The Dining Room Furniture, Before and After

As a follow up to my previous post, Moving Day, here are before and after photos of our antique Louis XIV china cabinet and dessert buffet that was damaged in the move.

It still amazes me, that after 22 years of military service and moving all over the world, we've never had damage to our household goods like we incurred this time.  "This time" being a move within the same state, less than 100 miles from the point of origin!  I guess there's no such thing as a perfect track record!  And on the bright side, it could have been much worse, as some of our military friends have experienced complete nightmares with their moves.

And to chalk it up to the moving company, Coastal Moving and Storage, they took full responsibility of the damage of our furniture and various items, taking care of all cleaning, repairs, and compensation.  In a timely manner, to boot!  While I probably wouldn't recommend them for handling a job that includes high risk, irreplaceable items, their response and rapid settlement of our claim was impressive.

 

The moving company took care of transporting these pieces to Colonial Woodworks in Columbia, SC.  They were the moving company's choice and we knew nothing about them.  While the job took a good amount of time, we couldn't be more pleased with the work they did and the care they displayed in bringing these special pieces back to life.  I have to admit, after the first month came and went and we still didn't have our furniture, I became extremely skeptical.  Of course my mind was going through all the "what-ifs" and I wasn't thinking very positively.

 

Finally the day for delivery came, and I honestly think I gasped when the pieces were placed in our dining room.  Having not seen the before photos, I wasn't positive of where the work was done, and to my unknowing eyes it was difficult to guess.  Once I was able to store away all our linens, china, crystal and serving pieces, I had the moving company send the "before" photos to me.   

 

As you can see in the photos below the work is impeccable!  Sincere gratitude go out to Steve and Laurie at Colonial Woodworks.  We HIGHLY recommend them for all your furniture refinishing needs!

We love our dining room and look forward to many many years of enjoyment, sharing meals and good times with dear family and precious friends.  Come visit us!!!

The Dessert Buffet

Before and After



 

 

 

The China Cabinet

Before and After

 



 











Stencil Do Over

Time for some updates from my end... 

 

Life has been a whirlwind of activity since we moved into our house.  Amongst all the unpacking was decorating and shopping for Christmas, planning our first Christmas dinner in our new home, and trying to settle in to a routine in our new surroundings.

 

The stair risers didn't survive the foot traffic of painters, carpenters, and other workers, so they were painted over.  It's just as well, because the paint colors I had chosen originally didn't quite go with the colors I had chosen for the walls and trim work in the main entrance.  Not to mention the scuffs and dings to the original job were pretty awful.

 

While I wasn't happy about having to do it again, I still felt very strongly about having this unique feature on the staircase.  But it was going to be tricky! With the risers completely connected to the stair treads, I had no choice but to paint them in place.  This meant also having to trim the stencils to the same size of the risers in order for them to lay flat.  I didn't want to do this but truly had no alternative.  Given this dilemma, I really didn't want to compromise all my stencils so I decided to re-stencil using only one design. 
Royal Design Studio's small camel weave, which is my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

During one of the snowstorms, we lost power and I decided to get started.  It was the perfect time, and the glare from the snow outside provided the perfect lighting.

 

 

As before, the risers were painted with a satin finish, and I stenciled using the same color,
Sherwin Williams Westhighland White, but in a matte finish.

 

 

The final result is tastefully elegant and is stunning without being overwhelming.

Moving Day!

December 2, 2013.  After months of decisions, dreaming, budget busting, and anticipation the day finally arrived for us to move into our beautiful home!  We were so excited the night before we could hardly sleep!

I had every intention of snapping several photos on this monumental day, but never had the opportunity to do so.  For the first time E.V.E.R. TravelinBRITS was left in charge of the movers while I had to travel to the airport 2 hours away to collect our son who had been away at basic training in San Antonio, TX, with the SC Air National Guard.  I had every confidence that my husband could handle the task at hand.... and he did!

When our son and I returned, things seemed under control.  Six moving crates had been unloaded, and the five remaining were almost done.  Almost immediately I noticed the anxious look on my husband's face...... several furniture items had not been off loaded, but we held out hope that they were in the final crate yet to be opened.  Alas, they were not, commencing phone calls to the dispatch office, notifying the office manager we were missing a crate.

Search for the missing crate began immediately, while we began the task of unpacking over 400 boxes!  Our task became rather tedious as certain boxes could not be unpacked due to not having the furniture that would hold the items (mainly our Louis XIV china cabinet and dessert buffet, bookcase, master bedroom dresser and chest of drawers).  Needless to say, anxiety set in like the persistent buzz of a mosquito, annoying and troubling!

Two days after delivery we received a call from the moving and storage company regional manager with good news and bad news.  Good news:  crate was found.  Bad news: contents of the crate had suffered severe water damage due to the items sitting on a leaky truck during the continuous summer storms we endured last July.  Uggghhh!  I had answered the call, but had to hand the phone off to my husband before I went completely ballistic on the guy! 

Water damage, severe mold, and possibly total loss on some of our most high dollar items!  Why is it that the high dollar/irreplaceable items are the things to suffer the most damage whenever we move.  The stuff made of particle board or items we'd just as soon send to the curb are NEVER damaged!  Riddle me that, Batman!

The manager's next question was, "Would you like us to deliver these items and you set up the appraisals and repair contacts?". Are you nuts???  NOOOO!!!  You did this so you are responsible.  You get the appraisals and assessments on the items and go from there, especially since you're in a metro region where the resources are available!  We don't want these items delivered until all damage has been repaired or replaced.

Along with the furniture items mentioned above, ALL my beautiful Moroccan pillows, poufs, and cushions were covered in mold, ALL our Civil War prints (Mort Kunstler, Don Stivers, etc), a Civil War sabre replica, my husband's military dress sabre, and one very special award presented to my husband by His Royal Highness, Mohammed VI, Kingdom of Morocco, suffered water and mold damage.  To date, all repairs and/or restoration is in progress with one item being declared a total loss, but we've not had any visual on the items so not sure if we will be 100% satisfied.  We won't take delivery until all has been completed.

The hardest thing about the whole ordeal is the fact that we have moved 16 times across continents and oceans, and have never experienced damage like this.  These items were in storage for less than 6 months and traveled less than 100 miles from the warehouse to their destination.... and for the FINAL TIME!  Our last move and we suffer losses like never before!!!

I don't have a moral to this story.  All of this could have been avoided if the moving company put a little more effort into caring for our stuff.  Yeah, it's just stuff, but it's a military career's worth of collecting special things from around the world.  Things that can't be replaced.  Things that have extraordinary sentimental value.  Things that were heavily considered when planning and building our new home.

Coastal Moving and Storage Their motto: Moving You Like Family.  What a joke!!!!!!!  They are no family of mine!

Once these items have been delivered and things have been put away, I look forward to sharing photos of our home.  We are extremely happy with all the special features and love being there, calling it HOME!

Excitement is Building!

Where does the time go!?  I cannot believe all that has happened since I last gave y'all an update on the house.  And not only has a lot changed with the house, but we've also had a few life changing events too.  But more on that in another posting...

In chronological order, here's some photos of the past several weeks:

beams in the family room

matching cabinets in the family room

kitchen cabinets and island

fridge nook and butler's pantry

laundry room

finished outdoor fireplace and prepping for the stamped concrete patio

stone being delivered

one of my favorite "things" in the house; love how the light casts such a beautiful shadow!

hot tub deck and more patio prep work

 

view from above of almost finished patio

another shot of the butler's pantry

another of my favorite things....the laundry room door! mounted on a track like a barn door

For those of you following along with our build, I don't think I'll be posting many more updates here.  If you want periodic snippets you'll have to join my Facebook page.  Just click on the button in the right margin.  I will post random pictures there.  And you can also follow Travelin' GRITS to receive notification of new postings. 

Instead, I will be posting about some other life events, as well as some projects I'll start working on that will find their permanent place at the house.  I'm guessing the next and final few weeks of the build will be full of lots of changes....... and I can't wait!!!  :)

Until then....

Coming Along!

Y'all would not believe how long I've waited to post this update!  I've had a myriad of computer issues that have nearly gotten the best of me, but in the end I came out with a brand new Windows Surface replacing my original Surface that I got last Christmas.  It ended up being a faulty piece of equipment.  My dinosaur of a laptop is going in for a tune-up this week.  Shhh, it might be beyond help at the stage it's in.  But I'm willing to give it one last chance!

Anyway, following are some captioned photos of  the house and the progress thus far.  Needless to say, WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!



front of house

back porch ceiling

view of staircase from front door

through the master bedroom pocket doors to the study

looking from the dining room into the kitchen toward the breakfast and family rooms

looking back toward the kitchen from the family room

family room fireplace and ceiling height chimney

view from second story down to family room

view from the wooded driveway

window and door trim begun

window trim

crown molding going up

making sure our Moroccan arched stained glass window fits its opening

columns and coffered ceiling!

arching the doorways!

second story arch

master bath tub surround

living room columns, again

backyard patio

outdoor fireplace began last Thursday

patio fireplace:  this was done in just 2 days!

 

 

To Stencil or Not to Stencil? That Is The Question!

Family, friends, lovers of design and all things unique!  I need your help!

As you know, we're in the process of building a home.  A home that's been a dream for many years, and we're finally seeing it come to life.  All those years of dreaming has produced a lot of "must haves" and "really want" design features and decorating ideas.  Some that Travelin BRITS and I agree on, and some that we don't.  But we usually work it out either through compromise or completely different ideas all together.

Like many of you, I've gotten sucked in to the idea social media sites like Pinterest and Houzz.com, where I oooh, ahhh, and drool over so many incredible photos of amazing ideas in hundreds of categories.

One of my idea books or boards is of staircases that feature stenciling on the stair risers.  This idea just sends me into orbit with color and pattern choices almost limitless.  I really want to do this on the stairs in our house!!!!!!

The art of stenciling has been around for centuries, so it's nothing new to the art world, or to the design world.  But of late, it has seen a resurgence in home decorating because of the unique "handmade" quality it presents.

I recently became enamored with stenciling while following a blog that features a magnificent boutique hotel in Marrakesh, Morocco.  My Marrakesh is written by Maryam Montague, who has lived in Marrakesh with her family for almost 10 years.  Together with her architect husband, they designed and built the amazing Peacock Pavilions in a grove of olive trees.  She is the queen of shopping the souks of Marrakesh, and has a keen eye for the unique and an impeccable flair for decorating and design.  She's even written a book, Marrakesh by Design, that you can purchase here, here, or here.

In her quest for unique decorating techniques for Peacock Pavilions, she commissioned Melanie Royal of Royal Design Studio to help her with the designs of the stencils and the actual project.  The Peacock Painters, as they came to be known, did some amazing work and the final results are a sight to behold!   You can visit My Marrakesh here to see for yourself!  I'll be listening for your ooohs and aaahs!

While I can't commission Melanie Royal, I can purchase designs from her studio to help me with my project. The help I need from you is the push to make it happen or bring it to a screeching halt.  Travelin BRITS still has to agree(!) and give his blessing on the project.  Hopefully I can come up with an undeniable reason we should complement all our Moroccan treasures with these unique designs on our staircase.  And if we both end up hating it in the end, it's only paint and can be easily painted over.... right?

So.....what do you think?  And do I have any volunteers to come help??????

These are a few pins from my Pinterest board:

I absolutely LOVE this first one, but would prefer fewer patterns.




Very traditional Moroccan tile designs, that I absolutely love!




This one actually looks like wood inlay, but is really stencil.  Amazing, right?



Here, a photo of my staircase.  These are still the temporary construction stairs, but the view gives you an idea on how the stenciling would look from the front door entrance.  The stair case will curve from about the halfway point.

I got a piece of scrap plywood from the site today.  It's big enough to practice several color combinations, but I've only invested in one stencil for now.  I'll practice with it, until I've perfected the technique and narrowed down the colors.  I'm thinking of sticking with one color for the background of the riser and a tone or two darker for the stencil design.  This way the designs are there but they're not screaming at you the minute you walk through the door.

This is what I did tonight on gold/yellow poster board with warm brown paint.  These are the last 2 designs I did in a series of 5.  I got progressively better with the technique on each one.

I'm really excited about this project and can't wait to go to Lowe's in the morning to buy paint!!!!  :)

I ask for your honest opinions, suggestions, ideas both for the project AND for convincing Traveling BRITS that we just have to do this for our home!  

THANKS, Y'ALL!!!!

Update on The Dream

A bit of an update on the house project from April through yesterday...

 

Drywall and brick will start going up next week!

 

www.tisdalebuilders.com



front door and framework



looking from the family room toward the kitchen



upper storey framework and walls - front

upper storey framework and walls - rear

roof!

view from driveway

front door and my soldier

front door interior

breakfast room and door leading onto back porch

friendship entrance door

master bath barrel ceiling

Maggie in her room

roof shingles going on

 

front of house

 

energy efficient foam insulation

foam insulation