Rhododendron Bed Rennovation

Mr. Ramon wanted to cut down the "ugly" bush in front of the picture window. I was not so sure. My friend Jen exclaimed in horror that we would cut down what is obviously a ver old rhododendron. So it stays for now. I want to see what kind of blooms we can get this spring. 

In the meantime I need to make the bed it is in more defined and ready for new flowers this spring. This is my first big yard project and I was super excited about it. 

I headed off to Lowe's and filled the mini cooper with top soil and mulch. I needed to level the bed and wanted to top it with muclh to keep the dogs from becoming a muddy mess. 

This is what we were starting with. 

I started by pulling out all of the old bricks that were buried in the ground. Then I made a nice square planter with my shovel. I then placed bricks all around the edge to define the space. I added in the top soil and topped it off with bark bark mulch. 

This really made a gret visual improvement to the front of the house. 

No More Junipers!

No more Junipers - I feel like a scene out of Mommy Dearest. I detest Juniper trees - they make me crazy. They are lazy landscape options that smell bad and are a great home for nests of spiders. 

We moved in to a beautiful newly remodeled home with a badly neglected yard. This yard may have not had any attention for several years. The first thing I needed to ask Mr. Ramon to take care of was the front walkway Junipers. Six of them lining the walkway and cutting the yard in half. They had to go!

He really is a great guy - he took this project on one afternoon that soon became night with chainsaw and shovel. The down side is we have big dirt holes now that the dogs love playing in. We will fill them with sod in the spring to solve that problem. 

Now we have a huge pile of limbs to discard. But project number one is done!!

Hanging Stuff

Now that we have been in the house a few weeks I decided to get started on some window treatments. I am a big fan of minimal window treatments and don't like to put them up just because there is a window. So what ever I put up will be if I think we need privacy in an area or the window and room really need the help. 

I started with the 2 windows that look onto our stairs. The lower window is right off our porch and anyone could look right into the house through it. I have found some really great fabrics at Ikea. I love Scandinavian design and modern botanical prints. I found two that I loved. I also started hanging some of our art. The design poster nest to the window was a gift from a friend and I love its bright color next to the curtains. 

The other print is my absolute favorite right now. I needed to add something a bit tougher or darker to the kitchen to temper the blue walls. This botanical fit the bill and makes me smile every time I see it. I am also using it to recover a bench and my vanity seat in the master bedroom. 

One other thing I hung was this adorable squirrel dog leash holder our dear friend Brian got us for our wedding. I am obsessed with squirrels. These Creatures makes a large variety of pet and home items - bowl stands, leash holders, shelves, book ends etc. So adorable - and a local Seattle company. 

Piece by piece it is coming together. 

New House

I finally got most of the house together and wanted to share a few photos. Here is the living room and dining room. I still have some art to hang but am taking my time to make sure it is right. 

New Kitchen

We are now pretty settled in the house. I made fast work of unpacking and organizing all our stuff. My favorite project was putting together the kitchen. I have spent the last 10 years in cramped apartment kitchens. I will say I am amazed at the food and baking I have been able to do in those kitchens so I am really excited to see what kind of magic can come out of this bigger better space.

The owner of the house put in an entire new kitchen from appliances and lighting to floor and cabinets. The walls are blue - something I thought I could not handle but I think it is growing on me. The cabinets are amazing - lots of space, twirly corner cabinets for pot and pans and the self closing drawers. I feel like a grownup. She even put in full granite counters. They are going to be so awesome for rolling dough out on. 

One thing that really got me excited was the refrigerator. I pretty much made out with it when we moved in. Shiny and bright with a water dispenser and a bottom freezer. Yum! The blue taped off area on the door next to the refrigerator is going to be a chalk board. 

We have plenty of light in here - great for my food photos. Two windows in the kitchen. The mess on the floor and hole in the ceiling is from when they had to cut open the pipes. 

I always found it really hard to find space in my tiny kitchens for all my dishware and food. In this new kitchen I have this glorious pantry. All these cabinets to put all my food and pantry items in. Even enough room for a dedicated pickle/preserve area!

Looking forward to putting this kitchen space to the test!!