Debi Treloar did the photography for Eat Drink Live, which I’ve been looking into getting. Her photos are calm, and her subject matter reminds me a little bit of Ngoc Minh Ngo (who I love).

I am officially burned out on the house, and right now, all stuff house related, but we have one more project to do this weekend before we are officially taking the summer off (which in six years of rehabbing, has never happened). The last project is to landscape the backyard and to fix the patchy-grass look we have going now. For the past few weeks we have been working on the back patio which is now finished, so all that’s left for this year is to plant and maybe have someone build a back porch.

The concrete pad and footings are where the back porch/stairs will rest on, so those will eventually be covered (yeah!). This brick was salvaged from our backyard and gangway, and the stone edges are old window sills we found. Nathan’s five-month stint as a stone-mason really paid off! :)

(left: before, right: after)

I’m completely and totally *inspired* with fireplaces today. Yesterday the gas company came and shut off our gas because we happened to mention the smell of gas while inquiring about our gas bill… at which time a gas company representative poofed out of thin air, checked the pressure, confirmed a leak, shut off the gas, and left. Wa-la.

We had noticed the smell before (most any time you bend your head down by the side door you get a whiff), but we had already called a year or two ago, at which time they sent out a nice, intoxicated man to check the house… “nope, no leak.” Thanks buddy.

So we do in fact have a gas leak, but luckily we had a plumber come out and find one of the problems… bad news is  we apparently have two leaks, so no heat yet. :)

The plumber is here again this morning trying to find the source of the second leak, but all I can think about is how our original plumber has haunted us years after firing him. A bad plumber can haunt you for life.  Life.  Inside temperature is 55, and dropping.

Note: Our original plumber ran the gas lines through the house, while our HVAC crew ran the duct work and installed the furnaces.

They’re back… saw, compressor, and nail gun all stopped by to say hello this evening. They were kind enough to bring dust along… a good time was had by all. :)

There’s a gap in the floor where a masonry wall used to be… we’re thinking about cutting back the boards so they are even on either side and putting in a dark wood… maybe walnut? Can’t tell if that would be a terrible idea, or a good one—straddles the line.

This chair belonged to our neighbors… until they ever so kindly gave it to us after years of me expressing how much I love it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Most people would probably have it upholstered, but I love the rips and tears and have no intention of ever fixing it up. I love old things too much… so much character!

I’m still obsessed with these type of lights, and since we’re currently finishing up our *office* (back room), I’m in search of these (at a reasonable price, and preferably old… not likely though).

Jamo Associates (via desire to inspire):

And by the way, I’ll take that whole office in exchange for ours. Who wouldn’t?

Living Etc.:

Back stairs are finished (thanks Buck (and Stephen and Paul)!), with the exception of the quarter-round and varnish… to no longer see insulation hanging out the sides of the stairs is amazing. Amazing. Before picture here. Semi-done picture here.

Also picked up a tiny shelf for the kitchen, but still need to put it up.

We are in need of ways to increase the lighting in our kitchen… we have four can lights and one other small light, but with 10 foot ceilings, that’s not much light. One of our ideas that we are really, really not sure about, is track lighting [gasp]. I found some interesting things on Apartment Therapy, here and here, but I’m still not convinced. Are there any other options or is that it? If it was all white, would that help blend it into the ceiling better?

We hung our kitchen cabinets two nights ago, and it has taken me until now to decide if I like them or not. Every time I glance up at them I can’t help but think of the Jetsons and cringe a bit. But now, now I’m starting to get used to it. I’m hoping that once we put up the tile, shelves, and lighting it’ll all come together. If not, we’ll just move. Ha!

A while ago I was sent an email with a quote on the signature…

“Give up the idea of what life should be, and just celebrate what life is.” James Arthur Ray

I am this quote. I’m not sure who James Arthur Ray is, but we must have met, at which time I must have inspired him to write it. This is what comes to mind whenever I get frustrated with the state of the house, or especially when decisions we made four years ago come into play now and they are not exactly what I envisioned (i.e., kitchen).

But anyway, here are some kitchens with two different types of cabinets working nicely together. I’m hoping ours will do the same.

The photo on the right came from my inspiration folder which is a catch-all for house ideas, so unfortunately I have no idea where it came from. The image on the left is from Elle Decor.

(driving through the Midwest, this is really all you see)

This weekend we decided last minute to travel up to Chicago and pick up come upper cabinets at Ikea. We knew exactly which ones we were going to purchase and the goal was to be in and out in a matter of an hour or two. Five hours later we left with completely different cabinets. This is par for us.

Seeing as our floors are old growth pine, our lower cabinets are refurbished 1950’s cabinets painted Hynda blue-gray, and our counter-tops are tractor trailer flooring, I was a bit leery (still am) about adding another color and surface, so we’ll see how it goes [insert crossed fingers here]. Worst-case-scenario, we scrap them and use them as storage somewhere else.

I do have to say that I was really, really excited to pick up some fabric from there as well. I just haven’t found fabric in St. Louis that I’m excited about, so I stocked up. :)