My Breakfast Room and Family Room Reveal

When I bought my house I knew we would need to enlarge the kitchen and family room area. The previous owners were empty nesters and although the layout worked for them, it was not appropriate for our growing family.

This before picture was taken during our home inspection. At this point the previous owners had removed much of their family room furniture - all that remained was their small kitchen table and some odd chairs. You can see that the wall of windows was about 3 feet beyond the solid wall. A larger table would have ended up looming into the Family room space. So, when we were ready to renovate we pushed back the wall and added an additional nine feet to create a dedicated breakfast room. Here is the breakfast room after!

We recessed the ceiling and added beadboard and crown moulding to match the treatment we added in the kitchen.

I vacillated for months over the light fixture, but finally decided on the Niermann Weeks Italian Chandelier with an antiqued silvered finish. (Actually I vacillated over spending the money or not spending the money - I always knew it was just perfect) In the end, it was my husband's sage advice that made me order it - "You will look at this everyday, all day, for years - buy what you love!" I am so glad I listened to him (He says its one of the only times!)

Here you can see that we added three windows on each side to keep the original feeling.

I found a wonderful Belgian wrought iron table with old wood top that fit the space perfectly. Wisteria had a bench that was just the right size and I topped it with a grainsack! The linen curtains were a steal, only $20. a panel, a close-out from Country Curtains; all they needed was a little doctoring.

You might remember that at this time I also took out the over head cabinets between the Family Room and Kitchen area and removed four lower cabinets to create more of a center island.

Here you can see how much better the space feels. Removing the upper cabinets also allowed you to see the recessed ceiling area in the kitchen. We spiffed that up a bit by adding the beadboard and crown moulding details.
Here is the Family Room before. This is directly across from the center island. The size is deceiving as the back wall is over 13 feet wide.
Here is the Family Room after. We added the window on the right to match the rest of the back. It was a great addition as it brings in so much light to what used to be a shadowy area. The mantel above the couch I found in the trash on the side of a road many years ago. It has an original workman's label from 1881. What a find!! I just love the feeling it brings to the space. Lamps are from Aidan Gray and the mirror is from Wisteria - It came in gold so I silver leafed it one afternoon.
Here is the before looking from the Kitchen area out toward the Family Room area. Notice the wonderful ceiling detail that was hidden from view before we removed the upper bank of cabinets.
And here is another photo of the after. Notice the addition of the crown moulding. The chairs are my old yellow club chairs, slipcovered in the same close-out linen from Country Curtains- a steal at $6 yard. I think they are bit oversized, but until I find what I am looking for they were an inexpensive fix. Here is the TV cabinet - notice the size of the TV that fit in it.

We added a gas fireplace, mantel and surrounded the area with crown moulding. We also placed a much larger TV above. Winter is long here so the fireplace makes the space so much more cozy.

This is the full view of the new space if you are standing in front of the fireplace.

From this...

To this...

(click to enlarge)

A final thought - I have received some email recently about rooms done by decorators that are considered "high-end" and not accessible to the average person. I just want to share with you that not all things that look expensive actually are expensive. Beauty does not have a price tag. Do not be afraid to mix $20 curtains and mantels you find in the trash with expensive chandeliers, or reproductions from mail order catalogs with real antiques. Trust what you love and it will all come together. It's not about the price, it's about surrounding yourself with things you enjoy.

We really enjoy our new space - I hope you do too!!

To see more of my house click here.

(all photos Willow Decor please do not copy without permission)

My Living Room Evolution

I wanted to share with you the evolution of my living room.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

My living room is a warm and inviting room with windows on two sides and sun coming from a third side through the Conservatory. I have always been hesitant to cover the windows with any window treatments - as I hate to block any light. But, clearly my living room needed some softening. Above is the before.

After a long search for perfect Belgian linen and a tutorial from Joni at Cote De Texas on curtains (do click this link - it is a fabulous resource) the day came to have the drapes installed. I hired a professional drapery installer. I am a good at many things, but this area is best left to a professional.

Here is the after (please disregard the wreaths in the windows as they are part of my holiday decor.) The curtains are Parisian pleat tops, double window width with a trouser break bottom. The rods are hand forged iron and sent up from New Orleans by my dear designer friend, Millie. You can see the richness and softness the new window treatments bring to the room.

Here is the living room from another angle. You can see my cherished Mora clock to the right. For the story on how I acquired that clock click here. Notice the sweet Gustavian chair in the bottom right of the photo.

Here are the Gustavian chairs from another angle. The painting is a lovely work by Cape Cod artist, Anne Packard. We usually put our Christmas Tree here.

This angle is taken by standing at the Mora clock. Also notice my new "soft" seagrass rug- which really is very soft with white cowhide rug overlay - to learn more about cowhide rugs click here.

I added a few more holiday decorations in this shot. Notice the garden urns by the fireplace filled with berries, branches and evergreens.

I added more oversized mercury glass ornaments to compliment the ones on the mantel and also to pick up the sparkle from the mirrored trees in the Conservatory. I also love the texture and smell of the Rosemary Topiary trees.

Finally here is a close up of a reliquary and pedestal, as well as a close up of the garden urn. I love the warm colors and the way that the evergreens and mercury glass add a holiday sparkle to my room. Let me know your thoughts, should I add more holiday decorations or leave it as is?

(all photos property of Willow Decor)

My Conservatory, Framed Intaglios & Holiday Decorating

One of my favorite rooms in my home is the Conservatory. It's sort of a Garden Room and Music Room in one.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

It sits directly off our Living Room. You can see a bit of the green Living Room couch in this photo. The Conservatory is fairly large as it houses both a seating area and baby grand piano.

My favorite features are the mouldings and the huge arched french doors which lead out to our brick patio. Sun pours in from three sides of this room, including the front windows in the living room. It has gorgeous light through out the day.

Here is how it looks most of the year. You can see the greenery through the windows. The light in the photo is not the best, but it gives you the general idea.

On the wall opposite the piano I recently purchased a set of nine intaglios from Things that Inspire's new business venture, Quatrefoil Designs. TTI was so helpful to me. We decided on a "gliver" frame color (a cross between silver and gold) which really compliments my other artwork in the adjacent living room. Instead of paper matting, TTI was able to use the remnants of my 100 year old antique linen from my Swedish furniture re-upholstery project, as the background mat for the intaglios. They turned out stunning.

Hanging them proved to be a tedious task. My sweet husband spent several hours making sure they were straight and symmetrical. He's so good at math and so patient! Thank goodness opposites attract!

The finished wall turned out better than I could have hoped. The texture of the antique linen mat is such a wonderful compliment to the Swedish furniture. I hope to eventually find some beautiful sconces to hang on either side.

The Intaglios are very high quality and the price is very reasonable. If you are thinking of adding a set to your home do check out out Quatrefoil Designs.

As I mentioned the French doors open to the backyard and the brick patio.

I love the mossy brick and old stone walls. Both are original to the house; over eighty years old.

I have posted so much about not over doing the holiday look but working to enhance your already beautiful rooms. I wanted to share with you some of my Holiday decorating. The "bones" of my house are so lovely. I also adore my antiques and do not want to have them get lost because of over zealous holiday decorating. Each year I edit and use less decorations, but it seems my house still looks festive. Here is the Conservatory as it looks most of the year. (Well actually without action figures, ipods or dog bones laying around)

Here is the room decorated for the Holidays, just after we got a few inches of snow. I have a collection of antique Mercury glass, mirrored and silver glitter trees. They look gorgeous on the piano and the pedestal. They catch the light and all the day the room just sparkles.

Here is a close up of the piano during the year. The crown sits on its own pedestal behind the piano.

I just replaced the fresh flowers with the silvery trees and relocated the crown to the table in the seating area. Notice the sparkles of light on the doors to the right. All day the light sparkles move around the room.

And here is a close up of the newly upholstered Swedish chair (read more here) and Tara Shaw Maison iron table (read more here). I just added another needlepoint holiday pillow and a mint julep glass with holiday greens for a festive touch. Simple, but beautiful.

Over the next few days I will post the rest of my house decked out for the holidays. And if you hear singing, its most likely me Fa la la la-ing!!

(all photos property of Willow Decor - please link)

My New Butler's Pantry - Before and After!

When I moved into my 1930's Royal Barry Wills Colonial four years ago I was certain the room the real estate listing indicated as "small office off kitchen" would someday turn back into the Butler's Pantry it was originally intended to be. The room measures 9' X 8', and because of the way the lot is graded it has 9 foot ceilings and a lovely, large window. Over the years the previous owners removed the original cabinetry and moldings.

As you can guess, I had grand visions (and a limited budget)!

I wanted it to be an office and a real working pantry -storage for platters, serving pieces, my mixer, and a place to roll pastry crust. I wanted to hide away my microwave, have filtered hot and cold water. We needed file cabinets for family organization and a place for the family computer and hard drive. I wanted to be able to sit in this Pantry/Office and blog. I wanted to showcase my mothers heirloom, turn of the century China. And, I insisted that it look original to the house but with an updated feel. Here is an inspiration photo of the glass front cabinets. I also wanted honed marble counters for rolling pastry. Because my kitchen cabinets were white I wanted the pantry to cabinets to be different, but not wood, so I wanted a gray/green color.

Cote de Texas

Here is my inspiration photo for the color of the cabinets. Many of you may recognize this kitchen, it is Sally Wheat's Kitchen from Cote De Texas "Stalking the Wheat's" post. Joni was kind of enough to put me touch with Sally who shared her color with me. Do not miss touring Sally's house. It is incredible - she has wonderful taste and talent! Here the link.

After four months of searching I finally found my marble. Here is my slab of Calcutta before it was installed.

I wanted period style hardware. I loved these from Christopher Peacock. I ended up finding a nearly exact replica from Cliffside Industries. Lucky find! Vertex
As a family, we drink gallons of bottled water. At my husband's urging we found this bottleless water filtration system from Vertex. It heats and cools the water and connects directly to a water line. No more lugging bottles or polluting the landfills and the kids make their own hot cocoa and cup a soup instantly.

I found a wonderful cabinetmaker who was able to work with in my budget constraints. We had some mishaps with other subs, but were able to hide/fix the problems, so hopefully you can't notice them.

Here is the before:
And After: The Butler's Pantry! The cabinets go all the way to ceiling and the molding wraps around the room. Walls are real wood tongue in groove beadboard. You can't see that the counters are honed, nor can you see the bevels on the glass. The color is more gray than green and the counters have much more contrast than these pictures show. The microwave is hidden in the the cabinet in the bottom left of the photo. Drawers have platter and serving pieces. The appliance garage on the left holds my Kitchen Aid mixer & Cuisinart. It's still too new, so I haven't rolled out pie crust yet -but I will in time.

This side is my office area. Cabinets house file drawers and the hard drive. The appliance garage on the right has shelves for bills. The cabinet on the bottom right of the photo has a drawer for each family member - this is a handy place for keeping homework and school things organized. The far right is the bottleless water cooler - we love it!
So if you ever wondered where I am when I am blogging - here it is! I think I accomplished all I had hoped. My husband calls it my little jewel box - and really it is! Hope you like it!