Modern Kitchen

Yesterday you saw the living room & dining room of my friend’s home, today we’ll peek at the kitchen.  I just wish I had some before photos, because believe me, you would NOT believe the transformation! This is the view from the living room.

As you can see, she went for a very clean, monochromatic look and very neutral color scheme.

A little wet bar in a nook around the corner. 

I love the stain/finish and pulls on the cabinets.

She has her own decorative concrete business, so she made the concrete countertops herself.  The floors are also concrete finished to look like marble.

It’s beautiful to see in person, I hope the photos do it some justice.  Just goes to show even if it’s not your own style, it’s easy to appreciate good design!

Modern Decorating Touches

I know everyone’s style is different, and it is always fun to peek in other’s homes and see how they decorate.  When I stayed with my friend in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago I snapped a few photos of her decorating style.  You’ve already seen her guest bathroom, so here are some shots of the rest of the house.  She leans toward the modern side with an eclectic touch.  Here’s her living room:

This room was featured in Louisiana Homes & Gardens magazine last year.  I love the warm color she chose for the walls.

The dining room.  I think the table & chairs is a family piece.  I like the juxtaposition of the retro dining set with the super modern chandelier. Also love the monochrome window treatments.

More modern touches, like these fabulous clear doorknobs and cool light fixtures.

I’ll share her fabulous kitchen tomorrow!

Pool Progress: Day 29

We are swimming!!  I think we have been in the pool everyday for the past week.  Such a nice refreshment from the 100+ degree temps we have been having.  We worked hard this weekend to finish the landscaping and pathway.

We still have to set the stones in the sand grout and will probably get to that sometime next week.  For now, it is functional!

We picked up a load of creek rock to add to the landscaping on the backside of the pool and layed some sod around the perimeter. 

My mom helped make some cushions for the furniture, I changed the color scheme but don’t have any photos yet.   Looks like rain for the next couple of days, which is okay, we need it and are a little sun-whipped!

Circa 1857 Art and Architecture

I was in Baton Rouge a couple weeks ago for my little sister’s graduation and we spent the day after shopping around town.  We found this great little antique/architectural salvage store.

Plenty of photos ahead of the fabulous treasures to be found….

All of the architectural pieces were outside or on the porch.  Stacks of old windows, doors, spindles and tin ceiling panels.

Inside, different booths were set up with both new and old merchandise.  Everything from antique light fixtures to handmade soaps and local art, including these vintage seltzer bottles:

Looks like burlap is still in style, I love these pillows.

Check out this lamp adorned with oyster shells:

Just about every style of doorknob you could want!

I came away empty-handed, but it was still fun to look!  I definitely recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area.

Pool Progress: Days 24-28

What an exhausting weekend! We got some hard work done in the back yard but still can’t get in the pool since the plaster is curing in an acid bath.  Hopefully it will be neutralized tomorrow and then all the pool chemicals will be added and we will be swimming by mid-week!  Here are some photos of the progress:

Full of water!

Pump is on and the water is circulating.  You can see the plaster is  darker than when it was first filled.

My mom helped with landscaping the backside of the pool.  We planted some fan palms and irises.  We still have to get the landscape fabric down and a layer of creek rock on top.

Hubby and Dad put up a fence to hide the equipment and A/C.

I decided on this patio set from World Market.  Thanks, Mom, for generously gifting it to us! I’m sure they will get almost as much use out of it as we will! I snagged the big canopy umbrella from Big Lots and the lounge chairs from Academy.

This stripe fabric on the cushion is actually an outdoor table cloth I found at Kohl’s.  I’m trying to decide if I want to make slip covers for the cushions with it or leave them white for now and then maybe cover them in a more neutral fabric this fall. Any opinions??

Up next, the flagstone walkway leading to the pool.  Hubby and I got about 3/4 of the way through and hope to have it finished in the next couple of days.

Pool Progress: Day 23

Although I don’t think too many of my readers are interested in the pool progress, I still want to document for us.  The pool was plastered on Tuesday and we began filling it that afternoon.

The guys walked around with special spiked attachments on their shoes while they were troweling on the plaster.

We chose a quartz plaster in a color called Mediterranean, which will give the water a dark blue look.  More like a “lagoon” style as opposed to the traditional crystal turquoise blue.

There will be a fence hiding the equipment and a/c unit eventually.  Add it to the long list of “fine tuning” we have to do!

Slowly filling up with water….

So even though we have a full pool now, we still won’t be able to swim in it for another week or so.  It has to sit in an acid bath in order let the plaster cure, then it has to be neutralized and chemicals added.  It will be chlorine for the first 30 days then the salt system will take over.

I’ll have more pics of it filled soon!