orc week 3 - 1920's bathroom

I cannot believe we are already at the end of week three of the One Room challenge. This week we have finished the wall molding, the floors, and the secret doors. We have some painting to do to complete the spaces but it is crazy to see this space transform from a scary dungeon into a chic livable space. This room used to be made up of plywood yellow walls, a Pittsburgh toilet, and a oh so stylish shower curtain as the bathroom doors. I think it's safe the say that this space has been seriously upgraded! aha

BEFORE:

ORC Week 2 - The Vision After the Chaos

Wow these Weeks are just flying by, I can't believe we are already in week 2 of the spring one room challenge. This week was all about product sourcing and completing the architectural features that will turn this basement from a scary 80's dungeon to a chic speak easy bar/lounge. I went with a box style millwork that is shown in many grand early 1900 home's. This molding also hides some of the imperfections of the walls and assist with making the room feel larger. This space is slightly awkward so the molding helps to make it more interesting. Along with the molding we are adding what is my favorite feature in the home, my secret door. I have dreamt of having a secret door in my home since I was a little girl, and after a lot of youtube videos and googling we will be able to make this dream a reality. I love seeing the progress and the difference the finished molding and paint is making in the room but I'm starting to feel the pressure to start sourcing the large sources for this room. With the pandemic my usual antique hunting and homegoods wondering to find the right pieces is put to a halt and I need to start hunting else where. In place of an antique store, I am scouring the web to try and find a lot of the interesting details in the room, this may pose as a challenge for the large pieces but we will figure it out (I hope). This is my vision...although a few modifications will need to be done along the way due to sourcing.

ORC: Art Deco-Speakeasy Basement Reno - Week 1

Week one of the one week challenge is upon us and I am beyond excited to start the largest project in our home renovations, our Art Deco-Speakeasy inspired Basement. A little background on our house: It is a 101 year old craftsman located in the heart of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania filled with some classic charm and lots of unique quirks that you would only find in a vintage home...which can be great thing, with the beautiful moldings, and antique built-ins--while also causing a mind boggling conundrum with the craftsman hatred for all things symmetrical. Over the last three years I have slowly made my way through the upstairs spaces and do what we could to bring a lot of the old charm back and wipe out dark scary 80s updates. We have had our fair share of challenges while working on the upper floors but none compare to the monstrosity that we will be undertaking in the basement. When this house was built, the basement was not created to be a livable family space, it was there to store coal, to do your laundry, and to most importantly to punish your husband by forcing him to use the infamous Pittsburgh Toilet. The previous owner was very proud of how he updated and "finished" this space---aka slapping some of that oh so pretty 80's wood paneling and partnered with a plywood bathroom and about one over head construction light used to luminate the entire 800 square foot room. Aside from not being aesthetically pleasing it also has some major constraints due low ceiling height, a very deadly set of uneven stairs (which I fell down four times prior to their replacement),and floors that resemble the rolling hills of wv. So before the official kick off we had to address these issues. In order to gain the head room, we moved the furnace to the other side of the room so we could tuck the duct work up into the ceiling. We also ran new electrical around the room and through the headers so we could have more than just a beer sign lighting up the room. Here is the space before we moved in...

Hopefully those images didn't scare you off too much, and you are still here to see the good stuff!!

The plan is to transform this Dracula cave into a 1920s speakeasy lounge/family room----complete with extensive molding, ornate paintings, secret doors, and large scale chandeliers! As beautiful as I want this space I also need it to be a functional living space where we can hang out and watch our favorite movies and veg out with bruiser. To Do List: Install all the Box Molding Paint the room a moody Grey Install secret doors Finish the bathroom Install wood floors Add baseboard Find the perfect leather sofa Build Art deco Bar Build built in bookcase And the list goes on! At the end of the week, I am hoping to have the floors down, and the molding wrapped so we can focus our energy on the bar and built in. I am beyond excited to participate in my first official One Room Challenge alongside so many amazing designers. Follow along to see the transformation of so many unique spaces! http://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog/so

The Gift of Art

My birthday was this past Sunday, and I had spent it in Miami at a bk charity event. During the event, one of my clients asked me what was the best gift I’ve ever been given, and a very large smile quickly took over my whole face.

Although this was not a birthday present, but rather  a Christmas gift that I was given about two years ago, it is still the most thoughtful gift I have ever received.

To truly grasp how special this gift truly is, It is necessary to give you the a brief backstory. About four years ago, I was visiting Chicago for a technical conference and we stayed at the gorgeous Kimpton Hotel Allegro. This Art Deco inspired hotel transforms you back to an era of glamour and excess! The hotel showcases ornate chandeliers, cobalt-blue sofas, and ethereal painted feathers on the ceiling of the private dining room. It is a must see and must stay for anyone who loves a one of a kind hotel experience. 

Image credits: hotelallegro)

Aside from the interesting architecture and Art Deco wallpaper this hotel has a unique statement piece that instantly made my heart flutter! “Lady Lucent of Awakening” 

I have always enjoyed looking at  art but collecting it was never high on my priority list. To be honest most of the art that I owned was from HomeGoods or Kirkland’s, and what wasn’t we’re paintings i had done myself based off of ones i had seen in those stores... I had never felt compelled to spend hundreds - to thousands of dollars on art (partly because I was broke and living in an apartment). 

However, when I saw this painting it was like I was hypnotized. It was like an image projected from my soul and i just couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

Prior to my departure, I had taken a few photos of the painting with my phone to show my mom and boyfriend. I told them how much I was in love with this painting and how badly I wished i could have it, but being a broke 20-something left no possibility to afford such a masterpiece....

Flash forward to Christmas 2017, Rob and I had finally moved into our home and after renovating it for almost a year, we were finally able to spend our first Christmas in the house. It had been a rough year, and because of all the added expenses I did not expect anything big for Christmas. 

But Rob had other plans. He had gone above and beyond and managed to remember the painting i had dreamed of hanging in our home. He had contacted the hotel in Chicago, who gave him the contact information for the artist who then agreed to create the first and only Lithograph of “Lady Lucent of Awakening” 

I have never been more shocked or grateful for such an amazing gift. 

Why I Chose a Reno for my First Home

  About three years ago, my fiancé and I were knee deep into house hunting...we had been through three realtors, multiple changes to our home budget, many additions to our neighborhood limitations, which lead us to look at about 300 homes.
I would not recommend making these same mistakes ahha but you live and you learn! So prior to landing our current home we met with a renovator who was about to start gutting and redoing a hundred year old home in our dream neighborhood, he said he could custome a lot of the features to fit my vision and we would just need to agree on the price of the home—-unfortunately that price just kept going up and up and after walking through the home we realized it did not have as much character as i had hoped (or so i am telling myself this now)!

The realization that we had to walk away from what i thought was my dream home completely devistated me, i needed a break from looking at homes, and was ready to throw in the towel for a while....but lucky for me our realtor and my fiance were not! Aha they convinced me to look at one more home (which truthfully looked like a total dump in the listing) and i reluctantly went to see the house.
The home was very dark, had a million different paint colors splashed amongst the walls, and (wait for it) wallpaper borders and popcorn ceilings YIKES! But beyond all of the cosmetic horror it had great bones! All the original built-in’s, pocket doors, original hardwood floors, high ceilings, original wood molding, three fireplaces, amongst many other little details! It was exactly what a i wanted, something that wasn’t cookie cutter, that had character and history and with a price low enough that we would be able to afford to renovate it and make it exactly what i wanted!

We purchased the house with a special loan, a 203-k loan, which allows you to purchase the home with the home Reno loan built it (and locked in to the low interest rate). If you are looking at a home that may need renovations and do not have tens of thousands of dollars i highly recommend looking at this option!
When looking for our first home i went in knowing i wanted an older home, i have always loved all the character old homes contain from the door hinges to the ornate wood work and leased glass built in, these are the details  that you just can’t find in most new builds. We currently live in Pittsburgh, Pa which is filled with 100 year old craftsman and Victorian homes. Unfortunately for us, the real estate market  has been on the up in pittsburgh and many of these old homes have been scooped up, gutted and flipped—so your  options  are limited to these  cheap flips (that look like they could crumble and the slightest touch) total gut jobs,  or expensive Reno homes that  look pretty but a lot of the updates just were not to my taste.
Out of the 300+ homes that we looked at i can truthfully say there was only one home that i loved as it was but at the time it was above our budget and we had to walk away. Funny enough that house is about a block away from our current home, occasionally I’ll walk bruiser by it and i still think it’s beautiful but it would have not been my vision it would  have been someone else’s (which is totally okay) but just not what i wanted.
My father was a contractor, my Mommom was a colorist and interior design guru, i grew up with a love of architecture and interior design so buying a Reno was my chance to really spread my design wings and live out some hgtv dreams! We touched every last room in this house, it had been a ton of work but being able to see my dreams come to light is just beyond, and makes every splinter,  bruised nail, and paint night date night worth while!
I won’t go into detail of all of our Reno trials and tribulations with this post, but i will share the images from the original listing...get ready to feast your eyes on our multicolor home aha