Amazing Bathroom

I came across this photo and had to share.  I just loved this bathroom.  A few things to notice:

1.  The recycled shutters- of course.  They put everyone's super boring white wood blinds to shame! Notice how they are "too big"- it doesn't matter.  They can also be too short and work as well.  As long as they cover your naked body- they are perfect.  ;)

2.  Notice the side of the tub is wood.  (not to mention that it is the furiously popular white ceruse finish wood).  Builders and contractors all over seem to think you need to make  "tile selection" for this area.  - Well- you don't.  I love wood panels on the side of tubs.  Classic and beautiful.

3.  Look at the beautiful architectural arch.  You don't have one?  Maybe you could add one.  Look at your space.  Think outside the box. 

4.  Love the chandelier, love the accessories, love the stone.  Love it.  Love it.  Love it.

Photo from classy in the city.

Combining Shutters and Drapes

Hi Christine,

What kind of drape treatments should I use with shutters? Do you decorate different with blinds vs. shutters?

Thanks,

Lori

Hi Lori,

You can use the same drapery panels with shutters as you would with blinds. Be sure to check your depths. You want the drapes to overlap the shutters, but make sure they stick out further than the shutters- and are not leaning on them.

Generally speaking, when you have shutters, you won't need the drapes to actually function, and you can consider hardware that is only decorative.

Depending on your style, and the room, you might want shutters that don't extend the full length of the window. These partial shutters can be really charming.

Check out the blue and white photo in this post for a good layered look. Also- look outside the box and consider shutters that don't have louvers- or consider shutters in a color other than white or off-white....

You frequently see shutters without drapes- but if you are a follower of my blog- you know that I like to layer window treatments. In the photos above and below- it looks like they would have to choose between sconces and layering. A tough call. ;)

Remember that inside mounted shutters are more expensive than those that are built-out- but are much easier to layer with- and a much nicer more tailored look overall. Also keep in mind that if you like to open the shutters entirely- and the windows are very tall- it could be inconvenient. Drapes combined with shutters are best for clients that like to just move the louvers and keep the shutters closed most of the time.

Photos courtesy of Country Living and Traditional Home

Betsy in Maine Part II

Today's post is a continuation of yesterday's on Betsy from Maine's beautiful old home. Yesterday I went over furniture arrangement. Today I wanted to go over some specifics.

1. Ottoman. Add an ottoman in front of the sofa. This room – because of its shape makes it hard to have a conversational furniture arrangement. Essentially- the sofa is by itself- and the two chairs and desk area a separate element. The sofa with an ottoman is a more pleasing combination than the sofa with a coffee table- because it is by itself. Does that make any sense? The ottoman above is from Wisteria.
2. Drapes. I would say audios to all of your window treatments. Radiators are so annoying. If you just had a shorter one- you could do full length panels in the living room…. But- assuming that you don’t want the expense of changing that- I would put in woven wood roller shades and patterned Roman shades- layered. You could also reverse that and have a sheer roller shade underneath- with woven Roman shades on top… Or- you could have wood shutters- try to keep them consistent with the style of the home- not looking all vinyl. Use the same material to add drapes in the dining room. Have them drawn to the side, the one on the left to the left, and the one on the right to the right. Keep the roller shades in these windows.
3. Empty your display area. Then re-introduce items very deliberately. This is not a library- it is your living room. Notice that I referred to it as a display area- not a bookcase. Fly me to Maine and I will re-do it for you. My ancestors are from Maine- I would love to visit again.
4. If you leave the area in front of your radiator blank- it throws the room a little off balance. There is only about two feet that you can use without cutting off your traffic flow from the dining room. You also want to keep air flow around the radiator pretty open. I added a desk. (again from Wisteria) I would put a little stool under it- you could use it for many different things- from a lap top to letter writing- to game playing.
5. Your rug. I really like your rug- it is beautiful- and the current size looks good- what doesn’t work is having a rug that has a pattern that tells people where the center is. The focal point of the room is the fireplace. The visual center of the room should be the fireplace. Your fireplace, however, is not centered- so the center of the rug lines up with the right side of the fireplace. It makes the room feel off balance. Get a rug without a center pattern. This could be any rug with an overall pattern- or a rug void of a traditional pattern- like a sisal rug- shown in the pictures above.

I hope you can get an idea of the look I have in mind for your place. With such a pretty home to start with- I am sure it will turn out wonderfully. Especially if you do absolutely everything I told you. ;)

Thanks, XOXO

Christine

Room photos crom Country Living

Sue's Siding Solution

Dear Christine,
I am writing in for my friend, Sue.

This is Sue's house. She will be undergoing the process of "re-siding" the house in the next couple months and needs to pick a color for the siding. Staying with white is always an option... But she is wondering if a beige (like the one in the photo ending in 499) would be a better option. Or something different all together? What would you do?

~Kim

Kim, or Sue,

What I would do is drive around looking at homes and find a color pallet that you really love. Then, I would copy it. Keep in mind the gray roof, but other than that- she can really go either way- or another way altogether. I also see that she has white window panes- so keep white as one of the colors of the exterior. Generally it is a three color pallet- so she still has two other colors to select.

I would do two other things as well. First of all- I would paint the brick. It is a dated color, and there is a funny southwest looking pattern that bothers me to the left of the light. I would paint it the same color- or a very similar color- to the siding color.

Some people get all freaky when I make such suggestions- it is probably the same people that think it is a sin to paint wood furniture. So I pulled some pictures of some beautiful painted brick homes.

I would also replace the shutters with larger shutters. The scale of the shutters is too small. Look at the nice large shutters on these homes compared with the small ones on Sue's house. New shutters would make a huge difference.

Painted brick is a maintenance issue. That is true, although there is not a ton of brick- so it wouldn't be a huge issue. However- if you want it to be more maintenance free- the brick could also be whitewashed.

It would be enough color to hide the funny pattern- and give you a more updated look. Whitewashing is very cooperative with the aging process- as it just looks more weathered as it becomes more weathered.

If I were considering this, I would do a small portion, to make sure it looked good with your brick color.

I tend to go for understated color pallets- neutral shades in exteriors. Light khaki, beige, white, black, cream....

So- there you go- if Sue is mad at you and wants me to delete the post- I'd be happy to. :) If Sue's husband is mad at me- for turning one project into three.... so sorry. (I could have also told him to make his columns bigger- I was going easy on him- tell him that.)

Thanks,

Christine

Curb Appeal for Sarah in Maine

Hi Christine,

I just found your blog today in my search for portico/porch ideas. My husband and I have a new home and need some curb appeal. The best picture I have is after a snowstorm, but I do have some flower gardens started under it. I love Craftsman architecture and especially like a modern twist to it. Our house is a colonial but the "ugly" side faces the street because of sun exposure in the rooms, etc. Because we have a deck on the side and daylight basement with lots of lawn in the back we wouldn't use a large front porch, plus it would be in the way of plowing. I'm thinking a portico that will shelter the entrance, large enough for a family of four to fit on, provide wide steps and somehow fill the space above the door and to the right where there are no windows due to our master bath being there. I was thinking some window boxes and maybe even a trellis type strip going across between the upper and lower windows may dress things up. We clearly have white trim and currently have a pressure-treated deck on the side that we need to stain for protection. I'm also wondering what we'll do about wood-tones and white trim that will make sense. For example, if I did add wood trellis, window boxes, portico columns etc I don't want to repaint them white every year. (We live in Maine.) Our family room patio door opens to the side deck and I would prefer that the railings fade into the trees rather than stand out against the view. You might also notice we don't have an attached garage and at some point we'll be adding a garage, although there is currently no great plan to attach it. I don't want to build a portico and then have to tear it down for a garage. (We are fine with having a detached garage.) We need some vision so I can commit already to a plan!

Thanks,

Sarah
I have five ideas for you:

1. breezeway
2. porch
3. shutters
4. stone
5. larger front door

First of all- I would use a breezeway to connect your future garage from your home. They not only give you shelter- but also add charm and character.

Secondly- do you see the large mass of no windows or anything on your house? I would want your portico to be large enough to cover a lot of that- and visually minimize it. I would take your porch area all the way to the right- as there is no architectural interest over there at all. This will not be a large porch- but large enough to help your house work better visually- and you can perhaps fit a bistro table and two chairs.

Third- shutters. The photo second from the bottom of the post has some shutters- I thought even giving your picture some shutters with my sharpie marker made a big difference. Use a style consistent with your new Craftsman detailing.

Fourth- Stone. I would use some stone at the base of the columns. Notice that in every picture in the post there is stone at the base of the columns. It really adds a richness. Notice the home at the very bottom of the post only has stone at the base of the columns- not on the rest of the house- this would be the case with your place- as you can see- it looks great.

Fifth- a larger door. Your door is screaming, "I am not a front door, I am just a back door!" Take it out and frame in a larger Craftsman style front door- like I added at the top of the post.

You don't have to use white- although I do see how it is the most obvious selection- Introduce a practical wood- so long as you repeat the same material on the shutters and the portico- and then later on the breezeway- and garage- it will look great.

Just for balance I added another window in your house- I have no idea what that does to your interior. :) I hope spring has sprung- that is a heck of a lot of snow!

Cheers from sunny California!

Christine