Master Bedroom

The house we own was built in 1940 and has charming wood floors and great light being perched on a gentle hillside.  The master bedroom has these terrific corner windows with views of the bay and the city of San Francisco beyond.  What the room didn't have is color and we like color here at our house!  So, I designed a fabric for the headboard (which we made on a Sunday afternoon) on Spoonflower.com with the gray and citrus yellows and greens that we are so fond of.  We had purchased several vintage pieces of furniture with the intention of painting them lemon yellow.  We used a high gloss alkyd which was, to be honest, no fun at all but it looks terrific!  The china cabinet was transformed into a freestanding closet of sorts thanks to the mirror that replaced the glass in the doors.  The granite gray walls allow the furniture to take center stage and it works thanks to the light and clean power of the white duvet, ceiling, trim and chandelier.  We are giving this old house some new attitude with color, color and more color!

New Front Door

We have been living in our house now for about 4 months.

When we first saw the house we knew if we bought the place it would need a new front door to really say welcome with a nice color or two. We chose a traditional four panel wood one that we knew would work well with the lines of the house and added sidelights on either side to add more light and charm. Although it was original to the house and is a nod to the Art Deco era, we are not fans of glass block so we were happy to give it the old "heave ho". The door color is "blackberry" and the trim is "soji white." If you look closely in the lower right corner of the "after" photo you can see the color we are thinking of painting the main body of the house. It is an ochre yellow called "alchemy". The new windows will be a "pebble grey" and trimmed in the "soji white". Can't wait to see it all come together!

Onwards and upwards!

Finally, Kitchen Nirvana!

The journey was long and filled with plenty of bumps along the way, but we now have a kitchen we can both work in together and enjoy for years to come! We went from an '80's outdated builder's grade space full of bad planning and poor use of space to an open and airy room that flows nicely into the living and dining rooms with a slightly modern esthetic. And, "Hello counterspace!" Don't get me started on the beautiful new restaurant quality stainless steel sink and the faucet with the pull-out spray (probably something the rest of you take for granted.) The before and after pictures really help to show just how different it really is. The before pics were taken when we first bought the house almost four years ago. I just love before and after pics, don't you?

We love the rippled waves in our backsplash tile.

The quartz countertop is shiny and smooth unlike our old cracked and chipped tile counters.

The handblown glass pendant lights add light and definition to the counter area.

We added the open display shelves where a built-in cabinet was prior. It's a great place to display old pottery.

We tiled the area under the bar and the new stools fit snugly under the counter so they are out of the way.

This new stainless steel sink is deep and roomy. I love the new faucet!

It's easy to have organized drawers when they are so roomy!

Spice heaven!!

We want to fill these with something.

I love the angles in this picture.

The dreaded post we had to make room for in the design.

This peninsula makes for a great place to prepare food.

I love the large stainless handles we used for the cabinets.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our new kitchen. I think this weekend would be a great time to make some Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcakes. Actually, if you like cupcakes you should check out my friend Jimmy's blog here. He is dreaming up some amazing flavors and they are so amazingly beautiful too!