I have an embarrassing admission to make….I don’t like beer.  I have always known deep inside my heart that I would be exponentially cooler if I liked beer, wine and sushi, but at 41, I have to concede that it’s just not going to happen.  I have had a sip of every beer my boyfriend has had for the past two years, he likes beer A LOT,  and none has hit pay dirt.  In fact, it’s sort of like those youtube videos where they give a pickle to an unsuspecting baby, except not as cute.   

All of this brings me to one of my favorite jobs this year – decorating the in-town house for New Belgium Brewery.

So, how on earth did a non-beer drinker come to the attention of the New Belgium-ites?

Enter the beer tasting dinner, aka, the most beer I have ingested in my entire life.

Even though I don’t drink beer, I was pretty darn excited that Asheville got picked to be NB’s east coast spot.  So, when some friends of mine asked if I wanted to go to a beer tasting dinner, I figured, why not….I can fake my way through this.  There’s food involved – how much beer will I have to drink anyway.

Well, this dinner was nirvana for beer lovers.  New Belgium’s renowned sensory specialist Lauren Salazar was to walk us through a multi-course dinner with every course paired with a different NB beer, some limited run special blends (do they call them blends?); rare birds of paradise sought out by beer explorers everywhere.  And, through a strange twist of fate, I was at the table with the renowned sensory specialist, herself,  and the other New Belgium folks – no sneaking the peas to the dog under the table, so to speak.

 I could do this…sip here, sip there….I’m sure they bring the stuff out in, like, shot glasses or something, right?

Oh no….cue about 5 or 6 substantial glasses of beer that I had to make a visible dent in or I would look like a rube!  So, I dove in…sort of.

 All I could manage was about  4 or 5 sips of each glass….did you know beer is super duper filling?  It pretty much lands in your stomach a liquid but then ferments and expands like a ten pound loaf of bread – like the kind Russian peasants eat.  Luckily, my partner in crime, Sumner, also not a beer enthusiast,  was suffering the same fate as we shifted in our seats to accommodate the lab experiment  roiling in our stomachs….I think by the end of the night, I looked like I was pregnant with a bowling ball.

Through all of this, however, I had a great time getting to know the folks of New Belgium who, luckily, didn’t hold my inadequate taste buds against me.  I got to know Jen Vervier,  the woman in charge of the transition,  who turns out had looked at and liked my flip house in Montford.  She asked if I might be interested in helping to make their new home livable.

Since it’s pretty obvious that New Belgium has a finely honed sense of fun and whimsy, their  motto is “Folly Your Folly”, one of my main goals with the decoration of the house was to bring in some colorful, graphic and fun local art to give as good a representation as I could of Asheville.  I couldn’t begin to totally do the eclecticism of Asheville justice, I did have a budget after all, but I think I got a pretty decent start. 

One of the first ideas I had was to do a wall of Lance Wille and Suzie Million’s awesome  Handcranked Letterpress posters.  These pull double duty.  Not only are they graphically amazing, but they also give a good introduction to local clubs, music and cultural events.  We’ve got everything up there from the Mountain Heritage Festival to the Orange Peel to Tyler Ramsey.

Dustin Spagnola  is a local mural painter whose creations span from the Moog mural at Moog headquarters to pieces created for movie sets as well as more politically charged pieces.  His Crazy Horse paintings have been a favorite of mine for a while.  Cue, two original Crazy Horse’s for the dining room.  Dustin was subsequently commissioned by New Belgium to do a huge mural on the Penland auction building on the site of the future brewery.

And since I knew that the NB folks were fond of the graffiti on the buildings of their future site, I got photographer extraordinaire Meg Reilley  to photograph the tags on the buildings for the framed piece above the fireplace.  I also picked one of the portraits from her Asheville series for the master bedroom. 

Other artists include James Flames, an artist whose “Asheville” piece welcomes folks at the front door and Leslie DeRose whose bicycle themed pieces I found at the Big Crafty.

One other thing in the house I’m kind of happy about: all the living room upholstered pieces were made in North Carolina and purchased, at a great price, at the Mitchell Gold Outlet in Hickory.  Despite what some people think, some major label furniture is still made in this great state of ours!  

Other local folks who got in on the act (and some are still getting): Patrick McMahon from Affordable Bedding provided the mattreses, Bionic Man Painting did a great job on the interiors, It’s About Time concierge service is keeping things running with help from Pristine Clean and French Broad Lawn and Landscaping.

This one almost killed me.  Actually, that’s an exaggeration.  The two times I’ve done this,  98% of the process is relatively pain free, save for writing the checks, and then the last two weeks feel like my skin is being peeled off with tweezers.  Tip #1 for folks rehabbing a house for sale:  Set a deadline that seems slightly unrealistic and know that you will survive the final push.  It wouldn’t hurt to book some spa appointments while you’re at it.

But, it’s over and it’s been handed to the universe of realtors and potential buyers, so it’s time to show off the before and afters.

First, though, I need to address my idea for staging this one. 

As you might know, I staged Starnes and the feedback could not have been more positive.  I do believe, however, that I would be on a bullet train to Broughton (our own state mental institution) if I had tried to ACTUALLY stage this one.

Here’s where my idea of VIRTUAL staging comes in.  I have this big money computer drafting system that does a pretty good job of giving a 3D rendering of a room.

There are only two problems:  the selection of furnishings is a little limited, and in some cases  bizarre, and, the default view out of the windows appears to be of the Swiss countryside.  So, don’t exactly hold me accountable for the furnishings and finishes ….. the idea is to provide some space planning.  Also know that the reason you’re not seeing windows in these pics is because I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of the views of cows grazing in the countryside.  I know there’s a way to change it, I just didn’t quite get there this time.

So, in lieu of staging, I’m including potential floorplans and renderings of all bedrooms and other common rooms.  This is the poor woman’s version of staging….I think it will spread like wildfire. (note…I will be sharing these in a later blog post.  After having finished loading all the before and after pics, this post is already on the freakishly long side)

On to the parade of before and after:

Front of House

Cue atmospheric drama:

Kitchen

Downstairs powder room magically transforms into full bath:

There will be a clear glass shower door…it didn’t make it in time for the photographer.  Extra points if you can recognize a remnant from Starnes in here.

Back Room 

Living Room (this is the best Before I have; you have to admit, it’s pretty entertaining!)

Upstairs Bathroom

           b        

Front Bedroom

Middle Bedroom

Back Bedroom

Master Suite Area (in Befores, this was the dining room and small office/bedroom)

This area now holds a bedroom with double closet and hallway with laundry room to the left and extra closet to the left.

And bringing up the rear, the back of the house:

So, there you have it!

If interested, and I know you are, and you want a home in Montford, contact Jackie at Dawn Wilson Realty.  If you’d like to see the MLS, here’s that too!

Coming tomorrow….floorplans and renderings.

I have always suspected that the above expression was a load of hooey. 

After all, I’d rather spend my time on the beach in Costa Rica than on the plane on the way there.  Although I’m not a mom, I’m guessing holding a baby is more edifying that the swollen ankles and nausea of pregnancy and having gone back to school for interior design, I’d rather be standing here holding my diploma (figuratively…I don’t actually have any idea where the literal paper is) than cutting out foam core for hypothetical house models and driving two hours round trip to Cullowhee everyday.  

What got me out on the wrong side of the bed today? 

I’m ready to be DONE with this house!!!!  We’re at the point where we’re ALMOST THERE, but every time I turn, I see a thousand things that still need to be done….it’s sort of the point in the house move when you want to start dumping whole drawers into boxes rather than wrapping everything individually in cellophane.  Kidding really….I am not cutting corners during the final phases….y’all already know I’m not actually DOING anything – just telling other people what to do.  I just wish they’d do it faster!

So…here are some progress shots of actual tile and cabinets going in!  They are coming to refinish the wood floors on Monday so truly, measurable progress is taking place….just ignore my bitching and moaning.

View from back room - suffused with light and a man named Eddie who clearly thinks highly of himself.

Kitchen and Dale

More Kitchen More Dale

Looking through to back room…kitchen is on your right.  There will be a raised bar on the wall where that tool belt is resting.

Blue pennyround tile in upstairs bathroom that is so cute I want to marry it.  The tile, not the bathroom because that would be weird.

Big shower waiting for some snazzy tile work…you will see a guest starring appearance from the carrera subway tile that was such a hit at Starnes.  Note marble tile on floor.

Nice sunny window beneath which to sit and ponder the mysteries of the universe….on a toilet.

OK folks….that’s all I have for you at this point.  

And just to clarify….I get the whole metaphorical resonance of the “journey”….I embrace it and journal about it daily on my yoga mat while in lotus position.  I’m just ready to get my St. Christopher statue and bury it upside down in the front yard under a “for sale” sign.  Enough already!