kriselkeeper

Jonathan Adler Canisters

2012-01-30T18:36:00.000-08:00

Holy Moses, these are awesome! I have no idea how long they've been out but these Jonathan Adler canisters are a riot! Ganja isn't even the best one! Others are labeled with: "peyote", "kitty crack", "shrooms", "disco biscuits", etc! It's too funny.

The other canister I found quite funny was the one below. The Georgia Cookie Jar. I must say it would be sort of an appropriate push gift no?

All images via Jonathan Adler.com

Push Gifts

2012-01-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Dave came up to me today and said "Ok, let me get this straight, a push gift is not for the baby but for the mom?" To which I replied "Yes! Exactly, and it usually comes in the form of diamonds...or so I've been told." But as I think of it, diamonds aren't my thing. I told him I really wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer but he refuses to get me any kind of kitchen appliance. He says that's a normal day to day purchase, like buying cameras for him. It's part of our "work".

What's my thing? Accessories for the home. That's my thing! So here is a list, for me to remember and for Dave to see of the things I'd consider an awesome push gift.

I guess I haven't really mentioned it officially but I'm pregnant. Unlike the last time I announced it, I'm pretty far along. I'm in my 3rd trimester. I've actually been afraid to jinx it but after numerous tests and ultrasounds we are pretty much in the clear. I asked my doctor a while back when I could stop worrying. She gave me this funny look and said "You're a mom now, have you stopped worrying since your daughter arrived 4 years ago?" No! No I have not stopped worrying. It's a perpetual thing as a parent.

With that in mind these are the things that will keep me semi worry-free as I see them around the house. I know there are more things on my wish list but this is all I can remember right now!

Nelson Spindle Clock: $460

image via DWR

Nelson Wheel Clock: $480

image via DWR

Bullet Planter. Med or tall: $155-160

image via Hip Haven

Pod Planter: $164

image via Potted

Ronan 2-drawer Night Stand: $229 x 2

image via Crate & Barrel

Jonathan Adler Utopia Angel/Devil vase: $98

I have no idea why I find this vase so charming but it's the kind of thing I'd never buy myself but I'd love to see it in the house.

image via Jonathan Adler

Bed Inspirations

2012-01-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

via Remodelista

David Kohn designs

via Remodelista

These three beds are what I want. Basically it's a box underneath the bed. It works for us because for one it doesn't add inches to the width or length of the bed. Two, and this is a big two, it looks easy enough to do. Besides the bench project I've never built a piece of furniture from scratch. I've refurbished furniture but never built it. Therefore, I want to work with a design I think I can handle. And in the event it fails and falls apart at least we won't have far to fall in the middle of the night. But I think I can make it so it's solid.

See, this is what I mean about involving your kids in doing projects. What on earth would possess me to build a bed? Let alone when this pregnant? Well, it was my dad. I remember asking him one time "how did you know how to do blah blah" ( I can't remember the specific project. It was something to do with plumbing or electrical.) And he said "I don't know how to do this but I know I can figure it out." I thought it was so brave of him to take on a challenge he knew nothing about. Don't you?

Anyway, so this is a quick picture of our bed and I want a box underneath it so it looks more refined. I actually like how the bed looks right now but you should see the looks on some people when they see our mattress on the floor. I can just hear the thoughts in their heads "it's so college era". To me it's very European and simple. I could use the 12-14" height though. I must say it's been a bitch to get in and out of bed while pregnant.

E and K Vintage Wood

2012-01-16T22:08:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting to building a king size bed for us. It's either now or in 2.5 years. That's what pregnancy will do to you. It lights a fire under your ass to get stuff done. I have 8 weeks to go till my due date. So it is on!

I spent the last two Friday's at E and K Vintage Wood. It's the same place I picked up the reclaimed wood when I did the bench project, except they've moved and grown. Man! Have they grown! The first Friday I went by myself to their showroom on the Westside near Venice. They have some amazing European Chestnut that was gorgeous....but out of my price range. All of their wood is amazing actually and their showroom is inspiring. I stuck with the same Douglas Fir I bought when I did the bench. I was interested in the thickness and width. I was looking for 2" thick and a width of 12"-18". They had it at their warehouse so I did a pickup a week later.

This last Friday I kept P out of school and the two of us hauled across town to pick up the planks. I love doing projects like these with P. I think it's important to involve kids because they pick up so much just from being there. If anything they gain a familiarity with DIY projects that I believe gives them a confidence to try new things as they get older. Maybe not! Who knows really, but I know it's what I got from tagging along with my dad on his home projects. And here I am trying to pass on the same to my kid.

I would have loved to look around their warehouse more. I'm so in love with all of the wood. Even their scraps look like amazing material for unique projects. But, when you're 7 months pregnant the last thing people want is for you to walk around a warehouse that has nails, etc all over. And much less with a 4 year old in tow. I remember walking around the original warehouse back in Sun Valley when P was 2. It was a fun juggle but I totally get it seems crazy to others.

We now have our four planks! The guys loaded them up in the car! I drive Ford Flex, which I love, and love even more after this adventure. Four 7.5 foot planks fit comfortably on one side while P rode on the other behind me. The front seat folded down nicely so the wood laid flat from front to back. Loving this Ford Flex more than I ever thought!

I have a bed design in mind and I've talked it over with Dave. The only thing that might change is the headboard. I didn't plan on having one. He would like one. Easy enough.

My only issue so far is that since I'm pregnant I can't sand the planks. All that wood dust would not be good for me right now. It's a lot of wood to sand. Fortunately Dave has some friends who have industrial sanders and he's going to try get them the planks this week. In the meantime I'll be doing some drawings so he knows what I want. He's going to be doing most of the heavy lifting. I'm looking forward to doing this project with him. I figured we made it through a bunk bed we can make it through this....I hope!

Hanging the TV

2012-01-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

Who knew TV wall mounts were going to be so complicated! Dave and I did lots of research and discussing before buying our Sony Google TV in November. We never thought hanging it was going to be the bigger issue. We could have hired someone to do it for about $140. It seemed like a simple enough project so we tackled it ourselves. We also realized you can spend more on all the accessories and labor than on the TV itself.

First, we needed a "tilt and swivel" mount. They cost more than just the tilt. Because of our ceiling-height Mid Century windows we need to be able to move the TV in an many directions as possible. Glare hits it from different places at different times of the day and different times of the year. The sun moves!

Second, the wall mounts come in different VESA compliance standards. You have to read the instructions of your TV to know what wall mount to buy. The VESA numbers tell you the width and height of the screw holes in your set. I read our instructions over and over and still wasn't quite sure what we were. Or, I knew what we were but couldn't find the exact numbers for the mount that went with our TV.

Third. It's best to anchor into the studs for this project. You don't want your expensive TV to end up on the ground during an earthquake. Our 1950's Mid Century home has studs at 24" on center instead of the now standard 16". That meant we needed a mount with one one "arm" to anchor not two.

So, after all these requirements and considerations we went to Fry's, Walmart, Best Buy and Costco. The wall mounts we needed for our set were ranging from $150-$300! So, now we're looking at the $150 for wall mount plus $140 for installation! I'm telling you, it's the accessories that kill you with the electronics these days. We bought two different mounts at Fry's but they were missing parts or had the wrong screws and no one had answers or was helpful. They were quite helpful in offering their installation services though. That just made me more determined to do it myself.

I decided to go to the web. I love the web! I found a site, Monoprice . They had the wall mount I needed for $55 including shipping! I thought it was too good to be true but the mount fit and was it perfect! It definitely took both Dave and me to mount the TV but we did it! And I'm still doing a Snoopy dance that it cost us only $55!!! I almost considered having it installed but I figured we had made it this far. We could finish the whole thing!

The location of the TV may seem a little odd. It blocks a window. But, it was this window that gave us the worst glare no matter where we placed the TV. I'm still trying to hide all the damn wires. I hate wires! But I'm also still trying to configure all the other devices like Apple TV, Blu-ray player, surround sound, etc. I thought we were going to be able to use my surround sound system I bought 9 years ago. I love it's sleek, simple design. But now all devices connect with an HDMI cable not the Component cables or S-video Cables. (plugs with the yellow, red, blue, green or black and red cables).

Anyway, electronics is not my forte nor an area I'm interested in becoming an expert in. I have a theory that the economic downfall of this generation has to do with the constant changing of technology. It causes us to spend money on "being compatible" every single year. My mom still listens to her music on a tape player/boom box she bought when we were in high school. We spend more on electronics in one year than my parents spent in 10!

Mini Art Studio

2012-01-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

The changes to the living room gave us more space. Well, it gave P more space. I did some changes/additions to her craft area. It was looking like the picture above which was nice but it wasn't a useful space. Every piece of furniture had stuff on it. The fridge had her sewing machine and materials. The art kit had all her brushes, scissors, paints and ribbons on it. The table always had a current project or a combination of projects that were drying or something. I felt we were always short on work space. All the art materials were in the rolling art kit but there weren't enough drawers to separate them properly.

So, I got a few things at Ikea and for about $120 I made the "studio" less cluttered and more user friendly. And, I should say "user friendly" for kids is a HUGE advantage when you want them occupied without supervision. Ie, I'd rather P do art projects than watch TV while I'm making dinner.

I got the Trofast frame for $39.99 and 7 drawers. I wanted this particular unit instead of one with the capacity for more drawers because I needed a "drying" space at P's height. I needed more counter space essentially for her. It's interesting how her creative needs have changed as she's gotten older. This same corner use to look like this.

Often she'll finish a painting but isn't finished working so she needs a place to put the wet pieces of paper as she continues creating more. The table is usually covered with paints, water, brushes and other materials as she works. This wasn't the case about a year ago. Painting meant creating one piece and we were done. Now she evolves from project to project.

Today for example she was working on Valentine's Day cards and they needed a place to dry. They were covered in glitter and glue. Previously, we made heart and star shaped crayons. They also needed a place to fully cool. This space was perfect! Also, with this new configuration of drawers I have a separate drawer for paper, paints, stamps, play dough, misc art materials and her sewing machine. Nothing is on top of anything else.

The second item I got was the Grundtal rail with 6 of the cutlery caddy cups. Now there is a clear, clean, defined, useful space for her crayons, pencils, scissors, brushes, ribbons and smocks! And the kicker is that having all this stuff on display makes it more useful to her. She's colored more in the last two days than she has in months! Of course having a clear table to work on is also conducive to sitting down and getting creative!

The peace of mind for me is divine! I love to see her space organized and useful to her. She asked me to label her drawers so she knew for sure what was in them. This cracks me up because she can't read yet. But she wants them labeled with words not pictures so that's a good sign I think!

As you can see our living room is predominantly her space. But we like it that way. I can cook, do laundry, read, etc and she is in eye sight doing her things. It feels nice to be integrated but separate.

I still have to finish her toy sink and oven. That's next on the list.

Love is Spoken Here

2012-01-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

One of my Christmas gifts for Dave was this pillow that I found here. We've had a very trying year with family. As sad as it makes us feel to not have support from those who should be there for us, it also brings us closer together. I don't think we came together out of coincidence. We are better, stronger, smarter united. It's as if what we find in each other is what we lacked from our youth.

I got him/us this pillow to remind us that we are not just products of the families we came from. One of our big goals is that our family, our girls, will be better in so many ways. We will do better for them and give them better opportunities and support. All this begins with crazy, amazing love at home. As this pillow states "Love is Spoken Here" in our home, no if, ands or buts. No matter how tired or angry we are we speak respectfully and lovingly to one another.

When objects of design bring us good memories or remind us of higher standards I think they're beyond beautiful.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

A few images of our house at this time of the year. It's been a quiet Christmas. No travel plans. No outside family. It's been lovely. The three and a half of us bonding in the things like cooking, napping and building toys. It's the year we got our snowman for outside. This is the kind of snowman we build in Southern California.

Dave and P made a gingerbread house from Costco and it turned out like this.

The train set came out for the second year. P and Dave love putting it together. I love the special time they get to spend doing this.

I made our stockings. The two on the far left I made 7 years ago for Dave and me during our first Christmas together. The ones on the right I made last year to include other family members. This year P chose those two for herself and her sister to come.

P is this tall this year. (In comparison to the tree)

Our first Christmas with Penny, our 18month old rescue from Linda Blair.

It's the year, I'm 6 months pregnant with our second!

P made us these Christmas ornaments of gingerbread!

Our 1950's nativity set from inherited from Dave's grandfather.

P got her first real and compete dollhouse. The Plan Toys Chalet with furniture. She loves it and we love it for it's functionality and design.

Play time in the hallway with her marble run! Using the house as part of her play and creativity!

I love this picture. Shows off the light in the house plus the fun of giving toys to our kids that are as much fun for us as it is for them.....I think!

Christmas Eve after mass. A train, a tree and my family! Love it!

Before having children I hated these window clings. I thought they looked dumb and ugly. Now, I love them. They make the house feel homey and clearly identify the ages and stages we're living through.

With our new bookcase we now have a place to put nutcrackers, etc. P wanted her own. We got her a small one but what she meant was that she wanted a real working one.

Our holiday cards get displayed on a glittery, red string across our chalk wall.

I love getting and sending holiday cards. REAL cards are a tradition I hope never goes away despite ecards

The best part about the holidays this year was Dave cooking super delicious Cornish hens! He is not "the cook" in the house but it seems that when left to his own devices he is quite awesome! I've never cooked a bird in my life and it looks like I may never have to. His were so delicious!

Living Room Changes

2011-12-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

We're like ants moving piles of sand back and forth over here. We made changes to the guest bedroom. Which caused us to move all our books, both in storage and on a shelf, out of that room and into the living room. We always intended to have a wall of books in the living room but it's taken 4 years to make it happen.

We decided on the Helix bookcases from CB2. Four of these fit the intended wall perfectly. We pulled almost all of our books out of storage and now have them out on display for easy access. Oddly enough, it's our 4-year old who really enjoys going through them.

Before putting the bookcases up we had to repaint the wall. P loved to help. But just like the last time she helped me paint a wall she found this type of painting to have "too many rules" and "not fun". I was still happy that she wanted to help. It's the storm before the calm that prohibits me from doing projects like these any faster. I hate this stage of the process. Furniture is moved, books everywhere, complete chaos! I hate it!

Another big change was getting rid of the big tv! You may remember seeing this great big black box in most of our living room pictures...or maybe not. I tried to hide it as much as possible.

Dave bought the TV before we were even together. The picture quality is still great but we can't connect it to any online devices; ie Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, etc. We decided to downsize in screen size and take advantage of the black Friday sales after Thanksgiving. Online access on the TV may not seem so important but we got rid of cable almost a year ago and now just watch what we really want to watch from all the online apps. No more $200/month cable bills! It justified getting a new TV.

Just in time for the holidays our living room that once looked like this, now looks like this:

In it's previous location, the TV got glare from almost every window. In it's new spot we get no glare. Watching TV during the day is enjoyable and I can even watch from the kitchen and dining room.

Before, the far left couch was all the way up against the wall. The spacing was odd in relation to the fireplace. Now with the bookcase on that wall the couch is pushed in closer to the fireplace and the other couch which created a more intimate sitting area. The entire room feels cozier.

There will forever be toys in this room. It just is what it is with small children in the house. I've come to find it soothing instead of a mess. We do try to keep it somewhat contained.

This is the view from the hallway as you enter the house. I love the new bookcases and all those books meeting us every time we enter.

Bunk Beds: the true test of a marriage.

2011-12-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

When you get married they never tell you that it's things like putting a bunk bed together that will really test your marriage. The bed arrived in a box like this. Then we had to put it together. And we all have a method to our madness. And we all have things we feel we must finish before going to bed. And usually neither one of these aligns in a couple.

After all was said and done Dave and I laughed about it all. The bed did get made. We're still happily married. And P is super happy with her new bed and room. So, I'm warning all single or unmarried people right now that it's not just a bunk bed but a test!

Peanut's New Bed and Bedroom

2011-12-20T23:13:00.000-08:00

We were looking for a bunk bed for P's room back in June. I strategized this purchase every which way possible. How long would our 4 year old use this bed? How much should we spend? Should I be able to convert it into two twin beds? Etc, etc!

I was tempted to fork out $1700 for a bed from Room and Board. But add the mattresses and bedding we're talking like $2500! Then I chatted with fellow moms who brought some sense into me. They all said the bed purchased at this age will inevitably get markers, shoe marks, crayon, stickers and Lord knows what else all over it. They all recommended going towards a lower budget.

I felt my only option in a semi-designer type, budget-conscience category was Ikea. I looked everywhere and found the options very limiting especially since i was looking for something more modern. Then one day I was reading through back posts of Cup of Jo. She bought their crib at Walmart!!! I love Joanna's taste...but Walmart? I checked out the site and to my surprise found some great options. Thank God because Dave refused to buy an Ikea bed. He found them to be way too wobbly and unsafe.

So, first a couple of pictures of P's room in October. And then pictures of her room now. I still have some adjustments and fixes to do but this is how it turned out.

Before

You will notice in this picture that there is a blue film covering the top windows. Dave quickly placed it up there in an attempt to create an underwater world for P. It was meant to be temporary but we like how it slightly darkened the room. Now, I have to get back up and put it on properly. It's still up with blue painters tape!

After

One corner of the room with the bunk bed.

A capture of the room right down the middle. Bookcase to one side and bed to the other.

I felt this wall area needed something. I ordered these wall decals off Etsy.

I splurged on bedding. This is the winter flannel set from Garnet Hill called Painted Ponies. The quality of the sheets is amazing and I'm glad I went with a higher end version.

This wall is the "pretend wall" where all her dress up gear and backpacks are hung. Even though I really wanted the animal wall hooks from Anthropology I decided with a more functional choice from them instead. Also, the flower ones I selected were half the price.

The hooks at the entrance of her room are now free to hold the daily shuffle of coats, hats and swords.

Easy toy access makes for easy toy clean up.

The top bunk is currently a little reading haven. I need to relocate the flower wall art to better places and I'd like to add a single book shelf so she can place a couple books up there. It's become one of her favorite places to read.

This is a run down of the things I purchased and where I got them:

Bunk Bed: Wallmart

Mattresses: Ikea

Hanging lamp: Ikea Maskros

Wall Hooks: Anthropology Petal Hook

Wall decal of tree with owls: Modern Decals from Etsy

Wall flowers : Walter

Duvet covers: Garnet Hill Fiesta Percale Bedding in Beach Rose

Flannel sheets: Garnet Hill called Painted Ponies

Bookcase: Ikea Expedit

Balloon Print: LoveMaki

Succulent Wreath

2011-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for receiving a million catalogs. It's so much fun to look through all those amazing products but torturous when trying to save. This is one item I think I'll have to purchase. If not over the holidays then a little later this year. The succulent wreath from VivaTerra. I love it and can think of a million places to put it!

Exterior Color?...

2011-12-06T06:15:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking about paint colors for a while. It's the next big thing to happen to the house. Dave and I always had a dark brown in mind. After a couple of summers we're thinking that might not be the best idea. We're working against two major factors: no insulation in the walls and our inability to plant trees where we need them to block the summer sun. Adding a color that sucks in the heat is probably one of the worst things we could do.

Recently I've been considering white. But then again, I need to work with the color schemes already established. The roof is dark,dark brown and the framing around the windows is white. Soooooo, I have no idea. I'd like to add a color to contrast with the white of the frames and complement the brown of the roof. I think I'm too worried about this because I've seen other houses where the wrong shade of brown makes the house look just awful. It's like nail polish, the wrong shade of gold will make you look like a stripper but the right one can make you look like you walked out of Channel.

I'm also having a hard time visualizing what a color will really look like because of the current stucco on the house. It's so awful! Who invented this horrible technique of making a building look like it's covered in cake frosting? Seriously! If you change the color of the house to white it looks like a wedding cake and pink it looks like a little girl's birthday cake! Even designer cakes don't use this kind of coating anymore! Smooth fondant has replaced the whippie stuff! That's something else to add to the bill: re-stucco the house.

On another note. The house behind/beside us is now up for sale after a major re-do. I went over one day to say hello and be neighborly. The contractor showed me all the changes, etc he was doing to the house (none to the Mid Century Modern taste). When I went to leave he TELLS me that they're going to paint one of our walls and landscape part of our property. Doesn't ASK, if it's ok with me but TELLS me that's what he's going to do. I informed Dave and he talked to them. Dave has a better way with people who have that kind of ~~stupidity~~ audacity. Last week they had an open house so I went over to see the final work. The realtor says to me "Did you see they didn't paint your wall or put plants on your side? They really wanted to." I replied in the kindest way I could "Yes, I did and I appreciate you not changing MY property." Then she started asking me how soon we're going to repaint the house and tried selling me the contractor and his services. I can't help but laugh.

Glo MSN.com

2011-11-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

Remodelista's Janet Hall is also a contributor at glo.msn.com Today she did a round up of stylish mudrooms/entryways and we made the cut! It's so cool! But here is the funny thing....

One recent morning Dave and I got into a fight about our entryway. Our new dog chewed one of P's shoes and Dave wanted to move all the shoes some place else. Where? Oh, I don't know but he said he wanted to see all the shoes lined up in their own neat cubbies. Really Dave? You mean the way Jay Z or Diddy have all their shoes in their 20,000 square foot homes? Let me quickly build us an addition onto our 1700 sq foot house just for our shoes, cause we to, should live the rapper lifestyle!

Anyway, after our fight he took off for work and I sat down to go through emails. There was Janet's email! Our entryway in a round up of STYLISH entryways? Oh this was just too good! The design gods were looking down on me! I forwarded the email to Dave. It took me longer to hit send than for him to call me back and we both had a good laugh. "Ok" he says, "we won't change a thing"!

So, THANK YOU JANET! We're incredibly honored and I'm incredibly grateful because I won this marital/design fight hands down thanks to you!!!

Interior Beam Color

2011-10-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

I started out trying to get ideas for exterior house colors. I quickly got distracted by interior beam colors. I guess they both go hand in hand since the beams of Mid Century Modern Homes flow from outside to inside.

Dave and I discussed many ideas when we moved into the house. Ultimately, time was the determining factor and we decided to stick to the all white. Had I not been 9 months pregnant when we moved in I would have wanted our main beams to go back to their natural wood color. I have since found out that the labor, cost and possible toxicity of sanding it down to natural wood is all quite high.

Anyway, these are all images from one website, SoCal Modern. They've given me lots of ideas. The entire site is amazing and inspiring to look through. They are a real estate company with only Mid Century Modern homes in Southern California. I was blown away by the range of price points listed. I have to say, when I see these homes all finished and beautiful it makes me want to move! It's a lot of work redoing a home when you have little kids.

All images via SoCal Modern

All of the color choices are amazing.

I love how the two browns specially work and define in the kitchen.

I would never be bold enough to do color like this on the ceiling but it really works.

This is what I had in mind for our house.

I love the dark doors with the dark beams and the rest white.

I love this combination to.

Again, color choices that I'd never think of, but they really work!

And the all white. I love it as well but now that I see all the color options together I realize that beams with color make it more of a signature MCM home.

Dear Colleen Prints

2011-10-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

After getting P's print for her room I've been searching a bit more than usual on Etsy and other blogs for great prints. I'm loving this one by Dear Colleen; and so is Dave. Right now he's the only one who has the skills. Trying to figure out where it would go. I also love her tennis print but it would mean I'm an awful wife so I'm gonna have to pass on that particular one.

Via DesignMom

The Montage at Laguna Beach

2011-10-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we stayed three nights at the Montage in Laguna Beach. It was an amazing and much needed trip. We were very grateful that it was on the company dime. (Although they did charge us for $550 of spa services. I never set foot in the spa and as of yesterday they had yet to reimburse the charges. Not very classy of a 5-star hotel.) Dave was shooting a commercial on location at the hotel. So while he worked all day, P and I took long walks after breakfast, swam in the pool, went to the gym, vegged in the room and P got to play in their kids club called Paintbox. I could go on and on about all their luxuries but I think the pictures capture it best.

The hotel was built over looking the ocean. The property which once was a mobile home park is now home to a $1 billion hotel. They must have some agreement with Laguna Beach because the path in front of the hotel and the cliffs right below are all native gardens and habitat for wildlife. It's all protected area. It was very inspiring to walk through their paths. I hope to have our front yard looking much like their gardens in a couple years....except we it won't be just native plants.

The crew took over the mosaic pool one day to film one of the scenes.

They also converted five rooms into production space. Dave and P are in the far corner chair while other crew members are hard at work. It's a luxury for P to see Dave on shoot days.

Our room. The beds were super comfy. However, I am proud to say we have softer sheets! High thread count is a luxury I will gladly splurge on. It makes for many great nights.

We each got slippers, even P. They brought up a robe and slippers in her size!

The view from our balcony.

P and I having lunch on our balcony. The sound of the ocean and the sea gulls was so relaxing!

The gym with the lap pool in the foreground.

P doing "semi laps" in the pool.

The view from the treadmill. An open air view of the Pacific Ocean! How inspiring is that?

One entrance to the hotel has this amazing iron sculpture. Then you walk down a flight of stairs that leads to this courtyard.

The view from the lounge. Great place to have a glass of wine or hot cocoa.

Finally we had to say goodbye to Dave. P is standing in the lobby calling Dave on my phone to say goodbye....even though he's right there in front of her.

Ryder Rocking Chair

2011-10-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

Browsing through Ohdeedoh the other day I found this awesome rocking chair. I was surprised to read it was from West Elm for $599! I'm contemplating selling ours on Craigslist and buying this one. I need to drive down there and try it out before I make any final decisions.

Buying a rocking chair turned out to be a big ordeal in this family. Every parenting book we read said "Buy your rocking chair in advance. It should be your big first purchase." It was also advice given to the dads "go get your wife a rocking chair or you'll pay for it later." Well, Dave paid for it later. I researched a few modern chairs before P arrived. I told Dave what I wanted but he dragged his feet. P arrived. A month later both of our backs were hurting. (Newborns need constant movement to soothe to sleep, ie, they need the same environment they had in the belly for 10 months) Then Dave threw his back out. One day I said "That's it! I'm going to get a chair and I don't care how much it costs!".

Of course the first time P had a crying fit that wouldn't end was when I was at the furniture store. I was making fast decisions just to get out of there. I ended up paying $1400 for a brown glider with pink pipping that has a heater and back massager. Not my first choice in style but it had everything we needed for our aching backs. And then I had to wait seven weeks to get it!!!

I'm super finicky about how a chair feels. If you're buying a rocker for the first time for you and your baby, keep in mind that most of the time you'll spend in it you'll be half asleep. So, be sure you can slouch and be comfy at 3am, when you can barely hold yourself up, let alone your baby as well. Problem is finding form and function can be tough. Now that P is almost four I wish I would have bought something that went better with the rest of the style of our home.

These are some of the other rockers and gliders I've loved over the past 4 years:

Eames Molded Rocker at Room and Board $479

Super stylish in a kid's room. Not the least bit practical at 3am.

image from Room & Board

Luca Glider by Monte $995.

Water repelant and stain resistant micro-suade fabric

image from Monte

Joya Rocker by Monte $895

image from Monte

Vintage Danish Rocker from Etsy seller Deja vu long beach: $1295

My mom had a "southern style porch rocker" with my brother. I was 5 when he was born and to this day I will never forget how uncomfortable it was for me to feed him and not bump his head on the wooden arms. But then again, I was 5 and the rocker was not as stylish as this!

image from Deja Vu

Sleepytime & Storytime Rocker by Nursery Works: $700/ $650

Sleepytime rocker has a higher back which I thought would be ideal with a baby.

The Storytime rocker has a lower back and wider seat ideal for reading to a toddler.

images from Nursery Works

Low-Rider Glider by City Sprouts $895

images from City Sprouts

Sand Castle

2011-10-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend we got a 6 foot tall sand castle! Dave just worked on a Capitol One commercial and they had the sand castle built for one of the sets. Somehow it ended up in our backyard and P is delighted.

It's made out of styrofoam, "sand paint" and sand. It's not Mid Century or the sort of thing you expect to see in a home but it will be with us for a at least a couple months. I don't think it'll make it too long since it's outside in the elements. Probably about the time P gets bored with it, it will be time to toss it out.

Dave was very happy he was able to logistically get this thing to our house and over a wall into our backyard. How often is a dad able to get his daughter something like this, unless your Tom Cruise? It cost over $3000 to build! We're all feeling pretty lucky! I may have to throw a sand castle party!

Snake Flower

2011-10-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we did more "mulching" and added a new row of plants called Snake Flower. They're South African natives that are drought tolerant, need partial to full sun, look lush and flower from Fall through Spring. I'm really loving how they look.

I planted 5 of them in front of our fence, and another 5 throughout the front garden. The two colored blooms I found at West Valley Nursery were a yellow/orange or just yellow. Both look really beautiful.

My idea is to plant a row of Kangaroo Paw between the Snake Flower and the fence. I've tried 3 times to grow Kangaroo Paw and all 3 times I've failed. But with each failure I've learned something new so maybe the 4th time will be the charm. I will keep trying because I love the Paws. I even bought a large burgundy pot that would tie the color scheme together with the red ones, which also happen to be the least finicky of all!

A week after we put in the Snake Flower we drove down to Irvine to the Orange County Great Park. They have so much to see: a balloon ride, carousel, creative playground, race track and an eco-friendly, farming/garden center. That day we did quite a bit but I didn't get to visit the garden/farming area. However, to my surprise, I did see the Snake Flower in their gardens. I felt so proud I was "on it" with my plant selections. Seeing the Snake Flower in combination with other plants and in a garden with some of the same ideas I had in mind was very inspiring.

Eames House

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's LA times there were several articles(one, two, three) about the temporary relocation/recreation of the Eames Pacific Palisades house. The living room will live at LACMA for the next six months as part of a large city-wide exhibition called "Living in a Modern Way: California Design 1930-1965".

I'm really looking forward to seeing the exhibition and I'm very interested to see the living room...again. In 2006 Dave was asked to shoot pictures of Eames Demetrios, the grandson of Ray and Charles, for Desert Living Magazine. I got to go along as his photo assistant one day... the day he went to the Eames house in the Palisades. I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity but the magnitude of it all didn't hit me until I read the articles yesterday. I've actually walked in that very living room! The real living room!

Two things I love to do: 1: get to visit someone's house and 2: get to see their bedroom. I think both reveal a whole lot about who they are. It's almost like getting a peek inside the person's thought process. In fact, I'd consider it better than a psychological analysis. So, you can imagine how amazing it was for me to stand in Ray and Charles Eames' house. Two design icons of our time! (Just the living room and office. Not the bedroom!)

I must say at first I was a bit surprised. I expected their home to be more of the stereotypical Modern movement. I've seen so many Julius Shulman photographs of the 1950's. I think I expected the "creators" of the look to exemplify it beyond anything else I had seen.

Instead, the house had the foundation or base coat of the Modern movement with accents of a life well-traveled, well-lived and well-embraced. You could see what inspired Ray and Charles. And there was no doubt they were artist. The place felt organic and evolved much the same as an artist develops his/her work.

I don't know how to say this without sounding pompous. What surprised me the most was that their living room had sort of the same essence of our apartment. Not that I think Dave and I are Charles and Ray but there were some similarities in the way our places looked. It really surprised me. I didn't think we had absolutely anything in common with a couple as accomplished as them.

At the time we were living on the 22nd floor on the west-side. Our building was built in the 1950's. It had the definite structure of the era, with floor to ceiling windows. Our living room was filled with books and pieces of our travels from all over the world. Each piece had a memory of a place and time. We liked to keep the things that inspired us in obvious places throughout the house. Because we had floor to ceiling windows I had plants in pots that "mingled" from the outdoor balcony into the interior. The Eames had all the same types of things. The big difference, of course, was that the Eames have amazing furniture. While Dave and I only had select good accent pieces, they have a house full of amazing pieces.

I guess in a way it was inspiring to have even a single thread of commonality with them. I think it's something any artist will find when they see the exhibition. Reading the articles yesterday reminded me that I need to remain true to the essence our our family through the design of this house. It doesn't matter that we live in a Mid Century Modern home and that some people expect it to look a certain way. The home can have the structure of the era but the essence of the home needs to remain Dave's and mine.

Newspaper & Mulch

2011-09-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

I read somewhere that newspaper works as a great weed barrier. I had my doubts...how could something that's free and so easily available (we get the paper daily) beat weeds? Turns out it really does work! There's something about the acidity of the ink that keeps the weeds at bay. Over a year ago I laid it down in select areas of our front yard and to this day those areas are almost weed free.

Now that our entire front yard has been landscaped I'm resorting to my free weed fighting solution. Even though a great part of the front is now a dg pathway there is still a lot of square footage of planter beds. We've covered almost half of it and we're trying to get the rest done before the rains come.

I was going to order mulch but I had no idea how expensive it was! I got quotes from $700-2,000 for the amount I needed. I'd rather put that money towards buying more plants. So Dave went to get free mulch from the city. The good thing is it's free, the bad thing is that sometimes it can be hard to find. Lately, it's been running out quickly.

I had also heard that the city mulch came with cut glass, syringes, etc. So far that has not been the case. Dave says he sorts through what he brings home. On rare occasion he's found a piece of glass but nothing like what we had heard. Maybe it depends on what part of town you're getting it from.

It's amazing how just putting down the same color mulch all around will clean up a space. I love that Dave found dark mulch. The contrast between the planted space and the pathway is beautiful. The only small problem is making sure all the paper is covered up. If it starts to become exposed here and there the yard starts to look like it's been trashed. But, like I said, it's a small problem. I continue to love working and spending time in our front yard. I continue to love seeing it grow. Once we get the paper and mulch down I'll be looking forward to the rainy season!

Mow Baby Mow!

2011-09-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

I love this picture! P has become very interested in helping with daily chores or household activities. She helped me mow the lawn the week before and then wanted to help Dave to. I'm so proud of her self motivation and understanding that she has a role and purpose in our house.

The other thing I love about this picture is our lawn. Oh I love this lush green space that's just ours! I love our hedge of lavender. It's all come a long way baby!!!

The Living Room Sconce Fix

2011-08-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

I'm having one of those moments when I'm antsy about the things that have not been fixed or the projects I haven't started around the house. Looking through this blog helps me feel better when I can't tackle something right away. I always realize we've come farther than I thought...considering our circumstances.

I discovered there were a few projects I finished but never posted. For the time being writing about what I have finished will make me feel better about all the things I haven't.

The living room had these uglier than ugly sconces since the day we moved in. For some reason Dave and I decided it was something we could leave for later. But every month those suckers bugged me more and more. The other factor is that we are planning on tearing down the wall where those sconces live. It would be pointless to spend money on beautiful lighting fixtures when they would only be temporary.

Image from The Brick House

I was inspired by a post both on The Brick House and on Remodelista. They had a cost effective, easy, DIY solution to sconces. I thought this was the perfect solution. Problem was that neither the simple light fixture or the bulb were found at the usual Home Depot or Lowes. I had to adventure out to industrial lighting supply stores to find what I needed. I have to admit I love these kind of adventures and I love taking our 3 year old daughter with me. It's of course harder with her but I love that she learns so much from these "non typical" stores.

The bulbs cast a nice soft light. It's perfect for this room.

On the flip side, when these guy guys see a mom, with a toddler, pull up in a Volvo they think I must be lost. Some are dismissive and rude. Others are impressed by my efforts and thankfully most are quite helpful and teach me the lingo and the lay of the land in these HUGE warehouses. I also found a killer, Mid Century out door sconce for $5 at one of the places. Man! What a score. Even Dave was impressed. I still haven't figured out where to put it.

My project turned out great. Each sconce was less than $5 so for $10 I fixed the ugliest problem (except for the couch) in our living room! Funny thing: someone who use to come by always had a passive and rude comment about the ugly sconces. Then they didn't even notice once they were changed out! Lovely huh?

Here is the semi-before picture. I remembered to take a picture when I was half way through changing the fixtures.

Here you can see the door behind the wall we plan to tear down. In there are another two rooms. I'd like to open up the entire space. It would allow us to have the current living room for entertaining, the room on the other side of the wall would be the tv room and the room past it would be the play/craft room. And, true to the home's original design we would get our cross ventilation back with windows on both the front and back of the house.

Dwell 2011 Finds

2011-08-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to Dwell I come back loaded up with brochures. I stash them on my desk until the next year or until the pile is so high I just throw EVERYTHING out. This year I had an epiphany! I have a home design blog! So instead of keeping all this stuff physically on file, in a mess in the house, I can file it here virtually for me to easily find and for you to see.

So, these were the vendors I found most interesting this year and pertained to future project on our house. It's also vendors I found in our price range, or relatively close. There were many amazing products but we don't have a million dollar house over looking the beach and a comparable budget...someday though, someday.

Modfire:

They're based in Phoenix, Az and makers of pretty cool outdoor fire pits.

Greenform:

Modern planters made out of natural products, not plastic. Manufactured in Switzerland.

Underearthed:

Pure natural paints, plasters and wood finishes. 100% VOC free made with fully disclosed natural ingredients.

EIS Studio:

They make "pebble seats" for indoor and outdoor use. They are super cool and I'd love to have a set in our front yard. Based in Venice Beach.

Cerno:

LED light fixtures. Beautiful and functional light fixtures. They have a sconce i loved and could possibly work in our bedroom. Based out of Laguna Beach.

Bright Green:

An entire line of non-toxic, biodegradable phosphate and petroleum free cleaning and household products. I find it interesting they are carried by Vons, Safeway, Tom Thumb but not Whole Foods or Target. And it states what they are free of but not what they're made of. Not a good sign to me but I do want to check them out, although I'm rarely in the stores they're carried in.

A couple retail stores I liked:

Mason Bertet:

Located on Beverly Blvd in LA and on Park Place in El Segundo they have outdoor furniture, bathroom vanities, Eco-fireplaces, home decor and tile. We almost bought a hanging egg chair right off their display. Then we decided we needed to get through our essential purchases first...although the need for that chair is starting to feel essential now. The owner was really kind which is always a bonus.

MidCentury LA:

Located in North Hollywood. I remember shopping here when I was in the film industry. We did lots of rentals from them. What drew me in to their area was a children's chair they had which was beautiful and I thought really reasonably priced: $200. Then I saw their beds, tables, etc. Always beautiful things there.

Blu Dot:

Located in West Hollywood. Man! I love their furniture. I saw a bed, bookcases and lamps I loved. All pricey but not crazy expensive either so a few key pieces would be do-able.

Dwell felt a lot smaller than it had in previous years. I hate to say this, but except for the first year, Ive always been rather disappointed with the show. I give any event leeway for the first year. I'd like to see the big standard vendors like DWR, Room & Board, CB2. But more important, I want to see small independent manufacturers and designers. In fact the whole showroom should be divided by these two categories: large vs small mass produce.

Ive always found the show to be hit or miss with what we're looking for. We went with friends who needed outdoor shade screens and there was not one vendor in that category. We were looking for modern kids bunk beds and we found not one vendor either. So in a way it felt like a wasted trip...except for the above finds but they are all for future projects.

This show should be THE place to see, compare and purchase all your modern furniture, materials, services etc. Instead it feels like being in Home Depot where your left with only a few selections. Except it's not by ugly default but by financial default. Meaning, in Home Depot I can skim through the isles and "say no, no, no, yes" because so many options are ugly. But at Dwell it's "no, no, no, yes" because so many options are ridiculously expensive.

You'd think by this day and age everyone knows there is something for everyone at every price point. It's not how much you've spent on your home that makes it beautiful it's whether or not you have taste and style. And that is something money can't buy. Well, I guess it can buy you a designer if you've got none.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Art for P

2011-08-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've made a few little changes to P's room but I've struggled to photograph them properly. No matter what time of day, or lens I use it continues to look blah. Thank God I don't make a living as an architectural photographer.

P is phasing out of being a baby/toddler and into being a little girl. I felt the art work in her room should reflect this. The entry to P's room use to look like this

and now it looks like the picture at the top. I got her the print from here. It's in French and says "Si tu savais combien je t'aime, tu t'évanouirais". Translation: "if you knew how much I love you, you'd faint". I couldn't express my love for her any better!

I love that the print has a "little girl" feel with the pink balloon and yet I can see this piece transitioning into her decor as a teen. Part of growing up is having a print properly framed as oppose to just hanging up a piece of paper so I got it properly framed. Now, I'm wishing I would have gotten the more expensive non-glare glass. Then again if the glass breaks with a flying doll, car or ball I won't have a heart attack because it wasn't so expensive. Yeah! Wise choice for me.

I also changed her magnet strip which use to hold her fun magnetic dolls for a set of hooks. The girl's not got bags and backpacks and all sorts of items to hang up. If we had more disposable income I would have chosen this set from Anthropology, but they are $20 a piece.

I know in a few years this room will go through another change and these might be too childish. So I opted for a strip with several hooks from Lowes for $10. Not as cool but truthfully it still looks good, goes with the vibe, does the job and I feel I made the wiser choice. Of course as I see these hooks again I'm still tempted to get them for another area of her room....and then again I'm proud of myself for making wiser financial choices these days.

Bedroom Garden

2011-08-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Back in April my goal was to move the Kaffir Lilies from the entrance in the front yard to the bedroom garden where the environment is more pleasing to them. Unlike most projects I was able to cross this one off my list within reasonable time (2 months). When I did the big planting in the frontyard I moved the Kaffirs to make room for drought tolerant plants.

The Kaffirs went to the bedroom garden where it's bright but shaded most of the day. This spot is now getting watered twice as much as any other part on our property. While we were in Florida I realized I actually missed the lush tropical landscape. It's probably why I've always had a vision for the view from our bedroom to be green and in some ways tropical.

The bedroom garden that once looked like this over a year ago:

Now looks like this:

From inside it looks amazing, specially in the morning. It also smells amazing. The ground cover is a plant that smells like wine barrels. I like to open up all the windows and air out our bedroom after everyone is and at 'em. That wine barrel smell is so wonderful as it floats in and cleans out the "sleepy air".

I have no idea what the big leafy plant is. I got it for free off of Craig's list, along with the ferns and the other lily. I still want a fountain and some stepping stones to make this area perfect.

The Race Track

2011-08-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I had the opportunity to write. We went to Florida for two weeks. A week after returning we went camping in Big Bear. Five days before heading into the "wilderness" P caught a cold and over the weekend all three of us got it bad. The decent from 7,000 feet with colds and an ear ache (for P) was not pleasant. Luckily, I remembered a friend once told me that drops of Vodka in an ear alleviates and often cures ear aches. We stopped at a liquor store on the way out, gave P a few drops and she was out for four hours. She woke up when we got home completely cured of everything but Dave and I were exhausted. It has taken us weeks to get our energy level back to normal.

I have managed to finish a few projects here and there but my attention has mostly been on the new front garden. The space has been amazing! Big chunks of it are shaded in the late afternoon which makes it lovely. The big surprise has been how much P loves the "race track", her name for the DG path. She loves to run around it pretending to be a race car.

Today she used the path to ride her balance bike. We bought her this bike for Christmas soon after her 2nd birthday. It hasn't been until now, at 3.5 that she is finally using it daily. She's determined to get her pedals on. Because the front yard slopes down and away from the front door the DG path makes a great place for her to coast and get her balance. She keeps going around and around trying to coast longer and have more control every time.

Being outside in the garden has given us the opportunity to meet new neighbors and chat with old ones. It's also given us the chance to meet new creatures: grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, worms, rolly pollies, butterflies and lady bugs. Not to mention the neighborhood cats and the humming birds who for some reason seem to think my ear is a flower. On a few occasions they have hovered right at my ear; a lovely yet eerie sensation.

Of all the plants I planted I lost about a quarter of them. All the Jack Sprat I transplanted have died. The Kangaroo Paw died. Of course the week after everything went in, I took off for Florida and the temperatures reached the 100's. I had the drip irrigation system in and set to go on three times a week but it wasn't enough. As much as I'm dying to go buy more plants I think the prudent thing to do is wait until the fall. At least it will give the plants some winning odds of surviving. Even if I'm buying drought tolerant plants they need to establish before they can endure the high heat.

I am thrilled we FINALLY got the front yard done! Had I known how much P was going to use it and enjoy it I would have done it at least a year earlier. It's the perfect space for her to play, for me to interact with her and with the garden. It literally is heaven for me right now....well, when it's shaded and it's not 100 degrees outside!

Drought Tolerant Plants

2011-07-07T05:18:00.000-07:00

I've been busy buying plants. The north side of the yard is dedicated to lavenders. The south side will be a mix of drought tolerant plants. As much as I'd love to only do native plants I must admit there are many varieties of Australian shrubs and trees I like. I am being careful to not get more invasive creatures like I the Mexican Heather Grass. In fact, this summer I'll be tearing them out from our south median.

I have a game plan for this entire front garden space. With the dg path laid down I can clearly visualize my plant selections better. The entire space looks dry with all the granite but with the plants grown in it will feel lush again. However, it'll probably be a year before the plants grow in to the desired fullness. For budgetary reasons I buy all plants in small sizes. I don't mind waiting to see them all at their fullest potential.

I get most of my plants at West Valley Nursery on Ventura Blvd. It's not a discount plant store but I do find their prices to be pretty close to places located "off the boulevard". Instead of 50 cents or a dollar less I get a wealth of information. John, the owner, is very knowledgeable and kind. He'll take the time to listen to my plan and help me out. For example, I told him I needed lots of lavender. He asked me what variety I wanted, there are close to 20 different kinds. I said I didn't know them well enough to know but I knew I wanted something that could be used in perfumes or food. He informed me there were only 2 varieties for those purposes. I selected Lavender Grosso. John's wealth of information is priceless, he has a great selection of plants and he does not carry the invasive varieties. In fact, I saw a plant I loved on the hillsides going over the canyons. It was growing wild and I wanted to order one. Turns out it's not native and highly invasive and sucks the water away from the other plants. John was able to identify what it was just based on my verbal description.

Here are some of the other plants I selected.

I picked out 4 different kind of sages.

Mexican Brush Sage or Hardy Salvia Leucantha

Winifred Gillman Sage or Salvia clevelandii

Allen Chickering Sage or Salvia Allen Chickering

White Sage, that I didn't get the chance to photograph yet. I bought it very small and it's not doing so well.

Then I picked out a few different varieties:

Between the two large flax is a "Lions Tail". It will have some beautiful large orange flowers that look like....well, a lion's tail, literally. They are quite in bloom right now. I saw it in a friend's front yard and I knew I wanted one to.

Silver Swan

Matllija Poppy or Romneya coulteri.

It looks awful right here but these plants just bloomed. If you live in LA and have driven pass the zoo on Griffith Park Drive you would have seen these bushes with the most amazing white flowers that look like white tissue. This will be a beautiful plant that will be about 15 feet wide. I didn't realize it's stems are sort of prickly. That worries me a little with small kids, but at least it's not thorny.

Lambs Ear. How this super soft plant is drought tolerant is beyond me.

"Platinum Wallaby" Mula Mula

Around each of the three trees I put in some Sedum Brevifolium. My original plan was to plant grass. Then a friend suggested doing a sedum or another drought tolerant ground cover. Brilliant. This was my choice. I split a flat between the three trees.

Although I love the look of Agaves I can't have them in our garden. Most have very long thorns at the ends of each "leaf". I've heard too many stories of children losing an eye when they've accidentaly ran into one. Nothing is worth my child's eye.

I'm so happy with our front garden space. We now spend the late afternoons in it because it's the shadiest part of our property at that time of the day. I'm happy when I come home and walk through it and I'm happy when I leave and and walk through it.

Pipe Coat Rack

2011-06-26T01:07:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I saw this coat rack on Ohdeedoh. I think it's perfect for a boy's room. The company, Nick Fraser Designs, is in England and it seems like they don't ship to the US. That's a bummer but it looks like a pretty straight forward DIY project....not that I have a boy's room to decorate or anything. I asked Dave if he would like this in our house somewhere and he said no. It would remind him of all the plumbing projects we still have to do in the house. He may have a point. But I still like it.

The front yard DG pathway!

2011-06-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Holy Moses! We finally finished phase one of our front yard landscaping project. We started this back on Mother's Day and now it's finished, the day before Father's Day. Kind of ironic.

The task was to tear out the front grass/weed area, place borders, install a drip irrigation system and create a pathway out of decomposed granite. Mission accomplished! We hired a crew to do the entire job and it cost us about $1200. $500 of it labor. I'm very happy I didn't do all the back breaking work myself but I was frustrated with the amount of micro-managing I had to do, much of it this week as I was prepping for Dave's birthday celebration/Father's Day weekend. Oh well, I guess you get what you pay for.

Turns out the crew had never laid down dg. In fact they didn't even know what it looked like. This was not revealed to me until the day before I needed to order it. Nice! So, I got my research cap on and learned a bit about dg. Just like any other project there are many ways to skin this cat. We had about 1000 square feet of area to cover. We ordered 6 cubic yards of dg to fill the space with a 2" height. I was told 2" is the minimum height you should have when working with the stuff. It compresses itself the more you lay it on.

Decomposed granite comes with or without stabilizer. I read about it online and then asked every person I got a quote from on the process and difference of using stabilizer vs not. Stabilizer helps the dg get compact and not erode away as fast. I was told without stabilizer you could end up refilling about every 6 months vs every few years with it. Stabilizer comes mixed in the dg or you can also get it in liquid form and it's sprayed on as the last coat. An alternative to liquid stabilizer is concrete powder. It can also be sprinkled as a top coat. One company told me they had a liquid stabilizer that become impermeable. That didn't seem like what I wanted.

The dg needs to be compressed as each inch of it is laid down. We used a sod roller to compress the dg. I was told to use a plate compressor. It would have a better effect. However, our crew wasn't very eager to use the plate compressor so we ordered a roller. Had we been doing a drive way or an area with a lot of traffic then we would have had to go with a compressor. Our soil is clay which is hard and compact to begin with. I conceded to what made the crew comfortable and hoped the job would be well done. Fortunately, it all turned out ok but I won't call upon this crew again. They kept stepping on the succulents and lavenders I recently planted! How can you call yourself a gardner/landscaper if you crush plants?

At least the job is finished and now I can get to phase two: filling in the perimeter with lovely drought tolerant plants. My irrigation is set and ready to go. Dave and I are over the moon! Our front yard is moving in the right direction and the house is looking less ghetto.

This is how the last transition went:

Weed barrier was laid down under the dg. I was told there is no need to if you lay down a good 3" of dg down. Plants can't grow through it.

I went with SoilDirect.com for the dg. They were the kindest, most informative and lowest priced of the 5 companies I called. I'll probably go with them again if I need any other landscaping materials.

The sod roller or lawn roller we used. It's a $15 daily rental at Home Depot. The crew was going to charge me $80 for the day!!! I know there's markups in this line of work but that's just crazy!

And now I need to start making the whole space much much greener! It's like much like a desert at the moment.

Bunk Beds

2011-06-16T23:51:00.001-07:00

We've been hunting for a new bed for P. She's three and a half and her toddler bed is quickly becoming too small. There's a couple things I'm taking into consideration. Even though we only have one child we would like to get a bunk bed. Sleep overs are in our not too distant future and I'd like P's friends to have a comfortable place to stay. Also we are still hoping to have a second child. I'm praying the second bunk will eventually get daily use.

My top choice has always been Room & Boards Moda bunk. It's $1700. Pricey but all stylish bunks are in that range. It's benefits are that it's not only sleek and beautiful it can also convert into two twins. The negatives: it's pricey, the ends are one solid piece making the room feel smaller. The reviews all warn that the bed is really tough to make. We saw the bed in the store and P didn't like it because it was too hard to climb up. She was quite uninterested in it period.

Ikea's bunks are...well cheap and seen in just about every kids room. However, they are in the $150-170 range. P of course loves the one that is a full on the bottom and a twin on top. Out of the Ikea choices this is my favorite one because of it's simplicity and the full size bed at the bottom. There are many nights when I end up falling asleep reading to P. I'd like to be comfortable to. Again, thinking of a possible second child, I've heard from many of my friends that siblings quite often sleep together. With a full bed everyone is comfy and safe from falling out.

The other Ikea choice is the wood one. If we got this one I'd paint it white or multi-colored. In fact there is a white designer version of this bed that's in the $800 range and you can't even tell the difference. P doesn't like this one very much. I do like that all their beds are quite open on the bottom bunk which gives the whole room more open-ness.

Oeuf has a beautiful bunk I love. It's $1500. I haven't seen it in person. I'm quite curious about it.

I'm thinking about how long this purchase will last us. I calculate P will be about 13 when she's going to want a different kind of room design all together. At three and a half she doesn't care much about the style of the bed and actually likes the Ikea ones the best so far. So, I'm not sure getting a $1500-1800 bed is worth it. Especially when we need to get the house painted and re-stuccoed.

Were going to wait to go the Dwell show at the end of the month before we make a final decision.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ferdig Files 02

2011-06-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

We were in Palm Springs again for the weekend. I am thrilled and shocked to report that we did nothing but lay by the pool. It's a first for Dave and me. We're the adventurous types but after three and a half years of being parents were now moving at a different pace. A poolside cabana is our new idea of fun.

Just being in Palm Springs gets me thinking about our home and how to make it better. I was looking through some of Dave's files. This is a home in Encino. Again, I don't know who lives there or where the home is exactly. All I know is that they're open to filming and I like what they've done with the place.

I like the hanging lights and the clean white kitchen. Man this makes me want to demo ours.

Love this lamp to!

Floor to ceiling windows and then a skylight! Just too cool!

I can't believe it's just those two bars holding up that cabinet!

I know Dave took this picture for me because he knows I love details and cleanliness. Or maybe he took this picture for himself to remember to buy paper towels on the way home!

This hallway is just perfect: wood, light, tree and books!

Love this door!

Hoop Chairs!

2011-06-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

I've had a dream.....three hoop chairs and one Acapulco rocker for the back yard. This is what I've been wanting. I've seen other very cool retro patio furniture come and go on ebay, thrift stores and Craigs list. I've held onto my dream even though it's price tag is about $1200. Then the Palm Springs design fairies granted me half of my dream: three Hoop chairs for $200!!! I'm still doing cart wheels over this find!!!

Here they are in the backyard. And as always one purchase begets another.... I think we need an umbrella and a low table for this little grouping. Getting these babies set up prompted me to set up our Butterfly Chairs. They need new covers. I bought the one in the middle a year ago and it's worn terribly. It was under $30, I went cheap. The next time I make this purchase I'm spending more for better quality which is essential for outdoors.

I just realized Innit Designs makes baby Acapulco chairs!!!! Holy Moses P can have her very own! Wait, maybe not, they're $350...

Jar of Goodies

2011-05-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

If you have kids you know there's toys and then there's little knick-knacks that get accumulated at every turn. You can't toss them out because they're "very special". They don't belong to any collection and they're so small they get lost when thrown into bins. These little pieces were driving me nuts until I started reading "The Happiness Project". I'm loving this book. The author, a mother herself, wrote about the organization of these very items. Her solution was to get a big jar to collect all the little figures, balls, etc. It's simply perfect! The jar looks very cool on a shelf in P's room. She can see all her "special things" and they're all in order in their very own place. I didn't even have to go out and buy a jar. When I bought the giant jars for the kitchen I moved the flour and sugar out of their old jars into the new ones. The old flour jar became the new toy jar!

The jar actually blends in with all the books on the shelf.

BBQ Baby!

2011-05-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend and we FINALLY got a grill!

If you are familiar with Mid Century Modern homes you will know that many of them are not insulated. It wasn't a practice in the building process during the 50's and much less in Southern California. Every summer I am dying in the kitchen. It's hot in our house and the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven and make it worse! I try to come up with all sorts of "oven-less meals" which for me is hard because I hate microwave food.

We've been looking at grills for 2 years now! Gas, not gas, gas to hook up to an existing gas pipe we have, stainless, retro-colored, with the works, without the works, etc, etc. Then last weekend we went to our friends for dinner. They live in the South Bay and they have exquisite taste for food....and they can cook like nobody's business. They don't use a gas grill, only charcoal and that meal was the final vote that tilted our decision to a charcoal grill.

Friday night I had to go to Home Depot and Dave and P came along to look at grills. They had this cool looking orange one called a Stok. We loved it's color of course and the price, $99 on sale. Tonight we had our first bbq meal at our house. It was sooooo good. Dave can cook a mean burger and corn on the cob....and he's got the face to go with it!

The Front Yard Progress

2011-05-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

The front yard is finally getting a make over! I have weeded out this space 4 times since we moved in 3.5 years ago only for it to fully grow back because we lacked the time, energy or money to follow it through to completion. We hate how the front of our house has looked but the weeding is back breaking work. Our San Fernando Valley soil is clay and weeding this stuff has literally destroyed my knuckles. For Mother's Day Dave got me some help to clear out the entire front yard. What I thought would be a weekend project has turned out to be on-going since May 8th. I can't complain. This time I'm not doing any of the work and the progress is coming along.

Despite my protests we ended up using weed killer. Turns out all my half starts at tearing out this space only made things worse. With each time I weeded and didn't finish, it allowed the weeds to come back even stronger. They dug deeper and grew around the existing plants that I do want to keep. The only way to insure the crab grass won't come back and ruin the work were about to do is to spray with weed killer. And so we they did and it's one reason why this is taking longer than planned.

First they tore out the grass/weed and hauled it all away. Then they sprayed and we waited a week to see what was still alive. Last weekend they tilled up half the yard and resprayed. This weekend they're suppose to come back and till up the other side and respray.

It's rained quite a bit since this project started. I thought it would dilute the weed killer and ruin the progress but it's quite the opposite. The weed killer is still doing it's job and the rain allows us to easily spot where the crab grass is still alive. I know the weed killer will save us money and a lot more work but I can't help but think about the toxic crap that's filtering into our soil. I hate it. On the other hand I can't let all this time and money go to waste. I'm grateful someone else is doing the spraying. I make P run into the house past this area. We won't be in this space until the mulch and decomposed granite gets put down.

The progress looks like this so far:

Second Week:

Third Week:

Ivy

2011-05-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not a fan of ivy. It's incredibly invasive. It takes Borax to kill it. Rats love it.

On the other hand, it's green and drought tolerant and when well groomed it does look pretty. I've spent the past three years cutting back the ivy that grows over our back fence from the neighbor's yard. Then one morning not too long ago, I was standing at the back door looking at our back yard. I was day dreaming of all the possibilities for the space. A current goal is to make the concrete and slated areas more lush and greener. It dawned on me that if I let the ivy freely grow it would make the entire fence green and therefore give the pool area a lush feel!

I've stopped trimming and like a short hair that's growing out, this in-between phase is annoying. There are patches of green here and there which give the fence an unkempt look. I'm hoping in the end the whole thing will look beautiful.....and I'm also hoping the neighbors don't get bored with ivy one day and decide to get rid of it!

Palm Springs

2011-05-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Dave had to scout in Palm Springs this past weekend so P and I grabbed our bating suits and leisure wear and tagged along to the desert. These "workcations": trips done for work with a vacation squeezed in, are always last minute. Sometimes they can be a juggle for me but I wasn't about to pass up Mid Century Modern heaven.

We were put up at the Holiday Inn, which was quite nice and in tune to the Palm Springs feel. They've done a pretty good job of "upscaling" the brand. But, it was no Ace Hotel. We did go over to King's Highway for breakfast. The hotel and the meal did not disappoint. As always, it's the details that make a place so perfect.

King's Highway

Ace Hotel Lobby

The pool at the Ace Hotel

Dave had to shoot in the morning and afternoon. He managed to squeeze family time in the middle of the day. He drove me to a couple of thrift stores and shops but I didn't find anything we needed that was within our budget. After dropping Dave off at the airport to rent a car I had about a half hour to kill before DWR opened. I decided to drive around and look at houses in the meantime. I came upon a garage sale and found these three Hoop chairs for $200! Yep! $200 for all three!

I was so excited! I texted Dave a picture. He said to get them but he didn't understand that I wasn't at a store. I had to run to the ATM to get cash. I drove off and half way to the ATM I realized I was on the phone with Dave and wasn't watching where I was going. I didn't write down the address before leaving either and I do not know Palm Springs very well. Luckily, Dave with his genius sense of direction got to the house before I started driving back and texted me the address! Phew!

I saw great chairs and said "I'll get them!" not thinking about how to get three patio chairs into a Prius with a child!!!! P wasn't in any rush to leave. She was happy lounging on one of the chaise chairs for sale while watching us play rubix cube with our three hoop chairs and the car.

In the end it all worked out but I had the luck of timing that day. Within seconds of arriving on the scene another woman arrived and wanted the chairs as well. Thank God I claimed them and thank God Dave arrived to get me back to the house and to load the chairs in.

I'm thrilled with our weekend purchase. I did go to DWR after but as usual, even a sale at that place is $1000 over my budget. But I did see these two pots across the street and I had to photograph them for reference. Loved the plant combos as much as the color combination.

My Man's Large Prints

2011-05-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday mornings have become my "mama alone time". Dave has P for the morning and I get 3-4 hours to myself. As I was hanging out in our bedroom with nothing but quiet and my own thoughts I realized we have very blank walls. I need some large art. Lucky for me I don't have to go very far or spend anything at all. Dave has about 15 large print photographs (20x40) all custom framed from a photo show he had a few years back. Most of the photos are from our trips to India and a few from a work trip to Malaysia. I hung up one of my favorites. It's perfect. It reminds me of the adventures we've had and how those experiences bonded us right from the start.

When Dave came home and saw one of his pieces up on our wall he was beaming with pride. I should have done this a long time ago. I need to go through his stash for more of my favorites before he starts selling them on etsy. Although I want to keep these to myself, I know I should at least share his website. You can find it here.

A Mulberry Tree! In our backyard!

2011-05-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Over P's spring break we took care of the silk worms in her classroom. In order to get this "priveledge" you had to have a Mulberry tree handy. Silk worms only eat Mulberry leaves and they eat a lot of them. They need new leaves daily, hence why you need to have access to a tree.

I knew P wanted to take the worms home so I looked all over our neighborhood for a Mulberry tree. It didn't even occur to me to look in our own back yard. It wasn't until I brought a leaf home from school, that I realized we have a Mulberry tree! I guess it takes having a 3-year old and her school "pets" to figure out what's growing in our own yard...and to learn more than I ever wanted to know about silk worms!

On another note; I really need to power wash and paint the house! Those walls are starting to bug me too much.

Freebie Lamp

2011-05-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was driving home through our neighborhood when I saw stuff on a front lawn with a "free" sign. I drove by slowly and then had to go back for this big bertha. I debated grabbing it. I have no idea if it works. I have no place for it. It'll be a good while before I find her the perfect spot.

On the flip side how could I resist such a cool lamp...even if its dirty and without a shade! When we got home P kept telling Dave "It was freeee! It was freeee!". Dear God please don't let my daughter grow up to be a dumpster diver because of the bad example I'm setting. Big Bertha came with instructions and exact dimension for a shade. She obviously came from a kind home so I must "make her shine"!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

It's become a tradition that on Mother's Day I get to garden for as long as I want. Dave takes care of all meals and of our daughter. This year when he asked me what I wanted I said "two Mexicans"...to help me dig up the front yard. (Since I own my "Latiness" I'm allowed to say that) Dave has a guy, Salvador, he's been thinking of using as a gardener. He called him to use some of his crew and to get a feel for how good they would be.

Two guys showed up an hour and a half late on Sunday. When they took a look at the area they needed to pull up they said we should use a machine to do it. They needed $120 cash to rent it and come back the following day. Monday, they showed up 2 hours late without the machine. At noon they said they were going to pick it up and would be back. I never saw them again or heard back. I had to call them and they said they'd be here on Tuesday first thing in the morning. Tuesday they showed up 2 hours late again. By 10am it turned out the machine was broken. They promised me they'd have it fixed and be back on Wednesday.

Yesterday evening Salvador came by. He hadn't heard from his crew. He saw what they had done so far and it was not a good job and using a machine was pointless. He promised they'd be here today, Wednesday, by 7am. No one came. Supposedly Saturday Salvador himself is coming to do the work. I'm not even frustrated because this is par for the course! We've had such bad luck with gardeners. I really want a kind, nice, patient, inexpensive Japanese man who knows about plants and organic gardening methods. Is that too much to ask?

Anyway, I wasn't going to let my Mother's Day tradition go to waste. I still did a bunch of stuff. I mowed and trimmed the backyard, cleaned up the Cala Lilies, potted and repotted lots of succulents. I weeded the south median (the one I work on every year) and cleaned up our gutter. That median still needs much more work.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed the front yard becomes a blank slate ready for me to plant and border soon. Poor Dave is frustrated his Mother's Day gift has turned out to be such a bust. But I am so happy for it. Even though it seems it'll take a week to finish at least it's not me doing the back breaking work....for once!

A few pictures of the work done.

I potted a Euphorbia tirucalli 'sticks-On-Fire' plant that has been in it's little plastic pot since March.

Some of the succulents I had planted together back in the fall needed to be separated. I noticed one plant became the dominant one while the other two were over shadowed. So I pulled out the "runts" of each pot and gave them a home of their own.

Our back lawn! I love it. I have to say this back yard full of grass is such a delight to have. In the summer it's really refreshing and I love playing or reading with our daughter in this space. The back hedge is entirely rosemary. I remember when these guys first went in almost a year ago. I'm excited about how tall they're getting! I use rosemary a lot for cooking. It's lovely to have an entire hedge of it.

Landscaping the Entry

2011-04-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

The landscaping of an entry way is very important. It's the welcome you give people and in a way says something about you. I've given this space so much thought...too much thought. The whole front yard is my nemesis to be honest.

When we first moved in the grass was dead. Dave felt it was important to get lawn in and to let the neighborhood know we were here and had plans on making the house beautiful. He spent $700 on a seed and labor to make the front of the house respectable. That was a wasted $700....even he'll cop up to it now. Maybe because I'm from Florida, where grass grows without trying thanks to all the rain, to me green does not equal a lawn. A lawn is just grass, no weeds. A pristine carpet of lush grass that feels soft between your toes is what a lawn should be to me. Our front yard was full of weeds from the start. If it's constantly mowed it looks ok but it feels awful to walk on it in your bare feet. It's always been awful.

About a year into our move we came to the realization that keeping a lawn alive in the summer, in the San Fernando Valley, was a huge expense. Our front yard alone was costing us $300 a month. We also have a pool, so between the front and back that's $600 a month June-October. One of them had to go and it most certainly wasn't going to be the pool! The whole front of the house is now drought tolerant landscape. You can't think drought tolerant without thinking succulents. I love them so I thought it quite appropriate to place them in the space just outside the door.

Back in March I bought pallets of plants. Succulents and flax for the entry and lavender for the north side of the yard. I have a plan for lots of lavender which I'll share in a future post. It took me about a month to go from buying plants to finally having them in the ground.

The process went as follows:

We had river rock laid over plastic tarp. I moved the river rocks around the corner to the side of the house. Under the plastic, crab grass grew this long, viney, tangled mess to where ever it could make it's way out from under the plastic. It took some major weeding despite the ground cover.

I've read in a few different sources that newspaper is a great weed barrier. I don't know what happens after it gets wet and old but I thought I'd give it a try.

And finally mulch on top and a finished product. We get our mulch from the city. So far it's been clean and quite lovely and freeeeeee!

Curbed LA

2011-04-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

I recently found the site CurbedLA. Maybe I'm the last one to come upon it. I freely admit there are areas where I'm so very "last year" and often "last decade". If I ever think I've got it going on all it takes is a visit to iTunes. Lady who? Bruno who?

Architecture is one of my passions so I'd like to think I'm a bit more current in this area. So, I found CurbedLA and it's become one of my daily reads. They also have versions for six other cities nationwide. I love it for a couple reasons. It's got interesting real estate articles and pictures. Not just the sophisticated Gehry and Neutra news but also developments that are impacting LA's urban planning and.... juicy "tabloid news". For example, they had an article about the Chateau Marmont and how you will get banned for tweeting bad celebrity behavior. And there was a picture and link about a couple having sex on the rooftop of an architecturally significant building on the USC campus. Who knew there was architectural tabloid? It really is a great mix of news.

However, the real reason I started reading it is that I'm trying to out smart Dave. He knows this city inside and out because of his 14 years of being a location scout. Every time he gets a job and I hear him talking about it I try to name a location he doesn't know. I came close....once. Turned out he knew the place I was talking about, he just forgot he had done a job there a few years ago. I'm hoping the next time he needs to look for Mid Century homes I'll be able to name a little undiscovered neighborhood I read about on CurbedLA.

Kaffir Lily

2011-04-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Kaffir Lilies are one of my favorite plants. Ours just finished blooming. Their flower make me so happy. It looks like a full bouquet but it's just one stem. Kaffirs bloom once a year from late winter to early spring. It's a unique plant because it likes shade, yet the flower is a burst of color. Most flowers need plenty of sun, but not this one.

I have our Kaffirs in two spots; by our front door and in our "bedroom garden" which is just outside our bedroom window, between the house and the wooden fence. I need to relocate the ones by the front door. In summer they get hit with too much direct light for too many hours. Now that they've finished blooming I can move them with the others and further my plans for the bedroom garden. The ones in the bedroom garden are thriving. I recently read they like to grow in clusters so I will do some rearranging with their long lost friends.

I love it when I wake up, open the blinds, and there's an amazing cluster of these "waving" at me first thing in the morning. They just make me happy. I don't know why exactly, but they do. If you have an area in your yard that's heavily shades and you wish to see some color, these are your ladies. They're not drought tolerant though. In fact, the soil must be kept moist. If you're interested and want to know more, you can read about them here.

My Big Fat Glass Jars

2011-04-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

P has become my sou-chef in the kitchen,

so there is an ever present step stool for her.

A while back I was so excited to get a set of canisters from our cool neighbors. As amazingly cool as those canisters were to look at, they weren't very practical for my kitchen routine. I ended up with two different sets of canisters on the counter and none of them contained anything I used on a daily basis. They were basically just serving a decorative purpose. Unfortunately, the look wasn't turning out as I had hoped. The kitchen looked cluttered with so many ill matched canisters on the counter. And despite all those containers, I still had to pull down more every time I cooked.

I cook daily. I cook a lot. I make everything from scratch; salad dressing, pancakes, waffles, pomodoro sauce and once upon a time baby food. It was while I was pregnant that I began to eat organic. But it wasn't until I started looking into baby food for our 6 month old, at the time, that I became aware of every single ingredient. I slowly eliminated anything pre-made. It's necessary to add preservatives and extra salt to food that's suppose to stay on a shelf for an extended period of time. I didn't want the added chemicals in our systems. If you're interested in the subject a good book to start with is this.

So, back to the canisters. One day I realized that I pulled out my jar of flour 2-3 times a day. It got me thinking. Why didn't I put the things I used most often out on the counter in big, cool looking jars? Great. Now I knew what I wanted but I also had a set of requirements for these jars:

Well sealed, so no bugs or air got in the food.
Big enough to comfortably hold an entire bag of flour with extra room for easy scooping.
A wide mouth for ease of scooping and measuring.
Easily open with one hand, as often the other hand is holding another ingredient.
Look cool.

And the jar that fit the bill was the Montana jar by Anchor Hawking. They're not Mid Century or totally modern but they do fit all the functionality points and come very close to the design point.

I've had these jars for four months and I love them. I can't even begin to tell you how much easier it is to scoop out flour that's right there in a jar beside the food processor. Before I had to haul out another canister and figure out where I'd temporarily put it with all my already existing mess. I risked pushing the ipad right off the counter. (btw, the ipad has been incredibly useful in the kitchen. More than I ever imagined.)

Fortunately for the overall design and color palette, the ingredients I most often use are also of similar color: flour, sugar, oatmeal and rice. The last jar is for my weekly baked goods; cookies, muffins or bars. (We just finished off the last round when I took this picture.) I believe a jar full of something homemade makes everyone happy; specially a little host and her little guests.

Egg on My Walls

2011-04-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I juggle too much. I tried to make a quick meal before heading out for ballet class with P last week. Thought I was so on top of it all. Dinner would be ready when we returned. Instead I made a huge mess. I left three eggs, in boiling water, on the stove and forgot to turn it off. When we returned, a cloud of smoke welcomed us in when I opened the door. You would think I would instantly remember the eggs. Instead, I looked for an electrical fire because what else could it have been? I didn't leave a fire hazard behind. Not me!

Needless to say, I spent the following day cleaning up egg off of EVERYTHING! I had to pull out the 12 foot ladder to get it off the ceiling. The stove and cabinets were a mess. I even found a chunk of yolk on the sofa at the far end of the living room. Scary. The cleanup was a pain but it prompted a major spring cleaning. It felt so good to do and now it feels even lovelier to live in.

Sometimes home projects have nothing to do with remodeling or drastic before and afters. (The egg mess was drastic but very hard to capture the details on camera.) They do have everything to do with cleaning and maintenance. It's amazing how much time they take up but they are the constant "oil changes" of the house that make it last.

The "after". A spotless kitchen!

Can You Spare a Strip?

2011-04-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I laid out the Flor tiles in the entry way, I had to cut 2.5" off each one so the runner would fit properly. I ended up with 10 strips of carpet. I decided to join them all together to make an entry matt for the sliding door in the dining room that leads to the backyard. It ties both entry doors together surprisingly well. Because this is in strips instead of squares it matches without being too matchy.

What do you think?

2011-04-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

What do you guys think about these chair pads? I know they're not the the bikinis, which traditionally belong on these chairs. However, I've always thought those pads were too thin. I got a lot of weight resting on my hiney so I'd like some good cushion for our long, leisurely lunches and dinners. Plus, the bikinis start at $69 per pad! These were $6 a pad. That should give you an idea of where I got them. Yep, Target.

I've been looking for a cool looking pad for a while now. When we were in Palm Springs three years ago, we stayed at the Parker Hotel. They had these cushions on their Bertoias and I really liked them.

So, I've been looking for something similar. Last week I was zooming through Target when I spotted these cushions. For $6, I at least had to try them. Dave wasn't gung ho until I mentioned the price. And to be honest, I normally think that's not a good reason to buy something. You should like it all the same if it was $1 or $100 or else you end up with a house full of $1 junk. However, I like them and because they were so inexpensive I won't freak out if we spill red wine or blueberries on them....very feasible with a 3-year old.

So do you all like them or has my money saving brain totally ruined my designer eye?

From the Ferdig Files

2011-04-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

Dave (my husband) had to scout for modern homes a few weeks ago. I love snooping through his pictures when he's on this kind of assignment. One reason I like his pictures so much more than a magazine layout, for example, is because he gets to capture the real living state of every house. He's not doing an actual photo shoot. He is scouting for homes that will be used in a movie or commercial. So, people don't make their homes picture perfect when he arrives. Dave gets to shoot the house as breakfast is being made, or the groceries are put away or when the kids just came home from school. In other words, the "mess" of life is happening.

I think great design comes from knowing how a house flows and then laying in the furniture and accents accordingly. With Dave's pictures you get insight immediately at how these homes flow. I can look at an Eames lounger in a million magazines and store showrooms but nothing will give me an intimate feel for that chair as when I see it in a real living home. The Eames molded plywood chair can be used in so many different ways and not always as a chair. But, you won't get to see all it's creative uses in a showroom.

So, here are some shots of a house Dave scouted. I don't know the house, it's locations or it's owners. I do know I love the lap pool. I LOVE the kitchen cabinets with the integrated fridge. I LOVE how the children's furniture is just as much a part of the living room as the adult pieces. And I of course, love their windows.

Shades of Green & Blue

2011-03-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Remember last Monday's post? Remember our beautiful pool, "the green lagoon"? Well....

One week later and Dave has the pool looking AMAZING! It went from murky and green to clear and blue. I must admit that if we didn't want to swim in it I would have wanted the pool to stay green. It was actually a very beautiful color for admiring from a distance.

Dave cleaned it up like a mad scientist. He added chemicals, swept it, vacuumed it and back flushed it. Just in time for warmer weather. It's suppose to get into the 80's this week. I told Dave he did such an awesome job vacuuming the pool I thought he should vacuum the house from now on!

Flor Carpet Tiles

2011-03-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

My big weekend accomplishment was a little entry hallway redo/touch up/enhancement. We got Flor carpet tiles for the entry a few weeks ago. It should have been an easy process but like every single project in this house it turned into a bigger job. Let me first explain that I loathe the moulding in this house. Yes! Can you believe moulding in a Mid Century Modern? Who puts curvy traditional looking moulding in a modern house? Anyway, with that said let me continue.

My first thought was to have the carpet tiles go right up to the wall on the left. Problem was the floor board on that wall only ran half way down. A floor board was in the way so what do you think I did? Yes, I pulled it off! It felt so good but that one board prompted more moulding to come out. I pulled the panels that framed the closet and bathroom doors. I also started to pull off the stuff that frames the entry door but quickly realized it was mistake. 15 minutes after starting the carpet tile project I found myself with a bigger project at hand. I was going to have to patch, sand and paint before I could lay the Flor tiles down. I was also going to have to come up with an explanation to give Dave before he came home.

That was two weeks ago. Fortunately, Dave is a patient man with my insanity. After looking at my initial layout I decided it was best to give the tiles some negative space on both sides. The moulding didn't actually have to come out. Now that it's all said and done I'm glad I did it. The entry way looks cleaner, simpler, more Mid Century. I can breathe.

This weekend I fixed not just what I destroyed but I also repainted a few walls and doors in the house. The entire entry hallway got a fresh coat of paint as did the other hallway and another prominent wall in the house. The closet doors in the entry way had never been painted so I gave them a couple coats. And the baseboards had never been painted either so they got a much needed coat of paint.

I have a theory that after three years a house starts to need upkeep, specially if you have kids. Even though I do touch ups on our white walls every 3-4 months both hallways were in need of a paint job. P's room needs to be repainted very soon. It has scuff marks in the areas where she most plays. Our bedroom could use a couple runs of the roller. Our guest bathroom needs a paint job DESPERATELY, but that's another story and of course another project!

Oh, I almost forgot! I put up three orange hooks next to our mirror. I love our small and simple hooks under the mirror. They're perfect for hats, scarfs and P's coats but they aren't very useful for hanging large adult coats. I found these hooks on this site and love their multi-functionality. You can hang coats and/or place mail on them.

Saturday Morning

2011-03-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning looked pretty much like this. The rain and cooler weather makes us all just want to stay in bed. After breakfast Dave and P got back under the covers with the ipad. They played a train game for a good long while.

Watching the two of them together, in our large white bed, with all the pillows, and our one bright red wool blanket made me happy. Our bedroom has a ways to go but the feel of the room is definitely coming together. I'm loving it's simplicity and cleanliness. There's a lot of white in here. I like it.

Although I wanted to be in our cozy nest reading the paper I had a project to do...

Rain, Rain and more Rain!

2011-03-21T21:36:00.001-07:00

We've been getting pounded by several storms this past weekend and will continue to do so over the week. Yesterday, Dave and I pumped 6" of water out of our pool before it started overflowing. Fortunate for us it doesn't overflow into our house. Unfortunately, for our neighbor next door, our pool water, our other neighbor's pool water and all the run off from both properties end up in their back yard and often inside their house.

Our entire block runs downhill from our house, at the south end, to the last house on the north end. You can see this run off on a daily basis even with no rain as that last house always has pooled water in their street gutter. I suspect when these properties were built all of them had mostly grass in the front and back. When it rained heavily all the water percolated into the ground. Over the years most back yards have had large portions cemented. This in turn has caused a cascading effect of water working it's way downhill.

Right about now I'm glad we live at the high end of the block. And fortunately for all the homes who have drainage issues these storms usually only come once a year or every few years.

Even if we are "on higher ground" Dave and I still had to go out in the cold rain and pump 3" out of the pool only to have it fill up again within an hour and a half. The only reason we did it was to be kind neighbors. As I said, it doesn't affect our house at all. As we stood there like wet, stray dogs we looked at each other and both knew what the other was thinking: we miss our old high rise on the west side. It would take a lot of water to rise up 22 floors!

Oh and in case your wondering why the pool water is green. Well, we had the cover on while we went away on a ski trip. A few days of hot weather was all it took for our semi-maintained winter pool to grow algae like a science experiment. My mantra right now is "I love our pool in the summer".

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Kid's Bedding Part 2

2011-03-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

I wrote about my issues with the lack of well-priced, good quality kids bedding back in June. I have some good news. I'm going to tell you about my happy find... at Target no less!

I mentioned that P's first bedding set was from Dwell, the "real" stuff not the Target line. It wore terribly. In the end I was glad it was a gift. I would have been very disappointed to have spent so much for so little quality.

So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself so happy over Dwell's Target line. A few months ago I bought two Target Dwell fitted crib sheets for P's bed . I've loved them both very much. The designs are fantastic! They are getting a lot of wear and washes and holding up remarkably. They are also incredibly soft. I'm loving the quality of the material. And best of all they are easy to put on. The pockets are deep and the elastic is great. Anyone who has had to change sheets at 3am can tell you what a HUGE bonus this is!

Get a load of the design above! I love it for P! It's pink without being infantile. I made the duvet from a fabric panel I bought at Target 3 years ago. I think the sheet goes beautifully with it. Don't you think? It was this design that suckered me into trying Target Dwell and I'm really glad I did.

P is still using her Ikea crib that converted to a toddler bed. I'm holding out as long as possible to buy a regular size bed because I'd like to get P this Room and Board bunk. It's pricey but it will transition well into the teen years. I can only imagine the rest of Dwell's Target line is just as good. I hope so because they'll be my first choice for doing a twin bunk bed.

39

2011-03-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while. It's been a busy few months and I really haven't moved forward with any home projects worth sharing. I turned 39 on Friday and I remembered that I wanted to document my birthday wish lists so I'm vowing to start up again beginning with this year's wishes.

I looked at last year's list and realized that over the year I acquired 6 out of the 10 things. Not bad right? Item #9, the Flor carpet tiles were my gift for this birthday. Like every other project in this house it spurred another project which I'll talk about later. Who knew just simply putting carpet tiles down could cause more home destruction?

So, this year, this is what I want:

Gravel for front yard landscaping
More plants for front yard landscaping
Steel edging
Galvanized tank (smallish) for an outdoor water fountain and fish tank.
Two more sculptural trees (can't think of their names but Dave calls them Dr. Seuss trees)
Paid labor to help me tear out the front lawn
Acapulco chairs for our back patio
Time with a power washer
Newly painted house
Time with a table saw

For me personally, there's only one thing I want: a baby. Last July I posted that I was pregnant. I had a miscarriage at 10 weeks. I never wrote about it because that was the third and last miscarriage of the year. We decided to take a break after the loss. It affected us all quite heavily and I just didn't feel like writing on the subject. We're trying again but I'm also starting to accept what God and the universe have given me. I have a daughter whose quite amazing; not just by my standards (of course) but by every teacher, doctor, friend and stranger who meet her. I'm starting to think of all the benefits of having just one child. More money for home projects. More travel. Better wardrobe, better everything. However, in my heart of hearts I'd like one more; for me, for my daughter and for my husband.

I use to think women who tried to have children at 40 were nuts. Well, I have two months before I end up delivering at 40 and I'll have to eat my words. I should have known better. Never say never.

The Great Wall

2010-11-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Our property has a cinder block wall that wraps around the front and side. We've debated about tearing it down. It's not original and truthfully does not go with the rest of the architecture. However, what it lacks in form it makes up for in function.

Because we live on a corner, right next to an elementary school we get a good amount of foot traffic. My experience with the parents and kids of the school has been that they don't understand or respect that they're walking through or beside some one's home. I find trash on our perimeter constantly. I can't imagine what our front yard would look like if we did not have the wall. Therefore, I'm not about to knock it down.

Three years ago, during one of my dad's visits he patched the cracks along the wall. They have all come back. We failed at matching the paint color. You can't patch over old paint. If you use the same original color, the existing color on the wall has faded so it looks different. Getting the exact color from a faded chip off the wall didn't work either.

D finally convinced me that we need a trailing vine, Creeping Fig, to make the wall more aesthetically pleasing. He insisted it was the only economical choice. I now think he is right. The vine will cover the perpetual cracks, it will give the house a greener feel and we'll never have to repaint. Our only maintenance will be to trim the vine, especially where the wood fence meets with the block wall.

Two weeks ago D bought 6 vines and planted them along the wall at two different areas. All the rain we've had has done them good. The only "downside" is that we need to practice the art of delayed gratification. It will be a couple of years before the vines engulfs the wall. Maybe the rest of the house will be painted by then!

Back to the drawing boards!

2010-10-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

So....... we got a new mattress! It's a king. We moved up from a queen. I had a bed design ready to go and was ready to build, but with the bigger mattress in the room my design has gone out the window.

Even though the mattress is bigger the room feels bigger. Odd right? I think the bed frame is to blame. The bed was quite elevated and it had both a headboard and foot board. Both ends of the bed had a curve design that put the actual mattress about 5 inches away from the wall. A king and queen bed are the same size in length so I just gained at least 6 inches in the room. And with the mattress on the floor I gained about 3-4 feet of overall visibility.

Now, I don't want to lose any space. My original design would add another foot to the width and another 6 inches to the length of the bed. Plus, I can see us all hitting our shins on the boards for at least the first month.

None the less, I'll show you all my amateur drawings of my bed design. I've never built furniture like this before so simplicity is essential. I've always been attracted to simpler pieces anyway. My friend's husband does this for a living. He gave me suggestions on how to make this design more structurally sound but still keeping it easy to build. I have yet to learn any of the CAD programs. I'm old-schooling it with hand drawings. My mother, a former architect of long ago, would be proud....I think, my perspective is still off.

First the base, the frame. It would have measured 88"w x 80" l x 6"h. I was suggested to add brackets at each corner to make the bed more stable. One crossbar down the middle would not have been sufficient given the width of a king size bed.

Second, the headboard would attach.

Third, a bed of planks, each about 12"wide would lay on top of the frame. The dimension of the whole "plank bed" would have been 100"w x 92" l:

I envisioned each plank stained in very slight variations of a walnut/caramel color to give it a little depth and richness. Not a color that covers the wood. I'm thinking of a stain that brings out the personality of each plank so to speak.

The bed would have been sort of like this one below except without the two foot boards, the entire thing would have been made out of wood (no metal work), the headboard would have been a single plank and the tones of the wood would have been varied. So, similar but different.

Now I want something more like this, seamless mattress to boards without sticking out at all. I'm not giving away one inch of space more in either direction.

Anyway, it's back to the drawing board.