Tips to Prune a PeeGee Hydrangea
Posted by LIz
Happy May Day!!
I love to garden… well lately it’s more like: I love gardens… ha ha! Ever since moving, we drastically cut down on our gardening chores. Yay! More time to enjoy the beach. But we do still garden a bit, so in celebration of May Day, I’m going to give you a few tips that we’ve learned on how to prune a PeeGee Hydrangea. (or a Paniculata Hydrangea)
DIY Button Magnets
Posted by LIz
Buttons, Buttons… whose got buttons? Boy, I sure do… I’ve had a button ‘collection’ forever! In fact, I somehow absorbed my grandma’s tin of old buttons when I got married, and have added to it over the past 35 years. I’m so glad to have used a few of the vintage buttons I have, on this easy and fun craft, DIY button magnets. With this super strong glue, I’m hoping these button magnets will last a long time.
Mix and Match Dining Table and Chairs
Posted by LIz
I love having a dining room, but I don’t love it if it feels too formal and stiff. That’s one of the reasons I always have a mix and match dining room table and chairs set. Not only does a mix and match set keep the room from feeling a bit too stuffy, it also can set off the contrasting finishes. We recently had to change our dining table and chairs and here’s why…
Cleaning Power in this Jug
Posted by LIz
There really is amazing cleaning power in this jug! It even could be considered stupendous… Life changing?… well, I suppose… Yes, it is life changing… So what is all the hoopla about?
Striped Candlestick Centerpiece
Posted by LIz
Creating new centerpieces is a favorite activity of mine. Our dining table is a main thoroughfare, and is the main vision upon entering the front door, so it bears some responsibility to say a little something. This striped candlesticks centerpiece does just that… it says a little something fun!
Pot Racks
Posted by LIz
Pot racks… I love them! Honestly, I don’t know where people keep all their large pots and pans without using a pot rack. I have created a pot rack in the kitchen of our new 100 year old house that I’m super excited to show you, but first, I wanted to recap a couple other ones…
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: beadboard, home to cottage, hometocottage, kitchen, pan, pot, pot-rack, potrack
Rooftop Garden
Posted by LIz
Atop one of the floors of the Fairmont in San Francisco is this lovely formal rooftop garden, with English influences, such as this open lattice style fence and gateway. Our gardens in the Midwest, won’t be lush and green for a while yet, so while I’m waiting I thought I’d take a look back at my January visit to the Fairmont’s rooftop garden.
DIY Wide Plank Laminate Flooring
Posted by LIz
Have you ever installed laminate flooring? It’s a fairly easy DIY project… with basic know-how and depending on the room, perhaps a few special cuts in a couple of pieces, but overall with pretty basic skills, it makes for a great DIY project. Here’s what I’ve learned installing our wide plank laminate flooring… Read the rest of this entry →
Kitchen Before and After
Posted by LIz
Reading about kitchen transformations are always so much fun, especially when you get to see a kitchen before and after! So I’m going to revisit, in a manner of speaking that is, the kitchen in our former house. So get your hard hats out! I’ll be showing some of the things we did to transform this kitchen. Even though we kept the cabinets, and basic floor plan, we revamped or altered in one form or another, basically every surface of this space. We added new cabinets and built in a couple of pantries, added a 2nd sink, and opened up a few walls or doors, replaced all the appliances and plumbing fixtures and light fixtures. In other words, by the time we sold this house last year, the kitchen looked very different from what it was when we originally purchased it back in the mid 1990’s.
Looking at the Classics for Inspiration
Posted by LIz
It is by studying period pieces, houses and structures that we gain an understanding of the authentic style and gain inspiration to reinterpret that into a contemporary design. So let’s do just that… let’s take a peek back today, looking at the classics for inspiration. You may be surprised to see this period piece, and see just how much it can influence today’s styles…
Before and After: Landscape and a DIY Pergola
Posted by LIz
With Spring here, I figured outside gardening and landscaping plans are being formed by some of you, so I wanted to share this before and after of our former house’s front garden area where we dramatically changed the look by landscaping and constructing this DIY pergola from scratch. I hope it will inspire you to see what a dramatic difference landscape and details can make for your house too!
Using an Antique Cookstove in the Kitchen
Posted by LIz
I found this antique cookstove, with it’s tile exterior, on Craigslist, but it was a battle. A battle talking my husband into getting it and a battle getting it cleaned up enough to ever think about bringing it into our house. But now that the battles are over with a victory win, we BOTH are loving this antique addition to the kitchen in our new 100 year old house.
Here’s what happened, and how I found room for it…
