43. ReHabitat-ing the Yellow Bedroom, Part 2

January 17, 2013January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 9 Comments

Today was a double blessing day: our long awaited, too-expensive, gorgeous kitchen faucet arrived; and, in the mail was my reVive box from reHabitat, the fabulous design team who took on The Yellow Bedroom. (see post 37. ReHabitat-ing the Yellow Bedroom.)

I was good. I did all my chores first, and then I cleaned off the table, made a cup of tea, and sat down with my treasure — all the while admiring the cool packaging.
What caught my eye first was the beautiful fabric that was folded up inside — a gorgeous embroidered square of fall colored leaves. I love foliage!
The next goodie was a whole page of accessories and photos layered on swatches of colors — a design board for inspiration. Bedding, lamps, curtain suggestions, all individualized to our room and our tastes. WOW! The best idea was a DIY headboard made from an old door, with a shelf on top for pictures, books, and candles. Umm, we’ve got some old doors hanging around…

Underneath the design board was the shopping list, which included websites and prices of most everything pictured on the design board. (The ceiling light and the closet doors were included just for inspiration.) I could just click away to PotteryBarn.com and look close up at the beautiful quilt. (Michael nixed it; he said it was too flowery!) Next to the shopping list was a palette of paint colors to choose from, and underneath that was the floor plan that showed us what pieces to use where.
When my excitement settled down, I turned to read the pages of notes titled “We recommend…” (2 1/2 pages of recommendations!) Really, it just organized and clarified everything that had already been suggested, as well as gave us suggestions on how to prioritize, i.e., what would make the most difference (besides painting the yellow, of course!) The slide show below contains some of the suggestions — using what we have, interspersed with what we might want to purchase.

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I am so excited about this; it was just what I needed to reVive my spirits! I’m thinking that I don’t want to get off track from the kitchen, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a serene, finished room while we’re busy working on everything else? A place where we could just shut the door and look outside and pretend? All we need is some paint and some new curtains and…

Now if only someone would just come and do the work for us????

39. The Gift of a House

December 16, 2012January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 3 Comments

Sometimes I wonder how in the world we ended up with two houses. Especially at this time of year. We still mostly live at the city house. It’s where work is. It’s where the mortgage is. It’s where old friends are. But it isn’t necessarily where the heart is. I wonder about that. I miss seeing friends. We just resigned from our church — our life for eight years — because we are never there on weekends, and it is a loss.. And neighbors — I’m never in the yard working on my flowers or garden, so I don’t see them anymore.

The city house is really much more beautiful. It’s a stone Tudor with character, a cottage with a wildish flower garden out front. It was the house of my dreams when we bought it eight years ago. I still love it. But, my heart isn’t there anymore.

I am fractured sometimes.
Split down the middle.
Anxious to go.
Hesitant to make the move.

No Christmas tree this year. Where would we put it? The house where we are? Or the house where we aren’t?

So I have pine at both houses…

Christmas in the country

Thankful for these blessings, I try to be mindful of them and not see any of it as burdensome. Yet the details are exhausting sometimes. We are always on the move, not here, not there. And we always forget something. Or two somethings…

Christmas in the city

I am reminded by Matthew that where my treasure is, there my heart will be. (Mt. 6:9 — I went to check the citation and discovered it quickly; it was underlined in red pen.) I mustn’t fret, but wait on God’s timing. This country house was such a gift and the circumstances of it make me, make us, sure that God is doing a new thing here in my life, in our lives. We just aren’t clear what it is yet. And I’m not getting any younger, God…

I know, I know. Patience. Preparation. Waiting. ‘Tis the season.

37. ReHabitat-ing the Yellow Bedroom

November 30, 2012September 1, 2015 / Apple Hill Cottage / Leave a comment

In a previous post, I told you about [reHabitat], the online design/decorating company who is giving us ideas on what to do with our yellow bedroom, while we concentrate on the kitchen and the bathroom. In the interest of full disclosure :-) [reHabitat] is Diane and Emily, my sister and my niece.

I chose the reVive box for the bedroom. They have several others to choose from — less and more. This is what we’re getting with the reVive box:

{reVive}

Need a bit more direction as you settle into your home or want to give a room an upgrade? Let us give you a basic framework that still allows you full creative control. You’ll start by taking our TasteTest, measuring your room, and snapping a few before photos. We’ll draw up a floor plan (based on pieces you already have and things we think you should add), recommend paint colors, and show you some examples of pieces to look for as you shop on your own.

Includes: floor plan, paint colors, links to furniture inspiration, notes/suggestions to address any problem areas, phone conversation to clarify any questions you have after you’ve received your box.

*Shameless advertising plug: Visit reHabitat’s website to find out about other rehab box packages. They have a fun blog as well. The link is www.rehabitatdesign.com

With the taste test are some pictures of chairs, couches, tables, accessories and such. I checked off the ones I liked — this gives them an idea of my taste! Then there are two sections of questions. Although I can’t give away all their secrets, the questions mostly deal with what you like about the room, what you envision for the room, your favorite colors, your hated colors, that sort of thing. It was fun to do, but I’ve always liked filling out questionnaires… The hardest part was making up a floor plan of the room, but there are fairly specific directions on how to go about it.

And then you get to tell them the pieces you have for the room that you want to keep and send them pictures. I’ve done all that in the form of this post below. Our problem is that we are downsizing. and we have too much furniture. So what do we keep? And what can we get to tie all the mishmashed pieces together? I’m sure you all have ideas as well. Who knows, I might get lots of input from you all. Stay tuned to see what the professionals do…

Here is the bedroom from the four corners:

Queen sized bed

The TV does not have to go in the bedroom. It’s only here now because there’s nowhere else to put it. Don’t you love the card table?

Small door goes into bathroom and has to be sanded and painted on the bath side, so could be on this side as well. The other door goes into the living room, is always open, and has to be replaced.

Lovely corner, eh? Even the pictures of this yellow room give me a headache…

We have three dressers to pick from:

This one was rescued at a thrift shop for $40, sanded, and ivy stenciled to go in the ivy bedroom. It can be painted or resanded — it’s yellow pine. It is 32″ x 17″ and 47″ high.

This is Clara’s oak dresser. It has to stay as is if used. (New hardware is okay.) 34″ x 18″ and 50″ high.

This is Michael’s dresser from childhood. (Is it back in?) I’ve been going to change the pulls forever — to a simpler mission type look — but never got around to it. At one point I suggested painting it (it is just pine) and he was okay with that. Dimensions are 51″ x 18″ and 30″ high.

Here are lamp choices: (There are two of each; we don’t have to use either set, and/or new shades can be selected).

These are fairly tall–30″

This pair is shorter–20″.

Here are some other furniture pieces that have been in past bedrooms at various times…

We dont’ have matching nightstands. This is Michael’s from when he was a kid — antique oak

Here’s another:

This belonged to Michael’s grandmother; he thinks it is a Stickley.

Nanny’s cedar chest–it is long, 60″!–fits at the bottom of a queen-sized bed. 22″ wide.

There are also these two mirrors–one came from Dad and one came from Clara and they are almost identical.

This is the ceiling light fixture. I kind of like it, but Michael isn’t so sure. It does bathe the room in yellow light, which goodness knows it doesn’t need right now, but maybe when there is new paint color?