This house in DC, showcased in House Beautiful last month, rings back so many happy memories of years spent living there…in my 20s!  Spending an afternoon strolling through Georgetown and just staring at the beautiful row houses imagining who lives there and the wonderful histories of these places.   The combination of grey, white, black and green is stunning.

There are some sweet shots of the inside of the house too…  The perfect idea of traditional modern.  We have three old fireplaces in our house and one of them definitely needs to be updated.  I love the look of the white fireplace surround and the historic brick.

And I’m just going to continue to admire the look of this little vignette for now.  It will be a few more years before the preschool age children can live in a house with delicately placed books and artwork.

Is there a coffee table book of historic DC homes?  I think I need one!  Or will that just make me want to move back to Q street?

We are finally settling into Quail Hill and one of the most transformative things we’ve done to the new house is paint…and paint some more.  The colors here were all over the place from green to yellow to mauve.  Seeing past all of that to the grey, white, and blue we’re finally seeing some ‘light’!  The dining room is nearly complete.  Just waiting on the furniture.  It’s come a long way.

The before…the crazy mauve complete with random stuff and a kids table sitting here from our move.  The old owners used this room as a family room but we’re turning it back into a dining room – or dining hall as a good friend termed it – so we can host some crazy big dinner parties.

Progress!

And done!  We went with Sherwin Williams Needlepoint Navy for the blue on the fireplace.  Obviously still awaiting some lighting fixtures and furniture (key item right)?

Thibault wallpaper magic.

It’s so good…

Over the past 7 years that we’ve owned our house we’ve spent a lot of time and money on creating a backyard oasis in the middle of urban Pittsburgh.  From the patio that we built by hand to all of the perennials culled from our parents’ gardens it is finally beginning to feel established.  And it’s looking SO good this year in particular.

We finally decided to have a deck built over an old concrete set of steps that were a total tripping hazard for kids and adults alike…too many spilled or broken glasses of wine happened here.  I also decided that the air conditioning unit was not such a lovely new addition to the yard (although much needed in the house every summer) so our contractor devised a mock-shed.  The deck and shed still need to be stained but so far, so good!

Our new door leading from the kitchen to the backyard is nothing short of awesome.  For years we had an old door that opened inward (barely scraping by our kitchen counter) and I had always dreamed of a glass door that would open outward into the yard.  It’s as great as I imagined it would be (minus the little two year old handprints that frequently decorate the door).  The additional light that it lets into the kitchen and the ability to see the kids playing while we are inside cooking makes the new addition worth every penny.

Green thumb I am not but somehow plants and vegetables seem to thrive without much attention!

Gardening Support:  The Simple Gardener, Pittsburgh PA

Construction/General Contractor:  Rich Hughes Construction, Pittsburgh PA

I was perusing Instagram yesterday and saw my dream home.  A designer that I follow happened to post a picture of a house in the Boston area that I couldn’t stop looking at…over and over again.  The setting, the wraparound front porch, the second story patio, the gorgeous landscaping, and what looks like the perfect mix of new home with ‘old home’ elements.  And it’s grey and white…my absolute favorite color combination.  Now how to get a peek at the inside of this house?  My imagination tells me that there’s a great kitchen/living room open concept, a large master suite, and really cute kids’ rooms or an attic office on the third floor.  But the real gem is that wraparound porch…complete with rocking chairs and a glass of wine.  

As soon as March hits each year I get the urge to update something…paint, reorganization of furniture, or new projects to update our nearly 100 year old house.

This year the projects have been a little more extensive than usual.  New landscaping for the front yard, a brand-new kitchen door, the backsplash that I have wanted to put in since we remodeled our kitchen seven years ago and a deck and set of stairs off of the kitchen.  The latter being the most important in the grand scheme of things.  The concrete steps that we had before were a kid and wine glass hazard!

Starting with the kitchen before and afters…other updates in posts to come.

Kitchen Before

I still love our kitchen which we had gutted and remodeled when we moved in.  The white cabinets, black countertops, and slate floors remain timeless but i always wanted a backsplash.  After considering marble, a glass and marble mix (that ended up being shockingly expense), and ceramic we ended up going with the marble…and it’s perfect.

The after…the kitchen feels complete.

Tile from Tile & Designs in Pittsburgh.