Design. Home. Renovation. This is a real life blog; let's get ugly!
This summer I realized I needed a true office space to get stuff done. I’ve been working at the dining room table, on the sofa, and in my bed for 20 years. It was time for a true space to go into to actually get work done without distraction. By work I mean everything from writing this blog to paying taxes to actually opening my mail to freelance interior design work to working from home on my full time job. You know, the big things and the little things.
Continue reading “Office Inspiration”
I’ve always loved the idea of a simple cottage. In today’s world where everyone seems to need 2,600 SF to achieve their house goals, a cottage is a rare site. I love it anyways though! Berrybrier is about 1,400 SF (not including the unfinished basement) and it seems huge especially when it comes time to clean! I love the simplicity of a smaller house with a big garden. And hey, let’s skip the grass and go for a more abstract landscape while we’re at it. English inspired cottages are some of my favorites, so I thought I’d round up some inspiration today for you to enjoy.
Continue reading “Cottage Inspiration”
So painting is a pretty quick and easy thing to do to completely transform a room! My Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Mike (the famous duo who painted the walls and ceiling in the stairwell!) came up to visit in April 2018 and asked if I needed help with any projects while they visited. Since they’d already proved their prepping and painting skills, I asked them to work on the Dining Room, which had only recently stopped functioning as the kitchen during the house renovations.
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I thought I’d round up a post today full of images of different design styles or aesthetics. Sometimes people have a mix of styles in their homes, sometimes they lean one way in one house and another in the next house, sometimes people have a very specific look they love. So often I hear from friends and family that they really like X-style or their home is X-style and then I visit and what I see is really Y-style. It can be hard to define your personal style! Especially because design styles can change and evolve as you age, go in an out of popular vogue, or be dependent on the house you’re living in!
Continue reading “What is Your Design Style?”
First off, hello to all of you new to this blog! I’m so excited to be guest posting as part of the One Room Challenge this Spring 2019. I’m Laurel and I’ve been working on my house — which I named Berrybrier after the brambles of blackberries and raspberries in the backyard — since I bought it in Summer 2017. It’s been a huge project full of ups and downs and I’ve been living here throughout it! I painted the house a happy, salmonberry, coral pink color and finished a DIY gut reno on the Main Bathroom all by myself. I am currently working on the Kitchen as well as the other main spaces! Click around and check out the progress while you’re here!
Continue reading “One Room Challenge: Week One – Master Powder Before Pictures and Inspiration”
I would love to gut and completely reconfigure my kitchen, but right now my savings are focused elsewhere! So in the meantime I’ve begun Phase 1 of the kitchen renovation. This Phase is to hold me over until I can do a Phase II gut renovation and really move things around. Phase I includes a lot of cosmetic updates that have a big visual impact, but smaller financial impact: removing the sheet vinyl, refinishing my hardwood floors, painting the cabinets, and painting the walls. But while I’m elbows deep in those projects, I’ve still got kitchen planning on the mind. I’ve been pinning tons of inspiration of old kitchens and kitchens with old vibes, so when I’m ready to renovate, my vision for the space simply needs to be detailed out. In the meantime, I’m ready for Phase I to transform the space so it no longer looks like this hot mess!
Continue reading “Designing my Kitchen: Inspiration for Phase II and a Phase I Plan”
It’s starting to inch closer to Spring here in Portland, OR. And by Spring I mean, it’s March but the weather is still 27° in the mornings and it’s supposed to snow next week, but hey, who cares right? ME. I care! It’s FREEZING and I am over it. I am ready for warm weather and sunshine and sitting in my backyard enjoying the heat. So I’ve begun daydreaming and planning and pinning my backyard renovation. It’s a long ways to completion since demo and rebuilding of the garage is not on the docket until next summer, but I do want to get quite a few other things done out here this year.
Continue reading “Potager Plans and Garden Inspiration”
Did y’all know that Living Coral is Pantone’s 2019 color of the year? How fun is that?! It’s such a happy bright color and I have a special attachment to it.
When I first bought Berrybrier, the house was looking seriously rough. The newer aluminum exterior, wood interior windows were a positive note though. But they were green…
Continue reading “Living Color with Exterior Paint Inspiration”
Land of Laurel 