Jodie Okun Interiors

Client basement re-do

2013-09-25T04:07:00.001-04:00

while we are hunkered down in the hotel here in bahrain, i have been trying to organize my photos. i found some OK quality ones of a basment re-do i finished up this past summer. this basement belongs to one of my all time favorite clients (and i am not just saying this because she reads my blog:))! she is honestly one of the nicest, geniune people i know. on top of that she is so easy to work with...its a good thing because we have been working together for about 12 years?!?!

i know my husband will be twitching when he sees these photos....i still havent mastered the photo taking....and the TV has a kids show on it (ava was with me hiding behind the couch that day:))...and the lamp is on!! however, i am going to show you anyway.

here is the basement before...i know you are cringing michelle:) 4 kids grew up watching TV here and now they are all out of the house...so it was time for an update!

here is the after....

ahhh...much better dont you think? we still need to add some accessories...but thats the easy stuff:) the built-in around the fireplace made a huge difference. now my client even enjoys spending time down here...so much brighter and inviting!!

here is another angle....before

and after....

believe me, i tried to have that "spindle hole" covered up...but i couldnt get someone (read my clients husband) on board with that....so it stayed:) it honeslty doesnt bother me as much now that the basement is finished. so i forgive him:)

here is another angle

my client came up the the brilliant idea for the built-in above the sofa...if you look in the first before photo you can see the wall sticks out a little...so she had her contractor add a half wall with a built in over it! it looks amazing...she is still looking for the perfect piece of art to go over it!

here is a close up of the pillows....love them.

the colors of the pillows are the most true in this photo than any other of the basement. i hope you can you can tell how really pretty this room looks from these photos.

i am trying to gain momentum here to keep blogging!! so keep reading:)

jodie

We are here.....

2013-09-10T07:29:00.000-04:00

well...we made it to bahrain and this has been our view for the past 6 weeks...not too bad! we are staying in a nice two bedroom suite so that makes hotel living a lot easier. (so does having our room cleaned every day:)) we have been busy getting settled, adjusting to a new country, starting the kids in school and looking for a place to live. we found a place and i will be sure to post more on that when we get ready to move at the beginning of october. most of our activities have been indoors so far because of the HEAT! here is a picture of the kids in front of one of the many malls here in bahrain.

as the weather cools down and we really start exploring the island i will definitely be sharing more!

for now i wanted to make good on a promise from my last post ...that i would show you a shoe/book shelf that kevin built (almost 2 years ago!). it all started because he was sick of having so many of his shoes on the floor of his closet....

he came up with the idea to break through the wall (!) and add a built-in shelf accessible from the inside of the closet. here is the hole.....

however...the wall wasnt thick enough to hold the shoes so he decided to make a box for them. then on the bedroom side of the wall there would be a "cool box shelf"...ummmm....no. when i came home and saw this i said told him it was not "cool":)

so he/i (i cant remember who) sugggested making this box into a book shelf....now we were getting somewhere!

after a few more weekends this is where he ended up...

then it was time for paint....

here is the final product with more trim work! it looks even better because i painted the room and hung the window treatments. i loooooove the way it turned out and made our whole bedroom more cozy.

let's not forget why this whole project started....for the shoes!?!? all of that work and this is what he ended up with inside of the closet ...a place for about 12 pair of shoes!! the rest still ended up on the floor. here is the only photo we have of the inside...he did patch the holes and paint eventually:)

so that is the story of our shoe/book shelf. looking at these photos makes me miss our "stuff'...i cannot wait to move in and get unpacked!

jodie

bahrain or bust

2013-06-25T17:24:00.000-04:00

well...it is official we are moving to bahrain! where is that you ask? it is a tiny island off the coast of saudi arabia:) i have learned more about this country in the past 3 months than i could have ever imagined. my husband works for the government and with his job we have the opportunity to go overseas. we spent 4 years in italy from 2005-2009 and it was amazing. we wanted to go overseas again before the kids get out of elementary school. now that the decision has been made and we have our official orders...we are excited for the adventure! some of our best friends already live there and have been paving the way for us over the last year.

i am nervous about the change for my business...but i think it is going to be an amazing opportunity to grow and learn about design in a a part of the world i probably would never visit otherwise. i am planning...ahem...on blogging a lot more about my interesting finds over there, our travels and experiences. so i hope you will follow along.

for now here are some pretty pictures that i found on a this blog ...

and one more of a beach in bahrain...

since we found out about moving i realized that there are so many things in our house that i havent blogged about. so i am going to try to show you some of them before we go.

first up is the landscaping in the front of the house. this is what the house looked like when it was first built in the summer of 2009 (the kids were so little!!) and we hadnt moved in yet.

i realize it doesnt look like much....but that was a lot of work a few years ago! my mom came down for a few days and helped me move, remove and plant shrubs. i am so happy with the way it turned out. i wanted those two large laurels on either side of the entry to take away from the ridiculous amount of stairs we have. the two small laurels next to the large ones still need to come up...but they are getting there. i usually add annuals for more color, but not this year because of the move.

so there you have it! next up.... an interesting built-in shoe/bookcase that my husband made:)

jodie

bedrooms on the brain

2013-04-23T20:32:00.001-04:00

phew... work/life has been crazy!

i am working on several bedrooms at the moment and i just finished up a mini-makeover in our guest room that i though i would share.

here is a little before shot...

here it is after....there is still more to be done...but this will have to do for now:) i painted (BM revere pewter, my new favorite), recovered the headboard and added some nail head trim, changed the bedding, moved some lighting & furniture around and added some window treatments. i want to change what is over the bed eventually....but all and all i am happy with the way it turned out. there is a large chest in the room that i want to refinish...so that side of the room will have to wait for photos:)

here is another closer look...thanks to my husband who takes fantastic photos!

here are some other bedrooms that i have been drooling over while looking for inspiration for my clients rooms...

thanks for stopping by....

jodie

the big picture

2013-01-15T16:47:00.002-05:00

dont worry i am not going to talk about the meaning of life here...i am literally talking about BIG pictures! i have told you before in this post what a wonderful photographer my husband is. most of the artwrk around our home is his photography.

we have been trying to decide what to put in our double story foyer for about 3 years now. kevin came up with the idea to have some of his photos blown up on vinyl. they came with grommet holes along the top and bottom. so for a while we just had it thumb tacked up!

eventually kevin decided to frame them with simple stained 1 x 2's and they look amazing! i selected the tree because it is one of my all time favorite photos of his. then after a trip to cleveland he came home with this. i thought it was a great photo to have in the foyer...its just plain happy! here it is after he framed it....

here is another before and after....

there are still a few wrinkles...but we are living it with it that way. we are so happy with the way they turned out! i love walking by an seeing this from upstairs every morning...

*that foyer light is not staying:)

so my advice here is..go big or go home!

jodie

client progress

2012-12-18T21:42:00.001-05:00

hello..i thought i would check in and show you some progress photos from a couple of projects i have been working on.

first up is a client that i met through working with the nest egg. we have been working hard on a "new to her house" that she purchased this past summer. there is wall to wall seagrass being installed as i type this and her furniture is being delivered on friday! for now...here is a tease of the before and after of her foyer...we updated it with new tile, paint and dark gray doors. as always... excuse the phone photos:)

before....

after...

another angle...

this project has been so fun and so has my client! i cannot wait to show you more as we make more progress.

remember this photo i showed you of some fabrics for a clients family room?

well...here are a couple of snippets of that plan coming to life.

i loooooove this room! i am waiting for the built-ins to get done and a few more accessories before i photograph the whole thing.

it really is so rewarding to see all of our (my clients and mine) ideas, designs and planning come together... especially when we are all happy with the outcome:)

jodie

towel bar talk

2012-10-31T09:43:00.001-04:00

i had some extra time on my hands thanks to hurricane sandy. time to think about towel bars...and the alternative to them. i am not a big fan of the standard towel bars you see everywhere. (below is an example of one via pinterest)

they look good when the towels are neatly folded on them...but how often does that happen? i always found myself having "show towels" for these towel bars and the towels we used everyday were hanging everywhere else in the bathroom...over doors...on the tub...you name it. so when we bought our house...i took all of our towel bars down and used other things.

in our powder room the hand towels hang on an old antique ladder thing (i really dont know what it is...but its the first thing my husband bought me when we were dating...i am sure he doesnt even remember) whatever it is...it serves its purpose for towel hanging!

here you can see where is sits in the room...

in our master bathroom, kevin made this plaque and i added the hooks. these hooks are not big enough though...and honestly the towels don't dry very fast:(

so when it came to the guest/kids bath we used bigger hooks and spread them farther apart and they work very well.

while we are looking at this guest bath...let me show you a very cool piece that kevin built. i think i have mentioned before that my husband travels a lot? well... for the past 7 years or so he has been collecting all of the goodies from the cool hotels he stays in. unfortunately until about 6 months ago...when he finally found time to build something for them...they were all piled in the linen closet. this is what he came up with...super clever as usual.

cute huh? ok...back to towel bars. i dont really have a lot more to say....other than ...when you arent loving your towel bars...take them down:) here are a few other examples of what to do with your towels...

jodie

goosebumps (6)

2012-10-07T22:46:00.001-04:00

yes...the goosebumps series continues! if you are not familiar with this series, you can read about it here.

i know i have said this about suzanne kasler before....and i will say it again...i love her designs. the latest one that i am loving is an open air home she decorated in kenya. this mini compound was featured in the october (i think) issue of house beautiful. it gives a whole new meaning to bringing the outside in...it is basically all open and so well designed. this home is a wonderful example of how to decorate while considering your surroundings. suzanne uses the perfect color palette and furnishings to blend in with the outside...without getting theme-y (like using all things african!)

i liked it so much i thought i would share...for those of you who missed it. enjoy!!

that bathroom is so pretty...and the shower...forget about it!

jodie

work

2012-09-19T19:30:00.002-04:00

oh hi...how are you? my name is jodie okun and i am an interior designer with a blog. i am hoping that by re-introducing myself, it will remind me that i am supposed to do blog posts when i have a blog. lets have another shot at it...shall we?

i wanted to show you some designs for a client that i have been working with this summer. it has been a fun project and she is so nice and great to work with. she is super busy with her career...so some of our work has been via the world wide web. i thought i would show the plans i came up with for her family room and master bedroom. we are working out all of the details...but the big pieces have been ordered.

here is the family room plan...

here are the fabrics and rug...this was an instagram photo i showed in the last post

they have a beautiful stone, floor to ceiling fireplace in the room. (you will see in the "after" pictures when it is done) all of these fabrics really bring out all of the natural colors in the stone.

here is the plan for the master bedroom...

here is a picture of the fabrics...

the bedroom walls are already painted a pretty gray blue....and there is a fireplace in there as well. it is going to be so cozy!

so there you have it! i just wanted to show you that i really am doing something...just not blogging very often. hopefully that will change in the near future:)

jodie

instagram and news from the garden

2012-08-09T12:27:00.002-04:00

i am obsessed with instagram! i know i am a little late to the game....but i love it. i knew it was an app you could use...but i never realized you could follow people on it. its all about pictures and you can just scroll through and look at pretty things and "like" them. it so much better than twitter (i can't seem to get into that) and its more low maintenance then facebook. plus...you can make your photos look cool:) i actually took that picture of the butterfly!! here are some others i have taken on with instagram...

i went the amazing store furbish with my friend gretchen on a recent trip to raleigh...

a client presentation...

pretty sky..

tuka...

love this stool from baker...

this is color infused flooring!! i didnt even use a filter to make it this color...not sure i would ever use it...but it is interesting.

if you want to join the fun on instagram...my handle is jodieokun. (very original i know:))

in other breaking news...our vegetables are growing! here are the red peppers starting to sprout...

look at all of these carrots!

our first cucumber!

now here is is little lesson for those of you who have never had a vegetable garden (like me)...lettuce doesnt like warm weather. i planted it too late and because of the heat it "bolted"...

seriously...that happened over night...and you cant eat it when it does that...it is too bitter. so i cut it back and we will try again... or i will plant more when the weather cools down in september. it is a very small garden...but there is something so satisfying about watching it grow...and the kids love it! i will let you know when we are actually able to eat something from it:)

jodie

sneak peek: client living room

2012-07-30T10:57:00.001-04:00

i know i am supposed to wait to take better photos...but i dont want to! this is a living room/dining room i worked on for my very sweet client. i met her when i worked for french country living years ago. she and her husband loved all things french then and they still do! this time around they wanted to give their space a little face lift. they had some beautiful pieces...but we just wanted to update it. i suggested going with a more neutral palette...which was a bit of a stretch for them...they love color. i am glad they agreed because we are all thrilled with the outcome!

we are still on the hunt for a few key accessories and waiting for the dining table. i took these photos with the lights on (oh no!) and did not properly style it for a photo. excuses, excuses! here is a little before and after. i will take more when everything is truly finished!

we lightened up the walls, added molding to the existing crown and doorway, re-arranged the furniture, bought some new upholstery, a new rug, new window treatments and a bunch of accessories and pillows. i loved working with these clients because they also like to hunt for antiques and artwork on their own. they have wonderful taste and i love the personal touch it gives to their home.

i hope your having a great summer!

jodie

exciting news

2012-07-20T22:27:00.000-04:00

ahhh...summertime. i love summer and lazy afternoons by the pool...oh wait...i dont get to do that anymore! i thoroughly enjoyed my summers when the kids were really young and the main event was napping:) those days are long gone though... i am busier with work than ever and the kids are enjoying the pool while at camp.

one exciting reason for my busy summer is that i recently started doing design work for a wonderful local store ...the nest egg, it has been one of my go to resources for clients over the past few years. so, when the opportunity presented itself for us to partner up...i jumped at the chance! the owners ann and sean are so helpful and friendly and so is everyone who works there. i absolutely love all of the vendors they carry
and ann has an amazing eye when buying for the store.

the best part is that i am still able to keep my own business and my own clients (who i love)! so working with the nest egg and their clients is icing on my cake:) i have already met with some amazing people and we have some great projects in the works! if i am a good little blogger (ahem) i will share them with you. if you are local in the DC area...be sure to stop by and visit the nest egg...you will be happy you did!

jodie

purple and gray

2012-06-26T10:40:00.002-04:00

hello! i am well aware that it has been over 20 days since my last blog...shame on me. my excuse is that my blog is "broken". you cant tell by looking at it...but it is not working right behind the scenes and i am soooo irritated! trying to figure out a problem with blogger is next to impossible. you cant just call google and get someone on the phone. however, i can still post...but i have been so frustrated with the rest of it i havent even done that! sooo...here is me getting over it for now.... to talk about a color combination i dont normally use...purple and gray.

i am working with a client who absolutely loves purple (not barney purple as she always tells me). originally she wanted to do a gray and turquoise color combo...but we couldnt seem to come to an agreement on the color turquoise she was going for. so about month in...we switched it up to purple and gray. i have been thoroughly enjoying myself through this process. we are working on the entire downstairs of her new house and using many variations of this color combo. i am quite pleased with how it is coming along ...and i think my client is as well. she is the funniest woman i think i have ever met!

here are some inspiration photos (all from pinterest) that i have been using to get me in the mood...

all of these photos have some beautiful elements using purple and gray. you dont have to love the whole room to appreciate the nice use of this color combo.

here is a photo of some of the fabrics we are using in the sun room and family room area

these are just the basic fabrics...we will be adding some fun pillows as well!

here is the wallpaper we will be using in the living room/dining room...as well as some of the fabrics from in there.

this wallpaper is sooo pretty with a little sheen to it (my client looooves shiny things...i have had to reign her in or i am pretty sure her entire house would be furnished with mirrored furniture:)). it looks very brown in this photo...but paired with the deep purple paint we are using....its beautiful.

of course....famous last words...i will take photos when we are finished! this has been a fun experience...because it is taking me out of my comfort zone. it is always good to challenge yourself in design!

what about you? have you challenged yourself with any color combinations lately?:)

jodie

goosebumps (5) & gardening

2012-06-03T21:58:00.001-04:00

recently i had a day to really clean out my desk and files...it felt so good! i found a folder marked "blog ideas" that i didnt even know i had. it is great idea if i would remember to look in it every once in a while. anyway, in the folder i found an article from last spring about a garden that made me swoon. seriously, look at this....

those gates! i love the design...dont you just want to sit down and have a delicious summertime meal there?

take a closer look....

i am definitely keeping this one in my "dream house" files. it was designed by lisa bynon, a landscape designer. i googled to find out more about her...but really only came up with other bloggers who wrote about this same article last year.

one blogger in particular stood out and i have to share the link to her blog august fields. sara used this same article as an inspiration for a garden and she and her family did an amazing job! be sure to check out her garden along with many other pretty things.

we started a little veggie garden of our own this year too. ahem...it doesnt look exactly like the garden above..but its a start:)

once again kevin came to the rescue...or he rescued wood (trex this time) from a dumpster and used it to make a raised bed for me. we put it on the other side of our house...that we never really use.... beacause it gets geat sun.

of course i had help...finally ethan gets some face time on this little blog:)

and of course my faithful sidekick...

here is a view of the whole garden, with the little markers ava made that lasted about 10 seconds in the rain!

i will have to keep you posted on the progress. these were taken a few weeks ago and now we already have some carrots popping up. it really is satisfying to see things grow from seeds. the kids are loving it!

jodie

girls room re-do

2012-05-23T12:10:00.002-04:00

hello strangers! remember when i talked about liking the color yellow way back in this post? well...i finally did get a chance to use in in my daughters room. ava wanted pink walls and i know you are supposed to let your childrens creativity shine through and all of that, buuut...i just gave her a gentle nudge in another direction...a yellow direction. luckily we are both happy with the outcome! i finished this little re-do last october...so i thought it was about time to share it.

here is what her room looked like when we started...

it was on its way to pretty...but with a few small changes...look at it now.

boy do i need to take better photos...but you get the idea! obviously the furniture placement didnt change...but the walls and some pieces of furniture were painted. we also added the pom poms (ava helped me make them) and the window treatments.

here is a photo of it last fall that my friend desi took when she came over to take my blog photo. the old comforter was on the bed...

thats how you take a photo! i hadnt really "styled" it at the time...so it looks a little messy. nothing like its usual state! (ava takes after her daddy in the cleaning up department)

these next three are some other photos that desi took....you definitely need to go and check out her blog she is a very talented and creative photographer.

here is part of the other side of the room that isnt so photogenic...but ava loves to read in her bean bag chair.

here is a closeup of the back of the book case that we stenciled...

and another little spot...

sometimes ava does clean her room (when i ask) and this is where she takes after her mommy...she makes a list! this is what i found on her bed the other day after i told her to clean up...so cute!

ok..here is one more shot of the room...just because.

last but not least a photo of the girl who lives in the room...another desi photo. that is paint on her hands:)

ok....i hope you enjoyed! i will try to take some photos of ethans room soon...i re-did that last fall too!

jodie

man of many talents

2012-05-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

i am talking about my husband. he really is one of those people that is good at whatever he sets out to do...its very annoying! one of his talents is photography...and he is really good at it. we have many of his photos blown up and framed around the house. i keep thinking i will take pictures of them and blog about it...but i havent. so instead i am going to share a link to his blog that he updates every once in while with beautiful photos.

kevin has taken many photos during our travels while living in italy and he is also very fortunate to travel a lot for work, so he usually brings his "good camera" with him to capture some shots.

here is one of my favorite photos that he took while on a trip to africa....

he has an amazing eye for detail and sees beauty in things i would never think of photographing. if you have a minute check out his blog nukoland...you wont be disappointed!

jodie

random

2012-04-19T12:10:00.000-04:00

i seriously dont know how other design bloggers do it...working and blogging everyday. i certainly havent figured it out! i really dont have any time time now either. so i thought i would show a few random pictures of what is going on in the exciting life of JOI (thats what i call my business when i am talking to myself or my husband:))

i am going to cover our outside dining chairs with this fabric...it makes me so happy!

here is my favorite worker helping me take off the old fabric...

of course i have no after pictures because when we took off the old fabric we realized how badly the seats need new foam...and i havent gotten it yet!

look what UPS dropped off this morning...5 of these for the condo party room. i love them!

i am going to have pillows made with these two fabrics for my office....

and last but not least...one of the reasons for my long absence is because the kids had spring break. we went to pennsylvania to visit family and friends and then to charlottesville to visit my in-laws. i only took one photo the entire time...

this is my "mor mor" along with my mom and kids. we took the long way home through lancaster to visit her. she didnt really know who we were....but that didnt matter, it was so nice to see her. she honestly is the happiest dementia patient and she still has the clearest blue eyes you have ever seen! it is hard that the kids will never really know her like i did...i was just telling them more about her this morning. about the two traits i am pretty sure trickled down through my mom and straight to me....talking a lot and the love of shopping:)

jodie

party room update

2012-04-06T09:52:00.000-04:00

i finally have some progress pictures of the party room i am designing for a condominium building. it is definitely not finished...but we are getting there. it will be done by the end of april...because that is the deadline! first up is the kitchen...lets review what it looked like in the beginning.

after demo...

new cabinets and granite being installed...

almost done (i know the fridge was in the way...but i really wanted to show the progress and couldn't move it!)

just a little FYI....the rug had to stay! i am hoping down the road we can change it...but for now we are working around it.

here is another view from inside the kitchen...

bad quality picture...but you get the idea.

the other side...

a lot of the furniture was delivered last week and there is more to come along with a lot of accessories! here is a sneak peek of one side of the room that is going to be used for a "wifi" area

here is what it looked like before...

and after....i know it looks very plain! but i have plans trust me:)

so....i realize this is just a very small taste of how the room is coming along...but it will keep you coming back to look for more progress!

jodie

mini face lift

2012-03-27T21:12:00.000-04:00

for my blog...not me... but i got your attention didnt i! i decided it was time to spiff up the design of my blog a little. this is not something i could do on my own and i knew just the girl for the job. elizabeth from the mustard ceiling. she is a blogger and a very talented blog designer. i love her clean designs. she was so easy to work with, and patient with me:) the best part is that elizabeth will do anything from a few small changes to a complete re-design. i am so happy with the outcome...it just looks more professional and easier to navigate. with these changes and my new photo from desi...i feel legit!

i cant do a post without a photo...so here is one that puts me in the mood for spring. i took it on a trip to assisi with my mom and the kids while we lived in italy. isnt it amazing? those colors! i think they were having a garden show at the time...that is what the #16 is for.

ok...stay tuned. i am going to try to post some more progress photos of the party room i am working on later this week...really i am!

jodie

big wall idea

2012-03-15T12:52:00.001-04:00

i have been meaning to post about this for a while becuase i think it is a good alternative for a gallery wall when you have a big wall to fill. kevin made the first version of this shelf (not sure what to call it) about 8 years ago. we originally used it in our foyer in our old house...and it had a bunch of his black and white photos on it. when we moved to this house we waited until the basement was finished to break it out again. as usual, after we put it up, kevin thought it needed a little tweaking. it was only the inside frame at first, then he decided to add the outside frame. it looks so much better and sturdy! now we call it "the flange".

you can see i used more of my gas station numbers here...i cant seem to get enough of them!

i am thinking of starting a new series called "take aways", for quick little tips and ideas like this that you can use in your home in some way. thank you janice for this great suggestion and name:) whaddya think? should i?

ps. feel free to comment:) i like to know people are reading!

jodie

good excuse

2012-03-06T10:46:00.015-05:00

i have one for not blogging...i went on a quick trip to florida and spent time staring at this view.

a huge highlight of my trip was getting to surprise one of my closest friends! we lived in italy together and havent seen each other in a very long time. it was so much fun to hang out again...it was as if no time had passed. it went by way too fast though:(

we even managed to squeeze in a little shopping (of course) while i was there. megan lives near a ballard design store and i have never been in one before. i was a little under-whelmed by the merchandising of the store ...but the over all design was pretty. it was nice to see a lot of their products in person and i definitely fell in love with their metal trumpet lights.

then look what we found a little beach shop

mmm hmmm....the bottom of a green bottle made into a bowl...love it!! then we looked up and saw this

i love this too. cut in half and trimmed with metal!

but that's not all. last night i was looking through the ballard catalogue and looky here....a new item for them. "demijohn bowl" trimmed with silver tin.

just when i thought i had stumbled on something unique! i love the idea though. i dont know that i would sacrifice any of my good demijohns to do this...but what a great idea for one that is already broken.

last but not least...no vacation would be complete without coming home with a new addition to my growing collection. i love the shape of this little guy.

wait! as i am writing this i realized i never showed a photo of another recent addition (i just ran over an took a photo:)) to my collection. it was given to me by my sweet client for christmas...thanks michelle! i love this..it even has an old ceramic top on it!

i definitely have an obsession with green glass. i dont see it coming to an end anytime soon...sorry kev:)

ok...now i have some serious catching up to do!

jodie

anniversary

2012-02-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

14 years ago today i married this adorable boy (he seriously looks so young in this picture!) i am pretty sure he is gonna kill me for posting it....but i have always looooved this from the night we got married.

our wedding was in a beautiful inn on the delaware river in lumberville, pa. we both grew up in bucks county, pa and knew we wanted to get married somewhere on the river. we had the ceremony and a cocktail/hors d'oeurves reception all in the wine cellar. it was small and intimate and wonderful. kevin was downstairs greeting guests while i was upstairs getting ready

umm...talk about looking young...oh my! and drinking white wine? i am a beer girl through and through...maybe i was trying to be sophisticated on my wedding day. we got married at 7 pm...so it was perfectly normal to be drinking before we said our vows?!

here is a photo of the flowers...we collected all different copper teapots at flea markets and junk shops for the tables

you can get the feel of the room here...it was so cozy

we said our vows in front of this door

it really is hard to believe that 14 years have passed...many moves (including one overseas), two babies at once and about 65,000 DIY projects later here we are!

i wouldnt want to be doing this little thing called life with anyone else:) happy anniversary kevin!

jodie

goosebumbs (4)

2012-02-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

i love when i find a new (to me) designer. last week while i was making the rounds on all of my favorite blogs i stumbled upon tammy connor. oh my this woman is talented! i knew i had to include her in my goosebumps series. i spent time looking through her entire portfolio. i was so happy to see she had done a house in bucks county, pennsylvania...i grew up there! her style is beautiful and refined....but also very livable. here are a few of my favorites from her gallery.

if you have a moment go and look at tammy connors website...you will be glad you did!

jodie

its the little things

2012-02-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

i finally got around to painting our bedroom a couple of weeks ago and i love it. we have been living with white walls for over 2 years...yikes! it is yet another shade of gray for our house, but this time with some serious blue undertones. this is a total departure for me because i usually lean towards more green/grays. so this past weekend i was able to pull it somewhat back togehther, and everytime i look at this little corner it makes me so happy!

this is a seriously fuzzy picture...bad light in there in the morning. anyhoo...those window treatments (from ikea) were in the hall by the stairs, but once i painted i knew they had to come in the bedroom. you can also see a sneak peek of the bookcase/shoeshelf my husband built. more on that to come....it needs its own post!

there is still more to do in our bedroom. when it is finished (enough for photos) i will be sure to share. but for now this will have to do.

happy thursday!

jodie

demolition day

2012-02-02T20:32:00.000-05:00

i think i mentioned a big proposal i was working on late last summer? well i got it...yay me:) this job is a little different for me because it is for a "party room" in a high rise condominium building. i mostly work with residential clients, so this is a fun departure. we started demo on monday and i thought it would be fun to take you through the process.

the demo part really only involves the kitchen in the room. the rest is basically paint and lots of pretty new furniture and accessories. i have before photos....hold onto your had because this kitchen is a doozie. the good news is....it can only go up from here!

and here is what it looked like as of yesterday...

unfortunately the big pillar in the middle has to stay...but the mirrors had to go! we are off to a good start, but there is still a lot to be done. i stopped by this morning to check on the tile installation. i choose 18" x 18" tile for a more modern feel and i think i am going to love it when it is done!

i am looking forward to sharing the progress of this project with you. so stay tuned for more in the coming weeks..ahem...months.

jodie