Taking a little time out to stop and smell the roses. Stay tuned for more posts on our sun porch, backyard pool removal, gardening, Easter brunch, and more! Cheers.
The Week in Review | March 17-21
I’ve been absolutely obsessed with plans for our yard this spring and summer. No giant changes as far as adding a deck or shed or anything but an overall cleanup is in order and I am so so so excited to start an edible garden in our yard. Growing up in a yard that was so small we mowed it with a weed whacker and then living in apartments for the last decade has definitely left me pining for land. Not a greedy amount- but an efficient amount. And our yard is more than sufficient to grow a decent sized edible garden and still have room for a big harvest table. It’s our very own urban homestead!
So while I dream of dirt, take a look at these incredible transformations from the blogosphere this week…
- Unfortunately for Dana at House Tweaking, this is a before picture. This awesome chair had a little mishap with the gas fireplace screen. No one was harmed but this chair may never be the same. Sorry Dana!
- Erin at Elements of Style is also dreaming of yard time. She had her patio refinished last year and plans to take full advantage of it. Want some company Erin?
- Got to love an upcycling project and this one is so fabulous! Made + Remade‘s Samantha Pattillo turns a Craigslist credenza into a mid-century masterpiece!
- I’m not usually one for wallpaper but these woodland walls showcased on the Inspired Room may be my exception.
- Another amazing makeover happened over on With Heart. Check out her page to see Jen’s incredible before sofa. Maybe Dana should give Jen a call to fix that chair!
Hang in There
In honor of the first day of spring, we’re hanging our coats up. Well, not for good. It’s still quite chilly. But we did get a brand new coat rack for our mudroom!
This row of anchor hooks from Pottery Barn is super sturdy and goes nicely with all the greys in our mudroom.
We’re able to fit five coats comfortably, which in my opinion should be sufficient enough for everyday use. Our coats when guests come over along with off season coats will be kept in the closet we intend to install directly across from this rack in our mudroom.
It’s the perfect addition to our mudroom and looks great over our still sort-of-new bench!
Master Bedroom Touchups
I love our master bedroom. It’s so bright and clean. I know a lot of people like dark bedrooms but I would never want to live in a cave. Give me fresh! Give me breezy! Give me heavy white linens to rest my head on every night and glorious sunshine to wake me up each morning. I want to feel refreshed in a bedroom. Restored, renewed, revived!
And this bedroom is just that. So when I think back to where it started, it really doesn’t seem like the same place. See this? Shag carpeting, yellowed wallpaper, and a drop ceiling. Oy vey.
Since the first floor received the bulk of our attention (and budget) I made it my mission to make the best of this bedroom. We weren’t going to remove the horsehair plaster or the dented old trim or even redo the flooring. This was a total patch job. But if I do say so myself, a really eff-ing great one!
My Dad skillfully repaired dents in the walls after Jared and I tore down all the wallpaper. And my Mum and I tackled that drop ceiling. Hard to even look at this again…
But after all the patching and cleaning, paint was the saving grace in this room. If you recall, I painted the trim and walls a lot but once they were as perfect as they were going to get, we turned our attention to the floors. There was no saving these hardwoods in terms of sanding and staining and I know they are so imperfect but I just adore these wide boards with their occasional creek.
So a putty grey paint transformed them into beach house chic floors.
The only problem with painted floors is that they get chipped. Especially when moving furniture. So the floors have kinda looked like this since we moved in last September.
Fortunately, it’s an easy fix. A spot here, a spot there, and voilà!
They will never be perfect but I love them with all their cracks and flaws just the same.
Steamy Sunday
Steamy because I was positioned about two inches from every radiator in the house painting the poles that run into our basement. It’s one of those little projects that tends to get forgotten after a big renovation.
Our radiators were very dark and dingy but painted a shiny metallic before we moved in. But once they were put into place it was pretty obvious that those pipes that lead down to the heating system in the basement needed some attention. See this one in our living room still caked with some foam insulation? Ick.
So we broke out this Rust-Oleum Aluminum paint again, laid down some newspaper, and got real cozy with the radiators.
It didn’t take long and seems like such a small task but it really made a big difference. Check out these before and afters.
In the living room…
In the front entry way…
Tucked behind the treadmill in the mudroom…
And up in our bedroom…
The bedroom one really drove me crazy because the room is so light and airy and that nasty pole was the last piece of transforming that room. That and touching up the floors but more on that tomorrow!
