RENOVATION REVEAL: Content Guest Room #1

We're a bit out of order here at Content. We recapped the reveal of Guest Room #2, before sharing Guest Room #1 with you. But, if you anything about John and I, its that we'd rather get it done (right) than follow formalities. 

Anyway, here's the big reveal of Guest Room #1

BEFORE

AFTER

BEDSIDE TABLES: I bought these matching side tables at a barn sale. In all honesty, I was going to paint them, but since I was crunched for time, I dusted them off and that's about it.

BEDSIDE LAMP: Amazon.com

MANTEL DECOR: Per the usual, a mix of thrifted items.

CURTAINS: Marshall's $19.99 for a set of 2.

WALLS: Freshly painted Cloud White by Benjamin Moore OC-130 in a matte finish.

CEILING: The ceiling in here has been previously drywalled between the beams. We used an Advanced White to freshen up the ceiling and left the exposed wood as it.

TRIM: As with the rest of Content., we used Advanced White.

So, what do you think of this transformation? Comment below!

RENOVATION REVEAL: Nate's Room (Guest Room #2)

✅ Click here to jump to all the design sources for Guest Suite #2 and the ensuite bathroom renovation.

We still don't have official names for our guest rooms.

But, more often than not, guest room #2 is referred to as "Nate's Room" because our friend Nate is the first person to brave an air mattress overnight in there, way before we ever imagined rehabbing #westsideguestside.

UPDATE: You can now see this before + after renovation featured on Apartment Therapy!

Guest Room #2 is currently available on AirBnB, as well, so come spend the weekend with us this fall!

Check out the listing here.

Now for a quick trip down Foreclosure Lane.

The rooms layout remained the same, except for the addition of a closet and moving the bathroom door to the left slightly to make more room for the shower in the ensuite bathroom.

Before

Before

During: Bathroom door moving to the left

During: New closet to far left

During

And now for the good stuff, the afters!

INGREDIENTS:

BED: Typically, our home decor is thrifted or handmedown, but when I saw this bedframe on super, closeout, rock bottom sale, I did what any rational person would do. I bought 3 of them.

While planning the design of the guest rooms, I'd struggled to imagine how they would feel cohesive when considered side by side. And yea, I realize how neurotic that sounds, but these matching beds have become the structure on which all of the guest rooms design have been built.

Purchased from Home Decorators Outlet. Though it's new, it take on the feel of an old iron bed, without me spending every weekend scouring Craigslist and flea markets.

BED ACCENT PILLOW: World Market

RUG: Overstock.com NuLoom braided

DESK: This desk is a culmination of John + I at our finest. I scored the legs, which are from an industrial sewing machine, at a garage sale for $15 and John made the top. He was lightly instructed NOT to buy any wood for this project, and rather used only reclaimed wood we had at the house. For custom pieces, just like this, check out @ContentWoodworking on Instgram or our

Etsy shop

!

Our new desk by @contentwoodworking! Reclaimed wood + industrial sewing machine base. 😍 #UIsewingmachinedesk

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Jun 11, 2016 at 7:32am PDT

DESK CHAIR: A vintage, reclaimed gift/project from The Peduto family. A fair amount of wood glue, and she's good as new!

See, I told you I would fix those 67 chairs I've been hoarding in the back room... Just 66 more to go. #sorryjohnachilli

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 12, 2016 at 2:33pm PST

CORNER CHAIR: An antique once used as a porch chair. Arrow accent pillow

target.com.

BENCH: An antique from my parent's barn which I reupholstered with $3 bargain bin fabric from AC Moore. Of course, I bought the fabric with no original purpose, and it ended up being just enough for the bench.

Among a dozen broken chairs extracted from my Dad's barn, currently hoarded in our front room, there's also an old bench. A seriously old bench. Stuffed with straw, old. John casually asks me (once a day) when I'm going to start rehabbing all these rejects. Well, ask no more @johnachilli, because yesterday was that day! I started the bench facelift by recovering the cushion + removing over 100 tiny, tiny upholstery nails. Pure.torture! Let's just say, I have no idea how to upholster (its a hack job) but am pleasantly surprised by my progress so far! #fromwhereistand #fabric #madetomake #craftsman

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Nov 12, 2015 at 5:17am PST

BEDSIDE TABLE: Garage sale $4. If it's bamboo (or fake bamboo even), I buy it.

BEDSIDE LAMP: Claxy Ecopower table Lamp on Amazon.com

MANTEL DECOR: Mostly repurposed decor items from our wedding, like the "scouting" banner that John framed in reclaimed wood.

AV CART: Road side find, vintage audio visual cart, my Dad dropped off. Dismantled, cleaned, and repainted.

Check out that previously posted tutorial here.

CURTAINS: Marshall's $19.99 for a set of 2.

WALLS: Freshly painted Horizon by Benjamin Moore OC-53 in matte finish.

CEILING: The ceiling in here had been painted black. It only needed some touch up, so we used Benjamin Moore Mopboard black.

TRIM: As with the rest of Content., we used BM Advanced White.

AFTER PHOTOGRAPHY: Thank you to our dear friend Veronica Lola Photography for these glamours "after shots".

And don't forget to check back. The reveal of Guest Room #2 ensuite bathroom is coming soon!

So, what do you think? Can you use any of our design inspiration in your home?

RENOVATION: Reclaimed Brick Patio

What would provoke you to frantically call (not text or email) a friend or family member in the middle of the workday? An emergency, I imagine.

But, this particular midday conversations with John, back in March, went something like

Me: "I found old bricks, for free, on Craigslist. They're really old. We need to go get them!" 

John: “Ok.....  I didn't know we were in the market for "free, old bricks". 

I also didn't know that these "free, old bricks" would consume over 15, post-work hours that I'd much rather have spent, I don't know, eating dinner, drinking wine or just not moving bricks, but again, ok...

Sanity aside, we decide to get the bricks.

I call the homeowner, and she basically says, come and get them before the weekend, or she's going to have them hauled to the dump. Nooo! 

But wait. Was this threat real or equivalent of my Dad and John bantering about who's going to consume the last, of a dozen hot dogs, they've already taken down? Challenging each other with indigestion. One hot dog, simply, could not be thrown away. Someone has to eat it!

We had to eat the last hot dog, and we had to get the bricks. 

We borrow my Dad's truck, because our truck could only haul so much weight, and we caravan to Brielle, about 40 minutes south of Content.

The bricks are in a huge, crazy pile in the backyard. Of course, about as far away from where we can park our trucks.

This means John + I are loading about 30-40 bricks per wheelbarrow trip. Oh, and it's dark out now and we're using flashlights...

We load the trucks for about an hour, and head back home.

We unload the trucks for about an hour. It's 11pm. We eat dinner, and pass out.

When you're husband sends you a Craigslist ad for "free old bricks". Then 3 hours + 450 bricks later, this is your Monday night. #contentsecondshift #contentfrontpatio

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 21, 2016 at 7:35pm PDT

The next day, John heads down to make a dent in the brick pile, by himself. But, about 3 minutes to arriving the "brick house" his phone dies. I've forgotten to put the phone charger back from last night's caravan, he has no idea where he's going and can't call me. Brick Mission 2: Fail.

The next night, we use our multiple, college degrees worth of intelligence, and recruit a friend to help. Thank God!

Oh, this old gag.. "Free Old Bricks" Craigslist ad retrieval trip 2 of 2 was a success. 1,000 bricks richer! We smartered up this time though + phoned a friend to help. Thank you @ieatbooks!!! John looks much happier with you here! All we can offer in return is love, beer + a hang session on the new front patio. See you for sundowners in 4-6 weeks! 🍹 #friendship #contentsecondshift #contentfrontpatio

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 24, 2016 at 6:48pm PDT

Ryan + John head down first, to get a jump start while there's still daylight, and I arrive about an hour later. They continue loading my Dad's truck (I supervise...) and we head back to Content to unload. It's 10pm. We have a beer, high-five Ryan, and pass out.

"Free, old bricks" from Craigslist only cost us gas + beer money. Success!

Told yah... #contentfrontpatio

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 27, 2016 at 5:15pm PDT

Fast forward to mid April. John + I, sporting our rose colored glasses again, decide to lay a brick patio. How fun? Something new. Masonry! 

Let me preface the rest of this post by saying, I've never, in all my years, been so completely exhausted at the end of a weekend, as I was after laying this patio.

Doesn't John look thrilled... I followed up taking this picture by cheering, "Half way there, honey!"

John and our friend Mike laid out the patio with length and depth strings a few days before. John then dug about 8" down.

Manual Steel Tamper

BUY NOW

During this initial leveling, we used a manual hand tamper.

We first put down a layer of large gravel as a base. Using a rented tamper we compacted each layer as we went, and used a string line, line levelers and 6ft level to check our progress as we went.

This is a very time consuming process that takes lots of patience.

We rented this from Home Depot. Or if you are in the market for something long term, we recommend the Tomahawk Tamper.

Tomahawk Tamper

AMAZON LINK

Then, we put down a thick layer of fine, diamond dust which is basically finely ground gravel that is easily spreadable. It's not as pretty as it sounds. We found this at our local landscaping supply outlet.

Using some piping (temporarily inserted into the base layer) as a guide, we use a 2x4 to skim the top of the diamond dust, perfectly level. This would serve as the base of the brick.

These two layers took all Saturday. This pic was taken at sundown. Then my parents rescued us, and took us to dinner. Hallelujah! 

On Sunday morning, we were up bright and early to realize a mischievous cat had used our patio as a highway throughout the night. Luckily, no presents were left behind.

We continued tamping the diamond dust layer, and started to lay the bricks.

Feral Cat Highway. 

Then John reminded me I hadn't decided on a pattern. After some quick design in motion, we decided on this.

The new patio design! Now let's repeat that 50x... #contentfrontpatio

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Apr 24, 2016 at 6:21am PDT

I now have a visual of John pushing a baby stroller.... 

The thing with "free, old bricks" is that they are all different lengths and widths, and it took way longer than we anticipated to sort the bricks.

Once we got the hang of laying the brick pattern, it went quickly. 

Next challenge were ending the rows which required a half brick.

We started to cut the end pieces one by one, until our friend Roberto drove by and stopped to say hello. Realizing our method to cut the bricks one by one would have taken us several hours, he offered to use his giant, scary saw and completely cut the edge-bricks in about 3 minutes. 

Roberto for the win!

Next, we laid down a giant rubber mat (which I did not snap a photo of). We used this mat to protect the free, old brick during the final tamping.

None broke. Nice!

Then, the final step was brushing bags of play sand in between the seams to seal it all together.

All in all, this patio was a beast! From gathering the bricks, to the tremendous amount of labor to lay it, we put a lot of hours into this project. But we are really proud of the results and our first attempt at working with brick.

Now, John, should we repave the whole courtyard?

Front Porch (Phase 4)

The front porch is nearly complete! Now that the weather has been cooperating, even just a little, we have been SO busy!

We are just about ready for the painters. Do you feel like I've been claiming that for 3-months already? It's probably because I have been... 

But seriously this time, all of the major renovation projects have been completed, and the painters are lined up.

Now, we just have to wait for the weather to cooperate, even more. Not only is painting in the blistering cold miserable its also not effective. Did you know paints have a temperature rating? Who knew.

It might be April, but until my weather app says it's over 50 degrees were out of luck. John's parents, in CT, just had snow last weekend...

But, like I said, we've been plenty busy regardless!

Here's the latest run down of completed front porch projects, best told through our Instagram account, to prove were nearly done.

Side note, are you following us? If not, jump on the Instagram bandwagon @contentandcompany:

Removal of the brick, side staircase

Check out this fun video of the process!

I've said it before, and I will say it again. Demo is fun for the first 3 minutes. Then, it sucks for another 5 hours. #demoday

A video posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 6, 2016 at 5:39pm PST

Installation of the new, front staircase

Another fun video. Listen, this work is hard. We have to stay entertained or we'd go insane!

More front porch progress + our typical shenanigans from this past weekend. #contentfrontporch

A video posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 23, 2016 at 2:45pm PDT

Brick veneer installed on the concrete footing

Two front porch projects left before the painters take over! Installing brick façade over the cement block foundation + constructing the lattice skirting. Both projects are already underway, so much progress this week without those pesky 9-5s.

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 29, 2016 at 4:55am PDT

Lattice apron built + installed

"We're not using that plastic shit." -@johnachilli. #contentcourtyard

A photo posted by c o n t e n t + c o . (@contentandcompany) on Mar 29, 2016 at 5:42pm PDT

Exterior ceiling fans researched + purchased

We needed two-matching fans for the porch, so we needed to make sure not to break the bank. We found these simple, exterior fans by Hampton Bay at Home Depot. We'll actually be using them without the light set, so you can disregard the center light accessory.

We'll wait until the painters are done to install it though.

Gutter run off/drainage system installed + buried

This will alleviate gutter and drainage pipes from laying on the front yard.

John checking his pitch!

Powerwashing the Front Exterior 

And to top it all off this past weekend, it was warm enough (in the sun, wearing 3 thick layers) for my Dad and I to power wash the front of the house.

We actually need to do a second pass, probably this upcoming weekend, but this was an awesome start.

Mom, cheering everyone on!

Dave, getting it done. 

Old paint flying everywhere!

Wet rats!

Considering all the hard work, the porch continues to look (ecstatically) pretty beat up. The power washing really took off a tremendous amount of old paint but this will further pave the way to the painters sanding and prepping.

John has decided it's best to sand and stain the porch floor decking last. It's a smart move! That way the painters won't run the risk of spilling on any new finish.

And speaking of finish, I've decided on a multi tone paint scheme with a darker stain, accented by the white ballasters.

More updates on the paint design coming soon...!