Sally Wheat Decorates: The Brick House

 

 

Stalking the Wheats- The living room (second version.)  The third version of this room is being worked on right now!

 

Without a doubt, some of the most popular stories on Cote de Texas are the ones about Sally Wheat’s house.  I think after the Something’s Gotta Give house, The Stalking the Wheats stories, part I and II, get the most emails.   I’ve featured her house twice – and her beach house, once – and all three times, the amount of interest from you has been amazing!  So, when Sally told me she was just finishing up some work on a house in West University – I jumped at the chance to show it to you!   I didn’t even need to preview it – I knew I would love it, and you would too.  So, please join me as we tour the house which I have nicknamed The Brick House (as you will soon see why!)  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.   And just a side note, the above living room in Sally’s house has gone through yet ANOTHER redo!  In its third decorative scheme (which Sally swears is the last time she is going to redo it – sure, Sally!) – the look is now more contemporary.  I can’t wait to go photograph it, too.  

 

 

Made of stucco:   so why is it called The Brick House?

 

The Brick House is located in West University – the charming, small, all-American town encircled by the big city of Houston.   It’s three stories – as many of the newer ones are:   the third floor is usually a big media or play room.     And like most of the newer West U houses, it is creamy stucco with shutters and gas lanterns and lots of curb appeal.  The young couple who live here are friends with the Wheats.  Their children go to the same school – and so, when it came time to hire a new designer, Sally was given the nod.   Probably because like everyone who sees Sally’s house, the owner also is a big fan.

 

 

The Entry Hall.

Walking through the double front doors into the foyer – the dining room is on the left and the living room is on the right.  Straight ahead lies the family room and stair hall, with the walk in bar and kitchen, to their left.  The front part of the house has the more typical West U dark hardwood floors, but instantly your eye is drawn to the unusual – gorgeous brick floors that run throughout the more casual areas of the house.  The brick floor is so gorgeous, so unexpected, and such a rarity – that they take your breath away for an instant.  Suddenly, the house becomes not some everyday, new construction West U house – but rather a Belgian-esque flavored one.  The house is in the middle of a total redecoration under Sally Wheat’s direction.   The living room is still a work in progress, as is the master bedroom.   But, a small kitchen fire forced a rushed timeline in that room.   The family room, the sun porch, and the Princess’ room are all completed – except for a few pieces here and there. 

 

The Living Room.

The Christmas tree – so pretty and subtle with white snowflakes is the star of the living room, which is still waiting its finishing touches.   Of course there is seagrass – this is West University, after all! 

 

 

Though the owner and Sally balked at me showing this room - I think it looks pretty good right now.   As soon as Sally has worked her magic, I promised them I would show the finished project.   For starters, Sally has added the sconces and new seating and curtains are being ordered. 

 

 

The Dining Room.

Entering the dining room through the entry hall – I am in love!  

 

 

 

The dining room is long and wide – allowing plenty of space for the large Spanish styled wood table with its scrolled iron brace.  The chairs are fabulous – also Spanish styled, with ruffled slipped skirts and button detailing.  But – it’s the extra large nail heads that define the chairs and set them apart.  The chandelier is Italian styled, with a candlestick base and wooden tassels –a style that is so popular today.  Curtains are sheer, see-through linen with simple tab tops.   The room is  soothing in its monochromatic color scheme and the buffet matches the color of the chair’s linen.    Of course – the seagrass acts as another, large expanse of the linen color.  An arched window styled mirror reflects the sparkle of the chandelier lights.    The walls throughout the downstairs are painted Martin Senour’s Linen Weave – the paint de rigueur for chic Houstonians. 

 

 

The Spanish styled table is simply furnished with wood candlesticks and a large French pottery bowl.  A trio of tiny evergreen trees continue the Christmas decorations.

 

 

 

Leading into the family room, two carved French panels flank the arched opening.   The stairs have painted white wooden banisters and handrails along with a seagrass runner.  The beautiful Belgian inspired brick floor begins in this section of the house.

 

 

Entering the stair hall, there is a large, walk in wet bar on the left, through which the dining room connects to the kitchen.  The countertops here are a gray concrete.  

 

 

The Family Room.

Past the open stairwell, is the family room with a fireplace flanked by two built-ins.   A long sofa faces the arm chairs, and a wall of windows looks out onto the screened-in porch and backyard.   The kitchen and breakfast room are opposite the family room.   Painted in the white Linen Weave, a surprise dark gray paint shows up in the bookcases.  

 

 

Looking the other way, behind the sofa is the kitchen and breakfast room.   The stairs and the wet bar are to the left.   The tight back sofa, dressed in a gray Lee Jofa linen,  has contemporary lines and is simply tailored with a beautiful waterfall or dressmaker skirt.    Trimmed pillows with an accent skin continue the sedate, Belgian feel in the house.    A wood cricket table is mixed with a more industrial leaning coffee table.  Tara Shaw’s cachepot holds the just starting to bloom Christmas paperwhites. 

 

 

 

Looking towards the wall of windows -  you can see the beautifully tailored sofa with its slender arms from which the fabric gracefully falls unimpeded.    Perfect.

 

 

The tight back English saddle arm chairs were recovered by Sally in an elegant eggplant colored linen with just the slightest of sheen.  Double ruffled skirts add a soft touch.  The ikat pillow fabric is contrasted against all the gray and linen shades. 

 

 

 

The focal point of the family room is the fireplace flanked by two bookcases.   A large peeling paint trumeau shares mantel space with old books, some with covers, some without.   Simple jars hold greenery.

 

 

Sally styled the deep gray painted shelves with a mixture of textures:   large spools of twine become decorative objects, caramel colored antique books match terracotta pots.   Shells and carved stones provide light pops of white. 

 

 

In the right bookcase, Sally mixed more caramel colored books with antique apothecary jars.   Shells, pots and more books finish out the vignette.

 

 

Heading from the family room into the kitchen and breakfast room – where the color gray becomes even more prominent.

 

 

The Kitchen.

 

A small kitchen fire pushed the remodeling up – luckily the owners had been planning an update, now they had to finish it quickly.   Sally changed the Corian countertops to a mixture of gray concrete with Carrara marble on the island.   The slate backsplash was eliminated for just a small lip of concrete – all much more streamlined.    The cabinetry remained – it was just painted, while upper cabinets received glass insets in their doors.   Wicker stools were purchased for the bar area.    The gray on the cabinets is Martin Senour Owlet.   The deeper gray on the kitchen island and family room shelves is Martin Senour Baby Hippo.    Also, all the wood doors throughout are painted in the darker Baby Hippo too.

 

 

Looking towards the back wall of windows and the screened-in porch – you can see the breakfast room.  The gorgeous lanterns are from M. Naeve  (yes, I have the same ones too! – great minds think alike, no?)     The chairs are still to be changed out, Sally and the owner were quick to tell me – though I thought these looked just fine!   In this view of the kitchen, you can see the Carrara marble on the island here.   Also, all the hardware was replaced in the remodeling.     How pretty is this?!!!?

 

 

A kitchen must:  casement windows, farm sink, and polished nickel faucet – perfection!

 

 

 

Here you can see the Christmas decorated white painted deer head and Sally Wheat’s own driftwood cross that she creates.   To order one – email me – she makes all different kinds of driftwood art.  The curtains here and in the family room are the same as those in the dining room.  Olivine in Houston carries these, and Restoration Hardware has similar ones. 

 

 

Leaving the kitchen to go outside and see the screened-in porch – another rarity for a West University town sized lot.

 

 

Screened-In Porch.

The screened-in porch, also with brick flooring, allowed Sally to have some fun.  Sally is a conflicted interior designer – as we all are!  She is torn between quiet, monochromatic palettes and the bright pops of color with contemporary accents that the younger set is drawn to.  The porch gave her the opportunity to express her younger side – with the bright yellows and oranges.   The brown cushions were piped in bright white to tie in with all the pots and tables.  But it’s the lamp and rug that really set the vibe here.  

 

 

Are we in Houston?   Doesn’t this look like a European house? 

Heading back inside to go upstairs – notice the closet door painted dark gray.  While I like to paint interior doors black to give them more of a presence, the gray is softer alternative.     There’s one more Sally Wheat designed room to see today:  The Princess’ room.    While the master bedroom is still being finished – I think you’ll like their daughter’s bedroom just fine!

 

The Princess’ Room.

So precious!   With walls of pink, the focal point no doubt is the round, tufted raspberry velvet ottoman.   Perfect for a throne!   The bed is done in whites and light pink ruffles, while the headboard is all white and nail heads.  Pillows are Hable Construction.   Wall to wall seagrass covers the floor – notice the pattern:  the basketweave is a thicker and somewhat heavier seagrass than the traditional weave. 

 

 

This charming gray painted screen with linen tied curtains came from The Fab Flea in Houston.    

 

 

A gray painted metal chandelier from Olivine hangs from the ceiling – while an antique Louis Philippe mirror sits atop the rattan chest.  

 

 

I love the little angel santos above the bed! 

 

 

But THIS is my favorite!!!!!   I absolutely love this!!!!!

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of The Brick House designed by Sally Wheat.   To see other work by Sally go HERE, HERE, and HERE.  Sally has an antique booth at Antiques and Interiors on Dunlavy HERE and is available for interior design projects.  Just email me and I”ll pass them on to Sally!  And Sally is working other projects that she is just finishing up – so hopefully I’ll be bringing those to you soon!   

Coveritis Wannabe

 

My first cover shot 2007:  Georgie and Sammi Jo.  Actually they wouldn’t sit for a picture together so two pictures of each dog were spliced together to make it look like they really love each other.  They don’t.  Now four years later, almost everything in this picture has changed except for the sofa and chair and lamp. 

When I first started blogging, another blogger friend, Melissa from The Inspired Room HERE coined the word – coveritis – to describe the affliction of constantly fluffing one’s home to make it worthy of being on a magazine cover – at a moment’s notice.   If you suffer from coveritis you have an irrational fear of your house not always looking good enough to make it into a design book.   Symptoms of coveritis include keeping your house in a state of non-clutter:  all papers, mail, toys, clothes and crafts are always put away immediately -  just in case a stalking photostylist stops by unannounced.  Remember, this is an irrational fear.   To understand coveritis -   imagine it like this – your house always looks like President Obama is on his way for dinner.  

Now, the opposite of coveritis is being a coveritis-wannabe.    You are a coveritis wannabe if you WANT your house to be photo ready at any given time, but it’s not and never will be.  You never file away your bills fast enough and your children’s school work is always spread out over the dining room table.  Your husband takes command of the coffee table and his random magazines and catalogues are center stage instead of your carefully arranged design books.  Your bed is never made before 3:00 pm and more often than not, your bathrooms are littered with wet, used towels.  Usually for a coveritis wannabe, the only room ever photo ready are the never used living room.    As hard as you try and despite how much you wish it was, your house is just never quite ready for that photoshoot.

 

 

 

Three years ago, this story appeared in Better Homes and Gardens.   Again, that corner of my family room has completely changed! (Thank God!!)

 

I am without a doubt a total coveritis wannabe.  I’m always futzing around in my house, moving furniture, accessories, and books – trying to get it to look camera ready, but it never really is.   The endless catalogues accumulate, packages are opened but linger around waiting for their final home, shoes never quite make it to the closet, and stuff just grows and multiplies like the octomom’s stomach.   I have endured two actual photoshoots in the past few years, so I know what it means to have my house look camera ready – but, of course a professional stylist accomplished that feat for me.  For both magazine stories, the stress level of whipping my house into cover-ready state was almost unbearable.  In fact, I said, “never again”  to another photoshoot.   That was until Bonnie Broten, Regional Editor for Meredith Corporation, came to town this week and brought a film crew with her.   The last few days were like college hellweek for me while the crew cheerfully took a few pictures of my kitchen for this magazine:

 

BHG’s Specialty Magazine – Kitchen and Bath Makeovers – done on a small budget.  My kitchen certainly fits that criteria!  The story won’t be in this magazine until Summer of 2012 – such a long wait.

 

Since I am a coveritis wannabe, I swore I would never again let a photographer into this house.  It’s just too much – too much angst, too much cleaning up, way too much insecurity, just too, too much.  Coveritis sufferers live for their house to be photographed, but for someone with clutter issues, it’s just not fun.   This time, the pictures were taken only of my kitchen for the BHG specialty magazine – Kitchen and Bath Makeovers.    Forget for a moment that I have no clue why they would even want to put my kitchen in the magazine, but why it’s on the cover is truly a mystery.  My kitchen is no big deal.  It’s got so many flaws and it’s so ordinary, I am at a loss as to why they were even here.    I can name a million other kitchens right off the bat that are so much better and more deserving than mine.  Like this one:

 

Sally Wheat’s kitchen has spawned dozens of copycats.  I can’t tell you how many people have emailed me pictures of their own  “Sally Wheat” kitchen.

 

Like this one, which was inspired by Sally Wheat.  Homeowner Sara did such a great job – read the story HERE and HERE.

 

This kitchen in Houston was also inspired by Sally Wheat.  Surely this remodeling deserves a magazine story.  Read about it HERE.

 

This Houston kitchen, NOT inspired by Sally Wheat (finally!),  is very magazine worthy!   A beauty in gray and white marble and black granite, it was designed by Julie Dodson – read the story HERE.

 

Remember this stunning kitchen in black and white?   The homeowner designer in Deerfield, Illinois sent in her pictures.   Surely this is more magazine worthy!  Read the story, HERE

 

 

And then there’s this.   It’s almost embarrassing to show, but here is my kitchen.  Now, keep in mind that since I am a coveritis wannabe, my kitchen is usually not this neat.  I edited it for these pictures. 

 

 

Here’s how it actually looked the day before the photographers arrived. 

 

 

Edited picture that I took.  Veddy neat, but so not reality.

 

 

And in this little corner, I certainly edited the space to take these pictures.

 

Here’s what it looked like the day before the photoshoot.

 

 

Cleaned up for pictures.

 

 

Not so tidy in real life.  Before the crew arrived, I had to move the TV, the water cooler, the boxes,  the files,  the baskets, the lantern, the cloches – all went into the garage.

 

 

 

The day before the shoot – the crew came by and we started editing even more.  Ben was enlisted to move the ironstone around.

 

 

He wasn’t too happy about the photoshoot to begin with, much less helping out, but almost falling off the counter was the last straw for him. 

 

 

The day of the photoshoot was extremely long for me and the dogs.  We are used to extreme quiet during in the day.  It took three hours just to shoot one picture – the cover shot.    The mess was terrible.  Everything from my kitchen ended up in the family room.

 

 

                               

Photoshoots are so high tech.  The cover shot was approved via internet.   Digital photography  is amazing – each shot was extensively studied on the computer to ensure its perfection before going on to the next one.   The talented Bill Bolin from Bill Bolin Photography HERE was super nice and helpful.  

 

A huge surprise for me was that the art director wanted the old chairs resurrected from the garage – a mixture of both the new Kooboo chairs and the French chairs were used at the breakfast table.  I wish I could show you how good the pictures looked!  It was amazing how much better the experts made this small space look.

 

The best part were all the flowers and herbs.    Sammie Jo couldn’t be bothered.  She’s sooo cute!   Stone deaf, but adorable.

 

 

You have to have thick skin when you invite a team of photostylists into your home.  The head honcho directed that my baskets come down from above a bank of cabinets.  Well…how DARE he??!!!!   The large chicken coop basket?? was bought at Joyce Horn Antiques HERE about 15 years ago.  Each year my parents gift Ben and I with a check for our anniversary and that year I took the check and bought the only thing at Joyce’s that I could afford – that basket!    The other basket is a small antique pet carrier which I love.   After the baskets were taken down, I had to admit I liked it better without them, so into the garage they both went – I’m not putting them back out.  My garage is such a wasteland.

 

When it was all over and my kitchen was put back together, I got to keep all the herbs.   I love them – they are so fragrant.

 

The TV came back out from the garage (which I hate, but my family insists we have one in that room.)  The herbs add a nice touch of greenery to the bakers rack.   One change that I made for the photoshoot was the pillows from Restoration Hardware which were added to the wicker chairs.

 

But, the best item left over were the glorious peonies!  Aren’t they gorgeous?   All in all, despite all the hard work, the photoshoot was a great experience.  The photographer couldn’t have been nicer and the stylist Bonnie, one of the best in the business, was very helpful – making me see my kitchen through different eyes.   Since I am a die hard coveritis wannabe, a few days later the kitchen was back to looking cluttered and messy, as usual.  The story won’t be out until the summer of 2012!  Such a long time to wait.  

I would love to do a survey – are you a coveritis sufferer or a coveritis wannabe?   I wonder which affliction would win????   AND, if you think you have a house or kitchen that is magazine worthy, send me the pictures and I’ll forward them to  Bonnie.  She’s always looking for new stories to pitch.

 

A huge thank you to Bonnie, Blaire, and Bill!!!!

 

AND, NOW FINALLY:

I’ve been so fortunate to host a large amount of giveaways.  The gifts have been wonderful – vendors have donated jewelry, antiques, custom paintings,  hotel rooms, and even very pricey chandeliers.   It’s been great fun to run these contests and I’ve loved that so many of you have won something great.   While I usually am on the giving side, I was shocked to hear that I had won a giveaway from another blogger -

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And no, that’s not me.  Snort.   That’s a model from from Manito’s web site.

 

I won this beautiful silk robe made by Manito Luxury Silk & Linen HERE.  The giveaway was hosted by Brillante Interiors blog, written by Renaissance woman,  Albarosa Simonetti.  If you have never visited her blog, do so HERE – she writes about interior design and travel – all with an Italian beat!  Thanks a million Albarosa!!!