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Roundup: 12 Simple Wood Bedframes + The One We Purchased for Our Bedroom

January 28, 2023 by jessica Leave a Comment

ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE | SIX | SEVEN | EIGHT | NINE | TEN | ELEVEN | TWELVE

As I mentioned in this post, our next interior focus is our bedroom. I had hoped to make more progress on this room since hitting publish on that post in August, but finding the right bedframe took a lot longer than anticipated. It was partly due to life getting in the way, but financially, we were replenishing our savings after the bathroom remodel.

Finding that “Goldilocks” bed wasn’t easy and we spent countless hours browsing sites and shopping in-person to find one we loved. We thought we found the one back in November, but if you click through, you’ll see that the leg support runs all the way under the bed. I loved it design-wise, but floors aren’t exactly level in an old house and I worried it would cause stress fractures even with shims. Back to the drawing board we went with our list of requirements:

  • Coordinate with our existing nightstands.
  • Sold wood preferred, but would consider high-quality veneer.
  • At least seven inches of clearance for under-bed storage.
  • Less than $2,500, unless it was beyond perfect then we’d go up in price.
  • Reviews that say it doesn’t creak.

We considered going with West Elm’s mid-century bed. It would have been an easy choice to match the nightstands from the same line. However, it was pretty lackluster in person. The wood grain on the veneer was barely visible, the back of the headboard was unfinished, and it just felt a little cheap. We then thought about the Article bed. We have a dining table and desk from the brand and love both. We were dissuaded by the reviews, though, when some indicated the bed creaked. Plus, the walnut finish — while beautiful — would have left us looking for new nightstands that coordinated with the finish. Then there’s this stunner from Rejuvenation that we both loved. It’s solid wood, which we eventually realized we preferred over the veneer options, but that price tag was a bit more than we wanted to spend and we wouldn’t have had an easy way to return the bed if we weren’t in love with it when it arrived.

Eventually, we selected this one from Thuma. Internet-only brands are such a gamble, but the reviews on Reddit were outstanding and vouch for the company’s customer service. I had actually eliminated Thuma from the search early last year. At that time, they only had an upholstered headboard that needed to be up against a solid wall for it to stay put — not something that would work in our bedroom which requires that the bed go against the windows. A solid wood headboard that integrates into the frame, however, was a game changer and the bed ticked off every requirement for us. The walnut finish is warmer in person, coming close to the color of the nightstands. It’s a beautiful bed and I love the look of the Japanese joinery that allows the bed to be assembled without the use of tools. We’ve only had it for two weeks now, so I’ll plan to report back in a few months with a full review!

Next up, repainting the accent wall. I think I’ve settled on a color and will be picking up a sample today!

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Thanks for visiting! As a reminder, I may earn an affiliate commission if you buy an item through my links. This is at no cost to you. I appreciate your continued support!

Filed Under: Home, Interiors, Main Bedroom Tagged With: bedroom, house updates, Main bedroom

12 Neutral Home Decor Finds for a Summer Refresh

July 1, 2022 by jessica Leave a Comment

ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE | SIX | SEVEN | EIGHT | NINE | TEN | ELEVEN | TWELVE

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Thanks for visiting! As a reminder, I may earn an affiliate commission if you buy an item through my links. This is at no cost to you. I appreciate your continued support!

Filed Under: Home, Interiors, Shopping Guide Tagged With: home decor, Home Decor Finds, summer home

Main Bathroom Renovation: The Cost Breakdown

June 10, 2022 by jessica Leave a Comment

So, how much did all of this cost? A lot. And way more than what our original quote was.

I do think it’s important to be transparent about renovation costs so others aren’t blindsided by prices when they’re doing their own remodels. Prices vary depending on where you live, and your contractor’s experience and expertise. Plus, you don’t know what you’ll find when you open up your walls. I’ll share more about the half bath in upcoming posts, but when we got behind the walls and saw our old cast iron plumbing, we decided to update it to modern PVC pipes which was an expected cost, but a smart decision to take care of it when the room was down to the studs to prevent possible plumbing issues down the road related to old pipes.

In this post, I’ll break down the costs by three areas:

Labor – This is self-explanatory. We paid our contractor $65/hour and $30/hour for the trainees that were on the job occasionally. Due to what would turn out to be a wildly inaccurate quote, our contractor eventually did a blanket 20% discount on labor and did roughly $6,000 in labor for free.

Materials – This includes things like lumber, paint, nails, backer board, caulk, etc. Tile is also included in this section.

Fixtures – This will account for the finishings that you saw in the reveal post. It includes things like light fixtures, the tub, faucets, etc.

I’m excluding the cost of updating our plumbing, which came to $3,040.47. We removed all of the cast iron plumbing in the house and replaced it with modern PVC pipes. Cast iron eventually erodes and creates rough surfaces inside the pipes, which leads to drainage issues like clogs. We also discovered that the pipes were pitched incorrectly in the basement, so that was all corrected with that above price. It was money well spent.

Here’s where we came in at:

Permits – $242

Labor – $19,670.25

Materials – $4,945.24

Fixtures – $4,223.68

Grand Total – $29,081.17

To put this in perspective, our original quote for labor and materials was approximately $12,000. We decided to remove the original built-in cabinet and rebuild it to match the new one, so based on the original quote, that would have added another $1,300 to our estimated costs. We anticipated an additional 30% to account for unexpected costs, but we certainly didn’t expect to come in as high as we did by time the project ended — and this was after the labor discount. We ultimately decided to take out a home equity line of credit to allow for a cushion while we pay this back.

When it’s all said and done, though, I’m sure we’ll have “renovation amnesia” and will forget some of the financial stress. We’re certainly very lucky to be in the position to take on such a bougie remodel and I don’t take that for granted. It really ended up being worth it and it’s really an investment in our home which will pay off when we eventually sell, but it’ll also pay dividends now with our enjoyment of our home — and peace of mind that we’re no longer having sustained water damage!

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Filed Under: Bathroom, Home, Interiors, Main Bathroom Tagged With: Bathroom, Bathroom Remodel, Bathroom Renovation, budget breakdown, Main Bathroom, renovation diaries

Project Update: Main Bathroom Progress, Part Three

May 27, 2022 by jessica Leave a Comment

In full disclosure, our bathroom is completed and it’s gorgeous! I can’t believe it’s ours and I’m just the happiest! Before we get to the full reveal in an upcoming post, I wanted to share some photos and updates from the last leg of the project.

As you know, we renovated our first floor half bath before we began the upstairs main bathroom. The project was expected to take six to eight weeks, and it ended up being a full three months. It was stressful and expensive. I will do a full cost breakdown for you in a future post as I think it’s helpful to get an idea of what these things cost as you plan and save for your own renovation. Now that we’re through it, though, I’m starting to have “renovation amnesia” as Emily Henderson put it in her new book. It’s completely accurate that the final product makes you forget the frustration you felt during the process. I’m not going to sugarcoat the fact that the process sucks sometimes. You’ll have moments of bliss and excitement. I felt that when our tub was placed or when I saw our built-in cabinets coming together. Those are counterbalanced by annoyances that pop up during the process — two of mine are shared below.

Shortly after I left you with the last update, team finished tiling the shower and we turned our attention to the flooring. You may recall that we had to shift gears with our flooring. The marble tile I had originally purchased from Home Depot had good reviews when I bought it, but shortly after there were complaints about tile yellowing once it was grouted, likely due to too many mineral deposits that were oxidizing. We shifted gears and ordered a more expensive marble hexagon flooring from The Tile Shop. I’m really glad that we did because the new tile is beautiful and better quality than the budget marble. When you’re already spends tens of thousands of dollars, you may as well figure out a way to pay for the nicer finishes. I know that costs add up and it feels overwhelming, but I promise that you’ll be happier in the long run if you can make it work with your budget or a home equity line of credit.

I spent a lot of time obsessing over the layout of our tile and our contractor numbered each sheet so it would go back where I wanted it. It was a great idea in theory, until a couple of sheets were rotated. For the most part, it didn’t matter. A natural material is going to have variations. That’s why it’s attractive and why people pay for it. But we had an unfortunate tile layout that, well, looked phallic:

It wasn’t really noticeable in person, but I couldn’t unsee a penis in those dark tiles when I took photos of the room — as you can see from this screenshot from my phone. I hated it so much that I asked our contractor how much it would cost to replace tiles that I delicately phrased as “a dark line that catches the eye.” He quoted approximately $20 per tile to replace individual ones (thankfully this was before it was grouted), but asked Dave if he thought the tiles were really that bothersome. Dave bluntly told our contractor, “she sees a dick.” Haha. So, for around $100, the tiles were replaced with a few lighter ones to break up the pattern:

Of those two options, I went with the set of five replacements on the left.

We extended the tile to the floors of the built-ins. We could have either done this or placed a wood “shelf” on the floor. I figured that this would be easier to clean when I mop the floor.

This is the interior of the left cabinet where there’s an access panel for the shower plumbing. The team eventually created baseboards for the inside of the cabinets to give them a clean finish.

The tiles still had a grout haze in this photo, but it was such a delight to see the room coming together exactly how I had imagined it last summer when we started interviewing contractors. It was a long time coming!

The marble was sealed after grouting with a water-based sealer that was recommended by The Tile Shop. We also added a marble ledge in our shower niche and window, which was also sealed prior to showering for the first time to reduce water stains.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am with the built-ins. They replicated the original cabinet (seen here) and added a second to flank the tub. It was important to me to make sure this room incorporated design features that were original to our 1929 house. While the original built-in was in bad shape, the replicas are spot on.

The team was also able to keep the original trim for the window that isn’t in the shower. They carefully cut around it during demo. The doorframe wasn’t so lucky, but they rebuilt it so it looks original.

Take a moment to note that register opening. Like the rest of our house, it’s a large register. I had expressed concern about this when we began the project, and wondered how this was going to work with a vanity in front of it. It was too expensive to move the duct, so I had asked if a decorative register cover would work since the vanity has an open shelf. I was assured that it would be fine, so I spent $100 on a register cover.

…it clearly was not fine. So, the register cover jutted out from the wall about an inch, which was just enough to keep the vanity from being flush against the wall. Our contractor had gone to lunch when I popped my head in to see how things were coming along and saw this. Surely he wasn’t going to leave it like this, right? Yet, I still texted to share my concern. (I figured it’s cheaper to share concerns earlier rather than later.) He told me that the register cover was the issue and that we could try to set a piece of marble behind the vanity to meet up with the wall or built a wood ledge — and then had the audacity to suggest that some people like floating vanities. No, they do not. (Never mind that floating vanities are those without legs; not those that float away from the wall.)

I asked him if there was a way to recess the register cover by cutting out some tile that surrounded the hole and setting it in deeper, or to just go with a smaller register cover that fit within the open shelf. The latter would simply force more air to other rooms upstairs, which isn’t the worst. I’m still a little sour that I had to suggest those solutions rather than him coming up with them, but whatever. We got through it and went with the smaller register:

He eventually tiled underneath the new cover. The spacing of the tile down there doesn’t match the rest of the wall as a result, which bothered him. (Weird time to be a perfectionist.) I told him that I didn’t care and we can address it down the road if if we ever swap out this vanity for one where we can see that tile. This was clearly a better solution than a “floating vanity.”

Truth be told, this room has the most direct run from the furnace, so it would always get too hot or cold, depending on the thermostat, so reducing the opening and forcing air to other rooms has actually been great. Even if that weren’t the case, pushing up the vanity against the wall was necessary:

Stay tuned for the full reveal!

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Filed Under: Bathroom, Home, Interiors, Main Bathroom Tagged With: Bathroom, Bathroom Remodel, Bathroom Renovation, Main Bathroom, renovation diaries

Pretty, Useful Things: Stylish Soap Dispensers

March 25, 2022 by jessica Leave a Comment

12 Stylish Soap Dispensers

ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE | SIX | SEVEN | EIGHT | NINE | TEN | ELEVEN | TWELVE

Fortunately I don’t suffer from decision paralysis because this renovation is one decision after another, and it’s everything from location of light switches and outlets to the size of the shower nook to the color of grout — and even to the accessories like soap dispensers. The soap dispensers I’ve had from Target haven’t really held up over the years, with exception of No. 6 above which is in our kitchen, so I’m on the hunt for new ones to outfit both bathrooms. Since I already have dozens of tabs open, I thought I’d share some of my favorites. Right now, I’m leaning toward No. 2 or No. 10 for our powder room. For the main bathroom, a glass version like No. 9 looks like it might be the perfect vintage-inspired choice.

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Filed Under: Home, Interiors, Shopping Guide Tagged With: Bathroom, bathroom accessories, pretty useful things, stylish soap dispensers

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Hello!


Jessica Hamm
Hello there! I'm a first-time homeowner updating a 1920s house in Madison, Wisconsin. I have a penchant for travel and a love of costume jewelry. Follow along for personal style, travel, and lifestyle content.

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Over the weekend, we drove to Michigan and welcome Over the weekend, we drove to Michigan and welcomed this little lady to the family! She’s a two-year old snow Bengal that was surrendered after being bullied by the other cats in her home. We’re pretty sure she’s a seal lynx point Bengal, which has Siamese in the lineage, based on her vibrant, slightly crossed blue eyes. She is the sweetest, softest, most playful, and unbelievably talkative little girl. We’re crazy about her! 

We haven’t picked a name just yet, though. We have some ideas, but we’re waiting to get to know her personality more. 😊

#bengalcat #snowbengal #snowbengalsofinstagram #schoolhouse #schoolhouseelectric #schoolhouseliving
Looking back at the changes we made to our home in Looking back at the changes we made to our home in 2022. 

#homerenovation #homedecor #home #ckstyleaccordingly #showemyourstyled #homeremodel #thisoldhouse #1920sHouse #dominomag
Merry Christmas! My own Christmas tree isn’t a Merry Christmas! 

My own Christmas tree isn’t as tinsel’d as this one from the Christmas museum in Salzburg nor does it rotate. Consider these goals for next year. 

@salzburgerweihnachtsmuseum @visitsalzburg #visitsalzburg #salzburgaustria #austria #salzburg #christmastree #vintagechristmas #tinsel #vintagechristmasdecor
I made @csaffitz’s raspberry almond thumbprint c I made @csaffitz’s raspberry almond thumbprint cookies and they’re delicious, but a lot of work and they don’t hold up well. If you’re planning on them this year, don’t add the jam dollop until just before you’re ready to serve them. The moisture gets sucked in overnight. Still good, of course, just softer than the first day. 

#whatsfordessert #dessertperson #clairesaffitz #clairesaffitzrecipes #christmascookies #holidaycookies #baking #cookies #bonappetit
I absolutely fell in love with the charming Austri I absolutely fell in love with the charming Austrian city of Salzburg. Head to the blog for a photo diary, sightseeing recommendations, a list of restaurants and bars we enjoyed, and where to stay if you’re planning your own getaway. 

#visitaustria #visitsalzburg #salzburg #salzburgaustria #travel #travelphotography #condenasttraveller #travelandleisure #feelaustria
The first snowfall of the year isn’t so bad when The first snowfall of the year isn’t so bad when it’s this pretty … and when the sidewalks and roads are still too warm for it to stick there. All of the aesthetics without having to shovel! ❄️
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