A new neighbor and an old friend

A while ago I did a post about a wonderful old house that sits just up the road from us in Ojai....it was for sale, 

and we thought about the possibility of buying it and restoring it...

 Ultimately we felt that we still had a big project ahead of us in the current little place we own up here,
 But I knew that someone would see the charm and history of the place and make it into a wonderful home.

 The prior owners named it Quail Hollow,
 A perfect name I think.
And yes, we have lots of Quail scurrying around.

It has wonderful period details from the 20's and sits on about 2 acres.

It sits across the road from another beautiful home.  

This was once a stable for horses

 And now it is owned by actress Reese Witherspoon.

Great Location right?

 The little Quail Hollow house has stone fireplaces 

Lots of interesting beams and quirky spots,

 that will make this little house really special when it is all fixed up

I mentioned on that post that I loved the vintage curtains in the little guest house!

I really never gave it much thought after that until about a week ago.

You see....someone bought Quail Hollow!

So I have a new neighbor...and guess what?

She happens to follow this blog too!

So guess what arrived last week...

yep

the curtains 

and my new neighbor Ellie!

She and her husband will be embarking on a wonderful renovation of Quail Hollow

I am so excited that they are doing this and I can't wait to see how they turn this little gem of a house into an amazing & wonderful home.

Thank you so much Ellie!

& 

Isn't blogging just amazing?

~kelley~

Simple: lighting

Quite often I find that the more 

spare and simple 

 the more these appeal to me...

How about you?

Sources:  

School House Electric

Rejuvenation

Barn Light Electric

Bath Remodel: Done!

 This bathroom was a bit of a project, 

but now that it is done it feels great.

 It is very clean and unfussy.  

We opted not to have a door in the shower...just two large glass panels

 Positioning the freestanding tub on an angle is a bit of a challenge

 but it works well when you are looking to save on space.  

There is a lot of extra plumbing with a tub filler like this one too.  

Something to keep in mind if you have a tight budget.

All of the fixtures are modern and every thing is a chrome finish.  I actually like polished nickel too but chrome is sometimes a bit less expensive.

 The medicine cabinets will be trimmed out in rustic barn wood and I will be adding a few pieces of vintage furniture to warm things up.

 Bathrooms are really interesting to design 

because there are so many different components available...

In every color and shape imaginable.

Well, thats one down and one to go....

"Hats off" to my tile setter Mike! 

oh and my plumber Jeff

and my electrician Chuck

and my painter Dave 

and my  

 new....

This list just keeps getting longer!

~kelley~

The First Roses of Spring

 The first batch of English roses has bloomed

 I cut these the other evening,

 and the light was so beautiful it seemed to make the flowers glow

 This variety is David Austin "Evelyn" 

and it is such a romantic wonderful color

 A bit of peach....a bit of cream

 The fragrance is amazing...like sweet tea

 This is a wonderful addition to any garden...try one in your's

You will fall in love!

~kelley~

The 4 Doors

 Another fun project is in the works...

We are using these old doors!

 These were probably from some sort of a hotel or camp.

Tall skinny campers!

The size is odd, at only 24" wide but they are tall at about 7 feet.

 The patina is really wonderful  and the little funny old numbers and rusty hardware, add to the charm

 They have been re-numbered quite a few times over their lifetime,

 which makes me wonder why?  

 The unpainted sides are great too...

so no matter how we use these, I think they will be really fun.

More on the doors this week! 

Hope you are having a great day

`kelley~

Ojai Master Bathroom: Tile work and details

 I promised not to show you these again,

 so I will give you a link here and here for the prior posts...just in case you missed them!

 One detail I forgot to mention.... there are these skylight tube thingy's in the ceiling. 

They actually do let some light in but are always full of bugs, 

which is why I don't think these are very practical. 

It's like a scene from Spiderman.

 This was day one of the demo...needless to say the guy I hired lasted about 3 days before we had to say "adios" mister!

Just wasn't gonna work out

But I have a new "posse" on board and we are getting along just fine. 

So here are the elements again that we are using:

I realize that these all seem really modern but I will be adding a few vintage touches to cozy things up.  

It's all about the details, right?

We are moving right along with the tile work. 

 The Carrera mosaic will be for the floor. 

There is also some Carrera trim details, but it actually a pretty simple layout. 

 The white wall tile is just your basic Dal subway tile from Home Depot...love that stuff!

I still don't have a door yet either. 

It was a special order item that will be in next week.  

But the most important item on my list is this:

Can't wait to take a big soak in the new tub...yea!

Final post on the bath

coming soon!