to-do list
It’s been a busy week at work for both of us, but I wanted to squeeze in at least one post. And because this topic has no related photos, I thought you might enjoy a few of Bailey keeping watch over the neighborhood. (Yeah, that’s his drool all over the glass. Dogs keep it real.)
Anyway, with family coming to visit in a little over a month, we decided it was time to finish up some 2010 straggler projects and try to get a few others completed. And hey, three-day weekend coming up!
List time! (Side note: my unscientific observation is that list-making is very popular amongst bloggers. I’m not sure why, but it makes me feel better about myself. Actually, I found a stack of old planners last weekend dating back from my freshman year in college (because why wouldn’t I keep them all??) and I glanced through a few thinking I would see how I’ve changed over the years. Nope. I’m exactly the same. The same little lists scribbled in side bars, the same blocky architectural lettering, the same tiny sketches. Apparently, this is who I am.)
So…yeah…list time!
1. Move remaining tools and remodel supplies out of basement. Done!
2. Take pile of stuff to Goodwill.
3. Clean and reorganize basement o’ shame. In progress…
4. Hang curtain at bottom of basement stairs.
5. Clean out and reorganize garage/shop. Done!
6. Finish loft.
7. Weed raised veggie garden and buy plants.
8. Weed front yard o’ shame.
9. Sand and refinish patio furniture. In progress…
10. Apply a new coat of Penofin to front stoop.
11. Design and detail backyard deck. In progress…
12. Build backyard deck.
I think we can do it. Besides, we need to get this stuff done before moving on to the real 2011 summer project – the front yard (o’ shame). Recess is over!
Bailey’s response:
Happy weekend everyone!
duvet for the loft
In the past, having overnight guests has meant pulling out our one set of twin sheets and stretching them over the cushions of the couch. If you were special, you also got the Land’s End quilt from my freshman dorm room.
Now that we have a second bedroom and a loft, we thought it was time to step things up a bit. Plus, Kyle’s parents and my dad and step-mom are coming to visit in July. It’s been 3-4 years since they were here and needless to say, a LOT has changed. In fact, this will actually be the first time they’ll be staying at our house instead of a hotel. I have already started my to-do list.
So, the loft. We have some long-term ideas for this space (hairpin steel legs – I will find a way to bring you into our home!), but for now we are going to keep it simple and cheap. We have one of those deluxe, queen size Aerobeds that we bought from a friend and the short-term plan is to simply dress it up. We have a second set of neutral, light brown/tan sheets and a down comforter that is also from my college days. The only problem is that it’s forest green. It was also a victim of Bailey’s puppyhood and now sports some less-than-awesome mending. So basically I’d like to buy a duvet cover to hide its ugliness.
Let’s go shopping!
I do love the Draper Stripe duvet from Dwell Studio and not just because it makes me think of Don Draper (what is going on with Season 5 by the way??). Sadly, at $280 it’s not in the loft’s budget.
When we visited the West Elm store in Portland earlier this year, I was really impressed with their bedding selection. I could see using this Organic Matelasse duvet in either “gray” or “straw”. $139…we’re getting better.
I’m also drawn to West Elm’s Organic Seedling duvet and even better, it’s on sale for $59! It’s graphic, but simple. It’s modern, but a little earthy. These are things I look for in textiles.
This linen duvet from Coyuchi (via Velocity Art & Design) is also delightful, but also $360.
I also checked out IKEA’s website, but it’s so hard to view their textiles and nothing really caught my eye. I’m planning on stopping by this weekend so we’ll see. (By the way, am I the only person in the world that thinks a little weekend jaunt to IKEA is relaxing?) At this point, I’m definitely leaning towards the $60 option from West Elm, but I can still be swayed.
Anything else out there that I should be looking at?
Will I ever get tired of blue, gray and yellow?
the yard: issues
A common thread during our remodel process has been the unglamorous and mundane task of fixing things. Unfortunately, our yard is no exception to this trend. While we’ve made substantial progress over the last several years, there are still some significant projects to undertake. The good news – we’ve had almost five years to identify the problem areas, think about how we use the spaces and come up with a priority list.
Drainage: As I write this, it has been raining for nearly 20 hours non-stop (and it’s May, hello!!) – so yeah, water management is a big deal. In older neighborhoods like ours, homes often have inadequate gutters and downspouts that either spit out directly into the yard or tie into the combined sewer and stormwater system. In all new development and remodel projects, roof runoff must either go to a dedicated stormwater system or infiltrate on site. When we replaced our roof, we installed new gutters and downspouts (our old gutters were wood!), but the water still ultimately ends up in the sewer or in our yard. This poses problems during heavy or prolonged rain, when water finds its way into our basement via hydrostatic pressure. It doesn’t happen often and it doesn’t usually do any damage because our basement is unfinished, but it’s a problem that absolutely has to be fixed before we finish out that space. In short, we’ll be doing a lot of digging around the perimeter of our house and installing a series of drains that lead to a dry well where the water can infiltrate properly and “recharge the aquifer”. I know, more dirt digging. Awesome. (Although, I think Kyle really wants an excuse to rent a backhoe.) In addition to roof run-off, we’ll also improve the infiltration rate of our planting strip. Our street is slightly sloped and during heavy rains, water comes sweeping down the sidewalk and into the planting strip, making the area a good candidate for a rain garden.
Circulation: We’ll be focusing primarily on the front yard this summer and circulation is one of the top design criteria. Basically, we need a pathway system that links the driveway, sidewalk and street to the front door, with a secondary connection to the south side yard. We want something that is modern but not in-your-face; we also want to minimize the amount of impervious surfaces as much as possible. (The catawampus concrete pavers in the above photo have to go!)
Lounging: Our front yard faces west and gets great evening sun. The stoop we built two summers ago (shown above) provides a nice, informal sitting area, but we’d like to dedicate part of the yard for general lounging and maybe even some al fresco dining (fancy!). The yard is by no means level so we’ll have to do some grading and terracing to make it work.
Soil: After we fix our drainage issues, we’ll be amending the soil like crazy. Fortunately, in Seattle our food waste gets picked up and converted to compost so we have some great local resources to go to.
Plants: This is the fun part, but it’s also the part that makes us the most nervous. Truth be told, there’s a lot we don’t know about plants and our track record is not good. The Camellia (shown above) that we painstakingly transplanted from the front to side yard during our exterior renovation – totally dead. We don’t have the details worked out just yet, but we know we want to stick with native, low-maintenance options. We’re also ok with saving money by buying smaller plants and trees and being patient while they “fill in”. Finally, we’ll install a simple irrigation system for the dry summer months and while the plants establish. And even though we rocked the mulch look far longer than we originally anticipated, we intentionally saved the landscaping for last. There is no way plants would have survived the roof tear off or all of the siding work and by not having anything to protect, it was one less thing to worry about during those projects.
Lastly, we’ve got a serious budget to work with. Last year was crazy, so this year is all about scaling down and phasing. In fact, we’ll probably complete the rest of the exterior in 3-4 phases, which will be dictated by time, cost, and sequencing of other larger projects. We’re excited to get our hands dirty and tackle this summer’s projects, but we also want to enjoy summer. There are still so many things that we want to do and explore (berry picking has been on my list for years!) and we’re adamant about making sure this summer is an equal balance of work and play. That is, if summer ever comes.
(P.S. – I’m playing around with ideas for a new blog header. The old one had been bothering me for a while and so I’ve been sketching out ideas for something simple but effective. I’m still tweaking it, but I think it’s an improvement!)
(P.P.S – Well, it pretty much rained all day so instead of cleaning up the raised veggie bed, I cleaned up the House Tour page. I created new pages for the mudroom, flex room and loft and added more up-to-date photos for the kitchen, dining and living room.)
the yard: where we’ve been
After wrapping up the interior projects from last year, we’re focusing on the outside again. In addition to a new deck for the backyard, we’d also like to spruce up the front. Although sometimes it feels like we’ve completely neglected our yard during the last few years, these pictures from closing day in 2006 are a good reality check:
In 2007, we spent our first spring/summer cleaning up the yard. This included tearing out the funky, diseased shrubs…
…and jackhammering out the “concrete landscaping”. (Concrete – the ultimate weed blocker!)
By June of ’07 we had rototilled, added several truckloads of mulch, painted the retaining wall, installed inexpensive paving stones and planted a few new trees (the one on the left did not survive).
In 2008, we tackled Phase II. After Bailey escaped through a loose picket, we knew we needed to fix the fence and gate situation.
In 2009 we completed the big exterior project and today our yard looks something like this:
It’s not horrible, but it’s not great either. More importantly, it’s been FOUR YEARS since our temporary fix! So embarrassing.
We’ve developed specific goals and ideas for this summer’s project and it’s exciting to think about what it will look like in 4-5 months. Like many of the projects we’ve tackled over the years, some of the tasks will be boring and involve fixing things, but others will be fun and (we hope) really improve the way we use our exterior spaces. We’re still in the planning phase and will be posting more about process and design in the weeks to come. One thing is for sure, the mulch era is coming to a close.
local market
Last weekend we checked out the Remodelista Local Market event in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. Located at henrybuilt’s SoDo shop, there were about 15-20 vendors there, including both local and regional goods.
Some of the highlights included these awesome chopping blocks made from reclaimed lath from old houses in Seattle. I also fell in love with a super soft throw blanket (from San Francisco based Sefte Living) made from baby alpaca yarn and woven by Andean women artisans, but it was too expensive.
But we did find a few small things, like this linen tea towel from San Francisco company Studio Patro.
These photos were taken fresh out of the packaging, but after a few washes it should soften up.
Of course, anytime I’m photographing something at dog level, this happens. Such a diva.
A slightly washed out view of the other side, in a muted green-yellow (grellow?) color.
Local favorite glassybaby was also there, so we picked out this votive for our bathroom. Actually, Kyle picked it out. That man is all about soft lighting. Seriously, he would put every light in the world on a dimmer switch if he could.
I also purchased the new cookbook from 101 Cookbooks blogger Heidi Swanson, who was at the event. I only follow a handful of food/cooking blogs, but I’d come across a review on Smitten Kitchen recently so I knew it was worth a look. And I wasn’t disappointed – the photography is beautiful and the recipes sound amazing. I can’t wait to try it out!
The rest of our weekend consisted of general basking in the sunlight (finally!). This has officially been the coldest spring on record in Seattle and we couldn’t help but get outside and soak it in while we could (because of course today was gray and rainy).
P.S. – Nicole at Making it Lovely featured our mustard jamb on her Honor Roll last week! Yeah, it made my day.
