No Place Like Home

Last week we were on vacation in Maine.  We had a great time and we always complain that it goes by too fast.  However, once we got home, I realized how much I missed our home and couldn't have been happier to be back.  This may have something to do with the 14 hour drive, but regardless, there are things that I appreciate about returning home. 

We came back to blooming zinias in the garden, and putting them in my green mason jar vase on the kitchen table makes me smile every time I walk into the kitchen.

 I love the way the breeze blows these gauzy curtains in the front windows.

Out of Africa

So, remember how I said I had a project I have been working on?  Well, surprisingly enough, it is NOT for our house!  Rob's sister, Gwyn, works and lives in Uganda.  She is home for the summer, and a couple months before coming home, she moved into a brand new place.  She got to pick out a lot of the details in the apartment because the University where she works  built brand new housing for the staff.   She was able to pick the tile and paint, things like that.  She wanted to add some more personality with curtains, pillows, etc.  Since options in Uganda are limited, she wanted to get these things over here in the states while she was home.  So, off to the fabric store we went when she got home.  Gwyn has good taste, so it was fun to help her pick stuff out and figure out what would work best.  There was A LOT of fabric needed as I am making curtains for her living room, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms.  She also wants cushion covers made for 2 chairs that have a wood frame with 2 large cushions.  And then of course some pillow covers for throw pillows for the sofa.  

The fabric below is all for her living room.  The striped fabric is for the cushion covers on her chair, the throw pillow is for her sofa (there are 4), and then the cream colored fabric is for the curtains.  The room is painted a green similar to the green in the fabric.  The fabric for the curtains has beautiful embroidery which you can't really see in this picture.  My advice was to use some different prints but stay within the same colors.  

This fabric is for her kitchen window.  Her kitchen is blue and yellow and this fabric will look perfect.  It is really light, almost gauzy.  

This fabric is for curtains in her second bedroom, which will have a red sofa in it. 

And finally this fabric is for curtains in Gwyn's bedroom.  She wanted to keep the colors light and this picture does not do this fabric justice.  It is much prettier in person.  

I don't think I ever mentioned on here that I got a new sewing machine for my birthday this year.  Let me just say, it has changed my (sewing) life.  I cannot even believe how easy sewing is on this machine- it almost seems wrong.  I had been using my mom's sewing machine since I learned how to sew and lets just say that Rob would often find me cursing at the thing or on the phone with my mom trying to figure out why it wasn't sewing correctly.  Well, thankfully, Rob's parents, and my parents went in together and got me this pretty baby for my birthday.  I was totally shocked when I received it but couldn't be happier that I have it.  Although I don't sew a ton, it makes sewing so much easier and enjoyable and I would not be able to do big projects like this without it.   It also makes me want to sew more.  

The thing I have realized about sewing is that the sewing part is not what is difficult and time -consuming.  It is the measuring, cutting, and prepping of the fabric.  The curtains for Gwyn couldn't be simpler- I am just hemming the sides becuase she is using a wire with little hooks to hang them.  But it takes so long to cut the fabric, make sure it is cut evenly, and then prep the hems ( pressing them with an iron/ pinning if necessary).  Once that is done, the sewing goes so quickly.  My goal was to get all the curtains done before we leave for Maine on Saturday- and I did.  So, now all I need to do when we get back is the large cushion covers, which I am doing like a big pillow cover, and then 2 more throw pillow covers.  I feel confident and not stressed that I will get this all done before Gwyn goes back on the 30th.  

Gwyn promises to send pictures when she gets back to Uganda with her new cutains hung and pillows covers in place!  

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone has a wonderfuly July 4th weekend with lots of yummy, fun picnics.   

Sorry for the lack of posting recently.  I have been trying to stay off the computer more and spend some quality time with the child and husband and the nicer weather recently has allowed us to be outdoors more.  But stay tuned-there is also a project that has been using up a lot of my spare time.   

Beach Bound

Rob and I are heading to the beach this weekend for our 4 year anniversary.  I am looking forward to some major R&R, not cooking, no changing diapers.  It is our first time really leaving Aiden for this long, but I think it is much needed.  I LOVE the beach.  I often dream about owning a beach home some day, mostly so I can decorate it.  I love the blues and greens, sisal rugs, white slipcovered furniture.  If anyone ever needs some beach house decorating inspiration, I would love to help!!  Anyway, I will leave you with these dreamy beach house pictures by the fabulous Windsor Smith.  

Not much going on here

Things have been pretty slow around here in the area of decorating.  It's been kind of muggy around here recently and I haven't been too motivated to do much of anything.  Aiden is also becoming more and more busy, which makes me more exhausted.  For example, yesterday morning he climbed up the whole flight of stairs.  He has never even climbed up one stair before.  And he is SO fast.  Anyway, Rob and I have recently been dreaming about building our own modern house some day.  I really want it to have a pool.   Some inspiring pictures  (all from "Home Sweet Home")

Outside Room

Now that the outside Patio/deck area is basically done, it is like we added another room onto our house.  The weather has been so nice around here recently we have spent lots of time hanging around outside.   Rob stained the deck, and I finally got around to spray painting the pots white and getting to Produce Junction to fill them with colorful annuals.  Aiden enjoys toddling around the back yard, checking out all the flowers and plants, and chasing Bailey.   An exciting and unexpected addition was the wood stove that Rob and his Dad brought back from their trip up to Maine.  It has been sitting under the cabin for years now and it finally has a home!  We even got to try it out the other night when we had some friends over.  As you can see we still need to put something in the huge metal planters that are on the pea gravel area.  There are still some small things to do, but for now, we are just enjoying our new space.  

 

Still here, I promise

I'm sorry it's been so long...I promise to update soon.  We have made some progress out back and I will get some pictures on here soon.  In the mean time, enjoy these pictures from one of my favorite outdoor spaces that was featured in Domino last year.