two | two | one

With all of the recent renovations we did on the house we had to push the kitchen back a little bit. On the list of what is functional and not functional - it made the functional list... unfortunately.  Let's revisit all of the large projects we previously did on the house: new roof [ so happy we decided to do this because now we don't have to worry about this for about 15-20 years]. New windows [the others were just not efficient at all and I think it would have taken a lot of time and money to get them back up and running so I did my best to keep our new diamond pattern windows to compliment the time of our Victorian. Although I feel I let Nicole Curtis the Rehab Addict down - I am happy with how our criss cross pattern windows turned out:) Two gutted 3 piece bathrooms [ I would not step in either one of them before the reno - yuck!]. A few new appliances in the kitchen - stainless steel refrigerator, dish washer and sink [we really needed all new applian...

I think my stairs may be punishing me for not posting this sooner..  Last week husbie and I used vacation time to work on projects on the house to get ready for holiday parties and a photoshoot that will take place here in the beginning of January. We had soooo much on our list of projects it was overwhelming where to start. Trim needed to be painted, grout needed to be scrubbed, the downstairs bath needed to be finished etc.  We started with the stairs: This is the narrow steep death trap that we had to work with. This is not my final plan for the stairs so I did not spend too much time sanding and prepping the risers. I just wanted them to look like they didn't belong in a haunted house. Just a fresh coat of paint was what it needed this time around. Phase II will be a much more intense project.  And after : With the time we had, we decided to just paint the risers. Probably sometime over the summer we will...

As the holidays approach we are all overwhelmed with so much on our plates. I'm not just talking about turkey and ham, I'm talking party schedules, work holiday parties, baking cookies and of course buying and wrapping gifts. Since living in apartments my storage situation has gone from massive (Atlanta) to null (Chicago). Therefore my wrapping paper "station" went to the back burner - whomp.  Before this week my wrapping paper conglomerate looked like this:  Previously, the under-the-bed storage container worked for us. Now that we are in our forever home, it seems too.. "on the run" to me. We needed a more permanent home for all of my gift wrap that I so adore.     I also noticed this was easy for me to shove random things into such as: contact patterned shelf liner, posters, ribbon remnants and yes, a mini Christmas tree - I mean where else would you put it?  The new home for our wrapping paper STATION is now in our b...

I have been getting many requests about my holiday decor - it's so nice to hear people asking when I will be posting next before I have the chance to post! I am really excited about this one guys - I hope I live up to your Christmas expectations:)  This is actually the first year that I am in love with my holiday decor. Although every year I get excited about the tree going up and all the ornaments and "pokes" and ribbon I bought to wrap around the branches - it sucks. Every. Single. Year. So this year I only got excited on the inside.  I was having a Girl's Night after I planned on putting up the tree and I was getting really nervous about my whimpy white tree - everyone usually has high expectations of my decor, I don't know why though... We got this tree from Walmart about 4 years ago for $35 dollars just so we could have a tree - I always dreamed of having a white tree as a kid. Little did we know it was see through but not in a cute Charlie Brown kin...

Boy, it has been a busy last few weeks! I was working double time at work, Thanksgiving snuck up on me and we had a few gathering here at home base! We all know how much I love to entertain:)  Since I like to do things in chronological order - let's start with Thanksgiving!  We hosted the big dinner here for the first time and we basically had no idea what we were getting ourselves into..  Luckily my mother-in-law reminded me that I may not have a lot of things we may need for Thursday  - so we went out on a mission to find a platter and gravy boat and cutting board and she came ready with the bird and ham, etc. I think I ended up buying 2 cans of olives? ..and toilet paper..  ya - I hosted Thanksgiving..  Overall for our first Holiday hosting, family made it very easy because everyone pitched in by bringing a dish or helping out in the kitchen:)  Here is my table set up before grub: I am a lover of all things : serving dishes. ...