Vacationing

For the past few weeks, we've had a parade of visitors out - two of my daughters for a week each, and our best friends from Indiana for a week.  We got to visit and revisit a lot of Southern California fun spots - Disneyland, Hollywood --

my daughter cracking up at how serious the Storm Trooper was

And we discovered some new, interesting hidden spots.  Like the cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is interred - it's truly hidden away.

We were there the day after Ray Bradbury's funeral - fresh grass.  We visited the Getty -

With their beautiful site and gardens, and a stunning view of LA.

And we enjoyed having our visitors, playing games, eating and generally catching up.  It was great!  We have a week off, then our last group of the summer comes on Saturday for another week and a half.  More Disneyland and beach!  It'll be fun --

Because we've had so many visitors, we need more beds (especially for the group coming this week).  In the studio, I had a small red loveseat that I liked, but it didn't really help out much.  So I sold it on Craigslist and looked for a replacement that had a fold out bed.  I found a great leather loveseat with a twin sleeper on Craigslist, but the leather was in terrible shape - sun faded and looking kind of sad.  But since it was in faded condition, I got a great deal on it (and it had never been slept on, the mattress was still in the original plastic).  I got some leather conditioner and polish and got to work:

You can see how dry the original (left) side is compared to the restored side

I did the right side only so I could show my husband how different it looks!

The leather was still soft, just really faded and dry looking. 

When I got it all done, it looked great.  I used a nice brown leather polish and a leather restoring product to keep it supple.  Lots of muscle to work all that into the surface, but the results were worth it.  I need to make some fun red pillows, I do miss the red in the room!  But it's soft and comfortable and looks fabulous now!  And as a bonus, it would match up with the living room furniture in case I ever want to do a shift in furniture -- my little red loveseat didn't go with anything!

patio furniture cushions

Getting the furniture built was only part of the whole plan - finding an affordable way to make the seats comfortable was another problem.  The plan is built on a standard 24 x 24 inch cushion, but even at Costco or Lowe's, the cushions were about 25 dollars each - and we needed 8 of them, so that would be 200 dollars for the cushions.  What to do?

When we moved from Indiana, we had a queen sized bed that we sold, but we'd also bought a foam topper because the old mattress was so uncomfortable.  We had that out in the garage, and when we got it out, we realized it was thicker than we remembered -- 4" thick.  I would prefer 6" thick cushions, but cutting this topper down was free!  We marked it out into 24" squares, and it was just about perfect.  We had to piece some of the last 2 cushions, but we got it all done.  Yesterday, I went out and picked up some fabric for the covers.

 

After making Leslie's owl purse, I realized I really liked the look of the fabric with the gold outlines, and I found some that was a similar print.  This one had a green background and a fun all=over print.  It was 2.49 a yard, and I bought 10 yards, for a little more than 25 dollars with tax. It's not a fabric specifically made for outdoors, so I know that it's going to fade and wear - but I also want to get another layer of foam on these, so I plan on recovering them again next summer.  It didn't take me long to whip up some simple covers - I didn't do the full box seaming, just took a piece of fabric, folded it in half, sewed around, leaving one side open, wedged the foam inside, then hand-stitched the back closed.  

I still have more wood filler to work on, hoping to finish that up tonight, then a final sanding, prime and paint.  While I was thinking of a deep red, now I've decided perhaps an ivory would work best. 
I do have lots of fun pillows so that's where the gypsy look can come in.  I think leaving them ivory might allow me to change the seat fabric a little more easily without having to match the color of the frames.

In other yard-related news, I saw another agave for free on craigslist, this one I had to dig up.  It didn't look all that big when I looked at the ad:

But it was pretty big!  And it was the hottest day this week, and Dale had to work, so I was on my own.  I dug and dug, and bled and bled (those points are sharp!), but I got it out.  The homeowner helped me pick it up and put it in my trunk, which I couldn't have done alone!  Here it is in the trunk:

"Feed me, Seymour!"

And here it is in the backyard.  It's beautiful!

Crafty time

My daughter is visiting - and we spent a day at the beach, and then exhausted ourselves yesterday with a full day of Disneyland -which was really fun, but we decided to do something less wild today.  I had bought fabric to make her a tote bag for her birthday in October, but then we moved and with things getting crazy, I never got it done.  So today, we got the fabric out, looked online for some inspiration, and sewed up a cute owl purse:

You can read a tutorial on her blog:  Lemon Squeezy

Patio Furniture progress

Dale and I worked on our patio furniture today - he got home early and so we made a lot of progress!

We got all excited when they started taking shape!

 

Pretty soon, we were overrun!

By the end of the evening, we had the frames all finished, and I've gotten one of them almost done with the wood filler/sanding step.  We ran out of wood filler and I needed more sandpaper.  

This was before we got the slats glued/nailed down:

 

And here's what they look like on the patio!

I am so ready to get them sanded/painted.  I've decided they are going to be a dark red after all - Dale and I were sitting out there brainstorming our ideas for the cushions - and I have about a zillion toss pillows, and I think I might stencil something across the front bottom bands.  Dale was afraid that a "barn red" might make them look too "farmer-ish" but with the eclectic assortment of pillows I have, I think it's going to look more gypsy.

And now, we want to make a coffee table for the group - so that will be our next project for the patio.

In about an hour, I leave to pick my daughter up from the airport - looking forward to the fun!

Weekend Projects

This weekend, we got started on a couple of projects that we hope to finish up this week.  First - we ordered a new window for our bathroom.  When we originally demolished the bathroom, we were living under the illusion that we would get all the work done fast and wouldn't have time to wait for a special order window.  We pretty much hated the single hung window that we put in there - first, it opened right at waist level so the neighbors (whose kitchen is directly across from our bathroom) would have the tantalizing sight of us taking a shower, and secondly, the steam can't escape because the opening is too low.  So we finally ordered the double hung window in the same size, and this weekend, we pulled out the SH and installed the DH. 

Sadly, this is what the neighbors have had to look at since November.  Because we hated the window, we never put the trim back around.  Maybe we were hoping they'd be so disgusted by the window trim that they wouldn't notice our naked selves in the shower.
















But - we got the window done, and all the trim done, and then the caulking and paint and touch up, and it looks lovely now! 

Not a glamorous job, but we're glad it's done.










The other project we started this weekend is some seating for our summer guests.  We love to sit outside in our back yard (I'd say on the patio, but that's way too fancy a name for the cement slab.  We have one chair and one chaise lounge, and a tiny little square end table.  So we want to make some more friendly seating.  We like the plans for the Weatherly Sofa at ana-white.com - so we got the wood and started building the sofas on Sunday.


<----this will
               soon be this----->

Those are actually 3 pieces - two sofas with arms and one armless love seat.  So far, we have the criss-cross motifs done:

And we've got most of the back framing done.

We're hoping to have some time on Monday and Tuesday to work, too.  After reading lots of reviews of the Kreg jig, we decided we should get one of those, too --  it really does make joining wood pretty much a breeze.  Here's Dale drilling some pockets for joining part of our sectional:

Because we are making this for our uncovered back patio, we figure it's going to take a beating for a few years, and so we didn't invest a lot of money in wood and supplies.  The wood and fasteners were just a little more than $100 -  what is going to cost are the cushions - but we've got some ideas for those.  When it's done, we're going to paint it white, although I am looking forward to the future when I get the patio covered with a pergola and I can make more of a Moroccan-inspired oasis, and I would love it a dark red!  We figured if we paint it, we can change the color and refresh it every couple of years, since the sun is going to really beat down on it and it'll need a new coat of paint occasionally. 

So that was our weekend.  Guest #2 comes Tuesday evening - we're excited to see Leslie!

Summer begins

We had our first summer visitor trying out the guest room -- my youngest daughter Hilary came for a week and we had fun doing the tourist-y things here in southern California:  Disneyland, Hollywood, San Diego Zoo, the Aquarium of the Pacific - and the beach. 

 

It was fun having her out!  We have another visitor next week - my middle daughter Leslie will be out for a week, then the day after she leaves, we have my best friend Eric and his partner Herbert out for a week!  It's going to be a fun summer!

The last day Hilary was here, I saw an ad on Craigslist for a free agave - it was huge! 


Here it is, planted with some iceplant starts.  It's a little beat up but will do just fine.












This weekend, we are going to work on a furniture project and replace the window in the shower - more on that later.  But in the meantime, we're just relaxing, and enjoying the summer!

In all it's glory!

While I was finishing up grading yesterday, Dale finished up taking all the old, dead ivy off the eucalyptus tree in front of the house.  It filled the trash cans, but it looks so great!

It actually has more leaves and healthier branches than I thought it would - I was afraid the ivy was really choking it out, but it looks great.  And no more 'Angelina Jolie's leg' look as I come down the road. 

We are also happy about the bamboo's progress in the back.  When we transplanted all the bamboo, a lot of it looked like it died right off - the leaves turned brown and it just sort of looked like a bunch of dead sticks stuck in the ground. 

 

But looking down the row at ground level, there are lots of new shoots coming up.  Or, as one of my friends told me, "don't worry, it'll look like Viet Nam back there in a couple of months."  And it does grow fast - we looked at one of these shoots about a week and a half ago, it was about 12" tall --

 

And when we went out there yesterday, it was taller than me (about 5'6").   A couple of the older canes are fine, it seems that if they hadn't turned black but were still green, they survived the transplant better, like this one.  We'll get the old canes cut down and let the green shoots go to town.

 

But....that will have to wait until next week - my daughter just arrived (she's at IHOP with Dale having breakfast - he picked her up from the airport because I had a doctor's appt. that I couldn't change) - and so the parade of summer visitors has officially begun!  

  (oh, and I got the quilt done yesterday, just in time)

It's going to be a fun summer - and probably lots of Disneyland for us!

My friend Doris

The two paintings over the bed are by a fabulous artist and dear friend named Doris Vlasek-Hails.  Doris passed away in 2004, and I am so glad that I own several pieces of her work.  The two over the bed are abstractions, and were gifted to me by another dear friend Eric!

I also have a pair of small paintings hanging in my kitchen:

And a gorgeous vase in my living room:





 It's nice to have these reminders of a wonderful friendship!






Doris
Vlasek
Hails
1938-2004

oops....

Well, I was supposed to be busy this week working on a quilt.  Instead, I watched a "Chopped" marathon - and I don't even find food all that interesting!  So - our bedroom is not quite finished, but we did get furniture moved in:

Got some artwork hung, and I got new sheets and a blanket for our guests.  Although it is summer, here in California, it always cools down at night so a nice warm blanket will be welcome.  Apparently, the cats approve:


 Some people might be concerned that I let our cats lay on the guest bed, in case some of our visitors have cat allergies - but these cats are Oriental Shorthairs, and they have a single coat - no fluffy undercoat, which is what most people have an allergy to.  So they are pretty hypoallergenic.  And they don't shed like other cats.  So, while I don't let them live on the bed, having them jump up once in awhile isn't too bad.



One of the things we're doing in all our rooms as we go is to add some architectural interest.  I installed crown molding in this room, same as in the bathroom, and then added a picture frame rail about 3" below the crown molding.  I painted the picture frame molding, the crown molding and the space in between all white, which makes it appear to have a more substantial molding at top, since they all 'read' as one piece:

I really like the way that the new blinds go with the yellow walls.  Because this window is so long, we couldn't find a single blind that fit across - but a pair fits perfectly.  Hmm...this picture is kind of dark, but you can see the pretty beech wood.




So now I've got to get that bedspread finished - and get a shade for that bedside lamp!

Ready to move furniture in!

After the earlier disaster of too-bright yellow, I went back and got another gallon of paint, this time a tint lighter and also changed from satin to flat.  So much happier! This color I love. 



I also finished out the trim work around the wardrobe.  The wardrobe pieces we bought  from IKEA are not as deep as our closet space.  We considered bringing them up to the front, but hated to waste any space in this little house!  We can always use that extra 6" to hang hooks for belts, etc.




So I built out the trim and finished off the edges.


Oh no!  The door hardware was hitting the top of the closet - just barely, but enough to drag and cause them to be difficult to open/close.  So we took the whole thing down - doors, trim, etc, and dropped the doors 3/4", which was the size of the wood I had that would fit.  Put everything back up, then...oh, dang, now they're dragging the bottom!  Just barely, so we took the whole thing apart again, and trimmed it by 1/4".  Needless to say, Dale was not thrilled to install the doors 3 times instead of once, but he knows 1) if I am not happy with it, I will be miserable and probably complain forever, and 2) he is a really good sport and as long as I feed him well and give him enough breaks, he's willing to go the extra mile or two.

So now the doors are perfect, and I rebuilt all the trim and repainted and I'm happy! They look beautiful, they slide along ever so nice.







Lots of storage and clothing space--














I think I'm going to add a shelf over the bar on the right, to store blankets and pillows for my visitors.










I also installed crown molding and new baseboards and installed nice beech wooden blinds.  This morning I scrubbed the floor - we'd love to refinish all the floors but there are so many things ahead of that in the line, but they're not too bad if I go over them with pine cleaner, water, a putty knife and steel wool - inch by inch! - and then polish them back up.  They'll do for now.

Next post will be the furniture and decorating.  I have an old iron bed that I've repainted to match different rooms - this time it'll be cheerful and red to match the decorating scheme I've come up with. I've also repainted an old record cabinet that I had installed mosaic fronts and sides to - it was originally dark green to match our bedroom years ago.  It looks much fresher with a coat of ivory paint.  It looks like we'll have everything ready for my daughter when she comes in a little more than a week!  Pictures to come.....

aarrgh...painting woes

We're making progress on our guest room - we've got to get it done because it's getting booked solid!  Our first visitor is coming in two more weeks, so time to pull it all together.





Last I mentioned, Dale had ripped out the closet, and it looked like this------------>

He had to cut more out -- then we assembled (and assembled! and assembled!) the IKEA wardrobe.












and then we slid it into place --

and I framed out around it.  So far, so good.








We tested out our color.  "Hail a Cab" by Valspar.  When I looked at the swatch, it had a nice buttery feel to it.  When I painted the test swatch onto the wall, I really, really liked it.




I was going to swipe the swatch from the website to put here - and this was my first moment of alarm.  The color looked like this:

Yikes!! that looks electric.  If you know me, you know I pretty much hate yellow - except nice, buttery yellows.  This is like fire alarm yellow.

But the swatch looked nice, right?

So I primed the walls.....


and tonight we painted.  Holey smokes.  WAYYYYYYYY too yellow for me!

What happened to that nice, buttery yellow swatch?  Oh yea, that was over the yucky tan paint in the room....when I primed the walls white, I guess I let the "true colors" come shining through.


So I am making a trip to the store for a totally different yellow.  I can't take this color!


In the meantime, I'm busy finishing out the year with my classes, so I won't get it painted until the weekend - I also have crown molding and baseboard to install and paint, but that's a quick job.  We should be able to hang the doors and window shades by the end of the weekend.  In the meantime, I've also painted the old iron bed, cut out fabric for a fun quilt, and I've got a table to paint for this room.  We want to make it welcoming for our summer visitors - not scare them awake with a blast of yellow!