I said in the “Meet the Cherry Lane” post that I wanted to go in a slightly different direction with this house, and that’s because it’s a different architectural style than I have dealt with thus far. Bear with me here.
In central Oklahoma the majority of our homes are ranch style. The homes that you see being remodeled on Fixer Upper are almost identical to many of the homes in our region. White cabinets and shiplap walls and subway tile is fitting for ranch style homes. Thanks to Joanna Gaines, they go together like peanut butter and jelly.
At first glance the Cherry Lane house could pass for ranch style with its long, low exterior profile and its internal layout. But something about it kept giving me pause. The combination of the arches and the white exterior… something about it looked almost… Mediterranean. Stick with me. Can ranch style homes have arched windows? Yes, absolutely. But the white brick with the squished mortar gives off a stucco-esque vibe, and that, along with the repetition of the arches inside and outside… it finally hit me. Guys, this was a ranch style house that went to visit its cool older cousin in Southern California and came home Spanish revival inspired. The house equivalent of getting a single ear piercing or a tattoo.
Check out these Spanish modern or Spanish revival style homes. (These are obviously not my images. They’re from google. I am just a brand new baby blogger and do not know how to source my images yet. Feel sorry for me.)
I dropped Cherry Lane there at the end. You thought she was one of the Spanish Mod inspo photos for a sec, didn’t you?
Now check out these moody interiors that are giving me all the inspiration alongside some shots of Cherry Lane so you can get a feel for where it’s headed:
Below: living room inspiration- arched windows, focal point fireplace, dark ceiling beams, large open archway to the kitchen, Below that: Cherry Lane
Can you see it???
Can you picture my darling Cherry Lane in these homes if you squint?? I didn’t even have to squint. I had made up my mind. We live in suburban Oklahoma- I am aware that we were untouched by the Spanish revival, save for some pockets of older neighborhoods in Oklahoma City- so I know that by all definitions, this home is not a true Spanish revival home, EVERYONE CHILL, but the inspiration is there. Someone involved with the design of this home was inspired by Spanish revival or Mediterranean style, and I was not about to smear the walls with shiplap and deny this home its true heritage.
It was a home out of place- a square peg in a round hole- and though I was already in full blown love I fell a little deeper, infatuated with this beauty who dared to step outside of the box and be her own self.
So now that I had put my finger on it, where was I to go from here?
I had already ordered the flooring for the house before I had this epiphany and wasn’t able to change it, otherwise I would have gone with a dark wood flooring. I wanted badly to do dark trim-work throughout the house, but I couldn’t afford what it would take to replace and stain all of the trim.
So, locked in with light flooring and white trim-work, I searched for other ways to highlight Spanish style influences for this home. I couldn’t go full blown Spanish modern convert with terra-cotta tiles and a crazy-town Mediterranean tiled kitchen backsplash, because, hi, I still had to sell this house in suburban Oklahoma. How could I subtly and tastefully incorporate some design features that reflected my Spanish inspiration? I decided that I would focus my efforts on the master bathroom and the kitchen.
MASTER BATHROOM PLANS
I would do a patterned black and white tiled master bath floor. As luck would have it, patterned “cement” tile floors (I would use porcelain to avoid the scratch happy headache that comes with true cement floors) have come into popularity in recent years so this choice shouldn’t be off-putting or look out of place to potential buyers. They’re Mediterranean influenced without many people even realizing it. Sneaky. And the big kicker for the master bath: I found these AMAZING Mediterranean style mirrors to go over the vanities. In Emeril fashion I just shouted BAM!
Look at this in progress shot of the master bathroom coming together.
SHUT YOUR MOUTH. I’m talking to myself here. No really, shut your gaping, drooling mouth, Courtney, you look like a fool.
KITCHEN PLANS
The kitchen is the heart and soul of the home. Spanish style homes highlight this fact by playing up the backsplash. They scream at you: look at me! I am kitchen, hear me roar! So I knew that I wanted to do something big with this kitchen. I was really really nervous to take the risk, because, again- hi- I have to sell these houses; they’re not just for funsies. But ultimately I decided that I was going to really go for it. The main focus would be a loosely Mediterranean inspired backsplash. I did not have the budget for real Spanish tile, and again, it would look ridiculous and out of place here in our region. I found this extremely affordable tile at my new favorite store, Floor and Decor (all the heart eyes. If Kevin and I ever renew our vows I will demand that it take place here, in the glass tile aisle).
Here is an in-progress shot of the kitchen. The new countertops, backsplash, and sink are installed, and I’ve painted samples of my paint choices on the cabinet doors (which I would be replacing with simple, Shaker style doors).
I chose this loosely Mediteranean-inspired tile for the backsplash, and to keep it modern and cool I decided to paint the upper cabinets white and the lower cabinets a dark, rich gray (Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze- this is labelled option B in the image above). I debated back and forth on whether to embrace this two-tone look or to just do lighter gray uppers and lowers (labelled option A in the image above). Of course Negib had an opinion on this that differed from my own initially, but in the end- after I had paint samples up on the cabinets- he wound up encouraging me to take the risk and do the two toned kitchen.
Additionally, I planned to hang two floating shelves in the space where I had removed the bank of upper cabinets. They would be cedar and stained a light to medium neutral color. They, along with a cool, sleek stainless steel vent hood, would serve as a reminder that the space is modern and cool, not a frumpy old grandma kitchen with a weird patterned backsplash.
I would keep the cabinet hardware and light fixtures in the room very simple. The room was going to be pretty busy and I didn’t want to visually overwhelm it with another focal point.
LIVING ROOM PLANS
Moving into the living room I planned to once again play up my Spanish influences by first returning the ceiling beams to a dark color, and also by highlighting that amazing arched fireplace. How amazing is this arched fireplace, by the way??? IN LOVE. Feel my pulse. It’s off the charts.
Check out these Spanish Modern fireplace influences, again from Google:
I love the fireplace so much already I can’t imagine how I could fall deeper. But just wait until you see her paired with a beefcake mantel. Yum.
EXTERIOR PLANS
As for the exterior of the house I planned to repaint the brick and mortar. The “white” was looking pretty rough and off-white and dingy. No amount of power washing could make it pretty again.
The green trim would be painted dark: Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze. I found an amazing front door with an inset arched glass panel that would tie into all of the arching goodness that the house had to offer.
Can you see it???
Do you feel all of the Spanish vibes that I am vibing your way? Or do you feel nervous for me, like it’s going to turn out like a kindergartener’s art interpretation of a lion-zebra with a turtle head? I suppose you will have to wait and see. Stay tuned next week for the reveal. Fingers crossed that this old gal accidentally gets it right on this one 🤞🏻