Pepper Design Blog - Page 228 of 358 - A Little of This & That... Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

Office Makeover: More Demo and a Neat Find

January 5, 2011

First, thank you to everyone for your kind comments about our growing family! It’s been so neat and encouraging to read your supportive words and suggestions from the past week.

Besides a restful and wonderful Christmas break, these past two weeks have been a whirlwind between our most recent house projects, family in town and that anxious when-will-we-meet-baby feeling!

And to keep busy (above and beyond my actual work), I’ve had too much fun planning the new spaces and pulling together inspiration boards for what these rooms might be… but before any designing can get underway, the rooms have to be, well, rebuilt.

I last left you with this lovely image of our soon-to-be guestroom/office (here’s the lovely 70s wood paneled before post):

Demo Guestroom, Office, DIY, Home Makeover Project

Oh boy. We bit off a big chunk of home makeover.

Just to be sure that this room was well partitioned off from the rest of the house (aka dust, debris and the like could stay contained) in anticipation for Baby Spenla’s arrival, we blocked off the space just before Christmas. And then the rest of the house received a thorough cleaning to welcome in incoming family from out of town.

PS Do you see those great doors? More to come… but we found this pair in a local San Diego neighborhood full of beautiful Spanish homes, and the original owner was throwing them away! So of course we scooped up this set as well as a larger pair to refinish for our little Spanish bungalow. You can’t beat the craftmanship of original doors and we saved ourselves a bundle with this find.

But first a peak inside the room…

Demo Guestroom, Office, DIY, Home Makeover Project

Yes! Are you noticing that wallpaper too? We revealed a real gem under the paneling when it was torn off. This must be original to the 1930s interior decor of the home and I seriously wish I had the power to scrape it off the wall and save it.

Demo Guestroom, Office, DIY, Home Makeover Project

It’s covered in little medicine jars, mixing bowls, weighing scales – even pineapples! It’s the neatest find – but don’t worry, it’s not staying.

And as the baby gives us more time to finish this makeover, we’ll continue to work on it. How wonderful would it be to have a completed office/guestroom before more family arrives later this month?

Meanwhile, I’m a week over due and I’ve received the official baby-must-be-out orders from the midwife by January 11, or it’s induction time. Kevin potentially has t-minus 7 days to drywall, plaster and add flooring to the new space, but knowing him it’s definitely doable (and even if Baby S graces us with his/her arrival sooner – which we would LOVE! – the room will most definitely be finished in its due time, no pun intended).

Lowe’s Air Purifier Giveaway!

January 3, 2011

Kevin and I have heard from countless friends how important it is to have an air purifier in the nursery, and that this item alone can cut down on airborne allergens such as dust, mildew, pollen and pet hair (our Bodie sheds a TON) to keep baby happy and healthy.

We were thrilled when Lowe’s offered to gift us with an air purifier from their new line of Idylis models to test out in the space, especially after learning that each unit contains a HEPA filter that removes up to 99.97% of airborne particles that aggravate sensitive allergies (for the nursery or any room in the house)!

The best part? They’re gifting one of these babies to a reader as well!

Air Purifier, Lowe's, Pepper Design Blog, giveaway, Nursery, Small, Clean Air

Our home was built in the 1930s and while we do our best to keep it in tip top shape, there’s little that we can control when it comes to old house syndrome. With a baby on the way, indoor air quality has suddenly shot to the top of the list and we’ve invested in recent updates to our ventilation system by adding a furnace and ac unit (I can’t believe we’ve been living without the beauty of heat for the past 2 1/2 years!).

The easiest update (and cheapest by far, a big thank you to Lowe’s) was adding the Idylis Small Room Air Purifier to the nursery, which sufficiently covers 194 sq ft of space and needs a filter replacement only once every 18 months (check out this neat air purifier comparison chart), and we’re so happy with it!

Air Purifier, Nursery, Pepper Design Blog, Stream lined, Clean Design, Allergies

The size is perfect for a little nook in the nursery and the unit creates only a soft purr when on (super quite and the bit of background white noise will actually aid babe in sleeping better).

Here are all of the fancy specs:

-For rooms up to 194 square feet
-Dimensions: 24.0″ (H) x 11.9″ (W) x 10.4″ (D)
-HEPA filtration removes 99.97% of airborne particulates
-125 CADR Rating
-Convenient filter change indicator
-LED display
-Simple electronic controls
-Quiet performance
-Carbon pre-filter effectively removes odor and larger airborne particles
-Innovative flat front panel for a streamlined, easy-to-clean design

This unit isn’t built specifically for nurseries though, it’s perfect if you have killer allergies like me, pets in the house or just prefer cleaner and fresher air in any space (I’m thinking of investing in one for the office as well).

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Giveaway: Lowe’s is giving away a Small Room Air Purifier to a lucky reader (valued at $150 including tax and shipping).

To Enter: Since we’re big fans of DIY projects (and Lowe’s is our kind of store) share your most recent (or upcoming) home project! I know you must have some good ones on that New Year’s Resolution List…

For Additional Entries: Become a fan of PDB on Facebook and be sure to leave a separate comment to share that you currently are or just added Pepper Design Blog!

Giveaway ends Friday, January 7 at midnight PST, winner will be chosen randomly and announced the following day. Good luck!

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Master Bedroom: A Good Place to Pause

January 1, 2011

Hope you had a wonderful New Year’s Eve! I can’t believe 2011 has found us and is already underway… it seemed like 2010 just flew by. We’re up to our eyebrows in projects over here and working to wrap up bigger undertakings such as the new kitchen, office and nursery. Before we jump into those, a quick update on our bedroom.

Our master bedroom is not complete but I’m happy to say that we’ve pulled it together to a place that Kevin and I are both happy with and both enjoy.

Since we are on baby watch and expecting any day now, the room will have to stay as is until the storm that is about to be our crazy lives settles down… but we did manage to pull the new rug, new mirror and diy curtains together to create a space that is relaxing and comfortable – especially after a busy day!

Master Bedroom Renovation, decoration, inspiration, DIY, patterned rug, before and after, design, sunburst mirror, tall mirror, oversize mirror, over-sized mirror, white curtains, valencia bed pottery barn

Up next for this little room includes a light fixture update, wall artwork and photos, a new nightstand (currently hunting down a small one to fit that narrow space!) and incorporating more color to add that ‘pop’.

A run down of resources so far: the sunburst mirror is a Michael’s find, the rug is from Overstock.com, the bed from Pottery Barn (but found by us on Craigslist), the duvet and sheets from Garnet Hill, the pillow cases by Calvin Klein, the knit throw pillow from West Elm on sale, the bamboo shades were found at Lowe’s, the over-sized mirror from the clearance section at Lowe’s, and the reading light and curtains are from Ikea.

Master Bedroom Renovation, decoration, inspiration, DIY, patterned rug, before and after, design, sunburst mirror, tall mirror, oversize mirror, over-sized mirror, white curtains, valencia bed

The opposite side of the room is waiting for its big reveal… but there are a few missing puzzle pieces here and there that should fill in shortly. We did salvage a very neat occasional chair for the corner next to the tall mirror that I’ll share about as soon as it gets some more diy love (you can see it poking its boxy frame out above).

Here’s the before we moved in shot:

Gotta love that maroon carpet and the bars on the outside windows. We originally had the room in a configuration close to the above, with the bed against the right wall and the dresser under the window, but by switching it up we gained a large amount of space unexpectedly. Sometimes all it takes is moving around furniture to create a fresh, new feel.

We’ve made a minor modification for Baby S as well, he/she will be joining us at night and for naps in a new co-sleeper that slips just beside our bed.

co-sleeper, cosleeper

Makes it easy for momma and baby to ‘co-sleep’ without actually sharing bed space. I love the idea behind co-sleeping but know that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep worrying about the safety of little one in our bed (and I love the idea of not having to get up out of bed in the wee hours to retrieve a hungry baby from a bassinet or crib).

And about that missing side table… do let me know if you spot anything on the narrow side out there (it’s tempting to say we can survive without night stands but the pile of books, etc at the head of the bed is getting pretty bad!). I’m thinking a skinnier pedestal table like this one might be neat?