{guest post} incorporating orange

Good morning friends! I have a special treat for you today. I'm posting over at Room Rx! Cathy Wall is an interior designer blog friend of mine and her site has such great info and ideas, including colors of the week, fabrics of the week, projects that she's currently working on, and killer mood boards. For my guest post, I'm taking over her color of the week feature :).

I'm featuring the color orange and how to incorporate this fun color into your home: both subtly and not-so-subtly.

Please come over and say hi! And, once you're there, take a look around and check out all the goodness Cathy's site has to offer. Have you ever used orange in your house? How do you like to use it?

{summer of fun} Dog Mountain

Happy Monday friends! Did you all have a great weekend?! I surprised myself and finished a LOT of house projects. Look for details of those coming up soon.

Today I have my next installment of my summer of fun series. If you haven't heard, I'm placing an emphasis this summer on activities away from my house. For the last couple summers we've focused completely on the house. You can read a full explanation of this idea here. And for those of you wondering? This really has been an amazing summer :).

A couple weeks ago, I headed out into the depths of the Columbia River Gorge to hike Dog Mountain. This is a notoriously difficult hike, and I've been wanting to do it for a couple years. So I gathered up some friends and hit the trail this year.

The hike is a mere 6.9 miles, but it is STRAIGHT uphill. As in 2800 feet elevation gain in those 6.9 miles.  This picture illustrates this well. This was at the first *look out point*/resting stop. We still had to go to the very top of the hill, which is at those furthest up trees..

Besides being difficult, the trail is also known for its wildflowers. Sadly, we were a little too late for the most showy displays, but there were still some colorful flowers hanging on.

The views on this trail are remarkable. Above is Mt. St. Helens. You know, the volcano that exploded in the 80s. I'm happy to say that I'm too young to actively remember that. But, there was ash in the NW for YEARS after. I do remember that.

And this is looking east. It's actually looking at the trip I took earlier this summer. You can read about the gorgeous eastern gorge here.

I also tried out a new pair of shoes for the trip: the Merrell Pace Gloves. They're *barefoot*, of sorts. OMG, friends, so comfortable! And, no, I'm not getting paid to say that. After getting my feet torn up last summer with hiking shoes, I was really wary of buying new ones. After reading Born to Run, I wanted to try something different. I highly recommend these.

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

{For more on my summer of fun, check out my adventures to the Rogue River, the Oregon coast, Eastern Washington, and Hood River.} 

 

{renovate} the house punch list

(Note: I'm having MAJOR blogger formatting issues. My apologies that the font/spacing in the post is crazy. I'm working on it :)

Happy friday! I hope you've all had a great week!

I am honored to have been featured on a few lovely blogs this week. Involving Color, Pewter and Sage and Cottage and Vine all featured my back entry way, and I wanted to say both THANK YOU! AND, welcome to all my new readers! :) I hope you'll take some time to look and around. And say hi!

Last week Meredith, at Welcome to Heardmont, posted her house *punch list*. All the projects she and her husband would like to do to their current home. As I was reading it, I remembered that WE TOO have a punch list! And, why haven't I shared it here? Well friends, we made this list about two years ago while sitting in a coffee shop at the coast. I convinced Chris it would be good for us, and help us stay on track. Well, the list was SO HUGE that it actually did opposite. We were both so overwhelmed that we closed the list and haven't opened it since. HA! So, for kicks I opened it up of the other day and to my surprise, we've actually finished A LOT of what was on the list! It was fun to see how much progress we'd made -- especially since at the time we thought we'd never get this stuff done :).

A Home in the Making Punch List

A couple things: we'd already done A LOT to the house before we made this list. For instance, the garage list would've read: DESTROY AND START OVER. But, since we'd already done that, the list is much more manageable. Also, you'll notice, this list is mostly structure and not so much decorative. It's things we'd like to do before we put the house on the market. Whenever that might be.

LIVING ROOM
- Install baseboard trim

- Install ceiling fixture

- Floor vent replacement

- Screw floors

KITCHEN/NOOK

- Replace counter top

- Replace sink

- Replace faucet

- Replace floor

- Nook light

- Abutt stove to wall

- Lights above sink

- Stove hood

HALLWAY

- Remove carpet

- Refinish/paint hardwoods

- Replace light fixture

- Install baseboard trim

- Add shelves to hall closet (door on the right in the photo)

BACK BEDROOM

- Remove carpet

- Refinish/paint hardwoods

- Install baseboard trim

- Paint wall and ceiling

- Replace broken window

- Add electrical outlets

- Install closet light

FRONT BEDROOM

- Install baseboard trim

- Screw floors

- Replace floor vent
- Add electrical outlets

- Install closet light

BATHROOM 
- Remove floor
- Remove walls
- Remove tub
- Install sheetrock
- Install tile
- Install sink
- Uh, total re-do <--------- FAVORITE part of this list ;)

BACK ENTRYWAY 
- Sheetrock ceiling
- Demo electrics
- Sink plumbing into wall
- Replace floor
- Replace back door
- Install handrails (opted not to) 
- Paint walls and ceiling

BACK PORCH 
- Install new door
- Install wallboards
- Prep and paint the walls 
- Rewire electrical
- Replace window screens
- Hang siding on outside walls

BASEMENT 
- Install handrail
- Architectural drawings
- Cut and install egress windows
- Move plumbing to landing
- Install kitchen/bar
- Re-do bathroom
- Build out bedroom

OUTSIDE 
- Re-do soffets 
- Install new gutters 
- Landscape front and backyard 
GARAGE (of which I forgot to take a photo this morning! I'll update with a photo) 

- Install gutters
- Run 220 line
- Finish electrical
- Finish exterior trim 
- Finish paint 

Do you notice some trends here? There are a few MAJOR spaces we haven't tackled yet. We have some big plans for this fall/winter :). Also, we need to get an electrician out here STAT! HA! 

So, have you ever made a punch list for your home? Did it help your plans, or was it way to overwhelming??