Happy Thanksgiving

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Daniel and I are spending this holiday making an inappropriately sized dinner for two and loving it. Hope your day is just as wonderful however you spend it.

Cheers!

I Hate it, Paint it.

Daniel and I have a decorating rule that says I can try anything I want as long as I am willing to change it if he doesn't like it. Until now, I've won him over with every design idea I've had. Not so much this one.

When we painted the bedroom I decided it was time to paint the hall between the bedroom and Library as well. It's a silly hall that eventually will be gone (I want to pull the bathroom out in to the space and have a Jack and Jill bathroom between the Master and the Library. Here it is in all it's lavender glory.

Since we got rid of the door from the kitchen (see the patch?) it needed some updating. I figured, I'll paint it the same color as the bedroom but half the tint. I figured that would be a lighter version of the bedroom and would make a nice transition. Well, either the paint guy screwed up or I don't understand paint because what I got was not exactly what I was expecting.

It ended up a bit darker but I thought it was fabulous! Daniel's first thought? Apparently it made him feel like he was in a cave. **sigh** A deal's a deal, so we went out and bought another gallon of paint. Martha's Morning Mist. 

Score one for compromise! (sorry for the inconsistent photos, the hall is an odd angle to shoot)

Anyone else compromising lately? I still like the darker color better but I'd rather have something we both like that something I love and he hated.

Cheers!

Have I Shown You...

My reading nook?

It cozies up to the fireplace nicely.

It is in no way finished though. I'd still like to reupholster the chair in a plush velvet and DIY a new footstool (that one is too tall for the chair) but it sure is nice to have a place to sit close to the fire. As you can see I'm pretty fixated on the living room. As things get darker it is nice to feel like our home is cozy. What is that you are saying about finishing the kitchen? Oh, that. I'll get to that one of these days. For now, I'm going to cozy up in my nook.

Cheers!

PS I've been working on slowly updating the house tour page. Some of it is still out of date but it is much closer to how things are really looking around here.

VITTSJÖ Hack

Daniel and I have what I think of as an unorthodox way of decorating. We tend to sit on ideas for a long time only to radically change plans and then go on a shopping spree. It sounds crazy but it actually works for us.

This is the story of my ever evolving living room.

It started out like a normal weekend. We made a list of things we wanted to work on and settled in to our plans only to find ourselves taking an impromptu Ikea trip and spending the day making this.

This hack was quite literally that.  We started out with this shelving unit (x3) and took some measurements.

See too tall. So we got out the trusty hacksaw and got to work (though the hacksaw was later abandoned for the multi-max for the sake of our arms).

Many many hours later we had successfully modified and built our shelves. We decided to cut down from the top (leaving that little half shelf) because it required the least changes to the overall structure of the unit.

Then I got to move all my books up from the office and style (probably my favorite part). The giraffe helped.

I love this little vignette. My thrift store Asian art and wooden bird cage (i'll show you how I put that together later), the cute little pig from my childhood and my favorite pictures of my parents.

Here's the view from a bit further back. I don't know how I want the seating arranged so that will probably change.

The living room has been my biggest design dilemma because it is so long and narrow with the front door dumping in to one side and the dining room cut out of the other. It is rarely used and so has until now been sparsely furnished. Now I actually like sitting in there! There is still much more to be done but we are making little tweaks at a time. I've already tackled the nook by the fireplace and have some ideas for seating so there is more to come!

Cheers!

In My Heart

I've been wanting to do something like this ever since we moved in.

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I've seen heart collages done so many ways but I never could quite decide on what I wanted or where. Now that the bedroom is finally coming together I had a nice big blank wall to work with I figured, what the heck.

What was once the spot for my mirror is now home to an ever changing art installation. 

Now every night I get to roll over and see the last ten years of my life in pictures. Everything from our first date in 2003 (the one with chopsticks) to our trip to Mexico this year. 

I'm still on the fence about putting them in frames (so far they are stuck to the wall with that sticky stuff you used to hang posters in college). I like that it is more informal and can change but frames might define it better. Things are always changing around here so we will see what happens. For now, it's perfect. 

Yay for free art! 

Cheers!

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The Shabby Nest

Bedroom Progress

We started this weekend with all sorts of plans to finish up a few projects we have been working on around here but in grand Keller fashion we decided to go to Ikea instead and start a new project that wasn't even on our radar. I know, crazy. Of course, since we decided this Saturday night I'm still putting the finishing touches on things so I thought I'd show you something we did ages ago.

Remember when we were rushing to get things done for our house inspection way back? Well part of that was giving it a paint job. That's right, I've been sitting on a Before and After for months. Bear with me folks.

Here's the bedroom right after we cleaned everything out back in July.

You can see our finished corner that we bumped out in the kitchen processes giving us a nice square room instead of a silly L-shaped one.

 My mustard dresser really clashed with those lavender walls.

Obviously we needed to paint to make it look less half done so we tried something new. Since time was of the essence we decided we would just go to the store, pick paint, and then come home and paint. No swatches, no thinking, just go with our gut instinct.

Here's how it turned out.

We ended up going with Behr's Slate Green. Which is surprisingly not very green.

I also finally splurged and got a full length mirror. Can you believe I've gone a year and half without one? I've been so happy to be able to see my see my shoes and shirt at the same time (silly I know, but it is the little things)

I'm not sure if the light is staying. It actually doesn't clash as much as I thought it would but I am still on the fence (Daniel loves it so it may take an act of God to change it).

Daniel's side of the bed.

My side of the bed. As you can see I get the dog. I've got ideas for how to hide the dog bed though. I'll keep you updated if I ever get around to it.

 You can see we have the trim up but I need to put one more coat of paint on it. I also need to paint those doors.

There you have it, a long over due reveal. Has anyone else just picked random colors and gone with it? So far it is working out for us.

Rock & Roll!

Last weekend was a doozy. We flew home, visited parents, got sick and ran a half marathon. For me, that is a HUGE accomplishment (the running, not the getting sick). One year ago I got all hot and bothered if I had to run more than 1 mile.

Somehow, I got suckered in to doing this race. Obviously I roped Daniel and my mother in to doing it too which of course meant training (Daniel is never one to do things half way). Daniel was already a runner, but I had to start from the beginning. In April I started with the Couch to 5K. Let me just say this app is great. It tells you when to start, stop, and gives words of encouragement as you go. It is an 8 week program, but if you are serious, by the end you can run. After that we picked a Half Marathon schedule that worked for our time frame and got going. There were definitely ups and downs but I'm glad we stuck to our guns.

Since I had never done a race like this before I was amazed at how big it was. There was probably close to 8,000 people with us (including Will Ferrell). It was a little frightening but fun. The race route took us around the LA Colosseum and up to the 6th street bridge.

Here we are before the race

and after

I swear, Daniel didn't even break a sweat. Me? I was just happy I finished.

We finished in just over 2:27 which I thought was a great time (though Daniel thinks he could have gone faster) and I am happy to say I will never do another one. Not that I wont keep running, I just never want to run that far again.

I highly encourage anyone who wants to start running to do the Couch to 5K program. As for more than that? I leave that up to you.

Any other crazy people out there running marathons? Did you do more than one? My friend ran the race with us too and she was on her 11th for the year (can you say crazy?)

Cheers!

Happy Halloween!!

And a big Happy Birthday to my Dad! We had a great time seeing everyone this past weekend (more on that to come)! I just wish we got to visit more!

The Lamp Post Exhibit at the LACMA

When Winter Comes

You can't have too much light! One of the only things I don't love about Seattle is the darkness. Winter is ramping up here and the darkness is closing in. For those of you unfamiliar with the Northern latitudes this means that in the dead of winter the sun rises at 7:55 am and sets at 4:21 pm giving us all of 8 hours of daylight. I know others have it worse but sheesh!

End rant.

The point is, we can use all of the light we can get. This one, in particular, is all about the kitchen (though I'm still pretty smitten with our new Dining room light). With the new layout the end of the kitchen by the door wasn't getting enough light. It's been something we have been planning on fixing for a while now (like since this July 9th post) and we finally got it done.

Here's our little nook with it's brand new light.

Amazon still offers it for a mere $43.29, such a steal! It compliments the light over the sink as well as the track lighting we put in perfectly. All, in all, I'm a happy camper.

In other kitchen news. We finally started installing the rest of our molding in the kitchen.

 It still needs a few touch ups and some caulk but we are rounding the bend on the last few minute details. I'll tell you all about our process and plans when we get it finished. Until then!

Cheers!

Dining Room Bling

I love my little chandelier but I have always dreamed of something more. Something like this in fact.

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Every time I'm out and about I always swing by my local ReStore hoping to get lucky. I've seen a few but they are always sold by the time I get to them. Not this time. I jumped on that baby and now she is mine.

What do you think?

It was really heavy so we thought we'd let it hang for a while with some pillows underneath just in case it fell. 

Norman thought we were making the floor particularly comfortable just for him. In the end we abandoned the pillows and trusted that we used the right hardware. So far thing thing is staying up.

Here are some close up shots.

I love the pineapples.  Apparently they are a symbol of hospitality so you should all feel very welcome looking at my dining room. 

It adds such a nice presence to the room. I also got the chance to finally get a picture of our dining room rug.

$40 at Goodwill. Don't you just love that place? It is in really good shape and the colors are just right for the house. 

My mind is whirling on all of the seating options that might work better though so this room still needs some loving before it is complete.

Anyone else stumble upon something wonderful? I just learned we have HomeGoods in our state so Daniel might have cause to be afraid.

Cheers!

It's Pumpkin Patch Time!

This has been one of my favorite traditions since moving to Seattle. There is just something inherently amazing about stomping through a muddy field hunting for that perfect pumpkin. Carlton Farms did not disappoint.

It took forever, but I found the perfect one.

My little pumpkin baby...

Little did it know it was going to soon become a gruesome monster.

Obligatory fire shot.

We just plopped down in front of our fire and carved away. I just love how they glow.

Spooky!

I also finally bit the bullet and cleaned up the office. Remember this?

Much better now.

Of course no matter what you are cleaning you always end up finding something and starting a new project right? I took some pinspiration from this picture and created a little card for Daniel using the scrap paper I had in the closet.

My monster brings flowers. How cute is that?

Anyone else love fall? The leaves are falling and everything just smells good. I think this just may be my favorite time of year.

Cheers!