Life in the Black Hills

Guest Room on the High Plains

 I love how the guest room has turned out. Having moved into it for several days while the master bedroom was being painted gave the Professor and I a chance to try it out for comfort - Mattress comfy? check. Good night's sleep? Check. Reading lights easy to access and provide enough light? Check. Desk and outlet for laptop..you got it...check!

We had quite a time deciding on the color for the wall. The main rooms (LR, DR, Kitchen and Hallways) are painted 'khaki' from Sherwin & Williams - my opinion is still up in the air with it - some days I like it, others I don't, but I'm not ready to take up the project so for now? Oh yeah, I absolutely love it! 

It is the bedrooms and baths where our personalities come out - paint choices tend to be vivid but I fell in love with a matelassé bedspread I found at BB&B. It has a soft, yellow background with shades of lavender, wine, green and gold in the leafy, sort of garden motif. The tones are not assertive so they go well with the brighter tones of the same colors on the accent pillows and throw (both from Pier 1)  and provide a nice contrast to the rich brown and sort of cabernet wood tones of the bed frame. Over the bed are two reproduction travel posters from my home state of Washington (Olympic National Park on the left, Snoqualmie Falls on the right. We've stayed in the lodge at the top of the falls several times - very romantic place. Pricey but worth it for the memories). Both posters were inexpensive purchases from AllPosters and provide a nice punch of color that goes well with the accent pillows. The end table lamps were an Overstock.com purchase. I thought they looked elegant (kind of a riff on a Japanese street lamp), were high enough to provide adequate light for the reader in bed and are easy to switch off. They also have a small footprint on the small end tables so they don't overwhelm the table top. I also added a water carafe so guest won't need to bump around in the night if they are thirsty.

Guest Room

 So at first I was thinking of a darker green for the walls, but I was concerned it would be too reminiscent of pea soup so in the end we stayed in the green family, but brightened it up quite a bit. We used Benjamin Moore paint. Why Benjamin Moore? It rolls on easily, covers extremely well (I've never needed more than one coat so painting goes quickly. The color on the paint chip WILL exactly match the color on the walls (once dried), it's durable and it's price is not much higher or in some cases the same as other well known brands of paint- This may seem like an ad, but after years of painting projects using many other brands, Benjamin Moore is the best by far and they can match any color even if its not theirs (I presume other brands do the same thing these days). Anyway, the color the Professor and I chose was 'Fashion Week' (from Valspar and I know, the name says nothing about the color) and had them match the color using BM paint. The paint is actually lighter than the photo shows - and it works beautifully with the furnishings in the room.

Guest Room Pic 2

We furnished this room primarily with furniture from the lake cottage. The small roll top desk had the proportions to fit into the room without overwhelming it and can hold all the usual desk accessories but can be closed up easily to hide the clutter. The chair was picked up at the 'Rustic Soul' in Belle Fourche  - and I didn't re-paint. I thought the sage green looked pretty next to the golden oak. The pine trunk is another piece we've had for years - it has been refurbished inside and out and used to be in the dining room of the lake cottage and served to hold all our napkins, tablecloths etc. Now it holds extra blankets and duvets. It goes beautifully with the desk and the black metal strips play off the black frames we chose to display the travel posters.   

 On the top of the desk is a stationary holder that I've had for many years that holds miscellaneous books (a few are anthologies that contain a couple of my short stories!) and a guide to the Black Hills. To the right of the stationary holder is an antique barometer that was displayed for over 50 years in the Professor's parent's house.  

 

Deskscape

 

 The reproduction poster is full of vivid colors and serves as a sentimental reminder of our visits to West Point in the fall for football games and the Christmas concerts we attended. Good memories of moments shared with good friends. On the left of the holder is a small wooden carving of a pheasant - It's so cute. The ring-necked pheasant is the state bird of South Dakota and  I picked it up at the airport gift shop several years ago. Wish I'd bought a couple more...   

I also added the comfy wing chair

Wing chair from lake cottage

we had in the living room of the lake cottage. I think it looks perfect in its new home with new accent pillows to brighten it up. The subtle plaid of the greens and a small thin stripe that matches the wine color in the bedspread brings the two disparate patterns together. Hope you agree.

 

 Since I wanted to keep the room from feeling crowded, I did not want to add a dresser - I could probably have re-arranged the furniture but that bed is sooo heavy, neither the Professor or I were thrilled with the idea of moving it around so instead I decided to hunt my usual sources in the Black Hills and see if I could find a dresser with the proportions needed to simply place it in the closet but still leave room for whatever items our guests might want to hang.  I ended up finding another cool piece from 'The Rustic Soul' where I purchased the chair.

Dresser with metal star pulls

The proportions were perfect for what I was looking for. I love that store, it has a lot of re-purposed furniture , antiques, jewelry, just lots of stuff that can get the imagination in gear and even though it's small shop, I can spend at least an hour wandering around while chatting with owner, Michelle.  Notice the pulls on the drawers? Those are what sold me on the purchase - so unique!

 

I think we will line the drawers using an idea that I picked up from Martha Stewart. We have tons of cardboard left from our move, so the Professor will cut some of that up into the drawer dimensions then we'll cover with material I'll pick up from the local fabric store (or if I can find something around the house that will do) - a small project that gives a pretty finished look to the inside of the drawers - they can be popped out easily and more sturdy that using paper. I've done the same thing in our bedroom end tables and dressers and love the pop of color/pattern when I open the drawers. Very spiffy!

Til later,

 

 

 

Hospitality, n. The virtue which induces us to feed and lodge certain persons who are not in need of food and lodging. ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

Hot tub weather

In the late summer, when the hot tub was finally installed and working, we tried it out when the evenings were still pleasantly warm. Now that winter is heavily upon us sitting in the hot tub surrounded by snow and freezing temps, I have to say, I enjoy it even more. The air is brisk but we are very comfortable and when we step out and can make it back into the house before the chill really hits us. Great way to end the day! The temps have been down to zero at night but a warming trend will start up next week. I don't mind the cold as long as the streets are driveable. Life goes on with or without the snow - no large snowfalls during the season as yet. That is mostly on the east side of the state. Here, we've had maybe 2-3 inches. The winds make me hesitate to put a shutters or any othersturdy privacy screen for the tub - we probably will have to get shades that can be raised and lowered. The Professor put a lot of effort (and incurred a few injuries) getting the whole deck completed. Then came the electrician to complete the hookup to the tub followed by the plumber to modify the backyard to hookup the gas bbq and the water filtration setup so we can use the backyard faucet to fill the tub. All those miscellaneous items that add up. Hate to think what the landscaping is going to end up costing!? That will be another adventure to look forward to....

Til later,

If you have a hot tub and a beverage, you have everything you need - Anonymous

 

Atrium door is to the family room.Door in the middle is to the master bedroom

Welcome to 2015!!

2014 proved to be an exciting, life changing year - we are now settled in our cozy house nestled between the plains and the Black Hills of western South Dakota. Below are a few more pictures - as you can see we are progressing and our decorating efforts are finally feeling close to complete 

Frm the family room - stacked stone, see-through fireplace before mantle

The is the floor to ceiling stacked stone fireplace that adds so much ambiance and cozyness to the house during some of the more frigid winter evenings. It is a see-through fireplace and we have the mantel but to get it placed is a major job in itself so I'll provide an update once it is set.  On the other side of the fireplace is the dining room and to the left you can see part of the living room. It's open concept and we don't have everything in place but its getting there. Notice all the light that floods through the windows, it is so bright!

 

 

 

Another photo - this was a more 'composed' photo taken shortly before Christmas with a lovely evergreen wreath that we received from our dear friends Csilla and Greta. We had the fire going, champagne chilled and glasses twinkling in the firelight - it just sang Christmas! So the Professor took the picture so we could share with friends. Everything is sitting on a custome made kitchen table (had to go custom to make sure we didn't overwhelm the space since every inch counts in the limited dimensions of the open kitchen/family room.The chairs in the pic (hope you can see, it is a little dark) are shaker style - we ordered a kit and spent a few weeks sanding/staining, applying multiple coats of varnish then voila! Professor wove the seats (black & teal pattern) that look very pretty against the bardwood of the table.

Kitchen Table Decorated for Christmas

Looking forward to February

The weather here in NJ has been brutal this year. Temps in the low teens most days and a snow storm or two to keep commuting to work a challenge. Ironically, the temps in the Black Hills have actually been a little warmer though nowhere near balmy. Hopefully February will bring warmer weather for both places (February 1st has started well  with 42 degrees and up for the weekend!)

So the Professor found out that his shoulder surgery will be in May...bummer. We were hoping we would see it over with by the end of March at the latest so we'll have to remain flexible as to when we are actually moving - he needs to complete his rehab and get the okay from the doctor -

In the meantime, he'll be going out to SD to finish the entryway tiling. That completes the inside though I do want to paint the bedrooms and guest bathroom - hopefully we can get that done before May - but I'll keep you posted

 

Here is a photo of one end of the dining room - It's an odd angle but I wanted to get in the beams, the stacked fireplace - it is a gas fireplace with a see-through firebox to the family room and the chandelier which we installed ourselves. I actually did the wiring since the Professor couldn't raise his arm high enough due to his shoulder so he walked me through what to do  and voila! I'll try and get more photos next week - I am being picky about the photos simply because I think the rooms can look pretty blah until they're furnished no matter how good the photography so there will be more to come over time.

Bye for now !

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” - Joshua J. Marine

We are sooo close

Can't believe it's been almost seven months since I posted last - guess time flies when my computer's on the fritz, the lake cottage getting sold and now finding ourselves in a tiny one-bedroom apartment that seemed a whole lot bigger when we were looking at it empty -now we're living in the midst of unpacked boxes and no more room  - but its only temporary and we can endure for now  while focusing on the future - mainly our plans for our Black Hills Hideaway which are finally underway!!!  (Insert here: Lots of loud cheering!!!!)

Okay, so now for an update. As I am writing this post, the Professor is in the Black Hills with Jim, our general contractor.  They've been driving around meeting with subcontractors, bankers and agents and the happy news is that the excavations will begin the week of July 22nd and the foundation will be poured the first week of August!  The modular part of the house will be delivered by mid-September and the finish work will take another 3-4 weeks after that (building the garage, deck and some inside finish work - some by the contractors and some by the Professor) - that's the plan and though it seems like a long way off we're only talking about 12 weeks end-to-end..I'm hoping that all the planning and detail work will pay off and that we won't hit any major bumps in the road but hey, life is a series of bumps so lets see what happens and I'll share the journey as we move ahead. The below photos show what we're working with. 2 acres, one house

 

Property Pre-build

Hard to tell from here but we'll have views of Bear Butte, Terry Peak, rolling hills from the living room and dining room and most important, the hot tub!

Picture a front porch about here

Lots of other houses going up in the development but with between 2 to 5 acres between them, we'll have lots of elbow room.

I'm already making a list of what we need in terms of furnishings, window coverings, appliances - its already quite a list.

I'm hoping to see pictures of the modular part of the house as its being built in the factory but that's a few weeks away.

'Til later,

We were in the middle of building a house and I was in the middle of having a nervous breakdown , because that's what you do when you build a house. - Cynthia Weil

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiffing up the cottage

Like the previous post on dressing up the dining room with a tablescape, we've also made some changes to freshen the look of the bedroom. Nothing fancy beyond a new coat of pain and new bedding (We'll be buying a tester bed next month, but I had a few pictures to share so you get the general idea.) We removed all the wallpaper (looked really dated) and went with a blue (Sears Royal Smoke Deep) that goes well with the matelasse bedding I bought. We have recessed lighting in the bedroom too along with a ceiling fan and the furniture is a rustic cherry.

The bedding is made up of contrasting Williamsburg print and a terra cotta colored coverlets with matching shams and accent pillows. I could probaly add another couple of pillows but it'll work for now. I'll show you the before and after once we have the new bed (probably a month or so until it arrives).  The picture is a Behrens print of Sasaulito (sorry for the glare) that I had purchased years ago and as a romantic gesture, the Professor swept me away on a special trip to San Francisco, We drove over to Sausalito to find the exact spot where the artist must have stood to get the right perspective because the view was exactly like that in the painting. How romantic is that?

 The photo on the left shows a little end table vignette . I purchases these two enchanting crocheted stones on etsy & love them. So organic and from a beach in Washington State which makes me feel closer to where I grew up. Also, the small millefiori paper weight reminds me of a long ago trip to Italy. I think they look very comfy together on the small leather place mat, don't you?  

Lot's more to get to and I'll be posting photos as the house gets dressed to shine!

Tableaux Ctd.

I started thinking of more vignette ideas and thought I'd share a post with various places in the house (everyone has a few) that were perfect to display some of my favorite things. I'm always changing things around looking for that perfect balance (It's all about the trying, because I never get it quite right when compared to the decor magazines but it's fun anyway)  I group those items that speak to me, mean something special in terms of memories and simply have added some  little grace note in our lives.  To the right is a stationary holder I picked up years ago and fill with all my art postcards, thank-you notes, pens, pencils, stamps etc. whatever I need. It was the fall at the time I took the picture so I added these cute little felted pumpkins that I picked up at a shop in Rhinebeck, NY. They look so perfect sitting on top of the old roll top desk on the upstairs landing. A nice cozy area that makes for a nifty office space. 

The photo below shows the top of the high-boy dresser in the master bedroom.    
I use the memory board to display photos and postcards from places we've visited and included a few of my sister-in-law Katie's pieces of artwork that blend well with the rest of the display. I also have my old shaker style jewelry box, my acorn trinket holder, my yoga clock (I can set it for an entire routine, best thing ever!) hmm, let's see, oh yes, a small ceramic oil lantern that emits a lovely warm glow to the room on winter evenings. It's sitting atop two old etiquette books I found in Newport, RI.  You're right, I'm probably breaking all the rules about needing to group similar looking objects together for a tableaux, but they do look happy together and that's the important thing isn't it?

 Til' Later!

 You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself. – Ethel Barrymore