The Great Room

The great room is finally shaping up. The architecture of it is just what we wanted – vaulted ceilings made of light-colored wood to keep it open and airy, bar-height dining so you can see over the living room sofa to the TV and fireplace, and wide-open floor space to lounge by the fire (or do yoga).

Our builder, Scott, from Company Woods, was instrumental in helping my vision of this tall table come to life. I showed him many pictures where I wanted a little of this and some of that. He caught the design fever and jumped in with leg additions for more height and the slatted bottom shelf. The table is fantastic and is a magnet for all who visit.

The sign on the landing can be reproduced with words that are meaningful to you for your home. Click on Art For Sale at the top of this page for more information.

Modern Graphic Painted Walls

Who says you have to decorate "woodsy" just because you're in the mountains?!

When I saw this wall treatment online a year or so ago (can't remember where I found the image but I've included the bedroom photo), I was determined to recreate it somewhere.

The second floor bathroom in our mountain home became my focus for this design. The graphic painting works so well with the penny tiled floor. The deep brown of the sink stand and wooden blinds ground the room to help subdue all of the green which would be very overpowering otherwise. Luckily, there is a sky window where you can see treetops swaying in the wind (the wind kicks up at 3pm every day according to my hubby ; )

I'm going to try a branch frame for the mirror. If I loosely attach thin brown branches to the wall to frame the mirror, their long lines will resemble the brown lines on the sconces. I'll add a picture of it when it's done.

Update on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 11:19AM by Jenny

Framing the mirror with branches didn't look as good as I had hoped mostly because the bottom of the mirror is too close to the sink handles. Instead I created a piece of art with twirled branches and seed pods. I put similar branches in a large white glass vase in the corner. This bathroom is a juxtaposition of modern and forest-inspired design.

BUTTERNUT WOODS Creamy White Kitchen

After spending many hours perusing images in magazines and my favorite designer blogs, I created a creamy white kitchen to match my cream and brown home color scheme. While still in the infancy of it's design, I am pretty happy with how it's coming along. The cabinets are cream colored with brown rubbed accents on the edges. The quartz countertop has flecks of brown with a little sparkle (very little).

My mom gave me the walnut framed prints of a country cat and cow with Italian descriptions.

On the shelves I've decided to stay neutral and picked woodland pieces that are all one color -- cream, of course. The square plates are a faux bois pattern from Crate and Barrel. "I died" when I found them!

I inherited the old stool from my grandpa and don't have the heart to refinish it anytime soon.

The framed chalkboard hanging from the fridge was a pain of a project. I wanted to keep the fridge open instead of enclosed in cabinetry but wanted to disguise the side somewhat and make it fun for us and guests to write messages. After many attempts to hang it (and a logical suggestion from my Burnt Toast partner -- it's always great to have someone with which to consult and throw ideas around), I finally was able to get it to stay by nailing heavy gauge magnet sheets to the frame.

I fell in love with the chevron rug after seeing it in quite a few blogs and think it gives the kitchen a graphic element. The moravian star light was also something I knew would be somewhere in the house and over the sink turned out to be the perfect spot.

BUTTERNUT WOODS HOME EXTERIOR

SPRING 2010

Bought a chat set for the deck. We've spread it around but you can still chat! We moved the old adirondack chairs down to the fire pit area. A few more stools around the pit will make it just right (maybe some log stools or something just as natural looking but not too primitive). I threw wild flower seeds all around the perimeter of the stone steps and fire pit area, so I'm hoping to see a field of flowers when I go back in the middle of the summer. We're spending the last half of the summer there so I'll be planting as much as possible.

FALL 2009

The Pocono House is finished being built. Decorating is just beginning! We've had flagstone installed and will wait until next summer to begin adding some landscaping.

Here's how it looks as you drive down the long gravel driveway. We need to add some shrubs around the house to soften the edges. This corner gets NO SUN! It's going to be difficult to find something I love for that spot.

Once you move away from the house to the stone steps leading to the back, there is lots of sun all day so I think I'll plant some succulents in the stone wall, and, on the other side of the steps -- a sea of wild flowers!

We need to put some chairs around the firepit and will definitely be planting in the crushed stone area.

Update on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 08:23PM by Jenny

The wildflower seed never took so we had to get mulch to cover the weeds. Shade loving bushes roam around the front corner and some pretty pink blooming bushes will add some color throughout the summer.