Nigel doesn’t seem to enjoy the swing nearly as much as I do

Fall is such a wonderful time of year…

Trip to the junk store + dining room pics

Yesterday while being out enjoying Fall, we happened along a little junk store that had a treasure trove of goodness.   We got 8 paint-by-numbers, a new 50’s side chair and two mounted plush animal heads (not shown).   Since we hung the artwork up in the dining room, I thought it would be worth showing pics of the dining room since I’ve not posted anything on it before.  (Oh, and did I mention that we got everything for the low price of $55 total!  Man, I love shopping at thrift stores!)

The new art above the dining room buffet is the “Four Seasons” paint by number series.

The new art is horses, landscape, and collie.  Plus our new chair!!  Love it!  (It’s got a cotton-webbed seat that matches the walls!)  Also, this is the finished corner cabinet that we got at a salvage store and installed into the corner.  (See the original post and pictures about it HERE.)

Update: Apartment Therapy re-posted my dining room pics!  Several people asked what color I used on the walls.  It’s Williamsburg brand paint.  The darker green is CW505 and the lighter green is CW508.  Also, some other people asked about the dining room set.  It was manufactured by Bramin of Denmark in 1965 and designed by H.W. Klein (and yes…it was also purchased at a thrift store too).

Snippets of the Fall Weekend…

This weekend we had so much fun exploring Montgomery County, PA…and enjoying the Fall season.

Honey, I just ripped down the wall :-)

So while Nick is away on a job, I decided to tackle a bunch of home improvement projects.  One of my biggest problems is that I don’t finish one before i start another one.  But oh well…it had to be done.   The previous owner had covered the old plaster with some sort of weird 60’s homosote.  I couldn’t take it (obviously), so I began ripping it down tonight.  Here’s the progress.

I think Nick is going to be surprised when he gets home and see my handiwork.  Oops!

I don’t think you know how badly I “need” this…

Terrain at Styers has just started selling their wares online.  I’m pretty fortunate to live close enough to the store to just drive down there and go shopping, and yet I never do…and therefore I look through their website and lust after some of their items.  One in particular is this vintage Texas Glider.

It would look so perfect on my new back deck.  Once it’s finished of course.

The weekend comes to a close at last

And it’s clear that these two are ready for bed. Don’t they look menacing sitting there waiting for me?

They finally gave up and just got ready to snooze whether I decided to join them or not.

Man, this is precisely the thing I love about the weekend…even when it’s ending.  I hope everyone else out there had a great one as well.

Backyard Update

So last year I posted about our backyard “situation.”

See what I mean?  It’s a hot mess.  This shot is from last summer (before we seeded the lawn) so at least there’s more grass now, but I didn’t even bother taking a new photo b/c it basically looks the exact same otherwise.   When we first bought the house there was a huge rotten wood deck that filled the entire backyard space.    We had a deck demolition party to tear it out, but after that our progress has sort of sputtered.  We couldn’t figure out what to do with it that maximized space while keeping to a budget we could afford.

However, a neighbor gave me this sage advice, “Sit down and doodle.  You’ll figure it out.”  And you know what?  We did!  Here’s our plan.

We decided to dress up the old porch slab with a combination of wood and recycled brick.  The top and hand rails will be wood, and the sides and front will be cement block covered with recycled brick.  Then we’ll put little hedges into the new planters to give some privacy to the deck.  I’m so excited to begin that I can’t stand it.

Here are some inspiration images I found to help get us there.

We’re hoping to get started on it soon so that we can actually begin to enjoy the space rather than HATE going back there.  But of course, I still have to finish dealing with the mess I made in the powder room and laundry.  hah!   The joys of homeownership…

I have a blog crush…

on Layla and Kevin from The Lettered Cottage.  Apparently many of you already know them considering they have over 2000 followers, but I just discovered them from their house tour on Apartment Therapy.   So late to the game I am!  (Wait?  Why am I speaking like Yoda today?)

Anyways…this video of their recent ceiling demolition cemented my new love for this Alabama couple.  Ch-ch-check it out!

Cute idea for a dog bed

via Magnus Agnesund photo

Another idea to makeover the mantle?

Thankfully I know the person who built this.  Maybe I can convince her to show me just how to re-work it for my own mantle…  Hmm. 

photo via YoungHouseLove.