An Invitation to a Door

One of the projects that I really wanted to get done in advance of the Derby party was a walkway to the front door. No one ever uses our front door because the only way to access it was to tromp across the lawn:

while the side door has a lovely (though somewhat pitted) little path up to it.

And while I don't mind people using the side door in the least, I thought it would be nice for visitors to have the option of entering via my lovely new pink living room, where the coat closet happens to be!

So last weekend Hubby and I headed over to Home Depot and picked up landscaping fabric, a rock rake, and 40 bags of small quartz stones. Since the only car we own is the Passat, we rented the Home Depot truck to get it home, and let me tell you that that was just about the best $20 we've ever spent! The side of the truck dropped down, so we just pulled right into the driveway and stood in the bed to chuck the bags right next to where we were putting the walkway!

I figured there was some hard work ahead of us, but we just needed to get the turf up, not really dig, so how hard could that be?

OY!

HARD!

I think digging a hole would have been easier than trying to get the grass up evenly!
But I'm getting ahead of myself...
We started digging:

and tried to get the sod up enough that we could replant it in some of the (many many) bare patches around the lawn.
Despite our having really just thrown it down there it's now actually growing in pretty nicely.

Digging took us about four hours!

Hubby was all for calling it a day when the digging was done, but I was having none of that! The hard part was over, and we were going to finish that walkway before nightfall!

So... we laid out the landscaping fabric and started spreading the rock. I forgot to buy ground staples to hold the fabric down, so we anchored it with stones and poured the rock on as fast as we could!

There I am in my super-chic yard-working outfit...
Since I was the one all gung-ho to the work done, I was in charge of spreading the rock while Hubby was in charge of the camera!
But that was ok with me since it was kind of my idea in the first place! And sure enough just as the sun was dipping down below the trees,
the walkway was complete!!

YAY!!!

And you know what? The very next day TWO people (the FEDEX guy, and another guy trying to sell me a lawn...) used my front door!

Well, that's the walkway! Check back to see what I've been up to with the garden!
If you want to see some more fantastic transformations stop by Susan's place at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday!
Thanks for stopping by!

A Deadline Can be a Glorious Thing

Good grief what a week!
Actually, two-and-a-half weeks...
You see, a few weeks ago we (and by we, I mean I) decided hosting a Derby party sounded like a great idea! Not just an excuse to have friends over, but to have a theme party, and to convince everyone to wear crazy hats! And I do always enjoy watching the race, so why not share that joy?

Now here's where all the craziness comes in: Hubby and I decided there were just a few things that really needed to be finished before everyone came to see what we'd done to the house in the year since we bought it. And to be fair, my list was MUCH longer than Hubby's... his was really just "move boat up to driveway." Which we did- into the garage actually.

I think the plan is to roll it out into the driveway tomorrow morning and rig it up in order to show it off properly!

Now some of my list you've seen already:
- Paint orange out of dining room
Check!

- Prime and paint guest bed
Check!

- Pull rug up in guest bed
And Check!

Not bad couple of weeks worth of work, eh?

Well, it didn't stop there! Here's the rest of the list:

- Paint bathroom trim
- Find grey for wall in living room
- Rake back yard (.5 acres)
- Clean under porch
- Remove trellis under porch
- Assemble telescope
- Paint front and back door
- Dig and make front walkway
- Plant rosebushes
- Make porch curtains
- Paint bedroom window exterior
- Paint porch yellow

PHEW!!
Now, I didn't actually get through the whole list- the porch is primed, but not painted, and the porch curtains are stitched as of midnight last night, but I haven't put them up yet- but in addition to that list I've:

- Expanded the front garden bed
- Put in new plantings
- Made patio under deck
- Made my derby hat

DOUBLE PHEW! And a couple of ow's while I'm at it... all that digging makes a gal ache!

I'll show you all I've been up to, but for now here is the transformation under the deck.

It used to be that when you walked out the basement door you'd see this:

And now that I've pulled down a couple of sections of trellis:

Good start... but then after laying the front walkway we had about 10 extra bags of stone, so we used it to make a little patio under the porch:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Better, huh? We've got to pick up a few more bags to fill the rest of the perimeter, and well put that trellis back up on the left side there so we hide the storage area a bit, but at least now it's usable!

In a few days I'll show you what I've been up to in the front of the house. Here's a little preview:

Guest Bed Makeover

Hello All! I'm particularly pleased with this metamorphosis because HOLY COW what a change! On of the two downstairs bedrooms has gone from dark, dirty, and a little smelly, to bright, cheery and totally charming!
Here is what the room looked like before we moved in:

When we actually did move in all of the stickers and drawing were still taped and glued to the walls, ceiling...

and even the ceiling fan!

It was originally supposed to be my sewing room, and the other room (with the window that faced the brook) was supposed to be the guest bedroom, so this room was pretty low down on the makeover list. However, the discovery that there was a major leak in the ceiling of that room coming from the rotted out upstairs window-sill (our inspector missed that!) made THIS room the guest room, thereby popping it pretty close to the top of the "to-do" list.
Seriously, would you want guests to have to sleep in a room with carpet stains like this?

The whole thing was like that! Oh, and those are the glow-in-the-dark frogs that we pried, scraped and goo-goned off the wall.

Oh, but when the scraping was done! And after I had primed and painted THREE coats of yellow! And the carpet was up!!

Look at that floor!! I pried up all the tack-strips and staples with minimal damage (honestly, how can someone STAPLE into such a great hardwood floor?!)

I painted all those awful fake-wood doors white:

Oh! What a difference!
AND THEN! We got the bed down there:

So cheery!

That's a south facing window, and when the sun streams in there I just want to crawl in with a book and enjoy the little hide-away!

I still have some details to figure out- all the curtains and the bedspread are just what I had around (though they look cute!) And the nightstand is a little awkwardly tucked in the corner there for lack of a better place:

There's absolutely no art on the walls at this point, the long skinny window still needs a curtain, and while the fan looks MUCH better without the stars:

I'm pretty sure something a little the spot-light-like would be cozier!

But even so, much better, no?

To see other great moments of change and inspiration, stop over at Metamorphosis Monday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!
Thanks for stopping by!

Dining Room Details

Those mirrors that were cluttering up my buffet in the last post have finally been sorted out! I think this one looks pretty darn cute with those hooks:

I actually bought three hooks thinking that I would purchase a smaller mirror and hang two on either side and one beneath, but this mirror is so long that it would look a bit silly to have a hook under it. Besides, I think a coat would drag on the floor!
But I think the extra hook might go quite nicely in this little space between the cupboard and the sliding door out to the deck:

It would be a convenient spot to have a big floppy hat for coffee on sunny days, and a shawl for dinner... obviously not today!

I've also been playing with the objects on the shelf in the dining room:

I like this arrangement a little better for the nice pop of color. Also, it's a great way to display that dish, which I LOOOOVE! Though the larger size, which I'm currently using as a fruit bowl, might actually look better...

So now I just need to figure out how best to utilize the spot beneath the hooks.

A.k.a. the spot behind the door...

So while I would love to find a little iron garden stool for perching, maybe some kind of shoe storage would make more sense? Hmm....

Dining Room: The Next Incarnation

So you remember my dining room? The orange? I thought that might spark it...


Well, it was a nice warm color. And if there had been a little more natural light coming into that room, or if it hadn't been the first room you walk into when you enter the house, it would have been perfect.

Alas the winter made me realize that really that room does NOT get enough light to carry that amount of color! It just felt like a cave.
Also, I'm trying to choose flooring to FINALLY replace the disgusting wall to wall carpet we pulled up last summer, and it's nearly impossible to see what things actually look like in there because the orange reflects everywhere!
So... it's now white.
I primed it:

I painted it:

I rearranged the furniture so now there's a little seating spot right inside the door (where the wine rack used to be):

And you notice Jack finally made it into the room?

I haven't sorted out what's happening over on the buffet yet. In this picture there are a couple mirrors waiting to be decided between to accompany these adorable coat/hat hooks in a little preening area to go behind the door:


I found those online at Look In the Attic and Co.
Oh, and the doors are going to be pink! There was an adorable little white cottage in the town I grew up in that I always fantasized I might someday live in. It was a little white-washed brick house with pink doors and a simple English garden.
My house may not be brick, but it is white! And I'm working on the garden! So why not go for the pink doors?!

I'm having a little trouble finding the right pink, though:

None of these three were exactly right.

Skittles couldn't even look at it... But I picked up another sample can that shows promise! I'll keep you posted!

Want to see other brilliant transormations? Go check out Metamorphosis Monday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!

Not In India... Part Dos

After a slight delay, here are some photographic highlights from Kerala and Bombay. Not necessarily the best things or times (many of those were hanging out with the family!), but the best photos!

Varkala Beach, Kerala, 2007
Dramatic beautiful beach where the town peers down from its perch on the top of the cliff. Picturesque tidal stream separates the beach from, what's that? The police emergency assistance hut?! Hope you don't mind a little wading in your emergency!

Moving construction dirt, waterway of Kerala

View from Rice Barge turned Cruise Boat, Kerala

Uninvited lunch guest when while tied up to shore!

Fisherman setting his nets up at sunset. Tourist boats aren't allowed to start the day until fishermen have pulled their nets in after sunrise. Kerala.

Fisherman drying his nets, Kerala.

OK, just more boats in Kerala, but isn't that a pretty picture?!

Herding Ducks, Kerala.
No, really- he's herding ducks! There were HUNDREDS of them, all swimming in a LOOOONG line ahead of his boat, back to his house where his wife (I assume) was standing and feeding them!

Chinese fishing nets, Cochin, Kerala.
And quite possibly the MOST trash covered beach I've ever seen.

Fresh fish from those nets.

Camel all decked out for the tourists, Cochin.

Shooting a film, Cochin.

And now moving further north:

Quintessential Bombay (yes, that's Mumbai.) You've got to love the mix of traditional and modern here: Women in burkhas walking beneath signs advertising sexy sequin tops and cell phone companies! 2007


Traditional woodworkers, roadside, Bombay, 2007.

They're making these things- with their hands, on the side of the road!

Beer and pizza in Colaba (downtown Bombay.) 2007

Broken rollerskate as impromptu toy, Mahim, Bombay, 2008.

Keeping guard over cricket games on the day leading up to a controversial political rally, Shivaji Park, Mahim, Bombay, 2008.

White wedding horse delivery (this is the horse that the groom will ride!) Mahim, 2008.

Back street between apartment buildings, Mahim.

City Light Vegetable market.

Modeling the latest fashions (as of Feb. 2008!), Mahim.

Checking out the caves at Elephanta Island, Bombay.

Sunset at Chowpatty beach, Bombay.

Hindu wedding in Bombay.

Activities at shrine across from St. Mary's Church, Bandra.

Illicit lovers hiding under the docks, Bandra.

Amul butter predicts the election of Hillary Clinton!

Outdoor market, somewhere near the Chor Bazaar...

Haji Ali, through the smog, Worli, Bombay.

And Haji Ali closer up during the day (this one is my friend's picture!)