The House of Lawrence

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Mercury Glass

Typically you see Mercury Glass during the holidays but I think this needs to be something that is used year round. What a cool way to snazz up your boring mantle or your blank dining table??? I LOVE that lighting lines are now using Mercury Glass for lamps... OBSESSED! Just a great way to bring in a distinct look.

Mercury Glass is "thin glass blown with double walls and sealed after silvering of the enclosed surface of the inner wall to produce ornamental ware." Per Webster's Dictionary. Mercury Glass was originally made in Germany in the 1840's. So keep your eyes peeled for vintage mercury glass while out shopping.

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Monday, July 11, 2011

Weekend Update

Happy Monday!

What a hot and muggy weekend... and we were outside building a pergola. When we bought our house there was a random concrete slab in the back left corner of our back yard. Not sure what the previous owners used it for but we are making half of it into my garden shed and the other half an outdoor grilling space. We get full west sun in the afternoon so without shade our backyard is an oven... so the pergola will help give much needed shade!!! My plan is to grow a vine up the posts and over the lattice work (growing up my parents had wisteria vine growing on lattice over our deck and it was absolutely gorgeous in bloom!!!)

Check it out...

Also some shots of our garden. We have about 200 green tomatoes.... can something please turn RED?!?!? It's torture!

Purple Cherokee

Roma

Bell Pepper

Honey Fig

Chile Pepper

Friday, July 8, 2011

DIY Door Trim

I visited a friend last week who lives in my neighborhood (all 50's style houses) and first of all may I say what a WONDERFUL job she has done fixing it up!!! It is the cutest house! Maybe she'll let me take pics of the entire house and I can post them here for you... ;)

One of the things I went nuts over was the trim she had installed on her doors. If there is one thing that is true for 50's houses is that the doors used are less than desirable. They are actually hollow doors that leave the imagination wanting. But what a great idea to install trim yourself to bring some subtle detail to an otherwise boring door. She is planning on painting the trim brown to match the rest of the door.

I was out and about and saw these cute nightstands at Cotswold Market Place... They would be perfect for my bedroom but the price tag is not. $375 is a little rich for my blood. But they are exactly what I was looking for. If anyone spots anything similar at a better $$ give me a SHOUT!! PLEASE!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Monday, July 4, 2011

The BIGGEST New Thing....

in Design is an Outdoor Living Area. You can't turn your head these days without seeing an ad for furniture, fabrics, rugs, or accessories made for the outdoors. And what better way to spend the 4th of July than with family and friends in an outdoor living room??

We visited my Husband's family at the coast for a long weekend and my mother-in-law has just finished her outdoor living space... Check it out!

the living area is actually in the garage so it's covered (this is a big two doored garage so there is plenty of room left for the car too.) I have to admit that my favorite piece is the screen! It's a great way to divide the space and adds so much personality.

I can not begin to tell you how much everyone enjoyed the outdoor living area ~ It has quickly become the number one place to hang out at the beach!

Happy 4th of July!!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Sneak Peek

I probably should wait to show you this when it is TOTALLY complete but I just can't. I have worked SO hard on the office makeover and even though it's not totally pulled together I have to show it to you.

After trimming and painting with Kilz....

Taking everything off the walls and pushing it into the middle of the room....

And then a gallon of high gloss white paint and a quart of high gloss black paint and putting the room back together...

I'm still waiting on these two key pieces to pull the room together

Drapes in this...

And this painted high gloss white...

I'm in LOVE with this room every time I see it. It's clean and fresh and helps the creative juices flow. Hope you are having a fabulous Holiday Weekend

Until Next Time...

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Master Bath Renovation

As promised earlier in the week Today's Post is about our Master Bathroom Renovation.

What a J-O-B this was. When we had our house inspected the shower pan in the master had a crack and the beams below were totally rotten. This was a job for a professional after we closed on the house. I saw this as a blessing in disguise... I could combine the repairs into a new master bathroom!! I mean don't get me wrong I love this mint green/hunter green tile combo and the swan on the glass shower door is amazing. SIKE!!!

We hired a contractor and he gave us an estimate to gut the bathroom, re-tile, and make the repairs to the beam. To save some $$ my husband and a TRULY dear friend did the demolition themselves. To say the least, this is NOT a job for the half hearted. In most 50's homes the walls are plaster so to adhere tiles on the wall wire mesh had to be installed in the walls. Getting the tiles off is the easy part, to remove the wire mesh is a different story. They had to rip out the bathroom to the studs and physically pull, cut, and yank the wire mesh out. We also ripped out a very small linen closet that was cramping up the space.

For the new design we chose a porcelain tile for the floor and shower that looks like marble. We installed a towel rack/shelf, new vanity, and all new hardware and now the bathroom looks totally different! I love it!!

So check out the before and afters!

Demolition begins...

And now, drum roll please........ New & Improved

We found the vanity at Lowe's and it has a granite top. We also found the light fixture, hardware, and tile at Lowe's (they have a great tile selection!) The mirror is just a piece of glass adhered to the wall. And the towel rack was something that was lying around one of our parent's house waiting to be used. The artwork is a collection of black and white photographs taken by yours truly and framed in West Elm frames. And the window treatment is 2" wood blinds (a must for any room!) The monogrammed towels were a wedding gift... Love my monogrammed towels!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Bathroom Inspiration

Oh how I wish I had finished the office so I could post photos for you but unfortunately I did not. I worked ALL weekend painting and I am close to being done... Maybe I can finish up the trim and doors tonight and put the room back together. Just as soon as the room is done I will show you pictures!

But in the meantime... On Friday I was talking with a good friend who has just bought her first home and is in need of bathroom ideas. Typical of 50's houses she has a pink and blue tiled bathroom and mint green and black in the other bathroom. (Ours was pink/blue and the other mint green/hunter green.) What we did to give our bathrooms a face lift is we ripped one of the bathrooms out completely and re-tiled. The other we glazed the tiles on the walls and the floor white. The vanities were replaced in both bathrooms as well as mirrors. Looks pretty darn good! Will post pics later.

In the meantime here are some professional ideas. Do you get the theme from these photos??

SOAKING TUB ~ a girl's best friend.

Enjoy!