C&C Around the House: House Before and After

Finally it's time for the before and after house reveal! If you didn't read my inspiration post earlier this year, here it is.

Now to the before. If you remember, here is what our house looked like.

And here is what it looks like now! We are so happy with the black roof and the white paint. 

The house went from being being drab to totally rad! The box around the chimney and the chimney cap make an especially big visual impact.

The house no longer blends into the surroundings. Instead it stands out!

 We had hoped to do the garage door in some sort of wood, but that project will have to wait. In the mean time, we painted it black, along with the front door.

I'm so grateful to Gretchen Schauffler of Devine Color. Without her input, our house would have ended up a dark color with a silver roof. And this, is so, so much better. If you are in Portland and painting the inside or outside of your home, I highly recommend calling Gretchen. She is so good at what she does.

C&C Around the House

I have been wanting to get a bar car for a while now and have been searching for just the right one. A few months ago I found this one at West Elm, but wasn't ready to commit.

Mid-Century bar cart $349

A few weeks ago I received an email that the cart was on sale for $175, so I decided to go for it. 

Here's what the space looked like before....a West Elm book shelf that we've had for at least 8 years. 

And the after..

If you are wondering, the print above it is from Schoolhouse Electric, one of my favorite and most frequented stores.

As for the cart, I will admit that "styling" this sort of thing is not my strength, so I'm hoping next time my friend SC comes over, she can help me. 

Overall I really like it, but as I said, I think it still needs some work. My +1 wasn't sold at first, but I think it's growing on him....good thing, because we can't return it!

What do you think?
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C&C around the house

This summer we are embarking on yet another house project. This time it will be the exterior of our house. Our roof is nearing the end of its life, so we thought we would use the opportunity to not only give our house a structural upgrade but a visual upgrade by installing a metal roof.

Here are some of the photos that served as our inspiration. We will also be updating our chimney and chimney cap, like in the first photo. 

Photo by Ohashi Design Studio

Photo by Webber + Studio, Architects 

Photo by Hefferlin & Cronenberg Architects

With the new roof comes the desire to change the color of the house. After way too much back and forth over the color we decided to call in an expert, enter Gretchen Schauffler of Devine Color. Gretchen has an incredible gift for color. I swear there must be something magic in her eyes. She came to the house for a consultation and was able to pull out what color would be best for the roof, trim and house based on our landscaping, the house size and shape, the color of our windows and our interior. 

After the initial consultation, Gretchen sent us an image of the house which really helps to visualize the end result. Gretchen used the bark on our huge tree as inspiration for the color palette. She gave us two trim options, and we decided on the bottom of the two (Iron Ore from Benjamin Moore with the house being Shoji White). 

You will notice the two wood samples to the left of the colors and that the garage has a wood overlay. We are also hoping to replace our garage door, entry siding and brick and one other exterior wall in natural wood. We found this really cool company in Austin Texas called Delta Millworks that has some amazing options, these being two that we are looking into. 

If you live in Portland and need help with color in your home, I would highly recommend Gretchen. As I said, she truly has a gift. 

Stay tuned later this summer for the big reveal! 

C&C Around the House

This week we started the first steps of our kitchen remodel. I thought it would be fun to share the before and after with my C&C followers. 

Here are the photos that we used as inspiration for our design. 

 And here is the kitchen before they tore out my countertops and replaced them with plywood. 

Our "remodel" will consist of replacing our existing tile counters with concrete and replacing the backslash with white matte subway tile. This is a sample of the concrete next to the new tile. The counters will be 2 1/4" thick, similar to the existing counters.

Then we are replacing the cooktop, removing the cabinet above it to install a hood and replacing the sink and faucet. Here is the faucet we chose.

KWC 10.261.432.127 Sin Single Lever

I promise to share the after photos as soon as it is finished!