Inspire, Admire, and Design

Mushroom Log

2016-06-13T10:54:00.001-05:00

So we bought a mushroom log to grow in our house.

It is not at all fancy but we tried a piece tonight and it was the second best mushroom we have ever eaten. (The morel is my #1, i highly recommend it to everyone). So we are growing Sonoma Brown Oyster mushrooms on my dining table (best spot with ideal indirect light).

Amsterdam - Day 2

2016-06-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Grogily we awoke, still not quite right from the first day. Hopped on a tram to Central station to catch a bus up to Zaanse Schans, a Dutch heritage site which moved houses, shops, barns, and windmills in the 1960's and 1970's from the Zaan area. We spent almost the entire day here!

Amsterdam trip - Day 1

2016-06-10T13:12:00.001-05:00

I was able to tag along on business trip my husband was taking to Amsterdam. Our 7 year Wedding anniversary just so happened to be in the middle of the trip :)

So here I sit drinking a glass of wine after a long day visiting Zaanse Schans while my husband gets in a quick nap and prep for his conferences the next couple of days. So I thought it would be a good time to sit and "download" the last couple of days.

I wanted to get a quick lay of the land type tour on the first day. Neither one of us slept on the plane (I could have but found too many shows I've been itching to see). So, I thought the best would be to take a nap and go on a canal tour of the city.

Central station, a view of the bike parking

View of misc boats by the pier

Ship replica outside the Nemo Maritime museum

And a few views from the boat:

And lastly, the sun setting while we left for the day

Main Bath Remodel Part 2

2016-05-21T14:23:00.000-05:00

Taking out the cast iron tub was... loud. haha You have to smash it with a sledge hammer into pieces to get out of the house.

Next steps were to figure out the height of the plumbing. We upgraded to a taller soaker tub so we needed to make sure everything lines up with the taller tub.

Plumbing set and inspection passed!

We are also debating between a half glass shower wall or just a shower curtain.

From aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.ca Via Pinterest

From The Marion House Book via Pinterest

This will also affect what type of shower head we'll purchase (the half glass will need a shower head that sprays straight down so water doesn't splash out) so I am not getting anything until we have made up our minds.

Next is finding a vanity that doesn't cost a mortgage payment...

All set to build and inset shelf and begin putting up cement board.

This is the wall we will put in a 12x12 insert

Main Bath Remodel

2016-05-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

Back in 2009 I did a small update on the main living room bathroom, removed tulip wall paper, painted and restyled the bathroom vanity, added peel and stick flooring and painted the walls white. Shame on me for not taking pictures, here are the only ones I could find.

Here the flooring, wall paper removal and painting is completed. I took apart the vanity to sand in prep for painting and removing the faux marble contact paper.

I played with painting with an antiqued look because I honestly kind of liked the shape, but decided to stick with classic black instead.

I added a small shelf and moved the mirror up, the shelf did not wear as well as the cabinet.

Added decorative accessories

So here was the final result:

Ugly tile is hiding behind the curtains.

So to quote one of our all time favorite show's Fixer Upper Its DEMO DAY!!!

I bought this shirt as soon as they started selling them*! You can get yours here from Chip and Joanna's Magnolia Market here!

Magnolia Market

Ugly tile, ready to come down

Here is a close up of my favorite wheat pieces...(I am being sarcastic if you didn't catch that).

And this special tile the previous owners painted to match the existing tile...

Tile and drywall is all down. I know you don't need to remove drywall, but we wanted to make sure to get rid of a tiny known mold issue and install cement board for mold resistance. I am also trying to convince my husband to move pluming and 2x4's for other ideas that will make it look high-end

*I was not paid or compensated for any content on this post. I simply adore the Fixer Upper show and their Magnolia Market products.

2016 Indoor Seeds - Progress

2016-03-16T13:08:00.003-05:00

Part 2 of the indoor seed starting process. I planted the pre-soak seeds this past weekend. Here is what a few of them looked like when I planted them

Using the back of my pen I made holes for the seeds in one of the pallets. You don't have to worry about making sure the top is up, the plant will right itself as it grows so I planted all of the seeds even the ones that didn't look like they sprouted.

And here are all three pallets under the grow light, I like to fill the spray bottle each day after watering to keep the water temp at room temp.

Each morning I come in to check soil moisture and spritz the water as needed.

Here is the pre-soaked seed progress this morning! Wow!

Planning 2016 Garden

2016-03-07T13:21:00.000-06:00

Started planning for the garden this year! I started my indoor seeds today using a basic Seed Starting kit from Menards and we use a seedlings heat mat to keep them warm along with a grow light we installed on the upper cabinets in our laundry room since seeds sprout best at 65°F to 75°F. Make sure to use seed starting soil, not potting soil for this step.

Going in the garden this year (so far, others I will direct sow closer to May): Tomato, Bell Peppers, Leeks, Basil, Cilantro, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber, Snap Peas, canning cucumbers, and chili peppers.

This year I am testing an option to pre-soak all of my seeds prior to planting. This process supposedly makes the germination period shorter. I sandwiched seeds between two damp paper towels and put them in individual ziplock bags. I placed them in lids for the other two pallets under the grow light to keep a temp of about 70° These should start sprouting in 3-7 days, those that sprout I will put in dirt.

Here is how the set up looks for now. I keep my galileo thermometer (nerd) by the plants to keep an eye on the temp to stay in the 65°F to 75°F range. I keep the heat mats on but have the grow light on a timer.

When the seedlings appear, I'll remove the plastic cover and when the seedlings get their second pair of leaves, I'll transplant them into individual pots filled with a potting mix and leave them inside for an extra day or two then put them in the covered greenhouse outside until the weather is ideal for planting.

One of the best resources for everything gardening is the Farmers Almanac . I bought all of these seeds an Etsy store called Cheap Seeds. And it looks like she is still running a special:
Take 20% off your purchase today! Enter coupon code Spring16 upon checkout to receive the discount. Minimum purchase is $25.

The rest I ordered online from Burpee which should come sometime later this week.

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Inside the Shed

2015-08-22T15:43:00.000-05:00

We've put up our shelves and started organizing the shed!

Walk right in and I have the lawn tools

Here are some of the painting supplies and camping gear shelving, the hubs made the shelves just tall enough for plastic bins.

The opposite wall for hanging yard tools

And some of the smaller tools right by the door for quick access

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CSA Week 1

2015-06-23T21:02:00.001-05:00

We bought a weekly CSA box (Community Supported Agriculture) from our local farm where each week we receive a box from about 50 different types of locally grown fruits and vegetables. We have even received plants, Maple syrup, jam, and honey!

I started a Pintrest board to help inspire me with recipes and preparation ideas for the items in the box each week.

Here is our first week:

Chub Cucumbers

Onion

Lettuce

Romaine

Asparagus

Kohlrabi

Swiss Chard

Baby Red Potatoes

Herbs: Stevia, Tarragon, Rosemary, Dill

Radishes

Zucchini

I love that I have no idea what some things are and research the veggies\herbs in each box and find fun recipes

Here is a picture of this week's items

I made Kohlrabi Fries for dinner, which were super good, I used the coconut oil as the recipe called for but used seasoned salt, chili power, and pepper spices. It had a great kick and I really like the Kohlrabi flavor, just wish they were a bit crispier. I only used 2 so I have 1 more to play with this week!

For my lunch tomorrow I put together a salad using the green and yellow cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, and romaine. Pretty simple, nothing fancy but should be delish.

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Shed is all done!

2015-06-01T18:50:00.000-05:00

Here is the finished shed!! I am so excited how this turned out, reminds me of my trip to Switzerland.

How cute is this door!? My husband is so talented!

Fun little addition, corbels at the sides of the shed

Ok, not totally finished, its one of my typical 98% finished kind. Like adding the latch so I don't have to keep a board wedged against it to keep it shut, planting hostas around the base, and shelving in the shed.

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A Shed for a Garden

2015-05-01T09:07:00.000-05:00

We're finally building a shed by our garden beds. After searching for one, we decided to build our own. We modified some designs found on The Family Handyman to help us with cuts and dimensions.

We found a great tip for building the foundation and making the shed level (our backyard has a gradual slope). We dug 4 holes, packed with paver sand and placed a cinder block at each corner. I will later plant hostas around the shed will look less angled.

Base getting set up:

Brother helping haha

Flooring down:

Picking up materials for the walls (Obviously far too early for this girl, Husband is as dashing as ever)

Walls going up:

Rainy day, we built the roofing in the garage and carried it down and covered for next weekend.

Time to paint! Choosing the color, I painted a piece of board white which will be the trim color and a metal conduit to show the roof color.

Crossing our fingers, we'll have this done this weekend to show off!!

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CC Hart Millinery Etsy Store Open!!

2015-02-04T12:08:00.001-06:00

After months of work, and to be honest a bit of anxiety over starting all of this, I have listed a few of my fascinators and opened an Etsy Shop!

It's basic looking right now, I need to create a look for my shop and start thinking of business cards soon too. I make a few hats to keep and wear around, when people ask about them I can easily hand out business cards with my Etsy Store link and my contact info.

Here are a few of the hats I have listed in my store!

Ivory and Gold Fascinator

Aqua tear shaped fascinator

Purple Renaissance Crystal Fascinator

Vintage Inspired Fascinator

Go check out my shop for the rest: www.etsy.com/shop/CCHartMillinery

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2015 Resolutions

2015-01-02T14:54:00.003-06:00

2015 New Years Resolutions

2014 was a chaotic year. I've had 4 jobs in the past 2 years, had several illnesses, gained a lot of weight, and have been battling depression for years.

It wasn't all bad though, I am working again and love the people and company I am working with now.

My husband and I went to Germany, Switzerland, and France last February

Fondu is WAY better here OMG, we actually came back for a pizza they light on fire with cognac... and more fondu

Mont Blanc, France

Chateau d'Chillion

went zip-lining for our anniversary

My family came out to visit me from Colorado a couple times, which I loved and totally needed :), I completed the MS150 Ride bum knee, freezing rain and all.

So, here it is. It's a small list, I actually had a hard time not putting a bajillion things on here, but I read somewhere to write down your big picture intentions rather than resolutions. I have this odd habit where I intentionally sabotage myself by "rebelling" against my tasks... it's super annoying and I think most of it has to do with my depression.

Get healthy! I want to make sure I don't get sick this year

Loose 50 pounds! Work out 45 minutes, 5 days a week, have one fruit smoothie and drink a gallon of water a day

Write more: blog once a month and work on my book
Get organized, and get rid of crap. (You should see my craft room... I'll probably blog about it, who doesn't love before and after shots?!)

What are your resolutions/intentions for 2015??

Bandannas on kitty and pup, they loooved it, can't you tell?!

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Switzerland, Trains, and Vineyards!

2014-03-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

We got up nice and early to catch the train from Mannheim, Germany to Geneva, Switzerland!
Unfortunately, there was construction on the tracks so we had a 45 minute delay. So, we grabbed breakfast at Coffee Fellows at the train station. I had the world's best Croissant and Latte Macchioto. My husband had a bagel sandwich of lettuce, prosciutto, pesto, cream cheese, tomato, and pepper served warm. They don't mess around with bagel sandwiches or pretzel sandwiches for that matter. I also grabbed a pretzel for the train ride.

The landscapes were beautiful, we sat in a private cabin all the way to Switzerland where my husband could get some work done and I read, wrote post cards, and worked on my travel journal. Sorry about some of these pictures, I took them out of my window of the high speed train.

Clouds covering the Alps

Vineyards with stone wall pathways

Here are some of the cutest houses with tiny gardens and vineyards in their back yards!

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Mannheim, Germany

2014-03-02T08:55:00.000-06:00

Being in Europe is easy, getting there is a different story, especially when you get 12 inches of snow and you can't get out of your driveway, and highways are poorly plowed before you even think to start getting to the airport. Thankfully I used Rover.com, which the gal I used was fabulously accommodating and I loved having a family take care of my pup, which gave me plenty of extra time to make it down to the airport.

Anyways, back to Germany! I stayed at the Maritim Hotel, which is located in a stunning Art Nouveau style building located across from the Congress center.

wikimedia.org

We had an amazing view of the 18th century Romanesque water tower called der Wasserturm. Which if you can see below, was being set up for Carnaval.

I have a huge love of architecture, so I took a few pictures of the surrounding buildings and Cathedral.

There is a long street shopping mall that we perused and ate at a little German restaurant called Gasthaus Gentrale that was pretty good, I was looking for some good traditional German spaetzle, ended up with a pork schnitzel that was a little to heavy for me, but pretty good.

Here is my husband enjoying a Krusovice (I loved the lamp basket in the background)

Next up, off to Switzerland... by train!

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Fascinators and Hats!

2014-02-14T09:41:00.001-06:00

I decided to start up a business making fascinators and hats! I love costumes, dressing up, and accessorizing. I fell in love with these tiny fascinator hats a lot of it inspired by the adorable Kate Middleton:

The Vogue Vibes

Cupcake Mag

I work in an office cube-farm type job and am deprived of my creative side and with hats I feel like these are all tiny open canvases, each of these have different flares based on what fabric remnants, flowers, gems, beads, broken jewelry that I disassembled to adorn these hats!
I named my new business CC Hart Millinery and as soon as I get a few last details and a few hats in my inventory, I will start selling on my etsy store.

Here are two of my hats I am currently working on:

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Montreal!

2013-10-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

My husband gets to travel a lot for work and I was finally able to tag along!

I am obsessed with old things and Montreal definitely struck my Antiquarian chord!

I forgot what this one was, as soon as I find it, I will edit the post! But I really liked this and how the majority of the older buildings were intricately lit for night.

The French explorer, Jacques Cartier discovered Montreal in 1535, the native people, the Iroquoians, were virtually gone from the St. Lawrence valley by the early 1600's .

While my husband was in his conference, I ~~spared~~ saved him from my museum touring. One of the museums I toured was Pointe-à-Callière a History and Archaeology Museum of Montreal where they were having an exhibit on Tea and how the different tea cultures and traditions started.

At the top of the Pointe-à-Callière I found this old 18th century image and some stunning views of the city.

And I had Absinthe at Sara B. Absinte Bar. The bar was very interesting and was inspired by, and named after Sarah Bernhardt a famous French actress. In all honesty, the Absinthe wasn't really what I was expecting. I was hoping for a green fiery concoction on a silver spoon. Instead they put some liquid in a cup and the jar pictured below is filled with water and you drip water into the liquid.

The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal was my absolute favorite place, I have never been to a cathedral, never mind a 190 year old cathedral! It is in the Gothic Revival style and I must have gone back to it 3 different times!

Cool Doors:

And because I am a dork:

More buildings in the shopping district on rue Sherbrooke with old pavers as roads (we wondered how they plow these uneven brick roads during winters).

This building next to the Notre-Dame Basilica is called the Saint-Sulpice Seminary which was built in 1657 for priests and missionaries education.

I loved touring and learning about Montreal

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Random Weekend Projects

2013-08-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

We've hit that Mid-August time where you need to start canning and continue yard maintenance. Oh so suburban :)

First we had to get rid of our "items that didn't sell at the Garage Sale" we had back in June. We took pictures of groupings for tax purposes then one truck load over to Goodwill and we have started to claim back our garage. By afternoon we started cutting back the overgrowth on the side of the house and the back lot.

This is a bad shot, but you get the general idea. That pile to the left = vines and weeds I didn't want in that bed.

I am going to find another flowering vine for that empty trellis and transplant some more hostas to the rock bed through out.

There are something like over 300 types of hosta... but I am looking for something like this:

On to the back of the yard, Here is the before:

And here is the great trim... I am sad that I am loosing my privacy fence of trees and bushes but there were so many maple, elm, and buckthorne fighting each other, we chose a few maples to stay and cut the buckthorne away from the fence (there is a good 2 1/2 feet behind these now). It is much cleaner and will grow fuller (but not til next year, sadface) rather than its scraggly sticky mess it was before.

The mascot of the day (ok she is the mascot everyday).

While I was taking these pictures, I looked up and saw the biggest camouflaged spider I have ever seen... It's body was a bit larger than a quarter. I quickly grabbed my 50 foot wasp spray, goggles, chained molly up by the apples and started spraying that little sucker. He fell to the floor which then I proceeded to spray with Round-Up while simultaneously tossing a brick on him. All the while screaming like a little girl. It was comical. I sprayed the areas I had doused with the wasp spray with the hose even though it isn't really toxic for dogs, I just wanted to be sure. After close examination, there were two other equally terrible-sized/looking spiders under the deck... next weekend's project: power wash the deck.

Fair warning, I did get a blurry terrible picture of it below if you want to see it, otherwise scroll on past.

You have been warned...

BLAH I got the willies just trying to upload that LOL

Ok, on to happier times, we started one pickle recipe called "Refrigerator pickles" and will start another recipe from my Mother In Law this week! We also made Tomatillo salsa, which turned out really delish!

Celebrate/burn some of those darn sticks until we were chased out by the mosquitoes.

To-Do list for the rest of the yard:
- cut bits of existing hostas, transplant to the areas between the buckthorne.
- create an arch from old cuttings for climbing rose bush to grow on
- trim back lilac bushes for easier mowing.
- fix up side beds and cutting garden beds aka weed beds.
- Fix back garage door (screen door pulling from the wall)
- Add flagstone from lower patio up to back garage door
- Add a flagstone patio around fire-pit We may hold off on these two if we decide we want to replace the lower patio bricks
- Misc deck repairs on sections the previous owners did not use treated wood (grrr)
- Repaint deck... again (have repainted this deck twice already since 2010, not happy) we'll talk about that in a future post!

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2013 Deck flowers

2013-08-09T10:12:00.001-05:00

I figured since I posted this fuzzy yelling at the dog and the cats to stop chewing on the plants picture on Facebook on Tuesday trying to save my plants from the hail/tornado/severe wind warnings; I'd write a post about my deck plants!

This year we went with full sun, low water, cheap plain old geraniums and honestly we love them. There are some vinca vines and creeping thyme in there too (mosquitoes don't like creeping thyme).

This guy is a begonia, I have him closer to the shady side by the patio window since he likes part sun, plus it looks nice outside the dining room patio window.

I have no idea what this plant is to be honest haha I saw it at the Farmers Market and just had to have it :)

My husband spotted this crazy looking plant, we have dubbed him sprocket.

These aren't really flower pictures but I was out so I thought I'd share the yard, the garden looks tiny back there haha

Here is how the apple tree is looking this year after his trim (sorry about the blazing halo of light over the tree, I was trying to get a few pics in last night before the sun went down).

Here he is pre-trim, it was taller than our house back in April

After, it was definitely shocking...

then spring happened...

haha :)

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2013 Garden

2013-08-07T09:54:00.000-05:00

Back in February while suffering through another Minnesota winter eager for spring planting, I stumbled across a couple of seed starting websites about a process called Winter Sowing. This is a seed starting process that is ridiculously easy. Using old containers like milk jugs, soda bottles, etc to create greenhouse-like container for seed germination. I also did my typical indoor seeds, which unfortunately none of the indoor seedlings survived. Sad-face.

However the winter sown was a raging success! I started these in late March (Minnesota hardy flowers) and early April (veggies and herbs) because of our long winter.

Here are a few pictures of the Winter-sown seedlings pictured on May 25th before transplanting them to larger portable containers. I didn't want to plant them in the ground yet, as we were still having frost issues.

We expanded our garden beds this year, here is what it looked like last year, and sadly it did not grow much past this point:

Here is this year's garden, we added three more beds and created a rock path between we the beds over Memorial Day weekend, and began planting:

Here is the original bed with our new ones getting ready to dig up and re-place for squaring off for a shed later down the road.

We dug up all of the sod and tiered the beds since there was a slight hill. off to the left you'll see there are two wooden stakes in the ground where we want to build our shed down the road.

I use newspaper instead of weed mat and have never been disappointed.

We bought chipped granite for the area between the beds for easy tending and love the way it looks.

Here are a few pics of the newly planted veggies and herbs.

And of course one with the new pup, Mollie

And here is the garden today! Can you believe how well they have done so far this year?!

And my Mother in law stopped by with some raspberry plants <3 :="" again="" and="" font="" mollie="" photo-bombing="" so="" sweet="">

And for fun, Roma Tomato four months ago:

Roma tomatoes today!

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Kitchen Reveal!

2012-09-16T20:27:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am calling it officially done. Which of course is not quite true, we have a few other details to finish:

Paint the window frame white
Add a smooth edge where the back splash ends
Paint the wall above the sink
Add the window treatment. I have the roman shade cut out and ready (which matches the living room curtain to come)

It has come a long way since we started back in April. We finished by the end of August just in time for my sister and her family to come and visit for Labor Day weekend which was a BLAST. So here is the kitchen progress images!

Heres the old again for scrolling sake:

And because I am picture happy!

The best part is this was almost all DIY, the only things we did not do ourselves was the electrical, a small part of the ceiling, and putting in the granite counter tops. The flooring, ceiling scraping and painting, cabinets, hardware, tiling, and installing appliances (shoving a disassembled fridge into the back of an Explorer then dragging it up the stairs).

Kitchen Update 10: Tile Finalized

2012-08-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

Grouting was a little more difficult than I had originally anticipated (seems to be a theme, hehe). Anyways, stirring 25 pounds of messy dusty grout into a bucket of water (think cement but finer), somehow spreading it evenly between each tile, then getting between the tiny bits around the edges on the top, flush with the upper cabinets and bottom, flush with the counter-top.

One of my absolute favorite blogs, Young House Love has been an incredible influence and resource for several projects, such as this article on installing the penny tile in their kitchen, using tile nippers, prepping the room, mixing and spreading the thinset, and de-glazing and sealing the tile. Another fabulous blog called My Blessed Life was also a great reference, like this caulking tip.

Back to it, here is an action shot of the super messy process of grouting. PS. That corner seam is my favorite part.

And, I broke the rubber float used to spread the grout about 45 seconds after taking this picture and had to do some funky duel wielding with the float. (Yes I so just made a W.O.W. reference with a link coz I am so nerd like that)

And Ta-Da!

What do you think so far? Still have a little work around the windows and crown molding to do yet, but I am thrilled with the substitute tile, the look, everything about it all :)

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Kitchen Update 9: Tile Up!

2012-07-23T19:43:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was pretty productive. I finally have the tile all up and ready for grouting. This took me 6 hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday. Phew! I will most likely wait until the day after tomorrow night to grout since the directions on the tile adhesive recommend waiting 24 hours (better to be safe than sorry).
Here is a view of the tile by the sink, I left the rosin paper up to protect the granite for when I do end up grouting. The tiny pieces at the top and the bottom were loads of fun to nip with tile nippers and piece in (I am of course being a tad sarcastic)

Here is a view of the stove and look at the side of that handsome new fridge <3

And standing back

Love it, so far the tile I used for the back splash absolutely exceeds my expectations and was SO worth the hand cramping 14 hours of nipping, ceramic bits cutting my hands and feet, back aching angles I had to bend at to get the pieces lined up nicely in tight corners, and chunks of tile adhesive sticking in my hair still on Monday morning.

Oh and I finally took a pic of the granite up close the color is a little more gray than in reality but you can see the cool flecks:

We were able to have a little non-remodeling fun as well. We went up to Station 4 in St. Paul to see my all time favorite metal band In This Moment.
These are my favorite 3 songs:
DISCLAIMER: Contains some explicit content

And, I got the chance to chat with, get a pic signed, and my picture taken with the lead gal, Maria Brink. She is a very sweet, super cool chic and I was thrilled to meet her! Needless to say, I had an absolute blast at the concert.

Back to the kitchen, now all that's left:

Paint the section over the sink, new color in the dining room and to touch up the corner separating the fridge from the living room, window frame
Cut and install the crown molding
Get the carpet re-stretched and install the threshold separation
Organize and put the kitchen away (Yes I still have about 90% of the items in my guest room) - lazy
Get rid of the rest of the trash in the garage. The WM Bagster Bag I posted here went off without a hitch and we got rid of over half of the items we would have a hard time getting rid of ourselves.
And I am still waiting for my bead board to come in...UGH not happy with Menards on this one thing, everything else has been a flawless experience.
Sew the curtains for the living, dining and kitchen.

Next Renovation Project: Master Suite Addition

2012-07-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

This may be a bit out, but I have "the renovation bug" now. Our future big renovation project is to build an addition over the garage as a Master Suite. My husband and I are… cozy in our current 10x11 bedroom. We added two wardrobes on each side of the bed for additional closet space but still have a dresser cramped at the end of the room full, a small closet stuffed and the spare room closet storing my dresses since neither of the other closets have long enough racks for hanging dresses. When seasons change I get a little creative storing off-season items in totes in the master bedroom closet's odd space (that takes up half the closet). Having a master suite would give us that extra room for kids when we start having them without losing our spare room and have a relaxing escape for the two of us to spend quiet cuddly time together. Not to mention a bathroom we could both use (I currently use the basement bathroom to get ready because of the lack of outlets and counter space to get ready, while my husband uses the bathroom across the hall from our current room). And a walk-in closet full of fantastic cubbies, storage, and hanging room for both our clothes. Bliss.

Here is our current bedroom through the doorway

The odd space I loosely call storage space in the closet

A rough estimate of the current space (I love floorplanner.com)

And here is the proposed floor plan for the new addition

Kitchen Update 8, Tile delivered!

2012-07-13T08:14:00.001-05:00

Looky what was delivered today!

It is stunning in person!

And remember my worries from this last post about the possibilities of breakage during shipping?

This thing was packed hard core! Two layers of industrial strength bubble wrap wrapped around each cardboard box of tile. then the tile has nice plastic pieces under each square of tiles stacked in the box. Nothing was going to move in this box!

Hopefully we'll get them put up this weekend!