Sneak Preview

Since the last post I found a garden that I really really love. Here's a gander at the design I'm stealing inspired by...

A lot of the elements above are going to find their way into this...

 

I hope.

Yardage

So here's a good look at the "opportunity" in the back yard...

It needs to be overhauled completely. Dug up, graded, new top soil, some sot of water runoff system for the rain gutters, possibly a sprinkler system - all of that plus a plan to put something back there and make it look nice. I like the idea of clover, thyme or vinca instead of grass,

  

gravel or stones to create a patio or foot paths

 

and flowers to add color and pretty smells.                   

That's the dream. Stay tuned for the reality.

Weeds

Huh boy. You know, lots of people would like to have a little garden space to putter around in, spend their weekends pulling weeds and watch wave after wave of plants bloom and decorate their landscape. Not me. I do not have a green thumb. I do not have house plants. I had an air plant that died. From too much air? I do not know.

Here's a picture of it in healthier days. Fortunately West Elm has more of these for $4.00 each so I had a hasty funeral for this guy, bought a replacement and will keep buying more as needed.

So no surprise that I'm facing a huge dilemma in my yard. Both front (6' x 6'?) and back (20' x 40'ish). Honestly, even the parking strip feels overwhelming. If you have unsolicited advice about low maintenance gardens let me know.

Sketchy

Yep, it's been a while since my last post. Since last May I've unpacked, moved in, been slow and been busy. Lately work work is filling up my time but I've also been putting the finishing touches on my Sketchbook project. It's due Tuesday so I dropped it in the mail today. Thanks to my friend Leilani I was motivated to power through and actually finish it this year. The Sketchbook Project is kind of an art happening organized by the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY. It's open to anyone who wants to participate and basically they send you a book and you fill it in anyway you want. I filled mine with a bunch of photographs that I shot and then messed around with in Photoshop.

If you live in NY, Chicago, LA, SF or a handful of other cities you can check out my book when the 2012 collection goes on tour. So far almost 20,000 people have signed up to participate. If you do go to see the 2012 tour definitely check out Leilani's book. It's really beautiful. Sketchbook tour dates are posted here.

Eastern Exposure

Sometimes you want to hide all your dishes away in a cabinet where no one will see them. And sometimes you have an architect who loves the idea of a modern, european feel in the kitchen. And because I trust my architect I have these great, chunky, open shelves that run the length of the kitchen wall from just north of the sink down south to the edge of the refrigerator. 

If you've looked at this blog before you might have already noticed them, empty and waiting to bear their heavy load.

And now they hold my collection of super colorful new and vintage dishes

and glasses and various coffee making appliances. 

The rest of the kitchen stuff is mostly under the island,

                          

and there's a nice sized food pantry next to the fridge. 

There are some cabinets under the sink side too, along with a couple appliances and a spot for the trash can (très glam). What do you think of the mix of stainless and wood cabinets? I like it. The drawer pulls work well on both the stainless and the wood and they both look really good with the countertop stone. That was another smart kitchen idea from my architect. He liked the idea of the island looking like its own piece of furniture that just happened to be in the kitchen - rather than matchy matchy cabinets. I think it looks great. Thanks Bill.

Oh poo

Come on in and see the cutest little washroom in the world. You may have already read about my curtains on the blogosphere. And by that I mean my last post. They're red and made out of material. Read all about them here (really? you need to be linked to that? just scroll down. use your finger.)

Interesting note about the picture above. It was taken at 4:14.

I have two bats. One for me and one for you. Come on over.  

     I'm still loving the upstairs bath. The skylight keeps it light and bright and all that white marble and tile are looking sharp, clean and classic. It's pretty great.So those are the bathrooms. One more fun fact, they're pretty soundproof. So if you want to record an album I've got the perfect place for you. 

It's Curtains For Me

Well, things have been busy here at Huron.  After unpacking and unpacking and unpacking ad nauseam it's starting to feel like home. A home that looks directly into the homes next door. So in addition to unpacking I've also been doing a little sewing.

The kitchen got a straightforward white cotton. I bought this fabric a long time ago and made some pillow cases out of part of it. This remnant hung around all these years just waiting for its big moment to shine. I like it, it feels fresh and old fashioned at the same time.  Plus, after all these years I don't remember the moment of buying it so due to a faulty memory its pretty much like it was free.

This little number is working class red pinstripe ticking. So cute.

It was supposed to go in the kitchen but things didn't go as planned. I forgot about the old adage measure twice cut once. Oops. But if you remember the stuff I just wrote under the picture of the kitchen curtains you'll know that I like the white cotton fabric that ended up there. And this ticking looks super snappy in the little half bath. I think another good option in here would have been black and white toile,

like this. The walls in there are Anchor Gray and the toile would have looked great against that battleship color. But like I keep saying, I cut the red and white stripe wrong. And it fit perfectly in the window so there it stays.

Now I don't expect people to like these checks in the master bedroom. But just like Madonna back in the late 80's, I'm very provocative. I can't help it. These curtains are the fabric equivalent of "Papa Don't Preach." So I'll tell you now,

if you don't like them it's because you don't understand them.