Always an adventure!

A teeny peek at my Sunday afternoon of showings...
... an architectural relic mystery in the basement of a vacant house. Always an adventure!

Holiday Tip: Trick or Treat to Deck The Halls

Before you toss or swap the kids' Halloween candy... 

...set some aside for your holiday gingerbread house decor!

Reclaimed Barnwood Accent Wall in a COMING SOON!

The bittersweet side of an amazing DIY project?

Should you decide to move... you must leave it behind for someone else to enjoy. 💔 This is a sneak peek of my new listing, coming soon. This Seller rescued gorgeous old barnwood from Refab and pieced together the most INCREDIBLE reclaimed accent wall! Buyers will flip for it!

Look for my new listing next week on Palomino Path.

St. Louis Hidden Gem: Custom Stone Interiors

Some posts are better late than never, particularly when you have adored the end-result of a project as much as we have this one.  Last year, Steve and I embarked upon a long-overdue makeover of our already-finished basement. After a decade in this house with 2 sons and 2 dogs, the finishes had taken quite a hit.

The plan for the main party room, aka "teenager heaven":  durable new Pergo flooring throughout, new stair treads after removing carpet, new 4" baseboards, barn doors to replace the 1968 swing-in doors, fresh paint, a new work space, and a makeover of the existing dated wet bar to improve the look and function.  Some of it was DIY, some of it was contracted. Mission accomplished...

Note: this is a real-life quick cell phone panoramic photo, not Realtor-staged, complete with my son watching a movie and freshly mopped floors after his friends spent the night and had an epic spill. My reality, friends.  Ha! 

After living with the "makeover" for several months now, our favorite change has been to the wet bar, by far.  We updated the cabinets, added a sizable mobile island, replaced the worn laminate counter top with granite, and finished off the project with a marble subway tile (Steve's gorgeous handiwork)...

Again, real life photo taken this morning -not staged.  We still need to get around to adding the cabinet hardware and yes, "this kitchen is for dancing". 😉  

As we have no plans in the near future to move, our focus was not as much on return-on-investment as it was look and function.  On any given weekend, we can have 5-20 teenagers down there until the wee-hours if not all night.  Durability is key.  That being said, we had massive sticker shock when bids for a natural stone 90" wet bar counter came in WELL above $1400 installed at big box stores for the creamy stones we preferred. A fellow Realtor mentioned that we may have luck at a remnant yard due to size, and suggested visiting Custom Stone Interiors near SLU and IKEA...

Note: since taking these photos, Custom Stone has moved to a new location in Overland.  Updated address will be at the bottom of the post.

Regardless, we had a terrific experience and I feel compelled to share.  The staff was incredibly helpful and they have everything you could ever want or wish for as far as stone goes for a kitchen, laundry, bath, or furniture project...

Where we had the most luck, however?

At their in-house remnant yard!  In this area, they offer stone remnants left over from other projects at a deep discount, including mis-cuts and leftover pieces of granite, marble, limestone, onyx, travertine, and quartz. It is a terrific solution for a small countertop for a bathroom, laundry room, vanity top, or wet bar. It allows you to examine the actual slab IN PERSON (stone varies a LOT ) and the staff will point you to remnants that will work.

Low and behold, we got lucky and found the perfect one...

Within days, they came out to our house to accurately measure the space for cuts, we provided them with our preferences (eased edge), a previously-purchased undermount sink from IKEA, and everything was fabricated and polished in house...

The price installed was HUNDREDS less than all of the other bids we received...

... and the result?  Perfection.  We love it...

Thank you for helping us to transform our space affordably, Custom Stone!  If planning a new project, consider giving them a call for a bid or dropping by to check out their inventory. 

NITTY GRITTY:

Custom Stone Interiors
1950 Walton Road
Overland, MO 63114

Office: 314-533-1282
Fax: 314-427-2001

Monday - Friday
Saturdays
7AM - 5PM 

WEB: http://www.customstonestl.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/customstonestl

See my other St. Louis Hidden Gems HERE.

St. Louis Hidden Gem: Capitalist Pig BBQ

Steve and I went out for an innocent lunch and ended up in the slammer 👀... 

Please send bail money, or at least extra napkins! Ha Ha.  

I love and adore a repurposed space, and Capitalist Pig doesn't disappoint.  The 3rd District Police Station, across the street from the Anheuser Busch World HQ, opened up in 1937 and served the 16 surrounding neighborhoods until it was decommissioned in the 1990's.... 

This 19,000 sqft building was eventually purchased by retired Police Officer, Ron Buechele, and transformed in to a restaurant, art gallery, event space, and private residential space.

Enter Capitalist Pig BBQ, where the aesthetic is as cool as the locally-sourced cuisine is tasty.  ...

They haven't done much to alter the space, which honestly, is what I appreciated the most. Most of the building is as it was, including the abundance of marble known as "St. Genevieve Golden Vein". This ootlitic limestone was only produced from Saint Genevieve, Missouri quarries in the early 1900's and is known worldwide for its quality and beauty...

You place your order at (what once-was) the sergeant's desk, encased by marble...

Steve and I chose to dine in the short term holding cells. This is where prisoners were held while being processed...

I am not going to lie, having never been to jail myself (I swear), I found lunch in the minty green jail cell quite amusing...

And quite delicious...

If you have never ventured to Capitalist Pig, I highly recommend it!  From the Pork Belly BLT (I think the best BLT I have ever eaten) and the ribs to the huge corn muffins, homemade pickles, mac and cheese, and beans... it was a fun and phenomenal foodie adventure in a VERY cool architectural space.

From jail intake to discharge, it was pure awesome.  St.Louis- do yourself a HUGE favor and check them out!  ❤️

NITTY GRITTY:

The Capitalist Pig

#2727 South 12th (Across from visitor parking at Anheuser Busch)

St. Louis, MO 63118

Open: Wed-Sun, 11-3pm

Web: https://www.capitalistpigbbq.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCapitalistPig
Twitter:https://twitter.com/CapitalistPig

 See my other St. Louis Hidden Gems HERE.

A trip to Fellenz Antiques in the Central West End

This AM, I introduced a client of mine to my favorite architectural graveyard in the city... 

If you have an older home that has lost original architectural elements over the years...  reintroduce some historic charm via Fellenz Antiques in the Central West End. While I would obviously prefer to see lovely 100 year old architectural goodies in their original HOMES, Fellenz is an excellent resource for old home lovers and owners!

Visit them at:
Fellenz Antiques
439 N Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
(314) 367-0214

See my other St. Louis Hidden Gems HERE.

Hidden Gem: A dinner at Claverach Farm in Eureka

A few weeks ago, Steve and I enjoyed our 1st (of many) experiences at Claverach Farm, located just west of St. Louis.  As I stay fairly in tune with local "foodie" resources, Feast and Sauce Magazines, I have known about Claverach's notoriously amazing farm-to-table barn dinners for some time.  It just so happens that Steve and I chose to reserve our first farm experience on one of the most lovely Midwest evenings we have experienced this Spring thus far.

 

As far as Claverach goes, locals either RAVE about it or don't even know that it exists.  Dinner in a "100 year old refurbished barn on 300 acres in the rugged Ozark Hills" initially spoke to me, though the experience is so much more than that.   It's funny, as typically when I partake in something phenomenal in our city (and take a gaggle of photos with the intention to blog it)... I cannot wait to get it on screen and press "publish".  These photos, however, have been sitting in my draft folder for 2 weeks.

 

Blogging about a Claverach dinner almost feels like kissing and telling.

 

The fact is, Claverach touched me in a way that few local places have.  It is such an incredibly intimate experience that you truly feel lucky to have even been able to partake.  It is a place where animals roam free.  A place where you can taste the earth, love, and artistry in the food.  A place where you can sense and share the passion of the talented people that make it all happen.  For a few short lovely hours, Mama Nature and the Claverach staff wrap their arms around you and hold you tight,  heightening each and every one of your senses with the food, aura, and space of the farm itself. 

 

There is a beautiful marriage between sophistication and simplicity on that farm, and a partnership between humans and nature that touched both of us in a profound way. For a few short hours every weekend, they truly bring out the best in one another- humans and nature- at Claverach Farm.  The meal is a perfect symphony of sights, smells, sounds, and flavors- the direct result of the perfect harmony that the staff has made with the grounds of the farm itself.  Simply, magic is happening on that farm.  Magic. 

 

There are numerous reviews online (like THIS) that give a terrific overview of what you can expect.  I, myself, have chosen with my personal overview of the experience to just allow my photos to do the talking...