Mill Valley Classic...

I came across this house (via) this blog.

This is the house of my dreams.... It was designed by Heydt Design, the interior design was done by Benjamin Dhong and photographed by David Duncan Livingston. It is all incredible. Everything about the exterior is perfect. I love how the front/entrance is the first thing you see. I'm so sick of seeing garage first homes. The porch with the detail in the post, the header and the curved barge rafters add so much to this porch. The side lights on the door are small, yet the sphere porch light is enormous. Love the sitting area off to the left with French doors and side lights. The porch above with French doors and detail added in the pergola. I love the dimension the porthole windows add. The mud room access off to the right, pergola and porch again. So much outdoor living. I love that this is a 2,700 sqare foot home, but appears smaller and every detail is there.

They continue the outside in.... That for some reason seems hard to come by these days. The sphere chandelier is beautiful. The grey island with yellow barstools make me happy. The beveled subway is lovely and the off white/griege cabinets are simple and perfect.

The mercury glass mirror above the mantle is beautiful. I love the different fabrics on the chairs flanking the fireplace. The desk and hutch with the dish display tie in well.

Love these stand alone tubs. The detail on the vanity doors and the grass cloth wall. I appreciate it all. Eye candy! All of it!

The Dogs...

We had the most amazing snowfall last weekend.... It was a great chance to take the dogs on a walk and try out my snowshoes Tubbs Mountaineer 21 W Snowshoe for Women (Google Affiliate Ad). I love hiking and was looking for a way to extend the hiking season. I found my tubbs snowshoes on ksl.com classifieds for cheap cheap cheap.... The ad said, "bought these for my girlfriend... We're not dating anymore so she never got her present..." SOLD... I loved them! Now we are on the hunt for a pair for Drew.

The dogs had a blast and have found ways of getting warm after their romps in the snow. I got to try out my new hobby with my very favorite boots. They were the best present I have ever received from Drewpy, my Joan of Artic Sorels... Just like these Sorel Joan of Arctic Boots (Taffy) - Women's Boots - 5.0 M (Google Affiliate Ad)... I do think next time I will use some other boots, I want to keep these pretty. That is what boots are for after all!

A dollop of Polly... Have you ever read the definition of dollop? It's perfect for this picture above... A shapeless blob or mass of something. Ha!

This is why having three dogs in an 800 sq/ft apartment isn't too bad.... They love each other.

And come on? It's just almost TOO cute!

 

Painting a Crib...

For a nursery I have been working on for the last little bit (full reveal will be later), one of the projects I took on to complete the room was to paint the crib. I started out with sanding the crib with a 100 grit sponge sander. To clean up the crib and prepare the wood for paint to attach. When every nook, cranny and baluster was sanded I painted the crib with this Wagner sprayer.

I was pleased with the Wagner Spray Fast Plus Power Airless Sprayer - Paint Sprayers (Google Affiliate Ad), it did sprayed the paint on with almost a textured finish. That could have been more operator error than anything, I have to put some research into it. It did however, make the job go by much faster than hand painting it would have been. The final outcome was not as smooth as I would have hoped, but I was able to finish the in a day.

For the paint I used a low VOC, water based, stain blocking, primer and paint in one. It worked great. It blocked the stain and I was able to skip the priming step. After each coat dried I used a 120 grit sanding sponge to knock down some of the high spots. This helps for a smoother finish.

After the paint set for 24 hour. And sprayed it with Rustoleum Enamel Clear Coat (non yellowing). Again, sanded in between each coat.... All for this finished project!

What?! Are you so psyched for the whole reveal? I am!

 

Before and After...

I got this sideboard at a thrift store... Hated the color, loved the size and details.

I brought it home with Drewpy who hemmed and hawed about bringing home thrifter furniture. I believe, "this is what hoarders do..." Was said on multiple occasions. In all fairness, this is when 90% of the house was torn apart, and everything we owned was crammed in places it shouldn't have been. Now that our house is coming together, and Drew can see my vision, hoarding jokes have ceased.... I slapped on a coat of PVA (or drywall primer) because we had just out up Sheetrock. And painted it with a high density foam roller. I painted it Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore at 75% strength. I chose this color because I had it from a sample paint I used on a previous home. It looked great after the quick facelift, but what really made the difference I think were the knobs.

I got these at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off. Now I have a unique piece of furniture to hold my printer, book, crafts and business stuff. Perfect!

Make That 99.9%...

(via)

Happy Friday!

We have some wild and crazy plans to paint a (not ours) bathroom.... Tile, floor, shower.... What can't paint do? And fingers crossed recruit Drew into helping me make some reclaimed wood fence crafts. This is all depending on weather! If it snows like it is supposed to. If it doesn't than it is a concrete pour and working on the trailer! Either way its going to be fun!

Travel Trailer Renovation Begins!

You may remember waaaaaaayyyyyyyy back when we bought this beauty.... We weren't planning on buying one, but happened upon this one for the perfect price. Better than that were the perfect turquoise appliances. So we bought her and there she has sat.... In our driveway. Well the house is now 90% done, and more than likely it will snow.... What better time to start the renovation?

 

I wanted to start with this scary picture, just for added drama!

Drew had to take off the J-channel, which is the angled metal ridge that holds on the white aluminum. To remove the aluminum, so we could see what needed to be replaced. There is quite a bit, Drew decided to start with the floor. The back section you can see in the photo was rotten with water damage. And some of the floor joist had to be replace. Drew cut back the original rotten subfloor.

Here he is reinforcing the floor. He held together the 2x2s with a framing cleat. We had a few bad pieces of insulation, that we replaced.

 

Then he applied subfloor adhesive to the floor joists, cut new subfloor to size, set it on and screwed the subfloor down back onto the floor joist.

 

After Drew had found all of the rotten subfloor and reinforced it, we had to remove the water tank and scrape up the bad linoleum. Drew had to grind off the water tank pipes from the top and bottom of the trailer.

You can see the waves on the linoleum, we took out the water tank, just to make sure everything is reinforced and the ground is as even as possible for my new flooring.

Drew cutting the drain for the water tank. You can see water damage above.

Where there is a Drew you will find a Polly.

Now for the pretty! After all the old and damaged was removed Drew went a step beyond what most trailers have, he reinforced and smoother out the floor with 1/4" underlayment. This gives more rigidity and an even surface. He simply put down more subfloor adhesive cut the underlayment to size and stapled it all to the subfloor.

New subfloor is Polly approved. Next step will be reframing the walls. Drew has built a temp support wall on one side so the trailer won't collapse. It's going to be exciting. And we bought our flooring. It was the last roll at Home Depot, it was damaged at the top. Which will be easily hidden so we got 25% off.

And if it ends up looking too much like a '50s diner, we can always paint it!

 

Thrifted Living Room

As I mentioned in my last posts... (here and here)... I was adding up how much I have spent in furnishing my entire house... The total I have come up with is roughly around $350... That is a living room, kitchen, office and bedroom.

I am going to break down my living room... And I have to say this price does not include pillows.... Pillows were bought at full price! And I luff them!

Thrifting gives you the thrill of the hunt, the retail therapy all for a fraction of the price. It does come at a cost... You can't go to a thrift store to pick up a piece of furniture you want, because you will never know what is going to be there... You will often (and should) walk away empty handed... You have to look beyond what something looks like or is and imagine what it could be or used for... I'll start with my couch (for Salt Lake folks I have added thrift store names). This was a score from Thrift Town...

I love this couch, I love how the colors mimic a peacock, it is a solid cushion back and seat, a sleeper couch and the fabric is so durable. This beauty was $30.

My gold end table... One was a quick flip DIY from two days ago, that set me back $4. The other, my gold trunk is one of my favorite finds. It was a $9 gift from heaven both from my favorite Savers!

My chinoiserie ginger jar lamps.... In a pair no less! Were $4 a piece... $8 total... Similar pair for sale here... This set is $250. The lamp shades were a $2 purchase again from Savers.

And my mirror! I just got this one last week. For $11. I brought it home and started working on a room for a client. I was looking up mirrors and happened upon this one! The exact same size and everything 42"! The price blew me away, $585! This mirror is really beautiful, and understated in the photos. I love it. Can you believe it.... Savers!

On the other side, I found this pair of armchairs on Craigslist for $15 each. In perfect condition. And the bamboo nesting tables.... I love love love them! Savers!

(still need to get a register over that vent and paint the top of the curve wall... Pay no attention to that...)

The set was $10!

They look brand new! I found these used ones selling for $160. I also might arrange them like this... Loved the layered look.

Grand total... $106... Not bad I say... At least while we are in the beginning phases of building our companies....