Molding

All the molding has finally arrived! Looks like I've got more painting to do. This is really going to add the finishing touches that the house is missing. I'll post photos when it's complete, won't be for at least a month though.

Still painting...

So it's been awhile since my last post. Why is this you ask? Because we are STILL painting the outside of the house. If you have the money I highly recommend hiring somebody to do it because it's hard work and our house is only 820 sq ft! If you're crazy like us though you can paint it yourself, saving a lot of money. Don't think you're going to finish in just 2 or 3 weekends though, oh no, try 2 or 3 months, 5 or 6 even!

Inside the house we used Home Depot Behr paint but I decided for the outside to splurge and use the Sherwin Williams Duration paint. I read a lot of good things about this paint and I didn't want to be back outside painting the house again in another 2-3 years. This paint must be made out of gold because it costs $48/gallon. It goes on really well though and sticks! Plus they guarantee it will last for the entire time you own your home. What I want to know is if it doesn't last do they not only give you free paint but somebody to come paint too? We just have one side of the house left and the garage and then we are done! I'm so ready to move on to the landscaping, I have so many ideas!

Retro Radio

I found this vintage radio at the local swap meet and since I seem to be obsessed with the color orange I just couldn't pass it up!

Tea Towels

I adore these cute tea towels from Tikoli I've had my eye on the tree design for sometime now, I think it's time I finally order it!

Living Room Before & After

We are mostly finished with our living room in our 1940's cottage. The wood floors have been refinished, one of the only things we didn't do ourselves. Some things I believe should be left to the professionals and this was one of those jobs. We prepped and painted everything, and let me tell you, old plaster walls are not fun to prep. Sadly all the original molding was gone when we got the house so we plan on installing molding that will look like it's always been there (hopefully). Furniture arrangement was a challenge in such a small space, especially where to put the T.V. but I'm happy with the results! See below for before and after photos.

Living Room Before

After

The assemblage art piece was made by me. Made out of found wood I collected from different places. The color scheme for living room mainly came from this piece and the orange sofas which I already owned.

We still have all the molding to install but besides that the living room is mostly done. In the lower right hand corner you can see a sample of the baseboard we plan to install. The black and white pillows are made by me and can be purchased at my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/amyburkhart The mid-century chairs I found on Craigslist and I plan to refinish them one of these days. Another project on my growing to-do list!

The living room flows straight into the dining room. Both rooms are very small. The house is only 820sq ft.

The coffee table is a mid-century modern table I found on Craigslist. The kidney shaped ceramic piece I found on ebay. The print above the sofa is a 1969 poster designed by Ellamarie Woolley.

I'm a huge Charley Harper fan. When I saw this bird print with gourd bird houses I just had to have it!

Texas to California Road Trip

Back in November, right before we moved into our new house, we went to visit my fiances family in Texas. While we were there we picked up his truck and drove it back to California. I've been so busy with the house I'm just now really getting a chance to look at the photos I took. Here is a sampling from our trip below. We stopped in a small town called Marfa, TX, I wish we had more time there I would have loved to have taken more photos, such a cool artsy little town!

Dining Room Before & After

Dining Room before the start of renovations.

This photo was taken before any renovations had been done.

This photo was taken after a new paint job and the floors had been refinished.

The final result!

The mid-century modern table and chairs was a excellent find on Craigslist. The hanging lamp I won on Ebay.

I've been really interested in living vertical walls for sometime now so when I came across the Wally pocket from http://www.woollypocket.com/ I decided these pockets would be perfect for creating a living wall in our dining room. I love the end result! It's so beautiful and out of reach from our cats who love to munch on plants. I can't wait until the plants grows in more! It's living art!

All that is really left is to install the baseboards.