Living It Up

Whether it's dinner, a movie, or kicked-back conversations over a few bottles of wine, having company over is one of my favorite ways to enjoy our home. In the short time Chris and I have lived in Hampton Court, we have already celebrated several birthdays, engagements, weddings, and babies! There is nothing like having friends and family come together to make your place feel truly like a home.

When it came to designing our living and dining rooms, I focused on decorating for happy times. My goal was to create an easy space that could accommodate intimate gatherings as well as larger occasions. It had to look pulled together and polished, but also needed to be functional and practical so that we are not afraid to live in it and use it.

Everyone loves a good ol’ Before-and-After, so here are some listing photos for your reference:

And, voilà! Our new living room!

The furniture arrangement is a casual spin on a formal setup. I designated a traditional dining space that is separate from the living area while keeping the entire room open for bigger groups and conversations.

Oh, remember my ridiculous DIY brick wall project? It was a true labor of love, and it was completely worth it! The brick accent wall helps to bridge the two seating areas together. It also offers a good amount of soundproofing, which is great because our gatherings tend to get a little rowdy!

With most of our budget dedicated to renos, my goal was to design around all the pieces we already had. I am happy to say that with the exception of a media console (our old one from Target started sagging in the middle) we did not have to purchase any new furniture for this room!

Our sofa was the first piece of furniture Chris and I purchased together as a couple, and it holds a ton of sentimental value. It is such a welcoming spot to snuggle up for a movie, a book, or a good heart-to-heart, and you'd be surprised how many of our friends have fallen asleep on it! :) The shag rug is also super comfy and offers additional casual seating, but it sheds like a mofo.

I recently threw in a few new throw pillows to give our sofa a pretty update. A fur throw also elevates the cozy factor on a chilly night!

Speaking of cozy...

Chris brings home flowers every Friday after work. It is incredibly sweet and romantic, and I just love having fresh flowers in our home!

This mirrored chest keeps all our DVDs and video games organized and out of sight.

Our elephant family, collected from all around the world.

Sweet mementos.

A few of my favorite coffee table books.

Our new media console was a true investment piece. It is humongous and did not fit in our elevator, and two very kind delivery men carried it up to our 4th floor apartment. Needless to say, it is staying put for a while! It stylishly houses electronics, favorite books, board games, and sentimental objects.

The sectional subtly separates the living and dining areas while allowing both to remain open and inviting.

Lighting is a vital part of setting the mood for any occasion. We installed this orb chandelier in order to illuminate the room and define the dining area as a separate space. I love the way the openwork iron sphere plays off the rustic feel of our brick wall while the sparkling inner chandelier provides a nice dose of glam. It casts the coolest shadows on the walls.

A bar conveys good old-fashioned hospitality. It readily offers refreshments and also doubles up as an additional surface to serve food and hold extra dinnerware.

An antique Turkish kilim rug accentuates the dining area. This fun unexpected pop of pink shakes up our overall neutral palette, and its pattern is busy enough to forgive food stains. Because life happens!

I love the view from our living room window, especially around this time of year. Just look at those colors!

With the holidays right around the corner, I am really looking forward to hosting some very special get-togethers with our loved ones! Hope to see you guys soon!

Piping Up

Once I had all the required licenses, work orders, and permits squared away, our team had a field day gutting our bathroom down to the studs! It was absolutely thrilling to see the walls come down and the floors come up to create a blank canvas for my own personal vision:

BEFORE: The square footage in our bathroom is very generous as far as New York apartments go. However, the space felt cramped and unbalanced, as though everything had been shoved to the left side of the room. Look at all that unused dead space on the right! The window was also awkwardly positioned and straddled the Jacuzzi/shower. This really, really bugged me, and I've spent many sleepless nights trying to come up with a viable solution for this aesthetic dilemma. I know, you don't want my problems. (Before photos here)

AFTER: I designed the layout to spread across the entire space. In my new floor plan, the sink is relocated over and across to the other side of the room, and the Jacuzzi is GONE! Opening up this area allowed me to add a large walk-in shower in lieu of a tub. I don't know about you, but I prefer steamy, hot showers over pruning up in a tub of soapy suds. Notice how the window now lives happily inside the shower walls! Hooray! Not only does this reconfigured layout provide a smoother flow of balance, but the entire space just feels a lot more functional and spacious.

We opened up the floor to re-route the sink plumbing across the room.

The toilet did not move, but the original round-bowl model was removed to be replaced with one with an elongated bowl. Elongated bowls are a little bit more guy-friendly, if you get my drift!

The shower pipes were also re-routed across the room so that the fixtures could sit perfectly centered in the stall. This was done purely for aesthetic reasons, but trust me, it makes total sense in the big picture. We installed thermostatic and volume control valves, which I am incredibly excited about. So gangsta.

As you can see, moving plumbing fixtures is no easy feat. I initially booed and hissed my way through all the DOB paperwork and fees, writing it all off as one big expensive, time-consuming nuisance. However, after seeing all the technical aspects involved in this project, I am so thankful we took the necessary steps to do everything the legit and legal way.

Anyway, now that all the nitty gritty details are done and over with, we can start making things pretty :) More later!

Mortar Kombat

Guess what, guys! I am FINALLY done with my brick wall project. Yippee! Hooray! Whew.

Once the mortar was mixed and the bricks had been laid out, I experienced a major "Oh-crap-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into" moment. I honestly felt that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. But everything was all set and ready to go, and those naked, patched-up walls were seriously starting to make my eyes bleed. So there was no turning back. It was time to get down and dirty.

It's been a grueling, dusty, and extremely rewarding month. Here's the recap of my first foray into masonry:

Recognize this awesome laser? A perfectly level foundation is the key to a straight wall, so I used this handy tool to guarantee that my bolsters were 100% straight prior to laying the first brick.

Next, I combined powdered thinset mortar with water and mixed it into a thick, batter-like consistency. The boxes of veneers came in mixed assortments of grays and browns, so I organized all the bricks by color in order to plan out an even distribution of all the variations.

This technique is called back-buttering, and it really is like spreading peanut butter onto a piece of toast! I found that an even 2/3" layer was enough to grip the wall without oozing everywhere.

After back-buttering, I pushed and wiggled each tile against the wall until the mortar started pulling at the brick. Once the suction was created, I slowly slid the brick up and over, using spacers to maintain even distancing between each brick. I went with 3/8" spacers, which is the standard joint spacing for real brick walls.

------------ Repeat for 280 square feet. ------------

It took me about two days to get a hang of the fundamental techniques and stop making huge messes everywhere. After that, I started throwing bricks on the wall like nobody's business. This project didn't call for any extraordinary skills, but it did require an insane amount of tedious repetition and grunt work. I can't even complain, because all that squatting, lifting, bending, and reaching totally whipped me into shape ;-)

I also tackled a smaller wall by our entryway in order to establish a smooth, transitional flow into the living room. The previous owners were obviously really into the color red. I think it made them happy. Kinda like how Wonka makes me happy.

Mid-point laser check! Yup, still straight :)

Almost there!! Chris and I signed the back of the final brick before it was set into place, and...

Bam! All done.

This project was a true labor of love. Sure, I've been sporting a set of calloused man hands for about a month, and I also dropped/broke a brick on my foot, rendering myself incapable of wearing any cute shoes for the next few weeks. But the wall is finally complete, and I am deliriously happy with the outcome.

Once the crown and base mouldings are installed, our living room renovation will be finished! We are sooo close, and I absolutely cannot wait to share the final transformation with you. Stay tuned!