That New Construction Smell

The construction portion of the new guest bath is done.  It's my favorite part of a project.  The dust, the noise and the strangers in your house are replaced with the smell of joint compound, new wood and primer.

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Now my works starts.  I have two new thresholds that need to be stained and finished to match the floors, wood casings need to be spackled and painted...

...walls need to be painted in the dining room...

...and in the kitchen.

I love the view down my mini enfilade but the path and the view is partially obstructed by the TV stand in the living room.  It's been a real challenge figuring out a solution for this but I think I've done it.

Stay tuned.

And so it begins...

We have procrastinated long enough, and finally took the first step in transforming our kitchen.

Wednesday evening I was greeted with this thing on our porch:

Wait for it....

Wait for it..........

Can you hear the angels singing as the door is opened? Because that's what I hear when I look at this picture. It's an Avanti 32 bottle wine refridgerator. I feel so fancy. And old. Cause I only ever see these in old fancy people's homes. But that's okay because I'm going to have 32 bottles of perfectly chilled chardonnay at my fingertips 24/7, can it get much better than that?

This is the first step to our kitchen reno, because this new appliance can't just sit on the wall by itself.

See how odd it looks? (aside from the mess, just ignore that part)

So, this is what I came up with a while ago. Right after we first moved in, I knew I wanted to add more counter/storage space, and fix that weird empty triangle gap that served no purpose.

So this is what it should look like very soon:

...a real life, non-photoshopped version, of course.

We have a carpenter working on it right now and it should be installed Monday. It will have two shelves to place our red wines and our drink glasses and serve as our little bar area.

Then next week we're going to Lowe's to pick out some nice light granite (for the whole kitchen, not just this part).

Then we'll get a new tile backsplash (still need to pick this out!)

And eventually, we'll have all the cabinets and shelving painted white. And we're also getting new floor tile.

This is all expected to hopefully happen this month, so hold onto your horses, it's gonna be a crazy ride!

Land and Sea -Snug Harbor Farm and Parsons Beach, Maine

Did I tell you I almost killed my toparies?  I was underwatering them and they didn't let me know until it was too late.  I cut them back and they're recovering but I'm not sure they'll ever be the same.  I had to run up to Maine today so I thought I'd stop and see my friends at Snug Harbor Farm.  They're just gearing up for the spring season so I thought I focus on the succulents in the greenhouses.

Blue and orange

Large

Medium

Small

Blue

Gray and green

Red

Snug Harbor garbage can

On the way back toward Wells, Maine, a thick bank of fog was rolling in off the ocean.  I thought I would turn off and look for the beach.

Down this road which reminds me of France...

...were these beautiful salt marshes.

Over the dunes...

...was the roaring ocean...

I love going to the beach off season when no one is there.  You can pretend, if only for just a few minutes, you're the only person in the world.

Mussel Beach

Dinosaur bones.

I hope you enjoyed this quick little look at Land and Sea in Maine.

Guest Bath Construction

By the middle of last week, the center of the house was a disaster. 

The portion of the original floor under the closets was, I believe, the original staircase to the basement (under the second staircase).  The joists that filled in that space were really insufficient for a bathroom so everything got ripped out and replaced.  New engineered joists were sistered alongside a few of the other old joists  just to better carry the weight of a tub full of water. 

By the end of the week, I would get up in the morning, go out my front door, down the sidewalk to the little alleyway, through the arbor and in the back door to take a shower.  The blogarazzi missed their chance to catch me walking down the alley in my PJs and bedhead.  This little charade prevented a battle with the cats who hate the temporary door being closed and sit nearby on high alert waiting for a chance to escape and roll around in the dusty mess.  

But things are looking a little better now.  I did a major cleaning on Friday night so I could use the kitchen for the weekend. 

Here's one side of the kitchen before.

And here's we are as of Sunday.  I had to push the stove down about an inch but I was able to squeeze the dishwasher right into place.   

The center table which is much-needed work space is about a foot too big and I'm going to have to find a solution until I can get to (afford) redoing the kitchen.

 

Here's the "before" of door on the kitchen-dining room wall.

And here's what that looks like now.  There's a sight line all the way down to the front windows in the living room which I what I love about the upstairs.  A few of you had some suggestions when you saw the floor plans and I'm really considering implementing those ideas.  You are all SO smart!

Here is the view from the living room looking back to the kitchen before.

And here it is now.  The door to the bathroom foyer is on the right.  I can't wait to get that window in there.  Having light come in from both sides of the house will be amazing.

When I first saw what this looked like, I totally freaked out.  I put in an emergency e-mail to The Architects.  Like they could fix it.  I've calmed down a bit and I'm actually liking it.  It's a good thing because I haven't heard back from the slackers.

This was the view looking in to the kitchen before.

I've always detested those double doors but the view is less dated than having to see that sink area from the living room.  In the end, this will look straight down a new kitchen island to the range and range hood which I hope to be a very attractive one.  Flanking that will be glass fronted cabinets with all my nicest serving peices.  It should look great.

Hoping to finish up this messy work so I can take a break in the work for the summer. 

Fresh Cotton Rugs for Summer | Dash & Albert Rugs

I love cotton rugs.  They are affordable, versatile, and offer a fresh look that wool just can't do.

These simple ticking and awning stripe rugs from Dash & Albert are right up my alley.   They are priced from $30 (2x4') to $414 (9x12'). 

All great basic colors - would look great in any room.  I'm going to replace all of our heavy wool rugs with these light cotton rugs for summer.

 

Did I mention these are inside/outside rugs? 

I think I want every single one pictured here. 

Oh, and their site is full of Dog Love.  Which I love. 

Soft blues...

Mad about plaid.

http://www.dashandalbert.com

Birthday Happenings

Today was a good day.

I decided to take the day off work (who wants to work on their birthday??) to do whatever I felt like doing.

Like a mini Ulta/Victoria'sSecret/Forever21 shopping spree.

4 tops and 3 bottoms at Forever 21, all for $77... LOVE this store

And pina coladas by the pool.

And a play date with my baby girl:

Today I feel very fortunate and grateful to be able to enjoy everything that I have. It's all about the simple things in life. If only every day could be this simple and perfect.


And! I was able to squeeze in another office project.

I was trying to figure out some way to utilize the blank wall above my dresser:

And I quickly discovered that it would be nice to have a place to set my prints after they are cut and waiting to be packaged.

The first thing that came to mind was a small ledge to set them on. So I traveled to Lowe's and picked up an 8 ft piece of 90' angled trim (on sale for $2!) that I figured I would cut to size and mount to the wall, like this:

Unfortunately, I realized that there was no way that paper was going to sit up straight without falling over, so I quickly devised a Plan B.

I picked up a bag of clothespins at the dollar store, grabbed a handful and spray painted them white:

And measured out where I would mount them on the support beam for the shelf (which came to 8 clothespins every 7 inches)

All it took was a line of hot glue and they weren't going anywhere.

And now I have a functional, super cheap and easy place to hang my prints before they are organized and packaged!

By the way, huge thanks to those of you who have made a purchase from my little shop! Your support really means the world to me and makes me hopeful that I can continue and fulfill this dream of mine.

I'm off to enjoy the last few moments of my birthday with my little family... don't forget to take some time out of your day to enjoy the small things... it will make you a better person :)