Happy December, my wonderful friends!!! Wow, December?! Am I the only feeling this way? This year went by too fast and the older I get the more I see that I can’t waste my time. We must enjoy life, do what we REALLY love and make memories surrounded by the important people in our lives. The rest, my friends… is the rest. Focus on the beautiful side of life, because that’s what really matters. Dwelling on the small stuff becomes a waste of your precious life and it’s not worth it. Start this week knowing what you want and you want all the Good Things life can offer you. You are deserving of that! 🙂
Now, let’s focus on a really great person? Meet this talented and kind homeowner, Elizabeth Bear from @elizabethbeardesigns. This is the type of home that you get into and all types of stress starts to run away… the white interiors really create a positive vibe that feels heavenly. Here, she gives us more details about her style:
“What an honor to be featured on the @homebunch blog. I am Elizabeth, as some of you know, and live in the Denver suburbs. I never went to design school to get a degree as a designer, but have always been drawn to it. After college I went into the corporate world and then accidentally fell into the creative side of life and have never looked back. (It wasn’t a surprise since from the moment I can remember as a child, I have always loved creativity.)
Fast forward, in a nutshell, after college I was married, we were happy, he unexpectedly passed away, I was heartbroken, several years later my college sweetheart, who was divorced, and I, crossed paths, quickly fell in love, got married, and I moved from Massachusetts to Colorado where he lived with his three children who he had half of the time. We love adventure, traveling, road trips, snow skiing, family and friends.”
Read more below…
When looking for a home together, it was important that it worked for our new family of five. We immediately knew we had found our home when we walked inside. We loved the bones, but it wasn’t an open floor plan, modern or updated. Between my love for interior design and my husband’s ability to do or know what ideas could be done, based on headers and such, we knew we could make it ours. The day we purchased it we opened the door with a hammer and scraper in hand and began renovating. We are still chipping away at it and appreciate each time we check one more space or project off the list.
Planter is West Elm Radius Planter (which we spray painted white to go with the white buffet).
Lighting: rh – similar here.
In our entryway we chose to use three large stainless steel pendants that are also in our kitchen, instead of one chandelier. One of the things that we loved when we saw our house for the first time was all the glass and the large window above the front door.
Sideboard: West Elm white buffet (Elizabeth replaced the hardware).
Wooden planter: Local store – similar here & here.
Paint color is Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist in satin is on all of our walls.
Sky Beads Blue dot pillows: Hable.
White linen pillow with gray circles: Erin Flett.
Similar Basket: here.
Similar Stool: here, here & here.
Similar Fiddle Tree: here.
To give the home a modern look and to showcase our art (mostly all from family and friends), we picked a warm light gray to paint all the walls in the entire house, with the exception of the master bedroom which we chose a warm white. All of the trim and doors throughout are a bright crisp white. The house gets a lot of natural light so the warm gray walls, bright white trim, and light natural hardwood floor add to the brightness. Because of all of the natural light and the modern look we chose only to use white roller shades that blend into the window trim.
White cotton pillow: Ikea – similar here.
I love how much color and interest Elizabeth’s art brings to this space.
Comfort Roll Sofa: Pottery Barn.
Watercolor art: Memory Lane Creative – Similar Here.
Faux shearling chair: HomeGoods – similar here & here.
Gray velvet pillows: HomeGoods – similar here.
Gray faux fur pillows: HomeGoods – similar here.
Gray velvet lumbar pillow: CB2.
White Martini table: West Elm.
White linen and gray velvet striped pillow: Erin Flett.
Chair are Pottery Barn – similar here & here (such a comfy chair & sofa!).
Similar Tree Stump Accent Table: here.
A drywaller came in and smoothed out the textured ceilings and touched up any marks from the removal of the wallpaper.
Gray cowhide area rug: Cb2.
Large round gray rug custom made – similar here, here & here.
Floor lamp: CB2.
I love the simplicity of this vignette.
Ceramics are from CB2 and West Elm.
When we designed the kitchen we wanted a large island for prepping meals and gathering with family and friends. We asked that the Caesarstone countertop go as large as possible without having a seam.
Counterstools: Crate & Barrel.
Lighting: Restoration Hardware Harmon Collection pendants – similar here.
Large white wall clock was orange and we painted it white discontinued – CB2
Range: Wolf – similar: here.
The backsplash we used was a small clear glass tile (similar here & here) we stacked for a modern look, and used stainless steel appliances, lighting and counter height chairs.
Caesarstone countertop – discontinued pattern.
Renovated complete kitchen with Aspen Leaf Kitchens.
Toaster: Generation Classic 4-slice Dualit toaster.
Refrigerator and dishwasher: Jenn-air
The hardware that we chose throughout the house on the cabinets is a simple bar that we used on the drawers and cabinets to give it a modern and clean look.
Hardware: RH – similar here.
Also tied into the kitchen renovation was removing an old bar area and replacing it with a floor to ceiling storage cabinet. We also replaced all the shelving in a walk in pantry to match the shelving in the kitchen cabinets.
Planter: here.
Wall paint color Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist OC-27.
We also built a window bench and low cabinets on either side so we had additional space to eat or play games.
White Panton chairs: Design With Reach.
Pillows and window bench cushion I made using white Belgian linen tablecloth from West Elm.
View from kitchen island towards the family room and dining room. This is a great way to build interior columns without obscuring the spaces.
One of the best things we did to our home, a game changer, was to remove the wall between the dining room and family room. This opened up the sight line on the entire first floor. You can now enjoy the wood burning fireplace from the kitchen, family room, and dining. To give “some” definition between the rooms, we built half walls with columns.
Birch Christmas trees: Crate & Barrel.
Cherry wood Basic Extension Dining Table/Vermont Furniture: Circle Furniture – similar here & here.
Glass Pendants: discontinued (Simon Pearce) – Other Beautiful Glass Pendants: here, here, here & here (large).
Tree candles: Crate & Barrel.
Dishes: Crate & Barrel.
Flour sack napkins: Target.
Custom white hutch.
White dining chairs : InMod – similar here.
Cutting board accessory: West Elm.
Large white planter: West Elm.
There was wallpaper in almost every room (which we removed) and dark wood trim in some places. On the first floor the kitchen, dining room, hallway, and powder room had stained wood floors. The living room, the office, the family room, and the stair treads all had wall to wall carpeting. We removed all the carpeting and had the stained wood floors sanded down to their natural light color, replaced the carpeting with matching natural hardwood on the floor, built new stair treads to match the floor and polyurethaned them with a colorless satin water base so they wouldn’t yellow.
Similar hardwood flooring: here & here.
White leather womb chair and ottoman: Rove Concepts – similar here.
Ski Lodge pillow: HomeGoods – similar here.
When we moved in the fireplace was red brick from the floor all the way to the top of the vaulted ceiling. We had the top ⅔’s sheet rocked and the bottom ⅓ and hearth covered in a riverstone and my husband built a shaker style mantle that we didn’t have before. When we aren’t using the fireplace we put a panel, that we DIY’d, in the opening of the fireplace to look like stacked wood.
Faux gray fur blanket in fog: rh – similar here.
Cowhide rug- similar here, here & here.
Metal bins: similar here.
Velvet/linen pillows in the fireplace opening: West Elm.
Gray chair, and couch discontinued: West Elm.
White linen pillow with stripes: Erin Flett.
Faux gray fur pillows in fog: rh – similar here.
White Jelly Bean Goop coffee table: CB2.
The trim is Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White.
Artwork is by family and friends.
Going back to the stairs. We removed the carpeted treads and my husband suggested installing a thicker stair tread to give it a more modern look. We also replaced the turned newels and spindle balusters with a simple craftsman box newels and square baluster style.
In the office space we designed a desk and floor to ceiling cabinets as his work space and then on the other side of the room we made a sitting area for clients.
We framed a large mirror in the same trim as the window to give the effect of two windows in the room.
Pottery Barn Square upholstered loveseat and chair: Pottery Barn.
Gray velvet/linen pillows: West Elm.
Coffee table and side table discontinued: Crate & Barrel – similar here.
Area rug: West Elm.
The same painted white shaker cabinets in the kitchen were used to rebuild my husband’s office built-ins and a desk.
Aeron Polished Black Classic desk chair: Design Within Reach.
Hardware: similar here.
One other space we renovated on the first floor was our bathroom. We redid the shower with a riverstone floor matching the riverstone on the fireplace, put in a seamless glass shower door, and replaced the cabinet doors to match the kitchen shaker style.
Hardware: RH – similar here.
I am loving the neutral/timeless tile choices. This is is something that will never go out of style.
Similar Tiling: Floor Tile & Wall Tile.
Upstairs we replaced the old wall to wall carpeting throughout the hallway and bedrooms with new gray wall to wall carpeting to keep it cozy. We brought the same color scheme from downstairs upstairs and just finished painting the master bedroom a warm white. We have yet to do the master bath.
Two gray ottomans discontinued: West Elm – Other Beautiful Ottomans: here, here & here.
Area rug: CB2.
The master bedroom wall is a satin Benjamin Moore Simply White.
Framed art: Art to Frames.
Bed linens: West Elm (highly recommended bedding!) & Brookelinen.
Faux shearling pillows: Pottery Barn.
Gray and white circle throw: Anthropologie (on sale!).
Birch Christmas tree: Crate & Barrel.
Near the built in window was an old slider that we removed and replaced with two glass atrium doors that open outward, to give us more room in the kitchen, onto the patio.
Our patio got a little love, too. We left the cement foundation, however, we stained it gray. Remember the atrium doors from the kitchen out to the patio… they used to open up onto one small cement step. My husband built teak stairs filling out the entire space from one side of the door frame all the way to the other with two steps down to the patio. We also removed the drop ceiling and now have a vaulted ceiling with tongue and groove pine. In addition, we framed out the stilt columns to make them large, matching the columns in the house.
We also removed all of the landscaping around the exterior of the house, which was overgrown, and have replaced it with new trees and boxwoods.
I am not a trend follower unless I really love an item or style. Many things circle back around so if I am constantly chasing the latest “it” thing, my home never feels at peace. My advice is to follow your heart not the trends! Not all rules are made to follow in designing a dream home, it’s just a matter of figuring out the best path for you to get there.
Thanks for reading and being interested in our home renovation journey…more to come on my @elizabethbeardesigns as we complete other projects.
xo
Elizabeth
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Custom Home with Artisan Craftsmanship Interiors.“Dear God,
If I am wrong, right me. If I am lost, guide me. If I start to give-up, keep me going.
Lead me in Light and Love”.
Have a wonderful day, my friends and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”
with Love,
Luciane from HomeBunch.com
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