I Hate Concrete

I am not a fan of old concrete.

Why is there so MUCH of it at the Dutch colonial?

For starters, take our old broken + heaving driveway.

Please.

dannylipford.com

Why can’t we have something charming + gravel+ Frenchie, like these?

Oh, I suppose there are issues after a snowfall, when it’s time to plow.

But wait!

On an episode of This Old House, I saw them use a pebble-topped asphalt:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/video/0,,20550775,00.html

They claimed it could be plowed without any pesky gravel issues!

Fingers crossed somebody can do this here in the Midwest!

* * * * *

And now, let us turn our thoughts to our naughty sidewalks.

Sadly, what we now have is like this . . .

. . . when I would prefer this:

The bad news is that we’ll probably not get to this kind of happiness for a while,

so I’ll have to be patient.

The good news is that we demolished our brick chimney last week:

Look how awesome the old bricks are!

Of course, I insisted that these MUST be saved + recycled

for a new front walk . . .

. . . and within mere moments, I’m on Pinterest, searching for inspiration for said-same:

HA!  Look at how HAPPY she is!

You wouldn’t believe how many times this was pinned!

But please.

I would never try this at home –

not with my OCD + perfectionist tendencies!

* * * * * *

But once again, I digress.

Back to the genuine brick sidewalks!

Bricks + boxwoods + roses! Pretty much what I had in mind for our front yard garden!

Diagonal bricks with ‘soldiers’ borders.

 

Running bond pattern with ‘sailors’.

Looks like a random basketweave, flanked by beautiful + fragrant herbs!

During one of my frequent trips to my homeland,

I have seen old bricks, stamped ST. LOUIS, for sale . . .

. . . + now wish I’d gotten at least one.

You can see them here:

http://www.stlouisbricks.com/

How awesome would this be in our sidewalk?

What I Want MOST In Our New Kitchen

Does everybody have at least one kitchen design feature  that they truly + deeply + madly love?

The one scrumptuous thing that draws your eye in each + every Pinterest photo you spy?

Something that you’ve always wanted for your own kitchen + vow to have, someday?

Well, I do!  Can you guess what it might be?

That’s right — it’s the large windows/window wall above the kitchen sink!

YUM, right?  To me, those puny, little single over-the-sink windows are just tragic!  J/K, kind of!

Here’s my current kitchen (below).  Tragic!

And look!  It’s our Dutch colonial kitchen, ‘before’!

Potential tragedy, am I right?

Good news!  It’s my lucky year!

 We’ve sprung for the larger (dare I say ‘ginormous’?) above-the-sink kitchen window!

Man, oh Manichevitz — is that window ‘calling’ for a window box, OR WHAT?

$150
Home Depot

Those brackets really put that white vinyl** charmer over the top, don’t they?

**Our Dutch colonial’s exterior will be white + vinyl + as charming as I can possibly make it!

But I digress again!

Here are a few more photo ops of my newest love:

Here you can see how our kitchen flows nicely with our dining room + its gorgeous bay + huge windows:

Another view.  Please pay close attention to the 2×4 board on the center of our floor:

I’ve decided we won’t replace our ‘before’ kitchen’s peninsula . . .

. . . (they’re SO ‘last century’!  J/K!)

Instead, we’ll have an island, + it will be approximately the same length at that 2×4 board.

I’m still pondering over its exact style + color, etc.,

but I’d like to incorporate a plate rack like this one:

Our space is limited, but I’d love to provide room for seating.

Stay tuned.

H O U Z Z

Here’s hoping that you know about HOUZZ

+ go there often to be inspired, as do I.

There are bazillions of photos on just about any topic.

How do you think I found my inspirations

for the exterior of our Dutch colonial?

Search for ‘Dutch colonials’ on Houzz + voila!

Houzz not only provides awesome eye candy — it’s also interactive!

Check it out: http://www.houzz.com/discussions

DISCUSSIONS!

People write in with their house-related dilemas,

+ we can respond with suggestions + photo ops!

I KNOW!!??  It’s like our dreams came true!

SO

just yesterday I finally joined the party + responded to this mother’s request:

My son’s room

I want to decorate my son’s room.

He is 12 years old and wants to decorate to urban/city style.

Please help me.

* * * * * *

PEOPLE.

My thoughts immediately raced to Restoration Hardware’s website,

which has the most inspirational room galleries, EVER!

IN-cluding these yummy bedrooms for BOYS!

^^Come ON — how awesome is that rolling bed!?!

^^Totally digging the graphic letters + numbers + industrial-style lighting!

^^Those metal beds + the huge insect art  – genius!

I was SO excited to participate + share my love of the Restoration Hardware “with the class”!

I did add a disclaimer that their merch is way too expensive,

but that it’s an excellent inspiration to take to the flea market,

where one can find “the real stuff”  for less $!

^^I mean, even WE have 2 sets of old, metal lockers

that were purchased for $20-ish each, at the flea market.

* * * * *

But I digress.

Don’t you agree that RH’s cool industrial furniture, lighting + accesories

would be a great fit in an urban/city-inspired boys’ bedroom?

Without having to be 100% literal or — God forbid — a THEME.

WELL.

Apparently, not everybody was on board.

In fact, one gal was so against my RH suggestion that she disdainfully rejected said-same!

* * * * * * *

Wow, really folks?

Urban/city style is not a wall mural of a city (not to say they aren’t super cool!),

nor is it restoration hardware or old signs.

* * * * * * *

HA!  What!?!

ME-OW!

Gosh, I kind of dislike it when people are snarky + rude + dismissive

+  kill my fun, little online buzz.

 I’ll admit, I was a little tempted to reply in my best 8th grade girl fashion

+ call her a name.

Oh, SNAP!

Thankfully, saner heads prevailed, + I opted to act like a grown up

by making fun of her on my blog! 

Have a swell rest of the day, + see you on HOUZZ!

Landscaping, Part 1

SO, the start of our  Dutch colonial re-do has coincided with the onset of gardening season!

Perfect timing!  Sort of.

Our front yard’s naughty, ancient + ugly shrubs have been yanked out of the ground :

30′s Dutch colonial, ‘before’.

. . .

Much bettah!

Sadly, I’ve been advised/instructed that NO foundation landscaping can occur until after the house is re-sided.

I just HAD to plant something!

Here’s what 2 flats of shade-loving annuals looks like!

I’d never seen those flowers before — at first, I thought they were a new variety of impatiens.

Their name starts with a “T” — Torinia?  They grow to 8″ high.

I’ve had that HEAVY ceramic urn for years — this season it’s sporting a Boston fern!

Yesterday I bought a pair of white wood, cottage-y containers:

Now . . . just what to plant inside them!?

Stay tuned!

Huge Vintage Casters

Today’s to-do list includes heading to etsy + choosing something like these . . .

DestinationsVintage on etsy

. . . so that I can turn this . . .

. . . into this!

Source unknown

And now, for something totally off-topic, here’s a corner of our garden:

I recall fretting over our choice of the dark brown stain for the fence.

I can’t believe how unsure I was, because I love it so much now!

Not only is it striking in spring/summer . . .

. . . it looks fantastic in the snow!

For our Dutch colonial,

I think we’ll stain our fence the same dark gray

we’re using on our garden shed!

Garden shed
color inspiration — Remodelista.com  

 

French Address Signs

Part of the fun of a fixer upper project like ours is that I get to make choices

+ lots of them!

Take, for instance, our address number on the new house.

I love and want one of these enamel Frenchie address signs:

http://www.ramsign.com/

Clutching my credit card, I was all set to place an order for said-same, but the price!

$119?

Kay?  Really?

Top 2 Reasons G.O. Bought Our House

Please view the 2 reasons G.O. agreed to buy our Dutch colonial foreclosure:

NUMBER ONE  –  THE GARAGE

It’s homely, strangely short + not that ginormous . . .

. . . which, sadly, kind of describes ME!

Va va va voom!

HA! — but I “keed”!

And I digress.

NUMBER TWO — THE SHED

This garden shed’s on the huge side, meaning thumbs up from G.O.

(For a starter, that can crusher’s gotta go.)

Any-hoo, if you ask me, these forelorn structures should thank their lucky stars

we arrived, just in time to give them both their facelifts.

I’ve already described my hopes + dreams for that garage,

which is now sporting its new  + muy bueno charcoal gray roof.

And soon(er) than G.O. would like, my roof spire:

Can we please do this TO-day? She asks.

He said something about it being “low on (his) priority list.

PLEASE.

It’s at the top of mine!

(Stay tuned.)

Now, to the shed.  It will soon have a colonial red steel roof.

Hello, gorgeous!

Despite this ^^ colorful choice ^^

GO has been complaining about my ‘drab’ exterior color scheme.

Perhaps this is one reason why:

The darkest of dark charcoal gray!

It’s ^^ my color inspiration for the shed ^^ – something of the dark gray persuasion . . .

. . . in my favorite — the solid color stain.

Raven, please

But wait!  There’s more!

Those plain Jane plywood doors aren’t going to stay that way,

not when I’m around.

Here is my garage door inspiration, just down the street:

It’s hard to see, but there’s diagonal bead board here, people!

Consider it done! – on our shed’s plywood cheapies — + hopefully, soon!

Martha + JCP, Update

SO, earlier this week I  blogged about J C Penneys’ mod, new makeover

 + gushed about their collaboration with Martha.

http://redbirdv.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/marthas-at-jcp/

Well, last night I saw one of their  TV commercials, + it was very odd.

It sounded downright apologetic!

It seems the buying public has not embraced the new JCP as I have!

Furthermore, they, J C Penneys (no longer JCP!),  has “listened”

(to the howls of protesting ex-shoppers, I presume)

+ will go back to their stodgy, former selves!

That’s right!

But wait.  There’s more!

Macys is suing Penneys + Martha!

Penneys has fired the new CEO responsible for the new look!

The humanity!

 I guess this concludes my Martha-at-Penneys coverage!

If anyone still cares, one can read more about it here:

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/j-c-penney-tries-woo-customers-back-apology-6C9720068

Martha’s At JCP!

Who among us still reads the Sunday paper?

Just wondering, because our Parade magazine this week had a

cover story on Martha Stewart.

She’s written a new book about aging for baby boomers, which is nice + all . . .

. . . but what really piqued my interest was that she’s got stuff at JCP!

JC-what?  You ask?

Penneys is now JCP!

They have totally revamped themselves, + so far, I’m digging the changes.

Everything’s preppy , trendy + positively J. Crew-esque!

 – at great prices!

But Martha + JCP?

I haven’t been this excited since Martha was at K-Mart . . .

. . . or when the old Penneys + Ralph Lauren teamed up

with that awesome American Living collection!

I took a little trip through JCP online this morning,

just to see what’s what.

Martha’s got custom natural shades (yes, please!)

+ voile* floor-length sheers

(*meaning no pesky polyester sheen!)

Just the treatment I had in mind for the

living room windows

 of our Dutch colonial!

This room is my inspiration:

Look how the golden wood tones
‘pop’ against those dark gray walls!

 Look at the golden wood tones of Martha’s ‘cinnamon’ shade!

They, too, would pop against dark gray walls!

Cinnamon is but one of dozens of choices

for Martha’s natural shades.

They’re also available edged with

either a 2″ or 1″ wide banding ,

in your choice of colors:

The banding makes the shades
look more expensive!

For my sheers, I have choices, too!

Plain Jane solids . . .

. . . or something
with a pattern!

 

Rod pocket top . . .

. . . or grommets . . .

. . . or pinch pleats!

Well, THAT was fun!  Methinks I’ll gas up the car + head to a JCP store,

to see all of this good stuff in person!

Our Garage Gets Its Makeover

Today our garage gets a new roof!

G.O. spent the past several days prepping things . . .

. . . with new wood replacing rotten wood + nailing down roof paper.

We’ll be siding the house with Sterling gray on the 1st story,

with a darker Flagstone gray on the 2nd story gables,

similar to this house:

Search for ‘Dutch colonials’ on Houzz + voila!

Speaking of inspirations,
this^^ is our
garage’s . . .

. . . + we’ve chosen board + batten
(in white)
from Certainteed.

I worried about vinyl board + batten’s looking + feeling cheapie

or screaming “PLASTIC!”, God forbid.

We investigated at our local build-o-rama,

+ it was really heavy and “real-looking”!

SO, while G.O. was busy working on our roof . . .

. . .  I kept MY nose to the house grindstone, here at home,

shopping online for garage light fixtures!

Here’s my absolute favorite:

$169.91
Budapest
Lampsplus

I know! — hubba hubba, right?

But that price!  We’re going to need 4 of them,

+ sadly, 4 x $169.91 is a tad over our garage lighting budget!

My quest, then, is to find something equally groovy

but at a lower price point.

Galvanized, check!
$30 each
from Home Depot

I really do like this ^^ one.  It’s a plain Jane lantern,

which is right up my lighting alley.

It’s got the rustic galvanized metal, which I love.

My thoughts are to ramp up its awesome-ness

by springing for Edison light bulbs – LOVE!

$15
Schoolhouse Electric Co.

Quick: somebody multiply $15 bulbs x 4 light fixtures!

 J/K! — that’s why God gave us calculators!

Anyway, back to the light fixture choicee:

here’s something that’s more similar, in style, to my favorite, too-spendy light:

Hampton Bay
outdoor cottage lantern
$29 from Home Depot

What say ye?  I think it’s almost as cool as its $169.91 inspiration,

but I’m a little leary of the shiny nickel finish.

I prefer the more rustic galvanized metal of the other 2 finalists:

Fave

Substitute #1

Substitute #2

But wait!

Surely we could do something to tone down the nickel finish sheen, no?

As luck would have it, one of my favorite bloggers

– the guys from The Cavender Diary –

just posted about their own metal do-over project!

Tar-jay

Something about spritzing with bleach.  Read for yourself:

http://thecavenderdiary.com/2013/04/28/aging-a-galvanized-metal-clock/

? ? ?

I guess this means I need to investigate adding patina to the pesky shiny metal.

Then it’s time for me to make up my mind, already,

+ place an online order!

Is anyone going to help me by choosing between substitute #1 and #2?