Thursday, April 14, 2011
Step Outside
The rain has finally let up, the sun is shining, it's a pleasant Spring day, and I'd rather...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Shop Anaïse
I just discovered the online shop Anaïse thanks to a fellow pinner. Pinterest can be dangerous for someone who has a bit of a shopping problem, someone like me. This is especially true when it comes to beautiful kitchen tools and vessels. I fell hard for the simple wooden and ceramic dishes available at Anaïse - an on-line boutique with a select offering of timeless, well-crafted pieces from small, independent designers and artisans.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Let the Gardening Season Begin
Planting conditions and ground availability are poor at my condo but we are not letting that stop us from having a garden this year. We considered container gardening but decided on a simpler and less expensive solution:
We constructed a raised planting bed from scrap wood and filled it with a combination of top soil and garden soil. I will also be adding some composted manure and then we will be ready to plant our first garden. I'm sure these babies will be happy in their new outdoor home.
In case you're wondering, the raised planting bed measures 4'x4'x1' and the posts on each corner were left uncut in case we need to attach netting to keep out birds and/squirrels.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday Etsy Favorites
Since this week has been Greece focused with the office/guest room reveal and this morning's travel daydreaming I thought it would be nice to have a Grecian inspired etsy favorites list.
If I Could Hop on a Flight to Athens Tomorrow
I would be booking a few nights in one of these chic abodes asap! Just for fun yesterday I found started searching airbnb for vacation rentals in Athens, Greece. I doubt we'll have a need for a place to stay in the city since our summer trip will probably have us heading straight to the port to catch a ferry to the islands (unless the price of flights continues to rise, damn it's expensive to fly these days). These elegantly furnished and affordable apartment rentals might make me consider spending a few days in the city before heading to the beach.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Meet My Newest Appendage
The camera is an Olympus omG SLR that belonged to my grandfather. I've actually had it in my possession since college when I took a black and white photography course. The new addition is the 50mm 1.8 zukio lens. I'm very excited to carry the camera with my new lens every where I go. It's currently loaded with Fuji Superia Reala 100 color film so I'm off to go shooting. I'll be sharing what I capture soon.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The Office/Guest Room Reveal
This is probably going to look like one of those really dramatic, awesome before & reveals because the only before photos I have of the office/guest room are of the room in complete disarray. I'm feeling brave today so I'll let you see what the room looked like right before we decided to give it a nice freshening up.
Lets break down the issues with this space - the room is pretty narrow, it's only 8.5' wide and it's about 16' long; there was really dingy, cheap carpeting; the area rug purchased to help disguise the ugly carpet never laid correctly and was always awkwardly bunched up; there was way too much furniture in the room (2 dressers, 2 desks, futon, very large swivel chair, dress form, old nightstands from bedroom, etc) ; when we opened the futon for guests (i.e. my parents) you couldn't actually walk around the foot of it; I think you get the situation, it was just not very functional.
The first step was taking everything out of the room and installing new laminate flooring. You can see the almost finished results of that here.
The inspiration for the room decor is actually the same as it was when we moved in about 3 years ago, it's just better executed now. I was inspired by our trips to Greece where all of the buildings are painted a chalky white and the main accent is a shade of blue that mimics the color of the Mediterranean Sea. Decor is mainly rustic, medium toned woods, iron work, and fishing boat paraphernalia. It's usually pretty simple and revolves around function.
We painted the walls a soothing gray blue for the walls (Sherwin Williams 6515 Leisure Blue) when we first moved in but I had some patching and touch up painting to do.
The futon, 1 dresser, and one bookcase came back into the room. The futon got a new white cover (that desperately needs to be ironed), some rope textured throw pillows and a cozy purl knit throw from west elm. The bookcase is just a simple white Billy from Ikea but to open it up a bit I removed the cardboard backing. Believe it or not, that piece of cardboard provides a lot of structural stability so I added a few L brackets to make it sturdy. You can see the bookcase in last week's sneak peek post.
I opted for one larger desk that the two of us can share instead of two separate desks. It works great with the limited space we have. The desk is the Vika Amon table top with Vika Moliden legs from Ikea. I love the weight of the chrome legs, I let you know how durable the top is after some months of crafting and computing. The small storage units on each side of the desk are Micke from Ikea and are nicely concealing a lot of my crafting supplies, sewing machine, and the computer tower. My two favorite new items just arrived yesterday and they are the accordion side tables from Urban Outfitters. The petite size is perfect for the room and I love the industrial look and rustic finish.
The new room feels much less claustrophobia, we actually enjoy hanging out in here now. The most important thing is that the space actually functions well as both an office and a guest room because it wasn't functioning as either before. What do you think?
Lets break down the issues with this space - the room is pretty narrow, it's only 8.5' wide and it's about 16' long; there was really dingy, cheap carpeting; the area rug purchased to help disguise the ugly carpet never laid correctly and was always awkwardly bunched up; there was way too much furniture in the room (2 dressers, 2 desks, futon, very large swivel chair, dress form, old nightstands from bedroom, etc) ; when we opened the futon for guests (i.e. my parents) you couldn't actually walk around the foot of it; I think you get the situation, it was just not very functional.
The first step was taking everything out of the room and installing new laminate flooring. You can see the almost finished results of that here.
The inspiration for the room decor is actually the same as it was when we moved in about 3 years ago, it's just better executed now. I was inspired by our trips to Greece where all of the buildings are painted a chalky white and the main accent is a shade of blue that mimics the color of the Mediterranean Sea. Decor is mainly rustic, medium toned woods, iron work, and fishing boat paraphernalia. It's usually pretty simple and revolves around function.
We painted the walls a soothing gray blue for the walls (Sherwin Williams 6515 Leisure Blue) when we first moved in but I had some patching and touch up painting to do.
The futon, 1 dresser, and one bookcase came back into the room. The futon got a new white cover (that desperately needs to be ironed), some rope textured throw pillows and a cozy purl knit throw from west elm. The bookcase is just a simple white Billy from Ikea but to open it up a bit I removed the cardboard backing. Believe it or not, that piece of cardboard provides a lot of structural stability so I added a few L brackets to make it sturdy. You can see the bookcase in last week's sneak peek post.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Babies!
This is my first attempt at starting plants for a garden from seed and it's so exciting. I love checking in on the seedlings every evening when I come home from work. Growing your own food is really satisfying and I'm going full force this summer. I'll be chronicling my progress here so you can follow me through my triumphs and tribulations.
I found a DIY today for origami seed starter boxes that I wanted to share for those who don't have access to k-cups but still wanted to use recycled materials. The great thing about these boxes is that you can plant the entire newspaper box and it will just decompose. Step-by-step instructions can be found on Joanne's Craft Nook.
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