DeSign To LIVE, noT to seLL.

“any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it”…henry david thoreau
“hell, there are no rules here, we are trying to accomplish something”…thomas alva Edison
“the golden rule is that there are no golden rules”…george bernard shaw

RuLes, rUleS, RulES,….go right out the window at my house, especially when it comes to how I renovate and decorate. I’m not afraid to like what I like and ACT on it, and fortunately, I have a husband who will play along (it has taken a bit of time, mind you). We started an add-on to the house about a year and a half ago, (yes, doing it yourself takes some time and when you top that off with using non-traditional materials in non-traditional places, it tacks on a few more well spent moments of ‘thinkin’ and ‘plannin’ and ‘learnin’!) – and I’m finally getting to the fun, finishing stuff! I’ve always tried to kill two birds with one stone, as they say, (there has to be a better analogy than throwing rocks at birds to convey accomplishing two things at once, but that’s that the only one I can pull out of my pocket, at the moment!:) by incorporating some of our projects and show material into my living space, so you'll be seeing these actually played out in upcoming shows. I do that for several reasons: I always have instant access to the idea’s outcome; it’s more manageable and time efficient when it comes to capturing the process; storage of finished pieces doesn’t become an issue; I can work on projects in the middle of the night, if need be; and, if things don’t quite turn out as planned, the only unhappy human I have to deal with is me. Yes, as you can imagine, my home is one big, fearless, experimental adventure after another that extends room to room, floor to ceiling, inside to outside. A realtor’s nightmare, I’m sure! But whether I end up having to relocate tomorrow or end up living in this house for the rest of my life, I LIVE in it. I install what I want to install, hang what I want to hang, paint what I want to paint, grow what I want to grow (nothing illegal, of course) and I love every square foot of it! That’s what owning a home is all about. It should tell your story, reflect your personality, and celebrate your IDEAS!!!...and sharing those ideas is what it’s all about, so here’s to the beginning to an unruly sharefest that will hopefully inspire you to break a few rules in your own home.
Rule Breaker #1….Using the same material you put on the outside of your house inside.
In my instance, that material is brick. We swapped out our dated, rotten wood siding for a material that would be more durable, less maintenance and have more character – I was envisioning the look of an old stone cottage or downtown building. Now, I’m not a big fan of new, neatly formed, perfectly symmetrical brick, so after lugging sample after sample back from various brick manufacturers – everything from what they called ‘rustic’ or ‘vintage’ or ‘olde world’, I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. They could call them whatever they wanted, they still looked newly, perfectly ‘manufactured’. (Genuine wear and tear and old-school craftsmanship and materials is very difficult to re-create) So, low and behold, I finally found a vendor that sold the real deal…… genu-whine, authentic, USED brick, salvaged from demolished buildings. Exactly what I was looking for. The stuff still had paint on it, the pieces were irregular, there was charming history behind every brick, the kind of stuff you CAN’T create. ---Whoo Hoo! doesn’t even begin to describe the excitement. However, that excitement was not always shared by others who peeked in the boxes sitting in the driveway. My mother, for example was horrified when she saw that the brick really was ‘used’… ‘you’re going to put that beat-up, mismatched stuff on your entire house?!”…I believe was the comment. And I proudly replied… “yes, and it’s going to look awesome!” And, it does. The home looks like it’s been there forever, you can’t even tell where the add-on was and I love the fact that we were able to use a salvaged material! A material that also found its’ way inside! Bored with traditional drywall and paint and faux finishes, I really wanted to explore other things. So, brick, was the first alternative…..all four interior walls in the bedroom sport the same tattered brick that we put on the outside, it extends up the back of a stairwell and will find one final home in the dining area to tie everything together inside. My mother, (along with a few others that stopped by), seemed less excited about the idea of putting brick on all four walls in the bedroom, thinking it would have a cold, warehouse type of feel to it. And, to the contrary, it’s very warm and cozy. The great thing about using brick inside is the fact that it will always look great…natural products never get a dated feel, there will never be a need to repaint or recover. It has character beyond measure. All the leftover bits of brick will find their way into a number of other projects including new seats for a set of old metal chairs, and a few garden art projects. The used brick set the tone for the rest of the re-do and that’s to use salvaged, reclaimed goods wherever we can. An exciting challenge that has been so much more fun to pull together than just going out and getting the same-0 same-0 stuff from the home improvement stores. Stop back, we’ve got closet organizers created entirely out of reclaimed lumber, tool bins as shoe organizers, flooring on the ceiling, repurposed lighting, windows and doors as desks, old desks and toolbenches turned vanities and more… lots to share to hopefully inspire YoU to do yOuR own thing in your home! BrEaK SOmE ruLes And LiVe iT UP.

If you too have a hankering for some used brick at your house, the company we used is called Brick-It out of New York, (http://www.brickit.com) and they have this awesome metal grid system, which makes it easy to line up and install, inside and out! You can also check with a local architectural salvage place in your area for reclaimed building materials.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the slideshow… set to the track “Home” by The Nadas off their new album: Ghosts Inside These Halls.
Cheers!
michele