the kitchen floor, part 2

I found a fabulous new blog last week. Door Sixteen She and her husband are renovating their late-1800's house. I've been loving reading how she's solved problems that Chris and I are facing. Today, I opened up her blog to find painted white floors! And, not only pictures, but a step-by-step tutorial. Not only did it answer my questions, but it made me want to run home and tear up the floor. Chris will be thrilled.

the case for painting the fireplace. part I.

Let me begin by saying I LOVE fireplaces. I'll just get that out there from the start. But we have a hideous fireplace. It's dingy pale brown. It doesn't add anything to the room. It's just blah. The problem here is Chris hates the thought of painting brick and has firmly put his foot down. So out of the blue the other night he brings up the fireplace. Chris: Do you really want to paint the fireplace? My brain: omg. yes! yes! yes! Me: Yep. Chris: What color would you paint it? My brain: play it cool. don't make him think you want it toooo much. let it be his idea. Me: The same cream that's on the ceiling and all the trim. Chris: Hmmm. That might look nice. My brain: he's CAVING! Chris: But, doesn't your mom agree with me about not painting it? My brain: ha. my mom has taste. Me: Nope. She told me it's one of the ugliest parts of the house, actually. Chris: Hmmmm. And, he goes back to reading a magazine. Yep, that was the end of the conversation. But, it was a huge conversation because HE BROUGHT IT UP. So, now it's my goal to keep subtly (hahaha) nudging. Partly through negotiation and partly through proof. Stay tuned for beautiful painted fireplaces.

Dogs should be allowed in restaurants

I came across Jonathan Adler's design manifesto today. Wow. I'm in love. Here are a couple of my favorites: 1. We believe that your home should make you happy. 2. We believe that when it comes to decorating, the wife is always right. Unless the husband is gay. 3. We believe in rustic modernism: Big Sur, A-Frame beach houses, and raw beams. 4. We believe you should throw out your Blackberry and go pick some actual blackberries. 5. We believe dogs should be allowed in stores and restaurants. They resonate with me and make me laugh. I'll be sharing numbers 2 and 5 with Chris. In fact, I'll be printing and framing numbers 2 and 5 so they become ingrained in his brain. Number 1, though, inspires me. Your home should make you happy. You should smile when you walk into any room. It should offer solace and peace and comfort. Chris and I are getting there. In the midst of the cracking walls, lack of kitchen cabinets and bathroom mold, we have pockets of comfort. Pockets of solace and warmth. These pockets are slowly starting to make us both happy. I'm even becoming less stressed about all we need to do. We had ambitious hopes when I moved in. The kitchen and living room, at least, would be finished by Christmas. Ha. Ha. I'm beginning to realize this will take time. This is a process that may never end. Oddly, this is discouraging. This is exciting and stimulating. I didn't choose this house, but it is growing on me. We will have a home that makes us happy.

the kitchen floor

This post is dedicated to our kitchen floors. Somehow, our worn out, cracked and stained linoleum just isn't cuttin' it for me. Weird, right? These floors are so beautiful. We're nervous, but we're going to pull up the linoleum and see what's underneath. We know there's wood, but we're not sure of the state of the wood. Regardless, I'm painting the floors like the above pics. The first one is the smallest portion of floor, but it's so lovely. Now, we just need to figure out how to protect the paint once it's on the floor. I don't want to be repainting every year!

I am a chiquita banana . . .

I have a soft spot for Chiquita bananas. The song. The sticker. Both remind me of my childhood. I laughed out loud when I saw their new sticker on our bananas. I heart lunch boxes too!

my crafty hubby

We discovered quickly, after moving in together, that we needed a central place to post reminders, important docs, etc. Our kitchen is all torn up though, so whatever we came up with wasn't necessarily permanent. We found four plain, non-framed cork boards at Target, and hung two. Hung consisted of placing the included double sided tape on the back and hoping it stuck to the wall. It didn't. In fact, it fell so often that three broke. I tried more double sided tape. I tried thumbtacks. They wouldn't puncture our walls that are apparently made of steel. Chris took matter in his own hands, and the result is so adorable! He found a variety of buttons and nailed one into each corner. Except on the board with a broken corner. There he nailed TWO buttons so the broken edge stayed. Adorable. And, so easy!

Organizing inspiration

Although we're both very organized people, Chris and I are far from being an organized household. Confession: I haven't gone through the mail since last week. And, it's strewn across a table in the living room. Ack. I'm looking desperately for organization. Or just ways to hide the mess. I found these early today. Very rustic. I love them. *from Rockett St. George*

Can I live here please?

*from Gridley and Graves* Completely amazing.

Inspiring

Happy Monday! Clearly I've been hanging around Chris a lot. But isn't it the best color? This year I want to be more bold in my color choices. This is great inspiration. Chris is embarrassed that I'm posting a four-door on the site.

Where did '08 go?

Happy new year!
This year, I'm already thankful that I'm moved into our house and I don't have a wedding to plan. Instead of a typical new year's resolution -- one that I'd inevitably break my March -- I made a list of things I want to do this year with all my event-free time. They are in no particular order, and I have all year to finish them. I like that they're in list form. I can check them off as I go. :)

Without further ado, I resolve to:
1. sew nook curtains
2. sew napkins
3. visit the portland art museum
4. go on a mountain bike ride
5. hike dog mountain
6. take a cooking class
7. entertain at our house at least once a month
8. have a garage sale
9. list unused stuff on ebay (no, but I took pics of a bunch of stuff and plan to upload this week!)
10. list unused appliances (!) on craigslist
11. organize my design file
12. rebuild the garage
13. grow tomatoes
14. plant a flower box
15. clean out fireplace
16. paint the kitchen
17. repaint the master
18. set up my sewing room
19. finish 3 quilts
20. go on a picnic
21. go to a stargazing event in the gorge
22. build an inspiration board
23. get a professional massage (it was actually a facial, but close enough)
24. take more pictures
25. blog at least 3 times a week (not quite yet, but am getting so.much.better!)
26. volunteer at a homeless shelter