Pittsburgh Magazine 'Haute House' & Mini House Tour

#HOUSEOFKORDS

Throughout our renovation and since we've moved in, I have shared bits and pieces of our home through instagram stories.  I have gotten so many sweet messages from followers asking about a house tour.  I told myself I'd do a full blown, in depth, house tour of #houseofkords when I was finished with decorating.  Buttttt when Pittsburgh Magazine comes knocking at your door, you cover your home fresh flowers and pretend it looks perfect!

Eric and I are so excited that we are in Pittsburgh Magazine's June HOME issue!  I was so honored when one of the journalists, Jessica mentioned the feature to us and even more honored when they asked me if I'd be interested in photographing the house myself.  It was such a compliment and I had so much fun spending the day arranging my house.

I definitely don't feel like our house is done, and honestly don't know when the heck I will feel that it is 'finished.'  If anything, I've learned that a home is a constant work in progress, but E and I are 'home' people.  We love our house and love working on our house so we are definitely enjoying making it a priority.

Some backstory on our home search: 

Where we live, is a very 'redone' area.  All of the homes and storefronts are old, and have been recently renovated, or are in need of some work.  Everyone around Pittsburgh refers to it as "up and coming."  If you have been following No. 14, you know that my parents renovated the building that houses our store.  So, when we were looking for our home, we knew that we would be renovating.  I was so excited because I knew we could make the house completely us and that we could make sure that it has all of the things that we really wanted.  

 Request #1:  More living space/dining space

  Our rental was so teeny that we didn't have any room for a sectional, or a dining room table. E and I love to have our friends and family over, and our last house just wasn't conducive to entertaining.  

The whitewashed beams and the shiplap are my favorite parts about our living space. They definitely warm up the space that could otherwise feel a bit cool with the industrial elements that are built into our home.

This piece is one of a kind, and from a local vintage shop a few blocks from our house call Toll Gate Revival.  Seth, the owner, has an incredible knack for finding vintage pieces and restoring them. This piece used to store old courthouse documents...and now houses our red wine. You know...priorities ;)

One of the most asked about pieces in our home is this wooden bead chandelier.  It is definitely the focal point of our first floor and the first thing you see when you walk into our house.  I absolutely adore these pointed chairs, I love the modern architecture they bring to the room and how incredibly affordable they are (the link is for a set of two!) I found dining room table and chairs to be one of the hardest things to shop for!

Request #2: Natural Light 
Our kitchen is something that I was very nervous about throughout our renovation.  Our rental had an island and a lot of prep space, and I was really concerned I'd regret 'downgrading' space to a galley kitchen. The space was also very very dark.  If you look back at this previous post you'll see my mom standing on the dirt floor of our kitchen.  Our contractors ended up putting a 4x4 foot window in our kitchen above our sink and it makes ALL the difference.  (our project manager made fun of me for how many windows I wanted, he stopped asking me if I wanted more windows because he knew the answer was always MORE NATURAL LIGHT PLEASE!) Fast forward to living in our home- it is a dream, and ironically, we have more than double the storage from our previous kitchen.  The path is very very wide and I think the best part is that our kitchen does not 'end,' rather, it leads into a hallway with our pantry.  Which then leads into my office, which gives the illusion that kitchen goes on and on. 

One of the things that sold me on this house is the exposed brick in the kitchen.  Exposed brick is very true to the industrial elements of Lawrenceville and I was really happy that we could add this touch as our backsplash.  I was also hell bent on having open shelving in our kitchen.  I felt it would make our galley kitchen feel a bit more open. I was so excited to display all of our kitchen accessories and dishes and honestly, the joke is on me! I feel like I am always rearranging these shelves!  They're never quite perfect, but I'm okay with that.

Request #3: A bar

 We had a wet bar in our old house & felt that we would really need another bar space for entertaining.  We of course, wanted a beverage center to keep our drinks cold.  I have always wanted a retro fridge, especially a smeg.  If you look at my Pinterest, you'll see that most of my dream kitchens involve a smeg fridge.  The problem is that they just aren't practical spatially.  We wanted a full service refrigerator in our kitchen because we love to cook at home and need the space.

I found looking for a beverage center so hard. Everyone we spoke to told us how disappointed they were with their beverage center if they chose a less expensive models and we were constantly told that it is worth investing in a more expensive one.  Well, the expensive ones range from $1700-$3000 and we just were not comfortable with putting that type of money into something that made wine cold. We considered the mini smeg, but the size and price just didn't make sense to us.  After doing some research, I found the mecca!  Our adorable little DAEWOO retro mini fridge.  This fridge is another one of my most asked about items in the house and you guys, it was so much more affordable.  I am so thrilled with it and feel like it really just brings our house full circle (Eric even loves it?! SCOREEEE)

Request #4: Outdoor space 

We live in a very condensed area, which obviously has its perks and its downfalls.  We adore that we can walk right out our door and be at a dozen different bars and restaurants within seconds.  But, you sometimes lose sight of nature and what it feels like to be on a patio. We really wanted to have a space where Roo could bop around and we could take an evening outdoors if we are entertaining.  We have a little bistro table where E and I have dinners on warm evenings and we recently added a lounge space with fire pit that we are really enjoying. This space is perfect for us because it is very private, despite having neighbors behind us, and beside us.  

There are still some elements of our home that are definitely not complete.  Eric's office, our bedroom, and my office still need a bit of TLC. If you've been following on Instagram stories, you know my office has gotten a big update (ahem...wallpaper!) and I am thrilled with the way it turned out.  I'll definitely be posting more updates as our home continues to evolve.  Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions you' like to have answered in future blog posts, I love to connect directly with what you guys are searching for!

To see the Pittsburgh Magazine Article, click here!

Paint colors:
 Walls: Behr- ULTRA WHITE
Interior Doors: Behr: SILVER SHEEN 

Exterior Doors: Behr: SUMMER HOUSE