Before & After

Alrighty - the kitchen is still a bit cluttered (we have to finish up the drawers still), but it's finally clean enough for the official before & after pic! I'll see if I can't get a nicer pic tomorrow when there's natural light. Had to crank up the ISO on the point & shoot, so it's quite noisy.

Before:


After:


And, here our new chairs in their home! Someday we'll get a new table to go with them, but for now this is it!


And happy Advent! I'm glad the sideboard is cleared off so I could set up our Advent wreath... with the little deer I found at a great thrift store in Philly.

New Chairs!

Hurrah!!

We found dining room chairs! We've only been looking for about 16 months! :-)



We're thinking we'll reupholster them with periwinkle blue fabric. Here's some photoshoppery to give you an idea :-)



Yay!

Cabinet Update

Well, we miscounted and ran out of screws to put the doors back up - so right now Matt is hunting in the basement for more screws (the hardware store is closed, of course) and I am typing up this update while waiting for our squash to roast. (We're having Roasted Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Chestnut Soup for dinner... mmm)

Here's what's happened so far this weekend:

Doors (with handles!) waiting to go up


Matt installing doors


We also bought some new plants to make our window even happier - whee!


And, while I was typing all that, Matt found the missing hardware! Hooray! Now it's off to finish up.

Cabinets!

I'm not even going to think about how long it's taken us to get this far.... but the cabinets are nearly done. Another coat or two of paint, and up go the doors!

Before we moved in...


After we installed the backsplash...


Now...

IKEA!

Took a trip to IKEA today, partly to do some "research", partly to get some stuff.

I'm on a mission to create my perfect creative space - organization is pretty key to that. Well, I'm one step closer now, I have some "desk" drawers! (Artwork by my talented friend Layla of Dollface Design)



We also picked up the wool kilim-pattern rug I've been eyeing. I've had this nasty stretch of falling for home decor items only to have them be discontinued. I'm glad that won't be happening this time! (And no, we still haven't gotten around to painting the living room yet!)

Bathroom "Look"

I'm starting to hammer out my "vision" of what I'd like our blue bathroom to look like. Here's what I've got so far (click for a larger version):



I've got a call into Bath Fitter to see if they can just put something over our existing tub and surround. While I'm having a hard time imagining the perfect bathroom, I am glad that my ideas thus far can be done bit by bit. If we get the bathtub done, we can wait to do the floor, etc.

Yard Sales Ahoy!

We found a new-to-us wicker stool at a yard sale today. I thought about maybe painting it, but I like the natural wood tones. It works equally well as a little table or extra seating for a board game on the coffee table :-)



I also ran a HUGE test print of 'Specimen 652' - love it!

Things I love!

This IKEA rug, for the living room... $149

































This Moroccan leather floor cushion, also for the living room - €169.00 - the one I want is actually brown, from Target, and a LOT cheaper, but it's not online... looks very similar though.



This eco-friendly table... a whopping $998



These dining chairs from IKEA might go nicely with it - $139 each. Though I do love red dining chairs (why did they discontinue the Hippie Chair at CB2!?)

Knob-tastic!

Our bathroom doorknob hasn't been working of late, so we started to think about a replacement. I fell in love with this one, from Anthropologie:


At $28, I couldn't justify even bringing it up with Matt...

Then we went to an antique store, and found this... for $10. I love it! And guess what, Matt does too. Woohoo! It has fantastic weight (real glass and bronze, after all), and has clean enough lines to fit in perfectly with our 60s ranch. Now to convince him we need to replace the rest of the ugly interior knobs scattered throughout the house....

Office Inspiration

Been thinking about my dream photography workspace today...



I think it would definitely need some plants, too!

P-P-P-Pillow!

What do you do with a plus-size, handmade, vintage style choli from India that you intended to convert into a Turkish vest, back when you were in a bellydance troupe, but which is now languishing in a closet?

Turn it into a throw pillow, of course!

Goodbye Ceiling Fan!

We finally took down the ugly ceiling fan and replaced it with our pendant lamp. I'm loving it!

Yardwork

We have achieved garden beds! With some help from my parents and my sister Trish, and with a lot of muscle power, we got the garden beds built, filled with soil and compost, and planted all in one weekend!

Progress!

I should probably have taken some photos around the yard - but I'll do that later.

Anyway, yesterday and today Matt and I made great strides in completing the dishwasher enclosure! Just the back left to go - the wood glue is drying.

Installing the outside enclosure


Matt scopes out what's left to do


All but the back panel is finished!


I couldn't wait to move our cookie sheets and cutting boards to our new little cabinet!

Creative Day

Well, we're making progress at the kitchen cabinet refinishing job - yay!

All this work on the kitchen makes me hate our ceiling fan more and more. I desperately want to replace it with this Artemis fan. Who wants to help me convince Matt it's worth paying $409 for?




Actually, I like the translucent version better, but I can't imagine being diligent enough in dusting it...


We also have a *BIG PLAN* in place for the living room, but it's a surprise!

Inspiration

In-between finishing projects... here's some inspiration. Specifically, inspiration for our blue bathroom. Way out of our budget, but something to keep me thinking.



Sandy paint color inspiration from Domino Magazine,
White wood wedge shelf from West Elm,
Raw edge wood shelf from Bywater Homestead Rustic Furniture,
Vetiver mats and sea sponge from VivaTerra,
Linen fabric for shutters from Namolio,
Faucet and sink by Kohler,
Sand seersucker shower curtain at Cost Plus World Market,
FSC Dark wood countertop from... somewhere,
Blue from the 60s tile already found in the bathroom.

New Sideboard

Wheee! We finally picked up a new sideboard from IKEA. Goooooo dining room storage! It looks great. :-) It's part of the "Effectiv" line.