Tuesday, 18 September 2018

5 Years at Home

A thousand words couldn’t properly articulate how much we love living here. We celebrated our 5th “homeiversary” in June, and just wrapped our 6th summer in this lovely place. This year, I attempted to replicate a few of my favorite photos from our first week including:

Backyard overgrown on the day we moved into our home; June 2013

Backyard after clearing brush and living here for 5 years; Pete, June 2018

And this, which shows how the fence used to be completely overgrown, making the back half of our property completely unusable:

Backyard, before the treehouse was built; June 2013.

Backyard after clearing brush and branches, and building the treehouse; Pete, June 2018

And even our “new” outdoor living room (a long post about its evolution is sitting as a rough draft):

Our screened in porch is the perfect summertime workspace.

We’ve had a busy few months (and if you follow me on IG, it’s 99% garden related). Shorter, colder days and a new back-to-school routine will hopefully give me more time to write again (I really miss it).

Though brainwaves related to these projects are still mostly unpublished, these are some of the things we did in our 5th year at home.

  1. We moved the fire pit.
  2. Changed the play-flow in our yard by opening up the rustic fence.
  3. Started a compost pile.
  4. Installed flagstone veneers to the covered porch (peek shown above).
  5. Removed the siding on our covered porch to expose the original cedar walls.
  6. Wouldn’t it be so great to have the back of our house fully landscaped? On the list. Lots of scheming has been done.
  7. Met with a kitchen designer; we could be gutting and remodeling as early as next Spring.
  8. Transplanted lots of pachysandra.
  9. Installed underground electrical fencing for Martha.
  10. Lost a white birch tree, a sassafras tree, a tiny pine, and a bazillion branches.

If you’re here for the first time, here are 10 projects we’ve done around this house in previous years that we still adore:

  1. Painted the barn
  2. Built a bigger garden
  3. Installed a big flagstone patio
  4. Created my own walk-in closet (I started with my closet, but we’ve done it to all bedroom closets at this point)
  5. Upgraded our fireplace to gas
  6. Installed a giant projection screen in our living room (movies and video games at max size)
  7. Created an art room in our basement
  8. Installed hardwood floors
  9. Painted our kitchen cabinets (a good makeover, and the paint has held up really well)
  10. Improved storage in our entryway

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Monday, 17 September 2018

Thrift It – Trays, Boxes and Bowls

Hello friends!  I’m back today with another installment of the Thrift It series.  I took a break from this series last week to usher in fall with a couple of virtual fall home tours, see the first one here and the second here.  Thanks to...

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Thrift It – Trays, Boxes and Bowls posted first on http://ssmattress.blogspot.com

Sunday, 16 September 2018

The Great Room Switch

About a month ago we made the great room switch with every person switching where their room was located. Drew moved into Elle’s. Elle moved into Vera’s. Vera moved into Drew’s and Grayson moved into our room. And we made the move into the master bedroom. We’d never done this before because it’s far enough away from the kids that we were worried we wouldn’t hear them if they needed us in the middle of the night but it’s worked out really well so far… except for Grayson who is sleeping in the master with us. He’s definitely the wild card of the bunch. He’s sort of like Elle at this age and wakes up constantly. Three nights this week he’s been ready for the day at either 2 or 4am.

I want everyone to have a space they felt comfortable in and a space that they could get older with. We gave the boys the rooms with the least amount of closest space. There is not a single room I would call done… at all. I’ll walk you through each room and explain my vision for the space and some punch items to get it done. I feel sort of embarressed sharing these rooms not done AT ALL but I’m guessing you do your decorating much of the same way… making do with what you have until you find or make the perfect thing to complete the space.

Drew’s Room

I’m envisioning a Restoration Hardware Kids vibe in here with a lot of masculine neutrals of wood, gray, white and navy. Drew is obsessed with maps so I want to really play off of that with the theme of his room. I’d love to get a white or light gray bedspread and a navy coverlet for the foot of the bed. I think an 8×10 or 9×13 rug would be good for the space but I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking for… definitely something comfortable and simple. Drew is all about rugs that feel good on his feet (he will still talk about the wall to wall carpet in his bedroom in our last house).

Room Sources:

Curtains: DIY (similar here and here for a lot less work :)) || Bed Spread: Wayfair but not in stock anymore; very similar here || Dresser: out of business store || Rug: Overstock (years ago)  || Nightstands || Desk (not sure I’d recommend buying it though… as you can see it’s falling apart a little) ||  Mirror, Bed, Nightstand Lamp: Secondhand

Elle’s Room

Elle wants a Cinderella room and keeps pointing out these bedspreads with Cinderella’s face all over it that are the perfect mixture of scary and tacky. I told her we will do her room in a Cinderella theme with lots of blues and whites and some French accents (she is obsessed with the Eiffel tower ever since AJ and I went to France last Thanksgiving). After all Cinderella lives in a chateau, right? I have my eye on this $1000 light blue bed that would be so completely gorgeous and perfect but there is NO WAY we are buying that for her when she drew on the leather in the car the other day (I just about lost my mind because it won’t come out and now we have this cute little person on the back of the passenger chair).  I think a smarter option at this five year old stage in life would be this headboard or this headboard. I’d love to frame the Cinderella dress, repaint the desk because the babies drew on the top (it was my mom’s vanity from when she was a teenager that I’ve used for years!) and recover the bulletin board in light blue fabric.

Room Sources:

Bed: DIY || Rug || Vanity and Lingerie Chest: vintage || Cinderella Dress || Comforter at the End of the Bed: Home Goods

Grayson’s Room

Gray’s room reminds me so much of Drew’s nursery. We have the same rug in here and a similar color scheme. I love how bright this room gets in the afternoon!

I’m planning on hanging a cornice and curtains up plus some artwork but just haven’t gotten to it yet or haven’t been able to make all the decisions I need to.

Room Sources:

Chair, Table and Dresser: Second Hand || Rug: Pottery Barn Kids (rug is eight years old; similar here)  || Teepee || Crib and Mattress || Crib Sheet: Target (not online; similar here || Backpack || Diaper Basket and Lamp: Home Goods

Vera’s Room

My vision for Vera’s room is that it would be feminine and made up of calming quiet colors… because Vera is anything but quiet (we are getting her hearing checked because her one volume is yelling). I want it to be a calm place. 🙂 We got the crib from a friend so that we could keep a crib in the master for the child that is being the trickest in the middle of the night… so now we have three cribs. I need AJ to finish putting it together because I got halfway done and I’m doing something wrong… it keeps wiggling. 🙂 I adore the look of this rug but need to do a little more research before pulling the trigger on anything.

Room Sources:

Crib and Chair: Second Hand || Large Pink Quilt and Metal Table: Marshalls || Rug: Rugs USA (similar here and here but opposite coloring) || Basket: Swank

I hope you can envision my thought for each space. My biggest goal is that their rooms would feel like them and be a safe and uncluttered spot for them to come home to. It’ll take a while to get them to be “perfect” but I’m excited about the process!

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Thursday, 13 September 2018

How To Create an Eco-Friendly Garden and Greenhouse

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Photo by Robin Plaskoff Horton.

If you are a gardener, it’s likely you feel connected with nature and care about the planet. Think about strengthening that relationship by learning some simple ways to green your garden or greenhouse.

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How To Create an Eco-Friendly Garden and Greenhouse posted first on http://ssmattress.blogspot.com

Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Fall Screen Porch {Home Tour}

Hello friends!  Today I’m sharing a little tour of my favorite space to decorate for fall ~ our screen porch!  This is where I begin and end each day, so I always enjoy giving it a little seasonal sprucing.  I’m joining Marty at A...

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Fall Screen Porch {Home Tour} posted first on http://ssmattress.blogspot.com

Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Sustainable Barkitecture: Solar Powered Dog House With Green Roof

It’s a sustainable dog’s life in this contemporary canine cottage. The eco-chic timber construction features a turf clad side ramp leading to a slanted green roof with a motion-activated water faucet and integrated irrigation system.

Pups can lounge rooftop with … Read More...

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Sustainable Barkitecture: Solar Powered Dog House With Green Roof posted first on http://ssmattress.blogspot.com

Monday, 10 September 2018

Cozy Fall Home Tour

Hello Friends!  Is it starting to feel like fall in your neck of the woods?  It’s still blazing hot here in South Carolina, but I’m feeling all the fall vibes regardless.  And today I’m excited to be participating in a Fall Home...

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Cozy Fall Home Tour posted first on http://ssmattress.blogspot.com

Escape Off-Grid With This Smart Self-Sustainable Mobile Micro Home

Here’s a civilized idea for getting away from civilization…or for hunkering down right in your own backyard. Escape off-grid (or not) with ...