The Renewed Home

August 9, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

A reproduction vintage alarm clock perched on my coastal design books make for great bedside reading!

Post before last, I blogged about having to re-design my downstairs in order to accommodate being able to care for my special needs dog. I had to move the master bedroom downstairs so that I wouldn’t have to physically carry her up and down stairs during the night as she weighs 47 pounds. The truth is that I love the new downstairs. Creating a bedroom that has adequate clothing storage on any day is a good day in an old house. After living out of plastic storage containers in a small guest room, the day I completed the re-design was an over-the-top good day. It is the little things, some times, that mean the most.

True to my word, here are the “after” photos. What used to be a television room, is now my master bedroom. All-in-all, a great improvement. If I were forced to critique one thing, it would be that this room is a pass through to two other parts of the house. But, we who love old houses, learn to accept the quirks in exchange for a time worn interior. A more than fair trade in my book.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

xoxo

Cindy

Before

You will see a number of navigational markers with the decorative items that are given new life in the new Master Bedroom.

Den.

Den.

Den.

AFTER

A reading nook with a comfortable old wicker chair and lamp is perfect for curling up with a good book.

An old quilt, pillows made from vintage fabric and a ambient lighting make this one cozy bedroom.

This, believe it or not…is the only closet in the house and I don’t even use it for storing clothing!

A basket in the corner with a vintage basket cover is a great place to keep extra blankets and quilts.

I formerly used this cabinet to house a television, it now is used for clothing storage in lieu of a dresser.

This lovely white, weathered armoire doubles as my closet.

Can you pick out the two Pottery Barn market items? The poet’s lantern on the left is vintage PB and the mercury glass task lamp is a new item.

A small table is the perfect fit for this little space.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: antique, antique wicker, barn, bed, bedroom, chair, cottage, country, french, master, master bedroom, pottery, pottery barn, redesign, wicker, wicker chair

One Room or Another…

July 19, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Before: Den

After in the same spot: New Side Table/Night Stand in the new Master Bedroom.

The beauty of an old house is that each room can be anything you want it to be. Just as antiques can be moved from one room or another based on fancy and feeling, rooms can be re-purposed out of whimsy or necessity. For me, necessity dictated some changes.

I have a special needs dog who often requires care throughout the night. For the better part of three years, she wakes me up 2 to 4 times during the night. The original master bedroom was upstairs, so it required me to pick her up and carry her up and down two flights of stairs (she is blind and can not walk down them on her own) which was difficult, not to mention dangerous.

About two years ago, I felt it was better to sleep downstairs in the guest room because it was easier to take my dog outside without having to navigate two flights of stairs. However, the guest room has no closet and is hardly large enough for decent clothing storage.

The solution was to re-purpose each room downstairs in order to create a master bedroom for myself. Indeed, it would help me feel less like a guest in temporary quarters as I did, storing my clothes in stacking plastic storage containers.

And so it goes, I had a major antique sale to get rid of the furniture that would not fit in the new arrangements and I set out to re-design each room in a way that was more suitable.

I will share the pictures in future posts, but I thought I would start out be sharing the old and new floor plan along with a sneak peak of the results.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Cindy

A guest room, den, dining room and sitting room.

A guest room, master bedroom, dining room and den

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: after, antiques, arrangement, barn, before, before and after, cottage, glass, lamp, master bedroom, mercury, pottery, pottery barn mercury glass lamp, redesign, room

Anatomy of a Redesign – Part 2, The Reveal

July 26, 2012 by Cynthia 1 Comment

Cozy Niche.

I am a person who loves balance and symmetry. I am learning that one trick of design is getting balance through asymmetry. I am not quite good at it, but I am learning!

This re-design is really about one simple change that lent itself to an entire transformation….it has been staring at me for years and I missed it. It involved moving my dining room table from the middle of the room (symmetry) to one side of the room (asymmetry). By using two benches in a window seat fashion, it allowed me to tuck the table into the corner of the room and create a more open space, improve the traffic flow and have a more intimate and comfortable dining area.

Here is a rundown of what I did during this re-design:

Benches. The benches used for the window seat were handcrafted by a local artisan. I had them custom made to mimic the seat depth and height of a normal chair. The decision to build the benches with the same dimensions of a chair made all the difference in the world in making the benches very comfortable. (if you are interested in custom benches, please email me from the “contact me” page and I will give you the artisan’s contact information)
Cushions. Another opportunity to add the vintage touch, I used old quilts for cushion covers and filled them with down. The cushions are very comfortable and along with the throw pillows, make the dining niche very comfy and cozy. They really invite you to linger and use the table for reading and computer work.
Collections. A design trick is to group collections or use repetition to create impact. So I used the various built in shelves to showcase my antique oil lamp collection, vintage compotes and milk glass.
Storage. I was able to add an antique wall cabinet that I had sitting in my garage for flair and extra storage.
Cost. The total cost for this redesign was the cost for the benches, which was very, very reasonable. Other than the benches, everything else were items that I had: oil lamps, milk glass, pillows, wall cabinet, antique and vintage small wares and fabric and stuffing for bench cushions.

I hope you enjoy the transformation and find some inspiration for your space!

Always,

Cindy

Here are the pictures: