Shelf

We're using this picture as a bit of inspiration. I expect I'll put some cut glass, milk glass and hobnail glass pieces up there, but I need some (lots) of color. I love the monochromatic look that Bosworth Hodemaker has created, but it's just not me. So... after looking at yesterday's beauuuuutiful fabric prints, I'm thinking thoughts of plates and fabrics and any pretty things I can put my grubby little hands on! I'm on the prowl!

traditional kitchen design by seattle architect Bosworth Hoedemaker

No more Zaner-Bloser?

I can distinctly remember practicing looping in elementary school. I was so excited to learn how to write in cursive. We learned using the Zaner-Bloser method, and I loved being able to write like grown ups. I read this article today, and I feel a little sad. I have students who can't write in cursive... much less read in cursive. I can get the writing struggle. I mean, I can hardly solve equations with only one variable. I can't get that it's hard to read in cursive. That escapes me.

After giving the SAT and watching those kids struggle to write a few sentences in cursive, I guess this article is true. Sad times.

5th and State Giveaway

There are a few (Todd would say a gracious few) blogs that I frequent just about every single day. Sometimes I stray away from those to check out blogs that they frequent. 5th and State is one of those blogs. It's at the top of Eddie Ross' favorites, and that says a ton to me. Unlike Todd, I don't have one particular style. I just like pretty things. She's offering a home exterior restyling giveaway, and I'm going to enter. It can't hurt, right? I'm working on my entry now...

New Finds

I have a long-standing love affair with gift shops. I worked in a series of related shops in my hometown during high school and college, and I feel like I have to have a relationship with a local shop in order to really feel at home. When we first moved to Southampton, we actually stayed at a B&B in Winchester while we sorted out our housing arrangements. I'm actually not sure if we found The Hambledon on that first visit or not, but my love for it has increased tenfold in the many years that I've been gone. I love everything about the shop, but I mostly love that it fostered my love for Cath Kidston. I'm not so much of a Shabby Chic kind of girl, but for some reason, I love Cath's prints. Love. And The Hambledon introduced us to one another. When my sister heads home to Southampton she's good about feeding the Cath-loving monster with a piece or two, but I just haven't been able to satisfy my need from here... until now. I just discovered the cutest, cutest, cutest fabric site I've seen lately. Heather Bailey, I love your prints! Love. I think it doesn't hurt that I'm ready for spring, but I'm even more ready for some fabrics from her store!

I mean, these ARE our kitchen colors... Hmm... Could there be another UPS package coming my way?

Took a Whole Lot of Trying...

As long as we're living, it's you and me baby. There ain't nothing wrong with thaaaaat.

And there's nothing wrong with feeling great about getting this far along! I am loving unpacking everything and knowing that I don't need to save the packing materials. I love knowing that my china is in a mostly permanent location!

And we thought we were making great progress here. And we were. Little did we know in July that we'd be living with these cabinets for as long as we did, but they were certainly built well. Really built well. Thank goodness for the sledgehammer and sawzall. I really wouldn't've minded a little extra cash for some shopping, but I guess the tools have really be useful. At least more useful than I'd care to admit.

To the East Side...

Well, it's not a deeeluxe apartment in the skyyyy, but it's definitely our home in progress.

Looking at this picture reminds me of just how far we've come in less than a year. Sometimes it's hard for us to see that we've done much until we go through these pictures. Here's our sink around August.

Cooking with Gas

Well, we're almost there... I thought we'd be farther along by now, but we're coming home and working pretty steadily. Below is what the kitchen looked like last week. You can see the cabinets sans handles, the old wall (y'know, the wall I scraped with a 1.5" paint scraper), the pass through, and the floors.


Last weekend we got the handles and knobs installed (except on the cursed cabinet), and the gas man came and ran lots of gas line for us. Lots of gas line. A preeeettttty penny's worth of gas line. Who knew piping could be so expensive?

This past weekend we spent all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening installing the backsplash. I actually enjoyed that way better than installing the tile in the bathroom. Maybe having access to running water made it easier? I like to think it had everything to do with being able to use the extra fancy tile saw that we rented. I'd always heard that people shouldn't rent tile saws because you can buy them for such a low price. However, we couldn't have even come close to buying a tile saw of the same caliber as the one we were able to rent for a mere $35. And I loved using it. And I figured out how to use it. It's funny the things that make me prideful these days.
You can see the range hood starting to be installed in the shot above. Todd has done an amazing job figuring out the details. We've had some good workers, but we've also had some shysters. All in all, I trust Todd more than any of those guys. I know he'll be thorough and careful with everything.

We should be grouting this weekend, and we'll do some painting too. Once we've done that, I can slide my new BFF, the stove, back into place. I so can't wait. Maybe by then I'll figure out the camera a little better. Everything looks so stark and off color. The grayer tiles don't really stand out all freakishly the way they do in these pictures. Even still, I can't wait to post the rest! Enjoy!

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While Todd fights with the cursed drawer in the kitchen, I was doing a little reading. Maybe because I'm so unorganized, I'm totally mesmerized by people who are organized enough to live in teeny, tiny spaces. I read this article in the NYT today, and I'm a little jealous! I really don't think I could live in a space so small! I definitely don't have what the article calls the knack for "artful arrangement."
I can't organize things fashionably to save my life. I guess it's a good thing Todd's got a handy degree or two in architecture.
I'd give my eye teeth to figure out how to make a Rubik's cube look chic.

(Pictures are totally stolen from the NYT and were artfully taken by Robert Wright.)

I wanted to title this post Smoking in the Boys' Room, but Todd didn't like that. It made sense to me because Aunt Frank used to sneak cigarettes with Mama Jean at Mama's house. I can't imagine what would've happened if they would've been caught. Anyhow, this has been done for ages, but hey... this is barely a blog, so what does it matter if we don't keep it updated? Well, maybe posting a few pictures of the (still) nearly finished bathroom will help cool my sister's jets a little. We've been busting our tails on the kitchen, and progress has actually been made.

So here's a view of our little bathroom...