tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24484944572837894842024-03-13T06:44:44.852-06:00slc202Adventures in real estateKerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.comBlogger243125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-79892141680001358112012-02-09T13:36:00.000-07:002012-02-09T13:36:00.649-07:00Powder roomAs I've mentioned, our first floor is very open. The living room, dining area, and kitchen all bleed together. It's great for entertaining — there is tons of space for people to hang out, and if we're keeping an eye on the stove during a party we're never really out of the action. We love it.<br />
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However, it is tough to figure out how to fill the space. I worry about strong statements in one part of the first floor that may clash or not carry over to the rest of it. As a result, we've been very conservative about adding pieces and statements to the first floor, and we tend to play it safe with a neutral couch or a fail-proof dining table.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">But it's the dead of winter, people, and dammit, I want some color. And I want it cheap. Enter: <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery?cd=2077-30&col=CP#ce_s=hot%20lips">Hot Lips</a>.</div><br />
Our powder room is its own little space, and it was sorely in need of some attention. It had one blue wall (our fav, colonial blue), a couple of afterthought photos on the wall (one of which had no glass in the frame because we are high class), and a junky wastebasket that left scratches on the wall.<br />
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No longer.<br />
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In progress:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Pm2_bDVR-4/Ty8HZOJ6EtI/AAAAAAAACgg/v2hvs3FhBt4/s1600/IMG_2791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Pm2_bDVR-4/Ty8HZOJ6EtI/AAAAAAAACgg/v2hvs3FhBt4/s320/IMG_2791.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vBcB2dGsPus/Ty8Hbmkrf5I/AAAAAAAACgo/US5Ji2CeTqI/s1600/IMG_2792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vBcB2dGsPus/Ty8Hbmkrf5I/AAAAAAAACgo/US5Ji2CeTqI/s320/IMG_2792.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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Tai ceded this one to me, and I ran with it. The trick, Hot Lips lovers, is to make it so inconvenient to move the bathroom fixtures in and out that once it's done your husband's abhorrence of the color doesn't compare to the hassle of taking apart a sink and toilet.<br />
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I, on the other hand, genuinely love the color and selected it above <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2012/01/changes.html">other equally questionable options</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbjIUkV-4_Y/Ty8HgP5e9jI/AAAAAAAACg4/H2gOE8w_3ms/s1600/IMG_2822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbjIUkV-4_Y/Ty8HgP5e9jI/AAAAAAAACg4/H2gOE8w_3ms/s320/IMG_2822.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uoOKKbyHvj8/Ty8HjLAjlbI/AAAAAAAAChA/sJFpPSAN6sE/s1600/IMG_2824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uoOKKbyHvj8/Ty8HjLAjlbI/AAAAAAAAChA/sJFpPSAN6sE/s320/IMG_2824.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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The camera phone doesn't really know what to make of it, though, as you can tell by the near-red to deep-magenta depictions here. And maybe my eyeballs don't know what to make of it either. While I was painting, I'd have to come out of the room every few minutes and blink hard for a while before I could see straight.<br />
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My favorite thing, though, is the combination of the pink against the blue, along with this <a href="http://toddchilton.com/">Todd Chilton</a> painting we have in that area. I think the jewel-tone pink fits perfectly with the grays and the blues.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6igbPKRe-RY/Ty8JSJ8vGwI/AAAAAAAAChc/sawqAg8oJbc/s1600/IMG_2844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6igbPKRe-RY/Ty8JSJ8vGwI/AAAAAAAAChc/sawqAg8oJbc/s320/IMG_2844.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
My second favorite thing about this, though, is the story the paint store guy told me as he was mixing my quart. One of the store's clients, a "gentleman's club from somewhere along State Street, I think" came in and requested a few gallons of Hot Lips. The club owner painted the outside of his "establishment" in Hot Lips because "you know, it was, um, a gentleman's club. Then, the city came through and made them repaint in gray and black three days later."<br />
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Hot Lips is so hot that even a strip club isn't allowed to use it. I'm proud it found a home in our powder room.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-58796699640287183082012-02-08T09:07:00.007-07:002012-02-08T09:07:01.091-07:00Master suite paintWhen we painted our giant wall blue, we extended the color into the north wall of our bedroom. My thinking at the time was that it was a nice statement of unbroken blue along one whole side of the house. My thinking since then is that it's boring.<br />
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(Sidenote: we were so out of our minds during the building process and we had to make so many snap decisions, that we might be undoing some of those last-minute picks for a few years to come. See also: kitchen, Ikea.)<br />
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So our master bedroom had one colonial blue wall with a few hastily placed paintings. As we've lived in the house a years, the bedroom just felt kind of thrown together — no deliberate decisions or direction. I wanted something calming and neutral so that the new paint color could match whatever we decide to do with new bedroom furniture in the future. We agreed on <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery?cd=1430&col=CC#ce_s=spring%20flowers">spring flowers</a>. This is the second-girliest color in the house, but it works in the space because it's a shifter. Depending on the light, it can look like a barely-there gray, or a deeper blue. It almost never looks violet/lavender, something we discovered after having the chip on the wall for a couple of weeks before painting.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-T0cplA_JA/Ty753OWYpOI/AAAAAAAACfs/avNxtAbe57Y/s1600/IMG_2835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-T0cplA_JA/Ty753OWYpOI/AAAAAAAACfs/avNxtAbe57Y/s320/IMG_2835.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Eventually, we'd like to replace the bedroom set with something in a lighter shade of wood (maybe walnut-esque), and I think it will look better than our current espresso color scheme.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KeG6PrvAg9M/Ty757Gez1uI/AAAAAAAACf0/_1H8GAKW6Zw/s1600/IMG_2837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KeG6PrvAg9M/Ty757Gez1uI/AAAAAAAACf0/_1H8GAKW6Zw/s320/IMG_2837.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I also love <a href="http://www.flor.com/good-vibrations-turquoise.html#">this style from FLOR</a>, and am looking forward a day when we have enough disposable income to put down squares of this under a new, lighter bedroom set.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CxQtPwsdbJU/Ty8B9YGkc6I/AAAAAAAACgY/c104b0yPihY/s1600/233131718180094877_xnuCNxby_f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CxQtPwsdbJU/Ty8B9YGkc6I/AAAAAAAACgY/c104b0yPihY/s320/233131718180094877_xnuCNxby_f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The view from the top of the stairs:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p4SyKADTQ9k/Ty76Dxrm0pI/AAAAAAAACgE/MSVZOTEoRR0/s1600/IMG_2842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p4SyKADTQ9k/Ty76Dxrm0pI/AAAAAAAACgE/MSVZOTEoRR0/s320/IMG_2842.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
You can see just a teensy bit of the new color, but what's important is that the colonial blue ends at some point. It's a pretty modest change but one that feels good as the first step in reworking the bedroom.<br />
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Our bathroom was totally white and also needed some help. Again, we had a lot of hasty decisions that added up to a thrown-together bathroom — a crappy Ikea towel rack with crappy Ikea towel hooks, a crappy Ikea TP holder, etc. I took out all of that. Tai mudded over the nasty gouges in our wall from all that Ikea shiz, and then I painted with <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery?cd=2133-60&col=CP#ce_s=sidewalk%20gray">sidewalk gray</a>.<br />
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Sample patch:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5smXdAbfVes/Ty8OnSewWpI/AAAAAAAAChk/Xto7UpDUP20/s1600/IMG_2776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5smXdAbfVes/Ty8OnSewWpI/AAAAAAAAChk/Xto7UpDUP20/s320/IMG_2776.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Final product:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j16HIFrh3t4/Ty75_ssNFyI/AAAAAAAACf8/OswWHCdqdB8/s1600/IMG_2840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j16HIFrh3t4/Ty75_ssNFyI/AAAAAAAACf8/OswWHCdqdB8/s320/IMG_2840.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
It's barely different from the bedroom, and it's light enough to not interfere with putting on makeup or stumbling around blurry-eyed in the middle of the night. I also really like that it's neutral enough to accommodate pretty much whatever color scheme of towels/shower curtain that we come up with in the future, making change an easy prospect.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-8428337513852523592012-02-07T07:27:00.000-07:002012-02-07T07:27:00.791-07:00Check itLook at these little dudes!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRY5AW0_hlk/Ty8QpgiOh_I/AAAAAAAAChs/QGsKOH9ntZQ/s1600/IMG_2845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VRY5AW0_hlk/Ty8QpgiOh_I/AAAAAAAAChs/QGsKOH9ntZQ/s320/IMG_2845.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Evidence of a mild winter. I hope we don't get socked with something in March that kills off our baby lettuce.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-72924936430970489882012-02-05T15:07:00.000-07:002012-02-05T15:07:10.943-07:00PaintWhen we renovated our two condos, our standard m.o. was to blitz the place white and add a few accent walls of color here and there. Tai had a great color palette in his first place that pre-dated me, and we generally stuck to it — a pretty yellow, a good blue, a nice red, a pleasant green, etc. When we moved from Wasatch Towers to Center Street, we basically used the same set of colors, but just shuffled the rooms around. I felt kind of lame about this, so when it was time to build the house and pick interior colors, rather than do the same thing again, we sort of just didn't do much. <div><br />
</div><div>We have a giant wall in our dining area and upstairs hallway that is a <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery?cd=1677&col=CC#ce_s=colonial%20blue">mellow shade of blue</a>. But because our first floor is so open, we didn't really do anything else. Then, we added a <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2010/07/barter.html">new couch and a giant painting</a>. Then, a <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2012/01/tree-to-table.html">new table came along</a>. We filled in with <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2011/04/simple-seats.html">a few counter stools</a>, and all of a sudden it felt like we actually lived in the place. It's been a slow process, but it finally felt like it was time to paint. </div><div><br />
</div><div>We have two small bedrooms and our master bedroom upstairs; all needed some attention. The first bedroom is what is informally known as the guest room. (We have had house guests exactly twice.) I saw this photo in a recent Dwell and really loved the pop of dark blue with white all around. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kg7LyYIPjpk/Ty76OA4gB6I/AAAAAAAACgQ/nZq6nzeQMac/s1600/black-villa-kids-bedroom-owl-decoration-from-raumgerecht-jonne-portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kg7LyYIPjpk/Ty76OA4gB6I/AAAAAAAACgQ/nZq6nzeQMac/s320/black-villa-kids-bedroom-owl-decoration-from-raumgerecht-jonne-portrait.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>With our light bamboo flooring upstairs, it seemed like a good inspiration. So this is the current state of the guest room:</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6NedPe7csM/Ty75t8sklVI/AAAAAAAACfU/VD-Mg9UJIzE/s1600/IMG_2827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6NedPe7csM/Ty75t8sklVI/AAAAAAAACfU/VD-Mg9UJIzE/s320/IMG_2827.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qi4VLEnFtEY/Ty75wbFxB_I/AAAAAAAACfc/gBCFJVR6_qs/s1600/IMG_2830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qi4VLEnFtEY/Ty75wbFxB_I/AAAAAAAACfc/gBCFJVR6_qs/s320/IMG_2830.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I wonder if all those unhung frames are what's keeping the Dwell editors from calling. Or maybe it's the exposed box spring and lack of bed comforter? So picky. (Also, I moved my husband's rifles to be out of the frame. But, Dwell, we can always put them back in for the magazine shoot.)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Whatever. Work in progress, right? </div><div><br />
</div><div>As it turns out, the color I ended up using in the guest room is the darkest hue on the same palette as colonial blue — something called <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery?cd=1680&col=CC#ce_s=colonial%20blue">Hudson Bay</a>. So waspy. I love it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then, we had the issue of the other small bedroom. I have a hard time with this one. This room was always intended to be our nursery. We have now lost two babies and don't know if/when we'll be able to have a child. It's been in limbo before we even finished the house, and it has stayed that way for the last two years. For my own sanity, I needed to pick a color and move on with the room so that it wasn't a white box waiting for something.</div><div><br />
</div><div>This room gets strong southern sun (our first choice of color — a bright orange — made the place look like a bag of Cheetos). I wanted a warm color, but had to balance that with the retinal ZOWIE factor from afternoon sun in the winter. So I went back to a tried and true yellow called <a href="http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery?cd=2018-50&col=CP#ce_s=morning%20sunshine">morning sunshine</a>.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dVOdAlKkhDY/Ty75zukD8iI/AAAAAAAACfk/s2SNSiZ_hVw/s1600/IMG_2833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dVOdAlKkhDY/Ty75zukD8iI/AAAAAAAACfk/s2SNSiZ_hVw/s320/IMG_2833.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>And that room is even filthier than the other one, so that's all you get to see of it until I get my act together and figure out what to do with yarn and sewing supplies. (Also, I spy the makings of yet another project there on the floor. More on that later.) Overall, though, I'm really happy with the combination of the strong indigo in the guest room and this gentle yellow in the sewing room. It feels like a nice balance on the second floor.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Next up, bedroom and bathroom color. It's an exciting life, folks.</div>Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-85349687836197430222012-01-23T14:56:00.000-07:002012-01-23T14:56:31.746-07:00ChangesThe home improvement bug sunk its fangs into me HARD at the beginning of the year, so we have changes afoot. Here's a sneak peek:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-usu3WHpktLk/Tx3XZnqer5I/AAAAAAAACfM/-9JFJHjpPwA/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-usu3WHpktLk/Tx3XZnqer5I/AAAAAAAACfM/-9JFJHjpPwA/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We've been quite busy, and I'll post some documentation soon.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-44878620813659431682012-01-08T13:48:00.001-07:002012-01-08T13:48:01.486-07:00Tree to tableThere's nothing quite like chopping down a tree and turning it into a table. But to get to this,<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFx_mUYmndM/TwPeC_-7gpI/AAAAAAAACJg/TJOL-bgWAik/s1600/IMG_2854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFx_mUYmndM/TwPeC_-7gpI/AAAAAAAACJg/TJOL-bgWAik/s320/IMG_2854.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
You have to do a lot of this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><embed flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2F100601109394064840517%2Falbumid%2F5693641571711581505%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCPaU34vZtbr3nwE%26hl%3Den_US" height="267" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed></div><br />
It helps if you convince a talented little brother to swap an old table for design work on the new:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJkFM3dW1BA/TwPitUPXoAI/AAAAAAAACUc/RHg1DAe9gI4/s1600/IMG_0877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJkFM3dW1BA/TwPitUPXoAI/AAAAAAAACUc/RHg1DAe9gI4/s320/IMG_0877.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And then it's not even sad when you have to say good-bye to <a href="http://www.dwr.com/product/spanna-table.do?sortby=ourPicks">the table you bought just before you got married</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rCmbajR6F10/TwPjUaXWW1I/AAAAAAAACW4/X-_yxzBNmFM/s1600/IMG_2711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rCmbajR6F10/TwPjUaXWW1I/AAAAAAAACW4/X-_yxzBNmFM/s320/IMG_2711.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
We love the new table. It fits perfectly with the rest of the house and it feels like it's been here since day one. Quinn did a wonderful job for us; he considered all the other finishes, angles, and design elements in our home and designed the new table to fit with those. The colors of the wood -- mostly plum with some lighter shades of rich brown -- blend so beautifully with the finished steel. The table seats 10 comfortably and 12 in a pinch. It arrived the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, just in time to host dinner for some family members.<br />
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Tai built the wood sections (as you can see from the slideshow), and we had the metal base fabricated by a few of Quinn's contacts from school. All told, we estimate that we spent roughly 8 to 10 percent of what it would have cost us to purchase a similar piece at retail. We now have an heirloom piece of furniture with a great story and a ton of sweat equity.<br />
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We're still waiting for Quinn to pick a name for it. Suggestions welcome.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-87516392791449112712012-01-05T14:23:00.000-07:002012-01-05T14:23:00.554-07:00PlantsThis past summer was year two of garden experimentation. I knew *slightly* more than I did for the summer of 2010. One of those was that squash and zukes need so much space, so this year I gave it to them. They returned the favor by producing a gazillion spaghetti squash (which store so nicely in our pantry over the winter), and more zucchini than we could bear to look at.<br />
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I think we won't be doing zucchini next summer.<br />
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The creeping thyme finally took off, filling in a couple of nice spots between pavers, and elsewhere our trees and grasses started to look like they belonged in the place. I got some onions and shallots for the first time, which was also fun:<br />
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We still have no idea what to do with tomato plants, though; ours grew up then out then fell over and killed the grass. I planted a currant variety, a cherry roma variety and a Cherokee purple. The currant produced the least but was my favorite. Tomato candy:<br />
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Not sure if/where we'll put tomatoes next summer. They are a bit too robust for our garden boxes and we haven't really cultivated the other parts of the yard. Whatever.<br />
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And I'll be planting the carrots in a deeper box this spring.<br />
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The real fun, as usual, was out front in the two long skinny spaces that frame the walk to our front door. Last year, I had a sugar pie pumpkin and a Cinderella pumpkin on either side. This year I planted a melon variety (and can't remember the specific name) and a moon-and-stars watermelon. As much as growing plants can be entertaining, these two certainly were.<br />
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The melon produced the sweetest, most fragrant fruit we've ever had. We shared it with work friends, relatives and neighbors before we finally got tired of it and lost out on harvesting a few melons in time. (At a certain point that heady-sweet smell starts to get a bit cloying and a little less appetizing.)<br />
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But the watermelon was so, so awesome. We got four edible fruits out of it, ranging from about 20 pounds up to 41 pounds each. And it tasted a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Here's the watermelon in the works in late August:<br />
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And here it is a few weeks later on its way to a family party:<br />
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The watermelon butcher of Lincoln Street:<br />
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Our only complaint here is that we didn't get as many individual fruits as we would have liked. I think I'll try for a smaller variety next year in the same spot so that we get more fruits (easier to share with people) and sooner in the season -- I was still waiting for watermelon to ripen at Halloween.<br />
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Landscaping-wise, the scrub oak trees in the front yard appear to be dying off one by one. We had to pull one this summer and another one looked dead at the end of the fall. We figure that we'll have to replace those with something else this spring -- I'm really liking blue atlas cedar trees, but I'm worried they'll get too big for the space. I also want to add a few more feather reed grasses in the front parking strips for symmetry, and I'd love to see whether I can get a pumpkin vine to grow in the space under our street tree (which just got hacked, ahem -- severely trimmed, by a municipal arborist crew).Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-62466376981524590662012-01-03T21:20:00.001-07:002012-01-05T16:35:30.051-07:00Enclosing the yardEven though 2011 is over, I want to catch up the blog with the rest of the projects from last year. We were relatively busy with lots of fun things, and I want to share those before I start going on about plans for 2012.<br />
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May and June involved a lot of plant watching. The long wet spring made great conditions for all sorts of green stuff...<br />
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...including some spinach that really took off once the sun came out.<br />
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We also laid mulch down in the yard, subsequent to putting down weed fabric. We got our mulch from the gravel pit in North Salt Lake, and imposed on relatives with pick-up trucks to get it home.<br />
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Then, Tai spent the second half of June and the first part of July working on the rest of the fence sections we needed in order to enclose our yard. It felt so, so good to have privacy and protection from the neighborhood critters who kept using our backyard as a thoroughfare/bathroom.<br />
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He also re-sealed the cedar on the house and garage.<br />
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Closing in the yard required that Tai build a gate by our side-yard patio and another back by the garage on the alley. He set the posts and built the gate structure all by himself...because I was too busy (lazy) with other very important projects (reading in the sun).<br />
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</div><div>And the side patio gate:</div><div><br />
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We also sat back and watched the plants grow (more on that in another post). Then Tai got restless and decided it was time to turn <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2011/05/walnut-tree.html">those walnut planks</a> into a table. Lots more coming.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-70989100845742014072011-05-31T08:58:00.001-06:002011-05-31T08:58:00.333-06:00Yard mishapsThe day after we finished the south-side fence, we decided to get serious about laying down the rest of the weed fabric. We have plans for mulch and drip-line sprinklers, but we wanted that barrier layer down first to save us some weeding down the road (we hope). It's not exciting work, so I present only one finished picture:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kz6eQzB493o/Td6_hFqvbWI/AAAAAAAAB1I/79I4pvSqRJY/s1600/north+side+weed+fabric.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kz6eQzB493o/Td6_hFqvbWI/AAAAAAAAB1I/79I4pvSqRJY/s320/north+side+weed+fabric.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Then, I wanted to take advantage of the small gap between the finished fence and the retaining wall along our south patio to plant some vines that will eventually grow up over the fence:<br />
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In the course of digging the holes for those vines (thank you, <a href="http://www.millcreekgardens.com/">Millcreek Gardens</a> Groupon...), Tai got a little overenthusiastic with his post-hole digger and struck the neighbors' sprinkler supply line. We noted that line when we built the house and poured the retaining wall — it's on our property now as a throw-back to the days when their house and our lot was one piece of property — but had just forgotten that it was there. One geyser and a frantic dash for their water shut-off valve later, we had ourselves a lovely mud hole:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EUhfX56duLc/Td6_gS_R22I/AAAAAAAAB1E/tMbsjONbfcw/s1600/mud+hole.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EUhfX56duLc/Td6_gS_R22I/AAAAAAAAB1E/tMbsjONbfcw/s320/mud+hole.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2010/05/sprinklers.html">Tai is a total pro at sprinkler lines now</a>, though, so the only casualty of that evening was the cancellation of BBQ plans (and our DIY home improvement pride). Instead, we dashed to Home Depot for a few inexpensive PVC elbow joints (we still had 1" line leftover from last spring's installation) and some primer+glue for the pipe. Tai had it fixed within an hour, and cleaned up by the end of the night.<br />
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So now we have a finished south fence and a fleet of trumpeter vines growing along its base. Now all we need is some sunshine with which to enjoy all the hard work...Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-82165966880152136492011-05-27T08:11:00.001-06:002011-05-27T08:11:00.344-06:00Lettuce harvestHere's the picture of that lettuce harvest I was bragging about. Last September's planting yielded enough mixed greens (butter leaf, mesclun and spinach) to wow an extended family dinner. I'll be planting again this fall in every square inch I can find...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8_xtQcONJDU/Td7CoeR1zBI/AAAAAAAAB1U/jjxdilBOWdc/s1600/lettuce+harvest.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8_xtQcONJDU/Td7CoeR1zBI/AAAAAAAAB1U/jjxdilBOWdc/s320/lettuce+harvest.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-2712154541123326372011-05-26T14:58:00.000-06:002011-05-26T14:58:52.441-06:00Finished fenceTai and his dad took a Friday off to finish the south fence, which has now completely walled in our patio and created a really nice private place for us off our dining room.<br />
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With the work the previous weekend on the post holes, the finish work went a bit faster, although it still took the better part of a day. First, they prepped the bottom rail:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-omxKGI7pgd8/Td69evyH1cI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/9lSatbPtT2s/s1600/Bottom+rail+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-omxKGI7pgd8/Td69evyH1cI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/9lSatbPtT2s/s320/Bottom+rail+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
...then the top:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RbxtDNJHD7Y/Td69imMazJI/AAAAAAAAB08/ErWakE8XLgM/s1600/top+rail+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RbxtDNJHD7Y/Td69imMazJI/AAAAAAAAB08/ErWakE8XLgM/s320/top+rail+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eb1RFJ73QaA/Td69i5cwglI/AAAAAAAAB1A/aRvtkHMzuNA/s1600/top+rail+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eb1RFJ73QaA/Td69i5cwglI/AAAAAAAAB1A/aRvtkHMzuNA/s320/top+rail+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Then, came the addition of the vertical boards: <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UZ7_X2z6Svk/Td69eHWfPWI/AAAAAAAAB0U/Ky5EaB09Bog/s1600/boards+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UZ7_X2z6Svk/Td69eHWfPWI/AAAAAAAAB0U/Ky5EaB09Bog/s320/boards+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YKeRu3JuHqc/Td69iXKzrTI/AAAAAAAAB04/VPdTQOJmM8g/s1600/Tainui.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YKeRu3JuHqc/Td69iXKzrTI/AAAAAAAAB04/VPdTQOJmM8g/s320/Tainui.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
By the end of the day, our patio smelled blissfully of fresh cedar, and the sawdust pile in the garage was a happy reminder of the work completed:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F3JnSdDdlFU/Td69hqtRntI/AAAAAAAAB0w/PMCnpPLBE9g/s1600/Sawdust+mess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F3JnSdDdlFU/Td69hqtRntI/AAAAAAAAB0w/PMCnpPLBE9g/s320/Sawdust+mess.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VGf80w14ONU/Td69fnKX9zI/AAAAAAAAB0g/hAOu27bZDuc/s1600/finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VGf80w14ONU/Td69fnKX9zI/AAAAAAAAB0g/hAOu27bZDuc/s320/finished.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7AeAwV3giLg/Td69fa0nrHI/AAAAAAAAB0c/ojehYZnYdZE/s1600/finished+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7AeAwV3giLg/Td69fa0nrHI/AAAAAAAAB0c/ojehYZnYdZE/s320/finished+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-92219915371382027852011-05-16T13:01:00.000-06:002011-05-16T13:01:01.501-06:00PlantingTo say that I didn't know what I was doing in the garden last year would be an understatement. I didn't really garden growing up and had no real experience digging in the dirt. I didn't appreciate the importance of space for mature plants, watering schedules, and hot/cool spots in the yard and sun. I thought I could do no wrong and made all manner of transplanting mistakes that killed many innocent plants. I also suspected that it would be rewarding and delicious to eat food grown in our own garden, but I had no idea how satisfying it would be.<br />
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Lessons from last year that I'm incorporating into this year's planning and gardening include:<br />
<ol><li>Plants are amazing. I love watching them grow. It's totally worth it to me to plant something just to watch it grow, but it's nice if it produces something delicious at the end of the season, too.</li>
<li>Pumpkins, zucchini, squash, and tomatoes are enormous plants and must be given lots of space. Not just one square foot. Oops.</li>
<li>Broccoli isn't really worth the trouble, even though the plants are pretty.</li>
<li>You can never plant enough cucumber vines. Home-grown cukes are incredible.</li>
<li>If the lettuce isn't in the ground by the beginning of March, forget about it.</li>
<li>On the other hand, overwintering lettuce and spinach works really well -- the other day I pulled a delicious huge harvest from the garden that was planted last September. The greens woke right up with the longer days and warmer spring weather without me having to plant a thing.</li>
<li>Overwintering carrots didn't work.</li>
<li>Our kitchen garden space is great for early and late-season gardening, but it's so hot during the summer that I am only doing warm-weather vines in that space this year. If those don't work, that garden box is coming out and I'm planting a shade tree stat.</li>
<li>Purchased seedlings need to go in the ground quickly, or they will die. Forget about tempering or hardening or whatever it's called. I will forget, and they will fry.</li>
<li>Who needs flowers? I used the un-landscaped spots in our front yard for pumpkin vines last year and loved it. It was instant landscaping at almost no cost and lots of fun to watch. This year I'll do a variation of that happy accident with melon, pumpkin, and basil.</li>
</ol><br />
Thus far this year I have planted seedlings for chives, tarragon, cilantro, strawberries, tomatoes, basil, peppers, shallots, cantaloupe, and watermelon. I've also put seeds in the ground for cucumber, rosemary, beans, peas, squash, another melon variety, and another cantaloupe variety. I have plans to plant seeds for a couple of pumpkin varieties, zucchini, more basil, and more cilantro once the weather is warm for good. Photos to follow, if/when these things survive.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-2160022215316886162011-05-11T08:21:00.002-06:002011-05-11T08:21:00.798-06:00First signs of a fenceThe first good-weather Saturday of the year last weekend meant that we were actually excited to work in the yard, despite all the digging and weeding ahead of us. We're putting in a fence on the edge of our patio, so while I went to the <a href="http://wasatchgardens.org/plant-sale">Wasatch Community Gardens plant sale</a> Tai got right to work digging the post holes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3un5m2uBVU/Tcl19B-tfuI/AAAAAAAABzY/wgMyMnxeVws/s1600/post+holes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3un5m2uBVU/Tcl19B-tfuI/AAAAAAAABzY/wgMyMnxeVws/s320/post+holes.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2wZy-8drip4/Tcl18uftDnI/AAAAAAAABzU/yPR44Q1y6kc/s1600/post+holes+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2wZy-8drip4/Tcl18uftDnI/AAAAAAAABzU/yPR44Q1y6kc/s320/post+holes+3.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
By the time I got back, he was nearly done with the five holes for this part of the fence -- it took so much less time than we thought it would. Probably because our clay hasn't yet baked into solid rock yet (July). The holes were about 30 inches deep -- the bottom six inches or so are filled with a layer of gravel to drain water away from the post base and prevent rotting, and the other 24" are filled with concrete for stability.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGKwiyQAnmQ/Tcl18BH1flI/AAAAAAAABzQ/daCaVjFXRXU/s1600/post+holes+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGKwiyQAnmQ/Tcl18BH1flI/AAAAAAAABzQ/daCaVjFXRXU/s320/post+holes+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
You can see my haul from the plant sale in the foreground. I got three <a href="http://waterwiseplants.utah.gov/default.asp?p=PlantInfo&Plant=288&Cart=">feather reed grasses</a> for our parking strip, two <a href="http://waterwiseplants.utah.gov/default.asp?p=PlantInfo&Plant=274&Cart=">creeping mahonia plants</a> to join the four others already on our north side, and a few veggie and fruit starts for our garden boxes that <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2010/05/tai-wants-you-all-to-know.html">I'm hoping to not kill this year</a>. <br />
<br />
While Tai worked on the post holes, I got down to weeding. I guess our weeding policy this year has been "if we ignore it, they'll die, right?" I faced reality and spent the morning on my hands and knees getting rid of this mess:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKeNdfvep8I/Tcl11Zx5_qI/AAAAAAAABy0/mJKPIH_f5wo/s1600/composter+weeds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKeNdfvep8I/Tcl11Zx5_qI/AAAAAAAABy0/mJKPIH_f5wo/s320/composter+weeds.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1dNKAX9qH0E/Tcl12vAghhI/AAAAAAAABy8/Ot8a6LmR1VI/s1600/May+northside+weeds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1dNKAX9qH0E/Tcl12vAghhI/AAAAAAAABy8/Ot8a6LmR1VI/s320/May+northside+weeds.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
After (I know you don't care, but this weeding caused me substantial physical pain, so I'M SHOWING THE PICTURES):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BwTRK8KdVEY/Tcl108KoxWI/AAAAAAAAByw/K63QJBmiHeg/s1600/composter+weeds+after.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BwTRK8KdVEY/Tcl108KoxWI/AAAAAAAAByw/K63QJBmiHeg/s320/composter+weeds+after.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yV0UeLM4BI/Tcl114DuGTI/AAAAAAAABy4/tVP56uPbAbE/s1600/May+northside+weeds+after.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yV0UeLM4BI/Tcl114DuGTI/AAAAAAAABy4/tVP56uPbAbE/s320/May+northside+weeds+after.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2011/04/setting-stage.html">Brother Daniel</a> came over to help Tai set and level the posts. I was making eight-legged enemies among the weeds so I don't have any pictures of the laborers. But here is evidence of their hard work:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ruuxh6H8sko/Tcl17jXX-8I/AAAAAAAABzM/giFnhBYr_IE/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ruuxh6H8sko/Tcl17jXX-8I/AAAAAAAABzM/giFnhBYr_IE/s320/photo.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pJCKGjR0Npo/Tcl17NRjX3I/AAAAAAAABzI/CaFavfZNi_I/s1600/finished+posts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pJCKGjR0Npo/Tcl17NRjX3I/AAAAAAAABzI/CaFavfZNi_I/s320/finished+posts.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Along the way I learned that you don't pre-mix concrete for post holes -- you just dump a bunch of the powdered stuff in, then add your water. Neat.<br />
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Next up for us is finishing the fence (hopefully this week, if we can get some cooperation from the weather), and leveling our remaining exposed dirt and putting down weed fabric. Before we can do that, we do have to take care of this little mishap:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nfzx2aiTD-8/Tcl13uxmmOI/AAAAAAAABzE/DbLGvtmNJpk/s1600/sliced+conduit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nfzx2aiTD-8/Tcl13uxmmOI/AAAAAAAABzE/DbLGvtmNJpk/s320/sliced+conduit.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
This gash is more than a year old and dates to <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2010/05/rain-rain-go-away.html">our appointment with the sprinkler trencher</a>. The pipe was buried rather shallowly (and the trencher wasn't really, um, paying attention), so this sliced conduit has been exposed for the last 12 months. The wires aren't live, though, so we've sort of ignored it until now. We're hoping to get our electrician out sometime this week to repair it for us.<br />
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Oh, and we finally got rid of this abomination:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xAnOqGiVlog/Tcl13LV4w_I/AAAAAAAABzA/H37deVZ-yb8/s1600/scary+mushroom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xAnOqGiVlog/Tcl13LV4w_I/AAAAAAAABzA/H37deVZ-yb8/s320/scary+mushroom.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
So now I'm sure the Smurfs are mad at us.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-51789791064637137702011-05-05T16:35:00.002-06:002011-05-05T16:46:15.220-06:00BlindedHere's the post where we test your patience for home improvement minutiae. We finally, finally got window coverings. We've lived in the house for almost 18 months, sharing many of those moments with our neighbors, people driving by, and anyone standing on the sidewalk (or within 50 feet of the house, really). No longer!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HC7XP6KMKo/TcMmXqx32uI/AAAAAAAAByc/hFafTwODDfo/s1600/dining+room.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HC7XP6KMKo/TcMmXqx32uI/AAAAAAAAByc/hFafTwODDfo/s320/dining+room.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We had honeycomb cellular shades in the original <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2007/04/for-sale.html">slc202 condo</a> and loved them for saving us from the single-pane glass in that place, but our windows are good enough in the house that we don't really need the additional insulation that honeycomb shades offer. Plus they're a little more expensive, so we just went with a basic pleated shade. <br />
<br />
We looked at a couple of online and local sources, and found the best combination of price and product online at <a href="http://www.smithandnoble.com/">Smith and Noble</a> with their privacy weave pleated shade. Tai double checked the measurements, dug up a killer coupon online for our order, and about two weeks later we were installing.<br />
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Most of the shades nest inside the window frame with an inside mount. (Thrilling "installation" photos to follow...) <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gLRGkYfctH0/TcMmXOR-A7I/AAAAAAAAByY/IqvxKJME69w/s1600/bracket2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gLRGkYfctH0/TcMmXOR-A7I/AAAAAAAAByY/IqvxKJME69w/s320/bracket2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OTV1AP41sOk/TcMmWuN8TjI/AAAAAAAAByU/9NN0nDXSQ2Q/s1600/bracket1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OTV1AP41sOk/TcMmWuN8TjI/AAAAAAAAByU/9NN0nDXSQ2Q/s320/bracket1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Our downstairs shades are bottom up only, since our house is slightly lower than street level (we didn't think we would ever really need a top-down option down there). Upstairs bedroom shades are top-down/bottom-up, and we love them:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byY9WkDL-I8/TcMmX4X-jeI/AAAAAAAAByg/1TwzkOJfKnA/s1600/installed+bedroom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byY9WkDL-I8/TcMmX4X-jeI/AAAAAAAAByg/1TwzkOJfKnA/s320/installed+bedroom.JPG" width="238" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-ZKcCI1V0s/TcMmYFuwkgI/AAAAAAAAByk/DUJfkW-z0bs/s1600/top+down.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-ZKcCI1V0s/TcMmYFuwkgI/AAAAAAAAByk/DUJfkW-z0bs/s320/top+down.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>Our fish bowl days are over.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-18375477970968546802011-05-02T15:17:00.003-06:002011-05-02T15:17:00.356-06:00The walnut tree<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Way back in 2009 when this house was a mere twinkle in our architects' eyes, this lot had a lot of unkempt greenery on it. At the time, <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2009/06/trees.html">I mentioned that up to one-third of the narrow lot's width was consumed by cedar, Chinese elm, and Russian olive trees</a>. In the process of cutting them down, we also felled the trunk of a walnut tree that had been dead for many years before. Since then, the walnut trunk has lived in the back of our property while we tried to figure out what to do with it. A few calls around town led us to Nick Barlow, who enjoys cutting up trees and has the mobile gear to do it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--GdDAY199xA/TbssOpK9NmI/AAAAAAAABxc/L6N0-vsG4-A/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--GdDAY199xA/TbssOpK9NmI/AAAAAAAABxc/L6N0-vsG4-A/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">This trunk was about 14 feet long and around 18 inches in diameter. We didn't really know the true condition of the wood and were worried that it might have some damage from insects or just general wear and tear that could make it unusable. </div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nick lopped off the top end where the trunk started to split in order to get a good look at the quality of the interior wood...which was gorgeous.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FfXUya1E0-c/Tbss3BgsmhI/AAAAAAAABxg/2XPeG1adUhM/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FfXUya1E0-c/Tbss3BgsmhI/AAAAAAAABxg/2XPeG1adUhM/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PU1X282jSxg/TbstnKUry9I/AAAAAAAABxk/pXzqNLbEW9c/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PU1X282jSxg/TbstnKUry9I/AAAAAAAABxk/pXzqNLbEW9c/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He then split that upper part into several chunks, one of which might eventually serve as some sort of stool or footrest for visitors at our front door who need a place to sit while they remove or put on their shoes. Tai's dad took another chunk (I hear there are plans to turn it for a bowl), and we have a few plans for the other chunks.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nick needed to take a slice off the top of the log before creating true planks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9KCh-JCNDcU/TbsuAt3fj6I/AAAAAAAABxo/2YTwJhoTmvo/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9KCh-JCNDcU/TbsuAt3fj6I/AAAAAAAABxo/2YTwJhoTmvo/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qE40PdqVFc8/TbsuA1MIPAI/AAAAAAAABxs/N65g7yvQaAU/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qE40PdqVFc8/TbsuA1MIPAI/AAAAAAAABxs/N65g7yvQaAU/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ti0A8RORSSA/TbsuBf4cV9I/AAAAAAAABxw/owXAcSEfQig/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ti0A8RORSSA/TbsuBf4cV9I/AAAAAAAABxw/owXAcSEfQig/s320/6.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The wood was already really, really dry -- his best guess was that the tree had been dead for at least 15 years. This is good news for us because it cuts down the curing or drying time before we can use it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yPPbWVw5Y_U/TbsuYUP-CuI/AAAAAAAABx0/pull-UHQXKw/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yPPbWVw5Y_U/TbsuYUP-CuI/AAAAAAAABx0/pull-UHQXKw/s320/7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CTCCgYKBIuQ/TbsuYznGv1I/AAAAAAAABx4/qyzcNvC3zuY/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CTCCgYKBIuQ/TbsuYznGv1I/AAAAAAAABx4/qyzcNvC3zuY/s320/8.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aep3Ad6K_mg/TbsuZMJrfkI/AAAAAAAABx8/aQbniaPkC7M/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aep3Ad6K_mg/TbsuZMJrfkI/AAAAAAAABx8/aQbniaPkC7M/s320/9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nick chewed through three chains in the process (because the wood was so dry). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw2OZJ_VYuM/TbsxFZW6oKI/AAAAAAAAByA/7Rf_vunrKqE/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw2OZJ_VYuM/TbsxFZW6oKI/AAAAAAAAByA/7Rf_vunrKqE/s320/10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YV_-Eg9bIN0/TbsxFofWAVI/AAAAAAAAByE/bazsVv_9RrY/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YV_-Eg9bIN0/TbsxFofWAVI/AAAAAAAAByE/bazsVv_9RrY/s320/11.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">We already have plans for a dining room table, but while we put the finishing touches on those designs, we'll let the wood dry for a bit more.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MnNs5d5Ix58/TbsxLHkdsRI/AAAAAAAAByI/YsqSc2PrYJ4/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MnNs5d5Ix58/TbsxLHkdsRI/AAAAAAAAByI/YsqSc2PrYJ4/s320/13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div>Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-79896600806690979622011-04-30T14:33:00.002-06:002011-04-30T14:33:00.180-06:00Underfoot<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">A slow return to disposable income has meant that we can spend a little on small house projects here and there, bringing us long overdue upgrades...like entryway rugs. <a href="http://www.flor.com/">Flor</a> had a sale recently and we took the opportunity to pick out a couple of arrangements for the main entryway and our back mud room.<br />
Tai put together the front entryway pattern from Flor's <a href="http://www.flor.com/fedora-charcoal.html">Fedora</a> line, inspired by/cribbed from <a href="http://www.flor.com/blog/flor-story-greetings-from-the-midwest/">this image</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WB5X-xcWDPE/Tbsovy52auI/AAAAAAAABw4/rUQB1qaedXU/s1600/minnesota-office1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WB5X-xcWDPE/Tbsovy52auI/AAAAAAAABw4/rUQB1qaedXU/s320/minnesota-office1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We were very excited to see this arrive:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C7h4KctJ1sc/TbsmAL1J5-I/AAAAAAAABwU/II6bDRgP6yg/s1600/Arrival+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C7h4KctJ1sc/TbsmAL1J5-I/AAAAAAAABwU/II6bDRgP6yg/s320/Arrival+box.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
You can pay a few extra bucks for Flor to pre-cut your tiles in half, making the pattern assembly very, very easy:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D7bBL9OyU7E/TbsmFNr9tKI/AAAAAAAABwY/8LT6J1PMN8k/s1600/Entry+tiles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D7bBL9OyU7E/TbsmFNr9tKI/AAAAAAAABwY/8LT6J1PMN8k/s320/Entry+tiles.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We used a combination of charcoal, chartreuse, oatmeal, and cayenne to create an offset pattern.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0m5ZccaVYNo/TbsmmXOF5sI/AAAAAAAABww/-4b1AOJFprE/s1600/Entry+tiles+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0m5ZccaVYNo/TbsmmXOF5sI/AAAAAAAABww/-4b1AOJFprE/s320/Entry+tiles+2.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0jqbYGAJ7qM/TbsmkxOvbfI/AAAAAAAABws/5UltPEX9na0/s1600/Entry+installation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0jqbYGAJ7qM/TbsmkxOvbfI/AAAAAAAABws/5UltPEX9na0/s320/Entry+installation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8-aAAME0Is/TbsnKUKSr8I/AAAAAAAABw0/HfH-09o1fIM/s1600/Entry+finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8-aAAME0Is/TbsnKUKSr8I/AAAAAAAABw0/HfH-09o1fIM/s320/Entry+finished.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We used Working Class in the mud room because we wanted something pretty durable. This is the entrance that we usually use and kick off our dirty shoes and boots into this area every night when we get home. Working Class isn't technically supposed to work over radiant floors -- we think the rubber backing will stick and rub off eventually -- but it was still the best option for that space. Besides, we figure that we'll pretty much always have some sort of floor covering in this area, so if the backing rubs off, we can just cover it with something else.<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dRRs11kCzHY/TbsmNboRunI/AAAAAAAABwo/Ilg06yprqyM/s1600/Mud+room+tiles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dRRs11kCzHY/TbsmNboRunI/AAAAAAAABwo/Ilg06yprqyM/s320/Mud+room+tiles.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We used cool gray and dark gray for the simple pattern.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sPmRf3aoSpo/TbsmLr8D8AI/AAAAAAAABwk/T_7fUR-skME/s1600/Mud+room+installed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sPmRf3aoSpo/TbsmLr8D8AI/AAAAAAAABwk/T_7fUR-skME/s320/Mud+room+installed.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br />
These are small details but they help the house feel friendlier and more lived-in.</div>Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-5600581926876297562011-04-29T15:16:00.000-06:002011-04-29T15:16:00.992-06:00Simple seats<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">We've had a counter but no seating, until recently. My parents gifted us <a href="http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Tabouret-24-inch-Metal-Counter-Stools-Set-of-2/3879160/product.html?rcmndsrc=6">this set of bar stools</a> at Christmas, and I recently surprised Tai by completing the set:</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-0bDfWS_Yk/TbspfdTyp_I/AAAAAAAABw8/D7RJ7f2KXE8/s1600/counter+stools.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-0bDfWS_Yk/TbspfdTyp_I/AAAAAAAABw8/D7RJ7f2KXE8/s320/counter+stools.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">These are, admittedly, a pretty egregious knock-off. While we sort of wish that ours were the <a href="http://www.dwr.com/product/dining/chairs/barstools-counter-stools/marais-barstool-perforated.do?sortby=ourPicks">real designer thing</a>, if we were waiting to save up for the real thing we'd be standing around for years. These work just fine, and I've seen them (or near-twins) showing up at <a href="http://www.tuliebakery.com/">Tulie Bakery</a> and my work.</div>Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-24684889373012529822011-04-12T08:36:00.000-06:002011-04-12T08:36:01.155-06:00Setting the stageThis is what a season's worth of yard projects looks like:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Q2YvRSACZk/TaMXozop1cI/AAAAAAAABvo/yffpGYts9D0/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Q2YvRSACZk/TaMXozop1cI/AAAAAAAABvo/yffpGYts9D0/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Looking around at what we still wanted to do this year, we cashed in pretty much every single credit card reward point to our name for a stack of Home Depot gift cards. We figure there are no black-out dates for these things (and travel on rewards is so difficult to book).<br />
<br />
Then, I happened to ask my currently unemployed brother whether he wanted to help Tai build a fence this year and he <i>enthusiastically</i> said yes. I'm sure we can make him regret it.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-80436888214650028672011-04-08T13:21:00.000-06:002011-04-08T13:21:00.109-06:00The Office<div style="text-align: left;">When we moved into the house, we basically just dumped everything that has typically gone in our office in here, closed the door and left it looking like this for about 10 months. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535039921350346754" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNBpe4mxiAI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/ETxLtacJa1c/s400/IMG_0077.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left; width: 400px;" /></div></div><div>For our previous office set-ups we had a desk top made that we put on top of some filing cabinets. Here it is in our first place:</div><div><br />
</div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535041887834704370" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNBrRWVLifI/AAAAAAAAC7g/3VZdxBy5FXE/s400/IMG_4668.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></div><div>We really wanted to come up with a custom solution with built-in desks and shelves and make a really beautiful home office for the new house. Until that can happen, we needed a temp solution that still allowed us to function in that room.<br />
<br />
In October, I got tired of staring at it (and trying to keep company from opening that door). Kersten went out of town for a couple of days this fall and being finally sick of having no functional home office, I decided to do something about it. Now keep in mind that this is not meant to be a permanent solution, but it does a pretty good job for now and best of all I didn't have to spend a single penny on it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>First, I took the above pictured desk top and ripped it down the middle with my table saw. We thought we might want to use it for something else at some point, but that point was seeming a long ways off and we had need of it now. I made two desks out of it and placed them on opposite walls of the office on top of the filing cabinets we already had.</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNBtgd0Ah3I/AAAAAAAAC7o/EuX-5AxjcY8/s1600/IMG_0078.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535044346564347762" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNBtgd0Ah3I/AAAAAAAAC7o/EuX-5AxjcY8/s400/IMG_0078.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNBtg0SNx0I/AAAAAAAAC7w/AWsXaSift7U/s1600/IMG_0079.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535044352596625218" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNBtg0SNx0I/AAAAAAAAC7w/AWsXaSift7U/s400/IMG_0079.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div>Then, I used the above fridge cabinet that got scrapped during the fridge debacle last year as a cabinet for our computer printers and scanner and other peripherals.</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNCslEmp-4I/AAAAAAAAC74/VKGpkLpNTdk/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535113694929353602" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ej_6wSy5LSA/TNCslEmp-4I/AAAAAAAAC74/VKGpkLpNTdk/s400/IMG_0080.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 299px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div>Once the desks were set up I then spent about 12 hours going through 10 months of clutter and bills that needed filing to get it all cleaned up and functional.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It's been hard to know what to do next. We can't really find designs that we like and fit our style and the space. Any suggestions or inspirational sites?</div>Taihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16045804553596073579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-6296924812956431122011-04-04T08:52:00.014-06:002011-04-04T08:52:00.159-06:00These new homes are real killersSaturday we wanted to knock out a bit of yard work before another storm rolled in, so Tai mowed the lawn for the first time this season, then put down a fertilizer/herbicide, while I cleared a spot to plant a peach tree. We got those finished up and were about to start laying weed barrier fabric on our dirt stretches in the front yard when Tai went inside and stepped in this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8OMheSxVgMA/TZiKi-g1VaI/AAAAAAAABt8/pZaTy80TANE/s1600/hose+bib+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8OMheSxVgMA/TZiKi-g1VaI/AAAAAAAABt8/pZaTy80TANE/s320/hose+bib+6.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>We had a similar puddle on the other side of that wall in our mud room. Water was seeping throughout the west end of our first floor via all the micro cracks (you can see that in the picture). Lots and lots of panic ensued. Can we avoid swollen dry wall? How deep is the leak? Which pipe is it? Will the baseboard be ok? Why is our entire first floor weeping? How the #$%^ did this happen? Why do these things always happen on the weekends? Etc.<br />
<br />
We did what we always do in these situations, which is call Tai's dad for a dose of serenity and reassurance before tearing into the wall. The wall that divides the kitchen and the mud room is a shear wall, meaning that it's faced with plywood for stability in the event of an earthquake, meaning that even if we cut into the drywall we will have a lot of depth and structural stuff to cut through to get to the plumbing in the guts of the wall. One side of that wall was covered with kitchen cabinets and a counter top, and the other side had some lovely brand-new cabinets. Remember these?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WeHEXxLH3wM/TZiLyDTrV2I/AAAAAAAABuA/OcWrZ_KpTDs/s1600/photo5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WeHEXxLH3wM/TZiLyDTrV2I/AAAAAAAABuA/OcWrZ_KpTDs/s320/photo5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
They shortly looked like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MFYndAy5IvM/TZiMKBljT1I/AAAAAAAABuE/-j8M-FL0n74/s1600/hose+bib+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MFYndAy5IvM/TZiMKBljT1I/AAAAAAAABuE/-j8M-FL0n74/s320/hose+bib+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Tai and his dad (who graciously and cheerfully gave up his Saturday to come help us) actually pulled the counter top off as well in order to cut a hole near where we knew the leak was coming from.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gXyYwe_iuyg/TZiTMC2l8MI/AAAAAAAABuk/nDCYnzE1XFk/s1600/hose+bib+9.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gXyYwe_iuyg/TZiTMC2l8MI/AAAAAAAABuk/nDCYnzE1XFk/s320/hose+bib+9.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>We thought that the problem wasn't in the regular house plumbing because we hadn't done anything unusual lately and hadn't gotten a leak until Saturday. The only thing we did Saturday that we don't normally do is use the hose (to water the nascent peach tree) -- Tai's first thought is that he had somehow punctured the hose supply line while hanging the cabinetry last week. As it turns out, it was a burst hose bib -- most likely my fault, from not properly draining and emptying and disconnecting the hose at some point during the winter. <br />
<br />
Oops.<br />
<br />
Tai and his dad confirmed this theory after cutting into the wall near the hose bib connection in the mud room. They chopped off the hose bib, which is a long length of copper pipe sheathing that goes deep into an interior wall -- so as to prevent exactly this type of freeze-burst! -- with a bit of <a href="http://www.pexsupply.com/PEX-Tubing-223000">pex tubing</a> coming out the interior wall side for the water supply.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x0EvDBeA4YU/TZiS8klaYII/AAAAAAAABuc/9PGDy_io1B8/s1600/hose+bib+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x0EvDBeA4YU/TZiS8klaYII/AAAAAAAABuc/9PGDy_io1B8/s320/hose+bib+7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5vgBaZXgeO4/TZiS9cZYLGI/AAAAAAAABug/YQ5_G-3u2Pg/s1600/hose+bib+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5vgBaZXgeO4/TZiS9cZYLGI/AAAAAAAABug/YQ5_G-3u2Pg/s320/hose+bib+8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After a couple of trips to <a href="http://www.englandplumbingsupplies.com/">England Plumbing</a> (seriously, they are the best) for the correct size replacement bib and a tool rental, they were happily cutting into the bones of the house and installing the new part.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iosW1CBQtps/TZiOipbzZOI/AAAAAAAABuQ/CPKnxHrpVGo/s1600/hose+bib+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iosW1CBQtps/TZiOipbzZOI/AAAAAAAABuQ/CPKnxHrpVGo/s320/hose+bib+5.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>We are no longer leaking, but we're not putting the cabinetry back together until we can fill in the hole with some foam for insulation of the hose connector. And I shall train myself from now on to always, always, always turn off the water and disconnect the hose. (Oops.)<br />
<br />
I sheepishly stayed out of the way during the repairs and tried to make myself useful in other ways. So I got some of the weed fabric down -- turns out that you're supposed to get rid of all the weeds first, so I spent much of the afternoon on my hands and knees digging up all sorts of nasty little things. Then, I roughly graded the covered spots and finally tacked down the fabric:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2FyQXAgaIlM/TZiPT9EJA7I/AAAAAAAABuU/0v9p6C0sOvY/s1600/weed+fabric.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2FyQXAgaIlM/TZiPT9EJA7I/AAAAAAAABuU/0v9p6C0sOvY/s320/weed+fabric.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We're hoping that this stuff makes life a little easier -- so far our greatest gardening successes have been the quantity and variety of weeds our yard supports. Sooner rather than later we hope to layer a lot of mulch on top, and we're hoping for a few plants down the road as well. We also got our lawn aerated cheaply by some folks trolling the neighborhood for business, meaning that now we do not need to spend several hours and $ grabbing a Home Depot rental aerator. The peach tree that (sort of) started it all:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--AO10BreqNs/TZiRC4dIYKI/AAAAAAAABuY/fNs0vCNOlFA/s1600/Peach+tree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--AO10BreqNs/TZiRC4dIYKI/AAAAAAAABuY/fNs0vCNOlFA/s320/Peach+tree.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
So lesson learned: I said we were going to blog more, and the universe said, "You want to blog more? I'll give you something to blog about!" Then, right as this all was starting to develop, I mentioned to Tai that if nothing else this will make a good story, and he said, "I'm TIRED of having good stories." Here's hoping for nothing but boring updates for the rest of the season.<br />
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(And thanks to the friends/family who called or stopped by after reading my panicked Facebook status update. You guys are the best.)Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-13119285669832282132011-04-01T10:03:00.000-06:002011-04-01T10:10:46.252-06:00Emerging from hibernationI smelled fresh cut grass yesterday on a short walk outside, which must mean that it's time to wake up the blog and all the house/yard projects. I wish I could say that we spent the winter painting or re-arranging or decorating or doing anything besides sitting on our rears, but alas. We needed a nice long break from home improvement.<br />
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But, we're back! And after hopping around all winter trying to get boots on and off, we decided to put some time and effort into cabinetry for the mudroom. I think we needed a break from Ikea, too, because going back after a looooong absence wasn't as painful as we were expecting. Their showroom had a nice butler's pantry/mud room set up, using a new dimension of wall cabinetry (18"x30") as base cabinets with a counter on top for a nice bench surface. Given that this is a relatively private room in the house -- we're pretty much the only ones who ever see or use it -- a less expensive, but still totally functional solution appealed to us.<br />
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We need to thank our friend Larry for coming over and helping us maneuver heavy flat-pack boxes in and around the yard. (Tai cracked a couple of ribs in a ski accident a few weeks ago, so moving some of the bigger stuff was pretty painful for him.) Nice-ish weather meant an expanded work area. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cNMqzomgopg/TZTSbur8_UI/AAAAAAAABtg/ZVeUngniEHw/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cNMqzomgopg/TZTSbur8_UI/AAAAAAAABtg/ZVeUngniEHw/s320/photo.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
And, of course, I have no "before" pictures. Just imagine an enormous pile of dirty shoes, framed with a random tall cabinet (reject from the kitchen), our stash of grocery bags, and a ski boot or four. Our dimensions didn't exactly match Ikea's, so Tai hacked together an end piece that fits quite nicely.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-14SZKIb8UGs/TZTSb0nqLAI/AAAAAAAABtk/IIqKy3SSwVE/s1600/photo2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-14SZKIb8UGs/TZTSb0nqLAI/AAAAAAAABtk/IIqKy3SSwVE/s320/photo2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ncpEiwvFWI/TZTScBOmppI/AAAAAAAABto/yzGykZxERcQ/s1600/photo3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ncpEiwvFWI/TZTScBOmppI/AAAAAAAABto/yzGykZxERcQ/s320/photo3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Wouldn't be a project without a little pain, or in this case, a drywall gouge on an otherwise mint wall. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3MxNvEi1HDM/TZTScsYMDwI/AAAAAAAABts/rq3NlkWseic/s1600/photo4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3MxNvEi1HDM/TZTScsYMDwI/AAAAAAAABts/rq3NlkWseic/s320/photo4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We are very pleased with the look. We had debated going with a more expensive countertop or door option, but this seems to fit our house just perfectly and actually looks like the much more expensive white doors we passed on.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k_ekjKtweu8/TZX4uRTg5FI/AAAAAAAABt4/F8kfYvQH9pw/s1600/photo5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k_ekjKtweu8/TZX4uRTg5FI/AAAAAAAABt4/F8kfYvQH9pw/s320/photo5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>(And of course those are my shoes still on the floor. Tai hasn't trained me yet.)<br />
And if we can ever get the Flor website to cooperate, we may have some rugs to show you in the next week or so...Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-15571303581946008522010-12-01T12:29:00.001-07:002010-12-01T12:30:41.141-07:00Crucial updateBefore two feet of snow took up residence in our backyard we figured out that it was a raccoon or raccoons who had been relieving themselves on our lawn. Lots of paw prints and a sighting.<br /><br />Carry on.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-9653079708610747742010-10-15T09:50:00.001-06:002010-10-15T09:50:00.705-06:00A little privacySorry about the absence of blogging for the last two months. Life got really busy with some un-fun stuff. On top of that, our projects have been pretty low-key lately (replant this thing, mow that, etc.), with one exception: a wall on our patio.<br /><br />We have a gorgeous outdoor space that we access just off our dining area. Because we're working on landscaping, decor, and finishes slowly, this space was totally exposed to the street on its east end. Part of the design of the house was always to have a wall on this end of the patio as a privacy shield to the street, so when we poured the concrete for the patio almost a year ago (!), Davido added some bolts to the pony wall in anticipation of this eventuality.<br /><br />After pricing things out and thinking of the best way to maximize our limited budgets and claim the most privacy for the house, we settled on this patio wall as the first step. (Future steps will include a fence with the neighbors, a gate for this wall, and some window coverings for the dining area. All in good time, though.)<br /><br />Tai did a couple of designs before we settled on one that would fit the horizontal cedar on the house. He grabbed the hardware to attach upright posts to the concrete wall and framed everything out in mid-August:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1Bwjo7vI/AAAAAAAABg4/rSQkrnolg4o/s1600/photo2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1Bwjo7vI/AAAAAAAABg4/rSQkrnolg4o/s400/photo2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527945371951099634" border="0" /></a><br />All that plywood cladding was reused from our construction scrap stash -- win-win for the dump and our wallets.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1BpkTyXI/AAAAAAAABgw/S_PK_eID5Ew/s1600/photo4.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1BpkTyXI/AAAAAAAABgw/S_PK_eID5Ew/s400/photo4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527945370074859890" border="0" /></a><br />The wall sat dormant for a few weeks at this intermediate stage. It worked immediately, though, as we were able to enjoy our patio without sharing it with every passing pedestrian and driver.<br /><br />Then, Tai used some scrap tar paper for some mild water-resistance at the top of the wall, and started putting up the cedar boards Labor Day weekend. He used a few leftover cedar boards from siding the house and garage, and then filled in the rest with a trip to Sutherlands. He pre-sealed the boards with two coats to match what we did on the boards for the house.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1BBpiCTI/AAAAAAAABgo/b3y8QQxofAY/s1600/photo5.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1BBpiCTI/AAAAAAAABgo/b3y8QQxofAY/s400/photo5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527945359359346994" border="0" /></a><br />He did a great job spacing the ends of the boards uniformly on both sides of the wall so that there aren't any awkward joining spots. This is where it really pays to have married someone who spent his entire childhood working on house projects -- he is precise and meticulous about doing it right. He takes only a little more time, but he makes it look a hundred times better.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1BJ7gtzI/AAAAAAAABgg/nidtvnGqvz0/s1600/photo6.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TLc1BJ7gtzI/AAAAAAAABgg/nidtvnGqvz0/s400/photo6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527945361582241586" border="0" /></a><br />My sole contribution to this project (besides replenishing the water pitcher) was to stain the cedar at the end of it all to get it the same deep beautiful color as the wood on the house. This took me all of about 20 minutes, but I still managed to dribble stain on the concrete, which you can see if you look closely at the bottom left of the wall. Oops.<br /><br />I think that spacing out the house/yard projects makes it easier for us to enjoy them along the way. We were really hoping to fence in the backyard (especially because various neighborhood animals -- please, please let it be animals -- keep using our yard to relieve themselves), but that will probably have to wait. In the meantime, it's still been great to make incremental progress where we can. Oh, and our house is still awesome.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-82376214156371283242010-08-09T08:29:00.006-06:002010-08-09T08:29:00.136-06:00Mid-summer yard updateThis is the year of the great squash experiment. Not knowing a blessed thing about the plants we were planting (as in, did you know that pumpkin vines can grow to be 35-40 feet in length? I didn't!), we have overloaded our tiny backyard garden box with two pumpkin vines, a yellow squash vine/bush, a zucchini plant, four cucumber plants and two broccoli plants.<br /><br />The overall effect:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycFqRYXLI/AAAAAAAABeY/B_uWutGTZUk/s1600/Backyard+garden.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycFqRYXLI/AAAAAAAABeY/B_uWutGTZUk/s400/Backyard+garden.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444465800371378" border="0" /></a><br />Up close with squash overload. Zucchini in the top right and one of the pumpkin vines in the bottom left:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycFIFrNQI/AAAAAAAABeQ/rHBGRXEaT28/s1600/Squash+overload.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycFIFrNQI/AAAAAAAABeQ/rHBGRXEaT28/s400/Squash+overload.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444456624469250" border="0" /></a><br />Produce! This is so far the only pumpkin we have produced for our pains. It is ripe, beautiful and lovely. So now we have a pumpkin in August.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycEYsG-hI/AAAAAAAABeI/Vhc0bFiiaN8/s1600/Pumpkin.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycEYsG-hI/AAAAAAAABeI/Vhc0bFiiaN8/s400/Pumpkin.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444443900770834" border="0" /></a><br />These pumpkin vine tendrils wrapped themselves around patches of grass in the backyard, holding on for dear life. I think they're gorgeous on their own, though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycD_OJROI/AAAAAAAABeA/K4YMVkheAjg/s1600/Pumpkin+tendrils.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFycD_OJROI/AAAAAAAABeA/K4YMVkheAjg/s400/Pumpkin+tendrils.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444437064205538" border="0" /></a><br />The broccoli...that we're hoping will turn into something edible one of these days:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb6FVLz4I/AAAAAAAABd4/E5feIKoC_wA/s1600/Broccoli.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb6FVLz4I/AAAAAAAABd4/E5feIKoC_wA/s400/Broccoli.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444266905653122" border="0" /></a><br />The cucumber vines and our nascent basil plant:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb53O-xpI/AAAAAAAABdw/L6li9h2-HbA/s1600/Basil+and+cukes.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb53O-xpI/AAAAAAAABdw/L6li9h2-HbA/s400/Basil+and+cukes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444263121536658" border="0" /></a><br />Fresh cucumbers from the garden are our top delight this summer:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb5D_PBUI/AAAAAAAABdo/OYYK5EXsDEw/s1600/Cucumber.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb5D_PBUI/AAAAAAAABdo/OYYK5EXsDEw/s400/Cucumber.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444249365284162" border="0" /></a><br />Pepperoncini, for which I have my doubts, mostly due to serious overshadowing by pumpkin leaves:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb4dFS2UI/AAAAAAAABdg/m-y-ZiWBs9E/s1600/Pepperoncini.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyb4dFS2UI/AAAAAAAABdg/m-y-ZiWBs9E/s400/Pepperoncini.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502444238921718082" border="0" /></a><br />That's all in one garden box. In the other backyard box, we planted a couple of varieties of carrots (Danvers, Nantes, Little Finger and Carnival Blend -- Carnival was the least successful).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyd_IznR2I/AAAAAAAABeo/lrLA2eXsRxE/s1600/Carrot+harvest.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyd_IznR2I/AAAAAAAABeo/lrLA2eXsRxE/s400/Carrot+harvest.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502446552761190242" border="0" /></a><br />And this is what happens when you get a radish packet from <a href="http://www.urbanplough.com/">Matthew Moore at Sundance</a> and figure, eh? Why not? But then realize that neither of you like radishes (nasty little things):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyd-kMF61I/AAAAAAAABeg/MtqoXJiGtwQ/s1600/Radishes.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyd-kMF61I/AAAAAAAABeg/MtqoXJiGtwQ/s400/Radishes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502446542931749714" border="0" /></a><br />Then, we have a third garden box (clearly in over our heads) by the kitchen. By and large it has been scorched by the heat and exposure of our site, but a few things have survived. Namely, the tomato plants that I didn't kill are now threatening to take over the house:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfGCEFpPI/AAAAAAAABfI/O5YufXL7kd8/s1600/Tomatoes.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfGCEFpPI/AAAAAAAABfI/O5YufXL7kd8/s400/Tomatoes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502447770721953010" border="0" /></a><br />And this is the end of a fight with arugala. It started out so lovely, with spring greens that we added to salads and quiches. It ended with an insane patch of flowering plants that crowded out everything else. So I hacked it back:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfFvBF9rI/AAAAAAAABfA/V6skammkLmY/s1600/Arugala+aftermath.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfFvBF9rI/AAAAAAAABfA/V6skammkLmY/s400/Arugala+aftermath.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502447765609117362" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfE2SE9DI/AAAAAAAABe4/1qDhkW9uwGY/s1600/Arugala+aftermath+2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfE2SE9DI/AAAAAAAABe4/1qDhkW9uwGY/s400/Arugala+aftermath+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502447750379533362" border="0" /></a><br />...and made room for a watermelon vine that has showed its appreciation for the extra space by doubling in size over the last few days. I'm still hoping that this will produce something before the first frost.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfEap02tI/AAAAAAAABew/XJWqE1xmgXQ/s1600/Watermelon.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFyfEap02tI/AAAAAAAABew/XJWqE1xmgXQ/s400/Watermelon.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502447742962948818" border="0" /></a><br />In the rest of the yard, our front yard on the south side was not getting full coverage from the sprinklers. So <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2010/07/yard.html">now that Tai is a pro</a>, he added a few extra heads to hit our borders:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFygLbKjg6I/AAAAAAAABfQ/LW8LpAgk7bA/s1600/Front+sprinklers.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pHTMtMUGy6o/TFygLbKjg6I/AAAAAAAABfQ/LW8LpAgk7bA/s400/Front+sprinklers.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502448962870936482" border="0" /></a><br />But the best thing about the summer has been slowing down and enjoying the results of all our hard work over the last 18 months. It's a bit surreal to think of <a href="http://slc202.blogspot.com/2009/08/foundations.html">where we were a year ago</a> and where we are now. That was a lifetime ago.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448494457283789484.post-79993626750400176832010-08-03T10:32:00.003-06:002010-08-03T10:47:13.853-06:00New modernsJust a hat tip to all the folks in our area doing new modern projects -- it's great to see a swell of infill modern homes. <a href="http://grassrootsmodern.com/">Grassroots Modern</a> is keeping tabs on a few, including the one we drive past every day: <a href="http://grassrootsmodern.com/2010/08/03/more-modern-in-slc-ul1/#more-4872">ul[1]</a> on 900 East around 700 South.<br /><br />We like the lines, suspect the architect is the son of a former neighbor in our original slc202 condo building by the University of Utah, and love the privacy walls in the outdoor spaces (can you tell we still haven't built our fence yet?).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://grassrootsmodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/V10_01-thumb1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 476px; height: 171px;" src="http://grassrootsmodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/V10_01-thumb1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />But this was our favorite:<br /><br />"We had been looking for a lot in the up and coming neighborhood of the Salt Lake 9th and 9th area for a period of 3 years. This area is extremely competitive for vacant land and building small modern homes is beginning to be the trend. This has been going on in other metropolitan areas for years but we are seeing an increasing demand for this type of product in SLC for which there is few to choose from. <span style="font-style: italic;">I believe we are raising the standard for this building type in the area</span> and am very excited to see it being constructed." (emphasis mine)<br /><br />We also loved this gem (in a non-sarcastic sense):<br /><br />"The house achieved Gold LEED standards but the owner opted for spending the additional 5-6 thousand in other areas instead of the LEED testing and registration fees."<br /><br />Amen.Kerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05759092350929596835noreply@blogger.com0