Treasures in the Attic

...Or rather the rafters of the garage, which is where I found this old wood and wire birdhouse.

I oiled it up to give it some luster...

And for now it lives in the porch with the plants... sort of a summer conservatory.

Glorious Glow

Me: You can't tell the difference, can you?

Husband: It's... subtle. 

This is how you know that the dining room paint job that took three days to complete is never going to be noticed by anyone. But it was worth it. Cracks had formed on one wall and on the ceiling (normal "settling" of our 100-year-old house). We had them patched. The previous yellow had more mustard tones, so we opted for "glorious glow." And the requisite ceiling painting, of course. 

The biggest difference is that we have use of our dining room again. I taped and moved the furniture a good month ago. Yes, it's awesome living with me and my "projects."

A new living room

The color is called conch shell, but while painting I decided the best description would be white lady's foundation, (or "pancake" as Ben likes to call it).

I even painted the ceiling (cringe). We'd had it repaired years ago and never painted over the patch. Tip: If you have to paint a ceiling, paint it before you finish the walls. It's harder to edge cleanly on the ceiling. And get ready for some serious paint spatters in the face.

I didn't remember to take any good before shots. But it was RED, my friends. We're talking a-primer-and-two-solid-coats-later kind of red. Or what I also like to call "It's 2001, y'all" red.

We're still recasting the room's details based on the new color. The two prints you see in the first photo are both maps of the city of Minneapolis. On the left: a remarkably detailed paper-cut by our friend Ochen Kaylan. On the right: an Ork neighborhood map.

We've had the yellow porcelain lamp in the basement for ages; I finally took it to our lighting store to find a shade and they gave us a finial to match. Our best Craigslist find to date is this rosewood credenza with tambour doors that we've transformed into a media cabinet.

Next up: The dining room! It's looking a little green against conch shell. Stay tuned.

New Portico

Our house is in desperate need of a new portico and door so combining the forces of Pinterest, Photoshop and Google street view, I came up with the following. We would love to repaint the house, perhaps to a darker gray, but probably will leave it as is. Given the light gray color, I think the navy window and shutter combo looks great, especially with the pop of yellow in the window boxes. What do you think?

Yellow and Gray Wreaths

Since my previous yarn wreath discovery, I have decided our little gray house needs a splash of yellow. Below are some of my favorites on etsy.

Top row, left to right:
1) Sweet Vintage-y Wreath (NuandBoo)
2) Gold and Cream Rosette (Handmadecollectibles)
3) Yellow and Gray Felt Flower Wreath (EllieBootsCreations)
4) Yellow Berry Wreath (WildRidgeDesign)
5) Yarn and Felt Wreath (Windsongcrafts)

Bottom row, left to right:
6) Grapevine wreath with accents (sweetleighmama)
7) Silk yellow mum wreath (AH Christiansons)
8) Grapevine burlap wreath (TheWalnutStreetHouse)
9) Flirty Fall (Sisterly Designs)

Lemon and Berry Wreath

This wreath was inspired by the magnolia branch and pineapple wreaths that are popular in the south. I secured the lemons with wire and harvested the berry sprigs and pine cone from our yard. Easy!

Hand-Embroidered Kitchen Towels

We received some lovely handmade items for our wedding. I'll post a few to share the craftiness! These towels were embroidered by our good friend Jess. She took inspiration from our registry, so many of the items on the towels are also in our kitchen. Jess also authors this delicious food blog.

Yarn Wreath

Check out this cute idea for a wreath posted here on Apartment Therapy. I don't have time to craft myself, but that won't stop me from making suggestions for other people!