the bedrooms

The Simon Cousins circa 1968?

We spend more time in our bedrooms then in any other room in the house.  Unfortunately my dad did not take a lot of pictures of these rooms.  Dad didn't like candids, he liked posed pictures and preferred to take those in a more formal room.  I did manage to find a picture of my niece Dena, jumping on her grandparents bed!  I also found this picture of the Chicago and St. Louis cousins taken in my bedroom, I know because I recognize the artwork on the wall!

This house has three bedrooms.  The first is the smallest, it belonged to my brother Josh as a kid.

It became a guest room/office as the years went by. Basically it was a cramped dark mess.  It actually had this weird printed wallpaper on the closet doors which my mom added in the 1970's.  And that was the most exciting thing about the room.

My older daughter Abby, who leaves to go to college next month was awarded this room.  She was agreeable as long as we could make the room brighter and happier.




                                                              





I added white wood blinds and a antique chandelier with lots of bulbs. 


Unfortunately most of her room has been taken over stuff for college!

Ugh! This is not what my bedroom looked like when I was growing up.  It is what it became the one time my mother had an interior designer come in to transform this room.  Pink ceiling, wallpaper edging, balloon shades, all I can say is that this room was clearly the ugliest room in the house.  

The room has good bones.  Its large and has lots of lights and good closets.

This room went to Tamara and she wanted purple walls.

Tamara traded up for a queen size bed.  Her furniture is a mix of rustic wood and metal and a bit of silver metal leaf. (I did it myself)

I think the Anthropologie quilt she picked ties it all together.

Ok, one more retro picture, this one from 1962.  That's my brother and I on my parents very old bed.  The room was always set up the same way.
Here is the before.

 

I changed the position of the bed in the room so I had a wall to put the TV.  Of course I got rid of the heavy drapery.  The furniture is what I already owned.  It's sort of a British Colonial vibe. There are a couple of copper leaf pieces in this room that I also created.

Here is my tiny master bathroom. It now has a marble shower, new vanity, mirrors, medicine chest and toilet.  Just big enough to fit everything perfectly.

I kept the old floor tile. Hail to the 1950's!

                                                                                                      

Living and Dining-the big reveal

This is what most of the people that have ever been to my parents house remember, the holiday dinners.  Shabbat, Rosh Hashana, Thanksgiving and of course Peasch, and don't forget ever other holiday in between even the Jewish ones you had never heard of.  My mom cooked a delicious dinner and my dad hosted a wonderful night. I hope that I can continue that tradition.

This is what the grand living and dining room combination looked like when my mom moved out.  It is a striking room, loaded with afternoon light and with a fantastic sloped ceiling with hidden lighting. 

I decided to keep the layout similar to the original.  I just simplified color palette and got rid of the flowery wallpaper.

Before

After

Here I am about 5 years old sitting on the very long white and gold couch. The couch that was then replaced with a plain gold couch.  
Here are my parents on that couch.....

Here is my brother... Josh sorry don't hate me!

I replaced the couch with a couple of easy chairs and a very modern ethanol fireplace.  It is really cool looking.  It does not need venting , but it does not give off very much heat.
Basically its just for the ambiance. I think that it gives this room another purpose.  It is a place for entertaining and snuggling by the fire.

The built in room divider that separates the front door from the rest of the house seemed the perfect place to put a bar.  The bookcase showcases my silver candlestick collection.  The bar is housed in an old mission style dresser.  
                                                                                         
My piano is in the same place that my parents had put our old piano and the electric organ after that.

family room-the big reveal

Call it a Family room or Den, it is the center of all family activity in the house.  Growing up this is where we gathered to watch TV at night.  Its where my mom served cut up hot dogs (hor d'oeuvres) before dinner and the adults had a cocktail.  For me it is where I began my career as an artist.  Right there on the den floor!

 Here is the way that the room looked when I got it.

My Mom occupied the recliner just as my Dad did years before.


The pictures hanging on the wall were just as they had been in 1963 after my parents trip to Europe. So, when I took them down.....

This happened!

So for the reno I had to have the wood wall painted. I replaced the two sliding glass doors  (yes, they had two sets on top of each other) with one efficient siding door. I also decided to change the whole layout of the room making the TV wall the wall opposite the window where the sofa had previously been.

One of the most noticeable transformation in this room is the window treatment on the sliding glass door wall.  Thank to Gail Schaeffer at Window Concepts for helping find these modern solar panel track shades, which transform the room.

I found this gorgeous rug at Dolnick's going out of business sale.

Great accessory tray from Home Goods.

This bunny pillow is from Local St. Louis Artist. Maggie Weelock.  I got it a Urban Matter in South St. Louis.  The sconce is from West Elm.

And my bright green painted student desk that was rescued from my brother's old bedroom is tucked away in the corner.

the big reveal kitchen

The kitchen is the room in the house most true to the original, and yet totally transformed.

Here is my mom in the kitchen circa mid 1970's. This is the way I most remember it growing up. The metal St. Charles cabinets were almond on the bottom and cream on the uppers. The counters were laminate with a boomerang pattern and trimmed in stainless steel. 

By the time I got a hold of the kitchen, things had changed a bit.

My parents had all the cabinets painted cream (late 70's), The cool formica was replaced with beige formica which matches the beige tile floor.  It was a symphony in beige.

I updated the back splash is a modern, but retro look. I put in a new gas range instead of the electric that was there before. I was able to keep the cool hubcap style exhaust fan.

The counter tops are Silestone quartz in expo grey.

All the appliances are new, like this cool Bosch dishwasher which is so quiet that you can't tell it's even on unless the red light on the floor is glowing!   The floors are now a dark grey rectangular tile.   

More new appliances!  A large wall oven ( my mom's was super tiny) and a pantry door frig.

Finally a burst of color with the orange accent wall.  
The new light fixture is a sputnik type chandelier, and the eat in table and chairs are from Ikea.  Yes, they came in boxes and yes, I put them together!

Here is my daughter recreating her Grandma in the kitchen!

moving sucks!

Actually moving itself doesn't really suck.  I am genuinely excited about the new house.  But having to evaluate all your possessions, pack them into boxes and physically move them is the part that sucks. 

I just have accumulated too much stuff.  I lived in this house for almost 9 years, but I can't believe all the crap that I have managed to collect.  I want purge myself of all these extra things that do nothing but take up space.  So, I administered the help of a book that has recently become popular, I heard about it on the Today show.  It's call The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up ( the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing) by Marie Kondo.  The author explains all the reasons you need to purge your life of all things that no longer "bring you joy".  If I had any guilt about throwing out or giving away anything, this book would make it all ok.  The book is a bit wordy but it does have good tips on how to tackle the purge and how to put away what you are left with.

But as the move date approaches I find it more difficult to decide what to get rid of and I just end up throwing it all into the box.  I fear I am going to have to have second purge when I unpack.

Speaking of boxes, there are tons of them.  I pack things in smaller boxes because I can't physical pick up the larger one. Even so my entire body aches, yes moving sucks.

so much to do, so little time

In exactly three weeks the move to the new/old home will be completed.  The work at Sleepy Hollow is done!  I am waiting to post pictures when I really move in so you can see exactly how the rooms turned out.

I am very happy that my present house sold in one day. Now I am in the process of packing up everything and trying to get as much stuff over to the other house so I don't have to pay for the movers to do it.  It is an enormous job, I can't believe home much ridiculous stuff I have acquired in the last 9 years.  So, I decided to have a Garage Sale on May 31st.  Hopefully this will not be a crazy amount of work, I have friends helping me.  So, I am selling my house, moving into another, packing one kid for camp and another for Israel and all this in the next three week.  This is crazy!

before

after

I did complete one project for the new house. It was surprisingly easy.  This mid century student desk has been in my brother Josh's room as long as I can remember.  It served well as a school desk for him and a place to pay bills for my dad.  The blond wood finish was not looking great, so I decided to give it a makeover.  I repaired the chips, deglossed the finished and them applied two coats of semi gloss in a bright green color, which is the accent color in the den.
The desk will not be tucked into the corner of this room making it a perfect place to put a laptop, check emails and write my blog.

more progress

 It has been five weeks and the bathrooms are starting to take shape. 

In the formerly pink hall bathroom the white subway tile is a big change.  I can't wait to see it with the dark grout.

 In the master bathroom, the shower has been transformed with Cararra  marble tiles.  I want to give this very tiny bathroom a luxury hotel feel.

 The girls got to choose their own lighting for their bedrooms.  Tamara went for an iron orb chandelier, which has an industrial vibe.

Abby needs more light to brighten up the formerly dark room with only one window.  I found this multi-candle bronze antique chandelier at an antique store.

The basement is being transformed into a semi-finished space that will have a studio area, office area, chill area and laundry space.

Plus, the unfinished section for storage has been partitioned off with a wall and proper door.

There is a lot more lighting now, I'm going to leave the ceiling unfinished but I have decided to spring for carpeting to make the space warmer.  More pictures to follow.