Welcome to my Lessons learned from remodeling journal. I thought it would be fun and instructive to share our remodeling journey week by week. I hope you can learn from what we do right- and more importantly from what we mess up!
Our Accidental New Skillset
Today I wanted to share what I’ve learned about taste and style. We’ve become accidental designers in the process of remodeling our house. Going in we had NO IDEA how much would be involved in this process. From creating wall tile patterns in powerpoint to sourcing materials at Restore we’ve basically had to define an aesthetic that fits our “style”.
Not to mention explaining the concept of a European wet room in a 1950s Wonder Years ranch house to our bewildered contractor. To our contractor’s credit- and with much handholding- he pulled it off! Two city inspectors said they had never seen anything like it.
Most of my Restore runs have secured great success- my contractor estimates we saved $5000 on the bathroom supplies alone. The kitchen backsplash goes for $22/sq ft at Wayfair. I paid $5.
However, I’ve had a couple of fails. I found some amazing pendant lights but upon closer inspection vital pieces were missing and couldn’t be replaced. I’ll probably be able to sell the shades for the $125 I paid but I needed to find another set.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUADuXShcFf/?taken-by=thedealmommyblog
Turns out a really high-end retailer had just dropped off about 100 lights to Restore and included in that lot were 3 pendants in perfect shape: exactly what we need.
Our tastes run towards mid-century modern so I was surprised to fall in love with these Tiffany-esque pendant lights. At $65/each they were a steal.
But then I thought about the rest of the room. The dining room chandelier is chrome. The sink is chrome. Would these lights look out of place, even if they are beautiful?
Peking Duck
That’s when I remembered our Peking Duck family room. I inherited a collection of antique Chinese pottery that is currently proudly displayed…next to a Donald Duck piñata.
I think the lights will do nicely.
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I love this! Rather than copy a perfected vision of how Mid Century Modern is supposed to look, you are feeling your home with things that bring you joy! Bravo!