Blooming This Week: Autumn Joy Sedum, Ironweed & Crazy Spiders

September 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

Urn filled with perennials: Feather Grass, October Daphne Sedum and Hen and Chicks

It feels like Fall today! We had some major storms come through yesterday and suddenly the air is crisp and the sky is blue. All the rain means that he garden is looking leggy, floppy and overgrown. Fortunately there are a few plants still in bloom.

Autumn Joy Sedum mixed with pulmonaria ‘majeste’ , toad lilies (still to bloom), and hosta

My Autumn Joy Sedum (stonecrop) and another unknown pink variety are in their second week of full blooms. I have to say that I never use to like the stonecrops, I just didn’t find them very exciting. But now, I use them as a “fill” plant in full sun to part shade (they tend to be more floppy in shady spots but still bloom quite well). They are quite bullet proof and easy to propagate.

Stonecrop (sedum) of unknown variety

To propagate all you need to do is pinch off a small section (about 4-6″) and stick it in the ground (or in water first if you like). With damp soil they take quite well. At the same time they don’t self seed all over the yard like some other perennials I know. Speaking of which, my Ironweed in all of its legginess is in full bloom. It has  not been well behaved lately and I have had to pull out quite a few volunteer plants (not the end of the world or anything but still annoying).

Ironweed Flowers

I planted the Ironweed to help provide privacy between us and a certain neighbor (which it does quite well). It grows to at least 8′ here.

Ironweed growing in between our fence and our neighbors

It has even self seeded in between our fences, which is pretty nice because they act as supports, so they don’t tumble over.

Black & Yellow Garden Spider

We have also had TONS of spiders this year.  This one is a HUGE black and yellow garden spider, which fortunately is totally harmless. I really like its zig-zag web pattern. He did give me a little scare and required some googling to confirm that he was harmless. Phew!

Now to see if I can actually carve out some time to weed!

P.S. The pawpaws are browning on my counter. I am also working on perfecting my pawpaw ice cream recipe and hope to share soon. I know there are a couple of people that I owe seeds. These will be coming soon! Let me know if you are interested, I’ve got a pretty big pile going.

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In -Blooming This Week, GARDENING & PLANTS
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Living Room Update & A Little Sense of Defeat

September 17, 2012 — 5 Comments

Living Room with Built In Bookcases (by us) and Original 1888 Mantel.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. The weather was splendid here this weekend! Sunny and not too hot or cold. This is the best week of weather we have had in MONTHS and it is long overdue. We have been sleeping with the windows open and the fresh air feels so nice in the morning when I wake up.

We spent most of Saturday outside between soccer and playdates and I spent most of Sunday cleaning and doing some rearranging in the Living Room, which brings me to today’s title. I pride myself on meeting deadlines and going above and beyond what is required. I don’t usually miss deadlines (although I do tend to run 10 minutes late a lot of the time now that I have kids). This week I had to let a deadline go which made me sad. Jen (and her husband) from Rambling Renovators are working on a new book called Blogger Style and they were taking submissions. It was a great opportunity to showcase our house and I blew it! I mentioned it a while back, hoping that I would be motivated enough to get the house picture ready. But alas life took over, as it tends to do, and the house wasn’t up to pare. I considered throwing some pictures together anyway but I was too embarrassed to submit them. Ultimately my family matters way more than this blog or our house, but it really hard to admit defeat. I am still trying to work on making my way through the house and make it picture worthy, but I have a feeling I will be at this for a while even though I would like to add a house tour to the website sometime soon.

Our Living Room.

So here is my Living Room as it stands today. I rearranged the books and objects by color (I know already totally overdone).  This proved somewhat challenging because we had arranged the book by height previously, so I had to arrange it by color several times across the shelves. I decided in general to follow suite with all of our miniature building, furniture and miscellaneous tchotchkes and arrange them in them the same way to correspond to the books. I think it does add some needed order to the bookcases and helps make them feel at least a little bit more up to date.

Bookshelves arranged by color.

I also wanted to keep our favorite art and architecture books together and within easy access so they are separated with a couple of my favorite items.

Our favorite art books on the lower shelf and our NYC souvenirs on the upper shelf.

We also have the kids toys in the lower right corner of the shelves including their mini play kitchen, which gets daily use. The one big advantage of using lots of color is that the kids stuff, generally fits right in. Of course I don’t think Maisie’s plastic pink castle will ever look quite right but the wooden kitchen has been happily living here for years. The pirates ships are also currently sailing on the hearth.

Kids area on the built in shelves.

The mantle has also stayed relatively the same. It houses our collection of nice snow globes and a few of our favorite characters.

The mantle complete with snowglobes and Helper and Little Helper

And last is our old sofa filled with pillows. Certainly not the most glamorous thing, but very comfy to melt into at the end of the day. And and you can tell, it is hard for me to say no to a nice patterned pillow.

Our old sofa with lots of colorful patterned pillows (from Thomas Paul, Ikea & Pottery Barn).

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In -Living Room, FAMILY, OUR HOME
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Patch NYC for Target: New Woodpecker Lamp & Gold Woodgrain Pillow

September 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

Woodpecker Lamp, $49.99 & Gold Woodgrain Pillow, $24.99 paired with my vintage wingback chair in a Paul Smith Maraham Fabric

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Target’s latest design collaborations. They became available on Sunday, so I was all set to run over to Target, since I had my list ready to go! First, though while I was still in my pjs, I looked online. And fortunately almost everything was still in stock (at least a 9 am). So I decided to place my order, figuring if I didn’t like something in person I could always return it. I also ordered a few items for Christmas presents (yeah!). Well almost everything arrived yesterday! In the meantime, I was in Target earlier this week doing some grocery shopping and I took a peak. They still had some items, but it was definitely already picked over and the lamps were missing their shades.  : ( Fortunately it looks like a lot of the items including the pillow and lamps are still available online.

The quality on the lamps seems pretty good. The only weird thing is that it comes with a fluorescent bulb. I HATE fluorescent bulbs. I guess it does because it is only rated for a 13 watt bulb! Eeeek, that is a really low wattage. I will be picking up an LED bulb when I get a chance.

Woodpecker Lamp with Woodgrain Pillow

The lamp itself is not particularly tall, so if you are putting it on a side table you will probably need to place it on some books or something, so that you are not looking at the bulb. For now I have it on a side table in the Living Room. This is too precarious to leave with 2 rambunctious kids, so I’m not sure where it will decide to live permanently. Maybe in my imaginary cottage in the woods?

I am liking the fall feeling of these items. I also think that the pillow could work really well with some Christmas and winter items.

There are a few other things that I picked up that I will show you sometime soon.

Did anyone else pick up anything from Patch NYC or the Curiosity Shoppe?

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. We have been having some amazing weather here and I am looking forward to spending some time outside.

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In -Design, -Lighting, -Living Room, -Shopping, INTERIOR PRODUCTS, FURNITURE & FABRICS, OUR HOME
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Handsome New Rug for the Playroom

September 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

New Rug with some of Accessories for the Playroom

I have been on the lookout for some new area rugs. I still haven’t found the perfect rug for our Master Bedroom (anyone know of a great 9×12 rug under $1000?), but I was able to cross one off of the list. I ordered a really cute rug for the kids playroom. Right now the playroom has a small colorful rug from Ikea, which looks too small and it is quite thin so it tends to slide around even with a pad underneath. So when I saw that Rugs USA was have a 75% Labor Day Sale on some of their rugs, I went to work sifting through what was still available. Of course quite a few of the rugs that I liked were sold out (boo!) but I managed to find one to my liking in the right size.Yeah!

Navy Trellis Rug

It is the Tuscan Terali Moroccan Trellis Navy Rug. I had set my budget at $100 a while back and quickly realized that was a TALL order for a 5×7 rug. Fortunately with the sale I got it for $112.25 with free shipping! I would add that I always compare prices on rugs. On a normal day Overstock has a lot of the same rugs and their everyday price is less, but RugsUSA runs lots of sales, so it is worth waiting for one. For instance right now they are having a 35% off sale.

The color is “navy” but it definitely a little lighter and brighter than a typical navy. I actually prefer the actual color, but if you want a true dark navy this isn’t it. It does also come in a charcoal that I’m bet is nice too. I haven’t fully unrolled it yet (I still need to finish assembling some shelving) but the part that I unrolled feels nice and soft and the blue is a loop style.

Wall Decals from NotNeutral with Hanging Balloon from Ikea

The playroom is the old nursery and the walls are a light and happy green. I still like the color and the window valances that I made when it was Maisie’s room. But with the Orla Kiely  flower valances, I wanted something that would ground the space and make it feel a little more masculine, since Maisie and Sam are sharing it. I think this rug will help along with some accessories.

A Few “New” Accessories

I have been putting together some old and new stuff for the space to make it feel less baby and more kid. I had these great number boxes from West Elm (no longer available) and I bought this adorable bright yellow rhino at Home Goods. I also have some new artwork to add.

I was hoping to have this space done by now. Unfortunately it is still a little ways away from being finished, but I hope to make some progress on it this weekend.

Does anyone else have a good inexpensive rug source?

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In -Bedroom, -Playroom, -Shopping, INTERIOR PRODUCTS, FURNITURE & FABRICS, OUR HOME
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The Last Vestiges of the Previous Owner (aka Red Carpet Removal)

September 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

First Peak at the old Heart Pine Floor

We are still adjusting to our new schedule here. Last night Sam had his first night of homework, which I have to say so far is as difficult for us as it is for him. After a long day, we usually want to hang out and have some fun. Instead last night after dinner Mr. S. spent 45 minutes with Sam working with him on his homework instead. By the time they were done, it was time to get ready for bed. Bummer! While they were working on that I had to keep Maisie away, because of course she wanted to “help” too. Phew! To all those parents who told me that it gets harder, you aren’t kidding. At least the kids were exhausted by bedtime and were asleep in 2 minutes flat.

Old Red Carpet (I have no idea where that giant stain came from, it was covered up and not nearly as visible in person)

So after that digression, I have some photos from our last minute weekend project. We removed the red carpet from our Living Room! This was installed by the previous owner (i.e. at least 12 years old). We have been covering up the majority of it for the last 11 years with a large Ikea wool rug, but the edges were exposed.

Living Room Before Carpet Removal (you can see the carpet around the edge of the room)

The carpet was actually in the front hall when we moved in as well. One of our very first projects when we moved in was taking that out.

Mr. S. back in 200 removing the padding from the Front Hall. Don’t you love the light fixtures and wallpaper!

Lately one of our beloved (but crazy) cats has decided that the corner of the carpet make a wonderful litterbox (sorry for that visual). Well, it reached the point of no return and we decided to keep Spot and get rid of the carpet.

Spot sitting in the Candy Land box (aka the Culprit)

We knew that there was at least one tin patch in the bay window area (which we could see below) but otherwise were not sure what we would find. The floor in our house is also the structure, so it adds an extra element of adventure (and gaps where you can see below). We started by moving the small stuff out and clearing half of the room. We started on the fireplace side and broke it into 3 sections. We have found that it is definitely easiest to cut the carpet into manageable sections and roll it up and tape it for disposal. First we rolled up the carpet. Then we removed the padding carefully, making sure to removal all of the staples as we went. Removing staples is a pain and tedious.

First Section of Wood Floor

Fortunately the carpet came out pretty easily and after a few hours of removing staples and nail strips it was done. We vacuumed as we went with our HEPA vacuum and gave the floor a quick wipe down and tried to remove any residue from the padding. We have 2 tin patches (fortunately currently covered by the sofa).

Sunlight damage on the back of our sofa that sits in our bay window. Notice the two rectangles that line up with our 2 front windows (which actually have the shades drawn for the majority of the time)

On a side note this is what direct sunlight does to fabric. The back of our old sofa is now SUPER bleached thanks to the sun. We even have translucent shades that are drawn most of the time. I am thinking that when we finally get a new sofa we will have to get a nice throw to keep at the top to prevent this.

Wood Floor near entry (there is some stubborn residue from the old padding here)

Now that the old floor is visible, it definitely needs some patching (fortunately we have a supply in the garage), which is tedious and slow. It will also need a new finish (which I haven’t researched yet). So I happy that the room is smelling fresh and not so happy with how it is looking at the moment.

The Living Room Back in Use with Spot making herself at home (the floor was being used as a racetrack)

Fortunately the kids don’t seem to care that the floor is suddenly harder (I need to order a rug pad) and immediately went back to playing on the floor. Here it is a couple of hours later with Spot showing her approval (please excuse her devil eyes).

Has anyone else been busy with last minute projects?

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Burlap Sack Reunited Part 2

September 7, 2012 — 2 Comments

Tunnell Fertilizer Sack

Today I thought I would share the end to a happy story. A while back we found 3 vintage burlap sacks stuffed in the top of the foundation when we were gutting and insulating the basement.  I wrote about them and plans to frame them (still on the to do list). Then a couple of months later I received an email from the great grandson of the founder of the company who made the fertilizer sack. He asked if I was willing to part with the vintage Tunnell burlap fertilizer sack. I gladly agreed, happy to have it return home. He had been searching for one for a long time and was excited to get it framed. Well this week I received an update! They framed both sides of the sack and had the red diamond on the back repainted.

Tunnell 5-8-7 Fertilizer Sack

Back of the Tunnell Fertilizer Sack (with the diamond repainted)

Pretty exciting! It actually cleaned up quite well. Now if I could just get around to framing the 2 remaining sacks. They only have printing on 1 side and the cabbage sack is ripped, so I’m not sure how I am going to deal with that. I think it may require gluing it carefully to a cardboard or foamcore substrate.

Cabbage Burlap Sack

Potato Burlap Sack

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I am looking forward to some time with the family.

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In -Basement, DIY, OUR HOME
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My Desk Area: Almost Done!

September 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

Our Desk Alcove (with Spike)

So this is where I work (most of the time). It is funny that it has taken me this long to show it you. I guess I spend too much time oogling other peoples offices and somehow felt that ours was a little lacking. I actually quite like our little alcove. I have a nice view of my overgrown trees and plants and I really like having our desk downstairs. Both Mr. S. & I spend a fair amount of time here and it is nice to be with the rest of the family. Unfortunately it tends to get cluttered up with paperwork and toys. For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to purge a lot of the papers and reorganize all of the “stuff” while also adding in some of our favorite tchotchkes.

Desk Area made out of an Ikea Wood Counter

Our desk area is the only “addition” to our house. We moved a couple of walls at the back of the house when we switched our kitchen and dining room. Our back porch and refrigerator room became one space and we added this 3’x7′ bump out to fit a desk. The space sits directly opposite from the piano and abuts the back french doors. The desk is made of the Numerar Oak Counter top. It is in a size that is no longer available (3’x6′). We cut a little bit off of the width and used those pieces to fill the sides to make a custom fit. There is also a 2×4 structure supporting it with joist hangers (it is a pretty heavy counter). We also have some low office units from Ikea (which appear to no longer be available) sitting below the desk. I made the valance and cut the Ikea roller shades down similar to the adjacent Dining Room. I have also added 1 vintage saarinen office chair and am still on the lookout for another reasonably priced one to replace our red Ikea office chair.

Wall Shelves

As part of my goal of making our space more pulled together (but still personal) I switched out some of our boring storage boxes and mixed in some favorite items including a Ben Franklin bust (our favorite Philadelphian), a vase painted by Sam a couple of years ago, a Missoni box, a Robot print and a small race car. On the upper shelf I added a couple of the green storage boxes that we really need and a small trebuchet that I bought Mr. S.  I also added a couple of his vintage albums.

My current favorite grouping

I really like that there is a mix of practical items with fun whimsical things that bring a smile to my face.

Photos, Ceramic Squirrel & One of my husband’s favorite photos by Leif Skoogfors

I have also been working on adding some personal photos to the desk. I am still on the lookout for the perfect tray to layer in below them, but I like being able to see a couple of our annual holiday card photos. We also picked up this awesome squirrel  from Jonathan Adler on our mini NYC vacation last week.

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In -Dining Room, -Office, OUR HOME
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First Day of Kindergarten!

September 5, 2012 — 3 Comments

Sam and Maisie all dressed up for the first day of school. May they always love each other this much!

Life has been busy around here! Yesterday Maisie had her first full day in her new preschool class and today Sam has his first day of school today. He had his orientation yesterday which included meeting his teacher and getting a little tour. I am very proud and a little sad that my little guy isn’t so little anymore. I’m off to wave at the school bus. I hope everyone is enjoying the school season! I will be back with more regular posts tomorrow.

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Blooming This Week: WEEDS, Native Honeysuckle & Ironweed

September 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

Big Leaf Magnolia (Magnolia Ashei) with Amazing Red Seed Pod

I am overdue in updating you on the garden. It has been such a hot, wet and buggy summer, that we haven’t spent much time in the yard. The frequent rain has meant that the garden is a weedy mosquito infested mess! I need to pull out a bunch of bamboo, weed like crazy and cut back a lot of overgrown shrubs and trees. In the meantime, there hasn’t been very much blooming. All of my mid-summer blooms started and finished early, leaving my garden feeling a little sad. Fortunately there are a couple of brights spots.

I am in awe of my big leaf magnolia. It normally gets seed pods, but nothing like this year. The seeds are this amazing hot pinky red! I am not sure if it is the weather or maybe the age of the tree.

Native Honeysuckle

My native honeysuckle has gone on blooming forever (since April)! It is also currently overtaking our back steps (making it a bit difficult to get through with a big bag of groceries), but I have been reluctant to cut it since the hummingbirds have been here almost every day and the bees are so happy. I was worried when it started blooming so early that it would be finished early and not provide a good source of nectar for the hummingbirds. Fortunately I was wrong.

Swamp Sunflowers, Ironweed & Joe Pye Weed: Late Summer/Early Fall Tall Native Perennials

Also several of my large native perennials are in bloom including the wamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius), ironweed (Vernonia altissima) and joe pye weed (Eutrochium). These are all tall lanky plants. I haven’t done any staking but the ironweed and swamp sunflowers could definitely use it. They are each at least 7′ tall right now.

Paw Paw Fruit, almost ready for harvest!

The other exciting thing in the garden right now is the Paw Paw Tree. We are getting close to harvest! I actually pulled a soft one off the tree today. I don’t think it is quite ripe yet, but it is getting close. The fruits are actually weighing down the tree right now. I think all of the rain has really increased their size.

What is blooming in your yard right now?

 

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In -Blooming This Week, GARDENING & PLANTS
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Life Update

August 29, 2012 — Leave a comment

Sam and Maisie enjoying the firetruck at Sesame Place

I can’t believe the summer is almost over and my little man is going to be starting kindergarten. I have been trying to go through the kids clothes and do some long overdue general sorting and purging. It has been incredibly slow going, and I am only now finally starting to feel like I have made any progress. I’ve got 3 bags of outgrown kids clothes ready to go to new homes! I shredded 2 wine boxes full of paper this morning and am almost finished reorganizing our desk area. In the meantime we have been trying to have a little fun.

The Kids with Super Grover in Plant Form

We made a trip over to Sesame Place, to the kids delight last week. They had a great time and even rode the roller coaster (a first for both of them). Their favorite ride was the tea cups (even though it made mom a little dizzy).

Sam, Age 5

I am nervous and excited for the next couple of weeks as Sam gets use to riding the bus, making new friends and having to sit still for a couple of hours of learning. I know he will do great but it is still hard to let go. He has turned into quite the little man and I am very proud!

P.S. I will be back later today with some garden updates.

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