Designing Domesticity: 2nd house

Showing posts with label 2nd house. Show all posts

7 Months in the Making

It's taken 7 long months to complete the simplest of tasks.

Moving the trampoline to the corner of the yard. I know, it sound silly. But it's the truth and it's made all the difference in our backyard makeover.

See it way back there?

Yup, we've wanted it back there from the beginning, but the yard was a mess when we moved in. The back half was a "natural" area, which we've since torn out, regraded and seeded.

{ Read more about that here.}

This weekend, the new grass had it's inaugural mow, which meant the trampoline could officially be moved into its new home - just a short 7 months post move in date.

Phew, what an accomplishment. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but sometimes it's the smallest changes that make the biggest difference. So much so, that I had to take a moment of rest on the new patio in the back corner of the kitchen garden and enjoy the view {first picture}.

Speaking of the garden, we managed to get the wall planter hung, the rosemary planted, as well as the last of the plants (for now). There's always room for more!

John's new pole saw was put to the test, again, with more aggressive tree trimming. This time our front yard cherry tree fell victim. More on that later :)

Yup, it was another beautiful weekend in the garden. A girl could really get used to this.

Hope you had a lovely weekend, too.

until next time,

Progress Report: Kitchen Garden Plantings

Last I left you, I had laid out quite the plan for said kitchen garden. Would you be disappointed to know that I hadn't been entirely truthful? Yup, they weren't just plans. They were plans in action.

We've been tree trimming (hello light!) and hedge planting.

Neighbors recommended we check out Grower's Outlet in Pineville, NC for the 20+ shrubs we needed to create the border hedge. A family excursion on Easter Sunday did not disappoint. The selection and pricing were out of this world. It's like Big Lots for plants. If you are local, looking to buy in bulk, definitely check it out.

We opted to go with compacta hollies because we were told that sometimes boxwood have trouble with the heat of the South. The look is surprisingly similar, so here's hoping for the best!

Beyond the hedge, we also managed to add a couple of decorative elements to the garden. The girls and I planted our 3 tier planter with 3 colors of inpatients. It will add a nice pop of color in the shade beneath the fig tree.

(Eloise declared herself the dirt girl, while Tessa handled the watering - anyone who knows these girls should not be surprised by this!)

The wall planter is also ready to be hung. I may move fast, but I'm not a miracle worker. Drilling into brick will have to wait for John.

The rosemary plants have found a new home, now we are debating planting them instead of potting them. Thoughts? If we plant them, we won't carry the hedge along the brick wall.

As in years past, we picked up our plants and seeds at Home Depot. If I was buying in bulk, growers outlet had a great selection. A couple of weeks ago, we planted some of our cooler weather seeds like lettuce, kale, spinach and peas, which are already starting to sprout up.

Tomato supports are assembled and ready to go. Remember these from my Lowe's post. So cute and reasonable. Thinking I might have to grab one more for our cucumbers.

Speaking of veggies, check out our little pea shoots. And Tessa's handwritten sign. My MIL gave me the zinc plant markers for my birthday and I love them. In fact, I just ordered more.

We are loving how the garden is taking shape. Still want to move the table, find a suitable urn for the center circle of the garden, add more flowering plants and decide on the back hedge. Loads of work on the horizon. Exciting!

until next time,

Progress Report: Backyard

When it comes to outside space, the kitchen garden isn't the only area we are working on. We're also tackling the backyard. Remember the ideas we outlined here? Well, work is officially underway.

Thanks to this guy that came to play.

After a lot of research and time spent on Angie's List, we settled on this company. Other than some scheduling issues mostly due to this crazy winter, we can't complain. Down to earth, affordable, helpful, and very fast working.

Our yard has gone from this…

(Which actually looks pretty nice, but didn't utilize all the available space. In a smallish yard, too much was dedicated to "natural space". Not to mention the swamp that occurred every time it rained.)

To this.

No more small grass patch surrounded by "natural space". AKA monkey grass, old compost pile, salt lick, scraggly old bushes, roots, weeds and other potential snake hangouts.

A freshly seeded blank slate.

Sometimes starting over is the best decision.

until next time,

Progress Report: Kitchen Garden

Behold the future site of our Charlotte Kitchen Garden.

Doesn't look like much in this picture, but there's actually quite a bit of work to do to get this space up and running in time to plant this season.

Check out this image from last Summer.

It really shows what we have to work with.

More like what's working against us.

Day lilies. What a nightmare. Have you ever run up against these guys? They are near impossible to get rid of. Super resilient.

An overgrown fig tree, leggy mystery shrubs, neighboring branches blocking the light. What a mess.

Fortunately, with a couple of nice days over the last couple weekends and everyone pitching in, we were able to make a sizable dent in the prep progress.

Out came bags and bags and bags of roots, weeds, and pine straw. Plus, all those mystery shrubs.

What would a garden clearing post be without an action shot, I ask you?

Yeah for clear, open space.

Notice that black rope in the foreground?

Yup, we are playing around with the layout of the garden. Practically doubling the size. (One) to take advantage of better light, but also (two) to make sure there is enough space to add decorative features to the garden.

Traditional Landscape by Far Hills Landscape Contractors Statile & Todd

Just like our inspiration image, we want to incorporate crushed stone paths, flanked with brick, perhaps some trellis, a bird bath or other lawn art. You know, make it a real focal point to the yard.

Can't you just see it now?

until next time,

Going Bold

I am so excited to share our new foyer paper with you today.

You may remember that I blogged (here) about this paper way back when (July), before we even moved into this house. Truth is, I loved it back then. I was set on saving my pennies, biding my time and making it happen, eventually. Wallpaper isn't a small commitment after all.

Some where along the line, I chickened out. We primed the foyer in anticipation of painting. Then I changed my mind again.

I wanted it.

Looking at these images and living with the paper for about a week now, I am so glad we did it!

It's bold. Really bold.

It's changed the whole look of our home and raised the ante for the rest of our space.

So, what's the moral here: listen to your gut, be bold in your decisions, take your time, and invest in what you truly love.

As much as we love it, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. We are two rolls short, the color run is sold out and the new run is on backorder. We have an unfinished wall crying out for more paper. I've learned some lessons along the way, which I'll be covering in more detail over the next couple of weeks.

But, what we do have, we love. Hope you do, too.

until next time,

Treasure Hunting

We are loving craigslist lately. Not only did we sell our barstools, we also sold the wine bar. That's right, we are now down to a respectable 2 bars in our home.

(No idea what I am talking about? Check it out here.)

With a little extra cash in our pockets, we headed out to one of our favorite treasure hunting spots, Sleepy Poet Antique Mall, to see what we could find.

High on the priority list was a coffee table for the den. Fortunately, Sleepy Poet didn't disappoint. Loads of options at the ready.

When you are shopping in a place like this, it's really important to go in with an open mind.

Ideally, I wanted a round metal coffee table. Instead I came across a glass and iron table, a scalloped edged wood table, a brass moroccan table, and a leather upholstered ottoman.

While you are thinking about which table we decided on, here's a reminder of where we were before. Using a lovely basket from Ikea as our coffee table. Not exactly ideal, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Surprise: the iron and glass table.

We love the cabriole style legs, which feel ever so French, and the clean simple lines that keep it feeling fresh and light.

A perfect fit to my Fresh French Traditional style.

I hate to even tell you what I paid for this table. It's just so ridiculous.

$75.

Can you believe it? I'm still struggling with it myself.

I do love the hunt, especially when it results in a true deal.

until next time,

It's a Doozy

We've never purchased or owned a perfectly complete home. And this house is no exception. There's always another project looming, a to-do list. With this house, our next project is a serious doozy.

Summer 2013

The back yard.

Behold the ugly truth …

Summer 2013

We purchased a home with an overgrown, neglected, disaster of a backyard. The privacy it provided seemed like a plus, when it was all green and lush, but come winter a different story started to present itself. Weeds, mostly. Lots of overgrowth. Not much in the evergreen department. It's not pretty.

Fall 2013

We did take care of a few obvious issues, like trees overhanging and touching the house, with a tree service this past summer. You can read more about that here. And, John spent several grueling weekends removing a lot of overgrowth from the very back corner of the yard. In return he was treated to a serious case of poison ivy.

Needless to say, our work here is done.

It's time to come up with a plan and call in the professionals.

Winter 2014

Here's the plan:

1. rip out everything from the mature (past their prime) azaleas, to the monkey grass to all the other shrubs and roots.

Just like in Chicago, we've decided that less is more. Working with old, overgrown and yukky plants is a lot harder than starting from scratch. This yard is getting a clean slate.

2. regrade the entire yard.

After living here for almost 6 months, watching the water render the grassy area a muddy cesspool - we've decided to face the problem head on.

3. install stairs connecting the "deck to nowhere" to the yard.

What a novel concept. An outdoor space that allows you to access your yard! It's a must. And quite frankly, we have no idea why the deck didn't have stairs to begin with…

4. address the awning situation.

Basically, the awning is old. Really old. The seams have all ripped, there are several holes and it's not waterproof. About all its good for is a bit of shade. There is a lot to think about here and unfortunately, none of the options are inexpensive.

5. layout/seating.

The deck is long and narrow, which makes for awkward seating arrangements. It doesn't help that we are utilizing furniture from our old Chicago screened-in porch and patio. One option would be to add additional space in the form of a patio at ground level. Or just rework the layout/seating on the existing deck.

Winter 2014

On the other side of the backyard is this existing raised bed that currently holds a fig tree and other miscellaneous plants. We plan to transform this into our kitchen garden. Our whole family loved our raised bed gardens in Chicago (you can read more about the boxes, here and the finished garden, here) so why not try our hand at it again, this time on a bigger scale.

Here's the plan for the kitchen garden:

1. replace rotting railroad ties with something more aesthetically pleasing - like stone.

2. create beds within the overall space, separated by gravel pathways for easy access.

3. upgrade the soil. This seems pretty self explanatory. Gardening requires good quality soil, of which there isn't much at the moment.

4. grow some stuff.

Nothing is set in stone, and I am sure there will be changes as we go, but we are excited to get this whole project underway. We'll be sharing inspiration, sources and play-by- plays whenever possible. It feels strange to hire in for this sort of thing, we are so used to doing it all ourselves. I know we will all be missing images of John toiling away. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to snag one or two for you. I wouldn't want to deprive you, after all.

until next time,

An Afternoon Like Any Other

It was an afternoon like any other. I was helping Tessa in the kitchen with her homework. Eloise disappeared to the family room. I didn't think much of it, at first, this was all very normal. But after awhile, I noticed it was really quiet upstairs.

Too quiet. Eerily quiet.

Someone was up to no good.

She greeted me at the top of the stairs and said with a certain twinkle in her eye: "I'm not doing anything".

That's when I knew she was definitely doing something…

Someone had found the decals.

Fortunately, she takes after her Mommy and had the good sense to only add the gold polka dot decals to the back wall of the family room. Of course, they were all on top of each other in a 10 inch space about 2 feet from the floor. Not exactly the pattern I had in mind. But, I can appreciate a creative spirit. At least that is what I kept telling myself…she was so proud and genuinely thought she had truly helped.

Hmmm.

Here in lies the beauty of the decal. They were super easy to remove, kept their cling factor and didn't object to my relocation.

No harm, no foul.

Side note: I used both 2 inch and 3 inch decals, from Amazon.

(not an affiliate link)

Side note 2: yes, that is our old breakfast room table paired with the milk paint cedar chest from our old foyer. Together they create a well loved crafting zone in our new family room.

Truth is, I've had the idea of using gold dot decals stored in the back of my mind since this Summer. In fact, they are why I choose such a neutral color, BM Novemeber Rain, for the family room.

But, I was nervous they would be hard to work with, look cheap, tear, not stick or a million other things that kept me from moving forward. Now, I'm so happy we finally added them to this cheerful, creative space.

Hope you had a great weekend!

until next time,

Hallway of Doors {Creating a Mudroom}

First, I can't start off this post without taking a moment to thank everyone for all their comments on the changes we've made in the living room. Seems as though I'm not the only one loving my new fresh traditional style (check it out here, here or here).

Of course, beautiful rooms are always nice, but if your home doesn't function properly it's hard to really settle in.

Here's a spot that I haven't shared too much of (not counting this 80's post), the back hallway. Or as I like to call it, the hall of doors. It doesn't look like much, but this whole area played a huge part of our decision making process when it came to purchasing this house.

To give you a sense of the layout, these pictures are taken from the kitchen. To the left (moving clockwise) we have: side door to outside, two coat closets and the door to garage at the very back next to the stairs to the family room, laundry room and pantry (closest to the kitchen).

The hallway of doors provides a lot of storage, but broken up storage with mostly small closets. The truth is, the functionality isn't great, which always seems to result in piles of shoes on the floor, backpacks and bags hanging from doorknobs and coats laying in the middle of the floor. Not exactly ideal.

Trying to think outside the box, we decided to forgo the pantry and use the space to create a mudroom. We're a family of four. We don't bulk shop. Our new kitchen is three times the size of our old kitchen providing more than enough storage and a built in double wide pantry. We don't really need an additional almost 5'x6' pantry. Hopefully.

Side note: our new mudroom is directly across from the side door. Ideal, right?

We had these wire shelves in our attic in Chicago, they are 35" long. The pantry/mudroom is about 70.5" long. At first, I couldn't get both sets of shelves in the space. Maybe it was the shoe moulding, maybe I had mis-measured. I couldn't figure it out and I wasn't about to give up.

Picture me sitting on the floor, back against the opposite wall, using my legs to literally shove/kick the shelves into place. Not the prettiest, that's for sure, but it worked. The shelves are in.

Opposite of the shelves, we installed a wooden rack with hooks (also from the Chicago house) at little persons height. Plenty of space for coats and bags and shoes below. A basket for umbrellas and off season shoes.

A place for everything and everything in it's place.

Would it be great to have built in cubbies, a bench, a special rug and mudroom appropriate wall hangings? Sure. But, does this work just as well? Yes, it does.

Plus, I've got a new spot to display all the kid created artwork that comes home from school!

Loving our new pantry turn mudroom.

linking in with:

Thrifty Decor Chick

until next time,

Leaps and Bounds

As most of you noticed from my fresh traditional tabletop transformation (here) post, there have been a lot of changes in our living room since I last shared this space with you.

I wouldn't want you to think I was holding out on you, honestly, the room has just come leaps and bounds in the last couple of weeks. Here are the details.

No. 1: Rug

Sometime in November, I stumbled across a 70% off sale on rugsusa.com and promptly settled into an impromptu 3 hour rug search.

Seriously, these guys have so many choices and run amazing sales. In fact, right now, they are running a 50% off sale with free shipping, so if you are in the market definitely check them out.

I finally settled on a wool moroccan shag rug, which I think is the perfect addition to our mostly traditional living room. I love it layered over our existing sisal, adding so much texture and interest while still remaining neutral enough to allow the other accents in the room to really shine.

No. 2: Accent Chair

Way back in October, I shared our new living room chair (here) and wondered if there could be room for two. Most of you urged me to double down and get the second chair, but it wasn't until we had a series of guests and not enough chairs that I finally did it.

I was really worried about the floral fabric and having a matching set - hoping it wouldn't be too boring, traditional and stuffy.

I'm pleased to report it's non of the above!

No. 3: The pillows

I've been looking for pillows for this space for quite sometime. Not seriously looking, mind you, but a passing stroll through the shops, a casual glance online - you know what I'm talking about. Needless to say, I was shocked to stumble across these big beauties at Marshall's last week.

I know I shouldn't even say this, but they were on clearance! What? No one wants two shades of orange in their ikat pillows? How interesting.

Truth be told, I brought these homes and left the tags on for a couple of days. I just wasn't sure. They didn't coordinate with the chairs at all, but then I decided to take a bit of my own advice and not make everything be so matchy-matchy. I love the pillows. They are staying.

By adding only a handful of fresh accessories, I think the vibe of the room has completely changed and I'm really happy with how the room is finally coming together.

Next up: The shelves. I've been working on them for a couple of weeks now, hoping for a reveal next week.

linking in with:

Savvy Southern Style

until next time,

Christmas Home Tour 2013

Christmas is coming…

Can you believe it's less than a week away?? Are you ready?

I may still have presents left to buy (and wrap!), but our home is ready and screaming out to be shared.

Welcome to DD's Christmas Home Tour 2013.

Our entry hall is still awaiting it's wall covering, so we went extra big with the decor to distract you!

Is it working?

Magnolia branches, eucalyptus, tree cuttings, box wood - it's all in there. And it smells wonderful. Believe it or not, a lot of these trimmings are left over from our Thanksgiving centerpiece.

The banister is strung with more white pine garland (like the mantel) golden beads and ribbon hung stockings.

Are you sensing a theme here?

Simple. Natural. Beautiful.

The dining table is simply dressed with our pheasants, an oversized golden mercury glass ornament and brass votives.

And, of course, more golden beads adorn the wreath hung on the mirror. I told you there was a theme...

The living room didn't receive too much attention this year, just our collection of German nutcrackers and a grouping of wintery trees. Yup, my DIY faux birch tree survived the move.

No one is more surprised than me.

Our gilded elk hanging in the powder room begged me to dress her up for the holidays. Lucky lady got a wreath and a golden bead necklace all to herself.