• entryway refresh with buffalo check curtains and new front door window insert
    colonial farmhouse,  decorating,  DIY

    Entryway Refresh and a New Front Door Window

    Last month we did an entryway refresh on our home and now I’m wondering why we waited so long? That’s how it always goes. I prefer to sit with things before I write about them. It gives me some perspective on the change. It helps minimize the number of instances where I have to apologize because whatever thing we changed didn’t hold up or perform as expected. Also, it gives us time to “laugh about this later” when things go wrong and they always do with our projects. I really want to meet these people where things seem to run like clockwork for them. What’s that like? How do they…

  • daffodils in front of a stone wall
    gardening and landscape

    Daffodils Along Our Stone Wall

    The last few years I’ve been planting a gift for Future Me to enjoy – daffodils along the stone wall that runs the length of our property. This stone wall “protects” our property from the road, meaning it’s very visible to anyone who drives by, so I’d like to think these daffodils are a gift for my neighbors too. Everyone likes daffodils, right? Surely they must be one of the least controversial things on this planet. I put the word protects in quotes in the above paragraph because I’m not sure how much a 2-foot tall stone fence or wall really protects us from anything. The mailman and the deer…

  • easter table with tulips and embroidered napkin with easter egg on the happy list
    happy list

    Happy List: #386

    Hello, hello! It is delightful to see you here. Welcome! I hope you’ve had a decent week with more ups than downs. On the blog, it felt particularly jam-packed. I wrote about the quick curb appeal project of adding faux windows to our garage. What I love about this project beside the low cost was that when I change my mind (and I will), I can simply remove the window magnets and go about my day. No effort required to put it back to the way it was. I also wrote about the new-to-us drink table I placed next to the bench in our kitchen. I’ve noticed that the drink…

  • wood drink table set next to a farmhouse stye wood bench in a colonial farmhouse
    decorating

    What a Difference a Drink Table Makes

    The thing you never knew you needed is a drink table. It’s a mini side table that’s just big enough to hold a drink or two. It could also hold a plant. Truth be told, I think the origin story of the drink table is that someone killed a plant they had on a plant stand. After that, this bright bulb decided the only thing they were good at watering was themselves, so they turned that plant stand into a drink stand. Play to your strengths, people! I love a multifunctional piece of furniture, so no complaints here. I just added a drink table to the bench that sits in…

  • DIY

    Faux Garage Door Windows – Easy Curb Appeal Upgrade

    I’m about to blow your mind with how easy it is to upgrade the look of a garage door with faux garage door windows. I know you have your skeptical eyes on right now. Good. That will make this even more impactful. What are these so-called faux windows made of and how “easy” is this DIY really? The faux garage door windows are made from magnets. If you can place a magnet on a metal surface, that’s how easy this DIY is. A toddler could do this DIY, but they’d probably put the faux garage door windows on the bottom of the door and all on the same panel like…

  • gold leaf wood easter eggs on the happy list
    happy list

    Happy List: #385

    Hello! I’m thrilled to welcome you here on the first Happy List of April! January and February dragged by and then March was gone in the blink of an eye. Funny how that happens. This week on the blog I shared how I decorated wood bunnies to look like faux chocolate bunnies. It is so much fun to make Easter crafts. It’s almost as good as Christmas crafts. I also shared some fun gardening or outdoor-related finds I have my eye on for myself or for others. It’s not quite warm enough to simply hangout outside yet, but we’re getting close. I can feel it! In case this is your…

  • realistic tree faces from etsy shop tree poetry store fun gardening finds
    gardening and landscape

    Fun Outdoor Gardening Finds

    Now that spring is here, many of us will be looking for excuses to be outside and gardening gives us so many excuses. Too many, really. It’s the overachiever of reasons for us to be outside. Between the weeds and the thirsty plants, it could be your full-time job. But wait. You probably already have one of those. Same. I found some fun outdoor gardening finds recently and between Mother’s Day, Easter, birthdays, etc. These are great ideas to treat yourself or someone else. Check them out! Brass Rabbit Spigot Handle | Etsy I’m into bunnies lately, so this brass rabbit spigot handle caught my eye, but it comes in…

  • faux chocolate easter bunny made with wood bunny and gold leaf
    Crafts,  holidays

    Faux Chocolate Bunny – With Wood Rabbit and Gold Leaf

    You can’t eat it, but the Faux Chocolate Bunny I made for Easter decor is pretty cute. Plus, you can decorate with it year after year. That real chocolate bunny you bought won’t even last a day. Let’s hop right to the how-to. Here’s what you need to make a Faux Chocolate Bunny: wood bunny (set of 2 in this pack) dark brown stain or paint gold leaf gilding adhesive or Mod Podge small paintbrush Polyurethane or Mod Podge for sealing How to make a Faux Chocolate Bunny: Step 1: Stain or paint your wood bunny.  I used a honey-colored stain, but dark brown paint would work too. Here’s how…

  • paper flowers on the happy list
    happy list

    Happy List: #384

    Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It’s so good to have you here. This week on the blog I shared my dreams to add a hidden door in our house. I had to write that blog post in order to manifest it. Think it will work? I also announced how we plan to use the remaining, unfinished part of our Carriage House. The good news is that we started work on this space this week. WOOHOO! You can follow along with that on Instagram stories and I’ll post occasional blog updates too. In case this is your first time here, I purposefully keep the Happy List focused on the…

  • DIY

    Stone Carriage House Gym Expansion Part 1

    Last year, we made over one room in our stone Carriage House and turned it into a home gym. It took us at least six weeks of continual work to make that happen, partly because it’s a long, laborious process and partly because there are only two of us. The DIY experience is one constant reminder that you are limited by the amount of time in a day and the number of hands you possess. You’d think evolution would have fixed one of those problems by now. The Carriage House is a separate building on our property and it is divided into three parts. The entire top floor is a…