catch up

where have i been for all this time?  much has been keeping me away from this blog, and i've missed it.  here's a  peek of all the exciting things that have happened within the past six months... details will have to follow.  right now i just want to get back into blogging!

new (old) furniture for our house...

retaining wall in front of house...

 kicked the astro turf to the curb!

new nephew!!                    with uncle m:

                                         and me

                                       and noah the big

finished my masters degree!

sang my first lead in an opera!

and experienced so much happiness along the way.  grateful.

crazy for...

built-ins.

especially those that frame a fireplace

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a doorway

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or (a) window(s)...

hello, gorgeous!!

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someday i'd like to have built-ins, or some sort of window seat surrounded by shelves. 

maybe i could work one into our current living room?

now:

sad window, lacks charm

(excuse the mess0 i;m on vacation!!)

future???

i guess it would be more like 

free-standing shelves with a bench for reading, 

but we do need room for a couch in there...

so says m.

voila!!

i have been desperately wanting to make a gypsy quilt for our guest room but every time i'm at the fabric store, my vision gets clouded by the vast array of patterns and colors overwhelming my senses.  but today i rediscovered an older pottery barn catalogue and inside found just what i've been looking for: a template for just the right patterns. observe.

it's not too loud, but it has a nice variety of patterns and warm, earthy colors that would make our room feel homey and comfortable.  i also think it would work well with any number of different wall colors...

which works well for me because we are planning to re-paint our guest room walls.

***

as a bonus, while i was flipping through the catalogue, i saw this picture:

 

wouldn't a little cubby like this make a great craft/sewing/art room organizer?

of course, i wouldn't BUY one.  

i would make my own...

oh, the things i'll do someday.

do over....

when i was imagining up ideas for our extra (guest) bedroom, 

i had something like this in mind for the green-wall effect:

with a bohemian touch of...

ooooooh, so pretty.... i L.O.V.E!

         

aren't those staggered bookshelves interesting?  i could totally rock those somewhere in the house.

so.  back to the guest bedroom.

m & i are thinking the color we picked isn't really working.  

i, for one, am not convinced it is achieving the rustic, boho effect i so crave.

so maybe sometime in the not-too-distant future we'll give it another go?

i'm also thinking a lovely curtain-headboard would suit the space well.

what do you think?

 

and i, of course, still fantasize about making a bohemian quilt for the bed...

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a project four months in the making.

 remember this dresser i scored from salvation army for $40?

it is hard to tell from this picture just how badly it needed a makeover.

those dark details are actually a very unattractive grape purple.

and the top of the dresser was actually a very depressing acrylic veneer.

i believed in the beauty of this piece of furniture.

so i got to work... then stopped and started for four months.

i removed the veneer, bought some thin craft wood and cut it into narrow strips.

getting a piece that would match the curve on the front was somewhat involved.

i painted the edge, like so:

 then pressed the wood-to-be-cut on top of it to make a stamp.

 using a dovetail saw i cut along the edge and sanded so it would be a perfect (well, sort of) fit. 

 

 then i fit the narrow strips across to cover the entire surface, 

making sure to stagger the pieces and vary the lengths.

 m actually helped me a little when i got frustrated with our outdated power saw, which i cannot control.  and for two months it looked like this:

 then came today, the most exciting day in this dresser's life.

i decided to change out the drawer pulls because the old ones were destroyed, so i had to fill in the holes with wood putty.

 i finally got around to staining the wooden surface,

but when the stain went on it was more of a neon orange, not an ashy gunstock as i had hoped.
but i happened to have some taupe paint sitting around, so i rubbed that on top of the stain to tone it down, and it ended up looking great!

i gave the wood a good couple of coats of polyurethane
and painted the bottom and the drawers.

(the color is a gray-ish, yellow-ish, warm neutral.  NOT white.)

 i then drilled all new holes for the pulls, which i got at hobby lobby for a grand total of $12 (for all six)

 and now she's ready for the guest bedroom!!
(although, i plan to make the inside of the drawers more fabulous as time goes on.)

 it's not easy to see the color in these pictures...

 so if you're interested in the exact hue, 

you'll just have to come be our guest for a night or two!

i have a dream

 for my very small kitchen to someday be both functional and pretty!  i love pretty.

allow me to show you my virtual dream kitchen.

(the 'before' pictures are too shameful to show.)

east wall:

in my kitchen you will find the sink in the corner.  it is the only appropriate place for it besides under the window, only we can't put it there for logistical reasons.

the shelf with flowers is actually crown moulding that i hope will replace a very ugly homemade wall of shelving.  the curtain hung from this moulding deceptively makes the (teeny!) window seem larger.

north wall:

our refrigerator has successfully been recessed into the wall adjacent to the basement stairs (to the left of it) and the rest of the wall is turned into cupboards and drawers for storage (including my coveted shelf for the microwave... yay!)  the highest cabinets are actually already in the kitchen, so we wouldn't need to replace them.

south wall:

see that vertical wall of shelves?  it is hiding the chimney.  it would be great for cookbooks or pretty kitchen towels.  i would need to try extra hard not to clutter it up.  the other option would be to install bricks to make the chimney look lovelier than it does now (which would not be that difficult because it is ug-ly.)  to the right of the chimney is a tall pantry that either opens or slides out as a drawer... prime food storage space.

***

you likely have no idea how long it took me to actually come up with a plan and layout for this kitchen that i can actually live with!  

right now it is not only a serious eyesore, but it has very little storage and NO counter space!  i cannot imagine how the previous owners survived without any prep space for food.  

am i spoiled?

kitchen on the brain

every time i step into my kitchen i wince a little.  even ignoring the gaping hole in the drywall that has yet to be repaired by m- the space is dingy, impractical, and to say it is outdated would be a gross understatement!

you see, the problem with our kitchen is that is is very oddly shaped.  thinking of the ideal place to place things presents the unfortunate blocking of a doorway or just doesn't work with the window spacing or the fact that there is a chimney obstructing prime cabinet space.  

well, the better homes and gardens website presents some lovely photos of possible ways to cleverly use space in a small kitchen- and they offer great ideas for keeping costs down as well...take a look!

putting a decently-sized microwave on a shelf gets it off the counter and opens up space for prepping food.  i love it.

what a clever idea for spices!  i'm sure we can find a rather unusable space somewhere in our kitchen to use for something like this! i'm in love with built-ins.  for spices, books, whatever!

 don't you love how the refrigerator is recessed into this kitchen's wall?  m and i have talked about doing this, if we can figure out a way to do so without eliminating too much space from the master bedroom, which is already quite "cozy."

this photo shows the color scheme we've been planning, and bhg.com says the light walls, slate counter tops and white cabinets give a small space an open, airy feeling.  i couldn't agree more!

 

using shelving such as that shown above may be the only way we can fit needed storage into our kitchen!

don't you just love inspiring ideas?  i myself have a love-hate relationship with them.

because now every time i step into my kitchen i'll have a vision of what it could be!

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a whole lotta awesome!

yesterday i arranged some old cabinets that we'd pulled out of the kitchen. 

i found a six-foot-long slab of wood in the garage and it fit perfectly on top.

now i have the world's most amazingly awesome work table that is p-e-r-f-e-c-t for sewing and other crafting.  m even drilled a couple of holes in the top so my sewing machine cords can go right down to the outlet.  i can't wait to get a nice little stool, give it a good sanding, paint it white and decorate it.  the day i get around to that, i will be sure to post.  but for now, eat your heart out all  you crafters!

just another saturday night

for us young homeowners. 

we are tearing apart our basement.

did you know we had a basement?

i haven't posted any pictures because i'm ashamed of it.  

but now that we are fixing it up, it's safe for it to make its debut.

ladies and gentlemen, i give you our basement.

(if you open those cabinets you will find holes in the wall.)
an illegal apartment, complete with age-old appliances and a linoleum platform:

and a faux faux fireplace:

 yes, that's right, it is a fake fake fireplace.  just a bit of paint on the wall and some styrofoam stones.

classy.

so we got to work.

tonight i discovered that i'm really good with a hatchet.

pictures of our progress to follow!