THE BACKYARD

Hello! It's been so long I've almost forgot about this little blog of mine. As of late my mind has been taken over by two big things, wedding planning (!!!) and the backyard overhaul. Both are going just fine, but as always I find myself jumping ahead of all the un-fun part (digging, planting, building, more digging) and into the decorating part. Did I mention Pinterest has taken over my life?

So here quickly are a few things I'm eyeballing for the backyard, specifically chairs and bird feeders, as random as that is.

Really though, an update on what the yard is actually looking like is coming, but I want to wait until we have something worth showing, and looks a bit less like a construction site, hopefully that will all happen soon.

SPRING CATCH UP

With the warm weather finally creeping in, the giant project that is the back yard has slowly started. First up is tree removal, which as it turns out is actually quite fun for the first 10% (chopping down the tree) quickly followed by the remaining 90% (removing the stump) which is a giant pain the ass. We've managed to remove two so far, but the cherry tree still remains, as that might require a few more sets of hands. The cherry tree is a tough one, I wanted to keep it at first, and am still a little sad to see it go, but after drafting some rough plans, I soon realized just how in the way it is. Maybe 2 feet further East and I think I could have fought for it, but alas, it's going to soon be a giant pile of firewood.

I do have actual backyard plans to share, but they are in crappy sketch form, and so I'm going to wait until Will beautifies them. In the mean time, here is the short list of upcoming projects:

• Remove the 3 main trees (two down one to go)
• Rip up the brick patio / pressure wash bricks
• Build planter boxes on East side, and fill with bamboo
• Remove old greenhouse
• Rip out old chain link fence
• Lay new patio

This list is actually quite humorous as it's just scratching the surface, and there are about 20 more things to add, but I've realized we need to start with small goals and not overwhelm ourselves with giant lists.

The other tree we removed was more of a shrub, which was right next to the cherry tree. Again, nothing that exciting, just a home depot plant randomly placed in the grass. Of course my before picture is from the house listing, so it manages to make the yard look sort of nice, but trust me, it's only getting better. They even managed to make that arbor we removed look good, which was falling down and rotting...


Before:

During:

After:

Next:

So that's it for now! I will have more updates once we get the plan hammered out a little better, which I'm very excited to share (chicken coop!). I also plan to be better at documenting the process along the way, which seeing as how it's been a month since I've last shared anything, can't get much worse. 

KTICHEN UPDATE... KINDA. SORTA. NOT REALLY.

Alright we haven't actually done anything, but we've made decisions, and that in my book is progress. The great countertop debate has settled on butcher block (previously stainless steel), which I chalk up as a win in my book, as Will took convincing. Of course, being a miniature Ron Swanson he's going to build them, which is amazing, because who the hell does that? I was ready to run to Ikea and slap them on but if there's one thing (there are more than one, don't worry) I admire about Will, he wants to do things the quality, correct way, even if that's much more time consuming. Myself on the other hand would have the entire house flipped upside down by now and be walking around in constant fear of things unhinging and crashing to the floor. In fact, there are a few of those things around the house regardless, as the moment Will turns his head I find something to hang, organize, or suspend from the ceiling. He appropriately has dubbed these my booby traps. For this reason he's never let me hang a shelf above the bed, which is fair. It would probably fall in the middle of the night and I would not only have a concussion but a seriously pissed off boyfriend.

ANYWAY.

Back to the kitchen, this is really just a bunch of inspiration, as now that butcherblock is in the mix, it changes everything. For instance, the wood cabinets have got to go, there is already quite a bit of wood going on in the kitchen with the beam and the shelves, and I don't want our lovely house to look like a cabin. Not that there's anything wrong with cabins, I love cabins, they just don't belong in the city. So with wood floors, wood countertops, wood beam, and wood shelves, we've got to get some other materials in the mix. Now the debate is dark vs. light. We've painted just about every surface bright white, with exception to a dark grey accent wall, so there's fear that even more white will be a bit overkill. BUT just look at these beautiful pieces of inspiration I've found:

See what I'm saying? Lots of wood, and lots of white, but looks totally great and not overwhelming. The other option is to go super dark with the cabinets, which could also look awesome, but I'm having a hard time visualizing it. I sort of want to just paint everything white, and then if we don't like it go dark, but that sounds like a silly amount of extra work. You would think visualizing all this would be easy for two creative people, but it turns out we change our minds every 6 seconds. Or at least I do... ho hum. I'll just go reorganize the book shelves in the mean time. Oh wait I did that on Tuesday, they're color coordinated now, don't worry.

Ps- sorry this post didn't actually include any photos of our kitchen and was essentially just me rambling.

photos above :  1, 2, 3, 4

KITCHEN : PHASE 1

I think we can officially say phase one of the kitchen is done.. or at least close enough. We still want to switch out the lights, especially the terrible track lights above the sink, and need to figure out something to do with the front side of the bar (paint? wood?) but all in all, I'm super happy with the results so far. Taking that half wall down opened up the kitchen to the living room so much, and just look at that beam! The open shelving is just enough storage, don't miss the cabinets at all. In fact anyone want them? They are currently sitting in one giant piece in the garage.

I had every intention of documenting the process of the shelves and beam, but life happened and documentation did not. Know that it all went fairly smoothly though, minus the fact that we measured the bottom piece wrong and ended up at Home Depot a few times in one day. I'm starting to find that to be pretty standard with these projects, and am getting quite fast at navigating that place. 

All the wood is reclaimed, which we then sanded and stained. Can't recommend doing that enough, it's a fraction of the cost and adds so much more character. If it's a little too rough around the edges, some sanding and stain changes the look of the wood completely. I realize this is not a revolutionary concept, but I was surprised by how different they looked. Again, no photo evidence of this, opps.

In case you need a little reminder of what was torn down, here is a little before and after:

Next up: Countertops, hood, tile.... oh man.

ps- excuse the terribly grainy photos. 

MINI BEFORE + AFTER : UPSTAIRS BATHROOM

This is proof that 2 hours and a can of paint can transform a space. Nobody should have to live with a purple and yellow sponge painted bathroom. Nobody. We're talking DOUBLE sponge paint people. GOD WHY.

This bathroom will someday be totally gutted and remodeled, but let's be honest that's like #4,569 on the list of things to do. In the mean time, we decided to slap some paint up and call it day. I seriously can't emphasize enough how much better it is. If you're hating a room, or even one wall just paint the damn thing, you'll be so much happier. Also, you can always count on a super dark grey to make any room instantly sexy. Just a little design advice from me to you.

On the list of things that should probably still happen to this bathroom:

• Paint trim/rest of walls.. maybe
• Do something with that mirror - I think it was stripped at one point, and it could be saved, or just ripped out. It's also about 1" deep, so it holds like nothing.
• New toilet seat (the sexy side of home renovations)

 

I'm happy to report our home is now sponge paint free.

WANT LIST // FOR THE HOME

This feels slightly tacky due to the time of year, but what the hell. Buying a home has made me want to update just about everything we own. After a while that same bookshelf from ikea you've had for 6 years just needs to be replaced. Aside from the big pieces though, there are a few small things I'm determined to work into new abode.

1 // New silverware - how does it always end up we have 47 spoons and 4 forks? It's a mystery. The gold flatware is probably not Will's favorite, but I dig it. 

2 // Oh paper straws, you're so worthless, but I'll always love you.

3 // I've been eyeballing this runner for a while, think it needs to live in my hall

4 // Our hipster kitchen wouldn't be complete without the Kinfolk cookbook, now would it?

5 // We need to replenish the plant life in our house, the move managed to kill most of it

6 // Not that we have room to hang anything else in our tiny home, but I still want this huge buffalo hanging somewhere. 

DECORATE

Part of the fun of a new house, for me at least, is decorating it. I've been trying to hold back and not go too crazy, as the goal as of late is to be saving money, but once in a while something catches my eye I sort of have to have. This rug, for example I got on sale for $100. Done. Then I stumbled upon this Etsy store, and I want one of everything. We have high ceilings in our house (happy dance) so I'm having the overwhelming desire to hang things from every corner, and these seem like a pretty great option.

As much as I hate to rip off artists, I miiiiiight try to do a little DIY hack on the bottom right one. We'll see how that goes...

PROGRESS!

I couldn't bring myself to call this a before and after, because it's more before and step 1. Turns out taking down 1/4 of a wall takes like 4x the amount of time one would think. I honestly thought we would be painting by 2:00 (ha!), and we had just got the cabinets out by then. Also, guess what makes the world's largest mess? Drywall. Turns out that shit gets everywhere. I would recommend covering any and everything with plastic, not just the stove. Don't worry, we moved the bar, no alcohol was harmed in this process.

ANYWAY, I'm very pleased with the results thus far, just look how open it is! Now we just need to patch that hole, wrap the column in wood (fake beam anyone? whoohoo!) and paint. Oh ya and tile, get a hood, new countertops and build + install shelves. Turns out redoing your kitchen is a lot of work, but we saw that coming. Well, not be to be honest, I live in a dream world where renovations happen in 24 hours, but I'm trying to reel that in.

KITCHEN PROGRESS

So remember how I said we were going to be doing all sorts of kitchen work last weekend? Turns out that was a lie. It took us about 10 minutes of talking about our plan before we realized we had no plan, and needed to take a step back. The house isn't going anywhere after all, and we have plenty of time.

Which leads me to something we do now have... a plan! Here is a mini tour of the kitchen (in disaster unpacking mode, yikes...) and the things we want to do:

 

#1 : Yes, sponge paint, that lovely 'let's bing the mediterranean into our kitchen in seattle' look. I get the yellow kitchen thing I guess ('it's so cheery!') but it aint my thang, and to make it even more not my thang, someone decided one shade of yellow wasn't enough, and felt the need to add another layer. The most entertaining part is that isn't the only the sponge paint in the kitchen, and certainly not the worst. But more on that another time...

#2 : We need a hood! This house came with a gas stove which makes me beyond happy, but cooking anything results in a kitchen full of smoke (and not because I burn everything, I'm actually an alright cook) and there for a box fan has become a (semi) permanent fixture. Putting in a hood will eliminate all the cabinets above the stove, but we're ok with that. After living in a 400 sq ft apartment, this kitchen is enormous, and we're just fine on storage. 

#3 : What to do when connecting rooms are different colors? Why just leave a janky-ass line and hope nobody notices. No. Wrong. Yet another reason the kitchen is getting painted, and thus the living room. This was something I wanted to avoid, mostly out of pure laziness, but I've been convinced we need to prime and paint the entire living/dining/kitchen area. You win this one Will. 

#4 : All the appliances are black (with exception to the fridge) and nice and new, so they aren't going anywhere. I normally would prefer stainless, but we're going to work around this, as you'll see below...

#5 : Guess what you can do when you're a homeowner? Put holes in your wall, that's what. This wall is coming down, most likely the first thing to happen in this whole process, so Will decided to test his new hammer. It works. 

#6 : Isn't she lovely? She's going to be staying a while as fridges are expensive and this one works just fine. I'm going to scour the internet looking for DIYs to make it look nicer, though I have a bad feeling it'll turn out even worse looking, and should probably just let this one go for the time being. Since we're in it for the long hall I feel as though I should name her, lets do with Ethel. 

#7: I can't wait to get some stools in here, it'll be lovely when cooking to be able to have people sit across from you. The open kitchen was such a selling point on this house, and I can't wait to expand upon that with a wider counter, and some bar stools.

Annnnd here is the plan-ish:

1 : Black range hood; to match existing appliances, aside from Ethel.

2 : White subway tile backsplash; this is a personal favorite of mine I've been trying to fit into just about every room in the house.

3 : These exact lights are insanely expensive, so I'm looking for something similar, perhaps these. I hated what's currently there at first, but after the Edison bulbs they're actually not bad for the time being.

4 : Open shelves; I didn't note above, but the entire cabinet situation is going to make room for some lovely open shelves that Will is going to build. The ones above are from Ikea, and though they aren't a bad option, I think we're going to do something more custom. Also I don't think I'm getting Will to go back to Ikea anytime soon.

5 : Stainless countertops; this is the current plan, which I'm still on the fence about. They show every little smudge, and as I'm a clean control freak (thanks Mom) that freaks me out. It will look awesome though I'm sure, and bring in some of that industrial look we love.

6 : We want to save the lower cabinets and drawers, but they need a little facelift. We're thinking stain and new pulls will do the trick. Not necessarily these pulls, but something like it, flush with the top of the drawer... in a perfect world.

7 : I'm not about to drop over $500 on two stools, but aren't they pretty? I'm hoping to find something similar somewhere out there in the world.


That's it for now! Thanks for dropping by :)

Sneak Peak

This is the smallest house tour ever, as I was so excited when we got the keys I ran around like a mad woman with my camera but only managed to take about 8 photos. I will however have a million more to share after this weekend, as we're going to be painting and other fun things, and I'll be sure to have camera on hand.

In the mean time, look! We have a house! Ahhhh! A few things to note off the bat;
1 - The color of the outside, holy cow. Some people hate it, some love it. I can honestly say it's growing on me, but it's not our taste, and will be changed next spring.
2 - Hardwood floors! Original fir floors from 1928, can't tell you how happy that makes me.
3 - Kitchen - big and open to livingroom = awesome. Everything else = not so awesome, I'll have more photos of this area in the near future, but for now know that it will be redone. Sponge paint and checkers are not really our thing...shocking, I know.
3 - Original hardware! I'm obsessed with every door handle in this house, aren't they pretty?
5 - Big back yard! We somehow managed to find a house in Seattle with a huge yard, hell to the yes. Again, this picture does it no justice, but trust me, it's big and awesome, and Moe is happy.

That's all for now!