut to width from 1×4 pine boards and attached with a brad nailer. Then excessive few inches on the back and sides of the drawers were cut off with a circular saw.

I seemed to have missed a picture of the middle drawer. A 2 inch U shaped notch had to be cut out of the top of the back of that drawer with a jigsaw to accommodate for the bottom of the drainage trap shown below.

It was so minimal though that it is not even noticeable when the drawer is open.

We finished the vanity off with a set of clear green flower knobs on the top drawer and clear glass knobs on the remaining drawers.

This might just be my favorite room in the house right now…