Friday, October 14, 2016

Entry gates project before & after

Happy Friday!

Last night I was chatting about entry gates with a friend. 
Entry gates are a BIG deal...

The front entry is a big deal....it sets the tone of your home.
Bottom line, even if it's a door with a step, it's the entry!
 It's the first impression.
Your welcomed home everyday by it.
If you don't care what others think, that's ok ....but YOU deserve to have a welcoming entry.

I looked up the pics of before... Yikes, no wonder this house was on the market for soooo long.
I'm thinking buyers couldn't get passed this un-invitng entry to the property!
Trust me, my vision was overload & confused!

Here's a recap on the before & after of our entry to the property here at the French Farm house.


We found out the stone columns were hollow & the little stone walls were only stacked with out cement to hold them together.

We would have to tear it all down & reconstruct.


The columns had extension walls built to intersect the new fencing.




Once the columns were complete, a temporary gate was installed to keep our dogs in. 



Here they are in the shop, a first look at the shape. Exactly what are sketch called for.


This was our first time having something fabricated from steel. The raw steel was super cool, but would rust in a minute.
Our projects have always been solid wood material and painted. My husband did a awesome job building those. {Link to see those at bottom of post}



Fit was excellent. We went with 2 motors to power these big heavy gates.


Finally the welcoming entrance this property should have!

 We love how elegantly both gates slowly open, the motors  are super quiet. 
Nothing makes me smile more than spotting our dogs sitting at the top of the drive waiting to welcome us home!

One more project completed & one step closer in the making of our French Farm house.

A Holiday photo from last year... 


A beautiful weekend to you,
xo, me

I'm on Instagram - Casual Loves elegance
Trying to remember to post!


Link to my site and the beach house that shows our wood fences 









Friday, October 7, 2016

Casual Loves Elegance inspired by

Happy Friday

Inspiration...
 it comes from everywhere and we use it for everything!

 I first became aware of the blog world several years back from the Julia Child movie. 
Story of a young married women who wanted to take on the challenge of Julia's coveted cookbook. She cooked 365 days from the cookbook journaling it onto her blog.
LOVED... the movie.

I was talking with a friend who said she was a blogger soon after. 
 She showed me her blog she encouraged me to check it out.
 OMG I had no idea there was a world of micro magazines on the web!
 Of course I found the fashion world, then the design and food world. 

I was so inspired to start one.

Truth be known I didn't have a computer, I wasn't a photographer, writer and we had a dinosaur PC of my husbands that I didn't know a thing about.

Long story short, that one died and I had to buy one, My kids said I needed a MAC. 
Who doesn't go with what our kids know is best!!!

Naming the blog... was fun but I had no idea what to call it.
What will I write about, who will care?

I began thinking of our biggest obstacle when we first married. 
His house was dark, dated with brown interior, orange avocado green appliances....
yucky 50's -70's beach house. { I saw potential with the house}!!!

After we married I moved all my things in & you could see my things and his needed to come together!
I had to mesh our styles, he was a jock I was a girly model.
I began designing and decorating our homes to incorporate both our styles.

All of this inspired my blog name.

 I meshed our style to described us...
My husband is the casual
I brought the elegance

We love how our every day living marries both of our lifestyles.
The name was easy then...

CASUAL LOVES ELEGANCE



See anything out of place here?


I was doing dishes and looked over to see this!


My husband and son were throwing the ball last night, 
they came in washed up 
&
 that's where the ball was left!

How did you come up with your blog name? What inspired you?
Share it in my comments, would love to know your story!

OH...Fiinally I took the plunged...Casual Loves Elegance is on INSTAGRAM!!
No idea how it works or what to do! Any tips on apps or anything send them my way!

Have a gorgeous weekend!
xo,
Gail




Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Ticking & Vintage Chair No. 4094

Welcoming October

I love * love * love when the Autumn season begins...
 With the change of seasons can't you feel your focus shift a bit more to interior of the home?

Junk Bonanza in Del Mar this year had a chair I had to have. 
I was shopping with a friend who just so happened to have her new horse trailer with her so we had to fill it with vintage furniture!

The chair went to straight to the upholstery shop I had just enough ticking to do the job.


Chair No. 4094
I left the back exposed to reveal the Number...


The legs are french, we stripped them and gave them a waxing.


Yummy...Black -n-White Ticking 




LOVE *LOVE* LOVE* this Vintage French Wingback Chair now. 
The springs were shot so this baby needed a refurbish too.i
It's strong now, filled with down and will be loved once again by our family.



I set it on the black floor in the foyer to see how I liked it on the dark floor..
LOVE!



When I saw the chair at Junk Bonanza I loved it instantly... it reminded of this chair I had redone at our beach house.

This is my youngest son when he was 5 talking to his Grampa! 

Wishing you a beautiful week & see you soon!
xo,
Me