765 Nest In Progress

765 Nest on Apartment Therapy!

2014-10-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Travis and I are pretty proud to see our labor of love featured on Apartment Therapy this week! I spent hours looking through nurseries on their website to get inspired for this project. To be included now is such an honor! And the wonderful comments their readers are leaving make it that much sweeter.
Just recently, after returning from a long vacation, Luke crawled to every corner of the room while smiling and babbling away - the biggest affirmation that this room is loved by all of us. Thanks for featuring us Apartment Therapy! And I promise we'll be back soon with some new projects!

10 Weeks

2014-05-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

This post is long overdue, but finding the free time to do it when we don't have something else we should be doing is nearly impossible. It's hard to believe it has already been 10 weeks since we met this guy. His scrunchy newborn face has stretched out into an adorable smiling baby face. Most nights he sleeps through the night. He loves the mirror and staring at himself, his stuffed skunk, anything outside, and bathtime with Daddy. His falcon scream has changed into a real "Wahhhhh" and a pouty lip to match. The mohawk is starting to fall as his hair gets longer, but that won't stop me from styling one. It's been a life-changing ten weeks and we can't wait to see what comes with the next ten.

Announcing...

2014-03-12T19:47:00.000-05:00

HE'S HERE!

Lucas 'Luke' Vincent Moore was born yesterday at 6:53pm, weighing a whopping 8lbs 14ounces and 21 inches long (And yes that was au natural). He's doing perfectly and we thank everyone for all their encouragement and well wishes. We can't wait for everyone to meet him!

While We Wait

2014-03-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

Patience may not always be my strong suit of mine, and it's even tougher when you are past your due date. Projects to pass the time are a must, even if they are manual labor. The Saturday morning farmer's market was full of Spring garden seedlings, the weather was begging for us to be outside, and it was hopeful that a little yard work would prompt some labor. While we weren't successful in the latter, we did get the garden tilled with fresh soil and Spring veggies in the ground. And our biggest commitment: Asparagus. That little row of lettuce may not look like much, but surrounding it are asparagus crowns. Since you can't harvest the first year it's not an immediate gratification, instead a long-term play that will hopefully have delicious payoffs.

The Baby Room Reveal

2014-02-26T12:33:00.000-06:00

After months (and months) of hard work the baby room is finally complete. It's by far the best room in the house - quiet and lacking the drafts that exist in most of the house. It was also the first time we got to decorate a room from scratch. Aside from a new crib (Thank you Gran Ran & Pappy!) and dresser, most of the room was re-purposed from the rest of the house or handmade, making the end result fairly affordable.

It's hard to believe it is even the same room. Peeling paneling, bent up metal blinds, and big drafts did not make for an ideal baby room. With lots of help from friends and family it has completely transformed. We couldn't have done it without everyone's help - THANK YOU!!

That old paneling doesn't even compare to the new tongue and groove panels that replaced it. To say it's solid is an understatement. The windows got alot of hand sanding and detail work, along with refinished hardware that now makes us want to refinish the rest of the windows in the house. SOMEDAY. Travis' handy work on the trim makes the room look complete. And when we tore down that old wood paneling we found a nook to the left of the door that now creates incredibly functional shelving. While it was a bit of a puzzle making it look square when it's not even close, Travis did an incredible job. It even fits the baskets we already had perfectly.

And while I say the room is complete, there really is one more detail left to finish. Above the Ikea dresser that we stained and painted will be his name banner - waiting to be hung upon his arrival. One week and counting until that due date!

You can find all of the baby room progress and inspiration posts here.

Baby Room Sneak Peek

2014-02-06T09:49:00.000-06:00

Baby Moore's room is certainly coming along. Construction is complete and furniture has been moved in, but there are still little details to finish. Oh yes, and a crib to purchase. But we still find ourselves in the room almost nightly, tinkering with a light bulb, folding clothes, or hanging pictures. It's getting close guys! For now here's a few sneak peeks into Baby Moore's room.

Baby Room Inspiration

2014-01-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

When talking about the baby room one of the most common questions is 'What's the theme?'. I say jungle but that doesn't quite describe it. It's a little jungle, a little geometric, a little DIY, a little old and a little new. For months I've scoured Pinterest and design blogs for inspiration and to try to give Travis a vision of what I'm picturing. While there are plenty of rooms and styles I like, there hasn't been one that encompasses everything I want. So here's a little compilation to get you inspired for what Baby Moore's room will soon be - hopefully it will come together as a room perfectly suited for our 765 Nest.

New Friends Art Print / Amanda Teal Design

Minty Nursery

Modern Mobiles / Gender Neutral Nursery

2013 Review

2013-12-31T12:49:00.001-06:00

2013 was a fruitful year for 765, in more ways than one, as evidenced by our orange tree. In the past we've been lucky to have a handful by the end of the year, but this time the branches are weighted down by the fruit.
It wasn't the busiest year on the blog, but the projects that did happen were all substantial ones, for our home and for us. Here's a quick recap of 2013...

We started the year off working on the drafty (and nasty) cabinet under the kitchen sink. A little insulation, spray foam, and fresh shelving makes all the difference now.

Thanks to Travis I got a closet update. No more peeling fake paneling that drops on my clothes. Painted walls and bright light make it (a little) easier to pick out my outfits in the the morning.

It wasn't the greatest year for our garden thanks to busy schedules, but we did get a few good crops and experimented with some new veggies in the garden. A little bit of time off has hopefully given the soil some replenishment time and we'll have a bountiful season coming up.

We announced a new project. A big new project. A baby room.
It's already amazing to look back on these pictures to see how far we've come. This kid sure is going to have an awesome room.

Family, friends and neighbors came together to help 765 have the best baby room ever. Demo, sanding, painting, more sanding, installation and more painting - it wasn't the easiest of work, but we couldn't have done it without your help. A millions thank-yous go out to all of you!

The gender of baby Moore is finally revealed!

A big kudos to Travis for the baby room. Clearly the room construction was not my handy work (mine is just about to begin) and thanks to his skills and puzzle solving the room has come together beautifully. It looks all that much better knowing the room came together because of our own efforts and I'm pretty damn proud of how well he's done.

Tame Teal officially became the color of the 765 Baby Room. With color on the wall it's starting to get real.

Hopefully 2014 will begin with a completed room, as Travis works away on the trim as I type. Only 64 days and counting - it's really go time now.
As we count down into the new year we normally cheers with a Blue Moon and our freshly picked oranges. It may just be a glass of OJ this year but we're certainly excited for what's to come in 2014.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas 2013!

2013-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Baby Room - Update 5

2013-12-11T07:30:00.000-06:00

Tame Teal has arrived!
It was a decision on a whim to whip out the paint brushes and finally put color to the walls. All of the detail in the paneling meant we went along every seam before covering the walls. It was a bit meticulous but we still finished it in less than a day.
The ceiling got a fresh coat of white mixed with Tame Teal and we realized just how old and dingy the ceiling color looked before. For now you'll have to suffice with little previews of the progress until the final reveal. Up next: trim. Likely the most detail oriented part of the room, but once it's done this kid is going to have the best room in the house.

Baby Room - Update 4

2013-11-01T10:42:00.000-05:00

Progress has continued in the baby room. More paneling boards were ordered after everything we had was installed. That meant another round of priming, which we flew in some help from California for. Mid-day painting in the heat - welcome to Louisiana! (Thanks for the help John!)
It's a time consuming process of installing the boards and four hands certainly help speed up the process. The biggest challenge yet: the nook. What it was used for exactly we're not sure, but we know it wasn't designed to be a shelving unit being that it's not even close to square. It was quite the puzzle but Travis and Pat have made it look fantastic. And messages to future owners were left for years to come. A few more pieces of paneling to go up and then it's time for Tame Teal!

Another Announcement

2013-10-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

We're nearly to the halfway mark of the pregnancy, which means we finally got to find out what Baby Moore is:

A BOY!

So we can begin picking the other colors for the room, pondering names, and daydreaming of Travis and his future little hunting and fishing partner! Now we'll get back to the baby room construction...

Baby Room - Update 3

2013-09-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Once all those boards were primed it was time for another decision. A big one. What color would we paint the room? I knew I wanted a jungle-esque theme, something that would work for a boy or a girl, and a light blue/green seemed like a versatile color for either sex. I picked up a slew of color samples at Sherwin Williams and the debating began. Travis and I each silently picked our favorites and revealed.

While I'm glad to say we were clearly thinking on the same track in the color range, they are so close yet so different. Putting them under every light possible and comparing I still loved Tame Teal. Travis loved Pool Blue. Something had to give. We finally made a decision, and then Travis received this kind advice from his co-worker Chris that he found at a local hardware store:

It seems we likely made the right decision: Sherwin Williams Tame Teal! We bought a second can mixed down with white paint for the ceiling and some white for the trim as well. Now let's hope it looks as good on the walls as it does on that teeny tiny card.

Baby Room - Update 2

2013-09-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

The next phase of the project began with the delivery of the paneling that will go up on the wall. Nine-foot tall 1"x6" tongue and groove panels of V-Edge Pine arrived ready to be primed, and thankfully Hannah, Pat and Randalle were on hand to help out. There was an assembly line of paint-dry-flip-paint-dry-rotate, until all 75 panels were complete. Stacked in our dining area, they are getting adjusted to the indoor air, anxiously awaiting to be installed and painted a wonderful baby color... In the meantime the electrical is back up and running in the room and every outlet works! The room has officially been upgraded.

Thanks again to all of our helpers!!

Cover to Cover Challenge 2013

2013-09-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

You might remember, last year I made Shrimp Scampi Meatballs for something called the Cover to Cover Challenge from The Bitten Word. Well, they're at it again and I had to participate. This year they simplified to only one magazine, Bon Appetit with multiple people making each recipe.

My assignment: Creamy White Onion Soup
I thought I got off with a fairly easy recipe, until I realized there are actually four parts to this soup: pickled scallions, an onion jam, the soup, and a Fontina toast. Certainly not something I would be dumping in a pot and letting simmer for a few hours. But then again that wouldn't be a challenge would it?!
The soup itself was absolutely delicious. The combination of ginger and Serrano peppers with the onion created a really complex flavor, and when combined with the Fontina toast it was delicious. Personally I wasn't a fan of the onion jam, too sweet for me, though my other taste-testers enjoyed it.
I would certainly make this soup again for a special occasion or guests, but with all the details it is not a 'throw everything in a pot and forget about it' kind of soup, so not likely something that will be on regular rotation.

Baby Room - Update 1

2013-09-06T07:30:00.000-05:00

Work continues in the room for Mini Moore. After getting all of the major grunt work done (with alot of help from Joey - thanks Joey!) we moved on to the next fun step: sanding. And more sanding. What we can salvage of the original details we're trying our best to. The windows are original to the house with sash weights for moving them up and down. With the help of Travis' parents we sanded every nook and cranny of those windows. Afterwards a coating of tung oil* made the wood look absolutely gorgeous and worth all of the effort. We also discovered a nook in the wall when taking down the old wood. As a future shelving unit it will give us a little added storage - something we'll never turn down.

Travis managed to save the molding when taking it down, so we sanded it for painting later. And that is sanding by hand with strips of sandpaper, no palm sander allowed for those delicate pieces.

Then the front door. This door leads from the baby's room to the front porch. We knew the stain wasn't going to match once we sanded down the windows and other details, so we took it off the hinge and got sanding. I don't think any of us expected how pretty the wood would be underneath the years of weathering. It instantly brightens up our front porch, and now has us wanting to sand the other front door. (One project at a time here...) We'll add a coating of tung oil to the inside and and exterior finish to the outside so we can keep those gorgeous colors.

*While neighbors told us about the tung oil for the windows I was of course picturing tounge oil. Not so. It's from the seed of the tung tree and it hardens/dries when exposed to air to create a satin finish on wood. The oil is even considered one of the few environmentally friendly wood finishes available. The best part is that it resists water better than most other finishes - perfect for old windows. Definitely something we'll be using again throughout the house.

A New Project

2013-08-21T07:27:00.001-05:00

It's been a while. Quite a while.
Projects have been at a lull at 765 for some time. We got busy with travel and work and, well, life. Then we decided to make up for lost time and take on a substantial project. Certainly our biggest interior project yet, that would provide plenty of blog content for the months to come.

Our front bedroom/office is being gutted. The walls are coming down and we're starting fresh. The thin plywood paneling that warped and peeled around the windows didn't fit in with the beautiful old cypress and pine wood throughout the house.

The paneling snapped off with some ease, giving way to old wallpaper underneath. The wallpaper was the only thing covering the tounge-and-groove wood wall structure. Likely cold in the winter, it's certainly why they added a layer of paneling.

In a home as old as ours there's bound to be history we uncover. Right next to the existing switch was a square from the old one, with a single hole for the knob & tube wiring.And below it, a section of crayon scribbles from a little one.

The wall paper is cleared out, interior workings of the walls exposed, and plenty of wiring and insulation projects are in the works. All this work just to get rid of some old warping paneling?
Yes and no.
See there is a little something else to the story. Something very little, that would need a fresh room with bright, colorful walls and a consistent temperature. That's right, 765 is absolutely a nest in progress...

WE'RE EXPECTING!
Whether the room is ready or not Baby Moore is coming March 5th!
So join us here as we chronicle our nest in the months to come!

The Chicken And A Tomato

2013-06-26T10:18:00.000-05:00

Watching the chickens find a bug or morsel that excites them can be pure entertainment. We had a tomato that was a little over-ripe and Annie got a hold of it. Running around the yard, flinging it side to side, and rolling it in the dirt; the other chicken dare not mess with her when she has a prize like this.

Welcome Home

2013-06-06T08:31:00.001-05:00

We came home from a week vacation to a garden ready to be picked. The eggplants are the survivor of the garden, seemingly un-phased by lack of water or too much heat. Some of our tomato plants aren't happy with the soil so we're hoping transferring to pots will help. I picked our rainbow carrots and pulled up the 'running man'. There's a few jokes in there...
The first okra of the season was ready and the final strawberry was bright red. I think that means summer is officially here.

Did You Know?

2013-04-30T07:32:00.000-05:00

The average hen lays 260 eggs per year! That would leave us with 780 eggs with our three ladies - that's alot of omelets! This adorable Farm Anatomy Dishtowel also came with a cute cheat sheet on a fresh vs. old egg. Helpful when you have a refrigerator bursting with them!
*Thanks M&D for the present*

April Garden

2013-04-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

This Spring has been a busy one at 765. It hasn't allowed much time for projects around the house, though we have managed to keep up with the garden. Back in February we planted rows of seeds and crossed our fingers the heavy rains and volatile temperatures wouldn't crush our garden dreams. Thanks to our potent compost, far more than what we planted actually sprouted. We have 25 tomato plants (where we'll find space for them all I'm not quite sure), one of which managed to last through the Winter and is giving us an early supply of fruit. So far it's looking to be a productive season.

A Girly Must-Have

2013-03-20T08:30:00.000-05:00

There's little to nothing in 765 that screams 'girly'. Certainly there's a female touch - few men will make the effort of choosing a throw pillow - but pink and frilly is nowhere to be found. Way back in 2011 we put a hole in my closet wall to get to a bathroom pipe. Since the closet wall was terrible fake paneling that was crumbling at the touch we took that opportunity to replace it. Since then it's remained the fresh wood but slightly unfinished. With a little spare time Travis finished all the wood detailing and I took the chance to add a feminine touch. Extra white and grey paint from the cabinets covered the walls (and the floor after spilling the can...), a bit of fabric covered the shelf, and a couple extra hooks that were lying around became convenient additions.
Looking for my outfits in the morning has become a little more enjoyable. Now hopefully this will make me want to put my clothes back where they belong a little more often...

Preparing the Spring Garden

2013-02-28T07:36:00.001-06:00

February is a slow month for projects at 765. Between work, travel, parades and the almost constant rain, there's little time or energy to sand the windows or work in the yard. (I think I said the same thing last year.) Last weekend we had a day of much needed sun which prompted the beginning of our Spring garden. We (Travis, me and the chickens) tilled up the dirt, added plenty of compost and created some rows for seeds. A few snow pea and tomato seedlings from the farmer's market are getting a head start in pots. But the best part of the garden right now? The strawberry plants. We may only get a couple at a time, but picking a strawberry when I get home from work is a welcomed treat.

Battling Drafts

2013-01-30T08:25:00.000-06:00

The winters are cold and the summers are hot inside 765, but the character is unbeatable and it's cliche, but they just don't build them like they used to. The draftiness was meant to circulate the house and is the reason a leak will simply dry instead of mold. While insulating and lowering our energy bill sounds appealing, it's hard to change it, since it was supposed to be like this. So we're working on a happy medium.
While standing in the kitchen any gust of air came right inside. When it's 30 degrees outside even the gas oven has a hard time offsetting that. So we pulled out the wood and found where the draft was coming from: around the sink pipe and from under the house. Travis added a little bit of insulation, a good amount of spray foam around some big gaps, and added fresh new wood around it all. In the process the sink water hoses were replaced and Travis put his wood working skills to use making tongue and groove pieces for the cabinet.
Less draft and a fresh, clean space under the sink - a successful weekend project in my book.

Live Downtown

2013-01-23T08:18:00.000-06:00

When I moved to Baton Rouge Travis chose Spanish Town for our first apartment knowing it was a neighborhood I would like, plus it was walking distance to his work. He was right, and the longer I live here the more I realize I wouldn't live anywhere else in BR. Downtown is getting better daily, with a corner grocery and pharmacy on the way. (If only Trader Joe's was coming downtown, but beggars can't be choosers right?) To attract more people to live downtown the DDD created this video, and I think you'll recognize two people and some feathered friends in it. Enjoy!