HAVERFORD MANOR: THE LIGHTS

I don’t think I realized how crucial light fixtures would be in a flip before I built Haverford Manor. The character and details have to appeal to a large demographic so while I’d like to do trim and wallpaper all over the house, that’s not exactly the best route. So the light fixtures not only have to stand out in regards to design but also the ability to envision the furnishings and complete picture. And every single light fixture selection in Haverford Manor was intentional and thought out, so I thought we’d take a closer look.

THE KITCHEN FEATURING THE MORRIS LANTERN

The overall designs of the house was warm and neutral and we accomplished that with warm finishes like brass and gilded iron. There are several different finishes in bathrooms like polished nickel and some iron accents but in general stayed with brass.

And I wanted to make sure that even the small areas were taken care of. I didn’t want a whole wall of cabinets when you looked back from the living room, so instead of inserting the hood between those cabinets, I opened it up and added more lighting with these sconces. Kitchens are a naturally colder place because of the appliances and countertops so I wanted to make sure the lighting counteracted that, creating a warm place to gather as a family.

THE MUDROOM FEATURING THE BOSTON LIBRARY LIGHT

Then there were other areas like the mudroom (or as we called it the Boot Room) where I got to have a little fun. Sure we could have thrown a ton of recessed lights in here and been done with it, but that’s too boring. And since this area was a nice size, I was able to incorporate several different styles, including the library light pictured above. And when we hung the flush mount (in size grande) my GC said “now that’s a statement”. Add that with the vintage artwork and portrait light above the sink and you have a glorious mudroom!

SHOP THE MUDROOM

I spent so much time designing the bathrooms, mostly because it was an amazing opportunity to show off some style! And lighting was a huge component of that. Once I had the tile selected, next was the lighting. While every bathroom is a little different, there is a consistent transitional and classic style to each of them. I brought the same fixture from the kitchen as a focal point in the primary bathroom, but with frosted glass. It paired so beautifully with the custom shades we had installed and we were so pleased with the end result.

PRIMARY BATHROOM FEATURING THE CAMILLE SCONCE

SHOP THE BATHROOMS

And last, but certainly not least, are the exterior lights! I certainly hope people don’t think of these last because it can be such an easy way to elevate your curbside appeal. I wanted a focal point above the front door, and matched them with the wall lanterns above the garage doors as well as the ones above the patio doors. Fun wall sconces or even gas lanterns are an amazing way to instantly elevate your exterior game, and it illuminates the beautiful exterior of your home! Making everything pop. I mean, just look at that lantern/house number combo!

FRONT PORCH FEATURING THE FREMONT LANTERN

SHOP THE EXTERIOR

So if you’re wanting to redo something in your home, but not looking to do any big construction, start with your light fixtures. A room that relies solely on recessed lights is going to feel builder grade and colder than one with a beautiful light fixture. It can be a focal point in your room and bring together all of your beautiful furnishings and decor.

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WEEKLY EDIT

4.21.23

Weekly Edit III

A new season, a time for change, sunshine, and new beginnings.

Spring in particular feels like such a fresh start at the beginning of the season. Especially here in Nashville where it does actually feel like Spring this time of year 🙂 and we can get outside and start to come to life again. The trees filled in last week and the grass is looking so green giving me this fresh new feeling of life.

With closing on Haverford the beginning of March it feels like a whole chapter of my life and business came to an end. I’ve honestly found myself confused, having lost my daily trips to the house to check on the progress of things. It was such a habit, and with a few signatures, that’s all gone! But now that I’ve had a few weeks to settle back into the new routine I feel like I’ve embraced the change and ready for new growth as well. On to new projects!

One big thing that I changed this month was my office. Originally in the formal sitting room right off the front door in our home, I felt like I needed a more dedicated space without distractions. We have a small guest room upstairs that we barely use (to be honest we have almost never used all of our guest rooms at one time…) that I thought would be the perfect spot. It’s the smallest of the guest rooms, has some built-in shelves and is right next to a large closet that I can use, which means our entryway will no longer be cluttered with all my stuff.

While I would love to “finish” this space into a perfect office, but as I’ve been brainstorming I realized that I wanted to finish it to be able to photograph it and share it instead of intentionally completing the space for my needs and aesthetic. So, I took a step back and decided to wait. Not only do we not know how long we’re going to be in this house but I’m hoping to always need an office/dedicated space, and I want the pieces that I put in here to be the ones that stay there. So, this space may feel empty and undone for a while now, and I’m okay with that if that means designing it intentionally and meaningfully.

I feel like all I have been talking about lately is porch and patio furniture, and I love it! We absolutely love our porch and spend so much time out here but the one thing that I felt like was missing was a little coffee area. There have been so many times I have wanted to sit under the covered area at a little table with my coffee or laptop to start the day but I didn’t want to make it a huge investment. Inspired by the RH Courtyard restaurants I got a cheaper version of their bistro tables and used two chairs from our outdoor dining set up to have here on a regular basis. I’ve already used it a ton and know that this table will be an easy one to fold in if we ever changed the arrangement.

SHOP THE LOOK

I felt like I hadn’t given a ton of information about the designs at Haverford Manor, so I started doing posts along with the social media reveals. Obviously everything has been revealed on the portfolio, but the videos and photos on social are more in depth and give you a better look at each space. So I decided to go even further with a post detailing the room: the floor plan, the design elements, and even links to shop similar items. So far this month we’ve done the guest room, the dining room, and the living room. I’m hoping posts like this will be informational as well as interesting when looking deeper into the flip.

But now for the fun stuff! I’ve been dedicating more time and posts to fashion lately because I felt like I had neglected that area for a while. I’m still not promoting hauls or overbuying but I am sharing more of my staples and the many ways that I wear them. I did take spring cleaning to heart this year and cleaned out a ton of my closet that I felt I had been hanging on to for a while. You know those pieces, “well, I haven’t worn it in a while, but I might!”. I feel like my wardrobe is finally down to my essentials that I can and do consistently wear, and I have to say it feels so much better that way. Check out some essential Spring finds below as well as one of my new favorite Coastal Grandmother outfits!

SHOP SPRING FINDS

LINEN PANTS | LARGE VASE | CANDLE | SWEATER

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LIVING ROOM

4.11.23

HAVERFORD MANOR: THE LIVING ROOM

I think this is my favorite transformation of the entire house, let me explain.

This room stayed the exact same in size and location. Seriously! We knew the size of the room was plenty for a great living area and that the flow into the covered porch would work beautifully with French doors. Sure we could have had more square footage by continuing the second floor above this room, but come on, those vaulted ceilings? That’s a dramatic moment I didn’t want to miss. But let’s just do a quick side by side shall we?

Ya, loads better. And that’s not even to mention the horrible smell of dog from the carpet.

What you can’t see from the before picture is that the photo was taken from the old dining area, now the kitchen. And while that flow worked well for us, it was closed in a bit with walls and a large cased opening going into the living room. It was amazing how much bigger the whole space was when we simple opened up the entire opening to the room, taking down that drywall and cased opening. It completely opened up the space to what is now the kitchen making it flow much better and an open concept floor plan.

Because we added on the attached garage we lost the a set of windows, therefore a good amount of natural light. But by adding the French doors we kept that natural light and even enhanced it a bit. Plus with the vaulted ceilings everything feels lighter.

While I love wooden beams, I know they aren’t for everyone. And I felt like this house was a bit more on the traditional side to stylistically fit wood beams. So, as a compromise we ceiling beams in the same paint and finish as the ceiling. So there was still some dimension to accentuate the tall ceilings. I love how they turn out and think they really add a design element to the room, even when it’s empty.

And one of my favorite parts about this area? Is the view from the kitchen. I worked really hard to get the range and sink centered on the fireplace so that when you are washing the dishes, you have a direct line into the living room. And while I would have loved to have done a cast limestone fireplace surround, we went with Taj Mahal Quartzite. Definitely on the expensive end of materials but it was neutral enough to fit the space but nice enough to be a real accent in the living room. I added the 3 inch ledge around the outside to again, add dimension but to also give a little big of a ledge.

I absolutely love this transformation. It proves that you don’t need to completely change a floor plan to get a big new house. I’m so glad we were able to accomplish what we wanted to out of this space and so thrilled with the result.

Sofa + Chairs

Coffee Table

Jute Rug

Mirror vintage c/o Gaslamp Too

Chandelier c/o Visual Comfort & Co.

Floor Lamp c/o Visual Comfort & Co.

Ottomans c/o Canterbury Antiques

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KITCHEN + DINING

3.25.23

HAVERFORD MANOR: THE DINING ROOM

We had many discussions over this space with our architect during the floor plan stages. While he would have preferred to change the footprint to fit the stairs somewhere else to make the entryway a formal dining area, we knew it wasn’t in the budget and we didn’t want to spend that much money. And I knew that we could get a large enough dining space to fit a large table and sitting area, but it wouldn’t give you that formal feel that some people like.

This is where the great debate begins: formal dining rooms, or kitchen nooks?

Now this isn’t exactly a ‘nook’ in my opinion. The table pictured above is extended to 6 ft with room to spare so you could easily fit an 8-person table in here. But, it isn’t a separate dining space and is instead, right off the kitchen so not exactly a formal dining room either. I guess we built a sort of hybrid at Haverford Manor. We have had formal dining rooms in both of our homes that we have lived in, and you want to know how many times we used both of them? Less than 10 times in 8 years. Now, I understand the appeal if you have family visit a lot or if you host a lot, but us? I’d love a ‘nook’ area.

I wanted this space to be an extension of the living room, and started gathering pieces over a year before this photo was taken. But, there were moments I panicked and didn’t think it would work out. The hard part about flipping is that I’m not exactly styling and furnishing the house in the ideal way that I’d like to, or would with a client. I have to get pieces that I can resell or store easily, or maybe even borrow a few pieces from my own house.

CHAIRS: OAK NASHVILLE | TABLE: FB MARKETPLACE | PEDESTAL: CHAIRISH | VASE: GASLAMP TOO | SETTEE: FB MARKETPLACE | LIGHT: VISUAL COMFORT & CO. | ARTWORK: CUSTOM FRAMED PIECE BY HANNAH WINTERS

How would you feel if I told you almost every single pieces seen here was vintage, or repurposed? Aside from the light fixture and framed artwork, I got everything else either from a local vintage store, or revamped from Facebook Marketplace. The vase in particular was a last minute find from Gaslamp Too that I was thrilled (and relieved) to have to complete the space. Is this setup everyone’s cup of tea? Probably not, but I wanted it to tell a story and have some character as well as show prospective buyers what a space like this could do!

In the last year or so pedestals have come into style as home accessories again, and there are some beautiful ones out there. I love it as an option to fill an empty corner or to bring in some height. This is just a standard white one you might have found in an art studio in the 90’s, but I’m thinking about doing a DIY project soon to make it look a little more like a natural material like what is so popular today. You’ll see burl, travertine, or maybe a natural wood that would be beautiful to add texture to a space. In this room with the trim and chairs, I went with plain white as not to add too many elements.

SHOP PEDESTALS

And don’t get me started on this settee, which I currently have in my own home now! I actually had no intention for this when I first bought it off of FB Marketplace, but it was in amaaaaaazing shape and only $150… a six foot couch! So I got it reupholstered and now she belongs in a beautiful English sitting room. Or maybe a setup like this in a guest suite one day. And while I’m currently designing a proper kitchen nook, you unfortunately won’t be able to see the finished product for another year or so. So in the meantime here are some pieces I found to fancy up your own eating area, whether it be a formal dining room for hosting holidays, or a small area for you and your partner to have coffee in the morning. I love both!

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PROJECTS

11.14.22

HAVERFORD MANOR: AN UPDATE II

Well, this took a lot longer than anticipated…

I’m not gonna lie these last 3-4 months of the process has been frustrating. We hit delays with windows, and then more delays with windows which put everything on the interior on hold so there wasn’t a whole lot to update you on. But after two months of ‘we aren’t sure when your windows are coming in’ we finally got them and finished installing them. And that means that we could get going on the interior: hvac, electrical, mechanical and inspections.

Yup, all the fun stuff :-/

Waiting for the windows didn’t just put a delay on the interior but the exterior as well. We couldn’t apply the brick until the windows were in, but it didn’t take long to go up which led to an immediate sigh of relief! Same with the drywall and hardwood floors. Luckily both of these groups started early and worked quickly so the progress started to feel real and exciting.

Now, for some changes to the plans.

Originally we hadn’t planned on a porch or patio of any kind merely because of cost. However, after we saw the way the neighborhood was improving and the recent comps in the neighborhood I decided we should have one. So, we extended the living room roof line and voila! Our covered porch. With a fireplace and vaulted ceilings I think this is going to be a major selling point! I know we use ours so so much and I think that this space is going to be beautiful.

Another change to the was adding a butler’s pantry. Instead of having a (too) big mudroom, we decided to take up some of that space with a powder room and instead put a butler’s pantry in the place where the powder room was before. So now there is a whole area for storage and then the second half that has a wall oven/microwave combo and more upper and lower cabinets as well! So much storage.

This past week the cabinets went in, and while we’ve had more scheduling issues with that, a majority of them are in and I’m really starting to feel the designs come to life. The next big step here would be countertops, which have been selected and templated and we expect install the week after Thanksgiving… hopefully! Because then the real fun begins; trim outs for faucets, and other hardware that I have been laboring over for months. I’m so excited to see all of those to go in, in particular the light fixtures! Hopefully all of that will start sooner rather than later.

From now until the big reveal I’ll be sharing all of the updates and teases on social media, but cannot wait for the big reveal on my portfolio in mid January. To stay up to date on everything as well as the date of the reveal, sign up for the newsletter below! In the meantime, take a look at my social channels for an inside look at everything going on at Haverford Manor

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PROJECTS

12.31.21

WELCOME TO HAVERFORD MANOR

My first flip! I cannot begin to tell you how excited and nervous I was at just the idea of doing a flip! I mean, this is the dream, right? Free rein of design, a whole house to play with? And Chip and Joanna Gaines make it look so dang fun 😀

And yes, it’s obviously a ton of work too.

Originally built in the 50’s this guy was in need of some serious love. I don’t think it has been updated at all since it was built except for the living room which looked like it was an addition, as well as the weird laundry/sitting room that looked to have been the old garage. So, while they did increase the square footage, let’s just say we had some other improvements in mind.

The biggest change we have planned? Adding a whole floor! That’s right, we are taking this puppy vertical. We’ll be putting the primary bedroom and three other bedrooms upstairs along with a MUCH improved primary bathroom + closet. Jon literally could not believe his eyes when he saw this bathroom. Not only could he not even fit into the shower, but the overall functionality and layout, woof. That’s not even mentioning the pink plastic shower.

The biggest item we had to figure out was where to put the stairs and how to maximize the kitchen. There were a few issues with the location of the Mudroom and its proximity to the kitchen because I didn’t want that entrance to interrupt the kitchen or to lose counter/cabinet space to that door. So, we are adding a hallway from the back door that will have access through a pocket door to a HUGE pantry. So you’ll be able to easily drop off your groceries and access the kitchen if you’d like to, but also be able to walk through the hallway to the front of the house as well. We’re also going to be making the powder room way more glamorous than the scary one they had in their “garage”.

The only downside to the plan we have right now is that we are not able to provide a formal sitting room and/or dining room. Now, personally? I never used either of those rooms when we had them. And most people don’t want a formal dining room now days. I totally get it! But I would have loved to have been able to offer the option of that. Instead we are making the entrance the absolute best that it can be. And to be honest? Jon is already scared that we are going to move into this house because it is going to have an awesome kitchen nook 😂.

A benefit to adding a second floor is that it is no problem to raise the ceiling heights as well! So we’re aiming for 9’ all around the first floor and I’m hoping to find a way to vault the living room. I’m hoping we can afford the roof pitch to be able to include some dormers as well! I know there are going to be so many things that I’m going to have to give up and I am fully prepared for the final project to look VERY different from what I have in my head, but as long as I can manage those expectations and stay within budget? I’ll be a happy girl, and this will (hopefully) be a beautiful home!

I’m so excited to share more of the plans with you as they become a reality!