House tour

Our latest project pulled inspiration from a few (juxtaposed) places - modern/timeless, urban/rural, and warm/minimal. We also drew inspiration from some of the incredible homes in Park City, a place we love to visit each summer. The dominant design principle however stayed true to the Modern Cottage style - clean and simple, where function and beauty unite. We're affectionately calling this project Luxe Utility.

Here's a look.

Our favorite friend, the Viking range. Such a dashing gent.

I will not get into the drama that became mounting these floating shelves. All I will say is... they turned out great! And I put my little white sconce on a dimmer for the sweetest kitchen night light ever.

We hand-picked the carrara per usual. We really love these pieces. They had a bit more grey than normal which works so perfectly in here. And I'm not going to lie- we eyeballed all the light fixtures in our own house before installation to see what we might like to change out. How can you not? One of my favorite lighting curations for sure.

Huge island - I am a wee bit jealous. Just. So. Much. Room... for cookie baking! You can really spread everything out. 

And yes, those are site-finished solid oak floors per usual - we just cannot get on board with the engineered trend.

We also blew the  budget on lighting - but you do what you gotta do to get the look just right.

Probably the first and last time we install this Kohler sink due to drain compatibility issues (the only one that works - from a Canadian manufacturer - is apparently being discontinued!). I am so smitten though. And because I can't stand to build a house that doesn't function 110%, I searched far and wide for a way to provide hand soap without adding a bulky shelf. I thought about recessing it into the tile wall but it was full of backing for the wall-mount sink. I tabled and revisited the hunt a few times, and in the end, I found this amazing steel holder and soap bottle from Denmark. It is one of my favorite things in the entire house! It's the little things.

And, the vintage lights. Checked and re-wired of course, and professionally installed. I am a wee bit jealous on this count, too. Thought long and hard about where to put in our own house, but alas, I did source them for this project, and they work so perfectly in the stairway. Ok, soap and sink and lights. My short list of loves. Railing is pretty great, too. We used all flat stock to keep it visually light.

Oh, right... and master bath. Sooooo much love. Solid hickory cabinets did the trick. Again, not on board with the wood-look laminate cabinets that are so popular right now. The purist in me, I guess. And: durability. I want these to look good for a long time.

This project was especially fun because we built a separate detached structure known here as an ADU or Accessory Dwelling Unit. It's like a studio apartment that can be a legal rental if desired.

The studio apartment is above the two-car garage. Such a great flex space for guests, teens, nanny, or it would make an incredible office.

Inside the ADU. We finished out the bathroom and roughed in for kitchen and laundry.

The mood of this house is crazy cool - so fresh, bright and cheerful. We just love it.

The clear cedar channel accents were definitely a splurge - but I took one look at the knotty stuff and knew it would not fit the design. Clear cedar it is!  Husband knew in advance I'd pass on the tight knot but indulged me because he knows I like to see all options. The channel style means the boards are stacked vs beveled - a great modern look.

We always love ourselves a little lime-hued smoke tree - the color is so perfect! We also found these amazing chartreuse holly which we loaded up on, and a few narrow aspens (we love the way the leaves flutter in the breeze).

We think it's pretty dreamy.

Did I mention what we started with? This tiny, 560 square foot structure. It was carefully deconstructed to studs until we were left with a couple partial walls and a portion of the foundation. This was necessary to achieve our architectural design given the constraints of the narrow lot. So the detached garage and ADU are newly constructed, and the house is considered a major addition/remodel.

Tree stand love

Love this. From Ferm Living.

Wall Hooks

Especially now that it's nearly winter time (and this week so far has been SO chilly) I am really, really wanting to get a built in bench with hooks and cubbies crafted for our mudroom.... would be so much easier to walk in and hang coats, hats (and stow shoes) all in one tidy place so they are all ready for the next outing. Searching all over the house for everything works too, just makes getting on our way at a decent pace a bit of a challenge when a two year old is involved (hat? mittens? coat? shoes? socks?). Anyway, as I dream of this little project (among many, many others we have yet to complete) inevitably my mind drifts to the hardware involved. Naturally, I am talking about the hooks. I searched all the usual suspects and came up uninspired. I even searched many other less common purveyors and nothing felt quite right. I still plan to visit the local feed and garden store for something fabulously raw and industrial (like when I found this great little L bracket to use as a hose hook), but if that doesn't pan out, I do think I would be quite delighted with these hooks I recently happened upon from Room and Board. The raw steel would be perfect. 

A faster, simpler solution -- or at least a fix for the time being -- could be something like this from Restoration Hardware. Looks nicely functional as well, and those little shoes and mittens could go up top :)

Vipp modular kitchens

I happened across this Danish modular cabinetry on Remodelista the other day and it spoke to me instantly (I particularly love this unit above as a stand alone piece almost anywhere). I realized later I think it's because in a way it reminds me of vintage black and white enamelware, but in kitchen cabinet form :)

See what I mean? (darling enamelware bowls from Etsy) 

Available in white and black, the line includes modular cabinets, shelving, hardware, even kitchen accessories.

Also, how sweet is the design as a bathroom vanity?

Holiday project #2: Photo Garland

 This was one of the most fun projects... I had visions of garlands dancing in my head and this is where I ended up, with inspiration coming from these amazing little clippy-hooks, and a desire to use  nostalic-feeling, winter-wonderland-y photos. I relied on my trusty ball of twine and super-fancy 1/8" hole punch (I think it's 1/8 ... maybe 1/4 who can keep track) and started hunting down some of our own favorite winter time pictures. I used lightweight matte photo paper and lightened the photos a bit to give them a slighty aged look. The white borders were easy thanks to my paper trimmer (best invention ever) and I left extra white space at the tops to give the hole punch some breathing room. It definitely feels festive but at the same time pure, simple, and beautiful... which I guess you could say is our guiding theme this holiday :)