Foyer Magic

This homeowner really makes a statement with this entrance. What catches your eye first?

Home Library’s are HOT

The resurgence in readers and books are making the home library a “hot” commodity in today’s real estate marketplace. The velvet sofa is pretty great too.

Bold Color

If you are nervous about using bold color in your home, try it on a smaller scale…pick out one thing (like this door) and go bold. There was a time when everything matched but not anymore…people like a little bit of creativity and this is a good place to start.

Go Bold AND Go Home.

Cozy corner

Aren’t these colors perfect for Fall? Do you change your decorating with the seasons? This looks like a good place to cuddle up.

Reclaimed Wood a Hot New Accessory

 

More homeowners are using reclaimed wood from barns, factories and log cabins to decorate their modern homes, The Wall Street Journal reports. They’re using the reclaimed wood to decorate everything from ceilings and flooring to window accents.

“They want it to look as primitive as possible,” Klaas Armster, co-author of the upcoming book Reclaimed Wood: A Field Guide, told the Journal.

Old-growth timber is no longer available in the U.S. construction industry. Suppliers today use wood from trees cultivated to grow fast that can be quickly processed into timber. Homeowners looking for antique wood from mature trees are calling on wood-reclamation companies to look for planks to reuse. They can be costly. Large structures of wood can cost anywhere from $300,000 to $1.5 million. On a smaller scale, homeowners may find costs much lower, such as $55,000 to use reclaimed accents on their kitchen or living room ceilings.

Charles Preston used antique timbers reclaimed from an 1800s Vermont barn for a vacation home he built with his wife several years ago in Texas Hill Country. The couple used the wood on the living room and kitchen ceilings, as well as to decorate interior and exterior lintels over the windows. He told the Journal that the reclaimed wood became a focal point in their home.

Preston also says that in the 7,000-square-foot, five-bedroom home, they also have a dining room ceiling adorned with 1900s oak fencing from Minnesota and exterior siding made of hemlock that was reclaimed from Midwest barns built from the 1850s to the 1900s. “That’s the first thing people talk about,” Preston says.

Chestnut barn frames from the 18th and early 19th centuries are a big draw, James Dixon, an architect in Chatham, N.Y., told the Journal. “If you find a chestnut frame, that’s like gold,” he says.

Source: “Homeowners Get into the Groove of Reclaiming Old Wood,” The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 5, 2019)

No Closets…No Problem

It does not matter how much closet space you have in your home, there is never enough. I am seeing more and more people utilize the clothing racks like we find in stores and they are common in homes. If you watch the Real Housewives of New York, it seems like all the ladies have these racks in their bedrooms (except Bethenny). To clarify, I bought one for my house and I am certain we are going to see more of these in the future. It’s an easy solution to a difficult problem. One note…keep them color coordinated like this couple.

Soothing Home Decor

Yellow and Blue highlight the white throughout this home. It’s so peaceful.