designer Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

decor, Decorating, designer, Electrical, light fixture, Millie's Remodel

Mid-Century Modern Lighting Options for Millie’s Remodel

Mid-Century Modern design is a trend that is sweeping the design world by storm. While researching lighting options for Millie’s Remodel, I curated a list of possible light fixtures. Here are some of my favorite mid-century modern lighting options.

Mid-Century Modern Lighting Options for Millie’s Remodel

Mid-Century Modern design style is filled with sleek lines, golds, wood tones, and shapes reminiscent of galactic constellations. While looking for lighting options for the Millie’s Remodel house, I spent a fair amount of time curating lighting to fit with the modern style. Luckily I found a fair amount of light options and a few ceiling fans that would look perfect in any mid-century modern house.

Disclosure: Kichler Lighting is a Millie’s Remodel gold sponsor. I was provided with complimentary fixtures for the house.

Mid-Century Chandeliers

Chandeliers are often the focal point in a room and for good reason. Typically they are larger in size, elegance, and number of light bulbs than other fixtures in the home. Why not steal the show with one of these mid-century modern style chandeliers?

Mid-Century Modern Pendant Lights

Pendant lights might be my favorite light fixtures after chandeliers. With their smaller size, pendants can fit perfectly over a sink, paired in a set of two on either side of a mirror, or in groupings over an island or bar. These are some great options for Mid-Century Modern pendant lights.

Mid-Century Modern Ceiling Lights

When you have low ceilings, flush mount and semi-flush mount light fixtures are a necessity. Meet a whole crop of beautiful mid-century modern inspired ceiling lights.

Mid-Century Modern Wall-Mounted Lights & Sconces

Bathrooms are the primary location for wall-mounted lights, but look close for other opportunities to use wall-mounted lights. Sconces are right at home on either side of a window, doorway, or to add lighting on a staircase. Regardless of where you want to install them, here are some great options for mid-century modern wall-mount lights.

Mid-Century Modern Ceiling Fans

Those of us that live in warmer climates know sometimes you need a ceiling fan paired with your light. There’s nothing like a hot and humid evening to encourage some airflow over your skin to cool off. Below are several sources for ceiling fans that pair nicely with mid-century modern furniture and fixures.

Are you embracing the mid-century modern design trend? I’d love to hear which are your favorites.

Disclosure: Kichler Lighting is a Millie’s Remodel gold sponsor. I was provided with complimentary fixtures for the house.

February 17, 2020/2 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Decorating, designer, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation, Millie's Remodel

Millie’s Remodel: Kitchen Design

The kitchen at Millie’s Remodel has been opened up by removing a wall and the moldy drywall and subfloor have been replaced. Now it’s time for me to start thinking about the kitchen design elements for this very important space.

Millie’s Remodel: Kitchen Design

Do you remember what the kitchen looked like when I first started working on Millie’s Remodel? The room was closed off and had two doorways from the house plus a back door.

The wall behind the refrigerator needed to come down in my opinion. This would allow for a much more open concept.

After tearing down that corner wall, it was amazing how much more light flooded into the kitchen area. Plus, it made the kitchen feel more spacious.

You may recall I worked with a local designer to create a fresh vision of the kitchen layout.

I still have some issues to contend with (like a very sloped kitchen sub-floor). But first I need to create a design plan for the kitchen. A design board will allow me to order cabinets, lighting, and other fixtures. I am leaning toward a mid-century modern vibe in this house, especially since it was built in 1957. Simple fixtures and graphic lines will maintain a minimalist modern look.

Sources:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

I’m excited to start putting this Humpty Dumpty of a kitchen back together soon and see the finishes installed. I think they’ll look beautiful together. What do you think?

P.s. Schlage, and Kichler are sponsors of the Millie’s Remodel project. I am so grateful for their support of this project.

A special thank you to the Millie’s Remodel Sponsors:

The Millie’s Remodel project sponsors have donated materials for the Millie’s Remodel project. As you know I am very particular about the brands I work with and recommend. As a general contractor, I choose the products used on my projects wisely to make sure they last a lifetime. Therefore, I have no reservations putting my name behind each and every one of these sponsors.

February 14, 2020/2 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

bathroom, designer, inspiration, Millie's Remodel

Millie’s Remodel: Main Bathroom Design

Millies’ Remodel has come to the point where it’s time to start building back! Hooray. But, this means I need to pick out the final finishes. Want to see Millie’s main bathroom design board?

Millie’s Remodel: Main Bathroom Design

I find the process of creating a design board very helpful. It’s the easiest way to see how everything will work together and pinpoint anything that might not fit with the desired design style.

Before I show you the design board, I know I left you hanging for a month after we’d stripped everything down to the studs and installed new electrical, plumbing, and a new Trane HVAC unit. Now we have a clean slate for the bathroom.

You have to admit, it’s an improvement from the original bathroom. Especially because the toilet was ready to fall through the floor! In case you forgot what it looked like when I bought the house, here’s a reminder. How could you forget that beautiful faux blue marble vanity top? Yuck.

If you’re wondering where I was for a month, I had three trips from mid-December to mid-January. Although normally I get homesick if I travel more than once in a month, it was nice spending time with my boys, my husband, my sister, and a few friends. First, we flew across the country and beyond for a vacation trip to Hawaii over Christmas. We had a fabulous time swimming with sea turtles, whale watching, and witnessing all the beauty along the Road to Hana, and a sunset view from Haleakala in Maui. Then we flew to the big island and had our minds blown touring Volcano National Park. We capped off the trip with a stop in San Jose to see my sister, my nieces, my brother-in-law, and my mom! There’s nothing like family to make you laugh until you are crying.

After being home for a week, I took a quick trip to Hilton Head, SC to tour the HGTV Dream Home. You can see parts one and two of the tour.

Finally, I flew back west for a week to attend the International Builder Show in Las Vegas. I’ve never been to this show but it was amazing, overwhelming, and exhausting all at the same time. But enough about my travels, today I want to show you the finishes I’m contemplating for Millie’s main bathroom.

Mid-Century Style

I knew Millie deserved a mid-century modern vibe given her age (and the popularity of this design trend.) To tell you the truth, I’d never designed anything with MCM in mind. To familiarize myself with this more minimal design style, I searched “Mid-Century Modern” images in Pinterest and started creating a design file for Millie’s Remodel.

After delving deep into the Mid Century pin world, I began to put together elements for the bathroom.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Sources:

What do you think about the finishes I picked for the bathroom? I’m loving the combination of warm colors. The light fixture and lighted mirror from Kichler will add some much needed soft light in the bathroom.

Can I tell you about those subway tiles? I couldn’t find an exact source link for those tiles because I purchased them at my local Habitat ReStore! And boy did I get a steal on them! I paid $8 per box meaning I paid 71 cents per square foot! The vanity I chose is a dresser I plan to transform into a vanity by adding a sink and modifying the drawers to fit around the plumbing. I can’t wait to show you how to transform a dresser into a vanity.

Finally, let’s talk about the star of the bathroom. Those tiles! The Vegas 3 Lili Cement Tiles can be installed in several patterns, but I liked this houndstooth style pattern. Of course, a regular doorknob wouldn’t be fitting for a mid-century modern house, so I’m excited to install those flat black Latitude door levers by Schlage.

I’m dying to know if you like the mood board for Millie’s main bathroom. Anything you’d change?

P.s. Lili Cement Tile, Schlage, and Kichler are sponsors of the Millie’s Remodel project. I am so grateful for their support of this project.

A special thank you to the Millie’s Remodel Sponsors:

The Millie’s Remodel project sponsors have donated materials for the Millie’s Remodel project. As you know I am very particular about the brands I work with and recommend. As a general contractor, I choose the products used on my projects wisely to make sure they last a lifetime. Therefore, I have no reservations putting my name behind each and every one of these sponsors.

February 7, 2020/7 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, Before and After, decor, Decorating, designer, Furniture, Home Tour, living room, mantles

Living Room Reveal

I’m so excited to finally reveal our living room makeover to you. I partnered with La-Z-Boy to furnish our living room almost exclusively with La-Z-Boy furniture and accessories. The furniture from La-Z-Boy arrived a while ago, but the rug was backordered for several months. My La-Z-Boy in store designer asked me twice if I wanted to chose another rug, but I’m so glad I decided to wait. I love the rug and can honestly say that it was well worth the wait!

Before we get to the tour, I think it’s only fair to show you a few pictures of the progression of the living room over the years. About a year after we bought the house in 2007, I painted the walls a lighter sage green and added sconces. We also paid a contractor to double the width of the opening to the kitchen. That made a huge difference. You can see the missing flooring where the small opening used to be below:

The sofa was a hand-me-down from my Godfather’s parents.

Underneath the red slipcover was this fabulously reupholstered sofa. Can you tell what year I re-covered it?

Ummm, hello 1990’s hunter green plaid. I don’t have a photo, but under this plaid monster is the original fabric from the 60’s. It was a floral woven tapestry fabric. I still can’t believe we sat on this sofa that was over 50 years old. It was hard as a rock.

In 2009, I pulled up the wall-to-wall carpeting and installed antique heart pine wood flooring. I also painted the previously painted white fireplace to look like brick again. You read that right, the brick is painted!

In 2011, I covered the sofa with a new slipcover, but it was still the same uncomfortable hard sofa. We also tried positioning the sofa at an angle in the room.

This past winter we moved the furniture around again and for the first time we felt that we had found an arrangement that worked for us.

If you recall, I took a little field trip to our local La-Z-Boy furniture gallery back in December. I met with Lexie, the designer, who was invaluable with her expertise and design advice. Then you all helped me by voting for your favorite fabric selection (big virtual kisses and hugs from me to you for that!)

The voting was a tie, so I combined fabrics from the two winners and ultimately chose this combination:

Ready to see how they look in the living room? Are you telling me to shut up already and get to the reveal? Your wish is my command, here is our living room reveal:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

An Interview with David Bromstad – HGTV Color Splash Host

If I had to choose one HGTV host that I would like to meet in person, that would be a no-brainer. David Bromstad has always been my favorite designer with the transformation talent. With his “push the color envelope” attitude and ever present jovial (and often joking) nature, I think he’d be a blast to meet at a party or maybe collaborate on a DIY project for charity! (A handy girl can dream, right?) The other thing that gains David extra gold stars on my list of celebrities I’d like to meet, is the fact that he’s an artist too.

I am in love with his short painting tutorials on Color Splash. He really knows how to empower others to try their hand at artistic expression.

You can imagine that I’d be super excited when I received an email asking if I wanted to interview David Bromstad. That email was replied to INSTANTLY! Of course I hoped it meant he was coming to Raleigh, NC and we’d have coffee together and chat. But, you know, that was a dream that didn’t happen this time. Instead, I interviewed David just before the holidays via a phone conversation.

Without further adoration and praise… I have with me (virtually) today: the one — the only — Color Splash host, David Bromstad! Jump on your couches, scream like the Beatles are playing at the Ed Sullivan theater and share my exuberance to have him on the blog today. Read more

February 7, 2014/8 Comments/by Brittany Bailey