patience

We've been in our home for a little over two years now.  I started getting the itch again.  The thing is I haven't lived  anywhere longer than two years since I left for college.  Between dorms and apartments life was broken up in 1 year here, a two year lease here, always moving on.  Now we are in our own home and logic tells me that I should be content to stay put for a while...   but the itch is there anyway.  I saw a house the other week that was on a really unique private lot.  It needed lots of work.  I even went so far as to look at it with a realtor and discovered it needed waaaaay more work than we were capable of so I let it go.  But the seed was planted...

I'm not a terribly patient person.  I'm more of an instant gratification gal.  If I want something (within reason and budget, we are not talking ponies and sports cars) I generally find a way to make it or buy it or fudge something enough so it does the trick for a while.

Houses need patience.  Unless you are one of the rare few with a tremendous budget and the ability to buy or build just the house you want it takes time.  You either settle for something as we did and work to transform it as best you can or you save and save and save for as long as you can stand it so you can get what you want, or at least close.

A house I day dream of looks like this

Source: bhg.com via Emily on Pinterest

or this

Source: bhg.com via Jill on Pinterest

but our home looks like this

Don't mind the hose running across the front walk.  I'm trying to keep the lawn green in this ungodly heat.

I'd like a back yard that looks more like this

Source: theattiasgroup.com via The Attias Group on Pinterest

We have a cute little yard but large and private it is not.  Not that I'm really unhappy with our little home.  In fact when I look at that picture I think our home looks rather sweet.  We've done a fair amount of sprucing and gardening to get it that way.  It has been good to us but the plan is for it to be a starter home so our time here will be limited.  It wasn't intended to be limited to 2 years of course... If the location were a bit better we'd probably stay and work to transform it into the cape cod style home I'd love.  We will have to move on though and I don't know when that will be.  I'm sort of half heartedly looking around now with the knowledge that what we'd like doesn't exist in our budget.  Even something that we could transform into what we'd like isn't really in our budget, at least not on a good lot, or in a better school district.

I have to be patient because as my Mom reminded me yesterday something will happen.  It always does.  This house was there for us and really was the perfect answer at the time.  Something else will happen, when and what and how we don't know.  Such is life I guess.   

My good friend and I often talk about how our husbands get irritated when we talk about our "next houses".  Why can't you just be happy now, they ask?  It is our nature and maybe most women's nature to keep thinking ahead.  What will be the next step?  Where will we be?  It isn't good to do too much of that, I know. 

Our best bet is probably to stay put for a while longer.  Keep saving and thinking and the next step will come.  I just have to remember to be patient and to look around and enjoy the now.  Enjoy the work we've done and just live for a while rather than rushing on.

Patience, patience....

garden bed

We had talked about making a raised garden bed for our yard.  My husband came up with a rough plan and off to Home Depot he went on Saturday.  He came home with this from the outdoor wood section.

 a 4"x4" and some 1"x5 1/2"s

He decided 3'x6' would be a good size and I agreed.  That way we could surround it with wire mesh to keep the plethora of bunnies who like to chill in our yard out but I could still easily access everything from the perimeter.

The 4"x4" got cut in 4 equal lengths of 14" 

and the 1"x5 1/2"s were cut so we had four pieces 3' long and 4 pieces 6" long

 

Then it was time to screw the boards into the 4"x4".  The plan was that there would be a few inches of the 4"x4" sticking out so that we could sink it into the ground for extra stability.

Moving right along.  Olive is overseeing the project.  She is a master carpenter.  

Here it is placed in the yard before the holes were dug for the 4"x4"s.

Dig, Dig, Dig and in it goes

and one more with my ominous shadow...

 

I'm so excited thinking about what to plant.  Tomatoes for sure, cucumbers, zucchini maybe?  This was a simple project even for us and we don't have the best of tools or building know how.  Just pick a size and go to it!

I had some leftover dill from a recipe I'll share with you tomorrow and I mixed it up in some tuna salad for lunch.  It was delicious!  My little one wasn't convinced but I happily ate his sandwich too.  Try it!

I'd love it if you'd follow me via GFC or linky followers!

Not Just a Housewife 

Savvy Southern Style 

Uncommonly Yours 

Its Overflowing 

The Shady Porch

Delightful Order 

French Country cottage 

weekend happenings

Did you have a good weekend?

My husband got some of this

and did this

It's a raised garden bed!  I'll be back with more info on it tomorrow and a picture of it completed in the yard!

I spent lots of time in here

and it looked more like this

but it was well worth it because my dear friend taught me how to make this

into this

Ok well she pretty much did it but she did show me how so theoretically I could do this now...  hopefully.

I also made this

and we watched some of this

I love Emma Stone, she is adorable and that dress is lovely.  I lost our annual Oscar bet which is as much a tradition as watching the awards at this point.

I'll be back this week with more details of what I did in here

and what my husband did with this

Happy Monday!

Blue and White and striped all over

I am getting ready to purchase this shirt from LL Bean

LL Bean

I've already got one.  I've worn it non stop for 2 years and it washes really well.  This will bring my blue striped shirt total up to 5.  That is in addition to 2 blue striped dresses.  What is it about a blue stripe, particularly navy blue that I can't get enough of?

They just look so crisp and clean to me.  Relaxed yet polished.  Casual but chic.  I love me some stripes and now I've been thinking about getting some navy stripes in the house too.


Like on the floor...

Country Living

or the windows...

Trapped in North Jersey

or the bed...

The Lennoxx

Which got me thinking that the guest room would love some stripes I think.  How about navy and white with that green color on the walls?  Could be wonderful I think!

How did this happen?  I was just ordering a shirt.  Why don't I go paint that door in the guest room that clearly needs another coat of paint. 

Home Goals 2012

While driving home from seeing family for the holidays I asked my husband what was on "the list" for 2012.  Now truth be told the list will change many times over and priorities will shift.  It is just my way.  One day I will be consumed with a solution for something in the house and the next day it seems minor and it slips to the bottom of the list.  So it goes!  Here are the major players:

1.  Back splash for the kitchen.  The tile and grout have been purchased and it may actually happen this week.  Cross your fingers please!

2.  Replacing the kitchen baker's rack with some permanent cabinetry of some kind.  Tricky because it has to be custom but we are hopeful that we can do it in a cost effective manor.

3.  So very much trim has to be painted and all the doors too.  Ugh.  Lots of the trim in our house is still this icky off white that you see below, bleck!

4.  Sun porch needs some sprucing.  The floor should be power washed, painted and covered in a lovely outdoor rug.  Maybe some lanterns as well?

5.  Landscaping in the back yard and the front.  More bushes, flowers, another tree, more green!  Maybe a little vegetable garden!

via this old house

6.  Deal with the metal mini blinds in the living, dining, master and guest bedrooms.  I don't like their look but they function well.  Maybe faux wood blinds in their place?   Something like these with a nice cornice piece at the top.

via

 7.  Work on making this house work for us.  Our house is on the small side but the truth of the matter is there is more than enough room.  The more we can fine tune the way we live in our little house the happier we'll be.  We might have to be creative and resourceful but this is and can continue to be a great home for us.

8.  Organize but remember that it is not my nature to be VERY organized.  I am tidy but I pile things and the best thing I can do is to allow myself to pile things up but have baskets, bins and drawers so I can stash things out of sight.  Realistic expectations are key!

via country living

9.  Replace this folding bookshelf that I distressed (painted with one coat of white paint then got bored) with a buffet or something more dining room appropriate to increase storage and look better!

10.  ENJOY IT ALL!  I do love our little house despite frustrations with some parts.  I get a ton of joy out of thinking about and eventually carrying out all the changes we make.  It is a hobby, a passion and a source of pride for me. 

11.  Because this one goes to Eleven!  A more personal one that I'm sharing at the impossibility challenge  is to draw.  I don't do it much and when I do it is to give as a gift or use in a specific way.  Making art used to be a bigger part of my life and  now I never draw to just enjoy drawing which is a real shame.  So this year I shall draw and it can be the tiniest silliest little drawing on the back of a target receipt.  I'm counting any little doodle but I'm going to get that pencil moving again.

There you have it.  More than enough to keep us busy I'd say.  I'll be keeping you posted on our progress of course!  Cheers to 2012!

linking up to The Nester

and we're off!

Happy 2012!  It's back to life as usual around here so I got right to work on project number one.  Remember this table?

I had big plans to mix of some homemade chalk paint with this.

I read up on a bunch of other people's experiences with homemade chalk paint and found some interesting consistency issues.  Someone said it resembled painting with lumpy pancake batter.  Whaaaat?  Well, turns out that was exactly what it was like but strangely when the lumpy mess you've mixed up hits the furniture it smooths out rather quickly.  The lumps are gone and it adheres really well without any sanding or priming which as far as I'm concerned is a miracle!

I couldn't find any really specific ratios for mixing aside from a 1 part plaster of paris to 2 parts paint.  So I mixed one part plaster of paris to one part paint first and got it as smooth as I could and then mixed in the other part of paint.  I got to work quickly because it does stiffen up and I kept stirring as I worked.  I even added a little water when I was nearing the end to loosen it up again.  Two coats did the trick.  I sanded a little around the edges to distress it and a bit on the top where I was a little sloppy with my strokes.  Everything I read said that Annie Sloan's wax is far superior to any furniture wax you can buy but I opted for a $9.00 can of minwax and it worked just fine.

So, with a $6.00 container of plaster of paris, a $9.00 can of minwax and some Behr paint samples I had left from our bedroom I transformed that table to this.

distressed detail

It's a very pretty soft grey.  I'd say my first homemade chalk paint adventure went well.  I am always trying to figure out a way around priming and sanding and this let me skip those steps with a clear conscious. The distressed look I wanted allowed me to be pretty relaxed about painting since I was going for an aged and imperfect look anyway! 

My little desk for the bedroom is up next and I'm walking around the house sizing up other furniture victims to paint as we speak.

linking up to It's Overflowing 
and Delightful Order
and Creation Corner
The Shabby Nest
Tatertots and Jello
At The Picket Fence

What was old is... still old! We like it that way.

How was your Christmas?  Ours was lovely.

We are enjoying some quiet family time and we went through some great old photos.  I was glad to find the one below of my older brother in his room when he was about four.  Isn't he cute?

Look at that green wall and that animal wallpaper.  I'd gladly decorate a child's room just the same now, minus the shag carpet perhaps : )  See that little dresser to the right there?  That dresser was purchased for my brother's room when he was a baby with a little help from my Dad's parents.  When my brother got his "big boy" furniture I had that dresser in my room for years.  When I picked out my first real bedroom set at six with a white canopy bed of course, that dresser went on to live in the guest rooms of my parents homes.  It got a knob change once or twice but that was it.  This summer I talked about wanting a dresser for our little one's room and my Mom offered it to me.  I gladly took it and here it is now.    

I thought at first I'd change the knobs but those old jenny lind style handles are sweet.  I never even considered painting it, I'm not sure why.  The pieces that I talked about here really scream out for paint to me.

The dresser doesn't.   Maybe because it's always been around in my home, even before I was.  Sometimes its nice to freshen up an old piece and sometimes its nice to just keep it as it is.  Especially when it holds a bit of your history. 

Hope your holiday was wonderful.  I'm going to get back to my family and have a cookie I think!

the shuffle

Do you ever start the day with your room like this

and end the day with it like this?

This is what I've been up to today.  It's all still shaking out and getting settled.  I have been thinking about doing this for a while but for whatever reason mid-morning today I decided it was time and proceeded to drag all the furniture around.   I should mention this is learned behavior from my Mom who once dragged two Queen Anne chairs up the stairs by herself while we were at school because she wanted to see what they'd look like up there. 

I used the jam a towel under the dressers then drag them across the floor while moaning and groaning and hoping you don't scratch the wood floors method.  Mostly successful.  I'll be back with more photos of our newly improved and rearranged master bedroom. 

Feeling all Christmassy

This morning I opened the front door and saw this.

The sun was pouring in and my front door with its swag looked so pretty.  I have always loved the holiday season and this has been a wonderful one.  We went to chop down our own Christmas tree for the first time.

 I've really enjoyed decorating for the holidays this year.  As our house has come together more and more I've had a better sense of what I wanted to add for our Christmas decor and the house feels so cozy.  I'm afraid I'll be talking myself into leaving them up as long as possible.  I've already been thinking about how I could maybe leave some of them up as "winter" decor for a while. 

We have been able to get together with friends and family to celebrate.   Look at these cookies my amazing friend made this weekend.

Now look closer at those snowflakes.  No two are the same, she is just incredible!

Now we've got less than a week until Christmas.  I've got just a few things left to do and we are really looking forward to having time with family.  Our little guy is just old enough to happily point out Santa and although he knows what a present is and is happy to receive them he is more than happy to hand them out as well.  I'm imagining some serious shock and delight on Christmas morning when he sees what Santa has brought him.  Watching him will be the best gift we could get. 

Hope everyone has been enjoying this season and you are done with your to do list or nearly there!

You are due some house tour this week so I'll get to work and give you another room or two.  Happy Monday before Christmas!

bulking up for winter

My Grandfather was a really talented artist.  I'm lucky enough to have quite a few pieces of his artwork in our home.  He did these lovely ballet prints for the Lord & Taylor Christmas card many years ago, isn't that neat?  I have four of them in our dining room and I threw them in cheap black metal frames that I had spray painted white but they looked a little well, too little!

Today at Michaels I found some slightly more substantial frames for buy one get one free and they were $7.99!  So I popped them in the new frames.

Isn't that better?  I was originally thinking silver frames would be nice but these white ones couldn't be passed up.  Check back for more House Tour.  The dining room where these ballet prints live is next!