Jennifer's new bedroom

Back in March I was happy to get an email from a friend from college. Jennifer and I have enjoyed "keeping up" with each other through our blogs, but I had not personally heard from her in a long time. Jennifer recently moved, and was hoping to make changes to her master bedroom. I was very honored that Jennifer thought of me!

excerpt from her email...
dear genevieve laura, (ha!)

"This is kind of out of the blue but we moved into a new home in August and right now our master bedroom is a hodge podge of leftover hand-me-down furniture. We really want to redo our room from top to bottom to make it somewhere that we can relax but I'm having a tough time getting started. Basically, I'm overwhelmed. I'm not exactly sure what you're doing these days or how much you are still doing interior design work, but I remember all of the work that you used to do in school and so I was wondering if you've ever considered doing "virtual" consultations. I know that there are some designers that do them but most of the people that I've found that do them have a horrendously long wait time to get a result. We're not in a big rush but I don't particularly want to sit around on this without doing something for much longer.

So, I was wondering if you would be interested in starting some virtual consultations. We worked with a designer picking out a few things in the main living areas when we moved in but I wasn't extremely pleased with her mostly because I wanted a whole lot more guidance than she was willing to give. I wouldn't be looking for you to design a room from start to finish or to execute the design, I'm mostly looking for me to send you the dimensions of our room, some pictures of what it looks like currently, some pictures online of rooms that I like, and then I would love some suggestions on color schemes, layout, and bedding/furniture that you think would be best."

I was thrilled! I had never attempted a "virtual consultation" but as you know I will try just about anything once...especially at the request of a friend. Jennifer and I live several hours apart, but it was so much fun that we were able to share thoughts and ideas through pictures and emails.

Jennifer did not need me to "execute" the design, really just needed guidance, or a direction to get her started. She had great ideas as to what she wanted to include, but wanted thoughts on color, layout, and resources to purchase suggested items.

She sent me pictures of the current space, floor plan, dimensions, a list of things she wanted to include, a budget, as well as "idea pictures" of spaces she loved.

I later submitted my design ideas to Jennifer. She and her husband Jason were able to put their own spin on my suggestions to create a room that was perfect for them!

Last week I got another email from Jennifer letting me know that they were wrapping up the master bedroom! She shared pictures with me and wrote all about the process on her fun blog! So much fun to see a concept come to life!

Jennifer and Jason I hope you are THRILLED with your new bedroom!! Thanks for the fun opportunity!

cape cod chopped salad

I typically fall in love with lots of things I see in House Beautiful. Each new issue leaves me craving new colors, new accessories, new furniture.

The most recent issue left me craving something very different. SALAD.

You all know I am not a natural in the kitchen, but as soon as I saw this salad I had to give it a try. It did not disappoint!

Love it when a recipe calls for things like this..

...and this, yet its still a "salad" YUM!

Cape Cod Chopped Salad

Serves 4 to 5
8 slices (8 ounces) thick-cut bacon, such as Niman Ranch
8 ounces baby arugula
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup toasted walnut halves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled

For the Dressing:
3 tablespoons good apple-cider vinegar
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup good olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and lay the bacon slices on the rack. Roast the bacon for about 20 minutes, until nicely browned. Allow to cool.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the arugula, apple, walnuts, cranberries, and blue cheese. For the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, orange zest, orange juice, mustard, maple syrup, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
4. Chop the bacon into large pieces and add it to the salad. Toss the salad with just enough dressing to moisten. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss well. Serve immediately.

friday favorite

chapstick + color = perfection

the family reunion

John and I spent the weekend in Nashville for his big family reunion. The weather was H-O-T and I mean hot, but time with this crowd is few and far between.

 John's first cousins are spread out all over the southeast. Rare treat to all be together. What a fun weekend!

delight

If you have ever wondered what the happiest woman on the Earth looks like. This.Is.IT

What a gift to have a front row seat to watch this Grandmother so in love.

Waving to boats. swinging. good afternoon nap

bathroom before...part 2

drum roll please.....

are you ready to see the AFTER!?!

ha! me too.

The bathroom project continues! John and I removed all of the tile from our tub surround and bathroom floor. We were anxious to see what kind of damage we were going to have to repair. Much to our surprise the faucet wall, (where we thought the most damage would be) was actually in the best shape, but the back wall left lots to be desired.

Since our plan was to tile all the way to the ceiling, and there was water damage, we decided to remove all of the drywall and replaced any insulation with mold or mildew. Holmes would NOT have approved of the original install!

Tearing things apart is much more fun than putting it back together! Actually, we knew almost nothing about re-tiling our bathroom.  My generous in-laws kindly offered to come help us put our little humpty dumpty back together again. Luckily for us, John's dad is a tile expert! Expertise, help, and great tools were just what we needed.

John and I worked and worked in hopes of getting everything prepped for the tile, but sadly when his parents arrived this is what our tub surround looked like.

Late Friday night John and I took a little detour from our itinerary and broke down at Home Depot. We had a cart full of supplies as well as another rolling cart full of seven pieces of backer board. You learn who your good friends are when you call them late on a Friday night to pick you (and ALL of your supplies!) up! THANK YOU WHEELER! Luckily, just a dead battery, but needless to say that changed our time frame a little bit. AND we learned early the next morning that you can't get in to John's trunk with out the beep beep (like that technical term?) seriously, jeep, put a key hole on the trunk!

Now, for the tile. It was a steal of a deal. Seriously. So low budget it fit in ours. Remember the pig? Not dream tile, but this was clearance material that a client bought and did not need all of it. Since it was clearance it could not be returned, so I bought it from the client. Win win for us both!
 
Wish I had a picture of the two Johns hard at work or meticulously laying out their game plan, but unfortunately(ha!) Jenny and I set out for a day of shopping and fun. Pretty great deal if you ask me!

Progress day one...

progress day 2...

learning from the best, John was able to do this fancy work around our toilet

The floor was complete and the tub surround brought nothing but headaches. They got most of the hardibacker installed, but were worried about the bend in the pipe and thought it would be best to call in a professional. I quickly agreed because the alternative could mean no water in our house. I think you all know how I feel about places with out bathrooms.

Thank you Jenny and John for all of your help AND a wonderful weekend!!

...to be continued

'til the cow comes home

Several months ago when I went to Scott's I fell in love with a cow. Not an actual cow, but an incredible oil painting. Love at first site. Sadly, the beautiful painting was out of my budget and did not get to come home with me.
Last year, House Beautiful featured an awesome home in Texas which featured none other, than a COW as the show stopper above the mantle.

Months past and I still have not forgotten about the cows.

The painting, Gorgeous Grace, by Linda St. Clair.

This weekend I decided I would attempt to paint my own cow inspired by the image in House Beautiful. Random? yes. But when you suffer from bathroom renovation project A.D.D the only solution is to paint a cow. After our morning coffee, I looked at John and said "well...I think I need to paint a cow today". Yet another reason why I love him. His response, "Absolutely". 

To me, the tricky part about painting something yourself is knowing when to stop. I reach a point that I feel like I'm one brush stroke away from disaster...or masterpiece. I just don't know when to quit. She is not perfect by any stretch, but she IS a cow. What do you think?

***after seeing a picture of this painting, I feel like I need to move the eyes down just a little bit. what do you think? agree? or NOT worth it?