Holtwood Hipster

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

New Entryway Tile

Over the years, every house endures a new stage of life - be it through new occupants or renovations alone. We bought Holtwood House both for and in spite of all of the idiosyncrasies that come with those various life stages. It's funny, but walking into the house on that first tour, I looked down at the original, 1960's grimy, avocado green glazed ceramic tile in the entryway and I think it struck me as "cool". Original details usually pique the interest of a buyer like myself who was looking to purchase an older home. It wasn't too long after purchasing that I started to rethink that cool tile - partly because it never really looked clean, but also because I was trying to work in a lighter, more modern palette and the dark, dated tile in the entryway always bore such a challenging contrast to all the progress around it.

We battled it for 5 years, largely based on budget and other renovation priorities. We tried distracting away from it with colorful artwork and covered it up with rugs and furnishings. I actually even painted it out once in my most epic DIY fail to date (please don't even think of doing this - just don't) and inevitably had to scrape all of the paint off it to live with it yet another year. I have to admit we even thought about coating over it with feather finish to give it an industrial warehouse type look. Obviously I was getting a bit desperate.

Once we decided that we would finally make this a priority in 2015, we waffled between a colorful polished concrete and tile - eventually landing on the latter. We shopped various tile styles and budgets for our roomy 100sq. feet of entry and eventually made the decision to purchase an inexpensive plank style from Home Depot.

We played around with different layouts right there on the showroom floor and in the end, decided to lay it in a herringbone pattern. A light gray grout complimented it nicely and will save us from scrubbing out stains that will eventually come in an entryway had we gone with a bright white.

What a difference it makes walking through the front door or looking on from adjacent rooms. It brightened up our tunnel-like entry so much. I also can't help but be amazed at how all of those furnishings that once clashed, now settled in and became part of the overall landscape of the space, the way they were always intended to.

*Tile is Marazzi 'VitaElegante Grigio' available at Home Depot

Grout is 'Delorean Gray'

Recent Event Work // Strawberry Dessert Bar

Chocolate covered strawberries can get a corny reputation- often synonymous with really only one holiday - Valentine's Day. That seems such a sad and unfortunate missed opportunity to indulge in one of the easiest, tastiest and even somewhat healthy sweet treats! For one- February is not even peak strawberry season so while you're feeding perfectly red, large stemmed berries to your Valentine, they are surely some hothouse grown specimen purchased from a restaurant dessert cart at a premium. I say, right now is best time to dip and enjoy those berries.

So it was no wonder then that I recommended a strawberry bar when asked to create a dessert station for a recent engagement party.

Our grocery had just received their first shipments of local berries plucked right from the field- many of which were giant sized and perfect for dipping. I set out to make 4 dozen dipped and rolled in various toppings to give the guests variety and the presentation some visual variation. This could not have been easier friends (nor more fun!). I presented them on tiered platters and a bed of shiso leaves which kept things looking bright and fresh.

Looking to do the same (and you should!)- here's my hot tip: Use your microwave to melt your chocolate. The trick is to heat it at 50% power for 90 seconds. The chips won't look like they are melted at first, but stir them up. If you still find you need a little more melting time - again heat at 50% power for 10 second intervals. Full power will surely burn the chocolate. I also found that Ghiradelli now makes "melting chips" akin to those little fondue fountain disks you see. They work great and offer a low risk option to your dipping chocolate.

I also added a little flair to the adjoining coffee station. Remember these mineral decanters I made for our home bar? I used them to create a flavored creamer presentation. Sometimes you have to sell the coffee- especially at a celebration where signature his/hers cocktails were flowing until the wee hours of the next morning.

The One Room Challenge // Week 6 Reveal

With another One Room Challenge 6-week design marathon now complete, I am happily revealing my husband's newly made over home office. Folks, this was a nail biter, subject to late night electrician work and a last minute design change in the final hours of this challenge. In the end, I shut my eyes last night feeling very good about the space I created and grateful that the end result was just as I had envisioned.

Some shout outs before we really dig into the big reveal. Thank you to Linda of Calling it Home for once again organizing such a fun and inspiring event. I'm grateful for not only the opportunity to make new friends through this event, but also for the motivation to complete another room in the home we've been painstakingly renovating for nearly 5 years now. Over various seasons, that's three rooms completed now because I had a 6 week deadline and didn't want to fall on my face out there in blog land.

Also a big shout out to the last minute crew that showed up last night to make sure I didn't: Ryan "The Electrician" who helped trick out the lighting situation with a dimmable wall sconce and Kyle for "project managing". Also, thank you to the dude who added his muscles to some of the heavier projects in this space and worked for 6 weeks at the kitchen table with nary a complaint.

As a reminder of where we started from, see the unfinished, boring before here.

To add visual interest to our standard white box room, a faux brick focal wall was added and painted "Nightfall" by Benjamin Moore. Adjacent walls were brightened up with BM "White Dove". Shelves were built and hung to showcase my husbands collectables. I tricked out some IKEA curtain panels and the old aluminum window frame was painted black to mimic steel case windows. I also built a desk from scratch, including my first solid wood table top.

Previously poorly showcased and unnoticed in the room, many of the accessories came from what we already had on hand. I also hosted a big 40th birthday bash recently for my husband and in preparation for that, collected some new pieces that made their way into his office. A trip to the flea market over the weekend turned up this set of steel drawers, remnants of an old library card catalog. It actually has several more pieces that form a tower that I'll use to help organize another space.

We didn't get to replacing the door and hardware just yet. I decided to swap those out when we are ready to do so with the doors in the adjacent two rooms so we can tackle that project all at once. Likewise, my lighting selections DID arrive on time. However, a late design change had us sticking to the original industrial pendant as the room sort of grew around this piece and the new one just didn't match up.

The new sconce was hung over the artwork facing my husband's desk. Thankfully this piece arrived on time and was installed just under the wire on the eve of the reveal.

Aside from the fact that it's a more inspiring place to do paperwork from each day, the happiest outcome of this work space makeover is that it also created a space that my husband can retreat to for some time on his own. It gets the most amazing morning sun and overlooks the vegetable garden right outside that window. I think it's important to have a little corner in our shared home that is meant for each of us to grab some alone time when needed. This space is perfectly suited as an area where he can listen to music or just reflect.

So that brings another round of The One Room Challenge to a close. Be sure to stopover and see all of the jaw dropping reveals by over 150 bloggers this week over at Calling it Home.

Week 1 // The 'Before'

Week 2 // The Plan

Week 3 // Demo + Progress

Week 4 // The Calm Before the Storm

Week 5 // Projects

The One Room Challenge // Week 5

It's Thursday! So that means we just closed out Week 5 of The One Room Challenge, a trademarked room makeover event I'm participating in along with 150+ bloggers. This is the third time I've participated in the event, hosted by Linda of Calling it Home. Link back to see my previous room reveals for Fall '14 and Spring '14.

I'm happy to report that there was a lot of progress made on my husband's office makeover this week. Recall, my plan is to infuse some spirit into a room that had largely been previously left unattended to pick up any odds and ends that did not fit elsewhere in the house. This room is shaping up to be a truly modern industrial masculine retreat where he can be inspired as he works from his home office.

I just completed one of the biggest projects scheduled for this particular makeover. I mean, talk about taking it down to the wire for a Week 5 update. I just turned this baby right side up in the wee hours of the night to finally see the fully finished desk I built from scratch. Well... ok, I had a little help from my friends. Cut to NINE separate trips to Home Depot to wrap this one up. I also borrowed my husband's muscles for help tightening all the pipe fittings.

The base of the table was built from galvanized plumbing pipe, sprayed black. I went with a 1 1/4" pipe for the version I drafted. If I had to do it over again, I might have gone with the 1" pipe as it would have been a little easier to work with (these pipes are cumbersome and heavy folks!). When you get your pipe cut by Home Depot, they will automatically thread it for you as well so that you can screw it together with your joints, caps and flanges. I read up tons before I attempted this project and knew going in that the threading would be my biggest obstacle. It takes some maneuvering to make sure you end up with the same height on all four legs. My initial measurements also landed me with a counter-height table, so those pipes had to be re-cut. Luckily, the guys at Home Depot were happy to oblige. Lots of learnings on this one.

For every challenge, there is also a success. I am so proud of my first solid table top, built from five separate pieces of lumber I had cut down at my local mill. I glued it up, filled, sanded and stained it before finishing it with poly to absorb all the wear and tear my husband will undoubtedly give it in the years to come. This is solid my friends and smooth as but-tah! I tested various stains and was really happy with the warm hues in Varathane's 'Provincial'.

Likewise, I made some progress on the shelving system that will eventually showcase my husband's collectibles. Rather than use the MDF typically paired up with this simple rack and bracket system, I had 12" shelves cut to the lengths I needed and then sanded and stained them to compliment the desk.

Finally, the window treatment is now complete. I hacked my favorite go-to Ikea curtains with some grosgrain ribbon at the base. I went with the off-white to keep things bright and clean against the contrasting charcoal brick wall. Using some fusible fabric tape and my trusty measure, I had these babies hung in just 2 hours. From where I sit, when you're running fast and furious in a 6-week design marathon, it's always nice to throw a quick results project into the mix for continued motivation.

Can you believe it? The reveal is just one week from today! Be sure to check back next week to see the finished design in its entirety. I have a hard time keeping a secret though and you'll likely see some sneak peeks over the weekend on Instagram. Are you following along?