Thoughts for my parents' family room

For years, my mom has thought her family room is too formal. I think it's beautiful, but I can understand her concern. She wants her family room to be a place to lounge and relax with loved ones without feeling like you have to be on your best behavior. I already feel pretty at ease when I go home, but I could see why first time guests might not feel quite so comfortable. Here's a picture of the room from a few years ago. She's made a few changes since then, but the idea is still the same.


She asked me to brainstorm about how to do a casual makeover of the room with the understanding that she may not use any of my ideas. That's AOK with me! Nothing makes me happier than just imagining makeovers so I don't really mind whether or not my ideas are implemented. Her only requests were that we keep some sort of yellow paint on the wall and nix the oriental rug. So here we go:

1. Millwork
A. Ceiling: How about some white wood paneling like in the picture below? Obviously this living room is formal, but I've seen plenty of casual rooms with similar ceilings and I love them! It would add some interest to the cathedral ceiling. Dad, start getting those woodworking tools warmed up! This is just the beginning.

B. Built-ins: Would it be possible to extend the top of the book shelves and mantle above the fireplace all the way to the cathedral ceiling? Even just flat wood paneling might look nice. I think it would draw the eye up and make the room look larger and lighter.

C. Crown molding: A relatively easy yet important addition. If it were up to me, every room would have it!

2. Color ideas:

This is a picture from our vacation to Sea Island, Georgia with Chris' family. It was such a beautiful house! Perfectly decorated. I think the designer found a great balance between casual and formal. Those big fluffy couches were so comfortable!

This is more of a spa-like color scheme. Very relaxing. I like the contrasting piping on the couches.


This picture is from the portfolio of Carol Friedman, an interior designer from Concord, MA. This room actually reminds me a lot of my parents' with just a few changes.

I know, I know, this isn't my mom's style. It's mine. But I couldn't resist!

A little feminine, but cute.

Let's start with that and we'll go from there. So, Mom, any thoughts?

Sanctuary

According to a completely unreliable source, a person will spend about 1 and a half years in the bathroom by the age of 75. That's a lot of time! So I say, why not make it a beautiful space? Plus if you're like me and you have a husband who follows you around like an adorable but persistent puppy dog, it's just about the only time you have alone. The bathroom is sometimes my refuge, so naturally, I have spent a lot of time imagining what my perfect master bath would look like.

My dream master bathroom is bright and airy with contrasting dark hardwood floors, white paneling, and carrera marble on any flat countertop you can pin down.


This picture is from Pottery Barn. I feel a little lame for loving it. Remember that episode of Friends when Pheobe gets upset when she finds out her apothecary coffee table is from Pottery Barn? I can relate. But I love the way this looks more like a piece of furniture than a bathroom sink and cabinet. I also like the deep wood color with the marble countertops and I'm envious of the door to the outside. Chris thinks I'm weird for liking this, but wouldn't it be nice to walk out from your bathroom on a misty morning in a warm robe (or in your birthday suit if that's your thing!) and look out over your beautiful Maine salt marsh?



This bathroom, from the Spring 2009 issue of Beautiful Homes, has a very similar look. I prefer the wide plank paneling in the Pottery Barn picture rather than the bead board, but you get the idea. I really like the idea of having wood paneling on the bathtub, although I realize how impractical this sounds. I don't care. I need it. The only other thing I would change is the bathtub itself. I would like it to be undermounted with carrera marble over it.

Now don't get scared. I don't really like this bathroom very much. The only reason I put this picture up is because it shows the idea of having a frameless glass enclosed shower adjacent to the bathtub. Saves space and can look really cute. The only other thing I like about this picture is the small niche in the shower for holding soap, shampoo, etc.

And yes, I want to jump on the bandwagon and install one of these adorable old fashioned bathtub faucets. They're just so darling! How could I resist?

I hope you enjoyed your quick visit to my dream master bathroom/sanctuary. If it ends up looking as nice as it looks in my head, I will be sure beat to the 1 and a half year mark in no time!

Living well in the living room

I love the living room. It’s very encouraging…

I feel so alive when I’m in here.
“What you doing in there man?”
“I’m LIVING dude! Why don’t you try it some time… stop dining”

- Demetri Martin

I'm forcing myself to tackle the living room next because I feel so unprepared when it comes to this room. I say this as if there's a deadline looming, which of course, there's not. It just troubles me that when I think of my future home, I can't picture where we're going watch Saturday morning cartoons, gather on Christmas morning, and stay up late eating popcorn while enjoying our favorite movies. A lot of the living rooms I've seen in design magazines lately are beautiful, but just a little too light and beachy. I like a little bit of a warmer color palette and subtly textured walls. Believe it or not, I found the picture below in the June 2010 issue of Midwest Living at the doctor's office where I was rotating and ripped it out. That's allowed, isn't it? Anyway, the featured home was designed by Chicago architect, Fred Wilson. I was disappointed to find the article didn't explain what was on the walls. Perhaps linen wallpaper? It almost looks like burlap. Can you even do that? This room is absolutely beautiful, but some aspects may be a bit too contemporary for the Maine home of my dreams. The colors, walls, trim, and coffee table would be perfect, but are the arm chairs too formal? But I love them so much!

One thing this room seems to be lacking is a nice, big fireplace. No Maine home would be complete without at least one! You may have to use your imagination to picture the fireplace below in the living room above, but focus on the stone. Please ignore the colors and trim.

Instead of the Shaker pegged mantle, I would substitute the mantle below. I love the way it hides the flat-screen TV. If I could combine this mantle and built-in cabinets with the stone in the first picture, it would be perfect! I'd just extend the built-ins all the way to the ceiling and get rid of the beadboard backing. Then we'd really be living!

8/1/10 Addendum: I just posted this picture for my mom's family room, but wanted to make sure I included it in the post about my future living room. I think the green/gray built-ins would look great around the stone fireplace with a pale natural linen on the walls:

I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food

This will likely be the first of many posts about kitchens. Of all of the parts of the home, this is the room I have spent the most time considering. Over the past few years, my taste has stayed fairly consistent. I'm generally drawn to the simple white cabinets, white tile backsplash, and carrera marble countertops. My only complaint with that look is that it can sometimes appear sterile and cold. I love the way this kitchen has the brick hood, rough hewn beams, and dark hardwood floors to add warmth:


Right now, this is my favorite kitchen. The only thing I would change is the pendant lights over the island. They're a little industrial. I would replace them with these schoolhouse lights:


I think I would also prefer antique wood or distressed leather vintage stools next to the island. Something along these lines:


Any thoughts or suggestions? I can just picture preparing coffee in the morning in a warm terry cloth robe with some furry Ugg slippers while it lightly snows outside. Sigh.

Colby: where the love affair began

I believe credit should be given where credit is due. On that note, I dedicate this post to Colby College - for without Colby, I would not be obsessed with Maine, but more importantly, would not be married to the man of my dreams and would not have such a funny, brilliant, and (let's face it) HOT group of best friends. Chris and I recently went back to Waterville for our 5 year reunion and had an amazing time. It brought back wonderful memories and was so refreshing to be back with people who we had gotten to know so well over the 4 years of undergrad. The reminiscing was out of control! I decided to go through a few of my pictures from 2001-5 and pick out some of the highlights to share with you:

Sophomore year: I think Nicole and I had gone crazy from organic chemistry studying and decided to throw a badass party on a Tuesday night. The best part was, we decided we had too much work and postponed it until Wednesday.

It was tough being the largest, I always was at the bottom of the pyramid!

This was on Valentines Day after Kyle did an amazing job directing the Vagina Monologues.

Here we are at the graduation ball during our last night at Colby, after dating for about 3 months. Who knew we'd be planning our wedding two short years later?

This was the first time I met Chris' sisters. I look like I might vomit in nervousness in this picture! Luckily, they're the sweetest people you could ever meet!

This is one of the very few pictures we have of the 7 of us together. Luckily, Emily's wedding is in less than one month, so we will all be reunited again soon!

So, Colby College, here's to you! Thanks for the great memories and the inspiration to move back to the great state of Maine, complete with its whoopie pies, rocky coastline, and Bean boots. We owe you one.

Let's Take a Cruise

With 3,478 miles of tidal shoreline, Maine has the most ocean coastline of any state in the continental United States. This means that unless you happen to live in Alaska, there is no better place in America to get out on the ocean, relax, and enjoy your own piece of salt water solitude. It's not surprising then that Maine has developed a strong nautical culture including lobster fishing, coastal vacationing and ship building.

Growing up I have always dreamed about someday owning a boat, and as long as I can remember these dreams have been of classically designed yachts ranging from (and probably covering everything in between) Herreshoff H 12 1/2, Shields, and when I'm feeling more ambitious the Morris M36 and Hinckley DS42. These four boats are sailboats, because for as long as I can recall there was no doubt in my mind that the only boat worth having -- especially if I was going to moor it in a beautiful Maine harbor -- was a sailboat.

The last two summers I have been racing

Tartan Tens on Lake Michigan, and although the racing has been amazing, I've started to realize in much greater detail the amount of work that goes into not only maintaining, but preparing and tidying up a sailboat for just a simple day's cruise. My mind has started to betray every instinct I've known my whole life, and dream that maybe a power boat is the way to best soak up the sun and enjoy the cool salty Maine ocean breeze on a summer's day.

Luckily for me, graceful lines and classic attention to detail are not limited exclusively to the realm of sailboats. And not long after changing my view on powerboats, I quickly fell in love with the T29R on the Hinckley website (long a go to for encouraging my sailboat dreaming).

Recently I found Grey Barn Boatworks, builders of custom center console boats, and now I have new visions! So take a look at my most recent dreams, plan a trip to come on over to visit us in the Pine Tree State and we'll take you out on a coastline cruise ... just give us a few years to get the house and the boat.

A little background

Not only do Chris and I have an unhealthy obsession with the state of Maine, we (or maybe more so I) also have an obsession with homes. It has been our dream to eventually design our own house. In order to prepare for the time when such a thing is feasible, we have been collecting images of houses we admire. We have magazine cut-outs of everything from mud room benches to kitchen drawer organization techniques. But before I get bogged down with the minor details, I thought what better place to start than with the outside of the house? As you can see from a few of our favorite house pictures below, we are in love with the traditional small New England homes:

Just looking at these pictures makes me happy.