my home

all about the renovation of our 100-year-old home.

My husband and I, along with our four small children, live in a 1919 foursquare in Fort Worth, Texas. We have been renovating it for six years, and yes, we have lived in it the whole time! Chapter by chapter, while dealing with white dust and blocking off parts of the house in plastic sheeting, our adventures are chronicled here.

Oh boy, am I excited about today's post!!  I had this idea months ago, and I am so happy to have brought it to fruition, and I am even more happy to finally share it with you! The story begins on a trip this past summer to see a good friend of mine who lives in Northern California.  She took me to the most amazing restaurant in St. Helena called French Blue.  (I wrote about it here)  The food was amazing, but I was completely swept away by the decor.  It was light and bright and organic feeling, and at the time, we were just finishing the 300 square foot addition off of our kitchen that had a similar feel as far as natural light and lots of windows.  I fell in love with these shelves, and it is hard to tell from this photo, but they are made of an iron grid material. AStoriedStyle.com Shortly after I returned home from this trip, I emailed French Blue and asked about the shelves.  I wondered, "Could I order them?"   The reply was swift and disappointing, as everything was made on site specifically for French Blue.  Super kind of them to respond back to me though, right?   I thought I could order the iron material, but after a little research, even that was a little out of my price range.  Since I had splurged on lighting (see here and here) more than planned (totally worth it by the way), I knew I needed to make this happen on the cheap. And then, my friends, the DIY stars aligned, and I found two eight foot pieces of iron in a local salvage yard for $30.  It was a complete surprise, as I was looking for something totally different.

Side Note:  My husband, when previewing this post, called the above photo "Inspiration" and the below photo, "Desperation", ha!

AStoriedStyle.com Now to most people, these pieces probably look like bad locker room shelves, but I knew they could make shelves just as amazing as the ones at French Blue.  The problem was the sizing.  They were 24" wide, and I needed them to be cut down to 12"; therefore, cut in half.  (The two pieces would make four shelves, which was what I was wanting.)   I also needed them to be six feet long, instead of eight feet long.  And because of all the cuts, the iron would probably need some extra strips of bracing.  Now I'm pretty handy, but welding, I cannot do.  Lucky for me, there was a guy that worked at the salvage yard that told me he could do all of this for $40.  Done and done. A couple of weeks later, I went to pick them up, and that's where the fun began.  Painting these babies.

AStoriedStyle.com In our Master Bedroom, we have two windows behind our bed.  They are actually different sizes as one is four inches wider than the other.  Why?  I have no idea. Can you see which one is bigger? AStoriedStyle.com In case you are wondering why I am showing you such a snippet of this room, you should know that it is completely covered in sheets and plastic due to our master bathroom renovation.  (I posted an update yesterday in case you missed it)  We sleep in this little plastic cocoon! I did not really want to put full length curtains on these windows (although I tried that once) because this room is pretty small, and I did not want to move the bed forward to accompany their thickness.  Therefore, I knew I wanted shades or something similar, but the problem I was running into was how to better conceal the difference in window size. My good friend and vintage furniture lover, Kristen, texted me from an estate sale and sent me a photo of these cornice boards.  I immediately loved the vintage fabric, and I said "yes, get them!".  You know you have a great friend when she loads two huge cornice boards in her car for you.  Love you, KD! The problem is the trim.  I think I want something a bit more modern looking.

AStoriedStyle.com I wanted to share with you today an update on our Master Bathroom renovation.  You can read more about where we started and what prompted the reno here.   Not a whole lot has changed from the inspiration board, but I am pondering tweaking one or two things. AStoriedStyle.com

As you can see, we have a subfloor now, and the walls have been made smooth.  We are ready to paint hopefully soon.

AStoriedStyle.com We built this small platform so our barber shop sink will have something to sit on to give it a little more height.  My husband had this idea, and I think it is so smart.  (have I mentioned lately what a great design partner he is?)  He wanted the sink to feel like part of the main bathroom, and I think this platform is just the unity these two spaces needed.  The sink will be perpendicular to the main floor, so one will step down and turn to use the sink.

AStoriedStyle.com

I am very passionate about saving as much as we can of the original bathroom, so the old trim was carefully taken off and put back.  We replaced wood only as needed.  You can see where the old and new blends in this photo.  Of course, when it is painted, you will never know. AStoriedStyle.com As happy as I am to see this room opened up (I seriously cannot believe how much lighter it feels), I am most excited about the shower transformation.  It is fully tiled and grouted, and it looks fabulous.

    If you remember my previous post about my closet turned laundry room, you probably recall how this "room" used to look like this. AStoriedStyle.comWe took part of my husband's closet to make this area a little bigger, and it has been great to have a good laundry space upstairs since that is where all of the bedrooms are.  I have been wanting to decorate it a little more intentionally, and I knew I needed something smashing in there lighting wise.  This is an area of my home that can feel dark since it is off a long hallway, and the light I had before was not cutting it. A few weeks ago, I found this chandelier on Ebay, and I fell in love.  I have seen many, many bamboo chandeliers in my life, but I have never seen one like this. AStoriedStyle.com

HERE’S WHERE I AM SOCIAL