How was your week? I am just completely overwhelmed with house stuff like looking at tile, faucets and trying to get my house plan STILL approved by the city I live in. It’s been extremely worrying and stressful, and stomachache inducing as we are paying rent at the rental and building hasn’t even begun. I’ve finally nailed down my bath tiles and floors. A peek of some of it here.. and my dying feet at the tile store- don’t you love that herringbone set tile?
A few pics from the Ann Sacks showroom in San Francisco. I love the tile on the floor with the marble- maybe for my master. For the boys I am thinking a combo of grey, off white tiles and some dark denim blue colored accents like these cute tiles for their shower floor and in the shampoo niche or in a stripe going around the shower. It’s hard to see the true blue colors in a photo.
On the bright side, our rental is larger than my own house and my landlords are the kindest, sweetest people who I adore. They were so cute and came to get some mail and I invited them in. They were very kind and their daughter and granddaughter said they love my way of decorating. I was surprised as I have such a crazy mix here, but I guess together it all works. They made my day and were so sweet. I am what is described as a nester. I am happiest at home and wherever I am, I have to make it my own. A lot of people say they would do nothing to a temporary rental, but I would find it hard to live here without making it mine in some way.
What they liked was my colors in my bedroom, quirky colored handbags as placed about, and some pops of color with white. They have a wonderful trough planter under the desk window and I replanted it with little flowers, so the white and pops of color kind of worked well!
Sorry for the messy bed. I love these lampshades I found at Homegoods again.
Throw was from a mill in Leeds, England and wonderfully soft also from Homegoods. ( I almost typed Homegods, but they kind of are for affordable stuff.)
Love, love, love this desk and the view. I use my baskets (This from the French Basketeer,) as filing areas of a sort.
There is a good mix of blue, natural woods and rugs and throws here. I’m a bit of a throw ho.. Sorry I couldn’t resist- but they do easily add color and fun to the home and spice up things. I’ve also found some nice accents at a local chain called Harvest I adore. I like plain furnishings, so I can change things up with the seasons and frankly when I get sick of looking at things. I think visual people are that way and if you are someone like that, it’s best to stick with a lot of white, solids and blacks. You have a lot of choices when you do.
It’s been summer, so I’ve had all my blue out and in this rental I was lucky to have a wonderful spot to display some of my blue books, glasses, plates and vases with a mix of coral we have from vacations over the years. How awesome is this built in? It fit my record player and I created a nice wrap station too in one of the drawers for the upcoming holidays.
This cute throw is from the Los Gatos Harvest store.
I had no idea how to decorate the big family room, so I stayed with the blue theme. I added a blue and grey pillows and had the ottoman, also from Harvest from a while ago in that color made it all work. The monster ugly tv had to fit in. UGH. I’m upgrading to a thin one when we move back.
They left me a nice stone kitchen table which I covered with a blue cloth and added some inexpensive white metal chairs that I found for $29 each.
I love the big yard here so tried to continue the theme outdoors and created a living room with denim pillows thrown on my old yard chairs, added my outdoor rug and a bar I found pretty cheap at Homegoods that I kitted out with a few things. I copied my friend Elaine’s bar styling. She’s a pro at that and I shared one here on my Instagram. I have to do another post on her terrific outdoor room soon as she’s brilliant at all that.
We brought our string cafe lights over and strung them between the trees here. It feels festive. I left my loungers at the other house and we still go over there to swim occasionally. My husband jokes it’s our vacation home. We have to make light as we are dying about the cost of all this. STILL we tell ourselves this WAY cheaper than moving and buying another home around here. We just have to keep reminding ourselves. Things like the small house next door getting sold in it’s original 1965 condition for more than star’s homes cost (I read the weekly Hot Property from the LA Times- kinda fun), helps me realize it will be worth it all.
It has been fun trying to make a temporary place feel like our own and I’ve distracted myself with it while going through this whole planning process which is so much more than I ever imagined. I’ve tried to use what we have, repurpose things in other rooms and buy some fun things on the cheap, so I don’t feel too guilty about spending money here. I even got some things on Nextdoor, like a cool desk chair for my son.
Here’s a few good finds I love this week for the home..
I love this Pendleton throw in Horizon Stripe. The blues go with so much and feel beachy, but would be nice for cool nights on the patio with a glass of wine as well as pretty on the end of a bed or on a sofa.
I ordered myself Eau de Vacances (scent of vacation), from Fragonard, a lovely fragrance house I visited in Èze, France on my holiday this year. I couldn’t resist the scent of bergamot, mandarin, rose and cedar- all making me wish summer was not almost over. Hopefully, I can savor it a little longer wearing this!
With the kids getting their desks all cleaned out for school, I took the time to do the same and got new pencils, pens and I am thinking of ordering this cute ginger jar stationary set so I have some pretty thank you cards and note pad.
Anne Selke cotton rugs are the best. This Citrus Drybrush rug popped up on their outlet and I cannot help loving the look and the price $45 for a 4×6! How cute is this for an entry or a kitchen?
These Ombre Wine Glasses caught my eye and I couldn’t resist getting some for my outdoor bar. I love stemless wine glasses and the colors just say summer and California plus and the gold makes them work for fall too.
Thanks for reading. Sorry for the delay in posts and I am sorry the travel posts are coming. They just take a very long time to write.
Happy weekend!
Kim
Hi Kim, glad to see you are settling into the rental house! Adding some touches of your own will make it feel like your new ‘home from home’. Good luck getting started on the remodel.
Julia
Thanks Julia, it is helping to make it feel more like home! I need the luck. ❤️ Hoping it gets going soon.
Hi Kim, it looks like you’ve made yourself a very comfortable nest – glad to see that you have settled in nicely to your temporary home. And especially that your landlords are very nice, that makes a huge difference. I love your decorating style and can’t wait to see what you do with your proper home when you get back into it!
Hi Patricia! I know I am trying to find the positive- good landlords and it will be all worth it when I’m through with this process. Thanks so much. You are so nice. I hope the house will come out okay! Yikes choosing all this stuff is scary. Have a good week!
I feel your pain Kim! We had so much trouble with our building permits when we did our renovation. We had to hire an engineer mid-build to assess the work, that came out of one of the inspections, and that delayed work by two weeks with our workers on the job, ugh it was so frustrating and expensive. Hopefully you will get your permit sorted soon and then the building can begin… in the meantime I am absolutely loving your rental and all of the things you’ve done to make it home. It’s really lovely and I had to laugh at throw hoe too.
So great to see a post from you, I am long overdue to post on my site and I’ve had so much trouble with spam etc that I had to take it down for a couple of weeks. Not resolved yet but I’m hoping to do a colour story post this week on what I packed for our vacation to Vienna.
Hang in there and don’t worry too much, it will all work out! xxx
Dani, I guess this is par for the course all the red tape, but this is especially excessive interference and I guess not the norm. Sigh we will have to see what happens… I couldn’t write because the internet is very poor here. I have lost a few posts and then I get frustrated and stop. I should work outside the home, but it’s been hard to find hours to do it.
I am so behind to read your blog and everyones. I cannot wait to hear about Vienna!! I love your color stories and looking forward to the next one. Hugs, xo
Well, this was GREAT FUN to HEAR from YOU and to peek into YOUR RENTAL!SO, HAPPY YOU FOUND A RENTAL!!!!!!!
Love that you mentioned FRENCH BAKETEER!She has fallen off the social media AVENUE………I should call HER!
I have been in your shoes with the house re-model and all I can say is GOOD LUCK with THAT!I think I told you we nearly got DIVORCED over the light switches!!!!!!I wanted the FAT ONES MODERN HE wanted the old kind…….the house is half and half!
I’m a NESTER TOO………..when is your BIRTHDAY?EXCept I don’t change things up!!!!!!!
Lets CHAT SOON!!!!!
XO
Kim,
You will b so happy and it will all seem worth it in the end and it’s adding value…win, win! I love how you make your rental home homey, because it is home even if it’s just for now. Each day matters and I love how you added touches of you everywhere. Love that herringbone floor! It’s going to be ahhhhhmazing!
sending you love and good wishes that everything stays on track and the city approves plans very quickly.
annie
Hi Kim, sorry I’m so late commenting. I read your post while we were away but didn’t have time to comment. Then we arrived home to no gas supply … due to updating of the gas pipes near to our home. So no hot water or heating and a surprisingly cold house for a few days! Still we coped hardly a major problem 🙂
I enjoyed reading this post so much. Lovely to see how much you’ve achieved in your rental property… it looks gorgeous! Such a plus to have kind and friendly landlords. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but we spent over a year extending and pretty much rebuilding our home … only one bedroom remained with all four walls intact! Plus we removed the front of the house ! So I totally understand how you’re feeling especially with regard to getting plans approved etc. Also as much fun as it is initially it’s hard work, isn’t it choosing new bathroom fittings, kitchen, decor etc for a whole house! ? 🙂
I hope things get underway soon and go smoothly….
Looking forward to reading your travel posts … we’re hoping to drive down to the South of France for the first time, next year. Really looking forward to it!
Have a good weekend! Take care.
Rosemary xxx
You have made your rental darling! Remodeling can be so stressful. I love your choices and your “new home
is going to be fabulous. I am checking out that french fragrance…it sounds like it would be right up my alley!