Projects Archives - Dear D'Arcy

Our client wanted an updated look with an affordable budget. She also wanted a modern feel and liked the soft feel of grey but loves color, she also doesn’t like much clutter or collectibles. With this in mind we created a space around these needs. I love the pop of color with the grey it works well with each other. Note how the color is in the accessories, this allows for an easy change to the look affordably buy switching out the accessories for new colors and trends.

The finished look. Note: the dresser painted silver to take something old and make it new again.

This space was created to sit and work/read have a cup of coffee or wine and chat. I created a couple of areas to sit and large pillows for the kids to lay around, gather and chat.

Before the space in the front room was used for an office. The space was dark, furniture placed wrong and the flooring was a strange vinyl padding.

Before: boring, furniture placed wrong, no color and doesn’t reflect the owners personality or style .

The entry walking into front room prior used for office. New space living/sitting area. Note the dark dresser, see what a little paint did to it! We did paint this space the same shade of Sherwin Williams grey and added a beautiful new light fixture. (sorry I forgot to take a photo of this.)

As for the molding to help with budget, we re-used the existing molding, painted it white and placed a smaller molding a 1/2 inch space above, leaving a gap that we painted white to give the look of much more expensive wider molding. This give a big budget bang and a fraction of the cost. Molding is like jewelry to an outfit, it really finishes it off. It’s a detail that finishes the job.

This is the before on the two floorings and the baseboard. Sorry for the bad photo! (it was the only one I took and I didn’t realize it was blurred until it was too late.) I really felt it was important to show the up close detail.

The after… refinished hardwood floor to give it an update without the cost of a total redo. Added a fun patterned carpet for detail and a unexpected pop! I think it turned out so sharp.

Hello Beautifuls,

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. My hubby surprised me with a weekend away to Salt Lake City for some pool time alone. Cheers to weekend dates! I wanted to share some news with you, My hubby and I have been a designer & construction team for years. In California we had a business B&D properties, interior design and construction specializing in remodels and makeovers. We were doing flips and spec homes as a team. While he also owned & operated ski shops for 25 years and I had Pages of Tyme, a home decor and scrapbooking store for 10 years. Business was great, we were really busy and life was moving fast! My hubby was burned out and wanted to slow things down….We decided to move to Utah where we had had a second home. So we sold everything and moved to Utah. Our plan was to take a year or two off enjoy our family and then we would start up B & D Properties in Utah on a smaller scale and x out any retail business and then housing market crashed… Needless to say our plans changed… B&D properties went on the back burner for Utah. My hubby stayed in the construction business and took on all kinds of jobs. While I recreated my career (I needed a break and I needed to do something creative on my fashion side). I had always loved fashion and always wanted to open a clothing boutique as fashion and design have a lot in common. The birth of Chic Style was born. Having grown the shops to 3 shops in 6 years after 9 years, I had really been missing design. I had taken a huge break in design while living in Utah and decided to take on a couple projects while still owning the shops…. Now talk about busy but I loved doing both while also growing my blog and social media. In December 2017 we decided to sell the clothing shops not really knowing for sure what I was going to do for work (I promise there’s a point to all of this!) I knew I didn’t want to do ANY type of retail anymore, I knew my blog and social were growing and I LOVED sharing tips and advice on anything fashion and lifestyle & design related. But I also knew I needed to work until I could make a living at this blogging & influencer job. To be honest I’ve been trying to find what that job would be… I’ve been searching, applying for all kinds of jobs (which I constantly get told I am over qualified!) from corporate manager jobs, retail and even big firm interior jobs. In this process I became a long term substitute teacher which I adore and have been picking up interior design side jobs! Reminding myself I’ve been self employed almost my whole life, why would I want to work for another business while I am capable of doing it on my own? After having to bring my hubby back on as the contractor to my last 4 jobs I realized a dream we hadn’t fulfilled, B&D properties, Interior design and construction in Utah has not been fulfilled! It finally all made since and came back around…that’s what we’re supposed to do, team back up and make that dream a reality. (God I hear you!) So B&D properties, interior design and construction is up and running. Our business license and insurances are all in the works or finished. We have a Facebook page HERE and an Instagram HERE and you can email us at bdproperty@icloud.com Don’t worry I will still be running Dear-Darcy, I will just be adding more design and home projects to the blog with a tab you’ll be able to search. My plan is to come up with a content calendar so you will see an even amount of fashion, lifestyle, travel and design. Stay tuned as I am really working on blogging 5 days a week to give you all the content you want to see.

Now.. Do you need some remodeling, organizing, personal shopping or your closet reworked? Email me because this is MY NEW JOB! Thank you for following along & supporting me, D’Arcy.

After Remodel… Opened up 3 walls, took out 2 walls in kitchen 1 in dining room and the pantry to make 1 large kitchen.

Before photo: The kitchen before we remodeled! This is the view standing in kitchen dining & the french doors!

The View from the Kitchen looking out before cabinets went in!

I could sit and stare at this section of the kitchen all day! I adore the Custom hood with secret storage and large corbels. The custom glass doors I designed came out better then I dreamed! White subway tile finish off the look, giving it a farmhouse feel, yet traditional you can change out the accessories to change the look. A pot filler faucet was a must, as where the 2 side cabinet pull outs on each side of the stove for spices.

close up of the details

I really can’t tell you how beautiful the counter tops are. The veins of the Super White quartzite looks like Marble without the Care or scare of easy staining. I love the look of marble, its classic, clean and stunning! But having to worry about the maintenance and hubby with a coffee cup or a girlfriend with a glass of wine…Yikes! I really wanted that look without the worry! Galaxy Tops and Tile had a huge selection from granites, quartz and quartzite that could fit the look of marble with all budgets in mind. I chose the Super White quartzite, coming in at about $80 a ft, not manufactured or installed, which is the same cost as marble or a little under depending which marble you would chose. I am telling you their customer service and knowledge will wow you! Miguel (the owner) wants to make you happy and makes sure to give you what you want and see’s your vision for the space. Kayla the office manager, is just a pleasure to work with, calls you to keep you informed, scheduled and walks you through the process, from template measurement appointment to the install. I always felt up to date and informed. Working with Galaxy Tops and Tile was a pleasure and I would recommend them to anyone in need of any counter tops, tile and flooring. They have an amazing selection, are very knowledgeable and can work with every budget.
They showed up on time for measurements & gave very helpful tips and asked me multiple questions to make sure I was getting what I wanted on edges, corners, and how I wanted the finish to look around the farmhouse sink. They even fit me in faster then I expected, in this crazy busy construction market. The installing day went smooth, professional and gave the kitchen the perfect finishing touch! Check out their site here and go follow them on instagram here. Please is you go check out their show room in Ogden, Ut. make sure to tell them you saw their beautiful work here on my blog.

White Custom European inlaid cabinets with self closing doors and brushed nickel bar hardware. (European inlaid cabinets are flush with the cabinet and do not have doors sitting on the frame.) Also known as Frameless! The grey wall to the right of the photo did get tiled in white subway tile as well…. Just not in time for this photo shoot & that is just the way life works:)

A view of the Baking island With a butcher block top and the range wall!

A two island kitchen, sink island with Super White quartzite and the Bakers island with a butcher block top and seating.

Entertaining is one of my favorite things! Come enjoy our kitchen with us!
White dress=Standards and Practices, White blazer = Downtown Chic, Earrings = Victor & Marc

Drum shade chandeliers with a touch of bling

A view looking in! ( I am looking for the perfect barstools…So for now these will do!)

Just another look, looking into the hall and the dining room from the french doors looking in. Also a view of the flooring. I wish the beauty of this bronze & silver metallic 12X14 tile flooring would show in the photo’s, it is really stunning and something everyone comments on when they walk into our home. It’s very unique!

Custom designed glass doors to show off my special pieces. 4 total in the kitchen.

Stainless steel farmhouse sink, with a Moen faucet

If you’ve followed me for a while you have seen my mug collection. I had a cabinet designed to hold all of them, it sits right next to the Coffee & tea built in cabinet garage which has above storage to hold all of our coffees, teas and flavorings! And…it’s all hidden!

A cabinet also known as an appliance garage. with above cabinets to house all of our coffees, teas and flavorings.

Hello Beautiful’s and welcome to our kitchen!

This huge remodel took 4 years! Yes… 4 years! (we started when our oldest graduated High school and finished when he graduated college!) But hey… we paid cash for both, so we say it was a sacrifice well worth it! I am sure your asking your self, how did we cook? We’re lucky to have a second kitchen downstairs or we would have never been able to undertake such a huge remodel, specially for that long of a period.

Now, that you know a little of the back ground, heres some of the details you don’t see. The kitchen was closed in and very small, with a in kitchen dining space. We also had a formal dining space on the other side of that closed off wall (dumb…you had to walk clear around through the living room to get to it!) Our first plan of attack was to gut the kitchen and take it to the studs including the floor to the joist’s, then remove two kitchen walls and the formal dining wall. This allows us to open up the space for an open floor plan, with architectural arch details. We chose to add more arches (we had 1 in kitchen and 1 in dining room already) and I didn’t want to remove those because we loved the Architectural element and we didn’t want to raise the kitchen ceiling (that would have opened another can of worms!) This gave us the in kitchen dinning space to double our kitchen space. Our 2nd plan of attack was relocate the water lines, gas lines, central vacuum system and all the electrical, to fit our new kitchen floor plan. This was not an easy task and was more involved & costlier then we would have liked. (remember I have a contractor hubby and is good with a budget) After accomplishing all the rewiring and plumbing, we were able to put in the new flooring and had the Arches built, our Friend Billy is a talented wood worker & owner of Studio H matched our existing arches perfectly! NO more dust and now we have one hell of a large dance floor! 🙂 That was our budget and some of our budget for the next year! With going over budget and having a kid in college, (that I was determined he would graduate without having a single bill!) This meant 2nd year had a smaller budget, so we started to purchase our appliances 1 by 1, ( did you know most warranties on Appliances don’t start until install date?) then we purchased the lighting and came up with a plan to attack the cabinet issue. I had really wanted European inlaid cabinets and their about double the cost of regular cabinets. Inlaid cabinets are a frameless cabinet which creates full access cabinetry because it offers greater accessibility by eliminating the face frame. Inlaid fit flush with the cabinet, not on top of the cabinet. This is a very precision process and no room for error. European cabinet is becoming more popular among American homeowners seeking simple, more contemporary cabinet design. I love the full access & the flush sleek look of them, no bar in center of doors and the concealed hinges are attached directly to the sides of the cabinet box. I also wanted real wood, even thought I wanted white cabinets, I love the feel of real wood and the weight of it. Another must, was soft close drawers. With a house of boys, this eliminates scratches and slamming! We decided to wait on doing all the custom cabinets in one full sweep, and came up with a 4 section stage. Our Cabinet guy (Billy)priced out each section (4 sections) Island 1, Island 2, fridge wall and stove wall, broken down by purchasing each section 1 at a time. knowing I could fit sections into the budget for the remaining years instead of 1 large payment. We squeezed in Island 1 into year 2….oops… on the budget!

We had an estimated budget set for each year and I knew going in what the total project was estimated to cost and that it was going to take us 3-4 years! I wanted what I wanted and would rather wait then to cut any corners or change the quality of the kitchen. Now, do I wish I didn’t have the gift of always picking the most expensive of anything….Yes! Yes I do!!! Telling myself “great things are worth waiting for!”

Year 3… Cabinets…. Goal is to get the last 3 section built and installed! We did it…Boy it looks like a kitchen and we’re so close! Life get’s in the way…. our down stairs kitchen appliances all need to be replaced, our washer and dryer broke….You named it, it happened…. Kitchen is gonna have to go into year 4… Bright side, our kid is on track to graduate in four years and with no debit!

Year 4…Our lighting is all installed, all the hardware is installed, counter tops installed thanks to Galaxy tops and Tile, faucet & pot filler have running water, back splash is installed (hubby and I up until 1am installing it for this shoot!) Don’t mind the one wall….it didn’t get done in time for this photo shoot but I can proudly say we got it done that weekend! It’s done…It’s really done and it was worth the journey! I have tears as I write this because it now feels real, I have sat and stared at my dream kitchen… while having a cup of tea and I couldn’t believe it was really mine and it’s done it’s really done! (I had more tears, when my baby boy graduated with honors on the deans list!) Yes… He did it:) Graduated from the University of Utah, both goals accomplished!

As for what’s next? For me I’ll be cooking in my kitchen and sharing some of my favorite receipts with you. As for Hudson, he’s finishing up his summer class and then he’ll be looking for a career…He wants to cook in the new kitchen! (maybe i’ll let him!)

I hope you enjoyed my kitchen journey and can be inspired in some way. I also hope you take away from this, that not everything has to happen overnight. It can be a process & a journey if you have a dream, a goal or even a remodel, plan & budget and work towards it every day until it gets accomplished! Yes, you will have set backs, you will have hoops to jump, you might even have tears wanting it to be over but let me tell you when it’s accomplished, it’s all worth it! (sometimes I would just stare at my kitchen plans wishing it was done and I would tell myself “it’s gonna be beautiful and worth the wait!”

Warning: I will be posting a ton of photo shoot’s in this space…. So get ready for kitchen over load!

If you have any budgeting questions or design questions leave a comment i’ll be happy to help. OX, D’Arcy

University of Utah graduation on May 4th! I thought you would like a peek at that exciting and emotional day! OX

This post was a collaboration with Galaxy Tops and Tile and may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. I only promote brands that I truly love and believe in! Thank you for your support!

Easy and Affordable Tips to Remodel Your Space!

Kitchen Remodel from Before to Dream!