Scenes from Life

On Wednesday, while the HVAC guys were busy banging away in the attic, I was struggling to maintain my sanity with little sleep and even less patience. Luckily, Peter had the day off work and suggested I get out of the house for a while. So I decided to go for a walk, something I haven't done much of lately since moving out of the city. It turned out to be the best idea ever. I muddied my shoes on a wooded trail for a while, happily snapping photos, then discovered the prettiest garden! I was so enamored of the beautiful day that I lost track of time. For probably the first time since buying this house, I wasn't worrying about repairs or money or anything. I was just floating in blissful color and warm sun.

Of course, before long my phone rang, and it was time to return to reality. But I'm so glad I discovered this little haven near my house. Now I know where to sneak off to the next time I get overstressed.

Hope you enjoyed this garden walk! xo, Mary

P.S. I also took photos on the wooded trail. I'll share those photos next time. :)

Finally, Faucets!

We had the faucets replaced in both bathrooms last week. You might remember that they both started leaking just days after we moved in, which was awesome. Both were cheap fixtures from Home Depot with plastic components that just seem designed to fail, but we didn't think it would happen quite so soon. On top of that, they weren't installed correctly. The handles for hot and cold were switched in the master bath (which is why they are facing forward in the "off" position in the photo below). None of us noticed this during the walkthrough: not the home inspector, real estate agent, me, or peter. This is especially hysterical when you know that our real estate agent is also an architect, and I have an MA in design. I blame the overwhelming and exhausting process of house-hunting and house-buying; it's amazing people continue to do it! Anyway, there was also a lot of sloppy work with the pipes under the sink, so we had that redone as well.

Both new faucets are made by Kohler (Bancroft), and hopefully will last a long time. I surprised myself by picking this more traditional fixture; Peter liked it, and I thought it suited our existing vanity. When I was in school, I almost always spec'd more modern fixtures in baths and kitchens, but when it came time to choose my own, this one seemed right.

Budget was a factor, as always (I found several fixtures I loved in the $700 and up category--gah why am I so poor), and we were also somewhat limited by what was in stock nearby because we wanted to have the leaky faucets replaced as soon as possible. But the deciding factor, by far, was the way it felt to use this faucet. If you are in the market for a new faucet, I highly recommend going to a showroom and trying it out. Touch the handles and mimic how you would actually use it. (No, you won't look like an idiot; other people will be doing this too). The lever handles on this faucet feel so good in your hands; it's actually a pleasurable experience to turn the water on and off. That might sound silly to some of you, but getting up and getting ready in the morning is probably my least favorite activity, and anything that will make it more enjoyable is a good investment for me.

See the forward facing handles? Still makes me laugh. They were so awkward to use. Even if this one hadn't started leaking immediately, I would've wanted to replace it at some point because I'm not a fan of the weird satin gold finish and blah shape.

This is the small half bath. We picked a center-set faucet from the same Kohler line. The chrome finish looks light-years better with the grey stone countertop. I almost did choose a more modern goose-neck fixture for this sink, but since the two baths are right next to each other, I thought consistency was best.

Before you say anything, we are changing that green paint in both bathrooms. Actually, I'd love to completely redo everything, but that won't be happening any time soon. But we will repaint.

On Wednesday, we are having some guys come to move/reinstall the heating unit in the attic. It wasn't exactly installed by a professional, and there's some janky stuff going on with the way the gas is hooked up. We are also having a different plumber come out to investigate a musty smell coming from the small bathroom. There are no visible leaks, but my nose knows. It's frustrating to have to pay so much money for repairs when we still don't have furniture, but getting everything working right is our number one priority. It just means that it will take a little longer for this place to look the way I'd like it to look. But I do know that we will be excellent caretakers of this house, and we plan on leaving it in much better shape than we found it.

Fall Crafts

I decided I needed some Pinterest therapy today, and actually, it's the first time I've logged on to my account since we moved. Instantly, I felt happier looking at all the lovely fall crafts my friends are pinning. (By the way, if anyone wants to follow me, you can click that little P on the sidebar over there.) Anyhoo, here are three easy fall crafts that I would love to make...as soon as my life resembles some measure of normalcy again (i.e. weekend afternoons are all mine to do whatever I please).

Paper Pumpkins

How pretty are these paper pumpkins from Craftiness is not Optional? They would be so perfect as decor for Thanksgiving, but I'd be tempted to leave them up after that too.

Pinecone Owls

These pinecone owls from DRI remind me of crafts I did in elementary school, only way cooler. I also love that the owls look kind of retro, and each one would be unique depending on the pinecone you found.

Acorn Sachet

I've made lots of lavender sachets before; they're great to give as gifts at Christmas. They also make your clothes smell nice and are a natural way to ward off pests. This acorn sachet from Design Sponge is so sweet.

What crafts are you making (or pinning with the best of intentions)? Also, if you're on pinterest too, leave me a link to your boards. I'm always looking for great people to follow. xo, Mary

(Clockwise from top left: Abstract Minimal No 2248 by factoryworks - Dave Stanford; "Drawing 007" by Michael Neil Jacobsen; Masquerade by Manjuzaka - Eden Some; and Botanica Mobile in Red by comometalworks - Chuck Kubba.)

Most of you know how much I love color, but I also love these graphic black and white pieces. I've tried traditional ink wash painting before, and sometimes amazing things can happen when you limit your materials or color palette. So much can be said in a single stroke.

Flickr Favorites

I'm having one of those days (um, weeks really) where I just need to look at happy pretty things.

(Click on photos to go directly to sources.)

A Place for Every Thing

Here's a peek out the back door at the new shed we had put in last week.

It's a pretty standard garden shed. I looked at some modern sheds online that I really liked actually, but they were way out of our budget. And even if they weren't, I'd have a hard time justifying spending that much money on something that essentially just holds the lawnmower and the holiday decorations. We did have a work table put inside for future diy projects, so you might be seeing more of this shed later on.

I think I'll like it better after we plant some flowers around it and do some other landscaping in the backyard. That probably won't happen until next year, though.

I've got a head start with these little wildflowers peeking through the fence. :)

In other news, the plumber came on Saturday and determined there was too much work to do that day, so he left and said he'd be back Wednesday. So we're still dealing with some issues. Also, this morning I put a big dent in the back of the new car. It's our first new car ever, and it only took me a month to mess it up. The good news is, of course, that no one was hurt and the car still runs fine. I'm just bummed because even small auto body repairs can be expensive. I'm definitely gonna have to ramp up my Etsy shop because I seem to be getting poorer by the day.

Also, this week I'll be back to posting about art and pretty things. I need a welcome distraction. ;)

Lighting

I thought I'd be sharing pics of our new lights a few days ago, but what can I say...this week has been hectic. As soon as I finish typing this post, I'm on my way to the apartment to try to pack up the remaining odds and ends and clean like crazy. Tomorrow the plumber is coming back to replace the leaking bathroom faucets (yay!), and we also have a structural engineer coming by to look at some cracks. Hopefully, it's nothing serious, but our home inspector suggested we get them checked out.

Now, on to the lights!

Dining Room
You might think this chandelier is not that bad, but I promise, in real life it is really ugly. It has some type of marbleized brown finish on it and a tacky chain at the top, which I did not manage to capture in the photo.

We replaced it with a Possini Euro white flower pendant. (I can't remember the website I ordered from at the moment, but if you do a search, it's sold at many places). IKEA has a version of this pendant that's about $100 cheaper, but it does not look as nice. It's clunky, has fewer petals, and doesn't filter light as well. We went to the store to check it out before we made our decision, and the difference was noticeable enough to splurge a little.

Here's a close up of the lovely marbleized finish on the old chandelier. I tried to capture how pretty the new pendant looks when it's on, but I don't think this photo really does it justice.

Kitchen
This "crystal" pendant hanging over the kitchen island was truly the worst. Even the electrician we had out to the house commented on it. It didn't provide any direct task lighting, which you need over an island where you will be chopping/measuring/mixing, and instead, produced bizarre shadows and prisms all over the ceiling. On top of not being functional at all, it was just plain tacky.

We replaced it with a simple metal industrial pendant from West Elm, which by the way, was on sale for $9.99 (the cord kit is an additional $29). It looks 1,000 times better and actually directs light where we need it! I should've taken a wider shot so you could see the light on the island, but my camera lenses are still packed away somewhere.

You can sort of see the shadows on the wall here. And the simple, clean shape of the new pendant is something I won't get tired of any time soon.

Back Porch
The light on the back porch was missing a cover, and it was so bright at night it felt like it was burning my retinas. I also worried it was shining a beam straight at our neighbors' house behind us (an elderly couple who have the cutest little Scottie dog), and that's just obnoxious.

We bought this cheapo wall light from Home Depot (I think it was $12). I'm not in love with it, but it works much better than the old one and looks nice enough for now. We will be replacing that bulb (which just came out of the old fixture) with a cooler energy-efficient bulb as soon as it burns out.

At some point, I'd like to replace an ugly ceiling fan in the living room and a standard nipple light in the hallway as well, but all in good time.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! xo, Mary