Furnishing & Decorating The Living Room

 

The theme for the living room is formal black, white and gray with pops of green. With mostly authentic blonde mid-century furniture.  The couch came from Facebook Marketplace for $150. Update: A few months later this couch fell apart and we purchased a mid-century Kroehler couch for $350 from FM.  I have picked up cheap black, white & gray pillows wherever I could find them the last couple months ($2-$5). The large rug came from Habitat Re-Store for $200.  

The mid-century Kroehler green slipper chairs came from Facebook Marketplace at $150 for the pair.  

The triangular glass table came from our local junk store for $27. 

Then counter-clockwise around the room:

The corner desk (love!) came from Hakaar's Bazaar a local (pricey) mid-century shop.  We paid $100 for it and the chair (which I reupholstered.)  The green lamp came from Habitat Restore and was $25.

Blu-tooth repro radio was $45 from Amazon.

The black shelf with hairpin legs was $50 from Facebook Marketplace. The hairpin legs were attached later and were an additional $28 from Etsy.

The small blonde cabinet also came from Hakaar's Bazaar and was $165. 

The artwork is all framed black and white photography.  Most of the photography was taken by my husband or I and is from the conservation area around the Hillside property.

Root Cellar Eyesore Becomes Relaxation Destination

 

Here you can see what the lovely root cellar door used to look like.

The chippy concrete on top of it was just as bad.

But then Stephen took over.

He made a new door that people can't fall through.

And he miraculously fixed the chippy concrete.

I added the orange mid-century glider.

(Maybe someday a pergola!)

Making it the perfect place to view our future four acres of wildflowers

or late-night meteor showers.

East Side Of The House (almost) Done

This is after replacing the side door ($85 from Habitat Restore) and adding the mid-century awning

($60 from an antique store.)

This is the east side of the house and to the right of the door before Stephen got ahold of it.

Stephen added the landscaping stone (which we already had on hand)

to give me an even planting surface ....

for some brown eyed susans.  Free because they are transplanted from my own yard.

They will add color against the concrete wall.

And should do great in hot weather and drought.

Furnishing & Decorating The Primary Bedroom

The theme in this bedroom is geometric patterns and pops of gold.  A queen-sized mattress and steel bed frame were hand-me-downs from one of our children (so that sounds free, but we actually paid about $600 for them a little over a year ago.)  Chrome and black headboard was purchased from Habitat Restore for $35.  Sealy mattress protector was about $25 from Kohl's. Pillow covers were free from Amazon because we had Discover cashback. Four pillows were $37 from Sam's Club. 

Bedding.  We chose this very boring gray bedspread for two reasons: #1 We have it at our other AirBNB and it wears GREAT.  Easy to wash.  Reversible.  #2 It is a great neutral backdrop to those color pops I mentioned earlier.  I bought two of these from Home Depot for $100.  We purchased two sets of sheets at a weird discount grocery supply store for only $45.  So if they don't hold up well, I won't be too sad.

Update: total waste of $45.

The two cone-shaped reading lamps on the wall were from Walmart, $18 each.

Bedside tables.  BIG SIGH.  OK, I paid $127 for a pair of orange nightstands from Walmart.  And realized they were too short.  Drop back and punt.  I paid $24 for the nice sized wooden pair from my favorite thrift store and $10 for paint.  I guess you could say that $160 for a pair of bedside tables isn't bad....or you could beat yourself up for spending $127 for basically nothing.

That still left room for a credenza. Credenzas are SUCH a cool mid-century item.  I knew I wanted one somewhere in this house.  Just before completing the final details in this bedroom, I found one on Facebook Marketplace that I really liked -- $350. Yes, that is a lot of money.  But lower than most that I really liked. (And then of course I repainted it.) We paid $20 at our thrift store for the large mirror on top of it.

Wall art.  The MCM adhesive wall design was around $50 for 6 strips -- but we only used 5 because I wanted a center. They weren't what I would call easy to hang, but it wasn't too bad.  Round metal collage was $7 from Goodwill.

Checkerboard Pavers Installed By The Front Entry

 

Kevin got a vision for the confusing area between the front door and the driveway.

A checkerboard of square concrete pavers with grass growing between them.

(What? you can't see the grass seed in the photo?)

Update: ditched the grass idea, went with gravel between pavers.

And latticestone in front of the step. 

I need to do a blueprint for my concrete planter now.

It will be installed in the center of the checkerboard area.

Painting Furniture For The Primary Bedroom

 

We are so close to the proverbial finish line. And then I buy pieces of furniture that need paint. After selling antique furniture for 30 years, I am no stranger to painting furniture.  It doesn't intimidate me, but it stresses me because we are so short on time and it's just another thing to do. So many final details.

I bought both of these bedside tables for $24 from the thrift store.  Solid wood, but with a little water damage on top. Another $10 on paint from Lowe's -- gold to match the curtains.  I have to say kudos to the paint department.  They went above and beyond to match the curtains.

First a little sanding.....then the gold paint.  I had turned it into "chalk paint" using plaster of paris. There are recipes online if you are interested.  Chalk paint sticks great to slick surfaces, with very little chance of peeling off.  It also extends the paint a bit. I still ended up doing three coats.

Next the credenza.  I bought this from Facebook Marketplace for $350. (More than I should have paid, but no time or energy to keep looking).  It already had been a fixer upper, so I didn't feel badly about painting over anything original. I painted black over all of the green.

It will be a great height for people to put their suitcases on.  And if anyway has a longer stay, they may want to actually use the drawers. 

Bathroom Ready For Guests

 

All the paint is touched up.  Towels waiting. Ready for guests.

Photos from left to right as you enter the door.

Plenty of bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths,

toilet paper, hand soap, bathmats, body wash, have been secured.

Ready for guests.

The entire bathroom has been cleaned, 

no easy feat after two months of construction.

Ready for the guests.

Added the shelving unit that I purchased at Habitat ReStore for $15.

So when do guests arrive?

In only 9 days!   Eek!