goings on

things are happening at the stone house. i have started working monday - thursday, so operation finish is now a weekend undertaking. but a weekend undertaking that is going places!

painting, sewing and upholstering are in the works


and progress on the deck and landscape are happening (when the temperature dips below code-heat-stroke levels)


completed project postings coming soon...

lake house: our bedroom before

you have heard tell of the lake house before. and it's atrocity. the pepto-pink and lavender walls; the circa 1970 toilets; the mish-mash of furniture that came with it. well, friends, it's time to see with your own eyes. i'll start with our bedroom - the before and the inspiration board.

brace yourselves.

from the bedroom's doorway:

the en-suite vanity:


close-up of the metallic floral wallpaper:


ghosts of linoleum past lurking under the vanity:


the harvest gold sink and counter:


and the matching en-suite pottay:


are you so impressed? here's the plan:


a few weekends ago, we did a deep clean and painted the paneled walls white. next steps include removing wallpaper, ripping up carpet to replace with hardwood-looking laminate and building a headboard.

operation lake house resuscitate = go.

dog days

firstly, the bathroom. it is nearing completion. it has been fulling functioning since last friday, hallelujah, but there are still a few touches to be completed before a reveal.

secondly, marley dog. is old. and needed a comfy-er bed than the lumpy petco monstrosity cstone bought in a pinch. so i made him one last weekend.


i cut a twin size egg crate mattress pad in thirds, stacked the thirds together with spray adhesive, then sewed a cover for it. the fabric coordinates with both the bedroom and the living room, so m-dawg has somewhere to curl up no matter where he's standing guard. lying guard, rather. and mama is happy because it's cute.


i mean handsome. and manly. (marbs makes that face at me often. like, woman. get out of my face. srsly. trying to nap.)

i washed and dried both the main and cording fabric before making the cover, and i installed a zipper on one side, so it can easily be removed for regular dates with the washing machine. very regular dates with the washing machine.

gooooood booooooy.


sterling will get one too. no worries. i've got some green and white ticking fabric for just such an occasion.

thirdly, our garden. we haz one.


c-fan constructed the raised bed out of fence posts and planted it a while back. the several varieties of tomato are thriving. and woe unto the squirrel who destroys this crop, because we are EXCITED. the squash were taking over the bed for a long time, but apparently they don't cotton to 115 degree heat indices, because they have perished. r.i.p. but i don't like squash anyway, and you know what? we had our first harvest last night!


monster okra!

we promptly collected a few and tried out the blue jean gourmet's fried okra recipe.


look! i fried! almost entirely by myself! that must warrant some southern belle merit badge or something.


and they were extremely delicious. can't wait for the next harvest.

tgif, girlfriends. tgif.

good news

tonight, i should be able to shower INSIDE my house again.


(not pictured: the hose, which we drape over a nail at the top of this fence in a secluded corner of our back yard when we need to take a shower. i wish i were kidding.)

potty party

this:


is captain fantastic's hunting & fishing buddy, contractor brad. he is a real, honest-to-goodness contractor who builds awesome things and works on fabulous houses.

do you know where contractor brad is?


in my bathroom. my former bathroom. my current ripped-to-the-studs-floorless-pottyless-sinkless-showerless-mid-remodel bathroom. my future beautiful, clean, awesome and period-appropriate bathroom.

WOOHOO!

this was the bathroom on monday night, mere hours before the demolition began:


what? unimpressed? wondering why i was so horrified and embarrassed and disgusted?

let's take a closer look.


ree-ree

ree-ree


ree-ree

ree-ree


REE-REE


(that was the sound they make in horror movies, fyi) the dirty deets of the bathroom are chronicled in this previous post. be sure not to try to eat your lunch or something while you read. barf.

removal of the worthless shelf that was too short to store anything and was ruined by c-fan's frattastic buddy in an incident involving the final four and some candle smoke (see evidence above...i have learned my lesson about candles on shelves. and allowing that guy into my house.) once again revealed the previous owners' awesome color scheme:


contractor brad says the tiles were painted with regular wall paint. regular wall paint! what an awesome idea. except not.

i was a smidge disappointed that we couldn't salvage the original floors under the laminate, which were a great basketweave tile, but they were beyond repair.


in fact, the whole floor had to go:


and also everything else.



so the plan is this: white hex tile floors with gray grout (nixed the marble because we plan to move in a few years). white subway tile shower surround, reaching to the ceiling (gray or white grout?). white beadboard wainscot along the rest of the walls (did you know wainscot and wainscoting are interchangeable? i just looked it up. because i like to be right. beadboard won out over tile for the same reasons marble floor tiles were 86ed). soft bluish/greenish-gray on walls (will test swatches after construction is complete). keep paisley shower curtain, potty and sink. reglaze or replace tub (depending on contractor brad's tub consultant friend's final opinion). roman shade with ribbon trim for window. new mirror and sconce. DELIGHT.

i'd better have a reveal for you next week. or it's contractor brad's a$$.

(not really. it'll be subcontractor c-fan's.)

quick-n-dirty curtain hanging

aka post wherein i bombard you with crappy pictures. because it's hard for a 5'2" girl to get good pictures of a drapery rod in situ. please excuse.

so anyway, anne inquired as to how i hung my curtains from the wooden rings all stealth-invisible-like. i simply took these thangs:

(drapery pins, which it would behoove you to purchase on the interweb or at a fabric/upholstery establishment instead of a craft store like joann because they will be way cheaper)

and measured seven equidistant locations along the length of the curtain (starting with one on each end to avoid any droopy corners) and stuck the point right into the fabric of the back of the pole pocket (taking care not to poke through the front of the panel). then i hung the hooks through the loops on the wooden rings, thusly:


aaaaand done! now. this is not exactly how you're supposed to do it. i thought about getting all technical up in hura and sewing on pleating tape etcetera and so forth, but we all know when that project would actually get finished and the answer is never. so half-a$$ed it is! but it looks lovely and no one will ever know. except all of you.

also happening chez stone:

1) dining room progress...

rug has arrived, chairs have been recovered, plate rack has not been hung AND NO ONE IS SURPRISED. you may also recognize that the fabric intended for living room pillows has been traded to the dining room for team curtain. i am super awesome at changing my mind. for serious this time though. it will be perfect in there.

2) the knock-out roses are blooming in the most delicious shade of hot pink...


the pictures don't do them justice. they are a deep, velvety, rich dark pink. so pretty to look at first thing in the morning when i let the big dogs out.

3) sterling got a clean bill of health at her annual check up...

and also an adorable doggie band-aid. which i had to photo-document, because AWWW.

the end.

progress...

has been made. in my living room.

old drapes:

new drapes:

old curtain rod:

new curtain rod:

it's amazing what a difference it makes to mount the drapes all the way at the crown molding with a nice rod. i feel like i live at freaking versailles now, what with the majestic flowing draperies and heightened ceilings and all. but minus the hall of mirrors and pretend farm village. next step is to procure a longer bamboo shade and mount it up there too, to further perpetuate the high ceilin' feelin'.

AND ALSO

upholstery project. sneak peek. i've got the "ta" but not the "da." ran out of nailheads when i was almost finished and it took a minute before i could make it to the sto' for mo'.

the chair before, recall:


aaaaand almost-after:



contrary to what you may be thinking, no i was not swilling patron whilst applying the nailheads. #1 the back of the chair is supposed to curve like that in the first picture and #2 even with the assistance of a handy guide, it is nigh impossible to make them straight. or maybe i need more practice. whatev. first project, don't hate.

i also got some fabric to make pillows for the couch. it's the same fabric i waxed poetic about before, but in a different colorway.


i also plan to make pillows and upholster a stool in another fabric. considering:


thoughts?