It's tradition! Apparently.

Because of Ben's job we tend to move frequently. Case in point: we've been married ten years and have lived in five different cities together. Sometimes this means we choose our next new home under less than ideal conditions. And that means we sometimes have to deal with less than ideal house-related issues.

Our yellow-clad, turquoise-doored, porch-wrapped house is absolutely adorable. And it must be changed in at least 47 different ways. In fact, we started making changes (mentally on Pinterest) before we even saw the house in person. And once we actually closed and "moved" in...

It took us less than three weeks to

1. Confirm that yes, the carpet had to go
2. Decide on the type of replacement flooring(something not carpet)
3. Select said flooring (engineered hardwoods)
4. And start ripping things apart

And then I realized (okay, Ben pointed it out) that this has become a moving tradition for us! Observe:

Not too long after moving into our rental home in Florida we felt the undeniable desire to fix the fireplace in the family room. With the landlords' permission, of course.

Three years and a million offers later we snagged a house in Virginia. And proceeded to demolish the kitchen.

In 2016 we moved to Italy. We lived in hotels for more than two months while we struggled to find a house. Residential construction norms are wildly different overseas so we didn't do much. There was a cabinet mounted directly above the kitchen sink that we absolutely had to get rid of. It literally rested atop the faucet. I am sure I have a photo somewhere...

And now, here we are in Missouri. Ripping and tearing and making a mess.

Because, it is tradition.

Welcome to Virginia

Dear Internet,
I guess I took an unexpected blog hiatus. I had given myself permission to slack off on blogging on account of the move. Then, I got behind - so behind I didn't even know where to start. So, I just never started. Whoops. It has been implied, however, that curious minds want to know.

I'll try to catch you up.

It was a week before we actually closed and moved into our house so we chilled at a pretty nice Residence Inn for a week. Admittedly, the cats were able to settle in more quickly than Ben and me.

When I say we moved into the house what I really mean is "camped out." It was another three weeks before our stuff was delivered. Hence the photo here of our classy evenings together. Ben took his frustration out on our kitchen wall.

Does this remind you of anything?

I continue to struggle with the idea of doing one thing at a time so...

I had to do it, Internet. I mean, the master bathroom was brown. I'm actually quite fond of brown, but this particular shade in this particular room was a bit...off-putting. Perhaps a different angle will help you to better understand.

Sadly, neither the bathroom nor the kitchen has been finished.

After all, why spend time in a bathroom or kitchen when every inch of your neighborhood is begging me to come outdoors?

That's right, I took those photos in my neighborhood. Where I live. Don't be jeal.
Yeah right; you should totally be jeal. It is gorgeous here.

That's a snippet of my life the last few months. If you are very good I'll give you more snippets again soon!

Love,
J-

The Finally-Finished Powder Room

Apparently I never told you guys, but late last year I started to re-do our downstairs powder room. I blogged about it in a guest post for Alicia. Well, after a bout with pneumonia, then nearly taking a third of my finger off, the powder room is as finished as it's going to get.

In the beginning...there was yellow.

The bathroom is really tiny, making it difficult to photograph. If you look at the family room wall you can see the buttery/lemony yellow gracing the powder room.

Next, came Pinterest, where I pinned this fantastic paint job by Susannah.

Then, the taping and striping began...

Followed by sickness and other mayhem (see above). Actually, the mirror you see just peeking around the door frame in photo two is the finger-injury culprit.

And now..THIS!

I'm no longer allowed to hang things without supervision so rest assured this mirror went up under a watchful eye.

There has been absolutely no place to hang a towel in this bathroom since the second week after we moved in. Oh how I love that towel rack. I hung it before the finger fiasco.

We picked this sign up at an antique shop in Charleston. I think it adds just the right amount of color.

So there it is; the powder room is complete less than two months before we move out. There is so much more I would like to have done, but at this point, it is all rather moot. I'm just glad to have that dingy yellow paint gone.

Home is...

Well, I'm back from a week of house hunting in DC. I wish I could tell you the hunt is over, but things didn't turn out quite like we'd hoped.

I've said it before, house hunting is hard. However, this time around I confess it is also a little fun. The busybody in me relishes seeing the insides of all those different houses, and imagining how I would set things up if it were my home.

I can't take you into the houses I saw on my trip, but I'll gladly share with you some of my favorite inspiration homes and decor.

Brookleigh Daybed from Rosenberry Rooms

I'd set Emily up with this daybed in a heartbeat. Sadly, she's not that into it.

Smeg Refrigerator from West Elm Marketplace

Ben has already agreed this is the refrigerator for us!

Tiny Victorian cottage in the Catskills

I'm pretty sure Emily needs a little something like this in our backyard. She agrees saying it would be"perfect for a sewing studio."

Flor tiles in "Just Plain Folk" and "Lanyard"

I first read about Flor tiles in 2007 on Dooce.com. I liked them then, but I fell in love when I saw this great rug on Brooklyn Limestone. I'm still working to bring the rest of my family around.

Powder room on HOUSEography

In DC powder rooms are in practically every house. At least one of ours will have dark blue walls and a gold ceiling. I'm doing it, there's no stopping me, don't even try.

English Farmhouse sink in a kitchen by Hallie Cohn Designs

I fully intend to have a farmhouse, or apron-front, sink someday.

And you? What's going on in your dream-house tour?

Outta control

We're going to talk about my studio space again today and I'm going to ask that you really indulge me because I just can't seem to think straight when it comes to this space.

I like to think I am an organized person.  I adore looking at efficient, aesthetic spaces.  I am enamored with all the trays and dividers at office supply stores. When I close my eyes and envision my work space I see neatly labeled boxes, discrete areas for each task, a cubby for every possible sewing tool.

In reality...well...

This is my computing area:

And here is my packing and shipping space:

I cut, layout, and iron here:

You guys, this is just embarrassing.  I mean, seriously? I pull everything out for a project and it all stays out until the project is finished even if it takes days.  But even when I clean everything up the room still feels so....

so...

I don't know, wrecked?  I can no longer see a clear plan for getting this place into shape.

HELP!

NPJ HQ

It has been quite awhile since I talked to you about my studio space. If you remember, this time last year I was dreaming of a coral and sage work room. This probably comes as no surprise, but that isn't exactly the color scheme that's taking shape these days.

Let's go back to the beginning. I started with this.

I actually like the green and probably would have kept it had I stuck with the original plan. But then I painted Emily's bathroom a gorgeous shade of gray.

Pewter Vase by Behr

It really is as beautiful shade, but it looked ghastly in Em's bathroom and had to be painted over. So sad. But not really because one doorway to the right sat my still unpainted studio.

When I started, it was not pretty. The top photo really glosses over a lot of the issues that were driving me crazy.

Pock marked walls.

Years of grimy dust built up around every receptacle.

Eeeeeeewwwww!

But, finally the room is painted that lovely soft gray and the trim has a fresh coat of glossy white. The original paint was flat, which was great for hiding all the imperfections in the sheet rock but sapped the little natural light offered by the window. I am really surprised at the change made by using a semi-gloss.

I love love love my new gray and white palette! It doesn't compete with many many shades of fabric I work with all day. In fact, it offers a place for my eye to rest.

But my favorite part was actually an accident. I had wanted to make curtains from a beautiful fabric featuring cascades of black-trimmed white ruffles.  Sadly, when the time came to purchase said fabric it was nowhere to be found. But then I had an amazing idea!  I didn't need to make curtains. I just needed to hang a curtain rod. Why? Because of this amazing vintage table cloth that belonged to my late Grandma Belle.

Isn't it gorgeous? Check out the detail!

I love it!  Now to work on getting some stuff on the walls... Any ideas?

If walls could talk they would die laughing at me

Okay. The bathroom. I have more or less sanded and painted it into submission (cue villainous laugh).

The gray paint (from waaaay back when) was a semi-gloss and the sheen brought all of the pock marks into sharp relief. I guess the upside is that it gave me the opportunity to do a more thorough spackling job. So even though the gray was definitely light in color, I had to prime all the walls so the new paint would go evenly over the old paint and the oodles of spackle patches. Some areas were actually more spackle than anything else.

This time around Kilz did not make an appearance. Instead I went with some primer our landlords had left behind.

It worked beautifully! But it stank with a capitol STANK! Ugh.  I seemed to have survived, but I must've lost some brain cells because I totally forgot to photograph the fully painted bathroom. You aren't missing much - it was very beige.

The walls are beige - ahem - Cappuccino White. The tile is greige and maroon.  The floor is...um, old. So guess what no longer fits into the equation? The cabinets.

That's right, I was eight coats in to making the cabinets white. Well, that wasn't going to work any more. Out came the sand paper.  Really, it wasn't too bad. I decided a shabby-chic look would work well. Shabby is not too hard to accomplish.  It is the chic that requires all your energy.

A-Door-Able

Is it just me, or would this be the perfect room divider between out computer nook and our living room?

Cute, right?!

If you want to see this particular piece of inspiration in person get yourself over to The Lemon Wedge in downtown Bryan, TX. Besides loads of cute decor to admire, they have eggs benedict worth selling your soul for.

Oh, and take this lady when you go.  She makes fabulous company and looks oh so sweet sitting in that green dining room.

Oh Janice

I love my new sewing table! It puts my machine at the perfect height which has been a great relief to my aching shoulders. I have it set up under my window so I can take advantage of the light and treetop view.

"But wait," you say, "shouldn't the machine mount inside the table?" Yes my darlings, that is indeed what is supposed to happen.  The table top unfolds and the machine is typically mounted in a sewing-machine sized hole.

This way, the machine folds neatly into the cabinet when not in use, and the table opens into a nice large workspace while the seamstress works her magic at the machine.

It is really wonderful. IF YOU HAVE A MACHINE THAT MOUNTS. I don't.  I have a portable machine. Oh, Janice.

Really, it is quite alright.  Embarrassing, but still alright. I love my portable machine. And I have a much better work surface then when I was using the top of a modified file cabinet.  Plus, now I'm prepared for the day I do get a mountable machine.

So you are totally welcome to point and laugh as long as you tell me one of your workroom gaffs.  Come on, you know you are dying to commiserate. What stupid mistakes have you made?

NPJ Space for the Production of Pure Delight - Possibilities

I love chandeliers. It has been my dream for some years now to have one of those glittering suspended above the huge clawfoot tub I do no currently own. However, while I wait for life to give me a house with such a tub, perhaps I could put a chandelier in my workroom. It could totally go with us when we move again. Really, there's nothing stopping me. Except, you know, that pesky cash thing. But if I could...

Collier West 

Bronze Crystal Flower Chandelier

Crystal Bud Chandelier

But I don't think I'll find $2000 in my couch cushions any time soon. COCOCOZY recommends this ball of prettiness for $998 from Anthropologie:

Sadly, this is no longer being sold on their website.  But who am I kidding?  $1000 is only half as far away as $2000. Let's look a little closer to my comfort zone. I'm totally feeling these two shabby chic numbers from Pottery Barn Kids:

Natural Girls' Chandelier

White Ella Chandelier

They are each only $129 and actually, they kind of suit this particular room better.  Plus, I can leave them as they are now or find ways to add more bling later as funding becomes available. Wee!

But, for those of you paying attention earlier this week, if I get a chandelier I can't stop there.  My workspace is on the second story of our house. In Florida. Where the lowest daytime high we've seen this fall is 89. Our family tries to be conservative with our AC usage so it can get pretty stuffy up there. I'd like to get some kind of air purifier/fan combo thingy that can live on the corner, but this desktop model from Hunter makes me swoon a little:

 

My wish list doesn't stop here. I've still got to figure out area rugs and artwork. But what about you? Is it silly to get a little weak-kneed over lighting or do you do it too?