....including blogging! With a purpose though....my friend Vinny just bought his first house and it's a super duper cute fixer-upper.....and I get to help design it! So excited! It has awesome details like hardwood floors throughout, an arched front door with stained glass on the top half, a bishop's closet, 2 (working!) fireplaces, a dining room, and awesome huge windows with a cute breakfast nook/3-season room. I'm not sure what era the house is, but it definitely has a charming, old-house feel--the type that can handle a lot of different design styles as long as they are grounded in solid, comfortable furnishings. Oh the possibilities!
So I told Vinny that I'd brainstorm ideas for him...turns out almost all of my saved images in my photo archives have a distinct female flavor. Here's what I was able to come up with for starters.
Downstairs there's a big living area with one of the two fireplaces, but the old owners put up really ugly wallpaper and didn't center it at all so it's really awkward. Vinny vetoed the mirror in the inspiration photo below (well, duh, it's super girly!) but I'm thinking I could get him to do something like the above photo for over the fireplace--they're just cheap IKEA mirrors for like $3 each!
So like I said, awesome fireplace action downstairs, but needs work. The above photo is obviously just inspiration because of the basic idea--no way would a dude go for this room. I sent it to Vinny to show how if we replaced the ugly wallpaper with awesome stuff, then got a mantle to warm it up a little (right now it's just a marble surround), it could turn out pretty BA. He agrees! Thank goodness he's a graphic designer--yay for artistic eyes!
Since 3 guys will be living in the house, we won't get all pretty with tons of color and little accents, so we'll have to bring interest to the spaces through use of textures like the interesting bedside table above. Industrial features like that lamp bring a manly essence in without sacrificing design.
Right now the dining room is one big empty space. I'm thinking a bar-height table with barstools is the right call for these PBR-guzzling boys.
Just another example of a masculine room that still retains good design. I like the trunk--I'm thinking one would work great in their living room.
I'm super excited for my new project! Now that we've tapped out our decorating budget at my own place, I'm excited to have an excuse to peruse consignment shops and Craigslist again :)
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