Women's Shelter Makeover

Last week a group of local designers headed by Jill Sorensen finished up the makeover of a local women's shelter for victims of domestic violence.  To say it was an awesome experience is an understatement.  I partnered up with Rebecca Ilgenfritz of Acanthus and Acorn to do the living area/entry and a bedroom of the house.  Here's what the living area looked like the first time we visited:

The shelter is affiliated with a local thrift store so we were able to "shop" the thrift store for items for the shelter.  (SO much fun!!!)  Many of the items used were also generously donated by people through Knock-Out Abuse.  We kept the existing furniture & found more furniture, lamps, artwork & accessories at the thrift store/ donations haul.  We all met at the house for a big painting day and - with the help of a group of local volunteers- added color to the drab house & some of the furnishings.  Rebecca and I used fabric remnants to sew pillows, we painted lamps, Rebecca kindly stole her daughter's curtains, and we purchased new shades for all the lamps at Target.   Here's the space now:

{The "new" room}

We popped bright pink peacock feather Liberty of London shades on the existing lamps and used shots of pink throughout the room. 

We wanted to create a space that would encourage the women to hang out with each other & linger.  Of course it's all very "use-what-you-have" but I think the end result is fun & cheerful. 

The bedroom we redid currently belongs to a mom and her two small children. The rooms have to function for an entire family and hold all of their belongings.  Here's a close-up of the bed before:

And here it is now:

Here's a shot taken by Rebecca of the room before:

{Photo by Rebecca Ilgenfritz}

And here it is now:

{Photo by Rebecca Ilgenfritz}

Rebecca generously donated the beautiful antique iron twin bed and the new bunk bed was also donated.  We chose a pale aqua for the walls (that worked perfectly with our pillow fabric) to give the room a relaxed, restful feeling. 

Here's a photo of the lamp before:

And here it is now, piled atop thrift store books for some added height:

Here's the nail polish-stained dresser before:

And here is is now:

I love it!  All of the accessories were free from the thrift store and we added yet another Target shade to the painted urn lamp.  The green leaves in the little white vase are actually just "weeds" I picked from outside the house so they can very easily replace them with new ones.  The vintage weathered frame prints are insanely beautiful.  We spied them in the office at the thrift store and practically begged for them, keeping our fingers crossed that they weren't already spoken for.  They're not hung symmetrically as the dresser isn't perfectly centered on the wall & the visual weights of the twin bed and the bunk bed are so off, so a perfectly symmetrical grouping just didn't feel quite right. 

While taking the mattresses of the bed, we found that one of the mattresses had a beautiful vintage-floral pattern on it in the colors we were using.  We loved it!!  We decided to keep it under the bunk bed to be pulled out for a fun spot the kids could play on:

How much fun is the gold-and-cream rug?  (Thrift store again!)  It hides some stains on the carpet and is another soft spot for kids to play.  The bulletin board (below) was painted in the same aqua as the walls so it will simpy recede and we added a little tray with wooden back massagers on it.  Using a back massager is one of those things I used to love doing with my mom when I was little, so we thought the family might enjoy them and be able to do a little "massage train."  When the family was shown their new room, the kids immediately picked them up & started playing with them wondering what they were.  I love toys that spur interaction.

We used more leftover fabric to cover the box spring on the bed (this one had been with me since college & I'm so happy it's finally found a good home!!)  I love the little painting we found (another thrift donation!!) and hung next to the bed:

And one last picture (because you know I'm a picture nut):

I really can't thank all of the people involved enough for such a rewarding experience.  Cathy (the director of the shelter) is one special lady (& had to deal with our constant questions & emails) who cares so much about these women and helps improve their lives daily.  Jill Sorensen masterminded this whole thing and is the founder of Knock-Out Abuse.  She's such a upbeat, generous talented (and gorgeous!!) person.  Danielle, Ellen, Jennifer Sergent, the volunteer painters and the crew from Hardwood Artisans were such a huge help in getting our spaces finished in time and there's no way we could have done it without them. The other designers involved- Raji Radhakrishnan, Denise Willard and of course Jill Sorensen & Danielle Sigwalt are all just amazing people and I'm honored to have gotten the chance to work with them.  It's definitely a bonding experience and you really feel as if you're part of a team and I know I'll be seeing more of these new friends.  And last but not least, to Rebecca for putting up with my baby-child-smashed-rarely-any-free-days schedule, working so hard to make this project happen and for parterning up with me.  I'm so happy with how everything turned out.   

Here are some links to all of the people involved.  Check out all of the gorgeous before & afters of the other rooms!!

Rebecca Ilgenfritz: Acanthus and Acorn 

Hardwood Artisans - I highly recommend them for any built-in/ furniture work you need if you're in the area. 

Raji Radhakrishan: Design Dossier - mother's refuge

Denise Willard: Dream Design Live. - playroom

 Jill Sorensen Live.Like.You. -- go here for a wrap up post complete with videos

To check out the full article on the entire project by Jennifer Sergent, go to DC by Design.  You will not BELIEVE how amazing the other rooms are!!! 

Finally, if want to help, check out Knock-Out Abuse to find out how.  If you live in another area, consider contacting local shelters to start a project of your own.  It's one of the most rewarding experiences you'll ever have.  I'm going to cherish the memory of the mother & her two adorable children (a little boy & a little girl) walking into their new bedroom forever.  It was better than anything you can imagine.  I keep playing it in my head over and over.  She just kept saying, "It's beautiful," as she and the kids slowly took the room in.  The kids scooped up the back massagers and started touching & exploring everything and it's amazing to see that even 2-4 year olds appreciate something like this.  I didn't want to leave, but standing there staring at them through the doorway forever was probably not cool.  The mother was so thankful and I've never had a more deserving client.  This is really what it's all about.

xoxo,

lauren

One perfect picture & a hug from mom

{Windsor Smith's LA Home, photo by Victoria Pearson for House Beautiful}

I wanted to get a beautiful photo up to replace the house dropped on the Wicked Witch of the East from the previous post.  ;)   I'm pretty sure this space is one of the most incredible I've ever seen.  Windsor Smith is amazing.  I'm not going to go over all of the details, but in short, I think it's perfect.

Thanks everyone so much for the kind words yesterday & I know so many of you are in the exact same boat.  I hate to get all mushy, but I will because I realized something and I think it's worth mentioning,  My mom came over yesterday to help with the kids (like she does twice a week) and she could tell I was feeling overwhelmed.  She was sitting on the sofa and said, "Aw, come here" and I did and she just hugged me like a kid and I got a little teary and felt better.  I have to say I definitely thought I was past that "mom-makes-it-all-better-with-a-hug-thing," but I'm not.  It still works.

She helped clean the (terribly-messy/ trashed) house and stayed late to babysit the kids so I could take Dave out for his birthday dinner.  It's pretty amazing what moms can do and I'm so thankful for mine.  She swooped in and fixed me just when I needed her. 

{thanks mom}

And since I've already gone down the emo-road today, I have to mention that my husband does the all-better-with-a-hug-thing and it always seems to work too.

xoxo,
lauren

Me Right Now

{I feel a bit like her right now}

... but not dead, just a bit smothered/ smashed ;)

Things have been a little crazy lately & I'm having trouble keeping up with emails, requests, etc.  I apologize to anyone I haven't gotten back to (especially those who've asked me to check out their blogs & whom I haven't gotten back to)  and hope you can understand that I'm at a kind of busy point in life right now.  I have an insane amount of guilt about missing emails/ not having enough time to respond/ not reading all of the blogs I love & I hope you know it never comes from a place of thinking I'm important/ above anything or anyone...  I'm just running out of time.  As I type right now I hear my husband in the other room tucking in our two-year-old, reading him a story.

Every now & then I'll read a post on a blog that says how we (as bloggers) are supposed to act and what we're supposed to do.  I usually agree with them 100% in theory (comment on people's blogs who comment on yours, always thank people for the sweet emails, comments, etc) but am just not physically able to keep up and do what I should do.  There are so many amazing new blogs popping up and I sadly have to face the fact that I can't keep up.

I love blogging. I really do.  But if I followed all of the etiquette/ rules, I wouldn't be able to even write my blog anymore.  There simply aren't enough hours in the day.   So I apologize if I haven't responded to you or if you haven't seen my comments lately.  I really do care- I just have someone needing me almost every minute of the day here at home. 

Also, thanks so much to everyone pointing out that my name was misspelled on the new blog layout.  I had caught that too and since it was so confusing want to let you know that it's "Liess" (you can do the whole "I" before "E" thing to remember ;).  There are also still a bunch of kinks being worked out with the blog & the links & fonts, etc. and I'm hoping it gets resolved quickly and as soon as it does, I'll give you the real tour ;)

Hope everyone had a good weekend and big hug,

lauren

ps- am still slowly adding back my blogroll.  If you don't see yours on here, it's not because I'm removing you, it's simply because it's going to take a while to get it retyped.  I know how important our blogrolls are to each other & will get on it as soon as I can.  thanks for being patient! :)

And now off to read some bedtime stories!!

A New Look!!

Well the new Pure Style Home look is finally here!! wahoooo  Thanks so much to Jessica Nell Graves of the Front Porch Studio for creating the new site!!  There are still a few things to be changed, (have you noticed my blogroll is gone??  As Jessica told me it would, when you switch sites it disappears so I'll be typing it back by hand over the next couple of weeks or as long as it takes me.  oh joy ;) and we'll be getting to these things but this is pretty much it!!  I'll write more about it as soon as I can, but am off to get ready for a big day:

A couple of months ago, a group of interior designers headed by Jill Sorensen- local designer & founder of Knock-Out Abuse- got together to redecorate a local shelter for women who've suffered domestic violence.  The women move to the shelter- usually with their children- to get back on their feet.  They stay for a for as long as they need to stay and it's often a stay of 4-8 months.  Jennifer Sergent of DC by Design alerted us all of the need for designers & a few of us came together to get the job done:

{The Group!}

We got to shop the local thrift store for items to use (Heaven!!)  and we're using a bunch of donated items & of course got a little crafty.  A couple of weeks ago we painted the house and tomorrow is installation day!  I can't wait for the moms to see their new house!!  I met a couple of them on painting day & they're just so excited about it!!  One of the main reasons I love designing is because it makes people happy.  Being in a space that feels good is good for the soul & I really hope that we can help in some small measure. 

{A room before...  fyi the curtains had to stay!}

If you're interested in helping out, check out Knock-Out Abuse & to find out how.  There are at least 4 more shelters in need of help with this particular organization & I can imagine there are many more than that in the area.  Wish us luck!! 

xoxo,

lauren

ps-  Today I'm guest blogging for Camila over at High-Heeled Foot In the Door about 5 Deals Under $25 to Spruce up Your Home.    Check it out & have an awesome weekend!!!! xoxo

*Also, I found out that if you don't have cable, you can still watch 9 By Design online at Bravo!! YAY!!! 

Guest Blog Before & After

Please welcome Michele Ginnerty from My Notting Hill!  Michele has been so warm andwelcoming to me as a local DC blogger & I can't thank her enough.  She sent me this post months ago and I had to push it to the end of the guest blogger series because I had formatting issues and she's waited so patiently for me to post...

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A huge thank you to Lauren for asking me to participate in the Guest Blogger Before & After series. I couldn't help but think after she uploaded my post w/these very scary pepto bismol pictures of my master bath that she might have second thoughts about having asked me. (I can't even believe I'm letting people see this!) And, here's what's even scarier - we lived with this bathroom for 10 years (!) although the crazy peeling paint problem happened within the last 6 months.

 

These pictures were taken in the midst of sanding and scraping, just before all the fixtures were removed. The previous owners had leveled the "vanity" with pennies.

 
The room is 4' w x 5' d with a shower off to the right side. The overhang to the shower trapped in steam and made the 30" square shower feel even smaller. For a number of years, we seriously considered having the bathroom gutted and completely redone. These 1950's ceramic wall and floor tiles are set right into mud and typically take close to two full days to bring down to the studs. My husband has already done so much to the house that asking him to do this wasn't an option and contractor quotes for the demolition alone ranged from $1,500 - $4,000. Plus, I really like the look of the old black bullnose tiles. In fact, if the pink tiles had been white I wouldn't have even considered demolition.

 
Since I had a successful experience painting the trim tiles in our hall bath from ugly seafoam green to gray, I decided to paint the pink tiles white. I used two thin coats of Sherwin Williams Prep-Rite Interior/Exterior Bonding Primer and two coats of Benjamin Moore Decorator's White. I know there are specially formulated paints for ceramic but I didn't want to be exposed to the fumes. Plus, these tiles won't regularly come into contact with water.

 
For years I had kept my eye out for a narrow vanity. This year Ikea came out with the Lillangen, which offers both concealed storage and creative two-sided open storage. This model is 24"w x 16"d x 36" h. I bought the beech version because I find the wood finish is easier to paint than the white melamine option.

 
The cabinet is painted Farrow & Ball's Pavillion Gray and the walls and ceiling are Benjamin Moore's Bunny Gray. The floors are 1 x 1 Bianco Carrara honed marble surrounded by a border of 3 x 6 honed subway Bianco Carrara.

 
I don't have it pictured here but we had a Panasonic Whisper ceiling exhaust fan installed. We were so happy with the Toto Aquia Dual Flush we put into our hall bath that we used it again here.

 
The Ikea sink only had one opening and I wanted to avoid a single lever faucet so I chose Porcher's Reprise faucet in chrome. The handles are labeled hot and cold and they have a nice feel to them. Off to the left is a Bombay Saphire gin bottle converted into a soap dispenser. You might notice the faucet is off center by about a 1/2 inch. I forgot to take into consideration the cold water valve when measuring!

 
I have to admit when we first installed the sink, I wasn't sure I liked it. However, it's extremely functional and there's no longer complaints on my end about water puddles left on the sink counter. So in the end, I really like this style for our narrow bathroom.

 
Here it is with the tray - which is how we really use it. It provides a convenient place for toothpaste and to set down things, etc.

 
What's Still Left to Do: A bit of pink still remains! In the spring I will hire the same company that reglazed our hall tub and have them do the shower tiles in white but keep the black tiles so it will be consistent with the rest of the bathroom. I'm waiting till warmer weather because I want to be able to have all the windows open, with fans blowing out all the fumes created when reglazing is done.

The window needs to be treated and I'm planning to have white vinyl plantation shutters installed. Here they are in our hall bath. The gray trim tiles were seafoam green before being painted gray.
 
Since the walls are looking a bit plain, I'm planning to stencil them for interest and am inspired by this bathroom by Phoebe Howard. Still haven't found the right stencil yet.

Southern Accents, July - August 2008, designer Phoebe Howard, photography by Roger Davies

Breakdown of Cost:

Lillangen cabinet and sink: $229
Mosaic and subway tiles: $740
Installation of floor, labor cost: $800
Porcher faucet: $270
Toto Aquia dual flush - $392 from Cowan Supply in Atlanta
Paint: $100
Ceiling exhaust fan and installation: $400

Total cost so far: $2,931.

Estimate for shutter ($250) and reglazing of shower stall ($400):
$2,931 + $650 = $3,581

Hope this post was helpful for anyone considering another option besides demolition of an outdated bath and that you've recovered from those pepto-pink before photos!

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Michele-  you've done such an awesome job so far!!  The floors are incredible and I love the Ikea sink.  You can't even tell the tiles used to be pink and it's so great that you worked and can't wait to see the stencil!!!

Fun Sheds

I'm so excited:  Last weekend, Dave & his dad put together a new shed to replace this one:

I really wanted to save this thing but it just wasn't happening:  It was rusted out, full of holes, dark & dirty and I'm pretty sure some animals lived in it because our dog Ashby would sniff around in there like a mad dog every chance she got.  Anyway, we got this little 6 x 8 shed from Lowes to replace it:

(Shed here)

...And they were able to save the mass of honeysuckle that grew up it.  We also got another larger shed (12 x 10 I think) that now houses all of Dave's tools & is actually a workshop inside.  (We don't have a garage.)  Because we already had a concrete slab for the falling-apart shed on our property, we decided to put up a new shed on the slab that will be sort of a hangout place/ playhouse for us & the kids...  a "fun shed" if you will ;) 

Repurposed sheds have always intrigued me.  The first one I really fell for was designer Ann Nicholson's shed featured in Country Living a few years back:

She had carpenters trick out (I really can't think of any other work for it right now :)  a standard shed:

{photos by Keith Scott Morton}

I'm also crazy about the beautiful little playhouse Linda MacDonald of Restyled Home and her husband built for their daughter Sophie:

(Click here for the full tour.)

And this "guest house" shed by Kate Humphrey:

{photo by Lucas Allen for Country Living}

I went nutty for this 18 Century pigeonnaire featured in Cottage Living back in 2008.  Do you remember it??!!

Perfection!!

{images via Apartment Therapy... click here for the full tour}

And last year when we found our house, Heather Cameron's shed (below) really got me thinking that we could actually have a fun shed one day...

{Photo by Janis Nicolay for Country Living}

Michael Devine's shed - a reworked harftord shed from Lowe's - shows how beautiful you can make a standard shed & we actually purchased this same shed for the workshop shed:

And I also wanted to share with you a bunch of beautiful sheds I found on the Better HOmes & Gardens Website in an article on sheds:

{Seriously???  Better than my house!}

{Love this...}

{So gorgeous..}

{I want this.. the floors?!!! wow.}

{And this one is just so sweet.}

So...  I'm not expecting anything as crazy beautiful as what's going on in the above pics...  We're going to keep the front standard so it looks just like a normal shed... 

...But we are going after the inside to make it a "fun shed."  Here is is now below with a tarp over it because the shingles are going on this week...

...And here's the first coat of no VOC primer going on:

I cannot WAIT to get this place feeling special.  This has been one of the best projects ever to plan: part hangout spot, part playhouse.  (I am in no way pretending this is soley for my children...  I know i'm gonna love this thing!) 

Hope everyone had a great weekend & happy mother's day to all the mothers!!

xoxo,

lauren

ps-  We don't have cable so I haven't been able to check it out yet, but Tuesday's episode of 9 By Design ( May 11 at 10PM on Bravo)  features a really special fundraising event for Jasmina Anema. Jasmina was a "spunky 6- year-old" who lost her battle with Leukemia this past January. Jasmina was a very close friend of the Novogratz family. They are trying to get as many people as possible to tune in to this week's episode

in an effort to help spread Jasmina and Thea's (Jasmina's mother) message, which is to raise leukemia awareness and make people more aware of the need to register to become a bone marrow donor. (http://oneforjasmina.com/)

Bye Bye Roses :(

So after my post yesterday about the wild roses (above), Connie from Hartwood Roses informed me about a disease called Rose Rosette Disease infecting the wild rose population all over.  She described the reddish contorted growth that's a symptom of the disease and yep, a few of our wild rose bushes have it.  So I'm just in from hacking away at them.  (A far cry from cutting roses and frolicking with my 2 year old.  haha)  We're going to have to take out all of the infected bushes.  There are still a ton of unifected ones but I'm thinking chances are slim they won't be infected eventually.  Oh so sad.  (Good news - it's not on that huge group of buches that goes 20 or so feet high into the trees!  And I'm not hacking 'till they get it.)

Thoughts in my mind as I tried to untangle a particularly huge-won't-let-go-rose vine from a tree reminded me of the priest's from The Exorcist:

  "Release him!"

"Foul beast!"

"I command you to leave!!"

...or maybe some type of pandemic outbreak movie:

to Christian:  "The roses are sick."

"Don't touch."

"We can't let it spread"

 oh well.  never dull.  ;)

xoxo,

lauren 

May & the Wild Roses

As I've mentioned before, some of my favorite types of flowers are the uncultivated kind...  wild flowers & "weeds."  May is one of the best times of the year at our house because the wild roses that litter our yard & climb up the surrounding trees have gone crazy!!!  Below is a picture of a huge patch of roses behind our property that goes 20+ feet high.  (Sorry, bad pic but they're the little white things all over the green  ;)

The wild roses smell so perfect:  sweet & the teensiest bit tangy...  I seriously can't get enough. 

I love having this untamed beauty that I don't have to take care of.  My only job is cutting the roses to bring inside with my little helper... 

He loves the smell too...

I love the simple relaxed feeling they bring to our table...

And, although I know we all have different beliefs & different religions, I thought anyone could appreciate the beauty of the wild roses next to the antique Madonna on our mantle.  I found her at an antiques shop in Leesburg, Virginia.  For Catholics, May is "Mary's Month" and many of the Churches have "May Crowning" Ceremonies.  It was one of my favorite times in gradeschool because the 8th grade girls would all get to wear pretty dresses and one of them would put a crown of roses on a Mary statue in our Church.  (Sadly, when I finally got to 8th grade after 8 years of waiting, we didn't get to do it... they switched it to 2nd graders- go figure! :)  But now my family has its own Madonna, and Christian & I had so much fun carrying out the tradition yesterday morning:

...I've been moving the kitchen table roses from room to room with me because they smell so good.  I need to get back out there & cut more!

Hope everyone's having an awesome week & enjoying spring!!!  Any special Springtime traditions in your family?

xoxo,

lauren