We mentioned after we painted the reading room, that we wanted to revisit it soon. Our books are still boxed up in the garage and we are anxious to give them a more permanent home. Now that our costume party is over and the bathroom is done-zo, we're ready to build some shelving in here. […]
Perhaps one of the least heralded parts of the Thanksgiving spread is the cranberry sauce. There it sits on a plate, in the middle of the table, oftentimes still retaining the shape of the can it was extracted from. Dinner ends, and it's still there. Maybe someone cut a piece out of the corner, but […]
I'm gonna try to make this post as quick to read as it is to actually make the gravy recipe below. If you're not a fan of Dijon, you can take it out, but I really encourage you to keep it in. It's not an "in your face" mustard flavor, and Dijon goes so well […]
Louisiana is the first place I had country-style mashed potatoes. Boiled in salt water with whole cloves of garlic. Skins on, mashed by hand with a potato masher, adding butter, sour cream, mayonnaise (just a touch), and a hefty dose of seasonings along the way. They were rustic, had a range of texture, and were […]
Every night, when we're tucking Greta into bed, she usually asks what we are going to do fun the next day. (The girl keeps me on my toes!) A couple nights ago, I wasn't sure. "Um, what do you want to do?" And she said, "I want to go to the store and get paint […]
Full disclosure- I make my green bean casserole with asparagus, not green beans. BUT, this recipe would still be just as awesome with fresh green beans substituted for the asparagus. I was never a big fan of green bean casserole as a child. I think it's probably because it's usually made with canned green beans […]
This post is sponsored by Wagner. Yesterday, we showed you the finished hall half bath. A lot of work went into the quick makeover and the results left us with a fresh looking and feeling space. The only things we didn't get to were swapping out the faucet (we'll find the perfect one soon) […]
November has arrived, and with it my constantly salivating mouth. Wonderful imagery, I know. But it's no secret I'm a total indulger, and this time of year is what people like me live for (don't worry, I'm still being careful). And what better way to kick off this wonderful month than by sharing the recipes […]
We're calling this bathroom done! ... For now. We still need to replace the faucet and eventually the tile floors, but those things will come. You can see lots of befores in this post, but here's a before and after side by side (and lots of photos following with sources at the end): The lines […]
It's interesting moving into a new house and trying to make your not-so-old (actually pretty new!) furniture work. Our living room has 99 problems and the coffee table was definitely one. One that we felt like we could address before adding a fireplace and window--which we still hope to do within the year. The coffee […]
I am just over 16 weeks pregnant and I've recently told Chris, "I feel like I just woke up from a coma." Pregnancy isn't easy for me. With Greta, I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum when I was 12 weeks along and it lasted until about 22-23 weeks. This time around, it hit right away at 5 […]
Halloween arrived at our house just in time for our party on Saturday. But before I jump into a few details about that, I wanted to show you an updated photo of our front door with the trim painted Onyx, to match the door (and the kick plate removed). We love it so much more […]
I feel like we have left you with a few loose ends when talking about the hall half bath. First, we left you with a photo of the paneling installed, but unfinished. And then Friday, we spilled the beans that while painting the paneling, we also repainted the walls. Anyway, without further ado, here's how […]
We put in a lot of painting hours yesterday. The good news is, it's done! (The painting part.) The bad news is, it was so late (11pm) that I didn't get to snap any photos for you, so we'll have all of those pictures for you on Monday. Painting the planks took a lot longer […]
Before I even start trying to break down this process for you from observing and interviewing Chris, I have to note--he did this one all by himself. We planned on adding planked walls to the lower half of this hall bath, but when? When I stopped throwing up all day. I wasn't sure. Last week, […]
On our pre-party to-do list was the task of painting our front door. Ideally, we could replace the entire thing. It's terribly dented and it's not necessarily our favorite design. We have actually been pricing out a dutch door. I can't stop dreaming about the functionality of a dutch door--where I can open the top and […]
I can't explain to you how excited I am for this giveaway. As I mentioned in my post about Kitchen stuff I don't want to be without, Wüsthof is my favorite knife manufacturer. The balance of the blades, the shape of the handle, and the quality of the steel--Wüsthof has it mastered. And I refer to […]
Last week I posted a pic on Instagram of some drunken noodles I made for dinner. This prompted a request from a friend of mine for a good recipe for Pad Thai. And boy howdy, was I happy to oblige. Here’s the deal. There's essentially a three-way tie for my favorite type of food between […]
I nearly forgot how much painting happens when you first move into a house. So much painting! We mentioned revamping our half bath before our upcoming costume party and considering that is less than two weeks away, we figured it is time to dive in. A new light fixture, mirror and some accessories are on […]
In case you haven't been following my experiment on Instagram, this was my "final" weigh-in this morning: sorry for the blurriness Not quite 207, but close enough to where I'm not gonna get down on myself. Yesterday I ate turkey, rolls, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes and gravy. It was a wonderful […]
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Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations