wallpaper download

i am finally getting around to posting about my front door....(FINALLY!)and despite all of the very enthusiastic votes for "stuart gold", i opted for "leap of faith."



i know, i know!
don't get mad at me! i absolutely love it when you all take time to give me your opinions, and i value them very much! i actually loved the way stuart gold looked, but i liked the depth or leap of faith just a bit more. it was a bit darker and moodier, and i am THRILLED with the way it looks.



the door was actually painted before we left on our trip, and i have been dying to show you, but i was waiting until we had the door hardware on. things kept coming up to delay the installation, (snow, we didn't have the right tools on hand, a piece of the door knob was missing in action, and (of course) football. i mean, who wants to install a door knob when there is an exciting football game to watch? answer? not my husband.)




after 6 months of having a temporary knob on the front door, i am so happy to finally have the "real" front door handle set installed.


thanks again for your patience! i can't wait to show y'all some highlights of our trip, and i have a fun and easy christmas project to share as well. my posting has been a little sparse, i know--the whole computer situation is now partially resolved with my new laptop, but of course then we ran into another issue when we got home--our internet was ssss----l---oooo--w. like, REALLY slow!  because of the location of our house, our options for internet are limited. we decided to go with a company that requires a dish on the side of the house, which is great, UNTIL you have a snow storm...or snow gets in the dish---and then the speed of the  connection slows tremendously. UGH. i wanted to write a post the day we got home (last thursday), but it was taking a full minute or two to open a page. i think things are finally back to normal! lets just hope that we don't get another snow storm!

we are (finally) having our front and back exterior doors painted! i am pretty excited. since this is such a small area, i really don't have a design plan for it---just an idea of what i want...what i like to call an action plan!


door color:
the color choice for the back door was an easy one for me--onyx by benjamin moore.
it is my favorite black--dark but soft, and with a neutral tone to it.
all of the other doors in the house are a slightly softer black called "blackjack", but i want the exterior doors to be just a little bit darker and shinier.



art:
i have a set of these vintage guache paintings that my dad bought in brazil in the 1960's. i think i will hang a grouping of them on the small wall adjacent to the door.





 it is 2' x 2'9", and fits perfectly in front of my door.

 i really love the texture and pattern that it adds to this little area of my house. i am also so impressed with the quality and feel of this little area rug! it is tightly woven, and the colors are so deep and rich.


new hardware:
like the rest of the doors in the house, the back door will get this knob:

(the andover series from schlaage)


everything should be all wrapped up by this weekend! i am excited to show you.



thank you to medallion rug gallery  for collaborating with me on this post!

in my girls bathroom,  i knew that i wanted the cabinets to be a deep blue color, and that a warmer metal tone would compliment the dark cabinets. i had seen a sideboard that featured large round pulls in the center of each of its doors, and wanted to mimic that look. i am pretty thrilled with the way it turned out!



the hexagonal crystal pulls are new. i purchased them here.
they are such a pretty mix of elegance and edgy. LOVE them! i wrote a post about how these were a bit of a splurge, but worth every penny. you can read about that here.

i hunted and HUNTED on ebay and etsy and several other sites that list vintage hardware for sale, and when i spotted these beauties (on ebay), i knew they were perfect!
they cost me about $15 per pull, but they are solid brass...as in they weigh like TWO POUNDS a piece!
the listing said that they were pulled off a vintage 1960's electrolux appliance. maybe an oven?
a fridge? who knows. all i knew was that i had never seen anything like them before and i had to have them!
i think they are the perfect statement for this bathroom---feminine, and just a bit unexpected!
once we had our holes drilled, we threaded our breakaway screws (cutting them off at the appropriate length) and threaded them through the back of the cabinet, as you would with any other hardware.

in gradys bathroom, all of his hardware is new, except this little guy:
(maybe a fierce dragon, but then i might get carried away and want to turn his bathroom into a scene from the HOBBIT!  i am kind of a nerd when it comes to the lord of the rings and the hobbit...my family is lucky i didn't try to turn our bonus room into bag end.)





these "scroll" pulls were another ebay find. i purchased 10 or them for something like $15. that's cheaper than any plain ol' boring pull that you can pick up at lowes or home depot!

 i simply installed these onto an ikea malm dresser, and suddenly, it looks so much more custom and interesting!
plus---much easier to open the drawers!


here is a link to an ebay search for vintage hardware to get you going on your own treasure hunt:
ebay vintage hardware

good luck!
hope you find something wonderful.

things are gettin' done!
maybe not as fast as i want them to, but they are definitely getting DONE.
here are a few things that have happened in the last few weeks:

first off---we finally got our range! yee-haw! i was without one for about 6 weeks, and so when we finally bought one, it was like christmas!


if you follow me on instagram, then you have already had a look at my range.


allen managed to get it installed the day before fathers day...coincidence? or did someone want to make sure he had some good stuff to eat on his special day? hmmm....
(i plan on writing a review of it soon, but i wanted to test it out and make sure it wasnt just pretty to look at!)


our door hardware arrived and we (and by "we" i mean my husband, allen) installed all of the interior knobs. we still need to install the exterior door hardware.
(by the way, how GREAT is it to have a handy husband? i love that my man can do just about anything around the house. he hasn't had to do much the last 5 years that we have been renting, but he has been doing a crazy amount of stuff in the last few months! thanks sweetie!)


i seriously cant tell you how "grown-up" and fancy i feel having REAL door knobs!
(the eye-holes were getting old. yes, they were.)


i am REALLY happy with the ones we chose.  you can read more about the knobs we selected here.

we installed our irrigation system.
yes, you DID just hear me *yawn.
i have a client who just built a home down the road from me, and when we get together, we always commiserate on how much it costs to put in a yard---and how much we would rather be spending that  money on some pretty window treatments or a table.


in the front yard, we put the pipes in first, and then had the topsoil brought in to cover them.  i guess most people bring the topsoil in and then have to dig trenches to lay the irrigation pipe. this doesn't seem very interesting to me, but my husband thinks it is a----mazing, and so does every male that he talks to about this. (*yawn)


 more exciting that irrigation, but also not a punch list item (more like a bucket list item)
i found myself a fiddle fig tree! it took about 7 phone calls and 2 months, but i GOT one.

 this one is a "column" variety...it is a little more bush-like than a typical tree. i love it!
i found it at the J + J garden center in layton in case any of you locals are interested. call first and make sure they have some because they go through them fast!


my new tree loves her new home and promises not to die. yep. she told me so...
(i cant wait to add some built-ins, trim and a fireplace to the living room. it will be a while....but i can wait.) 
our new (slightly controversial) front porch lights got installed:


and, we now have a door bell! which we can upgrade later...(this one is pretty boring, but it is better than having wires sticking out the wall!)

yes, the house is really dirty from the soil being brought in, but once the sod is in, we will pressure wash the house.

this weekend, we got the final grading done in the yard, and the mulch for the front beds is in.

 it makes such a difference in the way things look! we were supposed to get our sod delivered, but there was a problem, and we will have to wait. it will be nice to see some green around the house!



thanks for following along!

anyway, it was a good day. grady managed to sit still long enough while eating for me to get a non-blurry picture of him, AND, at the end of the day, he made $5. (and i didnt have to listen to any complaining! worth. every. penny.)