new blog

Hey, I'm now blogging over here: justabouthome.wordpress.com

It's about (you guessed it) my home, and I'll be blogging with my mom (what an experiment!).

If I have anything non-home-relevant, I'll probably still stick it up here!

I spy: a good blog series

I really like sfgirlbybay's "i spy" series. Here's the most recent one. Here's one of my favorite ones.

Clotheslines

Chalkboard black

A secret garden

Summer

It makes me want to start my own little I spy series! I like how she varies the theme and always seems to put one of her own photos in the highlights.

Delish.

Spring Projects

So not too many blog updates, but lots of things going on.

Spring is here, lots of flowers, green-ness, and nice, warm weather. Last week I started a mini garden in the backyard using a few old filing cabinets, spray paint, and screws. Nothing is ready to harvest yet, but the onion, peas, lettuce, and cilantro have grown a little.
Today I put together a little flower bed with the help of Brentan and an old door. No pictures yet, though.

Brentan is busy building a cabinet to house the kegerator and other various bar supplies. It is really coming along. I keep joking that he will finish before I am done with my chair cushion covers. (Which are still long in process...)

Work is going really well, and taxes are done. But tomorrow is the start to a six day work week. Maybe I need some camillas to get me started:

I'm an Upholsterer

That's what I keep telling myself: I'm an upholsterer.

I started the other day taking notes and taking apart the cushions from this chair so I can recover them with some pretty green lattice fabric.
It's a little overwhelming. But a good start to becoming an upholsterer. If only I could learn enough to recover couches! Someday!

Homemade Headboard Project

Brentan and I finally decided we needed to do something with our bed. Well, it's really just a mattress on wheels. We decided to make a headboard. After seeing it done on HGTV a while ago (see here, or an Apartment Therapy how-to here ), I figured it would be easy enough.

We bought fabric and batting from the fabric store and plywood and a staple gun from Lowes for the main piece. Also from Lowes, we got a few pieces of of molding and some wood stain for the frame. All the pieces for the main part were pre-cut, and all we needed to do was staple. Brentan cut and fit the molding together, and it is screwed on to the back of the plywood. We hung it on the wall and ta-da!

Easy as pie. And our bedroom looks way more put together.

From a Previous Life

I was quickly looking through old posts and saw this:

Oh I miss those high ceilings and dramatic views from a previous life, don't you?

I just don't miss the green carpet!

New Projects

I have already completed some projects that haven't been posted on here and started some new ones. I've started to tackle sewing again!

Here's what's been done since the last post:

• I hung up two drawings that my Grandpa did while he was in SE Asia. They go really well in the dining area. See above.
  
• I sewed a new cute dog bed for Daphne, and she loves it. No more stinky, ugly plaid, hello soft, fleecey pawprints and green!
• Brentan made a doghouse for Daphne. (She is super spoiled) It is made with redwood, which makes it almost better than the regular house! It needs to be painted (prob. Wipeout blue!)
  
• Reorganized the office. The big white Ikea bookshelf is now housed there, leaving the living room way more open and airy. And the office feels finished and is a productive space.

Here's what is in the works or soon to be started:

• Framing some pretty pictures of Spring flowers from around our old apartment in Boston to hang above the bed.
• Making a headboard for the bed. I got some cute fabric from the store and some molding to stain, so hopefully it will look really classy.
• Reupholstering a mid-century chair from the Alameda flea market. I get some great green trellis fabric and am ready to start my first sewed furniture project. OK, maybe not. Maybe I need to mentally prepare myself more. It's really just making two new covers for cushions, but I'm scared they will look sloppy. Any tips?
  

Doggie Dog Dog!

Meet Jackie, our new labradoodle!
She's a super sweet 5 year old, who we adopted yesterday from the NorCal Poodle Rescue. She's still a little scared of things, but I think will adjust soon.

New Danish Teak Table!

I am so excited! Not only did Brentan and I find a nice, rectangular table from craigslist, it is a beautiful Danish teak table! I really <3 craigslist sometimes.
I swear, I would have had to pay $500 for this at the Alameda flea market.

Green Filing Cabinet and the Alameda Flea Market

Brentan and I picked up this free (and heavy) filing cabinet yesterday from a craigslister. It was an ugly tan color, with no excitement. So after the Alameda Flea Market yesterday (which is AMAZING!!) I went to Home Depot, bought a can of spray paint and painted it green. It is an awful similar green to that in the kitchen, which I think ties the rooms in the house together nicely!

And it gives a nice pop of color to the office, and a great place to store files, which were previously all over the floor.

The office is still coming together. At the flea market I was keeping an eye out for a pretty vintage low and long cabinet or bookshelf to store all of our crap. There weren't any in good condition or quite what I wanted. What there were many of were pretty Danish modern kitchen tables--unfortunately none in our price range! I'm keeping an eye on craigslist for a good one.


PS. I'm linking this to DIY Day! Hooray!