Category Archives: Around the house

A weekend’s work is never done . . .

Posted on March 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It’s back to Monday folks and I am having crazy crunch time at work.  That is why I value my time at home so much.  So many people in the field I work in are workaholics.  I have always tried to work really hard (and efficiently) while I’m at work, but then leave it at the office.

And come home to . . .

Baby booties?  My Stitch and Bitch project is finally complete . . .

(See this post for the Purl Soho pattern and info.  Super easy to make, just takes a little time — best done in front of Netflix & How I Met Your Mother).

New bamboo shades?  I tried again (very unsuccessfully) to do the black-out cloth on the back of the woven shades we had already.  Total fail.  But they were all pretty busted up anyways (don’t buy cheap!) and afforded zero privacy.  So on a routine visit to Home Depot, we splurged(ish) on new shades for the music room and bedroom.

These are terrible, terrible pictures.  JT speed-installed the blinds on Sunday night as the light was fading fast.  I’m going to take all new pictures of the music room soon . . . .

And new light fixture (coming soon)?  The soffit over the kitchen sink has long had a scary, scary hole in it. . . Hole no more, light fixture to come. . .

Back to the grind.  I’m already looking forward to next weekend and finishing up some more projects (I’m looking at you kitchen soffit.)

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Posted in Around the house, Gifts, Hand Crafted, Kitchen

Stitch and Bitch Success!

Posted on March 14, 2012 by | Leave a comment

** Content Warning – This is not your Grandma’s crafting! **

Working as a commercial interior designer is a great profession, but it’s not as hands-on as what you see on things like HGTV.  We work in AutoCAD, do Photoshop rendering and pick out materials.  But we also do ceiling plans, coordinate with mechanical/electrical/plumbing, do tedious room finish schedules and even more tedious shop drawings. 

So sometimes we designers want to get hands-on!  Together with some of my designer friends from college, we dreamed up what was at first called “D.I.Y. Day” to be sort of politically correct but then turned quickly into a “Stitch and Bitch” (way more fun).  JT preferred to absent himself (can’t blame him) and us girls took over the Thompson house for a Saturday of crafts. 

I was excited to get further in my New Year’s resolution of “bringing brunch back” so I went to town on that.

I found these great napkins at Ikea that matched the “stitch” theme and also had my beloved blue in them.  And yep, that’s a new rug hanging out in the kitchen — bought for under $30 online.  Sweet.  Ignore the horrible soffit, there’s a new light fixture going in this upcoming weekend . . . .

The girls pitched in with food (and cocktails!) and off we went . . . .

JT had set up the new Ikea Strind coffee table for us before he vanished into thin air and it came in handy having so much more free space in the living room now that the big ottoman has moved on to my brother and sister-in-law’s new house. 

I didn’t get a good before picture of it but Miss K came in with a busted up mirror from Hobby Lobby she scored for $8.  She had a big bag full of stuff and she took her frame to the horribly weedy front yard and made some magic with it.

She made a gorgeous little picture display for her little girl, Mila’s room.  She texted me a picture after, and I think the pictures of Mila with her mommy and daddy are what make it extra cute.  I love the fabric and ribbons and really, the overall pink and brown scheme they did for Mila’s room – very sophisticated but fun.

With all that she had to do, somehow Miss K even finished up first and came in to give us a hand . . .

Miss E had found some great inspiration images on Pinterest and wanted to do something spring-y for her front door.  Several yards of felt and some hot glue later, her wreath came out so great.

One of the nice things is that the felt flowers are wired on individually so she can change it out for the season if she wants (red flowers for Valentines day or orange and brown hues for fall . . . )

Isn’t it sharp on their black front door? I love it!

Now to me. . . . everyone I know seems to be having a baby girl.  So baby presents were in order.  I saw this adorable felt bootie pattern on Purl Soho’s website and wanted to try it out. 

I was the slowpoke of the group.  By the time brunch had wrapped up, I had only one unadorned bootie to show for all my effort.  I persisted in my hand-stitching and thanks to an extra long finale of The Bachelor, got one pair all the way done. 

 

Now I only have two more pairs left!!  All in all, the Stitch ‘n Bitch was great fun — it was nice to work on a project and be able to catch up with each other, drink really good cranberry-champagne mimosa-things and enjoy a beautifully sunny Saturday.  This might end up being a recurring event, but I think next time instead of starting off on a whole new project, I need to use these D.I.Y. days as a time to finish up all the ones I have started all over the house . . . .

Thanks to Miss K and Miss E for letting me share their projects!  Cheers – CT

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Hand Crafted

Lights Out!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | 4 comments

Dejected by a long week of short days and high stress at work, it seemed like we needed a little unwinding in the evening.  Ally at From the Right Bank had posted a sweet blog letter (you can read it here – note her blog was hacked and she has been having some trouble with images) from Heather describing a power outage and I took inspiration.  We decided Tuesday was “Lights Out Night” and grocery shopped accordingly. (Salmon and lobster pinwheels with baked potato, steamed broccoli and a broccoli risotto, so good.)

And husband bought me some flowers.

We didn’t really go all the way “lights out”, we just said no TV or internet.  We made a nice dinner, had some red wine and settled in on the sofa to read Steinbeck (The Pearl for me, East of Eden for JT).  All in all a great night and I think this is a tradition we will keep.

While digging through the box of candles for ones to light up, I inadvertently brought one upstairs that had a little history attached to it . . .
 Yep, that may or may not have been the high school dance that started this whole crazy thing.  We didn’t actually burn it, but put it out on the table for grins.  Also, JT’s cousin made those incredible turned wood candle holders as wedding gifts.  Love.

You guys may think we are just wine drinking slackers over here but some progress was made.  The kitchen is now bluer.

The ironic thing is that when we bought the house the kitchen was painted a soft blue color and had this lovely blue plastic laminate countertop (prepare your eyes for a hideous picture . . . )

Oh the horror.  It’s come a long way baby.  I’ve got my mind set that March is going to finish this one.

Another little kitchen item was installing some more functional storage solutions – #1 a Grundtal rail system from our last IKEA trip.

I’m noticing red wine was involved in this project as well.  Hey, it’s good for the heart and I am all about heart health.  Also, while I understand the mechanics of power tools, I try to avoid operating them at all costs as I am left-handed and convinced one will kill me.   JT is kind enough and right-handed so he’s the power tool man.

Since we have a grand total of 8′-6″ of countertop with accompanying under-counter storage, having a nice way to store some of our pots and pans is something we really appreciate.  It’s still simple, clean and miles away from that tower of clutter shelving we used to have but gives us a way to really maximize our tiny kitchen.

So that’s it for this week.  We’re just hours away from another weekend and I’m hoping to get some more Grundtal installed but also have some family moving duties to attend to.

Don’t forget – life is what you make it.  If you want more evenings drinking wine and reading classic literature with your high school sweetheart, then take Nike’s advice and JUST DO IT!  Or maybe you want something else like more time playing Scrabble.  JUST DO THAT TOO.  Maybe a project might not get finished as quickly, maybe you’ll have to wait one more night to pay some bills but it will all be worth it in the end.  The blue kitchen will just have to wait (although I am absolutely loving how that kitchen of mine is  coming together! . . . )  All in due time.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Kitchen, Miscellaneous Diversions

Grow where you’re planted

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

So many new(ish) vintage/thrift/retro stores are popping up all over St. Louis right now, that it’s making my weekends busy trying to get out and visit all these places (First world problems).  The next shop I was targeting is MoModerne, an antique/retro store down on Cherokee Ave (also spotted through Mr. Modtomic’s blog – he keeps me up to date on local shopping hot spots!).  I started following them on Facebook a while ago and they have been posting beautiful images of beautiful furniture.  I’ve wanted almost every item they’ve posted.   So, out of fear for my wallet, I stayed away for a while.  Then an opening in our calendar popped up this last weekend and I dragged JT down to see the place.

What did I find but a little bullet planter waiting to come home with me. (I’ve been dreaming about them for a while – see my posts here and here.)  Perched high up on the shelf, I didn’t notice it until a second perusal of the place prompted me to snatch the tag off of it before anyone else in the store could make off with my find.  When I checked out, the guy said they used to have a bunch of the big ones too.  Why, oh why did I wait so long?

I don’t know what kind of plant this is and it’s one of the few in the house that I haven’t named, but it’s looking pretty gosh-darn happy in its new home.  It feels pretty good to wish and wish and wish for something and finally find it. 

In related plant news Little Walter, the tree, seems to be doing better.  He finally stopped dropping leaves and seems to have stabilized.  I potted him in the IKEA wicker woven basket/planter I snatched up on our IKEA trip the weekend before last.  It was the only thing like it in the plant area and even the check-out lady seemed a little intrigued/puzzled by it.  All I know is it had a plastic liner for plants but a nice woven white/blue-grey pattern I couldn’t resist.   I keep moving him around the living room, but for now he’s living here:

The height isn’t quite right so he’s perched on one of the Target Alto stool knock-offs.  We’ll see.

What else.  Well, since we were down on Cherokee for MoModerne, we also checked out the Mud House (found through Third Story(ies), another STL blog).  I had a yummy chickpea salad sandwich.  I never would have thought of chickpea salad but I sure am glad the Mud House did.  They also had great interior space and some fun, funky artwork.  Another plus — they play good music.  It can be hard to not run out of a restaurant screaming if they play bad music.  There have been times where we have considered leaving the grocery cart in the aisle and abandoning our grocery shopping because the store used to play such bad music.

And the Oscars!  I made “murder” cupcakes (red velvet) complete with Ryan Gosling’s little face as an inside joke for JT’s movie-watching dudes. They were actually pretty easy to make with my handy 1″ diameter punch (plus toothpicks and some good old-fashioned Elmer’s glue).

All-in-all a good weekend.  On to a great week, right?  I had a small epiphany this weekend.  A little late but here’s what I realized:

Life is what you make it.  So be sure to make it what you want.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

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Feels like Monday . . .

Posted on February 21, 2012 by | 1 comment

JT and I took a little “staycation” day yesterday.  Being neither government employees or educators, it was not a work holiday but rather our personal holiday from work.

Really, I kind of needed a couple of days of recovery and rest following a Saturday “Ikea-or-bust” road runner trip. 

There’s more info on what I picked up at Bolingbrook to come (see the new home for Little Walter on top?) . . . some of it is making it’s way into the kitchen, which is slowly making it’s way to blue . . .

It kind of looks like a Smurf was murdered in there right now.

One little project I did tackle was some “T” hooks gifted to us (once again — did I mention they give good gifts?) from JT’s brother and sister-in-law.  I had them hanging around for a while in their original orange . . . .

And then got all “crafty” on them and went for two shades of blue . . .

It didn’t really do it for me, I wanted something simpler and cleaner so I undid my blue handiwork and painted them with the Sherwin Williams Shoji White instead.

Much better and now Sophie and Shenanigan’s leashes are always on the ready.  Pretty much just like Sophie and Shenanigan themselves whenever we put on our running shoes and grab a plastic bag . . . “The shoes and the bags!  They mean business!”  (My very poor  memory of a Patton Oswalt stand-up about the dog figuring out it’s going for a walk)

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

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And more sewing . . .

Posted on February 16, 2012 by | 1 comment

I’ve had my trusty old Kenmore out and rigged up and ready to go for some sewing work sessions this past weekend.  Let’s see what I battled out . . .

Cue scary music for “before” image of kitchen — specifically the back door.

Can’t you just picture ax murderers lurking in the dark, waiting to kick in the door and cut you into pieces as you do dishes?  No?  Me neither, really — there’s a sun porch outside the back door so the ax murderers can’t get too close.  But we were getting a little “too close” to the neighbors who could see right into our kitchen (and vice versa – but actually from our kitchen door we can see into their bathroom . . . .)

So (sew!) cafe curtains were born!

I found a nice polka dot at Hobby Lobby and bought 1-1/2 yards.  It was a little light so I also bought a light white cotton to use as an interlayer.  Since, in theory, we will use the sun porch (right now it is a storage room for fun things like firewood and weed wackers and recycling bins), I wanted both sides to be nice.  I doubled up the polka dots and added in the interlayer and sewed a pillow case (for all intents and purposes).  Then I folded up and ironed both of the open ends of the “pillow case” (really the bottom of the curtain here) and finished it off with a heavy zig-zag/interlock stitch in white. 

I wish they were a little fuller and had a little more movement, but they’ll do for now.  For about $10 in fabric and a curtain rod and clips I already had lurking in my Hoarder’s-style basement, it’s a nice privacy solution. 

As you can see from the photos, the kitchen is about to be “smurfed” into the same blue as the music room.  I struggled along for a while, thinking I would keep it white one day, then convincing myself to go for blue on others.  Finally I couldn’t handle the indecision any more and emailed some of my college classmate/fellow designers for advice.  They steered me right and we’re going for broke with blue.  (Thanks Erin and Kristin!)  Even as a design professional myself, there are some decisions I will just over-think and over-think until nothing happens. 

So I’m excited to kick off the next phase of kitchen reno – painting, painting and painting!  First the walls, next the cabinets and finally the doors and trim.   The cafe curtains may have to get moved out of the kitchen temporarily to avoid being splattered in blue, but we’re enjoying them for now!

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Posted in Around the house, Hand Crafted, Kitchen

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Weekends are for Thrifting, right?

Posted on February 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

JT and I hit up the Green Shag Market this weekend.  After seeing it on Mister Modtomic’s blog and realizing it was a mere 2.3 miles from my house, there was no resisting.  With an open span of time on Saturday I could have spent on all of my 50 ongoing projects, I couldn’t ignore the siren call of a new and unexplored antique mall so gosh-darn close by. 

And it was worth it . . . .

There have been many-a-time that I have browsed through aisle after aisle of an antique mall (junk mall in my mind) and come away with nothing that just needed to come home with me.  This weekend I found two things — an amazingly non-smelly Pendleton wool blanket and a vinyl ottoman I’m pretty sure my grandparents owned at some point in the 70s.

What with it being a bone chilling 10 degrees out, a wool blanket seemed like a no-brainer.  I loved the colors and pattern and then I saw the little blue tag.

See, you don’t have to go to Target for designer names.  And it was $30 less than a nearly identical one I found on eBay. 

Shenanigan quickly proved himself the world’s best circus dog by trying out the ottoman.  I think because of his short little stubby legs, he likes to have a higher vantage point and gets up on everything.  We even find him laying across the top of the sofa sometimes like a 55 pound tabby cat.

I had been eyeing all the knitted poufs that seem to be all the rage now (see this one at cb2) and considering trying to maybe D.I.Y. one of those so I’m glad we stumbled upon this ottoman instead.  I don’t really have time to finish all the current D.I.Y. projects I have going on, let alone start a new one.  For now both thrifty picks have found their way into the music room but at this house, things move around . . . a lot!

We had some friends over for brunch on Sunday (yay New Year’s resolution in action!) and one of our friends said “Where do you FIND all this stuff?”  It was interesting to step back and look at our house through the eyes of others.  While JT and I are thoroughly enmeshed in a world of thrift and vintage, not everyone shops that way.  I like to think of it as being environmentally conscious and trying not to buy something new when a used version exists that might find its way into the landfill. 

Underneath it all, I think I nurture a strange pride at being able to pull together inexpensive items and make our home feel warm and inviting and not cheap.  There’s also the thrill of the hunt.  It’s fun (for me) to “pick”.    (I must clarify though, I’m a mid-level scavenger.  I’m willing to pay a little more to people who have already done some of the digging and leg work for me.)  And so while it may seem strange to some people, I still find it a compliment when people marvel at all the miscellaneous items in our home.  We’ll call it eclectic and everybody wins.

Update: After I published this, I realized it was our 100th post.  Since gratuitous pet pictures are our thing, I thought I would add one of Shenanigan the circus dog giving me a low five as a small congratulations on #100.

 

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Furniture, Thrifting

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Embarrassing admission ahead . . .

Posted on February 10, 2012 by | 6 comments

I bought the Jonathan Adler “Respect the Roll” toilet paper covers.  Not one but two.  I logged on to their ridiculous website, paid $2.99 per thing-a-ma-jig, waited 2-4 weeks for delivery and came home from work one day to this:

Things “respectfully” designed by Jonathan Adler.  I must be a media-marketing sucker.  I bought into the Target/Missoni craze.  Now I’m buying toilet paper covers?  And they didn’t even come with rolls of toilet paper in them, FYI.

Images from Cottonelle's marketing campaign

But I just love the pattern.  Green and blue.  And trefoils?  Yes please.

Since they have not yet touched toilet paper, I’m thinking they might live in the kitchen to hold dog treats for the spoiled-ass dogs.  Because even my dogs love designer things.

Is anyone else as big a sucker as I am?  Probably not, but now that I’m aware of my weakness for random cheap designer items made for the masses I can get help.  Have a great weekend everyone.  I’ll be at my therapist’s office.  (aka Target.)

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions

Spray Paint is a Girl’s (New) Best Friend . . . or maybe Value Village

Posted on February 8, 2012 by | 2 comments

Forget all that talk of diamond’s being a girl’s best friend.  (And really forget those open heart diamond necklaces, gag!).  What a girl really needs is a good thrift store and a can of spray paint.  In my case, Value Village and my new can of Valspar Deep Sea Diving.

When Paul had his coming out party yesterday, I didn’t mention his new accessory — the lamp.

Paul McCobb secretary desk as a bar

Paul came home with us on Friday night and I had done a quick scramble around trying to find just his right accessories.  I tried out the Ikea “globe/blob” lamp on him but it was too bright.  The other lamps in the house were too tall.  I knew I wanted some big artwork there as well so I hit a few area thrift stores to see if there were any large frames or canvases I could McGuyver into something better.  No luck. 

But I did find this naked little white ceramic lamp base for $2.52 and a very sad country-style lampshade for $1.21 in two different aisles at Value Village.

One visit to the backyard “spray booth” later . . . .

And things are much happier.  All for $3.73 and a can of spray paint I had already used on another project. 

The artwork next to it was something we had picked up on a family trip to Memphis a few years back.  It’s an old flyer for a concert or something. . . As a happy accident, it contained the blue color that is now starting to pop up all around the house.  I propped it up on a little Ikea (!) easel.  I still have some ideas in mind for the big “statement piece” that will go behind there, but whenever that is ready, it will have a little light to light it up.

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Posted in Around the house, Miscellaneous Diversions, Thrifting

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Meet Mr. McCobb . . . I mean Paul

Posted on February 7, 2012 by | 7 comments

I have been agonizing for a few short weeks now about what piece of furniture to replace the buffet that I moved into the kitchen.  It all came to its fruition on Friday when JT and I took the magic furniture-hauling Saturn for a visit to Vandeventer Vintage.  After seeing it featured on Mister Modtomic’s blog and knowing it was dangerously close to our house, I felt compelled to stop by.

I went there with an ulterior motive.  I went there to meet Paul.

Hi Paul.

Or would you prefer to be called Mr. McCobb?

No?  Paul’s okay?

Well, Paul, I think you were meant to be a desk of some sort, but you don’t mind being a bar do you?

You display bottles so well and can hide them away when our friends come over.

You have handy little drawers for all our accessories and an unopened bottle of wine fits perfect into the cubby holes that used to be meant for office supplies.  That’s not a coincedence, right?

And you have so much space for all our wine glasses below . . .

Welcome to our house Paul.  We hope you like living here.

 

So, that’s our big furniture news.  After plotting and planning about glass shelves and hutches and tall cabinets, we ended up with this.  I guess the joke’s on me.  I took down the artwork that was hanging on that wall but have yet to finalize things there . . . now I’m looking for a large statement piece to finish up that piece of wall.   Paul’s already doing a pretty good job and we couldn’t be happier with him.  Check out Vandeventer Vintage’s Flickr photostream for more items in their store . . . . I may be headed back for the marble coffee table so leave that one for me please.  Thanks!

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Posted in Around the house, Furniture