Blueprint Lighting Glow Up

Thank you to Blueprint Lighting for sponsoring this post and providing the light fixture for this space.

It’s truly hard to say what the biggest transformation in this space was since every single element made such an impact, but updating light fixtures not only replaced an ugly element with something stunning, but also vastly improved the brightness in a room that was previously pretty dark.

The original “boob light” flushmount fixture was ugly, sure, but it also did not do enough in terms of lighting the kitchen. This kitchen only has a north facing window, which means in the overcast winter days, it was not lighting the space adequately.

The ceilings in this room aren’t high enough for much more than a flushmount, so I knew I’d have to replace it with something at least semi-flushmount at most, and when I found Blueprint Lighting’s Lucienne flushmount I immediately knew it’d be perfect!

They sent over a whole set of finish samples, which made it even harder to pick because there are so many color and finish options! I almost went with the Malachite or Denmark colors to match the cabinet color, but ultimately I decided to go with the brushed brass to match the other brass elements in the room.

It’s legitimately one of the most beautiful light fixtures I’ve ever installed and now I’m jealous that it’s in my brother’s kitchen, not my own, thought to be honest, I do have my eye on some of their chandeliers for my kitchen. Now that my ceiling is painted black, a light fixture would really pop against the dark ceiling!

Botanical Kitchen Revival: A Rental Kitchen Makeover on a Budget

Transforming any space is fun, but transforming your lifelong BFF’s space is a special kind of fun. When Frogtape reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in being a designer for their annual Paintover Challenge, it came at the perfect time. My friend, Kristina, had been talking about wanting to update her kitchen in the rental home where she lives with her husband and son, and I instantly pitched her the idea of doing the paintover challenge in HER kitchen. We talked to her landlord, who gave us the greenlight for the proposed changes and we got to work!

This makeover was primarily achieved with paint, with some honorable mentions from a few other design elements. I traded out the old overhead track lighting for a pretty new light that not only looked gorgeous, but offered way more illumination (which is a godsend come those dim PNW winter months). In lieu of taking out the meager tile backsplash and doing new tile (which probably would’ve required some drywall repairs, and a significant budget bump) I opted to keep the existing strip of tile, and add beadboard on top to fill the blank space between there and the bottom of the wall cabinets. Then, we painted it the same color as the cabinets and the walls, for a delicious tone-on-tone vibe. This basil color is super pretty, it feels lush and sophisticated.

The big, unexpected showstopper ended up being her basic old fridge, transformed with a bit of removable stick-on wallpaper! Since we kept the existing cabinet hardware and painted it brass to match the light fixture, we did the same with the fridge handle to tie everything together. I used Rustoleum Vintage Gold spraypaint to paint both the cabinet door pulls and the fridge handle.

Another thing we did was add a whole wall of open shelving to give her a ton more storage. We painted those shelves the same green as the rest of the kitchen, but kept that wall white to give some contrast. Now she has a bunch of space to store all her pretty jars of dry goods, cute mugs and, of course, more plants.

And one more fun little detail: we put a chalkboard area in for her toddler to use! That panel is access for the water heater, so it was just an unfinished wood panel before, so we framed it out to match the shaker style of the cabinets and did the center panel in chalkboard paint so he could draw and have fun!

Projects like this have all the elements of what makes me most excited about design and remodels. Making a huge impact for not a huge amount of money, coming up with creative solutions, and doing really fun and out of the box elements (I’ll never get over that fridge).

I’m so thrilled that Frogtape brought me in on their Paintover Challenge this year so I could do this amazing project!

\\ Sources //

Paint
Spraypaint
Light fixture
Removable wallpaper
Rug

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Elevating interiors using the senses

Thank you WoodWick Candles for sponsoring this post.

Finding inspiration for the design of a space is all about creating a mood.

Taking your design to the next level means creating a space that makes you feel a certain way when you enter that space, not just putting together pretty things. It's that design je ne sais quoi, you know?

Including WoodWick Candles in my home has elevated the spaces I've worked hard to build and style, it's like the cherry on top of all the other design elements. I love the scents, but also the soothing crackle of the wooden wick. It's such a lovely added ambiance that helps my house feel like a home.

Something that I like to think about when I'm designing is focusing on the senses. How does the space look, yes, but also: how does is sound? How does it smell? What do the materials feel like when I touch them? What quality of light is there?

When you design from that perspective it informs how you choose your materials, your finishes, your styling. You don't put fluorescent lighting in a cozy bedroom. You don't buy a firm couch for a room where you're going to curl up and read a book for a couple hours.

One of the things that helps me create a solid vision for a space’s design, whether I’m doing a remodel or simply the decor, is creating a mood board. You can do this digitally, or IRL by gathering swatches and elements of your design. This way you can see how all the different elements interact with one another before you commit to them. How does that tile look against the cabinet finish? How do the paint colors compliment the textiles? Does anything clash? Is there too much of one texture that it’s feeling unbalanced? Mood boards are a great way to give you the confidence to fully realize a design.

Great interior design incorporates all the senses, and scent is a particularly strong element for us psychologically so I try to incorporate some element of fragrance into each room I create. These WoodWick Candles not only have amazing scents, but they have a wooden wick, which crackles softly as it burns, creating an added element of ambiance, which I love.

I chose the Seaside Neroli candle for our bathroom, which elevates the space so beautifully and gives it a subtle spa-like vibe which is exactly the feeling a bathroom should have, and the Melon Blossom candle has such a bright, fruity scent that has been perfect for the kitchen in these spring months.

For this WoodWick Shoreline Trilogy Candle, I wanted to create a mood board based on the candle, taking inspiration from each of the three scents. This mood board is definitely very organic and natural, with a bright and fresh feel. It’s got the pink and peachy colors inspired by the Melon Blossom scent. Then, there are some more beachy vibes, like the wood tones, shaker cabinet door, and textiles, inspired by the Coastal Sunset scent. Then I brought in some bohemian elements inspired by the Palo Santo scent, with the rose quartz and macrame elements.

Having a mood board like this lets me have an anchor when I’m choosing things like tile, throw pillows, rugs, linens, etc. It’s kind of like a design litmus test: does this element fit in with my mood board? If yes? Go for it!

Jameson Caskmates hop field adventure

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Jameson to see if I’d be interested in going on a little adventure out to Yakima for the launch of their newest Caskmates series collaboration with Bale Breaker Brewery, and I was 100% down. We left Seattle on a bus yesterday afternoon, and a couple hours later we arrived at the Bale Breaker Brewery nestled in the middle of acres and acres of hop fields. The lovely founders of Bale Breaker, Kevin and Meghann Quinn, and Kevin Smilth, gave us an amazing tour of the brewery (accompanied with a taster of their Topcutter IPA), and then we hopped on the bus for a quick trip a few minutes away to check out the hop fields where they grow all the hops for their beer, and the original building where they started the brewery (though you might say it was more of a shed-sized “building,” haha. It’s always incredible to see where people’s visions began and the humble start to what would become an incredible, successful, growing business).

We did a little tour of the hop fields, were served delicious Jameson Whiskey cocktails, and had some mindblowingly delicious appetizers, and were treated to watching Ger Buckley, a 5th generation cooper, demonstrate how a barrel is made, which was super interesting and surprisingly entertaining! And then… the real magic began…

We were treated to an incredible meal out in the hop fields, tucked between towers of hop vines, beneath zig-zagging cafe lights. Tasters of the Caskmates whiskey, plus the Topcutter IPA (which is the beer that was first aged in the Jameson barrels, then those barrels were sent back to Jameson for them to age the Whiskey in to create the Topcutter IPA Caskmates Whiskey. Such a cool collaboration!), and then some mouthwatering dishes crafted by local chef Matt Lewis which were truly unbelievably delicious.

The whole evening felt incredibly special and it was so much fun to take part and experience it all. I was able to bring my husband Dan with me, which was exciting, as he’s a big whiskey and beer fan, so I loved that he also got to be a part of the experience. As someone who loves putting together beautiful events and photographing beautiful events, it was a really fun and inspiring evening. Trying to convince Dan we need to plant some hops at our new house so I can have my own hop field dinner in our backyard, haha.

I mean, come on, how magical is that?! Huge thanks to Jameson for the invite and to Bale Breaker for the hospitality (and to Dan for coming with me, even though he had to wake up at 5:30 the next morning to go to work!).

Simple ways to elevate your home for guests

Thank you Angel Soft® for sponsoring this post. Ditch the spray and switch to Angel Soft® with Fresh Lavender-Scented Tube.

In the past five years or so, I’ve realized that one of my favorite things is putting together events and/or creating beautiful experiences for people. A lot of times, this manifests in me putting on parties that are, like, a liiiittle bit extra, but since becoming an Airbnb host, it’s been something that I’ve been trying to put into how I set up my home for my guests. I like to have fresh flowers in the house for every guest, I like to have little snacks and quick and easy breakfast items available, and I spritz some fresh essential oil in each room before the new guest arrives. Having little things around that make a guest feel special or comfortable is something that I love, and if it’s easy and quick to do, even better.

When I learned about Angel Soft® with Fresh Lavender-Scented Tube toilet paper I knew that’d be a super easy way to elevate my guest’s experience with something simple and everyday. Plus, I don’t have to do any extra work since I have to have toilet paper anyway! There’s lavender scent right in the tube, so every time a guest uses it, they’ll get a nice subtle lavender scent. I happened to already have some lavender hand soap in the bathroom, and I have some dried lavender hanging in my kitchen from last year’s lavender harvest in my garden, so it kind of matches a little lavender theme I have already going on!

My mom is a great host, and while throwing parties stresses her out (whereas I revel in throwing parties), she too enjoys creating a lovely space for guests to stay, so I definitely learned from her! Her and my dad have a couple vacation rentals, so seeing how they set up those spaces for guests helped me consider extra little touches I might not have thought of. My mom always has extra little travel lotions, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, and tissue for people to grab in case they need it, so I included some of those little things for guests. As my friend was helping me clean the Airbnb one day, I saw her put the little triangle on the toilet paper and I was like ah! of course, that’s such an easy little thing to do, but it makes the bathroom feel like it’s been cleaned and prepared for every new guest, and it’s a very hotel-y touch.

When I travel, I almost always stay in vacation rentals instead of hotels, so I’ve experienced a lot of different ways people host. One of my favorites was the artist loft I stayed in when I was in Paris. The host left me a bottle of wine, cheese, and a baguette— very French and felt special!

I’m always on the lookout for new ways I can make my own guests feel special too, and while Angel Soft® with Fresh Lavender-Scented Tube probably won’t be the ultimate memory that stays with them, it will definitely contribute to the overall sense of care that I like to take with creating a space for them to stay!

---

Want to stay at The Brave House on your next trip to the Seattle area? We’d love to host you!