I confess...I'm a copy-cat

If you're on Pinterest, or read design blogs, I'm sure you've heard of Rebekka Seale.  Among other illustrations, she does these amazingly cute house portraits that are personalized with your name, street address, quote, etc.  Here are a few of my favorites...

Although I have NO experience with watercolors, I do have a tote full of artist paints that Grady has been begging to use for a while now.  This weekend we decided to drag 'em out & I thought I'd give a Rebekka Seale style house portrait a go.  It's definitely not anywhere near her level, but for my first attempt I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

First I printed out a few of her houses that had similar characteristics as mine, along with a picture of the front of my house.  Oh, I also printed out our last name, address, & a short quote in a font I liked in case I wanted to add that to the bottom.  Then I went to Joann & bought a small pad of watercolor/acrylic paper (4x6) in their dollar section.  (Grady bought a small bird house, also from the dollar section, that he was going to paint.)

I watered down my paint & layered it on in the rough shape of our house.  I just eyeballed it & didn't sketch it out at all beforehand & I certainly didn't try to get it perfect.  My house is just a box with no crazy angles, so it was pretty simple!

After getting the base painted, I filled in the windows, door, steps, trim, etc.  I also added random lines on the roof & walls for the shingles & shake siding.

Next, I focused on the details...the mortar lines on the chimney, adding a little depth to the windows & doors, etc.  I just kept tweaking it until I was happy with the look.

I didn't have much room below the house for text, so I opted to keep in simple with "Home".

Then I painted an old garage sale frame yellow & called her complete!

Like I said before...it's certainly not perfect, or nearly as cute as Rebekka's portraits, but it does add a little cheer to the kitchen & makes me smile when I see it.  All for a couple of hours of time & less than a buck!

A hole in the wall...

The first spring that we were in our house we bought new windows.  Three years later, & after last weekend, we only have one left to put in!  After installing the new window & painting & putting up the trim, I can finally call the kitchen complete.  Hopefully we'll get the last window replaced in the attic before the snow flies.  It feels good my friends!

First, dad (grandpa) set out trying to remove the old storm window that had been painted on too many times to count.  It took a little time, but the old window came out & the new one slid in pretty easily.

Grandpa's best helper couldn't stay out of the action!

Watch closely Grady...someday you'll be doing this stuff for your mom!

This is what the old trim looked like before scraping & sanding it.  A couple of hours later I finally had it smooth enough to prime & paint.  Elbow grease.

Ta-da!  A window that not only looks pretty, but (Bonus!) functions too!  I'll post pictures of the completed kitchen soon.

 
It's been SO nice to be able to open all of the windows now that the weather has cooled off a little...no more windows that are painted shut!  :)

There Shall be Shelves (finally)

Ok, so this is the ongoing kitchen project...last March we "accidentally" started working on our kitchen.  We had planned on finishing the attic last winter, but because we didn't get the new windows installed before the Minnesota winter came, we pushed it off for later.  I had had it with the horrible, low-hanging lanterny chandelier that was hanging over the peninsula, so I bought a new light & hung it up.  Of course that then got me inspired to overhaul the entire kitchen.  8ish months later, we're still not finished, but it's close (I'll break down the whole remodel in a later post).  Last weekend I finally decided on what to do on our "open shelving" wall.  It involved drilling into the marble backsplash, so I was hesitant to commit to anything for fear that I'd hate it when it was up and not be able to change it.  Anywhooo...here's what I started with in the spring after removing a section of the old cabinetry, moving a base cabinet in, and painting the cabinets white (Benjamin Moore Simply White - love that color).

In the spring I installed a white marble backsplash with oversized "subway" shaped tiles - they're 6'x12" and I LOVE them.  While the shelving was drying, my mom & I (with a little help from my handy helper Grady) painted the kitchen walls in Benjamin Moore's Stonington Gray.  (The ceiling is Sherwin Williams Sea Salt - a favorite of mine.)

Last weekend my dad and I drew up a template for the shelving brackets & cut them out of a 2x8.  We cut the shelves out of a 1x10 and used the router to create a little bit of flare on the outside edges.  I painted them the same white as the cabinetry for a seamless transition.  I figured I could add pops of color with accessories - I like a neutral backdrop.

I accessorized with random stuff I had around the kitchen...my beloved stand mixer, glass canisters with dog biscuits, flour, & sugar, my Urban Outfitters letters, a vintage MN metal tray I found at a garage sale for 10 cents this summer, & some white mixing bowls & plates I had in the hutch.

I'm loving the "after" shot...especially since the change was all done in 2 days time!  I'll leave you with one quick Christmas styling shot...!

hello blogland!

I feel a little bit strange and a whole lotta awkward right now.  I'm a bit terrified about this whole blogging thing to be honest.  I've been a blog stalker for quite a while, but it's a heckuva lot different reading about other people's lives than writing about your own! 

I am excited to have a place to let my creative cup run over though.  It's pretty great to be able to have a platform to throw your ideas out where people who are actually interested in listening to them, can!  We'll see where this crazy adventure leads me!

Right now the fam and I are finishing up a kitchen remodel, on the verge of of re-doing the creepy basement bathroom, and a few months away from tackling an attic (soon to be master bedroom) that has somehow remained unfinished since 1945.  In the next week I'll post some before pictures of the bathroom (I was afraid it'd scare some folks off if I put pictures in the very first post - it really is that bad) as well as a recap of where we are in the ongoing kitchen remodel.

Until then!