Creekside Custom: Study, Guest Bedroom, Guest Bathroom

Heyyyyyy everybody. Can we just pretend that I didn’t disappear from the blogosphere for 3+ months, and get right to it? If you can’t let me off that easy and are wanting a bit of an explanation, here it is. Having subcontractors do most of your work for you makes home building go REALLY fast. Especially when your tight-ship-running husband is the boss of the whole operation. Long story short, things moved CRAZY fast after my last post. So fast, that in the mix of momming, packing, moving, and basically trying to not lose my mind, the blog got away from me. I will try to make it up to you all because some pretty cool stuff has happened while I was away. In an effort to not overwhelm myself and you all, I am going to get you up to speed on the status of our house in phases. And to be quite honest, It buys me time to finish decorating the spaces that I haven’t quite perfected yet.

We officially moved into our new home on July 10th, so about 2 1/2 months ago. I am finally beginning to forget the horror of packing/moving/unpacking/decorating, but it has taken every bit of those 2.5 months to get here. I don’t know if it’s because we doubled kids since our last move or what, but I don’t ever want to move AGAIN! I was seriously having a privileged, middle class American crisis. I preface this “crisis” because I know there are WAY bigger problems in the world than me dreading unpacking box after box of STUFF, but let me tell you, I was having a rough time and could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our love for garage sale-ing and craigslist-ing  proved to turn us into borderline hoarders. Along with accumulating another child at our last house, we also accumulated a lot of extra stuff (or junk as I like to call it), so the unpacking never seemed to end. Trent was so busy finishing up building our kitchen, installing lights and a whole manner of other things, that he was unable to assist in unpacking at all. The other 2 warm bodies in this house have good intentions with helping, but tend to do the opposite when it comes to things such as unpacking… After about 4 weeks, the boxes were finally empty and our house started to feel kind of  like a home. The only thing that was lacking was home décor. I really wanted our new house to have its own feel, so I was pretty set on phasing out most of the furniture and décor from our last house. Along with wanting new furniture and décor, I also wanted to adapt a new style. I loved the look of our last house, but always felt that the blue theme belonged more at the beach than in a ranch style home in Austin, TX. I also loved the shabby chic feel from the other home, but didn’t think it had a place in our new modern farmhouse. The look I was envisioning was more eclectic, minimalistic, less matchy matchy, and boasted modern and rustic elements. The only problem with this vision was that it was COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone. With that being said, I have done TONS of shopping, buying, returning, REPEAT, to find pieces that work with this style that I am still unsure of!

Without further ado, here are the photos of our study, guest bedroom and downstairs bathroom. Each room still has areas that I will eventually tweak or modify (duh, that’s what I do), but for now, they will do!

When designing this home, we discussed if a study was a necessary use of the space for our home. Some people need them, but with neither of us “working” from home, it wasn’t a must. We ultimately decided to have one and I am SO glad we did! We put a HUGE window in it and faced the desk toward the street. Lots of natural light and a view (even if it is of our neighbors house/the street) make spaces feel right!

We were originally thinking that we wouldn’t have a use for this vintage china hutch that I painted, because we didn’t feel like it was big enough to fill the hutch space in our dining room. Our study can’t really accommodate built in cabinets due to the closet door interrupting blank wall space, so this hutch ended up filling the space perfectly. The only problem was that it looked a little shrimpy against our 10′ ceilings, so we brought up the height by hanging our framed architectural elevation drawings above it.

 

I am trying to keep a handful of houseplants alive, one day at a time. I got the tropical plant below at Ikea along with the super cute natural fiber plant basket that it is in. I never knew how much I loved Ikea until we got to the decorating phase of this house!

Some other Ikea steals in this room are the grey pin stripe pillows, the galvanized metal plant pot, the massive wall map, and the curtain rods and panels. I’m seriously hooked. If you think the only thing they have to offer is inexpensive furniture, you are mistaken!

I had a lot of fun decorating our guest bedroom since I already had a vision for it. I knew it was going to have a glam feel because I had collected the mirrored night stands and blue tufted headboard months before we moved in. To keep it from feeling over-the-top gaudy, I incorporated natural and rustic elements such as the jute rug and the wood framed art and mirror, and the framed farmhouse photo. It felt necessary to showcase an authentic farmhouse in our modern farmhouse. White bedding keeps it clean and classy and the blush pillows add a pop of color and fun!

After much trial and error with curtains over the years, I have finally learned that I am most happy with the look of simple, bright curtains that are hung HIGH. We have 10′ ceilings and we took them as high as we could! Obviously, you can only go so high, but in a home with 8,9 or 10 foot ceilings, take them to the limit and you will reap the rewards! I think it is important to use a substantial curtain rod and rings (or grommets) are a must for getting them to hang just right.

I put a lot of thought into the downstairs bathroom since I knew it would get more use than any other bathroom in the house. This factor helped me determine that I wanted it to not only be attractive, but also be able to stand up to high traffic. After MUCH tile shopping and deliberating, I finally decided to go with natural black slate tile laid in a herringbone pattern for the floor. Slate is stain and slip resistant and classified as non-porous so it is extremely water resistant. Basically, it is hard to damage and easy to maintain! I like to keep things simple and cohesive when it comes to wall tile, so we did all of our bathroom wall tile with classic white subway tile. I have never used dark grout before, but gave it a try in this bathroom as I knew it would be easier to keep clean than it’s lighter counterparts. Along with the clean factor, I like that it has a modern/industrial look and it tied in nicely with the slate tile. We added a hexagon marble tile niche and did a European style exposed shower faucet system. I couldn’t dream of covering that beauty with a shower curtain, so we had our shower door contractors install a fixed piece of glass half the length of the shower to showcase the shiny fixture! 

To maximize storage space (and keep medicine out of the kiddos reach) we installed a slightly glam medicine cabinet mirror above the vanity. The wood vanity and shelf added a rustic feel, while the schoolhouse clock and black double sconce modernized things.

I had a little trouble finding a hand towel that I liked as well as a statement piece soap dispenser, but as usual, Target delivered on both!

So, what do you think?! I am finally feeling pretty good about things – at least in these rooms! I am still on the hunt for some art for the guest bathroom, but have yet to come across anything that speaks to me.

If you caught that I included “decorating” in my list of things that made this move a horror, you may be scratching your chin. Everyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE to decorate. The problem is that I love it soooooooo much, that it makes me crazy. I OBSESS over it until I get it right. And even when I think I have it right, my eyes change their minds a few days/weeks/months later. I finally learned to get handy with the tape measure, level and drill because my “hanger” (AKA husband) quit on me after I had him hang the fifth piece of art in the same spot in less than two months. Though I drive myself crazy on the matter, while I am lying in bed at night restless because I can’t find the right lampshades, I think how lucky I am that this is what is keeping me awake at night!

I will not let 3 months pass before the next post, I promise! I plan to reveal the exterior of our house in my next post!

Happy hump day, y’all!!

 

Resources: Study and guest bathroom wall paint, guest bedroom wall paint, doors, ceiling and trim paint, bathroom vanity, double sconce, medicine cabinet,  shower faucet