Aesthetic Outburst

This weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:43:00 +0000

I love this image by NiftySwank (found via Ez Pudewa). I'll be keeping it in mind while I try not to feel overwhelmed by my to-do list this weekend. Stay tuned for images of our bathroom renovation project next week. Have a happy weekend and I'll see you on Monday!

Pattern maker...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:53:00 +0000

I'm on an embroidery kick lately and started making a version of this piece that I made last year for my 20 in 20 series. Here's what the rest of the piece looks like. Has anyone ever had patterns made?

Toys everywhere...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:49:00 +0000

The other day after I posted our old playroom, a few people asked what our current play area looks like and how we handle toy storage. The truth is that our current house is pretty much blanketed in a fine layer of toys at all times (no lie...PRH just stepped on a matchbox car). We don't have space for a dedicated playroom, and I didn't fully comprehend how much I'd miss that space until I started regularly sitting on toys, stepping on them in the middle of the night, or tripping over them when I'm not paying attention. Here's a peek at our house yesterday. The living room floor has a tape road because a certain 4-year-old is obsessed with the Cars part 2 movie and needs "space to just drive" (his words).

Here's one end of our table, filled with puzzles, games, stamps, and old kitchen containers that hold playmobil...

This crate full of coloring books and paper sits on the floor in the dining room. Don't look so shocked by the mess, Velma Dinkley...

The always-popular play kitchen is also on the floor in the dining room/kitchen, along with oodles of play food...

Here's Kicky on the living room floor. We pushed the table out of the way to make room for the track and buildings...

The window seat in the dining room is usually piled high with babies. The doll on the floor, who Kicky named 'Abbey', goes with us everywhere (I'm not sure I should be flattered that she named it after me)..

We do make an effort to get most of the toys upstairs into the kids' room at the end of each day. They have a huge walk-in closet that's lined with shelving (I know, totally weird in an 1800's farmhouse) and everything has a spot on the shelf. If the shelves are full, forgotten toys go into the attic rotation until they're missed. I guess the point of this post is to ask how YOU handle toys at your house. Do you have toys everywhere or a dedicated space? How do you store legos and playmobil and woodzeez?

Giveaway...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Let's have a little giveaway today! We have 5 letterpress calendars to send out into the world! Printed by Pistachio Press and designed by yours truly, each 4" x 11" calendar is held together with a silver binder clip. Once the month is over, you can trim it to make a 4" x 6" print to frame or give to a friend. That's 13 prints, including the cover print. Yay! The giveaway ends on February 1st- here's more fine print:

♥ giveaway rules:

eligibility: open to all Aesthetic Outburst readers, worldwide
how to enter: leave a comment on this post (one comment per person, please)
entry deadline: comments will close on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
winner selection: 5 winners will be chosen at random
winner notification: On Thursday morning, I'll announce the five winners.
claiming your calendar: send me an email at hownowdesign (at) yahoo (dot) com with your mailing address and I'll pop your calendar in the mail! Winners must respond within three (3) days of notification or forfeit the prize, in which case an alternate winner will be selected.

If you're a retailer interested in carrying Pistachio Press products, please send them an email at: info [at] pistachiopress [dot] com.

High five...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

My five favorite things from around blogland recently.

pretty little weddings

Artistry Cards

Years past...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Aesthetic Outburst turns five in March, which is sort of hard for me to believe. I've spent hours 'blog cleaning' recently (tagging posts and re-sizing images) and came across all of these old photos that I took. Please forgive the almost complete randomness, but I'm feeling a little nostalgic today. Links to the related posts are above each photo.
wreath...

mini quilts...
gnome cookies...

alphabet quilt...

claws...

birthday garland...

horses...

morning glories...

Playroom...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:13:00 +0000

Hello, old playroom? I miss you. I loved you even when you looked like this.

Can you tell that I've spent the better part of this morning picking up mass quantities of playmobil?

This weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:57:00 +0000

What are your plans for the weekend? We're expecting a visit from a dear friend tomorrow- if we don't get hit with the snowstorm that's expected tonight. Kicky and I went to the library to load up on books today, just in case. I hope you all have a happy weekend! See you on Monday.

Stairs...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:40:00 +0000

I came across this photo of the stairs this morning. The bottom photo was taken on the day we bought the house. Look at that! Gross! I don't know how I almost forgot about those rubber treads. Here's what we've done so far:

I scraped off the treads
we refinished the hardwood floors and painted the upstairs floors (painting was so much cheaper and less time-consuming)
we painted the upstairs paneling
painted the stairs
PRH knocked out the stairwell wall and removed the door at the bottom of the stairs
he replaced drywall on the first floor.

We still need to figure out some sort of railing while our kiddos are little (don't worry- for now, we have a gate at the top and bottom and don't let them go up or down alone). These stairs are eventually going to come out completely to make more space on the first floor; they're typical farmhouse stairs...really steep and narrow. We're planning to build a new set of stairs up the back of the house through the mudroom. You also can't see in these photos, but the top stair cuts into the doorway of one of the bedrooms. I use that room as a studio for fear that one of us would fall down the stairs if we woke up in the middle of the night. EZ E and Kicky share a bedroom now, but we're going to need three usable bedrooms at some point. Big plans, big plans.

Life with a 4-year-old...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Evidence of EZ E being particularly 4-years-old this morning: he woke up in a terrible mood and, when asked what he'd like for breakfast, responded, "I just want a sad breakfast". PRH served up a heaping bowl of sad oatmeal. Here's hoping EZ E cheers up. Are all 4-year-olds wildly emotional?

High five...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

My five favorite things from around blogland recently.

4. This simple but lovely wreath by me oh my (found via Rachel Denbow). Our front door could use something really graphic like this.

Scotch & Soda

Matt B.

Exposed ceilings...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:34:00 +0000

PRH is working on the mudroom today. He goes back to school on Friday (he teaches art/design at a university) and wants to get the mudroom cleaned up beforehand. This is what the room looked like a few months ago. It has drywall now, but we've left the ceiling exposed like this (I did vacuum the insulation off and PRH fixed the lights). Lately I've been obsessed with exposed, loft-style ceilings- not just exposed beams, I'm talking exposed ceilings like this image from stadshem (found via altruism in the morning)...

or this image of photographer Carter Smith's home from the January 2007 issue of House & Garden (photo by Martyn Thompson found via moodboard)...

or this image from one of my favorite books, Restoring a House in the City by Ingrid Abramovitch (project by G.P. Schafer Architect). Both the wildly expensive range and built-in shelf in the corner make me drool...

Our mudroom is certainly not a gorgeous space, but it will have exposed ceilings...for now. All of the ceilings in our house need to be re-done and I'm seriously considering this look. With the right floors, it could be pretty fabulous. What do you think? Yay or nay?

Valentine project...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I openly admit to being one of those annoying people who absolutely LOVES Valentine's Day. You may remember that I'm the freak who made 20 valentines last year, sends out valentines instead of Christmas cards, and has a pinterest board dedicated solely to valentines cards. Um, yes. Anyways, we were looking for a craft project to work on the other day and came across these (free printable originally from Skip to my Lou). Since EZ E is officially NOT into pink (don't get me started on that) and wanted to paint, we went with symmetry painted butterflies instead.

Here's what you need:

cardstock

acrylic paint in several colors

paint brush

scissors

pencil

lollipops or pencils

google eyes

bone folder or butter knife

Here's how we made ours:

1. fold the cardstock in half.

2. put dots of paint on one side.

3. fold in half and squish paint around (the more, the better).

4. cut out a butterfly shape and use that as a tracing template. We went with a more realistic-looking butterfly (we also tried a different version...see bottom).

5. once the paint is dry, fold the cardstock in half and trace the butterfly on the folded side.

6. cut out your butterfly shape.

7. cut two small slits where the lollipop or pencil will go.

8. make a score mark with a bone folder (or butter knife) between the two cut marks and parallel to the fold. I drew a line in pencil only so you could see it.

9. use your bone folder to push in that rectangle.

10. stick your google eyes onto your lollipop (you may want to glue yours).

11. slide the lollipop into the wings.

here's what it looks like from the side

I liked our pencil version better, but EZ E doesn't want to give pencils to his classmates and his 10-year-old cousin laughed at me for thinking kids liked pencils (!!!). Am I that old? When did kids stop liking pencils?

Here's another version we made with simpler wings. Skip to my Lou used bigger lollipops, which I would recommend. The dum dums we used were a little too small, but more came in the pack.

Not to belabor my point, but I'd rather have a pencil than a dum dum any day of the week. Have you seen any handmade valentines that you like yet?

This weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Winter has finally arrived here in Owego. I'm more than a little excited about that, mainly because the light reflecting off the snow fills our farmhouse with bright light. We're all feeling much better, cookies are in the oven, Kicky's building a town with this stuff (future urban planner?), and I have a super (super!) exciting freelance project that I'm working on. I think it's safe to say that I'm over my blahs and looking forward to our first winter on the farm. Have a happy weekend and I'll see you on Monday!

photo by Yale Joel via Isabelle Chiosso via They Roared Vintage via Hollyhocks and Tulips

Craft guru...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

PRH's grandma is an avid crafter and recently gave me a huge box of her old beads. Not only are the beads pretty, but I loved the way she sorted them all by color and stored them in glass cigar/cigarette containers and old medicine bottles. Besides stare at them (and marvel at her organizational skills), I officially have no idea what to do with all of these beads. What would you make?

How fun is this packaging?

More cowbell...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:40:00 +0000

I literally have a fever. Unfortunately, more cowbell isn't going to cut it. If you've been wondering why I've been so grumpy and miserable lately, it's because EZ E (viral infection), PRH (double ear infections), and Kicky (pneumonia and double ear infections) have all been sick since Christmas. Luckily, they all seem to be in the clear. I remained relatively unscathed- until yesterday. I'm taking myself to the doctor and then I'm coming home to read The Bucolic Plague and watch the Christopher Walken SNL Collection (somehow, besides Justin Timberlake, he's become my favorite guest on SNL). This sign used to hang in the bathroom of the little house we rented.

High five...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:58:00 +0000

My five favorite things from around blogland recently (the 'dream farm' edition).

Jen @ Rambling Renovators

Lara Kimmerer

pretty little weddings

Becki Kempton

~~I'm still trying to find the original source for this photo- please let me know if you know.~~

The Inspired Room

coco + kelley

Mindy Gayer

*thanks for finding the source, Elizabeth!

How not to force bulbs...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:09:00 +0000

The strange lack of snow so far this Winter has accommodated our habit of randomly wandering around our yard, trying to guess what plants are what. The babes and I found a huge pile of bulbs by our quince tree (one of the few plants we can identify) and brought a few inside to try to force. I've never forced bulbs before, but it didn't take too long to figure out that our toothpick and tape attempt wasn't working out. We took to the interwebs and round two appears to be working out a bit better. January has also brought a lot of game-playing; this particular game involved kicking up your feet...

Puzzles have been pretty popular too. This puzzle from moomah was a gift from our thoughtful and talented cousin, Heather Williamson...

I'm temporarily putting the bathroom renovation out of my mind. I really appreciate your encouragement! How are you spending your January so far?

Renovation blahs...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

A tiny sliver of our bathroom project. Why not share a photo of the whole room? Well, as far as DIY renovations go, the small bathroom project has become a bit demoralizing. It may be the combination of the winter ick that's set in at our house, coupled with a poor choice in lower wall covering (wainscoting), but we're starting to feel like maybe we should just scrap our first try and go for a second. Perhaps I'd consider that option had I not screamed my fool head off so much while wallpapering. The wallpaper itself came from my friend Renee. It's a vintage, hand-screened paper designed by Alan Campbell (the pattern is called Criss Cross) and I happen to love how unexpected it is in our otherwise white-walled home. Funky wallpaper aside, the bathroom is a hot mess. Here's my plan: I'm going to paint the wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall and play with scale a bit more. It's not like it can get any worse than this, right? What's that saying about champagne taste and a beer budget? Um, yeah...I'm so there.

This weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

I think you can guess what we'll be doing this weekend. Here's the list:

hang trim in the bathroom
do something about the bathroom floors
clean out the weeds behind our poor barn
pretend we can fix the barn roof right now
make beer on Sunday
make rainbow paper chains

Like how I snuck in 'make beer'? What are you doing this weekend? Have a good one and I'll see you on Monday- with photos of our bathroom. I promise!

Bathroom update...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:33:00 +0000

I've rarely met a DIY project that I didn't like. Not all are fun, but wallpapering our miniscule bathroom had to be one of the most difficult projects I've tackled in this renovation. Even refinishing 1600 square feet of hardwood floors seemed easier! I spent the greater part of yesterday teary-eyed and swearing and, by the end of the day, looked a bit like Gene Simmons crying in full makeup. Yowzers! I was, however, determined to hang that wallpaper and am proud to report that I did finish it. I also painted the doors, cleaned and replaced hardware, and installed a light and mirror. I had hoped to share photos of our finished bathroom renovation project today, but we still have to finish the trim and do something about the floors. With the exception of the floors, we will be done with everything today, so I wouldn't say that my challenge to finish the project by Friday was a complete failure. No matter what degree of finished that bathroom is in, I promise to share photos on Monday. In the meantime, I leave you with our next project...the back of our barn (see stages of that project here, here, and here)! Any roofing suppliers out there who want to lend a girl a hand?

Living room in progress...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:03:00 +0000

I've only ever shared a small part of our living room and thought it was about time I share a little more. I must warn you that these photos are decidedly un-styled...with the addition of more toys and books on the floor, this is what it pretty much looks like on a daily basis. The room leans a bit more bohemian than I typically prefer, but with two kids under the age of 4, I'm OK with that. My philosophy has always been that this is their house too; that doesn't mean that our kids shouldn't learn how to take care of things, it does mean that they should feel just as comfortable as we do and that we shouldn't freak out over spilled grape juice. I digress.

We changed around the living room this week because books were piled everywhere and I couldn't take it anymore. Most of our books had filled the weird little woodstove room until PRH knocked down a wall. After that, we had to scatter them all over the house while we made a decision about what to do with them. We've finally decided to make a giant built-in bookshelf/media cabinet on one wall in the living room. In the meantime, I've piled all of the books and DVD's where the shelf will eventually go.

The couch (aka the orange beast) is temporary. Our other couch was ruined in our move, so we found this one on craigslist until we can find something we really like (perhaps one that's a normal size?). We also recently inherited my childhood coffee table (chicken coop) from my brother and his girlfriend. We took the glass off so EZ E and Kicky wouldn't hurt themselves and now it's become a depository for toys and bits of paper. It is handy to have a spot for a book or drink, but I'm not sure that the coop is sticking around for long. The rugs on the floor are actually two kilims that I found on ebay for $1 each.

I put scentless candles in every jar I can find. It makes dark winter nights that much cozier.

I swapped a chair with my mom for this industrial shelf. It came from a local, now defunct, shoe factory. Kicky's horse barn sits on top and can be taken down when (or if) she ever wants to play with it. That particular purchase may have been more for mommy than Kicky. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for said barn has yet to wear off on her or EZ E.

We mark everyone's height on the door to the dining room. I keep forgetting to mark our friends' heights when they visit. This door leads into our dining room and kitchen.

This pile of books is opposite the couch, our ancient television sits on top of that cabinet, and we found the little red lamp in our shed. Don't worry, librarians, PRH will build a proper bookshelf and I promise not to stack books like that in the future. See the texture on the wall? Ugh. It's just screaming, "Get rid of me! I don't like being textured either!".

These photos will help give a better sense of the whole room. The little woodstove room is attached to the living room. Design dilemmas galore, but that's a renovation project for a different day, right?

Mudroom update...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:47:00 +0000

I was going through photos yesterday and realized that I hadn't given an update on the mudroom in a while. The photo above is a tiny look. The biggest issue with the mudroom is that it's never been properly insulated and has low ceilings. We're eventually going to take the whole room out, so it didn't make sense to spend a lot of money on it. However, the hook-ups for the washer and dryer are in this uninsulated room, so we decided to build a heated, insulated closet to house those appliances. PRH built the closet (you can see he also built shelves for his winemaking equipment) and we found this old door out in the barn. It works perfectly and the washer/dryer problem is solved (they're both tucked behind that sliding door). Obviously, we still need to finish hanging the drywall in a few spots, mud the walls, and do something with the floor, but it's come a long way from where it was when we first bought the house.

The photos below show what the mudroom looked like when we bought the house. The walls and ceilings were covered in moldy paneling and some rodents/animals had built nests inside that little closet thing (bottom right photo). Even the pest inspector was afraid to climb in there...

My parents helped us rip everything out and we discovered the original clapboard siding under the rotten paneling. The house has vinyl siding, but I'm assuming the original clapboard is underneath. I'd prefer clapboard, but we have no idea what condition it's in (or if it's even there!). Since the vinyl siding is acting as a layer of insulation, we'll have to wait until we insulate the whole house to find out what's underneath.

Here's that nest area that I was talking about. Ewww.

This is the door to our kitchen. The door has since been painted, the floors have been painted and, with the exception of where the clapboard is, drywall has been put up in the whole room. I still have to paint the clapboard, but it's too cold right now.

Here's a shot looking towards the back door. We've since hung drywall and took out all of the 2 x 4's on the ceiling and walls. Since we didn't insulate the room and are eventually taking the whole room out, we decided to leave the ceiling exposed. I like the contrast of wood with drywall, so I'm hoping it'll look OK when everything's said and done.

Bathroom update: The doors are painted, the sink is patched, and I think I'm ready to wallpaper. Today I'm going to put a third coat on the doors, clean/replace hardware, and maybe wallpaper. Fingers crossed!

Bathroom inspiration...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:14:00 +0000

After seeing the bathroom we started with, I'm sure you'll agree that much inspiration was needed. The biggest inspiration was a bathroom I saw at a photo shoot (I wrote about it here). The house was gorgeous, but a tiny bathroom under the main stairway was what I left thinking about. I thought I'd share a few other bathrooms that I have floating around in my mind. The bathroom above was designed by Gregory Mellor (image found via seesaw). I'm loving the masculine vibe going on here: the portraits, the matching pedestal sinks, the dark mirrors and touches of brass. The bathroom directly below was designed by Chase Booth (originally seen in Domino Magazine, image found here). Here's what I love: the light above the mirror, the natural materials, and the curtain on a track (an idea for our upstairs bathroom).

Emersonmade's sink (image found via Design*Sponge) made my heart skip a beat, and inspired me to search for sinks on craigslist. We scored our vintage cast iron pedestal sink for less than $25.

I pretty much love everything about this bathroom designed by Ghislaine Vinas Interior Design (image by Elizabeth Felicella found via cococozy). The super traditional wainscoting makes me swoon and I adore that wallpaper.

The mirror in Lauren Bradshaw's bathroom (image found via Design*Sponge) is lovely and the dark walls with the subway tile? Absolutely!

Design*Sponge) Katie Quinn Davies' bathroom is in my dream category. I have two words: minimalist perfection.

I'm still trying to figure out the common denominator in all of these bathrooms. Any thoughts?

Here's our bathroom progress report: the walls are prepped for wallpaper and I painted the ceiling. Today I'm painting the doors (yes, there are TWO doors in that tiny bathroom), picking up the wallpaper supplies I forgot to purchase, and patching a spot on the sink. I've never wallpapered, so I'm trying to work up the nerve to do so tomorrow. Any helpful tips or sites with helpful tips?

Project 1 (2012)...

noreply@blogger.com (Aesthetic Outburst...) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I had hoped to have our first floor bathroom finished before 2012. It's really my fault that it didn't happen. PRH installed the new sink the first week we bought the house, and finished the drywall months ago. Then I was waiting to make a wallpaper decision, which my sweet friend Renee solved by sending me oodles of incredible vintage wallpaper. My most recent (bad) excuse has been the weird hibernation mode I go into after October every year. Enough already, right?! We need a finished bathroom! So, I'm challenging myself to finish the bathroom by Friday. I took the two photos above before we bought the house. Paneling, hideous linoleum floors, a sink base from the dark ages, and a faux gold medicine cabinet...yowzers. I pulled out the sink base myself while PRH was working on something else. I had to call in back-up (my dad), but luckily we got it out because it was leaking like crazy. I pulled out the linoleum floors next (again, much to PRH's chagrin)...

I started removing the gunk from the floors...

and decided that the walls needed to come out. Can I just tell you how happy it made PRH to hear me ripping out the paneled walls? I'm kidding, of course. He was more like, "Abbey!!! What are you doing?! Why do we have to do this now?!". I changed the subject and asked him to install the cast iron sink we found on craigslist...

Then he installed the drywall and a new door, and that's where we've been for months. It's about time I get off my lazy-renovation butt. Friday is the goal, peeps! Wish we luck and look for photos at the end of this week.