Things I haven't killed yet

To our surprise, many of the plants in our garden are still hanging on! We have planted new ones too so here are some updated photos:




new creeping fig- hopefully will one day cover most of the back wall of the patio

Take a look at that! I will eat these tomatoes even though I've been told by K that they will be mealy and terrible. Why is he incapable of lying to further my excitement even though I may be slightly disappointed at the outcome?? Looks like I'm going to have to handle the whole Santa myth with any eventual children....probably a topic for another posting.
Anyways, we have tomatoes!

Growing succulents, I love these and the colors that they turn are so amazing, these have all done pretty well so far




Some basil and rosemary that I have actually used in cooking (Basil on pizza and Caprice salad -rosemary with potatoes)

This is daisy tree that my mom bought us, it is going crazy in a spot out by the garage

that's it for now!

More Lights!

So we decided to continue on with our lighting projects around the house since the dining room turned out so well, the next spot was the kitchen. The decision to rip out the old lighting was expedited by a trip to Ralphs where I saw the exact same set up over the deli counter.....see below for the old version

This set up has a pair of flourescent lights (kind of like the ones you see in office buildings) installed in an alcove and covered by a lovely sheet of plastic with faux wood paneling....quite breathtaking, but that wasn't the best part. Every time we turned this "light box" on to use the kitchen we heard a buzzing sound K said "reminded him of the presence of angels". It reminded me of what it might feel like to be a cafeteria worker, but we don't always have to see things eye to eye I suppose.

We didn't take any photos of the demo on this one, perhaps it was because we got wrapped up in tearing things down so quickly, but all we had to do was rip off the wood, take down the plastic sheet and de-install the fluorescent tubing. The alcove was finished so K patched up the holes we weren't going to use for our new fixtures and we just added the paint (leftover from a sample that I had tested out for the living room and decided not to use) and a strip of molding to cover up the edges. Check it out below

A vast improvement I think, and this one was a renovation on the cheap as well, both fixtures came from Ikea and were under $100 total, the molding was simple (under 20$ I think) and the paint was $3 because it was just a leftover sample.

let there be light

It has been a while since the last posting, but this is not as a result of a lack of projects around here so please enjoy project #1: lighting

As you can see above, this was our latest set up in the dining room. The table came with us from the apartment as did the chairs, and the lamp was a new addition right when we moved in (replacing a really ugly gaudy chandelier that was left here by the previous owner).

PHASE ONE: DEMO

Around here, we get really amped up to cut new holes in our ceiling.....at this point in the project, my role is to sit off to the side with a glass of wine and watch the magic happen. We took down the old light and then cut 2 holes on either side to accommodate 3 new lanterns that I had bought.

As you can see, new holes and now working on getting the wiring straightened out......

lights installed, now to see if all of the wiring and our newly installed dimmer switch was going to work....

Works great and makes a huge difference in the look of our dining room (all for under $150) You can also see the new table that we bought at Crate and Barrel with all of the wedding gift cards (thanks!)

more lighting projects on our next post, soon to come!

Pottery Barn be Damned!

We worked on a small project today that ended up costing about 75$ in wood and stain, as opposed to the $500 we were considering spending at a store that will not be named (except for in the title of this posting). As you can see below, we had previously taken out one pair of sliding closet doors from our now office (pictures soon to come on that room, it is still a work in progress).



We took the lovely brass accents off of this mirror and framed it with 1x8 pieces of pine which we stained a dark espresso color. It turned out nicely I think, and even better is the sweet sweet vindication that comes from saving $400 and recycling hideous old closet doors.

I still love you Pottery Barn, even though you tried to trick me into thinking we had to have an"espresso loft mirror"......A&K: 1 Pottery barn: 0

A Bench and Running Water

OK people (mainly our MN peeps) so here in Southern California we don't have what you would call "land" in which to plant a multitude of fruit and vegetable plants along with beautiful foliage and trees. We are making due though with what we like to call "our yard"....not large by any means (literally a few yards wide to be exact) and with what I'm convinced is acidic death soil that sucks the life out of anything that comes into contact with it. Having said that, you may now view what it looked like prior to us having done anything to it except set our Adirondack chair out in the hopes that one day we might actually want to hang out.

very sad I realize, and you should have seen the looks of disgust on our faces as we went out there on our first day back in California after our trip out to MN.....while "brother and sister in law #1", and "brother and sister in law #2" talked about (aka. rubbed in our faces) how much food they harvest on a daily basis and how magical it is to see so many species of bird in their yards, we are happy to see that our plants have lived to see another day. We did see a crow on our roof this morning, we think it's building a nest in our fireplace, and some sort of rat or possum is burrowing a hole underneath our fence, magical! We did put in a really cool bench (below) that my grandpa built, we are really happy with how it turned out.

Since we live in a desert, and I'm told we're in the middle of a drought (a friend of mine got an $80 ticket for watering his lawn on the wrong day last week), I figured we would plant drought resistant plants like succulents and brush grasses. Also, these are "very hard to kill" I'm told, which may or may not have figured into my decision making. You also might notice the river rock that was placed underneath the bench and around some of the plants and water feature. These are really pretty and much nicer than the pinkish concrete blocks that were in those spots previously.

Our new water feature was the brainchild of the man of the house, who was super motivated one morning and decided that we were going to finish this project in one day. It was hard work but I think it turned out really well. I did my river rock thing around it which is cute but also holds down and covers the plastic sheet that he had to put underneath. I also planted some more drought resistant plants and stacked some slate pieces to make the little waterfalls on each level.

That's all on the "yard" for now, we hope to plant some more in the near future. I'm thinking of some ivy to creep up the side of the house and cover up some of the white walls which practically blind you when the sun is out and shining (which is pretty much everyday).

Guest Bathroom Bananza

It’s been too long since we updated our post and we apologize for keeping you all in the dark. I don’t remember the exact weekend this project took place, but I’m positive it was before our June wedding.

Here are some pictures of the fantastic gold features that not only whispered, “I’m flashy,” but screamed, “I’m cheap as hell!” When looking at the medicine cabinet, try not to stare at the man in the mirror. He was not the hired help, as hired help that attractive can only be found through an Escort Service. His physical labor was free.

This picture was simply a recommendation for an upgrade. My personal thanks to Red Green. I know Red wasn't allowed to say it on his show, but if you can’t duck it… well you know the rest.

Actually, the tape was put in place to prevent the mirror from shattering into a billion little pieces. And lucky me, the mirror was removed in a single piece. After removing the mirror and old medicine cabinet, an open shelf was made by yours truly, stained, and installed after the new paint dried. And with a new mirror, faucet, and lighting system, I think you’d agree the bathroom does look better than before.

Memorial Weekend Fun.

Let me start by acknowledging the fact that I had no idea Paul, the neighbor’s pelican, was around when taking these pictures. Additionally, I’ve informed Felix’s owners, he’s the other neighbor’s cat, of his whereabouts. If you look closely at the first picture, you'll see what I'm talking about.

The first three pictures were taken after a corner and window trim were removed. At first, the badly weathered trim was going to be sanded and re-painted, but after closer inspection (by myself and termite inspectors) it was decided to have them replaced with quality lumber that was less termite-infested.

After two days of painting in the garage, two coats of both primer and the final tan, the new lumber was installed with screws. If anyone knows why nails are used, please let me know. Quicker maybe, but what a pain. We have too many siding and trim pieces that have pulled away from the house with little warping, but soon they will all be firmly secured with 3.5” deck screws. They're expensive, but the trim/siding pulls up snug and can be easily sealed with paint and caulking. Again, Paul made his way in to both of these shots.

And that brings me to the finishing touches of this job… or almost the finishing touches. Caulking. What a fun job (enter jokes here). There’s instant gratification when seams are filled and a quick stroke with a damp finger puts a professional finishing touch on the job that could have been completed by a monkey (another round of jokes here).

HOLY CRAP!!! We own a home!

Welcome. The gate was left open to show you to our front door... come on in. (As for the crazy multiple pictures poorly graphed together with word.doc and paint, please use your imagination or consider a poorly done paint job. Thanks.)

As you enter, the garage entrance is before the steps and to your left. As for the two-tone wall and mirror, just realize we start many projects and finish few around here. Through the walk way ahead, you'll reach the dinning room, 1/2 bath, and kitchen. Take a left past the stairs and down the hall, you'll be in the living room.

This view of the living room is from the hall directly from the entry way. Though not pictured, a hard left turn at this point would have you standing directly in front of the fully furnished wet-bar... but let's not stop there, as it's off to the patio. (Please don't question why there's a second door in this room on the left... we too don't know why it's there... thanks.)

Standing at the patio door facing West, you see the fence that divides our 1/2 lot front the front (a lovely Japanese couple that has invited us to dinner when the vb player returns from MN). With no two-story buildings to our South, this patio receives plenty of sunshine. Can you picture a vegetable garden on ladder shelves against the fence? Well that makes two of us.

Just thought we'd include another picture of the patio (looks like we need to even out that paint).

Before we head up stairs, let's check out the dinning room and kitchen. Here, you get a great view of the newly installed chandelier (Ikea has yet to let us down). To the left is the hall from the entry way to living room. Straight ahead is the living room, and a hard right will put you in the kitchen.

Standing with the dinning room table behind me, you get a full view of the kitchen. Please take note of the fancy new fridge (thanks Best Buy and your 18 months of 0% financing) and the dishwasher. Oh how I've missed you. Actually, how do you work? I've never really used a gizmo like you before... you do what? MARRY ME!!!

Before we head up stairs, let's take a look at that garage. WOW! Is that a new washer and dryer. Gas dryer even? Yes it is. Again, let's thank Best Buy for their low financing rates. Do I need to remind Sears again that these could be their products? If I weren't already set to marry the dishwasher, I'd probably ask the washer/dryer... maybe we can all move to Utah?

At the top of the stairs and turned to the right (West) you can see the doorways to bedrooms two and three (we call them 'throw that in that other room' and 'let's watch some Netflix'). Straight ahead is the second full bath.

Check out the curved shower rod and wonderful curtain. If there were ever a better house warming gift, I don't know that I've seen it. This bathroom has wonderful natural light with a window to the West (if you don't mind the neighbors watching you shower). Now if only we could do something about the gold fixtures... and not just in this room, but the entire house.

Exiting the guest bath and down the hall is the master bedroom. Stop at the door... is that a walk-in closet? A couch? And to think the last time I said, "Welcome to the Master Bedroom..." never mind.

Another picture from the bedroom. It's still not as clean as we'd like with limited closet storage bins (Ikea here we come), but with James Dean watching over us, we couldn't sleep more soundly. The windows on the right face East.




Finishing off our first blog, the Master Bath. Again, to think of the last time I showed pictures of a Master Bath... but anyway. We couldn't be happier and hope to have many blogs in the near future. Hope you enjoyed.