Let's Get 'Er Done

So Balin's office will be complete tomorrow when they install the concrete countertops.  The trellis needs a couple of more items added and the railing for the stairs and deck needs to be completed.  Then we can relandscape the muddy mess that is currently the back yard.  (Imagine dead grass, mud and 20 feet in and out of my house daily. It's a great motivator to get things done.)

So I've collected a couple of ideas for the back yard.  My goal is to create a space to do the following:

A living room with a fireplace to gather with friends and have apertifs. 

A dining room with ambient lighting (candle light?) for warm evening dining.

A place to grill and cook outside.

A "hidden" playspace for the kids to play in their treehouse and mini-house. (Hidden for both their and my benefit.)

Here's a few ideas:

Not sure this is possible in my yard, but I like the feeling of it.  The ambience is due largely to the uplighting and the color on the walls.

 This is probably closest to what I'm thinking the living room will look like.  I think the connecting trellis is hugely important as it gives scale and place to the fireplace.  Without it the fireplace would just be floating.  I also like the seating along the fireplace with a big hearth in front - which allows for a lot of seating.  Of course the softening of the hardscapes with flowers is probably what makes this space seem to inviting.  Gorgeous.

 This picture is probably taken in CA or the NW as it's really lush, but the idea of a space that is either sunken or elevated creates the space's intimacy in such a exposed space.  I love the chandelier hanging from the tree - which I think helps create the desired mood.

 I like the form of this fireplace, though the scale of the room is not very inviting - it's too open.  It doesn't draw you in to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee.  Clearly the point of the design was to capitalize on the great view - but how could you create intimacy and still be in awe of the view?

 Thinking something like this, minus the wood, would be great in an outdoor kitchen.  Put this against the fence and then put a shed roof over it with a rusted tin roof and it could be pretty cool.  Maybe ikea has something inexpensive we could use.

 This would be my other favorite living room.  I would do some sort of wrought iron trellis on it though to give it a "hug" sensation and create that intimacy.  I love the rug and the red accents and lots of pillows.

 Here's a great, simple outdoor kitchen.  The wall and the wood above creates a more personal space and gives great interest.  Most of the outdoor kitchens that I found lacked any sense of interest or quaintness. Sad.  It doesn't take much to create a space you want to be in and honestly - granite, tile and stucco do not make a kitchen. 

 The details of this space is amazing.  Chandelier, lamp, pots and the trellis make it truly yummy.  I rug would make it all the more inviting.  I love that the furniture is all in neutrals which allow the flowers pop.  I wonder what it looks like when nothing is blooming?

 Another great fireplace.  I like the scale and the side wood storage which makes it more intimate.  The lamps on the sides probably ruin the ambience I would replace them with candle lanterns. 

 I love the pavers in this space and the form of the fireplace.  There's no place to sit near the fireplace though - bummer.

 YUMMY!  I love the rock on the fireplace and the mantel!  So cool!  The trellis is perfect and makes this space really livable.  The umbrellas help too.  Gorgeous.

 What about doing something like this outside? 

 I love the trellis over this kitchen - it gives it a place to belong.  Notice though the lack of interest in the face of the counter - boring.  But the candle lantern hanging is a great addition.

 So, take these cabinets and put them in the above kitchen and POW! You have great intereste and texture and an amazing kitchen.

 Transitioning to Perrin's shed....I'm thinking that we'll put on window or two in the shed, which makes everything prettier.  Then we'll add a "loft" with a ladder to her sleeping quarters.  Paint everything soft yellow or cottage white - throw a rug in, a comfy chair, small table and we've created a great space.

This is basically what Perrin's shed is like - unfinished.  Gotta get that window in and shoot - we could put left over hardwood flooring down.  Maybe string some outdoor twinkle lights in there and man, it's going to be sweet.  You know that this will be my space when she tires of it so I'm happy to spend the extra time and money on it.  :)

Fall Decorating

 The above "vase" is a little find from one of my favorite haunts called Edelweiss in downtown Prescott.  They have beautiful things at really reasonable prices - just love it.  The table their sitting on is a recovered wine barrel that was turned into a lazy susan.  We picked it up as our momento from Healdsburg this summer as we went up the California coast.  Love it.

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the fall decorations that I've started putting out today.  The mantel is a collection of past years purchases and I love it!  It consumed all my fall pieces so I must go on the hunt for a few more.  I just love fall as you get to decorate for Sept-November!  And I think the Park House wears fall and Christmas particularly well.

Oh What a Mess!

I look around me and what do I see....a mess.  I am practicing patience because there are a ton of things half done around this house and it's starting to drive me crazy.  But, there is hope.  Things have gotten done.  Things are in progress as the following pictures document. 

The front room of the house is sunken and a little odd.  We've debated what to do with it and decided to turn it into something of a game room.  Sam got a game table for his birthday, which is pretty cool.  He loves playing ping pong on it right now - and he's pretty good.  I found the two chairs at Habitat and had them slipcovered in this great blue cotton fabric.  They're a little loose fitting but they look fine.  I think it would have been more cost effective to just have them reupholstered, but whatever, it's done. 

I got home and found my little green table had come to the end of it's life.  Sad.  So I tore it apart today and decided the back porch sitting area is still cute.  It still needs a side table, some fall plants in the planters and a small coffee table.  Now to get out and have a cup of tea and read a book there.

This is the couch before I had it slip covered.  I had it closing off the living room as I thought it made it cosier.  It definitely did, but maybe a bit too cosy. 

When I got home from my trip this summer, I awoke early in the morning (thanks to jet lag) and started moving furniture.  The couch looks great under the window and it doesn't seem to get as dirty as it did before.  The leather chair will be soon moving out to Balin's office but I have two more options for chairs that I need to pick up.  They too are getting slipcovers and I'm sure they'll look great in this room.  I'm thinking that I'll replace the rug in this room with a natural fiber rug with a thick pad underneath.  But then again, Yogi is still in his chewing stage so maybe I'll wait on that.

                                  
Here's a picture of the garage from the back porch.  The brick layer has started but he's moving as slow as molasses on a cold winter day.  Honestly.  Once the brick goes up, the shingles can be added - then the trampoline can be moved behind the garage and the shed in the back can be moved to the other side of the back yard....and we can get some order to this chaos.

The back yard.  The kids love the trampoline and so I love the trampoline. I just don't think it's a design asset.  Against the far wall of the fence I imagine the little shed (reconstructed a little bit to make it a super cute house for Perrin) with a back "sleeping porch" for Sam.  Where the trampoline is currently we're thinking about a large swath of artificial grass.  I know, artificial grass?  But look closely at the real grass - see the brown spots?  Keeping grass looking good is an annoying past time for those with much more patience than I.  Speaking of which, all that green lovely grass is going, going, gone.  In it's place we will create a living room and dining room, complete with fireplace. 

Yes, construction is everywhere. It's a mess.

The missing sections in the fence panels actually have wire that you can't see.  I am going to espallier apple trees on the fence.  The section in the upper left hand side of the photo is where my vegetable garden is going to go.  I hope to have this area pretty heavily planted this spring.  But for now...I can only dream.

The before picture of the garage.  Hopefully it's getting painted on Tuesday...then the electrician can come...then we can put the garage door in...then storage...then my car will have a home.

Balin's front room/kitchen.  Wait till you see the door he has.  I found it at Habitat.  It wasn't exactly cheap and it needed to be repaired, but I think it was worth it.  It's gorgeous.  More pictures coming next week on the progress of Balin's office.  It's going to be gorgeous.

The deck going to Balin's office.  Yogi likes the view.

The front yard survived without my presence this summer.  I must be doing something right.  My hope is to not be able to see the ground in the very near future.  And notice, I do have grass.  Just enough.  And it looks nice and I don't have to do anything with it. It stays.

The hydrangeas I planted this spring didn't die.  They didn't grow much but at least they're not dead.  After traveling through cooler climates this summer and seeing all the lush hydrangeas, I'm a little disappointed at the little guys.  Maybe if I repeat kind and loving words to them all winter they'll grow twice as big by next year.

The Master Bedroom Redo

My mom commented after seeing the last blog that it's true, my bedroom does need a little something.  I totally agree.  The first thing on the agenda is to repaint the nightstands and perhaps get new lamps. First repainting.  I sanded down the nightstands, primed and painted them the same color as the wall, Kansas Grain (Home Depot).  I then sanded them down to get them to look like they were beat up and then I applied a glaze to them in a tabacco color.  The finished product is looking pretty good - and Balin is happy to have a nightstand back after 2 weeks. (My projects are never quick - especially when I only do them at night when Balin is on a trip)

This is the nightstand before I refinished it.  The black actually was helpful in making the piece more interesting when I refinished it. 

I also found an old, pine armoire that I think I'm going to purchase and refinish in the same way as the nightstands.  It will give us some much needed storage.  It will also serve as a space to give some accesories some height.  

The last thing I think the bedroom needs is new shelves.  I would like to redo the hanging shelves we have now with some detailed trip and then distress them.  Balin's not sold on the idea.  We'll see.  

From there I think I will paint the bathroom a blue to match the coverlet and get some drapes that tie everything together. 

We're getting there one room at a time. 

The Yard in April

I spent some time in the past two weeks taking plants from the Twin Oaks garden and transplanting them into the Park garden.  I also planted 20 roses from Heritage roses - all old fashioned and fragrant.  I bought $250 worth of heirloom flower seeds and have started planting those; poppies, sweet peas....yummy.  I still have lots and lots of seeds to plant when the danger of frost is past.  Today we have 3 inches of snow on  the ground so I think we have a couple weeks till all danger of frost is gone. :)

This is the picture of our front yard when we moved in.  Nice but kind of plain and very little privacy.

 Same view with improvements.

A Real Look at the Park House

I could post on this blog shiny, edited photos that make me drool, but today is a glimpse into the real life of the Park House.  I went through the house with my camera this morning - without cleaning or picking things up - and took photos of rooms that so need to be made into something.  It's good for me to put it out there - my house, yard, life - all of it - are not perfect.  Far from it.  But I really can't let an imperfect life get in the way of living - that's ridiculous.  My devotional the other day said that I need to focus on what is good, lovely, right, kind and give thanks for those things and stop worrying/thinking about what I want or what I don't like.  So this post is a kind of "puttin' it out there", humbling myself to say I don't have it all together/done and I'm good with that.  I'm enjoying and am thankful for the process.

 The mantle is desperately in need of something...

 Oh Master Bedroom, I desire that you would be an amazing quiet space to rejuvenate.  Not even remotely there yet..

Maybe something like this:

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

I like having a space to sit and read in my room, but this chair, which worked so great in my old house, doesn't do anything for this room. 

 

The empty wall between the entry door and the bathroom door.  Notice the lame, cheap blinds on the windows....something must be done!

 Impressive that Balin can run a business out of this space.  But it is my craft/sewing/office that he's borrowing.  It too needs some panache.

  This my friends is the future library/piano room.  Can't you see wall to wall bookshelves?  The space has been improved upon - it was sage green.  I painted it a creamy white and made red, striped, linen drapes for the room.  It has such potential.

 Here's another view of the front room. What a mess.  Notice the guinea pig cage to your right.  He's up for grabs if anyone wants a rodent that knows how to buck. Seriously.  It's kind of cute. 
The front room is going to be a game room, hopefully as soon as this Monday when a friend brings over an air hockey table their no longer using.  I'm thinking built-in cabinets flanking the french doors on the far side of the room for all the games.  A all-in-one game table in the center of the room with bar stools for seating.  I'm thinking of asking a friend if I can borrow her electronic dart board to see if the kids play it.  The hope is that the kids will congregate here and play interactive games together verses video games (which I am resisting).  I figure we have a few years of everyone playing games together and this would be a great place to do it.  In the future this could be something of a parlor but for now we need a place to play.

The same room as above but viewing it from the french doors.  Such a great room with such potential.

The couch.  It's a little frumpy looking to me.  It's a maroon and gold stripe, which isn't so bad and it shows no dirt or dog hair, which is a plus.  But it's just kind of blah.  The goal is to find some fabric, thinking light colored linen, and redo it in slipcovers.  I've done some research on light/white slip covers and think they would work for our family.  Stanley is my only concern - well and my lack of enthusiasm for doing laundry.  This couch could be so....yummy in a neutral color with some spectacular, colorful pillows. 

The kitchen bookshelf.  I wish I had before pictures of this bookshelf. It was a 80's oak that was boring.  Now the bookshelf looks great but the space above the bookshelf needs some love.  What should I put there????

The blank buffet wall.  This is a 10' space that really, really wants something spectacular in it.  I'm thinking of taking unfinished Home Depot cabinets, distressing them in black, putting bead board in the doors, on the shelves and sides, cute pewter knobs...making a thick wood counter top that is trimmed out.  Putting feet on the bottom of the cabinets to make it look like a piece of furniture.  In the center putting a stainless steel beverage refrigerator and flanking it with a set of drawers.  I'm thinking that if Balin and I do the work ourselves, we can do it for under $1700 - that includes a $1000 fridge.  In the picture below there is a base cabinet/island that looks pretty much like what I'm thinking.  It's in the back of the picture behind the dining room table:

 

Pottery Barn

Above the buffet I have a couple of ideas; either build a box frame with partitions to put various items in, like plate racks or to hold serving dishes.  It would be black also.  Or, paint the wall with chalk board paint - frame it so it looks like a picture - put two long wall wine racks on each side - like the picture below.

Pottery Barn

If I go with this idea then I would want to drop a couple of chandeliers where there are currently can lights:

These might be fun, but I was thinking more of a chunky, wood, small chandelier or something. 

Ballard Designs 

This buffet will be a major piece of furniture and will really anchor the room.  I'm excited about putting it together piece by piece as I haven't found anything in stores that is the size I need that is in my budget. (My budget is cheap)

 

If I go with the drop chandelier idea than I will take the current chandelier off the dining room table and put in a row of can lights over the table.  Then I will do this:

Pottery Barn

Now this lighting idea is awesome. Hanging lanterns from a ladder over the dining table.  Talk about an impact.  Very cool and I think it won't cost more than...well it won't be crazy expensive but it won't be cheap.  For the wow factor I think it's worth it.

 

The Mudroom and Laundry

Here it is - the finished project.  It went from a room with absolutely nothing in it to this.  I picked up some unfinished cabinets from Home Depot and Lowes, put wainscotting in the panels, painted them, distressed them and put great knobs on them.  I had my carpenter Steve make the table near the washer dryer, with storage space for laundry baskets.  Before the cabinets could go in though I had to paint behind them and the washer dryer but I couldn't decide what color I should go with.  I ran over to my friend Christies and went through her fabric stash and found a beautiful pattern of roses and blue morning glory.  I made cafe curtains for the windows and a single panel to separate the "mud room" from the laundry room.  I think all in all it turned out great and I'm looking forward to the next project!