After about two and a half years of renovation our house is starting to look pretty nice, if I do say so myself. What started out as a cape cod with cracks around every door and window and walls that hadn't been painted since the 70s is now an abode that is comfortable, contemporary and perfect for us. Brad loves adding little touches that most people would never even think about doing, like an inset spice rack into our custom-built kitchen island, just to make use of every nook and cranny. We still have several projects left to do before Brad starts taking apart old projects and redoing them :)While the house was clean last weekend I was able to take some photos of our progress. To really appreciate how far we've come here is the link to our initial video home tour: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cf521a7527bbf0001a3b066/5d0b99f5dd780f0001cbf6f2/5d0b9a19dd780f0001cbf8ea/1561041433813/a?format=original>And here's a link to the photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/87092290@N07/sets/72157631513010652/
House
It's Alive!
in House
The garden, that is. 
(my peony hasn't quite bloomed yet, but the ants seem to really love it.) 
(cute little cherry tomato plant.) 
(spearmint in the sunshine.) 
(gorgeous purple irises from Gary Gaffney's garden.) 
(wildflowers from the seeds we scattered last year.) 
(they look pretty great in a simple white milk bottle vase.)
Painting the Studio
So remember those paint swatches from the last post? Here's the result! Well, the in-progress result. The color is called "Magnet Dapple" by Valspar. Weird name, I know. My only concern is that the dark blue color will make the space a little too cave-like. But we have four two-bulb flood lights that will go up in place of the 80s track lighting.The color is a little hard to capture, but it's kind of a darkish denim blue. I'm pretty excited to start getting all of my supplies and everything set up.[gallery columns="2" link="file" ids="364,363,362,361"]Some navy blue room inspiration (from Pinterest, of course) :
Lavender, Succulents & Plant Fun
Brad and I are well into the process of planning for our September 20th wedding. √ Venue. √ Caterer. √ Cake. Flowers? I knew I didn't want to allocate a huge part of our budget to flowers and also that I want the flowers to look different, special, unique. Of course, everyone wants that for their wedding. One of Brad's many passions is indoor gardening, specifically cultivating jade plants. I'm not sure how he started this hobby, but we've collected about 40 or so varied house plants, most of them jades.
The point of all that is that I've decided (with the help of Pinterest) to start propagating our jades and use them as wedding favors. Here are a few inspiration photos:
So, with that in mind, I'm starting to take some cuttings from our jades and getting them ready to root. I've been trimming them just before the second set of leaves. From what I've read, you're supposed to let the cuttings "scab over" for about three days before you put them in soil (to prevent water rot?) Along with the succulent favors, I will be incorporating them into my bouquet, centerpieces, etc. We've decided to order our flowers through a place called The Flowerman in Columbus. My mom will pick them up a day or two before the big day and we'll have a few people over to the house for a flower arranging frenzy.Another plant I want to incorporate is lavender. Ever since an awesome babysitter helped me stitch and embroider a lavender sachet for my grandma I've loved the sent and look of lavender. It makes me think of memories, summertime and learning how to sew. More inspiration:
And now on to some of my in progress photos:[gallery link="file" ids="348,347,346,345,344,343,342,341,338"]Those yellow flowers aren't a part of this project, I just like them. The big tray with the fiber cells is full of seeding soil and lavender seeds. They're supposed to start sprouting in about 2 to 3 weeks. I've never tried starting a plant from seeds. There are so many factors to it... I just hope something comes out of those little shiny seeds. Also, notice the paint chips. Brad and I were trying to decide on a paint color for the studio (something in the navy blue family). Photos of that coming soon!
So, with that in mind, I'm starting to take some cuttings from our jades and getting them ready to root. I've been trimming them just before the second set of leaves. From what I've read, you're supposed to let the cuttings "scab over" for about three days before you put them in soil (to prevent water rot?) Along with the succulent favors, I will be incorporating them into my bouquet, centerpieces, etc. We've decided to order our flowers through a place called The Flowerman in Columbus. My mom will pick them up a day or two before the big day and we'll have a few people over to the house for a flower arranging frenzy.Another plant I want to incorporate is lavender. Ever since an awesome babysitter helped me stitch and embroider a lavender sachet for my grandma I've loved the sent and look of lavender. It makes me think of memories, summertime and learning how to sew. More inspiration: And now on to some of my in progress photos:[gallery link="file" ids="348,347,346,345,344,343,342,341,338"]Those yellow flowers aren't a part of this project, I just like them. The big tray with the fiber cells is full of seeding soil and lavender seeds. They're supposed to start sprouting in about 2 to 3 weeks. I've never tried starting a plant from seeds. There are so many factors to it... I just hope something comes out of those little shiny seeds. Also, notice the paint chips. Brad and I were trying to decide on a paint color for the studio (something in the navy blue family). Photos of that coming soon!A Tour of Our New House!
It's been a while. But trust me, there's good reason for that. Brad and I have been working on buying a house! Here's a tour.[su_youtube url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8x1Zi2axHY&"]Click here for photos!http://flic.kr/s/aHsjC5B34NAs you can see from the photos, there is a ton of work that we are doing and still needs to be done. It's kind of a dusty mess right now, but at least it's our dusty mess!
Quick House Update:
in House
There are two other offers on the house so we went back last week and adjusted our offer to make it more short sale friendly. Just got a call and we've been outbid, but have been asked to put in our best and final. Wish us luck!