Covering Up

When we upgraded our door hardware there was just one thing that got left behind.

That ugly brass deadbolt was a bit of an eyesore. To top it off, there was no key to it (the house had five different deadbolts and one key when we moved in) so if you locked it there was no way in without unlocking it from the inside. As you can imagine, that caused some problems. 

So here is a nice little before and after for you (I'm full of them right now aren't I)

Before

After

Not bad right? Obviously there was a huge hole in the door when I removed the deadbolt but never fear, Home Depot is here! The cover only came in brass which wouldn't have been any better than what I had but that's nothing a coat a ORB can't fix right?

The idea is simple. They are just metal plates that attach through the door (I threw the package out before I took a picture so this is the closest I could find). Like so

Here it is installed from the other side

Simple easy and done. Besides waiting for the paint to dry the whole project took around 5 minutes and about $5 (I already had the paint). Maybe one day we will get a new door but I rather like this one, so for now, this is perfect. 

Who doesn't love an easy fix? 

Cheers!

Cooking on Display

Ever find yourself in a cooking rut? I find that between trying to stay on budget and trying to eat well I end up cooking the same four dishes all week. Turkey tacos, tortilla soup, quiche/ fritatta, and Schezwan green beans to be exact. Usually there is some roast veggie mixture thrown in there too. All tasty but very rarely different.

And yet, I have a ridiculous number of cook books. Cook books I've used, full of recipes I love. So I started thinking (since we have been moving the kitchen around), why don't I use them more often? That's when it hit me, I don't even know where they are. After a bit of searching I found them on a bookshelf down in the office (which you may remember the state of) and brought them up. At first they lived on my open shelving

It was better but I still didn't find myself just idly flipping through them like I used to. It got me thinking...

I had pinned this inspiration pic a while back from the Ikea catalog

but was always worried about how well the books would stay on the shelf. That's when I stumbled on this post from 6th Street Design School and thought, perfect! (and how cute for a kid's reading nook).

They are deep and clear (so no visual space) and kind of funky and modern (which is fun). I knew just the wall for them.

Before

After

Unadorned. You can barely see them.

Full!

I just fit all of my books but there is still room to add another shelf above.

See how little space they take up? Perfect!

I love how fun and bright they are. Like they are floating there just waiting to be used. I've already cooked three new recipes out of my Organic book and loved them! I ordered two 30" and one 24" from Clear Solutions to make the space look even. So far they are holding everything up great. I did end up having to put an extra screw in the middle of the shelves to support the weight of my cook books (if they leaned forward they would often jump ship when the plastic bent). I can also add more as needed and I love that they don't take up as much space as a traditional book shelf would so they don't get in the way of the door to the bedroom. Even better Daniel loves them! Maybe I can convince him that Lucite chair I've been eyeing would fit in the house somewhere... A girl can dream right?

Is it just me or does Fall just bring out the cook in all of us. I've made apricot bars, and soups, and have been dying to make something with squash. No wonder I gain so much weight in the winter.

Cheers!

How's this For Getting Back on the Horse?

I mean house? Okay, so I've been gone too long. Work, life, the usual. Things progresses slowly around here from time to time and I just didn't have anything to talk about. That, and the office looks like this

You'll notice the present tense. Yes, it still looks like this. Long story, no story, we've had contractors in and out of our laundry room so I dumped everything in here. I've got a system.

As usual we've got four or five projects up in the air but I wanted to show you a pretty awesome (in my opinion) before and after in the kitchen.

Before

After

Can you say wowza?

We were so not in any way ready to replace the stove but a few issues started happening. Namely, the stove top kept bursting in to flame if you tapped on the wrong part of the stove. You know how when you have a sore spot so you keep pressing it to remind yourself it hurts? Yeah, I had the same problem with the stove. We looked in to fixing it but decided that since we were planning to replace it we might as well do it now. May I introduce Bertha, our oven and a half.

So far, it is love. She is from GE. Luckily Home Depot is basically always having sales on their appliances so we got her at 10% off with free delivery and free haul-away putting the total at about $1999 all in. Not the cheapest stove but I love the half oven feature. Check it out.

She also sports a center griddle that can also be a huge burner. Pancakes anyone?

Of course, once we got the oven we decided it was high time to install the hood we had sitting in our bedroom for the last few months. What can I say, we're on top of things. 

As usual Daniel was tasked at getting the thing up while I managed things (which mostly means finding the screws he drops).

It was all covered in this white plastic, so when we opened the box I had a brief moment of panic that it was the wrong hood. Luckily it peels off really easily and protected the hood during install. The install was fairly easy and by the book. No secrets to share. Same with the electrical. I highly suggest getting a licensed electrician if you are at all uncomfortable with doing electrical work. So far Daniel has proven he knows what he is doing. (my general disclaimer)

So there you have it. Proof that we are still plugging along. I am bound and determined to have the kitchen officially done before we leave to visit family at the end of the month. I think I can do it.

So tell me, am I the only one who is having trouble keeping up with everything? To say we are behind is an understatement.

Cheers!

Blocked Out

I've been in a writing funk so things have been slow around here but I wanted to show you another little update I did on our Kitchen. Counters this time. It's subtle so you may have to squint.

Before

After

Amazing right? How did I achieve this transformation? Dark Tung Oil. I really wanted to be able to use my counters to cut on, but I also wanted them darker so I could only go with natural oils. It was super easy to apply. I cut it 1-1 with citrus solvent (also all natural) and wiped it on. 6 coats to be exact. The house smelled like oranges for days.

Unfortunately, this is about as dark as I could get it though so I'm on the fence. I do like having the space to cut on, but I don't really know if I am sold on the color. It just didn't get dark enough (hence my earlier sarcasm). We are living with it for now and seeing what we think. All that is left on the kitchen is finishing painting the trim. Yay! We have people coming to give us quotes on our next project and I can't wait to tell you about it. It is going to seriously transform the house.

Cheers!

Who Says you Have to Live With It?

After laying our cork floors and staining the counters (post to follow) I was not digging the color I had painted the walls.

It was just too blue to go with the warm tones of the floor, so I painted.

It's a little warmer but still the green I wanted. We finally settled on Behr's Cool Cucumber. I'm starting to realize that I am happier with my paint colors if I just go with my gut rather than get a million samples but you live and learn right? 

We still need to paint trim and floor boards but this project is just about done. Now if only work would slow down and let me finish!

Cheers!

Road Trip Scores

What's a road trip without a little shopping? I love checking out random thrift stores and antique stores in the middle of no-where and on this trip it payed out in spades.

Probably my favorite score of the trip is this little diddy birdy.

She was picked up in a random (and free) prairie town in North Dakota. The shops were full of cute old books and treasures. We also got to see the world's largest Buffalo.



Is it strange that I was disappointed he wasn't real?

I also managed to finally visit a Home Goods on this trip. WA doesn't have one (yet) and their adds have been torturing me for years. Update: We do have HomeGoods! They are new! Yay!

I picked up this super cute handwoven basket.

And this great garden stool

Which is the perfect foil to my other stool I recovered last year.

They are both in the library which needs a reveal post when I get a little further along. More details to follow as usual (you'd think one day I would have learned to only work on one project at a time).

On the way home Daniel and I stopped at a random antiques place in South Dakota and found this great bar set.

I love the texture and the caddy. Too cute.

Where in South Dakota you ask? Right about here

We had been driving so long and it mostly looked like this, but, if you are ever driving along the I-90 and happen to pass an huge antique mall in the middle of nowhere it is worth the stop, I promise.

Anyone else like to check out thrift stores/ antique malls on road trips? I wouldn't have thought Daniel would go for it but I think he was as tired of driving as I was.

Cheers!

Home!

It was a long trip but I am finally back! We got home Wednesday night after traveling through seven states and four national parks, thrifting a bit and enjoying some quality family time at my cousin Ariana's wedding. We even camped! (You can tell I haven't done this since I was a kid)

Still, it is nice to be home and sleeping in a real bed again.

The kitchen is still plugging along but I did check one big thing off of my list. Grouting!

Don't ask. I woke up the day after we got home and decided it was the day to do it. HUGE improvement over the ungrouted state if you ask me. I can't wait to get the trim up and the counters finished (you'll see soon) and have the kitchen done.

More details to come.
Cheers!