Hi Everyone!
So sorry for the late post! I got my blog days mixed up....
Well, not my blog days, but my days of the week. It says on my calendar that I'm blogging on Thursday.
Problem is, I thought it was still Wednesday.
That sneaky "everyone's off" day on Monday threw me off a day. Eeek! Have you ever done that? Had a long weekend and gotten all the days messed up? Glad I realized it was Thursday (Thank you Banditas!) because I'm supposed to get on a plane tomorrow to speak at the Ohio Valley RWA on Saturday!
(If you're in Cincinnati, and an RWA member at OVRWA, come check it out. I'm doing my body disposal workshop!)
So, here's the question of the day. I just entered a contest to win a room re-do. Free, of course, courtesy of Ballard Designs catalog. I was contemplating what room I would re-do and how.
Should I redo the Master bedroom? What about the boys' rooms? Maybe the dining room or the laundry room....I just re-did the kitchen a couple of years ago and that was the best thing EVAH!I decided it would have to be the family room. Seriously in need of a design jolt-in-the-arm. And the prize was $10,000. I could do a lot in the family room with that kind of money!
What about you? Would you re-do the kitchen? A horrible pink bathroom? The living room? Your office?
What colors would you use?
Modern or traditional? Or eclectic? (a mix of all styles)
All new furniture or would your recover stuff you already have?
How many bookshelves? Grins.I posted this question on Facebook yesterday and had so much fun with it, I thought I'd post it here too and see what everyone had to say!
53 comments:
Mine, mine, mine?
Woo hooo! Hey PJ! he's yours! Why you want the dancin' wily rascal....well, he does have entertainment value, I guess.
And he can dance! Didn't know that till Susan Sey's launch party the other night. Bird of many talents.
By the way, if any of you would like to enter that sweepstakes, it's at Ballard Designs DOT com SLASH Southern Living
All run together, of course. Grins. Pretty cool site!
It's weed pulling day, Jeanne. I think I'll put him to work. *g*
Love the thought of a home makeover! I'd probably choose the living room/dining room area since it's the largest in the house. I'd love to put hardwood floors down instead of carpet. New window treatments would be good too. I like the paint color but a fresh coat would be lovely.
PJ, congrats on the rooster! Have fun with him.
Duchesse, I would redo my study, as I said on FB. It's the last room in the house to have work done on it, the holdover from the prior owners' cover-flaws-for-sale-purposes decorating.
The walls are navy blue, three of them papered with brown and white pussy willow and dogwood paper, one just painted navy. I liked the wallpaper at first, but after spending a solid month staring at it following my back surgery, I'm pretty well over it. The room has mud brown wall-to-wall carpet over heart pine floors. Two tiny (in height, width, and depth closets).
We reinforced the floor some years back so it would support all these bookcases and the oak upright piano that belonged to my grandparents, but we've done nothing to the interior.
If I had buckets of money and no tuition payments on the horizon, I'd rip up the carpet, redo the floors and put down a small area rug in a floral print of some kind, paint the walls peach or light blue or some combination thereof, reconfigure the wall with the closets into, maybe, one usable closet and more bookshelf space, and recover the brown and gray print sleeper sofa, chosen because it fit our minimal budget at the time, with something to coordinate with walls and rug.
Since the walls are lath and plaster, and I'd be willing to bet they weren't prepped before papering, stripping off that paper will be a chore, but I'm not painting over it. I'm pretty sure we'll need the assistance of a plasterer before I can paint.
Oh, and I'd pull down the cheapo ceiling tiles that reflect light very badly and were, we suspect, put up to cover buckling plaster--which is still up there and would also have to come down, a really vile and nasty job as we know from the dining room and living room--and put up sheetrock.
And I'd get window treatments--shutters and some kind of curtains. I need something for privacy since this is the front and we're close to the street, as well as something that will protect the pictures on the walls from sunlight so they don't fade.
See, buckets of money. You passing any out today? *g*
Hmmmmmmm..... room re-do? We have a "bonus room" which is absolutely huge- rarely used, but if it was re-done that would change!
Enjoy your day with the GR, PJ! Heh lots of initials.
And... Anna! (Campbell) I saw you're going to be at RomCon - I'm going too! I hope you're checking the blog because I'd like to meet you :D
Sounds fabulous, PJ! What color paint? Floral curtains, solids, print?
Inquiring minds.
And yes, pulling weeds is a good use of the GR's time. Mos of the rest of it is missspent, so he could use some REAL work! hahaha!
Nancy said: The walls are navy blue, three of them papered with brown and white pussy willow and dogwood paper, one just painted navy.
I can see how this would get old fast, esp. if the room isn't that large to begin with!
As to buckets of money, I wish. Ha! My living room would be DONE and we wouldn't be having this discussion. Snork. However, $10K from Ballard Designs would go a long way to ripping out some plaster and refinishing some floorboards. I know what you mean about the yuk of plaster re-do too. It's beautiful when done right, but when it's old and failing...bleeech.
Hey Lime! A bonus room? Ahhh, what I wouldn't give for a bonus room....
What colors would you use? What would you use it for? Office? Playroom? Girl-cave? Grins.
I have a good friend who took one of these cool bonus space rooms and made it her "Girl-Cave" - sewing room, office, girl-movie-area and even made the attached bathroom into a spa-like retreat. Totally cool. Her hubby won't step foot in it and she can't get her daughters OUT of it. Ha!
Hey Jeanne!
You know - there's a Ballard Design outlet in Cincinnati (it's in West Chester - a suburb) - might want to check it out.
I think I'd redo the kitchen - not sure how as interior design is not my strong suit, but the formica counters need to go. Wouldn't mind a new living room as our is ...blah. Not bad, not good, just blah. Maybe I'll have to check out the website.
And yes, these holidays mess me up as well on the day of the week.
Ok....I can't pick EVERY room in my house?????
Hmmmmm...
Well kitchen first. I hate my cabinets...cheap and not space efficient and I need new appliances. The dishwasher is already sending signals out and the fridge??? Clunka, clunka, clunka...does not sound like the best noise.
Next would be my bedroom...with an addition built on to expand into a glorious master bath..
Sorry, cannot comment anymore....I have to go enter that contest!
Yay PJ !! Have a great time with our Golden Boy!
Ah, my fellow Duchesse ! What I could do with 10K ! I live in a trailer. I could redo the whole house for 10K! I would start with the master bedroom as it is in SAD need of a do over! I really need a new bed and mattress. I would definitely do the room in Regency style with lots of heavy dark wood furniture. I would do it in shades of ecru and lavender.
And how many bookshelves? I pretty much have bookshelves on every inch of wall space in this house. Including the bathroom and down the halls.
Hmm. With 10 K I could just add a room - a library with a big picture window looking out over my woods. I could use it as my writing studio. That's the ticket! All it would need is a handsome Regency rake sitting by the fireplace reading a sexy novel by the Duchesse of Snorkdom! That is until I needed him for research purposes!
Donna said: You know - there's a Ballard Design outlet in Cincinnati (it's in West Chester - a suburb) - might want to check it out.
Oh reeeealllly, now....how very interesting! Grins.
I know what you mean about the formica countertops, Donna. Ours were white. WHITE. ugh. they showed every single stain. Formica's a great product and it works really well for years, but once it's gone seedy, well...it's done.
And you are so NOT blah, so I think you deserve a new living room! Ha!
Joan said: Well kitchen first. I hate my cabinets...cheap and not space efficient and I need new appliances. The dishwasher is already sending signals out and the fridge??? Clunka, clunka, clunka...does not sound like the best noise.
Oh, Joanie, you NEED a new kitchen as much as you bake. Chocolate chip cookies...ahhh....
*wipes drool* Sorry, I was having a JT Cookie Moment. Snork.
That doesn't sound like a good noise, Joanie. I have to confess that three years after the re-do, I still walk into my kitchen and just give a happy little sigh. Ahhhhh! A WORKING kitchen! Yippeee! Grins.
Louisa said: All it would need is a handsome Regency rake sitting by the fireplace reading a sexy novel by the Duchesse de Snorkville! That is until I needed him for research purposes!
Well, now, the novel can be arranged....the rake, we'll have to work on. Snork!
And oooh, wouldn't a seperate writing studio be divine? I would adore that, wouldn't you? After all, we Duchesses need our trysting...I mean writing!..space!
LOL - love the shot from Office Space. That's pretty much my home office. Just insert a TV and a couch, and there you have it.
To be honest, I think the storage room is the makeover winner at my place. It's completely unfinished (cement floors, etc.) and could be dreamy with some real walls, shelving, flooring... I walk through it multiple times per day to put my dog out in the yard, so I would appreciate the makeover.
Hi Julia! You said: I think the storage room is the makeover winner at my place.
I know what you mean. My laundry room's that way. It's just a long narrow pass-through room and I see it every day, multiple times as I go to the car. Urg. It needs it badly too. But I still think I'd do the living room first. Nice dark wood, lots of color, hardwood floors...yep.
Woohooo PJ!
A rooster who can dance is MUCH more interesting than a plain old Golden Rooster, don't you think? And clearly, he's been holding out on us as far as his abilities!
Hmmm...Wonder what else he hasn't told us?
Cassondra said: Hmmm...Wonder what else he hasn't told us?
Ohhh, I'm betting there's a WHOLE lot he's not told us, the rascal!
*eye roll* He's the GR.
Hey Jeanne,
OH, yes. I've been off a day for two weeks. I was working outside all day long yesterday and mid-afternoon ran to the little diner down the road to grab some food (needed to get out among the humans) and was looking at their daily specials, and I had to ask the guy at the next table, "What day is today?"
He got that puzzled look, said, "Wednesday?" then looked over at the guy next to him and said, "Today's Wednesday, ain't it?" Second guy nodded around his iced tea. First guy turned back to me. "Wednesday." Except we're in Southern Kentucky, so he said it like "Wensdee."
And as to it being "Thursdee," I'm WAY behind what I'm supposed to get done this week. No hope of catching up, and it's those times that make me tend to forget what day it is, my appointments, my bills due, my name.....
Oh, and as to the redecorating...
It would have to be the living room. It has drywall that was slapped up over the old beadboard walls. I'd strip it to the studs, inside AND out, sheath the exterior and put the clapboards back on, then I'd repair and paint the beadboard inside, then fix the closets so they're functional. I don't care about the furniture. I can collect that a little at a time. Finishing the structure issues would get all my money in this old house. I LONG to get to sexy stuff like...paint.
Cassondra said: And as to it being "Thursdee," I'm WAY behind what I'm supposed to get done this week. No hope of catching up, and it's those times that make me tend to forget what day it is, my appointments, my bills due, my name.....
Amen, sister! I was doing okay until the 4th July Holiday Weekend rolled around. Then with my DH off on both Friday and Monday, I could NOT get a grip on what day it was. This is why I live by my calendar anyway, but it's bad when you mess up the day and forget somethign important like...say...BLOGGING!?! Sigh.
Cassondra said: I LONG to get to sexy stuff like...paint.
Yep, paint IS sexy! Grins. Structure first, THEN paint though. Sigh. That's my problem with the laundry room I mentioned earlier. It needs the same thing you mentioned about your LR. Strip to the studs, insulate, sheetrock, then make it beautiful. Now? It's a fugly missmosh.
15 years ago my husband promised me a new kitchen but stupid me thought I'd save the money so of course it got spent on other essentials and I still have the same old kitchen. I love earth tones, beiges, pale greens, yellow and mauve (ok not so earthy that one lol) for living rooms and kitchens but go for boulder colors in the bedrooms.
Hey Catslady! Love the color ideas - barring mauve, not a big mauve fan - and love bold colors in the bedrooms, like you. :> Gotta say tho, I'd'a gone for the kitchen. As I've already said....LOVE my "new" kitchen. Grins.
Hey Duchesse, better late than never! ;-)
I'm with Joanie and Louisa, I wanna do my entire place! Hey, it's small so I could do a LOT with ten grand. Okay, okay if I had to pick one room it would be my kitchen. All my major appliances are getting so old I think they are having a race to see which one croaks on my first! :-P So far, I think the stove is leading...
AC
hoping and praying it's NOT the fridge
Oh and you wanna talk about not knowing what day it is... going over the dateline will put ya in a real spin! I'm sure poor Fo has NO CLUE what day it is about now. ;-)
AC
who spent most of the 12 days in NZ not knowing what day of the week or date on the calendar it was
See, I'm with Louisa--for ten grand, I could finish the entire house! But if I had to just do one room--I'd tear apart the kitchen. Stone counter-tops, with big wood cutting boards. New appliances.
Jeanne,
You do have a great kitchen as I got to BAKE in it last year!
Every where I turned....cabinets....filled with THINGS...
Sigh...Nirvana
Redo a room?!?! No! After redoing the entire house 2 years ago, I never want to remodel another room or house again.
We did a mix of neutral colors and not so neutral colors. For me (and I'm a Realtor) there's nothing worse than a cold all white house. When we first moved in before we remodeled, every room was white. I hated it! I have to have color. So now, my foyer and dining room are a deep purple, my living room a rusty brown, and sage green in my kitchen and family room.
We did get some new furniture and kept some of the old. I like the mix.
Good luck with the contest!
I've been confused about what day it is all week too. I almost forgot to put the trash out this morning because it doesn't FEEL like Thursday.
If I could redo any room, I'd pick the kitchen because it's the one that needs the most help and expertise. The former owners replaced the original appliances with new ones that are nicer but feel crowded because you just can't shove a 2009 fridge into a 1963 niche (it's in a narrow spot, and when I open the doors, my back is jammed against the wall), so I think the whole thing needs to be ripped out and started over.
Hi AC! You said: So far, I think the stove is leading...
Gotta say YIKES on that. We actually had to redo the kitchen when the stove went. No modern stove would fit in the spot where the old one was. That meant tearing out a cabinet. Well...if you tear out ONE cabinet...bwahahahaha!
AC Said: who spent most of the 12 days in NZ not knowing what day of the week or date on the calendar it was
ooh, you're probably right. She probably has no idea whether it's a Tuesday or a Wednesday! (Kinda like ME!)
But that international dateline thing...yeah, that'll mess you up.
Hi Gillian! Another vote for a kitchen re-do! Grins. Would you go stainless steel? What kind of floor? Grins. Details!
Joanie T said: Every where I turned....cabinets....filled with THINGS...
Sigh...Nirvana
Grins. It is fun, isn't it? That's one of the things I love about my kitchen is that I have a place for all the stuff and I can actually FIND it when I need it!
Christie said: After redoing the entire house 2 years ago, I never want to remodel another room or house again.
Heehee. Yep, I'll bet! That whole-house re-do thing is killer. I've done that before and it'll make you nuts. Just doing the kitchen wasn't nearly as bad. :>
Hi Susanna! You said: you just can't shove a 2009 fridge into a 1963 niche (it's in a narrow spot, and when I open the doors, my back is jammed against the wall), so I think the whole thing needs to be ripped out and started over.
OH, so true! This was our problem. The stove was vintage 1976. The microwave, 1988. The fridge was newer but when we bought it we had to remove a cabinet so it would fit. I vote for a rip out. Grins. (Not that you needed my vote or anythign!)
Well done PJ good idea on getting him to work in the garden today
Jeanne
I do things like that all the time forgetting what day of the week it is especially if there has been a long weekend LOL.
I do hope you win the make over fingers crossed. If I could re do a room i think it would be my family room I spend a lot of time in it reading or on th PC. At the moment it is light grey and dark grey with a dusky pink suede lounge suite but I think I would like to go with polished floor boards and dark wood furniture although I really love the lounge so I think I would get it re covered and change the other things in the room.
Have Fun
Helen
Hi Helen! You said: I think I would like to go with polished floor boards and dark wood furniture although I really love the lounge so I think I would get it re covered and change the other things in the room.
Sounds great! This is what I'm looking at too. I love the sofa - the way it sits. It's great for naps too because it's long. However, the fabric, chosen by my husband in his bachelor days, is a lamentable southwestern motif. Not horrible, but not my thing either.
Pink bathroom, Jeanne? I can commiserate with thee. My house, built in 1960, has a pink tub, pink toilet, and pink wallpaper. I love pink, but not in a bathroom. My ideal bathroom would be apricot/peach walls and taupe or brown accents with white tub and toilet.
My kitchen and bathroom floors need replacing and we are going to have to wait until Dec. when my BIL can do them for us. My kitchen counters are awful: pink and gray linoleum--no cutting on them or setting anything hot down on them.
The funny thing is that our house was considered an innovative house for 1960 with tiling, slide track windows, and yes! A bomb shelter. Seriously.
Ooooh, I love redos!!!
So many possibilities, but if I had to choose just one, I'd go for the kitchen redo. We've only been in the house a year now, and my kitchen is much larger than our old one. But the old one had been custom made for me, so I'd want to go with that here, too. The biggest thing I'd do is remove the huge peninsula that separates the kitchen from the eating area and replace it with an island that'd be easy to get around. I'm seeing warm colors, a lot of marble and hard wood floors :-)
Jeanne(AKA The Duchesse said......
What about you? Would you re-do the kitchen? A horrible pink bathroom? The living room? Your office?
What colors would you use?
Modern or traditional? Or eclectic? (a mix of all styles)
All new furniture or would your recover stuff you already have?
How many bookshelves?
I would have to build onto the house to do anything with my kitchen and that is exactly what I would do. Make it large enough to at least allow more than one person in there at a time, eat in size. Full sized appliances and air condition the whole house.
I would also have a library, a room all my own just for my beloved books and me to enjoy time together.
Hi Jeanne! Timely post! I had another painting contractor here to give us an estimate to paint the bedrooms upstairs. I'm praying it's cheaper than the $5k-12K estimate we got from the last guy who must've inhaled too many paint fumes.
I have a pink and a green tiled bathrooms that are original to the house, built in 1934. I don't have the heart to tear it out because it "goes" with the house.
Currently contemplating our third kitchen remodel and expansion of the basement to include a family room and roof deck. Still won't have room for a library though, but like most of you, I have way too many books in the first place.
I think a re-do of your family room makes sense. It's something everyone will enjoy when it's done. I'd do your bedroom next though. It should be your sanctuary. House Beautiful just put out a special issue on paint and room colors. Gee, maybe I should stop tossing those Ballard Design catalogs I get in the trash! Good luck! Hope you win!
P.S. I'd go with the kitchen. A bathroom is always something you can try to do yourself since it is a smaller space. Good Luck!
OMGosh, Deb, you have a BOMB shelter? Wow! How cool is that?
You said: Pink bathroom, Jeanne? I can commiserate with thee.
Yep, well in our neighborhood, it's either Carolina blue, Lemon yellow, or Pepto Pink. I have Carolina Blue. I think the pink's worse though, especially in a house full of boys. Grins.
Tawny said: replace it with an island that'd be easy to get around. I'm seeing warm colors, a lot of marble and hard wood floors :-)
Grins. LOVE IT! It's a great thing to have a kitchen that works, isn't it? :>
Dianna said: Make it large enough to at least allow more than one person in there at a time
Oooh, I love it! Wouldn't it be great to do this? Of course, you might end up with a kitchen full of Banditas. Grins.
Hey Pink! I love Traditional Home. Wow, you're a brave woman if you've done more than one kitchen remodel!
Had to LOL about the too many books comment. SO true!
Post a Comment