around the house: office-slash-guest-room tour

It's been a silly long time since I created the moodboard for turning my home office into an office-slash-guest-room: it took a solid 5 months for the pull-out daybed to arrive (kind of essential to this whole plan of making a space for people to sleep in...), and then another month for me to finish arranging everything and snap some photos to share. But share I must, because I love it so much.

It's not a huge space, but the little cut-out area next to the tiny closet is an obvious natural place for a desk, to free up the rest of the room for a bed. Since it's not going to be used that often in a bedroom capacity, I went with a daybed that looks like a nice couch but pulls out into a (very comfy) queen-sized bed. It's not a huge space, so that works well - not a lot of room to walk around it when the bed is pulled out, but enough to make it work for a few nights at a time. Plus that leaves plenty of floor space for my other regular use of the room: a little yoga/strength/stretching studio! I repurposed my rolling cart along with the new little storage ottoman for holding my equipment, and I can just roll my mat right out on top of the rug when I want to work out.

When it was just my office, I had my desk floating in the center of the room to take advantage of the view out of the window, and then I had a bookcase over in the cut-out spot. I had initially planned to just move my (beloved) West Elm parsons desk over there and hang some floating shelves above, to make up for losing the bookcase storage. Turns out the wall that was behind that bookcase is WONKY and hanging shelves was not going to happen. But also turns out that Crate & Barrel gave me a nice gift card as an apology for how many months beyond advertised it ended up taking for the daybed to come, so I put that toward this great shelf/desk unit they had on clearance (along with the proceeds from selling my other desk on Facebook Marketplace!). 

In the end I love this even more than my original vision. Admittedly it's not 100% done as I haven't dealt with the mental and financial commitment of figuring out window treatments - so visitors should just come in the winter months when the sun doesn't come up early, I guess -  but aside from that it just feels so finished to have the desk and shelves as a whole unit. And as someone who has worked from home for years and years - but also has spent even more time than usual at home (as have most of us) in the last couple in particular - it just feels so refreshing to have an updated space to work in. Even makes me feel inspired to sit down and pound out a few more blog posts, for which my creativity has been lacking lately. So stay tuned!

Sources

Pullout daybed: Crate & Barrel
Rug: Wayfair

Storage ottoman: Target

Desk/shelves: Crate & Barrel (similar)

Chair: West Elm (similar)

Globe lamp: Target

Throw blanket: Nordstrom

Pillows: Target, old West Elm

Gallery wall: frames mostly Ikea or Target with a few Shutterfly art prints, Hendrik artwork + other little things I've collected over the years

Side table: old Target (similar, similar)

Lamp: old World Market (similar)

Metal cart: Ikea (similar, similar)

around the house: nursery tour

Have been so excited to finish up and officially share baby brother's nursery - so much that I already put it on Instagram, but I wanted to save the blog post to have a few things scheduled in advance for when he arrived... So here's the official reveal + sources!

The ideas came together very quickly some time ago, since we've known for ages (since February) that we were having a boy, and it made sense to utilize almost all of the same furnishing from Hendrik's nursery, with a few accessory updates. But the implementation didn't happen until end of July because the room had been my mini Peloton studio since early last fall... before we knew baby brother was even a possibility. My brother and Peter eventually were able to muscle that veeerrry heavy bike down two flights of stairs, and it's now set up in our low-ceilinged, unfinished basement. A bit sad to lose my exercise room with a view, but it's nice and cool down there, not to mention that getting to have this baby nursery is 100% worth it!

Hendrik started coming in and reading old board books in the chair as soon as the bookshelf was set up, to get all prepared for his new role - and we're all thrilled to finally have the little one in here now.

Looking for any of the sources? See below... I've indicated what we re-used and what's new; I'm loving how it is similar to the previous setup (which I always loved) but still feels refreshed for a new little guy to have a space of his own.

Wall color: Benjamin Moore gray horse
Crib: Babyletto (old)
Chair: Pottery Barn Kids (old; similar)
Rug: West Elm
Bookshelf: Wayfair (similar)
Bookends: Target
Lamp: West Elm (old; similar)
Shelf baskets: Target
Rattan animal decor: Target (old; similar)
Pouf: Target
Side table: Target (old; similar)
Dresser: Ikea (with replacement pulls similar to this)
Dresser basket: Target
Changing pad cover: Pottery Barn Kids (old; similar)
Map: vintage buy for H's nursery (similar, similar)
Rainbow print: Urban Outfitters (similar, similar)
Mobile: West Elm x PB Kids
Crib sheet: West Elm
Blanket: Crate & Kids (similar)
Hamper basket: H&M (similar, similar)
Stuffed giraffe: Melissa & Doug
Throw pillow: Dwell (old; similar)
Diaper pail: Munchkin

around the house: master bathroom reveal!

When we planned (my dream) master bathroom renovation for 2020, little did I know how much time we'd be spending in our home this year and how extra nice it would be to have this little oasis. Also little did we know that one of the snags to cause delay along the way - because there always are snags and delays, especially in a very old house, where you learn pipes need to be replaced or floors need to be leveled...or maybe your designer just didn't order enough tile - would be a global pandemic that would shut things down and leave us at the drywall/sub-floor stage, with the toilet uninstalled and living in the garage, for weeks and WEEKS. But all can be (almost) forgotten now, because it's done!! 

I still just feel so pleased every time I walk in here with how light and airy it feels, and how the design turned out as the serene and sophisticated grown-up to the other remodeled bathroom it is back-to-back with. (Also quite happy every time my hair dryer doesn't drop into the sink, and I can actually see my legs when I shave.)

Can't leave you without a good set of before and after photos... as you can see, this bathroom was a big space but poorly utilized, so that it wasn't terribly functional - it had only a pedestal sink, had zero storage, and had a shower so small and enclosed it was truly like showering in a cave (and a tub so old I was not touching it). Now the only thing that remains of that space is the toilet, which got to stay where it was. The old tub next to the shower was ripped out to become the big vanity (fulfilling my lifelong dream of double sinks, after sharing pedestal sinks with Peter our entire marriage), and then the shower got MUCH bigger by turning sideways along its previous wall. The original doorway was walled off to become one of the shower walls, and the door was moved to across from the toilet (now the door is located where the little stool/free-standing cabinet were in the photo below). What a difference the layout has made to actually utilize the space. 

Like our kitchen and our kid's bathroom remodels, we lived with the previous look for several years, and while certainly not my style didn't think it was that bad - until I put the photos side by size. Wowza! (Also if you click on those other rooms, you'll see that I have honed in on my house style: gray and white, plenty of subway tile and marble, and wood accents to warm things up. Definitely makes it easier to pick materials when you know what you like, and you know what's worked in another room!)

Now excuse me while I have to "go to the bathroom" for 15 minutes again... 😍

 
Sources

Cabinet knobs: Rejuvenation
Drawer pulls: Rejuvenation
Faucets: Delta
Globe sconces: West Elm
Towel/toilet paper holders: West Elm
Rug: Urban Outfitters
Picture frames: Target
Copenhagen art: Juniper Print Shop
Flower art: Juniper Print Shop

Bath towel: Threshold

Hand towel: Threshold

Faux eucalyptus stem: Hearth & Hand by Magnolia
Towel ladder: Etsy 

Tile: Cararra-look porcelain tile ordered through a local place; this is similar for shower wall tiles, this and this are similar for floor tiles (possibly my favorite element of the whole room!), and this is similar for accent wall tiles.

Shutters: Budget Blinds (local branch does such good work!)

around the house: current state of things

Since we're spending all of our time at home now, a little house tour in the time of corona seemed in order. Here's how we're getting maximal use out of our house, on a room-by-room basis these days - some spaces messier than others, some in a constant cycle of being tidy/getting re-tidied to preserve my sense of control over something in life...

In the living room, though it's not like it matters with anyone coming to visit and see any messes, I've really been working on keeping it all straightened out and the throw blankets nicely placed, even if I have to re-fold them 10 times a day. As the center of our home, it just makes me feel so much better to have it looking clean and uncluttered and inviting.

Of course that all went to heck when we had a pipe break in the bathroom directly upstairs - flooding led to displaced furniture and rug for a couple of days while everything dried out. At least we're back to normal now, with the addition of a huge hole in the ceiling for the foreseeable future (plumbers for a broken pipe = allowed under shelter in place orders, drywallers to fix the hole = not as much).

Speaking of shelter in place orders and no construction work... our master bathroom has been on hold for 3+ weeks, and we're looking at about 3+ more. At least there's now sub-flooring and drywall - it looked way more chaotic before - but oof. I did finally take down the plastic sheeting that was hanging in the hallway and we had to pass through x2 every time we wanted to enter our bedroom, but the hallway and staircase are still lined with protective paper for when the workers come through so it looks a little crazy, even if we can shut the door on the unfinished bathroom itself.

Let's move on...

Down the hall, my office has been partially commandeered by Peter on the days that he's doing virtual appointments with patients, since the background and the distance from the homeschooling kid work better than if he tried to do it in his own home office. Thus the two laptops, ENT diagrams, and lamp pointed up to give Peter optimum lighting on his video calls.

Meanwhile, Hendrik's playroom has devolved a bit, but since I don't have to be in there all the time, I can be better at allowing some mess to persist. For a few days anyway. It is now doubling as a homeschool center, and to accommodate this, I did a little rearranging, moving a bookshelf down from his old bedroom, to help us clear off the Lego table in order for him to work there (after attempting to work side-by-side in at the kitchen counter and finding it untenable because he talks. so. much.). Now all of his school stuff and craft stuff live on the art cart behind the table, and he gets to arrange his Legos to his liking in the little cubbies. Plus this "store" he set up to try to sell random stuff to his parents in order to save up for his next dream Lego set more quickly. A practical lesson about supply and demand is forthcoming. Our mini trampoline gets pride of place in this room too - all of us hop on it throughout the day for work breaks!

And finally, in the kitchen I am fighting a battle to keep the counters cleared of random non-kitchen items; at the times I am winning, it is all worth it to me to have zero eye clutter. And a great view of my beloved marble. Also making a lot more at-home lattes these days, attempting no-knead bread for the first time, and doing our darndest to keep ourselves in-stock with bananas despite grocery shopping happening less than once a week. This haul was thanks to our first Shipt delivery from Target this week, yay!

So there's my corona time tour - to see the official pretty tour you can check out my home feature on The Everymom from earlier this year - and I have to acknowledge overall how grateful I am to have a home space that I just love. Keeping it looking like its old self provides me some normalcy but also just makes me appreciate all of the things I love about my home and what's inside of it (even if I do occasionally tire of the other inhabitants - ha!). Above are some links to some of the things that bring me joy in my indoors on the daily.

around the house: kid bath remodel

Kicking off the year with double excitement in the realm of home decor... a fresh and clean bathroom remodel (finally) finished, and a home tour feature on The Everymom! I love my old house so much and I love looking at home tours so much that I made it a life list goal to have a feature of my own posted on a site somewhere - thrilled to have been able to do this interview that made me think a lot about my approach to decor and parenting, and also to share photos of several rooms in our house. Also thrilled that I was able to include the updated bathroom, because I loooooove it.

Our old house means that the bathrooms don't land quite where you'd expect them to in relation to bedrooms - probably because when the house was built, indoor plumbing wasn't a thing! So we have 2 full baths upstairs, which are back-to-back and not connected to any bedrooms. The other one we use as more of a "master" bathroom (and it is getting its own update soon, woooo!), and this one is more of the "kid" bathroom, though it got very little use, given its lack of storage and such, and Hendrik being young enough to need total supervision with bathing and teeth brushing over in the other bathroom. As he's getting older though, it'll be great to have this a much more useable and nice looking space, plus it just goes so much more with my taste and our general decor vibe - compare to the photos below... yikes.

If you look at the kitchen that I designed, you can definitely see a theme of what I like - gray flooring, marble counters, white walls/subway tiles, wood touches to warm things up, and pink/coral accents for accessories. That made it super easy to narrow down my choices for materials for this space, plus I didn't agonize so much over how things might look together, because based on the kitchen design, I basically knew! I fell in love with these really cool floor tiles first, and the rest fell into place from there.

The biggest "risk" for me in this one was going with black faucets/hardware, which normally I wouldn't gravitate toward, but I just love how they contrast with the other materials. It all is clean and polished enough for my taste, but adds a little fun with the tiles and the hardware to give it more of a kid bathroom vibe. Especially when I added in the fun bird poster sent to me by Photowall - love the colors and the slightly whimsical look (plus love that there's no need to frame since it comes with this great wood hanger) and it suits my bird-obsessed kid perfectly. To get 25% off your own order, you can use code anneinresidenceblog2020 through February 15!

How's that for an impactful before/after!

Sources
Paint color: Benjamin Moore Decorator's White
Knobs: CB2
Handles: CB2
Mirror: Umbra
Pendant light fixture: West Elm
Faucet: Delta Trinsic
Tray: Target
Soap dispenser: Anthropologie
Cup: Anthropologie
Faux plant: Target
Floor tiles: similar
Coral rug: Target
Towel ring: Amazon
Hand towel: Hearth & Hand by Magnolia
Shower head/faucet: Delta Trinsic
Shower curtain: Target (similar, similar)
Towel hooks: Amazon
Towels: Target
Stool: Target
Bath mat: Target
Hanging planter: Target
Hanging print: Photowall c/o - use code anneinresidenceblog2020 for 25% off an order

Hendrik's big kid room

We all know the best part of any home makeover show is the big reveal - so how amazing to create that moment yourself and get to see it on your kid's face?! Hendrik's big kid room, his 6th birthday gift, might be one of the most time-consuming (and expensive, I can't deny) I've ever given, but it was also one of the most fun.

Until now, he had still been sleeping in the toddler bed converted from his crib (see the little kid room here), and as my long-limbed boy basically filled it end-to-end, it was high time for an upgrade. We moved him over to the guest room, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out. Whimsical and fitting for a bird-obsessed 6 year old, but not too kiddie that it won't grow with him.

Though he doesn't particularly need a desk, he really wanted one, so I thought it would be perfect to combine it with book storage - with a playroom for toys, we really don't need to store anything besides books and clothes in here. And then the only other necessary thing besides a bed is somewhere great to read, especially somewhere for us to sit with him and read together, since the old rocking chair from his nursery definitely does not fit an adult + a 6 year old together. I love this reconfigurable foam couch/playmat thingy from Nugget. Very comfy to lounge on, and so fun for creative play. I only wish I had found it earlier in his life!

Sources
Bed: Pottery Barn Kids
Nightstand: Pottery Barn Kids
Bird lamp: Target (similar)
Duvet cover: Kaylee and Tepid
Sheets: Target
Pennant banner: H&M Home
Hamper: Target
Rug: Wayfair
Dresser: Ikea, with DIY handle pulls (similar)
Lamp: West Elm (similar)
Sun print: Urban Outfitters
Frame: Target
Clock: Target
Adventure print: Urban Outfitters
Abstract print: Urban Outfitters
Dowel print hangers: Urban Outfitters
Reconfigurable foam couch: Nugget
Leaning desk: Crate & Barrel
Leaning bookshelf: Crate & Barrel
Desk chair: Amazon
Small round bins: Target
Throw pillow: Target