Which got me searching for other great new uses for old shovels.
sources: inspired by this | sadie season goods | my creative days | owner builder
Now the question remains: where does one find all these cheap old shovels to re purpose?
New Uses for Old Shovels
While having lunch this week, I spotted this wall installation and fell in love. I don't have a farmhouse or a reclaimed wood wall so I thought I'd share it instead in case anyone can use it in their home. (Or I just might put it in my own backyard)
Which got me searching for other great new uses for old shovels.
sources: inspired by this | sadie season goods | my creative days | owner builder
Now the question remains: where does one find all these cheap old shovels to re purpose?
Which got me searching for other great new uses for old shovels.
sources: inspired by this | sadie season goods | my creative days | owner builder
Now the question remains: where does one find all these cheap old shovels to re purpose?
Sprung!
Spring is finally springing in NYC and I've suddenly had this realization (Duh!) that this will be the last season we have with Aggie as an only. I know I'll be truly useless come end of summer but I want to squeeze in as much as possible in the next few months.
Spring is such a great time to live in New York but as a local, it's sometimes easy to forget that. I'm going to try (this is a big ask for someone as cynical as me!) to see my city with new eyes and make the most of it.
Activities like picking berries, going to Coney Island, getting showered by pink petals at the Botanical Gardens and building sand castles at the shore. What am I forgetting?
Spring is such a great time to live in New York but as a local, it's sometimes easy to forget that. I'm going to try (this is a big ask for someone as cynical as me!) to see my city with new eyes and make the most of it.
DIY Wooden Doormat: Please Remove Your Shoes
Right along with the spring flowers, I'm shaking off the cold and jumping into some spring spruce up projects. The first is a virtual DIY project party with some of my favorite bloggers. Each of us was asked by The Home Depot to put our own spin on this DIY Wooden Doormat.
I don't know about you but I find it much easier to keep the house clean when we leave our shoes at the door so that's a general rule in our house. This little enhancement to that project makes it easy to share the message without keeping watch at the door. And on the occasions we bend the rules, its easy enough to flip the mat over to the plain wood side.
Starting with 2x2 lumber, I cut, stained and drilled so that the pieces could be strung with sisal rope. I modified the original instructions to simple tie the rope once rather than knot it between each piece of wood. This made seeing the design easier as well as made the entire mat small enough for me to use indoors. As you can see you can add or subtract wood pieces easily enough to customize it to a size that works for you.
Once the stain was dry, I strung the wood pieces with the rope and taped down my printed design. Using lots of pressure and a ballpoint pen, I traced the design so the impression would be left on the underlying wood. Then I peeled back the design and went over those impressions in the wood with a white ink pen. Finally using that light white outline, I went back in with a white sharpie marker and finished the design. The white marker is permanent and will only add to the charm as it wears on the wood.
Now off to see what some of the other bloggers have dreamed up for this project.
Creatively Living
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the Home Depot but all opinions expressed are my own.
Potting Bench / Outdoor Bar : Buy or Build?
The idea of a potting bench (okay, really an outdoor bar) has totally haunted me ever since we built one during last year's Lowe's Backyard Makeover
What do you think?
Build....
via BHG / the picket fence
or buy...
via amazon / amazon
I'd love to get some opinions!
Monday Musings...
Thank you so much for your kind words on our little announcement. You've definitely made me feel a bit better about that one to two transition. Feel free to drop encouraging words about how your second was super easy and slept through the night from day one anytime the mood strikes. Now that the secret is out, I feel like time is speeding up. Just 5 months left of my relative normalcy - so I feel like I have to pack it all in. Yet, napping sounds good too!
Speaking of packing it in, we are planning a couple of trips - one to London and one to Disney world - both should be relatively laid back since we've done them before but I'd love suggestions for preschool set. As you can probably guess, the Disney trip is all about Aggie's last hooray. You know how there is a name for bachelor parties and baby moons? What's the name for the trip you take before you are usurped by a helpless newborn as queen bee? I don't know but it certainly should have a name!
You would think we would have mastered London by now but each time you visit with a child, its a very different experience. We visited when she was just a baby (see: London with a Baby) but it's a whole new ball game now! So lay it on me - what should we do and see?
Moving on, my brother is tackling the messy bits of the country cottage renovation so its will be time for some design soon. Hooray! He has already installed some lighting, taken down a few walls and made lots of necessary repairs. Paint is coming next and it's all getting a lot of white which I think is going to make such a beautiful canvas in here. Lots more to come.
Last but not least, I'm dipping my toe back into a DIY with a little blogger collaboration and Home Depot. We will all be putting our own spin on a super easy DIY wooden doormat and sharing our versions next Monday. I hope you'll drop by to check out my version along with lots of other inspiration from That's My Letter, Fix This Build That, House of Wood and more! Want to build your own? The Home Depot hosts free workshops where they will teach you exactly how to do it yourself. Reserve your spot at your local Home Depot to take part.
Speaking of packing it in, we are planning a couple of trips - one to London and one to Disney world - both should be relatively laid back since we've done them before but I'd love suggestions for preschool set. As you can probably guess, the Disney trip is all about Aggie's last hooray. You know how there is a name for bachelor parties and baby moons? What's the name for the trip you take before you are usurped by a helpless newborn as queen bee? I don't know but it certainly should have a name!
You would think we would have mastered London by now but each time you visit with a child, its a very different experience. We visited when she was just a baby (see: London with a Baby) but it's a whole new ball game now! So lay it on me - what should we do and see?
Moving on, my brother is tackling the messy bits of the country cottage renovation so its will be time for some design soon. Hooray! He has already installed some lighting, taken down a few walls and made lots of necessary repairs. Paint is coming next and it's all getting a lot of white which I think is going to make such a beautiful canvas in here. Lots more to come.
Last but not least, I'm dipping my toe back into a DIY with a little blogger collaboration and Home Depot. We will all be putting our own spin on a super easy DIY wooden doormat and sharing our versions next Monday. I hope you'll drop by to check out my version along with lots of other inspiration from That's My Letter, Fix This Build That, House of Wood and more! Want to build your own? The Home Depot hosts free workshops where they will teach you exactly how to do it yourself. Reserve your spot at your local Home Depot to take part.
Big Little News!
Things have been a little quiet lately but I've been working on a top secret DIY that I can finally share...
We are expecting baby #2 in August!
This pregnancy has been quite a bit different than my first. All those early 2016 plans got scratched when I could barely raise myself from the couch most weekends. Hello all day sickness! Hello exhaustion! Oh, how I never missed you. I hope you'll bear with me while I anxiously await that burst of energy stage. I'm firmly in second trimester now and it hasn't shown up. (tapping foot impatiently)
While this baby was planned and very much wanted, I have to admit I'm completely terrified about how our lives will change as a family of four. Pretty much as soon as I saw the positive test, I had a small panic attack about all those sleepless nights, endless feedings and the general stress of being responsible for a tiny helpless baby. Logically I know it will be okay but we are definitely upsetting our easy little apple cart now. Obviously we know a lot more this time than we did with Agatha so that should be some consolation, right? Right??? I'm keeping my fingers crossed the pregnancy gets easier from here on out and I can get back to my fun projects in full force soon. Either way, I know this time is fleeting and I'm trying to make the most of it.
So there it is: our big little news. I hope you don't mind a few baby related posts popping up here and there. Like last time, I promise to keep the indelicate bits to myself.
We are expecting baby #2 in August!
This pregnancy has been quite a bit different than my first. All those early 2016 plans got scratched when I could barely raise myself from the couch most weekends. Hello all day sickness! Hello exhaustion! Oh, how I never missed you. I hope you'll bear with me while I anxiously await that burst of energy stage. I'm firmly in second trimester now and it hasn't shown up. (tapping foot impatiently)
While this baby was planned and very much wanted, I have to admit I'm completely terrified about how our lives will change as a family of four. Pretty much as soon as I saw the positive test, I had a small panic attack about all those sleepless nights, endless feedings and the general stress of being responsible for a tiny helpless baby. Logically I know it will be okay but we are definitely upsetting our easy little apple cart now. Obviously we know a lot more this time than we did with Agatha so that should be some consolation, right? Right??? I'm keeping my fingers crossed the pregnancy gets easier from here on out and I can get back to my fun projects in full force soon. Either way, I know this time is fleeting and I'm trying to make the most of it.
So there it is: our big little news. I hope you don't mind a few baby related posts popping up here and there. Like last time, I promise to keep the indelicate bits to myself.
Country Cottage Backyard Inspiration
I'm back from a weekend in the Catskills where we talked endlessly about renovation, furniture layout and colors for the country cottage. Essentially a dream weekend for me. My brother and sister in law are tackling a lot of the critical indoor stuff now like plumbing and roofing (aka nothing you really want to hear about) but the weather is turning warmer and they have a ton of outdoor space so we are looking for outdoor inspiration.
This round brick patio with pergola and firepit totally stopped me dead. I've never laid a patio before so perhaps this is just a bit too ambitious for a DIY but I'm smitten. Any master patio people out there? How hard would this be?
image via owner builder network + decomanitas
Speaking of firepits, isn't this DIY BBQ caddy adorable? The DIY tutorial is not in english but the photos make it easy to follow along.
A wood burning firepit is a definitely must have for them which I know is a fairly straight forward. The curved pergola might be out of our depths but the brick laying is a totally new thing for me. Maybe doing a square instead of a circle would make more sense for a first timer? Give it to me straight people.
This round brick patio with pergola and firepit totally stopped me dead. I've never laid a patio before so perhaps this is just a bit too ambitious for a DIY but I'm smitten. Any master patio people out there? How hard would this be?
image via owner builder network + decomanitas
Speaking of firepits, isn't this DIY BBQ caddy adorable? The DIY tutorial is not in english but the photos make it easy to follow along.
A wood burning firepit is a definitely must have for them which I know is a fairly straight forward. The curved pergola might be out of our depths but the brick laying is a totally new thing for me. Maybe doing a square instead of a circle would make more sense for a first timer? Give it to me straight people.
Gorgeous Black Wall Bathrooms to Inspire
It's no secret I have a love affair with black paint - my front doors are black, I just painted a ceiling black and I pretty much use some kind of black accent in every room in the house. But I've never painted an entire room black. Not because I don't love it but just because I haven't gotten around to it. But these amazing black bathrooms prove its time to cross that off my list and go dark in the guest bath.
sources: design sponge / schoolhouse electric / houzz / etica studio / sotheby's / design sponge
Ok so technically even when I paint my guest bathroom black it won't be an entire room b/c of the tiles but still, I'm doing it. I just need to decide what kind of shelving, lighting and accessories I can add to finish the look. Would love suggestions if you have seen something great in your travels.
Now where did I leave my painting shoes?
sources: design sponge / schoolhouse electric / houzz / etica studio / sotheby's / design sponge
Ok so technically even when I paint my guest bathroom black it won't be an entire room b/c of the tiles but still, I'm doing it. I just need to decide what kind of shelving, lighting and accessories I can add to finish the look. Would love suggestions if you have seen something great in your travels.
Now where did I leave my painting shoes?
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