Sofas. Again.

I had almost maybe sorta kinda decided that we were going to get the Petrie or Rochelle sofas from Crate and Barrel. Last time we were in Denver, we even went to the store and SAT in them, BUT.... we didn't really love them. Eric liked the Petrie (but I didn't like any of the color choices) and I really liked the Rochelle (but Eric thought it was less comfortable and I still didn't like any of the color choices). 

After that, we both kind of figured... WE WILL NEVER GET A SOFA.

Then, Eric suggested we should reupholster the sofa we have. You know, the plan we had one zillion months ago back when we originally bought the thing!

So I went to the two reupholstery places in town, borrowed every single sample book I could get my hands on, and now, with all the color choices and texture possibilities.... I still cannot decide on a sofa. I think the operative part being, I CANNOT DECIDE. 

I'd like a sofa in this kind of fabric:

But we already have grey chairs and, even though they will need replacing soon, we are so indecisive they will probably never be changed and we would end up living with all grey furniture FOREVER. I do not want all grey furniture. I'd always imagined a nice grey sofa with leather or patterned chairs, you know? 

Then I went to my Pinterest "Live Here" board and discovered I'd Pinned a lot of pictures with sofas like this....

Apparently I like blue sofas. Who knew? Eric was not on board with the blue plan. He wanted a dark grey, or, he said, he might be ok with a very dark navy blue. I tried to convince him with mood boards (basically taking photos of everything in our living room and putting it all together in one photo), but it ended up backfiring.

Because I ended up liking the navy. Quite a lot. 

And it didn't help my case one bit that the navy looks pretty darn good with his Lebowski rug that he loves so much. Danggit. 

All this work and back and forth and, let's be honest, we will still probably NEVER GET A SOFA. 

Landscaping

I am clueless when it comes to landscaping. I'm also kind of against it. I mean, I obviously love trees and flowers and gardens, but guess what? When you have those things, YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THEM and I would much rather be playing with Cora or napping or EATING or drawing or weaving or hanging out with friends or my husband (if he's home). Plus, weeding is impossible when you're pregnant. Normally weeding is a big, fat jerk, but it's even worse when you can't see your toes because of a burgeoning belly.

We've waited to do any landscaping close to the house because we knew we'd be getting new siding and windows, and we didn't want whatever beds we put in to be trampled by workers. But now that siding and windows are checked off our list (should be done before the end of June! huzzah!), we can start planning what plants we'd like to put in this fall and next spring.

There are two main places that need our attention: one is in the front yard next to the walkway leading to our front door, and the other is in the back yard next to the patio/under the den window (see photos).

Eric is most excited about the bed in the front yard; for some reason, he really, really hates the bushes growing there and I just know that one day I will come outside to find him hacking them out with glee.

I am more excited for the bed in the back yard. Probably because I have to look at its ugliness much more frequently, and while the front bed at least looks purposeful, the back one is just kind of.... trashy looking.... We've contemplated putting our raised garden beds here - there's an underground sprinkler just under the window and they'd be watered frequently without us having to think about it. AND it'd be a much shorter walk to grab a tomato for dinner :). The other idea I've had is to extend the bed outward along the side of the patio... does that make sense? It would be more of an L-shape full of bushes and ornamental grasses (Eric looooves those tall grasses for some reason) so we'd have a little more privacy from our neighbor's driveway/backyard.

I drew some very rough sketches of these spaces, complete with measurements.....

this bed is a 6x20' rectangle. Pretty easy. 

this bed is 3' wide at the end of the house, and expands to be 6' wide by the patio (obv can be changed). it's 19' long and there are two sprinkler boxes buried in the ground just outside the 6' end which would have to be worked around

......but I now I have no idea how to begin. I have no idea what kinds of plants grow well here and since I'll be needing two very different sets of plants - one for a northern exposure that gets absolutely no light (hydrangeas? hostas?) and one for a southern exposure - I'm a bit out of my depth. I guess I just wander into Gainan's looking pitiful and ask for help....?

Any suggestions are welcome! My only requirement: whatever we plant must be able to survive while being completely ignored for most of the year.

Leah Duncan & the New Shower Curtain

There have been so many things I've wanted to tell you about lately, but - since getting pregnant the first time - I've been finding it really difficult to form words into coherent sentences. I don't know if it's the pregnancy brain or if I'm really out of practice, but I will attempt to persevere - don't judge me if things are even more poorly written than usual. I'm strugglin'.

I did, however, just take a two hour nap, and Eric is entertaining Cora with dried mangos and some snack/snuggle time so here goes!

I'm a huge fan of Leah Duncan. I'd noticed (and loved) the patterns she made for Schoolhouse Electric Company (left) and the The Link Collective (right), but I hadn't put together that the textiles were designed by the same person until recently.

Then, of course I had to google her and I found that she incorporates her prints into all kinds of media. Pillows, scarves, even jewelry. I love the plants and mountains she depicts and I really love the colors she uses to depict them. Probably because they're all pretty muted. Go figure.

Coincidentally, we now own the shower curtain she designed for Schoolhouse - I wanted something with more color for our bigger, soon to be guest/kiddo bathroom and it definitely fits the bill. I'm hoping to finally paint and add some accessories in there so stay tuned for some inspiration boards on that. Maybe after my next nap.... :)

The Wall

Remember this wall?

I've hated this wall for a really long time. It was completely uncooperative in my attempts at wallpaper removal, stubbornly refused to accept any kind of paint, and flatly rejected any texture that I attempted to apply to it. What a jerk. Even when we finally figured out that we could use oil based primer to cover the entirety of its disgustingness, the remaining wallpaper decided to peel off in huge chunks - which was awesome - but also slightly annoying since it refused to budge with the numerous chemicals, steamers, heat guns, scoring tools, hammers, chisels, etc I had previously applied against the horrid thing.

See what I mean?

Kind of annoying.

We basically ended up painting the entire kitchen with a coat of primer, peeling off wallpaper, and then painting it again. But: the result is amazing and I wish I had done this months, nay, years sooner. Can you be in love with a wall?

As you can see, I still have to paint trim, but this little step toward progress makes me so happy - I think Eric was pretty proud of me, too, since I got a lot of it done by myself (not ALL - my mom helped by peeling wallpaper and distracting my child - but a lot).

AND: this lovely wall is now the perfect spot for my Stendig calendar. Sigh. Love it.