New Home

It's been radio silence over here for quite some time.  As much as I'd like to keep a real blogging schedule, paid work and parenthood (and reading other peoples' blogs!) get in the way.

For some time, we were casually looking for our next home and renovation project.  We wanted to take the equity we'd created in the condo and put it into another project.  Also, we were paying out our ears for rental parking spots and building assessments, and wanted to be putting all that toward a mortgage instead.  So....after much searching, we found a crazy property in our neighborhood.  We've been under contract now for more than 3 months, and we sold our condo more than 1 month ago!  The closing delay has been very frustrating and stressful, but we think it's just a matter of time and patience, and that the home will eventually be ours. Fingers crossed.

Staying positive, let's look at these terrible before pictures!

Living Room:


Our future kitchen:


The property is a 1890s red brick coach house: high open-joist ceilings, exposed brick, fireplaces, all the charm and detail you can imagine.  It looks horrible, but the potential is amazing - I swear.

This will become our master suite:


One kids' bathroom:


You get the picture. It's a total mess.  Our plans are so exciting though!

House Tour Inspiration

My mom and I went on a house tour this weekend of 5 beuatiful homes in Lincoln Park.  It was a fundraiser for a local school, but mostly, my mom and I are both home design obsessed, and it was a fun thing to do together.  Before I learned that I was not allowed to take photographs, I snapped three images that I wanted to catalogue for myself.

#1 is a kitchen that I unexpectedly really liked.  The counters were a green polished granite (!), the backsplash was stainless, and then there was a ledge above the backsplash of the same green granite. Awesome.

#2 is an unusual, pretty way of venting the door to a laundry closet.

 #3 is an antique light fixture that reminded me of something I want to do with my own cheapo foyer fixtures (i.e. diy update the beading).

Master Bedroom Nook Styling

It is so satisfying to finally (read: 10 months after moving in) style a little built-in nook that's been sitting neglected for nearly a year!  After an offer from a photographer friend to come shoot the apartment, many of these long-neglected areas were finally styled.  Certainly, there  is still room to add some additional touches, but the improvement is amazing!

Here is the little master bedroom nook before:

And here it is after:

Of course, there are some minor things that you'll notice still need some attention.  First, there is a plant that still needs a planter, and also, a planter, that needs a plant - obviously. Second, there is one file box missing from the top shelf.  But it has some great items that are true necessities, for example, the magenta geode and empty blue vase - ha :)

Somehow, I made this built-in area feel not only calming because it is simple and organized, but also very functional.  It holds files that we rarely need to access on the top shelf, freeing up valuable space in our single file drawer office.  It has a box to hide random odds and ends, pictures that need framing, and other things I am hanging on to for one reason or another.  Any I've hidden the cable cords in a mediocre way.  I'd call that a wild success :)

just a little peek

So excited that a friend/photographer came over yesterday to shoot our completed apartment.  It was so much fun to finally see all of our work on film.  I also learned so much already about what shots to capture in an interior design shoot.  More images to come once they are edited.

Privacy in the bathroom

For starters, I don't get any.  No privacy in the bathroom for me.  I have three little kids, and we just became okay with no privacy.  Occasionally I insist on it :)

However, I've been showering in front of a window for almost a year now, and was starting to feel like I shouldn't be okay with that.  I see neighbors through our bathroom window.  I still stand naked in front of it.  Routinely.

I finally motivated to change that situation and here's how it went.  I bought this frosted film for windows (I'd used it before in our first home), and went ahead measuring and cutting it to fit the master bathroom window.  Here is a shot in progress, with the top half frosted and the bottom still clear.

And here it is completed:

The bathroom looks really dark in this photo because I'm a total amateur.
Also, the pulls on the window look ridiculous because they're too close together. I know. Not my fault.

I now have privacy from the neighbors at least.

Back to reality

Jetlag sucks.  Hard core.  It's one thing as an adult to fly overseas and adjust to new time zones. With three small children? It's torture.  We are waking up at 2-3am FOR. THE. DAY.  That means each day lasts approximately 18 hours - and that's when I fall asleep at 8pm!!!

I know.  It's temporary.

After all, the last two weeks looked mostly like this, so I'll stop complaining.

First birthday, big trip, and my first design gig!

Lots of exciting things this week! Yesterday we celebrated my baby boy's first birthday.  I feel so bittersweet since he's probably our last baby, but he is the sweetest guy.  He's wild and cuddly - a wonderful combo.

This weekend, we leave for a 2 week trip to Israel!  My husband's family is from there so we try to visit every 1.5 - 2 years.  This is getting increasingly challenging as our family grows, but we are doing it :) This will be our first overseas flight with 3 kids - wish me luck! I've already started packing.  I've learned the only way to feel calm about preparing is to pack for one of us each night for the whole week preceding the trip. Crazy, I know.

A parent of a child in my middle daugher's preschool class has asked me to help to design for her new home in September! I know it's far off, but I can't believe I am actually having a design job fall in my lap.  I've been on this long, slow, meandering path toward interior design as a source of income, but it feels like I'm actually getting somewhere.  This only happened as a result of her seeing our home :)
So satisfying and flattering.  I can't wait!