Master Bathroom and Closet - Modern Vacation House

Unless my absolute love for Ikea hasn't come across yet, the master bathroom and closet are going to make it pretty clear:)

In the closet, we built in the Pax closet system on each side, and designed the space so it's wide enough for a crib to fit under the window when we have the new baby in the spring.

Yes, I do realize that we don't have any window treatments in here, we will be ordering a roller shade of some kind before the summer, but for now, we just change in the bedroom. See below for the window in the shower!



The bathroom has 2 Ikea vanities with integrated sinks in high gloss grey, coordinating Ikea faucets, and West Elm sconces.

The mirrors are also from West Elm (similar to this one but a LOT taller). We used leftover tiles from one of my husband's commercial projects, so I didn't have any say in floor or wall tiles, except to add a small strip on mosaic tile in the shower. Leftover tile = free tile = no other choice. This is the same frugal husband who insisted on driving a Uhaul of our furniture up and moving in ourselves (while I was pregnant), so it's not surprising!

Jessica

Master Bedroom in progress - Modern Vacation House

Yup, it's in progress.

A long way from the mattress on the floor, but still missing lamps, a dresser, artwork... but with an adorable bird tchotchke on the nightstand:)

So let's focus on the good/done parts, shall we?




Bed from Restoration Hardware, the grayson leather sleigh bed in antique ebony. Sierra nightstands from Crate and Barrel. Hide rug from Joss and Main (a long time ago). Curtains are velvet from Ikea, on the industrial pipe rods from West Elm. Plus all the bedding is from West Elm.

View looking down the hallway towards the bathroom... progress shots of the bathroom and closet coming Thursday.

Jessica

Ikea Kitchen Reveal- Modern Vacation House

Yes, you really can have an amazing kitchen all kitted out from our favorite yellow and blue superstore. Cabinets, pulls, appliances, sink and faucet, even the countertop (although we added the waterfall detail to make it look a million times better).



My favorite things?

The enormous island. It's over twelve feet long, and done in Caesarstone, which is super easy to maintain. We chose the organic white color, which has just enough movement to be interesting, without getting too grainy, one of my least favorite looks in quartz products.



The waterfall detail at the ends, just make it look modern and custom, and from the back it isn't screaming "IKEA!", which is something that can happen very quickly if you just buy everything in one spot.



Speaking of looking like you live in a showroom, we chose birdsnest pendants from Serena and Lily for above the island and bright orange Tabouret stools from Overstock to bring some texture and color to the all white kitchen.

We also brought in some orange and pink dish towels, a large brass leaf platter to hold fruit, and a few accessories from Target to bring color into the space/actually hold things on our counters.



Plus, we had to have another Nespresso machine for my husband's daily cup o' cappuccino, so we opted for an orange one to bring the whole thing together. Here is the view "through" the kitchen to our built in dining nook.

Dining nook close up. We had the contractor build in a bench of walnut veneer (plywood), and a table with steel C-channel legs and a zinc top.

The deep drawers that just hold so much more than cabinets do. At home we also keep our dishes in lower drawers so the system works really well for us, and Ikea has drawer dividers and plate stackers that help keep everything in place.



Here is the view over the island back into our living room and out to the forest beyond.

The master bedroom, bath and closet reveals are coming next week!

Jessica

Great Room Reveal- Choosing a Color Scheme for a Modern Vacation House

I was just reading a post about deciding how you want a space to make you feel, and working from there. In our vacation house we knew we wanted walls of glass, a "glass box in the woods" if you will, and simple, clean, modern lines inside.

Coming from our architecture backgrounds we knew this could easily lead us to an all-white color scheme, which was NOT what I wanted at all. The forest outside is so beautiful with all those green leaves, brown, textured trunks, white snow (in winter), and bright blue sky, that I wanted something to compliment the outside, which is so much the focus of the main room.



So, so many homes in the mountains go for a traditional mountain or woodsy vibe with dark colors, leather, wood paneling, low lights, and we also knew we didn't want that look either. The now-commonplace strategy is to go for a mountain modern vibe, which combines both the mountain greens, browns and taupes with the "modern" elements like metal accents or white walls. For us, this also fails far too often and we knew we needed to go a different direction.



Enter our chosen color palette of white walls, neutral big pieces (sofa, counters, cabinets) and pops of bright red, orange and pink. We went the other way, traveling across the color wheel to find the complimentary colors to the outdoors, and I think the end result is perfect for us! Even the toys and books are playing nicely within the color scheme:)

Still plenty of clean lines, the throws on the couch are neutrals that just layer and add texture without screaming at you, and the throw pillows are accents, not bright patterns. Of course the red rag poufs in the middle are a bit louder, but I think they are nicely balanced by the surrounding sofa, and most importantly for us, our kids ADORE them, and will sit semi-quietly on them and watch TV while we drink tea, talk, or enjoy a glass of wine with friends.

Couch is the Reese sectional from Room and Board, hide rug from Joss and Main, red rag rug poufs from West Elm, Oliver chairs from West Elm, toy storage from Land of Nod, TV console is the Frasier media console from Pottery Barn (now discontinued), throws and pillows from Target and West Elm.

This color scheme totally carries through in the kid bathroom, and then starts to be a bit more specialized in the bedrooms where we happily cater to each child's needs, and my own need to not wake up in a bright red room, when all I want in life is a blue and white bedroom, much to my husband's constant regret:)

All those room reveals are coming up, so keep coming back! I think I'm on a Tuesday-and-Thursday schedule, which seems to balance being an actual/active/pregnant mom-of-three and having a life off of the computer:)

Jessica

Best Kid Books ages 4-6

Here are our current favorites for the 4 year old boy and 6 year old girl in our family:

 Because how can you go wrong with American Girl dolls? OK, don't answer that, it all starts with a *doll* that is $110, but beyond that, I love the books, historical characters, and age appropriate writing. When I was little I had Molly, so we read about the rationing and victory gardens of World War II, and my sister had Samantha, so we read about the Victorian era, embroidery, gloves, and good manners.

 

Easy readers that aren't so annoying you'll want to shoot yourself after the first time through.

The book, Everyday Machines is great, although out of print. Anything that explains how things work is awesome, and the illustrations in this one are both mind-bendingly awesome, and detailed.

Far and away, our son's favorite book. Who wouldn't love a detailed and illustrated account of how to build a medieval cathedral? We know discuss flying buttresses, gargoyles, and double vaulted ceilings with regularity. Other books by this author are equally fabulous,  comes to mind as a current, bridge, dam, and tunnel building fave.

What are your kids reading?

Jessica

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Let's Talk Baby Stuff

I've been pinning up a storm on an until-now-secret board.


Follow Jessica Stay At Home-ista All Things Baby on Pinterest


Welcome to my world, where pinning, and pining (you know, pining over things), can take over. The main downside I can see is that with 3 current kids, and their STUFF, there isn't much I need. Actually, scratch that, there isn't anything I need except diapers, but there are a few things I'd really like to have this go round.

Top on my list? A nice hospital recovery gown, cute nursing bras, a new diapr changer (mine are peeling and gross and 6 years old!), a winter coat (I purchased on on Black Friday!), and small updats to the nursery.

Anything you would recommend as an "extra"? I'm all about the extras since I own clothes for both genders, 2 cribs, sheets, blankets, toys, and stuff to take me up to age 7:)

Jessica

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

One day after last year's rainbow birthday party, my older kids informed me that for their little sister's *next* birthday, it should be Minnie Mouse themed. Because, how else do you come up with a theme, than by soliciting advice from the older sibs?

The cupcakes above were my morning-of decision. Got to love Pinterest and the internet, when I decided that being in the throws of morning sickness and attempting to make a cake shaped like Minnie Mouse was WAY too hard. Cupcakes with Oreo "mouse ears"? Easy peasy lemon squeezy as the first graders are saying.

The far away grandma even came in for a visit! Also note the Minnie Mouse t-shirt from Target, that's about as themed as I was willing to get this year!

Oh, but them my hubby found Minnie and Mickey apple juices at the store, so extra blogger/mommy points! We served bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, fruit and cupcakes. Super easy.

The big sister, who was actually willing (and happy) to wear mouse ears!

And there is our 2 year old before she demolished that cupcake!

Jessica

Moving Day

My husband and I decided (mostly him here), to move ourselves into our vacation house. I was 5 1/2 months pregnant, so I had no desire to load a Uhaul, drive my car up, and unload. Although look how cute our 4 year old looks?

I had been hoarding/collecting items for the house for a year, creating first piles in our mudroom closet,

then in our coat closet,

and finally filling most of the mudroom.

I am a total Type-A mover, list-maker, packer, and budgeter. So I tracked all of the purchases on an excel spreadsheet. Then when we got to the cabin, I knew we had everything from beds to sheets to plates to a whisk:) The kitchen counter looked like this for about an hour, and then it was all put away. I LOVE unpacking without small children clinging to me!

A few more moving pics.

Our bedroom. The bed wasn't delivered yet, so we "camped" on the floor. As long as I had my TempurPedic mattress, I was happy.

The bunkroom mid-bunkbed install.

Our daughter's room.

More complete before and after pics coming soon!

Jessica

It's OK to hate being pregnant

Or to love it. But for me, it's mostly the hate side of the coin.

That's me looking semi-adorable heading to a wedding.

It doesn't mean you hate your little one. Or that they will be awful, angry, crying, bad sleepers. It just means that for some people this whole growing-a-baby-inside-you thing isn't very much fun. Or *any* fun at all.

Conversely, if you love being pregnant, don't expect that to mean that you will breeze through labor and delivery, and that you will have a straight-from-heaven baby who sleeps through the night.

These things aren't at all correlated.

The best I can offer, is that being pregnant is just the first stage of your baby's life, and as you will surely learn soon after birth, each stage has it's ups and downs, and the only certain thing is that the stage will pass and a new one will take it's place.

So I'm hoping you fall into the slightly-nauseous-for-3-months category, rather than the elite sick-as-a-dog-the-entire-time category that I find myself in. Again. At least I'm not surprised:)

Jessica