Radio Silence...

Oops! Sorry about the radio silence there, as luck would have it - Ralph and I managed to get 5 days off together, which means we went in overdrive on the home projects.  So much has changed, and we've done so much work, that today we are off to Monterey to relax.  We've been working 12 hour days on this house, and I can't wait to show you the results.  We fixed a major drainage issue in the yard, but that was so boring that I didn't bother with photos. Let's get to the good stuff!  Remember our porch dilemma? Here's a snapshot:

Yea... interesting little cave there. Behind that is a door, a brown oak door at that - I am pretty sure that this outhouse looking contraption is what helped us get the house over other people.  I'm sure people saw it, noticed the lack of curb appeal, and just left. I mean, where is the front door? We were going to chop it in half, make a cute patio, then on Sunday... we just.... kicked it down in a split second decision. Here's a sneak peak (warning - blurry phone pics!):

We painted the door red in a spur of the moment decision too, "Fire Cracker" by Behr.  All the names in the red category were really... interesting. My favorite was "Flirt a little" - who knew paint could flirt?  You can also see the wood 2x2's on top there that we set there to see how it looked...

There - we have a front of the house! I have a million more pictures, as we didn't stop there. We've been turning the frame into a little pergola... and repainted the whole thing (frame, not the house! I wish...).   We decided to just ditch the half banister and keep the whole thing open, and I like it. Of course a bench, some pots & planters will make an appearance later... baby steps.... (name that movie!)

More to come soon... just didn't want to leave you all in the dark! Have a great day - are you getting the itch to start working outside too? Spring is here!

     -Jesse

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How To: Hexagon Top Dresser

Hey everyone! Hey it's Friday, finally - this has been a long week! I'm so happy to share this tutorial today, Ralph and I bought a TV recently for our bedroom and started dreaming up what kind of dresser we wanted in there. It's not a huge room, so I imagined finding a long, low, old school dresser that we could do something fun to.  The very next day I was browsing craigslist and actually found it. FOR $25! After making sure I read that right, I rushed over & snagged it, and we got to work right away.   Check out this before & after:

This project took ONE day. Start to finish, with a lot of breaks and a lot of Radiolab.  We combined a few different techniques that I've talked about on the blog, and I love how it came out! We really wanted something in a bright color (red!) but still sort of subtle. We both love patterns so that was a pretty easy choice for the top, and ever since we did the Triangle Tabletop we've both been digging the wood grain showing through the paint look.

So, you want to make something similar? I show you how! Read on.......

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DIY Picnic Blanket

Spring has sprung! It's official, and though I can't speak for the rest of the country - out here in California, it's showing!  This weather get me into major planning mode and I start thinking up all the fun things we need to do this season.  Actually, once the time changes I spring into that mode - and start reserving camping spots and prepping for hikes ASAP.  All this talk reminded me of an awesome picnic blanket project I saw on Design*Sponge last fall, this is a total afternoon project:

The pattern is great, and this uses one of my favorite mediums: spray paint! And an old sheet. Perfect little picnic set up.  Stevie & Ashley provide a well written tutorial over on Design*Sponge - swing by and get the details.

Our house is starting to get a lot more sun now, and it's really exciting to see that the front deck right of the kitchen gets BLASTED for about 4 hours... I could totally see us deck-picnic-ing on a big blanket like this, soaking up the rays... here's a photo that was taken about noon...just the beginning:

Glorious sunshine, and a huge cat. Let's just say, she's "permanently pregnant", heh.. you can see that even though it's a big towel, a large blanket would be ideal.  I'll have to think of a way to make it padded..any ideas?

What projects & activities do you have planned now that spring has sprung?  An early start is a great way to make the most of it... Enjoy!

     -Jesse

 Up next: Learn how to give an old dresser an entirely new look:

  

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Not done with me yet? Perfection... keep reading:

Rain Gutter + Table = Built in Cooler

Succulent Furniture

DIY Wooden Welcome Mat

Warm weather, I can't wait!

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Custom Dining Set Update

Hey, It's Monday! Did you end up making that corned beef? We did, and oh-man - it was delicious.  It was totally worth the amount of salt it came with, haha...seriously a years worth in that puppy.  The new cabbage experiment? Totally gonna remember that, it was great.  But anyway...

A long time ago, a little over a year - I started in on a mega dining project that a customer requested.  It was a really fun project and I was excited and flattered that she asked me to do it for her.  We were in communication the whole time, from picking the fabric to scouring craigslist, and it came out great.

Well, I've sold a lot of furniture over the years and it's always SO great to see the furniture in it's new home. Leila was nice enough to send me a picture of the dining set I did for her, staged nicely in her beautiful home:

Aaaw! So great to see the set in it's home.  Special thanks to Leila for sending these pictures my way, and good luck to her too - she's following her dream and starting a new adventure in a new state, have fun Leila!

Alright before I head out, let me leave you with a gallery of links that'll catch you up to speed if you're new around here.  Thanks for stoppin' by!
     -Jesse

Next up: DIY Picnic Blanket? Yes please...

Dining Set: Part 1

Dining Set: Part 2

Dining Set: Part 3

Dining Set: Part 4

Last minute Table Swap!

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Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Almost... it's this weekend (already!?) and I have been looking forward to one of my favorite dishes for about 6 months now... Corned Beef & Cabbage.  I know, you can get it year round - but something about the wait makes it that much more delicious.  Growing up my mom would make this every year, and now that I'm all growed-up, I'm carrying on the tradition.  We've tried it several different ways, traditional, crock pot, extreme crock pot (it cooked for like, 12 hours...serious)  and it's always delicious. This year, I think I'm going to try a recipe I saw on the food network website, it looks super easy, and has a different take on the cabbage. She takes it out and saute's it with butter and onions, which sounds amazing.

Link to the recipe: Corned Beef & Cabbage

You like? I agree... one modification though, I'm going to cheat a little and have the crock pot do some of the cooking here.  Then, when it's time to add the vegetables, I can either let the crock pot work on them for about an hour or transfer everything to a pot if I'm low on time.  Either way, that cabbage is getting sauteed!

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How To: Jute Wrapped Chandelier

***UDATE: Guest room? Check.. See the full tour here*** 

Hello again my friends! I've just wrapped this project up (ha! wrapped...get it?!) and it came out even better than expected.  It was surprisingly easy, and costs SO much less than the popular Jute wrapped chandies that are springing up in stores these days.  Doesn't take many supplies either, and a chandelier is pretty easy to come by.  Thrift stores are usually overflowing with old brass lights no one wants, but are perfect for this project since you'll be covering the whole thing up.  Let me walk you through how I made this little baby:

This is one of the many projects associated with the New Guest Room adventure, remember I want to keep it lightly nautical? Well I thought the addition of a Jute element to the room would help me stick to that, without going over the top.  I think it came out pretty swell....  Read on!

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Spotlight: Zip Tie Street Art

Today's post is eye candy. Pure and simple eye candy.  Zip ties are by far one of the handiest things in the world, especially if you're building a wall out of milk crates (I can explain..).  But have ever thought of them as decorative? Me neither, but now I totally do:

So unique! This brings a lot of life to a boring street.   I spotted this on the 3 R's blog by Allison of Zipper 8 Lighting, and marked it to share. I love looking at these, they almost look fuzzy - and they remind me to think outside of the box, that really ordinary materials can be used in new & fun ways.  In this case, the fantastic neon colors really help, but I think even a standard black zip tie pole would look pretty spiffy.  But that's not all the uses for zippies....

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Spotlight: Pant Hanger Wall Art

Yea, pants hangers! Some people are so friggin' clever, I love it.  I stumbled across this beautiful DIY project from Ladies & Gentleman that creates a gallery wall effect that is extremely easy (and easy on your walls!) to rotate art in and out of.  I love the idea of keeping a ton of holes out of the walls, and using the vintage wooden hangers adds a lot of character. Imagine, you could even paint them fun colors for a twist:

Adorable.  Clean, and both vintage & modern.  I love this style.  The grid system itself is genius, and as you're about to see, is easily re-arranged for an entirely different look. I love how the simple addition of shelves here changes everything.

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How-To: Gilded Feather Pendant Light

I've been on a lighting kick lately, probably because I've been obsessing over the look of the new guest room - but I have a crush on all things lighting in general anyway.  During the Design Sponge masking tape competition a bit ago I saw this little baby from Poppy Haus come through, and immediately bookmarked it so I could share with y'all eventually.  Here's the eye candy:

This pendant light is so pretty! Even prettier when you consider it's made from masking tape - amazing right?! It has all the elements that speak my language: It's a light, it's extremely affordable, it's made from things we all probably have in our homes.  I can imagine two larger ones hanging mid-height, framing a bed.  Maybe with a braided or wrapped cord (remember that post?)...Hey, I may just do this in our bedroom someday.. Hooray for new ideas while sharing ideas :)

For a full tutorial, head over to Poppy Haus and prepare to be blown away.  Heather has so many fun projects and her blog is packed with 'em. I've featured her work before when I shared this DIY Sculptural Paper Orb:

Awesome work Heather! Happy Wednesday n' stuff...

     -Jesse

Up Next: A different use for pants hangers... wall art:

 Related Posts:

• Braided Extension Cords
• All lighting posts
• New Guest Room
• DIY Sculptural Paper Orb 

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How To: Cyan Chalk Paint Nightstand

As part of the ongoing efforts in redoing our new guest room, we decided to tackle a project that was long overdue.  We've had this nightstand for a long time, and it was always the plan to paint it a super fun color, naturally. It's shuffled rooms, so the color in mind had changed, but it finally landed a permanent home in the guest room, and we decided to go with one of Ralph's favorite colors: Cyan.

Isn't she a beauty?  We did this in two evenings while dinner was in the oven. Honest.  I love the color.  It was really hard to find too, I went in knowing that Ralph wanted Cyan. Plain Cyan. But the paint chips are all named crazy things, like "Lagoon Wonderland" and "Teal's Last Stand.." (jk...fake names! no lawsuits please & thanks) that there was no hint there. So I finally just asked the guy at the counter for plain Cyan. He hadn't heard of it, looked it up, and found one with the name "Cyan"- so we mixed it up. Perfect.  I took pictures through the process so I could share a lil how-to with you guys...  read on!

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Party Time: Easy Appetizers

Happy Friday! It's March 1, Rabbit Rabbit! (Remember that from this post?)  On Monday I asked all of you facebook fans what your best tried & true recipes for easy party appetizers were, I think the fancy term for that maneuver is crowd sourcing or something. And wow - did you guys deliver! These recipes sound so good (and easy!) that I had to eat a big breakfast before sitting down to write this post. No joke!

Let me start with a huge thank you!  It's been fun to learn a few new ideas, and all of them have been pinned of course.  Now the trouble will be deciding which one to bring! Here's a link to the original facebook discussion if you missed it: Clicky Clicky.  Keep reading for pictures and links to the full recipes. 

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