Cozy Guestroom

Do you have a room that is more like a storage closet? We did. For the past year our den has been a souce of shame. Before we moved in we had hopes and dreams of it being a man cave. We painted it Gentlemen's Grey by Benjamin Moore and set it up with a desk, library, tv and lounger with a nice jute area rug. But soon it just became the room that stuff got dumped in. By summer it had gotten so out of hand that you couldn't even step foot inside. So this fall we said ENOUGH and turned it into our guestroom. Aka the room that Dave sleeps in every night because our kids don't sleep through the night.
The spare bed had been in the playroom up until this point. Not ideal. It took up half the space and forced the room to be split into two different decor styles: childish playroom and calm, adult sleeping area. It was a mess. Moving the guestroom into an unused den was a great design solution. And it forced us to deal with our horder issues.

With the dark blue walls and deep plum drapes and dark brown bedding it is so cozy. We took all our old art - mostly from Ikea - that we had no place for anywhere else to decorate the walls. The transformation was dramatic yet FREE! Perfect!

The pillows are old ones I bought to make the master bedroom feel cozy two winters ago. They don't really go with my new bedding so they'd been sitting in storage. And the nightstands are from back when we were first married. I keep meaning to throw them away but then I always end up finding a place in the house that needs a side table. They work for now and save me money.

The room faces onto our neighbors house so it doesn't get much light and has zero view but it's not like company is going to be hanging out in here in the daytime anyway.

Kitty approved.
I plan to hang a new pendant or lighting of some sorts and find new bedside lights and tables one day down the road but those are distant plans as this room has just fallen to the bottom of the priority pile.
If you are ever in the neighbourhood and need a place to crash come over to Casa de Strang (still need a house name) and enjoy one cozy slumber.

The Powder Room

My good friend Arinn is updating her powder room. I've never seen it in person because I swear she hides it from visitors. She has asked me for some ideas and input on her project. I love sharing inspiration photos so of course I said yes.

It's a very teeny room, just 4'9 x 6'. There are no windows and, at the moment, poor lighting. She wants it light and bright. They're going to replace the mirror, tile flooring and possibly the lighting. And are either replacing the whole vanity with a new one that comes with a sink and faucet all together or keeping the cupboards and just painting them, replacing only the sink and counter.
Here's what she's working with

It's definitely an outdated box. You see it all from just the two angles from the door. The oak cabinets and laminate counter ledge are a real treat! It won't take much though to make this room pretty. The faucet looks nice and depending on its condition, it could be used in the new bathroom. I think a full mirror spanning across the whole back wall would open the space up and bring in more light but she could also paint the frame of the current mirror and add a piece of art beside it over the toilet for something interesting to look at. Two different options. Two different looks.
I too am dreaming of changing my powder room. Mine is equally teeny and dark. But it has good lighting and the beadboard lightens it up.

 

I'm not really complaining about my bathroom. The previous owners did a good job making it look nice but I want it to be mine and this bathroom doesn't represent me at all. With the exception of the Love print behind the toilet, this is all them.
Where Arinn wants light and bright, I want dramatic and bold. There's no consensus on whether darker colours or lighter colours make a space look bigger. Every month I open my House Beautiful magazine I see the designers are saying the opposite of what they said the month before. I believe it comes down to personal preference and good lighting. Today I will share inspiration for both the bright and the bold.

Kariouk Associates

To start, this is as light and bright as I can find. It has no windows, is tiny as can be but is a beautiful, bright, clean room. I love the mirror cutout in the wall and the tall, to-the-ceiling mirror behind the sink. Together with the high gloss white cabinets and glass tiles on the wall the space feels bigger. The lighting is nothing exciting, pot lights, but they are a bright source of light. Even though it's an all white bathroom, it still has lots of character. I could live here. In this home I mean.

Barrie Benson

This bathroom is more traditional in design, with the wood panelling and campaign-style vanity. Even though it's a black vanity it is still a bright room, with warm white walls and warm metal accents. This room does have natural light and space to help it out but the same effect could be achieved in Arinn's bathroom.

Traditional Powder Room by Highland Park Interior Designers & Decorators Randy Heller Pure and Simple Interior Design

This bathroom has quite a bit of details with mouldings and floor tile and wallpaper. And it's not that bright BUT the layout is the same as Arinn's and I wanted to include it to show how simple, classic details and design can make a beautiful, calm bathroom and still be interesting. The large mirror spanning across the wall opens the space and brings in light. The chrome fixtures add sparkle and polish. She wants to use a marble tile on her floor and if she were to paint her walls with an off-white or light grey she would have a beautiful bathroom without too much fuss.

Regan Baker Design

Another teeny tiny bathroom that is both light and bright and dramatic. Wallpaper is a great way to add bold character to a room. It comes in all different kinds of colours, tones, shades, and finishes so it can work for both Arinn and me. I always enjoy perusing the wallpaper bibles catalogues when I go to Benjamin Moore.
And here's what I'm thinking for mine

Jennifer Ferreira

This is my first choice. I know we're not looking at a bathroom but I would love to paint this onto my walls. Just need to get the technique down. I would want my vanity to be sleek and modern, white lacquer. With brass accents.

Kelly Green. It was one of my options for the dining room. Even though I didn't end up using it there I still really, really, really want a kelly green room in my house. The powder room is the one room in the house where you can go as crazy as you want without really having to worry if you can live with it because you never have to live with it for more than a couple minutes at a time - hopefully.

Lilly Bunn

Dalmatian Spots!!!!! Uh oh. Now I have three number 1 favourites. I need three powder rooms.
I'm sure an artistically inclined person could paint these on themselves but I am no such person. I would need to find a wallpaper. I absolutely love the look. I also like this style of sink. I would want either this or a pedestal sink for my powder room. They're not very practical for storage so I wouldn't want them in a bigger bathroom, but the powder room only has one function so I can get away with no storage. And no surprise here, I love the brass accents and gallery wall.

via

I love this high gloss all black bathroom. Again with the sink and the chrome fixtures.  The wood panelling add visual interest and the high gloss reflects light making it feel brighter. I just did black in my laundry room though so I don't think I would go this route. For now.

Courtney Blanton Interiors

Dwelling by Design

Stripes are something I'm always thinking of doing. It was something I had considered doing in the dining room a while ago. I've seen some photos of people's entrance halls with black and white stripes that looked amazing. They also work as just a feature wall in a room instead of doing the whole room. I'm more partial to the thicker stripes. But can't decide between horizontal or vertical.
And then there's this craziness

via

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Definitely not boring. But maybe for the more daring.
The problem with writing about changing my bathroom is that now I really really want to. But just writing about changing it took 5 days. Little girls take up a lot of time. Maybe Dave can take a fall break this month and I'll do it on impulse like my laundry room.
Which do you prefer? The light and bright or bold and dramatic?

Updating The Laundry Room

Today I want to show you my improved laundry room!

My dream is to have a large laundry room. And a separate mudroom. This dream is possible in our home if we were to convert our den (currently a guest room) into a laundry room and then turn the old laundry room that currently doubles as a mudroom into just a mudroom. It's going to happen. Just not any time soon unfortunately due to priorities and budget.

I had accepted my fate of having an ugly, boring laundry room until I came across this. It was all DIY and pretty basic. Well, maybe not too basic but the stuff I took from it was all the basic stuff. Inspired and motivated, I woke up the next morning and decided I was going to give our laundry room a facelift. A lipstick job, as Arinn would call it. It is a room I use DAILY due to my (very messy) children so I felt entitled justified in my mini makeover.

There were three factors to consider:

1. It's super tiny. I cannot make it bigger without the big, expensive move to a different location of the house. Rearranging or stacking or anything just weren't options.
2. No natural light. It's a cave.
3. I had a red washing machine (note the past tense. More on that below), which we have been planning on buying the matching dryer to since we've moved in.

I needed to try and make it look bigger. This I don't feel I achieved. But whatever. I needed some good lighting installed. And, I wanted colours or style that would go well with a red washer dryer set.
Below are two different options I considered for colour

Traci Zeller

Black, white and red are great together. Bold and classic. I love the custom built-ins around the washer dryer. I also like the pretty sink area and the pendant light fixture and the art to make the room feel personal. The unique drawer pulls are an interesting touch. A big plus for this room is the natural light. I don't have that. My laundry room is a cave.

HGTV

I love this room!! The red looks so good with the charcoal. It has an island for counter space and a laundry sink.  Lots of storage. Lots of natural light. Art. It is perfect! But doesn't work for me. My laundry room is a cave. Painting it out charcoal grey would make it even darker and cave-like. Boo.

Here's my before

That wall colour! That floor! The sink (soooo gross)! Those cupboards!
The whole room was greatly hated. The worst part is that because of its size we had to take the door to the room off. It was so awkward to try and manoeuvre around in there with the door. So we took it off and then had to look at this ugly room every time we walked past it - which is all the time. It's located just off our front entry, at the bottom of our stairs.

I painted the walls white to brighten up the cave and added a feature black wall for drama. I spray painted the cupboards black and switched out the hardware to brass. The door is painted in Behr Emerald Coast 490B-6 and replaced its old, tarnished hardware. The rug is from Ikea and is super cheap and super soft. I now enjoy standing in the room anymore folding laundry.

I spray painted all the hooks, including the wood ones holding the ironing board. I used Rustoleum's metallic line in Brass, which I also used to spray paint the frame of one of the mirrors we took out of our ensuite when we reno'd it and I hung it over the sink. The old, grungy sink was replaced for $30 from Rona and the new faucet is from Home Depot. I wanted a statement piece for the faucet and I love the industrial look of this one.

I hung this photo of my daughter, Georgina, with my parents' puppy, Sam, for a personal and sentimental touch.

And the light fixture is a discount item from Home Sense! It really brightens the room and casts some neat shadows - a pain for photographing but pretty in person.

I did all this with the red washer dryer set in mind. But three weeks ago the washing machine and I parted ways. It wasn't properly maintained by the previous owners and I was constantly battling bad odours and gross stuff. Wipe your washing machines dry people! And mind your monthly maintenance. I really like the grey machines and I feel they fit in nicely with the way I painted but I might have tried a completely different direction if I had grey machines in mind. Maybe something like this

PNE Lottery Prize Home

I'll save it for future inspiration.

There's still some finishing touches I need to add. The cat door has silicon around the frame and it repels paint so I need to find a solution to that. I dislike that there's no counter space anywhere in the laundry room so I want to add a counter over the washer and dryer. And it needs more art for character to make it feel more homey.

I love my new room and it is now a point of pride instead of embarrassment or disappointment. It was an easy makeover - just a weekend - and relatively inexpensive. The biggest cost was the faucet (besides the new machines), and it will be moving into the new laundry room if and when we do that. It's important that I enjoy every room in my home, especially the ones that I work in often.

What room in your house deserves or needs a pick-me-up?

Kitty approved