BACK TO BASICS

'Basic' is exactly where The Hubs and I are right now.

After our downstairs remodel 4 years ago, we moved our attention upstairs and updated the master suite and my office and made plans to re-carpet the hall and redo the guest bathroom and the other bedrooms as time and funds permitted.

But, a couple of months ago we noticed that downstairs, our beautiful new wood flooring was looking a little strange in places, and I could hear water when no water was on, specifically in the laundry room....


Three weeks later, with a slab leak under our belts, rerouted pipes, a storage crate on our driveway, flooring and drywall removed, and a week with noisy, hot, annoying drying machines, we have a large empty space and are looking at the basics once again...

Flooring.  Paint.  Moldings.

Basics every room in every home requires.

I am always amazed at the impact those 3 simple things can make in a space.  As I do this daily, it probably should NOT amaze me - but the impact a change of paint color or flooring or the addition of some details like molding and trim have in a room - kind of blows me away.  Every home needs floors and paint - and hopefully the choices made will add warmth, texture, color, interest and perhaps charm.  These things alone can change a plain box into a place that invites.

Basics create the backdrop for everything that makes a house a home.

Over the years I have seen some really bad choices - (your contractor/painter is not your designer, no matter how sure he sounds about that paint color or that wainscoting style.)  It helps to have a whole house plan and to carry the design aesthetic throughout the entire house.

I do love a room re-do from time to time, but this time our house is going back almost exactly as it was. We were happy with what we did in the remodel.  Four years later we were still happy.  We were lucky enough to be able to find the same gorgeous wood flooring to replace the damaged areas and were able to salvage the built-in bookcase.  It looks good as new again.  The Hubs is happily filling it with his beloved leather book collection as I write.

In the middle of this dusty disaster, I couldn't help thinking of the opportunity I had to make a few changes. Since we were basically a construction zone, including noise and dust, I add can lighting to the family room and changed the look of the mantle and fireplace (The Hubs has hated that fireplace for over 18 years - it came with the house - we were due for a change).  The demo required us to replace the wainscot in the powder room, but I changed it up a little with a shiplap treatment.  In the laundry room - a room I had yet to upgrade, we added a high board and batten wainscot and will add a sink and open shelving.

I've always had a big pet peeve in the family room - all the media cords!  We have surround sound speaker cords, tv cords, blueray cords, receiver cords, cable cords - I  have a big 'rat nest' jumble of them behind my media case. I'm quite sure there are several thousand feet of wire and cords we don't need back there, but I would never be able to put it all back together if I disconnected them.  This is perfect timing to unravel that rats nest and make some sense of it.

Its been a few years since I've had the opportunity to really edit my home accessories.  As I put things back into place, I'm taking the time to clean house and redo - something we should all do every few years so we don't fall into the 'hoarder' or 'clutter' category, or even worse - the 'out of date' category.  In fact, if I'm honest, this is a perfect opportunity, as we unpack the big giant crate on the driveway, to KonMari our possessions.  So, if it doesn't 'spark joy', it will be looking for a new home.  I'm quite sure we will have quite a large KonMari pile.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

A POX ON WATER DAMAGE!

I always try to take in the big Spring Celebration at Rogers Gardens -
(a lovely garden nursery/gift shop in Corona Del Mar, CA)

Fuzzy chicks make me happy...

as do bunnies

Cute bunnies aside, I come to see the flower arrangements their floral department create to FILL the gift shop.

We took a little Coastal train ride with friends to Carlsbad

Great views all the way on the Surfliner.

Shopping Carlsbad - fun in spite of a little rain...

My son braved the weather of Winter in Yosemite to capture the fire falls.
Only ONE time each year - in February, and providing the weather permits,
is this particular waterfall lit by the setting sun which turns it to 'fire'.
At just the right moment, it pours molten sunset down the face of El Capitan.
He had been defeated by the weather two previous years.  It was well worth the wait.

 View his photography here and here

And then we lost our baby.
OUR BAILEY - RIP SWEET GIRL

she left a big giant hole in our hearts

And the ugly kept coming in the form of

THE VERY BAD, VERY UGLY

SLAB LEAK

I actually felt we caught it in time, but the insurance company still ripped up over 1/2 our floor

and a lot of walls, took down the built-in cabinets and removed moldings and packed our belongings and furniture into a pod on the driveway.

Once again, we were without a kitchen.

TURNING DISASTERS INTO DAISIES

Seems that we have been hit with an onslaught of slab leaks in our area.

Not sure if it is just that our homes are all reaching that age, or if there is some additive in the water

eating away at the copper pipes and causing pin holes... 

but my dear friend and client, Alana, was the most recent victim.

Her beautiful hardwood floor was destroyed, and since it was nearly 10 years old, 

matching it was going to be difficult. 

She was able to find the same company

and they said they could match the stain...good news - the alternative was to replace all the flooring in the entire ground level of her home.

The bad news, however, was that in the efforts to find and repair the leak, the leak detection company managed to destroy some of her kitchen cabinets.

That would be harder to match, as that company was no longer in business.

About that time, they decided they didn't really like their kitchen cabinets and might like to replace them, since the kitchen was going to be torn apart anyway....

Sometimes disasters turn into daisies....

This is the result - all put back together and improved 

with new solid mahogany cabinets and new countertops.

The backsplash was a custom mosaic, because try as we might, we could not find anything that Alana was really happy with in the ready-made department.  

So, instead we selected the bits she did like, and I created a pattern for a custom mosaic.  I think it turned out rather nice...

She really loved the granite she had in the old version of the kitchen (see sample on the edge of the counter here).  It had also been the material on the backsplash.  

With the dark floors, and dark cabinets, I really wanted to go lighter with counters and backsplash and I felt that would show off the beautiful wood with more of a contrast.  

 Happily she and her husband agreed and they chose this lovely piece of rock.

 It breathes new life into this space

along with the limestone and mosaic backsplash

I did not want an electrical plug every 4 feet on that gorgeous new backsplash...

so all of our electrical plugs are up under the cabinets with the lighting.

Cabinets are by APlus Home Improvements who manufacture their own product.

They are of superior quality and beauty.  Totally recommend them.

And that's how you turn a disaster into a daisy!

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Hi Claudine - 

I stumbled upon your website and absolutely love your style!  Your blog posts are wonderful and very helpful.  I have a question I have not seen come across your website yet, and it is in regard to white washed cabinets. 

The previous owners of our house picked a variety of things that don’t seem to go together.  We have white washed natural hickory cabinets (that have a pinkishness to them), a medium brown travertine tile backsplash, a green (peacock verde) countertop and a Brazilian cherry floor.   We are planning on changing the counter and backsplash to a quartz that resembles marble (probably Cambria Ella or something else with minimal veining) to lighten up the whole space and calm it all down.  We are at a loss as to what to do with the paint color to prevent the pink from coming out in the cabinets.  The kitchen is VERY dark.  It faces north and is in the middle of the house, with a covered porch behind it.   We have an adjoining family room that has a wall of windows, so we can see light from the kitchen.  

We currently have BM - Kona in the kitchen but it is very cave like in our dark space.

We love grays, but are not sure if they will help or hinder the pinkness.  We have a large adjoining family room (facing North but with a wall of windows) that currently is  - I believe BM - Shelburne Buff.

It’s a great color, but very GOLD looking and the gold is getting tiring. We are very open to changing that as well.  I love your suggestions for keeping the walls lighter and letting the architecture and furniture stand out.

Any suggestions for what we can do to help this kitchen out?

Thanks -

Annie

So sorry Annie - that white wash is so decades ago, it will be hard to mask that look even with a different color.  Best case scenario would be to paint those cabinets White Dove by Benjamin Moore - that would brighten it up in there  - maybe even White Dove upper cabinets and a nice neutral medium gray on the bottom so that your new counters can stand out... and yes do remove that very dark brown as it can suck the light out of a room.   In this case ('painting the cabinets best case scenario') I would try Edgecomb Gray on the walls, or Gray Owl, which are lighter, since you say its a bit of a cave.  Check to see that you have adequate lighting, and that its not warm white, but nice task oriented bright cool light.

Edgecomb Gray (Benjamin Moore)

Gray Owl (Benjamin Moore)

If the cabinets are staying as is, definitely neutralize around them.  The softer white/gray countertops and backsplash can handle a little more defined color on the walls.  Try Collingwood, too (Benjamin Moore) - or Shale (Benjamin Moore)

Collingwood (Benjamin Moore)

Shale (Benjamin Moore)

you will have to try some swatches to see what is best with the new counters.  All these grays should go nicely with the flooring and with most other colors you are using.  They will provide a soft background. Whatever color you use in the kitchen you can carry on to the adjoining room, which will make the space feel more cohesive.  

Good Luck!