Get outside

Did you forget me? I didn't forget you. We've just been really, really hard at work. A dry weekend with no plans has been the dramatic exception to the rule this spring, but we've been taking every opportunity to whip our exterior into shape!

We're relatively satisfied with the inside of our house these days. Every room is furnished and painted to our specifications, the basement is partially finished, and most everything has a home. The outside, however, is another story.

The scoop from our neighbor is that our house sat empty for much longer than the six months it took the previous owner to flip it. Apparently the owners before that purchased in 1999, lived here a couple years, and then relocated to another city in the Midwest with the wife's job. The husband/stay-at-home-dad came back on the weekends to pick at it and do odd jobs here and there, but my impression is that he made more messes than successes because it sold in 2010 for less than they'd paid 11 years earlier. So while there was some love and care happening, it wasn't in the yard.

When we moved in, the yard was in a sad state. More ground ivy than grass, a gargantuan rotting lattice structure in the back, zero attractive landscaping. Last year we put in a vegetable garden and spruced up the front landscaping a bit, but we were mostly focused on finishing the basement. This year we've made up for lost time.


The first step was to get a shed. Hello, storage space. Maybe we can fit a car in the garage now...or perhaps a small Vespa.








This is a Tuffshed from Home Depot. We chose it because they include delivery and installation, which saved us a lot of time. They aren't significantly more expensive than other stores' DIY versions, and we were willing to pay the lazy tax with two little kiddos. We added the pegboard and shelves from scraps we had around, although those are also available at an extra charge.   It came pre-primed, and when we get 48 dry hours in a row (hah) we'll be painting it Glidden Creme Brulee with cream trim to match the house.




We're going to try relocating the (covered) firewood outdoors this year. We're attempting to use our garage to protect our new car, so the huge rack had to go.




Then we scrubbed and stained the neglected wood deck with Behr Cedartone protector, planted some tasty spearmint and basil within close reach of the back door, and moved our little bistro table on up.

 In another act of laziness/self-preservation, we hired an amazing landscaper to install a paver patio for us. There was always a mud mess in this spot from the shade of the tall evergreen above it, and it seemed like a natural extension of the old Purington Paver brick walkway off the deck.

He thought he could get his hands on some of these same old bricks, but they were gone. I think they did a fine job matching! They'll come back in August to clean off the white efflorescence with acid and seal the stones, which should bring the match even closer.

Then we tricked it out with a pergola and furniture!

 

The pergola came ready-to-assemble in a million little pieces from Home Depot. Jeff, my dad and I spent a morning attaching those million little pieces together with a billion little screws. Next (again, if we ever see the sun) it will be weatherproofed. We disagree on whether to grow a canopy of ivy over the top (I say yea, Jeff says nay), but we've already got a few strings of solar lights to swag from it.

 It's outfitted with patio furniture from World Market. We didn't want too many cushioned chairs because they're a hassle in inclement weather, so we just did Adirondacks with the one comfy bench. We throw a tarp over it at the end of the day so we don't have to drag cushions in and out.




It's nice to walk from the back door, down the stairs, and to flop down in a chair without your feet ever touching dirt or grass. It feels like our living space has been expanded for the summer, making all of us (especially the littles) far less claustrophobic.


Our garden is in too, of course. Romaine lettuce is doing well, spinach not so much. There's a little chard popping up, and quite a few heirloom carrots both orange and purple. Two yellow pear tomatoes, two Cherokee Purple, and four roma, and a serrano plant round out the nightshade delegation, but some garden critter completely eliminated the giant sunflowers we put in for the girls.

We built this additional bed by simply screwing together 1x6s with deck screws and filling in with leftover dirt from the patio (we asked the landscapers to set it aside for us instead of hauling it away). It's looking weedy and pathetic, and the asparagus crowns I planted in the back trenches have yet to surface, but that new rhubarb plant in the front right is off to a fine start. Next year we may add strawberries or another perennial food crop, or just use part of it for our crop rotation.

The south side of the garage is being slowly transformed from a weedy wall-o-mess to a row of perennial color. It had a few reedy tulips when we moved in, but I've since added irises both large and mini, and a Sarah Bernhardt peony that seems to double every day. I have some winter-hardy gladiola bulbs to go in here, and a variety of seeds my grandma saved us from her beautiful garden.

The front bed (the one we gutted with a towing strap and a truck) is filling out nicely this year. The azaleas are full and leafy, and the vanilla strawberry hydrangea is throwing up huge new branches almost overnight.

For reference, this was a year ago on planting day:

And here's how well it's filled in since:

Even the front of our house is technically western exposure, our heavily treed neighborhood requires a lot of shade plants. The annuals that do best for us are impatiens and pansies. I have this bed layered with bloomers of all seasons so that when it's established, there should be color at all times. It begins with gold and purple crocuses in March/April, then white azalea blossoms and purple allium in May, then the first heads of white hydrangea that deepen to pink and then red over the course of the season, finishing with mums in the fall. 

Ah, home sweet home. I do so love the green seasons. 

This is another fireplace post

The hard part of Phase I is done!

Let's rewind and recap:

 

Fireplace as reinvented by previous owner. Nobody likes it (or most people are indifferent and I don't like it. Whatever). 

 

Trip-hazard hearth is knocked out to reveal original mosaic tile, which is beautiful but marred by two big mantel holes. 

I hit up all the major tile destinations, and my fears were confirmed--nobody makes that kind of mosaic anymore. Even if I could have gotten the same pattern and come relatively close on the color, I would have settled for it. But nope. A salvage shop could have been my next option, but

So instead, I spent a half hour or so each day with a hammer and chisel, busting out these old lovelies a few at a time.  Then the surface had to be prepped for the new tile. I used Quikrete to fill the holes and smooth the cracks, leveling it as much as possible with a paint stick.

Then I made it pretty again.

I put down this lovely marble mosaic from The Tile Shop (Honey Creme Onyx Skokie marble). We liked it because the Deco look fits the era of the house, and the cream and tan shades complement the oak floors. We bought extra to tile around the fire box in Phase II a few years from now, but it looks nice with the flagstone in the meantime. I love how natural stone has these variations in color and pattern--some of the tan tiles have streaks of black or white in them that give it a rich look.

I'm no tile expert, so I won't get into details, but a few details made this job turn out so much better than the mess we made in our previous house.

A small job like this is a great first project, but it's also a highly visible area so it's important to get it right. I dry-fit these tiles before beginning so I'd know how to best place them.

We also learned that a tile saw is not an optional tool even for a small job. We tried to get by in our old house by using only a scoring tool and a nipper, and ended up with lots of broken bits that we fudged in with a grout mess. A very basic wet saw at Home Depot cost only a little bit more than renting one, and we didn't have to use it on anyone else's schedule or make another trip to return it. We can use it again for future jobs or sell it and recoup some of the costs. I don't recommend attempting to tile without it.

And lastly, spring for the best materials you can afford. We chose marble this time more for this looks than its properties, but it's a beautiful material for a light traffic area like this. Instead of mixing our grout with water, we used an admixture that made it more workable and will keep it flexible and keep the colors true.


We still have to patch the gaps where the old hearth came out. To do this, we'll score or cut a piece off the original hearth for each side and tack it up with thinset. That will hide some of the mess on the wall and the imperfect cuts, and later, the wood mantel will hide it too.

 

We'll also be installing the fireplace doors we chose to close this mess off for kids and pets. The cats tried to sneak down the hole under that plate that is meant for sweeping ash down to a basement receptacle (maybe we should have let them Veruca Salt it). 

 

Very exciting. I have a little bit of a high from how well it turned out and the fact that it's done!

Fiiiiiyah

A couple months ago I discovered one of this house's dirty little secrets. I mean this both literally and figuratively.

One day I noticed that underneath the newer, upgraded stone mantle, I could make out what looked like an original mosaic tile hearth! I've never liked the too-trendy flagstone look, but that just absolutely made me seethe. I understand the previous owner was upgrading for resale value, but why would you take an original detail in a 75-year-old house and cover it up? If somebody prefers new and trendy over the vintage look, they're probably not shopping Beaverdale.

My curiosity was getting the better of me day by day, but more importantly, I was beginning to loathe the stone hearth for the hazard it was.

 

At just a couple inches high and with jagged borders, it was just the right setup for a running toddler to catch a toe and sprawl facefirst on it. Bea has had enough near misses as it is, but soon we'll have yet another mover in the house. 

 

Fireplace screens aren't the safest either. This one is heavy and very tempting--Beatrix likes to throw her toys "in the sea" and try to retrieve them. Not a great idea.

 

We've always wanted to add a glass door for safety and efficiency, but the raised profile of the hearth would make it difficult to fit correctly.

We felt the most child-friendly fireplace option would be a hearth that was flush with the floor, and a door that closed completely. The stone floor was an impediment to both. So after getting a (reluctant) green light from Jeff to pop out those stones, my plan was this:

1. Pry up the stones and mortar as completely as possible, and see what's underneath.

2a: If the tile underneath was intact, clean with muriatic acid and chip up as much junk as possible. If it had only a few areas of repair needed, do our best to find matching tile for patching.

2b: If the tile underneath was not intact, tile over it or scrape it up and replace with another, similarly period-appropriate version.

3. Patch up the gap left in the wall tile by cutting off a few thin slices of the stone with a wet saw.

So I enlisted the help of some heavy hitters.

Then I held my breath, took a quick swing, and prepared for many hours of doing battle with heavy mortar.
 

And two minutes later, I kid you not, it was done.

So what are we working with? Well.

The good news is that the tile is almost complete and mostly in excellent condition. Most of it just needs a once-over with an acid cleaner (and actually, a wet rag made quite an improvement after this photo was taken). Interestingly, it also happens to match nicely with the brick on the exterior of the house!

The bad news is that there are two deep holes on either side of the opening, presumably where a mantle once sunk into the concrete.  They were filled in with mortar and extra stones to level the floor for the hearth, but they will need to be patched and leveled regardless of the next step.

So what is the next step? After we pour a little quickrete in those holes, we'll need to do some tile shopping. We would prefer to find a close match to these so we can simply fill in the gaps. If we can't (and it seems unlikely at this point), I'm leaning towards replacing all of it with this mosaic from The Tile Shop. It's Deco-ish enough to look period-appropriate, and the golden honey tones will help it coordinate with the oak floors. That way it will always be a neutral presence in the house. We will buy some extra to have on hand when we eventually tear out the flagstone and return it to a traditional mantel.

We've also ordered this fireplace door setup from Lowe's. There weren't a ton of options for our particular fireplace size, but we felt this one was the most attractive and timeless for the money. We chose black over metal because it seems to come in and go out of style less than any particular metal finish. They aren't cheap, so we wanted to get the right one the first time.

So that's the plan. Am I crazy? Yes. But was it worth it? Totally.

Drop cloth ombre curtains

A couple weeks ago I made some curtains from drop cloths for the living room.

I kicked around leaving them as plain, natural cotton panels, but I also liked the idea of a fun pattern or effect. A stamp or stencil? Fabric paint stripes? Grosgrain trim? It seemed they needed a little something to stand out from all the same-colored furniture, but I didn't want anything hokey or cheap-looking.

 






Eureka! Ombre curtains from two dropcloths and a few boxes of Rit dye.

I've always loved the ombre color fade look (even back in 1998 when my two favorite shirts were blue dip-dye). It's especially pretty in vivid jewel colors, which happen to include the ocean blue of the living room.  And while it's trendy right now (there's even ombre hair!), it's also a timeless color technique. So I tackled a very large, very messy, but very fun bathtub dye project to give me the perfect curtains!

To take you back to the beginning, I purchased two of these 9x12 cotton duck dropcloths. Be sure to wash and press them first so you get any shrinkage out of the way and remove any finish from the fabric. They are already hemmed on all four sides, but I split them down the center and hemmed the raw edges to make two panels from each. You could sew a rod pocket in the top if you wanted to, but I just use clip rings in most rooms.

Now on to the coloring process.

 

 

All you need is regular boxed Rit dye and some salt. You will prepare your dye mix in a large pot on the stove. For each curtain panel, you will need:

-1 box of dye
-1 quart of water
-1 cup of salt
-plus an additional 2 gallons of hot water in the tub

 Because I was dyeing four panels, I used four boxes of dye, four cups of salt, and a gallon of water. Bring the water to a gentle simmer, add the salt, and stir to dissolve as much as possible. Then stir in the dye and remove from the heat.

While your dye mix is simmering, fill the tub with very hot water. Use a bucket to measure so you get the correct dye strength. Since I was doing four panels, I needed eight gallons of water in the tub.

Now take your pot of dye to the tub and pour it in on top of the hot water. Your dye bath is ready!

To dye your panels, fold each pair together lengthwise and handle them as one unit (pinning together is extra reinforcement). That way the color gradient changes at the same place all the way across the window.

Now submerge the bottom third in the water, being careful to keep the tops parallel to the floor.

 

Swish and squeeze the fabric around to get it fully coated (I found it to be a little bit repellant, and the thickness and folding means that dry spots can hide inside). Let it soak for 15 minutes or so.

Then come back and sink them a little deeper into the dye mix, lowering the middle third of the fabric into the water. Swish and squeeze again, and leave for another 5-10 minutes.

To finish off, dip the whole curtain briefly in the dye and swish to coat. Leave it in the water only long enough to get some color on the top of the panel. Then rinse each panel thoroughly in cold water, top to bottom so the dye flows out through the darker area. Wring out as much as possible and air dry and/or machine dry (I hung mine outside for a couple hours to get the drips out, then placed in the dryer for an hour).

Oh, and handy tip: wear gloves.

Once they're dry, the color effect is very subtle. It doesn't have bands where the color changed, it just gently flows from lighter to darker tones. It is perhaps slightly more noticeable in person than in photos, but it also changes dramatically with the light.

 For $50 and an hour's work, I now have perfectly coordinated, sophisticated, on-trend window panels for the most-used room in the house. Try it in a sunroom, kid's room or even a shower curtain. You'll be amazed how fun and easy it can be!

Oops, I did it again

Please vote for our bedroom in the Apartment Therapy My Bedroom Retreat contest! There are some really beautiful entries over there, so it's good company!

The finishing touches

In my last post I showed you how far our living room has come in the past two years. I believe that my style, by extension, has evolved with it. I used to think I just liked everything--stark and angular contemporary, shabby chic, mod--but I'm learning that just liking something is different than it really suiting you. So I'm adding a few finishing touches to this nearly-complete room to make it more cohesive.

Let's start with the lamps.

 Cool lamps, right? Colorful glass, fun shape. So, so not suited to this room.

 

Here we go! I subbed in a couple clear glass lamps from Target and kept the same burlap shades (I DIYed these with scrap burlap and a glue gun, but you can buy them). They still read modern and curvy like the green and purple ones, but I think the jug shape is a little more suited to my cottage-y style. Plus they're a blank slate--you could stuff the inside with some tissue paper (at your own risk, y'all!), or frost or paint the inside, or just let them be a side dish against a colorful wall like this.

The ikat curtains went, too. They were perfect when the walls were linen white, and they were surprisingly okay with the new green, but a little jarring next to the softer tones. 

 

So I went full-on blogger and used dropcloths! I first got clued in on that little secret from Jenny at Little Green Notebook. She recommends these 9x12 dropcloths in particular, and I was definitely impressed. If you have a very large or tall window to cover, you could almost use as-is. Since my ceilings are standard height, I split them down the middle to get two panels out of one. They have a nice flat-felled seam right down the center, but I just cut it off on either side of it and hemmed. It honestly took much longer to press them than it did to sew and hang. Great beginner project!

 

Ugh, I know, that swing. And that cat. Both completely useless. I just wanted to show you their light-blocking ability. I'm still looking for wood or bamboo blinds to layer behind them (it gets really bright in here in the late afternoon), but they really don't need to be lined for privacy purposes. 

They're currently too long and puddling on the floor, which is a look that I think only works in catalogs. Before hemming I'm going to marinate on a treatment for awhile, because I think they're a little too neutral with all the other beige/tan/browns. Maybe a couple thick horizontal stripes across the bottom. Maybe ribbon trim down the sides and across the bottom. Maybe a stencil paint treatment. I'm leaning toward something in green and/or gold to break up all the beige, but maybe I'll fall in love with the subtle neutral and decide to leave them alone. I'm fickle that way.

Last but not least, the best art EVAR.

 

I can't even stand how much I love this. It's from LullabyWorld on etsy and it's just so dreamy. She has several of these ethereal, dreamlike hot air balloon scenes, and even though they're marketed as nursery art, the vintage magazine look of these feels grown-up enough for a major piece of art. 

My best framing advice is to choose standard-sized art whenever possible (this is 16x20), then find a standard off-the-shelf frame close to the same proportions several sizes up (this one is 22x28). Then have a mat cut to fit. Going up more than one frame size will make your mat thicker (this one is 3-4 inches all the way around) and give more importance to your art. For bonus points, do a mat with a bevel color that complements the picture. This mat is white on the surface with a black bevel, which adds depth. You'll save hundreds of dollars framing this way--by shopping Hobby Lobby frame sales, I paid $37 for the framing compared to the $200+ it would have cost to have it custom-made.

 

 

Up, up, and away!