A New Low?

Many of us decorating geeks have our favorite "movie houses" and find ourselves re-watching certain movies just for the eye candy (not the leading man-type eye candy). Some of us use these houses for inspiration, some try to emulate them completely and others just like to look at them. I've had my own "Top 5" movie houses list for a while. Does that sound pathetic? Guess it depends who you ask. Well anyway, here they are - in no specific order:

1. Somethings Gotta Give (duh)

2. The Door in the Floor (gorgeous house, gorgeous location, gorgeous, simple decor)

3. What Lies Beneath (again, gorgeous house, gorgeous location, gorgeous traditional decor)

4. Spanglish (seems like nothing matches and yet it all works)

5. The Holiday (BOTH HOUSES - so, technically, I guess this is a"Top 6" list)

Recently, I have seen a movie that I believe may be list-worthy. No, it's not the latest Nancy Meyers movie. And no, it's not Sex and the City either.

It's Flushed Away. As in, the animated children's movie about a rat who gets flushed down his own toilet. Yes, seriously. Is being jealous of a cartoon British couple unhealthy? Does it even matter? I'm already pathetic, after all.

Here are some stills from the movie. It's like the white-on-white toned paradise I've always dreamed of:

I love how the architecture is very traditional and the decor is semi-modern. I'm a sucker for a good mixture of modern and antique. It just looks so nice and clean.

Seeing dirt all over this beautiful white sofa makes my palms sweat.

I find myself pushing this movie on my kids just so I can watch it over and over again.

Why the hell did I just admit that?

All Apologies

Sorry for slacking...we have two sick kids right now (not too sick to wear their Batman capes while jumping off furniture, though).

Will be back with a new post tomorrow.

wtf?

This door in our foyer leads to the World's Smallest Bathroom:

As it is such, my mother-in-law and I hatched a plan long ago to do something unique and unusual with the walls in the bathroom. Not only is the room tiny (meaning it can be painted/wallpapered/etc. for short money) but the door can always be closed on it anyway.

Well, a few weeks ago I was over on a message board and someone came in and posted that ferm living was having a HUGE sale on their wallpaper. $100 wallpaper for about $30 a roll. Needless to say I got over to the website as fast as I could type.

My initial thought was that ferm's wallpaper was a little too funky for my husband's taste. But, I simply COULD NOT RESIST such a bargain. And so I bought one roll, to cover the inside of a glass-front bookcase.

Well, wouldn't you know it - my husband ended up really liking the wallpaper (sometimes I don't give him enough credit!). So I figured I would need at least another roll (maybe two) to be able to do the bathroom and the bookcase. But yet again, I procrastinated all weekend and when I finally sat down to place my second order, THE ONE PATTERN I WANTED WAS SOLD OUT - OF COURSE. I swear, I think every other clearance pattern is still available except my lovely Kingflower pattern:

It's like the Pottery Barn chandelier fiasco all over again.

End rant.

Update Re: Salvation Army Chair

A few posts ago I wrote about the desk chair I picked up at Salvation Army...

I also wrote about wanting to paint it, but feeling guilty since it looked to be pretty old. Well, over the weekend I tried to find out more about the chair and started looking for any markings or stamps on it. Anything to help determine its age.

At first, the only thing I found were the numbers "1231" painted on the bottom of the chair. I was about to give up when I noticed a small plaque attached to the back of the seat. It reads: "Property of Defense Plant Corporation an Instrumentality of the United States Government."

Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't paint this?

From what I can gather from a few google searches, the Defense Plant Corporation was utilized during WWII to help manage the construction of plants used for the manufacture of boats, airplanes, etc. during the war. I can't find very much info on the Defense Plant Corp. at ALL. Anyone out there a history buff? Or happen to know anything about Defense Plant Corporation?

The Making of an Au Pair Suite, Vol. III

This isn't exactly a perfect before and after post, as most of these pics aren't taken from the exact same angles, but you get the idea.

Here's the couch area "way before." Pretty much how it looked when we closed on the house, minus the cow border (you know that had to be the first thing to go):

And during construction, with some primer on the walls and the ceiling being scraped:

And, after:

And here's the "tv wall" during construction. It was important to use space efficiently in this small sitting area, so Mike made a built-in tv alcove above the stairs and opposite the couch:

Here's the finished tv alcove:

And a finished view of the bookcase next to the tv and the room leading into the bedroom:

The other side of the door to bedroom, in relation to the kitchen:

And a finished view of the kitchen:

So, all that's left to show of the au pair suite is the bedroom. It came out well, but not much was done in there as far as "construction." We refinished the floors, redid the ceiling and painted, but the basic shape of the room stayed the same. I will post some pics of that room in the next au pair suite installment.

Hello Gorgeous!

I haven't been this happy (or this pleasantly surprised) since the Tom Brady "Tuck Rule" pass of '01.


More pics to come - just had to get these up.

What Lies Beneath

Wooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooo!

These floors have not seen the light of day in 50+ years! I have to say, they were worth waiting for...



Look. At. All. That. Dust. It's gonna take me weeks to get rid of all this dust. But again, I DON'T CARE! I HAVE FLOORS!!!

Another view during sanding...




I couldn't be happier with the results so far. There were areas of the floor that we couldn't clearly see before sanding and we thought there might be some damaged areas. But, so far so good! I cannot believe that these are hundred year old floors. They look brand new.


A ringing endorsement. We've used this company for every hardwood floor in the house and couldn't be happier with them. If you're in the Boston area, I highly recommend them.

More pics to follow.