Valley House Tour: The Office

One of the most exciting spaces in the new house for me is the office. It is open and bright and a pretty large space. I think it will be a perfect new headquarters for Jenny Komenda Interiors for another year or so. We might want to move out to an offsite office space a little down the road, once the dust settles around here (literally -- so, so dusty at our house!).

The room is just down the hall from the front entry and to the right.

(more after the jump...)

This is the other room that needs to be skim coated, but the ceilings are so low in here that I think I can tackle this one by myself. Some crown molding would really make a big difference in here too, I think.

Another place for a new ceiling fan. :)

We're looking for a new desk right now, which I think will help me figure out the layout a little more. I think we're going to float a big desk in front of the bay windows and then have a second longer and more narrow desk against the wall.

Can't wait to pick curtain fabric! I love bay windows.

There's room for a big storage piece here, which will help hold a lot of fabrics and trims and samples, etc, etc.

The closet will be the main storage area though. This will look like a fabric avalanche in another week or two when our stuff arrives. :)

And then just to the right of the office in the hallway is the downstairs guest bath.

Which features more of the lovely brick paver tiles.

And the most ridiculous, huge tub in the world. I would love to take this out and replace it with a claw foot tub. You see straight into the bathroom and right at the tub from the front entry, so I think it would be cool to see the profile of an antique tub (rather than this beast of a thing).

The vanity in here is not my favorite. The previous owner had all of the cabinetry in the house gel stained and it didn't absorb well in some places (as we learned in the laundry room redo - which I'll be sharing later this week!). We had to put layer upon layer of primer and paint to cover the stain in there. So when I tackle the cabinets in here, I'll probably opt to pull them out and start fresh rather than strip these back. They're not the highest quality around, so I think we can come up with something more sturdy and more my style. I like the idea of converting a dresser into a vanity.

Almost done with the house tour! Last room coming up tomorrow - our bedroom!

New Hair!!! (and a sneak peek of our master bath)

A couple weeks ago when we were in Phoenix and it was (seriously) 112 degrees, I thought to myself, "Your long hair must go. Like, now."

I have been growing my hair out for a couple years, but I've been bored with it lately. I'm not one to get attached to my hair, and it seems like lots of people are going short lately? I thought it would be a fun change for our big move. Plus, you know, hair grows back usually. No biggie. :)

I made an appointment at fancy Whittemore House for a cut and color (they are famous for their "hair painting" technique - not a foil in sight there).

(ha - just now I was like, what is all over my pants here?! #mirrorsmudges)

I love having short hair again. It takes half as long for my hair to dry and to curl it. But it's still long enough to pull up in a bun or a pony. I think it's fun to switch things up every now and then. This was right after my appointment (and after running through the rain to the subway).

I usually shower at night and wash my hair every two or three days with a volumizing shampoo and conditioner. Out of the shower, I comb in a styling cream in my damp hair. My friends at Pantene sent me their newest product - the Ultimate 10 BB Creme - about a month ago and I've been loving it on both my long hair and my new short cut. It combines ten hair products into one and really does a great job smoothing without weighing down my fine Swedish hair (seriously - check out the reviews).

After combing in the Pantene BB creme, I sort of toussel and scrunch up my hair to activate a bit of the natural wave I have. Then I go to bed! When I wake up if it needs it, I might selectively curl parts of my hair for a little more wave and bounce. In the summertime especially, I don't try to get "perfect hair" with loose, smooth curls just-so. The curls will end up falling down and my hair will frizz out about five steps out the door anyway, so why not try for that mussed up look from the get-go?

I sometimes also use a little bit of the salt water spray in my hair to get that beachy wave and then a little more of the BB creme on my dry hair to smooth out the ends and fly-aways.

And that's it! It takes about five minutes maybe? A huge deal for this busy mom (in fact these photos were taken right before a big video shoot we had at the brownstone yesterday - excited to share in the next month or two). Plus, my very favorite part of all is how many hair products I've been able to eliminate. Lately I've been using the BB creme, the beach spray and dry shampoo on the days I don't wash my hair - and that's it. You guys, I won't even show you how many hair products I've collected over the years. Such a waste of money and space! I'm getting rid of most all of it when we move. There's not all that much closed storage to speak of in our new master bathroom, so my new hair routine is happily working out for me on all fronts.

What do you think of my new do? I'm already excited for it to be a little longer (and maybe it will be more healthy now that I'm not ever blow-drying and rarely curling it?). Also, it's fun to be a blond again. :) ALSO! That bathtub is going, stat.

This post brought to you by Pantene Pro-V Ultimate 10 BB Creme. Thanks for supporting LGN's sponsors!

The Dream House Diaries #4 - A Mixed Bag

I hope I'm not driving you crazy with this...

...already.

Clearly, it's on the brain.

For today, I've got a very random mixed bag of what's inspiring me.

1. This pavilion designed by architects Curtis and Windham...

The two story veranda with these arches on either end...

...has me dreaming large.

On a narrow lot, a house like this could be situated sideways so that the view from the road was straight down the veranda...yes, yes and yes.

2. The latest Princess Margaret Showhome here in Oakville is such a good example of what I'm after...a gorgeous mix of traditional and modern...

Though I love the exterior (.the black doors instead of lower windows is a winner)...

...it's the kitchen that really gob smacks me...

A 'fancy' marble island; black cupboards; AGA heaven; no uppers....it's all just perfect.

3. My dream master bath would have this puppy in its midst...

...only with a brass base...obvs.

Too bad I'd have to sell a child to purchase it.

4. This hand painted terracotta tile...

...would make me happier than a garden gnome.

5. Speaking of garden gnomes, my dream home would definitely have one.

6. Bathrooms...we'd need more of them in a new house for some reason, I can't stop thinking about this cat's....

... dream bathroom.

As you can tell from today's ensemble, she's not one to shy away from flare...oh how I'd love to take that outfit as inspiration and go crazy in a super girly bathroom.

 Orangie wallpaper (how many times over the years have I spoken about this paper...if I ever build a dream home, I sweer that it WILL happen)...

 ...a pink tub...

...and a ruffly shower curtain a la Peppermint Bliss's masterpiece...

I'm also mulling over something cool for the teenager...KW greatness on that front if you please...

8.  Furniture...living room would most definitely hold these babies...

OBSESSED.

Happy weekend love nutters.

xo

Stuff is Happening, Melbourne, Newborn Photo and a Winner

I had good news and blech news yesterday on the homefront.

First the good.

#projectkitchengorgeous is getting one last tinker...the stainless hood is officially coming down today...

{that's my contractor extraordinaire who does all the moulding work and pretty much anything else you could possible dream up}

...and being replaced with a very simple box that will be the width of the marble backsplash and will continue right up to the ceiling.

Something like this...

via

...with ever so slightly rounded edges.

EXCITED

PS...these photos are from at the same home in Melbourne...along with the kitchen, the bathroom kills me softly...

...I mean I pretty much want to copy the whole damn thing.

Moving on...and sadly, to the bad news...

I had a roof installer over yesterday to discuss our options...turns out my roof has so many pitches that installing the metal roof I want will be tricky to say the least...and on top of that, it would involve having to remove our siding.

Now...let me just say that I REALLY want to do this anyway- has been in the plan books forever...BUT...if we remove the siding, the windows have to be done at the same time (again, have had plans to do this forever since they're all rotten upstairs)...the issue is that the roof has to be done now...it's basically falling off...but...do I/we really want to spend so much money all at once?  The answer to that would be a big fat no...but...it really all needs to be done.

Or...we could just throw in the towel and move.

Or...we could forget the metal roof and just do shingles and then replace the windows next year.

The last option is obviously the easiest and best on budget but damn nation...it's the one I LEAST want to pick...you see my dilemma...words of wisdom/advice?

In other {albeit unrelated} news...I had a little newborn photoshoot with my very favourite photographer, Jodi Renee.

I'm going to post a little preview of the session next week, but for now, here's one of my very faves...

I'm so smitten with how Jodi magicallly captures the emotion behind a moment...such a treasure she is.

And in keeping with things that make me happy {aka...thowing money at the pit that is home ownership}...it's time to announce the lucky ducky winner of the 

Miranda Frye giveaway.

Congrats to...

Angela M...you've won your choice of necklace or earrings from the stunning...

Woot.

xo