One Room Challenge - My Hall Bath Reveal

It's done!  For the most part.  I know you're visiting lots of blogs today so I'll be light on the words and heavy on the photos.

Before we get to the "after" shots, I thought I'd share a photo of my hall bath when we bought our house 3 years ago.

Not so cute. And while we did tear out and replace the tile in the bathtub surround and the floor before we moved in, our little makeover stalled out until the One Room Challenge came around.

So, though the magic of wallpaper, paint, a little vision and the husband's renovation skills, I'm thrilled to share my hall bath "after" photos with you!

 I repurposed an antique buffet I've had for a while but had no use for until we decided to transform it into a bathroom vanity.  We only lost the use of the top drawer so not only is the piece unique, it offers plenty of storage. 

I'm so proud of myself for getting this shot (above).  I literally set the timer on my camera, held it against the opposite wall and hoped for the best.  But wait, first take a moment to bask in the glory of that flame mahogany.  So gorgeous!

The shower curtains and valance were made from off the rack curtain panels.  We added grosgrain trim to the curtain panels and my workroom made the valance out of a third panel. The bamboo shade came with me from a former house.  Lucky fit!  The palm frond chandelier is vintage - I painted it gold myself.

So you know how I love a good mix, right?  Since my buffet/vanity (buffity?) is so classic, I wanted to contrast that with a little bit of mod, and I knew this mirror would be perfect. Isn't it though?  It was dark wood when I bought it but I sprayed it gold then painted over that with Liquid Leaf.  

Thanks to all of your input I decided against the vessel sink, because lots of you warned me that they were not so user-friendly - so in this case functionality won out.  I went with a polished chrome faucet because it's timeless and transcends trends.

And I love the little glimpses of my antique mirror wall. 

Most everything in this shot I've had.  The stag sconce is antique.  I've had it for at least 5 years but never could find the right place for it.

The turquoise lamp is vintage too.  Floor tile is readily available from the shelves of Home Depot and it's budget friendly.  I chose it because I like how clean the white looks in a bathroom and the geometric pattern feels old and new at the same time. The wallpaper is Brunschwig & Fils Le Grand Palais.

Thanks for taking the time to visit today.  I'd love to know what you think about my bathroom makeover!

Thank you to Linda for creating and hosting the One Room Challenge.  You can find links to all of the participants here and here.

The Green  Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

One Room Challenge Week 4 - A Little More Progress

Welcome to this week's installment of the One Room Challenge.  In case you're not familiar, this is the event created by Linda from Calling It Home where participants make over the room of their choice in six weeks sharing their progress once a week along the way. I have been linking up with the makeover of my hall bathroom.  Week 4 is always tough,  and I feel like I haven't completed nearly as much as I had hoped to at this point.  

Remember last week when I shared that I was planning to do a wall of antiqued mirror tiles behind my vanity?  The good news is I got all of the mirrors successfully antiqued and I'm  pretty happy with how they turned out.

The not so good news is that we haven't had a chance to install the tiles on the wall yet.  :-( .

In other news, the wall repair has been a huge undertaking.  There has been sanding and more sanding followed up by more sanding. And you know how awful that superfine sheet rock dust is. My husband came out of the bathroom on Sunday looking like a powdered donut.

Here's something positive. The box molding has been added to the lower third of the walls (Yay)

and I'm thinking that rather than painting it out white, I'm may just paint  the wainscoting a shade of blue that's slightly darker than the blue in the wallpaper.

Benjamin Moore Buxton Blue in particular.  What do you think about that idea?  Do you like the idea of painting the wainscoting blue or would you paint it white?

I'm also struggling with whether to go with a vessel sink or a drop-in sink for my antique piece turned bathroom vanity.  Originally I had planned go with a drop-in sink but after consulting with Professor Pinterest, I think the vessel sinks look so much better in this situation. Look:

Don't you agree?  I think the vessel sink looks so much better.  

This is all of the progress I have to share with you today.  Things should really start to come together next week (really!) as the mirror wall will be installed, the rest of the trim will be installed and painted, and I'm hoping to get the paper up and the vanity placed. It's an ambitious list.

Say a quick prayer for me and be sure to tune in next Thursday.  To find the links to all of the other participants, click  here and  here .

One Room Challenge Week 3 - Not Pretty Yet

Hello and welcome back!  Today I have a little update for you on the progress of my hall bathroom makeover as part of  The One Room Challenge Linking event - the one where participating bloggers make over a room in 6 weeks posting weekly updates along the way.

I've made a little progress in my bathroom and unfortunately it's not the type of progress where the pretty has started to happen.  It's the kind where we've done more of the behind the scenes work that will allow us to layer on the pretty.

You may recall my bathroom still had the original 1972 vanity complete with it's limey green cultured (fake) marble top. Well, that thing is so out of here!

and soon will be replaced by this old sideboard as new vanity.

That's the best pic I could get since it's currently somewhat buried in my holding area. And no, the flame mahogany will most definitely not be painted upon.

But before the buffet/vanity can get installed, I've got to finish up this project-let that's underway

Those are 12x12 mirror tiles purchased from The Home Depot that I'm attempting to antique so they'll look something like this.

If all goes according to plan, this antique mirror wall will be happening on the wall behind my vanity.

So that's all I have to share today. I'm feeling a little nervous about our slow progress thus far, but I'm determined to get this finished up in time for the reveal in three weeks!  

Thanks for checking in on my progress and please make sure you visit the other participants too!  You can find links to all of the projects on our hostess Linda's blog here and here.

Follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

Favorites from Wisteria

I don't often get to look through all of the home decor catalogs I get in the mail - and there are lots of them! Even when I'm sourcing things for a particular project I don't always have the time to browse everything that is offered by online retailers.  It could have been the colors on the cover that drew me in to this particular catalog.

In any case, I'm glad I decided to have a look because there are so many things I would love to have in my own home or use in other projects.

Like the Bonswara side table.  The beauty is in the simplicity of its form and that honed marble finish.  Mind you, it's not inexpensive but this is a piece you'll buy and keep forever.

Iron Chinese Chair

A work of art.  I'd love to flank a console with a pair of these in an entryway.  

Laurel Leaf Mirror

This mirror has a Dorothy Draper-esque feel to it.  I can see it over the sinks in a simple white bathroom.

Acrylic Floating Bracket

Only about a thousand things you could use these for: a collection of blue & white porcelain, foo dogs, blanc de chine, agates, brass animals, porcelain birds, celadon pottery - anything you can think of.  They hold up to 30 pounds.

What do you think? Any favorites here or have you seen something else I need to know about.

Happy Monday!! 

The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services to happy homeowners in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

Learn more about The Green Room Interiors design services by visiting our website here.

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Client Entry Before and After - in Neutrals

Hello out there readers of design blogs!  Today I have a postlet to share with you of a recent foyer makeover.  This is one of the "afters" because I think it best to open things up with some pretty.

So now we'll back up to where it all began.

The thing is my clients' home is at the top of a mountain on the most gorgeous wooded lot, and we didn't think this particular arrangement honored the natural loveliness of its surroundings. Although the console table was a step in the right direction, the three shelves with the two mirrors and chairs felt busy.

My clients wanted something rustic and sophisticated.  And they did not want to repaint the walls.

Sorry for this horrifically blurry shot, but its the only one I have the shows the "before" of the feature art piece painted by my client's son.  I immediately knew we should make this painting the focal point of the long wall of the entry.  I had the painting reframed with a wider creamy white mat and a simple black frame for a cleaner, more updated look. (see below)

Here's what else.  We added some whitewashed planks to the aforementioned long wall, hung that pretty painting, put a long chunky console table under it and styled the whole thing up. With some nature-inspired stuff like those twigs I got out of their side yard. And, to keep the look from going all Cracker Barrel on us, we added some modern glam with that amazing Drexel Heritage glass prism lamp and crisp white accessories. 

We also painted the French Doors to the outside living area a rich charcoal gray, which we repeated in the family room on the book cases and exterior doors.  It gives them such presence, doesn't it?

Before

 In this slightly wider shot, you can see we also replaced the fussy wool rug with a black & white cowhide.  Oh how I love it!  And we replaced the generic chandelier with something a little more whimsical. A tall leaner mirror further simplifies the look and is perfect for checking out your head to toe look before heading out the door.

And that's the end!  Thanks for stopping by and having a look.  And did you know if you were following me on Instagram then you would have already seen it? Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and on Facebook!

Top 5 Items for Styling (that you already have)

And so yet another week of way way way below normal temps are expected around here for the majority of this week.  And that means lots of time spent indoors. And that means lots of opportunity to really study your decor and maybe start to think you want to change things up a bit.  This happens to you, I'm sure!  And maybe you don't want to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff to get a new look at home.  Not to worry!  Here are my top 5 items that you already own that you can use to freshen up your place.

1. Bottles.  I love to decorate with bottles.  See photo of my kitchen below.

Would you believe there are 4 bottles in just this photo?  Limoncello bottle on bottom shelf, small blue bottle on middle shelf, blue wine bottle on windowsill, and wine bottle behind fruit on countertop. More bottles have been added since this photo too.

Wine bottles also make good vases

and candleholders

2.  Books.  We all have them.  They're great for adding texture and for propping things upon.

In my kitchen I used a small collection of cookbooks to style my kitchen counter (and more bottles if you look to the far left in this photo).

In the photo above, I used books to add some height and texture to my bust planter.

And I used a collection of books to style my skirted table.

3.  Candlesticks.  I like a mismatched set placed in front of a mirror for maximum impact.

Image above from Pinterest

4.  Bowls.  Of something.  It helps if its a cute bowl and you put something cool in it.

Image from Pinterest

Like a bowl of photographs or a big bowl of sea shells.

5.  Mirrors.  I love them and I'm always looking for ways to work in another mirror.  Layering is the answer.  Behold.

3 images above found on Pinterest

And there you have it!  What's your go-to styling item that you like to use?

The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services to happy homeowners in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to experience the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

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Pimp My Dollhouse - With My Interior Life

Hello again friends!  Today is Monday and you know what that means.  It's "Pimp My Dollhouse" day!  My guest today is Kathy from My Interior Life. 

 Are you familiar?  I thought so!  I'm very excited to have Kathy's participation.  Not only is she a fellow Tennessee blogger, but she has the most extraordinary talent for uncovering some highly coveted vintage finds.  And then styling them in the most fabulous way. 

Kathy's dining room.  Need I say more?

In case you're not familiar with the Pimp my Dollhouse Series, I've invited some favorite bloggers/friends to come up with a plan for my living and dining room using 4 things I know I want to incorporate into the space.

They were told that they had an unlimited budget to work with, that I wanted a colorful and sophisticated space, and that I love Chinoiserie.  The rest is up to my guest posters!

Anyway, I absolutely love love L O V E what Kathy put together for me.  You will too.  Here's Kathy:

Hi, everyone! I'm Kathy from My Interior Life, and I'm so excited Kim invited me over to help her "pimp" out her dollhouse living room and dining room. Working with Kim's existing pieces and knowing her love of color, pattern and traditional/mod gave me a great direction. Plus, we all know she loves some good Chinoiserie pieces. Starting in the living room, I was inspired by her green velvet sofa. I immediately thought of Tory Burch's green living room . . .

And another room designed by Jeffrey Bilhuber . . . 

I thought it would be sophisticated and rich to paint her living room walls the same saturated tone as her sofa . . .

Since Kim is not afraid of color and I know she loves green and yellow from the fabrics and accents she's used in other rooms in her home, I decided to go for it in the living room and make it into a little jewel box. Also, since it's not a room she uses every day, I decided to amp up the drama a little and give her a great geometric area rug and a beautiful Coromandel screen with a colorful pagoda scene. The brass lamps tie in with the gold in her wheat sheaf table, and the yellow and blue furniture and accents play off the colors in her fabric which I used for pillows on the sofa. With all the color in the room, I decided to go simple with cream or white drapery panels with a little Greek Key trim. 

What better way to transition from the yellow and green in the living room than to lead into a beautiful De Gournay-wallpapered dining room (it's great working with no budget, right)? With such a bright space, I tempered it with black cabinets, black Klismos chairs and black and gold knot mirrors. I brought in a few modern accents with the brass and black Sciolari chandelier and the brass Mastercraft host and hostess chairs in a beautiful blue velvet. The blue chairs and accessories also complement the blue in her Chinoiserie fabric which I used on the Klismos chair seats. A little Asian influence in the burl wood credenza and Blanc de Chine goddess lamps ties in with the Chinoiserie-themed hand-painted wallpaper. I chose to use the same drapes in the dining room to create a sense of continuity between the two rooms. 

Thank you so much, Kim, for inviting me to participate in your series. I had such fun with your "sky's the limit" budget. I hope you enjoyed my interpretations of your space and furnishings!

Jaw-droppingly gorgeous, right?  So many individual elements I love in her plan - like the Klismos chairs, the knot mirrors, the cormandel screen.  And what?  De Gournay?!?  In yellow?!?!?  I die.  But I think even greater than the individual elements is the "look" as a whole. It sophisticated, it's dramatic, it's completely lovely!

Kathy, thanks for Pimping My Dollhouse. I'm making notes!

What do you like best about Kathy's plan?

The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services to happy homeowners in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed  home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com