Blog Resources For My Future Home

The Wits

Yellow Brick Home

Restorative chair makeover for my similar mid-century teak chairs

Making a Farmhouse table here

Door Sixteen

Plywood plank floor for temporary use. In lieu of installing expensive hardwoods before you have the money, why not try installing plywood like Door Sixteen did here.

The Wits

Gorgeous furniture inspiration (see above) through their store

The Brick House

Refinishing Vintage Wood: Instructions from the Brick House for bringing used real wood furniture back to life like my dresser/desk, rocking chair, and mid-century chairs.

Easy Way To Check For Lead Paint: Using the 3M products Lead Check Swabs, an instant lead test.

Ana White (Easy DIY furniture tutorials and plans)

Home DIY project catalog

FYI: This doesn't mean I'll be posting any more frequently than I have been but I wanted to share these resources.

West Grace Update

Remember this building, 109 East Grace Street? Well, it had been available for lease since September 2009. It has also been filling up with junk for several months, then the for lease sign was removed, and I thought that meant that a business was finally moving in but...

Look at it now:




The "lovely" very visible view inside 109A.

You would think if you repaint a building to be the #1 most noticeable property on the block you would want to also showcase it in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible, right?

I guess not.

Images: My own photographs.

A Dream

Two weeks ago, I came across a list I had written down a year ago of elements that would constitute a makeover for my apartment (if I had the money for anything I wanted). As it turned out, it wouldn't take much.

• A paint job for the combined living room/dining area & kitchen in a pale shade of lavender, butter yellow, or a green tea shade
• Long drapes from the 12' ceiling on the end wall with the French doors
  
• Large graphic canvases on the walls
• Stuffed armchair in purple or green velvet
  
• A new sumptuous sofa
• Side tables with gourd-shaped lamps
• Small desk for a laptop
• Set of red and yellow stoneware dishes
  
  

NOTE: This is NOT a to-do list. I already have one, these are just some thoughts.

Newlywed's First Home

Because of my finances I've been putting off buying magazines, but the latest copy of Country Living has been tempting me. It's a Makeover issue, I mean, come on?! Luckily, I have a friend that's been "paying me forward" with her copies after she's done with them (she's not a hoarder of mags like I am). So, at the moment, I don't have this issue in front of me.

However, yesterday I opened up my email and found a message from the guy who's story is on the front cover of the September issue and a link back to his design blog, Design Therapy. I thought the story of this little house was definitely worth sharing. You see, it's not just a typical design makeover story as the house was his parent's first home when they got married. They heard it was going to be demolished and had it moved to their property as a guesthouse. And then their son had it redone for under $4,000.

  Lovely, isn't it? Find more photos from the mag on his post here and the whole story complete with the before pictures on the Country Living site here. Images: Country Living magazine

Is Richmond Renting To Clowns Now?

Then (1982)
109 East Grace Street

In Architecture in Downtown Richmond I found an old picture of the latest building, 109 East Grace Street, in my neighborhood to get a makeover. This building's makeover; going on just around the corner, is not a favorite of mine. In fact, I'm pretty upset about it. Checking the archives I was also able to see what it looked like in 1996.

Then (1996)

Yes, very non-descript. In fact, when they started working on it, I couldn't even remember what it looked like. I could remember the Great Graphic poster shop and Perly's diner, but not the building between them. Now I can see why.

Here are some recent photos I took to show what it looks like now:

Now! (2009)

Yeah, it seems like circus clowns are apparently moving into my neighborhood! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But this place now has two shades of blue, black, white, gray, orange, and yellow paint on it! A few weeks ago, when they started, this was all in white and looked quite lovely with the sculpted arch medallions, the two curved windows, and the glass blocks. In fact, the bottom half still looks nice. However, when more paint arrived they did this:

?!

Oh, how I hope this is just a gimmick so that the building gets noticed. Because.... believe it or not, these places are available to lease from Thalhimer but I still can't find it on their site? Yes, this is what they did to it before getting a tenant! Do they need to watch some Discovery Channel or HGTV shows and get some tips on making a property enticing or what?

Images: Black & White from VDHR, color images by myself

Richmond Makeovers - A Time-Honored Practice

Sometimes, even after almost two years, I find books at work that I've never seen before. Most of the time, I suspect it's because a co-worker has taken the book to their desk and never officially "checked" it out. Bad employees, bad!

Well, here are two great resources for historic pictures of my neighborhood; Architecture in Downtown Richmond by Robert P. Winthrop and the oversize gem, Broad Street Old and Historic District: Richmond, Virginia, both were compiled and published by the Historic Richmond Foundation and are out of print.

The magic of the oversize one is that is has panoramic shots of city blocks as they looked in the 1920s and then again in photographs from 1986. The most amazing thing about that is that you get to see wonderfully ornate (Edwardian Baroque?) building facades that were covered up in later years with "modern" facades in order to look contemporary. These are now the buildings most in danger because people think they are boring and plain. If only they knew?! Oh, to do an updated version of this book today!

Example: 13-17 East Broad Street, the Charles Stores, Co.

Original

As Remodeled

Demolished

The building went from Victorian brick to Art Deco stucco to...a parking lot.

Images property of the Valentine Museum Collection

Creative Home Makeover

I love Better Homes & Gardens' special publication magazines like Creative Home and my saved copies of the now defunct Budget Style (each and every issue was worth keeping!) I want to share with you a favorite inspiration story from Creative Home. It was part of a reader room makeover. The designer Jenni Hipplewi took the reader from white walls and beige furniture to a blast of pattern and color. If I can translate this makeover to my apartment I will be a very happy woman. Using a bright and varied palette of green, orange, and blue, the decor would definitely fit in here. The furniture was recovered with brighter fabrics in multiple patterns and textures. Then more color and pattern was brought in through small amounts of bold decorator fabrics on accessories and two different paint colors on the walls. Then the artwork was created using a computer software program, PaintByNumbers (already featured here.) Ingenious idea #2 (#1 being the computer generated artwork) was covering an unwanted chandelier with a huge homemade drum shade. This is a great temporary way of dealing with this if you do not want to repaint it. The brightly painted cabinets are lined with coordinating patterned paper

Would you like to win FREE design services?

Who wouldn't?



Dwellings by Mail, based in San Francisco, looks like a great way for renters and homeowners to utilize professional design services for their home without the expense of full-service design services. Their consultations are done via email, fax, telephone, and postal service; so you can live anywhere.

I love these types of services for the cost and the convenience. You receive a detailed idea board, a space plan, shopping guide, and fabric & finish swatches of their ideas. From there you can choose according to your personal tastes and budget what to take from it and what to leave, if anything. Also since all items suggested by the designer are just suggestions, if you find a similar piece at a lower or higher price, then it's up to you to choose. They basically open your eyes to the possibilities in your rooms that you may not have been able to see.

Well, if that didn't already sound great; for the month of April, the company is offering a free Dwellings By Mail room makeover package! Since their services normally start at around $300, this is a truly incredible deal.

They just need a little bit of information from you, so check their blog Domicile House for more contest information. Good luck!

NYT Home & Garden Section to the Rescue?

Surprising, huh?

Last week, the New York Times decided to task five NY interior designers/decorators with sprucing up the homes of five New Yorkers who had just lost their jobs. They were tasked with using a budget of only $300. Sounds good right? The article says that many got miffed about using that tiny an amount of money and only one was able to come in under budget. Bravo for Christopher Coleman, who was the winner in my book with a final balance of $296! While it was not my style, I have a feeling it fit well for his single-bachelor-tech-geek-client.

Styled by Christopher Coleman

You would think the others would realize that future clients; people who will be looking at their work in this assignment, might find it a plus that a designer CAN actually come in on or under budget.

Rearranged by Hilary Unger of Perianth

Well, at least for me that would be considered an important quality to have in a designer. Not that they did that bad, they still all came in under $500 and the results were all lovely. I just felt bad for the designers that could have easily come in at or under budget if they had just invoked some DIY and repainted furniture or items that the client already owned. Of if they had installed hardware and stitched the simple cushions and pillows themselves instead of hiring outside workers. What a great message that would have sent too.

Rearranged by Bradley Thiergartner

Links to the makeovers:

One-bedroom - $296 by Christopher Coleman

One-bedroom - $304 by Bradley Thiergartner

Studio - $326 by Hilary Unger

2-story house - $452 by Fawn Galli

Shared apartment - $490 by Elaine Griffin


This story was published in the NYT on March 12, 2009.