birthday weekend

it was middle son's 22nd birthday this past weekend! i just love that kid.

his favorite birthday pie recipe

i love him so much i made him help me finish painting the dining room.

i'm such a terrible mom. i didn't even take down the origami stars hanging from the ceiling, our very own 100 million suns inspired by this snow patrol album cover. or the disco ball. every dining room needs a disco ball. especially when you're celebrating a birthday!

besides, i think it helps disguise the light. or does it do the exact opposite? i might not mind the light so much in this new and improved, all white room.

hmm...

and here is ginger the wonder dog, getting her most favorite thing in the world - a butt scratch.

ah, it's the simple things in life.

bathroom shmathroom

i feel like that grandma who takes out pictures of her grandchildren (all 19 of them) or your cousin who just got a digital camera and went on vacation to a stamp museum and has taken a picture of every stamp in the building.  so with that in mind, (and complete understanding if you nod off) here's some pictures of our almost finished but at least finally usable, bathroom.  in case you haven't been avidly following along, you can click here and here for the before pictures.

extremely pale blue on the walls (maybe would have liked them to be a bit less pale but you didn't hear that from me)

so much trouble finding a light that would fit with the medicine cabinet and the position of the existing electrical box and the outlets below.  finally found a galvanized outdoor light from lowes that fits my opposites attract design sense. 

we wanted a ceiling light in a room that had no electrical box in the ceiling so....  i kind of really  like this exposed but hidden wire look.  it feels appropriate to our old house.  the ceiling is painted in this great paint that looks like silver leaf.

added an old glass knob from my collection to the medicine cabinet after we painted it a shiny black

in this light the walls look just right.  the tub has been peeled of it's magenta paint to reveal what looks like gold leaf.  can you have both gold and silver leaf in the same room?  um... yup!  i'm in love with the tub and the ceiling.

we still have things to figure out, like what to do with the sink/stove and the floor but we're getting there.  now comes the fun part, right?  looking for fabric for curtains, maybe an old distressed shelf for the wall, shower curtain, art... yay!


here's a preview of our downstairs bathroom.  maybe in the winter i'll be ready to sand and peel again.

wallpaper

forest green ceiling and molding

and on a completely different note, here's some new work in the shop

didn't mean to offend any stamp lovers out there.  i really do love them!  just maybe not a museum full of them.

update

i know you are all sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for an update on our bathroom makeover.

so here we go

one coat of primer on everything!

goodbye magenta ceiling

surprise!  there's gold underneath the magenta painted tub

we are finding that painting around the tub takes flexibility and patience and in my body, both are in short supply.  i will be happy, oh so happy when this is done.  

these photos are of a locket that i was thinking about putting in the shop but i kind of fell in love with it all over again.  i just may have to hold onto it.

another late night post....goodnight kids.

sleep tight.

what were we thinking?

it all started with a paint sale at home depot.

our bathroom has great bones, (is that a little like saying - he has a great personality when your friend describes your blind date?)  the problem is the wallpaper that's lifting off the wall.  and then there is this particular shade of magenta/maroon in the wallpaper that the previous owners decided to highlight by painting it on the faux tin ceiling and the claw foot tub and the old cast iron stove-cum-bathroom sink.  then there is the gold painted crown molding.  the multi-colored cork flooring.  the polished marble floor insets under the throne and tub.  the victorian-ish gingerbread that is supposed to camouflage the circular shower curtain rod complete with a gold trimmed sheer valance.  the home made, glass backed medicine cabinet that allows you to see said wallpaper every time you open the door. did i mention the woodwork? highly varnished and dark, but not quite dark enough to be cool.  and the doorknobs, those old swirled glass ones.   wainscoting.  so, yeah, it has great bones but for this girl who used to live in a basically all white house with painted white molding and distressed white furniture it's getting a bit claustrophobic.

so, the paint.  rather quickly, for me, i chose a creamy white for all the molding and wainscoting and a light warmish blue for the walls.  then we saw a paint sample of a silver that looks like an old mirror and got inspired to try it on the faux tin ceiling.  i originally thought i'd buy the paint, since it was on sale, and have it ready when we were ready.  because we were supposed to be working on a pergola.  but somehow we let our enthusiasm for having a newer, brighter bathroom take over.

four days later and we are finally able to start painting.  this was the first time i've ever removed wallpaper and i can honestly say i never want to do it again.  unlucky for me i have two more rooms with the darn stuff.  and remember i mentioned all that varnished woodwork and wainscoting?  thank god we remembered to buy those hospital mask thingies.  we were caked in spackle (used to cover up all the places where the wallpaper ripped off the top paper layer of sheet rock) and varnish and wood grit.

wallpaper, victorian-style gingerbread surrounding the shower curtain rod and fake tin ceiling

multi-colored (looks like marbled paper) cork floor butting up against polished marble tiles, magenta tub

magenta cast iron stove/sink

high gloss wainscoting and polished marble tile

90s bar light above medicine cabinet

demolition begins

sanded wainscoting

spackle on the walls to cover bare spots.  i decided to embrace the unevenness of the walls

here are some bathrooms to dream about...   if you're into that kind of thing

here

here

here

here

another late night...goodnight kids.

sleep well.

summer dreams

since we moved to our new home we've been talking about building a pergola/enclosed space/privacy fence in our very public backyard.  we have great neighbors on all sides but when you're used to being secluded enough to be able to walk around outside in your pj's, it's hard not to feel a bit exposed.  so...rather than an ugly 8ft. high stockade fence we want something that allows some privacy along with some neighborliness. so i'm allowing myself to dream big before i come down to earth.  i thought i'd share with you some of my inspiration.

good fences make good neighbors keeps popping into my head.  and besides maybe the neighbors don't want to see us in our pj's.

via em for marvelous

via kris allen daily

via dublin durller-wilson

southern living

houzz

via angela llewellyn

there's even more over at my pinterest board cause i can't seem to stop myself.