Beyond the Curb with Sims Wachholz

Hello everyone, I'm Christina Dandar of the Potted Boxwood and I'm here in Jacksonville, Florida with Sims Wacholds and her beautiful home. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much for for wanting to do this. Oh well I'm so happy. I mean when I first saw your house I just couldn't get enough of just the charm and the beauty. Tell us a little bit about it. Let's see, this house was built in probably 1925. We're not exactly sure. It's that we've seen two different dates on records but I do know that it was the first house built on our street and we live in an old neighborhood in Jacksonville called Ortega. It's and it's a wonderful old neighborhood and I had I had been stalking this house for years before we actually bought it. Well it was worth the stalk and did you did you raise your family here? How long have you been here? We have we bought this house 12 years ago and so raised the kids here and their elementary school was down the street. They were able to ride their bikes to school and we we've just loved it and when I walked in this foyer and I looked up and saw this pecky cypress ceiling I thought to myself okay I'm done this is it. I love this house. And this is original? Yes this is original to the house. I kind of wonder if this was a porch at some point. Tall ceiling. But I love it. I just it's so warm and pretty and I love pecky cypress and you'll see later on that we when we renovated we nodded to it. Oh it's fantastic and I love the flooring and the entry too. What is that necessarily? It's a tile right? Yes I'm actually not totally sure well about that. It's fabulous and then immediately we are just transformed into this beautiful living area. Thank you so much. This is just a it's a collection of a lot of furniture from estate sales and I had some help from Jenny Hugo with Crosby Interiors who was local and she really when we renovated she really really walked me through the whole process and this helped me help me with finishes and everything and this is a room we spend a ton of time in. A lot of time. It's fantastic and I love this screen over here. I'm immediately drawn to that when I walk into the corner. Thank you. How do you snag that? Okay so this was in the estate sale when I first moved to Jacksonville and didn't have a lot of extra cash to spend. It was $300 and I felt I was like what am I doing buying this thing? Not to mention the fact that it was from a smoker's house so it reeked of smoke for months. I cleaned it. I burnt candles under it but now I can I can happily say it no and I love it. I just feel like it it it it just it sets the tone for this room. Agreed and it sets in you know all the different colors and hues that you have in here as well and also we just have to nod again to the beautiful historic architecture. I love the arch stairway. I do too. And that's all original. Yes this is all original. And even this cute like door over here is that original as well? Yep this was this is what we call the Harry Potter Harry Potter closet and there is I can't open it for you because there is a lot of hunting ammunition in there. Nobody's gonna come here then. You're safe. This is an amazing fireplace. Was this original as well? Yes this was original to the house except we did redo the the interior of the fireplace and we had to redo all of the bottom and we actually turned it into a gas fireplace. But yes that's all the original millwork. I love the color too. You wouldn't happen to remember that. That I believe is Kendall charcoal by Benjamin Moore. Almost positive. And the entire house is Swiss coffee. Swiss coffee that's one of my favorite paint colors. It's the best. I agree. Thank you for sharing that. I know some of you always want to know and I just love a lot of the collections. You clearly entertain a lot is kind of the vibe I'm getting. Yes I love to have people over and one of the things about this house that I did not love was how small this dining room is and I don't know if if people will be able to get that from the video. But I had to sell I had a bigger dining room table actually that I had to sell. Bought a smaller one and I really worried about it with loving to entertain large groups of people. However what we've done is just pack people in. We just pack them around the table. Sometimes we'll put a card table at the end and I'll just put a huge cloth over it and there's something I think about being in a small room that that just makes people feel cozy and intimate and I agree and just I don't know it just works. It really does. No it's really there's everything the way you place it is beautiful and I love how you have this like unexpected yellow on these chairs. Yes this room this room was inspired by an outfit. I had seen on insta a fabulous outfit with it with a pink top and yellow pants and I've always loved pink and I thought okay that's it that's my dining room. I already had a rug which has pink and yellow in it so then we just sort of built around built around those colors. Well that's fantastic and this paper is beautiful. Thank you. This is Celery Kimball. That's fantastic. Oh my gosh and then what I love too is you kind of immediately feel welcome to to grab a drink when you walk on through the door. Yes this is our butler's pantry that we added and this is actually where the the original kitchen used to be all of this going back here but we wanted this to almost feel a part of the dining room and and we purposefully didn't put a sink in it because we wanted it to feel more like a piece of furniture and I love china and glassware so this is this is chock full of of it all and all of my entertaining things and and it's also a fun area to decorate for the holidays. I'll bring in a lot of greenery and we have to mention because I have this very same very same cocktail napkins from Half Past Seven. I think this is from their new collaboration with Maison Venue which is a brand that I love. I love them they are beautiful and then also this is Half Past Seven as well this is I don't know if you can see the antlers on these cups and they're yes the etching there are antlers on this ice bucket too. I love it I love the color with the dark the dark gray I just think it looks really cool. No I think it's a great a great kind segue and again just a pretty dining room so this is where this used to be part of the dining room and this used to be part of the dining room is that correct? They're not dining in the kitchen yes this is we are in we are standing pretty much where my kitchen island was this was this was my old kitchen and this is our pretty much our entryway all the time this is the door that we mainly use and so I wanted to create just a transition into the house and here's the first nod to the Pecky Cypress this is a storage pantry this is sort of my what do you call it appliance appliance kitchen is behind here as well as my purse right now yeah yeah as well as your purse and do you want to see my little powder room oh yes because this is quite the toolbox yes I do love my powder room it's very pretty paper oh my god you know I I'm sorry to say that I cannot remember the paper but Jenny um Jenny found it for me and she knew I would love it I've I had this little uh chandelier this bamboo chandelier that used to be bright red I've had it for years I paid 25 bucks for it at a you know junk store and just knew it would be perfect with the paper and I again it's got the pink and the lotus flowers really pretty um gold like kind of like yes it's got a shimmer to it that's fantastic and um and I have to mention my wheezy towels we love these towels ever that will be on my gift guide so for those of you who just watch my home tours I always post my holiday gift guide and that will be on well I cannot wait I cannot wait to see your gift guide oh that's my favorite thing to one of my favorite things to do besides touring beautiful homes yeah I cannot wait to see that I need a I need a guide this year um so this is our family room and this was an addition to the house well way before us and however we've a lot of changes to it when we moved in there there were none of these um features like this banquette wasn't here and um the beams we added the beams to kind of cozy it up and sort of bring down the high ceilings and then we added this um the cabinetry around the tv so pretty much everything we've added in here and this is where this is where we watch tv but also this banquette is where we play mahjong where we um we eat dinner we eat breakfast we sit around and drink wine there's lots of time spent around this banquette I don't know what I would do without this little area I just I just love it I adore this area I love how you have the books I love how you have sort of the bookshelf lighting and you have art lighting and then you have sconces I mean I think lighting is so important and I just love how you have so many different places where it soars from thank you so much I love it I love lamps and I love I love sconces and I love pretty little I love like these little blue shades yes I love great little details those are great and I love that you love to play mahjong I also love yes I do love to play my job and this is just wonderful too because it's just a it's a comfortable cozy room yes and you know I chose um I don't I I would not necessarily gravitate towards dark sofas but I did it because I had young children and I have to say that it is a godsend it I mean they will they love you see no stains on these on these bad boys and they have been wonderful I have loved them no so these are great props to dark to dark sofas with with kids for sure that's so smart and then this is one of my I just I think your kitchen it just blows me away oh thank you a little bit about this is my favorite room in the house this is where I am this is this is my my happy place exists right here in here do you love to cook and I love to cook I love to cook I love entertain I love to have people over everyone is always right here this is where everyone in my house hangs out and again this the nod to the pecky cypress so this what we're standing in was a porch this was a covered porch and we closed it in to to make the kitchen and the ceilings in here are lower than anywhere else in the house in fact all of the ceilings are different heights in this house it's so unique the house is a little wonky but we love it but so we put I kind of wanted to nod to the pecky cypress in the foyer and I just think it brings so much warmth to the room and um and kind of just distracts from the fact that the ceilings are lower in here I think that is such a valid kind of interesting way and valid and interesting way to um to kind of tease the eye yeah you know I think so too and um I own this tray this is another half past man half past seven is all over I know half past seven is I'm obsessed with that tray and this is afterwards oh yeah the ginger jars are amazing and those are also on half past seven they're really great brand I love the girls that are behind it so yes um that is they are a great brand yeah a couple more a couple more half past seven little details thrown in but um and I love okay a quick question this is a little controversial sometimes on my instagram this is unlacquered brass yes is that correct so do you ever polish it or you just keep it you know what I never do I never do and all of my hardware is unlacquered brass too and you just and I just don't polish it I like it this way I like the patina I have had friends um about to renovate their kitchens that are trying to make the decision whether or not they want it right and they come over to see it because some people just some people just can't handle it like they just need it to look exactly the way it was when they purchased my friend amity she polishes hers multiple times a day her home tour is on here as well and I just love it but I agree I think there's something really kind of um gives it some antiquity and makes it really special and especially with the marble too like you I mean I would imagine you cook on this and I do and don't get too close because you'll see how etched they are I I am one of the people that that I just don't care I don't care I love that there's spots all over them they're etched they're so etched and they're it's just to me it's a sign of a well a well-loved kitchen I and I just don't sweat I just don't sweat it well this is the kind of hostess that everyone wants to be around so no wonder you host all the time because that is what makes it more fun where you can just kind of kick up your shoes and you're not afraid to you know spill a glass of wine hopefully not but um okay the outside I know we were trying to get it before it gets dark but it's actually beautiful lighting it is it is this is a nice time to be out here um this is lovely this is our um obviously our back patio and we are our yard is um gosh this hedge is now 12 12 years old but when we first moved here there was not a single plant in this backyard other than that crepe myrtle and that crepe myrtle we have put every plant in here it was just an empty shell and we've had so much fun doing it and um I just I just love it I love I love my yard well your yard is fantastic and I think again you have an amazing way of using boxwood and podocarpus and um I just even love the pine straw because Jacksonville really does have such a southern yes sort of dynamic to it I grew up in St. Petersburg Florida which is not like we don't have this sort of photography essentially um so it's really great to see and are those lemons in there yes this these are Meyer lemon trees and they are just about ripe yeah that's amazing I know if you cook something with them yes sometimes I'll preserve them or I'll juice them and then um I'll juice them and put them in ice cube trays and freeze them and then I just can pop them out to make cocktails or well that's fabulous yeah whatever whatever I want to make with them your tables sat are in the process of being set and this is again from Half Past Seven right and yes this is the new yes and I'm literally obsessed with this tablecloth I think I just I love it I think it's so pretty out here it will be my Thanksgiving tablecloth I love it I can't wait to see what you do with your with your table I'm going to be at Pam Kelly's house because my parents home got hit with a hurricane so oh no how badly 13 inches of water badly oh gosh yes oh Christina I'm so sorry I know so they're coming and sweet Pam whose home tour has been on my blog she's going to to host us oh well that's so nice so none of this was here yes I mean we put we put in all of the landscape and the hardscape everything you see and this is our fire pit we spend a lot of nights out here and we added this garden which has um right now it's got some arugula and swiss chard and some different lettuces and some kale and collards and my roses aren't looking too too spiffy right now but I've got some herbs in here and I I really do love it I love I love having I love having a garden what are you I grew up having a garden my parents always had one and my grandparents so oh oh there yep that's one of our one of the orange cats oh hello cats have been a theme of the pot of box which was yes we have two cats how are you with biscuit and butters and um biscuit is somewhere in the house I do believe but this one this one mainly stays outside and then what is is this jasmine yes yes this is jasmine and um this is just a big cream wall and so we wanted to kind of break it up and add some interest and that's with coffee on the outside as well or no it's a different color I think my house is ballet white ballet white well and the trim is brandon beige I do know that yeah it's beautiful and then this over here though this is not um jasmine no this is this is creep creeping fig this is creeping fig and it's it's just it it takes some maintenance but we love it it grows so nicely here what a pretty area to just sit out and have cocktails yes we love it and then what's back here okay so this is um the previous owners used they this was a garage okay and we turned this into what we call our back house so come inside it is um a multi-purpose room it is a guest room we've got a great pullout sofa it is where the kids like when they have friends over they would hang out here um I love to joke about how during high school my son would have friends out here and on Saturday mornings I would frequently I would frequently come out here to get something out of the refrigerator and I would go up and there would be someone sleeping out here and I didn't even know so there there's been a lot a lot a lot of stories probably have come out of this room the better that you don't know that yeah better than I don't know about but this is where my husband works this pulls down and his his office is in here and then when I am painting this is my painting corner okay tell us about your painting well I have painted in fits and starts for years and I'm currently not painting but this is one that I started a long time ago and hopefully I will pick it back up I've just been so busy with the kids and just with other life things right so but but I will get back to it and I love it I love to paint and um anyway this is a great room for guests because they really feel like they can get away by themselves they've got their coffee maker out here it's got a full bath um now let's take a just a quick peek in here I do love this full bath and I love all your um all your sailboats yes I I I don't know why I have an affinity for buying old um paintings of boats so maybe it just it just and I just decided to put them all in one room and it just kind of works well I think it definitely works especially if this was your son's hangout and your husband's yes it's very cottagey and um thank you lots of layers of texture too again I just love your use of sconces throughout your home I mean this is an entertaining dream honestly thank you Christina we love it we love it it's just really stunning and just you very thoughtfully done because everything feels in line with the architecture of the home yes yes we put a lot put a lot of um thought into that and respecting the architecture so now we're back to the back door that everyone enters which is right here and so we created all of this hardscaping and landscaping because this is this is our our main entrance and we I don't know we just love it I love this this part of my yard makes me so happy I mean just the visual kind of perspective here between having the palm tree up here and then you see this um you know the gate yeah and it really is beautiful and I love again your mix of boxwood the variegated pittosporum right we have creeping fig coated carpus and your cute darling front door I mean and your roses yes this rose this rose is great it um it's the name of it is Belinda's Dream and I cut these roses literally almost all year long wow they just don't yes they just keep going yes they do that's where the Jacksonville climate is a little bit more friendly than it is further south in Florida yes to growing and again just all the architectural details are so beautiful and then this is this like a pittosporum hedge too or this is no this is pringly yew so I think you know it's in the podocarpus family but it's called pringly yew and it makes a great a great little hedge when I think a good and I love the combination of the pringly yew with the boxwood I do too I think it adds a lot of really um kind of a beautiful aesthetic and you just can't thank you enough for letting us tour your oh I'm so flattered that you wanted to tour it Christina it's been so much fun it's so much fun we're about to go have more fun so yeah we're gonna sign off here and um just thank you again and I'll have a full blog post up with all um Sim's beautiful pictures of her home and just we're so excited to be here so thank you well thank you Christina