HOUSE HUNTING CT

This weekend my hubby and I went house hunting in Connecticut. We been traveling there once in a while checking out the area and looking for houses without any serious commitment. Sometimes we consider of finding a get way weekend, where we can mellow out life, after hectic weekdays in the city. This weekend we moved one step forward. We met our real estate agent, Ileana Santore from Marrin Santore Realty, LLC. What I nice lady! And she drove us around from 10am to about 5pm on Saturday showing a bunch of houses, and she even paid lunch for us! We looked at a lot of cottages, capes, ranches, colonial types; all generally surrounded by a good size of land with a lots of trees, grass, and even a stream. Almost all of them need to be fixed, or need great updates. Mike, my husband, is not happy about it; but for me this is kind of an exciting the idea… saving a lost house or fixing it up and making into beautiful home. Today I my post is about exercising the idea of fixing up a house with a new paint coat, adding some features here and there, cleaning it up like removing the old carpets and wallpaper, and adding charming furniture and accessories, and of course planting a lot of flowers. I choose one of the houses we looked at (one of my favorite) and started imaging what that could be transformed into without spending too much. First, I took pictures of the house when I visited. Now I found beautiful images of well done rooms that I like that kind of assembly in some features with the “potential house”, then try to image the possibilities…

I would paint the exterior of the house in white, the doors in back, the windows and doors' frame the color that is there, which seems to be a warm gray....  Then get some black pots fill with lavender... and lot's of hydrangea around the house.  Ah, and one lantern of each side of the door!

 

Living room before...

After...

The sunroom before...

After...

The dining room before...

Dining room after...

The kitchen before...

The kitchen after...

The Master Bedroom before...

After...

Guest Bedroom before...

After...

The backyard before...

After...

And then if we could afford later... much later...

maybe we can extend that porch... to...

And then... if the baby comes...

Let's keep looking...!  And letting the universe undersdand what you are looking for!

SIXX DESIGN AND NOVOGRATZ FAMILY

BUY THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Robert & Cortney Novogratz and the front cover of their book: DOWNTOWN CHIC Designing Your Home: From Wreck to Ravishing



Last week during one of my “bookstore therapy” sessions I found this book about design _ DOWNTOWN CHIC – Designing Your Dream Home: From Wreck to Ravishing by Robert and Cortney Novogratz with Elizabeth Novogratz. I pulled the book from the book shelf, flipped the pages… and the “funk hip chic style” shown in the pictures got my attention right away. The citations of famous people on almost every page were also a grabbing point for me! However, what made me buy the book was the fact that I got really curious about the stories behind each project done by this so cool couple over the past 10 years...especially the story of the house in Brazil {of course that would be a MUST for me}. The stories of the projects are not just regular interior design projects, but are gut renovations! In a few words I would say that the book is about transformation & salvation of properties, furnishings and objects… with a little bit more: it’s a story of two people who have been self teaching design and have been “building” an extensive family. REALLY, they are incredible, especially knowing that they have done these fantastic residential projects and at the same time raising 7 kids! YES, I said RAISING 7 KIDS in a mega crazy fast city like New York! For me that’s incredible! I confess that while reading the book I had mixed feelings about it all: I felt both envious and inspired. However I decided to stick with the positive feeling: they became this kind of reference of inspiration for me! In both ways: from a design point of view, and a personal side. I became a BIG fan of the Sixx Design, and the Novogratz Family! I wish all the best for them and hope one day I will meet them in person! SAVE THE WACKY HOUSES!

PROJECT: #5 CENTER MARKET

PROJECT: 400 WEST

In the picture above you can not see the whole art work unfortunatley, but it says:

FAMILY

A NOTE FROM THE FAMILY:



THINKING BIG

I’ve been noticing large posters in residential spaces… and I’ve been loving the idea! All we need is a high resolution photo that we love; then blow it up on a professional printer, then hire a professional installer to attach it to your favorite wall.
It’s amazing how that can transform a room and bring so much drama! And the good thing is that if we get tired of the image/wall we can just pull it off and change it for another one, or just paint it in our favorite color!

Room created by Arquitetura de David Bastos.

Photo taken by Erik Johnson Photography for Elle Decor.

Roger Davies Photography

Space designed by Sixx Design.



Via Lonny's Magazine - Dining room of designer Lulu Kwiatkowski




Via The Skirted Roundtable blog - Image of Susanna Salk's book: "Room for Children".

Today (12/09) I came across to a blog that I love ALKEMIE managed by Karen; with a very similiar post like this one here...  In her post she gives you the online address where you can purchase and created your dramatic wall.  Just go to the site of  Eazy Walls  and you'll find really BIG beautiful surprises!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND FOLKS!
- Renata Gross -