A friend of my mother's was recently in her homeland of the Netherlands, and she gave her this item upon her return. It really got me thinking about a few things... 1) how in the heck do you use it? (we brainstormed and got it figured out) and 2) wow, it is really time to do something about my bathroom!!
I don't want to do too much... no changing fixtures or anything, because I know someday we will make the bathroom bigger and then I can do a big overhaul. But I need to do something for the interim to spice it up and make it a bit more pleasant. As much as I long for a chic spa-inspired bathroom where I can languish for hours in hot bubbles watching Oprah or reading Jane Austen, I have to come to terms with the fact that my life just isn't like that. I haven't taken a bubble bath in more than four years and it would be a little tough with "Bathtime Buzz" staring me in the face anyway. I share a tiny bathroom with a grown man and two four-year-old boys. So, I've decided I want the bathroom to be a fun place that gets us energized in the morning and won't look silly with a few rubber duckies strewn about.
I could definitely paint the vinyl linoleum in the bathroom to replicate this look:
There is definitely something that is simultaneously fun and classic in this look:
"Raindrops keep fallin' on my head" is a much more pleasant thought when the raindrops are rainbow-colored:
Although I can't fit this in now, someday I would love to have a little toilet nook in the bathroom:
Here it is, the middle of a dreary Southern California winter rainy spell, and here I am, dreaming of greener pastures. Or vegetable gardens, as the case may be. While I hope to some day install raised veggie beds in my front yard, I don't think I'll get it together to do it for the next growing season. I do plan to get a little kitchen herb garden in by the back door and several hanging plants going, too. And I've found the perfect tool to help me! An online Vegetable Planting Calendar to guide me about when to start seeds and when to transplant (you can find a calendar for your own planting zone on the site, too).
Paint trim for the boys' room Paint stripes in the boys' room Paint chalkboard wainscot in the boys' room Clean and turn on the heater Buy area rug for living room Strip and paint trim in master closet Strip doors Hang succulent baskets on front porch Build compost bin Paint dining room walls Begin door repairs Strip door frames
I managed to complete a fair amount of stuff on my short list before my parents arrived. It is raining in Los Angeles now, and might be for most of the week, so we might not get too much done on this visit, but it is the holidays, so I'm happy to have some relaxed family time!
Here is what we have accomplished in four months of home ownership. I feel like it doesn't look like much has been done since the last update, but I feel like I've been working like crazy!
So it turns out that I have growing at my new digs a couple of amazing things:
1) a rose that is the color of a New Mexico sunset and actually smells the way a rose should. 2) paperwhites... in my driveway. And, of course, blooming in December because this is Southern California.
Finally ordered an area rug for the living room!! It is a Nourison Country Heritage H505, 5'3"x8"3" ordered from Rugs Direct . So excited for it to get here! It will really help with selecting paint colors and fabrics. It is 100% hand hooked wool, so there will be no off-gassing and no scary chemicals were used to manufacture it (although I suppose the dyes might have scary chemicals...)
Here's what I hope to get done before my parents come to visit/work again in 2 weeks:
Paint trim for the boys' room Paint stripes in the boys' room Paint chalkboard wainscot in the boys' room Clean and turn on the heater Buy area rug for living room Strip and paint trim in master closet Strip doors Hang succulent baskets on front porch Build compost bin Paint dining room walls Begin door repairs Strip door frames
And yes, I am laughing at myself as I type this. There is just no way. But one can hope!
So, my original List was woefully inadequate. Thus, I'm making a new one! One section of the house at a time, starting with the backyard because a couple of things back there are currently priority #1. The List is somewhat prioritized... although once I get past the first few things it is hard to know what will feel most important.
Finish assembling playset and put in wood chipsMake composterFinish clearing out dead vines, runaway trees Make raised garden bed Plant ornamental landscaping, including privacy screen vines Fill in holes, backfill along play perimeter Reseed grass Build shed Paint clothesline poles Install pavers under clothesline area Prune fig tree Create seating areas Create hanging planters
We actually have a friendly little squirrel who hangs around. Maybe we can get him to pitch in?
I'm having some dining room difficulties... these images have helped to give me a little direction. I see that I am drawn to dining rooms that are elegant yet comfortable, vivacious, colorful, warm places that inspire the appetite for food, company and conversation.
We're plugging along, but the multi-tasking is getting a little overwhelming.
I'm going to have to get a little organized... (this is the short list)
In the boys' room: Strip and paint window and door frames Paint stripes on the accent wall Chalkboard paint the wainscoting on the accent wall Strip and paint the baseboards Install roller shades Make and install curtains Purchase and install ceiling fans Paint and install crown molding and chair rail
In the grown-up room: Strip and paint baseboard in closet Install closet organizer Paint and stencil ceiling Strip window trim Paint walls Paint and install crown molding Strip and paint baseboard Select, purchase, install ceiling fan/light fixture
In the dining room: Paint ceiling, walls, trim Strip and paint window trim and baseboards Paint and install crown molding Purchase secretary (Buy a piano?)
In the living room: Select paint Paint ceiling, walls, trim Strip and paint window trim and baseboards Make hall tree from old door Purchase flat panel TV stand and additional DVD storage Rug
In the entryway: Select paint Paint ceiling, walls and trim Stencil frost and hang mirrors Rug
I have been working mostly single-handedly on the house for the last couple weeks. Luckily for all of us, my mom and dad are back in town now and we've been getting so much done since this video was shot. I'll be posting another one soon when we're all moved out of the apartment!
With the incredible help of my dad and mom, we accomplished a huge amount in just 11 days... and only one trip to the Emergency Room (dad got a splinter from some plywood that went clear through his finger! Yikes!) I'm taking over from here and things will be much slower going, but I'll be plugging along!
We're one week into home ownership, and this is what we have accomplished so far. I'm very lucky to have a super helpful family and a licensed contractor for a dad!
OK, so I skipped a bunch of stuff... but we have closed on a home! Here's a "before" video. We've already gotten to work and I'll be posting progress videos as we go along.
I first remember hearing about Hanging Gardens when studying world history. The Babylonians built them waaaaaay back in the day, and the idea really struck me as one ahead of its time, and one that we could benefit greatly from in today's urban areas. Then, the Topsy Turvy hit the market, opening the world of gardening to anyone with the ability to hang a plant in a sunny space. I came across an informative NY Times article all about upside down, DIY gardening, and I am getting pretty excited about the idea! This summer my "garden" consists of a potted basil, some potted arugula, a potted tomato, a potted nasturtium, and some potted chard. They're actually doing fairly well, but they would look a lot cooler hanging upside down!
I am completely smitten with this unusual antique crystal chandelier. I'll have to hop on down to Olde Good Things here in Los Angeles... they have two LA locations!
The house we have our fingers (and toes and legs and arms and eyes) crossed in hope it will become ours comes complete with an unfortunate, added-in-the-1970s, faux stone facade on the fireplace wall in the living room. Fortunately, this page offers three very simple steps for removing it. This should be a fun undertaking and I'm actually excited to see what lurks behind it. Assuming the house becomes ours, of course!
Ever since stumbling on the image of the satellite dish gazebo for my post about offer #8, I have become absorbed with the idea of making one of my own. It is enough to get me excited about the idea of having one of those tech-dinosaurs in my new front yard!
I love the fantasy-land vibe of this one
I like the solid structural look of this one
And this one comes complete with the how-to nitty-gritty.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I'm sure that those of you who have been through the house hunt, especially in a market as competitive as ours, can sympathize with the feeling that life is on hold until an offer comes through and you get to closing day. My whole family and I are so ready for this search to be done. We've been at it for about six months now! We are excited to be able to get on with our lives, our new lives, as homeowners.
I don't really want to get into the nitty-gritty, but it looks like our long-held offer #7 is falling through. Let's just say I am sick of banks. So we're back to making offers and we submitted #8 today.... for your consideration:
Bungalow with swing-worthy front porch Built in 1907 Two stories large lot large dining room large kitchen two bathrooms bonus room FIVE bedrooms.
And it has one of these in the front yard:
which I think would be really awesome used for something like this:
A lot of the houses we have been looking at have been graced with popcorn ceilings. And if we ever get to move into one of them, one of my first orders of business will be to get rid of that texturing! I came across this excellent resource for DIY popcorn ceiling removal, each step complete with its own instructional video! It looks pretty labor intensive, but I don't think it is something we can't handle doing on our own. So, bring on the popcorn!
In my house, we're really good about taking our own bags when we go shopping. There is only one downside to this, and it is that we use those plastic shopping bags for our trash cans. So, we've been running out of bags, but we're not running out of trash (unfortunately!). While looking for biodegradable or compostable bags, I found that they were either not as biodegradable or compostable as one would hope OR they were outrageously expensive (as much a $5 per bag!). But now I have discovered Trellis Earth products and I am very excited to order my trash bags from them from now on! Their website is incredibly informative and details exactly what they mean when they claim a product is "biodegradable" or "compostable". And they sell wholesale to the public with free shipping, it can't be beat!
A friend asked me to share this recipe, so I decided to do so here! My family and I are not strictly gluten-free. We tried it for a bit and I found that my boys just weren't eating. So we introduced whole wheat bread and the occasional pizza back into our diets. But I try to do everything else gluten-free in order to limit our exposure. Hope you all enjoy this recipe! Even non-gluten-free eaters have complimented these cookies, and it is always great to sneak some extra nutrition into something we KNOW our families will eat.
It is adapted from the Sneaky Chef's Unbelievable Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.
Part 1: White Bean Puree
1 15oz. can of white beans (great northern, cannellini, navy or butter) 2-3 Tbs. water
Rinse and drain the beans. In a blender or food processor, put in some of the water and the beans and blend until very smooth. Add more water as necessary, but not too much. You want a peanut butter consistency.
I put my purees into ice cube trays and freeze them (storing them in a large freezer bag when solid). Each of my cubes is equal to 2 Tbs. It is helpful if you know how much each cube is equivalent to.
Part 2: the Cookies
Please note that I use a kitchen scale for doing my gluten-free conversions because it is better to substitute by weight than by volume. I got my manual scale at Target for 15 bucks and I use it all the time. You can also buy expensive electric scales for exact accuracy, but I have had great success with mine. As of yet, I have not managed to measure my flours by volume, but will update this blog post if I have a chance to do so.
for a grand total of 5 1/3 oz. flour: just over 1 oz coconut flour just over 1 oz quinoa flour 3+ oz all-purpose gluten-free baking mix (I currently use Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix but have also had similar results with Whole Food Market's 365 Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Mix--which I understand is undergoing a label change and is unavailable-- and good texture, but not as good taste, with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour) 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats ground fine in the food processor (alternately, you could use gluten-free oat flour) 2 Tbs. almond meal Omit if allergic (alternately, you can finely grind blanched, slivered almonds in the food processor) 1 tsp. xanthan gum 10 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened OR 5 oz coconut oil 1/4 cup sugar OR 2 Tbs. applesauce 1/4 cup brown sugar OR 2 Tbs. molasses 2 lg. eggs (we use Ener-G Gluten-Free Egg Replacer instead) 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup white bean puree (see above, if frozen, thaw out in microwave) 1/3 cup gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips Optional nutrition booster: 1 cup chopped walnuts or dried berries/raisins
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients up to and including the xanthan gum. In the bowl of a mixer, mix the butter or coconut oil and sugars/sugar substitutes until creamy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and white bean puree. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Stir in chocolate chips and optional nuts/berries. Take small spoonfuls of dough and lightly form into a ball, then press them down onto a greased baking sheet to lightly flatten them. Space about 1 1/2" apart. Bake for 12-15 mins. Move to rack to cool.
My VERY picky boys love these cookies so much. We make them multiple times a week, they love to help with the measuring and mixing, and they eat them all up very quickly! Enjoy!
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Instead of the wearing o' the green, here's a little decorating with green... as in environmentally friendlier furniture from Viesso.
...Yukon Golds, that is! I happen to know this incredible woman who owns a business called Hope Gardens here in the LA area. And she's got these awesome bins that you can grow your own organic potatoes in!
I stumbled upon Webinetry.com, a company that offers custom-measured cabinetry in a huge variety of styles and finishes at a really great price! As much as I want my new home (whenever I get it!) to be a sustainable as possible, it is hard to say no to such a wise use of resources (financial resources, that is!)
We were feeling pretty confident and relaxed about our house situation. Of course, we knew that we were dealing with a short sale and that meant a chance that the bank would not approve the sale and that we'd be in for a long process. But, we had an accepted offer and we were ready to sit back and take a breather from the house hunt process. I was even decorating the place in my mind. Then, on Sunday as we were leaving the house, we noticed some Open House signs (the house is only a couple of blocks from our current digs). I ordered my husband to turn around and what do we behold but an Open House at "our" house!
Turns out that realtors do this a lot. They hold an open house at a home already under contract as a way to reel in more clients. But we also learned that if a higher offer comes in before the bank approves the sale then we'll be kicked to the curb.
So, we're back to looking again, because we'd hate to lose months and months of valuable hunting time, just to have this deal fall through on us. Nobody ever let on that this would be an easy process!
If I ever get a chance to redo the bathroom in what we hope will be our new house, I say "yes" and "yes" to the hammered copper sink and tub from Fine Crafts Imports. The best news is that they are just up the road apiece in Camarillo, California! (Saves a lot on shipping a 164 lb. tub).
Offer #7 (lucky 7?) has been accepted! That means that we are, in effect, in escrow. Of course, Lucky 7 is a short sale. So that means that it could be 3-8 months before we even get to the inspections and what-not. And the bank could still say "no". But, it is better than nothing!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
A friend just pointed me in the direction of Rejuvenation Hardware. Yes, this whets my appetite.
A 2 bedroom, 1 bath Spanish style home with an enormous kitchen and a one-car garage in Highland Park. It is in excellent condition. The trade-off is that the lot is a bit smaller than our ideal, but this house could be an excellent investment.
Looks like we'll be submitting offer #6 pretty soon! It is a 1899 craftsman, two stories, four bedrooms 1 3/4 baths wit a large lot and a 3 (!) car garage located in Highland Park very convenient to shopping, transportation, and a park. And it has lovely built-ins and a couple beautiful stained glass windows! It also comes with problems, of course, like a foundation in need of repair and termite issues and a bad roof on the garage, but we've decided we're willing to give it a go!
I think my husband and I need to see this movie again before we buy a house. Considering the price point we're looking in, I think we're in for a big fixer and this might be just what we need to get us up to the task!
(image from Big Chill, a Boulder-based company. Gotta show the love to the homies!) Dreams really do come true! There are people out there making new appliances in retro styles! I'm one step closer to my dream kitchen!
