Part two is here! After starting the first blog post, I felt like there was so much good stuff to share! I didn’t want to get too lengthy before getting to another amazing part of the house…the entry! So here’s part two, which reveals the Post Street Residence living room and entry space.
UPDATES THROUGHOUT
When first meeting these clients, we were primarily focused on the kitchen renovation. However a few things were going to be freshened up throughout the main floor, which included new hardwood flooring and a fresh coat of paint. We did a skim coat on the walls to make them smooth, and stuck with a pure white paint. They actually had this white on the walls before which I totally loved and knew it was still the right choice for their space. But we didn’t realize until we had started painting that some things had really yellowed over time, like the trim. So we painted everything! It feels soft and airy…their home has so much natural light and their new white oak flooring enhanced that even more. Just these two changes brightened up their entire living room and entry. It felt great before, but even better after!
FRESHENED UP FIREPLACE
We ended up doing a fresh coat of white paint on the fireplace brick, and we replaced the original tile hearth with a fun white chevron tile. It looked gorgeous with the transition to the white oak flooring! We went with a dark grout because this is a wood burning fireplace that the clients used often. It will still require some occasional cleaning, but the tile is a high gloss which will make this task a bit easier.
The other slight adjustment we did in the living room was add a few sconces to the piano wall. I loved these sconces from Rejuvenation because they kept with the brass finish we were using throughout, but the white shade helped them disappear a bit!
a custom pick for the floors
The shot below is also a great angle of the white oak flooring. Originally the clients had imagined a medium color stain. Once the unfinished white oak got installed, I just couldn’t get past it! It was incredible in their space. We went back and forth quite a bit on this, including lots of stain samples and lots of head spinning! The other stains were really pretty, too and still coordinated really well with the kitchen accents of natural white oak. But ultimately, I’m so very happy for the uniform choice! We ended up doing a custom stain by adding a touch of white to the finish because just using a sealer still pulled the orange from the oak. And we found the perfect way to use the darker stain we really liked by applying it to the new front door (revealed later in the post!).
the perfect entry
In that living room photo, you get a little glimpse of a cheerful little spot of the home…the front entry! Just about everyone goes back and forth on this and says how awesome the kitchen is. But this little entry…it’s just so special and memorable! This was an “add-on” to the original proposed project, but gosh this entry might be the thing that makes the home! On the right side there used to be a closet that went right up to the trim of the window. It really encroached on the floor space and the storage inside was less than functional. We decided to tear it out! I designed a custom built-in that would have a variety of storage options while still making the room feel bigger. Pulling the built-in back a bit also gave the unique window some “breathing room,” allowing it to take center stage!
P.S. here’s a good shot of the door with that gorgeous stain color!
whimsical wallpaper
Can we just take a moment to appreciate that wallpaper? Again, totally enhancing the shape of the window. It also was mostly neutral with a few pastel color pops. I showed the clients a few wallpaper options, all whimsical and with a bit of color. I was pretty excited with all of the options, but this one is just so fun! They loved it so much they decided to install some more in the playroom at the top of the stairs!
I loved the combination of the wallpaper with the bead board backing of the built-in. It was playful yet classic and was a great way to bring some fun into a charming older home. We added some classic hooks and brass knobs that matched the kitchen hardware to tie it all together with the rest of the home. And of course, a natural white oak bench to bring in that warmth and help pull things together as well.
the front door
In part one of this reveal, I talked about how we saw the home’s original character and found ways to tie into an updated renovation. Well, the front door hardware (similar one linked) was one of those details that I ran across something that was perfect. Brass of course to match the rest of the finishes. But the combination of the detail on the back plate with egg shape door knob felt like the right amount of “traditional” vibes but used in a fresh way.
By this point of selecting details, everything was just coming so easily. The clients were seeing the vision come together seamlessly and they were able to start trusting me even more to make decisions with less oversight. We were all in the groove and knew what was going to be the right choices. Such a good flow! The clients also did some shopping on their own and found the cutest white rope baskets with leather accents. They were so perfect and I fell in love too, I had to go buy some for myself! Score!
lessons for your renovation
I’m so in love with this entry, but really, the whole home is a perfect example of what occurs when a few important things happen in a renovation:
1. Trust / Value — I felt so thankful for clients who valued my opinion, trusted my expertise, and wanted to utilize that to the maximum extent. Having that trust allowed my creativity to flow so freely and they totally benefited from it!
2. Willingness to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone — When investing a ton of money into a renovation, it can be so easy to slip into a pattern of thinking small and safe. These clients had incredible style but just needed the reassurance that they weren’t totally messing up by going bold. We played a game quite often that (I hope) allowed them to start trusting their intuition. I would take the two difficult choices of any given decision and put one in each hand (on paper or as a mental note when paper wasn’t accessible). They would select a hand, and if the choice that was made for them felt like a letdown, then they had their answer of what the right choice was to ultimately go forward with.
3. Have Fun — This one comes pretty easily when I’ve got the right clients. I’m a down to earth, casual person, and I love what I do! I have fun on the job site and when I can have a relationship with a client that allows me to do silly games like the one previously mentioned or crack an occasional joke, it makes a stressful process such as a renovation become more enjoyable for everyone! When clients have faith that myself and the contractors will take care of everything, there is nothing left to worry about!
CHECK OUT THE REST!
If you didn’t get a chance to see part one, be sure to go back and read that! The video reveal is here. Make sure to also check out the before images as well as the progress…it’s always fun to see that transformation! As always, if you like what you see and have a project of your own that you would like to discuss, we’d love to hear from you! Check out our services and let’s chat!
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