Before & after: The Breakfast Nook

before..

during...

after...

There it is. One finished breakfast, lunch and dinner nook.

The stuff

Textiles

Pillows - Dwell Studio Gate Charcoal {found on Amazon for 1/2 price)

Pillows - Clearance Anthropolgie curtain panel repurposed, found at Liquid Marin

Bench - Subrella Indoor/Outdoor Upholstery in Green, found at Discount Fabrics

Table

Base - Simon X Table Base, found at Pier 1

Top - Plywood from local hardware store

Covering - Plexi vinyl in soft white, found at Joanne's

Light fixture

Pulley Pendant Lamp at CB2

A visit to Heath

Just look at the color.
  

Even when something doesn't seem to fit in your budget, consider it anyway. There are back splashes and trim and accent pieces. The trick is to know how to marry commercial grade materials with hand-made crafts pieces, like any of these tiles from Heath Ceramics.

I came home with a handful of samples but what I wanted to come home with was a number 1 and a number 2. Because seriously, these house tiles, are the best that I have seen.

Will have to wait until we actually remodel the front gate and entry way, but these will be coming home.

Clean, fresh and fast

The home inspector said something like "inadequate laundry facility" in his report. You think?

A 30 year old washing machine, a mini "condensation" dryer (that means not having a vent in case you had never heard of one", a burnt electrical outlet and oak shutter doors that closed sometimes. We knew this would need to be one of the projects we tackled quickly so off we went to look at small capacity washer and dryers. 

Here was the big issue: the location of this "laundry room" is in a place that will be torn down and remodeled within the next 12 months, so we needed a temporary yet practical solution. Out went the Mieles and the LG Grand front loading sets in Cherry Red. In came a stackable, used Maytag Neptune stacked work horse, that I found on Craigslist for $799.

A newly installed vent, a new 220V 3 prong plug and 2 new water valves, and we are up and running! And really, although the 3 weeks of wash'n'fold (and delivery service) were kind of dreamy, I never could have thought that washing four utility towels and folding them myself could make me smile the way it did this morning.

And as for our used Maytag, well, the towels are clean, smell super fresh and the cycles are fast. What else should laundry be.

White dishes

I have been dreaming of new everyday dishes.

Mostly I have been dreaming of new dishes from Heath Ceramics, but the voice of practical parenthood says no way in hell. 

There is a fine line between not abandoning one's appreciation for beautiful things when parenthood arrives and buying all plastic, but I have realized that care taking precious things or worrying about "stuff" in not one of the battles I wish to pursue. I was reminded of the importance of this when I found the nugget had almost artistically emptied a half full Brita onto the cushions of our couch. I didn't freak, I didn't even get mad. I simply said, "Thank goodness we have an old IKEA couch" and then I gently talked to him about water not belonging on furniture and then gave him a towel to clean it up.

And now, I think I am headed to IKEA for some new white dishes.

{found on pinterest}

buying #12

they all said don't do it. well not all, but a few seasoned professionals who know what they are doing gave fair warning about buying this house. in fact one local pioneer in home renovation (and neighbor now) clearly stated, "unless you have $500K, full time childcare and lots of extra time, keep looking."

well, we didn't listen and we stopped looking.

we didn't listen because for some reason we (my husband and i)  believed and still believe that we can simplify and update this house, on a really tight budget and end up with a great house in a great location.

it seems a bit contradictory to buy a 2700+ square foot house on a 7000+ square lot and want to simplify. in fact, as i write this, i smile and wonder who are we really kidding.

but there in lies the reason for this blog - it's the platform where i can tend to these contradictions, find answers to my questions and hopefully at the end have had a little fun. even though the newest addition to my wallet is a rewards card from Home Depot, my young sons know our local Ace Hardware better than the playground and we had more packages delivered in the first 3 months of living in this house than in the last 5 years, we have a life goal of simplifying and living with less.

and it starts with #12.

Painting his new room

Taking DIY to a whole new level.

It's official

84. Own a fixer-upper and project manage the renovation

There it is. In black and white. On my 100 list. Guess you should be careful what you wish for.

With one visit to an open house now about 8 weeks ago, several hours on the phone learning about points and underwriters and more inspection reports than I have ever read in my entire life, that one statement that felt like a "someday when I grow up" dream just turned into a reality.

Yup, we are home owners. Real, adult, have-a-house-that-could-use-some-work-home-owners. And I think, I am totally excited. Scratch that, I am totally excited.

I am totally excited because I have files of how to's and best practices that I have been collecting for years. I am totally excited because I have a "Dream" notebook that I started in my 20's with magazine clippings and inspiring home ideas. I am totally excited because amidst deciding between stainless or brushed nickel, unexpected dry rot and mis-measured custom cabinetry, there is nothing better than standing on the other side of the process and seeing a space, well done. I am totally excited because we, this family, is going to do this together.

And by family I should say, growing family, as I am 6 months pregnant. So nesting or to be exact, re-nesting, has taken on a whole new meaning. It means feeling uprooted and overwhelmed and tired more in the next 3 months than I had planned. It means asking for help and not doing it myself. But it also means, settling in, slowing down and getting ready to hibernate, just in time for Winter with a tiny new babe. But early on a Sunday morning {when I actually wrote this post} when all in this rented house are still asleep, I am quietly celebrating the own part of item 84 and letting the project manage the renovation part unfold as it may.

Summer hiatus

I am going on a summer hiatus.

To re-group, re-prioritize and re-think, about what I want, what I want to do and how I want to spend my time.

See you sometime soon...


Image: Source unknown

5 years ago, today

2 1/2 days, 75 guests, 2 outdoor showers, one pair of vintage red cowboy boots, a groom's missing pants, a recycled wedding dress and the most generous circle of friends...

Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

Months after our wedding weekend, I realized that the three days of celebration that became our wedding were actually a snapshot of how we aspire to live, everyday:

Consciously
Aware of our environmental, retail, food and health choices.

Communally
In close relationship to family + friends, working collaboratively and in alignment with the individual talents and gifts we all posses.

Simply
In thought, in communication, in relationship, in lifestyle and in relationship to nature.

It was easy to live this way at Wilbur but only possible because our friends and family went above and beyond to help execute our vision. I don't actually think we can say thank you enough for the labors of love that we witnessed.

Wilbur Hot Springs is one of the places that you find, that you hold dear to your heart and keep as a place to return to, over and over. It is a place in which I remember spending three days with the people that I like most in the whole entire world, saying "yes" to the man who still manages to make me laugh like no other, wearing my red cowboy boots and being utterly and totally myself.

It was a perfectly, imperfect wedding. And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

You can see our friend Kurt's wonderful photos of the weekend here

You read more about our wedding at Wilbur here.

A new way of seeing

We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training,

in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and

sustain a new way of seeing.

Jack Kornfield

22 May
from Offerings: Buddhist wisdom for everyday
photo taken at Angkor Wat, Cambodia : 2008 : with my own little camera

Re-prioritizing

Image found here

I sent an email to my friend Kendra last week.

I got an auto-response that said this:

Thank you for your email!

Please be aware that, in order to prioritize being Trent's mama, I only check email sporadically.

If you need a quicker response, please call me.

Thank You!
Kendra

Brilliant, I thought, just brilliant.

Since returning from 5 days in silence and a rejuvenating vacation in the sun, I have been acutely aware of the distraction of email and information overload, which is not helped by the sassy little device know as the iPhone. Always on, always available, always telling me how many emails are waiting to be read.

So, I am re-prioritizing.

I just don't know exactly what that means yet.