Big Changes

Seven weeks ago on the day we moved in, we had a contractor waiting when we arrived, scraping our popcorn ceilings. That was an absolute must for us (well, for me at least, Brad didn't want to spend the 3k) but can I just express what an improvement it was? Our home would be forever stuck in 1992 if we left those ceilings as is. I would show you a before picture but texture doesn't photograph well, so trust me when I tell you they were in-your-face overwhelmingly tacky.<br /><br />Luckily, those days are over and the dust has finally settled (although I still get the occasional popcorn ball in our freezer's icemaker ... that stuff finds its way into <em>everything!</em>)<br /><br />Here's the sparkly clean ceilings today:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Ceilingafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Ceilingafter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I'll spare you shots of every other ceiling surface, but rest assured they are equally as lovely.<br /><br /><br />Before the paint was dry on the ceiling, we had our flooring installer ripping up the carpet to transform our ground into a sea of espresso yumminess (in the form of hardwood floors).<br /><br />Behold: Vanier Cosmopolitan Birch engineered hardwood flooring in "Truffle"<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrd9qjT9CoY4BxmQ70IiO-tVtRiYWdQr0VVmNYzeyZzX40bpM59e8QZRkb0dt29EcgRDCyT6clC6zpw7rGUQojrRJbi8lH5gtfPsoWsSt_QYoUXEE09hX3DUTJjyxFFP7PHaMy_jOTzMgN/s1600/floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrd9qjT9CoY4BxmQ70IiO-tVtRiYWdQr0VVmNYzeyZzX40bpM59e8QZRkb0dt29EcgRDCyT6clC6zpw7rGUQojrRJbi8lH5gtfPsoWsSt_QYoUXEE09hX3DUTJjyxFFP7PHaMy_jOTzMgN/s1600/floor.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />We searched far and wide for a nice distressed wide-planked hardwood with deep brown coloring, that would hold up to wear and tear and was within our budget. After no luck in local stores, we went online and were immediately smitten with this one, along with its price tag of $2.19/sq ft. The kind folks over at Build Direct overnighted us samples and a $100/off coupon, which totally sealed the deal. <br /><br />Here's how they're look installed:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/floors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/floors.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/floors1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/floors1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />They bear a striking resemblance to our floors in our LA home, but they are actually hand-scraped (not just distressed like our old floors). Plus, they were cheaper! <br /><br />Check out this texture:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/floordetail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/floordetail.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />You couldn't find flooring like this in any of the stores we looked at for under $10/sq ft. And it does a much better job of hiding our accidents (we've already created two gashes in the bedroom from moving our bed around, but it blends in so much better with the pre-installed imperfections). <br /><br />All in all, I couldn't be happier with these floors and the price we paid. <br /><br /><br />Another fun project we did was replacing the flourescent lights in the kitchen with recessed lighting. <br /><br />Here's the cheap-o builder grade light panels before:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/IMG_2414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/IMG_2414.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/IMG_2415-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/IMG_2415-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Yeah, no thanks. <br /><br /><br />This was a fairly quick and easy job. We had the ceiling contractor remove the light boxes, fill in the holes with drywall, and cut the new light holes to size. Once they were all sanded and painted, we used the existing wiring and ran extensions to each light, and plopped them in. Huge, huge improvement for a relatively low cost. They're on dimmers too for all kinds of ambience.<br /><br />Here's the afters:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/potlights1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/potlights1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Potlights2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Potlights2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Now all we need is cabinet refinishing, new floors, countertops, appliances, backsplash, shelving, window treatments... sigh. It never ends.<br /><br />And finally... I debated posting this because it's such a mess and so NOT my "after shot", but here is our temporary living room setup as it stands today, with just the sparse furnishings from our old home. Soon we'll be trekking down to Ikea to fix this (the poor TV is sitting on our patio coffee table for god's sake...) but keep checking back cause I've got high hopes for this transformation ;)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/livingroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/livingroom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyPO-FX-ogKjsgcBFYm1KStNA-IihJxrE4v2zAopY50F6tHLun-xHWFZIn7n0i0ausBexF-9GUQrk_AxatKflueR25LqhV8VdWbCK4AW1nzrpLIT8KZgLzyISdj_Rh2A_MFfJIXjW5WHk/s1600/Signature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyPO-FX-ogKjsgcBFYm1KStNA-IihJxrE4v2zAopY50F6tHLun-xHWFZIn7n0i0ausBexF-9GUQrk_AxatKflueR25LqhV8VdWbCK4AW1nzrpLIT8KZgLzyISdj_Rh2A_MFfJIXjW5WHk/s1600/Signature.jpg" /></a></div><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 5136px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 5136px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>

Big Changes

Seven weeks ago on the day we moved in, we had a contractor waiting when we arrived, scraping our popcorn ceilings. That was an absolute mus...

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D&R Weekend

Happy New Year! I started mine off right with 48 hours of D&R madness. <br /><br />Saturday morning bright and early, we began replacing every single outlet receptacle and light switch in the house with the modern-style rectangle design. Long story short, something happened in the wiring along the way and it blew the breaker and we ended up staying up nearly all night trying to figure it out. <br /><br />That never panned out, so we called an electrician who came by at 7am Sunday. He couldn't find the short either so he had to rewire the entire circuit, which took half the day. Our little $100 project ended up costing us $450... but we're relieved it's finally over. Electricity = the suck.<br /><br />But at least Sunday I was able to accomplish something... with spray paint. My favorite thing in a can.<br /><br />Here it is, my first D&R project of the year!<br /><br />Fireplace mantle this morning:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Mantlebefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Mantlebefore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Mantlebefore2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/Mantlebefore2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Just in case you were wondering... starfish and seashell orbs are from a beach boutique in New Smyrna Beach; clear vase from a thrift store; sticks from my yard; lantern from World Market; buddha head from Garden Ridge. <br /><br />A fine setup, but I wasn't digging the extreme black vs white contrast. Plus, it's winter, and I love white, so off to the garage they go, along with some friends from the console table:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/boatvasebefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="474" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/boatvasebefore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Sailboats from Ebay; vase from a thrift store.<br /><br />Since it's spraypaint-everything-day, I figured I might as well spruce up these frames from our bedroom a bit:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/framesbefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/framesbefore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />(frames courtesy of the dollar store.... pictures via my printer). <br /><br />So off to the garage they went, and here they are in all their post-makeover glory:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/fireplaceafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/fireplaceafter.jpg" width="628" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/fireplaceafter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/fireplaceafter2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/fireplaceafter3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/fireplaceafter3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Yeah, it's a lot of white. I'm second guessing my white sticks... what do you think? I might have to go stick hunting later and paint them a deep brown to break up all the white. But for now, I can roll with it.<br /><br />Here's how the shelf decor turned out:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/boatvaseafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/boatvaseafter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I'm pleased with the results. Not sure what I want to do with the vase yet, but it can chill with the boats for the time being. <br /><br />Oh, and I painted another lantern which sits atop the console table: <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/lanternafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/lanternafter.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>It's empty right now because I need to find a white pillar candle. The seashells came from our beach—I plan to build my collection inside the lanterns around the candle. <br /><br />Here's the frames:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/framesafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/framesafter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I'm quite excited about these. I'm going for a calming-casual-seabreeze feel for the room and these add a much needed pop of color. With the dark floors and dark dresser, I need to keep everything else light. I plan to refinish the mirror in the background with an antique/rustic white wash treatment. <br /><br />But I didn't stop the paint madness there. <br /><br />About a month ago I started painting all of our door handles oil rubbed bronze. I never found the time to finish them all, but today I finally got the job done. Whew! Here's what they all looked like before:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/doorhandlebefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/doorhandlebefore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />And after: <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/doorhandleafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/doorhandleafter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This is one of those small-scale, high-impact upgrades that I love doing. In our last house, we went and purchased all of the ORB handles, but once I found out they actually make a spraypaint for it, I figured I'd try it out before shelling out a few hundred bucks.<br /><br />Let me tell you.... this stuff is amazing.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/krylon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" n4="true" src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/jennasuedesign/Jacksonville%20Home/krylon.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><br />Like, I want to go to bed with it amazing. I don't know how they created such a beautiful metallic wonder that holds up well and looks like the real deal, but they did, and for only $3 at Walmart! You'll notice in the background all of our fireplace tools... we did those as well. And our sliding glass door handles. We have rid our home of brass permanently! And it feels good. <br /><br />Now I'm going to go rest my achy body and attempt to scrub the paint out of my nails. Until next time...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyPO-FX-ogKjsgcBFYm1KStNA-IihJxrE4v2zAopY50F6tHLun-xHWFZIn7n0i0ausBexF-9GUQrk_AxatKflueR25LqhV8VdWbCK4AW1nzrpLIT8KZgLzyISdj_Rh2A_MFfJIXjW5WHk/s1600/Signature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyPO-FX-ogKjsgcBFYm1KStNA-IihJxrE4v2zAopY50F6tHLun-xHWFZIn7n0i0ausBexF-9GUQrk_AxatKflueR25LqhV8VdWbCK4AW1nzrpLIT8KZgLzyISdj_Rh2A_MFfJIXjW5WHk/s1600/Signature.jpg" /></a></div>

D&R Weekend

Happy New Year! I started mine off right with 48 hours of D&R madness. Saturday morning bright and early, we began replacing every singl...

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Let's get it started in here.

It's Christmas morning and I'm back in California, cuddled on a cozy couch overlooking pastel cloudy skies above miles of pine trees and blue mountains. Feeling happy and grateful to be home with family. The new year is only a few days away and I wanted to start it off right with a way to document and share everything going on in my world. Life has brought many changes this past year, and I'm overflowing with thoughts and ideas and this will be the perfect creative outlet to get it all sorted out. While I settle into a new life in Florida, 2011 will see the transformation of a new home (or two), a new side business, more photography, perhaps a new workplace, and lots of creativity and inspiration. <br /><br />Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyPO-FX-ogKjsgcBFYm1KStNA-IihJxrE4v2zAopY50F6tHLun-xHWFZIn7n0i0ausBexF-9GUQrk_AxatKflueR25LqhV8VdWbCK4AW1nzrpLIT8KZgLzyISdj_Rh2A_MFfJIXjW5WHk/s1600/Signature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyPO-FX-ogKjsgcBFYm1KStNA-IihJxrE4v2zAopY50F6tHLun-xHWFZIn7n0i0ausBexF-9GUQrk_AxatKflueR25LqhV8VdWbCK4AW1nzrpLIT8KZgLzyISdj_Rh2A_MFfJIXjW5WHk/s1600/Signature.jpg" /></a></div>

Let's get it started in here.

It's Christmas morning and I'm back in California, cuddled on a cozy couch overlooking pastel cloudy skies above miles of pine trees...

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