Page 4 – Yellow Brick Home

How To Refresh a Vintage Bathroom + Keep the Charm: I of II

black and yellow vintage bathroom | Lowe's bathroom refresh | via Yellow Brick Home

This post is sponsored by Lowe’s.

Something that always hurts my heart is when I see an adorable vintage bathroom – you know, the kind with the pink, mint or yellow tiles – being demolished in favor of more modern sensibilities. I realize this is completely personal preference, but I never knew just how strong my opinion was on the matter until our friends, who had recently purchased their first home, asked what we would do to their ‘ugly pink bathroom.’ Ugh, the pink bathroom!, they said. I took one look at the space, and my knee-jerk reaction was to keep it! Of course, this isn’t what they wanted to hear, but ever since that day, I’ve dared to dream that we might be so lucky to have a vintage-tiled bathroom of our own. (For what it’s worth, this conversation was almost 15 years ago, their bathroom is still pink, and I still love it so.)

Late last year, I was talking to another friend about their black and yellow bathroom, although his feeling was more aligned with mine – with ours, because Scott is in complete agreement with me, with us. Our friend and his wife, Pete and Rachael, purchased the most adorable Tudor style home a handful of years ago, and although they’ve already made several upgrades, they’d always been stumped on their vintage bathroom. Not because they didn’t like it, but because they were unsure of how to save it. Here’s how she looks today, the same as they day they moved in:

She’s cute, right?

But somewhere along the way, the previous homeowner had leaned a little too into the design, and rather than allow the vintage charm to speak for itself, the room took on an over-the-top feel. I can see why; it’s easy to want to play up the details that are there, but the real magic comes in knowing where to scale back. Pete pointed out the yellow crown molding (which had never been caulked, and you know how we feel about that!), the overly ornate ceiling medallion, window treatment and the polarizing combination of black paint with yellow trim.

We couldn’t be happier to be working with Lowe’s again this year, and we knew that they could help! Pete and Rachael’s vintage bathroom wasn’t in need of a major overhaul, rather, it was in need of a weekend refresh. Currently, their bath is a hodge-podge of original fixtures, modern upgrades from Kohler, and a healthy dose of head-scratching choices from… well, from a your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine. We love that Lowe’s has a curated collection of Kohler products, and we knew that we could find everything we needed under one blue roof to nurture the old back to health, replace anything that’s beyond repair and clean up the rest with a dash of Bar Keepers Friend and a gallon of fresh paint.

The sconces have been a thorn in their side for as long as they’ve lived in their home, and the mirror on the medicine cabinet extended a good 6″ above the frame itself, which gave us pause. Out of curiosity (and on a whim), we decided to remove the large rectangular mirror, which was held in place with a handful of screws:

And underneath, we found the original shape of the mirror! I was in love. Rachael was in love. We’re looking to have a new piece of mirror cut to mimic the original shape, which will be so sweet in this vintage bath, don’t you think?

The real star of the room is this tile. So. much. tile! It’s currently overpowered by the black ceiling (oh, and that yellow crown!), but we think it has the potential to shine.

We can’t wait to dive in and polish her up, and we think it can be done by scaling back. A makeunder, so to speak. Right now, the bathroom is dark, heavy. The tub spout leaks and there’s no shower head at all! The ceiling and crown and fixture medallion are on the chopping block. The black window frame is chipped, the sconces need to go and we’re itching to remove the window shade, like, yesterday. Here’s what filled our Lowe’s shopping cart:

So, friends, welcome to our vintage bathroom refresh! Vintage bath lovers, are you with us? We’ll report back with how our plans look in place, with all of our efforts set on reclaiming the charm.

Lighting That Works Well Together In An Open Concept Home

Lighting Pairs that work in the open concept home | via Yellow Brick Home

navy rug | desk | chairs | pendant lights

Our home turns 132-years-old this year. Can you believe it? 132! When we first moved into this house, the previous owner / landlord had chopped up the layout to create two apartments (well, three, if you count the in-law suite that we’ve since turned into a proper garden apartment), which is pretty typical in Chicago. And when we became the new owners of our sweet old house, we converted the two larger apartments into a single family home. We moved walls, removed one completely and added a proper support beam to the first floor ceiling where there was none. Yeah, crazy.

For a house of this age, it’s rare to have such an open floor plan, although in true Chicago fashion, we do still have separation from the kitchen and the various little nooks that make this home so special. But regardless of where you’re standing in our home, you can almost see every single light fixture in every room on that floor. And until it came time for us to start selecting the various fixtures in our home, we hadn’t realized how important it would be that they all play nicely together!

In hindsight, it makes perfect sense, but I remember being initially paralyzed by the thought. What if we chose incorrectly?

pendant lights | sectional | navy rug | C-table

Recently, we swapped out the fan in our home studio to match the drum pendant on opposite end of the same long room. The clean look we were instantly granted made my symmetry loving heart sing, but what about those rooms where it doesn’t make sense to have the same fixture twice? What if you do want a fan on one side and a chandelier on the other? What if you need a floor lamp and a wall sconce and an overhead light?

floor lamp | brass sconce | chair | sectional | coffee table

Perhaps our biggest struggle came into play at our Tree House during our kitchen renovation. We initially chose a beautiful articulating arm brass sconce to hang above the farmhouse sink, but it looked severely out of place when paired with the schoolhouse style overhead light and our living room globe. In the end, we swapped it for a sweet vintage clamshell shade (similar), and now, all the milk glass shades look layered and purposeful. It has taken us years to learn, but we’ve finally realized, that deep down, we will always crave the more classic choice:

counter stools | fruit dish | art | hardware | clock

globe light | sectional | pouf | bear bottle opener

Choosing coordinating light fixtures in an open concept home may seem tricky, but keep in mind, it doesn’t mean that all the lights have to exactly the same! We’re big believers in mixed metals and finishes. And, friends, this might be the most important thing I will say today(!), but treat yourself and your home by installing a dimmer switch onto each and every overhead light throughout the house. (There, I said it. Dimmers for all!) These are our favorite everyday dimmers, and these are great for smart home control.

Below, we’ve rounded up various fixtures of all kinds – ceiling lights, fans, table lamps, floor lamps and sconces – and gathered them into groups by style. Any of the lights in each of the groups could all live in the same room, floor, or level of your home and coexist in happy harmony. Happy picking and choosing!

Bold + Structural

Cool + Retro

Bright + Breezy

Wood + Weight

Whimsy + Charm

The Weekender

A cheery, playful sleeping loft | Michigan lake house | via Yellow Brick Home

plaid sheets | shearling floor pillows | sconces | bookcase | framed art

During our visit to Tree House last week, we armed ourselves with so. many. samples of Kate Golding wallpaper, and we took to Stories to share our decision making process with you. Wow. You guys! Never have we ever received so much feedback from our Stories, and you gave us so much to think about. If you’re catching up, our plan is to accent the window wall in our sleeping loft with a subtle wallpaper. Although we’re not big on accent walls in general, we feel like this secret nook, tucked above our living room and with a view of the green, grassy yard, deserves a little something special and unexpected.

We were initially torn between Canadian Shield (trees) and Garter Snakes, but the biggest concern with the snakes was your overwhelming fear factor! We get it; makes sense. So, snakes are out – yet we found ourselves unable to commit to the trees. While beautiful – and obviously, it is our Tree house – it felt like too much contrast. We’re on the hunt, we think, for something that’s more tone-on-tone but still playful and with a subtle nod to our Michigan location. Easy, right?

And so, back to the drawing board! We’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of wallpapers, and we have a dozen more samples headed our way soon. During our search, we’ve considered everything from a wall mural (which was ultimately nixed, due to the window eliminating so much) to a soft plaid to grasscloth to a nature theme.

It’s still unknown where we’ll end up, but many of you pointed us towards new-to-us designers, including Kate Zaremba and this Etsy shop full of the most stunning murals. Other contenders: bunnies, windowpane, larkspur and miyuki. Fingers crossed that there’s a paper sample on the way that’ll win our hearts!

A Happy Discovery

Scott mentioned earlier this week that we found an old photo of our Tree House online. It’s an exterior view, and I stumbled across it accidentally when I logged into our account to pay the water bill! The photo was filed under a link for ‘additional information,’ and I’d never thought to click on it until a few months ago. Here’s the image, dated from 1992:

Here’s how Tree House looked when we signed those closing papers – not to say that she looks necessarily any better (ha!), but we’ve had so much fun playing What’s Different?

Tree House as she stands today is missing a tree in the front yard (and now the back yard, too), and there’s a significant amount of ivy and weeds that we’ve been shamefully turning a blind eye towards. The Tree House of yore had a screened in porch where our master bedroom currently sits, and there was no deck, no gutters and no window in the sleeping loft! But we were really, really excited to see what appears to be original clapboard. Currently, the house is covered in brown vinyl siding, but we’re looking forward to the day that we can investigate what lies beneath the surface and if it can be salvaged. It gives us so much hope for her future facelift.

What else do you notice?

Other Stuff

• We should totally save this house, right?!

• An old friend of ours directed this thoughtful documentary centered around teens and gun culture. It’s worth the watch, with the only downside being that we wished it was longer! We’d love to see the teens profiled in the film having a (moderated) discussion with one another. We want more.

• In other What We Watched news, Abducted In Plain Sight hit Netflix a few weeks ago, and we spent the entire 90 minutes with our jaws fully dropped. Actually, it probably took us two hours to finish it, because we kept pausing it to look at each other and ~~say~~ scream, this can’t possibly be real. Have you seen it? We’ve talked about it every day since, and we’re convinced that this true crime documentary is the very definition of ‘stranger than fiction.’ Our minds are still blown.

• A good – nay, great – wine glass is hard to find, don’t you think? Not long ago, a popular Chicago brewery opened their first full-service tap room in our neighborhood, and we can’t stop popping in for happy hour and fresh baked bread. But the best part is the glasses they serve their beer in! I found an etching on the stem, looked it up and found them. They’re the sweetest short-stemmed glasses with a thin (but not too thin) rim, perfect for wine of any variety, a sparkling cocktail or, of course, beer! I picked up our own set of 4.

• I’ll drop this here in case you need a Friday morning pick-me-up.

• Such a strong, beautiful reminder from Julia, in the midst of heartache:

Don’t wait. I say it often, but it bears repeating now, don’t wait to make memories. Don’t wait until the walls are painted or the holes are patched or the shiny new appliances arrive to make happy memories in your home. It’s the reason we do what we do, and it’s what we have left now. And I’m so grateful.

How Can We Be Better?

A big goal of ours this year has been to make our blog a well oiled machine. For far too long, it has felt too sluggish for our liking, and for several months, we’ve been working behind the scenes on faster load times without sacrificing quality (it’s definitely a fine line). And at the start of this week, we made the switch to a new dedicated hosting environment, which has drastically improved our site’s speed. We hope you’ve noticed this, too, although we are still working on a few kinks on the backend – such as getting our feed to catch up, for starters.

If you’ve noticed a glitch here and there, these big changes are the reason, and we’re so appreciative of every one of you who have shared screenshots of dead ends to help us problem solve. Thank you for bearing with us! In addition, I’ve been test driving a more updated blog on the back end, although I still have a bit of time to put in before it’s ready to go live.

We want Yellow Brick Home to be an inviting, happy place for you to stay, and we think this comes with a better mobile view (and a larger font!) and easier navigation overall, including source pages, room makeovers and renovations from start to finish. With the changes we’ve already made and the changes to come, we still want to know: How can we be better? How can we streamline the way you view our virtual home?

As always, thank you for reading, and happy weekend!

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Finding Your New Favorite Contractor

kitchen renovation: drawer hardware | pendant light | vintage rug (similar) | towel

As we begin the adventure of our own first floor bathroom renovation (yes, it’s finally happening!), it got us thinking about how lucky we are to have an amazing general contractor that we trust to work on our home with the same care he would give his own. Yup, we’ve ‘got a guy,’ and we trust him wholeheartedly, but it’s that winding road we took to find him that can start to wear anyone down. Choosing the right contractor is, in our opinion, one of the most important decisions a person or family can make as a homeowner. The right contractor can make home improvements that positively impact your home and the way you spend time in it, whereas the wrong contractor can make life, well, challenging – to say the least.

We’ve all heard horror stories about the contractor that took a deposit and never returned, stopped showing up to the job site, or did shoddy work that needed to be undone by another contractor at the homeowner’s expense. Prior to building a relationship with our long-term contractor, we’ve made a few mistakes, and have learned a few (hard) lessons along the way. Over the years, we’ve received more than a few requests to break down the process that led us to our long-term right-hand-man, and we’ve even touched on it before. Still, it’s one of our most requested nuggets of advice, and while I need to preface this by saying it will vary based on your project and location, we thought it was time for an update!

master bath renovation: mirror | vanity | drawer hardware | marble shelf | art

The Interview

We’re firm believers in the fact that hiring a contractor should be treated as a job interview – because it is a job interview. Your contractor and their team will be in and out of your home for days, weeks, or even months at a time depending on the scope of the work. We’ve landed on a handful of questions that we ask every potential contractor that we interview. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means, but is a great starting point to begin the conversation and mitigate surprises.

• How long have you been in business?

• Can you provide at least three local references? (Please call all of these references to learn about their experience!) *Bonus points if the references are for work similar to what you’re looking to accomplish, and double bonus points if the work was done on a home of similar vintage/construction to yours.

• Can you provide proof of license/insurance?

• Will you be on-site for the entirety of the job? If not, how often will you be checking progress in person?

• Will you be using your own team or will you be hiring subcontractors?

• How long do you estimate the project will take?

• When can you start? Keep in mind that a contractor that can start tomorrow may be a red flag! As a rule of thumb, in-demand contractors are usually busy. Makes sense, right?

• What are other things we should consider during the work we’re planning? i.e., upgrading electrical/plumbing while the walls are open, adding outlets, insulating exterior walls etc.

• When can we expect a written quote?

We feel that interviewing at least two to three contractors the first time around is a great starting point. We’ve found our favorite contractors through word-of-mouth, but sites like Yelp!, HomeAdvisor and the Better Business Bureau can also be good starting points. The interview process is intended to get a feel for how each contractor works, if they’re punctual, and how well they know homes of your vintage and/or construction. You’ll really need to trust your gut here. You should be able to build rapport with a potential contractor and feel confident in the answers they provide. It’s a good idea to take notes during this phase – and to make sure your candidates take notes as well!

Which brings us to…

The Quote

You should receive quotes in writing from each potential contractor. The quote does not necessarily need to outline every single item and bit of material, but it should absolutely note every portion of work in a way that everyone feels comfortable with! The quote is also a good indication of your contractor’s level of organization and professionalism. Chicken scratch numbers handwritten on loose-leaf paper can be a sign of disorganization and lack of effort, and yes, we’ve actually seen this in practice. Here are a few questions to consider during this phase, ensuring that all contractors are quoting on a level playing field:

How will materials be paid for and sourced? Is there a markup? Who will purchase the materials?

Who pays for and sources waste/debris removal, if necessary?

How are any necessary permits acquired and paid for?

Do you bill by the job or by the hour?*

*This should be obvious based on the quote. In most cases, we’re not huge fans of hourly rates and prefer to pay by the job. While not always the case, our experience has taught us that paying by-the-hour can demotivate the contractor to work as efficiently as possible. We do not want our contractors to rush, but we also want them to work in the most safely productive manner possible. We also want them to be compensated fairly for quality work. Like most things in life, you actually do get what you pay for.

laundry room renovation: sconce | stool | vanity | wallpaper

Once we’ve received all quotes (and eliminated contractors that don’t meet our standards or keep their word throughout the quoting process), we take the time to truly dissect and digest them. Are there any glaring price discrepancies between candidates? If so, why? Material, overhead, and labor costs don’t vary too widely between contractors, so vast price differences should be viewed with skepticism. One contractor that we’ve worked with (and loved) even offers in-house design services in which a designer will visit material suppliers with the homeowner to aid in making decisions on finishes. This obviously comes at a premium and isn’t a service that we’d utilize, but could prove helpful for those uncertain of their options! That said, your own level of need should be considered strongly here. Contractors should be given an opportunity to bid fairly based on the expectations you’ve set out.

After we’ve decided on which contractor we’d like to hire, we ask our final question in this category, which is: Do you offer a cash discount? You should ask this with the assumption that no discount will be provided, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised on several occasions! It may be small – maybe 3-5%, or whatever rate they’d be charged if you paid by credit card – but it’s in your best interest to ask this at the very end, so that your potential contractor isn’t keeping this in mind while writing your quote.

Now that a quote has been accepted, its time for…

The Contract

Yes. You should sign a contract and put everything in writing. Every time, for every job. This can be provided by the contractor and they shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that you’ve requested a written agreement. We’ve found that while some great contractors are, you know, great at what they do, they might not be the best businesspeople. So if for any reason they’re unwilling to sign a contract – move on! But if they’re willing to sign but don’t have one that they use, make your own.

The contract acts as the outline and road map for the work and ensures that all parties agree on the expectations of the work. If something should happen to go south, the signed contract is the legal document proving that one party didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. So, again, it’s pretty important! This is also the time to lay out a payment schedule, as well as any unique requests or rules in writing. For example, ‘work to begin by 8am every morning and may not continue past 4pm’ or ‘contractors only to enter and exit home through back door,’ etc.

garden kitchen renovation: drawer + finger pulls | sconce | faucet

The Work

This is the fun part! Once you’ve interviewed, chosen, and signed a contract with the contractor you feel the most comfortable with, they’ll begin on the agreed upon date! Yesss!

The first time we work with any contractor, we like to have debriefs at the beginning and end of each work day to talk about the goals for the day (am) and to review the work that was completed and talk about the plan for the next day (pm). Remember, open and honest communication is key. If things are progressing well and the pace and quality of work are meeting expectations, the contractor should hear about it! If things are not moving as expected or work is not being completed as agreed upon in the quote and/or contract, the contractor should be made aware immediately. This could save potential expense and hassle for everyone – like if a light switch isn’t in the exact place you’d like it while the walls are still open, the remedy could be as simple as loosening a couple of screws and moving the switch box. If this wasn’t brought up until the final walkthrough, this scenario could result in drywall and finish repairs that could take days (and additional expenses!) to complete. Talk early and often, but be mindful of everyone’s time. Trust us, contractors appreciate this.

Once the work is complete, the final step is a walkthrough involving all parties. At this point, a ‘punch list’ may need to be created to itemize any remaining details or finishing touches. A timeline for completion should be put in place and the contractor will be given final payment upon completion.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that contractors are people. People with varying degrees of technical ability, communication skills, pricing structures, work ethics and personalities. People that will probably grow to love your dog as much as you do by the end of the job, and people that will always give the kitty a good chin scratch. All of these factors come into play when a contract is signed to exchange hard-earned money for services on an agreed-upon timeline. The selection of a contractor is personal. We’ve had really, really bad experiences with sketchy contractors, but we’ve eliminated the bad ones and learned lessons. We now have a go-to contractor for each of our home’s mechanical systems as well as a GC that’s practically family at this point, and we generally only have to make one phone call when we need assistance. It’s been a lot of work to get to this point, but all of the effort was worth it!

master bedroom renovation: linen bedding | vintage chair | velvet pillow | sconce

As always, these are our our experiences, and circumstances differ greatly based on more variables than we can count. Do your homework, trust your gut, and make informed decisions. Finding a contractor will certainly prove to be an investment in time and resources, but so is your home – and we think it deserves nothing less!

What would you add? What other questions do you have? Leave your own experiences or questions in the comments, and let’s be a resource for one another.

Repairs, New Hardware + Paint for the French Doors

How to repair and paint French Doors | via Yellow Brick Home

A favorite feature of our little Tree House is the set of French doors that separate our master bedroom from the main living space. Based on what we can determine from an old photo attached to our water utility account (which was actually quite the surprise, we need to share that with you!), the bedroom was a former screened-in porch. It was fully enclosed and insulated some time in the mid-90’s to create our current bedroom, and we’ve since replaced the old plywood floors with more Douglas fir, helping to make it feel more intentional with the rest of our home.

But back to those doors! The doors were in pretty solid structural shape, but the weathered former exterior hardware made it fairly difficult to keep them closed and latched properly when Lucy needed dark and quiet to sleep, while the adults wanted to stay up and have fun. The doors (and hinges, and parts of the hardware) had also been painted a few different shades of white-ish and beige tones over the years, so they weren’t winning any points in the style department, either. This is how they looked prior to going in for surgery – not glaringly terrible from the living room when closed, but the bedroom side was a different story altogether:

While we do love the look of the hardware that we inherited with the house (that is, once it’s been freshly boiled and cleaned up), we were thwarted in all of our efforts to find functional matching parts to create a perfect pair, which was our goal. We scoured several vintage and architectural salvage shops and finally threw in the towel when we realized we were spinning our wheels. We ultimately decided to go with vintage reproductions, but we bagged up the old hardware and tucked it in our closet for safe keeping. Not all of the hardware in our home matches, but we can always pull from the bag if we’d like to swap a knob or need to replace a part elsewhere!

Beyond the mis-matched hardware and paint, we were also dealing with a CC-sized missing pane of glass, which made for an easy escape hatch any time she decided that the doors should no longer do the work of containing her. A quick aside – we didn’t actually realize the panel was missing until our first night sleeping at the house. We brought the dogs’ bed into the room and pulled the doors shut before heading to sleep. We were baffled to wake up in the morning to find the doors still latched, but CC on the other side of the door. We looked at each in disbelief until CC poked her head through the hole as if to say, g’morning, guys! CC had decided that she couldn’t be held back by mere physical barriers and – up until this past week! – we’d been stuffing a pillow into the opening ever since. Never again, CC! *wink*

These doors have been waiting for their makeover for long enough! We set aside three days to complete the job (doors are no joke), and we completed the job in two. We’re calling that a big win.

Tools + Supplies Used

Chisels of varying sizes
Hammer (for chisels)
Phillips head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Putty knife
Durham’s rock hard water putty (and water to mix)
Drill
3/4″ Spade bit for drill (to make quick work of mortise pockets if not already present)
Painter’s tape
2″ Angled paint brush
4′ Foam mini paint roller and tray
Orbital sander with 220 grit sandpaper
a pair of ORB interior handlesets (1 x privacy, 1 x dummy)
4 x Ball-tip door hinges

What We Did:

We started the project by removing all of the hardware to assess the condition of the doors themselves.

The mortise that came with our new privacy handleset was sliiightly larger than the outgoing unit, so we carefully chiseled out an extra 1/8″ of material on the top and bottom of the mortise pocket. The strike plate also had a slightly different shape and thickness, so we also used our chisel set to enlarge the opening slightly.

Prior to starting the project, we measured the CC opening and had a pane of glass cut at Lowe’s. We then lightly caulked the glass into place and then trimmed the opening out with matching 3/4″ trim and a couple of 1″ finish nails.

We weren’t terribly concerned with how the new glass and trim looked at this point, because after a quick bead of caulk and a coat of paint, we knew it would look seamless! Caulk is the secret sauce that holds old houses together, we’re sure of it.

Because these are no longer exterior doors, we were ready to say goodbye to the deadbolt – but that means we were left with a large, gaping hole! After scouring online woodworking forums to determine the best way to fill the hole, we ended up using a hole saw to cut a near-perfect plug from a scrap 2×4, and I gently tapped it into place. One long finish nail through the edge of the door and into the plug held everything firmly in place, which brought us to here:

On the opposite door, the deadbolt latch left behind this cut out:

But not to worry! We mixed up a small batch of this putty – a product highly recommended on the forums, and now we can see why! – to a toothpaste consistency and filled the gaps from the old hardware as smoothly as possible. Durham’s is a powder, and it can be mixed to whatever thickness you need. And since it stays dry as long as the lid is on properly, it never goes bad!

The putty was the perfect filler around the deadbolt and old backplates, but we didn’t go crazy – old pocks and chips are a part of the charm, we think. While the putty dried (the yellow areas below), we took time to tape off each window pane individually. We knew The results wouldn’t ever be 100% perfect, since there are about 90 years of paint layers stacked on top of one another, but we find taping things off prior to painting is always faster than trying to scrape off all the excess after the fact. (To be honest, we wished we had FrogTape on hand!)

The next day, we removed the doors from the hinges, then removed the hinges from the door frames.

The oil-rubbed bronze hardware we chose will start off looking almost like a matte black powder coat, but as they’re exposed to natural oils from use, they’ll gradually wear to reveal a lighter brass/bronze finish underneath. It’s a fun process to observe, but happens over many years and hundreds, if not thousands of touches. The hardware in our Chicago kitchen is the same finish and has just stared to show some beautiful wear patterns on the more frequently used handles.

The new hinges were the exact same size as our old hinges, but with the opposite screw pattern. That’s an easy fix; I marked them all and drilled tiny pilot holes to allow the screws to bite properly into the aging wood, and I did the same thing to the doors.

Once the putty was completely dry, we gently sanded all of the patched areas to a smooth surface, and we were ready for paint! Using Valspar Ultra White paint in a satin finish, Kim used her favorite angled stubby brush to brush the grilles and followed up the flat areas with a 4″ foam mini roller to cover each door in three sequential coats. While she had the supplies out, she even went on a bit of a painting streak and was able to put a few coats onto the exterior of the guest room and bathroom doors as well! She’s a painting machine, I tell ya! Tip: Pull the painter’s tape off while the paint is still wet. If doing multiple coats, peel after the final coat, but don’t wait too long between coats (no more than an hour – tops).

More than once, we debated between white and black paint for these doors, but decided that the ‘rule’ for the house would be that all exterior windows and doors would be painted black and all interior doors would be painted white. This allows the interior to flow more seamlessly and remain cohesive. The black finish on our exterior windows and doors frames our view to the outside nicely.

That evening was spent scraping off small bits of paint, installing the handlesets and shining up all the glass. Aaand, the doors were done! We love how the ORB knobs and hinges tie into our matte black bed frame and the living room light fixture.

Below, you can see that formerly missing glass panel on the bottom left. No more CC mystery escapes! It’s obviously impossible to convey in photos, but this new hardware is incredibly solid and heavy. It gives the doors a hefty weight that was formerly lacking. Everything feels like it’s always been there – just how we like it.

The doors! They match! Sorry if you’re feeling stuck now, Jackson McDogg.

This project was truly a labor of love – we happily spent two full days on a pair of doors that we feel deserved it. The meticulous chiseling (while wearing a nerdy headlamp to see what I was doing, mind you), hole-filling, taping, and painting have restored these former exterior doors to full interior glory.

We’ve kind of, sort of kicked around the idea to complete replace the identical set of doors at the back of the house in favor of a set of sliding French doors similar to those in our Chicago kitchen, mostly for ease of use out to the fire pit and a more open view. But now? Now we’re second guessing ourselves. Do we restore those doors using the same hardware as well? (Kim thinks yes.) We’ll need to figure out some sort of screen door option, and they’ve seen a lot more wear from weather, but they’re worthy of love, too, don’t you think? Plus, they’d look pretty stunning painted black.

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Adding Recessed Lighting to Our Studio (+ How Much Does It Cost?)

how we added recessed lighting to our home office | via Yellow Brick Home

Time zones are a funny thing. (This is relevant, I swear!) Kim and I both grew up in Ohio near the western end of the Eastern time zone, which extended bright skies decently into the evening all throughout the winter months. Now that we’re in Chicago, which is near the eastern end of the Central time zone, the exact opposite is true; throughout December and January in Chicago, the sun sets around 4:30pm give or take a few minutes. If you’ve not experienced it yourself, looking out the window to darkening skies at 3:30pm and knowing that it’ll be pitch black in an hour can be a bit… demotivating.

Although the second story of our home receives natural light on all four sides, we needed more light! Couple that with a ceiling fan whose bulb had died and that hadn’t been used as an actual fan since we installed central AC last spring (as it turns out, a fan above a desk = paper everwhere). We knew it was time to brighten up our workspace with some recessed lighting and a different central light fixture. As a reminder, this is how our studio looked after its makeover two years ago:

Same dogs, slightly different mood. (Yes, they are truly this lazy.)

Choosing the new central light fixture was an easy decision. We wanted to keep the room symmetrical, so we ordered the same Conifer pendant, same finish, as the opposite end of the studio. Ours is the 24″ shade in oil rubbed bronze, and it casts warm, bright light that is perfectly diffused. The pendants are hunky and substantial. We’re in love all over again!

When it came time to decide on the can lights themselves, we wanted them to be easy for our contractor to install into the existing ceiling drywall to help cut down on mess and drywall repairs – and, subsequently, cost. The lights also needed to be dimmable LEDs, have a lighting temperature of around 2700k, and disappear into the ceiling as much as possible when not in use. We landed on these slim recessed lights and couldn’t be happier! When not in use, they’re virtually invisible.

We had 8 lights installed over the span of a 30′ room, which is the same number we have and enjoy in our living and dining rooms. According to online calculators, we certainly could have added at least two more, but when paired with our central fixtures, we love how many options are available to us for any mood!

While we were at it, we took the opportunity to install smart dimmers on both the recessed lights and pendant, adding further to our home automation setup. Our Wink based system now controls indoor and outdoor lights, window shades, and thermostats all through the Wink app on our phones or through Alexa voice control. We were admittedly skeptical about home automation at first, but now that we’ve been expanding our system for a couple of years, we are huge proponents. There is something oddly satisfying about saying “Alexa, trigger bedtime” and having all of our lights turn off and our shades lower in perfect sequence. Guys, are we in the future?

desk | chairs | credenza

so how much does a project like this cost?

I’ll begin with a quick reminder that every situation is unique. We had easy attic access directly above the studio space, so the lighting went in smoothly without any demolition. We also have a great, long-standing relationship with our contractor, and we try to pay in cash whenever possible to eliminate fees (for him) which allows him to provide us a lower rate. Labor prices also vary widely based on location.

All of that said, our total cost was around $1500, including the can lights, dimmers, electrical materials, and labor – but not including the cost of the pendant light, since that will vary for everyone based on their tastes.

We’re incredibly happy with the way the recessed lighting and new pendant brighten up the space and every corner of the room, all while keeping us motivated throughout the late afternoon – and into the evening when necessary! The added bonus of wifi control through the new smart dimmers allow us to dial in the perfect amount of light for working or relaxing at the end of the day. Take that, Central time zone!

PS: We continue to receive quite a few questions about the ins and outs of our home automation system and how everything works together. Is this something you’d like to read (or watch?) more about? Let us know and we’ll consider it for upcoming posts and/or videos! As always, we love your feedback. Thank you!

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The Weekender

White kitchen and mint green pocket door // via Yellow Brick Home

small light | soap pumps | butter bell | our kitchen | photo via GoochToo

This week has felt a lot like a bit of a catch-up after the absolutely insane weather we’ve been receiving! Most of the time, we were wondering what day of the week it was or how long we’d been wearing the same jammies. Despite a near-city-wide shutdown for a handful of days, we managed to squeeze in a family photo session with our friend Renee, host a small, cozy gathering with our neighbors for the Super Bowl, and finally – finally! – stretch our legs outside with a wet and soggy walk with Lucy + the pups. We hope you’ve stayed safe and warm, but at least there’s some good news: Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring! So, there’s that.

Let’s Meet!

One of our favorite parts of sharing our renovation journey with you is the sense of community and the we’re-all-in-this-togetherness that you bring. We always say that we have some of the smartest, most witty and creative readers (it’s true, we heart you!), and your feedback is a large part of what motivates us and keeps us going. The only downside to writing this blog, is that we rarely have the opportunity to see your cute faces, but this weekend, hopefully we will!

If you’re in the Chicagoland area, we’ve teamed up with Value City Furniture to design a tablescape with a ‘Dine In for Valentine’s Day’ theme (light on the blush tones, heavy on the moody black and lush greenery), and we’ll be hanging out at two of their locations to share those ideas and chat with you. Simply put, we would love to meet you! During the events, you’ll have a chance to win all the place settings (valued at $800, sneak peek below!) + a $100 UberEats gift card – oh, and everything in the store will be 10% off! Here’s when and where:

Saturday, 2/9: Value City Furniture, 49 W. North Avenue, Northlake, 3-5pm
Sunday, 2/10: Value City Furniture, 1015 E. Golf Road, Schaumburg, 1-3pm

What Else?

I consider Ashley to be my environmental guru (plus she’s just a really, really good human all around), and her recent breakdown of energy consumption was fascinating – especially as Scott and I are trying to be more mindful of our footprint every day. Also, this.

In our last Weekender, I shared Heather and Aaron’s dreamy all-black kitchen, but did you see that they painted the pantry hot pink? Hot. Pink.

It’s official. Gwen is the master of color!

Did you see this new Kids’ Collection? ‘Peace Out’ might be my favorite.

Every winter, I turn to this for the softest lips. My biggest tip? Use it in the shower to avoid the mess.

Last weekend, Scott set up a sitter for the evening so that we could celebrate 1 year of breastfeeding Lucy. I followed her lead and recently weaned her, and while I am so proud of myself for making it a whole year (honestly, my initial goal was to just give it a try at all!), I was feeling a little sad to lose that special time with her. We started with cocktails at The Violet Hour and followed that up with the yummiest dinner at Publican Anker. It was the best date night, and we always forget how cute and delicious those places are!

Speaking of food, I’ve got one word for you: Landbirds. I can’t stop, won’t stop raving about how good it is, and I bring it up at least once a day. Chicago friends, have you been? (Get the tiger sauce!)

Happy Friday, and we hope we’re lucky enough to meet you this weekend!

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Planning for Our Tree House Corner Banquette

Emily Henderson’s Griffith Park Sunroom

The future dining corner at Tree House is coming! The space that once held a faux brick fireplace surround-slash-wood-stove-combo has since been holding down a rickety plastic folding table and a set of 4 metal chairs – with a lot of, ahem, patina. But now, finally, it’s going to get its time in the spotlight. While we haven’t settled on materials or construction plans just yet, we wanted to bring everyone along on the journey through the design/build process and also probe the creative minds of our readers. You guys and gals always come through for us with incredible ideas and inspiration, for which we’re incredibly grateful.

This tiny corner space presents its own set of challenges, but it’s a bit of a return to our roots. We love a small space, and our former 650 square foot condo taught us a lot about fitting maximum functionality into minimum square footage, so we’ll be relying on some of those lessons here!

Dining Corner | Today

This corner of our Tree House isn’t photographed often because, well, it needs some attention. (Despite this, I can’t even begin to tell you how many meals we’ve eaten at that folding table, squeezed in tightly with adults, toddlers and babies alike. This corner is a workhorse!) The hand-me-down TV atop the alley find cabinet has served us okay as a placeholder (we’ve even watched a Super Bowl and the Oscars on that little guy!), but we certainly need a more permanent and attractive solution that will suit the space better. When we completed the baseboards in the rest of the room, we intentionally held off on this entire corner knowing that we’d be tackling the banquette project in 2019, and here we are!

When we toured our Tree House over a year and a half ago, we envisioned a built-in banquette nestled into the corner. We imagined the corner as the home’s heartbeat, a gathering hub for everything from lazy family breakfasts to warm, cozy holiday feasts. You may remember that we got a jumpstart on the corner by removing the non-functioning fireplace, repairing the floors and patching the drywall, but there were still two things fighting against us: 1) the loft ladder on its electric hoist and 2) the obvious space constraints of the room.

As we began our search for inspiration, we took notes, pinned ideas that we liked and bookmarked Instagram photos. Emily’s sunroom design below has been in Kim’s back pocket for a while now, and it’s the first photo that got us really excited about the possibilities!

Dining Corner | Inspiration 1

Similar to our inspiration image, we toyed with the idea of bolsters and molding for a built-in feel. But when we thought about how we could incorporate those ideas into our Tree House, we found ourselves gravitating towards something even more simple. Oddly enough, the space that we keep coming back to is a restaurant in our own neighborhood! Lonesome Rose, one of our favorite breakfast/taco/cocktail (in no particular order) spots, has a bright, airy vibe that draws you in and almost forces you to relax. We’re not always the best at shutting our work brains off, so forced relaxation is exactly what we’re working toward in our Michigan getaway.

Dining Corner | Inspiration 2

Although Emily’s design was where we started (and it served its purpose in getting us very excited), and Lonesome Rose is sort of where we are now, you can see that the journey from inspiration point A to inspiration point B can be, ultimately, drastically different! The banquette seating at Lonesome Rose is sturdy and comfortable with the just-right seatback angle. The natural wood finish ties into our kitchen and Tree House’s Michigandinavian theme. The cushions are simple and non-fussy, so Kim won’t be fighting the urge to fluff back pillows all day. While this design is almost perfect for our little corner, we have serious need for additional storage at Tree House, so we’ll be incorporating a flip-up seat with room for games, blankets, and extra linens. So, we came up with a wish list, which includes:

Seating for 8
Flip top bench storage
Accent lighting (i.e., a sconce or two)
Back support for additional comfort
A television and sound system on the wall – some way, somehow

Knowing that …

… We want to make our dining table from our tree.
… The ladder will restrict our table depth.
… We’ll need to utilize backless stools to tuck out of the way.
… This is the only wall for a television and sound system, but we also don’t want it to be an eyesore.

Challenge accepted?! We started by taping our estimated dimensions onto the walls and floor to ensure that we were on the right path. We’ve used this method for everything from gallery walls to rugs to furniture in the past. Kim and I are both very visual people, so it’s helpful to see how things will actually function in a particular space before pulling the trigger on a significant construction project or piece of furniture!

EDIT: We’ve received a lot of questions about the termination point of the bench seat below the window in the potential plans. The current end point below (under the left window opening mechanism) was chosen to align (roughly) with the long end of the future table. We thought the same thing, and we even originally taped out this end of the banquette to align with the edge of the window trim. We ultimately nixed the idea since this would result in the banquette extending at least 16″ past the edge of the table. We think this would make for an awkward point of entry into the bench seat and might look off-balance once the table is in place most of the time. We hope this helps to explain that thought process a little better, and we love all of your feedback! Thank you and please keep the input coming!

Dining Corner | The Sort-of Plan

Then we placed our folding table back into the corner to get a feel for things. The ladder is almost always in the UP position, but we need to ensure that there was ample clearance when it does need to come down for loft access.

For reference, our little plastic table is 24″ wide, so we’re pretty certain that a table of 30″ – 32″ wide will put us right in the sweet spot of allowing the ladder to safely lower, while also maximizing our surface area. Utilizing backless stools will allow for the widest-possible table depth while also providing versatile seating options that can be moved throughout the room!

Throughout the process, we’ve considered a variety of IKEA hacks, storage benches from all of our favorite furniture stores, and even the same Kraftmaid pull out drawers that we used in our recently renovated kitchen + mudroom, but it’s looking like a full custom plan is the only way we’ll be able to check all of our wish list boxes. We like the idea of raw wood protected in a matte varnish, but similar to our slim behind-the-sofa console, we’re leaning towards a white base.

We’re currently leaning toward a mix of plans that will pull elements from Addicted 2 Decorating, House Updated and Making Manzanita – among others. While none of those designs will fit our needs exactly, we’re confident that a Greatest Hits design that pulls portions from each will be our best option and give us a corner banquette with storage and a back and be attractive and welcoming!

And that? That just about brings us up to speed! Now, what are we missing? Are there other banquette designs or plans that we should be looking into? Have you built a banquette of your own? There’s still time for editing and tweaking, so we welcome all of the input and inspiration we can get!

Vlog: Our Favorite Vintage Furniture Shops In Chicago!

Our favorite vintage stores to shop for furniture in Chicago // via Yellow Brick Home

Let’s go on a thrifting adventure together! In this vlog, we’re taking you along with us while we browse some of our very favorite thrift, resale and salvage shops to find furniture and DIY supplies in Chicago. You guys, this one was hard to film, only because it could have been an additional hour long with at least a dozen more places we wished we had time to visit. While browsing, we showed a considerable amount of restraint – ha! – but we did end up purchasing the most beautiful hand carved vase (2:16) and an adorable bottle opener (12:00). We passed on a pair of caskets (yes, caskets – a pair!) and the most bizarre cabinet we’ve ever seen. Looking back, we’re kicking ourselves that we passed up the prettiest pink rug at Vintage Quest, and we’ve also confirmed our suspicions that Lucy needs her own craft table. (My heart!) Maybe not-so-surprisingly, it turns out that our girl seems to enjoy the thrill of the hunt as much as we do!

Salvage One

Dial M for Modern

Good D eal Garage

Chicago friends or frequenters, where do you like to shop secondhand – for furniture or otherwise? Leave your favorites in the comments so we can all discover a new-to-us resource! Note: If you’re viewing this in a reader, you may need to click over to the original post to view the video, or watch it on YouTube here.

Video Notes:

Best. Winter. Coat. Ever.
We share these hats in two colors (but I’m thinking we need a couple more?)
We use this camera + this stabilizer
Check out all of our vlogs on the blog or on YouTube!

Where We Go:

PS: Music is by ProleteR, and this vlog was filmed and edited by us, Kim + Scott. If you enjoy our vlogs, it’d sure make our day if you subscribed to our YouTube channel!

Pet Supplies That Actually Look Good In Your Home

Pet supplies that look great in your home! // Attractive pet products // via Yellow Brick Home

throw | table | sectional

We love pets. Old news, right, because we talk about it all the time? We love our pets, we love our friends’ pets, we love our families’ pets, and we’re pretty sure we’d love your pets if we were so lucky to meet them. Jack, CC, Libby, Maddie (RIP, sweet lady) and all of the furry critters we’ve loved throughout the years will always hold a place in our hearts. We seriously can’t imagine coming home to a house without an excited pup (or two) welcoming us in.

Pets do, however, require a lot of supplies that aren’t always the most attractive. We’ve received numerous reader requests for a roundup of nice looking pet supplies and – we assure you – they do exist! We searched high and low for items your pets need to eat, sleep, and play that will fit right into the style and mood that you’ve worked so hard to cultivate in your space. Simple and clean, or playful and silly, we’ve got your covered!

Of course, please keep in mind that different pets have different needs. Jack and CC, for example, require toys that can withstand their powerful chewing, so these black Goughnuts are the only items they won’t destroy in a matter of minutes! (And we have tried ev-er-y-thing.) As much as we’d love to toss them a hand-crocheted toy that looks like a cartoon taco, we know full well that we’d be wasting resources and creating a massive mess. We’ve categorized things by cat and dog below, and many of these items would support a small business maker! So go forth, and keep it cute.

cat | eat

cat | sleep

cat | play

dog | eat

dog | sleep

dog | play