Breezeway Redesign
For the past four years, my home has been under major construction! I started to write about all of the projects but I found that there has been so much I should really expound on it in future posts and add photos to the descriptions. The common theme is combining vintage estate sale finds with modern pieces to result in a unique personal style. The cleaning ladies are coming to perform their magic tomorrow so after they are finished it will be the perfect time for photos. So for now I will talk about my last major interior project for a while which is the breezeway. We currently use the breezeway as part of our pop-up sales to display our massive vintage costume jewelry collection as well as other vintage home decor goodies and small furniture. The project is scheduled to start September 10. The goal is to have it completed before the Fall Vintage Shop Hop weekend which will be October 3-6 so it will be a tight timeframe!
When I toured my home for the first time as a potential buyer over 18 years ago, I just loved the breezeway as a feature. It was the first time I had ever seen one and I thought it was such a great idea to have a room which allowed a dry path from the garage to the home. Growing up in Rogers Park, Schiller Park, Skokie and Park Ridge we never had an attached garage. My first attached garage was at my previous home in Vernon Hills and it was so nice to be able to pull into the garage and unload items from the car without having to deal with the elements. However the breezeway is even better because it's another space to decorate!
When I moved in, the decorating of the breezeway wasn't my taste - I love purple, it's my favorite color but the giant faux tree with purple flowers in the corner which the previous owner left for me had to go. If I remember right the flooring was a dark dirty indoor / outdoor carpeting, one of several layers. I had gone on a business trip to Philadelphia and took some time to explore the fabric district. I found some really cool barkcloth with a dramatic leaf pattern in green and khaki colors with a black background. Mother had given me a set of vintage 1930s Woodard patio furniture - sections that could be combined into a sofa or individual seating along with an ottoman - and I had it powder coated charcoal black and had cushions made in the barkcloth. I paired it with some Deco-style honey color wood accent tables and some cool lamps and the furniture for the room was complete. I was working with a wonderful designer named Virginia at the time and she helped me round out the room with two-tone paint, a tropical-looking ceiling fan, sisal flooring and stick shades for the sliding door and windows. It really had a Tommy Bahama look without even trying. She rightly said sisal would be a great choice for the flooring as it would hold up well to the traffic pattern straight through the room. And she was right, it did! Over time, I did replace the windows and sliding door to better-working models but that's all I've done since then. It's a great room with wainscoting on the trapezoid ceiling and an exposed brick wall.
Now that it's been at least 16 years since the original remodel, it's time for a change. When I originally wanted to redesign my second floor dormer, I thought I wanted a Hollywood Glam look and even purchased a large glamorous dresser with a huge curvy mirror for up there. Then I found a fabric in a completely different style that I just loved and that changed the direction of things. For the breezeway, it will definitely be a modern glam theme! The sisal will be replaced with the cement tile I have pictured here. I found it online and I think the color combination and style are totally perfect. The aqua and teal colors transition beautifully from the dining room and the black and gold colors are perfect for my black and gold painted mid-century Asian display cabinets. I purchased all of the display cabinets from estate sales - the pair from another company's sale in River Forest. I had interviewed for the job but didn't land it but I went the sale as one of the first customers and purchased them at full price. The third cabinet was at one of our sales in Lincolnshire a few years later. I was so shocked to see it with the same wallpaper lining and everything! Here is a photo from our sale...
When I toured my home for the first time as a potential buyer over 18 years ago, I just loved the breezeway as a feature. It was the first time I had ever seen one and I thought it was such a great idea to have a room which allowed a dry path from the garage to the home. Growing up in Rogers Park, Schiller Park, Skokie and Park Ridge we never had an attached garage. My first attached garage was at my previous home in Vernon Hills and it was so nice to be able to pull into the garage and unload items from the car without having to deal with the elements. However the breezeway is even better because it's another space to decorate!
When I moved in, the decorating of the breezeway wasn't my taste - I love purple, it's my favorite color but the giant faux tree with purple flowers in the corner which the previous owner left for me had to go. If I remember right the flooring was a dark dirty indoor / outdoor carpeting, one of several layers. I had gone on a business trip to Philadelphia and took some time to explore the fabric district. I found some really cool barkcloth with a dramatic leaf pattern in green and khaki colors with a black background. Mother had given me a set of vintage 1930s Woodard patio furniture - sections that could be combined into a sofa or individual seating along with an ottoman - and I had it powder coated charcoal black and had cushions made in the barkcloth. I paired it with some Deco-style honey color wood accent tables and some cool lamps and the furniture for the room was complete. I was working with a wonderful designer named Virginia at the time and she helped me round out the room with two-tone paint, a tropical-looking ceiling fan, sisal flooring and stick shades for the sliding door and windows. It really had a Tommy Bahama look without even trying. She rightly said sisal would be a great choice for the flooring as it would hold up well to the traffic pattern straight through the room. And she was right, it did! Over time, I did replace the windows and sliding door to better-working models but that's all I've done since then. It's a great room with wainscoting on the trapezoid ceiling and an exposed brick wall.
Now that it's been at least 16 years since the original remodel, it's time for a change. When I originally wanted to redesign my second floor dormer, I thought I wanted a Hollywood Glam look and even purchased a large glamorous dresser with a huge curvy mirror for up there. Then I found a fabric in a completely different style that I just loved and that changed the direction of things. For the breezeway, it will definitely be a modern glam theme! The sisal will be replaced with the cement tile I have pictured here. I found it online and I think the color combination and style are totally perfect. The aqua and teal colors transition beautifully from the dining room and the black and gold colors are perfect for my black and gold painted mid-century Asian display cabinets. I purchased all of the display cabinets from estate sales - the pair from another company's sale in River Forest. I had interviewed for the job but didn't land it but I went the sale as one of the first customers and purchased them at full price. The third cabinet was at one of our sales in Lincolnshire a few years later. I was so shocked to see it with the same wallpaper lining and everything! Here is a photo from our sale...
However, one of the three cabinets will have to be moved to the garage for now because there will only be room for two. In the other two corners, I'm going to place two new to me pieces - a pair of cool mid-century wood dressers with Greek key style drawer pulls. Here is a "before" photo of the dressers.
The dressers have great style but are a little worse for wear so I'm having them fixed up and painted teal to go with the new flooring. I'm not sure if I'm going to go with gold or silver metallic for the pulls. My existing display cabinets have gold accents but I'm going to move my dining room fixture to the breezeway. It's a beautiful Sputnik-style fixture in polished chrome but has a feminine touch with clear crystal accents. I really like the Dorothy Draper Hollywood Glam look like this dresser.
The existing stick shades are going to be replaced with a motorized system of fabric Roman shades. My designer has the fabric sample but it's a dramatic pattern with non-metallic gold, charcoal grey and white. It will be so nice to be able to use a remote control to move the shades up and down. I always keep the old shades in the same position because it takes so much effort to move them.This is going to be an exciting makeover and I'll keep you posted as things progress!