Wall to wall

We received this request via email last month from Eileen: (and I finally found some time to scour my photo stash)

"I've always lived in older homes with wood floors, but I recently purchased an 80's tract house with wall-to-wall carpet. The carpet has to be replaced now, but it's going to be a few years before I can afford to put in wood. Can you pull together some photos of inspiring living rooms with carpet? Is there such a thing?"  I have selected some photos of living rooms with wall-to-wall carpet (and if it's not wall-to-wall, pretend it is) to help give Eileen some ideas. I'd suggest a very neutral (cream or very light grey) berber or a sisal-type carpet (but not a rough sisal) and then layer some fun area rugs on top (kilims and cowhide are my favs). Being the owner of a plethora of cats, carpet is my worst enemy. So might I suggest something a little zany. If your subfloor is plywood and is in decent shape, how about sanding it smooth and then painting it in the meantime? I've seen this a few times and think it looks great considering the inexpensive material. (If you don't believe me check out this post by Erin of Design Crisis).

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Help for a chick's pad

This reader request comes from Lia: "I take possession next week of a little urban cottage in Overbrook. I have pretty much no cash to do much of anything, but have to do some renos (redo hardwood throughout; upgrade electrical; paint, of course). I had a designer give me a hour's consulation re: colours, but beyond that . . . I'm on my own. I'd like the place to reflect my artsy bent and be a sanctuary for my daughter and I. Do you have any ideas for a space of about 800 square feet, including an eat-in kitchen (70's style brown wood-type cabinets, I'll keep the linoleum for now, 10 by 14 feet), 12 by 14 foot living with with non-functional fireplace (brown brick and slate), the smallest bathroom possible (with pink and black tiles with white toilet and walk-in bath - that will have to be replaced), and a bedroom for myself (12 by 9) and for my three-year-old (10 by 9)? Do you have any images of cottage-sized, girl-pretty places?" What dug around my photo stash and found all sorts of small-ish spaces with a girly touch, which hopefully will inspire Lia to create a gorgeous little home for her and her daughter. A chick pad. :) I found enough photos for 2 posts so here are some living rooms and bathrooms and tomorrow will be kitchens and bedrooms.

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Dining in the kitchen

Stacy emailed us recently asking for some inspiration for her sis: "We live in a very expensive "city" in the US, full of retirees, so the only affordable houses are either falling apart or brand new cookie cutter subdivision types. My sister and her husband are in the process of buying a new house and have chosen the new option. The kitchen, of course, consists of an L shape ...counters, cooktop, fridge, sink, dishwasher etc with no island or even room for one. I was wondering if you have a collection of rooms where the eating table is inside the kitchen? I would like to show her how she can make it look less boring in there." Hopefully the following photos of small-ish kitchens with mini dining areas will help Stacy's sister spice up her blah kitchen.

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Tamara's almost completed kitchen

Tamara wrote us the other day, explaining how she recently quit her job with the Canadian federal government (I am beyond envious), moved to southern Ontario with her Aussie boyfriend, bought an 85-year-old house in a historic neighbourhood, and started a small catering/personal chef business from scratch. Yeah, I'd say she's been a tad busy lately. She wanted to share with us some photos of her kitchen reno that was necessary in order to use it as the base production and prep space for their business. Here is a before photo:

Gotta love 80's kitchens. BLEH. The kitchen is just about done but there are some finishing touches Tamara is looking for help with:

"We still have a few things to do in the kitchen, like installing a range hood and figuring out the best option for a backsplash. Maybe your readers could offer a suggestion?  Adam, being a professional chef, is all about stainless steel EVERYTHING, but I'm leaning toward grey/white glass tiles to keep things a little less..clinical. But, I can't decide how far to take them along the wall..any ideas?

We haven't done anything to the old lighting, but since we operate our small business out of our kitchen we have to make sure the lighting meets health and safety requirements.. It's proven to be difficult to find something non-hideous that does the job!

We're also hoping to find some bar stools for the island overhang (I'm obsessed with old industrial drafting stools, so I've been keeping my eye on eBay for those), and an area rug for under the table to warm things up a bit and define that part of the kitchen.

If your readers have any suggestions to complete the kitchen, we'd live to hear them!"

Now for the "after photos"...

Love the teal wall and the open shelving - I bet ALOT of fantastic food is going to fly out of this totally functional kitchen!
I have to call it a night shortly (it's Tuesday night as I prep this post) but here are a couple of my ideas. This jute rug (or something similar in jute) I think would look great under your dining table, or if you crave more colour I'd go for something bold to equal the boldness of your teal wall like this one or this one from Ikea. I completely agree about industrial drafting stools. I wouldn't bother with a backsplash - unless you want an easy surface to clean by the counter around your sink, in which case I would just get a piece of plexi cut to fit that would go 2 or 3 feet up that wall.

So folks, if you've got ideas for Tamara to finish up her kitchen please leave them in the comments.  

Nadia needs help

Nadia emailed us just after Christmas looking for some help: "We live in sydney (yay!!!) and our house is elevated about a metre and a half in the back so we will be building an outdoor deck / veranda with a flat roof overhead. So we have council approval and the deck is a simple rectangle 8m w x 5m l, with the right side having some screening. We will be using hardwood and we would have a fence around the entire area with stairs going down (we have 2 kids and plan on adding one more!!). So this is my questions to you ladies. I need help with designing it in terms of fixtures as we plan on building a kitchen later on on the side with the screening but i am so effin confused with the type of fence, lighting, kitchen material, furniture and furnishings to use etc....Our current interior is very modern with plenty of white, black, brown and splashes of colour from paintings and our built-in book shelves. I have attached some photos of our house which consist of the back sunroom. Our home is currently very open plan with the dining living and kitchen all in one section.  Then we have bi folds that open up to a sunroom / living space. The proposed decking will obviously continue from the sunroom out. This is how I envisage the deck, open with a kitchen going along one side, since its a kitchen i know we will have to put a screen or back on it and in turn we will leave the rest of the deck open to the view. As for furniture we are thinking of a large outdoor table that would seat up 20 people and some great lighting above the table. We would like some plants etc to make it look 'green' and 'outdoorsy'. So in a way it will be like a dining room with its own kitchen. I would like to keep the sunroon, living room etc as is. However if you have any ideas I am very open to them."

As much as I'd love to be of assistance, I am having trouble wrapping my arctic-living brain around the fact that Nadia wants to put a kitchen on a deck. The climate in Sydney is pretty much the exact opposite of that here in Ottawa, so I'm hoping there are folks out there with more of a clue than me that can give Nadia some ideas.