the "before" kitchen

 I wanted to share with you the "before" images of our kitchen. 



I didn't take pictures of the space before making changes, but here are a couple that were attached to our appraisal, they very much emphasize the room's need for improvement! 



{jealous of our hood? ;)}



{don't refresh, you're seeing correctly.  mustard yellow it is!}

First thing we did was remove the doors to the wall cabinets.  The room is small and by creating open shelving, we were able to add depth and remove some of the heaviness of all the dark wood.  Anyway, it's very lovely way to make ceramic and glassware objects of interest, why hide away such pieces?  It's very European to have exposed shelving in the kitchen, though my personal inspiration is Jane Adler's "before" kitchen in "It's Complicated."



{I too love the ruffled fabric curtain beneath the counter, very French.}



Here's what the space looks like without the doors; we needed to saw off a few wood pieces which supported the doors and have sanded and puttied the remaining cabinet framing.

(Waste not want not, the removed doors will be used to create shelving in the office and will be paired with antique cast iron brackets... or so I think!)



{better, right?}



{hiding outdated appliances with pretty dishtowels!}

  We've since painted the space and I think you'll be very surprised by just how big of an improvement comes from a gallon of paint.  I'm sewing cafe curtains that will hang half-height and am in search of a nice big rug that will cover the floor.  Michael has plans to build a small utility table for the space and I hope to doctor-up flower boxes to hang outside the kitchen windows to hold our potted herb garden.  I also intend to make a few small paintings for the space... but we shall see.  (All this will require me to break my Netflix addiction.)  More to come!

gifts from my grandma

My grandma gave me a couple wonderful gifts for our wedding.  These embroidered dish towels won't ever touch a dish, aren't they wonderful?  One for every day of the week.

{which weekday are you?}



{crafty}

Hoping I inherited some of her talent and most of all, patience!
(Fabric projects on the docket: kitchen and craft room curtains, reupholstering two chairs, more throw pillows, and finishing a crazy quilt.)

well, i hope i don't burn down the house today...

This is a pretty good story.  Well, for us it's worth repeating anyway.

It all began with a washer and dryer.  The day after we got our keys and moved in our things, we needed to do a load of laundry.  Down to our new basement we go with a bit of pep in our step, prideful of our home and our newly acquired, albeit archaic appliances.

Hahaha, how naive we are.  We load the washer, turn the dial and hope for the best.  The machine turns on after a long sleep (four years long) with a massive groan and continues to bellow for the next 60 minutes.  We can't hear each other talk but oh well.  Then came the challenge of operating the washer and dryer at the same time.

The machines sit next to each other and have equally exaggerated noises.  They were each vibrating so much that their doors wouldn't stay latched, forcing them open and the cycles to stop, leading to messy, soapy water, angry and tired machines and overwhelmed and flabbergasted homeowners.  The solution?  Duct tape.  Yes, we had to tape the machines' doors shut to get a load done.

Here enters Ted Williams before his drive by discovery.  If you need a refresher on this heartwarming story, here he is:



{Yes, he went to rehab after three days of fame, but his teeth look great!}



Our cheap, possibly unliscensed plummer, aka Ted Williams' Midwestern twin (the hair, the dirt, the teeth, seriously, "the everything!"), supposedly helped us hook-up our new washer and dryer.  I say supposedly because his God given talent was not a golden radio voice, but rather evasion.... evasion from the IRS (yes, "the Man" came up in topical conversation), the shower, and as you might have guessed, from us.

Intially, this guy was all over this job.  An eager beaver ready to help us out.  But then, something turned; after he dented in the dryer and forgot to turn on our water heater (after turning the gas line off and then on) he was no where to be found.

Mind you this all happened after he collected his check.

A day and a frigid shower later, I was leaving for work and M was trying to figure out how to ignite the flame within the water heater...  The last words I heard from him, "Well, I hope I don't burn down the house today."

Me too, honey.  But as soon as I get to work I see this from my eleventh floor skyscraper window, coming from the very general vascinity of my house... that I moved into three days before.

Michael had been turning into a bit of a cocky homeowner up to this point, referring to himself as "Handy Mike," proud that he was able to fix (mostly) all of the mistakes Ted left behind.

Nooo, Michael had not ignited our cedar shake home.  But what a crazy coincedence, eh?  Less than a mile a way from our house a large gas fire explodes on the very same morning M "hoped he didn't burn the house down."

A Ted Williams and Cub Foods gas fire later, we have a spiffy washer and dryer set.  This is when I geek out for a sec:



{naturally, we got the set in white:)}



Front loading beauties aren't they?  Oh I just cannot say enough.  The washer is quiet as a church mouse until it's done, when it sings a perty melody to let you know that it's time to dry.  Wonderfully, it's EnergyStar and very efficient.  The clothes come out of the wash almost dry and the dryer stops when they are, even if there's more time on the clock.  And, if you don't go to get the load right away, it spins every fifteen minutes to prevent wrinkles.  Everything is digital.  And we couldn't be happier with our purchase.  Whew!

Oh and M got the dent out of the dryer that Ted left, so we're good!

i knew i was old and/or a homeowner when…

My May issue of Martha Stewart Living came yesterday and I felt like a dear friend had returned.

(This month is all about spring planting!  And I just bought a spade, hazah!  Martha features her "white garden"... love.)

I would rather watch old Cheers episodes than go out and be social.

(Ahem, there is currently all eleven seasons on Netflix instant streaming…)

Today, I had to ask my coworker what “@RT” means on Twitter.

(I’m a follower, not a tweeter… or a re-tweeter either, as it turns out.)

Friday (at a rare social gathering) I asked, “So what’s the popular music on the radio these days?”

(I listen to my James Taylor radio on Pandora 8+ hours a day… I still don’t think I’m missing a whole lot… what is the deal with Ke$ha and where did Amy Winehouse go?  Am I the only girl who notices that Justin Bieber is smaller than me???) 

….Telling is that the last concert I went to was JT and Carole King’s Troubadour tour with my mom… all the baby boomers in the room and I had a great time.

I used to be a PerezHiltonite and now find his posts boring.  I am celeb-crazed, so I do know of the people he makes fun of, I guess I’m just too “mature” for the Paint blurbs.  See, I like to adore and idolize celebrities, conjure up how beyond cool and easy their lives must be.  Seeing a picture of them leaving a Walgreens in sweats and a Perez scribble kind of ruins everything.... So does Dancing with the Stars (though secretly I really like Kirstie Alley).

Speaking of TV, my favorites are the family dramas, Brothers and Sisters the only one really needing to be mentioned.  (I openly love Sally Field.)

My socially liberal self is feeling beat up by the realities of our government and wondering if I’m just silly.
Sure get rid of our unions, why not?  Every man for himself!  (Ok, I'm not quite at this point yet...)

I’d rather look like I was going off to a yoga class in leggings and flowy cotton (mind you I don’t know yoga) than look trendy with current seasonal outfits. (who really “puts together an outfit?”)

My favorite blog to follow is Design Mom (and no!  I’m not a mom!).
Gabrielle is living in France, her posts are wonderful and her life is lovely.  Take a look. 

As Betty White has said (89 and rocking it), I think I like animals more than people.
(Ok, maybe I just like my dog more than most people!)

I have a very uncool Pay as You Go phone because I don’t really talk all that much, I text less and I’d much rather just see you in person!

(How weird is that? But you may have to come to me, seeing as I’m a “somahomebody” now!  I kid.)

I occassionally eat dinner at 4:30.  Enough said?

 



{happy one month!}

 

sarah's cottage

I adore Sarah Richardson.  She’s Canadian (huge plus) and is just so perky and opinionated.  If we had cable, Sarah would likely move into our house through TV osmosis.  I’ve loved catching up with her projects, they range from mid-century to contemporary to… wait for it… nautical cottage!

Take a tour with me of Sarah’s Cottage, a.k.a. exactly what I would love our house to look like:

An idyllic off-the-grid getaway is renovated inside and out, drawing inspiration from the natural surroundings and blending vintage treasures with cheerful summer hues. 

Don’t you love the soft blue painted chairs and the range of woods?

The bench is so clever and practical.  Plus, it fits more guests than chairs.  And it could likely be a piece you find at a garage sale or antique shop that, if given a bit of TLC and distressed paint treatment, could look like new Pottery Barn.  If this were my dining room, it would always be set... just... like.. this.

I die for stripes, specifically mattress ticking…. The cheapest and prettiest fabric in the store.

When you limit color and celebrate pattern and texture, you get this lovely room.

I love the neutral wall colors and the mixing of patterns, playful and cheery flower prints next to structured and consistent stripes.  It’s elegant to stay within a color family like in this living room, but playful and lighthearted to explore contrasts in this bedroom.

Heritage quilts.  Love.  Of course the bed frame is perfect too.

See the painted stripes on the floor?  Very nice look and all it took was paint.  The cottage's walls are muted to showcase nautical touches, playful fabrics (ahem headboard!), and color accents.

This timeless room is so because of its natural materials and unfussiness; the few decorative pieces are temporal but easily “create” the space.

My obsession with baskets is condoned by Sarah.  Look how lovely they look in the bathroom, adding warmth and texture to a cool and polished space.  I also love the infill of white-painted wood boards on the vanity wall and ceiling, adding depth and texture without color. 

 

I can’t get over how much I love painted furniture.  Suddenly an old piece feels new, usable and not so stuffy, but still very precious.  Nice touch Sarah with the antique (painted!) table fan.

And oh my word, I love wall displays of like objects.  Let's get past (for a second) how lovely the seating arrangement is in this picture and look to the far corner.  No, the dresser isn't painted, but the collection of hats surrounding the framed mirror have such character and whimsy.  Plus, when you're going down to the dock to go for a sail (because naturally if you lived in this house, you would have water access... and a boat with a person's name like "Lydia") you can just grab a hat and go.

Reclaimed wood, beautiful.  White trim, classy.  Glass tile back splash, sea inspired. 

(And who says lanterns are best hung on a home's exterior?)

 Lastly, of course any worthy cottage has a widow's walk to look to sea and await the captain's return.  This one just happens to be a bit larger with a put-together, yet casual, outdoor gathering space.  Seating is not an issue in Sarah's Cottage!  Come on over, everyone! 

Celebrating natural light with throw pillows, benches and gathered furniture arrangements.

Sarah (we’re on a first name basis) lists her “source sheet” for each and every room of every project.  I love this because you can not only find the lamp or fabric or knick knack or whole room yourself, you can see where she splurged and where she didn’t.  Looking at her work it may feel as though it’s all expensive, but you’d be surprised how much Ikea you’ll find in her rooms, as well as garage and estate sale finds.  Sure she has a bigger budget and more time than the rest of us to make such wonderful spaces, but her smarts and her savvy can save us time.  Check out her website and be prepared to adore her.

home details

I must confess that I fell in love with our house for it's details.

The house was lived in by only one other family before us.  Sixty years of TLC has given us a house that upon inspection had less wrong with it than a new house (I'm quoting the inspector... I might have had biased ears...).  There's so much handy work evident in the house, all the latches still work, the original door knobs and light fixtures are still here and pretty.  Lots of built-ins, original wood floors throughout.  We have two huge elm trees that somehow are still here.

I had dreamed up this adorable picture of this adorable old couple who loved this house before us.  From what I gather from our neighbors, who've all been very friendly, the previous owners were a bit... odd.  Odd as in the woman scrubed the front sidewalk daily with a sponge and the man mowed (the push kind) daily.  Hm, still bet they were adorable.  And any old couple who paints the front door of their cedar shake home turquoise must be pretty with it.

Of course I'd love our front door if it was a different color too.

Can anyone say "Anthropologie" or "Restoration Hardware?"  Every single door (and there's a lot of them, a couple not necessary) in the house has glass knobs.  I smile every time I look at one, especially with my LL Bean boating tote hanging from it.

Then there's the original latches and handles, still operating, still looking old, but old in a very "in" way.

The house's shelving uses this little system below.  Of course I monkeyed around with varying the heights of all our our shelving, only to decide I liked how it was when we got here.

Look at this little adorable hand broom we found in the kitchen.

Of course the cedar shakes have great layered detailing.  And look at the spigot!  Is it beyond strange that I even like our spigot?

Anytime you would like to send us mail.....  It'll be waiting for us here.

Here's hoping that many of our home's details are still to come, like hydrangea blooms!

living room

Here's an introduction to our (blank) living room. 

If I had to define our style, it'd be coastal, ahem "Cape Cod Cottage," with antique and traditional accents.  

The room has some very wonderful details including a coved, tall ceiling, built-in bookshelves (with changable spacing), a working fireplace and matching square windows on either end of the mantle, which are covered by accordian shutters.

I would ideally love to orient the space around the fireplace wall, which I'm happy to show has a very large mirror that, per our request, came with the house.

Alas, because we have our TV and its stand in the space (both I hope to move to our finished basement, once we finish it!), the focus is shared with the right wall, opposite the front picture window.  Initially, this wall was going to have an art arrangement, which I'm now moving to the back wall so that it is reflected in the mantle mirror.  I'm picturing mostly antique book illustrations in gilt frames. 

I'm hoping the art arrangement will help transition the living room to the dining room through the wide archway.

 Because the front door opens directly into the living room there's opportunity to create an entry way, which may have a storage bench and hooks. 

As you can tell, the house is white; white, white and a bit more white!  We've been in our house for three weeks and I still can't decide if I even want color on the walls.... any of the walls!  It'll come, but for now, I'm very content creating bright spaces defined by neutrals and cool tones.  With enough wicker baskets and ball jars, any space is beautiful, right?

simple sewing

I've made two throw pillows!  Very fun, very easy.

 I bought the fabric (only a yard at 3.50 on sale at JoAnn) well before we moved into our house and finished the pillows just recently, after buying 3.99/each cushions at Ikea to insert into the covers.

I made the covers with the sewing machine, all except the top side of the pillows, which I hand stitched closed.

I liked the fabric design and thought the colors suited our sectional quite nicely.  Turns out they suit Teddy better!