I bet you thought with all this post-Haven excitement, inspiration and head-swirling, that I’d forgotten about our projects around the house? Nope! Not at all!
A few weeks ago, I shared the beginnings of our custom crown moulding project in the dining room:
And I’m very happy to report that ALL of the moulding is now up!
I think I forgot to post an update on the crown moulding progress. And progress we do have.
You may have noticed this photo appear on Instagram a few weeks ago. After weeks (months?) of “acclimating” to our home, the crown we purchased was moved back into the garage to be painted. Huzzah!
Then, with the help of our awesome new pneumatic brad nailer and air compressor, we actually affixed pieces of moulding to our dining room walls.
Seriously. See, I have photo evidence!
It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it? At this point, I will explain why it looks like we nailed a baseboard to our wall. Because we did. We’re getting all fancy up in here with our moulding project. I should clarify that for once, this wasn’t (100%) my idea. Tom & I were admiring multi-piece moulding examples at Home Depot a while back, and then I could see the wheels turning in his head: one piece would no longer fit the bill; we were going to create our own crown concoction.
The original vision included three separate pieces of wood. To be nailed to the wall by a man who has never attempted this before.
Well, reason came into a play, reality set in (because we want to do most of our first floor rooms this same way) and the final crown product will have two pieces put together, and should look something like this:
The bottom piece is the baseboard; the top is a crown piece.
There is a bit of reason behind this madness. After doing some research on crown types, room sizes, etc, I discovered that there are recommended moulding widths based on the height of your ceiling. So, a standard 8ft ceiling would take a smaller piece of moulding, where higher ceilings can take larger pieces. We have 9ft ceilings in most of our first floor; our family room has a 10ft ceiling. The same goes for your baseboards. We upgraded to 5″ baseboards throughout our first floor; and the bottom piece that we’re using for the crown matches our baseboards.
I can’t wait to see and share how the finished product looks in our dining room. And then it’s on to the rest of the house! Or maybe just a few other rooms, hahaha!
Don’t have a grow table? Don’t worry! A card table in your formal dining room works just fine:
Let’s have a closer look at Operation Homegrown Eats 2013:
This certainly isn’t the prettiest operation ever, but hopefully it’ll be an effective one. Last year I bought a grow kit; this year, I went with the “use watcha got” mentality. And I’ve got an array of plastic pots, a flat, and a bunch of seeds. I even reused flower tags to make new veggie tags. And since I don’t have a clear lid to place atop all this, I’m going to see if plastic wrap can create the same greenhouse effect.
The more I write, and the more I look at the photos, I realize how completely janky this operation is. Which is funny, because I’m usually as much about the fashion as the functionality. But, seed-starting season kind of crept up on me. I mean, we just experienced Snowmaggedon 2013 last week, so this whole concept of Spring seems pretty unrealistic. I’m just hoping that I don’t end up starting over before these puppies ever make it into the ground (that happened last year… no thanks to the teeny tiny slots in the grow kit… no where near big enough to accomodate the roots of a summer squash seedling!)
Anywho, I planted 2 types of tomatoes (Brandywine and Salad Hybrid), cucumber, summer squash, zucchini squash, green onion, cilantro and basil. And I’ll probably end up buying green peppers, more herbs, and maybe another cantaloupe plant. That thing did alright last year.
My holiday weekend was pretty low-key… it was so nice to have the extra day to look forward to! Why can’t every weekend be a 3-day weekend? Sigh… I really think we’d be a happier, more patient society if we just had a little more time to relax!
Anyway, my weekend included a bridal shower, a trip to the mall, and a trip to Panera. Oh, and watching pretty much *all* of Season 2 of Downton Abbey. I realize I’m ridiculously behind… please! No spoilers!!!
We also scoured a bunch of furniture stores in search of good President’s Day deals. We ordered a sofa for our bonus/game room upstairs! And I forgot to snap a pic of the upholstery/pillow fabric combo. Ooops. Guess you’ll just have to wait until it gets delivered in a month 🙂 Aaaannnd, we found a dining room table that we love! But I think our checkbooks would appreciate it if we wait a month or so to make that purchase.
And lastly, and I know, most-excitingly, I organized my growing washi-tape collection. (I was kidding about the “most-excitingly” part.)
Check back tomorrow for a washi-tape diy to see these puppies in action!
I never in my wildest dreams imagined that we’d somehow wind up with a zebra print rug front-and-center in our family room! I’d been dreaming of animal prints for months (namely a gorgeous brown-and-cream giraffe rug), but Tom wasn’t on board. Until he spotted a zebra rug at HomeGoods. Of course, I immediately agreed that it was perfect before he could change his mind. And, voila! – we went home with a zebra rug!
So ever since then, I can’t help but get excited when I see a fantastic zebra-inspired print.
How fabulous would these look around a black pedestal dining table?!?
from Overstock.com
This bench would be perfect for a custom walk-in closet, for seating and for storage. And the soft grey is a nice way to ease into animal prints if you’re nervous about making too bold of a statement.
from Joss and Main
How about a Zebra cowhide rug? This would definitely be a “conversation” piece. I would place it under a glass coffee table so you could still enjoy the shape and print.
from West Elm
This chest is incredible. This would be amazing in a dining room, bedroom, or even in a foyer.
from Horchow
Zebra doesn’t always have to be so black and white! I love a good colorful print. It feels fresh, modern, and a touch youthful. This print by Britt Browne is particularly cool. (wish it wasn’t $200!!)
via Stampa
If you’d rather start with a small dose of the safari-inspired, how about a bright green zebra matchbox?
from Design Darling