86'n It

Horizontal it is!

Which is a great relief because we were leaning this way too.  So here are some details on the wood wall.

<--- This is the paneling in it's original location. Ew! The previous owner had there refrigerator here, so they only painted the yellow as far as they could reach without moving the fridge. Nice.

We are flipping it over and using the nice, rough backside. I'm the lucky lady who gets to trim off all the bad parts and sand them.

Well, we could only see the backs of the signs (see above), but because Marc did some research on our house and found out that it was built in 1922 by Western NC's first Coke rep, we were pretty geeked about about them. It was a big mystery. Would they be in ok shape? Would they be cool? They were covered by newspaper (from the 1950's) and wallpaper.

With our jam-packed September mostly behind us, we are hoping to jump on finishing up the kitchen. Left to do:

• Clean and install recycled wainscotting on wall.
• Install wall trims
• Stain floor patches
• Design, construct & finish wood bench/counter area
• Strip two existing double hung windows 
• Get hardware to change window to awning type

Here is an early model of the kitchen that I did to show you where the wood will go:

Wood will wrap both sides of this wall (in the kitchen & dining room)

Wood will also wrap all the cabinets and then the window seat area

The wrap will work a little like this white wrapped cabinet by Henry Built

(love how this one is 3 dimensional)

Like how Franca is poking her head up?

This will actually be closest to the color of our reclaimed wood (after cleaning & sanding)

Ok, so a anonymous reader left me a nasty comment this week that got me thinking. (FYI - I don't publish nasty anonymous comments. If you are going to be mean - own up and use your name and I will publish it. Fair enough, right?)

Anyway, I'd like to address the comments this person brought up:

#1 was about my pics of Franca in her bumbo seat on the dresser. I know looking at these photos now they appear dangerous. But what you don't see in MOST of my photos is what is just outside the frame. Usually, it is a huge pile of shoes or dirty laundry, but in the bumbo photos, it is Marc standing there about 24" from Franca for safety. While I know this still isn't recommended, I'm comfortable with it and she's my kid. End of story. I've learned my lesson and won't post stuff like that again, or I'll show what is really going on outside the frame.

#2 Was a nasty comment that my photos all suck and that I should get some big light thing to make them look good. You know, I always apologize and say that my photos suck and that I know it. Thing is, I don't have the desire to make all my photos look better.

I read a TON of blogs and I realized that a lot of times, it isn't the actual space that is nice. It's a totally average space, but the photography is just making it look special. So that is what I have been telling myself. I know that if I got one of those big light thingamajigs I could probably make (read: make Marc) take photos that could make our house in its current state look terrific. But you know what? It doesn't look terrific. It looks horrible.

That is why, when I take photos of a space that I just finished I try to make them look really nice (like the nursery) and I think the nursery photos do look good. Otherwise, my photos just suck, but to me it makes sense because these spaces DO really suck in real life.

So what do you think? Is that just a cop-out? Should I make ALL my photos better? Do you agree with me about average spaces looking great online due to photography? Is that a good thing or bad?

And just because I can't let a post go by with no photos, here is an (albeit horribly lit) photo of Franc n Beans:

She looks very concerned about all this right?

(Actually, she was just worried because she was surrounded by

three nephews all trying to kiss and love on her all at once! Oh, the horror!)

Bugs have overtaken our house.

How is it that this fits in just fine in my car (with room for someone to sit in front of it):

But this does not??

Ugh. We spent about 2 hours at Babies R Us this weekend dragging things and a manager out to the Mini to try them. Car seat was a score (saved $50 with a trade-in , thanks Heather!) We could not find a cheap, lightweight stroller that fits.

We did find a Quinny Zapp (Swoon) on clearance for $180 (that's $135 with the trade-in) that is awesome and folds up tiny and would fit, but I agreed (read: begrudgingly) that we don't need another nice stroller. Even though we have the money in gift cards. Urgh.. I hate being responsible. Here's the Zapp, and it folded in the trunk of a Mini Convertible.

p.s. Franca loves her new seat. Look how she is flapping her arms in that photo!

I had been hunting for a good comforter/blanket for the guest room/sewing room. It's the one with the crazy orange & purple Eddie Van Halen paint job and the awesome furniture set from my dad's mom. (Side note: We've moved the set's full size bed downstairs and swapped it for a queen size because we felt bad making guests sleep on a full when we have a queen. The bed will come back up when we finish that guest room downstairs. So that is why you see the black bed in the new photos.)