PROCESS : 19TH & MERCER

I realized though I share a lot of completed work, I rarely share the process, and though this logo was completed several months ago, I thought it would be a good one to start with. 19th & Mercer is one of the more beautiful pieces of architecture I've branded, it's a high end building, very Northwest modern design, and they wanted a brand that felt simple yet sophisticated. They ended up choosing #1, which I was quite happy about, but I did think there were some other nice options. It was decided the font was slightly too playful on #2, but it's still one of my favorites.

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.

TWO BEERS : SINGLE HOP

I just realized I've yet to share an awesome new project, Two Beers Brewing recently launched their single hop, single farm series, and as it's a specialty beer we got to go a bit outside the brand and create something really modern and fun. The beer is also awesome, it's hands down one of the smoothest IPA's I've had, I highly recommend it. Not sure when it'll be in stores but it's available in their tasting room, The Woods.

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. 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

COLD CABIN TRIPS

They're good for the soul.

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.