We’re finally renovating the kitchen!
For the last two months, Joey and I have been in the thick of a kitchen remodel. This has been on our project list since the day we moved in, and I have to say: I’m glad it took us 3 years to get to it. We’ve picked up so many skills over the last few years of homeownership, and it was all leading here.
How I Grow Ranunculus
Most resources online are directed toward flower farmers, so I want to share what I’ve learned as a hobbyist, a backyard flower-grower with a day job and supplies purchased from the hardware store.
All the Desks I Considered for Our Study
I saved too many beautiful options along the way to keep them all to myself. In the past few years, companies have really stepped up their game to outfit the home offices of those of us who work from home, and there has never been a better time to find truly beautiful and functional pieces for a home office.
What I’m Planning for Our Study
This was meant to be our first project after moving in, but suddenly it was a home office for me, I started calling it “the study” like I lived in a period piece, and it was no longer a priority on our project list. But during the pandemic, the corporate world shifted, we now have the option for some flexibility, and we’ve decided to take it. All this to say: I guess The Study is here to stay, and it needs to be extremely functional.
The Guest House Bath Reno
What started as a low-impact refresh turned into a gut job, and we spent two months of nights and weekends working on it. Our goal for the space: a clean, functional, beautiful guest bathroom that we won’t need to touch for the next decade.
In the Garden: First Growth
Every spring, my favorite season is spring. Every fall, my favorite season is fall. I think the reality is that I crave that middle space; whether temperament, politics, or weather, I don’t enjoy extremes. But I’m also perpetually captivated by the rhythms of nature, and the closer I look, the more I see. I’m trying to imprint things onto my brain - what week does our wisteria begin to bloom? When will the ginkgo tree finally shudder and drop its golden leaves? When will the hummingbirds reappear?
In the Garden: Starting Seeds
I am touched, in many different ways, by the simple thought that it’s all going according to plan in there. Whatever chaos swirls around this moment in history, these seeds are doing what they were meant to do. And if I can just give them what they need, they’re going to keep doing that. Slow, steady, beautiful.
Our Backyard, Part 2: Dreams for the Future
To figure out our goals for the landscaping at our house, I started searching for visual inspiration. I’m ignorant enough about gardening and landscaping that I didn’t know the name for my preferred style until I decided to treat this like an interiors projects: gather images of what I love, and then find the thread that connects it all together. It didn’t take too long to find the thread connecting my images: I am super into cottage gardens.
Our Backyard, Part 1: What We’re Working With
Fun fact: I didn’t even want to look at the house we eventually bought. It was over our budget, and the pictures didn’t look spectacular. We’d looked at so many houses in person, and I’d flipped through dozens of other listings online. Why bother with another showing of a house that was out of our budget to begin with? But Joey said we should go. So we scheduled it. We walked through the house, and it was cute. It seemed like the perfect size for the two of us.
Then we stepped out onto the deck.
Our House, As it Exists Right Now
The week the world began to end, we closed on our first house. As we pried off baseboards and painted our bedroom, NASA told employees not to come back to the office... No social life, no in-person church, no international travel, but a house that was ours. A home that we slowly worked on, checking things off our list one weekend at a time.