Remodel Addict

A Rustic Garden

2011-05-08T17:51:00.007-05:00

Earlier this year, we put in a new fence. It made our yard look 1000+ times better. It also is making it a lot easier for us to work on other landscaping projects since our daughter and dogs always want to follow us outside. The fence reins them in. Hubby is currently finishing up a retaining wall in the backyard (you can see its beginnings in the bottom picture).

Since I have landscaping on the brain now, I have been browsing the wares at A Rustic Garden. They have an awesome selection of garden decor. We ordered a pair of cast iron urns for our front entryway last year. They look beautiful and were a great value:

Some of my other favorite picks from their site are:

Child's Daisy Chairs
(How cute would these be for a little one's outdoor tea party?)

I've always wanted a tree bench.

Pineapple Fountain/Planter
I'm a sucker for architectural pineapples (and artichokes).

Anyway, as we make more progress on landscaping I will post more pictures. I think Hubby might finish up the retaining wall today, so hopefully we will put some plantings in during the next week. Happy spring, everyone!

Master Bedroom Solutions

2011-04-07T15:31:00.017-05:00

I've been thinking about our master bedroom lately. It's the only room in the house that is still pretty much completely undecorated. This is partly because I have been stumped by its weird layout:

There's no great place to put our bed. It's a king -- we have a 4-year old and two dogs who wind up sleeping with us from time to time, so scaling down to a queen is not an option. If placed along either wall with a window, the bed would be in front of the window. If placed on the wall that backs to our master bath, it would block the doorway. Right now we have it crammed in one corner:

Not a good long term solution, obviously. We have tried putting the bed in front of the front window, but our house faces one of the busiest streets in town. Every time a big truck went by during the night, I woke up. Plus, the windows are old and leaky (another thing on the list of house parts to replace) and it can get really cold in front of the windows during the winter.

That being said, putting the bed in front of the front window still seems like the only option. Looking around the blogosphere, I found several ways of dealing with the window behind the bed problem. First, there is putting a fabric wall or canopy behind the bed:

J. Hirsch Interior Design

via Design Hole

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

via Apartment Therapy

Next, there is putting a screen in front of the window:

Caitlin Creer Interiors

via Laura Casey Interiors

Little Green Notebook

And finally, there is putting a bookshelf behind the bed:

via Coco Pearl

John Loecke Interior Design

Which option do you like best? I'm leaning towards the screen or the bookshelves. I think both would help cut down on the noise and drafts from the window. And both would work well in my inspiration bedroom:

Tommy Smythe via Canadian House & Home

I love me some Tommy Smythe. I wish I could have him decorate my entire house.

I do have one key element of the room already. I couldn't find a red and white chevron quilt anywhere, so I headed to Etsy's Alchemy section to see if there was a quilter who could make one for me. I found one who made me this rather cheaply:

Hopefully I will have more to show you soon. I plan on working on the bedroom this summer, although there are (as always) a thousand other things on the to-do list as well.

A & B Home on Hautelook

2011-03-12T10:46:00.006-06:00

Want some gorgeous at a reasonable price? Feast your eyes on these:

Sofa $1,250 (regularly $2,800)

Tufted sofa $1,100 (regularly $2,500)

Available today at Hautelook.

Reminds me of...

via Bryn Alexandra

Windsor Smith

Made by Girl

They're Baaaack!!

2011-02-06T14:23:00.004-06:00

Remember these lovelies?

I picked them up at a sale soon after we bought our house. They were good quality chairs, but they had seen better days. Their fabric was stained and torn and they needed new cushions as well. We took them to get reupholstered last July and just got them back (partially our fault -- apparently the squeaky wheel gets the grease with our upholsterer). It was worth the wait, though, because they are hot.

We scored the navy and red Ralph Lauren fabric (discontinued) on eBay at a deep, deep discount. And our upholsterer's work was impeccable, so we would probably use him again even though we have been chairless for six months.

The living room is coming together, finally. We just need to paint the shelves of the built-in bookcases, get the TV mounted on the wall, and put another coat of paint on the fireplace mantle. And maybe put up some grasscloth wallpaper -- I'm trying to convince Hubby this would look good.

P.S. The chairs are navy and red striped -- not purple and hot pink. The color doesn't show up very well in those pics.

More Those Girls

2011-02-04T09:31:00.007-06:00

Somebody please go buy these because they are FABULOUS and CHEAP. And unfortunately, I don't have room for them. They're tempting me to become a hoarder. Save me from myself!

Faux bamboo dining room set (perfect for breakfast nook -- if we hadn't just had a booth made for ours I would be snatching this up). $135!!!!! Imagine painted bright white with some Chiang Ming Dragon upholstery. Swoooooon!

Wall unit $295 for the whole thing! I am seriously thinking about these. They could go in the family room when we refinish the basement. Which is probably years from now, but whatever.
I'd paint them a la Jenny from Little Green Notebook.

Chairs at are-you-kidding-me prices ($40 and $20, respectively). Lovely.

LAMP!!!!! $165, but it's worth it.

All at Those Girls consignment sale this weekend. Hurry!

Those Girls

2011-01-21T17:46:00.006-06:00

There's another tag sale by Those Girls this weekend. I will probably drop by at some point -- I always do. From the pictures posted online, this one seems to have a lot of cool Danish modern furniture. For example :

If I was still looking for furniture for my daughter's room, I would definitely snatch this antique Jenny Lind bed up. If you're in the market for a twin bed, hurry on over Saturday morning:

I went to an estate sale by Changing Spaces SRS last weekend and that was a very good sale. I behaved myself, though, and just came home with one framed picture (for $10):

Sorry for the bad picture. I'm too lazy to take my own photo and upload it to my computer. I want to start hanging up all our art and photos soon, so I will take some pictures of the walls when that happens.

Have a good weekend. I'm not excited that we are probably going to get more snow tomorrow. I've got a sinus infection and I'm convinced I would feel better if would just get to be 40 degrees and sunny outside. Is it spring yet?

And While We're Talking About Flash Sales...

2011-01-18T10:37:00.005-06:00

If you're looking for decor for a nursery or child's room, head over to Zulily. They have some great vintage-looking pieces that would add a very special touch.

Custom Name Vintage Baseball Wall Chart $99 (regularly $220)

Cardboard Circus Entertainers $49 (regularly $122.50)

Clown and Donkey Pillow $75 (regularly $195)

Again, you'll need an invite to shop. Get one here.

Hudson Valley Lighting at One Kings Lane

2011-01-18T10:26:00.004-06:00

When we were deciding on light fixtures for our home remodel, several models from Hudson Valley Lighting were in the running. We ended up going with Restoration Hardware because we got a great price by buying on sale and with coupon codes. If I was still looking, though, I would snatch some of these fixtures up at One Kings Lane:

Litchfield Chandelier $299 (regularly $975!!)

Freeport Sconce $89 (regularly $268)

One Kings Lane is a home decor and furnishings flash sale site. You need an invitation to shop, which you can get here.

J'adore...

2011-01-13T09:44:00.009-06:00

We have a new hobby. Or perhaps addiction is a better word for it. Hubby has gotten me hooked on HGTV's House Hunters International. I've never been a fan of the original House Hunters. The houses themselves are rarely interesting. The home tours and decision processes are so contrived and corny. But I watched one episode of HHI -- following an English family who were restoring and flipping beautiful old homes in France -- and was mesmerized. Their search for a new project yielded three mini-castles, all for under $500,000 US.

We wondered how that could be. That's not chump change, of course, but it definitely won't buy you a mansion stateside. We did a little web search and found some surprisingly priced beauties to dream about. See Ex hibit A with 11(!) bedrooms and to-die-for architectural details ($404,628 US):

Exhibit B, a mini-castle for $473,000 US:

Really old and really beautiful (that gate!) for $481,000 US:

I would kill for this staircase (and the house that it belongs t o) -- $485,000 US.

Le sigh. Obviously this is a pie in the sky dream. With one year of college French under my belt, "Où sont les toilettes, s'il-vous-plaît?" (spoken with a horrible accent) is about all I can manage. We moved back to Nebraska from Seattle to raise our daughter near her grandparents, so we're not going to move to France. Maybe our retirement could be spent in one of these, though? Un beaux rêve...

Hello Again...

2011-01-12T17:02:00.004-06:00

Once again, it's been several months since my last post. Sorry! We've made quite a bit of progress since I last blogged -- new fence, yucky old shutters off, new screen doors... I will have a few new posts up soon detailing those projects.

In the meantime, here's a project I finished before Christmas using a great tutorial I found online. I meant to post it around Christmas. I've always loved monogram wreaths (I'm something of a typophile), so when I came across Restored Style's how-to (via Hi, Friend), I thought I would give it a shot. I made the wreath as a Christmas decoration, but it's actually appropriate for any season. Here's how my wreath turned out:

I did deviate from the tutorial just a little bit. Instead of using fresh boxwood, I used several stems of faux greenery from Hobby Lobby. I made my "B" really big, so it did take a couple of hours to finish. But with a little change of ribbon, the wreath will be able to go from season to season. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Hope you all had a happy holiday season. See you back here soon (I promise!) for more posts.

I Hate It When I Miss A Sale

2010-09-02T15:58:00.004-05:00

I missed (pk)flynn's sale last week. Grrrrr! Completely slipped my mind! I remembered yesterday and went to see if there were any crumbs left over. I found out they were getting rid of their entire inventory of John Derian decoupage. Most of it had sold already, but there were a few pieces left. I mulled this one over...

But I left without it. It was about 40% off -- maybe I should go back?

I bet they had this wreath on the sale, too. I have been wanting it forever. All our Christmas decorations are gold and silver, and it would be perfect for the front door (once the door is all nice and painted and I'm ready to call attention to it).

I'm not going to think about it anymore. Definitely marking the sale on my calendar next year...

Cue the Heavenly Choir

2010-08-18T17:01:00.005-05:00

This week, I got two things I really wanted. First, and most importantly, I once again have an actual patio door instead of a giant sheet of plywood in the living room.

Every time I walk by, I hear angels singing in my head. (I tried to add a sound effect here, but I lack the computer skills.)

Oh, please ignore the giant painting of a cat on the wall by the door. We were testing out paint colors, and then my daughter asked my husband to paint a picture of Baby Jaguar. Covering that up is definitely on my list of things to do.

Next up, I received this in the mail today:

I bought it through Tias.com. The seller referred to it as a "Vintage Mercury Messenger God Wall Hanging." I really don't know exactly what it is, but I do know that I have wanted one ever since I first saw it in Domino a long time ago:

I don't know whether to paint it black like it is in the picture or keep it gold. I think I now officially have more artwork than I have wall space -- time to start hanging it all up!

Beautiful, Affordable Lighting -- Hurry!

2010-08-08T10:18:00.008-05:00

I am loving flash sale sites lately. Recently I have purchased some clothes for my daughter at deep discount (Right Bank Babies for $10-15 a piece!) from Haute Look, Gilt and The Mini Social. Today, I found some great light fixtures from Crystorama on Rue La L a. We already have all the light fixtures we need, but if I were still looking, I would buy these:

Camden One-Light Flush Mount: $79

Camden 1-Light Pendant: $129

Celeste 3-Light Semi-Flush Mount: $199

Hampton 3-Light Chandelier $179

There are also some beautiful fabrics from Kathryn M. Ireland and Peter Dunham on One Kings Lane:

Storybook Red: $79/2 yards

Damask Khaki: $99/2 yds.

Ikat: $139/2 yards

Cruz in Clay: $139/2 yards

Flash sale sites are by invitation only, but I have embedded an invitation in the links -- click and shop away!

P.S. Also try Zulily and Totsy for kids clothes, accessories, and decor.

The Perfect Room

2010-08-03T16:46:00.004-05:00

I've seen many bloggers post about the one picture that sums up their design style (see here), but I have never been able to find just one picture that defines my style. That is, until I stumbled upon this picture earlier in the week...

Oh, how I love you, David Netto. I love the bold patterned rugs and wallpaper, which work beautifully together instead of competing or clashing. I love the contrast of the velvet chesterfield sofa with the modern Barcelona chairs. I love the artwork (especially the panoramic photo over the TV -- I'm a sucker for those). I love everything. Will you marry me? Or at least replicate this in my living room for me?

P.S. Anybody know the name of that wallpaper? I want me some.

Dream House

2010-07-23T16:34:00.004-05:00

There was one thing I really, really wanted in Kansas City that I didn't get -- a house on Ward Parkway. Get a load of this one:I just have to save a couple of million dollars first. I think this house may be off the market by then. Driving up and down Ward Parkway was a lot of fun -- beautiful houses, fountains, and landscaping. A girl can dream, anyway.

Kansas City, Part II

2010-07-20T09:47:00.003-05:00

On our trip to Kansas City we discovered another great place to shop for antiques -- River Market Antique Mall. If you go, though, be prepared to stay for at least a couple of hours -- there are four floors (30,000 square feet) of booths to peruse! The River Market Antique Mall has a little bit of everything. On the whole, I would say its merchandise is affordable. There was definitely a higher kitsch quotient than at Mission Hills Antique Mall. Here's a sampling of the goods:

Loved this booth and its industrial/school theme. I'm a sucker for good staging.

Once again, I did not make any purchases, but I came across another cute idea -- how about framed vintage doll clothing for wall art in a little girls' room? I think I have some old picture frames like the one above that I bought at Pier One a long time ago.

It just wouldn't be right to end a post about Kansas City without mentioning barbecue. We heard about L.C.'s BBQ on the Food Network a few weeks ago and decided we would give it a try during our visit. Soooo glad we did. My pork sandwich was delicious -- it just melted in my mouth.

Have you been to Kansas City lately? What are some of your favorite spots?

I'm Going to Kansas City, Kansas City Here I Come

2010-07-19T19:07:00.007-05:00

Or more accurately, I went to Kansas City this past weekend. Hubby had purchased some drive time in a Ferrari as part of a charity event, so we decided we'd make a family weekend of it. While we were there, we visited some fabulous antique shops. We didn't purchase very much, but I left very inspired!

This was one of my favorite booths at Mission Road An tique Mall in Prairie Village. I would have loved to take that giant framed bus roll sign home with me but a) it wouldn't fit in my Honda CR-V and b) it was quite pricey (as most bus roll signs are).

More shots of the booth. I loved the whole look. How cool is that side table made out of an old drum (the top was mirrored)?

Mission Road Antiques Mall, for the most part, had very high quality merchandise. There were many affordable items, but there were also a lot of high end antiques -- a little too high end for me. Whatever your budget, though, I recommend stopping by if you're ever in Kansas City. Most of the dealers had arranged their booths beautifully. It would take me forever to post all the inspiring vignettes I photographed!

I didn't walk away from Mission Road totally empty handed -- I left with a couple of ideas I am going to try in my own home. For instance, this dealer featured prints made from enlarged antique letters, envelopes, and ledger entries. I have a bunch of letters and journals that belonged to my great-great grandmother and I have been looking for a creative way to display them. I think I will make a few enlargements and try something like these.

I have developed something of an obsession with picture frames lately, rarely walking away from a garage sale without picking up one. I thought this was a pretty way to display a collection of frames:

I have more pictures to share from KC but I think I will save them for tomorrow. Tune in then for more beautiful antiques!

My Latest Thrift/Flea Market/Antique Store/Garage Sale Finds

2010-07-08T21:59:00.003-05:00

I just realized that I promised to share my flea market finds from the 4th of July flea market -- I forgot! We didn't find much, but that was probably for the best. I was blown away by one vendor, Melissa's Garden Antiques (I forgot to grab a business card, but according to Google she is based out of Arkansas, Kansas). Her booth was full of things that I love -- vintage flash cards, game pieces, and other paper ephemera, old typewriter keys, lithographs, and the like. I picked up these flash cards that I thought might be cute as artwork in a nursery (no bun in the oven, scout's honor -- I'm just going to store these away in case a second child ever becomes more than theoretical).

I have been picking up other bits of vintage artwork/paper lately. I found this old French game piece at Inkpainter on Etsy:

I scored the prints on the left and in the middle of this photo at my mother-in-law's antique store (family discount -- thanks!). The ship print is from the flea market.

I was inspired by Rambling Renovators' milk bottle cap art and put together the display box on the left with milk caps I found on Etsy and eBay. The picture on the right is a vintage ad for Wesson Oil that I found at an antique store in Walnut, Iowa. I'm putting both of these in the kitchen.

I might have more to share after this weekend. We're heading to Kansas City for a little family mini-vacay. I'm sure we'll end up stopping at a few antique stores along the way!

Summertime!

2010-07-02T20:24:00.007-05:00

It's officially summer! Summertime is exciting for me because it has been the time of year when we make the most progress on the house. Things seem to come to a standstill in the colder months when it's too cold for Hubby to be out in the garage working on projects. As I type this he is out there painting the French doors for the patio and shelves for the living room built-ins. So soon I will have some progress photos to share!

I also like summer because of all the flea markets and garage sales. I've been inspired lately by rooms with a bevy of vintage-looking art and accessories (particularly those with a gallery wall):

Maximilian Sinsteden's dorm room (New York Magazine via Apartment Therapy)

Domino

Unknown

I've been picking up a few treasures here and there. When I start to take some photos of our recent progress I will point them out. This weekend we are heading back to our hometown and will probably stop by a neighboring town's annual flea market. I will be keeping some of my "Favorite Items" from Etsy in the back of my mind --you never know what might turn up...

1. bluebellbazaar 2. scoutHOME 3. greatfindz 4. johnnyvintage 5. DailyMemorandum
6. snapsink 7. alphabetcocktail 8. GreenZebre

I'll let you know how the hunting goes. I plan to be posting a lot more as progress on the house unfolds this summer!

Wallpaper and Other Loves

2010-04-20T19:01:00.007-05:00

This photo featured in the last issue of Lonny magazine knocked my socks off.

The wallpaper is from the Ralph Lauren "Clubhouse Classics" collection. I must have it. There are two colorways: black and navy. Black is shown in the photo (I think). Here's navy:

There's just one question -- where should I put it? Downstairs powder room (black)? Living room (navy)? Master bedroom (black)? What do you think?

We hit another estate sale a couple of weekends ago. Picked up these bedside tables and lamps:

We also purchased the matching dresser. Not the bed, though. It was a full/queen and we need a king. There was a king headboard available but the sellers didn't want to split it up from its mattress. I think the tables will look great painted (either black or white -- I haven't decided), like this:

We're going to have a garage sale the first weekend of May. Hopefully we will get rid of a bunch of junk so we have room for all our new furniture! If you're in town, stop in and buy our stuff!

Addicted to Estate Sales

2010-03-21T19:55:00.006-05:00

I had some luck at an estate sale this weekend and picked up some patio furniture for $50.

With a little TLC I think it will be very retro chic. I love Those Girls Tag Sales. It looks like they have a great bedroom set at their next scheduled tag sale. I don't think the headboard is a king size (our bed is a king), though. Bummer.

I have something of an estate sale addiction, so there are at least five other pieces of furniture in our house that are also needing some paint or hardware. I need to start pulling it all together, but I don't know where to start. I'm hoping for an end result that looks something like this:

Souces include: Domino, A Bloomsbury Life, BeeLine Home ,
Helkatdesign (etsy), Kate Spade's home in Spaces magazine.

Later this week I will post a little about what I have to work with and my ideas for achieving this look. I definitely need some help, though, so I'm hoping you all will let me know your thoughts!

Jenny is My Favorite and My Best Craigslister

2010-03-12T14:41:00.002-06:00

Last week, Jenny from My Favorite and My Best invited her blog readers to challenge her to find hidden gems on their local craigslists. I thought, "Hey! I should challenge her!" because I have been pretty disappointed with the Lincoln, Nebraska craigslist so far. Maybe because I came from the rich, fertile craigslist of Seattle (we got all our kitchen appliances for the Seattle remodel -- Bosch dishwasher, Subzero fridge, and Jenn Air range -- off craigslist for under $1500 altogether). Anyhoo, even though I do pretty well at local estate and garage sales, I have yet to find an awesome deal on craigslist here.

Well, Jenny proved she is the queen of craigslist and found se veral amazing deals for me. I have spoken with the sellers of both the bar cart and the bamboo side tables and it sounds like I will be getting them! They're in Omaha, though, so I am going to have to make a teeny tiny road trip this weekend. The sofa is also very tempting but I already have an awesome couch.

Thanks again, Jenny, for the great finds! I will try to be more persistent in my Lincoln craigslisting in the future, because it turns out the deals are out there... somewhere.

New Year's Resolution: Blog More!

2010-01-08T13:43:00.006-06:00

I haven't posted in six months -- I've been a bad, bad blogger. Among my new year's resolutions is tending to this blog on a regular basis. Truthfully, the house doesn't look much different than it did when I last posted. However, I have picked up a few neat pieces of furniture and home accessories that I'll be sharing here in the next few days. I have many, many new ideas, too. It may be spring before there are many completed home projects to post, though -- it is 13 below outside right now. Too cold to paint anything in the garage, get the patio doors on, etc.

One thing I am currently working on is getting my craft space organized. I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I'm trying to set up the spare bedroom upstairs as my new sewing room. I purchased 8 of the Jetmax storage cubes sold at Michael's during their 40% off sale this week and I plan to add a MDF tabletop to make a sewing table. I was inspired by Quaint & Quirky's craft room:

As well as the always amazing Mrs. Limestone's home office:

I'm waiting on some Anna Griffin fabric I bought through ebay and etsy to use for upholstery and little projects for the craft room:

I'll post more on this project once I make some more progress. All I have accomplished thus far is putting together the Jetmax cubes and moving some of the junk that has been residing in the spare bedroom down to the basement.

Hope you all are having a happy new year -- and sticking to your resolutions! I'll try my best to stick to mine!

In Love with Grey Gardens

2009-07-22T19:24:00.007-05:00

Hubby and I watched Grey Gardens (the HBO movie) this weekend. The story is fascinating, but I was most impressed by the set design. I don't suppose there are a lot of pictures of the inside of the house during its heyday, but the interiors in the movie are breathtaking. If I could recreate the exact same rooms (pre-cat and raccoon infestation, of course) in my house I would be a happy, happy lady.

Photos via Hooked on Houses

So sad to see such a beautiful home fall to ruin. The destroyed de Gournay wallpaper made me want to cry. (I have to get my hands on some of that wallpaper someday, even if I can only afford a teeny tiny piece.)

The house was restored by new owners in the early 80s (there is a slide show here). Looking at this reminds me that houses in much worse shape than ours have been brought back to life.

Side note: We are working on plenty of projects around the house but none of them are "picture ready" at the moment. I will be posting more of our progress soon.

Stood Up on Craigslist

2009-06-10T19:10:00.004-05:00

Hubby has been complaining about my stuff cluttering up "his" desk lately. He thinks it's time for me to get my own laptop and workspace. Since our bank account is still recovering from the purchase of a new heat pump, I don't want to spend a lot on this little project. Hubby is planning on rocking his employee discount at the university bookstore when purchasing the laptop. I was pretty excited to find this $75 secretary desk on Craigslist last weekend:

The seller and I corresponded via email a few times, but he never got back to me with an address or time to go pick up the desk. The desk is still listed on Craigslist and I emailed him again -- again, no answer. I'm bummed. I was planning on painting the secretary black (see post on Eddie Ross for a look at a beautiful secretary redo) and putting it in the master bedroom. I thought I might paper the inside of the desk with some cool wallpaper like this.

Just took a break to check my email -- still nothing from the Craigslist guy. Maybe he was actually a serial killer and I should be thanking my lucky stars that we never connected. I'm still dreaming about that desk, though.

Mother's Day Miscellany

2009-05-07T15:50:00.007-05:00

I have Mother's Day on the brain after working on this project with my daughter today. Grandmas, if you're reading this before Sunday, I guess you know what your granddaughter is getting you this year! I've been having fun browsing the web for other Mother's Day gifts, too. Here are some that I would be pleased as punch to receive:

I am a sucker for cute dishtowels. I love this one from Arthur's Circus (I'm equally crazy about the "Eat Your Greens" version). They also have a cool "Keep Calm and Carry On" dishtowel. I am never going to get over that trend.

I've been eying this sign (for my kitchen) for awhile. If I ever get the walls of the kitchen painted, I think I'll get it.

I'm not always organized, but I love all things organization. This little notepad seems very useful.

Last and maybe also least -- a cast iron no pooping sign. I am probably the only mom in the world who would enjoy getting this as a gift. I have been looking for an unobtrusive, design-conscious no pooping sign for awhile, and I can tell you that such a thing does not exist. However, I could probably settle for this one. A little rant -- I know we don't have the nicest lawn on the block, but I don't see how that gives dog walkers the right to leave dog poo in our yard -- or walking with their dogs right through our yard (is going an extra 10 feet on the sidewalk really putting you out that much?). Maybe they got used to doing it while the house was vacant, but it's not anymore. I think it's disrespectful. We always pick up our dog's poop (and on the one occasion when we forgot a bag we ran home, got a bag, and went back to pick it up).

Anyway, here's wishing all you moms out there a happy Mother's Day! Hope you get pampered with flowers, spa days, breakfast in bed, lovely trinkets, cast iron dogs crouched in the #2 position, etc.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2009-05-05T19:26:00.011-05:00

Oh gosh, it has been a freakishly long time since I've posted, hasn't it? Sorry! We just had a giant garage sale last weekend, and I guess I've been busy preparing for that for about a month. It went pretty well, so at least we have some money to spend on a new air conditioner (more on that later).

I've been thinking a lot about landscaping lately. It's spring, and our lawn still leaves a lot to be desired. Our daughter is getting a new play yard in a couple of weeks and Hubby is going to work on raising up the "swamp" portion of the backyard so the play yard won't be underwater when it rains. After that's done, though, I do want to pretty things up a bit. We took a family stroll through the neighborhood this afternoon and I took some pictures of plants/landscape ideas I liked. I also snapped a few pictures of my favorite houses.

I love this house. So classic. We snapped this picture because we're trying to get ideas for fencing. I think we will do a combination like this with stone and wrought iron fencing (with faux limestone instead of brick).

Our neighbors a few doors down have done a nice job with brick pavers in their front yard.

Simple, pretty plantings I like.

Another classic house.

This house has kind of a creepy history (Charles Starkweather killed three people here in 1958) but it's such a cheery house now.

This is my favorite house in the neighborhood -- the picture does not do it justice. I snapped the picture quickly because I didn't want to seem like a stalker!

I will try to post more regularly now. Hopefully we will pick up the pace with our remodeling and landscaping projects as the weather gets warmer!

Furniture Steals at Pier 1

2009-03-10T16:16:00.005-05:00

I saw this post this morning at Little Green Notebook and immediately called my local Pier 1 to see if they had any Bonaparte tables left in stock. They had two -- and I bought them both! I have been looking all over for a campaign style table like this one. Most of the tables I've liked have been in the $400-$800 range and upward. I am thrilled to get a similar table for 1/10th the price!

Pier 1 $40

Elsewhere: $998

I started looking at the rest of Pier 1's wares and saw some other knock-offs that look like good buys. Take, for instance, the mirrored 2-tier console tab le:

Pier 1 $150

Elsewhere $700

Or the mirrored accent table:

Pier 1 $130

Elsewhere $698

So it's definitely worth checking out national retail chains for home decor items. There are a lot of fantastic deals out there, and the chains are coming out with better and better stuff.

What's Cooking at our House

2009-03-08T15:05:00.004-05:00

So according to Hubby, this method of removing paint from old hardware advocated by This Old House really works. He worked on the hinges from our downstairs interior doors this weekend and they look good as new.
Now I just need to get my hands on a Crock Pot that's big enough to hold our vent covers and we're set!

I NEED to know what paint color this is!

2009-03-07T15:14:00.005-06:00

I was looking through my old Domino magazines and found this picture in the December 2005 issue:
I am in love with the paint color -- I think it might look good on the walls in the living room. Of course, there is no mention of the paint color in the article. I googled the stylist, Christine Rudolph, and I couldn't find any mention of the paint color there, either. Anybody know or have a guess?

I also found more inspiration for the living room in that issue of Domino in the photos of furniture designer Laura Yaggy's apartment (see them here). I'm especially liking the silhouettes, the eclectic mix of furniture styles, and the rug. I miss Domino (sigh).

Filling Up Some Empty Wall Space (Affordable Art)

2009-03-02T20:26:00.008-06:00

I just got my Ork Seattle Neighborhood poster back from Michaels' framing department today. Now I just have to pick which of the many, many blank walls in our house to hang it on. I'm thinking maybe I'll hang it in the dining room.

I found that the silhouettes I bought last month on eBay fit nicely in the Framatic Bella frames that I got for Christmas. While I was at Michaels I found a frame on clearance that fit my "Keep Calm and Carry On" print from BluLima (an Etsy seller from my hometown!). I think these three pieces will go in the mater bedroom.

There have been a lot of great blog posts lately about affordable art that have inspired me. Check out these posts on Style Court and DesignSponge.

I'm also planning on framing some old family pictures -- maybe hanging quite a few of them on the stairway. Some of the pictures I'll include (my favorites) are:

My great-grandmother (my daughter is her namesake).

My maternal grandparents all gussied up for a party.

I'm looking forward to making our house a home, and I think adding artwork and family photos are an important part of that process.

House History 101

2009-02-26T14:27:00.011-06:00

A few months ago, our real estate agent found us some interesting information on our house. It was designed by the architecture firm of Davis & Wilson, the leading architecture firm in our city during the first half of the twentieth century. According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's "Historic Buildings" site, the firm's founder, Ellery Davis, "contributed more to the architectural palette of Lincoln than any other architect, living or dead." The firm designed buildings for commercial, public, and residential use.

I was excited to learn this information as some of my favorite buildings around town were designed by Davis & Wilson. I've always been a fan of the Stuart Building, former home of the Stuart Theater (I loved going to movies there during college instead of to newer theaters with no atmosphere):
The residential hall where Hubby lived during his college years at UNL, Raymond Hall, was also designed by Davis & Wilson:

Another gem on UNL's campus designed by Davis & Wilson is Love Library. Even though I attended a different college in town, I spent many hours at Love researching and studying. I loved the architecture, of course, but I also remembered loving the smell of the old building filled with old books -- it made me feel scholarly:

One of Nebraska's most iconic buildings, the Miller and Paine building, was also designed by Davis. It's in my top two favorite buildings in Nebraska (#1 being the State Capitol) -- love all the Art Deco details:

I'm going to step on my soapbox for just a minute here. In January, our neighborhood was named to the National Register of Historic Places. I think it's great that the area's history and character were formally recognized. However, the designation made many in our community angry because it does make widening a major street that runs through the area (currently two-lane) a little more difficult.

Our house happens to be on this street and obviously I don't want the traffic any closer to my front door than it already is. But there are other reasons for my opposition of widening the roadway. Our house is clearly not Davis & Wilson's best work (it's a pretty standard center hall colonial revival), but I think it has some historical and architectural significance. The same is true for many of the other houses in the neighborhood. Putting a six lane road in the middle of this historical charm would definitely take away from both the history and the sense of community that we have here. End of rant.

Check One Off the To-Do List

2009-02-26T09:30:00.003-06:00

The new exterior light fixtures are up! One task done, millions left to go!

Ooh La La, Tar-Jay!

2009-02-19T19:54:00.003-06:00

I am super impressed with some of the home decor items that Target has recently added to its line. Fab-u-less, indeed!If this headboard was available in a King size, it would already be in my bedroom. DwellStudio for Target Hadley Bedroom Collection Headboard, $299

This chair is available in lots of pretty, current prints (many of them Thomas Paul-esque). Abstract Print Upholstered Chair in Blue, $299.

Target has a good selection of mirrored furniture -- considerably cheaper than similar pieces are priced elsewhere. I'm loving this table in particular. Cinema Side Table, $329.

Kudos, Target! My credit card and I will see you soon!

Spring Fever

2009-02-13T20:49:00.006-06:00

It may not seem like it right now (snow), but spring is fast approaching. This means we'll soon be able to do some much needed work on the exterior of our house. We made some good progress on this front last spring and summer. Removing the mammoth shrubs from the front of the house probably gave us our biggest boost in curb appeal. See below:

Before: It was actually hard to get to the front door.

After: Oh! There was a house behind those shrubs!

We added a little bit of new landscaping to fill the void left by the shrubs -- some sod, a few LITTLE shrubs and dwarf evergreen trees. That was pretty much it for the front yard. In the backyard, there was even more work to do. Hubby did A LOT of raking up leaves and tree trimming. We also removed wire fence from around the property, which had overgrown shrubs (again!) growing through it.

We have at least that much work ahead of us again this spring. On our to do list:

Install new screen doors. We ordered this one from Lowe's for the front door -- just need to install it. It will show off our newly painted red front door. We also have new storm doors for our other exterior doors.
Demolish remaining "haunted house" fence.
Give stone a good power washing. If you look really closely at the stone by our garbage containers you'll see what a difference power washing makes. That little section is as far as we got last year.
Paint shutters, window trim, and door trim. We've chosen a deeper brown. We'll probably give the garage a touch up, too. We don't want to waste a lot of time on the garage, because as soon as we save up the cash -- definitely not this year -- we plan to knock it down and build a new one. Our house may be built like a tank, but the garage is DEFINITELY not. I'll leave it at that for now.
Put up a new fence. This is a big priority -- our daughter and dog love to play outdoors. We're thinking something like this.
Install new exterior lighting fixtures.
New air conditioning unit (probably furnace, too). This may not seem like an "exterior" to do, but it applies. Our air conditioner is probably 50 years old. It utilizes chilled water and the blower on our furnace to cool the air. The chilled water drains from a garden hose sticking out the side of our house and makes the backyard a swamp during the summer. Yuck on so many levels. Anyway, we're looking into a heat pump.
New swing set!

Maybe I'm not as anxious for the snow to go away as I thought -- this list is making me tired already!

Cash for my Domino Stash

2009-02-10T17:23:00.003-06:00

I am currently going through my collection of Domino magazines and deciding whether or not I can part with them. Apparently, the eBay market is hot for Domino right now. I think I have all 28 issues, or at least darn close. $20ish each x 28 = coffee table (maybe even coffee table AND side table). But then again, I do LOVE them...

What's a girl to do?

Wacky for Wallpaper

2009-02-09T13:23:00.006-06:00

Maybe this means I'm officially losing my mind... After countless hours of (watching other people) removing wallpaper at my house, I'm considering putting some on the walls again. There are so many beautiful options out there these days. Here are a few of my favorites:

As far as I'm concerned, anything by Schumacher is design gold. From top: Chiang Mai Dragon, Balusters, and Imperial Trellis.

I'm also a big fan of Thibaut wallpaper (although not the matchy-matchy wallpaper and upholstery look). From top: Mojito, Henson, and Serendipity.

Hubby likes the idea of wallpaper, too. In particular, he likes Clarence House's "flowering quince" pattern. We both love how blogger Lisa Borgnes Giramonti used it in her foyer (photo via Habitually Chic):
Hubby actually wants to copycat and paper our foyer and stairway with the same wallpaper. I don't know... I love how it looks in the picture, but I think it may be overwhelming in real life. I had been planning on using just a little bit of wallpaper here and there (since I'm obviously fond of the bold prints), like suggested on one of my favorite blogs, Pink Wallpaper. Maybe a little bit behind the bookshelves in the living room, a little bit in the powder room... I think it would be fun to do a bold black and white wallpaper in the eating nook, like in this photo from Domino:

OK, I've wore myself out thinking about all this. There are just too many choices! Any thoughts -- what are your favorites?

Weekend Web Shopping

2009-02-01T17:46:00.009-06:00

I picked up these little drawings on eBay this weekend for $5. I think they're cute in a Donna Reed sort of way.

I've been obsessed with silhouettes for some time now. I love Simply Silhouettes. Eventually I think I'll get a silhouette like the ones below made of my daughter (and maybe even my dog). Etsy also features several sellers who make custom silhouettes (chickprint, BlueClara, PrettyFaces, PetitDebutant...)

Karl Johnson's silhouettes are gorgeous, too -- and he cuts them with surgical scissors. I saw a silhouette of a house he had done in O at Home magazine. I'd love to get one of those when the house is done.

Also in weekend web shopping, I found this bad boy on eBay today:

You will be mine, oh lucite bench. You will be MINE. And you will make a lovely coffee table once I reupholster you in something like this (I love me some imperial trellis) or this.

A quick remodel update -- Hubby picked up the screen doors we ordered at Lowe's this weekend. They're not installed yet (maybe next weekend?). But Hubby did a fantastic job insulating and reorganizing the closet just off the garage that was -- I swear -- sucking all the heat out of our house. Slowly but surely...

En Memoriam: Domino Magazine

2009-01-29T01:03:00.005-06:00

I was crushed to learn earlier today that Domino's March issue will be its last. As many others in blog world have said, Domino is more than a magazine -- it's an aesthetic. Just a couple of days ago, while Hubby and I were talking about how to decorate the living room, he said, "We're going for the Domino look, right?"

So I've decided that the living room should be a tribute to my beloved magazine. I've been mulling over whether or not to include a Domino staple -- the zebra rug -- in the room. Now I think I'm going to do it. Yes, it's a little trendy, but it can be purchased on the cheap (so I could change it out in a few years and not feel guilty about it).

And just look at these beautiful Domino rooms:

See, it works! Now I just have to convince Hubby (are you reading this?)...

Blog and Ye Shall Receive

2009-01-25T13:08:00.003-06:00

Apparently, Hubby reads my blog. Yesterday, with zero nagging on my part, he put up the shades and pictures in my daughter's room. AND he put all the doorknobs back on upstairs. I think I might just post my honey-do list!

My New Toy

2009-01-24T22:49:00.003-06:00

Have you heard of Polyvore.com? I just started using it this week and I am in love. It's such an easy way to play around with different combinations and looks for interiors (and also fashion). I've already spent waaaaay too much time designing my dream living room. Go try it yourself! But be warned, it's very addictive!

living room - by remodeladdict on

Why I Haven't Posted in a Very Long Time, Part II: My Daughter's Room

2009-01-22T20:20:00.007-06:00

I've found it is considerably harder to keep the upstairs clean, as this is where we hide all of our junk. OK, that's not true -- most of our junk is in the basement, which is still a no-camera zone. As with everywhere else in the house, the upstairs is still very much in-progress (so be kind).

I'll start with the room closest to completion again. This time it's my daughter's room. I can't find any "before" pictures (Hubby has been "organizing" files on the computer again). It was painted a deep turquoise and the paint was cracking pretty horrifically. There was a ceiling fan but no overhead light.

The bed is from my grandma -- I think my mother may have slept in it at one time. We are going to paint it white. It's more or less a guest bed at the moment, though. Our daughter has been sleeping in a toddler bed in our room since we moved (she got used to being in the same room with Mommy when we stayed with my parents). Hopefully we can transition her back to her own room soon...

The storage bins are from IKEA. I should have bought 15 more of these while we were still within driving distance of a store. They are fabulous and pretty reasonable. The dresser/cabinet (1st photo) is by Offi. We bought it AND the matching crib for less than $300 at a clearance sale at Merry Go Round back when we lived in Seattle.

The green polka dot roman shades that will be hanging in our daughter's room (another reason she's not sleeping there) are from PB Teen. All bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids. The artwork which will be hanging in her room is from Etsy (artists rosiemusic and Jennifer DeDenato).

I was planning on posting more of the upstairs tonight, but my daughter is literally pulling me away from my desk -- maybe tomorrow!

How Soon We Forget

2009-01-21T17:28:00.006-06:00

Even though we're not entirely done with our house, I must have finally put the trauma of remodeling behind me -- I'm finding myself daydreaming about this house and how I would remodel it.
I haven't been inside. There was an open house last week and Hubby and I were planning on taking a peek, but we ended up going out of town. It is in our neighborhood and I think it's a gem. Built in 1916 and I'm not sure what the style of architecture is -- maybe Mediterranean Revival? Four bedrooms, three and a half baths, 2800 square feet. Luckily, I don't have an extra $300K lying around (a little overpriced, I think) so there's no danger of me beginning another remodel.
But oh, the woodwork, the arched doorways, the old world feel... Somebody, please take this lovely house off the market and give it the love it deserves!

Money Well Spent (although I would have rather spent it on...)

2009-01-17T20:46:00.002-06:00

Meet Rocco, our cairn terrier. We love him to pieces, even if he is a cat trapped in a dog's body. If Rocco were a house, he would be called a money pit. For instance, he once ate one of my daughter's socks whole and he had to have (expensive) surgery to get it removed from his intestinal tract. We recently learned Rocco had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left rear leg and he had surgery to repair it last week. Fortunately, he is doing very well.

Of course I don't regret spending money on Rocco to keep him healthy. But I can't help but think about what I might have bought for the house with that money if he had not needed surgery...

The new Verona Floor Lamp from Pottery Barn. I had not been much of a fan of Pottery Barn until they won me over with their Hollywood Regency-esque collection last year. I can imagine snuggling up on my couch to read a book under this beautiful lamp.

My second purchase would be some new side tables. I really love the look of the acrylic side tables in this room by Vanessa De Vargas of Turquoise. (I love all her work -- check out her blog and her website.) I think stacking books underneath the tables keep them from looking out of place beside more traditional furnishings. I am keeping an eye out on eBay for similar tables, but here are some others on my short list:

Parsons Table from Plexi-Craft.

Vista Side Table from Crate and Barrel.

Scalloped Lucite Cocktail Table from The Paris Apartment (OK, so I could never afford this one -- but it sure is cute!).

Finally, I would get some wall decor. Hubby agrees that the house does not look "lived in" and I think filling up some wall space would help. I am loving some of the mirrors at Ballard Designs (there is 15% off orders of $150 or more until Monday):

Top to bottom: Atoll mirror, Horn mirror, and Bellesol mirror.

Sigh. Barring any future veterinary emergencies, maybe I will be able to get these lovelies in the near future.

Must Have!

2009-01-09T18:18:00.004-06:00

How awesome are these decorative replacement candle sleeves from Kaarskoker (featured in this month's House Beautiful)? I know a certain dining room chandelier that is getting some of these in the very near future. I just need to decide on a color and pattern. Probably not the skull and crossbones, even though Hubby is very fond of them.

Why I Haven't Posted in a Very Long Time, Part I: Downstairs

2009-01-05T19:29:00.021-06:00

I apologize for not posting in a long, long time. My daughter and I moved back into our house in early November. After a solid week of cleaning, the house was liveable, though not finished. I was waiting for things to look "done" before I posted pictures -- and silly me, I thought this would take just a few weeks or so. When you look at where we began, we have made A LOT of progress. It's just that there's still a ton of little things to be done -- putting up towel bars, mirrors, putting on doorknobs, etc. Oh, and we still need to decorate (not such a little thing).

However, rather than waiting another six months until things are looking a little more put together, here are some pictures. I'm starting with the downstairs (with a two year old, I am only able to keep one floor clean at a time).

First off is the kitchen. It is the room that is closest to completion. The walls still need to be painted (although we're going to paint them white -- not much different than the current primer hue). The trim on the window needs to be painted as well. The kick plate underneath the dishwasher and the register cover by the range both need to be installed. We're also going to get a roman shade to hang on the window. Eventually we will get a built-in microwave. After all that is finished, the kitchen will be complete. It's light years better than before.

Resources: Custom cabinets by Copley's Carpentry, farm sink by Whitehaus Collection, Faucet by Strom Plumbing, cabinet hardware and pendant light by Restoration Hardware, Jenn Air refrigerator and dishwasher, Viking range, mosaic tile from Mosaic Tile Supplies, subway tile from Dal-Tile.

Next stop, the dining room. We removed all the heinous wallpaper, painted the walls and trim, and got a new chandelier (Restoration Hardware). We also purchased a new dining table and buffet from Restoration Hardware. The chairs are from Craigslist ($50 for 5 -- so even though they need to be stained darker and could use some new upholstery, they were a pretty good deal). We want to get a couple of upholstered captain's chairs to complete the set, possibly like these. A rug, a mirror, and some pictures would be nice, too.

On to the entryway... There was wallpaper on every surface -- the wallpaper on the ceiling had mold growing under it. Yuck. Anyway, it's gone now. Really the only thing left is to paint the closet door and hang it back up. The pendant light is from Restoration Hardware (where else?).

There's a lot of work left to be done in the breakfast room. The bad wallpaper, fire hazard light fixture, and retro banquette seating are gone. But we haven't put much back in their place. There's the new light... from RESTORATION HARDWARE (tip: buy the 20% off entire purchase coupons on eBay when you're ready to purchase a bunch of stuff or buy the item through eBay). And the new floor, carried over from the kitchen. We're going to have a new banquette built -- probably something along these lines. We'll get new roller shades, too.

We replaced the toilet (Porcher), sink (Duravit), and faucet (Porcher) in the powder room (which is right off of the breakfast nook) and added a new light fixture. However, the door still needs to be painted and rehung -- so obviously this particular room isn't getting much use.

Oh yeah, all the register covers are being repainted, so they are all open like the one above.

Finally, the living room. There is a lot left to do here. Also, my daughter's Christmas booty has taken over the room. Eventually there will be a playroom in the basement, but currently the basement is completely uninhabitable (all the stuff we don't have a place to put yet, construction leftovers, dust, dust, dust). Her room is also full of toys -- I'll be posting proof of that soon -- so I can't move the mess up there. The biggies on our to do list for the living room are painting and reinstalling the mantle, paining and reinstalling the french doors (beside the fireplace -- the plywood is classy, no?), painting the nook bookshelves and cabinet doors and reinstalling them, reupholstering the wing chairs (that I found on a sidewalk sale for next to nothing), hanging the TV above the fireplace, and finding accent tables, a rug, and other decor items. Something tells me this is going to take awhile. Still, it's better than the yellow yuckiness that existed before.

Yes, that's my daughter playing with a ride on trainset in the middle of our living room. Are you sure that one couldn't have stayed in your basement for a little while longer, Grandma and Grandpa? The blinds are all from Smith and Noble. I'm pretty sure you can guess where the couch is from after reading the rest of this post. I have vowed not to buy anything else from there for awhile.

So there it is. If you are a friend or family member and I haven't invited you over yet, now you know why. I'm hoping things will be more presentable by spring. Try stopping by then. In the meantime, thanks for all your encouragement and support! I promise I'll try to get posting regularly again.

Maybe There's Something To This Astrology Business

2008-11-03T11:01:00.004-06:00

Check out my horoscope for yesterday (which I spent on my hands and knees scrubbing drywall mud and paint off my wood floors):
"Household obligations demand your full attention. Don't be afraid, you have the funds to fix up a few things you've found especially annoying lately. A new coat of paint could help, too."

Of course, we're pretty much out of funds and every wall in the house is freshly painted.

Thanksgiving: What Was I Thinking?

2008-10-30T23:30:00.010-05:00

First things first -- an update on our progress. We are very, very close, folks! Hubby is officially done painting. Well, mostly done. All the walls, ceilings, and trim are done. The front door still needs another coat of paint or two. The electrician came by today and started installing our light fixtures. He should finish tomorrow. We are also getting our air ducts cleaned tomorrow. I should ask Hubby to take a "before" picture of the vents for me. They are truly disgusting -- there's 80 years of icky stuff built up in them. I am hoping that getting them cleaned will take care of some of the lead problem, too. This weekend we (along with generous family members) will begin the seemingly impossible task of cleaning the mess up and putting our stuff back in the house. I'm tired just thinking about it. I will try to take some more pictures this weekend and post them.

Months ago, when we were under the impression that our remodel would take around two or three months (three and a half tops), we offered to host Thanksgiving at our house. Whoops! So we have 28 days to get the house presentable, decorate, plan the meal, etc. I'm panicking a little (well, a lot), but it's probably good that we have a deadline to motivate us. I started perusing the internet today for Thanksgiving ideas and I now have a long list of things I want to buy and/or make:

Glass Silver Pumpkins from Z Gallerie

Manzanita Candelabra from West Elm

Boho Holiday Plates, Mugs, & Teapot from Rosan na, Inc.

Setting a Modern Thanksgiving Table from Martha Stewart

I'll just add all that stuff to my list -- below things like dining room chairs, window coverings for the bathrooms, and other items that might make our house somewhat hospitable. It's going to be a busy month!

128 Days Later...

2008-10-15T13:13:00.004-05:00

I calculated today that it has been 128 days since we began the remodel. Well, 127, but I thought "128 Days Later" sounded like a catchier title (you know, like the movie). Four months and five days. I'm frustrated. That's actually a bit of an understatement. The reasons behind my current mental state?

It's been ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS!
Our contractor has moved on to other jobs even though there are still quite a few miscellaneous tasks left to be done at our house.
At her 2-year old checkup, my daughter's lead level was elevated. It was under 10 micrograms per decileter (8.6), so it's not considered a toxic level. But there's no "safe" exposure to lead. We've been living with my parents so her exposure must have been before the remodel even started. Now I am extra concerned (panicky) about getting the house completely dust free before I move my daughter back in. We're getting the air ducts cleaned -- the whole nine yards. But this means more money and more time...
From the outside, our house is looking worse, not better. We sent off 2 of our 3 exterior doors to a place that does paint stripping. They won't be done for 2 weeks. In the meantime, our doorways are boarded up. I don't think we'll be winning our neighborhood association's Good Neighbor Award this year.
I have to wait to decorate the way I want to because more time = more money and we're blowing through our cash like nobody's business.
It's been ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS!

On the plus side, Hubby has nearly gotten all the painting done. He's doing a great job. That's all the "glass is half full" I can muster right now. Ugh.

My eBay Furniture is Here!

2008-09-24T16:39:00.005-05:00

The bachelor's chests and dressers that I ordered on eBay arrived this week. They need a little more work than I was expecting, and one piece appeared to be damaged in transit. Oh well.

If I do 1/100th as good of a job restoring my furniture finds as this guy I will be beyond happy. Check out this awesome secretary he restored:

Genius. I haven't been watching this season of Top Design, but if I was I would be rooting for Eddie Ross.

Like Watching Paint...Peel

2008-09-18T22:38:00.005-05:00

We're approaching the finish line! I would say that our contractor is about 90-95% done with his work. He's already cleared out most of his tools. However, there is still a lot of work ahead for Hubby. Personally, I think a lot of it is work that does not necessarily need to be done. Hubby believes that even though we are just going to paint the trim white, it still needs to be stripped down to bare wood. I suppose some of the trim's detail has been lost under the many coats of paint that have been applied to it over the years, but who really cares?

Well, Hubby does. He has a touch of OCD, but since he's put up with my many flaws for over seven years (fourteen if you count dating, too) I'm letting this go. I have to feel for him. He's been working his poor tushy off every evening and weekend for two weeks or more applying paint stripper over and over again and scrape, scrape, scraping. His parents, especially his mom, have been working hard on it, too. I helped for a few hours this past weekend. Although it is not particularly backbreaking work, it is sure tedious! However, it was sort of interesting to see all the colors the trim had been painted before -- its current yellow-beige, a horrid faux-woodgrain finish, TURQUOISE, and another less obnoxious beige.

All the finish work that still needs to be done (installing light fixtures, outlet and switch covers, etc.) has to wait until Hubby is done with stripping and then painting (another task he's decided to take on himself). He's promised that he will finish stripping paint by the end of this weekend and then hopefully it will take him just a week to paint. Even though we have a paint sprayer, I am a little dubious that he will be able to meet this deadline. I do know that we both want this all done ASAP so my daughter and I can move back in and we can get on with our lives as a family.

Paint stripping in process -- see the remnants of turquoise?

My favorite piece of trim in the house -- archway between entry and living room.

Closeup of archway.

Tile, Tile, and More Tile

2008-09-11T23:12:00.005-05:00

Just got these pictures from Hubby. I think the tile might be done in the upstairs bathrooms. It's very nearly done, at least. Our contractor has also got most of the subway tile backsplash in the kitchen done.

Looking for a Few Good Chairs

2008-09-11T20:20:00.011-05:00

Our dining room table and buffet arrived this week. We can't seem to stop our lovefest with Restoration Hardware -- we ordered items from the Portman Dining Collection:

No chairs yet, though. Especially not from Restoration Hardware (a. we're already in danger of our house looking like a Restoration Hardware catalog and b. having blown quite a bit of our furniture budget on the buffet and table, we can't afford the matching chairs). So I'm on the lookout for dining room chairs. Hubby says I should look in local antique stores, which I am trying to do -- but taking a toddler into an antique store can be a very bad idea. Of course I'm also looking on eBay and my other favorite websites.

I like the Gentry Chair from Ballard Designs but it's also pretty spendy, even with the sitewide 15% off sale going on (5 more days, folks!).

I like the faux bamboo look, but Hubby hates it. Top: Macau armchair from Ballard Designs, Bottom: Chairs from eBay.

I like all these chairs from Pottery Barn (Queen Anne, Windmere, and Nail Head) but they aren't exactly bargain basement either.

In the end, I think I will keep the Pottery Barn chairs in mind and hope that I find some chairs like those above -- all from 1stdibs.com, so COMPLETELY out of my price range -- at a garage sale. You never know! Eventually, though, we are going to need a place to sit.

Finally! Hubby and I Agree on Living Room Color Scheme

2008-09-06T22:08:00.008-05:00

In addition to being a remodel addict, during the past few months I have also been a home magazine, design blog, and flickr addict. I was desperately searching for a picture or decor item that would inspire our choices for paint, rugs, upholstery fabric, etc. for our home. I'd run across a few things that caught my eye, but without fail, Hubby wouldn't like them.

Today I found a home designed by Barrie Benson that was featured in Domino magazine in October 2007 (her own home, actually). Hubby and I BOTH loved the colors she chose and the house's eclectic look.

I've been trying to put together rugs, fabric, etc. that would help us achieve this look in our house:

Top row: Our Barclay sofa from Restoration Hardware, Vintage Brass Trophy Table Lamp from Arteriors Home (via Lamps Plus). Middle Row: Restoration Hardware upholstery fabric and F. Schumacher "Sea Witch" fabric (both on eBay right now), Hand-Tufted Arte Collection Wool Rug (via Overstock.com). Bottom Row: Greyhound Pillow in Dove from Thomas Paul (via PillowsandThrows.com), Rust Cotton Applique Pillow from Koko Company (also via PillowsandThrows.com).

I'm quite the amateur decorator, so I'm not sure I'll be able to pull this look off. Time will tell, I guess. Stay tuned for pictures of my attempt!

Counter Tops Installed

2008-09-05T10:16:00.005-05:00

Hubby sent these pictures last night -- the granite counter tops and new marble fireplace surround have been installed. He said that the tile in the upstairs bathrooms was almost finished as well although he didn't send pictures. I will post those when I get them. I'm encouraged!

Misty Watercolor Memories...

2008-09-03T20:11:00.012-05:00

I talked to our contractor today and he's making more progress on the house. Tomorrow the granite counter tops in the kitchen will be installed and the tile in the upstairs bathrooms is almost finished. Hubby and his mom worked hard this week on stripping paint from the trim in the living room and that room is almost done. I'm probably heading up to see the progress in a couple of days so I'll post more pictures then.

I'm trying to keep things in perspective. Sure, the remodel is taking longer than I expected, but I have to remember that I once had it worse. The remodel of our last house took about three years. The house was torn up in one way or another pretty much the entire time we lived there. We had the popcorn ceiling texture removed a couple of months after we moved in and during the process we removed all our overhead lighting fixtures -- and didn't replace them for another two and a half years. We ripped up our guest bathroom and didn't redo it for atleast a year. Maybe I'll let the pictures do the talking. Here are some shots of our old house, mostly during the remodel but also a couple of "after" shots.

View of dining room and family room. This is how the ceilings looked pretty much the whole time we lived there. Check out the awesome linoleum in the family room.

A shot of our kitchen. Holy 1970s, Batman! Atleast someone had painted the cabinets -- they were horrible faux wood grain atrocities before that (I know because the matching cabinets in the laundry room weren't painted). The kitchen was sure yellow. And dark. And small. And horrible.

One part of the exterior of our house or another was without siding most of the time.

My daughter and I were staying with my parents when the house was REALLY torn up, but Hubby was still there. Can you imagine? And we didn't have a basement for him to hole up in then, so he was living right in the middle of this loveliness.

Some "after" pics. We removed the wall between the family room and kitchen as well as the wall between the dining room and kitchen.

I Bought it on eBay!

2008-09-01T19:40:00.008-05:00

I'm still trying to work on decorating our house while living a good distance away from any home furnishing stores. This has involved a lot of online shopping. Pretty much any night after my daughter has gone to sleep, you can find me here at the computer. Because of the bank account hemorrhaging that is going on now with the remodel, I am mostly looking on eBay. But I have scored some great stuff! Here are a couple of my home decor wins:

Sweet Dorothy Draper style chest of drawers (not the real thing, but I certainly can't afford this). I'm planning on eventually looking for a matching one and using them in our master bedroom.

Saarinen tulip table base (left, in black). We ripped out the outdated banquette seating and table in the breakfast nook. We're going to have a new bench built and plan on getting a top made for this base. I love mixing really modern pieces like this one with more traditional pieces as seen in the picture on the right (from Elle Decor).

I'm feeling inspired by all the examples of eBay/thrift store decorating out there. Check out the eBay 2004 showhouse. Many of my favorite blogs (see list) also detail eBay decorating tricks. Happy bidding!

Cabinets (Mostly) Installed

2008-08-27T17:08:00.007-05:00

Well, the cabinets have been installed now, at least for the most part. Currently our contractor is focusing on tiling the bathrooms. I don't have any pictures of that yet, but I'm going to bug Hubby again tonight to take some. Hubby (with help from his mom and brother) have been working on stripping the many, many layers of paint from our trim. We're just going to paint it again, but the other layers of paint were so thick some of the beautiful detail had been lost.

Seems like we are on week 30 or 40 of the remodel, but I guess it's been (only!) 12-ish weeks. Sigh.

The cabinets are HERE!!!!! Yay!!!!!

2008-08-18T09:24:00.007-05:00

Got these pictures this morning from Hubby -- the cabinets are here! I can't wait to see them installed. Also, the tile in the kitchen is down and the new window in the kitchen is in. Things are taking shape!

Decorating Dilemmas

2008-08-06T19:08:00.010-05:00

Since I'm somewhat removed from the remodeling process now, I've been spending some of my time thinking about decorating the house. We have precious little in the way of furniture -- we sold quite a bit of what we had before leaving Seattle so we wouldn't have to pack so much. What we have left is a small smattering of mismatched pieces. I'm looking forward to getting new stuff so I can finally have a "done" looking house. I've been scouring home magazines and catalogs for ideas, but in doing so I've become a little over-inspired. Too many choices!

We're trying to go for a "traditional with a twist" look. Here are some examples from Domino magazine (one of my favorite reads):

We have the following pieces already:

Barclay Sofa from Restoration Hardware (Hubby had to have it)

Two upholstered benches very similar to this one (from ebay) also purchased on the cheap from ebay

Two wing chairs (like this one from Target) purchased from a sidewalk sale for $100 each.

Anyway, I'm not having much luck trying to fit it all together. Like I said, too many ideas. Both the benches and the wing chairs will have to be reupholstered. I'm at a loss when it comes to fabrics, too. Hubby likes red, I like blue.

Once I do some more "research" I will post some of my ideas.

The End is Near?

2008-08-06T17:24:00.005-05:00

Some good news -- our kitchen cabinets are scheduled to be installed a week from tomorrow! I don't know what that means in terms of when the entire house will be done, but it's progress, anyway. I swung by the house yesterday and although it's obvious the contractors have been working, there were not any "wow, this really looks different" moments. So no new pictures, sorry. I think the tile might be going up in the bathrooms in the next couple of days, though. I will get Hubby to take some pictures.

Some "In Progress" Pics

2008-07-31T00:28:00.009-05:00

Hubby just sent me some pictures of the house as it is right now. All of the drywall is up although some is still being sanded. The fireplace is tore up because we are wiring above it to mount our TV there and we're also going to face it with new stone. Hubby was experimenting with the floor tile pattern in the kitchen.

A Shout Out to My Hubby

2008-07-26T22:35:00.002-05:00

I talk a lot about suffering through/enduring/surviving the remodel process. But in reality, I have it pretty cushy compared to my dear husband. As our house is totally unfit for a toddler right now (exposed electrical lines, drywall dust, etc.), my daughter and I are staying at my folks' house until the remodel is done. Their house is over an hour away from ours, though, so Hubby (who has to go to work) does not have the option of staying with us. So he is camping out in the basement of our home. There isn't a lot of room since everything we own is being stored down there. And there is only one very, very small powder room in the basement. Since both upstairs bathrooms are currently torn up, he is showering at the gym every morning. Today our contractor accidentally hit our water line while removing an old fence so there won't be any water in the house at all until Monday. Sure, he could save himself a lot of discomfort and move into a rental or extended stay hotel. But instead he's chosen to not add to our already ballooning remodel budget. Thanks for taking one for the team, honey. Love you.

Kitchen Inspiration Board

2008-07-21T15:38:00.004-05:00

Above is the inspiration board for our new kitchen. Clockwise from top left: our cabinet style and color, white subway tile for back splash, pendant light from Restoration Hardware, Viking range (we don't really cook a lot, but my husband really, really wanted one), farm sink from Whitehaus Collection.

We are modeling our kitchen after House Beautiful's kitchen of the year 2007. Gorgeous, huh? This kitchen is probably seven or eight times larger than our dinky 9x12 one, but you get the idea. We are doing the same white and black hexagon tile pattern on the floor.

Our contractor is making progress on the kitchen -- electrical is done and the drywall is up. I will post some pictures as it gets closer to completion.

The "Before" Pictures

2008-07-21T00:58:00.012-05:00

Here are some photos of our home before construction began. Note the wallpaper, GINORMOUS shrubs by the front entrance, and kitchen banquette -- the first things to go.

Intro

2008-07-21T00:35:00.002-05:00

Thanks for visiting my blog! Here's the short version of how I ended up here, in the middle of remodeling a house for the second time in less than two years.

My husband, daughter, and I recently moved back to the Midwest (where we grew up) after living in the Seattle area for six and a half years. We spent four of those six years in the Pacific Northwest tearing a 1973 ranch home down to the studs and building it back up again. During the winter of 2006, partway through the remodel, we decided to move. So we finished what had been up to that point a very leisurely, mostly DIY remodel as quickly as possible with the help of two awesome contractors. The very day the remodel was finished (in September 2007), we got in our U-Haul and headed east, never enjoying the fruits of our labor.

We began house hunting in early 2008 and quickly fell in love with a very dated and somewhat neglected 1928 stone colonial. I started this blog to document the process of turning this house into what I hope will be our forever home (because I can't go through this again).