home ownership – Page 5 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{my grandmother insists on dessert after dinner!}

{deep into our family favorite card game spite & malice.}

{love that we can turn on our heat on our way home. #nest}

{yep, when the bridges go up, traffic stops. even if you are in a hurry.}

{we did a little shopping on sunday afternoon. even though he won’t ever see this blog a huge shoutout to the nice man at ann taylor who was gushing over today’s ensemble – it so made my month. #bestfeelingever #ootd}

{ballots for the oscars!}

{we watched the pre-show – my fav! – the awards & the start of the after-show. #toomuchoscars #gladtheawardseasonisover #worstoscarsever}

my mom is visiting this weekend so there wasn’t much in the way of house projects done, but we did have a lot of fun! even without a visitor in town the weekends seem so jam-packed. by the time i get to everything i have been waiting to do on the weekends, it is sunday night, late, & i am so exhausted. i guess that is the fun part, right? how was your weekend?

we bought an island {kitchen update}.

our kitchen has an “L” shaped{ish} counter so when we moved in last spring with two kitchen tables, one went in the dining room & one went in the kitchen. it was nice to have two big surfaces in the house as one typically acted as our eating area while the other acted as a crafting/project space. but, it did seem weird to have two kitchen tables in our small, little house, so we i have been on the hunt for a kitchen island for the past few months.

{the kitchen right after it was updated.}

i was randomly searching on craigslist a few weeks ago when i found a simple kitchen island that seemed to fit ~~our~~ my wishlist: butcher block top, counter height, and allows for stools. we called the seller to ask if it was still available & we were confident enough in it to borrow a friend’s truck {thanks colin!} & drive almost an hour north to look at it.

well, needless to say we ended up buying it & hauling it home. once aaron tightened up the legs, it was ready to go! we are really happy with the piece & while it is not perfect {yet} it is really nice to have extra counter space.

we are content with the island for now, but do have plans to remove the shelf {it is right at sadie-height so not much can be stored there}, sand the glossy finish off the top, paint the legs, & add stools. it shouldn’t be too big of a project after tackling all of the kitchen cabinets last spring, but i think we will wait until it is warm enough to just move it out to the deck to do the work – rather than move it down to the basement – so basically anytime after july 4th! {for those of you not familiar with the quirky seattle weather, we basically don’t get summer weather – read: hot – until after the 4th of july.}

do you have an island or an eating area in your kitchen or both?

diy campaign dressers.

it probably isn’t a surprise that when aaron asked me what i wanted for christmas that i asked for supplies for a diy project. seems like diys & stuff for the house tops the wish list these days. while there are a few lots of things that i am eyeing or wanting to do for the house, i decided that i needed to upgrade my dresser.

if you don’t recall, this was my dresser.

there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it & it functioned well. however, i don’t find it very aesthetically pleasing & it was way too tall for me {i had to jump to see my jewelry!}. so, when deciding what i wanted to replace the dresser, i focused on maintaining functionality & height {or lack thereof}.

naturally, i found a diy on pinterest a few months back that immediately caught my attention.

{original pinterest link – DIY: Campaign Chest}

i basically followed this tutorial, but changed the dresser base & the handles {more about that in a bit}.

supplies {for one dresser}:

ikea tarva dresser
three Campaign hardware drawer pulls {6197}
three sets of Brass corners
primer – i used Valspar Bonding Primer
paint – i used Valspar Almost Charcoal in High Gloss
Polycrylic finish – optional
drill
paint brush & smooth roller
Dremel with routing attachment

{sidenote: when we went to ikea to buy the dressers for this project, i was sure we were going to buy the rast dresser that was used in the tutorial. however, when we got to the dresser section of the store, we realized that the rast dresser is tiny {see how it compares to sadie} & could be used as maybe a nightstand or kid’s dresser. so, on the spot we had to punt & decided that the tarva dresser, which was also raw pine wood, would be a good alternative. it didn’t have quite the same lines as a “traditional” campaign dresser would with its top & legs, but we just went with it.}

i started by assembling the dresser & priming it.

i assembled the drawers. then aaron sketched out the back of the drawer hinge & hand-routed the drawer fronts {thank you husband!} so that the drawer pulls would lie flat. {sidenote: the tutorial uses campaign-style handles that lie flat against the drawer without routing. i couldn’t find these anywhere!}

i primed the drawer fronts & their edges, & then painted the dresser & drawers. i ended up painting three coats {mostly with roller but brush where the roller wouldn’t fit}. i really wanted these to be high, high gloss, but since i wasn’t willing to use oil-based paint i didn’t get the high, high gloss. we decided that since these dressers would get so much use & also to help boost the glossiness we should put on a coat of polycrylic. we were able to get a polycrylic {see the link above} in a gloss that was pretty low VOC. i followed the instructions & put on three thin coats.

after drying for just over 24 hours, we attached the hardware. this was a lot of work, but so worth it to see ikea dressers turn into pseudo-campaign dressers.

after the brass corners were placed & the handles were set, we were able to move them to their new home! {sidenote: there is a pretty big difference in color between the pictures above & the pictures below. i tried my best with my very limited knowledge of how to use the camera’s ISO & f-stop, but the grey color in the pictures above are the best representation of the color of the dressers.}

while these are pretty non-traditional looking campaign dressers, i am really happy with the result. now i just need to find the right mirror/art/jewelry hanging combination for the wall above the dressers – any suggestions?

what are you storing your clothes in – dresser, armoire, closet?

the day we traded three lights for one.

i haven’t really kept it a secret that the light pendants in our dining room are not my favorite thing in the house {see here}. but, for what they were {a light source for one entire side of our large living space} we kept them without too much complaint.

however, when you are a house owner {or a grown-up or both} & santa asks you what you want for christmas, you immediately start listing domestic things: vacuum cleaner, towels, dish towels, etc. this year i asked santa {very nicely} for a new dining room light!

so i got it & its AMAZING! {there are pictures below, i promise – thanks santa!} we would have hung it right away, but since our current light fixtures were in a really funky place {in the center of the room, yep, the center!} we had to call our handy dandy electrician to come in & move some electrical for us.

after he was done you can see that there were three really nice holes left in our ceiling. it has been suggested that we install a few disco balls {via our dog walker} but i think we will attempt our first plaster patching. yep, that’s right, our ceilings are plaster – bless old homes & their lath & plaster. {thankfully all of our walls have been updated to dry wall, yes!} the good news though, we were told that plaster is easier to patch than dry wall – huzzah!

okay, enough with the rambling, here is our new dining room light. prepare yourself because she is a beaut!

gorgeous, no? it didn’t take me long to find this lovely light as i frequently peruse west elm {mostly online, but the store is lovely!} to see what home goodies i can’t live without. i have had this guy on my wishlist for months, waiting for the day when it would finally grace our dining room!

so there it is, the newest addition to our house. now, is anyone interested in three lovely pendants? i can get you a very good price!

have you updated any lights in your house recently?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

this is not a sponsored post. all opinions expressed are my own.

highlights of 2012.

{via}

happy 2013!

i love reading yearly highlights on other blogs & even though i try to keep up on the updates via this blog, there are hopefully a few fun things to share that you haven’t heard before. here’s the rundown of 2012:

january: i donated blood for the first {& last} time. we dined at emmer & rye in queen anne with my friend beth ann who was in town visiting. we survived snopocolypse 2012. the repairs on the jetta were finally completed from my rear-ending in november. sadie had surgery to get a small lump removed & have her teeth cleaned.

february: we took a trip to new england & managed to visit all six new england states. we spent a long weekend in boston. i celebrated my 27 {yikes!} birthday & valentine’s day with my love in manchester, new hampshire. we celebrated thanksgiving in february with my law school friends {this is a reoccurring event in which my friend miriam cooks up a big thanksgiving dinner at various times of the year}. we celebrated leap year!

march: my mom visited for a long weekend. i oversaw work to the townhouse {new venting for the dryer}. we house-hunted on the weekends with our realtor padraic. i started & completed all three books in the hunger games series. we saw the hunger games at the IMAX. we saw {& were disappointed by} king tut at the pacific science center {no tut, just his stuff}. aaron took a work trip to vegas. we made our first {& only} offer on a house. our offer was accepted!

april: we took a post-offer tour of our new house. we celebrated easter dinner with my grandmother. we showed the townhouse to potential new tenants. i co-hosted a baby shower for amanda. we packed up all of our belongings for the big move. we closed on our house after signing lots of paperwork & handing over a very large check. we moved.

may: we were rear-ended {this better not become an annual event}. my mom & dad visited for a long weekend & helped with some house projects. we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday! we celebrated aaron’s 29th birthday! i took on my first pro bono case with VAIJ. we hosted a small dinner party with old idaho friends kami, travis, & their adorable daughter olive. we spent a night on the town in bellevue at aaron’s organization’s ship party with lots of aaron’s co-workers.

june: we saw dia frampton in concert at chop suey. we hosted a small dinner party with my law school friend marcus, his then-fiancée katy, & their beagle maggie. padraic & his partner justin threw us an awesome housewarming party! we ventured down to alabama for andy & hailey’s wedding. i had lots of phone interviews.

july: we attended herschel’s first birthday party {the son of one of my law school friends}. we celebrated the fourth of july! i started going to fitness classes with my neighbor leanne at community fitness. we hosted a small dinner party with andy & hailey, just back from their honeymoon! we attended thanksgiving in july at miriam’s. sadie & i drove down to idaho. i got my haircut & had drinks with my CBC {high school} girlfriends. we loaded up the car & took a roadtrip {sadie included} to stevenson, wa for marcus & katy’s wedding. we saw the dark knight rises at the IMAX.

august: we celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a picnic dinner at greenlake! we attended our first neighborhood potluck & met lots of our neighbors. we joined a summer bocce ball league with ben & sarah. i did yoga in the park with our neighbors – the friends – & tens of other people. i shopped & noshed with my friend ashley who was in town on a work trip. we attended the pratt’s housewarming party {a couple i met & befriend while i was in americorps}. we attended padraic’s wig birthday party. i met my pro bono client. i was offered a position doing media license management & started working. my bff carlie came into town – our first house guest! we attended a moroccan dinner feast at ben & sarah’s house. aaron’s parents visited seattle for a week.

september: we attended a final farewell summer bbq. we visited indiana to see family & surprise meg at her baby shower. we attended a colts game with our friends colt & erin. we celebrated sadie’s eighth birthday!

october: we visited peru & got to hike around one of the new seven wonders of the world machu picchu. my mom & sister anya visited for a long weekend. my friend meg was in town to visit! aaron made an unexpected trip back to indiana to attend his late grandmother’s service. we attended ghouls near greenlake, ben & sarah’s annual halloween bash, as a somecard. we celebrated halloween with our very first trick-or-treaters!

november: aaron attended a week-long conference for work & stayed downtown. i watched the election results while painting the bathroom trim & texting aaron updates. we hosted our first {vegetarian} thanksgiving. we spent the long holiday weekend working on the house.

december: we attended a housewarming party for amanda, george, & madeleine. we brunched with our neighbors – the friends – at the 5 spot in queen anne. my mom visited for a long weekend. i brought back a pinterest christmas & recruited some friends to join in on the fun. we celebrated the holiday season with six holiday parties with friends & co-workers. i won rookie of the year at work. we enjoyed a double-date night in bellevue with some newly engaged friends. we loaded up the car with presents & made the trek to idaho for the week of christmas. we celebrated christmas! we made it safely back to seattle only one day delayed. we plan to ring in the new year with friends & watch the space needle firework show.

reflecting back on this year, i am reminded how blessed we are & also how different this year has been than the year previous. it has been such a wonderful year & ringing in a new one is a bit bittersweet.

how was your 2012 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2013 already?

see highlights of 2011 here.

our house video.

if you follow me on instagram {@mishacslower} you know that a few weeks ago we were part of a video shoot about our house.

our realtor, padraic, wanted us to be in a video to show current & future clients. we happily obliged knowing we could show off the house a bit!

i know a few of you have been anxiously waiting to see the final product & we just got the edit back this week. enjoy!

if you live in the seattle area & need a realtor, we highly recommend padraic!

how did you choose a realtor?

merry christmas eve house tour.

this holiday season has been so fun decorating the house for christmas. i was able to use all of our old decorations {see some of last year’s décor here & here} in our new space. we don’t have a fireplace like we did in our townhouse, so it has been a bit of a challenge to decorate without a mantle. {i guess the trade-off is that instead of a four foot christmas tree we could have a nine foot one!}

nearly all of my decorations have come from two series worth of a pinterest christmas. {see the first post from last year here & the first post from this year here} i enjoy making the decorations to fit the space that we are in. even after a month of a pinterest christmas projects i am already thinking about what i can make for the house next year!

i hope you enjoy a quick tour of our house all dressed up for christmas.

is your house all dressed up for christmas? if you have a blog, please share a link in the comments!

merry christmas eve!

a fresh coat of paint: bedroom edition.

over thanksgiving break, our other big painting project {in addition to the bathroom} was our bedroom.

our bedroom’s original color was yellow with yellow trim. yep, lovely. {thankfully, our bedroom has the 11 foot ceilings & picture rail like our living room.}

it took me a long time to figure out what color i wanted in this room. i tend towards grey {& deliberately chose not to paint our living room grey as it is the biggest space in our house} but i wanted to brainstorm a little more & not go for something so easy. at the same time, i wanted to keep the color pretty neutral as it is the place we sleep, as well as match the citrine color of the new roman shades.

it took until we were at the paint counter at lowe’s actually buying the paint for us to finally figure out the color. the winner was woodlawn sterling blue from valspar which is a light blue-grey. this color is also part of its national trust historic color collection as is the carolina inn club aqua by valspar color of the living room. i used the allergy & asthma paint which is a little spendy, but highly, highly recommended. i have used this paint all over the house – it is no VOC & has great coverage.

after priming the trim & walls, & painting on the wall color, we finally had beautiful not-yellow walls!

the pictures really don’t do the room justice – it is so awesome in person {not that i am biased or anything}.

we still have to finish painting the insides of the windows {requires warmer weather} & also finish painting the closet doors, but just the paint on the walls is a vast, vast improvement!

have you updated the color in a room recently?

master bedroom mini-blind update (or pinspiration: no sew roman shade)

when i made my first no sew roman shade for the kitchen this spring, i mentioned that we also have miniblinds in both bedrooms. while i haven’t done a thing about the miniblinds in the office/extra bedroom {or anything for that matter!} i did finally do something about the miniblind situation in our bedroom.

i made these blinds the same way i made the other ones, so i won’t hash out all of the details. {see tutorial here}

the one change that i did make was that i added blackout material {also acts as a thermal liner} to the backs of the three shades. i found this blackout material at joann & though i don’t remember exactly how much it was, but it wasn’t very expensive.

i cut the thermal liner to be the same size as the fabric. in hindsight, i may have made it 1/4 inch smaller on all four sides. once i had cut the ladder cord & removed the extra blind pieces, i added the thermal liner by gluing it to the bottom of the miniblind metal bracket {i that isn’t what it is called, but just go with it!}. i laid the thermal liner down on the floor {i don’t think it matters which side is up} & then laid the miniblinds on top. after lining the top & bottom up, i rolled the top metal bracket towards the bottom of the blinds twice. then i added a line of glue to the edge of the thermal liner & glued it to the edge of the metal bracket {see picture to the right below}.

after the glue was dry on the thermal liner, i rolled the top metal bracket back & then began gluing every other slat to the thermal liner. then i glued on the front fabric like in the original tutorial, adhering the front fabric to every other slat.

the fabric is dwell studio bella porte citrine from fabric.com. i am a big fan of dwell studio fabric despite the heavy price tag. i love all of the patterns & it is upholstery quality – you can’t go wrong!

while the biggest reason i added a thermal liner to these bedroom curtains was to help keep heat from escaping thru the windows, the blackout feature has been nice. the curtains are all a teeny bit smaller than our window frames so we get little slivers of light in the morning, but for the most part i feel like we are in a hotel. the blackout curtains are completely messing with my circadian rhythm, but we are loving being able to sleep in on the weekends!

{sidenote: the shades are hard to open and close because the pullcord is in-between the fabric & the liner. i decided to sandwich the blind slats between the fabrics so that you couldn’t see the slats from the back/outside. instead, you could attach the liner to the back of the fabric before gluing it to the blinds to avoid this problem. i may add a little slit at the top of the liner right next to the pullcord to allow the cord to be pulled thru & hang on the back of the blinds, between the shade & the window.}

how do you feel about window coverings? have you ever made your own shades or curtains?

my weekend in pictures.

{addressing christmas cards.}

{blog views from all around the world. isn’t technology amazing!}

{shopped the target + neiman marcus collaboration late friday night (it was already december 1st on the east coast!) & got some goodies without worrying about the herds of people at the store. #ilovetheinternet #thewestcoastisthebestcoast}

{enjoyed colored sugar sprinkles on my morning grapefruit.}

{the late fall seattle downpours have been slowly seeping into our basement. though it is not more than 1/2 inch of water in some places, we decided to get a sump pump and drainage ditches put in this week. #myhouseisamoneypit #pleasestopraining}

{my grandmother thoroughly enjoying the candy bar at peaks. she pointed to a topping & asked me what it was, i said “its rock candy. so basically sugar,” & she started scooping it into her bowl by the spoonful. love her!}

{if you can’t tell that is a purple christmas tree on top of the crane that is renovating the uw football stadium. #merrychristmas #godawgs}

{we watched groundhog’s day on saturday night. how have i never seen this movie before?}

{the cutest husky waiting outside for his owner in queen anne.}

{brunched at the 5 spot with our neighbors on sunday morning.}

we tried to keep the weekend relaxing without a lot of to-dos. it was nice to just hang out & enjoy the time off, but the rain is pretty miserable. i guess that is what we get for living in seattle. how was your weekend?