Our summer has been short and a bit unpredictable here in the PNW this year. And while I long for summer to last forever, my summer annuals are showing signs of nearing their time and I made a fruit crisp already.The crisp was kind of my white flag of surrender, acknowledging the subtle changes happening around us.

I begin to think about things that will transition our vibe from summer to autumn, and admittedly, casseroles and crock pot recipes are high on the list! Tell me I’m not alone here…then there’s the pillows and candles but that’s a whole other blog post in and of itself.I have always loved fiber arts and yarn, but have not crossed over and learned how to crochet or knit yet.I gave myself permission to be ok with not liking every craft known to man. Enter the great quiting fail of 1996.We were snowed in and I decided it was time to try my hand at quilting.A queen size quilt.Yeah…So needless to say I have realized my attention span and amount of patience if not well suited to projects like that.

But something 30 minutes or less? Keep talking, I’m listening…These colors really spoke to me recently and I fell in love with the contrast between the orange and blue together.It was like a modern version of Three’s Company right there in my shopping basket.Flip flopping between doing something round or something straight across I opted for round.

Yarn for 50% off, clearance faux succulents, I’m in!I am loving these colors together, bright but still bringing a early-fall vibe that I’m kind of ready for.Long strings of yarn, looped around each ring, it doesn’t get much easier than that!

The rings secured all in one spot with yarn and a dab of hot glue to keep the tied ends in place.

And the fun part? You could hang it on the side if a chicken coop just for a change of pace.

Sometimes the light in this spot (the side if our chicken coop) is just right. It needs a makeover before we can have chickens, but for now the cat loves to nap in there.

While I have not dug out the “fall” boxes from the attic I have to say this whole late summer thing is quite wonderful.

There are more days to grill and swim, run and play in the sun. And maybe figure out what to do with this leftover yarn.

Thank you so much for reading friend, and supporting this little spot in the blogspere.

Hugs,

Tanya

I cannot tell you how excited I am to share phase one of our master bathroom remodel!

It started with a little redo and well then we lost our minds a bit but are soooo happy with the results. You gotta see the before to know how far this oak-tastic cave has come in the past few weeks. I bring you, one massively outdated cave-like depressing space:

Yep this is the before, granted we had more cabinets than we knew what to do with. It was less than inspiring.

Inspiration began with a paint chip, left over subway tile from the kitchen, and some Habitat scored hardware.

The color is Little Black Dress, Behr paint from Home Depot, and its freaking gorgeous.

Just saying…

Troy suggested cutting the cabinets in half, and there was an immediate improvement.

We raised the platform that the new counter and sink would rest on, wanting to bring a way-too-low counter up a bit higher.

We used end cut fir flooring to create the butcher block on each side, and a pretty black and white tile for a little pop. The basin sink was a FREE score at Habitat, which allowed me to get the faucet I REALLY wanted, faucet from Lowe’s.

We have to find a new mirror for above our front living room fireplace as this just fit perfectly here.

This time we used white grout with the subway tile, it’s so bright and clean.

And a faux cactus, you gotta stick a faux cactus on your new bathroom counter.

The flooring is next when we redo the main bath, for now I’m one happy girl. Every day I’m so excited to walk by this space and smile with the amazing transformation. Just in case you missed the before…

And my pretty little black master vanity now…

One more…

Thank you friend for following along and sharing this journey with us, I appreciate you sharing this post and helping keep this blog space of mine going 🙂

Until next time!

Hugs,Tanya

We have a few more things to complete in our laundry room but I had to share how far we’ve come!

When we bought our home a year ago, this room that goes from the garage to the inside felt cramped and awkward.

Both doors opened inward which was the first change we made. We installed a sliding vintage interior door we found at Habitat and hung it from the same barn door hardware we used for our pantry barn door. We removed the outdated cabinets, and there was instantly more breathing room.

I guess I’m kind of impatient because I had to share this even before the glass door knob was installed. I decided to not repaint the sliding door but leave the areas bare where previous hardware had been.

The interior of our home is a soft pale grey. Besides the blue-green wall in the master bedroom and the birch tree faux wallpaper in the office, this is the color throughout our home.

On the wall opposite the washer and dryer we ran a chair rail mid way up the wall and painted the upper wall with chalkboard paint. The white decorative piece was a find in Troy’s old shed, which we added vintage knobs and fabric insets after a fresh coat of paint.

We wanted a laundry folding station and by adding a top of plywood and supports of painted 1″ by 2″s it was perfect. Well, almost. I realized we had more hardwood flooring front another project which we installed on top and I white washed. It’s so pretty and clean, I love this counter top.

We have a lot of laundry going all the time and there’s always something to hang dry. We wanted to keep the industrial vibe going so we used metal piping and exposed conduit boxes for a rod just below the ceiling.

On the wall above the folding station I used a sharpie and a cardboard triangle creating a geometric pattern along the wall. There is no natural light in this space so the succulents are faux.

Thank you for taking a little tour with me today, I’m off to go work in the yard as we finish our deck and fence. There’s much more to do, but I sure do love the satisfaction and joy of seeing the finished product 🙂

Thank you for stopping by, and for following along!

xo, Tanya

I have been so excited about sharing our new cement kitchen counter tops, and the day is finally here!

We bought our home a year ago and the kitchen was cramped and dark with oak cabinets for uppers and lowers.

I immediately knew that painting the cabinets a bright white on top and dark grey on the lower cabinets would modernize the kitchen quickly. But we were still stuck with the blue Corian counter tops, so we took our time deciding if we wanted butcher block counter tops or concrete.  After much discussion, concrete was the winner.

We decided to build a mock counter top and pour some concrete on it allowing it to try and keeping it in the kitchen for a couple days to make sure we liked it. 

Down came the upper cabinets as we decided that tiling the wall all the way to the ceiling would make the kitchen so much more open,

We removed the old countertops, used plywood to build the new base for the concrete counter tops, and built a frame with recycled wood we had on hand knowing it was just going to get thrown away.

We installed lath to strengthen the concrete, and the fun part was about to begin.  Troy mixed the concrete by the load, and poured it in while I leveled it with a concrete trowel.  We knew that if we did not somehow shake out the bubbles that we would end up with lots of little gaps in the concrete when it dried.

I used a palm sander with no sand paper on it around all the edges of each leveled area on the side of the wood frame.  The vibration shook so much of the air bubbles to the top we were able to achieve the smooth look we were hoping for.

When the concrete was wet and we waited for it to dry I knew this would either be something we would love or live with.  Without the use of our kitchen for a few days, toast and coffee were made on our big farmhouse kitchen table. I could not wait to pull the frame off and sand the rough edges of the new counter tops.

The total project cost us about $50 in extra-strength quick-setting concrete, $40 for the plywood and lath, and $35 in wet look food-grade concrete sealer.  We actually sealed it twice, the first time with a matte look sealer, then realizing we wanted them to have a glossy look, the gloss which we love!

Once the counters were dry and sealed we ran subway tile all the way up and used a dark grey grout.

All the work had paid off!

It was so fun to look for a few new pretty pops of color to bring into our “new” kitchen. 

We thought about installing floating shelves but all of our dishes fit nicely in our pantry so we are loving how open the kitchen feels now.

We are taking out the center section of the soffit in the kitchen next and installing recessed lighting.  That will give the kitchen an even more open feeling.

When you come in our back door you walk thru a small dining area that we use for a home office, and can see straight into our dining and front living room.  It is amazing what some paint and allowing the light to come thru can do in a space!

While not everything we try is a huge success it seems like if we play it safe too much of the time we never try anything new.  We are so glad we went for it and ripped out those cabinets and counters without looking back.  What part of your home would you love to change but aren’t sure where to start? I would love to hear what your next project is or what you would love to change!

Thank you as always for reading, wishing you a blessed, amazing day 🙂

xo, Tanya

The weather is warming up and I don’t know about you but the first thing I have to do is spruce up my front porch! I love to mix lots of plants, move a few plants back outside and make our entry a welcoming hello for the summer.

We bought our mid-century modern home exactly a year ago, and while you would think the amount of work renovating it would be great material for blogging, I sometimes struggle to balance it all and share what we have done.

The first huge project was painting the exterior a dark warm grey and lighter grey combination with white accents. It plays up the the angles of the entry way, and while I don’t have a huge porch I try to maximize the space with some fun things that make me happy.

This area rug is a thrifted find here in town, the pots and planters a mix of new and used that I have scored over time. The stand in the back is an industrial stool with a top that spins, so it makes a much better plant stand than a comfy seat

I love to mix natural wood and wicker in to bring warmth and depth to spaces indoors and outside too.

I would love to say that I have mastered Macrame but this was a find from Marshall’s that I could not pass up. I thought it would be kind of fun to use it as a door hanging instead of a wreath this summer.

We still have a fence to build and two bathrooms to totally redo, but we are getting there project by project. I will share the newly finished concrete kitchen countertops soon too, they are so cool and I was worried I would not like them. Not only were we really sore and tired when we finished them, but we ended up loving them sooooo much!

Please scroll down and check out some more beautiful summer spaces from a few of my great blogging friends!!  I hope this finds you enjoying the sun, family, friends and time to relax a little as we move into another summer. As always thank you for reading friend, love you so!!

xo, Tanya

Our garden began as a next year project.

Then the kids brought home some parsley seeds.

Knowing how busy work would be this summer, and still sticking to my we-don’t-have-time-to-garden-this-year plan, I agreed to the planting of the parsley.

As you can imagine (and the reason I am writing about leftover zucchini and what in the heck to do with them) we lost our minds and planted a full garden.

Just like that, then we were committed and watched our tiny baby plants grow all Spring.

Into what I now refer to as the Little Shop of Horrors because it has gotten completely freaking out of control.

But I suppose when I learn to prune and cut back that will be another post, maybe next year.

How to Have a Big Girl Garden we could call it.  Or perhaps How to Garden Without Going Insane. [Read more…]