Thursday, September 19, 2013

Modern Farmhouse Dining Room

My latest Polyvore creation: a modern farmhouse dining room. I've decided to go with green as the main accent color in my kitchen and dining room; I even finally got brave enough to order my Kitchenaid stand mixer in apple green instead of plain white. I like the idea of mixing old and new as well as sleek modern with rustic natural elements.
Modern Farmhouse Dining Room


Woven pendant light
kirklands.com


Hey Sign circular area rug
$695 - connox.com


Flower pot
jschatz.com


Crate and barrel
crateandbarrel.com


LSA International serveware
$22 - oliverbonas.com




White dining chair
zgallerie.com

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Master Bathroom Inspiration

This is an idea of what I'd like to do in the master bathroom. I like the idea of keeping it light & bright with a touch of zen/spa features such as the pure white towels and bamboo accents. I also like the idea of purchasing some nice art from Etsy or a local artist and I liked this example that I found on Polyvore. I think this bathroom would go well with pretty much any style master bedroom.
Master Bathroom Inspiration




Bamboo bath mat
bedbathandbeyond.com


Mirror
lampsplus.com


2 light
lampsplus.com


Monday, August 12, 2013

Mid Century Natural Living Room

Another Polyvore set - this time I decided to take on the Living Room. This is just an idea of what I'm thinking of doing in there: grey couches (probably a bit darker than the ones pictured), a neutral color scheme that incorporates browns and greys (the color for the room will mostly come from the books and photos on the built-ins and some art on the walls assuming we ever finish painting them), and natural materials like wood accent tables and a sisal or jute rug. I'd love a couple of real houseplants if the pets wouldn't eat them.
Mid Century Natural Living Room

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Modern Zen Bedroom

So I finally got around to using Polyvore (the website I use for my other blog to create outfits) to create a room set. Let's just say you'll probably be seeing several of these in the near future. This website is so much fun! Anyway, this is one idea I had for our bedroom. A blend of modern and Asian elements, mostly in light neutrals but with a couple of big color moments with the purple bedding and curtains.
Modern Zen Bedroom

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Who Says Print Media is Dying? Just Use it For This:

I just wanted to let you know that I took this photo today, a month and a half after my last post about using newspaper as a week block. I have not pulled a single weed out of the newspapered bed in that time and...

Look! One of the Hostas is blooming! (The darker green one toward the left.) So exciting!

The newspaper is working beautifully to block weeds! There were a few random ones that popped up in more open spaces, but for the most part the only places with weeds in the entire bed were right next to the hostas and agapanthus we planted. So, do I recommend using newspaper instead of buying weed block sheets? Absolutely! Just be sure to put it ALL the way against the plants you just planted. For comparison, I also haven't pulled any weeds out of the rest of the landscaping. You know, the part we didn't newspaper, and it looks like this:


Yikes.


Saturday, April 13, 2013

Our Saturday Project

Surprise! We aren't dead or anything. Wow, it's been nine months since I wrote a post for this blog. My apologies. So what have we done around the house since then? Well, not much which is why I haven't posted. We started a few projects but didn't finish any of them yet. The reason I'm writing today is that we spent the day freshening up our landscaping and I've got some delectable before and after shots for you, as well as gratuitous chicken glamour shots because you know you want them. Here are the three flower beds we worked on before (Well, kind of before. I did not take photos of the horrible amount of weeds that were in here before I pulled them this morning. Some of them were almost as tall as me. Yikes.)


We went to a local nursery called Harb's Oasis because I had a coupon and because I like that place even though it's a bit of a drive. We came home with a Jeep full of plants.
These lucky guys got to ride up front with me. 

We got Coleus for the two beds around the Crepe Myrtles, and Coleus, Hostas, and Agapanthus for the big bed in front of our dining room window on the side of the house. We also picked up two kinds of basil and two kinds of mint to plant in the planters that sit on our patio railing.
 These are the planters I'm talking about.
 Planting the Basil.
Mint.
Basil.
Of course, while we were on the patio working on the planters/taking pictures, the chickens came over to see what we were doing.





First, we placed the pots where we wanted the plants to go. I couldn't really place the coleus because it came in six packs.

Harley is convinced there are squirrels in this tree whether there are or not.

We've been saving up newspapers and sales ads for a while to use as a weed blocker in the landscaping beds. 
 We didn't put cat litter in the flowerbed. We were just using that container for mulch.
Close up of the newspapery goodness.

Are you ready for the final results? Okay, drumroll please...ta da!
There wasn't quite enough mulch to completely cover the newspapers.

 We didn't do newspaper in the smaller beds because the plants were closer together.

So there you have it. I think that's a pretty good day's work, don't you?

Update: I woke up Sunday with the backs of my thighs just KILLING ME. I realized that spending the day in the garden basically means you are doing squats all day long. Owww.