More Powder Room Thoughts…

Half Bath

I am still in love with this photo. However, upon further inspection of the half bath this past Saturday- did I mention we stopped by the house last Saturday and cut some walls open and lifted some ceiling tiles to peek around? – I realized how small the half bath actually is. There’s really no room for any sort of vanity. Good thing since Jared vetoed my last vanity choice.

So I’ve been searching for alternatives to a plain pedestal sink since that doesn’t say rustic industrial to me and I found a couple great options on Pinterest.

sinks

But with the no vanity comes no storage. Not that I need or want a lot in a small half bath but it would be nice to have a TP stash. These floating shelf options could work.

shelf

Throw in a barn light, a round mirror, and some J.R. Watkins soap and you’ve got yourself a half bath baby! P.S. I’m in love with J.R. Watkins soaps and lotions. They are all natural and smell soooooo good! I highly recommend the Lemon Cream scent. Yum!

JR-Watkins-2

Paint Picks

Paint colors seem to be a popular search topic that are bringing people to this blog. So if you searched a paint color today and it brought you here… welcome!

I have a pretty good idea of my paint colors but here are some of my favorites. This post features all Benjamin Moore simply because they seem to have so many great resources available- an app for viewing paint colors in your room, Candice Olsen’s favorites, this awesome post from South Shore Decorating Blog, and tons more painted rooms on Pinterest!

So here are my favorites! I’m thinking hands down it’s got to be Revere Pewter for the foyer, living, dining, and kitchen. The whole first floor will have this light neutral with huge chunky satin white trim.

houzz rp

houzz rp3

houzz rp2

And in the mudroom, I’d like to paint all the built in cubbies, closets, and benches a putty color like this Chelsea Grey color.

chelsea

But to keep it light and airy, I’d like to paint the walls in the mudroom a bright blue green. Maybe this Palladian color.

palladia

palladia

Then there’s the little half bath. The plan is white wainscoting up half the wall and the rest painted a deep navy. Even love the name: Evening Sky.

navy

And I know second floor is a second priority but I do want to get our bedroom squared away before we actually move in. Our bedding and furniture is all white (shocking, I know) so I’d like to paint the walls a dark sand color. It’ll have a subtle beachy feel without being tacky. This Texas Leather color is cozy!

texas-leather color

Texas-Leather

What are some of your favorite paint colors?

Our Life… Instagrammed

I read A LOT of blogs. Mostly home design and DIY project blogs but a fair amount are just lifestyle blogs. Usually written by a young woman in the same stage of life I am. Either they are focused on fashion or home keeping or new husbands or new babies. But they are all fantastic and I’ve grown quite attached to all these ladies especially Sydney at The Daybook (read her here) and Chelsea at Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles (read her here).

I can only hope to get to their sort of blogger status but for now, I’m taking a cue from all my blogger buddies and adding this “Our Life… Instagrammed” feature.

Not sure how often I’ll post my Instagram photos but they are a fabulous way to capture a great day or week or moment in time. Great, now I have Whitney Houston stuck in my head. Sing it with me as you peruse our life this month through Instagram photos…

One! Moment in tiiiimme…

instagram11. Driving home early from work to close on our house | 2. Our new house! | 3. Me and my hubby | 4. Shopping for bathroom fixtures | 5. Our new house (again!) | 6. Shopping for lighting.

The Littlest Man

Today I just wanted to share these gorgeous photos of my newest nephew Ezekiel taken by Thamer Photography Studios.

Zeke 3

Zeke 1

Zeke 2

And of course Zeke’s gorgeous parents Jeremy & Laura…

Swansons1

Salvage Style

Jared and I watched a marathon of West End Salvage on HGTV this weekend. We typically start weekend mornings with coffee, steel cut oats, and HGTV- it’s a fabulous combination and I highly recommend it. But this Saturday, after an early morning of bath showrooms with our cousin Nick, we vegged out in front of the TV sort of napping and sort of watching West End Salvage.

West End Salvage

West End Salvage is a show on HGTV about a store in Iowa and the people that work there. They buy unique items from “pickers” that they sell in their store or turn into unique pieces of art or furniture.

typewriter

doors

coffee table

When we were in Richmond, there was an architectural salvage yard called Caravati’s Inc. that we loved! It was much more of a warehouse with rows of doors and windows and banister spindles than a combination of found pieces and antiques but it was so fun to walk around. Anyone with an appreciation for architecture and design would be blown away by these type of stores.

So far I’ve only heard of two in this area. Restoration Resources in Boston and Architectural Salvage Inc. in Exeter, NH. Hopefully, Jared and I can get to those in the next few weeks. I’d love to find something local with a story for the house. Something like these…

pulley

jug

box

lantern

My mum and aunts and grandmother always shopped for antiques when I was little but they were more “collectors.” They would scour the antique stores by our cottage in New Hampshire for Nippon, Waterford Crystal, and Hummels. I’m more interested in the rustic/industrial stuff like barn doors, old jugs and crates, and anything that could be turned into furniture or actually used.

I think it’s one thing to display antiques, it’s another to put them to good use. One of my favorite memories is of Christmas Day at my Mimi & Grampy’s house. Mimi would serve a beautiful fruit salad for dessert and we actually ate it our of her small, lovely Nippon bowls. It’s so frozen in my mind I can actually remember how it felt to scrape my spoon gently across the fine, hand painted porcelain. I’d love to give my own kids and grandkids that kind of memory.