These are some of my favorite ways to display a home’s street address:
Notice a theme?! 1) modern numbers 2) plaque of some sort
I think an address plaque would look lovely on our fieldstone wall next the the entry. Maybe some bronze modern numbers mounted on a walnut wood plaque?
Here’s a close up of the stone and it’s beautiful color variation:
Growing veggies, herbs + fruit at home has always been on my list of things to do one day. Hubb’s is helping that dream come true by building a raised bed garden bed in our backyard! I’m SO excited!! These are the two photos we discussed as our basic construction options…
Today we bought the cedar wood planks! Hubb’s got half way done with cuts + assembly before it was too hot to continue working outside, so we’ll finish the assembly during the week in the ‘cool’ afternoons (daily highs in the mid 90s stillllll). I cannot wait to prep our garden’s soil and plan our seeding and planting schedules! All the goodies needed for fresh salsa is our first goal!
Both oak trees are gone. One from the front + one from the back. It’s shockingly different now, especially how much sun the yard gets. We took nearly all of the mulch and defined the planter beds in the backyard. Weeded first, then lad three inches of mulch in fancy s-shape curves around all three sides of the backyard. Here’s a tour:
You can see the difference between the dirt / stump grindings combo and the true tree mulch…
I’m still shocked over how different our yard looks + feels without the two oaks.
We had another tree service come and chop down the oak tree in our front yard. The whole thing is bittersweet… We love the beautiful mature trees but if a tree is unhealthy, it’s time for it to go. For a tree of this size, the process of removing it takes several days. Here 90% of the tree was removed and the stump was waiting to be ground.
The stump grinding machine is crazy! We requested the ground stump + dirt from the raised planter bed be left for our use. We’re planning to build a raised vegetable garden bed in the backyard and use this dirt as the fill (along with compost + potting soil).
We also requested they leave some mulch so we could define the plant beds in the backyard. Mulching prevents weeds and helps us determine exactly how much sod we really need. More backyard pics shortly! 
One month ago on a rainy Friday evening, a limb from an oak tree in our front yard fell causing two other branches to fall…. on our cars in our driveway.
Hubb’s truck was pinned by the three branches still hinged in place from the tree trunk. All we could do was cover the shattered windshield with a tarp…
… and call the insurance company.
The next day a licensed + insured tree trimming company came to rescue the truck.
It took them 75 mins to do their thing. It was crazy to watch!
With the limbs hoisted, the truck was moved.
The limbs came down.
And then they were done!
I won’t post any photos of the poor truck. It was visibly damaged on all but one exterior panel. The front window shield was shattered. And she sat for 24+ hrs overloaded with the weight of the tree limbs. The insurance company towed her away and we waited several days to hear back. The truck was totaled, they said. The impact severely damaged the frame and compromised its structural integrity. Hubb’s was super bummed, especially considering he made the last payment on the car loan on Tuesday of the same week!
Here’s the minimal damage to my little Civic:
“we come in Friday night, take off our shoes, and don’t put them on again until Sunday – it’s that kind of mood here”
// says the owner of one kickass 1960s renovated beach bungalow on Long Island featured June 2011 in dwell magazine.
Have you heard of Pinterest? I’m obsessed! It’s visual bookmarks on crack. I used to have OCD with my Delicious bookmarks, but Pinterest trumps all. I wish I knew about it when I was planning our wedding, it would have been alot better than saving hundreds of images to my desktop. I use it mostly for collecting house inspiration from design blogs. But its also great for recipes. And wish lists. And DIY ideas. And, well… anything!
Check out my profile: http://pinterest.com/daynaface/
Most of my pin boards are decor related, like these:
Created this mood board pre- house buying. Still applicable. Still in love with the Edison chandelier. We already own the Darjeeling reclaimed wood dining table (and love it!) as well as the art prints (see here). Orange + green. Wood + metal. Industrial + modern. Yum!
Rilesworth Bigsley. Rilez. Vizsie. RileyBear. Puppa-lups. Riley responds to all her silly nicknames, gives unlimited kisses + snuggles like a pro. She loves peanut butter, chewing bones + playing tug-o-war. Her Hungarian genes make her an awesome endurance runner, intense hunter + loyal family defender. Words are not enough to describe how much love our Vizsla brings to our lives!
On her 1st birthday:
And today our sweet Riley dog is two years old!
This afternoon I needed to water the plants… which (almost always) turns into Riley playing in the water. Just grab the hose + point the spray nozzle and Riley gets all excited! One blast of water and she’s intensely watching + waiting for the next blast! All she wants to do is eat the water. She’s such a goofball!
Nom nom nom.
Once the plants are watered and Riley’s practically soaked, we move to the pool for a swim!
A friend requested I post more photos of our ‘making house a home’ progress. So I wandered around and took a few shots of the areas that are photo-worthy. I’m going to make a habit of sharing little bits + pieces are they come together. I cannot explain how much I love playing + styling our home, it’s a creative + fun process for me!
Our fireplace + hearth in the family room. Accented by a moss-covered cardboard ‘G’ (DIY from our wedding) + hurricane candle holder (a lovely wedding gift) filled w acorns from the yard around a green pillar candle + a basket of hand-collected pinecones (housewarming gift from my mother-in-law) + a thrifted mid-century modern side chair.
Our living room. Accented w all thrifted mid-century furniture. We love all the windows + lush greenery outside and desperately need to replace the out-dated vertical blinds. They are functional but hideous!
This is my favorite corner of our kitchen. I found the old Sunset recipe books at a used book fair at work. Their colors, along with our favorite Mario Batali enamel coated cast iron baking dish, blend with the stone countertop.
You can tell alot about a house’s residents by the contents of their fridge, both inside + out.
This IKEA bookcase holds all things entertainment related in our family room, from games to DVDs to cookbooks to novels to old photos…
Watch this. Full screen. Twice.
“…the world will never lack for wonders, only wonder. be well as you light the rooms within yourself that need eliminating. stay curious as life will often attempt to crush your wondersings. and keep fresh the faces of those with whom you explore. life is always an adventure if you let it be. may your mind be mansion for all lovely thoughts to dwell…. ”
Via GrizzlyBearModern.
Just window shopping, unless I can convince Hubb’s these are worth the price:
2 Paul McCobb Wooden Mid-Century Modern Chairs for $250
The design of these chairs is very similar to several others I’ve been coveting for around our dining room table! Like these two:
Knoll Nakashima Straight-Backed Chair
Room & Board Thatcher Side Chair
Compared to the prices of DWR + R&B, these two vintage beauties are a steal!
