Front Hall Lighting Vote Reference Posts

As my friend Amy aptly pointed out, some reference images for the front hall might be helpful for you in considering your lighting preference vote...

Here's a post with images of the front hall minus the wood floors/runners.

Here's one of the floors/runners in the hall so you can piece together the two to get a sense of the look/colors/feel of it.

Is this helpful? Should I just take a new photo later?

Reminder (so you don't have to scroll around a bunch) - these are the two lighting options up for the vote:

 

Please Vote

Forgive this momentary deviation from the bathroom update (more coming on that after this next weekend)...

Last weekend, whilst buying supplies for the second bathroom at Home Depot, I spotted two light fixtures I'm now considering for our entryway. I had originally planned on trying to spruce up and refab the chandelier that was left for us by CrazyDecoratorFormerOwner, but I've since given up that plan, because I just don't like that chandelier enough to invest in it. That said, I'd love some input on these two choices we're considering:

Option 1 - a rectangular cube pendant in white glass:

Option 2 - a bowl pendant in clear glass:

Both are simple and clean, and the price is right... so, what do you think? Any preferences or strong opinions? Do you hate them both, or love them equally? Throw in your two cents -- didn't you know this is now an interactive home update adventure?!

Thanks in advance!

Second Bath Update: Paint

We're plugging along on the second bathroom project. Dave spent Labor Day laboring over the paint job. We decided to go with a gray wall and white vanity/closet. The photos make the grey look bluer than it is. It's actually a pretty gray-gray. It's Benjamin Moore 2127-50, "Pike's Peak Gray." I like it. We like the colors, but we're not 100% sold on the overall look and whether we'll be able to pull off an updated "feel" without trashing the yellow tub/sink and ugly floor tile. What do you think? I'm currently investigating some other options for resurfacing these elements without having to actually replace them... more on that later. In the meantime, here's how it looks in there now:

 

Back in Action - In the Bathroom

We're ba-ack! Yep, after a very long hiatus, we're back in action at the HSS. Updating and renovating a fixer is much more draining than HGTV leads one to believe. After hitting the ground running when we moved in two years ago (what?!) and having the speed bump of the flooded floors set us back and knock the wind out of our sails, we needed to take a break. As you know, we did minor updates (painting, adding some furniture and appliances, etc.), but we haven't done a big update since those floors (x2). So we were due. And now here we are. In the bathroom.

Yes, we're starting things off in the second bathroom. I'll remind you of what it looked like around move-in time... you'll recall this glorious wallpaper sample:

(first week in the HSS: scrubbing wallpaper glue off the bathroom walls)

(the true "before shot" of the bathroom -- from the online listing of our unit)

After today's efforts (all Dave's), here's where we stand:

(Jetsons-style faucet/Hot & Cold knobs)

(linen closet -- was also wallpapered)

(close-up of the tile)

(stunning gold-hued tin-like light fixture)

(ugly vanity that will be given a face-lift)

(Dave's safety footwear)

(I'm not even a little bit kidding about this: Dave's safety goggles)

We've decided to face-lift the existing bathroom, rather than gutting it and starting over. We're trying to salvage as much as we can, and with minimal investment bring this bathroom into the present. As such, we're looking to keep the existing tile, paint the vanity, and paint the walls. We'll replace the faucet and the lighting, and add new towel racks and hardware. Working with the existing tile and tub/sink will have to guide our color choices... a plan is coming together. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

 

Potential

Remember in that last post about a month ago when I talked about that big empty space under the mirror where the couch used to be? Well, we've been struggling with what to do about it. Then, about a week or two ago, Dave spotted an old piece of miscellaneous furniture something at this consignment/resale store in our neighborhood on his way home from the gym. Today we finally went back to a) make sure it was still there (it was), and b) to see if I liked it. I wasn't sure right away if I saw the same potential in it that Dave did, but I trust him, and I thought we could definitely figure out a way to make it work. There was enough about it that fit the basic gist of what we needed (length, height, width, storage...). It needs some sprucing up, but it definitely has some character, and we're excited to finally take on a new project and see what we do with it!

It'll soon be getting a new coat of paint (something in a dark wine-red type color, we're thinking...), and some new hardware at the very least. We'll see if anything else gets "refreshed" about it as we go. But here it is in "context" in the space:

We'll also be getting taller bookshelves to help fill the space up better around the mirror.

What do you think? Now that it's home I can see more of the potential Dave saw right away. Get ready for an update post in the next week or two!

Upgrades!

It has been an awfully long time since I last posted anything, and I am as dismayed and disappointed as some people have expressed to me that they are. Sorry. The truth is, on the home-improvement front, not a lot has really been going on since early November (when I last posted, though that was not a home improvement post). And on all other fronts, LOTS has been going on, and we've been busy. On top of that, the winter hours and lighting made it difficult to take photos, since it wasn't so bright and well-lit in the morning before work, nor was it light out at all by the time we got home at the end of the day. And our weekends have been busy. All of this is excuses, but also explanations. And that said, we have done some stuff, and it's all been in the upgrade department. So, here I am at long last with a little post regarding our recent upgrades.

First, in the fall we updated the second bedroom with a day bed, which serves as a couch during the day/when we have no guests, and which has a pull-out pop-up tucked below it so that two people can sleep comfortably when YOU visit!

(I also waited to photograph it until I'd done all my pillow shopping. I have one more pillow to buy - I have a pretty cover and just need the stuffer for it. It will go in the middle there, front row. It'll be worth it.)

Then we treated ourselves to a trip to the 21st century and got a new TV in our bedroom! Woot!

(It's a Bravo marathon kind of a day...)

So inspired by that purchase were we, that we also upgraded the TV in the living room. You can now enjoy a 55-inch movie experience thanks to the TV and new stereo system Dave installed:

(Millionaire Matchmaker Marathon Sunday. Forgive me. You can see two of the speakers for the stereo there in front of the screen - there are two more on the bookshelf on the back wall)

And then we rearranged the living room a bit, and moved the couch off the wall, pulling the living area closer together.

(cozy)

We're planning to get some taller bookshelves and to find a long console-like couch table (under which we'll have some storage something or other) to go on this back wall under the mirror where the couch used to be:

And finally, the most shocking upgrade of them all for anyone who's been in our home in the past five years... we have a microwave!

(what?!)

Look at us crazy folks go. We do have some more upgrading and actual work on the dock. Some more furniture updates are in the pipeline, and then a bathroom update (one, not both yet), and a balcony refresher are definitely lined up to go. And somehow we'll do all of that before our most dramatic HSS upgrade to date...

(I'll leave it at that for now!)