Weekend Projects-nursery & drapes

Along with digging ditches, I was able to get another couple projects done to get ready for baby and express my creative side.  I finished a baby owl blanket (theme is owls-but not too many, I hate it when baby rooms throw up with a theme) and crib skirt as well as hung some shades in the nursery.  I also bought a toy shelving unit from Ikea that will go in the closet and ordered a rocking chair and ottoman-next weekend, patch concrete and then assembly of the shelving unit.  We still need to get an area rug, hang some decor and switch out some 2 prong for 3 prong plugs for the nursery and then it will be all ready for baby.

 

28 weeks!

Another little project completed last weekend by Steve and I was finally hanging the drapery hardware that I bought on sale at rejuvenation last year and the Peyton Drapes that I also bought when they were on sale at Pottery barn last year.  They need a little reinforcing with screws that are threaded to the end but otherwise, they are looking good and it is nice to have privacy when we want it :)

Twas the night before....

Plumbing-

Tomorrow starts a project we have been meaning to do since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago. Deposit for materials are down and Bob the plumber will be coming over tomorrow morning to start the sewer line replacement and then he will start on the water lines.  In addition to replacing all the existing plumbing, we are adding a kitchenette sink to the basement, full basement bathroom, sprinkler system plumbing, 2 new hose bibs (finally one in the backyard and one towards the front of the house), moving the water heater, and lots of other small upgrades.  It will be great to have plumbing that does not have rust coming out of the pipes each time we get home from vacation.    Lots of work ahead as we need to re-concrete over all the sewer and put up bathroom walls just as soon as the sewer lines are done so that he can get finished. 

sewer line-note hole we found at top after digging out-old pipes, eh?

laundry sink faucet-very archaic but has served its purpose well

Steve's markings for new plumbing

another part of the 35' long sewer line getting replaced, notice all the dirt piles we dug out over the weekend

lines that were replaced in 2006 and were done all wrong....

what you get for spending $500 and hiring a plumber without a license

My talented Aunt!

I purchased embroidery kits by Ann Wallace over a year ago when they were on sale to make an arts and crafts runner and pillow for our home along with another kit to make a pillow for my sister's home.  Well, I did this thinking it would be a great way to exert my creativity as well as save a bunch of money being that the finished pillows cost ~$100 each.

WELL.....fast forward over a year with a 1/3 way done pillow for my sister that looks terrible.  Anyways, my generous and extremely talented aunt offered to make them for me and did so in less than a week including shipping time.  Anyways, here are pictures of the finished products (I did sew the back and zipper onto the pillow myself)-I am ready to mail her my sister's pillow as well as design and mail her materials to make another pillow for our living room.

Major Prize

I totally forgot to post the major prize I won back in early December.  I am in love with Lonesomeville Pottery which is made in SE Portland and sold at Rejuvenation as well as Kitchen Kaboodle.  Well, when Steve and I were ordering our new couch back in November (won't arrive for another month), I noticed that the Lonesomeville potters were going to be at Kitchen Kaboodle the following month selling and signing pieces.     

Anyways, to make a long story a little shorter, we went and when we got there it was already over.  However, the lady said we could sign up for a free drawing of a big piece, so well, what's to lose, we did and I got an e-mail the next day that I had won a cedar waxwings vase that is 13"h x10"w x7"d with a golden oak glaze!   It is awesome and I could not believe how perfectly it matches our other mantle pottery and how it looks!   Totally in love and our first really nice piece of pottery (everything else is damaged in some way although most is sort of hidden by the way it is placed).  

View their website

What have we been up to?

Besides being busy brewing a baby, Steve and I have been madly organizing and cleaning in order to hopefully have enough room to get a plumber into the house to get all of our plumbing re-done, move the water heater and add a bathroom and sink in the basement as well as a couple hose bibs.  You can also see pictures of one night when I came home to find Steve (as he will frequently wait to do until I am gone) tearing out the wall that connects our laundry room to the rest of the basement and claiming it had to be done in order to get the plumbing re-done-yea right!!!!  I do have to admit that while it probably won't help much with plumbing, it makes our long -term basement layout easier to imagine.

 

Steve taking out the wall that connects that basement

 

All the drywall he had to move in order to take out the wall, this is drywall we planned on using over 3 yrs ago in the basement but here it waits

 

Please note Steve's mismatched shoes-he claims he put on the leather one in order to move drywall but I claim lazy and it being what he found first

 

New "open" and messy laundry room-the washer and dryer clear the ceiling by about 1/4"

 

What I have been working on-26 weeks

 

goodwill pile after cleaning out our closets and some more items

still left from Steve's parents house...I love getting rid of things!

Gamble House

Well, I took some pictures over Christmas when we were in LA and got to visit the Gamble House in Pasadena designed by Greene and Greene...built in 1908 and a stunning example of arts and crafts in the early 20th century.  Here are a few pictures to either inspire or maybe just make you a little jealous of what the gamble house had...you could not take pictures inside so visit the website to see more: Gamble House

Bathroom Tile Design Ideas

Well, with just 3 1/2 months to go until the baby comes, we decided that it is definitely time to get the bathroom remodel started....so we need to decide on bathroom tile design for both the walls (tile will go half way up with exception of at least 6' up in the shower area)-subway tile with some sort of border as well as hex floor tile design.  I would like to keep to black and white so that we can change out tile and paint throughout the years as we desire.  Let me know if you have any pictures that you especially like.