Living Room Layers

June 9, 2021 Erica Deputy

The addition of a beautiful new wallpaper to the walls of our living room kicked off some other updates and now the room feels layered, cozy and dare I categorize it as…Swedish cottage-esque?! Maybe more English cottage but I am in love with the work of the Swedish artist and wallpaper designer, Hanna Wendelbo, so let’s roll with it. Read on for all the details - the whole room is the sum of each layered part.

WALLPAPER - Pomona Green Fruit Tree Wallpaper from Brewster

Thank you to Brewster Home Fashions for gifting me this beautiful wallpaper. Brewster carries a variety of lines ranging from budget-friendly to luxury designer and their customer service is great - samples are available through their website and this particular wallpaper design is available in 4 different colorways (I had all 4 sample options taped to my LR wall for about a week before deciding on the GREEN).

As for install, this wallpaper required paste application so we hired a professional for the installation (worth every penny!).

PAINT - Our built-in shelving and window seats were painted Current Mood by Clare Paints but something always felt unfinished about this wall. So we decided to paint the wall around the TV the same color and hang a few pieces of collected art around our TV. In the future, we plan to add a piece of trim across the top of the wall to connect the 2 tall bookcases to finish the space.

Photo by: Alicia Bruce for Choux Designs

BAR CABINET - Turning a secretary desk into a bar cabinet was Greg’s project design but one I wholeheartedly supported (who doesn’t want to light up their liquor?!). Prior to the project we were storing bar related items in this desk but the addition of glass shelving - ordered custom and shipped to us from Dulles Glass and Mirror - and motion activated LED lights really helps this desk turned bar cabinet live up to its full potential!

STAIR RUNNER - It took a really nasty fall up (yes I fell up, then down) these slick, un-carpeted stairs for us to decide to add a stair runner. Greg got the proper tools needed for this type of install and we planned and worked up the courage to install this 24 foot Rejuvenation runner ourselves. Installing a quality rug pad with carpet tape first then using the proper tools (electric stapler) to staple the runner in place, were the keys to success. We did not want to staple or nail into the oak stair treads and we accomplished that goal by securing the rug with staples on the top and bottom of each riser. And huge shout out to THIS TOOL for being the unsung hero of this install.

ART - the final layer. I framed a beautiful original oil pastel painting by Bethany Cochran in a natural wood frame with an island mat from Simply Framed (need to show off those deckle edges) and added battery operated gallery lighting to showcase the piece. I view the wallpaper as large format art so hanging a small (in scale) painting over the wallpaper pattern feels like the perfect top layer.

ORC Spring 2020: Week 4 (Built-In Cabinetry, Part II)

May 28, 2020 Erica Deputy

Week 4 is complete! That means we have made it to the halfway point of the One Room Challenge and that feels pretty good. The final reveal for all the ORC projects will be June 25th and I’m just going to go ahead and block a chunk of time off my calendar to take-in all the room ‘afters’ and celebrate a lot of hard work.

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You can recap the first 3 weeks of my office project by clicking below…

Week One - Office/Studio Design
Week Two - Wall Paint + Decorative Trim
Week Three - Built-In Cabinetry (Part I)

Week 4 was really a hodgepodge of tasks and it felt like not much was accomplished until I started typing out this post. I think this is an important point because as we/you are tackling home projects, sometimes it feels very defeating if you can’t check things off of your list. BUT in actuality it is all the little tasks that are leading to the big things getting finished.

If you read the Week 3 recap, you’ll remember that the cabinetry bridge unit we custom ordered to fit between the two bookcases and over the window…did not fit. So, hubs spent Week 4 rebuilding the bridge piece. He is a very capable carpenter/woodworker but his time is limited due to a demanding job and lonnnng commute. Luckily, he really enjoys building (or so he says) and was happy to spend his free time testing his skills. It was no surprise to me (or anyone who knows him) that he was able to rebuild the bridge using similar materials and very precise measurements.

Building bridges...

Better the second time around

Let's test fit before paint

Fits like a glove

I, on the other hand, am the designated painter. This week I painted bridge unit number two, the top trim piece of the built-in and the base unit cabinet doors. I still have a bit more painting to do (ALL the bookcase shelves) but hopefully next week I will report that I am no longer covered in pink paint!

New bridge is painted

Cabinet doors are ready for install

Once the bridge was painted, hubs attached it to the bookcases and then secured all the units to the wall. He also installed the painted trim piece to cover the gap between the units and ceiling. And somehow he managed to find time to start the plant shelf, reinstall baseboard + quarter round trim.

And a few other bits and bobs happened this week. The rolling ladder pieces and hardware arrived! The wheels are gorgeous - so excited for the install. And the table legs arrived for our work table refurbish project. We will be adding new legs to my great grandma’s dining room table top to create a work table for my new office so stay tuned for the details on that project.

Rolling ladder pieces have arrived

Ladder wheels...swoon

New table legs for an old table top

ORC Spring 2020: Week 3 (Built-In Cabinetry, Part I)

May 21, 2020 Erica Deputy

Let’s recap Week 2 , shall we? For the Spring 2020 ORC, I’m a first-timer, I am renovating and refreshing my office/studio space in our home. My mood board is bold and feminine including pale pink paint and dark inky green wallpaper. Last week, we used Wing It by Clare Paint to paint the walls and decorative wall trim/pegs all a uniform pink color.

Pink Wall and Peg Trim - ORC Week 2 Recap

ORC Week 2 - Let’s paint everything pink!

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Week 3 of the One Room Challenge is complete and I am both surprised and relieved to be typing this post. At the beginning of March, prior to Covid shutdowns, I ordered the individual units for our built-in shelving project from a local unfinished wood furniture company. The company’s manufacturing facility happens to be in Pennsylvania, which was a state that halted all construction during their stay-at-home order so I wasn’t sure that we would even have the units in time for the One Room Challenge. BUT PA construction opened back up a few weeks ago and the local company was able to deliver the cabinetry on Friday and we got to work over the weekend getting the pieces painted.

The quality and craftsmanship of this maple cabinetry is superb and I felt a pang of guilt painting them pink but a plan is a plan and it’s all going to come together beautifully in the end - trust and believe. Let’s take a step back to look at the design plans for these built-ins. The 10 foot long office wall, where we decided to install this cabinetry, has a window in the middle of it - not directly centered because that would make this project too easy.

This room is filled with beautiful natural light thanks to 3 of the 4 walls having windows. But while it’s rich in light, the room is lacking a closet and if it’s going to serve as a functional office space, we knew we needed to add storage. I need both covered and open storage but there were some considerations we needed to account for before designing including the window position being to the right of the center of the wall, the room’s floor register is under the window and can’t be covered by cabinetry, and the window ledge is wider than the casing around the window.

OFFICE BUILT-IN DESIGN + MEASUREMENTS

With those considerations in mind we moved on to designing. We decided on two base cabinets and two bookshelves, connected above the window by a cabinet bridge and below the window by a simple shelf. We triple measured because we knew if we were off at all, the puzzle would not fit together. We sent our measurements off to the local shop and hubs started planning on how he was going to connect and trim it…OH and how he was going to attach the library ladder rail (more on that in a future post).

***Just picture her in all of her glowing glory!***

So, back to painting all these pieces that had finally arrived! We used the same Clare Wing It Trim Paint for the cabinetry that we used on the decorative wall trim. Painting cabinetry is a huge undertaking and at first we thought we would be spraying the units, but the sprayer was not cooperating so we quickly changed courses and started rolling with foam cabinetry paint rollers. Painting took us both Saturday and Sunday to complete (well not exactly complete because I still need to finish the cabinet doors and shelves).

And once all the paint was dry, we brought the units inside while holding our breath that everything fit in place…and it didn’t. Whomp whomp. There were two issues…the top of the base cabinet on the right side was too wide and the bridge above the window was too wide. Where did we go wrong with our measurements, you ask?! Well, we figured out that the casing and window ledge on the right side of the window were different dimensions than the left side (and we only measured the right and used those measurements for the calculations on both sides). Luckily hubs is resourceful and was able to take a small notch out of the top of the base cabinet to get it to fit and he is going to build a custom bridge to attach the two bookshelves over the window. I’m taking suggestions on how to use the bridge piece that didn’t fit.

Hi, I don't fit...

...let me drink a beer

Solution: tiny little baby notch

and we are glowing up!

At the end of week 3, I am thankful for the below photo because all the big pieces are painted and in place! Still working hard on all the details of this built-in…so stay tuned for Part II next week.

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LET'S TALK: Accent Paint

April 29, 2020 Erica Deputy

Anyone tackling a ‘stay home’ paint project? Whole room DIY painting can seem daunting especially as we we are trying to balance work, home school, and curating quarantine memes for group texts. Remember the painted accent wall of the past? You know, the ‘let’s paint the wall behind my bed’ accent wall? If you are shaking your head yes, you’ve probably attempted this project. I get it, one wall is so much easier to commit to and you can probably complete it with only a gallon of paint…so around only about $50, if you have the supplies.

But let me suggest an alternative to the accent wall of the past. PAINT YO CEILINGS! A fresh take on the accent wall, and who doesn’t want to gaze at beautiful color while drifting off to dream land?! We used a gorgeous blue-green color called Headspace by Clare (more on this company below) to paint both of our girls’ bedroom ceilings. In other good news, your ceilings are likely painted white currently so no need to prime! Unless your ceilings are textured, but that is another discussion for another day.

Check out that ceiling peeking through the door!

Time for a nap…need to gaze at that ceiling.

So, Clare Paints. What’s not to love? And I am speaking from experience. We have used two of their colors in our home and I am about to add a third to the mix. I’ve also used Clare trim paint in a friend’s recent bathroom renovation project.

Clare only offers 56 paint colors in the perfect eggshell finish or semi gloss trim paint. Only, in this case, is a positive. For someone who gets overwhelmed very easily, less choice is better especially when the curation of the colors is just so good. Their founder, Nicole Gibbons, is a huge inspiration. I listened to her story on Second Life Podcast and her transition from the corporate world to designer to paint industry disrupter really inspired me to go ahead and launch my business/third career.

Anyone want to take a guess at what color is our daughter’s favorite?

I also appreciate the fact that through Clare you can order all the supplies you need to complete your project because during this time, ‘staying home’ should not include running the store to pick up supplies. Just make sure you order enough plastic drop cloths to come your furniture and floors. Or use some old sheets - they work great and you’ll clean out your linen closet while you’re at it! That desire to quarantine purge is REAL. If you do end up painting a ceiling or two, I’d love to see, so tag me on Instagram @newhomeoldsoul!

DISCLOSURE: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

OFFICE BUILT-IN DESIGN + MEASUREMENTS

READING

LISTENING

WEARING

STAYING