bold2boss

Remember this scene…my living room a construction zone as I tackled our staircase renovation ? Well, here’s the update!

Finally, after seven years of contemplation, I’m bashing down the walls surrounding our staircase.  Of course, I just finished the wall treatment surrounding the doorway (above) and now am tearing it down! …although, really, there is a good reason beyond satisfying my obsession for wall removal 😯 as this will provide a much better connection between our upper and lower living areas. Beautiful construction mess…this is what my family patiently navigates in one room or another…seems normal, no?

My love of light airy spaces has compelled me to increase the window space in our master bedroom sitting room…predictably, the window I’m targeting is the one I gaze out of as I’m having my morning coffee in bed (and dream of design projects)…

While my current master bath reno seems to be on a little vacation time while Doug and I are preoccupied with anticipation and preparations for Madeline wedding, I want to share with you one of our recent bathroom reno projects.

I spent the morning working on grouting the tile in the master bath area .

Finally, with the boys help, I’m finished the cement flooring in the living areas! Ever since moving into our new house, I have been trying to find the perfect flooring material for the upstairs living-room area – something that looks great with the marble flooring I installed elsewhere and that works with ambiance and style… something that has that tactile organic (and functional) vibe. While mulling, I painted the plywood sub-floor a creamy white with flowing paisleys (pictured below)…such a fun project with a lovely ethereal effect.

I hate hate hate popcorn ceiling (although truth be told, I am trying  to embrace the popcorn texture in our master bedroom…and I don’t cringe at the delicate popcorn on our high vaulted livingroom ceiling, but maybe that’s my poor eyesight). I think popcorn-texture ceilings are one of those design ‘features’ that instantly makes a space look dated and UGLY…but it’s sooo much work to remove – not too terribly if it hasn’t been painted, but oh my, after it’s set with paint!  And let me tell you, I have removed way too much of it (the ‘silver-lining’ is the amazing shoulder work out you get removing it!). spraying and saturating sections about 3′ wide with water.  I have researched (and researched…) and experimented with oodles of approaches to removing the popcorn-texture once it has been painted over (if it hasn’t been painted, it’s super easy – light water spray and scrape!..*Remember to wear protective equipment as most popcorn-texture contains some asbestos product whi...

Wow!  I have finally started tiling our master bath and it feels amazing to have conquered the looming fear that has kept me procrastinating for weeks. …that looming ‘ugh’ sensation during the planning/prep – recognizing that once that thin-set is mixed, there is no turning back from hours of careful and heavy work…the first tile needs to be set right…the slope accounted for…the unforgiving nature of the tile…the ‘time-crunch’ of thin-set… Somehow, despite all this procrastination and pain, I do actually love the process…and the beautiful inspiring results (made easy with the bonus of Sam’s expert thin-set mixing and encouragement). got to talk through the planning:) not at all messy I absolutely love the mix of Carrara and Rosa marble; the taupe and white combination is amazingly fabulous…I was hesitant to mix these until seeing the array of mixed-marble flooring at the Vatican…and I love the effect.  This is the view from the entrance area.   These little heart-shape t...

 The reno of Sam's room has expanded into his foyer...or maybe it's the 'add-on to be gym' reno that's expanded into the foyer.  My many renos are colliding and merging!  I'll interpret that as a sign that they are coming to completion after 7 years - although I'm not sure I can ever be 'reno-free', I'm just too addicted! We now have a sliding door in the foyer turning this small dark area into a light-filled open and inviting space with purpose and appeal - I love it - now I just need to add some beautiful decorative touches ! Here's our progress...removing the original door and opening the wall to create a frame... such a bonus to be working with post and beam construction so only the door frame needs to be built without having to worry about extra beam support... Having Sam and Ben helping makes the whole job fun...and their strong arms are a pretty big bonus too... keep it steady...casual one arm stance while big brother oversees ...not s...

Finally I can share the beautiful results of our year long project! Here are a few pictures of the living room transformation…(there is so much more of this little rancher reno that I will share soon… bedrooms , bathroom , kitchen, and more...) ...beautiful transformation into a light-filled home notice the popcorn ceiling, lighting fixture and yellow walls…the cheap yellow laminate flooring isn’t so obvious in the picture but is a glaring element that set the color and visual tone Prepping the floor for beautiful white-washed oak hardwood scraping the popcorn ceiling and prepping it for pot lighting  such messy work but so worth the result…and fairly quick…a good shoulder workout I used a process of coating the popcorn with non-caustic stripper (…at the time this seemed to be the best technique I’d tried yet, but not so now – see my painted popcorn ceiling removal  post) notice all the trim and crown molding removed…lots of drywall patching on the ceiling and walls Calculatio...

I love the look and feel of finished concrete –  the texture and feeling that is both organic and industrial – and although typical in modern and industrial design, I think it works really well in many other genres…it reminds me of old French farmhouses and converted barn spaces. I used concrete for a fabulous countertop in my bathroom – it is easy, flexible and creative.  There are tons of instruction online…but it is super easy, just trowel several coats of a feather finish (made to be able to be trowelled on very thinly) concrete product onto a rough material, such as plywood, and seal. I wanted an especially distressed look with some efflorescence and color variation so I faux-finished using drywall compound and some cement powder, troweling it into the surface to highlight the texture (I used drywall compound because it is what I had available to create needed a white color – applied in this very thin way and mixed with the cement powder it has been durable). Many of...