The Montgomery House Living Room

Today, its the last installment of The Montgomery House series.  If you’re new here, this was my first professional job, and it was a big one!  It started with a friend asking me to help her with her custom home and turned into something so amazing for me and that launched the business that I have now.  My friend and client had SO much faith and trust in my vision and the ideas that I had.  I know at times she felt a little crazy telling her contractor my ideas- this home is so different than any other home he had ever built!  In Texas, so many of the homes are dark and built with a Tuscan sort of theme to them.  This craftsman look with the white cabinets is pretty different for a new construction home around here, though I know for those of us on blogs and Pinterest its nothing really that new.  Anyway, on to the living room!

The TV wall is one of my favorites in the whole house.  Its vintage art pieces collected from various places.  One was even given to the family by my client’s grandfather!  Its something they can add to throughout the years and cover that entire wall with.

 I’m so grateful to have been a part of this project and to my clients for believing in me and investing in me the way they did.  Their house is really something special and while I thought I was done- I’m so excited to tell you that they’ve invited me back to work on the upstairs now!  There will be a playroom and guestroom to show you sometime in the near future. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bethany

The Montgomery House Dining Room & Kitchen (and a little about choosing countertops)

Are you tired of seeing and hearing about this house yet?  I hope not because I seriously have saved the best for last. 😉  Today I’m sharing the dining room and kitchen.  Both are open to the living room (which I’ll be sharing with you next week).

Because the kitchen is a big eat in kitchen, the clients chose a smaller dining room right off the kitchen.  They didn’t want the feeling of a “formal” dining room, but just more of a casual place that is right there in the heart of the home.

One of the coolest pieces in this room (and also very hard to photograph-ha!) can be seen above- its this giant antique mirror that’s leaning against the wall.  My clients bought it at an auction a while ago and were looking for the perfect place for it.  Its so unique and brings in so much charm, character, and light!

Right off the dining room is the kitchen, one of my favorite rooms in the house (do I say that about almost every room??).

We went back and forth over granite vs. marble for the countertops for a long time.  My clients and I both love the look of marble but after they researched the upkeep and also the price, they weren’t so sure.  We stood in the countertop store staring at different slabs of stone, looking at every vein and color for a long time.  Finally we settled on this lovely grayish granite.  It has some brown, some gold, even a little blue in it.  It occurred to me as we were looking, that we would never again be looking at those slabs of granite vertically like that.  When you walk into your kitchen you don’t see a wall of granite the way you do in the store or quarry or wherever you go to pick your slab.  What you notice more are your cabinets, the overall colors, and (my favorite) the lighting! So we decided together it was better to put their investment into those types of things rather than the marble.  Though I’m not against marble!  In fact I’m working on an install this week with some clients that have chosen some beautiful marble countertops.  I’m just saying its just not for everyone.  Here’s a really great article for when you’re considering marble countertops:

http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2013/04/living-with-marble-countertops-a-cautionary-tale/

Okay, on to more pictures of this kitchen!

The view below is from when you’re standing in the dining room.  You can see into the foyer and also catch a glimpse of the butler’s pantry.  Its really not a huge house!  The floorplan just makes great use of space.

While we did go with white cabinets and a white backsplash as well as light countertops, the husband had concerns that the kitchen would feel too light and washed out.  Our solution to that was using a gray grout in the backsplash and also a darker gray on the island.  Those choices along with the floor really warms everything up.  Another thing we went back and forth about for a little while was how big to go on the lighting.  In my opinion, bigger is always better when choosing a light fixture.  You can never go wrong having a HUGE light fixture.  It will never be TOO big.  Please, someone try to find me a picture of a light fixture that is too big for a table or a space.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that I thought was too big.  The pendants I chose are the Eldridge pendants from Ballard Designs.  They come in small, medium, and large.  I knew the medium would just get swallowed up by this huge island and it had to be the large.  I’m no artist, but Paul is, so one night I asked him to do some drawings.  Sometimes we just need to visualize things to see the balance.

He drew a couple of different pendants of different shapes and sizes so you can see the erase marks, but this is the one we landed on.  I snapped a pic of it with my phone and texted it to my clients.  We were all in love and knew these were the ones.

Last glimpse, looking in from the mudroom.  This one gives you a peek into the living room as well!

 I’m still working to get my new blog up and running and when I do each picture will have its own Pin It button, but until then, if you see anything you like here, there’s a button down below where you can pin any of these pictures on Pinterest!  Thanks so much for reading. I’ll be back next week with the living room!!

❤

Bethany

The Montgomery House Office

Last week I shared the above picture as kind of a teaser to this home office in the Montgomery House.  Today I’m sharing the rest!  This may be one of my favorite rooms in the house.  It is not just for show either, it is a hard working office, as the couple own a landscaping business and several days a week she is running it from home.  In fact while we were there taking these photos it was during the spring, their busy season, and she took a million phone calls and since she couldn’t be in her office, she was moving around the house with her laptop as we moved in and out of her way.  Sorry, Kay! 😉

On the left wall when you walk in is this big beautiful galvanized wall calendar- quite the event hanging this thing, but it sure turned out beautiful!  And useful!

There’s also a little seating area with a laptop table from Ballard Designs to the right of the desk.  Perfect spot for morning coffee.  We styled it like this for the photo shoot, but I love having little accent tables like this just empty and waiting for a drink to be set down, a book to be read, etc.  Blank space can be such a breath of fresh air and an open invitation to rest, read, relax.

Bookshelf styling is one of my favorite things to do.  It is a little bit of a science and a little bit of an art.  We used some of their own family photos, some fun HomeGoods finds, plants, and a few baskets and boxes for storage.

How about that bicycle and the sweet little pig below?  I love to have a few decorative elements like that, but not too many!  Like I said, its a hardworking office, and these builtins needed to work for them, not just hold pretty things.  But the purposeful things can be beautiful as well, like the wooden storage box next to the pig, just waiting to hold post-it notes, stamps, push pins, or whatever need may arise.  You know when you just need a place to put some stuff?  Why not a pretty box? Useful yet nice to look at, too. Beauty and purpose.

Thanks so much for reading!  I’m winding up the Montgomery House series, with just a couple more rooms to share with you.

Also, I’m letting you in on a little secret- I’ve got some BIG updates to the blog happening behind the scenes!!!  I am so excited about it and have been working hard, learning about stuff like coding, widgets, and plug-ins!  Wow, its been crazy because that is SO not my thing, but hoping to unveil the new site sometime this summer.  My husband does all the photography for this site (well except for when I use my iPhone) but he is first of all extremely talented videographer/cinematographer.  We are planning some exclusive videos for email subscribers and I am super excited about offering that to all of you.

Thanks for all the support and comments and sharing- it is a scary thing to put myself out there- my designs and my words.  The encouragement and support I’ve received have given me a soft place to land and I’m so grateful to each one of you.  Looking forward to sharing my new site with you soon and continuing this journey together.

xoxo,

Bethany

The Montgomery House Foyer

This foyer has so many architectural details; from the transom and moldings, to the huge double doors and paneling behind them.  With that much beauty already in the house, we didn’t need to do much to enhance it.  Just a few simple pieces, like this shelf from Ballard Designs to hold a few things right when you walk in, as well as some giant sconces to flank the office entry on the other side.  There are two pendant lights hanging in here from Ikea.  I love the modern simplicity contrasted with the craftsman character of it all.  Contrast is my favorite!

A simple jute rug is great for texture and for dirty shoes.  Its casual and inviting and since no one’s going to be sitting on it, its okay that its kind of scratchy.  I love the look of them but they just don’t work great for living rooms, especially when you have little ones.  An entryway is the perfect spot.

Below is a peek from from the hallway through the foyer and into the office.  On the left is the living area and kitchen.  This is probably one of my favorite pictures from the entire photo shoot we did.  Those transoms have my heart fluttering!  Its details like that in this new home that give it the character and charm of an older home.

Next week I’ll share more of that office with you.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Bethany