The Coach House

Until my parents get back from the South Bay, I will continue my random posts. At our house in Hinsdale our basement was rather scary, but really cool if you were not afraid of ghosts. It was totally themed out as if you were on a ship. When we moved we took those pieces (except the front of the ship looking bar) and incorporated them into a Nautical look in Dan's quarters. I hope to take on the project to theme out the Coach house with this Nautical look. I hope to make it into a room with some bunks and a place to hang out. Since we have many pieces, here are some more ideas and inspiration photos.








I will be stopping at Pottery Barn to buy these port hole frames while they last. Love.

Construction Update

Remodeling has been moving along at a speedy pace.

Already the new stairs are cut in the foyer and the wall from the kitchen to the great room has been opened. (Since the photo was taken, the old staircase has been removed.)



There was no insulation in the walls. That will be added and then we will be ready to begin putting up the new walls. Yeah!



The photo above is the upstairs bedroom. The one on the right is looking from the den to what will take shape as a bathroom. The tile has been purchased and faucets selected.
The next major decision is to get the kitchen cabinets ordered.

Patio

As many of you know, my parents enjoy and have an eye for landscaping/gardening. Last year my dad was in charge of the park clean up/remodel and this spring he will be in charge of making the other side just as beautiful. There are so many gorgeous landscaped homes around the lake and I am so excited that ours will now be part of it.

We already spend so much time on our patio, I can only imagine what it will be like when we are out there this summer looking onto the lake.

Some things that I think will need to be purchased and replaced...

1. Swing on the Deck

2. A Larger Coffee Maker/Pot. The patio morning traffic is already high, who knows who will be stopping by for a cup of joe at the new place.

3. Sangira. I need to larger pitcher, maybe even a few! (Photo side note: The Keystone light must be leftover from flip cup because all you noramlly see in the Parker house are BL bottles...unless the Folan's are in town and bring Coronas!)

3. Lights. Some ideas -

With all the other decisions that need to be made, the patio has not come into the discussion... yet. All I can tell you at this point is where the sun will be at all times of the day on the patio and the deck and that the front bushes will be chopped asap.

-KP

Upstairs Bath

Shower Wall - White Subway tiles -

Accent Border & Shower Floor: 4' wide with black pencil edge on the top and bottom -

Shower Fixtures -

Bathroom Floor -

Faucet -

Perfection

My good friend Dana Cheeseman is very talented and creative. I have been to her home two times - once when she first moved in and then again this past fall. It was fun to see the changes and progress she made. One of my many favorite parts of her house is her entryway/mud room. The photos do not show the custom pillow she made for the bench but I think you get the picture!

Super cute! Job well done Cheeseman's!

-KP

First Impressions

When you enter through the side door, you will be in the kitchen and the first thing you see will be the entryway area. There will be a bench (for the men that for some reason have to put on their shoes while sitting) and utility closet to the right. The feel I am going for is lakey, homey, compact, easily accessible and have some creative touches. "Tradition with a Twist." Here is some Friday insipration.

Creative touch, Martha did it again -

Creative touch, however, I have a feeling the boots will always just be lying next to this holder -

Homey -

This fits the style of the house (the bench would be next to this) (my personal favorite) -

Compat and organized -

Lakey - Happy weekend!

-KP

And the Winner Is...

After leaving for appointments at 10am and returning at 4:45pm, a decision was finally made!

The cabinets will be a cherry wood with a pewter glaze (very close to the photo on the left). Now, I am trying to choose from these three styles of doors. What are your votes!?

Now off to look at tiles...

Happy Monday

The Bay was beautiful on Sunday afternoon, glad my mom and I could take a break and go for a short walk. Hope this picture brings you a happy, sunny Monday!

-KP

Cabinet Styles

There are also tons of different styles of cabinet doors and the flat panel beaded inset or full overlay are the two that I am deciding between. In the photo above the left door is too plain. The middle is nearly 3 times the cost of the other two doors, but most people choose it because this is an easy way to bring more out detail. Personally, I like the right door and will add my creative details in other places which are shown below.

Here I like the island posts -

One example of the door handles I like on the cabinet style chosen -

Still no decisions on cabinet color. Was on the construction site today and brought the floor sample (the darkest wood pictured below) and a couple cabinet samples. Still a big question mark, however, meeting with Geneva Cabinets today to see what they have to show me. Hopefully a decision can be made.

I am going to bring the photo below with me as an inspiration photo for the light wood -

Time is ticking...less than 48 hours til we head to South Bay!

-KP

Kitchen Gound Rules

The definition for kitch-en is: a room or place equipped for cooking. I agree with the definition but it is also much more than that. No matter what the occasion is friends and family flock to the kitchen to talk, work, relax, etc. It has been proven that the kitchen is the most popular room of the house. This must be the reason why all the decisions needed to made for the kitchen design are so stressful.
The birds eye view:

Now, before I get started with inspirations and ideas, I must tell you a couple of my moms ground rules. 1. No White. It is so hard for me to let go of these two photos, but I must.

2. No Colored Cabinets. Green, blue, red, purple, orange (she does LOVE orange)...not gonna happen.

3. Contemporary
So basically that leaves a style of wood....but which one!?

-KP