Guest House Remodel- THE BEFORE + PLANS

We purchased our home last year knowing there would be lots of projects to keep us busy. Part of the appeal of this home is that it has a "guest house", at least it will once we renovate. Now it is more of a beat up shell with loads of potential. Here are some before and early on photos:

So many pretty windows, the space definitly has potential.

The bathroom leaves something to be desired. 

Next up, the plan. 

Completely redo the bathroom. 

Here is my to do list: 

-Add tile flooring. Right now it is just concrete slab. 

-Move the light switch and outlet to be near the door. It currently is outside of the shower (random) 

-Move the shower to open up the space. Right now the shower measures 31x31. The new shower will be 34x48

-Tile the shower 

-Replace the vanity and mirror 

-Maybe replace the toilet 

-Add a vent with a light. There is currently no ventilation. 

-Add a window 

-New hardware 

-New door 

-Remove a random cube of concrete that is near the vanity. 

-paint! 

In the main room we will be: 

-replacing the MDF baseboards with wood ones. The space flooded before we purchased the house leaving the baseboards warped and grungy 

-adding a built-in cabinet/ closet to the nook. Fun fact, that nook was supposed to be a fireplace. The outside of the house has a chimney. I am guessing the previous owners decided to scrap the idea because of $ or a code issue. 

-repairing the walls. They are beat up. 

-repairing the door. You can see a gap between the door and the frame meaning bugs can, and do, get in

-adding a ductless mini split so we can say bye to the window unit 

What we considered doing but are not: 

-replacing the walls all together. Like I said, they are beat up and are textured. I would love to have smooth walls 

-adding a built in bench to the bay window. It would look nice but would it be comfortable? it was also pretty $$ and something we can add in the future and maybe even DIY

-adding faux wood flooring to the main room. At the end of the day I didn't want to spend the $ and I kinda like the pink floors!

-adding a kitchen- it would have been very expensive (adding plumbing) and there isn't really room

Want to see some inspo? Let's go!

Missoni Family House

Casa Faena Hotel in Miami

What I like about designing this guest house is 1. its a blank slate and 2. since it is detached from our house I am not so worried about how it flows with the rest of our house. Also, since I will not be in the space every day I can take risks without worrying if I will get sick of them quickly (color, pattern, brass hardware)

That's it for now. In the next post I will be sharing the design plan and my materials. I was also thinking of touching on budget if that is something you may find helpful, let me know!

Its been...years since I have last blogged. When I started I was working as an assistant on the design team at Ann Taylor LOFT. Since then I left my job as a fashion designer to pursue styling, then a job at (my favorite) magazine, then styling again. Here is some of the work I have done most recently. I did a bunch of these with various products and set ups.

Paraty, Brazil

A few days in historic Paraty. May 2016.

Designer Vintage Finnish Wallpapers

It has been 2 months since I first saw the wallpaper photographed below in T Magazine. I still cant get it out of my mind- so after a few google searches I stumbled upon the Tapettitalo website which not only carries the simplistic butterfly wallpaper, but hundreds of stunning, often quirky designs. See some of my favorites below. See more here: Which one should I choose?

Gingham for the Home

How beautiful is Gloria Vanderbilt's home? I love the mix of girly all-american gingham mixed with Mexican folk-art pieces to for an unexpected twist.

Finderskeepers.

I just started redoing my livingroom/diningroom/kitchen this past week. My first purchase for my makeover is a set of beautiful agate prints from the store Finderskeepers in Lexington, KY. I am so happy that they moved from the more obscure Mt. Sterling, KY to my hometown of Lexington. They have a great website and an even better blog which you can visit at: finderskeepersmarketinc.blogspot.com/


Agate prints.


They also have surprisingly reasonable prices like these frames for $28.


The store.

A place of one's own.

Gloria Vanderbilt brilliantly turns modest elements into gaudy goodness.

Sunday Service

Featured in Wallpaper Magazine.

Carven

Check out the Paris -based line Carven below. This collection is proper yet clever, and too witty to be preppy. I especially like the A-line jackets and hem lines. I’d wear it all.

Creatures of the Wind

I finally have started really going through FW11 fashion shows. Scrolling through Style.com I came across a former teacher’s collection. Creatures of the Wind is based out of Chicago and is amazing! I love the quirky color combinations and the variety of texture, especially the plaid mohair. See some of the looks below: