fire pit!

this friday, the husband and i decided we wanted to build a fire pit. we had company on their way and figured it'd be a nice way to spend the night--outside, drinking, eating.

so we went to home depot and scoped out the materials we'd need. we picked up some sand, some rocks (i picked white marble because they were the prettiest), a whole lotta limestone concrete wall blocks (40, to be exact), and a wheelbarrow.

after loading them onto the cart. then into the truck. then out of the truck and into the backyard, we were ready to build. we laid out our pattern in home depot (10 per ring) so when we got home we laid ten out where we wanted. i used flour to mark the line around the blocks (with room for a perimeter of rocks) and jeremy got digging. 

step 2: rocks. 

step 3: sand

step 4: blocks. 

(we meticulously checked that each block was level and used more sand underneath 

to even them out)

 we've got some supplies to return and one more bag of marble rocks to buy to finish it up.

but we were cookin' (literally) within a couple of hours. 

seriously our favorite project yet. 

grout update

this photo sums this project up best. 

before     &      after

it took hours (and hours!) but my main living space (about 500 sq ft) now has newly painted grout! 

it took some backbreaking scrubbing, a toothbrush, a small paintbrush and a lot of paper towels along with this awesome stuff: 

polyblend's grout renew in oyster gray

but i am absolutely IN LOVE!

i didn't realize how much light the floors soaked up until i gave them nice, light grey grout. they are beautiful and make the room much brighter! seriously, even in the dark, they sort of light the floor.

my grout beforehand would not look clean no matter what i sued or how heard i scrubbed (even with a metal grill cleaner!) 

i'll have to get some better before & after shots but i just can't get over how clean and uniform the floor looks now!

master bedroom inspiration

yes, of course i'm brainstorming. there is always a project in the works--even if it just ideas. i re-rearranged our master bedroom back to its first layout (it makes much more sense the way i had it in the beginning). i liked my bedroom for a hot minute when we first bought everything. i was really feelin' a lavender-white-silver bedroom. it seemed so spa like. but i am really regretting it. also-how did jeremy go along with such a girly room? poor guy. 

anyway, i'm ready to man it up. (with soft colors for femininity, of course). so, i've been pinning ideas for a new master bedroom look and came up with my favorites to try and see what the similarities were between them.

[links can be found on my pinterest board]

 i see blue walls, brown accents, and an upholstered headboard in our future 

(and maybe some pops of orange).

here are some fairly affordable fabric headboards that i'm fond of:

[headboards from target online]

MASTER PLAN:

rip up carpet

paint walls (blue? chocolate? beige?)

paint trim

replace headboard 

new curtains

new (or rehab an old) dresser 

framed art for over bed

side tables (matching?)

maybe add a rug?

__________________________

this sounds expensive

kitchen update in the works

i've always got something in works. house painting is still my numero uno, but pinterest has got me dreaming of a clean, white kitchen. 

[image via here]

and to convice myself that black appliances will, in fact, look good with white cabinets:

[image via here]

so here is my list in no particular order:

• pry ugly tile off all walls (backsplash on both sides, and wall to garage)
• prep walls behind counter for new tile
• tile backsplash (white subway tile)
• prep wall to garage for paint
• paint accent wall ^ (blue?)
• take off all cabinet doors & remove hinges/pulls
• fill in all holes from old hinges/pulls/new cabinets and fill 
• prime cabinets and doors
• paint cabinets and doors (uppers white, lowers grey)
• flip cabinet doors for more streamlined look
• change cabinet pulls above dishwasher to open toward each other _-||-_
• remove wood from cabinets above dishwasher 
• replace wood with 2 glass panels
• add electrical outlet to sink side of kitchen cabinet uppers
• add lights above cabinets
• replace counter 
• remove scallop from over sink area

it's fall, ya'll

fall decorating around the laws house. (top left-flowers from j for our 1 year anniversary)

happy fall!

slow backyard progress

last time i checked, my backyard looked something like this. eek!

 but when i went to check on it a few minutes later..

those scraggly weeds turned into trees! we couldn't even see out the [only] living room window. 

so i bought a handsaw for about nine bucks and put some good old-fashioned elbow grease into it. 

in about 45 minutes (spread out across two afternoons--yowza, it was a workout!) 

i could see the house!!!

 and out the window!!

what a difference!! although, seeing the house means we can see how badly the house needs painting. uh-oh. but, that's okay. painting the exterior is next on our list!!!! i'm so excited! 

sidenote: when i painted those swatches next to our new yellow front door, i picked the dark grey and then threw away the swatch. so we've settled (again) on a grey. this time--a similar color called Dark Granite by Behr