Pepper Design Blog

The Living Room Gets a Cozy Lift

I’ve procrastinated long enough… it’s finally time to get some pictures posted on the living room progress.

As you might remember, the Before shot was just before we moved in. After a bit of painting, several diy projects and finally a whole lotta assembly, here’s where we stand:

I see little holes and spaces that need attention! But I’ve decided this is my palette to grow on so as it gets minor tweaks and updates, I look forward to sharing all of the fun details.

Neutrals remained the theme of the room and I couldn’t be happier with how the soft wool curtains and dark furniture help to set a base for the crisp whites and bold coral colors. Here’s a link to the original inspiration boards back when color combos were being discussed.

Here are a few of my favorite details:

I love picture collages so it’s no surprise that I’ve found a way to fill this space with three (too many?). One symmetrical version behind the sofa, one wedding grouping above the mantel (I’m still playing with a mirror there – the survey from a week ago was pretty divided!) and one next to the bookshelf and above the “man” chair (aka the huge leather chair that the hubby rightfully claims as his own).

My coffee table-turned-bench has found the perfect spot below our big window and I am still oh-so in love with the suzani print. Jeanne McGee did a rockin’ job on the brown zinnia custom lampshade and I’m thrilled with the splash of pattern it adds!

Storage was critical for us and we found a way to squeeze everything in through baskets, an awesome ‘pouf’ that hides a bajillion blankets, a bar that doubles as a tv stand, as well as sneaky spaces like a coffee table that holds board games, etc. below it’s surface.

Every photo is sentimental, every painting important to us in someway (be it our love of sailing, artwork by Kevin’s mom or diy projects soon to be shared…) and it’s special to know that the space was hand crafted over time with much love.

Sources to come… thanks for sharing the design process with me!

Making Some Headway on the Master Bedroom

So the living room might not be completely finished (I still have one or two pictures to hang and a bit of bookshelf organizing to complete) but I can’t help but get distracted by our darn bedroom.

We’ve made significant progress so far on a room that needed much love. As of now the walls are a serene beige, the burgundy carpet is gone to reveal 1930′s wood floors and the furniture is all but picked out and loaded with clothing. But on the decor end… there is much to be desired.

Let’s start at the beginning:

There she is right before we moved in. All of the above furniture belongs to the previous owner and we have since gotten rid of those metal grates on the windows as well as the vinyl shades.

Yes, that’s a bathroom in that top picture. I wouldn’t call it a master bath, per se, but we’re attempting to make do with what we’ve got (currently it’s known as the ‘man bath’ since I hardly have the elbow room to blow dry the hair let alone spread the morning make-up all about). Here’s the other full bath in the house that we recently updated. We have big plans on building another bathroom for guests and connecting the current full bath (to be remodeled…) with the master bedroom – but that’s on the schedule for this fall.

Until then, let the bedroom decorating begin!

A Dream Retreat: Cabin-Turned-Victorian Cottage

Have you ever dreamed of a retreat, a respite far in the woods where you can {in perfect luxury} get away from it all? On many occasions I’ve imagined my little cottage in the middle of the forest where I could write, read, drink hot tea on the porch and look over the hills completely undisturbed. Ahhhh, heaven.

But it exists! Sandra Foster turned a Catskills hunting cabin into the romantic Victorian cottage she had always dreamed of. Every detail of the studio is as intricate and beautiful as the next – Sandra used thrift store, vintage and even Target finds to remodel the 9-by-10-foot room on a strict budget. Photos and story by NY Times.

The shabby-chic cottage doesn’t have a bathroom or a kitchen, but it is a dream of Victoriana: stacks of Limoges china with tiny rosebud patterns; refashioned cabinets piled high with hard-cover books; chandeliers covered in crystal; billows of tissue-paper garlands. Many of the furnishings, like the $15 chandelier hanging over the sitting area, were flea market finds.

What began as a brown and green backwoods cabin slowly turned into a luxuriously soft and feminine cottage. Sandra gutted, repainted and replaced most every feature – including doors, shelves, windows and even the willow tree trunk supports at the front of the house for which she completed all of the carpentry work herself.

Sandra lives with her husband, Todd on 14 acres of property in the New York Catskills Mountains. She calls a 1971 trailer home and has built more than one retreat site on their extensive land. One includes a modified shed that houses a big screen TV, boxes full of videotapes and cooking equipment.

A river bed separates the Victorian cabin from the rest of the property and any furniture or tools had to be lightweight enough to traverse the land and stream.

Above, Sandra makes flower-like garland for the cottage out of tissue paper.

The chandelier over the bed is from Target, as is the bedding from Rachel Ashwell’s Simply Shabby Chic line. Cabinets were built from reclaimed French doors and now house Sandra’s beautiful collection of Limoges china, a set she’s been adding to for years. Yard sale mirrors and furniture received fresh coats of paint to match the all-white cottage.

Sandra calls the cottage her ‘refuge’ and spends much time in knee-high pink rainboots adding white petunias to her window boxes or relaxing on her refurbished porch (which she framed out herself). She grew up in Long Island and after losing her home as a child had always dreamed of building this perfect cottage – I’m deeply impressed with the couple’s story AND their fabulous new getaway!

PS I just received this link from Sandy’s husband – check out her cute blog!