March 27, 2010: Spring Has Sprung

It may be in the 40's outside (and there were snow flurries last night?!?!), but the trees are budding and the pinecone wreath on the front door just wasn't cutting it anymore.

I went to Michael's to look for a more spring-y wreath, and found the below, which I liked. I did NOT, however, like the price: $79.99. Are you kidding me???

I decided I could do just as well on my own, thank you very much. So, wreath-making materials: $27. An hour or so of assembly while watching VCU beat Kansas: free. Result? Perfect.

Looks especially good with the pansies purchased this morning, and pots purchased yesterday. Winter is over, and the outdoors are calling!

March 27: Back on the Hill

We may have moved away from Capitol Hill, but now have our very own version, right across the street. The builders have been dumping all the spare construction dirt in the lot across the street from us, leaving us with this:

(Mr. S's comment about this photo: it's proof that I'm "a hillbilly." He's here all week, folks.)

But climbing to the top provides a great view of the neighborhood. Here is a video panorama, starting and ending with our house. Clearly, we'll be getting lots of new neighbors this summer!

February 25, 2011: Land Down Under

Finally... a look at the basement. There's not a lot of stuff down there yet, but we like how it's coming together so far...

I have claimed the space to the left of the stairway. It's perfect for my bookshelves and other arty items:

This next pic shows how big the space really is - standing next to the bookcase and overlooking the rest of the "Man Cave" (love that it gets a good amount of natural light!):

The furniture down here comes from a wide variety of sources: a great reclining sectional that we found at a fantastic price at Costco, coffee & end table handed down from a friend, a TV stand that used to be Mr. S's at his original apartment (and then temporarily owned by my sister and her family), and the red chairs are from the bar/restaurant/club Mr. S's great-grandmother owned for most of her life:

Never fear, the tiny TV is only there temporarily - it will eventually move to the baker's rack in the morning room once we get a man-sized screen for down here.

We especially love the baseball theme going on down here - the panoramic prints are of Camden Yards (Orioles), Washington Nationals Park, and Citi Field (NY Mets), all taken by my brother, and gifted to us for Christmas. They're perfect, and we hope to add to them over the years (hint hint, brother!)

February 22, 2011: Snow Day Updates - Outside

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand... the snow is back:

Poor Mr. S is sick, sick, sick, and yet he was still out there shoveling (we learned our lesson about how much harder it is to shovel if you wait, since it all turns to ice):

And I couldn't resist another go at the backyard hill on my fun purple saucer. Good times, folks:

At least we know our backyard is graded properly - the hill shoots you straight down to the drainage thingy, every time:

Ready for round 2:

Happy Snow Day!

February 22, 2011: Snow Day Updates - Inside

Almost exactly a week after the last stubborn patch of snow melted from our front yard, we got another storm last night with 5" of fresh powdery stuff (nevermind that it was 70 degrees on Friday). So I'm taking advantage of a bright, sunny snow day to work on some long-overdue computer items. First up - new pictures for the blog!

Our morning room dining area is finally about finished - I realized I'd never posted a pic of our beautiful new table & chairs, and we hung the fun colored tiles just yesterday. We're now contemplating colors to paint this room... thinking of the grayish-blue from both the rug and the tile on the bottom left. Any other votes?



(In classic bargain-hunting fashion, these metal wall tile things were on sale at Old Time Pottery for $8 and change each. My sister found a version of the same thing - different colored patterns printed on paper and framed - at Crate and Barrel for over $400 for the set. Score!)

I also finished painting Mr. S's old coffee table, giving it a fun decorative finish on the top with painted metallic squares. It fills the space in our family room much better than our old table, and paired with other new decorative finds there and on the mantle, we're really happy with how warm and cozy the room is. Next up, window treatments... still figuring out what to do there, but as you can see, with all that sunshine coming in, we need something sooner rather than later!

We've already done a fair amount of entertaining - I had a bunch of girlfriends up for a fun and festive weekend overnight, and we had Mr. S's family down for an open house of sorts. The kitchen just works so well for having people over:

And just for fun, one other Old Time Pottery find - this great metal tree/leaf wall hanging, which found a home over the towel rack in our main level powder room. Perfect!

An update from the basement coming soon...

January 20, 2011: Artsy Fartsy

While what we've been calling the "front room" (for lack of a better description) was definitely NOT on the top of our priority list for furniture purchases, we knew what we wanted for the space - a nice desk and a couple bookshelves to pair with my oversized pink chair to make a nice cozy study/reading room. So when we saw the PERFECT pieces - at Costco no less - for an absolute steal, we just couldn't resist. And so the front room is starting to take shape, and it's nice to not have a big empty room be the first thing you see when you come through the front door!



It was a little bare on either side of my favorite piece by Zernie Smith, so on my trip home this past weekend, I found some great black metal sconces for either side. Please, Old Time Pottery, will you open a store in Maryland? Or even Virginia would be fine! South Carolina is just too far!

The shelves beautifully house all of my pretty art books and exhibition catalogues, plus some favorite photos. Here you can see the detail on the side of the desk, that matches the bookcases:



Still on the lookout for a nice chair to go with!

The pink chair works perfectly, and looks especially great with the black & white photos above - mine from my senior year photography course where I did a documentary series on a senior citizens' bowling league. Love having them back on view again! And niece K was SUPER excited at the appearance of the letter S - I guess it's almost like Sesame Street come to life:

My artsy fartsy room... all ready for me to curl up with a good book!

January 17, 2011: Can't Get Enough...

STORAGE.

One of the biggest reasons we looked to move out of the city was the need for space - not just usable living space, but also additional storage, something that we just didn't have enough of existent in our old place.

We are now basking in the many storage options, but I'm sure will be horrified with how quickly they fill up.

The laundry room:



The kitchen pantry:



My closet (happily, this doesn't even begin to depict how big it is!):

Mr. S's closet (Yes, I hang his shirts so they're color coordinated. Doesn't everyone?)

And the piece de resistance, the unfinished basement storage room. I already know that this room is going to help me maintain my sanity over the years!

January 13, 2011: Room to Spare

Here's a peek at a few more rooms! First up, the powder room on the main level:

Mr. S's office, still a bit of a work in progress...

The guest bedroom, still obviously missing a significant piece of furniture:

But the usptairs guest bathroom is ready for visitors!

Next up, a descent to the basement...

January 12, 2011: Master of the House

Continuing the grand tour, next stop is the master bedroom:



We are super pleased with our new furniture in here - beautiful dark wood and cool, modern layered design to the drawer fronts. Handyman Mr. S did a great job with the blinds and curtains in here, making this the room that's the closest to being finished!



We're thinking of painting the wall behind the bed as an accent wall - maybe a warm bronze-y caramel color like the bench at the end of the bed. We'll see!



And the master bath:

We've still got temporary paper shades on these windows (showering those first few days was a little adventurous!) because the pesky sizes are proving tough to find shades for. Rather than order uber-expensive custom blinds, I may give it a go with some frosted contact paper, which proved very successful in another room (coming up on the tour - check back soon!)

January 11, 2011: There's No Place Like Home

Well, we're in, getting settled, and the memories of a loooooooooooong and exhausting moving day are slowly fading. Just to give you an idea, look how much daylight we had for unloading:



Exactly.

But now that all our wordly possessions are here (and multiplying by the day), it's definitely becoming home:



Looking forward to warm weather to spend some time out here:

Coming in the front door to the foyer:

Coming into the family room:

And the kitchen into the family room:

Kitchen:

The morning room:

The table and chairs for here get delivered tomorrow (yippee!) so stay tuned for photos of that, as well as a continued house tour!