Tag Archives: Yellow door

Porch of Coffee

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Summer, dare we say, has arrived and with it the burning desire for projects!

We’ve been cooped up for so many months and any nice weekend in April and May has been chalk full of activities so for the long Memorial Day weekend we opted for zero plans with anyone but ourselves. It’s been glorious. As we looked around the inside and outside of the house we realized a perfect easy project would be to stain the front porch, which we didn’t get to last fall.

I don’t know how often people stain their porches or decks but when we went to The Home Depot it sure seemed like there were a lot more options than when we stained our deck at our 1475 West Pond Road house. Ben and I agreed we didn’t want to just put a coat over the cedar but deciding on the color wasn’t easy.

The gal recommended transparent but the color options weren’t what we were going for–and then I saw it–semi-transparent Coffee. I could picture the color working well with the gray of the house and bringing out the darker color in our front stone. Too, it just felt a little rustic which is something we like both inside and out.

Two easy coats and voila! The porch looks night and day different. There are three things I love about the stain color we selected:

1. The gray and white trim really pop.
2. The varying colors in the stone definitely stand out more.
3. Our porch looks significantly bigger.

And so, with that I can gladly say to neighbors and visitors, have a porch of coffee.

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Coaster Creation

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I found the cutest monogrammed coasters in 2011. Bought several of them to give away as Christmas gifts and two packages for us because I’ve always liked things with our last initial, I loved the black and white look of them and I could feel a craft project looming.

Those coasters lived with us at our West Pond house from Nov 2011-July 2012, moved with us to Twins Court from July 2012-Aug 2013 and found a drawer here at Addisen Court. I thought I found the perfect opp to use them after we moved in by using some corrugated cardboard when we purchased new dinnerware but after buying several picture frames to fit my idea, none worked and the little coasters went back to their drawer…until today.

Last night we were at TJ Maxx and there, like magic, was the perfect frame–and for only $14.99. Gray, little squares that I was sure would fit and a little distressed. Love.

I couldn’t wait to get home and put the coasters in the frame but wouldn’t you know they were literally less than a centimeter too big. No worries though, Crafty Cat Nat got handy today and used a little razor blade and voila, the coaster fit perfectly and after two years my Coaster Creation is complete.

Pinterest worthy? I mean, I think so.

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We Gather Together

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The new buzzword for what once was known as the Family Room has become the Gathering Room. Funny enough though, we seem to gather together in that room quite infrequently opting more for the Bonus Room upstairs. So many names for rooms…

We are quite pleased, however, with how it turned out. As friends have come over the comments are consistently that it looks different than our other furniture and it is. We knew we wanted a different look with the house. A little more refined but rustic and welcoming. Color has always been important to me but this go round we agreed we’d be okay not using much in order to keep the right flow.

I have a thing for furniture with nail heads at the moment and wanted a couch with them. Benji wasn’t thrilled with the idea of buying new items but upon seeing what I found and the price, reluctantly agreed to go for it (he hasn’t regretted it either). The coffee and end tables purchased in December worked perfectly atop the jute rug and those perfect pillows I found at Homegoods are a total dream, along with the chair.

We’ve made some additions from the pictures attached. For example we finally figured out what to put next to the chair and got our yellow mirror hung above it (found in an old barn). Fills the space and warms up that area.

While we may not spend a ton of time in the room at least it is a great place to gather together.

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Smitten Kitchen

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As noted in a previous post, Ben and I had a good idea of what we wanted in a kitchen. Big, bright and white. We also wanted the table area to be to the left or right of island vs. having everything in a row. These types of homes aren’t easy to find, especially with existing homes. The custom plan we had designed for us filled this desire but we opted to not move forward with that plan based on lack of lots.

Luckily, we always liked the first floor plans of Robert Thomas where this kitchen layout was available. Then the question became the island. Similar to the table we wanted it big with some added elements. We opted to not go with a white island and instead chose the gray on our accent wall (darker than other walls in the house). From the moment it was delivered to the house we were excited.

I’d say that between the big decorative island, the double ovens, not bumping into Ben at every turn, not having a black stovetop that shows everything, extra counter and drawer space, white cupboards, lots of light, our big table, the roll out trash/recycle and flip drawer under the sink, that we are completely smitten with our kitchen.

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We Got Benched

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Given the fact Benji and I have been hanging out since I was 16, I’ve spent a lot of time at the Bushaw family dinner table. I used to love eating at the Bushaws. Debbie was an incredible cook and I was always amazed by how she had all four food groups plus dessert and things were always homemade. They had a way of asking for more milk with their glasses that I always chuckled at and the conversations were fun and lively. Even washing dishes was okay to do over there.

I also literally loved their table. Ben’s uncle Ron (married to creative icon Mary Gaye) made it for Steve and Debbie years before I came along. It was quite long with two benches instead of chairs and created a true sense of family and unity. I think that many years ago I knew I wanted a table like that someday.

Fast forward to the building of the new house and Ben and I agreed we wanted a BAT (big arse table). We thought Steve could maybe help us and told him our vision for salvaged wood. He found a great piece that was 88 inches long–a perfect length. We were developing a plan for next steps when Ben and I found a table and benches at the Elko flea market for $75. A total steal of a deal. We snatched it up and came up with a new plan. Ben used the existing benches to lengthen the 60 inch table to 82 inches. We then split the original piece of salvaged wood for the two bench tops. After sanding the dark stained finish off the table and benches–I’ve gotten quite handy with an electric sander–it’s back to more of a rustic, natural state.

We still have to find the right color stain to complete our BAT and find captain’s chairs foe the head of the table but all in all, it’s going to work out perfectly. And when the boys get in trouble or we call them in for dinner we can easily say “you got benched.”

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

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On my way home from work tonight I got a txt from my dear friend Amy that she was at Homegoods in Edina. I had just passed the France Ave exit and was making good time so I detoured for a quick visit. She had what should be their next tagline, “Homegoods has stuff I didn’t even know I needed until I saw it.” Genius statement.

I was in one of two areas of the store I don’t frequent much–glassware and dinnerware. And wouldn’t you know I found the perfect dinner and salad plates and bowls. Then I found the cutest white owl platters and bowls so snatched up a few. I realize the owl trend may be coming to an end but ever since I got an owl necklace in 2009 and named her Bianca, I’ve had a soft spot for this sweet fowl.

Ben approved of the purchase and then I said, “guess who’s coming to dinner.” He didn’t get it. Do you?

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Mirror, Mirror

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One of our best purchases of all time dates back to the days of Marshall Field’s. I worked in the corporate office for many years and it was always fun to walk the fifth floor of the store–furniture! The decorated rooms, furniture and furnishings were always fun to look at and in most cases dream about.

During one particular clearance event, prices were literally slashed on many items and I completely scored on a side table and a giant, gorgeous and chic mirror. We ended up having it in our finished basement at our West Pond house but always felt it was so grand and beautiful that it needed a prominent place in our next home.

Since our gathering room is full of windows, we imagined it in our foyer hallway, upstairs hallway or bedroom with the real vision of the hallway.

We placed it on the wall above a fantastic sofa table we picked up as part of a trio of goodies (sofa, coffee and side tables) with a shiny silver bowl from Ikea. It definitely hit the mark. Well, actually it didn’t hit the mark bc Ben missed the stud in the wall by 1/4 inch resulting in a fairly large hole in our brand new house. Oops.

The sofa table and mirror looked great but lacked a complete look. As I sat and stared at it for a couple minutes–boom!–it hit me–the silver bowl needed lemons and the topiaries we’ve had for years would be perfect. But where were they? After hunting through virtually every Christmas tub, at 11:30 pm no less, we finally located them and…yep, perfect.

Super excited about how it’s coming together (I still need to buy lemons). Once done, I think this mirror will definitely be the fairest of them all.

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Hang Ten

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Ben and I are very blessed to have incredibly creative women in our lives when it comes to their homes.

Between my Mom’s great taste and Ben’s Mom’s unbelievable knack for creating the most amazing spaces and places–see photo of their farmhouse–we’d like to think some of their creativity rubbed off on us. We really loved having Debbie help us with ideas and suggestions on our two previous houses and miss her influence this time around but we hope she’s smiling with what we’re creating.

My aunt Caryl and Ben’s aunt Mary Gaye are also fantastic with decorating, and ideas and really know how to pull a room together. Mary Gaye so happens to be the most creative person I know and has made some of our most favorite things in our houses since we were married.

I’m always amazed by what she comes up with and how she knows just the most perfect thing to make.

So, what a fun treat and surprise it was to get ten personalized hangers with our colors and a monogrammed “B” from Gaye Gaye when Ben’s Dad came up on Sunday.

Such an extra special and unique touch as we make out house our home and now I can’t wait for guests to come over sap I can say, “let’s hang your coat.”

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Life’s a “B”

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The foyer. Never an easy spot to get right but sets the tone of the insides of ones space. Our foyer isn’t quite there yet but I did find a little inspiration tonight.

In June I spotted a gray bench at, where else but Home Goods. It was modern with a rustic base plus it had nickel nail heads, which I’m loving right now. I envisioned it in the entry or our master bedroom but given the bed we ordered, the foyer is the spot.

We placed it against the wall when you walk in and opted to put one of our big black clocks (from where else but HG) above it. Truthfully, I think we hung it a tad high but tonight I realized my fav pillows, meant for the office, would be perfect, add the color pop needed to compliment the door and add a little height. It worked and l have to say both look über cool when you’re standing at the front door looking in.

Next up was figuring out the adjacent wall. We’ve got a little collection of the letter “B” growing and one night while at HG we found a great picture of a “B.” We scooped that up in a hurry and found the perfect spot also in the foyer.

So far so good but the next spot needing help was the wall to the left of the door. I’ve tried several pieces there but none left me enamored. Then tonight when Logan was doing his neb and vest in the Bonus Room, it came to me…the ladder with pics of the boys.

Moved it downstairs to its spot and after lots of time tinkering to find the right accent items (I ended up stealing more of my office-allocated items), I was satisfied. The ladder thing creates a good compliment to the bench and pillows and the letter “B” on the other wall.

Add in Bianca the owl–yep, from HG in May–and I’d say life, or in this case the foyer, is a real “B.”

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