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Spreading the cheer outside
Holiday decorating is a slow process at my house. I’m so amazed by all the holiday home tours on the Internet … I haven’t even really thought much about the inside. I love doing my outdoor containers though. I leave them decorated (sans lights) almost all winter because I love looking at them. I take no credit for the design ...
Custom junk corralling
Sometimes there are little things that challenge our sanity, and I think I have identified the number one offender. You know what I’m talking about folks … it’s the damn junk drawer. I didn’t even bother taking a before picture. You know what a horrible junk drawer looks like; I don’t need to share my horror with you. ...
Put on your elastic pants, it’s time for Thanksgiving
When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was a much more formal affair. We always went to my grandmother’s house (just down the lane from our house), dressed up in uncomfortable clothes (oh how I hated tights), sat at a kids’ table, which we all hated until my grandma wisened up and gave us our own bowl of mashed potatoes and ...
*This close* to all finished
This might look like a picture of some pretty double welt, but it’s really a picture of what the almost end of a project looks like. I’m this close to finishing up the chairs that have been in my house for about two years and I’m so excited to show you them. There’s been a lot of hemming and hawing ...
A sweet treat, just not for me
Some gardeners are much better than I am about planting late-season crops. A friend on Facebook just posted a beautiful haul of beets the other day. I am just burned out by the end of the summer and I consider it a success if I can just stay on top of harvesting and general maintenance. Planting, and more importantly, nursing ...
Giveaway: A bit of holiday help
Where do you stand on mailing things? Have you gone entirely digital or do you still fall back on mailing a good old fashioned note? I’m a big fan of more traditional methods. If I get an invitation to something in the mail, I know they really want me there and that I wasn’t just included because I was in ...
How to make a custom striped table runner
I found a great new list-keeping app for my iPhone a week or two ago. It’s called Tick, and so far it’s my favorite list-keeping app that I’ve tried, and believe me, I’ve tried many. You can customize the icon and color for each list. Right now I have the number 10 by the little icon of a house. That ...
Don’t look now but winter’s coming
I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and other than a brief stint down under, I have lived in this state for my entire life. If you’re not familiar Wisconsin, you probably associate the state with three things: cheese, the Green Bay Packers and cold weather. It’s no coincidence that these are the first things that come to mind when ...
New table, even newer color
Sometimes I think about my DIY journey and it sort of blows my mind. Six years ago I was scared to try to improve anything I didn’t totally hate for fear of screwing it up. Now I have to restrain myself from NOT trying to improve things that are perfectly fine the way they are. I think the first time ...
How to create a weathered wood finish
I showed you the new kitchen tabletop on Friday and promised a tutorial on Monday, so it only makes sense that you’re seeing this on Tuesday (punctuality is not my strong suit). This weathered wood finish is not something I recommend for someone who isn’t prepared to roll with the punches a bit. The fact is, you just don’t know ...
A new old-looking tabletop
I’m not sure I’ve ever done a project in which I had no real expectations for the outcome. That’s just not the way I roll. So going into refinished the kitchen table with no real idea of what it would look like at the end was not something I undertook lightly. You may recall that we purchased our kitchen table ...
How to get FREE nautical charts
If you’ve ever wanted to do anything with a nautical chart, plan it now. What might you want to do with a chart, other than, you know, navigate? Allow me to give you a few ideas. Traditional Home Office by Concord Interior Designers & Decorators lisa k. tharp – k. tharp design Spaces Traditional Kids by Milwaukee Architects & Designers ...
Colorful fence proves a little gray is ok when it comes to rules
Rules set in stone have always irked me. I’ll admit, I’m not a big follower of the rules, to the point where I’m more interested in breaking one when someone makes a big fuss about how there are no exceptions. I’m not talking about laws here, just rules. I know this is perhaps a bit of an immature viewpoint, but ...
How to salvage a stained marble tabletop
I have been on the hunt for a marble side table for about two years now. I’m pretty sure it’s because secretly I would have loved a marble countertop in either the upstairs bathroom or the kitchen but I knew I’d lose my mind with a marble counter. Some people love marble countertops for their patina or are willing to ...
A new bathroom was just the start
If you’re coming to the blog today from Hooked on Houses, welcome! I’m so happy you found me and thank you so much to Julia for featuring our bathroom addition. A couple years ago we ripped the top off half of our house and stuck it back on higher. We created tons of extra space without adding a single square ...
The Garden Appreciation Society Week 19 — Challenge yourself and link up!
I realized a funny thing while taking pictures of this week’s Garden Appreciation Society bouquet: I enjoy the bouquets that are harder to come by more than the ones that I made when the garden was in full flush. There’s something about the challenge that makes me appreciate that bouquet even more. Or maybe it’s just that it forces me ...
Letters from the Garden
Letters from the Garden
