Entry Envy

Our little house has major entry issues. Mainly, the lack of one. The front door opens into the living room, the back door opens into the kitchen, and neither space has the spot for the "command center" we could really use. Just a place to hide dirty work boots and pile of mail would be an improvement! In my mind, these three ladies and their functional and cute entries have it made.

Julie of Milk and Honey Home is new to the blogosphere (thanks for the introduction, Sissy), but her blog is fast becoming one of my favorites. Her home is decorated in such a personal and fun way, it's hard not to love it. The cheerful green door (Georgian Green by Benjamin Moore) and beautiful wallpaper (from Home Depot!) give it personality but I'm thinking that those baskets under the console could hide a multitude of sins. And of course, the lighting and mirror are fabulous as well.


Paula from Two Ellie shared her updated entry earlier today, and again I was struck by how functional and attractive it is. Even a total pile looks great in a cute metal basket!


And Seleta's foyer really takes the cake. I can only imagine the amount of stuff that a busy household with four kiddos generates, but it looks like she's got it under control. She had her cabinet-maker put together the shelf and bench when he did her kitchen, and the hanging files came from the Ballard Designs outlet. You can find more of the sources for the smaller items on her blog.

So thanks, ladies! You have inspired me to come up with something to do about our mail-and-shoe mess.

The Slippery Slope of DIY

Sometimes projects go easily and smoothly but other times ... not so much. And in a 50-year-old house you just never know what you're going to find behind door number one. Or, in this case, behind an ugly light fixture.

We took one down in the kitchen last Sunday afternoon and this is what we found. I didn't even take a photo of the old one because merely changing a light fixture seemed so inconsequential at the time. Oh the slippery slope ...


While trying to secure the junction box (so that the new fixture will hang straight) the ceiling started to crumble. Lovely!


Okay, so a simple drywall patch can fix that, but it has to go all the way to the nearest stud, so down comes more drywall.


And with it, nasty old insulation. Yes, I am aware that he needs gloves and goggles. At least he's wearing a hat.


As the insulation started to fall, I was very glad I called a timeout and put down a drop cloth.


So, after a quick shower and wardrobe change, the patch is in.


And now, instead of a shiny new light, we watch the drywall mud dry and get started on the actual project we had planned for the afternoon. Which -- thank goodness -- went easily and smoothly.

Day 698's fabric deals

This week, I had to pick up a bridesmaid's dress in a part of town I don't often visit. While I was there, I popped into Hancock Fabrics. I never have much luck at these places, but I hear there are deals to be had.

There were some good-looking outdoor fabrics (Marianne, I thought of your porch) and then I headed to the remnants, where I scored the pretty (slightly granny?) floral and the solid teal fabrics above. Each was marked down to $7/yard, and were another 60% off that. Both remnants were a tad under two yards, so I spent $10 and some change. Not bad, for a rookie.

That embroidered paisley is left over from my chairs -- I've got enough left for some pillows for the living room. And the green silk is the curtains in the living and dining rooms (I saved that little bit to use as a color reference). I love the way they go together, but I might be too indecisive to do anything about it.


I need some color though. My living room is beige beige beige, with a big brown sofa. I'm not sure if I'm asking for help, or just whining. Oh, and did you know that I can't sew?! Poor Wes has to sew his own buttons back on if they fall off. Good thing he took home economics in high school. I took an extra English class and an extra history class. Lot of good they do me when it comes to pillows, huh?


Alright, enough with the whining. How about a look at some pretty hydrangeas? These came from the yard of an abandoned house in our neighborhood. They deserve to be appreciated by someone, don't they?

Day 534's last-minute project

Ten days until Christmas, and we don't have any stockings. Last year Wes' stocking was a paper gift bag. Neither of us can remember if he did one for me. This probably shouldn't be as big a deal as I'm making it, but I can't seem to help myself.


My mom used to make a big deal about stockings by insisting that we open them first on Christmas morning and always filling them with tiny goodies and surprises. I think that filling our stockings was her favorite part of playing Santa, and it showed.


I have been looking all over town for stockings and Wes has been scouring the Internet. Everything is either too glittered, too sparkled, too tacky, too cheesy or -- if it's just right -- too expensive. $45 for one stocking? Sorry, not this year (and probably not next, either).


All I want is a simple pair made of a pretty fabric. Linen, wool, or even an old handkerchief would be lovely. And I love, love the red ones Martha (er, someone over there) made from a vintage damask tablecloth. TJ Maxx has about one million damask tablecloths ... all with glittery gold stitches running through them.


Then, last week, I acquired five yards of Ralph Lauren's Wittenhurst Plaid, a pretty wool fabric in our favorite colors. I intended to save it until we can cover the big blue chair in Wes' office, but, silly me, I still probably need five more yards.

It looks so great in our bedroom that I'm tempted to take if all off the bolt and fold it at the end of our bed as a makeshift blanket. Then, hello!, it occurs to me that this will make a fabulous stocking! (Martha says it's easy) Now if only I knew how to sew ...

All photo by Martha Stewart Living

Day 488's budget compromise

I realize I risk sounding like a total snob, but I like nice candles. I like that they come in pretty, simple glass jars that don't have pictures of clothes drying in the sunshine or a barrel of apples. I like that they smell fresh, but not too flower-y, herb-y but not too kitchen-y (did you get that?). And, of course, it's a major bonus that they (usually) burn uniformly and I don't have to resort to burning a votive in the middle of a wax column to get my "money's worth."


Oh the times, they are a'changing! I burned the last of my "good" candles a couple of weeks ago, and finally got desperate enough one night at Wal-Mart to give the MainStays Mulled Cider a try (for a mere$3.48). It smelled delightful enough, but I was still skeptical. I am happy to report that I have been totally delighted with my cheap new find! You can see that I've burned at least two thirds of it, and look how nice and even it is! And it smells just like fall.

Day 464's clumsiness

Just in time for the holiday entertaining season, I have sabotaged my serve ware stash. In the last month, I have broken three of my favorite pieces! What is wrong with me??


I had one asparagus plate from Pottery Barn, and have been meaning to grab one or two more to have for serving small things at tailgate parties and showers and such. I used it at an out-of-town shower last month, and carelessly left it in my car for a couple of days. Something fell on it from the back seat and broke it, which didn't seem like such a tragedy until last night ...


... when I broke two more of my favorite pieces! We have a massive antique wardrobe in our breakfast room that is great for storing our stemware and big, bulky serving items. There are two closed cabinets on either side and one with a glass door in the middle. When we got it, there were only two shelves for the outside cabinets and only enough brackets to hold one of them.

Several trial-and-error trips to the hardware section at Lowe's revealed that we probably weren't going to find brackets that would fit, so we bought the closest size we could, and added some electrical tape to help them fit the holes. In hindsight, perhaps not the best idea? Then Wes took an old bookcase of his apart to use the shelves in the wardrobe, though they were a couple of inches too shallow. It seemed to be working just fine, and I was happy as clam organizing all of my goodies last night, when one of the top shelves fell and my favorite cake stand and dome was completely shattered!

It was a wedding gift from the staff at Southern Accents, so I really hate to see it go (even more so now that I see the dome is no longer available!).


My wonderful and incredibly useful drink dispenser was on the shelf with the cake stand, and though it was made of heavy-duty plastic, the spigot must've hit the ground first, as it came off and left a nice, big hole in its place.

Luckily, I was standing there (in my bare feet, of course) when the shelf began to give way and I was able to stop it from falling onto the one below, which was also full of glass pieces. And I've got a cut on the bottom of my foot to prove it!

What serving pieces would you hate to do without?

Day 431's sort of finished project

So the upholsterer delivered my chairs today. Here they are sitting outside my cube at the office:


If they look a little different than you expected, well, you'd be correct. They put the fabric on backward. As in, you are seeing the reverse side. The one with all of the stiching from the beautiful embroidery. Yeah.


This is what they should look like. It's actually not too bad ... from a distance. But when you get close it is painfully obvious (at least to me ... and everyone else in the office, for that matter).

This whole project has been one big comedy of errors, so we all had a good laugh when they came in. I'm dropping them off to be fixed this weekend, and I think I'm going to demand a discount, too!

Day 376

I had a lovely beach house planned for today, but ... well, you know how things go some days. So far today has been one of those days.

I got up exceptionally early, as I had a few things left to do before heading out of town for the weekend this evening (the lake trip with the girls will surely make up for all of this!). So I swept the front porch, straightened up a bit, loaded and started the dishwasher, etc., and after my shower and subsequent routine, went into the office to iron my shirt and skirt. Shirt went smoothly, and Maddie was as happy as clam chewing on a rawhide bone on the floor. I was almost done with my skirt when I noticed a huge, mysterious stain on it. Hrmph. Fine, I'll wear the pants instead, but blast it they have to be ironed too!

Then I feel the errie calm in the house. The kind of calm that you hear parents of small children talk about. It's just at little too quiet, and you just know something's up. This is what I found in the living room:

She showed a little bit of interest in toilet paper several months ago, but after a few scoldings she's left it alone.


The rolls in both of the bathrooms are still intact, and I suppose she stole this one from under the sink in the "new" bathroom, which is partially exposed thanks to a door that won't stay put.


Let me tell you, this isn't half of the mess, either, she had it strewn about the living room floor and was just rolling around grunting and having a grand old time. Bless her.

If you came here for something pretty, wonderful Joni at Cote de Texas is doing beach houses this week, too. Definitely worth a look!

And Heather at Habitually Chic has a lovely collection of images and quotes by David Hicks. So inspirational and informative. A couple favorites:

"Good design is in no way dependent on money. I like to spend the minimum of money and yet gain the maximum effect. Style is not what you do but how you do it."

"Good lighting is subtle lighting; the more sources of light, the subtler the effect. Fluorescent lighting has no place in the home." Amen, brother!

"Good taste is something which you can acquire: you can teach it to yourself, but you must be deeply interested. It is in no way dependent upon money."

And this one's for Wes: "I like rows and rows of tonic water bottles, apple and tomato juice, two of three syphons of spirits lined up behind each other; it gives a generous, welcoming atmosphere, and if a bus-load of friends does descend upon you, you are ready for them."

Thanks for picking up my slack, ladies!

Day 311's purchase and dilemma

On a complete whim, I bid on (and then won) a remnant of Schumacher's "Chiang Mai Dragon" on ebay. Ya'll, this fabric is so not "me," and you should have seen Wes' face when I told him about. I'm not sure what it was, but this fabric just seduced me, and I couldn't say no when I saw the listing. Okay, that's not completely true, I do know what it was, it was this image:


Style&Grace's bed just looks so fresh and fun, and of course I love the blue headboard. So I bought the fabric, intending to set it aside and use it in the guest bedroom when we get around to it (it's basically last on the list!).

About two days after the fabric came in, Wes and I came back from HomeGoods with another unbudgeted whim, a bench/ottoman to use as a coffee table. The existing upholstery is pretty terrible, but we justified the purchase because it was so darn cheap! Turns out, we both really love the way it looks in the room (minus the fabric), and are happy to finally agree on a coffee table.


Then, on another whim, I placed my Chiang Mai Dragon on the ottoman just to see. And it looked great! The room really needed some color and pattern, and goodness knows Chaing Mai Dragon has both. The colorway complimented what was existing, and the splashes of raspberryish-orange (yes, I made that up) brought out the coral-colored books scattered around the room. For about a week, I was sold, and I contacted a upholsterer to do the job.


Then I lost my nerve. I looked at my dream dining room, and back at the dragon sitting on the coffee table. I walked into my blue-and-caramel bedroom, and suddenly "the dragon" makes no sense in the living room. I still love it, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around what the room (and the adjoining dining room) will look like when it's finished. Part of me wants to go for it, but ... I just don't know! I aspire to a more colorful transitional look, but in practice, it's hard for me to execute.

Now I'm completely lost! I know I want the ottoman fabric to be a pattern (or at least I think I do!). Definitely not floral, a stripe or something geometric, maybe? And it would be nice to have some color. As Wes likes to put, the room is "brown, brown, brown" right now. Brown sofa, seagrass rug, wood furniture, and the club chairs we ordered are khaki. Help!

Day 239: adventures in homeowning, part I

Well, we did it. We successfully purchased and moved into our first house! The whole process happened much more quickly and easily than either of us anticipated, so it's no wonder that the "adventures" began our first day in the house, and continued through the weekend.

First, let me mention that the house has been used as a rental property for several years and was empty when we bought it. The owner sold it to us "as is," with a small stipend for the things that the home inspector flagged (dishwasher that doesn't drain and a broken knob on the range).

As we were moving in, we noticed that the toilet in the hall bath wasn't flushing properly. So we bought a plunger, and thought it was remedied. It wasn't. Okay. We decide to not use that toilet, so now we're down to the sink and shower in the hall bath, and the toilet in the master bath. It's kind of confusing, so Wes taped off the unusable fixtures with duct tape. Resolved, for now.

The dishwasher was not a surprise, but it was a surprise when the home warranty folks refused to come out to repair it per our arrangement with the previous owner. Status: unresolved.

After all of our wonderful helpers and visiting friends finally left us alone last night, we decided to get down to the business of unpacking and restoring order. The house had other plans. Halfway into a load of laundry, we find a puddle of soapy water spanning the width of the kitchen. Ahhhhh. I frantically search for the bag of old towels as Wes ends the wash cycle and pulls the machine out from the wall. Several minutes under the house and one call to his handy-man father later, and it's decided that part of the pipe has corroded from months of not being used and it all must be replaced with new PVC. Fine.

So now we have a load of clothes sitting in a washing machine that's half-full of water and several sopping-wet bath towels. Sweet, ingenious Wes pulls the drain tube out of the wall and sends it out the window next to the washer to drain into the carport. It was pretty ghetto, but at least we didn't wake up to mildewy clothes and towels.

Somewhere in this process, the corner of the metal screen door in the kitchen catches the back of Wes' leg and gouges a hole the size of a penny. It was gross, and it looked like it really, really hurt. Just as we think we're finally ready to hit the hay, he realizes he has bled all over our white sheets. Two Band-Aids were obviously not enough! Into the washer go the sheets, while we wait out the cycle (so we can close the window when it finished) with a glass of wine on the couch and watch the end of of "There's Something About Mary."

Despite it all, we're completely thrilled about the house. For now, these kinds of things are actually kind of fun, I just hope they don't become a frequent occurrence!

Day 211's suburban nightmare

The house hunt was officially on this weekend. I've been apprehensive about this since the beginning, knowing that the odds were good we were going to come up short in terms of our dream home. Okay, it's our first house, I can deal with short. I can deal with Clinique-green bath tiles and ripping out some ugly flooring. I even welcome the chance to paint some walls and trim.

What I'm not sure I can deal with is suburbia. In the interest of getting "more house for the money," we compromised our original plan and extended our search further out of town. Not that much further, but still further than I ever, ever wanted to go (Vestavia Hills, for you past and present Birminghamians). And then we kind of struck gold. 1959 suburban rancher gold.

Most of the house is great. It has a big yard (that's even relatively flat -- remember the Hills part?) It's a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house, which is a great size for resale, and exactly what we were hoping for. The hardwood floors in all of the rooms look fantastic, and all of the walls are nice, neutral colors that we would happily live with until time and budget allowed a change. The public school system is excellent. The water heater and the H-VAC are all new, and the roof's in great shape -- at least as far as we can tell. There is the small matter of the seriously outdated and inefficient kitchen, the truly heinous kitchen floor (peeling linoleum tiles meant to look like parkay wood) and the pink and blue toilets. But, as aforementioned, we're not afraid of a little renovation challenge. Wes has been around the construction industry his entire life, and my family owns a home-building business. What we can't do ourselves we'll have no trouble finding a good contractor for. We even started dreaming up kitchen options on some graph paper last night.

So what's the problem, you ask?

I'm not sure if I can even put it into words. The neighborhood is just lacking a little something -- an element of charm that starts with good, classic taste and adds adds a few decades of life. I've always envisioned my 30-year-old self jogging around a quaint little neighborhood full of eclectic architecture, huge, mature tress, and then stopping for a cool beverage at the local corner store. Now, the neighborhood in question is totally jog-able, which was high on my priority list. And it's not bad to look at. It's not exactly picturesque, but it does seem to be on the upswing, as far as updating the exteriors go. And it's safe, which isn't always the case in the more charming, but affordable, Birmingham areas.

I really cherished the time I spent off-campus in Auburn. I shared a drafty old house with four others girls, and it was awesome. We could walk to class, to eat dinner, to shop downtown, to get ice cream, to buy books, to go to the bars, -- to do basically anything you'd want or need to do. I guess I just so desire that kind of lifestyle again. I'm not even completely convinced that we can get all of that in Birmigham, but this house, as wise an investment as it may be, just seems so, so far from that dream.

In my head I know that we at least need to make an offer on this house. It's basically an offer we just shouldn't pass up. I even know that I would come to love and enjoy the house. And though we'll be paying out our lease until June, the market is just too prime to not take advantage of right now. Ahhh decisions, decisions ...

Thanks, Ron Chapple, for the lovely image.

Day 164's wish

It's supposed to be 79 degrees here today. Geez ...what does a girl have to do to get a little winter weather?? It felt so so wrong to be listening to "Winter Wonderland" on my way to lunch, and even more wrong to see women in tank tops and flip flops. Oh the horror! I mean, it's December, people.

Day 117

So last night I remembered exactly why I hate Wal-Mart. I will preface with this: it was raining. I had to go after work, which is never a good time to grocery shop. And the Wal-Mart closest to our house isn't in the greatest area. Read: the ink cartridges are behind lock-and-key. Nice.

I had a gigantic list of things we needed. From salsa to deodorant to an over-the-door shoe organizer, we needed it all, and I even took a few minutes at work to categorize the list by department in an attempt to minimize the store-crossing. The minute I pulled into the parking lot, I knew I would be cutting the list short, and going home with the bare minimum. As I said, it was raining, and, as usual, the parking lot had an annoyingly high ratio of cars to shopping carts. Okay fine, those three carts can keep their close parking spot, I'll just park far away, at least I have my new mini umbrella.

The rest of trip was one mini-disaster after another. The few carts that had made it inside were dripping wet, the green bell peppers were near-rotted, there was only one can of black beans left, and it was off-brand and dented (can I get a discount for that?), the over-the-door show organizer was in the kitchen supplies (??), and on and on and on. So on top of the wet crowd and the check-out attendant's rude demeanor, my only consoluation was this: it's cheap.