House 2 Home: Vance style

Welcome to our first House 2 Home spotlight.  I'm so excited to show you how amazing my uncle's home in Utah is.  He's really great at leaving personal touches in architectural details and my aunt is really great and making the whole house look so cute.

One thing you should notice about the front of their house is the archway above their front door.  If you look closely, you'll notice the letter "V" above the arch.  I've seen him do this in other places which shows he's proud to be a Vance.  Much like what Thomas Kinkade does with his pictures when he hides a letter "N" for his wife's first initial.  Look it up!  It's fun to look for.

As you walk to the front door, the pathway you walk on is very rough and organic feeling with it's textured cement treatment.  I've also figured it is required of every Utah resident in the area to have a gorgeous display of flowers in your yard.  This home is no different.

This front door with rich warm tones and knots is amazing and the welcome wreath puts all of mine to shame.

I know this might seem like an out of place picture to this post, but I wanted to use it to show just how much thought and work my uncle puts into his home. Have you ever thought about your ceiling being something wonderful to look at?  If you look close (there is a closer image next) he's treated his ceiling in no other way I've ever seen.  I asked him how he did it.  There is a brush sold in hardware stores with the bristles spread out in this way.  As he was preparing to texture the ceiling, he dipped the brush in the texture then scraped it flat.  Once that was dried, he painted the ceiling with wall paint mixed at 25% what the room was and spread it on the ceiling.  Caution: the way you treat your ceiling could have a profound effect on your acoustics in the room.  However, this had no problem or strange effects that would deter you from it's beauty. (I'm quirky about it, I know.)

Here's a cool idea.  Ever hate that feeling of needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but dread turning on the light for fear of burning your eyes right out of their sockets? Why not install lights under your counter?  This soft glow will surely keep that sleep in your eyes while you find your midnight relief.  I can't remember what material he used for the countertop, but in the commercial design world, there is a material called 3-Form that can be treated the same way.

And if your bathroom is too far to go in the night, install some crown molding with lighting above!

I love the rawness of this wood floor!  You can see every groove as if each plank were hand carved.  Talk about TLC!

I've been seeing a lot of bead board on the walls lately and I'm in love.  It's not too often that I find it in a wood tone.  This paired with the floors gives me nice warm fuzzies inside.

As a mom, this has to be my favorite personalized feature of the house.  This pantry door closes flush with the wall and looks like it's not even there.  The facade of it holds two sizable cupboards for spices, seasonings and baking goods.  When the pantry door is opened, a motion sensor detects it and turns on the light.  BRILLIANT!

Not only do they hide the pantry door, but this bench also doubles as a trash drawer.  

If you don't have one, GET ONE!

Everyone wants to be in this kitchen.  I'm sure I would enjoy doing dishes more here than at my house with a deep apron sink and a 2 drawer dishwasher that can be run with both or just one of the drawers at a time!  You can't see the microwave drawer very well, but it's there and it rocks!

I was in this area of Utah for less than 24 hours, but managed to see quite a bit of beautiful scenery.  It was great seeing family in their homes instead of waiting for them to come to Arizona.  Had it not been so cold and windy while we were there, I'm sure I would have spent more time on their back balcony over looking this view of the valley.

In the center you'll see the Mount Timpanogos Temple and dotted all around are the LDS chapel steeples.  Yep, this is Utah after all.   

I hope you enjoyed the first House 2 Home spotlight.  I hope you found some things inspirational to try in your homes.  

If you know of a home you'd like to see in the series, please leave a comment with your email and I'll be in contact with you.

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Making the World Cuter

Crafty Confessions

Lil' Luna

New Beginnings!

So many things have changed for me over the last couple of months, hence me not being on top of the blog.  However, with change comes new beginnings.  My husband starts a new job today, I'm completing my 6th quarter of school (and ready for summer break).  My oldest daughter is preparing herself for 3rd grade.  My youngest daughter is finally potty trained!  Oh, and did I mention a new season of Design Star has started?  Of course I'm rooting for the Arizona contestant and not just because I'm from Arizona. Yes, I'm sure I'll be talking about it every week.

I also wanted to take a moment to prepare you for my upcoming series on the blog called 

House 2 Home  

I got this idea from Apartment Therapy's House Tours, but I like to add my own rendition.  This series will feature homes that I've visited that have creative uses of space and decor.  Little punches of personality can really change a space from feeling like a house to a home. (Get it?)

So keep in touch to see the beautiful Vance home I visited in Utah this last month.  You're going to want to see this!