making a house a home...

after a few weeks of not really working on any of our big home projects, evan and i decided to really buckle down this weekend and get some things done!

a couple of days ago we noticed that some flowers were starting to pop up right next to a large pile of wood we had sitting in the backyard that was waiting to be broken down and carted away. this little guy here made us realize that there were probably lots more little blooms struggling underneath the pile to reach the light of day. i was saddened by the thought, but the pile of wood was so large, and we really didn't have anywhere better to move it, so i came to terms with the fact that this year they just weren't going to make it.

i think perhaps evan knew i was sadder then i let on about this, because while i was taking a shower one day he surprised me by moving the entire pile to another location. to my amazement, this is what was found underneath...

they are about the same size as the ones that were not covered, but they are totally yellow from the lack of sunlight. they are also so very soft and fragile. i'm pretty sure they're daffodils, but if anyone knows otherwise feel free to let me know.

i cleaned out all of the leaves that had gathered, and recovered in soil some of the bulbs that were just sitting on the surface. i don't know if they'll make it, but i've taken them on as my new pet project. i know it's not the ideal way for a garden to look, but i do so love the way they have a perfect gradient from pale yellow to deep green.

i also found a few of these larger bulbs just sitting on the surface. i've replanted them and am pretty excited to see if anything comes of it. ahhh, the mystery!

we then took our motivation inside to continue our never ending kitchen renovation. it's really only never ending because we don't often have entire days to spend working on it. to see the steps that it took to get us to this point feel free to read up HERE.

evan finished putting up all the drywall and also mudded and sanded every nook and cranny.

evans mom stopped by for a little visit and helped us prime the walls. we rope as many people as we possibly can into helping us out with this kitchen.

paint time! we decided to go with a really pale grey. we want to keep the kitchen feeling very bright, clean, and airy. with the cabinets being white and the floor a deep brown wood, i think we've made the perfect choice.

this is me in my painting attire. thanks evan for capturing this!

there will soon be tall built in cabinets in this empty space below. oh, how i love me some storage space!

the washer and dryer are in the kitchen, so evan built this little room to keep them all tucked away. he's quite a handy guy to have around. i do believe i'll keep him :)

you can also spot barkley here in one of his favorite spots in the house. he loves to curl up in front of the heat vent and nuzzle his nose right on in there. crazy pup!

i was on such a renovation roll yesterday that i even decided to refinish our back door. the door is as old as the house and was in desperate need of a face lift. we will eventually get a new door, and a little doggy door for barkley, but this will hold us over until that day.

the repainting of the door was such a spur of the moment thing that i didn't even get a "before" picture. it was the same color combo as our front door, so this should give you an idea of what it looked like...

it has such an old feel to it already that i thought i would just go with it and really bring out it's shabby side. i hand sanded the panels to pull some of the blue color through the fresh new coat of paint.

it came out really well and i now know that i can confidently do the front door without fear of ruining it. here's to experimenting!

we still have quite a bit more to do as far as the kitchen goes, but it really feels like it's starting to move along now. i guess having actual finished walls will do that to a room. it's so very gratifying to be doing this all ourselves. it's taking longer (ok, much longer) then expected but evan and i really enjoy working together to make this little home our own. we're shooting for having it done by my birthday which is march 28th. stay tuned to see if we make our deadline...

pics from the weekend...

evan and i had a rather productive, rather domestic kind of weekend. here are some visuals...

after just 6 short days most of our seeds had sprouted and already out grown their little "greenhouse" that i made for them. i guess it worked!

it was time for them to move into some larger pots. the great thing about these jiffy pots is that they're biodegradeable, so you just plant the whole thing, pot and all, into the ground when the time comes.

cucumbers... lookin' good!

some tomatoes and the sunflowers were also ready for a transplant...

another task that was accomplished this weekend was the studio revamp. i realized a few weeks ago that i just wasn't happy with the color or set up of the room. saturday i woke up and was ready to take on the job of repainting, rearranging and organizing. i'm pretty darn happy with the outcome...

hooks for holding my embroidery hoops that are waiting to be used...

some prints from one of my favorite artists, yoshitomo nara, and a super cute little embroidery i purchased from the great northern, on etsy.

one wall is a few shades darker then the rest....

more hooks for my most used goodies. yes, the pearls get used often. you'll notice them in quite a few of my etsy shop photos.

a shelf of goodies waiting to be photographed or painted...

little birdie shadow boxes that i made last year watch over everything...

to see the original studio, you can go HERE or HERE.

and here is what evan was working on...

the first cabinet was put up!!!

and a second, woohoo!!!

hope everyone else had a lovely weekend. now that we've got this kitchen thing on a roll i should have lots more renovation pics to come.

yaaaay!

we've come a long way baby!

i just realized that i hadn't yet shared the most recent progress on our kitchen renovation. we've come leaps and bounds since my last post. take a second and refresh yourself with the before pictures, before scrolling through the after ones that are about to come... go ahead, i'll wait.......

since my last kitchen update, we've gotten all of the the cabinets, and cabinet fronts, installed. the counter top is in, dishwasher is working, we are still waiting on a stove, but we're making due with our little toaster oven for now. amazing just how much you can cook in these guys! we finally got to unpack all of our dishes, and if look hard you can even see my new teacup collection proudly displayed on the top shelves!

this sink is probably our favorite purchase. we did a little splurging on it and it was well worth ever penny. it's a big ol' ceramic farm sink, and it is heavy as all get out!

so that's where the kitchen stands as of today. we still have to trim out all of the cabinets, windows and baseboards, install a gas line for the stove, move a water line for the washing machine (which used to be where the dishwasher is, but is now in a built in closet on the other side of the kitchen, that you can't see here...), pick out light fixtures, and decide if we're going to get a little kitchen table, or a small island with stools. so much to do, and miles to go before we sleep...

you can see the whole kitchen progress, start to finish, here!

weekly bean update

it's currently 1:30am, so i'll keep this post short and sweet!

i wanted to get this 30 week belly shot up before 31 weeks arrived. the weeks are flying by so fast now and i can hardly believe that we've only got 10 weeks (technically 9.5 now) until my due date. this week has been a crazy one. as i've said in previous posts, i decided that a shop overhaul was in order and i've been working my buns off repainting, reshooting, and designing lots of new goodies. this has made me one busy busy preggo. luckily i've still got boat loads of nesting energy, so this makeover is the perfect thing for me to focus it on. i think evan's probably pretty darn happy too that i'm giving him a break from home renovation projects for a bit... i love ya hubby, and don't you worry, we'll be back to home projects soon enough :)

ok now really, i've got to get me some sleep, but i'll be back tomorrow with some more reveals at all the work i've been up to. nighty night friends!

2010!

first of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! the end of 2009 was pretty crazy here at casa de monkey & squirrel and the blog updates had to be pushed to the side. with the etsy holiday season in full swing there wasn't much time for things that didn't consist of painting, packing, shipping and shopping! i also took a little time off to have a much needed visit with my family in ny. that has ended now though, and things are getting back to normal. i'm working on lots of items to add to my shop for the new year. all new cast iron goodies as well as a new line of hair accessories and brooches. busy days ahead!

i thought i would use today to catch y'all up on our ever continuing house renovation project. the kitchen has been taken down to the walls, well technically it's been taken down to the 2x4's behind the walls. we're bare bones here! no stove, no sink, no cabinets and the fridge is in the living room! it makes a great statement piece. so without delay, here is our kitchen...

this is a "before" pic just to refresh your memory.

habitat for humanity came and disassembled everything for us one day...

...then came back the next and took it all away. (pardon these pics. they are from evans phone because i accidentally took both cameras with me to ny... woops!)

we're doing some interesting living these days. making for dinner only what can be cooked in a microwave or toaster oven, then washing dishes in our bathroom sink. we've decided to only unpack the essentials for now which consists of two dishes, two bowls, two cups, the cutting board and the can opener. luckily evan and i are both very laid back about all of this craziness. we know that one day we'll look back and reminisce about the early days in our first house when we spent all of our money making over the kitchen and ate ramen for a year to make up for it. ahhh, to good ol' days!

things should start moving along now though. we've got all or our new cabinets in boxes in our guest room and evan is out picking up the new flooring as we speak. i will be sure to keep the pictures coming as the magic continues to happen. 2010 is looking good so far and with the new year comes a new kitchen... let the renovations continue!