Modern Bird Feeder

I'm loving the new modern bird feeder I got from CB2! It's very mid-century modern and I love the bright orange color! I just hope the birds love it as much as I do. http://www.cb2.com/

Design It Yourself Fabric

I just received samples of some fabric I designed and I'm really excited about the way it turned out! I ordered the fabric at http://www.spoonflower.com a company that prints your designs for you on fabric. I wasn't sure how good it was going to turn out but the colors came out almost exactly as my design! Look for new creations coming soon at my Etsy shop using this fabric! http://www.etsy.com/shop/amyburkhart

Windows, windows, windows

Since the start of February we have been working almost every weekend stripping, repairing and painting all the original windows to our 1940 cottage. It is hard, hard work but the results are worth it! We didn't have much of a choice, there were so many layers of paint and the paint had cracked or was chipping away revealing the bare wood. At least half of the window sash cords were broken as well so we have been repairing these as we go too. It's nice to have windows that don't need to be propped up with a stick! We now have just 5 windows left and I can't wait to move on to painting the rest of the house, it's going to be a dramatic change!

Original windows in our 1940 cottage. Paint is peeling and cracking off the windows. There are at least 5 layers of paint on these windows.

The windows all had to be removed and stripped. The window panes and surrounding pieces also all had to be stripped, primed and painted.

Window after it's been fully refinished. The green color is one of the colors we are considering painting the house.

Living & Dining Room Makeover

Before we moved into our new house the first thing we decided to do was to have all the wood floors refinished and install a matching new hardwood floor in the second bedroom which was the only room in the house that had carpet. The house use to be a one bedroom but somebody enclosed the attached patio, turning into a 2 bedroom but never installed hardwood flooring. The floors came out so beautiful, it was money well spent! This has been the only job besides plumbing that we haven't done ourselves and I think it was a good idea to leave it to the professionals. The floors receive so many compliments!

Once the floors were dry we went in and painted the living and dining room before the move in. After looking at a hundred different shades of grey we chose the color below. You would never think grey to be a very warm color but I just love it! It feels warm and inviting all day and night long! We chose a lighter grey for the ceiling which really brings out the white trim detail.

Living Room Before

Dining Room Before

Living Room After

The floors are so shiny!

Dining Room After

Modern Throw Pillows!

Since the purchase of our new home I've had some difficulty in finding certain items the suit our taste. One of these items was throw pillows. So I searched and searched for fabrics that I liked and made my own! Now you can purchase these same pillows at my etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/amyburkhart

Our first house!

Six months ago we purchased our first home in San Diego, CA. It is a tiny, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 820sq. ft. 1940 cottage that needed a little TLC. Overall the house is in great condition, it just needed some love. I've been meaning to blog about our progress but between work, creating new items for my Etsy shop FindersKeepers http://www.etsy.com/shop/amyburkhart and working on the house I just haven't had the time but now finally I'm making the time! Here are photos of the house before we did any work. I'll be posting the progress we have made so far soon!

1940 820 sq ft. Cottage

LIVING ROOM

DINING ROOM

BATHROOM

MASTER BEDROOM

SECOND BEDROOM

OUR TEENY TINY KITCHEN