A dreamy powder room

How do I get the power room I want? I ask myself this almost daily.

I need gloss black paint and a marble sink  with brass hardware and a modern toilet. The toilet is important. It must not have any sides that I'd have to lean over in about three inches of space to clean.

I'd top it off with a tiny chandelier like this one.

Then I'd add a painting with feeling like this one called Black Palm.

It's pretty moody but in a tiny little powder room I think it works.

Online house hunting

I have been perusing the MLS to see what I can get for my money when we move. I don't have a specific neighborhood in mind yet, as that requires a personal visit to explore. When we bought our current home, we lived 5 hours away and drove here every other weekend until we found our house (15 times!). The houses we saw online were often a disappointment in person and the neighborhoods we thought looked good were in areas we ended up not wanting to live in so I take anything that looks fabulous with a grain of salt.

I found this amazing house and put a star and OMG next to it on my list. It had everything I wanted.

The beautiful light filled space thrilled me and was on budget. There was no feature that made me think twice in the photos. So far every other house had at least one thing that I would have to settle on. Usually the kitchen or carpet throughout.

 Absolutely nothing was disagreeable and I was trying to figure out if we could scramble and get this one.

Luckily, our move is 6-12 months from now because I had forgotten to narrow my search area and this beauty is about an hour drive from our target. *sigh*

Back to the search.

Have you ever done a house search long distance?

Dream house dreaming part 2

Yesterday I featured Castle Hill in Keswick, Virginia and today I want to show you Old Keswick which was also featured in the Kathryn Masson book Hunt Country Style. Masson's book states, " Old Keswick is one of the earliest houses in an exclusive area outside of Charlottesville, famed for its large horse farms and the Keswick Hunt. A rambling driveway begins at an entrance marked by two low fieldstone columns and winds past barns and stables, a stone springhouse, and pastures for finely bred horses, leading to a white weatherboard farmhouse hidden among trees. It is a rare piece of Virginia history."

It was originally built as the hunt lodge for the yesterday's property, Castle Hill and is located nearby. I would have a tough time choosing between the two.

This MLS photo instantly caught my attention as the east parlor and the image from the cover of  Hunt Country Style.

Masson's book goes on to say, " Keswick Stables has been a renowned Thoroughbred operation since the mid 1950s."

This is horsey style at its best.

Old Keswick is listed for $12,000, and the full listing can be seen HERE

It was supposed to look like this

via

When I was a teenager and just beginning to love design, I imagined my grown-up life would look like this. It doesn't and never has. I am not even sure that it feels right for me as a place to live, although I bet I could get used to it.

It is a pretty awesome space and the exposed brick is romantic in an urban kind of way.

I am not sure I like the bedroom cum garage-reno.

What was your grown-up house supposed to look like? Do you live there?

Loft Living

When I was a teenager I was certain that my adulthood would be spent in a large loft space with fabulous details like the one above.

The exposed brick, hard angles and "bones" of the structure still intrigue me. Like so many of us, I took an easier and more affordable route and just bought a house but I still like to fantasize about these spaces.

If you look closely you will see two shot glasses

The kitchen is rather spare for my tastes but the shot itself cracks me up. Were they doing shots of Jack Daniels before the shoot?

This one has more angles and more white surfaces.

It appears to have a great view too.

Would you enjoy living in either of these loft apartments?
Don't forget to enter one of the giveaways. They end tomorrow.

Fantasy spaces

This is the time of year that many of us make and fill wishlists. I thought a post on a wishlist of rooms or fantasy spaces would be a fun diversion.

I start with a dressing room.

It is adjacent to this bedroom--at least it is in my head.

 The view is my basis for choosing it.

And for the kids...

It only needs a sliding board.

My "mom cave" is a gloomy library like this.

The door in the shelves is my favorite part.

I might add a Christmas tree to cheer it up a bit.

The living room has a view too.

 Don't mind the geographic anomaly amongst the views!

Fancy a snack?

Indoor or outdoor dining?

And one more place to relax...

Well there it is, a bizarre collection of really cool spaces.

Which is your favorite?

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for give away details! 

In the mean time, check out these great holiday giveaways.

Inspiration-living room

This gorgeous living room is by Bunny Williams in AD via Mrs. Blandings.

I can't stop thinking about it.

Those curtains! Mon Dieu!

1st Anniversary for this house

Today is the anniversary of our arrival from Pennsylvania to our house in Virginia. 

It took us nearly one year to find a house, after deciding on Virginia and then a particular area. I am from Virginia  and glad to be back.
Four of those months we "camped out" here. We slept on air mattresses, had four mismatched folding chairs at a lopsided table and lived in rather embarrassing style because most of our stuff was packed or left to stage our house in PA for sale. It payed off because we listed in the middle of snow and ice in Western Pa and  had offers pouring in early in the buying season.

Here is what I have accomplished, from a design standpoint, in one year.

This...

and this...

to this!

and this

Yes, this is "the beast" after a makeover

 My dining room...

became this.

Take a gander at this crazy accent wall that was my bedroom.

here it is now.

 I am not sponsored by any company but I must tell you that Sherwin-Williams Superpaint covered in one coat. Seriously, pale blue over blood red in one coat. I used two because I'm like that.

If you read my blog regularly you have seen many pictures of my house but I think this may be the first of the outside.
 I've done more but it is a post for another day.

I hope you are not tired of the inside.