I started 2018 with a bang by visiting the 2018 HGTV dream home in Gig Harbor, Washington! To say I was excited was an understatement.
As you might know, every year HGTV renovates an older home and makes it stunning and eco-friendly. When the home is ready, they give it away to a lucky winner!
Probably as far as back 10 years ago, my family has a tradition to get our finger muscles ready to type and enter into this giveaway every January!
So for me to actually tour the Gig Harbor dream home in my own PNW backyard?
ELATED!! OBSESSED!!
Dream Home Tour
As you drive up onto the property, the black paint and trim on the home is stunning and immediately catches your eye.
All images are courtesy of HGTV.
The garage with mirrored glass doors creates an illusion of ethereal lightness reflecting off the dark dramatic
trim and exterior architecture.
Simply breathtaking! The PNW aura of nature and earthy vibes definitely meet you at the front entrance.
Great Room
As I entered the home, I was warmly greeted by the great room and an expansive view of Gig Harbor.
My design heart lept 10 feet into the air!
As you know, I love clean lines. And this room had it all!
The baskets on the wall? I might just have to steal that idea! You know my constant dining room dilemmas and this might just be the wall accent I need!
The fireplace tile was a cool white/grey mini mosaic. So very modern but not sterile.
The comfy sofas, fluffy pillow and cozy throws immediately invite you to sit down and enjoy the view.
The view. Guys, hands down best feature of this home. No one can argue a home with a harbor view like this is wrong. Ever.
Whitewashed Floors
Whitewashed furniture and floors are back. To be honest, in the late 80s and early 90s it was a big thing. And I grew up with a lot of whitewash. So when I noticed this trend coming back, there was a part of me that resisted it.
I had to put my therapy hat on and ask why Anita? Yes, such a burden when you know too much right? LOL.
Seeing acid wash jeans in the tween section and whitewash floors in brand new homes remind me of how old I am! Don’t they say trends come and go every 20-30 years? Bah!
Once I got over my issue, my design heart fell in love with why lead designer Brian Patrick Flynn chose whitewash wood floors.
First, its beachy and we are by the ocean. Second, it’s fresh! And with those high beamed ceilings, that feeling should extend all the way to the floor! It felt like the lightness in this home went into infinity.
Modern White Kitchen
My kitchen is screaming for a reno stat. And this HGTV kitchen is a definite inspiration for me.
I love white kitchens. Some are saying white kitchens are phasing out, but I don’t care.
I am definitely still planning for one. How can white ever go out? As long as the architecture is up to date, the color white stays. There you have it, my two cents for the record.
Oh, this glorious pantry had my organizational penchant going! You can’t really see from this picture but it goes farther back inside and I wanted every square inch of it!
Dining Room
This fun art piece highlights the PNW theme in the dining room. As you probably can guess, we get a lot of salmon and fresh seafood! Got my tummy rumblin’ here.
I am a huge fan of mixing and matching dining chairs and benches. Adding a mid-century modern flair and farmhouse rustic bench works so well and again, I am all for functionality. Presumably, this home is for entertainment and god knows, seating is always a commodity!
Bedrooms
From the kitchen, I head down the hallway to the Millenial Pink room. Yes, of course, there is a room like that!
First of all, I fell in love with the navy velvet headboard. Swoon!
And you know how much I love a great gallery wall.
Main Master Bedroom and Bath
Upstairs the main master awaited me.
And what a treat it was to see the mural wall. I am a staunch fan of my home state so you can imagine my enthusiasm when I saw this!
On the other side of this room is a cute loft with a priceless view. Dreammmmmyyy…..
Literally could have sat here all day with Brian. Yes, I met *the* Brian Patrick Flynn!!
I’ll share much more of my visit with him in another blog post! For now, all I can say is that he is the most talented, gracious, FUNNIEST designer on the face of our design planet! I really can’t get enough of his presence in my life. *total unashamed fan girl crushing*
Another reno that I hope I can tackle asap is my outdated 90s *basic* master bath.
Entering into this heavenly spa space stopped me in my tracks!
The design spoke to me in a way beyond how I can describe to you! So serene and peaceful.
It really felt like it was designed for me! Clean lines, bright white, standing tub, adding wood and metal textures. I can go on and on!
Bringing the outside in was an integral theme throughout the home and add the large driftwood in the corner with plants and baskets was genius!
I often ask myself would I style this at home myself? Is it realistic? Functional? I stood there staring at the beautiful wood vignette corner and said out loud, Yes!
I am a proponent of making your home as beautiful as possible so that you don’t have to go to a hotel or spa to feel the same. And adding this corner was artistically stylish and yet blended right into the room.
Downstairs Basement
As I headed down to the basement I was surprised to see a whole new floor of design inspo!
The Den was a large space divided into a sitting area and a TV hang out area.
The Wall Mural of the Space Needle was too much! Brian did an amazing job of incorporating Seattle into the home effortlessly yet making a fun statement.
What do you think of the pink? I do not usually design overtly with pink but this home displayed it authentically. It didn’t feel like it was just for designers’ perspective.
I truly felt a bustling family could enjoy and live here happily reveling in the colorful space. Translation: my family! Ha! Hint Hint HGTV, we are ready to move in!
More Bedrooms
Down the hall, there are two more gorgeous bedrooms to swoon over.
The colors were fun and yet calming at the same time. With each room, I loved how there were small space functional designs like the wall desks. The perfect way to add functionality in a corner!
With small spaces, you always want to think how you can maximize your vertical space.
And for a more formal workspace in a bedroom, this corner with a standard desk, lamp and mirror make a casual invitation to sit down and study or catch up on some work.
The last space in the basement was the cocktail lounge. You heard me! It’s forever wine o clock in this space!
As I finished up the interior of the home, I headed outside from the lounge sliding doors into this glorious view.
I will be honest, the day I visited it was quite grey, rainy and foggy. So the pictures I took did NOT do this view justice. And I am far too excited to show you the real deal. You can thank me later, mmkay?
I get a little verklempt when I see this aerial shot. Before you tell me I am being waaaay overly dramatic, let me explain: I miss Seattle so much!
Growing up we had a home with large top to floor windows like these. No harbor view but the windows overlooked a large forest.
So this scene quintessentially speaks not only PNW design, architecture and landscape.
It is HOME to me.
When you live in Southern California, it is rare to see a wood-paneled house. Most are stucco and Mediterranean style that is prevalent in the burbs.
Gah, HGTV and Brian did such an amazing job with this home! Click here to sign up and enter and win this stunning home!
And I mean it, if you win, I’ll be crashing in the summertime for my annual trip home!
A big shout out to Brian Patrick Flynn and HGTV inviting me to visit this once in a lifetime dream home in my beloved home state.
Happy day!
Hi there, Great tips by the way and thank you. I did have a
question though. I’m hoping you can answer it for me since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about gardening.
In a garden, how can you kill unwanted plants (e.g.
weeds) without hurting other plants? I have a number of weeds growing in my garden beds
right now… If you had some insight I would greatly appreciate it.
I am not sure what plants you have in your garden but there are many organic ways to get rid of weeds. I have used corn meal organic weed repellant. If you go to your local nursery, there are options you can ask about! The only situation that I couldn’t resolve was with my dymondia. Weeds grew within them and there was no way to kill the weeds without killing them. That was sad! So we had to hand pluck each weed out but of course, they came back.