An Airy Home Tour with Pops of Aqua

January 26, 2015

An Airy Home Tour with Pops of Aqua

For awhile I had kind of abandoned my Pinterest account but recently I've been pinning again, with wild abandon. (I credit the phone app, which is accountable for a fairly impressive piece of my monthly data usage pie.) A board I called "Inspiring Spaces" (not such an inspiring name, I know) is where I stash photos of any rooms I like - in no particular order. Sometimes I lazily scroll through this board to see what kinds of themes my pinning habits reveal. I really like so many different styles (and other colours, I swear), but since the big move it's been my mission to sift through and really hone in on what I like the most; what makes Hubby and I the happiest. I've also been trying to ignore the noise about what's in and what's out, so I can just focus on figuring out my style: things I can love for the long term and things I want to have fun with in the interim. I like Pinterest for this.

Some of my choices for "Inspiring Spaces" might surprise you, but there are some very predicable ones in there too (aqua everything!) In each space there's at least an idea or two that tickles me. There are also rooms that have made me fall head over heels in love. This home tour, for example, from Collected Interiors, is just incredible and I find myself ogling photos of it everyday, flagging ideas for the future, planning ways to adopt and adapt some of the fabulous design decisions, and just relishing its prettiness. It's my absolute favorite home tour, so I wanted to share.

Collected Interiors

For our "forever" kitchen (and, to some extent, for our impending bath reno), I've been thinking of walnut lower cabinets, white uppers and white back-painted glass as a backsplash, but this kitchen has me dreaming of all-white again. (Darn, does that mean I might be happier with an airier, all-white bathroom too??) The hint of mint in the backsplash is perfection. I love that it barely looks like a kitchen, which is smart for an open concept space.

After seeing this kitchen, I'm on a mission to add more gleaming surfaces (like our ceiling fan, the credenza doors and wall unit), to bounce a little more light around. Using glossy surfaces in muted colours - preferably just white - will also help balance out my very liberal use of colour. I could stand to add a bit more white/lightness, overall.

Collected Interiors

A pair of rogue pink chairs are a brief detour from an otherwise aqua-aqua-aqua palette.

Collected Interiors

I love the television above the fireplace, across from the kitchen. I wish we could mount our television this way (as opposed to across from the windows), because then I could watch it while I'm cooking. I swear I'd watch cooking shows, and not the Gilmore Girls on an endless loop. I wonder if I'd have more cooking casualties...

Collected Interiors

I love the contrast of the warm wood grain against the cool white walls and watery accent colours. Similarly, warm copper looks gorgeous with aquas and blues. Note to self: copper in the lakehouse.

Collected Interiors

The bedroom (especially that luxurious looking headboard and coordinating artwork) might be my favorite room, although I do prefer the symmetry of matching end tables and lamps. I know that mismatched tables and lamps are more on-trend and lend a more causal, collected-over-time feel, but my brain really like pairs of things. I blame Catholic school and hearing about Noah's Ark during my formative years ;)

The white curtains in this home make me miss our abundance of easy breezy sheers in the townhouse, but I really wanted to try patterned drapes in our new space. I've really enjoyed trying something different - it was time for a change, you know? But I do love the look of the white drapes, especially in this space - it's a classic, effortless look.

Collected Interiors

Sigh. I'd happily to move in.

What do you think of this home? If you're as smitten as me, there are more photos on the Collected Interior website; click here to take a peek. Their entire portfolio is mesmerizing.

Let's Talk Trim

One day, when we re-do the floors (whether it's some or all), I'm going to replace our trim with something thick and substantial, but with a clean and simple profile. I've started noticing trim in every picture I see.

via

If the trim we currently have hadn't been skinny, dated oak that matched our floors in no way whatsoever, I might have kept it as-is because wood trim can look lovely, especially against white walls:

Via Dust Jacket

For now, painting out the trim was an inexpensive, if somewhat labour-intensive, option to modernize the lakehouse. Soon I'll post a full how-to, but for now I wanted to talk about why I left the wood on the window frames that open, even if I painted the fixed windows and all casings white.

For reference, here's a glimpse of these three spaces (living room, master bedroom, and bathroom) before:

At first I thought I might want to stain or paint the window frames black, while painting the trim white, but I quickly decided against it because it would break up the views too much.

Matchbook

Even though I decided early-on to go all-white, by the time I got to the lakehouse to work it was too cold!! I barely had time to get paint on the door, and I needed a space heater to ensure the paint cured. I decided to just tape off the areas of the windows that I couldn't paint without removing hardware and opening them, and resolved to tackle them next spring when it's warm enough. For now, the bulk of the woody-goodness has been axed, and I'm thinking a little strip of wood isn't a crime, even in a space I'm trying to modernize.

Design Shimmer

Modern White Ceiling Fan

With the fireplace painted a deep charcoal grey, and the walls and ceiling a crisp white, the woodsy beam and gold-trimmed ceiling fan were next on the chopping block. My Mandelbaum Mom upped the ante, challenging her fear of heights and spending hours on the scaffolding, carefully applying wood filler, then sanding, priming and painting the beam in preparation for a shiny new ceiling fan.

I actually considered leaving the wood (or staining it a different colour), but once the white paint crept up the walls, the wood really stood out and actually made our tall ceiling seem really low.

Even once I decided to paint it white, I originally opted to leave the knots, hoping for a fresh textured look. Disappointingly, the knots pretty much disappeared under the paint except for a few cracks that looked like bugs from a distance.

With sweaty palms, my Mom filled in the cracks with wood filler (essentially undoing her previous priming efforts), then sanded and primed each knot again. I (so conveniently) aggravated a back injury while this was being done, which is why I wasn't Mandelbauming it myself, but even once it healed she still soldiered on, applying three coats of paint with a mini roller for a perfectly smooth finish.

With the beam white, the glitzy gold ceiling fan, with it's wobbly light bulbs, also had to go.

While we still had scaffolding in our hot little hands (making installation a snap), we splurged on a new ceiling fan and I'm happy to report I'm two-for-two finding ceiling fans I actually like.

photo source

I've always liked the idea of a white ceiling fan, but white can be a tricky finish because sometimes I find it looks really cheap - especially the blades. When I found the Kichler Ferron ceiling fan, with luminescent blades instead of plain melamine ones, I was sold.

They catch the light really nicely. No, dreamily, I want to say dreamily.

It also comes in an oil rubbed bronze and brushed nickel - both of which are just as modern and stylish.

This model doesn't have a light kit, which is perfect for us. It works silently and efficiently, and will do wonders to force warm air back down, so we aren't heating the 13 foot tall ceiling.

Eventually I want to replace the eyeball pot lights above the fireplace but we're prioritizing the upgrades. For now, I'm enjoying the new fan!

Updating an Exterior Door

When I first fell in love with the lakehouse, I immediately envisioned colourful doors. Interior, exterior - all bright hues. I've never really been bothered by the condo dictating front door colour choices in the townhouse because it helps keep the neighbourhood looking pretty by preventing some garish choices, but I think it has planted seeds of rebellion.

For now, though, I wanted a quick fix to make the door/window combo leading to the deck a little more modern. The left side is a proper door, but the right is a door-sized window that cranks open:

After scrubbing like mad with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser I realized the door is actually a crisp white, not a beige or off-white hue (bonus!). In the process of cleaning I also realized the wood "panes" are actually just cheapy faux french door add-ons that clip in with thumb tacks. Lovely. Once I jettisoned those, I also removed the screen from the window, which is easily popped back in to place if I so desire. Already it looked better, because the asymmetry of the door + screen was driving me bonkers.

Lastly, I gave the oak door casing and trim, plus the trim around the window, a coat of Zinsser primer and then four coats of paint. After de-oaking so much trim in the house, I've picked up some tricks.

The primer is great because the manufacturer's instructions suggest skipping sanding (yes!) and it dries quickly. For the primer and paint, I use an angled brush to wiggle the paint into grooves. Very thin coats - even if they look awful at first - work best.

The only tricky part is removing the tape. Scoring is a must because it takes the primer and paint about a week to fully cure and without scoring, the paint peeled in a couple of places and needed touch up.

After a week, though, it seems pretty durable (I'll be sure to update you once I've seen all the trim go through some wear and tear). For now, it looks fresh and bright - like a brand new door.

This took seconds but it's already such a change!

I Wish I Were Here

I am in rough shape today. I have a cold, plus I pulled a muscle in my leg. I think the latter is from the copious amounts of walking we do. I'm not used to a 5km walk, just to get home each day (often we walk more). My body rebelled, but too late because I am completely addicted to the walking now and just hobble along.

At home, I am rarely sick. When I am, I always figure that a day in bed or on the sofa, with movies and magazines in hand, is just what the doctor ordered. It forces me to relax, unwind and recharge. Am I weird in embracing a cold?

Here, although our Budapest apartment is pretty, there's no time, or place, for lounging. I have a research deadline and need to book it (pun intended). So today, in the library, I am dreaming of fluffy, comfy, airy bedrooms (my own included) where I could lay my head down. Just for a bit.

Speaking of beds, have you wondered where we sleep? We have a small sofa and chair that both morph, transformer style, into beds. Here's mine:

Reader Q: Why White Walls?

Readers often email me, asking about our white, white walls. Mostly I get asked about why we chose so much white and if it's easy to keep clean (I buy Magic Erasers in bulk, so yes). Now that I've lived with peach, yellow and turquoise walls for two weeks, I have to say I miss my white. It's not that I hadn't tried colour before. Prior to buying the townhouse, over the years I chose a pumpkin orange, a soft pale green, a bright kelly green, a pale aqua, a buttery cream shade and even a soft chartreuse for walls (not all at the same time, don't worry).

Why do I love white walls? I have highly personal and purely subjective reasons. Colour works for many people and I might go for it again one day. But I am passionately in love with our white walls, and here's a glimpse into why:

1. Our popcorn ceilings (shudder), which are painted the same shade of white, almost disappear. Of course, you could do this trick with another colour, too, but the white seems to bounce light around as well, helping along the disguise.

Only upon closer inspection can you tell but, somehow, with everything white I don't even really mind the texture anymore . . .

2. The decades old trim (which is skimpy and nothing to write home about) along with the ugly doors and door frames similarly blend in with everything painted white. I would do anything to avoid drawing attention to these elements.

3. With everything white, the small space (with it's serious lack of windows) looks brighter and more spacious. I used the same automatic camera setting and similar time of day, but what a different bright white paint makes in this "before" and "after" of our dining room! Of course the white sheers help diffuse light nicely, too.

4. All white is easy for big painting projects (ahem, every room in two weeks) because there is less cutting/taping and no cleaning/switching brushes between rooms.

5. It's cost effective, too, because we bought 5 gallon pails which are cheaper than by the gallon, and we also had very little leftover, whereas with different colours you often end up with a bit of leftover from each can which can't be carried over to the next room if it's a different colour.

6. But there are fun reasons for loving white, as well: white walls help our artwork and accessories take center stage.

7. It's a classic, timeless choice, just like a crisp white shirt or blouse is a wardrobe staple. Check out this room from the 60s! White was fun then, too!

House & Garden, 1968

8. With white walls, I have more flexibility with shuffling things around the house because almost everything will look good against white walls - no clashing! We have a small budget, so this flexibility really helps.

I wish I owned the Hungarian apartment I'm staying in because, although it's so pretty, I've been dreaming up renovation ideas. First up? Paint. White paint. Here's my inspiration: