BEFORE + AFTERS: C STREET PROJECT II

This house is my favorite of the two because it has these wood grid windows that are beautiful and would be SO expensive to recreate (one of the pluses of owning a home built in 1901). It also has a European feel to it. It's just a charming home.

I hope I did this house justice :)

                                          457 C STREET                                        

Do you see those great windows? And how sad that they had dry walled over the fireplace - so bizarre.

I decided to make this a more traditional home than the other home. We chose oak floors with a dark stain and did wainscot on the walls. The sconces are Robert Abbey and the fireplace surround is a crema marfil marble remnant.

Again, we removed the radiant heat (although I thought these heaters were super cool and underneath the silver paint they were a beautiful brass color).

This was the dining room just off the main room. We tore out the wall and made the dining room the new kitchen. I love those doors leading to the deck!

The beautiful windows in the dining area.

The old kitchen that became the new dining room.

The new kitchen! The cabinets are painted BM Dove White and the hardware is a brushed brass. The island light is the Axis Double Light from Robert Abbey (ignore the plastic still on it). The countertops are quartz countertops made by Cambria, (the color is Torquay) that I mentioned in this post. I was happy with the way they turned out, but they definitely aren't the same as marble.

I love the little square cabinets above the window - perfect for storing the pretty plates and bowls.

I did the same tile from Emser in both houses for the laundry/1/2 bath room.

Same carpet on these stairs as the other home. I like that this staircase has the wainscot on the side.

The upstairs 3/4 bath has the same configuration as the other home. Nothing too exciting to work with.

I did the same 3x6 Desert Gray subway tile from Dal Tile but the flooring is different - it's the octagon and dot in Desert Gray from Dal.

This close-up is a better representation of the true color of the tiles.

The master bedroom was similar to the other home in that it was long and narrow so we divided it up and made one half of the room the master bath.

I LOVE this bathroom. The vanity turned out so great. We had a narrow space between the vanity and the shower wall so I didn't want to do lower cabinets and we did a shelf for storage instead. All of the drawers are functional, but we also added a tall storage cabinet on the side for extra storage.

The sconces are from Circa Lighting and the floor tile is this limestone from Dal Tile that I am obsessed with. It is by far my favorite bathroom floor tile. Another client put it in her home and it looks great there too.

The storage cabinet we added. These cabinets were also painted BM Dove White and have the Cambria Torquay countertops that are in the kitchen.

The master shower. I had spent most of my tile budget for this bathroom on the limestone floor tile so I needed to do white subway in the shower. My original plan was to do chair rail squares to mimic wainscotting but to save money we just decided to break up the subway tile with bands of tile going vertical instead of horizontal. Plan A would have looked better, but I'm liking Plan B.

For some unknown reason I didn't take as many pictures of this house for the before or after - sorry no pics of the bedrooms (although unfurnished bedrooms aren't ever very exciting). 

Overall I am happy with the way both of these homes turned out, but I'm also excited to take what I learned on this project and do it even better on the next one. I think one thing is for sure - I have learned how to stretch a dollar and get a lot of style out of a small budget.

On to the next one...!

BEFORE + AFTERS: C STREET PROJECT

I had been working on these projects for four months. You might remember me mentioning them in this post and this post.

It was a fun project because I was able to choose all of the finishes as long as I stayed in budget (which in itself was quite the challenge). Working with clients is also fun, but once in a while it's nice to get to do your own thing.

These two houses are in the Avenues right by LDS Hospital, and they were actually owned by the hospital. The homes served as patient care homes. They weren't in great condition, so we pretty much gutted them and started from scratch to make a better floor plan.

The contractor on this project was Tyler Fox of T Fox Construction.

BEFORE: 467 C STREET

We tore out all the radiant heat and we kept the fireplace but refinished it.

We tore out the kitchen cabinet wall and opened the kitchen up to the dining area. We took out the window and made it a solid wall for the laundry and half bath.

We tore out this wall of cabinets and this area became the island - open to the dining area.

We kept the same set up in this 3/4 bath but put in all new materials.

This is the Master suite, but it didn't have it's own bath so we took one side of the master and added a bathroom.

AFTER

The floors are quarter-sawn oak with a sort of white-washed stain. We added the wood paneling, which I love. The sconces are the Bryant Sconce from Circa Lighting.

The cabinets are painted BM Glacier White with polished nickel hardware. The countertop is Carrera marble. The pendant lights are the small Hicks Pendant from Circa Lighting.

The backsplash is just a white subway backsplash - nothing exciting, but it's classic.

It's a little hard to see, but we hung a drum shade pendant for the dining area. The drum shade is from ELK Lighting and I bought it off of Wayfair.

The floor is a white and gray porcelain tile we got from Emser Tile in SLC. They added the bench, which I thought was a nice touch.

We decided to paint the stairs and get a nice carpet runner. The original carpet I chose ended up being too expensive, but this carpet has been fantastic - it hides all wear beautifully. I think next time I would like to do something a little more "pretty" and not so practical.

The subway tile is the Desert Gray subway from Dal Tile. The floor tile is from Emser. I can't remember what it's called, but it looks like a marble up close even though it's ceramic. I love this tile for the price.

This is the master bedroom. We put a ceiling fan instead of a chandelier because it's the upstairs and you need a fan to cool all the hot air that rises. The paint is BM Gray Owl (my favorite go-to paint).

I decided to paint the master vanity BM Van Courtland Blue to change it up. With a flip it's a little scary to do anything out of the "safe zone" but I think it turned out really nice. The countertop is Carrera and the handles are polished nickel just like the kitchen hardware. The vanity lights are from Circa Lighting as well.

The floor tiles are 1" hexagon tiles from Arizona Tile.

The shower is all carrera marble from Home Depot. This is my go-to tile if I need marble and can't afford the expensive stuff. I love the size of this marble.

And that's the first house! I will post pics of the second home tomorrow. BTW, both of the houses are still for sale (there are verbal offers on both) so if you are interested and looking in the $410K price range send me a message!

MY FAVORITE ETSY STORES - PART I

When I've hit a wall and not been able to find something for a client or even for myself I always turn to Etsy. I LOVE this site - it's definitely my go-to for creative and unique art, accessories, furniture, vintage pieces, pillows, whatever you need.

Because it is a big marketplace it's hard to navigate and find the good stores/sellers. There is definitely a lot of ugly on Etsy and sometimes poor craftmanship as well. I thought I would share some of my favorite stores on Etsy with you with the hopes that you would share your favorite stores on Etsy in my comments section!

Also, I'm looking forward to sharing pictures of two projects I finished a couple of months ago but couldn't take pictures of until now.

MY FAV ETSY STORES

MEXCHIC  

MexChic has the best wool blankets. I am waiting for winter to order myself one, but I love the striped, plaid, and houndstooth ones. They are a little pricey ($70) but they look like really good quality and if you "like" them on Facebook they offer discounts.

 EYE POETRY 

Eye Poetry is the best place for unique photography for your walls. You've probably seen some of her photography around. She has a large collection and they are all beautiful.

MARTHA AND ASH

Martha and Ash has great pillows and curtains. They aren't the cheapest, but not expensive either. Right in the middle. I haven't ordered from them personally but their stuff looks quality. 

ONE LIFE JEWELRY

One Life Jewelry is the best personalized jewelry store on Etsy. I ordered a necklace for myself for mother's day (pathetic, I know, but I know what I want better than anyone else :) She is very well priced for the craftmanship of her jewelry and easy to work with. She will personalize anything she sells. I LOVE my necklace by her.

SUKAN

Sukan has the best suzani pillows and hand embroidered pillows. This store out of Europe has very high quality home decor. Pillows range from $50 - $250 so they are not cheap, but should last you a very long time.

SARA PALOMA POTTERY

This pottery shop is simple and beautiful pottery. This set of three vases is $150, which is very reasonable for original pottery. 

AMBER ALEXANDER

Amber Alexander's art are great original watercolor prints for your kids rooms or she also paints some wonderful moody landscapes.

BIRD HAVEN

If you are throwing a party or need gift supplies this store has the cutest string for tying packages, and the best faux bois cards!

DOLORES PETUNIA

This is the most amazing jewelry store on Etsy (in my opinion). I wish I had the money to buy one of her bib necklaces. They are SUPER cool. Definitely worth the money if you have it.

Okay so there are a lot more...to be continued. My kiddos are needing me so there will be a part II. Please leave comments on your favorite Etsy stores!