bspoke

One of my favorite rooms in our home is the master bedroom. It sits at the west end of the house, and has a dormer on either side. I love the light that streams in from the three windows, and I love how cozy and warm it feels. These photos of our bedroom were taken almost two years ago. While I’d like to say there is more art on the walls, or that we’ve added some clever items of decor, it’s pretty much the same. The room has great bones, is functional enough, and is very spacious, but it lacks personality. It also doesn’t feel very cohesive to me. Lately, a flurry of ideas for ways to improve this room have been filling my head.

Now that I have a bit more time to take on home projects and such, I’ve decided to tackle the master bedroom head-on. My plan is to work on it over the next few months, as I have the energy and resources. My goal is to have it wrapped up by mid-November.

Here are a few of the things I’m thinking:
- paint walls
- paint all trim and doors white
- find and hang new window treatments
- add reading corner with cozy chair and lamp
- find new lighting solutions
- build headboard
- buy/make new bedding
- find/make/hang wall art

My plan is to take on a little bit of this project at a time. Today, painting is on the agenda! I’ll keep you all up to date on how things are coming along, and will post process photos along the way. Have a great weekend, my dears!

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With all the travel and bucket list activities, I haven’t had much time to write about life at the cottage lately. It’s summer ’round here, and the pots and window boxes are spilling over with blooms. My vegetable garden is nearly a jungle, full to the brim with a nice selection of homegrown produce. The broccoli was slow to start, but is now ready to be picked. Peppers have made their arrival, along with a handful of zucchini. My nine tomato plants are heavy with fruit. I’ve only picked a few ripe ones, but I can see a bountiful harvest will be ripe in no time at all. I planted just a few herbs this year–basil, cilantro, oregano and chives–and they are all doing quite well. I’ve enjoyed many a grilled pizzed topped with my favorite garden-fresh herbs. I’ve also got cucumbers and onions growing, along with cauliflower, which I’ve never grown before.

This is the first year that I’ve had such a bountiful garden. In previous years, I’d grow a few tomato plants, and maybe a pepper or two. With the addition of the four raised beds, I’ve had the chance to really enjoy more gardening. I find it to be a fun, relaxing and fulfilling hobby. I love to go check on my garden each day, seeing what has grown or sprouted or ripened overnight. There is a sense of calm and peace there, as I pull weeds or water the plants. Growing my own food is a treat too, and I am anticipating many meals in the coming weeks, bursting with the amazing taste of homegrown veggies.

If you have any great, healthy recipes for garden-fresh veggies, send ‘em my way! And if you’re a gardener yourself, I’d love to know, oh how does your garden grow?

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One of the other, oh, you know, minor things that had my attention last week was a little photoshoot at the cottage. Remember when I refreshed the kitchen? And maybe you recall that the refresh was later featured on Young House Love? Well, it just so happens that a certain associate editor of a certain publication likes to scout YHL for kitchens to feature in her mag. That certain editor is Rachel Haugo, and she is the associate editor of Kitchen+Bath Makeovers© and Beautiful Kitchens and Baths, both of which are Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest publications. It just so happened that Rachel spotted my kitchen and contacted me to find out if I’d be interested in having it shot for an upcoming edition of Kitchen+Bath Makeovers©. “Well sure!”, I said, after I wiped the goofy grin off my face.

Rachel and her team showed up on Thursday in two SUVs full of camera equipment and props. They took over the main floor of the house, setting up a working computer station for proofing photos, and using the dining room as a staging area for all the props that took my kitchen from “pretty good” to magazine-worthy. Fresh flowers were positioned in a vase on the counter, a bowl overflowing with pears took the place of my toaster oven, and a fresh bottle of soap was perched on the edge of my sink. These little touches gave the kitchen a clean, polished look, and brought the photos to life.

It was such a pleasure to watch Rachel and her assistant stylist tweak these little visual details, while their photographer worked to get the lighting and camera angle just right. This team is top notch, and they work very well together, adjusting lighting and props as needed to produce images that really shine. I tried to stay out of their way, but occasionally snapped a quick picture of the whole production. You can see that the house was a bit torn apart. However, a couple hours later, Rachel and her team left with the cottage put completely back in order. They even left behind a few “extra” touches in the kitchen, including fresh flowers, fruit and some fun hand towels.

The kitchen will most likely be featured in the Spring/Summer edition of Kitchen+Bath Makeovers©, so keep your eyes peeled next year when the cottage makes its debut in a glossy mag!

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Undoubtedly, my most frequently asked question is “What color paint is used in your __________? (kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc.)” Recently when a reader asked me to share paint colors in the comments of a post, mentioning that all my readers would be grateful, I thought, “Huh, maybe so!” So here I am, finally putting together a post that I should have written months ago. It certainly would have saved me a number of emails! These pictures are a smattering from the past two years, and all images I had on my computer. Meaning, some of them are outdated in terms of current layout and decor. Who’s counting anyways? The paint colors are still the same, so you get the idea. Oh, and it bears mentioning that colors on screen are definitely not the same as the real thing. So, I would recommend actually picking up the original paint chips if you are interested in using any one of these lovely hues in your own abode.

One more thing to note. I chose paint colors from a range of collections, but had all of them color matched using Behr paint from Home Depot. I am a big fan of Behr, both for its coverage and durability. So there ya go! Now on to the colors…

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living room :: Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware

living room (shelf inset) :: Flax by Restoration Hardware

dining room :: Cappuccino by Restoration Hardware

kitchen :: Flagstone by Martha Stewart

master bedroom (grey) :: Graphite by Restoration Hardware

master bedroom (blue) :: Kennilworth by Dutch Boy

guest room :: Stone by Restoration Hardware

office (walls) :: Summer Lake by Dutch Boy

office (dormer) :: Blue Sage by Restoration Hardware

bathroom :: Sea Green by Restoration Hardware

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I’ll be back tomorrow with a weekend recap and more items checked off the good old Bucket List of Summer!

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