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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Catching up & Moving on...

Sorry for not posting yesterday! Last weekend was full of activities, and with so much going on with this house hunt I took Monday to play catch up.  Luckily I have some spare time on my hands this week to get myself (and the house!) back in order.  We tried our hand at making Sushi rolls on Saturday night - it was great! It was a lot easier than I expected it to be, and uses way less ingredients inside than I realized.  We bought so much food to fill them up with, it's leftover city. It's no wonder Sushi restaurants are popping up everywhere, they must be making a killing!  It was the perfect group activity too, we had about 8-9 people rolling up all kinds of different things, worked out really nicely.  This was great practice too. I was a total bad blogger and didn't take pictures (boo!) However, here are a few pictures Morgan took, I'll share more when I get'em.
 So, remember way back when I told you about our soon to be house? Well, it totally fell through. Bombed.  And after a 6 month wait, ouch! I never got to show a picture, I was trying to wait until it all went through, and everything was happy and wonderful - that day didn't come, but I figure I should show you anyway:

During our inspection process we learned that the house was needing some major repairs.  Not the kind of repairs that you think is just "a little elbow grease" and some camp-like living conditions for a while  (we would have been more than fine with that).  But, the kind of repairs that weren't going to be a DIY'ers playground, but more of a give-all-your-money-and-then-some to a professional to fix type of repairs.  This stuff was a total foreign language.  I was bummed for a minute, but with so many houses on the market and it being such a good time to buy, we knew we'd find something else, however long it would take.

And then after a few other tries, we did!

Now, to be clear, nothing is set in absolute stone yet, but we've made it past the inspection and we are both very excited.  Things are looking pretty good, it needs some work, but in our price range, & in this area, they all do. So it's a matter of finding a place that has problems you feel comfortable fixing. Like I said, she's not ours yet, but things are going the right direction this far.  My fingers are crossed that everything finishes up well, too! Here she is:
Cute! A little house in the redwoods.  I've always thought living in the redwoods would be awesome, and having higher temperatures will be a big change for us!  The main living area is upstairs, with a guest suite downstairs (wow, fancy!).  No garage, but it has a covered area for working, that we may convert into a workshop.  Behind those redwoods there is a large deck off the kitchen.  Oh wait, here it is:
I love that deck, and that window! A lot of people were saying "Oh you could get rid of that window, expand the wall, and have more counters" That's one idea... but I'm pretty sure that big guy is here to stay. We love it. Here's the kitchen:
I'm really excited about this kitchen.  I love that the Dining room is in here, in one big open hang out area. They say people at parties always gather around the kitchen, and we all know it's true - now I have somewhere to put them, to work! Haha.  Living room:
Large and in charge! Arranging the furniture in that room will be a challenge, but there's nothing I love more than an interior design challenge.  That cage thing there is actually a brand new spiral staircase that goes to the bedroom & bath downstairs. 

So that's the news folks, we've been going crazy around here.  Racing from this house to that, rushing to put in offers and waiting to hear yes or no, finally - we are in the running on this one. So far so good, wish us luck for the rest!  I'll miss our little beach house, we've had a lot of fun, and we got to practice playing house for a bit. But I've felt for a while that it's time for a change, and change is good, right?

What about all of you out there, anyone else in the home market right now? Buying... Selling.. or just browsing? It's quite a roller-coaster, and it's easy to get cold feet, but I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it...

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

How To: Live Edge Table

One of my favorite things to do with a piece of wood furniture & an electric sander, is to just plain get carried away.  I don't know why I love that look so much, but when the edges are sanded down too all kinds of crazy beveled edges - I just think it looks great. Remember the Chiseled Chair? That's what I'm talking about. Beautiful angular edges. Today I want to share a wonderful tutorial I spotted a while back on The Hunted Interior, which by the way is an amazing blog. Look at these edges:
Man, I love those edges! This is a little different than the beveled look, which I usually do with a disc sander.  When I saw this I thought "they must be cutting huge chunks off of it first" but I was wrong, they use a belt sander. Genius. Hop over to The Hunted Interior for the full tutorial, which is beautifully done. I see why she calls it a "live edge", it definitely looks like slices of some huge tree. What are your thoughts on this look?

Happy Thursday,
                    Jesse

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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Cockroach Jewelry

Sick, right? Sick in a bad way, in my opinion! When you read "Cockroach Jewelry" images of sterling silver inanimate bugs come to mind, thinking maybe they could be cute? Nope. Try bedazzled live hissing cockroaches. Yep! You know the ones you see in pet stores and you wonder "who in the world wants a cockroach as a pet?!" I know, I'm biased, I just can't imagine holding one. All those legs would creep. me. out! So since it's fall now, and the posts have gone spooky spidery on us, these just popped into my head this morning. Who knows, maybe some of you will fall in love with this...
Sources: Mapping the Marvelous, Black Chandelier
No, this is not a joke! Haha, I couldn't believe it either. I think it's the creepiest thing ever! Not to mention a little sad, poor lil guys...with those heavy crystals all over 'em.  Either way, they are no longer available due to ethical reasons (see I thought so!) but they were $89.  Each.  That's what real crystals get ya, a high priced bug. Did I mention they hiss? Gross. Doesn't that model in the lower right corner remind you of Johnny Depp? Don't worry, it's not him.. but.. am I the only one who sees a little resemblance?  I think it's the eyes. Hmm. Head over to Black Chandelier to read about these Roach Brooches, it's kind of neat the care instructions show they intended for people to really take good care of these critters, they live for about 3 years.  Don't you just wish you too could have a little bug tethered to you all day?...................................No thanks, I'm good!

Here's a video if you want a live look, skip to about 1:10 ish... get ready for some goosebumps.


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Monday, October 8, 2012

Crazy for Colors

Mondays are boring, even if you have the day off it feels like a Monday, how is that possible? Let's brighten it up! Anyone who knows me knows that I like color. A lot of color. I have to tone it down sometimes, but I can't help it.  Bright colors are fun and energizing, and playful! Not everything has to be so serious and muted (Sorry Martha Stewart! Still love ya...) I know some people are deathly afraid of too much color, and it's very much a to each their own. I'm deathly afraid of the lack of color, and that's why these tables are right up my alley.  Let me start with my favorite:
I love this! The white base is great with it too.  This is from Instructables, which, is one of the most awesome websites on the planet. If you haven't seen instructables, call in sick to work today and browse that place.  So many great ideas posted up by real people, with step by step photos & instructions. I love it!  OK, maybe don't call in sick, I'm a bad influence.  Here's a great compromise, these tables are nice & simple in wood, until you turn them on:
Yes! A pair of these by the bed would be great. I found them on this site, but unfortunately the blogger didn't site the source (naughty, naughty!), so I can't find where to get them.  Though, I think you could easily figure out how to do this yourself. Especially now that all these lighting places are selling the LED sets for crazy rotating colors, you could just get (or build!) a cute set of tables, wire 'em up....... boom. done. These, I can't tell you how to make:
Photo Source
So you'd have to buy them.  They are a little more night-clubby than they are cozy-living-roomy but who knows. If I had the chance to own one, I'd find a way to work it in. What's your take on these, too much? just right? not enough?

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Friday, October 5, 2012

Spotlight: Stenciling with Stains

Wow, I've been so busy this week with little projects! I am wrapping up a color block stool tutorial for you guys (Update! Here's the link!), and yesterday Ralph and I randomly decided to get our hands dirty and work with grout to finish up some amazing light fixtures we made (another update, here are the lights!).  I'll be sharing them as soon as I tidy up the photos! For now though, I saw this great post come through one of my feeds, and just had to share it, Stenciling with wood stains...
Sooo pretty! I've tried to figure out a way to do this before, with no success.  I've seen two tone staining using tape to keep the stain out of areas, but stencils have posed a real challenge - until now! This is a tutorial worth saving, she used wood glue to block the dark stain, so smart! Head over to The Ambitious Procrastinator for the full tutorial.  While you're there, browse around as she has the tutorial to make these cabinet doors, start to finish, on an affordable Ikea base. Here's the link Have a great Friday, what projects do you have planned for the weekend?

Hugs and Stuff,

-Jesse

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