Tag: Design

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. 
Continue reading “Pretty Pictures-not Hildring House (sadly)”

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Evolution of the Hildring House Powder Bath

A Powder Bath Where Once There Was None

When we bought Hildring House, it was in a 5 bedroom, 3 bath configuration. None of the baths were easily accessible by guests. Two were traditional en suite and one was a Jack-n-Jill between two bedrooms. No powder bath for guests. What’s the sense in that?

So, you may recall, we converted one of the bedrooms into an expanded hallway (stroll the hallway post here), a laundry room (you’ll find that one here) and a powder bath. This is a little post reminiscing about the evolution of that powder bath. You might also want to check out the post where Debra showed some of her inspiration for it. You can find that here.

This powder is in the new space, so not only is the destination lovely but the journey (short though it may be) past the new accent wallpaper is pretty nice, too.

Short hall wallpaper
Photo by Trey Freeze

See how the oh-so-pale pink of the powder wall reflects the accents in the flowers on the wallpaper? And the black of the doors connects to the black wallpaper background? Keep that in mind as we go in the powder bath and you gander at its accent wall. Continue reading “Evolution of the Hildring House Powder Bath”

Hildring House Hallway (or a short post about a long hall)

Hey, folks, this is Dan. In this post, Debra talks about the Hildring House hallway transformation. A lot of the changes we’ve made at Hildring House have been pretty dramatic (especially the unfitted kitchen, which is the subject of an exciting surprise we’ll reveal soon – cue suspenseful music). None, however, were more fundamental – transforming the entire house – than the one she talks about today. As usual, my comments will be in italics. Here is an intro shot of the hallway, just to set the stage. Enjoy!

Hallway Opening After
Hallway Opening After
Hildring House Hallway

I mentioned in my last post that Hildring House originally had a long, dark, notverypretty hallway.

Before Hallway
Before – Creepy Hallway

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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-

Continue reading “The Boys’ Room – Hildring House Update from Debra”

Hildring House Long Overdue Laundry Room Post

First Hildring House Project Completed

Four months and many many dollars later… the laundry room is “finished”…. well, as finished as anything ever gets with me around. [This is Dan – I’ll be chiming in occasionally. Just can’t help myself, you know. I have to agree – “finished” is euphemistic for “reasonably satisfied for the moment but don’t get too used to it.”] So here is a long overdue laundry room post – with some good pictures by Trey Freeze.

Tile Floor Laundry Room
Photo by Trey Freeze

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Hildring House Remodel – First Phase Tweaks

There comes a time in most remodeling projects when the big, structural changes are done and a million little things remain. At Hildring House, we’re coming to the end of the initial phase of renovation. And that means we’re doing first phase tweaks – all of the little things without which the project just wouldn’t be a success.

Next up will be mostly cosmetic re-dos of the office, the master bedroom (not the master bath – that’s a biggie), and Debra’s Domain. Then, probably, some more major work – enlarging windows, (?) a new carport (?), extensive hard and soft-scape work out back. Stuff like that. But right now, it’s the little things.

The Grandboys’ Room

Lots of finishing touches for the grandboys’ room.

Polkadot curtainsCurtains are always a nice touch to help a room feel “dressed.” And the chalkboard had to be Goldilocks – high enough for the bigger boy but still low enough for the little guy.

Grandboys' Desk Wall Continue reading “Hildring House Remodel – First Phase Tweaks”