Category Archives: Reno

All About the Benjamins

February 11, 2014Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

We decided to go with Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue for the master bedroom, and I couldn’t be more in love with it! It’s actually more of a seafoam green than blue in person, but it looks perfect next to the navy office!

Now it’s time to pick the master bathroom color. I’d like to keep it in the same family, but maybe go a shade lighter. Here are some Benjamin Moore options I’ve put together.

Ben Moore colors (h.o.t.)

I’m leaning towards Ocean Air or Seafoam. I think either would be really pretty next to Palladian blue.

What do you think? What color would you choose?

Moving is Messy!

February 10, 2014Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

On Saturday, we moved a lot of our things over to the Park Avenue house. No, we have not officially moved in yet, but we’re getting close. We are waiting until the second guest bathroom is finished, which should be Tuesday or Wednesday. Charles and I are determined to spend Valentine’s Day in our new house! Wouldn’t that be perfect?!

The move was very very exciting, but also overwhelming. Now the house looks like this…

I kind of had a “where do I start” deer-in-headlights look on Saturday. How did we ever accumulate so much stuff? There were several items, mostly wedding gifts, that I had completely forgot we had. It’s like Christmas all over again! :)

I’ve decided to work room by room to get things unpacked. Because they will still be working on finishing the master bathroom once we move in, we’ve decided to make one of the guest rooms our temporary home. It’s looking like this…

Obviously it’s nothing fancy, but it will do for now. I need to find all of my comforters and duvet covers so I can start making beds!

We also had a tasty gourmet first meal at the dining room table….Mickey D’s!!

Closet Suggestions Needed!

February 6, 2014Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

Hi friends! I’m in need of some suggestions for a storage system in our master closet. Because the walls are plaster, we don’t want a system that is only supported by the walls. We would like something that can be attached to the walls for extra support, but is mostly free standing.

Eventually, we’d like to add custom built ins, but for now we are just looking for a budget-friendly alternative. Got any suggestions? Let’s hear them!

Note: The closet is about 7′ wide by 10′ long.

How to Paint an Iron Clawfoot Tub

January 28, 2014Categories: Furniture, RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

UPDATE: See the tub in its new home here!

It’s actually way easier than I thought!

When we decided to install a “baby” clawfoot tub in the upstairs guest bathroom, we found an old, very dirty, rusty tub that fit the bill. We discussed several colors, but ultimately decided to keep it simple and go with black. We figured it’s easier to change out shower curtains and bath linens than to repaint a tub!

Continue reading →

Making An Entrance

January 27, 2014Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

I think most people would agree that first impressions are pretty important. Well, your house should be no different. That’s why we want our foyer to really shine. It’s not there yet, but it’s well on its way!

Let me refresh your memory with a few before photos of this room.

And here it is now.

Not too bad, huh? We chose to go with a neutral in this room, and settled on Glidden’s Kitten White. All of the trim is stark white. If you look closely at the trim, you’ll notice we added a little more dimension by painting the flats the same color as the walls.

Remember those nasty carpeted stairs?

Well they got a facelift too! We pulled up the carpet, and painted the trim and spindles.

You can see that we’ve still got some work today, but I’m so happy with how it’s all coming together. We will need to refinish the floors eventually, but for now, they are going to get a light sanding and a couple of coats of urethane. We had to make budget cuts somewhere, so the floors lost that battle. Luckily, only a few rooms truly need it. Plus I’m planning to add a stair runner, which will cover up a lot of the ugly spots.

We’ve also picked out a gorgeous flush mount basket chandelier to hang in the foyer, and it should match the dining room chandelier perfectly. We decided to go with flush mount so that we could have a Christmas tree in the center of the foyer if we chose to. It will look something like this, but with about a 14″ diameter.

shopping Most of all, I’m just happy that atrocious 70’s green trim is gone! Don’t the pocket doors look so chic in white?!

In other news, tile is moving along in the two full guest bathrooms.

And we’ve decided on wallpaper for the dining room. Sorry, no sneak peeks just yet…I have to keep some things a surprise!

Countdown to our homeowner’s insurance start date: 10 days!!

Taking a Step Up

January 22, 2014Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm today! We got a little snow, but nothing major. It’s very very cold though…and I love it! :)

Moving on. Our back porch steps are finished!! And I have to say, they look pretty baller. If you remember, we had our front porch cheek walls rebuilt a while back. (You can read more about that here.) We wanted to give the front and back of the house a cohesive look, so we decided to do similar walls in the back.

Mr. Lewis is our mason, and he’s one of my favorites. The man is 78 years old, and still does amazing work. Very impressive! (I also like that he tells Charles to always listen to his wife!) Here he is working on our steps on Monday night.