Must Shop Home Brand- Bungalow 5

There are some brands out there that can’t do wrong- Bungalow 5 is one of those.  I have been browsing their site day dreaming about pieces I can use for our future basement reno.  If you haven’t heard of them chances are you have seen their pieces.  They are at the top of every decorators list and are often found at the chicest design stores around town.

What I love about their furniture-

1. Color- they are not afraid to have fun with bold colors
2. Unique Designs- their designs are refreshing, they challenge the norm and standout in the space
3. Details- clearly they love the details.  Every piece they offer has something that stands out -whether it be the color, material or design element.  They focus on every detail and make each piece standout.

Have I convinced you to check them out?  Dying to know where you can buy Bungalow 5?  While you can’t purchase directly from their site you can easily find a retail near you that sells their product.  For my friends on the South Shore I have found great pieces at Delicious Designs in Hingham, MA.

Now that I told you how much I love Bungalow 5 here are some of my favorite pieces –

Parsons Black Coffee Table-

While black is not my go to color there is something so sleek about this coffee table.  I love the idea of having black/ white/ grey/ orange in our basement and this would be the perfect table for the sitting area.  Plus, it’s grasscloth- can it get any better than that??

Nantucket Side Table, White- 

For me this is the table that started my love for Bungalow 5.  Starting with the traditional Chippendale Chinoiserie design and the functional multiple levels of storage…amazing!  The perfect side table for a bedroom or living room- plus I always love a good lacquered white table.

 

Hourglass Stool/ Side Table- 

If you are in the market for an easy but great looking side table, look no further.  The Hourglass side table comes in the best colors- I am loving this orange option- and will work in any room

Claire Mirror, Navy Blue-

I have a thing for great mirrors and the color blue.  The Claire Mirror covers both- Chippendale-style in a beautiful navy.  Mirrors can provide a great pop of color in an entry of bedroom.  This would be amazing in an entry hung above a white entry table (like this one)

Happy Shopping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lighting and hardware prep

Wait till you see the most recent pictures of the house (promise they will come this week). In the meantime this morning had been all about prep – we are dropping off the lighting fixtures and cabinet hardware today. Installation will take place this week and next! The boxes are endless- thankfully my in-laws have allowed us to ship and store all of the boxes at their house until now! Can’t wait to see everything installed soon-

Make the best of what you have! Key tips to getting your house furnished.

If you are moving into a new space (whether it be a house or apartment) it can be overwhelming to think about furnishing the new space. I have learned a few key things in getting ready to decorate our new house and wanted to share them with you.

Key tips to getting your house furnished

1) Salvage something old and make it new with a little work and paint. Look at what you own now (or perhaps something stored in your parents attic!) and think about what you would want it to be. Whether you want to take on a project yourself or find someone local to refurbish a piece of furniture it could change the look and feel of something you already own. If you end up finding someone to do it shop around and get a few bids- its important to find someone who gets your style/ taste and you have confidence in the finished product. If you take it on yourself, do your research before diving in. Between Pinterest, Houzz and Design Magazines there are plenty of guides out there to get you started.

2) Sell what you don’t need! Whether it be on eBay, Craigslist or posting around your neighborhood selling furniture is a great way to create more cash for purchasing the pieces you really want. Make sure your price it well- higher than the lowest price you are willing to go but low enough to make it move. I recommend Craigslist as it helps to find buyers near you and allows for an easier process of pick up for your larger furniture items.

Both of these tips are one’s that we are using for our own house. Yesterday we dropped off two dressers to be refurbished that Jarret’s parents have had in their basement for a few years. They are both well made and with a little paint and some new hardware they will be the perfect pieces for one of our Guest Rooms. Instead of spending close to $1,000 for two dressers we will probably come out of this paying around $400 for two refurbished dressers that are painted in our ideal color and have the hardware we selected. For these dressers, we are going bold and selected a deep blue/ navy to go with the quilt and shams I bought this summer. We are working with Neatly Nested Decor in South Boston– Danielle (the owner) is amazing to work with (and her store is a must visit). These dressers will be the first of a few pieces I have her work on for the house.
Here is a little peak below…finished product to come in a few weeks! In the meantime, check out the inspiration for these dressers on my pinterest page and below

Kitchen Table Lighting Fixture

In having a lot of time to shop around for different items in the house it allows you to find pieces that will have a certain memory each time you look at them. The lighting fixture we selected for our Kitchen Table does just that. Prior to the Christmas Holiday we went away to Nantucket a weekend with some of our best friends. On that trip we visited Freedman’s of Nantucket– a store that we love and often have success in finding something to buy (it is not hard as there are great clocks, candle holders and other unique pieces). We found this nickel pendant that has a nautical inspiration. I think this will go well with the other pendant lamps over the island and certainly help set the tone for the table, chairs and rug we select for the kitchen area.

Sunday project

Our weekends are pretty much filled with house stuff these days. It’s exciting as it means the countdown is on and hopefully our prep will make our move(s) that much easier.
For this weekend we picked up a few paint samples to get a better idea of colors. While we couldn’t get our top choices (they were sold out) seeing colors close to what we are looking for really help you understand how light/ dark you want to go.
Here was my project for tonight- a little arts and crafts! Now that we have a few paint options on the board we can look at these against our color wheel to narrow in and make decisions. More details to come this week….

Cabinet Hardware is ordered!

Finding out that IKEA sells well-made cabinet hardware was one of the best tips we got so far.  I just ordered all of our cabinet hardware for the house and the total was under $300 (plus I added in a cute cart to use in the nursery, and it was all available for purchase online).  We love the final selections and can’t wait to see it on the cabinets in a few weeks!

Kitchen Cabinet Hardware-

FÅGLAVIK- Handle, chrome plated, $7.99 / 2 pack

FÅGLEBODA handle

Master Bathroom Cabinet Hardware-

LINDSDAL- Handle, porcelain white- $6.99 / 2 pack

Guest Bathroom Cabinet Hardware-

For the drawers

FÅGLEBODA- Handle, chrome plated- $7.99 / 2 pack

FÅGLEBODA Handle

 

For doors

FÅGLAVIK- Knob, chrome plated- $4.99 / 2 pack

FÅGLEBODA knob

 

Cart for the nursery- this is perfect for odds and ends next to the dresser

RÅSKOG– Kitchen cart, dark gray- $49.99

Shopping for our sectional

The other week we visited the nearby West Elm to look at some of the couch options we had seen online.  While they didn’t have the exact sectional we are moving forward with it was great to see the style and fabric in person.  We landed on the Paidge 2-Piece Chaise Sectional in the Ink Blue performance velvet.

We are currently working with one of their in-home stylists to layout the sectional in the great room.  She provided the below mock-up today.  We decided to put the TV and across from the couch versus over the fireplace as we really wanted to separate the TV versus fireplace area in the room…personally I think they serve different purposes and I don’t love having the TV over the fireplace.  In seeing the layout from the stylist I love that we could fit a chair as well as the sectional on the wall- this will create more seating options in the room.  We should be moving forward with our selection this week- lead time is 8-12 weeks so we want to have it here and ready for move in day!

I haven’t selected other furniture pieces or accessories for the room yet but other colors will be incorporated…I am thinking orange, grey and maybe a little yellow.  For the chair it will definitely be a print fabric and I think the pillow we select will be an orange/ coral color (saw some great options at West Elm on our shopping trip- more pictures to come from that visit!).

This is one of the bigger purchases we will make for the house so it is great to have this layout to help us envision the room- We have had a great experience with West Elm so far and looking forward to seeing the finished product in a few months!

Dining Room Chandelier

We purchased our last lighting fixture today- Hooray!  We couldn’t be more excited (and relieved).  Now that we have everything purchased it is fun to look back and day-dream about how each room will come together with the furniture we have been looking at and for the fixtures we have selected.

Pottery Barn has been one of the top destinations for our lighting fixtures.  There were several fixtures we were thinking about using in the Dining Room but in the end we agreed that the Mia Faceted-Crystal Pendant was the perfect choice.  It has a little glam and sophistication with the crystal but the antique bronze gives it a warmer feel.

We purchased the larger size as the room is a good size and we wanted it to have an impact over the table and when you walk in.  Looking at the pictures again it gets me excited for our first Holiday season in the house- looking forward to using a mix of old and new furniture and tableware in hosting our family and friends!

Front Hall Lighting Fixture

This will be one of many lighting updates I will post over the next few weeks.  At this point, we have purchased about 90% of our fixtures after months of shopping and searching.  The fixture we selected for the Front Hall is from one of my favorite sites/ catalogs, Ballard Designs.  The Calisse Pendant lends a formal but comfortable look for any front hall and carries a similar look to what we selected for our interior door fixtures and exterior lights.  Looking forward to finding the perfect front hall table to coordinate with this overall design (thinking a bold color!).

Shopping trip to IKEA

Over the weekend we did some shopping and browsing.  As I mentioned last week one of the places we wanted to go was IKEA to check out their cabinet hardware.  I think this may have been my first time in an IKEA…we went to the store in Avon, MA- it is huge!  I was most impressed with their lower level that had smaller items to purchase.  We had a lot of success with cabinet hardware and bathroom fixtures and plan on making a big trip later this spring to pick up lots of odds and ends.  We also now have our final count for all of our cabinet hardware (50+ pieces needed in total!) and based on what we saw and purchased as some options at IKEA we will be heading back there to make the remaining purchases (and the prices is perfect considering we have to buy so many).  Here are some of our finds and purchases:

Perfect storage solution for the Office

Love this color option for the Nursery- yes the Nursery, more to come on that update!

Storage solution for the basement

Knob option for the Master Bath

Handle option for the master bath

Handle for our Kitchen Cabinets- cabinet color similiar to our island

Handle for our Kitchen Cabinets- cabinet color similiar to our perimeter cabinets

Close-up kitchen hardware top choice!

Chrome Handle (far top left) option for our guest bath

Purchased this tilt mirror for our Guest Bath- a steal at $49!