Help Me Design The Merc’s Exterior Lights!!

By Mandi | 10/31/2017 | 55 Comments

As you know from last week’s post, the exterior is HAPPENING. We did our part getting the brick whipped into original shape and the stucco guys are hopefully going to start working on the rest! Now comes the fun decision I’ve been waiting my whole life for, lighting!!

When I asked on instagram who made the best exterior lights you guys came out of the woodwork and all said the same thing, Barn Light Electric. Man alive is that place like paradise or what?! No only do they have amazing designs, but you can completely customize your lights. Sign me up!

Guys, the options are endless. I ordered samples of all of the finishes and you can literally have any style in any of these colors:

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My Fail-Proof Paint Colors for a Monochromatic Home

By Mandi | 10/27/2017 | 20 Comments

We all know that one of the easiest updates you can make to your house is to update the paint, right?! In fact its always the first place that I start. But, I’d be lying if I said that picking the perfect color is easy. There are SO MANY factors that come into play. but guys I’ve tested more paint colors than I care to count and today I’m dishing on my Fail-Proof hues!!

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Your Merc Questions ANSWERED!

By Mandi | 10/26/2017 | 11 Comments

Happy Wednesday! As I was lying in bed at 3am responding to DMs on Instagram, I had 2 thoughts. 1. GO BACK TO BED. And 2. You should do a Q&A post to bring everyone up to speed.

Here are your most common questions about the Merc, if you’ve got more, leave them below and I’ll add them to this post!

What IS the Merc?

The Merc is the old Santa Clara Mercantile store. It was built in 1928 and has been vacant off and on for the better part of 25 years! We bought it and are turning it into our house! You can read all about it here!!

Is the Merc a house, or a store, or what?

Yes to all of the above. Because of the Commercial Mixed Use zoning (you can dive deeper into that here!) we can live in it, but we have to have something commercial. For now, the front office is our commercial space. (You can see our floor plans here) I’m still trying to define exactly how I want to use it. I’m LOVING the idea of hosting pop up shops for local and out of town small businesses. (St. George doesn’t exactly have an abundance of cool places.) I’m also using it for design consults, shop work, and just general business stuff. The rest of the space is our house, but because we have so much space inside and out I’m excited to see how things play out. Who even knows what this is going to end up being!

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Where the Exterior Has Been and What Is Happening This Week!

By Mandi | 10/23/2017 | 8 Comments

There are so many things with the Merc renovation that are important, but one of the biggest transformations is happening this week!! The exterior stucco!!

There is this weird phenomenon that happens with the Merc, if it wasn’t a part of people’s lives, they don’t notice it. Which is weird because its this GIANT building RIGHT BY THE ROAD, and even if they drive past it everyday, loads of people don’t remember it. I believe its because of its entirely offensive beige paint job. There is something about the bad faux painted rocks that the conscious mind forcefully rejects. I know because I’ve experienced it first hand.

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Guys, I’m Exhausted.

By Mandi | 10/16/2017 | 14 Comments

Real talk time.

I sat down to write today’s post about the latest video that I just put up but I quite literally cannot find the words to form a coherent sentence. So instead you get a behind the curtains glimpse into the mental and emotional side of this renovation. Cause honestly, that’s just as real at the drywall and stucco.

I’m not going to lie, I’m straight up exhausted, to the point where I don’t know if I’ve ever experience this level of exhaustion in my life. I can’t even type an exclamation point, thats how tired I am. Ok fine. ! <—- I squeaked that one out just for you.

Obviously going into something like this you know its going to be hard, but it is a second just keeping up with it the way that it’s happening now. Who knows what my mental state is going to be once we’re in the throws of doing the work as well. Its actually a little terrifying. In fact while I was editing today’s video I was like, Daaaaaang girl, you look like death warmed over!

The crazy thing is that this is my DREAM project. I feel so content and at peace with what we’re doing, I know we’re on the right path but gosh dang it I just want to take a nap.

Those that have gone through a hard reno, do you have any tips for me? Besides Rockstars and B-12, cause I’m at my limit with those. We’ve come so far already, and it feels so good, but I’m just ready to be living there and not driving across town 4x a day. Ya know?

Ok for reals though, tell me I’m not the only one that has experienced this. When does the second wind kick in folks?! Give me allllll the advice!

Psst! Want to be in on the day to day decision making at the Merc?
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