When Bold Comes Knocking: Front Door Colors That Make a Statement

It’s the best time of year- time to bake some pies, grab your stretchiest pants (I’m talking Joey in Phoebe’s maternity pants) and pack up the car to grandmother’s house we go. During the drive, my annual reflection of how many glasses of wine is deemed “socially acceptable” at family dinner is suddenly interrupted by all the beautiful homes and their front doors decorated for the holiday season.

But it’s not the doors with the most festive fall wreaths that grab my attention, but rather the doors whose owners have defied status quo to paint them in beautiful bold colors. It’s crazy how painting a door can be so easy to do and yet make such a statement. I personally love it when our West End clients are willing to take a walk on the wild side of bold colors. So if your front door is just begging to be dolled up with a splash of paint, here are some #doortraits I found that spoke to me along with some paint recommendations.

You may have heard how it’s not easy being green, but these doors make me think otherwise. Plus, that dutch door? Killing me. If you’re looking for more growth, balance and prosperity in your life you should consider going green. Some swatches I find complimentary are Benjamin Moore’s Absolute Green or Farrow & Ball’s Arsenic.

Now here me out you “millennial pink” naysayers, because I’m kind of here for this design moment. I mean if Wes Anderson can bathe an entire hotel in it, why not your front door? The color pink welcomes in friendship, harmony and inner peace. Take a glance at Benjamin Moore’s Mixed Fruit or Farrow & Ball’s Pink Ground. Come on, you know you want to!

Excuse me while I have a moment to relive my Roman holiday honeymoon as well as this moment when I stumbled across this gem. With little slice of modern in an ancient oasis, you couldn’t help but stop and stare, am I right? (It’s okay, I know I’m right) The color yellow represents optimism, enlightenment and joy. If you’re looking to try that on for size why not look into Benjamin Moore’s Bold Yellow or Farrow & Ball’s Citron.

I get this sense that orange sometimes gets a bad rep. Just because there’s no other word that rhymes with it doesn’t make it any less of a great color guys! Personally at West End we’re really digging the burnt orange vibes. It’s said that orange is the color of adventure, risk taking and independence. Why not try Benjamin Moore’s Racing Orange or Dragon’s Blood (yes, I may have selected this for the name alone.)

Grab your painters tape, we’re about to get real funky. Now even though this isn’t really a color, I love this awesome use of a chevron pattern. Props to this fella who apparently only spent $50 to create this beauty. I mean, it really speaks for itself: eye-catching, artistic and youthful. Isn’t that an awesome kind of energy you’d like to welcome guests with?

No matter what the color, or pattern, you’d like to use on your front door, West End Interiors asks that you consider all the possibilities out there. Worst comes to worst, you can always paint it back to plain white if you’d like. We have a feeling that won’t be the case though.

Let There Be Light: My Favorite Sources for Light Fixtures

So here’s a bright idea- let’s discuss lighting. Don’t worry, I’ll see myself out...

But really, I think we have all been a witness to a sad boob light at least once in our lifetime or have seen a room that appears to have so much character and charm in the daytime but for some reason it is nowhere to be found after the sundown. So let’s shed some more light on this issue, shall we? Okay, okay- last one, I promise.

The key to design and creating a truly elevated space is to infuse your personality into every detail, and sometimes that requires you to look above eye level. If your design preference is more contemporary, tie it together with a modern fixture. Trying to create a soft feminine feel? Find a piece that reflects that as well. Selecting lighting is a crucial part of our design process at West End so I’m going to share with you four of our favorite sources for fixtures:

• There is something to be said about things that are handcrafted and locally made, although in this scenario when I say local I’m keeping it within the parameters of New York State. Allied Maker is based in Long Island, NY and owned by a couple who act as both the artisan designer and manufacturer. They work with raw materials such as brass, alabaster and wood to create pieces that are sleek, modern and truly one of a kind.
  

Source: Allied Maker / Source: Allied Maker

• For someone that is looking for a balance of high end and more affordable, Schoolhouse Electric is a great option. Not exclusively focused on lighting, this home goods company collaborates with various artists to create an eclectic collection of quality and one of a kind goods. Although it is based in Portland, Oregon we’re fortunate to have fairly easy access to one of their East coast showrooms in Pittsburgh, PA. Trust me, it’s worth the drive.

Source: Schoolhouse Lighting Co. / Source: Schoolhouse Lighting Co.

• An important thing to embrace in design is variety in textures. It’s not about everything being matchy-matchy per say, as much as it is about finding pieces that utilize different materials that compliment one another. Serena & Lily happens to do this exceptionally well. Their home goods line features a variety of styles of lighting, however the ones that personally resonate with me are fixtures that utilize natural materials such as woven rattan or even concrete. It’s a unique way to incorporate texture into design outside of the traditional rug or throw pillow.

Source: Serena & Lily / Source: Serena & Lily

• Don’t worry traditionalists, I promise I haven’t forgotten about you. It’s common when people here traditional that they associate it with being outdated. On the contrary, I believe a traditional style executed well results in a space that is timeless. The Urban Electric Company does a great job of evoking a sense of tradition with a modern twist in their light fixtures by seeking inspiration from classic architecture, such as Chelsea Bridge in London for this lantern pendant.

Source: The Urban Electric Company / Source: The Urban Electric Company

Take note next time you’re in a space that you feel is well put together. What kind of light fixtures do they have? What type of material is it made of? Soon you’ll begin to understand more the importance of the phrase, “setting the mood” and why lighting plays such a huge role in that.

The Bad Wedding

I always thought the hype around a wedding  day was overplayed. So did Jon. Man were we wrong.

When we set out on our wedding planning journey, we knew that we wanted to do something different. We desperately didn’t want to get married in a banquet hall, and longed for an experience with our guests that lasted longer than 6 hours. Our goal was to create a summer camp vibe for everyone that lasted all weekend. I’d like to think we were pretty successful!

Our invitations

For our venue we chose Long Lake, NY- right in the heart of the Adirondacks, it’s a place where Jon and I spend a lot of time all year round. His family has a house there, and we are lucky enough to come and go as we please. As you enter the park, you can feel your blood pressure drop. Theres really nothing like it. The clean air, the mountain views, the pristine water of the lakes, just beautiful. Long Lake is about a 4.5 hour drive from Buffalo, so we knew we had to make it a weekend event for it to be worth it to our guests the travel that far. 

Our venue was at a public pavilion, on top of a hill overlooking Long Lake. The venue itself was free, (SCORE!) but needed a lot of work to bring it to my standards. I knew I wasn’t going to be a bridezilla, but there were times where it peaked through because coordinating a wedding is stressful AF. We chose the last weekend in July to celebrate. Two days before the wedding it rained like I had never seen before, and I was worried all week as there was a forecast for rain - but luckily for the weekend the sun was shining and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Some sort of higher power above arranged that for us and we are grateful.

The prep that goes into a wedding is maddening. My mom helped a TON with all the decorations, thoughtful things for our guests like making huge food baskets for everyone at the hotel?! Blankets, bubbles, bathroom baskets, smores station, signs, pie stands, you name it and my mom thought of it! So really, when I say wedding planning is stressful it may have been in combination with opening a new business and making approximately two thousand decisions a day, LOL. In the end, the party was worth all the preparation.

Truthfully, the one piece of advice that we listened to from everyone was to not spend a lot of money. We stuck to that and made sure when we were making decisions that we took into consideration what would really matter for the weekend. We knew the most important things were food, beer, and ambiance, so thats where we focused our time and money.

Our guests arrived on Friday through out the day.  We rented out three cabins next to Jon’s house on the lake and all of our friends stayed there. It was great to be able to walk from house to house, barefoot, with beer in hand and see all of our closest friends. That was one of my favorite parts.

I had to LOL

Jon’s parents threw our rehearsal dinner with our bridal party and close family - picnic style. Paninis, salad, coleslaw, potato salad, just straight up good camp food! It was delicious and prepped us to party for the night ahead.

On Friday night we met everyone at the hotel where the majority of our guests were staying. There is a huge porch that overlooks Long Lake, and we jammed about 100 people onto it. The place was alive and rockin’! It was great to be able to see everyone the night before and took the pressure off to mingle on our wedding day.

On Saturday morning, we spent a few hours at the venue getting ready for the party! We had a crew of family and friends about 20 people strong who helped us prep everything. This was such a huge help and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. From moving all the picnic tables, hanging the globes, stringing the lights, setting the chairs and tables, the bar, the food tables - there was a lot to do! We are so thankful that everyone pitched in and did a fantastic job. 

My cousins helping out. Love them!

For the set up, I had always pictured how the pavilion would look at sunset and at night. We didn’t want to use the overhead fluorescent lights that the pavilion, so we strung lights from one end to the other to make it glow. The lights mixed in with all the paper lanterns we hung really gave it a beautiful ambience. 

For the flowers, my mom and I went shopping in early June and bought a ton of potted plants. She replanted them and kept them alive until the event, and thats what we used to fill the canoe for the backdrop of our ceremony. The canoe, visually, was my favorite thing at the wedding. It came out even better than I had imagined and framed us perfectly as we said our vows. The only flowers that we had professionally done were the flower crowns, bouquets, and boutonnieres. My mother in law bought wholesale flowers and spent the morning in town with a florist putting them together. They came out GREAT! For the centerpieces we chose to do ferns, which we picked on their property and stapled them to the table. It was super windy up there during the day, so I was afraid if I just left them they’d all blown away. Come time for the reception some of them were crinkly - but whatever, it was perfect to me!

Flamingo napkins for the win.

A vendor of mine was kind enough to let me borrow these beautiful rugs for the ceremony. They made the whole space!

My sister made this fabulous scene for people to take photos with.

The last thing I did was set the tables and the greenery and then I was off to get ready!

My bridal party and I got ready at a beautiful camp right next to Jon’s house, and the boys got ready a few doors down. It was super informal, and we played music and drank mimosas and did each others hair and makeup. If you know me, I am not glitzy and glam so I didn’t want to do full blown hair and makeup on my wedding day because thats just not who I am. 

Jon and I knew that we wanted to read our vows to each other prior to reading to them at the ceremony. We chose the end of his dock to do so, after a game of rock, paper, scissors for who went first. I’m glad we did this first, because we couldn’t get through them without sobbing and it was one of the most special moments to me to have that to ourselves. After the sob fest, we took some pictures by ourself and with our wedding party and got ready to head to the venue.

pro tip: hanna was running out of the frame after throwing my veil up LOL

Birkenstocks for wedding shoes!

My first true love

Jon’s Best Man, Joey. I love this picture.

my people, i love you so much!

We reserved the drunk bus in town to take our guests to and from where they were staying. No drinking and driving, ever! Jon and I stayed behind with Milo and made our way to the venue with Jon’s dad.

When we arrived the venue, I was so excited to see all of our friends and family sitting there waiting for us. It was really perfect.

Our vows covered a recap of what we’ve learned from each other, the experiences we cherished through out our relationship, and our promises to each other. When I say everyone was crying, there was not a dry eye in sight. At one point we looked over at everyone sitting and had to chuckle at how hard everyone was crying. We took it as a compliment.

Our suggested dress code was Hawaiian shirts & floral! Look at how awesome everyone looks LOL!!

Milo accidentally ripped my veil off during the ceremony, but it’s okay because he’s sooo cute :)

Joey in the background, LOL

After our vows, it was time to party! We had Dino BBQ roast a whole pig. Milo followed me the entire day until the pig was served, then he sat under it the entire time LOL! We had local beers from the Adirondack region, and wine for our guests. By the end of the night, we kicked all the kegs and the wine, and even went through all the bottles of liquor my father-in-law snuck in LOL it was quite the party!

We opted for pies instead of cake. Yum!

Dancing the night away with all of our friends and family was my favorite part. Jon and I created the playlist over the past 6 months, and let it play through to the very end. I loved this way of doing it because we were in total control of what was playing, and we are not into the typical wedding playlists (sorry… no black eyed peas lol).

(warning, we like to party shown in the pictures below)

All of the parents!

This was within the first 5 minutes of the music going on lol

A family that loves to dance!

I wish I knew what song was on!

Did I mention we love to dance?

The end of the night ended with a gathering at the hotel with everyone who wanted to keep partying! I have to admit this part is a little foggy for me, but hey! I know it was a good time!

Overall, we walked away feeling so much love, so grateful, and appreciative. People always say that it’s the best day of your life, and I don’t think that we believed that until we were in it. I couldn’t imagine it going any better. The only thing that makes me upset is that we only got to do it once. However, we are thinking that a renewal of our vows is due every year on the same weekend so we always have an excuse to party.

Florence/Tuscany

FLORENCE

After our stay in Rome, we were off to Florence. We took the train, which was about an hour long and really comfortable. I spent that hour answering emails and working. It was actually less stressful for me to work than not, so I’m glad that I used the travel time to check in and get updates on projects happening at home.

Oh Florence. I’m not sure how I feel about you. I think we came at the wrong time to enjoy it. It was just SO busy and SO touristy. I was literally running from those group leaders waving the flags with an army of 50 people only looking through their phone at everything around them. We did manage to find some good, quiet spots with beautiful views of the city at sunset, but it was hard to do! We ended up staying at our AirBNB during the peak hours of the day just to avoid the crowds. 

Right around the corner from where we were staying.

I will say, we did have the best pizza of my LIFE! And that says a lot coming from Buffalo. This was a different category. It was piled with cheese, prosciutto, salami, fresh basil, tomatoes, oh lawd it was good! Other than that, we only had one sit down meal in Florence. It was a HUGE steak. Florence, as I've been told, is known for it’s steak and it didn’t disappoint. Jon and I never really eat red meat - maybe once every couple months - so this was a rare occasion. The steak was pretty much room temperature in the middle and seared on each side which is how we were told to order it. Crazy!

This was seriously so good my mouth is watering looking at the screen. This pizza was sold by the weight not the slice, haha!

Another great sandwich. Florence had a lot of great grab and go food. (although you might be able to tell by the cocktail that I was dining in while jon was on a bike ride ;)

One thing that was disappointing in Florence is that a ton of the city was on holiday, meaning some of the places that we planned to go were shut down for the two weeks we were there. We were warned of this before we went, oh well! We went over the bridge to try and escape the crowds but it looked like a ghost town with all the holiday signs up!

This was supposed to be the best place to get a steak in Florence, I did my research. On holiday!! 

We spent a few hours at the Uffizi during our stay. The forum was beautiful, where we spent the night sitting on the steps listening to a family of string instruments serenade the night crowds.

Jon and a favorite Philosopher of his. Or maybe I took this picture because of the similiarities... 

Amazing marble work. 

The steak! I could only eat a little bit. The fact that it was still pretty much cold freaked me right out, but Jon was happy!

This couple made it up just in time for sunset and were yelling at each other in Italian the entire time. It was very cute so I made Jon take a picture.

On the last day, we packed up our stuff and rented a scooter to ride to Tuscany!

TUSCANY / SAN GIMIGNANO

This was the castle we stopped at for lunch. The views were breath-taking. Seriously - it looks fake!

This was my favorite portion of the trip. I will admit, I was super nervous to rent a scooter and drive it all the way to our next airbnb location. It took some convincing from Jon and a small fight before I gave in. I’m so glad I did though - as this was my favorite part of the trip (just like Jon had promised me it would be. Funny how that works LOL)

We rented a scooter for 3 days. We did a ton of cruising! 260km total, but we only used $6 in gas. I think West End needs one of these. I'm already planning...

We took off from Florence and headed south towards San Gimanano. We scooted through beautiful rolling hills, passed stately homes and miles of vineyards. We wound our way through small towns and cobblestone streets. 

We stumbled upon and stopped for lunch at a castle. Yes, a castle. It was incredible. The landscape is unlike any I’ve seen before, just miles of rolling vineyards. We ate lunch here in the garden. It was one of my most memorable meals. The food was outstanding, as was the wine. There was one waitress that was running the show and she has about 12 tables to herself. It was a nice leisurely lunch and she was running around and working so hard, that once the tables cleared Jon and I gave her a round of applause. 

Lunch in the garden.

Our AirBNB in San Gimignano was something I would recommend to everyone. I could not speak highly enough of this place. It was the most perfect location, a breath taking view, a fresh water pool, and a complimentary wine tasting with Jacob (resident Sommelier). Jacob’s hospitality was unmatched. I really can’t put this experience into words, so just look at the pictures below to get an idea.

A stunning view from our AirBNB. San Gimignano in the background, perfectly framed between rolling hills. Jon made dinner one night and we sat here forever just looking out and enjoying the amazing wine that came from the land we were staying on.

The AirBNB came with a complimentary tasting. I've never done a wine tasting - and it was really interesting to learn how the land is taken care of, how they produce it, sizes of batches, components that alter taste... really cool!

San Gimangano was a cute town in itself. A town that is built inside walls with many shops and places to eat. There was a lot of people, but it didn’t feel as touristy as Florence.

We ate there one night for dinner and sat next to an architect from Toronto so there was good conversation until we closed the restaurant down. 

The view from our AirBNB. A small cafe table that was covered by vines.

We were staying in the house on the left, and used the scooter to get to and from town. There was also a pool here which was great!

We had a kitchen staying there, which was great! We actually do love to cook, and eating every meal out can be tiring and repetitive. Not to mention expensive. We bought some ingredients at the local market and Jon made an excellent pasta dish, that we ate at our private little table overlooking the town. This was also one of my most memorable meals. The wine from this vineyard was our favorite that we’ve ever had. We drank 4 bottles of the same wine during our stay - it was THAT good! We also took one with us on the road, and drank it our last night. We were going to bring it home, but lost self control.

Jon picked me flowers. I think he did a great job on the arrangment :)

The morning we left was bitter sweet. I wish we had one more day there! Next we were off to Cinque Terre.

Rome

Wowza! What a trip. Jonathan and I just spent two weeks roaming around Italy for our honeymoon. I have never been abroad before, and he has never been to Italy. What a breathtaking country. During our stay we covered Rome, Florence, Tuscany (San Gimignano), Cinque Terre, and lastly Rapallo. All of our destinations were so unique from one another, that it’s hard to lump it all into one post. I’m going to break it down by location, and cover what we did, what we ate, what we loved, and what we will do differently next time. This falls a little outside the realm of interior design, but hey - travel is important. Experiences are important, and they influence the way we think and live, and design ;)

We registered at honeyfund where our wedding guests could gift us experiences and money for our trip instead of material items. Jon and I have lived together for over 3 years now and have collected everything we needed in that time, so we were fortunate enough to be able to experience this incredible vacation instead of getting a mixer! If you’re looking for something untraditional as far as wedding registries go, this is a great option!

But, lets get to it!

ROME

Our journey started in the Toronto airport about 3 hours prior to our boarding time, because I’m a little neurotic when it comes to flying. We are lucky to live close to Toronto Pearson where we can hope on a direct flight. I’m a bad flyer - so the less I have to go up and down the better. Plus, who wants to spend time running around airports on vacation?

When we arrived in Rome we took the express train into the city. This cost about 35/euro a person and takes about 35 minutes. We discovered on the way back that a cab is only 40 euro from city center to airport, so we grabbed one on the way back to save time and money. It was a little bit of a hassle to find our first AirBNB, but once we checked-in and chilled out the fun began.

We were staying in a really great location on the west side of the city just far enough from the crowds and monuments, tucked away with a lot of local alleys and shops. I couldn’t believe the first stroll we took around the neighborhood. All of the streets were cobbled, clothes draped and blowing in the breeze across alley ways, old men sitting on benches sipping espresso, marble monuments big and small at every turn. It really lived up to my expectations. We stopped at a small cafe for our first meal. We were starving, and we wanted to immediately jump into the goods.

A quick bite after we landed.

You know it's good when there is meat hanging from the ceiling.

We shared a meat and cheese board (only 8 euro - c’mon!), a bottle of wine, and sat on little crates in the back of this cafe. I was a little disoriented with all the menus being in Italian (I figured most of it out by the end of our trip) so I asked the guys to just make me what they liked. What a great decision! The whole meal cost us 15 euro and we had some of the best casual food of our lives.

All of the cobblestone was magnificant!

Jon booked us a free bike tour the same day we arrived so we could get a lay of the land. The bike tour way great, done by a local who just loves to ride bikes and knows the secret spots of the city. We got a little history tour along the way, he showed us all the neighborhoods, told us what tourist traps to avoid, and took us to a great place to watch the sunset. The whole thing only cost the price of the bike rental - which was 10 euro. We then kept the bikes two more days! We did tip him 20 euro each, and it was totally worth it!

a slice of modern in an ancient oasis.

We love renting bikes to see any new city. Its way quicker than walking, you don’t have to mess around with public transit, and it’s low impact. You can ride bikes all day and feel a lot less tired than walking everywhere. Generally, Rome was a pretty bike friendly city. We stayed on back roads and alleys about 90% of the time. 

Saw this church on our bike tour. It was beautiful, but eery. The nuns were singing a low tune the entire time which echoed through out. I feel like we almost witnessed an end of an era here. The churches were bare, there were only a few nuns left all in the late years of their lives.

Stunning mosaic. 

Our last stop on the bike tour where we watched the sunset.

It just so happens that two of our close friends were in Rome the same time we were. Honeymoon crashers! We met them for dinner twice and it was really great to spend time with them and catch up. 

We spent the days riding our bikes around, seeing the sights, and eating and drinking. The highlight of my trip was being able to see everything in real life that I’ve only seen in text books or online. I have a degree in Fine Arts, so I spent the majority of my college years taking art history, history of architecture, sculpture, textiles, etc. I have such an appreciation for the craft that when we were walking through the Capitoline in Rome, I was actually silently sobbing. That was by far the best museum we went to. The views from the museum were some of the most beautiful we saw of the city. The second part of the museum overlooked the Forum, and the building itself was just magnificent.

Me, weeping after seeing and touching everything.

It's mind-blowing to know that this was all done by hand. How is that even possible? Look at that draping fabric made out of marble. The amount of skill... I just have no words

A metal sculpture found perfectly intact when they started to dig for the museums renovation/addition.

Imageine being given a cube of marble and a chisel and creating this. Look at the veining in the arm! An incredible study.

gaining composure before walking into the next room

My advice would be to go see all the monuments at nighttime, when it’s cooler and there are a lot less people. They are just as magnificent at nighttime, and so much more enjoyable when you aren’t being hit in the face with selfie sticks left and right. 

Looking out over the Forum. One of my favorite views we encountered in the city. In the Capitoline

The Forum

The things that I learned immediately while in Rome

1. Take away coffee is an American thing
2. Pedestrians just straight up walk across the street and cars stop. No lights, no signs.
3. Everyone really says Caio and they say it a lot 
4. Their main public drinking system are fountains that have been there since the city was built. That was one of the COOLEST things to me! The water also tasted so much better than on the west side of buffalo (lol)

Fueling up outside a cafe. We usually drink double shots at home, we found that in Italy it was hit or miss with ordering a double shot. Sometimes it was correct, sometimes we ended up with 4 shots of espresso. Whoops!

A refillable water bottle is a must. It saved us many times on our bike rides and walks. It was about 95 degrees everyday, and at peak sun we felt it! Yay aquaducts!

Looking back, Rome was my favorite city that we visited. Its so full of culture, history, and art that it makes it hard to beat. I loved that there were different neighborhoods each with a different vibe, the mass amounts of marble at every step. Just being able to walk aimlessly and see things that have been there for over 2000 years is mind blowing. I will definitely be back to spend more time there.

Caio!

On my Radar: Minimalist & Warm Kitchens

I’ve been noticing the abundance of minimalist kitchens popping up on my feed and my frequently visited blogs, and I’m super excited about it. I’ve even found myself leaning towards a more minimal approach on my designs as of late, while still adding elements to keep them warm. I think in the next upcoming months we are going to start to see the classic shaker cabinet stepping out of the spotlight, and trends moving more towards a minimal, flat panel door. I hate countertop clutter and I want to believe that is a universal thought, which is why I think the less is more mindset works great in the kitchen and is becoming so popular.

What I love about the minimal modern spaces that I’ve been seeing lately is that they are also earthy and chic. Along with the clean lines, we are seeing large scale marble and warm wood tones to make the space feel inviting. The balance between the materials makes for a very comfortable space. 

Just because you may not have a home with high ceilings and black windows does not mean you can’t incorporate some of these design elements into your space. Here are a few ways that you can take the essence of minimal and modern style and apply it to your own home.

1. Incorporate metal.

I’m not just talking about your fixtures and cabinet hardware, but taking it a step further.

Using metal within your space brings in a texture that speaks more towards a modern and industrial style. Some of my favorite ways to incorporate metal are with open shelves, range hoods, or island legs/brackets.

Here, the cabinets are made out of metal brining in that smooth and modern material. Paired with the oak floors compliments well.

This isn't very earthy, but it's a good example of using metal on the island as the support. I would change a few things in here to make it a little more inviting. Maybe a deeper cabinet tone, or the addition of stone backsplash.

2) Use large scale materials that limit the amount of grout lines or seams that are noticeable.

This might include picking a large scale tile for the backsplash, or if you can splurge - using a full height stone backsplash. Small scale mosaics, although great in other applications/styles, really interrupt the clean and minimal lines that are commonly seen in industrial spaces. You can also achieve this with just drywall and paint as well - painting it all one color to create a smooth seamless surface. 

Great use of marble here to keep things looking clean and streamlined. The wrap around the island and the backsplash.

3) Limit your Upper CabinetryIn order to keep the clean lines of the backsplash relevant, pair that with some open shelves - OR nothing at all. 

I’m not saying that you have to abandon all upper storage, but give your eyes space to rest and pick one wall where you incorporate something other than cabinets. 

Here we see a nice mix of wood and painted cabinetry. The floating shelf looks very elegant running perpendicular to the stone backsplash.

4) Limit the “things” that you don’t need.

This isn’t totally 100% design driven, but I find most of the time my clients just have too much STUFF. Countertop clutter adds up quick. Have a designated space that you throw your keys or paperwork thats not the countertop. Limit your “choch” to styled items on the open shelves. Although for a minimal look, I would argue that you would have nothing on the shelves except a few well placed plates or pots. 

Ahhh... very little "stuff" on the countertop and everything can be beautifully hidden behind those big pantries.

I hope that this mindset is here to stay. I can’t help but love to let the materials and millwork speak for themselves, rather than having the accessories do that talkin’

Until next time,

Raelyn

Home Renovation - What I learned from the 10th Street Reno

So by now you may have seen my home across the internet, and I’ve been blessed to be featured on apartment therapy, in Buffalo Spree, and Houzz. Although my home photographs really well - it doesn’t always look picture perfect. Since my partner and I did all the renovations ourselves (lets be honest It was mostly him), it took a lot of time and patience to finish everything. There are a few things that I love about what we chose, and there are a few things we did that I would never do again - in my own house OR a clients!

First, lets start with the things that I would do again.

1) Having all lower cabinet drawers vs. doors

This has been a life saver for our small kitchen. Essentially, we have no pantry space. All of my dry goods and non-perishables fit within 3 drawers in my lower cabinets. This makes them super accessible, and also keeps me from buying too many things that would sit in a pantry I would never use. Being able to open a drawer and see everything you have from above is also way easier than having to file through a pantry. In my opinion!

2) Plywood Shiplap

In our bedroom, we cut down sheets of plywood and stapled them to the wall. After I filled all the staple holes, I painted everything white. In our dining room, we used routed MDF - but if I’m being honest I like the plywood a lot more. Since our home is over 100 years old, it’s crooked and all out of whack. I even love the uneven openings through the plywood planks, I think it adds so much character to our bedroom.

My fat pup and I

3) Walk in shower with no glass

I’m pretty sure any shower I ever have for the rest of my life will closely resemble the shower I have now. I love not having glass, and just being able to walk in and out without opening a door. Our shower is large enough that the water does not splash behind us, and there is just slight splashing on our half wall. I would probably make that about 4 or 5 “ taller next time we do it!

4) Investing in adding new trim through out

This one is huge. Theres nothing that adds character like finish trim does. From the shiplap on the walls, to the new farmhouse/craftsmen style window and door trim that Jon made from scratch, it makes a such a difference. The materials were cheap, too. We used MDF for all the trim and painted it white, and for our living room ceiling it's just sheets of MDF and 2x4's. It looks like it's always been there!

5) Putting our plug in sconces on a switch

This might seem like it makes no sense - but because I wanted sconces mounted on an exterior wall, and our walls were plaster and lathe, it was a logistical nightmare. It was also going to be a nightmare to install recessed cans, so I decided to put plug in sconces over each bookcase next to our fireplace. Jon then installed an outlet in the floor (we have access from the basement) and connected that outlet to a switch. He's so smart.

Things I will never do again:

1) Using light grout on any floor

I used a light grey penny tile in our bathroom, and paired it with a light bone colored grout. This is my biggest regret in the house because it takes hours of scrubbing with bleach for the floor to look clean - even if it wasn’t dirty to begin with! Since this is our only bathroom in the first floor, it gets a ton of use by guests as well which makes it even harder. Also, when it gets wet in the shower, sometimes it changes colors which drives me nuts. The grout to tile ratio is pretty much even which is why it makes it so hard to keep looking clean. - Lesson learned!

You can see our penny tile grout situation here. Even though this is right after I scrubbed them for the photoshoot, you can still see some varience in the color in the floor.

2) Wood countertop in bathroom/vessel sink combo

Although a striking combo, it’s kind of a nightmare to take care of. I think I would feel different if we had a stone countertop, but the wood makes it hard to keep clean. I don’t think it necessarily looks bad, but I can tell that it’s not perfect and thats what matters!

Other than those couple things, I really, really love our home. It was definitely a task to have to choose every detail for myself. When it comes to clients, it’s easy for me to read them and suggest things I know they will like. For myself - because I am exposed to so much on a daily basis- it was impossible for me to pick out almost everything without changing my mind 5 or 6 times.

With every decision I wanted to be a little out of the box, but I know deep down that I’m timeless and classic and neutral, so when I was having a hard time picking something I always reminded myself of that. On top of not being able to make up my mind, it’s was hard to take my partner’s opinion into consideration because I had total tunnel vision of this being my first big portfolio piece of my own and wanted to control everything. BUT in the end his suggestions and opinions really did make the house what it is today and is a nice mix of both of our styles. 

The process itself was also incredibly helpful for my career. Living through a large scale renovation is a slight nightmare. Even though day in and day out I’m making decisions for my clients that are going through renovations - to be able to live through the day to day construction site really helped me understand everything that goes into it and the client's point of view. Of course I check in on my contractors on the job site, but I’m not there watching them every minute or physically living through it. Trouble shooting plumbing problems, electric, leveling floors, fixing joists - that all helped me understand large scale renovations way better than anything I’ve ever done.

All in all would I do it again? Probably not LOL I think from here on out I’ll be sticking to telling the contractors what to do instead of doing it myself ;)

10th Street Renovation featured on Houzz!

So excited to have the opportunity to share our home again for an article on Houzz. I spent about an hour on the phone a couple months ago chatting about all we've done, and all we still have to do! Check out the article below for some BTS info on how we made it happen!

Houzz Tour: A Happy New Life for a Once-Rundown Home

Memorial Day Goals

This is the first Memorial Day weekend in years that I haven't been sitting on a dock in the Adirondacks. We've had beautiful weather here in Buffalo, but I sure am missing that mountain smell. Modern Cabins and Lake Houses hold a large and special place in my heart. The mix of natural materials and textures, paired with those clean lines and mountain charm is enough to make me scream.

These cabins and boat houses are my Memorial Day and Summer goals... Enjoy!

Theres nothing quite like an Adirondack Great Camp! Even in all of it's rustic glory, the quality of the materials and the craftsmanship to build them is mind-blowing.

LEAN-TO GOALS

One of my biggest designer crushes, Muskoka Living Interiors designs the most beautiful coastal inspired homes I've ever seen.

Not crazy about the furniture, but love the use of the paddles in the foyer!

Rustic Bunk Room

Essentially an outdoor living room, look at all the glass!

Intern Wanted!

I am #blessed and am in need of an intern. My little firm is growing and I need help to keep on track. This position covers all aspects of a start up business, so be prepared to do a lot more than just design. I’m looking for someone to be transparent with in regards to the financial and business end of it, along with helping me with designs, sample ordering, bookkeeping, the whole nine yards. I am willing to be open and honest with the ways that I’ve learned what to do and what not to do and share those secrets with you. 

I feel as though I work very differently than a lot of other firms. It is SUPER important to me that you are a very personable person. It is important to be professional too, but I would take personable over professional, honestly. If you wear pant suits and blouses we probably won’t jive. Unless the pant suit is floral. That would be cool. You will be going on meetings with me and I need your style and personality to reflect my brand.

Being eager to learn and able to take directions on the first try. Essentially, I am looking for a mind reader. If you have that feeling in your gut that one day you are going to be super successful and have that drive, I’m looking for you. Things get crazy here, and you will need to be okay with working off my over-crammed dining room table, hanging out with Milo, and general tom foolery.

This will be an unpaid internship, but with endless supplies of coffee and food offerings. It does have potential to turn into a paid position, but not until at least the end of the year. I do plan on taking over the world, so looking for someone who shares that passion with me. 

I would be looking to start with two days a week. I work 6 days a week, so the days can be flexible. We would probably start with two half days and build from there. You must have a working laptop and extensive knowledge of sketch-up. Of course, I will be happy to teach you more detailed things along the way but general 3D and 2D use of sketch-up is required. Also, photoshop. I use Photoshop everyday to create my design boards and presentations. 

If you think you’re a good fit and would like to talk further about the opportunity, and I didn't scare you away with the above description, please send your resume and portfolio to raelyn@westendny.com and a short summary of why you think you would be a good fit.