After years of having a guest room that was "good enough," a string of planned visits from guests in the upcoming months had me taking stock of our little guest room. This is the same room we gave a light makeover to some seven years ago, but since has been largely unimproved. Well, I recently looked around the room I realized that it may have been close to good, but wasn't what I wanted it to be. Besides not looking how I wanted from a decor perspective, we've been using it to store rugs we've moved from their prior rooms, the central vacuum attachments, and various miscellany that had been misplaced from other locations in our home. It was time for an upgrade.

This all started pretty innocently. Besides the accumulation of junk, the bed and box spring were sitting directly on the floor, where it's been since our last update in 2011. There it sat, still waiting for the bed that Alex will eventually build (but hasn't yet). I had grown sick of the bed on the floor look. When a neighbor gave us a metal bed frame he was planning to throw away, I figured it was a good chance to overcome this single annoyance with our room. 

Having the bed at a normal height made me realize we needed a proper bed skirt. Simple enough, right? And while we're at it, it was spring, so time to swap the heavy comforter for the lighter white matelasse coverlet. Here's how the room looked as we tried to prep it with what we had.

Besides missing a skirt, the problem I ran into is that the white coverlet we put on the bed from Spring to Fall has a large brown stain on it, courtesy Mel and a cat vomit incident last year. Now, I don't know about you, but as a guest staying, well, anywhere, I'd prefer to not have cat vomit stains on my bedding. Beyond the stained bedding, I felt like the red stool and recycled wicker baskets as night stands, both "rescued" from the curb, were far from ideally functional.

In order to make this a truly inviting space, I felt it was a pretty good time to make a few minor decor updates.

I headed to HomeGoods to pick up a new bed skirt and quilt, and that's where the decor monster grabbed hold of me. As I wandered the aisles of HomeGoods the effort quickly began to escalate. What started as a trip for just a couple items quickly turned into new bed pillows, a crisp white coverlet (preferably without cat vomit stains) and matching shams that would work well for the summer, and a long grey bolster pillow that I simply couldn't leave without. This pillow was my gateway drug, and before I knew it my habit had quickly spilled over into the lamp section of the store.

The mismatched brown holy ball lamp and silver Restoration Hardware lamps in the room were okay, but how much better would a matching set of white ceramic lamps look? So much better, that's how! Before I knew it I was wandering into the rug section of the store.

Stark geometric patterns were whispering in my ear beckoned me to the selection, double dog daring me to replace the rug in the guest room. Yes, the rug which was once on our family room floor and had found a second life in our misfit hand-me-down guest room, had to go, or at least that's what the decor monster told me. It was shockingly easy to justify this purchase to myself, as the new rugs I'd somehow found myself admiring would work much better with the look I really wanted. White and grey are more in line with my aesthetic, are calm and inviting, and the old rug not only wasn't what I really wanted in the room, it was also faded, (surprise) also stained, and has a hole in it from a nervous digging incident courtesy of Lulu.

Before I even knew what was happening I'd selected a 5' x 7' rug and seemed to almost be levitating, carried by some unknown force -- perhaps the carpet I'd selected was magic -- over to where I'd find two matching grey tables that would work perfectly as bedside tables.

This was all some sort of crazy HomeGoods fate that had a hold of me. I was in the decor zone, I couldn't be stopped!! And how rare it is to find a matching set of lamps and tables at this fabulous discount store. It must be fate.

I gleefully skipped to the car carrying all of my HomeGoods bounty. The guest room was not only destined to no longer exist as a tired excuse for a guest room, I was going to make it so dang cute that I might even want to start sleeping there after our guests have left.

When Alex got home from work we launched in to our light decor refresh. Though I'd gone to HomeGoods to find a bedskirt, I'd failed in that endeavor (turns out I had more pressing matters to fulfill). We have a partially fitted sheet that was intended as a skirt for an inflatable mattress, so we decided to make it work as the skirt until we can find one that's better suited...or Alex builds the bed, you know, whichever comes first.

We stupidly did much of this in the wrong order. We put the new bedding on the bed, then put on the makeshift bedskirt. I think we were just excited to have the new coverlet without a stain. As you can see, we're sticking with the headboard that we made from our old bathroom door.

Once that was done we realized we needed to take up the old rug, which required us to move/lift the bed. It was truly a series of poor choices that caused us to take much longer to get this done. And in typical Lulu form, she helped by standing on most of what we were trying to put in place.

But as we progressed, the room slowly started to come together. Bedding, end tables, lamps, the rug, it was all looking wonderful! I was so excited! I loaded in a few interesting books on the end tables (including "Ghosts of Virginia" for a little fun late night reading), arranged a few fresh flowers, and placed a few small grey accessories we had on hand in other rooms of our house.

Beyond the decor, getting all of the extra stuff out of the room felt liberating. The house started to feel less junky and more how I wanted it to feel for our guest's arrival.

After all was said and done our guest room is now the fresh and welcoming space we wanted it to be.

In order to make it just a tad more inviting, I added a bottle of water and glass on the dresser, and a chocolate bar in the event a snack is necessary. This will have to make do for now, but Alex thinks we should add a stocked mini-bar to round out the experience.

We're far from done with this room, as we have plans to completely overhaul it, complete with windows that open, correct moulding, repaired plaster, refinished and repaired floors, and a large exposed brick wall. But as far as the room is concerned today, it's exactly what I wanted it to be for our guests. The major overhaul to the room can wait, we have a perfectly pleasant and enjoyable guest room today.

Throughout the remainder of the spring and summer we'll have a long list of visitors that will be coming to stay in the Old Town Home B&B, and we really hope they enjoy the little updates we've made to this room. This was by no means a difficult or time consuming update, but it's one that I feel has really refreshed and improved the room. All told it was about $380 for everything, and I think it was money well spent.

Have you ever been in the situation where you feel you need to quickly get your guest accommodations in shape before someone's arrival? Were you successful in your endeavor? Did you every get a little beyond your intended scope when you went to HomeGoods for something small? Would love to hear your experiences.

Read Full Post

We have an experience with this very scenario that we've been waiting to share with you for some time. 

Almost two years ago Wendy and I went on a trip that we'd been waiting to take for decades. We'd long dreamt of going to Ireland together, and we finally took a true trip of a lifetime back in October 2015. We loved just about every second of the trip. It was truly enjoyable from start to finish, and we even have a brief recap if you'd like to check it out.

But that recap of our trip left out a little detail that really made this trip one to remember. 

Nearing the end of our whirlwind tour of the southern half of the greenest country I've ever seen, we were driving from the picturesque historic port town of Kinsale toward Dublin for one final night. 

Not in any hurry to rush our way through our last moments in the stunning Irish countryside, and wanting to take in as many sites as we could before we'd depart, we made a few stops along the way.

One of the stops was in the thousand year old city of Kikenny in the southeast of Ireland. The bustling and winding streets of shopping were the perfect bridge between the quiet towns we'd been visiting on our way back to vibrant and bustling Dublin. We had a wonderful time exploring, but one particular shop stands out in our minds. 

The front of this little antique store was nondescript, yet very inviting. The exterior was plain, with only a script "Antiques and Collectables" sign drawing us in. There was no elaborate display like so many of the other shops, but rather it was the water damage, chipped paint, off center windows, and a collection of trinkets with piles of dusty artwork in the window that spoke to us.

As soon as we walked in, we knew this was the place for us. We explored the crowded walls and floor of the narrow shop. An eclectic mix of antiques were haphazardly arranged along the walls and stacked in corners. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason why each piece was in the store, other than the fact that the owner had found each interesting in some way, acquired them all at some point, and was looking for someone to buy them from him. The store felt claustrophobic with just five patrons and the owner. In our experience, this is the hallmark of a wonderful antique store! 

No fewer than two to five minutes in the store and we'd both spotted what we were there for, we just didn't know yet.

I snapped the photo above to show Wendy the "Cool cast iron fishing sign" I thought she'd like. But as I approached to show her the photo she looked back at me and said, "Did you see the sign that says 'Fishing'? I think it's perfect!" It was antique picking serendipity or a plain old "meet cute" of the antiquing variety.

We asked the store's owner for a price and he responded "100 Euro." We were on our way out of town, only had 95 Euro in our wallet, and he didn't take credit. It was also a lot more than we usually spend on home decor items, but we knew it was truly a conversation piece and would make for an amazing and unique souvenir. We tried to bargain him down but he wasn't budging. Not wanting to let this get away we scrounged through our pockets and bag and were able to come up with three more Euro. After delivering our "best and final" offer, we were met by a lengthly pause, then he reluctantly accepted the 98 Euro. We quickly closed the sale and walked out of his store proud owners of an antique cast iron Galway road sign, complete with authentic Irish grime and dirt! These signs are nothing short of iconic in Ireland. If you do a quick search online you'll fine plenty of place where you can get reproductions of their classic look all over the place. But very few places have the real thing, and this is the only one I've ever seen that advertises "Fishing."

Example sign from an eBay auction

Though we'd made the purchase that was only half the battle. We had a flight to catch the next day and the sign was too large to fit in our luggage. When we arrived at the airport we checked in at the United desk and asked how we should handle this large sign. "Could we carry it on the plane?" The check in desk felt it could be construed as a weapon (the most awkward weapon ever perhaps) and indicated we may have it seized if we tried to take it through security, so they helped us check it as luggage. Working with the extremely helpful staff, we wrapped the sign in newspaper, plastic, and tape (basically whatever we could get our hands on at that point) to withstand the journey. 

We were nervous we'd arrive home only to have a shattered road sign greeting us on the luggage belt, but the tape marked "Fragile" did its job and the beautiful sign arrived back in the states in one piece! 

Once we had this wonderfully rustic Irish sign on American soil, we had to figure out just what we wanted to do with it. We knew it would work beautifully in our Foursquare in helping direct our guests to the water, but just where we'd place it was unknown. Should it go in the dining room? Perhaps the hallway? 

We knew the arrow would need to point in the correct direction, but that was about it.

After some significant deliberation, we had that classic DIY "Ah-Ha!" moment. When we constructed our hallway built in bench with salvaged beadboard below our main staircase, we'd presented ourselves with the perfect opportunity. The sign could be mounted on the open area and would be visible from not only the hallway, but also the kitchen.

When it came to mounting it I didn't want to simply hang it on a few nails and call it a day. This sign is big, heavy, chunky, and has a ton of texture with the raised lettering and border. I wanted to take advantage of these details and accentuate the fact this that large sign had lived the majority of its life as a utilitarian directional road sign.

In order to add depth to the mount I devised a little wood mounting frame.

And since the sign was originally bolted onto a sign pole, I wanted to stay true to the roots of the sign and affixed it to the wood frame with stainless bolts.

But for mounting this right to the wall, while adding as few holes to the beadboard as possible, I put a few small mounting keyholes in the wood frame. This would allow us to easily slide the frame on and off of the screws, making it easy to remove in the event I need access to the secret panel for the crawlspace.

All said and done this little addition to our built in bench and beadboard nook is a true favorite aspect of our home. We still have a lot to do in this little hallway. Lots of plaster, paint, and putting in a beautiful antique cast iron register cover over the black air intake opening. But until then, the builtin bench area is looking really great.

The story behind the sign and how it came into our lives is a memory we'll always cherish. It's a unique aspect to our home that you'd be hard pressed to find in another home. And best of all, it serves a purpose. If you're ever over our house and want to know where to find the fishing, just glance at our hallway sign and you'll be on our way. Best of all, it applies whether you read English or Gaelic!

Read Full Post

That's right! We've been slowly working on this project since early 2015 and can finally say we're done! (Well, okay, 98% done.) But more importantly, we can also say we absolutely love it!

I mean, just look at the before from the very same angle!!

What a difference!

Over the last several weeks we've been sharing the major progress we've made when it comes to those final punch list items. All the while we've been loading in the furniture and decor that we've been patiently waiting to put to use. But this doesn't mean we haven't been sneaking peeks along the way.

Way back in late 2015, after the floors had been refinished but before we started work on the plaster, we actually moved the couch and rug we'd purchased into the shell of the living room to get a sense for how the space may end up looking.

Like any good long running project, we've both had a vision all along, and that little glimpse was just enough to confirm that we seemed to be headed in the right direction. And it was also a sufficient test to tell us that the small gray chairs we'd picked up for either side of the fireplace were going to be way too small. We knew it right away. Heck, Lulu even knew it right away.

Since that early test we kept working away on the room as well as several other projects. In that time we trudged ahead in the living room, we also finished the small downstairs bathroom and office, worked on many outdoor projects, and even started the hallway. But all of our work in the living room finally came to a head after we wrapped up painting and were able to move things into the room for real.

In these photos you'll notice that the fireplace mantel was a work in progress while we were getting the room ready. This was the plan all along and it was primarily because we really just couldn't wait any longer to start using the room.

On the day we finished painting I could not wait to start loading things into place. The faint smell of freshly dried paint hung in the air as we started moving in the first of the furniture destined for the room's "entry" area. 

The fact we have an "entry" area in this room is one of the interesting things about this room, simply because the dimensions of the room feel pretty massive. At 13 feet wide and over 30 feet long, it's the single largest room I've ever had the pleasure of decorating. But it also means that it can't really be treated as one room. Here's a reminder of my plan for this room.

As I mentioned in my room design post, we're actually treating this as three separate spaces. After the room's "entry," we have the main central living space, and then the reading nook with views out over the water. All of this space meant that I'd need my fair share of decor and accessories, a small hoard I'd been collecting over time. 

On the side opposite of the pine dresser, I placed a large plant in a natural basket and a large lantern that was a gift from my aunt. It certainly softened the space quite nicely. In truth, I really wanted a fiddle leaf fig for this corner, but after pricing them out (at almost $200 for a large one!), I decided that this $17 palm was a much better fit for my budget and my black thumb.

We also have two windows in the room on either side of the fireplace, and I wanted to layer my window treatments since they're south facing and get a lot of sunlight throughout the day. Here we used some lined bamboo roman shade blinds hung in each window.

The blinds I chose are one of the new offerings at Lowe's where you can have them custom cut to size right there in the store. I purchased the box, we made sure they looked good by holding them in the windows, then we packaged them back up exactly how they'd been packed before and took them back to the store to be cut. This is the first time I've used this service, and I must say, it was pretty cool how it works. We specified the measurements and the clerk in Lowe's put the whole box into a cutting drawer.

The machine then moved the box to the right locations based on our measurements, and a small circular saw made several small passes, cutting the ends of the box off and making the blinds exactly the size we needed.

It was a great way to get an inexpensive but still custom sized set of lined bamboo blinds.

To add an additional layer of softness to the windows I opted to hang inexpensive white IKEA panels on black target curtain rods. This gave the windows a layered look and added a good amount of texture in the room.

The day we were loading in the furniture was simply beautiful when it came to the weather, and we absolutely made the most of it.

The area near the French doors is a nice spot for a reading nook, so we placed a large chair and ottoman from Ballard Designs, a floor lamp from Target, and a cute side table from the Pottery Barn Outlet.

I hung a beautiful original painting in a lovely grey frame from HomeGoods of all places (who knew they sell original art?), and just love how it looks hanging above the chair on the wall. 

Everything about this room feels so wonderfully calming. We used a few of our own photos from around the house printed in black and white, hung in pre-matted frames also from HomeGoods. 

This is one of the most fulfilling projects we've ever completed. Everything looks just how we'd hoped back when we decided to remove the dividing wall from the room.

The openness of the room and natural light it receives, along with the views of the water, make it such a wonderfully peaceful setting. We also decided to replace the existing ceiling fan in this room with one that would better blend into the white ceiling. We looked for months to find the right one, and finally landed on this one from Hayneedle. We purchased an outdoor dining set from this site a few years back, and were really happy with their prices and quality of their merchandise. This fan is no exception. It's one of least offensive looking fans I've ever seen (I think we can all agree that ceiling fans aren't ever the design star in a room's design), and the color is a perfect match for the room.

The center sitting area against the shiplap behind the couch feels perfectly suited for the room. Just to the side of the couch is a marble topped antique table with cast iron base, a beautiful gift from a client of mine given to me when her Dad was downsizing. 

Behind the couch, the shiplap addition to disguise the support posts was the perfect decision for the room. Not only does it do a good job of covering an undesirable aspect of the room, it also breaks up what would otherwise be an expanse of grey wall.

I found the calming print hung above the couch at HomeGoods, and the antique trunk was a gift from Alex's parents. Alex grew up with that trunk in their living room, and when they recently redecorated this room, they were no longer using it, so we jumped at the chance to add it to our house.

The fireplace looks wonderfully at home in this room now that the mantel is a better size for the room. We're still shopping for the right chairs for either side of the fireplace (the reason the room is only 98% done), but we're not in a rush. We already purchased the wrong pair on final sale, so we've decided to take our time to ensure the next purchase is the right one for the space.

As you can probably tell from my description, we're very excited with how this turned out, and we absolutely can't wait to go back to the house and enjoy the room each weekend. 

This project has energized us for the work we'll be tackling this summer. We need to be sure to make time to relax and enjoy the home in addition to charging ahead with projects, but this is just the burst we need keep moving to transform the whole house into a relaxing getaway on the water! 

If you want to get caught up on our past living room posts to understand how we got to where we are today, here's the whole list.

• Removing a Load Bearing Wall to Create the Room of Our Dreams
• Ripping Off Drywall in Favor of Original Plaster
• Installing Shiplap Walls for Interest and to Disguise Unsightly Structural Support
• Mantel Madness: Choosing a New Design
• Plaster Restoration Next Steps Part 1: Base Coat with Structo-Lite
• Plaster Restoration Next Steps Part 2: Master of Plaster's Beautiful Lime Base Coat
• Plaster Restoration Part 3: Master of Plaster Finish Coat with No Sanding!
• The Art of Coping: Installing Reproduction Molding to Match the Original
• How Installing Two-Part Crown Molding Nearly Ended in Divorce
• Paint: How It's Never as Quick and Easy as the Television Shows Lead You to Believe 
• Our Living Room Design Plan
• A Custom DIY Fireplace Mantel Beneath Our Shiplap

Read Full Post

To recap, this all started rather innocently with an offer of assistance from my parents while we were back in Cleveland around Thanksgiving. They had some time available and wanted to help out with a project, but we didn't have anything they could work on at the time. On our drive back to DC Alex and I started brainstorming how we could find a project that matches their skill set, and that's when it hit us, our office is terrible!

We figured out a time that would work for my parents, and the very next weekend we went to work patching holes, cleaning, and readying the room in anticipation of them coming to put on a fresh coat of paint.

Alex is removing an old radiator pipe that was sticking out of the wall. Lovely!

Over the next several weekends my parents, Alex, and I worked to take this room from something I was embarrassed by and depressed to have as the first room we walked into...

...and worked to transform it into what could ultimately become my favorite room in the house.

Along the way, in true "Old Town Home" style, the project scope began to grow. (We're nothing if not consistent with blowing personal timelines and project scope.) What was initially just a quick coat of paint soon included new carpet to remove the stained and smelly old carpet, which was left damaged after we removed the baseboard radiators and the HVAC install was complete.

We also opted to replace the odd looking and unsafe handrail with a new custom newel post, handrail, and railing that should do a much better job of keeping people on the stairs where they want to be.

Finally, we'd reached the most fun and enjoyable part of the project (for me at least), deciding on a furniture layout, loading in the furniture, hanging art and accessories, and styling all of the shelves. In just a few short weeks we'd come a long way from wood filling nail holes that had gone unfilled for about 25 years...

...to pulling together a really nice room we could be proud of.

While we were working on everything I was actively brainstorming just how we'd be able to best use this room. We had a love seat in there for a while, but due to the five doorways (yes five), stairs, built in bookshelves, and a complicated traffic pattern, there's just not an effective place where you can place any larger seating without making the room unusable. As I got to thinking, primarily while we were in there working, I had a little idea.

I asked Alex what he thought about continuing to use this room as an office of sorts. Rather than try to create another large seating area, especially since we'll already have several in the house, why not make this into a room we can use as an office, but also in some ways resembles a welcome area or reception desk? After all, this house was a hotel in its previous life, and this has been our primary entrance and exit, so why not place a desk at the door and turn it into a small welcome area and shoe drop? We brought in the small table we had in the kitchen to get the feeling for the room as an office, and were happy with the concept and traffic flow.

After deciding a desk was pretty much exactly what we'd need in the space, we were both rather excited by this little epiphany. The traffic problem had been solved, purpose for the room decided, and we could shift to planning what actual furniture to use. At this point, rather than trying to find what I'd need to buy from a store, I started shopping the rest of the house. We had a small white desk from a friend we'd been using in the front guest room, and it would work perfectly in the space.

We placed the desk along with the antique chair Alex and I worked to refinish in high school just to the right as soon as you entered the room. Across from the desk we placed one of the small grey chairs we bought from the Restoration Hardware outlet about two years ago. It was originally destined for the living room, but its scale is far to small for that room. These two items were pretty much exactly what we needed and the room really started to come together.

When it came to wall decor I wanted to keep with the beachy and casual vibe I've been working on so far. I picked up a new mirror for less than $30 at TJMaxx, and pulled in a crab print in driftwood frame and small "Work Like a Captain, Play Like a Pirate" print, both previously purchased from Home Goods that we had hung in other rooms of the house. The pirate print a little cheesy, but I like the sentiment and it helps remind me of our goals with this house.

Though the walls and traffic flow/furniture placement in the room were settled, one of the more fun yet daunting tasks remained. The large built in shelves at the far end of the room were a blank canvas for decor. I absolutely love styling shelves, but it's one of those challenges where you must walk a very fine line between interesting and junkie.

Since these are bookshelves, I wanted to make sure we actually use them as bookshelves. But at the same time, I wanted those books to look aesthetically pleasing. The first thing I do when I'm trying to make a stack or row of books a bit more sophisticated is to remove my dust jackets from the books I'm using. When you do this you often go from a run of the mill looking book (or one that looks a little tattered in a torn jacket) to one that looks classicly fabric covered.

Who knew books about Star Wars and baseball uniforms could look so good!? I also like to sort books by color, so the overall effect is one of color blocks and therefore isn't so busy.

The next step is to begin choosing various other items to place on or near the books on the shelves. I try to stick with common light colors, clear glass objects, or items that are generally not particularly visually heavy.

I also really enjoy using books or decor that has some sentimental value, like The Farm and Home Handy-Man, one of many classic home improvement books given to us by my grandfather as well as a cookbook that was given to my grandmother for Christmas 1930 when she was just four years old.

Or a replica of a nearly 4000 year old Egyptian hippo named William. We saw the actual artifact while on vacation in Austria several years ago, and Alex loved it so much that he couldn't resist buying a replica. Now our "William" replica will sit proudly atop our home's guestbook on our "welcome desk."

Closer to home and more recent history, we're using some of the many glass liquor bottles we've unearthed while digging in our yard. I like to think of hotel guests hanging out under a cherry tree in the yard, enjoying a beverage on a hot day. (And lucky for us, they opted to just throw their bottles in the yard for discovery a century or so later.)

I cleaned them up and neatly arranged them near a cocktail recipe book.

Arranging everything on the shelves is something that can take a little extra time and patience in order to really get it right. You need to work with it and figure out what works and what doesn't, what looks balanced vs what looks junky or lopsided. I usually keep tweaking things for a little while until it feels just right. In this case since the bookcase openings are symmetrical, I tried to mimic that same balance of weight, color, and height of the objects.

Before I'm done I try to soften things up a little by adding a little bit of fresh greenery or flowers. Since we're in the midst of winter I just went out to the yard and clipped some fresh greens off of one of our yard's trees. 

Before we could say we were done with the room there were still a few hardware finishing touches we needed to apply, such as the stripped cast iron rim lock rosette, key escutcheon, and porcelain knob to the utility room. (We also replaced that missing linoleum tile as soon as you walk into the utility room, a casualty of when the house froze and flooded in 2015. We know there is original beautiful pine flooring beneath the tile and subfloor, but for now, we'll make do with what's there.)

When all was said and done, the dark, dingy, and slightly odd smelling room...

...had given way to a welcoming and bright space. The fresh coats of paint, removal of the valances on the doors, new handrail and newel post, new carpeting, and decor transformed this room from something I hated, to something that I truly love! 

This room that I was embarrassed by when it sported a stained carpet, yellow walls, baseboard heaters, and stadium mustard wainscoting and trim...

...is now my favorite room in the house. I can't wait for guests to see it as the first room of the house, especially because it will suggest how we hope the rest of the house will eventually look.

The random bells near the ground, streaked wainscoting paint, phone jack on the wall, unsafe handrail, and paint covered closet door hardware are all things of the past.

Now we no longer have holes in the walls, baseboard radiators no longer interrupt the classic beadboard high gloss wainscoting. And one of my favorite aspects of the room is the new newel post and how much better it looks in the room.

When guests used to arrive this is the view they were greeted with. As you can see, it wasn't the most welcoming reception.

Today our guests will arrive to our home and will be greeted by our lovely reception desk. This room also serves as a pass through to the first floor bathroom, which we completed last year.

Now we won't claim that we're 100% complete and finished with this room. We've made the decision to replace the ceiling fan in the room with a light fixture, we just haven't found the right one quite yet. We're also replacing all of the switches in the room with some Smarthome switches, but then we'll be 100% complete in this room, and it feels so good!

We both absolutely love how everything turned out. And while this may not be the end-all-be-all in this room, it looks pretty great until we get to the next project in this room many years from now. 

Best of all, when guests arrive in our home this is the first thing they will see. It will set the mood for the whole experience visiting our home and this is something we can now be very proud of. And to think, none of this would have happened if my amazing parents hadn't been the catalyst for the project by offering up their help. Thanks, Mom and Dad! 

Read Full Post

Alex and I recently hosted a scotch tasting and dinner party at our house during Alexandria's Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend. The weekend celebrates Alexandria's Scottish heritage, as the city was named for Scotsman John Alexander, an original founder of the city and owner of much of its land. The weekend features a festive parade, a holiday tour of homes (here's a look back to when our home was on the tour lineup), a heather and greens sale, and many more yule tide and Scottish inspired festivities. Hands down, it's our favorite weekend of the year in Alexandria, and in our household, officially marks the start of the Christmas season.

Getting ready for the party seemed a bit overwhelming, because it not only meant preparing for a dinner event, but it also meant making sure our home was properly decked out for the holidays. We had a tree to buy and decorate...

...exterior window wreaths to hang...

...and miscellaneous touches to ensure our home was properly festive.

So when it came to designing our table for the event, I didn't have a lot of time or energy to spare. That's where less than $10.00 in grocery store flowers came to the rescue. 

Focusing on the tablescape as a whole and keeping in mind the theme of the weekend, I knew I wanted to use tartan to decorate our table, while keeping in mind the somewhat rustic Highlands of Scotland. To balance off the pattern of the tartan and add a rustic texture, I set the table with a base "tablecloth" of burlap and topped it with two tartan runners, all of which we had on hand thanks to when we participated in the home tour. 

While the intent is to keep the feeling somewhat Highlands rustic, we also want it to feel like a sophisticated event. As a result, It's one of the few, if only nights of the year, we break out our wedding china and stemware (largely due to the fact it isn't dishwasher safe). Our china is a simple white pattern with a platinum edge, which I paired with white dinner napkins and silver chargers.

I didn't want the centerpiece to compete with the tartan runners, and also didn't want a floral centerpiece to be so tall it physically interfered with conversation. So I opted to use two matching low glass vases I had on hand, along with a simple yet elegant color palette of green and white. I purchased two bunches of flowers at our local grocery store -- a dozen white roses and a small cluster of green berries. 

In order to bulk up the arrangement, I added in some fresh cut greenery from our yard as well as a few trimmed lower branches from our Christmas tree. (Tip: I've found that if you don't have enough of your own trimmed branches on hand, many times businesses selling Christmas trees are happy to give you any of their extra cuttings at no charge. I then use these branches for mantel decor, arrangements around the house, exterior decorations, etc.)

I set out to create two identical centerpieces, so I began by trimming and then arranging six roses in each vase.

I make sure I trim off some of the leaves to keep them all above the water, but I leave those on above the water line for fullness and color. 

After I had the roses arranged the way I wanted them, I repeated the process with the berries and fresh greenery so that the two centerpieces were the mirror images of each other, and put them on the table with a few tea lights around them.

All in all, I am really happy with how the centerpieces came together both on their own and as part of the table setting. At less than $5.00 each and five minutes of effort to put them together, I'd call it a win.

The evening was a ton of fun, and the entire night served as a lovely kickoff for the holiday season. 

It was a great excuse to don kilts (yes, three of the four men present were wearing them!), enjoy the company of friends and neighbors, sample delicious food and whiskey, and celebrate the season.

Read Full Post