Well, hello! Welcome to my world – or at least just the built environment part of my world with a few fun stories tossed in for comedic relief. At long last and with much encouragement from my dear friends and family, I am excited to begin capturing and sharing my creative pursuits in design, home renovation, and DIY. Yes, there are many blogs out there like it, but this one is mine! I intend to make it worth while to not only read, but also to write and maintain. With my husband currently deployed and my two little superheroes ever engaged in fighting the bad guys that live under the stairs, I needed a creative outlet. Something to keep this creative soul burning, ever restless hands busy with and a canvas to paint the images constantly developing in my head. So, with loving – slightly hesitant – support from my husband, I decided that I would remodel our 1981 ‘colonial’ – or what designers in the 80s referred to as a ‘colonial’ – single-family home in Northern Virginia.
It is my goal to renovate our home, which is amazingly 95% untouched since 1981 (we even have the original dishwasher still!), into the current day, but with a spin on traditional design and way of life. Not fussy design with lace curtains and antiques that you can’t set a drink on without a coaster, doily and plastic place-mat underneath. Nor an antiquated lifestyle where we sit around a radio listening to Little Orphan Annie broadcasts while the fire dries our hand knitted wool socks. No, more like using architectural salvage pieces to infuse this cookie-cutter-build with some character and creating an entry way that we actually use – rather than through the garage – and instantly lets us know that we’re home. Or hang beautiful curtains that act as energy savers and decorative elements like they were originally intended for. I also want the walls and horizontal surfaces to demonstrate the aesthetics and worldly possessions that make us smile. I believe that our home is a collective reflection of our family and well, I think my family is pretty awesome so why not decorate with what pleases our hearts?! I have this master’s degree in historic preservation and I hope to be able to also share with you a little bit of the amazing things I’ve learned along the way.
I hope you come back to follow along my series of self-initiated ‘One-Room-Challenges’ until our home reflects our family and style!
Cheers!
-A.A.
brasslionhome.com 