Always In A Southern State of Mind
rings with honesty, humor,
good ideas and friendship.
I got to know her better working with her by e-design.
She has great taste.
But, sometimes it is good to get advice
from a second opinion.
Here is the story of how Nancy updated her
beautiful kitchen in Houston…
So the major part
of our kitchen rejuvenation
is finished!
Out went the black granite
{the roosters flew the coop too}
 |
before
 during construction
|
and in came
the new countertops –
Caesarstone in London Gray…
 |
| almost finished… |
double the time
they originally projected.
I’m now on first name basis
with all the construction guys…
I would have started making them breakfast.
Surely THAT would have made them
hurry up and leave 🙂
In the end I just couldn’t
make a final decision on the island
and I just couldn’t let them stay
in my house any longer…ha!
I knew I wanted to paint the island
a different color
but of course
being a Libra
I just couldn’t decide.
over paint.
Give me a break right?
So I decided to wait until
we figured out the roman shade.
Confusing right?
I was obviously drawn to marble countertops,
subway tile,
Rowe and Perrin faucets,
and farmhouse sinks.
I had a plan in my head.
{scary}
But I was afraid of making
domino decisions
like I’ve done before
which I define as
one bad decision that leads to another.
So I started an idea notebook.
I’m a listmaker at heart.
Here’s a page from one of my many notebooks…
Kitchen renos are not cheap you know.
I wanted to avoid creating a big hot mess.
This is where asking for help is highly advisable.
I’ve had friends who’ve asked me why?
Why would I hire somebody to help me.
Because they know that
I am addicted to LOVE
design and DIY.
Did I mention that
I wanted to avoid
domino decisions?
From my blog surfing and pinterest
I knew what I wanted.
{You can read my ramblings on it here.}
There were some things that
I just couldn’t decide on myself…
things like paint and fabric…
because I’m a Libra and
have trouble making a final decision.
I’m pretty sure you already knew that about me.
I pinned many pictures that inspired me.
Some were designed by the same person…
Mary Ann from Classic Casual Home.
If you read her blog then you know
how gorgeous her taste is.
If you don’t read her blog
well, you are definitely missing out.
Go now.
So I wrote her a novel emailed her
and asked for her guidance.
Even though I had ideas
and I knew a lot of what I wanted
I still wanted somebody to
{one}
help me avoid disaster
and
{two}
push me to go outside of my comfort zone.
I love her taste.
Did I say that already?
Well, it bares repeating.
You can go to this page on her website
to see how an e-design works
or I can tell you how mine worked…
I emailed Mary Ann with a list
of what I knew I wanted
along with
a list of things I was unsure of.
Oh and loads of pictures.
She looked it over and agreed to help 🙂
We set up a time for a telephone consult.
I had my notebook above
and I took more notes
hanging on to
and
frantically trying to write down
every word she said.
I spoke to Mary Ann after the contractors left
the new roman shade
{by Lynn Chalk}
in Schumacher’s Chiang Mai Dragon
is finally installed
We added trim to the island
and two ends of the other cabinets
for a nice finishing touch.
Its amazing what a little bit of trim can do.
A lot of sizzle
for a little bacon $ 🙂
Let’s not forget about the
beautiful Kohler farmhouse sink
that started it all…
and the Rowe and Perrin bridge faucet
and the last thing on my list…
Thanks, Nancy!
My advice is to have fun with trends
but make sure the investment pieces
like the gorgeous pendant lights, backsplash
and classic fabric shade
(nice how it covers the demi-lune window top)
will last.
PS. Love your new rug, the clock and the trim you added to your island!
Looking forward to more inspiration from
Always In A Southern State of Mind!
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