Bedrooms Archives – With the Barretts

Debra’s Domain Transformation – a Last Look at Hildring House – Guest Post by Debra

Such a late post- we sold Hildring House a couple of months ago, (Dan here; you know I can’t resist commenting. It has been more than a couple. But the Hildring House Debra’s Domain Transformation was one of the highlights of the adventure, so it’s worth looking back.) and we have moved on to a new adventure – “the Cottage on the Corner,” which we will talk about soon. At least I hope there will be something in some state of at-least-partial-completion that we can talk about.

"before" shot of Debra's Domain — Here is what the room looked like in the MLS photo before we bought the house.

Not horrible, but not at all my style.

The first thing that happened was the closet. Mr WTB very wisely insisted that the guest room (aka Debra’s domain) have a closet installed STAT. The before closet was a 1950’s 3×3, not adequate even for a clothing minimalist. Luckily, there was a closet in the garage which backed up to the guest room. We had it flipped, installed some pretty mirrored doors, and then Container Store came and did magic. Voila! a functional, pretty closet space.

Dan again – you can see the post where we talked about doing this closet HERE. You might also remember the post about re-fitting the 3×3 closet that she mentions. You can find that one HERE.

Hildring House – Mastering the Master Bedroom

Hildring House Master Bedroom

I’m pretty sure I did a post way back there somewhere about the sad state of our master bedroom…. and because this is real life (as opposed to HGTV) it is still in a ‘not ready for photos’ state. There has been progress, and I’ll show you some snippets and the “plan.” Keeping in mind that all “plans” are a moving target around here! Dan here – in italics, as usual – “plans” around here change right up until the minute you drive the nail. And sometimes after. But the results usually are so good that I really can’t complain.

Inspiration photos (not Hildring House)

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Hildring House – Home is a Haven

Home is a Haven

I’ve tried several times recently to write a post and have been overwhelmed by all the negative things happening in our world. Many of my friends and fellow bloggers have written eloquently about resistance and love …. and I feel as if I have nothing meaningful to add. And I know that, at least for me, when there is so much darkness all around, it is even more important that my home is a haven – a beautiful, safe, and nurturing space. It is from that place of peace and calm that I can go out into the world and try to spread peace and calm.

kishaniperera room — not Hildring House – from kishaniperera

I keep walking away from my posting attempts thinking to myself: “How can I write about pretty places and sparkly things when there is so much darkness?” But on Sunday I had the opportunity to make things pretty and serve a girly lunch for two of my good friends, and I felt so much lighter.

A Paris Party

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Pretty Pictures-not Hildring House (sadly)

I am wishing I had some pretty pictures of Hildring House to show you today … but sadly, nothing new is “finished.” sigh. So let’s look at some pretty pictures not Hildring House.

Bedroom from Amber Interiors — Amber Interiors

Design ADHD

One of the things I love about blogging is the fact that I am encouraged to ‘finish’ things. It’s my deepest darkest secret- I have design ADHD. I get 80 percent finished with a project and in my mind, I can see it as completed. So I just move on to the next thing. Since my “minds eye” does not photograph well, I’m forced to finish things for real if I want to share them with you. This is, in Dan’s opinion, much better than my prior solution of “just sell the house.” That’s how, in the past, I forced myself to finish things: sell the house. That’s pretty motivating.

Dan here – the “sell the house” solution was a great motivator. Debra is a dynamite realtor and she knows what will, in fact, sell the house. The problem – besides moving all the time – is that she would finish things beautifully and we would get to enjoy them for about 10 minutes. My goal for Hildring House is to be able to bask for a while in the comfort of a completed project. Keep following along and root for me, won’t you?

The Mid Century Ranch- an Example of Design ADHD

Mid Century Modern kitchen after — Photo by Trey Freeze

Family Room View One — Photo by Trey Freeze

The two pictures above are house-selling photos of the Mid Century Ranch. Eleventy-seven projects finished 5 minutes before listing photos were taken. This was the first project covered in the blog. While many of those posts don’t display properly – my fault, entirely – you can find a slideshow of the transformation here.
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The Boys’ Room – Hildring House Update from Debra

We are very lucky to have our grandchildren nearby. They spend a good bit of time at our house, so it was important to us to create a space just for them – the boys’ room. Kids’ rooms run the gamut from “leftover” to “designed-within-an-inch-of-their-lives-cutesy” spaces…

The Boys’ Room Design

I was shooting for something in the middle. A space for sleeping, playing, and storing toys. We have diligently attempted to limit the amount of store-bought toys in the house. Our preference is for them to create their own toys using imagination: boxes, string, whatever they can find. (This is Dan, chiming in. They usually do very well.) And I confess, we often break down (we’re grandparents, after all). Like when we invested in the giant bounce house water slide. So there is that 😉

Grandboy splashing into pool from slide — SPLASH!

It’s not pretty, but it’s oh-so-fun for little boys. (You may remember it from this post.)

Anyway, back to the room-

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Hildring House – More Demo and a Little Progress

Sometimes, “natural demolition” – usually gradual neglect and disuse – leaves a beautiful structure. Take, for instance, this abandoned church in Howth, Ireland:

The demo at Hildring House is not so elegant. Nor, however, is it intended to be. Things are moving right along, though. Let’s take a look. Continue reading “Hildring House – More Demo and a Little Progress”