The House that Matt Built is finally done. Put a fork in it. Complete. Fanito!
Now we enter the “decorating” phase of this project, a phase that Matt has been waiting for since we started this little project in August 2010. Insert wry smile and wink here. I have about a zillion photos to share and then I’d love some feedback. (Please post your comments to my blog. Pretty please.)
First, it has to be said that Stacy Nance, with Stacy Nance Interiors, helped me with quite a bit of the house. Stacy has a great eye and a very clean style. Her own kitchen was recently featured on COCOCOZY for those of you that love this design blog.
We will start with part of the kitchen. I love just about everything about this space. The paint color is: Sharky Grey from the Martha Stewart collection at Home Depot. We went with non-textured walls throughout the house and a white ceiling to make the rooms look bigger. Non-textured walls seem to be something of an oddity in Oklahoma; most people prefer textured.
Kitchen: Appliances- GE and Capital; Granite- Marble Designs
Kohler sink in white, Delta faucet
Below is a picture of one of the granites we chose for the kitchen. I really really really wanted white marble for the majority of the countertops, but after 3,000 people advised me against this for the kitchen, Matt and I began hunting for a granite that looked like marble. We found Brazilian Arabescato that looks similar to marble, but because it’s granite, should be less likely to stain and chip. We love it.
Granite: Brazilian Arabescato, Marble Designs
Range: Capital, Hood: Designed by Stacy Nance, Stacy Nance Interiors
As you can see in the photos, we do not have anything on the countertops. Through the last two moves, I have become much more minamalistic than before and I am trying not to clutter any of my spaces. But what should I put on the countertops? Or should I put anything?
Backsplash Tile: Southwest Tile and MarbleHardware: HardwareResources.com
Next, here are the breakfast area curtains. Stacy picked out this fabric and we had these roman shades made at Vu’s Fabric in Edmond, Oklahoma. Vu is a genius, and I would recommend working directly with Vu. If she’s not in the shop the day you go in to have something made, go back another day.
IKAT fabric: Fabrics Unlimited OKC, Made by: Vu's Fabrics
Breakfast area light: Shades of Light
Ceramic Tile: Classic Tile and Marble OKC
Now for the living room. Because Matt and I are not Vanderbilt descendants, we decided to use almost all of the furniture from our old house in the new one. You will see the Norwalk sofa from our last house and some aluminum tables from I.O. Metro. Additionally, there is a piece of art above the mantel, some pillows and a few accessories that we transported from Little Rock.
View from the fireplace
View from the kitchen
Sofa: Norwalk, Ottoman: Red Chateau- OKC
Light fixture: Shades of Light
Sofa: Room and Board, Lamps: TJ Maxx
Sofa table: Mathis Brothers, OKC
Pink/Orange Pillow: Mathis Brothers, Geometric Pillow: Fabric- Fabric Factory OKC and Vu's Fabric, Work: Vu's Fabric
Wingback chairs: Z Gallerie
Mirrored Bamboo Table: Wisteria, Rug: Rug and Carpet of OKC
Concrete surround: ProCast in Marlow, OK
The concrete surround for the fireplace was a big decision for us. When traveling last summer, we went to a gorgeous hotel in Half Moon Bay, California. We got the idea for our fireplace and a window seat you will see later from this hotel. See the pictures below:
The only problem with our concrete surround is that we were hoping for a different color. We’ve contacted a faux finisher to paint the surround a different color but can’t pull the trigger. What do you think? (See the two color options below.)
Current color: buff, New colors: light grey and charcoal
So for the last photo of “The House that Matt Built, Part I,” we have one more question. I really like these built in book shelves, but right now I dislike what I’ve got in there. I’d like to have photos of our wedding and the new baby!, but it looks strange to me. Any suggestions?
Silver Frames: Pottery Barn
Stay tuned for Part II. Thanks for indulging me!
I LOVE your house! Can’t wait to see it in person! I really live your decor taste! I think either of the new colors would look great for the surround on the fireplace, but I’ll place my vote for charcoal.
I would recommend some different textures in the bookshelves. I’m a huge fan of all the pics, but with all the glass stuff around them, it’s a lot of shiny, and maybe a few pops of color, even in more muted shades, since the back is white, too, in the shelves. Perhaps even a colored plate or plaque to stand behind the other items on a couple of the shelves? Just suggestions. 
Love, love what you’ve done! Can’t wait to see the rest!
Thanks for the feedback!
So cooool!!!! Congratulations!
-lynn@skydiaries
It is beautiful. I love the fabric choices!!!
I LOVE IT! It is so light and airy! I can’t wait to see more pics…hint, hint! I would love to see the outside! Also, of sweet Whit!
L – I love it all. I would put something on your counters in the kitchen. If you don’t want appliances, which I understand, maybe mix in a vase with fresh flowers every now and then or some cannisters. I like the clean look but it almost looks like you guys don’t use the kitchen at all!
I too, like the charcoal for the fireplace. As for the book shelves, another thing I would do is stagger the shelf heights. You have two large openings on the bottom and then smaller, almost symmetrical options on the top. I would make them asymmetrical. Go with a larger opening on the bottom on one side, and then put a larger opening on the top or in the middle on the other side. I also agree that you need some more texture and color in the shelves as well to balance out the glass and the white. But, overall, I’m just enlisting you and Stacy to decorate our next house.
Thanks for the feedback… working on it!
Jealous!! I agree some color in the bookshelves would be nice…maybe a red flag? (or blue…I can’t remember!) I can’t wait to see more of the rest of the house (is that a big beautiful porch with fans I see in the background??
I cant wait to drink cold beer on ur couch!!! Get ready for uncle mike little Whit!!!
Leanne,
Love it! Can’t wait to road trip and see it and spend some time with your family
It’s all BEAUTIFUL!!! I hope to come visit soon so I can ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’ in person!
I can’t place a vote for the fireplace because I don’t think my monitor is showing the colors very well…the light gray looks the same as the current color, and as someone who is in the midst of painting our dark fireplace white, I can attest to the fact that a dark fireplace is fun in theory, but can suck a lot of light out of a room, especially at night.
I agree with a previous poster on the canisters for the counter…it’s a good place to start, and if you don’t like them sitting out, you can move them into the pantry and still get use out of them.
Only suggestion I might make is to paint the back of the built-in bookshelves a dark color. It will make your books and such stand out, and it will also balance out the dark TV on the right. You can google around and find a zillion examples.
Love it!! Gina
Thanks for the suggestions… more to come!
[...] here is the follow up to my previous post, The House that Matt Built, Part I. We have finally finished some of the other rooms in the house and so… here is the [...]
Concerning the kitchen countertops.. The Brazilian Arabescato, it is a Quartzite, correct? I know it has only been a few months but did you have to seal it, have any problems with chipping or staining? Its a beautiful product, sounds almost too good to be true. I’ve looked at it locally and am considering using this myself.
And yes, that kitchen looks amazing.
Actually the Brazilian Arabescato is granite. And we haven’t sealed it, but it still looks great! Thanks for your comment!