My highly impractical outhouse chic bathroom has finally found its calling!  Though it does function well as a powder room, it’s not pretty yet and powder rooms should be pretty.    But, the tiny vintage clawfoot tub it houses is perfectly Barnaby-sized and the sides are high enough that he can’t escape from our sudsy clutches.  Plus the hand-held shower head is very handy for dog baths.  Poor Barnaby.

A reader emailed me this yesterday: “I don’t mean to be rude, but what exactly is Barnaby?!”  Hah hah, thank you for asking Samantha.  A Flat Coated Retriever +  a Boykin Spaniel = a Barnaby.  He is the lovechild of two South Carolina hunting dogs and Dad adopted him after he was kicked off a South Carolina farm for chasing horses.   Bath time aside, Barnaby’s adjusting quite well to city life.

Enough about that squeaky clean dog, let’s get back to decor.  Even though I made a shower curtain for this room a while back out of grey and white Ikea fabric, I’m on the hunt for a more colorful fabric that will inform some paint colors for the walls and the tub exterior.  I saw this bathroom recently on HGTV’s Sarah’s House and it reminded me that I had initially intended for my powder room to have a similar graphite, yellow and white color scheme.

A happier outhouse chic bathroom from Sarah's House on HGTV

But, I had a minor nervous breakdown a few months back when the pale yellow I picked out from a chip was practically vibrating on the walls of our small room.  So, I immediately hoofed it to Lowe’s and repainted the walls a calming putty grey.  The putty did soothe my electric yellow nerves, but it was a boring overreaction to an irrationally exuberant paint choice.  Then, I doubled down on the boring with a neutral shower curtain.

So, alas, my outhouse bathroom needs another do-over.  This room was definitely the “problem child” of our renovation and six months later it still looks like a before picture- argh!  I’m on the hunt for some pretty fabric for the shower curtain and then I’ll paint the walls for the third time this year.  Stay tuned for Scott’s nervous breakdown.  The poor man just wants a bathroom he can actually use.  Barnaby, on the other hand, is hoping that his bathroom will be out of commission for a long while….

p.s.  Thank you all for your incredibly kind and supportive responses to my last post.  Revisiting each and every one of your delightful blogs has inspired me to keep going with my own silly projects.  xxxxxADD

I’ve been away from the blog for a long while and I apologize for not explaining sooner.

My very dear, very brave, very young father was diagnosed with cancer in late August and he passed away just a few weeks ago.  Dad went very quickly, which was a bittersweet blessing.  I was quite literally rendered speechless in late Summer and blogging was not an option.   I have sat down so many times to write and I still have precious few words to describe this sudden loss.

It has been a sad time punctuated by exhaustion, absentmindedness and a lack of enthusiasm for home decor, but I’m starting to feel a bit more normal this week.  I’m back at work, I’m seeing friends and I finally helped arranged the furniture in our guest room last weekend thanks to Scott’s prodding.  I guess he knew that would make me feel better.  I’ve even started gently nagging Scott about the other projects that were left undone back in August, which is a sure sign that things are getting back to normal.

I had such plans for the house and for the blog this fall, but life had other plans for me and my family.  It was Summer when I left off and now it feels like Winter already here in Brooklyn.

I’ll check back in a few days and the first thing I’ll update you about is Barnaby, Dad’s lovable brown mutt, who has come to live with us here in Brooklyn.  Barnaby is such a cheerful, optimistic fellow that it’s been hard to stay down with him around.

Dad used to comment on the blog as “Barnaby” and I’m very sad that there won’t be any more of those comments in my inbox.  But Barnaby will certainly be a fixture on the blog now as so many of our projects will be about repairing the things that he scratches, digs and shreds.  I am very glad that he is here now to keep us busy with projects and with early morning trips to the park.  And, of course, to remind us of Dad, who always raised very spoiled, but exceedingly loyal and sweet dogs.

Thanks to all of you for sticking around and special thanks to those who emailed asking, where in the world have you been ADD?  I’m back and I look forward to cozying up to some unfinished projects this winter.  xoADD

This post is purely dedicated to my loving, talented, funny and patient husband Scott.  Two years ago today, we were married in a small ceremony on the Chesapeake Bay.   Love you Darlins!

Photograph by Charles Maraia.

Kitchen AFTER renovation.

Whether you’re planning a big budget kitchen renovation or a small budget kitchen upgrade, it’s the little details that matter.  One detail we took into account was the microwave.  Since we hardly ever use it, and since microwaves aren’t sexy, we didn’t want it to be front and center in our kitchen.  We definitely didn’t want it sitting on a counter or hanging out right over our very sexy Bertazzoni range.

So, instead, we designed our cabinets with a slot for the microwave to slide in underneath the counter.  Below the microwave cubby is a tall pull-out drawer that houses microwave-friendly storage containers.  This makes for a convenient little “leftover” station. Above the microwave is nothing but uncluttered countertop, and that kind of real estate is priceless in our tiny New York kitchen.  I love that our microwave is out of sight and out of mind until we need to reheat last night’s mac & cheese.  You barely even notice it in these other pics of our renovated kitchen.  And just for fun, here’s another icky BEFORE shot.

Kitchen BEFORE renovation.

This post was inspired by Leila over at In The Tweeds who just posted about the microwave cubby that was built into her kitchen renovation.  She has a spacious kitchen (I’m jealous) and her microwave will be tucked above a convenient work station.  Leila’s kitchen design looks so smart; I can’t wait to see how it turns out. What clever solutions did you incorporate in your kitchen renovation?  I’d love to post your ideas…

Best, ADD

Photographs © Moya Mc Allister

I’m just thrilled that Emily Henderson is HGTV’s new design star.  Finally, there’s something I’ll want to watch on TV!  I love Emily’s vintage, midcentury, eclectic style.  Here are a few more peeks at her home by the equally talented photographer Teri Lyn Fisher.  You can see the rest of Emily’s design style on her ApartmentTherapy house tour and on her blog.  Congratulations Emily!

Photos (c) Teri Lyn Fisher.

I was so excited when I heard that one of the contestants would be a prop stylist that I’ve worked with on editorial projects.  Emily Henderson is an amazingly talented prop stylist with a beautiful eye and she’s just an all-around nice person.  So, of course, I’m thrilled that she has made it to the final two.  And I hope she kicks Michael’s butt tonight.

Emily also has a wonderful blog called The Brass Petal, which you should check out asap to get your design fix, regardless of tonight’s results.   Below is a photo of Emily’s own blue velvet sofa.  I wish she would come over and style mine, but I think she’s a tad too busy these days. Go Emily!!

Photo of Emily's living room from her blog, The Brass Petal.

Bottom photo (c) Teri Lyn Fisher.

I also love the cabinet hardware (we have the same Aubrey pulls from Restoration Hardware in our kitchen) and the inset doors.  Inset doors are an expensive cabinet option that Scott and I had to forgo.  As inexperienced renovators, we didn’t realize that they were out of our budget until after the first set of bids came in.  I will admit that I was a little misty at the time because it also meant that we had to forgo the delightful cabinet latches that you see in the photo above.  I had my little heart set on them.  But, alas, the latches wouldn’t work with our budget-friendly “frameless” cabinets.

I’d gotten over these missing little touches in our kitchen until I came across this picture again today (sniffle).  We made a lot of aesthetic compromises in our renovation to keep the budget under control and most of them really don’t matter.   The fact is, we’re just happy to have a functioning kitchen after living for the first 18 months in our home without one.

I know we ALL have our renovation regrets and I thank you for indulging one of mine today.  Now, please tell me about your kitchen renovation regrets.  What did you have to compromise on and was it worth it?  If you could do it all over again (with a bigger budget!), what would you do differently?

I plan to strip all of the lead paint off the cabinet & hinges, wallpaper the inside and repaint the outside something purty.  Just as soon as I figure out what color this little outhouse bathroom wants to be (something other than Kaopectate gray, I hope).  Ideas welcome.  As always.  Just consider this a “before” picture.  This room is probably worthy of a “renovation disasters” blog, but I still kind of love it.  I’m sure I’ll be ready to post the “after” pictures in about 5 years.  So, um, stay tuned, add me to your blog roll, subscribe to my RSS, and we can grow old together, decorating my house in vintage junkyard style.  Thanks for your eternal patience, ADD

Backyard on move in day (August 2008)

Backyard this weekend (August 2010)

If you stopped by the blog on Friday, you know that my Dad was in town for the weekend.  We didn’t make it to the flea market because I was a little under the weather, but Dad and I visited the farmers market Saturday morning and we had a casual dinner in the backyard that night with Scott (who took these pictures from our deck).    The Long Island corn, tomatoes and striped bass were incredible!  And I thought I’d take this opportunity to show you what we’ve been up to in our back yard since we bought our place exactly two years ago.

When we moved in, our tiny urban backyard was filled with weeds, trash, broken concrete and glass.  I don’t think the previous owners had set foot back there in years.  We spent a week shoveling out the debris and grading it to allow for drainage.  In summer 2009, Scott and his brother Ross built the beds with wood from Home Depot and then Scott and I laid out the pieces of broken slate that I took off the hands of a neighbor who had put in a “real” patio and had some extra pieces of stone.  We transplanted a bunch of local moss in the cracks between stones, but none of it took in this dry, hot summer, so, we’ll try again next spring.  My friend Julie donated most of the plants (hydrangeas, hostas, lillies, mondo grass and ferns) for our shady garden in the fall of 2009.  We spend lots of time back here grilling, gardening, reading, napping….

We bought the teak chairs at a yard sale on Martha’s Vineyard & I found the table on our street when I picked up our new mantel.  So, all in all, the backyard “renovation” has cost about $300.  Like every space at our Brooklyn house, the backyard is a DIY work in progress and a labor of love that we are in no big hurry to finish.  I plan to do a lot more planting (including a dwarf japanese maple) this fall.    Subscribe to my RSS so you can see the maple and spring bulbs go in this September…  Here are a few more pictures of the yard in progress.  Happy gardening, ADD

Backyard immediately after planting (September 2009)

The photo above is by one of my favorite interiors photographers, Melanie Acevedo, who I worked with a few years ago on a magazine project.  That’s not Barnaby and that’s not my chair, but wouldn’t they be just perfect in my dining room?  Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend, ADD