Wall Mural - In the Bleak Midwinter

I took a break from renovating rooms in the February after we moved in.  It was a particularly bad winter.  Very, very cold with a ton of snow.  So we were stuck inside quite a bit (it was just too cold to venture out for long). I needed a project to distract me and bring me joy, so this is what resulted!  I drew inspiration from my favorite illustrator/small business owner Anna Rifle Bond from Rifle Paper Co. I just love all of her stuff and color palette. If my budget were limitless, I would just own everything she ever made.

I used the same color I had in the library/office as the backdrop (Balmy Night) and went to town. It brings me joy each time I see it.

The process wasn't super involved.  I bought three paint sample size cans in red, blue and yellow and mixed the colors myself.  Eventually, once the kids playroom moves to the third story, I want to add some built in shelves on the left side wall, framing the window with a padded bench for seating.  the piano (which we will eventually purchase) will go on this wall, or to the right.  There is a fire place opposite this wall, which I'd love to put a few cozy chairs around and french door to close this room off.  It gets a lot of northern exposure light, just a beautiful room.

Library/Office Refresh

 This house has a really awesome library/office that used to be the formal dining room. The dining room was cut off from the kitchen when they converted the butlers pantry into a storage closet (and added stairs down to the basement - you used to only be able to enter through the bilco doors outside).  This room was lined almost floor to ceiling with built in shelving.  We quickly filled them with books and all my thrifting purchases for selling (I sell vintage baby/kid clothes and other knick knacks I find when I'm out thrifting.  Check out my Ebay and Instagram pages - busy_bab if you want to see what is currently for sale).

I knew I wanted to go darker in this room to offset all the light/bright in the living room (you access the office from the living room).  I wanted something really dark, a dark hue of blue/green.  Eventually I landed on this color, Balmy Night by Clark + Kensington.  It's quite dark, but, because I left the shelving all white, it doesn't feel at all cave-like.  I may, in fact, eventually paint the shelves as well for a bit more drama.

The color can look anywhere from navy to black to a dark teal.  The rug I bought on Amazon.  I didn't want anything too nice because this room doesn't get used too frequently and I was planning on punch a hole in it for the computer cables. 

The desk we used is actually from IKEA.  I want to eventually replace the table top with a single slab, live edge piece, but that is for a future date. The chairs were both thrifted.

The Before

Dining Room Makeover

Before moving to Wisconsin, I had visited a little shop attached to a lumber yard in Michigan that was selling slabs of wood of various sizes.  In our old house we never had a large dining room table, we had all our meals around a smaller kitchen table, which worked well unless we had anyone over.  Seating became an issue even if one other person came over for a formal meal.

I knew once we moved to Wisconsin I wanted to invest in a good table and I LOVED the idea of making one myself, or at least finishing it.  So I found a company, Urban Wood Lab operated by Hoppe Tree Service that sold large slabs of urban trees cut down locally.  What a wonderful way to have a piece of Wisconsin history, an actual tree that grew up here!

I selected two slabs of ash and had then assemble the table top.  I would finish the table top surface and attach the legs myself. This kicked off the dining room renovation (scroll down to see the whole process and the before)

The After

The Before

Unfinished table top surface with legs attached.
I used Waterlox to seal the table top after sanding and the table legs were a custom order off of Esty.  

I was in a hurry to get some dining room chairs (my goal was the have the room assembled before Thanksgiving!). I ordered these green ones off of Wayfair.  Eventually I will find some that are more substantial/higher quality, but these looked great and work for us so far. The white head chairs were bought locally at a furniture store. 

I ordered the vintage rug from a place on Ebay (rugemporium240) on auction.  It is one of my favorite purchases and was very cheap for the size and look of the rug. 

And lastly, I painted the walls Woodsmoke by Sherwin Williams. A nice warm grey with a hint of green. 

Oh, and I was able to snag this deal on facebook marketplace as well.  A very hard working hutch that stores all the things that don't fit in out kitchen.  Really pleased with this purchase (that was half what I would have spent on it new). 

1885 House

When we first moved into our 1885 queen anne victorian in 2018, it was pretty much a blank slate full of character.  Aside from the projects that needed our attention (mainly fixing an issue with the chimney, which we knew about before purchasing), there wasn't much in the way of repair, so I went ahead and got started on choosing colors that were more to our (haha, my) taste. I also wanted to invest in a really good dining room table (we didn't even have one in our old house) so I figured I would start in the dining room and get going!

But first, a couple pictures to show just how 'blank slate' this house was.

The formal living room, which for now is our playroom.  Though I have dreams of enclosing the large opening with glass doors and making it a music room. 

This large opening would have glass doors if my plans come true. ;)

The family room, the center of the house, where we spend most of our time. 

View into the dining room.  I love the colored glass, but I'd love to somehow change the red.  I'm not a fan of red. 

the library/office which used to be the formal dining room (Do people still design formal dining rooms anymore?)

The now-formal dining room where I focused my energies when we first moved in.

I love the built in cabinets here!

And the dark cave of a kitchen...I had plans to change this color almost as soon as I laid eyes on it!

back entry mudroom/sunroom

front entry

master bedroom (yes that is our sink, it is tiny, but it works for us)

large guest bathroom (mostly used by our kids)

back yard (sadly the hot tub didn't work and we have plans to ditch it eventually)