modest fall porch

 

PUMPKINS!!!! this is my favourite time of the year because it means i get to buy ALL the pumpkins. i am beyond happy that i have an actual front porch to decorate. a cute, old, art craft style porch filled with so much original character. we gave it a little face lift this summer: new light, new mailbox, new paint, new rug & most importantly rocking chairs! since we purchased the house last summer rocking chairs for the porch was on our must have list. anyways, i am going to do a quick breakdown of all the changes & details below.

the light

i find the exterior porch light is such an important feature of any front entry. i wanted something very simple & minmal, yet still bold. the carson l-arm wall mount from rejuvenation was perfect! it has that industrial barn vibe with a modern twist. plus, you get to pick whatever colour you want too! i was going for a pitch black theme (no brass or gold.. for once) so i stuck with the matte black finish. i love how it looks & how it lights up our porch so nicely at night.

the door

oh, the door. do we paint it white, yellow or black?! justin & i just couldn't agree on the colour. this is the original door to the house, so it is solid wood & almost 100 years old. we really wanted to do it justice! yellow was the first one off the list cough, justin & then we finally decided on black. but not just any shade of black, we wanted it as black as black gets. who knew similar to white paint, there were SO many shades of black. we ended up going with pitch black by farrow & ball because i can't get enough of farrow & ball's paint! it is the exact look i had hoped for. no weird undertones, just black.

the rocking chairs

as i mentioned above, the rocking chairs were on our must have list as soon as we put an offer in on the house! with a porch like this, how can you not sit out front on a crisp fall morning, rocking back & fourth while sipping coffee or tea. these rocking chairs are the o&g rocking chair in black from rejuvenation. i can't even begin to describe how gorgeous they are. they are handmade in new york of solid ash wood & then stained (not painted) black so you see all the gorgeous wood grains come through. they are made by a company called o&g specifically for rejuvenation. o&g makes the most gorgeous wood furniture pieces! we are hoping to add a bench down the line too because of how in love we are with the craftsmenship of the rocking chairs. i kept things very simple as i wanted the chairs to be the focal point. just a little side table for a plant or to rest coffee and a book on in the morning.

the decor

last but not least to tie everything together we added a few accessories to the mix! a braided natural coir doormat, a vintage style mailbox (that i got for a STEAL because it is on clearence), a planter, a rustic twig wreath & pumpkins galore! i love the cinderella pumpkins most.. the blue, the pink & the funky shaped orange ones. they just look so whimsical & enchanted. who doesn't love a little fairy tale inspired decor for fall?

p.s. buddy welcomes you to modest house too:)

hygge guest bedroom

 

it is finally guest bedroom reveal day!!!! you may have seen a little sneak peak over on rue magazine in july, but today i am sharing ALL the design details! this room sat empty for the first year as our focus was on finishing the main living areas of modest house. once those were complete it was time to design the ultimate retreat for future guests. my focus was on keeping the design minimal, monochromatic & cozy a.k.a HYGGE! ok, now let's get into those details..

step one: the bedroom set

the first thing we decided on was the furniture for the space. when i came across asher bedroom set from rove concepts, it was everything i had envisioned for the space. i designed the rest of the space around these gorgeous pieces of furniture. the asher line has a modern mid century flair complete with rose gold pulls on the dresser & night stands! rove concepts makes such simple & clean pieces that it caters to just about any style. i opted for the asher wide dresser as our old home lacks closet space so this is the perfect piece of furniture to store some of our extra clothing pieces as well. the asher nightstands come in two styles; one drawer or two drawer. to keep clutter to a minimum i opted for the two drawer design as i think it is always best to maxamize storage space! the furniture quality is everything i could have hoped for & more. the asher bed is low to the ground making it easy for anyone to get into, even buddy holly who is looking right at home in this space. wait a minute, is this the guest room or buddy holly's room?!

step two: paint

when it came to deciding the wall colour for the guest room space white was the obvious choice giving the hygge scandanavian vibes i was aiming for! but WHAT SHADE OF WHITE?! literally, picking white is the most stressful colour of paint to choose. you don't realize how many options there are & each shade seriously looks so different when you put them next to each other. because i absolutely loved the way farrow & ball's all white turned out in the bathroom & ceilings, we decided to stick with it for this room too. all white is exactly what it says, no other tones in it but white! we painted both the ceilings & walls in the all white to give it a seamless look, especially when old plaster walls are anything but seamless. we went with a grey white for the trim and used farrow & ball's wevet. lastly, like every other interior door in the house, we stuck to farrow & ball's mole's breath.

step three: the rug

this braided ivory wool rug was the best budget friendly find! it is 100% wool making it so inexpensive compared to all the other wool rugs online. i was a little worried about the quality since it was an online order, but it is actually perfect. it is my first piece from RUGS USA & now i want the same one for the master bedroom too. the braied wool looks so cozy & really helped tie together those hygge vibes.

step four: the details

i kept the decor very simple and versatile given that it is a guest room. i want the space to feel relaxing without being cluttered with things or looking empty. the grey linen bedding is from crate & barrel (it is on clearence right now FYI), as well as the variety of vases that grace the dresser. i decorated the bed with linen pillows in various shades of grey made by my mom & filled the wicker baskets (also from crate & barrel) with extra pendleton wool blankets incase guests get cold at night! the gorgeous grey wool throw on the bed came all the way from ireland. my parents brought it back for me on their trip to ireland this past spring knowing my obsession with wool everything.

lastly, instead of hanging a ton of wall art i kept the walls clean with the exception of the hand made ivory hanging weave over the bed frame. i purchased it from the local shop oliver & rust. if you haven't noticed through my instagram feed i love this store & am so happy to be steps away from it! i found the ivy planter & the concrete planter for each night stand there too. PLUS that cute little ceramic pear! i am obsessed with it & got one for the mantel as well.

anyways, that is everything you need to know about the guest bedroom in modest house! our dream is to one day own a bed & breakfast, so having the perfect guest retreat is a nice way to start.

master bath refresh

 

in my opinion, spring is the perfect time for a little bathroom refresh! now i can't take full credit for this gorgeous bathroom. the previous owner had already done the most beautiful renovation featuring a marble shower & a custom marble vanity. it was one of the features in the house that won my heart over. it is the only full bathroom in the house, but unlike every couple on hgtv i really didn't care about an ensuite. one full bathroom featuring both a bathtub & shower was plently! who wants to clean multiple bathrooms anyways? not me. there was just some minor things i wanted to change to the space & personalize it with my own touch.

step one: the paint

the original colour of the space was a powder blue. i am not big on colour when it comes to wall paint (or anywhere) so i knew i wanted to change it to white. we actually ended up having to paint it TWICE! the first colour i chose turned out just awful, it had a beige tone to it & simply looked like a dirty off white. FARROW AND BALL TO THE RESCUE! i talked with my friend over at dreamy white lifestyles who seems to have done her research when it came to finding the perfect shade of white. i wanted something with no undertones so she recommended her favourite colour all white! farrow and ball's all white in estate emulsion is perfect. it is clean, bright & has that perfect chalky finish. i stuck to farrow and ball's wevet for the trim to match the rest of the house, which is actually a touch darker then the walls & has a slight grey hue to it. it is something you don't notice in the other rooms, but when you put it up to a clean white you finally see the hint of grey! lastly, i painted the door farrow and ball's mole's breath to bring in a touch of grey & pull from those marble veins.

step two: the lighting

the previous lighting in the space was very classy & square, but i tend to lean towards more school house & industrial vibes. the mirror was a huge frameless mirror that i had no intentions of changing, but we accidentally broke it when we painted! so i chose to get both the mirror & light fixtures from restoration hardware. i am obsessed with this store, but we all are.. right?! i am so happy how the shadeless sconce lights look along side the chrome framed mirror. i chose the same school house style light fixture for the spare room & office, but in the bathroom i went for the clear shade instead of the milk glass. the clear shade looks a little more elegant & i love how the vintage edison bulb is visible to match the scones lights.

step three: the hardware

the faucets in the sink, tub & shower are all moen's kingsley line. the hardware, however was not. i managed to find all the matching pieces to moen's kingsley line on wayfair (p.s. yay to free shipping in canada)! they sell the faucets featured in this space too. i installed a toilet paper holder, towel bar, glass shelf & towel hook in the matching chrome finish. the beautiful shelf above the bath is the perfect spot to hold candles as well as a place to rest your glasses/jewlery before you get into the bath tub. the towel hook i installed next to the shower makes it so much easier to just grab your towel before getting out of the shower. it is WAY to cold to get out & search for a towel! lastly, that cute modern farmhouse basket where i store the extra towels is from wayfair as well. it is perfect to hold just about anything in & even comes in a copper finish!!!

step four: the linens

i chose the same rough linen bath makeover that i used in the powder room design. not to sound like a broken record, but i just can't get enough of rough linen's linen! the quality, the texture.. everything about it is perfect. trish (the owner) did such an amazing job sourcing the perfect fabric. featured are the "natural" coloured linens, but i think the grey would look just as amazing! i just saw they released linen baby blankets now too, i kind of want to get one for buddy. she is close enough to a little baby! maybe it would keep her out of my linen bedding every morning, but doubtful.

check out all the sources at the links below:)