Dining Dressings

Thank you guys so much for all your support of my Big News on Monday! In addition to my new job, this transition will also mean great things for this blog!  The most obvious thing is that I'll be able to blog about my flip house.  I don't know how to tile a bathroom...yet...but you can rest assured that I'll tell you all about it.  In more detail than you'd probably ever ask for.  The other blogging perks that come with my career shift is that I'll have more flexibility to work on projects, take photos in the daylight (kind of hard when its dark by the time you get home from a 9to5), and generally blog the way I really want to blog.

Until we close on our first flip house on Valentine's day, I've been naturally keeping my mind busy (much to Hubby's dismay) planning a few projects here.  One design target is the dining room.  I've been thinking about curtains in the dining room for quite a while.  It's felt pretty naked in there since it's wall make-over, but I really wanted to step back and see what curtains, if any, the room wanted.

I had been thinking about one curtain per window to keep the space open and bright but still add some softness.  A few months ago, I saw this dining room on Pinterest and it confirmed my plans.

It wasn't until I noticed today that West Elm is having an amazing curtain sale that I decided to finally pull the trigger.  The dining room's been naked long enough.  Now I just have to decide what I really want (the hardest part!)

These have a nice, subtle pattern, but may be too beige for the room.

Simple and elegant.  Too simple?

Normally I'm not drawn to florals, but the watercolor feel to this one appeals to me in some way.

I'm not sure if any of these are quite right, but my design brain is on the job!  With you as my witnesses, I vow that the dining room will have curtains by the time I refocus my energies to the flip house.

West Elm curtains 1/2/3

Big News // Flipping Crazy

I have BIG NEWS!!! I've been absolutely dying to share this news with you, but I needed all the pieces to fall into place first.  Nope, not preggo- I'm not drinking that water just yet... For years I've said that I studied interior design because the idea of sitting behind a desk all day made my skin crawl.  After 6+ years of doing just that, the effect is still the same.  I had a great job with great people and I love design, but finally admitted to myself that the corporate side of design is not what makes my heart sing.  Way to trust your instincts, Karen.

So I quit my job to start flipping houses.  (Holy cow, actually typing that sentence is surreal...)

I just gave my 2 weeks notice at the 9to5 to start our new venture.  Hubby and I are flipping crazy (pun intended) and I think we're just crazy enough to make it work.  We've been talking for years about how we'd love to get into house flipping, well, now's the time!  We close on our first flip house on Valentine's Day!!!!

Hubby's staying at his job so we can fund this project and I'll be doing the day-to-day project managing and as much manual labor I can handle.  As funny as it sounds, the scariest part of this for me isn't the second house that we're about to own, or the pressure to fix it fast, it was actually quitting my job.  Change is scary, and this one's a BIG matza ball.  A very good and exciting matza ball!

So excited to get this adventure started!

 images via 1/2

2-Toning

I've got kitchens on the brain, have you noticed? Our propane tank is getting delivered TODAY and we'll be able to use our gas stove!

Even though we won't be doing anything about the cabinets for a while, a girl can dream, right?  And I am.  The issues I have with the current cabinets are:

• Poor quality-  falling apart drawers and cabinet boxes
• Useless soffit wasting 8" of usable space above the cabinets (covered with beautiful laminate)
• Dated door style on uppers (at least more traditional than my taste)
• Not a wood tone I would ever pick
• Inconsistent finishes- wood doors, veneer sides, & laminate boxes.  Makes perfect sense, no?

Hubby and I actually are partial to dark wood cabinets like this kitchen.  LOVE everything about this kitchen.

But our kitchen isn't spacious enough to pull it off sadly, and we aren't white kitchen people.  I love looking at pretty white kitchens, but it doesn't really fit us.  I've been drawn to beautiful 2 tone kitchens lately- dark on the bottom, but white on the top to brighten up the space.  I love this one so much, I pinned it twice apparently.

So I decided to have a bit of fun with photoshop and test out the theory on our kitchen.  I also tested a lone vent hood vs. cabinet with vent.

The lone vent hood doesn't float my boat as much as I thought it would.  Being that the stove is tucked in the corner, the room feels a little off balance without the cabinets.  It definitely makes a difference to have the cabinets reach all the way to the ceiling, though.  Any added storage in a small house is a definite plus.  I do like the 2-tone a lot, but again, Hubby's not convinced.  Silly boy, when will he decide to actually trust his designer wife?  Oh well, its a non-issue until we decide to do the cabinets.  I'm pulling for them this year, we'll see how good my convincing skills are.

What's your vote on the kitchen?

images: 1/2