We are halfway through this One Room Challenge and boy do we still have a lot of work ahead of us! Last week we mentioned that we ran into a problem and didn’t quite dive into exactly what that was… so this week we’ll get you all caught up!
If you found us for the first time through the ORC, hi there! We’re Danielle and Michael Gutelli. A husband and wife design to build team based in Plymouth, Michigan. You can learn more about us as a brand here and see some of our client projects here, here and here. Just in case you missed the last two weeks post don’t worry you can get all caught up with week 1 here (Project concept + Mood board) and week 2 here ( Demo + Project planning)
We intended to present our finished fireplace and mantel to you for week 3, but unfortunately we ran into a major set back that caused us to switch gears a bit. We have however checked quite a few things off of our list such as drywall, fresh paint, the custom built red oak mantle, a fully functional gas fireplace powered by Siri, new sconces and some much needed electrical. Yeah, we’re doing alright.
One Room Challenge Set Back
So once we got all our drywall in, sanded and ready for paint and trim out we realized the fireplace was having some ventilation issues. The issues were significant enough that we had to rip some of the drywall out, remove the fireplace and run all new exhaust through the outside of our house. Which also means another 8 inch hole in the side of our house! Nothing we weren’t prepared and equipped to address, just a major bummer and loss of time.
Custom Mantel Update
Michael built an awesome custom red oak mantle that will give us a TON of space for decor throughout the seasons. And with the TV being flush mounted on the wall, we’re maximizing every inch of space. For all of the woodwork throughout the living room we’re planning on sanding everything smooth, and finishing with satin polyurethane. That’s right, all natural and no stain! It is adding some significant depth already and we’re just talking about one wood accent!
Next week we will have much more to share, as the setbacks are beyond us. So make sure to follow us on instagram and tune into our stories. We also have a new client project beginning at the start of Week 4, so plenty of action happening for your viewing pleasure! AND be sure to check out all of the amazing spaces being created for the One Room Challenge! Seriously, there are some absolutely stunning spaces being created!
Wooohoo! It’s been a week. That’s what we love about the One Room Challenge because every week so many things happen. But this past week was a big one that included DEMO DAY, Michael’s favorite day. We are happy to say with demo we didn’t run into any surprises, which anyone that has opened a wall before knows as much as you plan you still never know what you’re going to find.
If you found us through the ORC, heeey! We’re Danielle and Michael Gutelli. A husband and wife design to build team based in Plymouth, Michigan. You can learn more about us as a brand here and see some of our client projects here, here and here. Just in case you missed last weeks post don’t worry you can get all caught up with week 1 here.
We did get a chance to drill a hole through straight through the exterior of the house, and frame in what will now be our new fireplace. Talk about exciting. Of course, as with any major change to an existing space there will likely be some issues…and we had one. A major one. One that will cost us some time and money, but rest assured we got this. And we’ll get into exactly what that was later…like in our reveal post!
While last week we did get a chance to introduce our project concept and mood board, we felt like we could dive in a bit deeper and talk about all the befores of this room and what it is going to take us to get to our final goal! See, the space is not in bad shape at all whatsoever. When we purchased our home 4 years ago we spent the first 8 weeks of home ownership in renovation mode – we ripped out all of the moldings, doors and jambs, carpet and even a few walls. This continued throughout our entire space, and we quickly updated it with everything new, including paint. It was our own blank canvas. Well now it is time to throw our vibes into the space, and we’re doing so with the following additions.
Before
Direct Vent Gas Fireplace
After living 12 years in Chicago where each of our condos had a fireplace and moving into a family home in Michigan with no fireplace, we’re are in complete limbo. We need a fireplace and we are finally getting one. This means a custom build out from ceiling to floor, with a massive mantle that I can decorate for all the seasons. Michael has added extra electrical to ensure I have the capability to really do anything.
Custom Built-Ins
We build custom spaces for all of our clients, but lacks when it comes to our home. On each side of the fireplace there will be built-in to house our components, books, and faux wood. These will also serve as additional seating spaces when we have guests.
Credit: House & Home
Shelving, Shelving, Shelving
As if it isn’t enough that I am getting my mantle (FINALLY), and some built-ins, Michael is building some custom shelving for the space. We just need more of it, especially as a couple of pieces that offered surface area are leaving the space. They are going to be dreaming, and yes, will even have some electrical.
Credit: Design Storms
Serene Bay Window
While our couch will most likely always be placed in front of our massive bay window, we want to add some style to it. We will be trimming the inside of the window out completely in white oak (which will also be featured in other spaces) for added depth, texture and character. It is going to be insane.
Credit: JOMA Architecture
More Fresh Decor
Aside from paint, we will be adding some new pieces to the space that include a bench, end table and lighting. Of course we will have some surprises when it comes to pillows and throws, but you’ll have to wait until the end for that.
Ok, that is it for now! We can not wait to update you next week. In the meantime, be sure to check out all of the amazing spaces being created for the One Room Challenge!
Welcome to October’s share group link up! We are geeked to pull together another topic for the next month. This month’s topic is Statement Design! One that reads so true to my heart and I can’t wait to share more about this topic with you for the next five weeks. In case you’re joining us for the first time or just missed out last month we started our first weekly link up with some super rad husband and wife friends: Lindsey and Chris from Building Bluebird, Sarah and Nick from Nestrs, Morgan and Jamie from Construction 2 Style and Katelynn and Uriah from The Inspiring Investment.
Let’s chat about why statement designs are worth it.
They make an impact
Often what we love so much about restaurant design or hotel design is there is some form of bold, out of the box design element that impacts us in a way we didn’t expect. Yet when it comes to our home design we tend to find ourselves choosing safe so we don’t have to redo the space over in a few years.
They push you out of your comfort zone
Yes, I totally get this. I also know there are multiple ways going outside of your comfort zone can lead to really awful decisions. Personally, I have found the best way to do this is through the help of pintrest! I am constantly pinning images I love and concepts that inspire me. I can then use these ideas to step outside of my zone to create a bold, yet cohesive space.
There are multiple ways to make a statement
That is what I love so much about a bold design. You don’t have to do everything bold to make a statement. You can simply add a piece here and there to create a complete statement. Below are several options you can use to make a statement in your own space
Art
This one is one of my favorite ways to make a statement in a space. You can invest in a quality piece of art that you love and completely transform your space.
Paint
By far the quickest, and most affordable way to make a statement in any space is with paint. And the best part is if you hate it you can always repaint it at the same cost!
Wallpaper
I know this one seems extra risky, especially if you lived through the 80s and every inch of your space was wallpapered. But there are lots of options out there now for easier installation and takedown. Gotta love a good adhesive removable wallpaper!
Tile
I think tile makes a massive impact on a space. Whether it’s your fireplace, kitchen or bathroom. Pick a statement tile to transform an ordinary design to extraordinary.
Texture
You know we love a good textured wall. This is a great way to make a statement in a space.
We are really looking forward to the next five weeks, where we are truly going to dig into all the elements of statement design. Do you have a favorite yet?
This is easily one of my favorite times of the year! The One Room Challenge is here! Six weeks. One room. And a complete transformation that comes with all the fun of documenting it in real time, all while running a business and our household of four. We are far from newbies when it comes to this challenge…this is our 5th time participating! Want to see what we’ve done in the past? Don’t you worry I’ve got them all right here for you. You can check out our very first One Room Challenge with our Master Bedroom. For our second One Room Challenge we tackled our Master Bathroom. Then we created a kid friendly space in our Boys Shared Bedroom. And this past spring we transformed a client’s laundry room/garage entrance into a stunning Modern Farmhouse Entryway.
If you are finding us for the first time, welcome! We are Danielle and Michael Gutelli. We’ve been together for 13 years, married for 8 and have two kids and a dog. We run a business together centered around creating content to inspire others, and at the same time get to come into our client’s homes and make their dream home a reality. Want to know even more about us? Check out our story here, learn a little bit more about our services here and hire us here!
Now let’s get into this year’s One Room Challenge. We are tackling our living space, which I am so geeked about. While this space is by no means in a bad spot, it has already seen a few rounds of renovations. Check out the true befores of the space here. We just recently posted what our space looks like in our fall home tour, which you can find here. And our big plan for this space is to finally, after 4 years in our home, add a fireplace.
Michael and I have been dreaming about having a fireplace again since leaving Chicago in 2014. We are excited to announce this reality is about to happen. They’re kind of essential here in Michigan. I’ve been busy working on ways to create a design for this space, and have run into some challenging aspects of the design because we’re planning to take a wall out in the Spring (or so we hope) Knowing this will create a completely open concept space has brought some of its own challenges. Here is where our mood board stands at the moment.
I like to call this a working mood board, because as with any project I see this changing as our plan becomes a little bit more developed. The mood board is created to help give you an idea of where you want to take the space, while leaving room for design to happen throughout the process! In this space we plan to create more of a statement bay window than what we currently have, as well as built-ins under the 2 side windows with some firewood inserts. We want to keep bugs out but I love the idea of the firewood near the fireplace, even though ours will be gas. We will touch on this more soon. We are also building some custom shelving and have layers coming in with textiles.
We are excited to bring you all along with us on this journey. Make sure to look for updates and Stories over on our Clark + Aldine Instagram. You can also join this rad party too. Simply click the image below and head over to the One Room Challenge page. You’ll get a chance to see what everyone else is doing this fall. Talk about a whole lot of inspiration in one spot!
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Fall is our absolute favorite season of the year. Especially here in Michigan! We love the crisp feeling in the air, the smell of bonfires, leaves turning colors and all the extra layers. When it comes time to make our front porch scream Fall we are all in! What we’ve learned through the years of styling porches, decks, steps, patios, roof tops & balconies (thank you, Chicago) is that your decorations change throughout the Fall season.
I find myself craving mums and Fall colors in early Fall, and by mid-October I am ready to layer in all the Halloween my kid heart desires. Once Halloween is over I am left with a lonely looking porch that is again screaming for attention from the time between Halloween to Thanksgiving. If you’re anything like me, or are striving for all the Fall vibes, I’ve got you covered. I am going to break down how I take our Fall front porch from early Fall to halloween Fall and in to Thanksgiving!
Early Fall
When the season hasn’t quite changed here in Michigan yet I’m craving for the Fall temperatures to creep in. This is the time I am talking about to style your early Fall porch! Mums are a girl’s best friend for this porch. I love to layer in all the Fall colors..in fact it’s the time of year I am not afraid of any color. If it says Fall I am jumping on board with it! I like to pair the colors together to provide a warm and inviting space. And by adding lanterns to the mix the candles immediately give a warm welcoming cozy glow of Fall!
Simple Fall Porch
To create a simple and easy Fall porch I used all different fall colored mums. I started off with an even number of mums to allow myself to build the porch around them, and picked all warm Fall colors (red, orange and yellow). I also added white mums to help bring in the color of the house. From there I organized the mums into two different groups. Since I didn’t want both sides of my porch to match, I went with 3 mums on one side and 5 mums on the other. The easiest way to divide the mums was to put my double colors in different groups, so for this porch that meant I had two white, two red and two orange mums.
I started with the like color mums for placement as I wanted to ensure they didn’t end up on the same step or the same placement on each side. From there, I layed in each mum according to size and space of the porch. I wanted to make sure the mums were not hiding from each other and you can see each individual mum. The lantern became my filler piece with each stair.
Halloween Time
Halloween is the perfect time to change up your Fall porch. It can go from simple to a kid friendly porch in a matter of a few minutes. Our dudes are still pretty little and the thought of a spooky front porch just isn’t in their minds right now. We like to keep things fun, inviting, and family-friendly with a touch of black bats to elevate the fun level.
Kid-Friendly Halloween
This transition from simple Fall to Halloween is really simple. On my porch this year I rearranged a few of my mums to give room for this massive Jack O’ Lantern the boys found at Home Depot. Yes, I found them wearing it around on their head! So clearly it needed to make its way into our home. I added in two pumpkins for my dudes to carve later in the season and a few more orange and white pumpkins to add in the Halloween colors!
From there I created these awesome black bats. Michael sketched these bats out for us on construction paper, and I then cut them out and put contact paper over them to help the paper last outside. To keep them on the house we used 3M double sided tape.
Thanksgiving
Every year after Halloween, I always feel like our front porch is completely lacking. I take down the carved pumpkins and I’m left with my mums and a few small orange and white pumpkins. At this point I am always looking for more ways to add Fall layering into my life. And what better way to carry on my favorite part of Fall than through layering my porch too!
Classic Fall
To create the classic Fall look I used corn stocks I bought from Home Depot. I secured them with string in 3 spots. From there I moved the mums around just a little and added in some stackable pumpkins. I like to stick with the set of three rule here. If that doesn’t work out I stick with odd numbers.
I love having a porch that can transition throughout the season. It makes my heart happy to have a porch that loves the Fall season just as much as I do. I’d love to see your Fall front porches too.
You guys we are beyond excited for week 4 of our weekly link-up with a group of rad husband and wife teams we connected with this year at Haven. This week, our fabulous hosts are Lindsey and Chris from Building Bluebird!
If you are feeling kinda lost as to what exactly a link up is don’t even worry, we were completely confused too! But now that we’re in week three we are starting to feel like experts. Each week alongside our crew we will be sharing some of our favorite tips and tricks all centered around the monthly topic. We want to see your best ideas, tips and tricks too!
To get in on the action, all you have to do is drop your link to any blog posts, photos, or videos at the end for this post. Then everyone who stops by can see all the things you do too!
This has been a topic I have got so many questions about over the years since I am always sharing pictures of our dedicated playroom space in the house. Two things we’ve highlighted that keep the space organized, while fostering creativity is how to display kids art and how we add character to our kids room. So I am going to answer them all here.
What’s the best way to store toys?
My favorite way to store toys is inside of bins, baskets, boxes and tubs. I love that our playroom has so many different baskets to choose from. This allows me to give every toy its own dedicated spot. I’ve found the more organized I am in the playroom the easier it is for clean up and my dudes to find their toys. Our bins and baskets are not see through, which would be pretty rad as the kids would be able to see what goes inside of them but honestly they don’t need that. They remember where the toys go after just a few plays. I also love big plastic clear bins for toys. Although this isn’t beautiful or as aesthetically pleasing as I’d like it is practical for storing toys we rotate, even if in the basement!
How do you organize your books?
We like to have books throughout our entire house. In our playroom we went with open shelving that would show the front of each book. I really think this is perfect for early readers as they haven’t quite figured out what all the letters mean yet, but they can tell a book by its cover and it’s right in front of them ready for choosing.
Do you rotate toys?
We do rotate the toys from our basement to the playroom. I do this every 3 to 4 months. The first initial go around is so time consuming and exhausting as I like to have every bin organized by the type of toy so it’s easy to find. And we still let our boys have access to the basement toys. I try to keep the most recent or talked about toys in the playroom upstairs, but find that the rotation brings love back to toys that weren’t getting much playtime before! And it saves overall on the Target trips…I know y’all know what I’m talking about!
Is your playroom really that clean?
This question really cracks me up. Come on you guys we’ve got two boys. Of course it isn’t that clean all the time. The boys do play in there daily. But it turns out when you go to take pictures of a space it photographs a whole lot better when it’s clean than when it’s cluttered. This was our biggest question from our Apartment Therapy feature! To help everyday, we do have the boys clean when they are done playing. But because they are kids not everything gets picked up every time, nor do toys make it back into the correct bin. So once the boys do go to sleep we pick up the space because it just makes me feel better to start fresh the next morning.
What did you use for your pretend play clothing?
Pretend play clothing is seriously one of my favorites! I love watching our kids get into character. And at almost every playdate we have the kids are just drawn to this section. We used a towel rack for the bathroom to display the clothing that is hot right now, which is frequently rotated as well. We keep the extra pieces of clothing inside a wired basket for the boys to see.
How do you deal with all the kitchen toys?
The kitchen space is a hot place to play and I like to think it’s because I do so much cooking at home and cooking with our dudes. But with all the pieces that come with this space, keeping it organized is essential! What I love about this space though is you can teach real life skills here. I organized the fruits together on top of the fridge, the vegetables go inside the fridge along with eggs, milk, yogurt and juices. In the freezer there is ice cream and frozen vegetables. We keep all the canned items together and then break down the rest of the food into breakfast bins and lunch and dinner choices. I love that this helps give my kids an idea of what you make for each meal. We also have an additional bin for cooking and serving food supplies.
How often do you change your playroom set up?
We change the look and feel of our playroom about every 6 months. This is because we really want the room to function correctly for our kids. And since we have some big pieces, we just can’t fit everything into the room at once.
Keeping this room with everything having its own space is seriously the most important part. It helps keep the room functioning and leaves it less of a disaster, which our kids have no problem creating. Now I know there are lots of ideas out there that really make spaces function better, so please tell us your favorite organization tips!
This post has been on my mind for a long time and I am happy to finally take the time to sit and write it. Since I was 14, I’ve been involved in some way shape or form with building or installing in residential homes. It’s something I have a deep passion for and constantly push myself to lear and perfect my craft.
When it comes to interior projects the requirements vary. But I’ve pulled together a list, a general rule of thumb if you will, that will equip you to tackle most anything inside your home and I’ve broken it down below by task. From hanging a mirror or piece of art, to building that bookshelf you ordered off of Wayfair or lugged home from Ikea, I’ve got you covered.
For organization purposes, I absolutely recommend investing in a nice quality tool box for your home as well as a bucket or two. I use the buckets to carry around my tools from space to space on smaller install projects.
INSTALLING WALL ART
This category includes but is not limited to mirrors, art, lighting, switch/outlet plate covers, window treatments, etc. Essentially we’re talking about anything that can hang on a wall or ceiling.
Aside from the tools, I have an install kit that has different types of mounting and hanging hardware as well as clean up supplies. Having this on hand is great if you have a lot to hang or install, or if you just like to add to the decor frequently
I would assume nearly everyone reading this post has tackled at least one paint project in their home, or for their home. And you probably have a general idea on what it takes to take on a paint project. But being prepared with the proper tools, and quality tools, will ensure you produce an even better result you’ll be proud to show off and enjoy.
Painters Tape – Frog tape is absolutely incredible stuff. I keep both the green and yellow tape on hand at all times. Green is for general taping, while yellow is designed to tape off on surfaces that are delicate or have been recently painted.
Painters Cup and Insert – Same as above but for brushes instead of rollers.
DryDex Spackle – you’ll always find something that needs a fill and smooth. This stuff is absolute gold.
Sand Block – I like to keep a couple on hand and always bring a medium grit and extra fine grit with me to ensure a smooth finish.
INSTALLING MOLDING OR BUILT-INS
Ok so perhaps this isn’t for everyone and I’m certain a majority don’t see “Install mudroom and door casing” on their weekend to do list. But I figured why not prepare you for any scenario that may or may not ever happen in your home. At least consider this some conversation fodder the next time you find yourself stuck in a group of people with nothing to talk about.
That pretty much does it when it comes to being prepared for every day interior projects. I could go on and on about how to best accomplish any task in your home. Perhaps I will get started on writing and sharing those sooner than later?
Let me know what you think! Did you gain some knowledge from this, did it help you get prepared for your next project, was it worthless to read? Anything…seriously let us know.
It’s that time of year again! That time when I am finally ready for my house to feel warm and cozy without a ridiculous amount of work on my end. What I am noticing about this season of life is that I absolutely love spending the time styling and decorating, but when it comes to my own home I don’t want that task to take hours on hours. I want to be able to update the space in just a few simple and easy steps. By no means am I a minimalist. But when it comes to autumn decorations I am looking for minimalism. So let’s have at it, here are my 13 simple decorating ideas for minimal modern fall style!
Pillows
This is my favorite place to start when it comes to autumn decorations. I feel pillows help to set the overall vibe of the space, essentially creating the color palette you are going to work off of. I am big on buying pillow covers, this way I can reuse my pillow inserts from season to season, which is a major cost saving over time. And it saves a ton of storage space too! My first step is to layout all the pillows I am going to work with and create a pile of what pillows I like that work together.
Switch just one thing
When it comes to shelving or mantles I am not a fan of taking everything off and starting over for the autumn season. I like to replace one thing at a time, starting with any of my flowers or greens that may look too summery for the season. I often find myself replacing one piece of summer with one piece of fall. Goodbye floral hello pumpkin!
Sets of 3
This is my go-to rule when I start any type of styling. Sets of 3s help make items look intentional and way less matchy matchy like you bought them to all go together. I like all my items to look as if I purposely put them together because, well, I did purposefully put them together. So there!
Pumpkins
The best way to say hello to fall is with pumpkins. To keep our vibe modern I like to work in pumpkins that are white, gray, tan and orange. You may also find a metallic here and there. I think the variation of colors helps create a modern fall idea.
Keep it clean
For some reason seasonal decorations make people feel like they need to over style or decorate the space for it to feel like the season. I am here to tell you that simply isn’t true. By adding one simple piece of fall decor to your existing styled shelving, mantel or table can do the trick. It will give you that clean modern look of fall without overcrowding your home with fall decorations. Minimalism at its best.
Leaves
This is simple. Adding leaves to your fall decor is by far the easiest way to create a minimal modern fall style without much work at all. All you’ve got to do is get the right looking leaves for your space.
Empty space is ok
Yes, I totally just said that! Having empty space is a really good thing when it comes to styling your home for fall. Not only does that mean you have to spend less time worrying about how you are going to fill each inch of space it also allows a place for your eyes to rest. I see this happen a lot when it comes to styling a shelving unit or a mantel. By leaving room you are allowing for the design to speak for itself.
Greens
I love how greenery can work in all seasons and then there are the ones that just feel right for each individual season. Hydrangeas are my go to for all the seasons along with ferns, olive branches and some succulents. I am big on fake ones at the moment because I just can’t seem to figure out how to keep real indoor plants alive. So please, send tips. Seriously…I need help in that department!
Use things you love
If you love it you should use it! These are words a stand behind. With every single client project I work on the first place I start my shopping is in their own house. We all have things that make us happy when we see them and those things need to be showcased throughout your home. It’s what makes your home feel like you!
Candles
Oh how I love a good candle. Soy candles have been my go to for years. I love how a smell can take you back to a really good memory or create a new one for you. Seasonal candles are absolutely my jam and one of my favorite ways to add simple fall style to a space.
Don’t be afraid to use color
With the change of seasons come the change of colors, at least here in Michigan. I love to embrace that change and color is one of my favorite ways to do this. By no means does that mean each space in your home has to scream all the good fall colors, but this is the time to let those some of those colors sing. I love to create different feeling spaces based off the pillow color vibe I’ve created for that space.
Neutral works too
Fall is the perfect time to work with all the good neutrals. I love working in patterns and textures to my fall neutral spaces. It’s fun to see how you can work fall into a neutral space without making it scream color.
Work with what you’ve got
This is HUGE for me. Sure, we have to pickup new pieces from time to time. But we can’t go out and purchase new stuff every year when the seasons are back…I mean, as much as we may want to. Instead I work with what I’ve got and for us that means we can bring some of nature inside! Our yard is filled with hydrangeas and this is the perfect time to cut them and let them dry out. I actually love doing this from late summer until the hydrangea plant starts to brown.
This is what our home looks like during the fall and we threw in a few images of my parents’ house to give you a good idea for a simple mantle! Maybe we can work one of those into our space soon (hint hint).
You guys we are beyond excited to be hosting week 3 of our weekly link-up with a group of rad husband and wife teams we connected with this year at Haven. If you are feeling kinda lost as to what exactly a link up is don’t even worry, we were completely confused too! But now that we’re in week three we are starting to feel like experts. Each week alongside our crew we will be sharing some of our favorite tips and tricks all centered around the monthly topic. We want to see your best ideas, tips and tricks too!
To get in on the action, all you have to do is drop your link to any blog posts, photos, or videos at the end for this post. Then everyone who stops by can see all the things you do too!
Each week we’ll be taking turns hosting the weekly link-up, but don’t worry… we’ll be reminding you over here where to link your content up every week.
Back to school is in full swing over here. Both boys have started and are excited to be back hanging with kids their age all day. So, we’ve been busy trying to make our home feel as organized and functional as possible. When everything has its own home life really seems to run smoother. Today we’ve put together a list of five areas at our home we keep organized to make our life more functional.
Refrigerator
Cleaning out our refrigerator is a weekly ordeal over here. We like to clean out anything we haven’t used or eaten, and wipe down the inside before we do our weekly shopping. While this might seem over the top it actually helps us maintain a refrigerator that everyone can see inside and find things in. To keep our routine going strong we like to precut fruits and vegetables for the week. We store them in see-through containers for easy access for everyone in our house. This promotes healthy snacking options for everyone as well as independence when it comes to breakfast and lunch choices.
When it comes to our freezer that is more of a monthly upkeep. We like to take everything out to know exactly what has been collecting in there to ensure we use everything we have. This can also be a huge cost savings, it helps us plan meals around what we already have instead of buying new things every single week.
Pantry
Keeping our pantry clean and organized is our key to independence for both boys. Having a spot for everything inside the pantry not only allows us to know what we have it helps the boys become independent for snacks and breakfast. We keep our shelving organized inside baskets. This way all the food is contained in specific spots. The bottom shelves are food items we are ok with our kids having access to, while the higher shelving we keep for foods they don’t need to have their hands on daily or meal prep items.
Master Bedroom Closet
This is a huge one for us. Having our closet organized not only makes our morning routine run smoother it helps keep us sane. Literally the mess that can collect inside our closet could give anyone anxiety! We are big fans of the felt hangers. We love having actual space between each piece of clothing. This allows us to see what we have and make sure we aren’t collecting more clothing items than we need. Yes, we are totally those people who color coordinate our closet space. We like to break it down by color and style of clothing. So all long sleeves go together and all short sleeves go together, you get the idea. Don’t knock this till you’ve tried it. We promise this organization will minimize your time inside your closet, hunting for something to wear and make putting your close away easy.
Entryway/Mudroom Area/Coat Closet
This one was tricky to label. But that area we are talking about is the dumping ground in your home. We all have that spot where things collect from our bags, coats, backpack, shoes and then in the winter months it’s all the gear. So let’s get a hold of this area before then. Hooks are key for us, they allow everyone to place their items there and whether it’s a coat or a bag the hook keeps the area organized and functional. Baskets are our next best friend. We love how baskets can house shoes, bags, hats and mittens. In our collect all area we like to keep a command center, a place for the boys to drop off their things from the school day, for us to keep the mail, and a way to organize all the business paperwork and files. This can also be a great place for keys and monthly calendars.
Playroom
If you’ve got kids our guess is you have some form of play area. Maybe it isn’t an entire room but we know you’ve got to have a place for all their things. So let’s break down our favorite ways to keep this room organized and functional. BASKETS!!!! Yes, all the baskets. We love having each basket dedicated to specific types of toys. This way our kids can independently pick up. Yes, there is some training involved in this process, and no our kids don’t pick up after themselves all the time and of course we have to help. But with that being said having an organized playroom does allow for the organizational chaos to occur with more independence in the clean up process. We also love to hang our pretend play clothing up. We simply used a towel bar with mini hangers as our clothes rack. Our dudes can’t hang the clothing independently yet but they can now find all the clothing we have for pretend play.
Do you have an area in your house that we missed? Or do you want to know more details on a space we’ve organized? We’d love to know…just hit us up!
Has anyone ever had a dream of living in their attic? Or remember how cool Kevin’s attic was in Home Alone? Well, I (Michael) did for sure…perhaps I’m weird like that. But I’ve always wanted to makeover an attic space and really create a retreat that speaks volumes. And we did just that with our Auburn and Tenth project.
When we first stepped into this space it had already been converted from an attic to a finished room (so I didn’t truly get to accomplish that goal I suppose, but it’s all good). And it was not yet an official project of ours. But once we showed the home owner what we could do with the existing footprint to make it more functional and moody, he was all in and we hit the planning stages.
Before
This project came with a slew of challenges, starting with the footprint. We were working with approximately 750 sqft in the attic of a 1950’s bungalow, and we needed to add a full bathroom where there was not one currently. No big deal. We also needed to accommodate a king bed, an overly sized dresser, and create closet space suited for a shoe collection. Side note – for those who do not know, I am an avid buyer and wearer of shoes (sneakers in particular) so I could appreciate this challenge. More on that later. We had to do all this without adding any additional square footage. Again, no big deal…just a ton of time invested in space planning.
After a couple long winter months we finally landed on a layout that delivered all the needs and desire, albeit without a ton of extra space. It was finally time for demo! And time for our first surprise…the hidden chimney stack in the middle of our space. This would have been an amazing discovery had it been a brick surround, but of course it was a nasty cinder block facade. We quickly tabled that and framed in the new bathroom. Things started to get a little serious.
OUR KEYS TO RENOVATING AN ATTIC SPACE
Embrace the Space – Attics are weird. They typically feature ceilings that mirror a roofs pitch, and have random nooks and crannies that really serve no purpose. Use that to your advantage versus running from it. That is the fun in the challenge right there.
Invest in Air Circulation – Heat rises. If you’re going to take on an attic renovation, you have to ensure your HVAC delivers enough power to cover the footprint. If not, spend the time and budget to make it right…you won’t be sorry you did.
Play with Color – If there is any space in your home that allows you to go wild with color, it’s your attic. It’s an opportunity to be really bold and moody with your color palate.
Cohesion is Key – Yes, it’s a separate space. But still a part of your home, so treat it as such. Your choice in flooring and millwork can make all the difference when renovating an attic and making it feel like purposeful design, not an after thought.
Aside from the stack, we ran into 2 additional challenges – how and where to run plumbing from the basement to the attic, and discovering not only was additional HVAC required, the AC unit was shot. Yeah, that wasn’t in the budget but fortunately it wasn’t an issue for our client. So we moved forward swiftly and began running all of the essential components – Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical. Once all was well it was time for final insulation, drywall and mud.
Before
This seems to be a personal preference, but we always paint before we do floors and millwork. It’s just our jam. We also spray all of our millwork – base molding, door casing and window casing, etc. – before we install. The end result is far superior, and a quick fill, wipe and dab to tough up is all it takes. In this space painted the bathroom first, followed by the main bedroom area and staircase as Chris from Blue Water Home Improvement began laying the insane amount of tile in the bathroom. And because we didn’t have any floors in yet, he was able to use the tile saw in the space which saved time and energy…we like to be efficient.
Before we move on from paint entirely, you should take a moment to check out our post on how we created a moody space with paint. Given that this attic has a pitch on either side, we played with it and painted the walls and ceiling to same color to create the illusion of a larger space. Crazy to think a dark color opens up a space…but it does. So check that out.
Next it was time to install all the things – lighting, vanity, toilet and bathroom accesories, lay the new hardwoods, install the new staircase, new railing and millwork. Everything really started to come together now, but was missing a vital element. A room full of custom builds. As previously mentioned, finding a closet storage solution that accommodated for a large collection of shoes was a challenge with a pitched roofline and that ugly stack we found during demo.
For this project we built a set of 4 custom wardrobe cabinets that combined for one large 8’ W x 7’ H x 24’ D built-in with soft-close shaker style doors and brilliant large pulls from Rejuvenation. We also did a custom bookshelf to fill a very weird crawlspace meets hallway to nowhere situation in the bedroom area. The top of this one marries the pitcher roofline as well, but adds necessary storage space for the home owner. Finally, things were finished off with 2 floating nightstands that are color matched to the floor.
Before
It’s wild to think about where this place started, and what we went through to make it all happen. We’re so happy to have this project completed and shared with you all. On to the next one!
