The Breakfast Nook

Some of you may remember back in August when I showed some ideas I had for my breakfast nook area. You can check them out here.

Fast forward a few months and I'm finally ready to post the reveal. I wish I could say that it was a final reveal, but alas I still have to get the new floors and decide what I'm going to do about the ceiling…the word loathe doesn't even start to touch how I feel about carpet or popcorn texture. But hey, it's a process right?

Recently a friend and I were discussing "domino effect". It seems those of us in creative professions live in a constant domino effect. I'm sure many of you out there can relate. 

One thing led to another, and another. Finally this is what I have until flooring and ceiling decisions are made.

Building of the banquette

I designed the style I wanted and how it would be most functional for the children and myself. It included a file drawer since it is across from the desk area in the kitchen. This keeps the desk clear and everything nice and tidy. The other drawer is a deep storage drawer for oversized kitchen items. This is before the drawer fronts were put on.

 The drawer front in place and me checking out how I felt about the pulls. Loved them!

 The top is made of 1"x6" red oak boards.

The base painted out and put into place.

The top being stained to match the antique table.

Me being goofy from the insane heat in my garage while staining. Look at that grain though!

All put together and in place, including a couple of pillows I made for the space.

Next I finished adding the trim to the windows and worked on the light fixture. I've loved lantern fixtures for the longest time and really wanted one for this nook area. They are pretty pricey if you want one of any size though and I of course wanted an oversized lantern. I looked for a long time and then just decided to try and DIY it. I mean why not? Nothing could be worse than the sputnik light that was there.

I mean seriously. Smoked glass, shiny brass, and a bunch of little round bulbs is not a look that goes with my style.

After the smokey glass was already in the dumpster I remembered to take a more close up picture. Still hideous. The electrical box also needed to be moved. It had been centered in the room and I had moved everything over to the corner to create the nook I was longing for.

This house was full of bad fixtures but I didn't just throw things away. I keep parts and make something new out of them. The old hall light was just as hideous but had a nice 4 cluster candelabra center to it. I knew Hobby Lobby had oversized lanterns (candle lanterns) so I went to check it out. I found the shape I wanted and luckily it was on clearance. It was also damaged so I got an even better deal. I ended up paying less than $30 for this big lantern.

The problem with a candle lantern is the solid bottom. But, my Dad loves me and cut it out so I didn't have to.

The stem in the center was too short as well so I had to get a longer piece of copper tubing and rewire the fixture.

I popped the glass back in after it was painted and clear-coated and then it sat in my garage for months while I waited to move electrical box. All of my personal projects were on hold for a while at this point.

I'm in LOVE with this fixture! I had the paint on hand already and most of the electrical parts. with the lantern, a piece of copper pipe, and a new electrical box this fixture came in under $40.

I love the big window overlooking the backyard. I love the light and the colors. I love the bench seat and the wood tones. I love my jadeite green chairs.

The first night the fixture was in place I had to do some sewing for a client. I set up my machine and stepped back for a moment just staring at it again. This corner of my kitchen is everything I wanted for the space. It's my style yes, but the more important things are the moments we have around this table. The children draw ornaments on the chalk tree and after taking a precious picture under the antlers (if you follow peacockdoordesigns on Instagram you'll know what I'm talking about), they have drawn in their own little deer. They put the christmas cards on the burlap board. They both want to sit on the nook banquette. They do homework at this table. They laugh with me at this table - we celebrate so many life moments in this space and that makes it so very precious to me.

The fact that I also think it's beautiful is just icing!

A Room Makeover

One of my absolute favorite people asked me if I could make over her guest room in time for a pre-Thanksgiving guest. Something I haven't talked about much on social media is that this fall was probably the worst health periods of my entire life. From the beginning of August until the beginning of November I was sick almost constantly. Sinus infection, stomach virus, another stomach virus, bronchitis, strep, and then sinus infection and bronchitis again. It was extremely hard to work as much as I was and stay on top of things. But, I knew that this would be an awesome room and great opportunity for me. Plus, I love my Julie!

We all have these rooms in our homes. The rooms where we put all the miscellaneous stuff and then end up not cleaning it out. We all have great plans, but somehow those rooms end up just being the place where we put all of the other bits and pieces that don't go with anything else.

 Here is what we started with:

Something that both Julie and I loved in this space was the vintage painting. We decided to use it as a color starting place.

I wanted a restful cottage space and chose a bright white for the walls and kept the trim the darker shade. I went over one saturday morning and painted the room and then went back and did the second coat that evening.

This was a quick picture I took while the first coat was still drying. Already the bright crisp white makes the space feel so much fresher.

I also was refinishing some antique furniture to use in the space.

The piece above is gorgeous but really ended up being one of the most difficult I've ever refinished.

The piece below is one of my all time favorite styles and the finished product was gorgeous!!!!

Oh how I love this piece!

I went shopping with the painting in mind. You all know by now that if I can make something for a room I prefer to do that and have something custom. But, this was a tight time line and I figured that I could custom purchases to make the space still be a one of a kind room.

First, I framed family pictures for a gallery wall. I wanted the frames to look vintage and feel like they were the original frames for the old family photos.

I also made a little chalkboard for Julie to write their wifi password on for the convenience of their guest.

Next I used in-stock pillow covers. Below is what they looked like before.  

 This is the piece that gave me the most trouble. I actually stripped it completely twice! In the end I sanded it down and layered stains to get the look I wanted. I also painted these little lampshades. Both Julie and I loved the vintage shape with the marble and crystal lamps. I had no time to recover them so I did what I've done in my own home many many times. I sprayed the inside of the shade with a metallic paint. In this case I used chrome. Then I painted the exterior with several layers of watered down chalk paint.

I purchased new bedding, new curtains, bought and installed new curtain rods.

The short dresser works beautifully for a bedside chest.

The gallery wall worked out beautifully and showcases Julie's love of her family.

The bed is just so pretty, and I'm in love with that flower pillow!

You can see below, that I customized the gray pillow covers with pretty crystal buttons

The finished space is so cozy and warm while still being bright and airy. It's the most adorable guest space and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. 

Top to bottom, even with the whirlwind time frame,  I am very proud of this space!