Home Visit: Victory Lap in Baldwin, Long Island

Back in late February, I posted some shots of a house out in Nassau that we were finishing up. Well, the job is done and here is the finished project. Just as a reminder, this was a huge renovation of a dining room, kitchen and bathroom, including installation of new electrical and plumbing fixtures in all three rooms. And, for the record, the family we were working for were ecstatic with the results. I'm particularly proud of the creamsicle-orange paint job in the dining room and the tile work in the bathroom. More important is what you readers think.

Those, obviously, are photos from the new kitchen with brand-new-spankin' cabinets and beautiful new granite countertops. Below, you'll see the completed tile work and bowl sink that we installed in the bathroom. I'm also particularly fond of the shower head we installed and the light fixture above the mirror. We have since moved onto the project I posted about last week, which will likely be finished next week.

Easter Pretties

We got home from a trip to Charleston Saturday night & were able to enjoy Easter at home.  Dave surprised me with these daffodils (I was disappointed because I never had the time this season to pick the ones from our yard so he came to the rescue.)

And it was such a pretty day!!! I love this weather... In the morning, I set the table with some antique blue & white china that my mom gave me years ago ( & that I'd almost forgotten I owned. )

Justin was being "helpful"----

I labeled the eggs with our names & set them in little bowls filled with reindeer moss:

The lucite & brass candlesticks with charteusy-green candles were a gift from Eddie & Jaithan the last time they visited & I love the vintage-modern feel of them:

Later in the day, my family came over & I had to take a pic of these beautiful mini strawberry flower cupcakes my mom & little sister made:

And my grandmother made these adorable bunny twist buns.  (below) Seeing them brought me back to when I was a little girl & she used to make them.  (She hasn't in years & I totally forgot all about them...  She now has to make them every year because I neeeeeeeed them ;)

We had enough family over that we put the leaf in the table & I ran out of blue & white china but there's something I love about getting a pretty table ready for a holiday.  (I guess maybe it's that I never really put any time into it & on holidays I have the time??  Or the reason for doing it??  Lately we've been so busy that mealtimes have taken sort of a backseat & I certainly haven't been making any pretty table settings.  A while back I was going to try to do at least 1 pretty planned meal a week but that sort of got forgotten.  BUT...  for the next few weeks before our Baby #3 arrives, I think I'll try to make a little bit of an effort... before the Baby Haze sets in & the thought of a pretty planned meal is laughable.)

We had an Easter Egg Hunt in the yard...

{I'll try to stop posting pics of my wisteria  arbor but I'm not promising it...  I cannot tell you enough how happy it makes me!!!!!}

And the boys (okay, me too) ate a disgusting amount of chocolate...

It was a great day. 

I'm without babysitting today so I have the boys home with me for one more day before the real work week sets in.  I've been feeling a bit anxious about the baby coming so soon and all of the work we have planned to squeeze in before that time.  With a last-minute photo shoot and a few design plans & installations for clients, I know I'll be able to power through it, but I have to admit, I'm a little nervous.  I'm feeling pretty good physically (we are just finally getting over that awful bug we all had at out house- arrgggg) but I can tell my body's about to try telling me to slow down a little.   My cankles come & go (ps- so embarrassed I misspelled cankles in a previous post.. I'll blame it on pregnancy brain ;)  and the baby's starting to make things pretty tight in there.  Bathroom breaks are a constant but if I can just keep running for a few more weeks, I should be good.  Both of my boys came early so I need to get things wrapped up as best as possible before the first week of May.  Fingers crossed for me!! 



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Spring is Springing to Life!

I love spring blooms!  We had 6" of snow on Friday, but today it's sunny and beautiful.  The Weeping Cherry tree right by our front door is flowering like crazy.

The daffodils are a welcome sight when not much else has come to life again yet in the area along the driveway.

I love the tiny grape hyacinth and anemones.

I'm thinking that these tracks that I found this morning are not from the Easter Bunny...  That's a big reason why I don't plant tulips.  Deer love tulips!

With the nicer weather, I'm happy to be able to plant flowers by the front door; although I think deer like pansies too. I hope having them so close to the front door will deter them from munching on the blooms.

Thanks for your visit.  Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Pam

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Room for Ideas: Jasmine's Seuss-inspired Bedroom

Our office manager, Jasmine, has been redoing her 18-month-old son's bedroom and been giving us weekly updates on the project. Earlier this week, she was nice enough to show us the remarkable job she did, decorating the walls with characters and creations from the works of Dr. Seuss, including The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch and Green Eggs & Ham. We liked the end product so much that we decided to share the pictures here as well, giving out a little creative inspiration before Easter weekend. Isn't Shel Silverstein overdue for some wall space somewhere?

Time Off

I'm enjoying some time off with my family this week for Easter. 

{We're not here...  but how great would that be?!   ...image by Coastal Living }

{Still, I've got it made with my little guys & some quality time.  With just over a month left until we have Baby #3, I'm really feeling the need to give as much attention as possible to my 2 yr old & 4 yr old.  I know how nutty it gets once baby gets here!!}

Enjoy the rest of your week &  happy Easter to you & your family!!

Before & After: Rockin' the Rockaways - Part 2

Last week, we took a look at the basement and bedrooms of the East Rockaway house we've been working on for the last two months. Clearing out the basement was more like an archaeological dig than a gutting, and the upstairs, as evidenced by the bedrooms, was not much better. Today, we're looking at the kitchen and bathroom which were perhaps even worse than the bedrooms when we arrived.

Would you take a look at that ceiling? The upstairs bathroom sits right on top of the downstairs kitchen and the cement from the upstairs has been weighing down on the wooden joists that are, as you can see, rotted almost entirely through. We've been replacing the joists before we completely redo the ceiling. You'll also see the rusty, rotted aftermath of removing the aged oven and cabinets. We're currently putting in new cabinets, appliances and a beautiful new sink, along with some stylish countertops that the client picked out.

Speaking of rotting away: the bathroom floors are getting a total overhaul, due largely to the fact that walking on the current floor makes every trip to the bathroom like that scene in any adventure movie when the hero is walking across a rickety rope bridge.  But, as you can see, the floors are certainly not the only trouble here. The fixtures are way overdue for replacement and the pipes needed to be replaced with PVC. Patch-up and paint work is getting underway, after some extensive retiling and grouting. We also took out the old toilet and but a completely new unit in, seeing as I wouldn't be surprised if alligators swam out of the current one. I'll post pictures of the revamped place once we've completed; prepare to be wowed.

Easy Breezy Leaves

I'm often drawn to photos of rooms that feature massive leaves.  The give a room an easy breezy, relaxed feel (that's often tropical, depending upon the leaves.)

{Coastal Living}

An arrangement of massive leaves is one of the easiest to make & it has a huge impact on a space.

I have a big suppliy of hosta leaves in my yard & so they end up in my photographed spaces fairly often...

I grouped them together in demijohns on this workspace in my client's living room:

Another great source for oversized leaves is the potted plants section of Home Depot/ Lowe's.    Sadly, I'm a plant killer (they die slow dry deaths at my house) but I don't feel as bad when I cut up the plant for arrangements like this one I did in a client's living room on the ottoman:

I wish I could squeeze this post packed with photos of gorgeous rooms that feature big cut leaves, but I have to run for the day!!  Have a good one!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.