FOLDING WOOD TRIVETS

This is why I love the internet.

These are so pretty and genius, it's blowing my mind. I wondering if I could make something like that...

AGMA by Valentin Bussard

GEMMED

The art in my house is about 98% graphic, and I've been thinking lately it might be nice to bring in some photography, these prints are pretty rad, and right up my alley. I only wish we had approximately 2,000 more feet of wall space in our tiny abode.

A FEW THINGS

I love everything about this entry, but in particular that door, simple, modern, and unique.

If we end up going with a shower instead of a tub in the eventual bathroom remodel,  I really want to make a wood slat floor happen.

I'm determined to find a spot in our house for a hanging chair....

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MOBILES BY FORT MAKERS

Perfect for the hipster baby in your life.

found at fort makers

RUGGED

I'm realizing I have a thing for rugs. Which is sort of a bummer because we have like 3 rooms in our house (including the living room) so there is only so much rug action that can happen. West Elm currently is having a sale, and I'm finding myself searching the house for a rug opportunity I have yet to discover. Here are some favorites.

Also, hi I'm alive and haven't updated the 'ol blog in a GRIP. More to come when the weather turns to shit and I'm not outside enjoying it but inside in front of a computer.

PENDANT PERFECTION

I have found it.

via Allied Marker

CURRENTLY COVETING : JUNE

I'm going to blame it on the change in seasons, but all I've wanted to do lately is buy things, and being able to purchase just about anything online is proving to be dangerous.

And yes, that's a pillow with painted boobs on it. I think it's hysterical. Conversation piece anyone?


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WHAT THE COOL KIDS ARE READING

If you're looking to step up your coffee table book game, these magazines are sure to do the trick. Human Being (#3) will be adorning mine shortly.

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FORT STANDARD

I'm quite late on the game with this one, as I've seen bits and pieces of this lovely store floating around the interwebs for a while, but whatever. The first thing that caught my eye in this shop was the trivet. I feel like an adult having trivets around, as it constitutes that I have a nice enough surfaces that I must protect, which is ironic because at the moment I really don't. Our countertops are going to be ripped out, and our dining room table is a Value Village find. BUT someday, we will have beautiful handmade butcher block countertops, and a real life dining room table. One day.

But back to the trivet, am I getting a little overboard with the geometry in our house? Probably, but I don't care, because I don't think clean lines ever go out of style. Will has yet to put the kaibash on any of it, though he did call me latest creation a 'hipster dream catcher' but that's kinda fair. ANYWAY, marble is starting to really grow on me, particularly in small doses, as has brass and copper, so as you can imagine, there is a lot to love in this little shop. I mean that's got to be the prettiest little bottle opener, right? Oh and a triangle cutting board? Sold.

HANG 'ER UP

It's amazing just how many small projects I have going on in my head at the moment. So many that I completely forget about them until something comes along on the world wide web that suddenly jolts me into that project again. These beautiful little hooks are just that. We have hooks hanging in our hallway, which are pretty basic, and probably something you wouldn't even look twice at. Which is of course why I want to swap them out - and not with just anything, no no. I have to find beautiful handmade, teak, hooks that are $15 a pop. They also have an awesome guitar hook, which is something I've been wanting to exist for a while, and might just have to order as well.

Check out this lovely store here, they also have great lighting, which actually how I found it in the first place.

 

 

FLOOR LAMP CONUNDRUM

I've been searching for an annoyingly long time for a lamp for the living room. With so man things in our house, patience has paid off and we've found great deals, weather that be at a thrift store, garage sale, etc., but not in the lamp department. I've been hunting around for an awesome vintage one and no luck. I'm starting to realize sometimes you just have to buck up and pay full price for something and get on with it. Now that I've come to terms with that I of course can't decide which I like best...

Alright let's be honest I like the west elm one the best, and it's of course the most expensive. I haven't come to terms with spending that much on a damn lamp yet, and probably never will. I'm thinking world market is where it's at, though it doesn't come with the shade, which is slightly irritating, but oh well. 

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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!

 

updates! other exciting things!

So many things are happening! Alright, well actually just one giant, 30 year long thing.. a house! We're just finishing up the home buying process, and I can't wait to share some pictures, and of course, cannot wait to start working on it. Not that it needs a ton of work to be livable, but cosmetically it needs love. The thing I'm most excited to tackle is the kitchen, and hopefully it will be our first project. I'll have tons more to share in the near future, but for now I thought I would share some inspiration...

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A LITTLE CATCHING UP

This actually makes it looks like I've been lounging all summer without a care in the world. While I've done my fair share of lounging (we do have a boat after all) this has been the summer of being insanely busy. Not that that's a bad thing, but as most of you know I spend my year waiting for the Seattle summer, and I wish it wasn't going by so fast. It's hands down the nicest time here in the PNW, and Seattle might just be the greatest summer city.

So, what the hell have I been doing? Well there have been various music festivals (Pickathon last weekend, Doe Bay Fest this weekend), there have been cabin trips, boat trips, catching up on reading and taking evening walks, but the biggest thing that's been occupying us (mentally mostly, to be honest) is we're buying a house! Now we haven't found said house yet, but we're deep in the process and hunting like mad.

If there's one thing I've learned so far, we watch too much f-ing HGTV. To my shock and awe, you don't find 3 perfect homes and discuss over margaritas which one is the one. In reality, you look at 5 shitty houses and realize you need to either win the lotto or start thinking realistically. We don't have our heads in the clouds by any means, and are looking for something to fix up, but it turns out in August nobody is interested in putting their house on the market. Seriously, nobody. Everyone is getting a tan and catching up on their reading list. I mean who does that??

We will find something awesome though, I'm sure of it, I just have to be patient, (Yes, I have to, Will is cool and a goddamn cucumber) and trust that the right thing will come along. And when it does, there will plenty of blog updates, and much less radio silence. Until then, I'm going to go enjoy a lovely weekend on Orcas Island with our wonderful friends and soak up this summer.