I’m back from Wisconsin! (I kind of wish I wasn’t! I have a whole lot of tiling and repair work ahead of me, and it was SO nice up there.)
We go up most summers and spend time at the family lake house. The kids love it, we love it, and the puppy loved it! Lots of dog friends, lots of deer and fox poop to find, and an accidental swim in the lake. A pretty great start to summer.
Did you know that you aren’t supposed to lay tile over painted concrete? I sure didn’t when I was planning our laundry room! (I also didn’t know it when I painted almost an entire basement floor.)
I was at the store last week looking for premixed tile adhesive. There were two versions and as I was trying to decide between them, I was reading the labels. The regular version had a warning against using it on painted surfaces. Well that’s out, my basement floor is painted! Checked the premium version… same warning. Oh.
Back at home, a little research confirmed it. Paint breaks the bond between the tile adhesive and the concrete. As the paint starts to go, so does your tiling job! It could last a good long time, but then again, maybe not. I’m not about to put a bunch of sweat equity in only to have it fail because the surface wasn’t prepped properly to start.
The paint had to go. You can’t use a chemical stripper because concrete absorbs it and again, the adhesive wouldn’t stick. So what to do? There are basically three options.
While researching the options and watching YouTube videos for techniques, I came across this one calling the angle grinder “the most dangerous tool in a workshop.” Well that’s just great. You better believe I’ve been wearing all of the protective gear recommended.
Here’s this guy without my dumb fears (and without much safety gear), making it look easy.
And then there was me. Skin covered. Welding gloves. Safety glasses and face shield. Ear plugs. Dust mask. Anxious knot of fear in stomach.
Look at the excitement in my eyes! Look at that can-do-it attitude! I got started and it was working, but it shot off sparks randomly, maybe every 10-15 seconds. I felt kind of dumb for being afraid. I like being able to do things myself. I don’t need help! I’ve got this! Yeah, not really. I put the job off and finally asked Brandon if he would please do this part for me. He was all on board until I told him that part of why I was so scared was that I was working near the capped off gas line and what if it wasn’t really OK and it was leaking but we couldn’t smell it and then a spark ignites an explosion and the whole house blows up with our family inside!?
(Guys. I didn’t really think that was going to happen. But that is what was going on in my head every time the damn tool sparked.)
So he did it for me and probably wished I hadn’t passed on my inner anxiety. But it took two nights, it’s done now, and I’m very thankful!
Just about ready for tiling.
Think of Twitter five years ago, vs. today. Facebook before, during, and after the presidential election. The sense of community I once felt on those platforms has shifted dramatically over the years, and I felt myself pulling back. I still love Instagram. I still love Pinterest. I still love visiting and reading my favorite blogs. And I’m still on Twitter and Facebook and there is love for them too, but I’m not doing the mindless scroll thing I have in the past. I’m not looking to be provoked, outraged, and angered.
In making that switch though, visiting those platforms less, I’ve not come across as many interesting articles. I found myself replacing mindless Twitter and Facebook checkins with Quora scrolling (people are nice! People are thoughtful! People have interesting questions and answers!). Same behavior, better psychological state (less anxiety and anger), but it’s equally bad for productivity.
I realized that as my experience with online consumption changed, so did my publishing output. I overcompensated. I went somewhat quiet here in favor of spending time elsewhere, and that translated to offline too. Plenty of time working behind the scenes and and on big projects, but not sharing enough of the in-between. This space is not and has never been just for the big before and afters. It’s all about the process! And along the way, I’ve loved sharing fun and inspirational things I’ve found in my Friday Honor Roll posts. So let’s get back to those, starting today. And moving forward? Let’s get back to more fun and less waiting for the big reveals.
Back to Honor Roll roundups! More sharing of the steps in between the big milestones! More fun, more fashion, and just a bit more me. I’ve kind of missed you guys. Hi.
Local lovely lady Marianne of The Savoy Flea has a home as wonderful as you would expect. “Eclectic Parisian Bordello” — is that the most evocative, most wonderful description of a home or what? And her framed photo of the Contessa di Castiglione (above) is perfection.
Plus-sized models for straight-sized brands.
“…it’s still open season for discriminating against and marginalizing fat female consumers, even as more brands jump on the body-positivity bandwagon in acts of what could only be deemed size appropriation.”
Parents: Are you a carpenter or a gardener?
De Beers basically sets diamond prices. So why would they undercut the market by offering cheap lab-grown diamonds? The better to drown out their competitors, my dear.
The article had me wondering about the differences between real and fake diamonds, and this was a helpful guide: What’s the difference between Swarovski Crystal, Diamonds and Cubic Zirconia?
Obsessed with this Heron Wallpaper from Gucci. Pink background! Menacingly beautiful birds!
IMAGES: The Savoy Flea’s Apartment Therapy Home Tour photographed by Emilia Jane • Serena & Lily store photographed by Dustin Halleck
‘I love that settee. Where would I use it?’
‘That wallpaper with the frames is bananas good. Wouldn’t it look great behind the stairway?’
Little sketches. I’ve been doing these for years — first in actual sketchbooks and now either on my computer or tablet. Pull a product photo or two in, and create a little vignette. Here are a few I’ve done lately with pieces that have caught my eye.
And can I include a note of practicality here? Young kids touch the walls when going up and down stairs. I would have loved to continue the wallpaper from the hallway on the second floor down the stairway, but it would have a gross line of dirt at kid-height in no time. Keep that in mind if you ever think about wallpapering your own stairway! Pick something forgiving/washable, go without for a while, or affect a more laissez-faire attitude than mine.
I straighten the house before taking photos. Clear surfaces, vacuum the rug, and gather the toys out of sight. I’ll run to Trader Joe’s for flowers, or to the florist if I really want something special.
On a daily basis though? Let’s just say there are not always floral arrangements. Welcome to my ‘No Makeup Home Tour.’
This tour has no fresh flowers, no pre-photo tidying, and no tight vignettes. It’s my home with no makeup on, and I’m taking you on a tour of the first floor. This is the part of our house that if you were to visit, I would show you around and say “sorry, it doesn’t always look like this!” (Except that it has totally looked like this for the past two months.)
Welcome to our home! Mind the boxes.
Can I go with the excuse that we are renovating? The problem is though that we are almost always mid-project. Sometimes it’s the fun stuff, and I’m just decorating. Just as often, it’s the not-so-fun stuff, like rewiring or fixing a plumbing problem. Old houses are good for that. They keep you on your toes.
In this case, I’m working on both the laundry room and a bathroom. Some of the bigger things (cabinets, a pallet of tile) have been hanging out in the garage, but the rest? Oh, it’s all been in the entryway for far too long.
There’s a toilet and sink in some of those boxes. Light fixtures, a tile saw, and a few faucets, too. I’m excited about the upcoming projects, but also looking forward to reclaiming our entryway. The crate, at least, is not usually there.
I ordered a new coffee table, and it arrived right as I was about to take my photos for this post. So not only were there boxes, there was also that big ol’ crate. I took it apart enough to get the table out and then set it in place. So pretty! Up it went on Instagram after a quick styling.
It’s a photo I snapped and edited with my phone, so it’s not the best, but see the magic of a cropped photo and some handy fake peonies? Five minutes before, it looked like this. Zooming out reveals the old coffee table lurking on the lefthand side.
I’ll need to list that other table for sale and get it out of here. Same with the velvet Eastlake bench. It has been useful as extra seating — I do want a chair in that spot — but I know that I don’t want that particular piece.
View from the kitchen! Cool 100-year-old stove. Messy fridge covered in random kid stuff and things that amuse us.
Over in the dining room, I did finally take the plastic tablecloth off the table a few days ago. It was pink, with llamas, and it said “PARTY ANIMAL” all over it. I apologize for not leaving it a little longer so that you too could enjoy it’s sophisticated beauty! I did however make sure to leave the gifts on the buffet that we still haven’t put away. There are also four silverware boxes sitting out because: organization. (I might not be doing that right?)
Let’s end with a look back at the library. Not bad! That box is a fort and rocket ship, and therefore a semi-permanent fixture that will stay until it falls apart or we trip on it too many times. The kids have been drawing all over it while I hold my breath in hopes that they will not get marker all over the light rug. So far so good.
Those walls are so bare though. Right? It’s on the list. I’ve ordered some naughty Tarot cards that I’d like to frame as art. They might do nicely if I don’t use them to create a grid wall in the living room instead. *Throws hands up like a shrug emoji*
It’s a work in progress. Always.
Want to see some more ‘no makeup’ home tours? Of course you do!
Kyla from House of Hipsters came up with the brilliant idea for these tours, and in addition to inviting me to participate, she has assembled a pretty rad cast of bloggers to do the same. Each tour is linked below!
• Anita Yokota • Anne Sage • Bigger Than the Three of Us • brittanyMakes • Centered by Design • copycatchic • Erica Reitman • Francois et Moi • House of Brinson • House of Hipsters • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Megan Pflug Designs • Oleander + Palm • Room for Tuesday • Yellow Brick Home
I feel like I’ve been deep in planning mode for so long. I finally get to execute! The laundry room is of course first, but I’ll be working on a bathroom too. And I’m getting the urge to shake things up a bit more too and go bold.
* She says as she dials back the color and pattern in her bedroom for all-white bedding. *
I have a question for you as we head into the weekend. When thinking about a room makeover, do you look to inspiration images or do you start with a major item in the room and go from there?
I start with an individual piece. Every time. I can’t remember looking at a room and using that as the starting point (and I LOVE looking at beautiful rooms). It’s always about the color/texture/pattern/shape/etc. of a fabric, wallpaper, furniture, or whatever, and then it flows from there. I think of the individual elements in a room as crayons at my disposal, to the point where I have thought to myself “ooh, I got a new crayon to play with!”
Is that weird? It might be a little weird.
Let me give you an example. My bedroom started with the Quincy bed, which is usually shown in either a traditional or country room. I have seen and liked similar beds styled in different ways, but there was never a room that I looked to specifically to pull my own bedroom together. The bed worked with the dresser, which needed to work with another style of dresser and so on. I pulled it together from the pieces to form a whole.
When I work with clients though, they almost always start with rooms they love as inspiration. And it’s a great place to start! But I think the difference is that a client is looking to a decorator because they can’t imagine how to put the puzzle pieces (or crayon colors) together.
So I’m wondering where you fall. So many of you have lovely homes! Do you pull pages from magazines? Dog ear catalogs? Stalk flea markets and estate sales for serendipitous pieces? Are you pinning to a Pinterest board, and is it mostly products or finished rooms, or a healthy mix of the two? I’m so curious about how we all approach things!
