We Bought a Fixer - Matt Made Built-Ins

Hi there. How are you today?

I'm happy to have another finished space (well, almost finished) to show you!

If you recall, our living room is just one long, open space. 

With the picture window on one wall..... 

......and the fireplace on the other, we were having a hard time figuring out where to set up the TV. 

Matt decided to make a built in. 

Here it is in its very early stages. 

 Here it is now! 

It's amazing what a little paint does to MDF. 

 

 Matt designed the shelves on the right side of the unit specifically for typewriters. 

This is Matt's favorite.

This is mine. 

The back of the unit is sheathed in pallet wood that we salvaged from the perpetual construction site we once called home. (The condo we spent the last year in was one of the first on the street. They are still building there, and probably will be for another year. So glad to be out of there!) I love the industrial look of the wood and the texture it adds. 

Along the back wall of the room, Matt constructed a wall of bookshelves to house his massive collection of books. 

Ta-Da!

 It was really tough to get a good shot of the whole thing, with the light coming in from the window. 

I spent a few evenings styling the whole thing. 

I arranged the books in rainbow order on the bottom shelves.

Matt thinks I'm crazy for taking the time to do this...

I really like the way it turned out! 

Matt also designed a space to house his speakers and records. 

Matt's most favorite part of this whole built-in is actually outside.....

He's following in his mother's footsteps and has developed an affinity for birdwatching. 

We found this planter in our back yard when we moved in. Matt recently moved it and filled it up so he could watch out his bookcase window.  He loves to see that the seed is getting eaten and is frustrated that the cardinals that hang out in the bush right behind it won't touch the feeder.

I really do like how the built-ins have given purpose and division of the space.
I have to give Matt so much credit on this project.
 He made a great use of every inch of space on that back wall.
I love that I have a crafty husband!

Until next time. Ta-Ta.

To read our entire "Fixer Upper" saga, make your way here.

Finally.....Some New Work!

Well hi! How are you? 
I'm pretty darn excited to have a new piece to show you! It's been a very long time coming.

Making new work has really been on the "back burner" during our home renovation.  Spare time was spent making this place liveable. When I did steal a minute to work on art, I felt guilty for not working on the house. On the other hand, I was also guilty when I wasn't making art, as it really is one of my "jobs."   

Now that we are moved into the new place, and the majority of the renovation is complete, I have finally been able to dedicate some time to artmaking. I just polished off this still untitled work this weekend. This beauty measures 10x8 and was completed with collaged papers, black Bic ballpoint pen, and a dash of colored pencils.

My studio is all set up now and I just ordered a fresh supply of cradled hardboard, so I have no excuses not to work! Please do publicly berate me if you don't see me sharing new things on a regular basis. Really.....berate! Write me messages, call me, post on here on the blog, my facebook, my twitter! I have to keep working. Time is of the essence! My goal is to do a show a month from May-December, and if I'm going to make that happen, I have to be consistently making new work.

So, what do you think of this new piece? Do tell. Any ideas of how to keep myself motivated and working?  And lastly, if you're interested in purchasing this piece, do drop me an email.

See you again here real soon. Promise. Ta-ta for now!

Facebook Giveaway Today!

Hi there. How are you this fine Saturday?

Since it's MARCH already (can you believe it??), and I still have a few 2013 calendars on hand, 

It's time for a giveaway! 

I'm giving away one large chair calendar as well as one of my smaller abstract ones.  

Head on over to my facebook page to enter! 

Winners will be chosen on Sunday at 8pm central. 

Good luck!     

P.S. If you'd rather not leave it up to chance, you can still pick up a half price calendar in my Etsy shoppe.

We Bought a Fixer - Kitchen Complete!

Well hi. How are you? 

 It's finally time to show off our new kitchen. Yahoo! 

When we bought this house, we knew we'd have to gut this kitchen. 

It was awkwardly crammed into the corner of a really large living/dining space.

And why was that island so damn close in?

So as you recall, we took down this half wall.........

......and closed in this window. 

Behold....The Kitchen! 

The backsplash is a mix of colored glass and marble. 

We love how it ties everything together and adds some texture to the space. 

We love the butcher block island and sit here for most meals. 

Our American Range is a thing of beauty and is awesome to cook on.

So happy to have a gas range again!   

 

Our Home Depot pendant lights have a nice industrial look, capped off by swanky Edison bulbs.

Not very efficient but they are oh so pretty. 

There's not a thing we'd change about this space.

We feel so lucky to have been able to create the kitchen of our dreams!

To see/read more about our home renovation go here.

Until next week! Ta-Ta.

  

We Bought a Fixer - The Move-In!

Hi there. How are you?

You may have noticed that I didn't blog last week.....

We were busy moving! 

   We were lucky to be able to borrow a truck from some friends.

And some more friends (Hugh and Heather) helped us do the physical moving. 

I only snapped this one picture during the actual move, which features the back of Hugh's head. 

Great work Jen!

It only took 2 trips with the big box truck to get most of our things over to the new house.

By the end of the weekend, we were settling into our new digs!

Matt is working on building an entertainment center and some shelves in the back third of our very long room. 

We've already picked out places for two of our big paintings.

The iMac is up in running.

Our bedroom is in good shape. Just needs some art on the walls! 

And of course, there's this awesome kitchen! 

I promise to post pics of this masterpiece next week. 

There's still much work to be done.

Our guest bath has been gutted, and is awaiting renovation.

 

Jack's room needs flooring. 

But....

We're getting there and we love our new house! 

Come visit soon. 

Ta-Ta for now! 

* To see pics from our whole renovation journey, click here. 

 

We bought a fixer - Lighting update

Hi there. How are you?

We are starting to see the light at the end of the remodel tunnel.

Things are truly starting to come together. 

Today, I'll give you a little glimpse into our new lighting. 

Pre-renovation, our fixer was filled with all sorts of lighting "treasures" like this......

I actually kind of like this one (above), but it doesn't go with our current aesthetic.

This is just a small sampling of the fixtures that once lived in our house. 

I  wish I would have documented them a little better prior to demo.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a better picture of the sconces that you can barely see here.

We did a little HGTV/DIY action on them.

We spray painted them Swedish blue, added a more modern looking "shade" and reinstalled them so the bulb was pointing up. Cool huh?

Prior to renovation, there were many dark corners in our house.
(Matt likened it to cave.)
We've added a lot of track lighting and pot lights to brighten things up.
This particular set of light now hang in our entry way.
(Wait till you see full transformation in the entry!)

My favorite new fixture is in our dining room.
We came across the "Huck Duck" (now called the Manhattan Project) on Pinterest.

This string of sockets is made right here in the USA.
Matt installed a galvanized pipe and artfully wrapped the twisted fabric cord around it.
He finished it off with 2 different styles of old school Edison bulbs.
We love its industrial vibe!

I leave you with a little glimpse of things to come.
What do you think?

I'm off to finish up painting at the house! Yes!
Ta-ta for now.

2013 Calendar Sale

Hi there. How are you?

It's the last day of January. How is that possible?

I just got a few of my 2013 calendars back from one of my retail accounts. 

I want them all to have homes, so they are now........

 

8.5" x 11" chair calendars are now $16.00.

 5.5" x 8.5" abstract calendars are just $10.00.  

Procrastinators win!
  Head on over to my etsy shop and snag one.