FarmHouseUrban

Behind the scenes at a photo shoot and a thank you!

Hey sweet people. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and if you celebrate Easter, hope you had good weather for hiding eggs! After an incredibly restorative couple of days, I feel much, much better :-)

One of the highlights of last week was a photo shoot of a kitchen and family room I recently completed. The magazine doesn't know which issue it will be featured in yet, so I can't show much from the shoot until after it hits the news stands. In the meantime, here are some behind the scenes photos I took.

Stylist Sarah at work.

And one that the amazing photographer Paul took.

I want to thank my friend Cecily Brooks Mendell for including my shop in her round-up of favorite places in the Bay Area! She was recently interviewed by the UK blog Confessions of a Design Geek which you can check out here. Cecily writes a fantastic life + style blog called Cecyj, which you can go to by clicking here. If you're not already a fan, you soon will be!  I am so honored to be included in this prestigious list of places when there are so many other great ones in our area! Thank you Cecy!!!

On house news - the painters will be done tomorrow! Paper and tarps will be gone and lots of installs are happening this week.  I can't wait to share it with you!

Happy Monday to you!

Keep Going

Hi...Sorry it's been a little while since my last post, but I haven't been in a blogging mood. It's been a challenging week. This photo helped me. Thought I would share it with you in case you are going through a process too and need something to help you get over the hump. 

Soapstone sinks and other powder room inspirations

Hi there you. Happy first day of Spring! It's the time for new beginnings, fresh starts and picking up where we left off. New Year's Day just doesn't work. Now seems a much more fitting time for reevaluating, purging, getting organized and making changes doesn't it?

For the next two weeks the house will be under a shroud of tarps and paper, as the painters complete the inside. In the meantime, there are still a few things that need to be selected. On the top of the list is the powder room sink. The room is narrow, so the sink has to be small and the counter space wide rather than deep.  

Here are some powder room photos I've filed over the years for future inspiration.

Ashley Goforth Design

via la dolfina

I really like this style with the corbels on each end that join into the backsplash. As far as material goes, necessity is the mother of invention and at this point budget and time have run out.  The walls are black and I'd like the sink surround to be, but black stone is hard to come by in a remnant. Soapstone is a great option. The more I looked into it, the more I liked it. Especially the way it looks when it is natural (as in NO maintenance).

Any advice or suggestions on Soapstone? How does it wear if left unsealed? Do you like it?

FarmHouseUrban Remodel Update - Cabinets arrived!!!

Martin and crew arrived on Thursday and spent the weekend installing. It was such a relief to see them- especially the colored kitchen cabinets. Love how they turned out! Here are photos of the first day.

medicine cabinet

piece of the island

Oil-rubbed bronze hinges (with some sawdust) on island

Master bathroom vanity (1 of 2)

Inside view of the vanity drawer. It opens and has a space for the sink in the middle (it's hard to see from this photo, but I'll show more later) and on each side and the front, there are spaces to put things.

All the cabinets are back brushed, which is a final coat of paint that is hand applied with a paintbrush. In this photo you can kind of see the brush strokes.

Martin aka Santa

Natalie and Malina cabinet maker's apprentices aka elves

I'll show more photos of them installed soon! Heading to work - it's going to be a busy week.

Have a great day today!

FarmHouseUrban Remodel Update - Cabinets not here yet!

*Update - I was about to publish this post when I got a call from Martin. They left last night and should be here in a few hours.

It was like Santa didn't show. I found out this morning (Wed), as I burst into the house, camera in hand ready for Martin and his entourage to roll in (he has two female assistants - tool belt toting, skill saw savvy and able to lift super heavy things without batting an eyelash! I kid you not.) that they have not left Seattle yet. I'm hoping they arrive late tomorrow (Thurs), but more than likely it'll be Friday.

At least I do have some new things to share!

The tile in the Master Bathroom is complete.

The area around the bathtub is getting wainscoting trim with a 3" shelf on each end for shampoo, candles, etc. 

Our bathtub is on it's way. Here's an actual photo of it getting inspected in Tennessee.

The floors are now completely installed. Here's the Master Bedroom.

The slate tiles came for the entry. They're 12" x 24". The grout color will be sand. I'm on the fence if they're too dark? Please let me know what you think! 

Thank you for the emails and comments. I try to respond to each, but if I missed any, please resend it. I will also post email questions - I will leave the names off - don't worry:-) on the blog in case others have the same. For comment questions, I will respond in the comments.  There was a question about the photos in the last post and if any had been painted yet. No, not until next week or so. What's on the walls now is just primer, although I don't know how different they will look.  The doors and trim have not been painted yet either.

Motto for the day: Good things are worth waiting for. I hope yours is filled with goodness.

FarmHouseUrban Remodel Update - Paint Colors and Entry Ceiling

Hi and Happy Monday to you! Lots happening this week including several client projects starting, new Spring merchandise arriving, and big house details finalizing. I hope you had a great weekend?! I was away for a couple of days. Feeling so blessed to have the best girlfriends in the entire world. And that Advil was invented.

While I was gone, a friend and I were walking and window shopping when we came upon this city bench lined with yellow roses. No thorns or leaves. People walking by just left them as is. Such a stunning and symbolic gesture, it took my breath away. I wonder if someone was trying to tell someone they are really sorry.

The floors are still being installed and the master bathroom tile is being grouted, so there aren't any completed photos of either yet. The one thing that did happen and is very exciting is the entry ceiling was installed! There will eventually be hardware on the trusses to look like they are actually supporting the roof rather than just decorative. Tongue and groove cedar was used for the ceiling.

In about a week, the painters will start on the interior. Up to six colors selections were included in the bid. They lucked out. I only picked one - white. The house was all white before -- even the floors were painted the same color as the walls which were Atrium White by Benjamin Moore. It's my favorite all-purpose white with warm pinkish tones. I prefer it to yellowish whites like Linen White or bluish whites like Decorator's White. 

Despite loving Atrium White, I decided to walk on the wild side and go with a different shade this time. I chose Dove White. We shall see...

Lest you think I am a color phobe, hear me out.  White is the best backdrop for EVERYTHING and makes all objects that are against it even more vibrant. This applies to walls and art, house exteriors and flowers, dishes and food, sheets and bodies.

Ok, now for some color... Remember my post about Martin the cabinet maker extraordinaire who did my kitchen cabinets in Seattle and who is doing them for me again for this house? Anyway, he's loading the truck today, heading to California tomorrow and will be here Wed to begin installing!!! So what does that have to do with color? The cabinets and island are not white!

The cabinets will be Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. It's a beautiful brownish gray. The countertop material is Calacatta Gold marble which has streaks of gray and tan that will tie in with the cabinet color.

Here's a photo of Revere Pewter on the cabinets and walls.

photo via Southern Living

The island will be painted Silhouette by Benjamin Moore.

This is a relatively new color, so there weren't many images of rooms with it, but seemed to me like a dark version of Revere - murky brown and gray. Has anyone used it? How about Revere Pewter? 

Will share it all with you on Wed!

In the meantime, have a great couple of days and enjoy the nice, long evenings!

 

FarmHouseUrban Remodel Update - Progress!

Hi! Happy halfway to the weekend! So, I never made it to the Alameda Antique Fair on Sunday. Did you? I did get to Stinson beach on Saturday though. Truth be told, I went because there was an estate sale I wanted to check out - vintage surfboards, SUP boards, wetsuits and the like. I was too late because I misread the hours and got there after it was over - bummer! So what's a girl who's driven all the way to the beach to do? I was happy the skies were gray. Perfect weather for walking and deep thinking.

Things are happening at the house faster than I can take photos and share them with you, so here's a quick run down of the latest as of this morning.  

The exterior was painted!

The color is custom to match the windows.

The doors on the bottom right side go to the downstairs rec room. A deck will be above off of the living room.

This is the front porch which wraps around the three sides of the entry. A temporary door is up right now. The real front door arrived yesterday, but still needs to be painted -  black.

All the interior doors were hung. The hardware throughout the house is oil-rubbed bronze.

The trim around the windows and doors was completed.

The master bathroom tile is almost finished. On the floor is 1.5" hex tile in Carrera marble. In the kids' bathrooms which were done last year, I used the smaller hex tile in Carrera, and wanted to have some continuity between all the bathrooms. Underneath is a warming pad. 

Carrera subway tile is in the shower and covered by the paper is 1" x 1" sq. tile also in Carrera.

Saving the best for last... the floors were installed! Actually they are still working on them, but enough was put down that I could finally exhale. I was really nervous that I wouldn't like the color. There was a panicky moment when they were delivered and our contractor opened a few boxes and saw corners and edges 'banged up' and some variation in color from board to board. It turned out they were all fine, he just wasn't expecting the level of distressing and rustic-ness. I love them!

One of the minor changes that had to be made was enlarging a window in the dining room. It took a few weeks to arrive, so it was just installed this week too. This is looking from the kitchen towards the dining room and the new window.

More photos of the wood floors!

The light has affected the color of the floor in all of the photos above. I think this one is closest to the actual.

In case you were wondering which sample it was from my previous post on floors, it's the bottom one!

Tomorrow's to-do's include meeting with a landscape architect and finalizing the fireplaces and other architectural details.

If I can't squeeze in a post before, I hope you have a great weekend!

Mint

Hi, how was your week? Mine was fine. At least the weather was exceptional! Thus the thoughts of summer (see below) and what it will bring. For a quick fix, I think I'll head to the beach tomorrow - rain or shine. The Alameda antique fair is on Sunday. I'm thinking of going, but will see how the weekend shapes up.

I can't remember a season where one color has dominated every category as much as the color mint has right now. Are you with me on this?

Benjamin Moore 2039-60 

It's everywhere from clothes to home decor and everything in between. The epitome of summer. Like it's been in the sun too long and has become a faded version of a bolder something it once was. I love colors that have that bleached-by-the-sun-ness. It looks great against tan skin too. 

I did a little online spring shopping this week and was tempted by all the mint clothing options out there. Restraint is key, as a little mint goes a loooong way! These jeans from Shopbop  called my name.

With this linen t-shirt found here.

and nude sandals like these found here.

Speaking of shoes, wait, I'm getting deja vu... 

These scalloped ballet flats are super cute.

With white jeans or a skirt.

My daughter Lily recently bought this nail polish, which I might have to borrow. Thank GOODNESS she doesn't read my blog, otherwise she'd hide it.

It seems that the mint craze has crossed into home decor too.

Light found here.

I love this outdoor light!  It makes me think of the shingled Cape Cod's on Martha's Vineyard.

Some even have shutters to match.

I didn't realize my nostalgia for this color until I started writing this post. I'm now wondering if the summers of my childhood might have been where it started. When we first moved to California, I bought this bike and come to think of it, need to ride it more often.

More minty fresh.

Towels from here.

Milk glass drawer pull in "Martha Green' from here.

Enamelware mixing bowls found here.

Party favors found here.

 Wishing you a lovely weekend.

FarmHouseUrban Remodel Update - Wide Plank Flooring

Hi dear readers, it's been awhile since my last post, sorry about that. Life sometimes gets in the way of blogging. All's fine. Thanks for sticking around :-)

I really thought the flooring decision would be a no brainer. I knew what I wanted - 8" wide plank white oak, not stained, just sealed. I'd look at a sample and that would be that. Easy right?

Wrong.

There are many resources out there for wide plank flooring, so we got a few references from friends, neighbors, etc and finally narrowed it down to one company that specializes in wide plank. They offer a great selection of wood varieties and finishes, a high quality product and decent prices. I met with a sales rep who came to the office to show me a sample. 

All was good until he suggested I look at a few 'options' just to be sure. First he wanted to show me something one shade darker. 

Or perhaps I would like something grayish he offered, since it's so trendy now?

Had I considered an engineered plank, he inquired? There won't be any spaces between the boards since they won't expand and contract.

Oh no! I like them all! What now?!

Better get samples from ALL the flooring suppliers in the entire world, so I could be absolutely sure!

Faced with too many choices and an urgent deadline to make a decision, I was thoroughly overwhelmed. My top favorites (just a teensy bit of what I actually have)...

I'm going to wait and show you which one I chose after they are installed, but I will say it's one of the samples above!

It arrived on Friday! The boards face inward so what you see is the underneath side.

I've mentioned it before, but can't reiterate enough, how much I use Houzz and Pinterest for inspiration, to reboot the creative circuit board or to research a specific design element. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of inspirational photos are available to help guide you to exactly what you're looking for! 

Here are some images from both Pinterest and Houzz that helped me get clarity on the flooring.

I adore the floors in the below image - a natural brownish gray.

This floor is lighter than I wanted to go, but I really like the smooth, clean look.

 This one has both the smooth surface and grayish color.

 

Then again, a natural walnut brown always look great and won't limit any gray fabric or furniture decisions!

Hope your week is off to a wonderful start with unlimited possibilities!

If you would like to check out more of my favorite inspirations, go to my Pinterest page here.

Crazy Love

With Valentine's Day upon us, Pinterest (my latest obsession) has been loaded with all things love related. Thought I'd share a few of my favorites...

But first, some music to set the mood. Really, you should listen to this. It's like chocolate for the ears.