Projects – Page 2

Quick Knits

March 13, 2014

I love a finished project don’t you?
Freshly painted walls. A hand built rock wall. A whole new room!
It is such a satisfying feeling to complete something.
But sometimes my projects can feel overwhelming. The prep, the materials, the money!

I have my fair share of complicated projects that sit unfinished. And I have a long list of projects I would like to start one day soon. I know I’ll eventually get around to them.
But in the mean time it’s always nice to have a few simple, affordable and attainable ones that can easily be picked up on a whim. That’s why I love to knit.

Both of these patterns are from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, a Christmas gift from my sister. I love the photographs in this book and the simple yet beautiful projects.

The Spiral Seat Cushion was made for Hannah’s desk chair. It was so fun to make as it’s knit in one piece without having to sew anything together. I used a super soft, bulky merino wool which made for a comfy seat. I love how the yarn pops against the wood.

I had a bit of the white yarn left over so I decided to make the Little Pointy Elf Hat for a special friend who is due soon. It was a quick knit made in just a few hours at craft circle last night.

Now, back to scraping and spackling my kitchen walls.

Wains Coating

November 27, 2013

my grandfather and chris installed wains coating in our dining room about a month ago.
if you look at the photos in the previous post of norah’s birthday, you can see that the trim is attached to the wall both vertically and horizontally. and when painted it gives the effect that it is all wood when really it is mostly the wall.
it’s a clever and affordable solution if i do say so myself. it gives structure and texture to a room and it’s amazing how much brighter and bigger it feels now.

this past weekend my best friend and i had a blissful two days of painting it all while chatting, giggling, drinking tea and eating chocolate.
when we first started i never thought we would finish by sunday.
but time really flew by and before we knew it, the room was complete with time left over for a glass of wine and a pot of homemade cauliflower, butternut squash soup.

i love a finished project just before the holidays!

A New Room and Floor

October 11, 2013

oh i could not wait to share this with you.
it’s all pretty amazing really to have watched this room in all of it’s stages and now in all of it’s glory!
it is officially complete and hannah is over the moon.

she chose benjamin moore maiden hair fern for the color. and as much as this mama of hers would have loved to see revere pewter on the walls, i love how it blends in with the leaves right outside of her huge windows.

to get an idea of how much we needed to dormer out you can see the original roof line just above the staircase. behind the mirrored door is the old attic space which comes in handy for storage.

the woodwork and trim was made to match the rest of this arts and crafts style house and we added some ship lap on the walls for a little more modern feel.

my grandfather crafted the built in bookcase (who’s top i am picking up from his shop tomorrow) to house books and collections.

she has a nice sized closet which fits all of her shoes and clothes and allows for more space in her room for dancing, playing and hanging out.

her antique bed was a gift from my mom and the drawing above it lived in my room as a child. artwork by hannah and my sister also lives on the walls. her desk was salvaged and given some new hand crafted drawer pulls.

on her first night up there i laid with both her and norah (who has been invited up to sleep and snuggle whenever she likes) and looked out at the leaves rustling on the big maple tree. we listened to the rain tapping on the roof and i marveled at this little house of ours and how it keeps on expanding and growing along with us.

stay tuned for more details and photos of this exciting new project!

Bubbles

August 6, 2013

playing with bubbles
inspired by 3191Q issue 12

Some things that make me do a jig….

August 1, 2013

some things that make me smile….

::earl came to my bedroom window for the first time yesterday morning. i guess i need to keep a jar of nuts by my bedside. he has been bringing a lady friend around lately. we named her pearl. i think chris and i may be grandparents soon:)

::we are headed to the lake on thursday to visit friends for a long weekend and then we will head back up in a few weeks for a week long stay.

::tomatoes are coming in strong from the farm and i find myself eating something tomato-y at every meal.

::harry has found many new friends in our neighborhood and has doggy playdates almost every day. yesterday he spent the morning in a neighbor’s backyard playing with his buddy burt, a standard poodle. he came home pooped.

::swim team is over as well as camp and we now have the rest of the summer to just be before the busy fall schedule arrives.

::the heat has broken (for now) and i am a much happier camper. the forecast is sunny and 70s with no humidity for the next week and i am doing a jig!

::the attic project is close to complete. it is beautiful and bright and gets the best light in the house. i sit up there every morning and take it all in before it will soon be hannah’s space and i will have to step back a bit.

::norah and i have been dreaming up some plans for her room re-do.

Home stretch!

August 1, 2013

some sneak peeks….
home stretch!

Life has been busy

June 20, 2013

life has been busy.
our new project is almost complete on the outside but still has a bit of interior work to be done.
our gardens are lush and jungle like from the extremely rainy spring we have had.
the weather has been gorgeous as of late with no humidity and crisp cool nights.
earl the squirrel continues to visit us daily for nuts.
the other day the contractors had the back door propped open. i came down to find earl in the kitchen to say good morning.
he’s part of the family now.

p.s. many of you have mentioned or written that you can no longer read or make comments. because things have shifted a bit here and are still in transition you may not have noticed that you just need to click on the title (which is now the date at the top of each post) and it will then lead you to the individual post where you can comment at the bottom.

don’t be shy!!!

The bones of our home

June 2, 2013

living amongst construction has not been as bad as i thought.
in fact i find it sort of beautiful.
i feel more connected to my house than ever as it’s bones are revealed.

we have been finding old photos and papers in the walls.
and i now more than ever want to do research on the folks that lived here before us.
although we completely gutted this house and made it our own from day one, it was someone else’s before. i forgot all about that until we recently began to peel away layers.

some things i do know or have heard through the grapevine….
our house was built by the local prisoners in 1920.
a horticulturalist who lived here grew many plants under lights in the basement.
the chief of police committed suicide in the basement (hoping this isn’t true)
the last family to live here raised 5 boys in this house.

there is so much i do not know.
and i can’t help but wonder who will live here after us.

i have tucked a few photos and notes in the walls to let them know who we are.

A room in the trees

May 17, 2013

oh my gosh it’s happening. it’s truly happening. and fast!
we are all so excited over here watching our home transform before our eyes.

it took me a little while to get used to how big the new addition looks from the outside and how different our house looks from our attached neighbor. but after a few days i began to fall in love and sort of like the whole off-kilter look. i like being a bit eccentric:)
we certainly are the tallest house on the block now and hannah’s view is amazing, overlooking the neighborhood roof tops.

one of her role models is julia butterfly hill who lived in a california redwood for almost two years. with her new room high up in the treetops she will feel a little like julia.

the roof and cedar shakes begin on monday along with the stair case and interior.

we are so very lucky to have been gifted this project by my dad and are so appreciative for his generosity. it still feels like a dream.

i love that we are getting closer and closer to using up every available inch in our home to it’s fullest. but don’t worry i have a few more ideas up my sleeve.

A few new things

April 23, 2013

i was going to start this post by saying how busy life has been but i like the words full and abundant better.
so there, life has been full. life is so abundant!

there are many fun and exciting things that are happening in our lives at the moment…..

:: you may have noticed that things are changing a little in this space.

we are working on sprucing things up a bit but are still focusing on the back end of things. there is now a new services page which we are excited about. we teach several different backyard classes and through these courses we have had many people email us asking for help in building coops, raised beds and consulting them on creating their own backyard space. chris is lined up until june with 3 coop jobs and a raised bed garden and i have several backyard chicken and small scale gardening classes to teach throughout the spring. since this is a side gig for us on top of our other jobs it has been time consuming but oh so fun!

:: i am running for borough council and campaigning has begun!

it has been fun meeting new people, knocking on doors and learning more and more about this little town i have lived in since i was 9 years old. never would i thought of doing something like this until several people in the community approached me and asked if i might consider it. my first reaction was “hell no!”. but it didn’t take long for me to get excited for a new challenge and turn my answer around to a “why not?!!!” i am excited about the possibility of being an integral part in helping to continue to move the incredible town that i live in forward in the right direction and make it the best it can be.

:: our attic project will begin next wednesday!!!

when we first moved here we considered our house a starter home.
it had 3 bedrooms but before we even moved in we took down the wall of the middle bedroom which made for a very dark and narrow hallway. i’ll never forget how exciting and fun it was to knock down the wall with our bare hands and throw all of the debris out the second story window dropping it into a dumpster below. taking the wall down created an open lofty type space where we would hang out in, read, watch movies etc. it really opened things up and brightened up the space. we figured that we would be moving over time so only having two bedrooms would be just fine for a few years. but here we still are 15 years later with 2 daughters. we have grown quite attached to this little neighborhood of ours, the community and our home. and as you might have guessed we aren’t going anywhere. we are staying put and we are all pretty darn happy about it.

the girls have been so good about sharing a small room together over the years. my mom always reminds me that this is how she grew up (with three girls all crammed into one bedroom with one drawer each for their belongings). we are good about living in a small space and not accumulating too much. we utilize our space well. and luckily for me, who is always looking for a new project, there is plenty of opportunities even in this little house of ours to expand a little.

starting next week the process will begin to make our attic into a room for hannah.
i have been collecting all sorts of inspiration over the last year and now the time has come to see it happen.
hannah is over the moon with excitement. that little sister of hers however has had her ups and downs with the fact that hannah gets the bigger room and one with it’s own set of stairs oh my! but i have heard hannah whisper to norah several times that she is always welcome for a visit. and yes there will be two twin beds up there for the many nights that i know hannah (who still likes to fall asleep alongside me and norah each night in my bed) will be inviting norah up for a sleepover.

Tags

Archive