Things that may or may not happen when your husband is gone for a month: Part I

1. Lights hanging from the ceiling - happened.  I should thank Lauren for this as she sent me down the rabbit hole of DIY-dom.  The instructions are not as easily found today as they once were, read IMPOSSIBLE, so I had to wing it from a list of supplies I found on Apartment Therapy. Overall I think in a month (or six) I might re-do the entire fixture with some sense of wiring and quality control. Also it needs a few more glass spheres, it's not nearly dramatic enough.  But for now it is amazing and I love it.  And it did not cost $1750 or whatever I had started to think we were going to spend.

1b.  Getting that drywall on the other side of the living room patched up so I can finally finish painting the ceiling - did not happen.

2.   Two dogs becoming a team - happened.  It might be the fact that I've been forcing them to cuddle with me every night for the past 30 in an effort to stay warm and snoozy, or just the simple passing of time.  Whatever it is IT IS HAPPENING.  There is still some growling on Frances' part when shit isn't going the way she'd planned it to ... but they sit on chairs together and alternate peeing on bushes that ought not be peed on and every once in a while stand still enough to photograph.  Or this could all just be because I bought them matching harnesses.  Maybe that is the answer.

I may have also applied to graduate school, planned a trip to NYC in the spring, eaten my weight in meat sandwiches, discovered mint goes with everything so long as it's in a smoothie, headed back to yoga four times a week and started and finished House of Cards on Netflix.  There is more, it was quite a productive month for me, but I'll fill you in on that later.

Living room lights.

We need something to hang from the center of our living room that throws a decent amount of light upwards and doesn't blind you if you look in it's general direction.  I'm liking this, but also considering making our own version of this.  Then there is this one which MAS fell hard for on instagram.  All viable options, yet we have failed to pull the trigger on every last one, maybe one day ....

Want.

THANK YOU CELIA.  Thank you for introducing me to Joinery.  Thank you for showing me that I need these boots and this pullover.  Thank you for finding the best toilet brush around AND the best colander (we've been needing one).

japanese maple.

 we've got this weird tree in our front yard that turns bright pink towards the end of summer but is fairly lackluster for the rest of it's days.  when we were first trying to tame our out of control teeny tiny front yard i begged mas to let me dig it up and plant a japanese maple.  japanese maples are just soooooo dc.  and plus, i grew up with a few in my back yard, i've a soft spot.

he said no.  we had a healthy tree, why trash it?  well i'll tell you why ...

i mean, the geisha?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  you are perfection.  and hana matoi, well i think you're pretty stellar as well.

getting there / bedding.

right now our bedding is all stripey and yellow edged.  right now i find myself wanting something that is not stripey and yellow edged.  right now i want this bedding.

also right now blogger is driving me crazy and i'm having problems uploading images.

getting there // master bath

BEFORE

calling the interior of these four walls a master bath is a bit of a stretch, but it is the only bath in the house with a shower, and it is upstairs ... so i guess that means it counts.

we didn't do much, it's such a tiny space you can't really, but we did paint, yay white! and added a few shelves (ikea ribba shelves UPSIDE DOWN, best idea ever), a snazzy shower curtain (west elm, though not on their site) and a not lame towel rack (so important).  also we replaced our hot water heater.  this was by far the biggest upgrade of the entire house - quality of life wise.  we had a total of three minutes of hot water when we first moved in.  then sometime in february we decided it was too cold to not have a hot shower.  new water heater = best investment EVER.  we can now sit in the shower forever.  i frequently come out pink skinned.  it is wonderful.

AFTER

maybe one day kind of soon we'll replace the sink and the pathetic piece of carpentry it's sitting on.  maybe one day not so soon we'll add an actual master bath.  until then i'm basking in the white walled brightness and it's all pretty ok.

ps - sea salt soap, it's the best ever.  both mas and i are deeply, madly in love.  i'd highly recommend it.

getting there // seating

yes, yes, yes i'm still talking about what in the world we are going to sit on in our living room, and for now, we've figured it out.

you see, a few weeks ago i came across the jason wu + canvas collection.

that couch?  we need it.  that bench, another need.  they are perfect.  beyond perfect actually, they are everything i've dreamed of.

they need to be in our living room across from one and other with our soon to be awesome reclaimed wood coffee table.  but, our budget right now for anything, let alone living room furniture v.5 doesn't add up to seven thousand dollars.  if it was even close i'd jump on these bad boys in a heart beat, but alas, we've decided to go a different route, one we can AFFORD.  one that gets a couch into the living room and doesn't look stupid.

but man, do i want that jason wu furniture, and i mean BAD.

so, here we go west elm.  it's the elton settee and it's fine.  it's actually better than fine, it's pretty damn good.

though i do have a few gripes about the whole buying and receiving of west elm goods.  there was one friendly person along the way and everyone else was kind of rude.  also, the additional fifty dollars for removal of a cardboard box and styrofoam ... lame.  and should i really complain about this?  i'm not sure, it's kind of pathetic, but i had to put it together.  i paid more for delivery of this small couch than i did for every bit of furniture we've nabbed from crate & barrel and that all came from friendly men and completely assembled.  don't think i'm afraid of assembly, i'm not, half of our house is from ikea, i.e assembled ourselves, but the whole lack of customer service at every step was relatively annoying.  i guess it was perhaps the final straw.

so now we have a place to sit that isn't totally wrong for the room, and actually looks pretty decent with my favorite chair (which apparently we can no longer order, which sucks cause we need a second).  now we just have to get the new window and rid ourselves oft he eighteen bajillion paint cans hanging out near the fireplace and we'll be ready to go. 

getting there // kitchen

so this week, it's on to our kitchen.   i'd say it's likely the most *done* spot in the house.  with the exception of the electrical outlets needing to be replaced, and well, the dream of wanting to turn that whole back wall into giant glass sliding doors.  also, if i can ever get my hands on a larger sized smeg, well, then we'll have to get a new fridge.

BEFORE

gross appliances that smelled of ketchup and cigarettes, tile floor with grout that matched the tile.  oh wait, no, that was years and years of caked up grease and shoe dirt.  fallen crumbs crushed one after the next into the floor.  cigarette ashes fallen.  and god only knows what else.  it was DISGUSTING.  the kind of disgusting that makes you want to vomit when cleaning.  the kind of disgusting that takes two people seven hours and several wire brushes to clean.  so um, yeah, it's kind of a light grey/neutral colored grout.

red countertops.  the lady who used to live here, she really liked red.  also a ceiling fan.  which in retrospect, kind of a good idea.  but whatever.  when we took it down we found a good inch of crap and dust on every last one of those fan blades.  again, GROSS.  

the worlds most awesome window, which we are thinking about getting rid of.  mas hates it, i love it, it's a constant battle.  i think he's winning.  but if we do get rid of it, where will our kitchen aid and deep fryer go?  hmmmm, it's tricky this small kitchen thing.

AFTER

lower cabinets and countertops removed.  sink, fridge, stove, removed.  upper cabinet doors removed.  i really, REALLY wanted to toss them completely.  i really, REALLY wanted to replace them with very cool wooden shelves.  but you know what?  if we had taken down those cabinets the walls would have crumbled and we would have been forced to build new walls.  we did not have a budget to build new walls.  so, alas, the cabinets stay.  for now.  maybe one day, when we end up getting rid of the back wall with the door and the window, maybe then we will run the risk of taking down those cabinets.  but honestly it scares the hell out me.  so maybe not.

goodbye ceiling fan, hello light fixture.  we wanted two of these hanging, but we have neither the space nor the electrical capacity.  whatever.  one is fine.  also, shelves.  we did get a couple of shelves and for that i am happy.  oh and then island, we built an entire island.  that big empty space under the ceiling fan, it's quite useful these days.  we eat there, i work there, sometimes frances even sleeps under there.  it's great.  also it increases the countertop space by about 1000%.

and did you see the living things?  a few wonderful living things are living in our kitchen.  it's been a while and they've not died yet.  one point for me.

getting there // living room.

so, tuesdays will be for nails, and thursdays for house!  watch out, consistency, here i come?  we'll see about that.

onto house.  as you know, or do you?  about 10 months ago (holy jesus) we bought a little row house in dc.  it smelled of cigaretts and mold.  everything we touched magically turned to dust.  it was and still is a real fixer upper, though not total shit hole, i'm only being slightly dramatic when i speak of it.

we're slow with projects.  mostly because we have to save the money for the project first and figure out how to diy things like electrical (not the best idea) and painting (i'm a pro, no really i am) second.  but we are getting there, i think i've mentioned that.

and now, without any styling and a whole lot of crap ... sorry guys that is just the way we roll these days ... here are some befores and nows.  i'm not going to say afters because as you can see we still don't have the furniture figured out and there is a massive construction project that is going to be taking place in the next few weeks (see below for more on that)!!!!

BEFORE

this is what it looked like the day after we closed.  what nice light, and a real wood burning fireplace!!  but the carpet was rank (hello chain smoker and pet pisser) and the walls were red.  i really don't understand red walls, but to each their own, i guess.  check out that moulding!  isn't it fantastic?

the real proof of the cigarettes is above, i mean visual proof, had you been standing where i was while taking this photo, you would be coughing.  but that streaky funk that you can see in the upper spots of the book shelves, yeah that's nicotine.  we scrubbed that grossness off, it only took some tsp and about four hours. 

AFTER

ahhhh, now look at it.  no couch, we're still figuring that one out, but WOOD FLOORS, GREY WALLS, WHITE TRIM, MOST FAVORITE CHAIR EVER (the one in the background, that is, the big white one is too big for the space and so it's being banished to the bedroom).  as for the coffee table? i don't know where it's going, but it ain't staying there.  also i convinced mas to let me take those shutters down.  i know, i know, you love them, right?  yeah so did he.  but you know what?  they are impractical and big and noisy and frankly, they are ughly.  i'm sorry if you can't see that, we don't all have good taste.

ohhhhh, white bookshelf!!!  isn't it so much better?  yeah i know.  and good thing because that bitch was a bitch to paint.  have i ever told you that super shiny trim paint is my most hated foe?  seriously such a pain in the ass.  but wait, what is that on the left you say?  the original scummy nicotine laced bookshelf??  why yes, yes it is, you are totally right.  but, wait for it .....

in approximately six weeks it will be a window, a big one, and it will be awesome.  which means - we bit the bullet and bought windows.  well, signed a contract and put a deposit down.  i didn't tell you this before, but our current windows are plexi-glass (i kid you not) and are falling into the storms.  our electric bill in the summer is stupid and so is our gas bill in the winter.  here's hoping this will help.  either way it will be awesome.  i'm such a nut for nice windows (WHO AM I?).

so, it's coming along this little house of ours, and you'll be happy to know that we have had people over.  and we are again having people over.  last time there was that chair and a half to sit on though, this time that's in the basement.  maybe i'll purchase some floor pillows.  or maybe, we'll have a fire and sit outside after dinner.  that sounds lovely.

tails.

would it be weird to have these hanging in our hallway?  because i kind of love them.

{animal tails by colette bream via unruly little things}

re-do.

the past weekend was a bit less than stellar.  i mean, we got stuff done, like the floor and trim of our basement!! and there was the marathon cooking of lasagna/tons of bolognese that will keep us fed for the next few weeks.   but there was also the car accident that has left us carless for the next month*, the opening and assembling of a bed from ikea that is missing the mid-beam rendering it completely useless (did i mention we have no car for the next month and ikea is FAR?), the cancellation of a brunch reservation that took me A MONTH TO GET (again, no car = no trip to baltimore for one of the most popular brunch spots around, their dinner is delish, have you locals been?), and the general moping-ness that sometimes just happens.  so all in all it's left me very excited about this monday.  it's a new day, a new week, and a new start.  because sometimes you just need a fucking new start.  also leftover lasagna.  what is better than leftover lasagna??




*we very nearly just ditched the prius for a this (TDI, of course), which we've been thinking about past year, but we're apparently so specific we'd have to have it ordered which would take four months and really, maybe, we'd rather throw that money elsewhere .... like on tearing out that kitchen wall and turning it into giant glass sliding doors??

dining room.

so we've got this room, it's mostly for eating, though i've been using it as my office as of late.  it's directly between the kitchen and the living room.  the walls are 80% grey (so is the ceiling).  the trim is painted black.  we've a single pendant light in the center and an old school (like 1920's) large wooden tripod in the corner by the window.  our chairs are black, our table teak.  this is also the room that contains the majority of our alcohol, though hidden in a built in cabinet.  our glassware is on display.

we've yet to hang just about any art in the entire house.  it's hard when the furniture hasn't even been decided on.  but the thing is, i'm liking our dining room.  sans art on the walls.  it's simple, clean, and all about the company you keep at the table.  mas has a 16x20 photo of chickens that he's convinced is a good idea to hang on one wall, but i'm not.  it seems better suited for the kitchen.  i think i'm winning, only because mas is being a super nice guy, but what's the general consensus?  if you walked into a room without a bit of art on the walls would that be off-putting?

bill's america.

i came across this site, radical cartography (through pinterest of course) and have fallen deeply and madly in love.  it started with land value in nyc and then jumped over to education in dc.  but when i found bill's america, well i figured out what we're making HUGE and putting on our wall.  our americas - roads driven style.  we've done more than one back and forth of this country.  that should be celebrated, no?

gingham walls, update.

so do you remember, way back when, me saying i was going to paint our vestibule gingham?  it's finally happened.  there was a lot of thinking and researching and painting and repainting.  and after, um, ten coats of paint i think we've got it, and more importantly, i think we LOVE it.  we are toying with the idea of taking the almost black down to the light grey, to be actual gingham, but i'm not sure.  thoughts? 

also, fucking gingham painted walls.  i cannot tell you what a hassle they were.  i mean, seriously.  at first i was certain that one made such a pattern by adding glaze to half of your paint and then subtly layer one coat over the next.  boy was that WRONG.  it turns out that if you use glaze you get this horrible consistency that shows every last brush stroke.  it took four coats of the glazed black paint to start looking decent, and at that point it was no longer a glaze.  it was a straight up solid - waste of time.  

but then, it was magic, while eating with our friends (at their new and beyond wonderful eating establishment, bell street farm, in los alamos) one of them let me in on a little secret.  a little secret that made me want to bang my head on the most perfect farm house table.  that layering technique is really just a third, or in our case fourth, color.  so simple, so smart, so easy.   i'm such an idiot.  

bedside lights.

every single night for the past, um ... eight months, i've ended the day with the aid of a headlamp hanging off the side of our bed.  i guess we* were uncertain as to where the bed would be living in the room?  or lazy?  or both?  whatever it was our level of commitment to putting things like lights in that room was non-existent.  until last week.

something happened last week.  something good.  our shithole turned into a HOUSE.  you shouldn't get too excited or anything, i've still got a ton of work to do, but for the first time since we've moved in i honestly feel as though i could invite people over.  not a whole lot of them, and not anyone i don't really know, but still this is huge step for me.  for the past eight months mas has been asking if we should maybe have so and so over for drinks before dinner.  or perhaps over for dinner?  and i've either laughed at or nearly scolded him every single time.  i've always been so obsessive about what our home looks like that i just could not take it, having someone see all of the boxes and mess and lack of seating options.   it makes me crazy just thinking about it now.

i know, i know, i'm nuts.


*when i say we here i mean mas.  having not been around for the initial set up of the bed he's convinced it will be better on another wall.  he of course, is wrong.

plants.

my mission this week, house plants.   we're decidedly bare, well if you don't include the various cacti in the kitchen, which are nice, but also secluded in the kitchen.

any favorite hard to kill varieties out there that are not succulents?  i used to be a pro with things such as ferns, but that was before i had an animal and literally treated all house plants as pets ... we're talking names, travel itineraries ...yeah ... i was young, they were important to me.  but since then i've been murdering everything that has a light/watering preference and now i'm scared of being a serial killer.

although, i think this could all be fixed if i just PAID ATTENTION to them?

{image via kitka, who has a pretty good selection of house plants}

couch v. chairs.

so, we bought a house that is too small for a couch.

space enough for a couch is apparently something you do not notice when you spend a total of one hour in a property before you decide to BUY it.  plus, what kind of living room isn't wide/long enough for a couch?!?!

or maybe you do notice that kind of stuff, but we certainly don't.

anyhow, we bought a chair and a half (dolphin, not orange) before thanksgiving and have since decided it was a bad idea.

now we're on track for a four chair living room.  1 // 2 - walnut // 3 - cream, not the color shown // and 4????  we're still looking for the fourth, and haven't even seen our current three together in real life.  this could actually be a wonderful disaster in which we end up with five (and a half) chairs that go nowhere in our domicile.

oh, and we're thinking super wooly cable rug, will we regret that once summer comes around?  so.many.questions.

{living room that is not ours via}

happening. right now.

ohmygod, i am kind of ridiculously happy that the whole christmas thing is over.  i mean, don't get me wrong, i do love a good celebration, but the stress of getting everything done that needed to be done was too much this year.  just too much.  

so the holing up solo (save for my husband and dog) for a long weekend was a delight, we did nothing except eat and make a mess.

how was your holiday?  lovely i hope?

and now, it's time to actually get my shit together and start taking these final touches on the house seriously.  i mean, it's been SIX MONTHS.  can you believe it?  i can't.  in fact i'm slightly embarrassed to admit it really.  but whatever.  we've made a lot of progress and just because there is a lot left to do, doesn't mean it isn't fun.  we really are done with the nitty gritty, i think.

annnnnyway.  i've a few days off this week, so i've decided to go ahead and start the gingham vestibule project.  when i saw the above picture on design*sponge a while back i knew there was no changing of my mind.  i had to have these walls.  mas thinks i'm ridiculous for even attempting.  but whatever.  today is the day i start.  i mean, taping the walls is a v. good first step, right???

life lately.

ohmygod i cannot even start with the stories of the past two weeks, but they kind of involve the following :

- movers coming and "packing" our stuff.  they say they are going to give it all back to us, but it's been a week and we've heard not a peep.  it's interesting, and slightly worrisome.
- TWO stomach flues ... for me alone.  one might have been food poisoning, or maybe not, but either way it sucked.
- we moved out of our hotel and into OUR HOUSE!  ok so we're in the basement apartment ... or as they call it here ... the in-law suite.  the kitchen doesn't exactly work, and the internet is still unavailable due to comcast taking their sweet time getting us our modem, but the shower sprays hot water and we have a working ac unit.
- the floors upstairs are nearly done being refinished!!!  you guys, this owning a house thing is FUN.
- mas has started work, frances has become insanely popular amongst her neighbors and i've, well, i've gotten a job.  this working for myself has been fun, but it's also been a bit lonely.  when we found out we were moving to a city, where people actually live and work, i kind of got excited about being a part of something again.  and let me tell you, i think i scored the jackpot.  i'll be working with Suann and helping her set up her new shop, Fifteen Eleven!  you can read a bit more about it, and check out my summer MUST HAVES on her blog. 

for now i must run back home and save frances from the fumes that are trickling down from the refinishing of the floors.  i'm not sure exactly what we are going to do this afternoon but it might involve the weed-fest in the front yard.

{ginormous ring from catalina brenes, from my summer picks, which i'm pretty sure esb linked me to a while ago though can't remember when or where.}

can't shake the love of the light and airy.

when i saw these three things pop up one after the other on esb's pinterest, i kind of fell in love.