2012 Home Goals

Last week I shared a few personal resolutions for the new year, but today I'm focusing on tangible goals for our home.  Have you guys read The Nesting Place blog?  I stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago, and was hooked when I read her tag line, "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."  And "do less, be more."  LOVE that!  I have a hard time finding this balance, and often strive to make things in our home "just right."  But, I see the futility in that, and long for more simplicity.  The Nester encourages us to love what we have in our home and to make it our own, rather than trying to mimic others.  Her philosophy kind of goes along with my personal resolution this year to love what I have. 

So, she posed some thought provoking questions and invited us all to share our own home goals.  Frank and I sat down to talk through ideas that are do-able for this year.  This is what we came up with.

1) Frank cut down a tree in the front yard this fall, and the stump still needs to come out.

2)  Our backyard is quite wide and shallow, backed by a steep ivy-covered bank.  Currently there are four small trees/shrubs scattered randomly in the open grass.  We need to get those suckers out, to open up the yard.  We will relocate them to more suitable homes.  There's a small dogwood, a rose trellis, a flaming azalea, and a random shrub.

3)  Our neighbors did a LOT of work to their house this year, including adding a wall along our property line.  Unfortunately we had just put a fence there last year, so theirs has rendered most of ours useless.  Here's what our fence looked like then.  See how it comes out of the side of the house, then goes back, all the way up that steep bank in the back? 

This is what it looks like now:

Their fence is a little more substantial than ours, would you say?  Most of our fence panels have been removed, but the front facing gate area needs to remain and function for keeping the dog in.  These harsh winter shadows are making it difficult to see the gap, but there is one.  We've propped loose panels to block the opening for now.  Here's an angle from our back yard.  Is anyone in need of picket fence panels?  We have 5 or 6 to get rid of. 

So, we need to reconfigure the fence in this area.  And remove the excess fence and posts along that wall.

 It wasn't easy building the fence on that steep bank.  Of course we cemented those posts so they'd be extra secure.  Those'll be reeeeal fun to get out.  Maybe we'll just take a chainsaw to it. 

So far the projects are pretty small and could be tackled easily in a weekend each.  Now, for the big one...

4)  Finish the porch. 

I am SOOOO super excited to have this porch, and so very grateful to my handsome, supportive, loving, capable husband for building it.  He has worked so hard to get to this point, slowly but surely.  I'll write up an entire post soon about the process so far and my vision for the finished porch.  This is what we have left to do:
- seal, grout, then seal again the tile floors
- install 2 porch doors
- build the railings
- cover the columns with finish wood
- build a small platform and stairs to the yard (to the left of that sliding door above)
- install the finish boards on the ceiling
- install electrical/lighting
- paint it all
- screen it in
- furnish and decorate  (my favorite part!)
- finish the bottom of the porch with lattice or some slats or something (including a small door for access) 
- landscape along the perimeter

There's a lot to do.  Having the little Bean around has slowed things down a bit.  It's difficult to work on the porch on the weekends, when we can all be spending family time together.   I'm always amazed to see bloggers doing major projects with little ones around.  How do they do it?!

5) Fix the rail on these stairs.  It's rusted through and really sketchy. 

The plan is to build a deck in this space that will join up to the porch.  You'll walk out of this door onto the future deck, and could turn right into the porch or go down to the yard via stairs. 

But, keeping the Nester's suggestions in mind, we're taking it slow and not pushing ourselves to have this deck portion done this year.  Perhaps it will happen next year.

Also on the "maybe" list:
- Our master bathroom is a hot mess.  Should we find ourselves with a surplus of time and money, we'd love to gut and reno it.  I'll spare you a photo, but leave you with this visual:  Avocado green tile, some of which was covered with beadboard by the previous owner.  The grout in the cave-like shower is all chippy and broken, and I'm scared to even think about what's growing behind it. 

- The black wrought iron on the front porch is waaaaay past it's prime.  Let's revisit the first photo.

 Our front porch is low enough to the ground where we could just have a couple nice substantial painted wood columns, without railings.  I'd love to replace the weird ceramic tile on the floor of the porch, too. Again, when win the lottery.  Or maybe next year!

There are a million other things I'd love to do, inside and out, but this list feels honest and doable.

Thanks, Nester, for inspiring us to think through this! 

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Garlicky Goodness

Our holiday break is wrapping up and things around here are getting back to normal.  Elsie spends one morning a week at "school," and today is her first day of "class" for this year.  What do <1 year olds do at school, you might ask.  Good question.  I'll check with her and get back to you.  Anyway, it's so nice to have a few hours a week to run errands, do projects, blog, or if I'm feeling lazy...do nothing at all!  That never actually happens.  I typically feel so excited and overwhelmed about these precious hours, I cram in too much stuff and end up feeling more stressed out than I did when I dropped her off.  Must find balance.

Enough of that....I'm here to share one of our favorite recipes!  This soup is one of our winter staples.  I make a point to keep the ingredients on hand, and it's super easy to whip up for a quick dinner.

It can easily be made vegetarian, too.  Serve it with a simple green salad, and you're set!  I'll walk you through it. 

First start out with white beans (Great Northern Beans), an onion, lots of garlic, olive oil, stock of some sort, and herbs.  I had just made a huge pot of beef stock, so it was all hot and ready to go.  Tee hee hee.  Next time I make stock, I'll share it with you....it's sooo easy, and saves so much money.  Store-bought stock is pricey!  We had some fresh thyme, so that's what I used for the herb, but any fresh or dried herb would do. 

Roughly chop the onion and garlic, and throw it into a pot with a good dose of olive oil over medium-high heat.  We'll blend the soup later, so you don't have to be picky about the size of the pieces. 

Add in the herbs, and let it cook for a while.  About 10 minutes.  Lots of olive oil will keep it from browning and sticking.

Meanwhile, if you're using canned beans rinse them well in the sink.  It kind of weirds me out to see how foamy beans are when you rinse them.  Makes me glad I'm not eating that syrup-y liquid they come in.

Now, toss the beans into the pot.

Add the stock.  It's best if it's hot when you add it.

Cover this and bring it to a simmer.  Let it simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.  Then, break out your immersion blender.  If you don't have one of these fabulous devices, add it to your wish list.  Then pour the contents of the pot into a regular blender or food processor and blend well.

I like to blend it until it's smooth, but you could leave it semi chunky if you'd like.

Bring it back to a simmer, add salt and pepper to taste, and you're done!

Now, you could serve the soup just as it is.  But, to elevate it to the next level, you must do the following.

Toast some crusty bread, and place it in your bowl.  Cut a piece of raw garlic in half and rub the cut side all over the bread.   Toss the garlic, it has served it's purpose.

Dump a good amount of shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

Ladle your soup directly on top of that.

Sprinkle some herbs on top for a bit of color, and you're done!

When you scoop your first bite, cut into the bread with your spoon, and be sure to get some of everything in that bite: bread, cheese, soup.

 Look at that gooey cheese! 

I think you guys will love this recipe!  That garlic flavor on the bread really comes through, bright and flavorful.  Without it, the flavor is more subtle and sweet.  Here's the recipe:


White Bean Garlic Soup
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 T fresh herbs OR 1T dried herbs (parsley, thyme, and/or rosemary, etc)
1/4 c olive oil
4  16oz cans of Great Northern Beans, rinsed well
8 cups of stock (beef or chicken or veggie)
salt and pepper to taste
Optional:  crusty bread, 1 more clove of garlic, Parmesan cheese

Over medium-high heat, saute the onion, garlic, and herbs in the olive oil for 10 minutes.  Add the beans and stock to the pot.  Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.  Blend well with an immersion blender.  Return to a simmer, then add salt and pepper to taste. 

Toast the bread, and place it in your soup bowl.  Slice the garlic in half, and rub the cut side all over the bread.  Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese.  Ladle the soup over the bread.    Serve it up!

Oh, and here's your gratuitous picture of my little helper, getting ready to load the dishwasher.

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Our House, Elsie's Nursery

I'm back with another glimpse into our little home.  One of my favorite things about being pregnant was designing the nursery!  I took these photos just before Elsie was born, so they're almost a year old now, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like then.  Things are shifting around, as she grows and as her needs change.  Soon I'll write up a post about that, and what to consider when decorating a nursery, knowing how things will change as the babe grows.

This is what the room looked like before:

The wall color, window treatments, and light fixture above were all as the previous owner had left them.  I had been using it as my craft/sewing/junk room.  This photo was taken after I cleaned out all of my stuff.

We knew we were having a girl, and I wanted to create a unique, eclectic nursery with feminine touches, without using a lot of pink. 

I was inspired to choose a navy blue for the walls by Lauren Liess.  I just loved her son's nursery, and am truly inspired by all of her design work! 

We owned a dresser to be used as the changing table (it's the companion to the one in our guest room), and some bookshelves and a desk.  The only furniture we bought was the crib, and the upholstered chair (a $20 thrift find). 

The footstool was passed down to me.  It's part of a glider set like this.

source

I made a slipcover to hide all of that wood.  The pleats in the slipcover allow it to still glide easily. 

The curtain panels are painter's drop cloths from Lowe's.  I pleated them at the top and hemmed them to the right length.  It's definitely the cheapest way to buy neutral fabric, at about $10 a panel.

One of my favorite parts of the room is the gallery wall behind the chair, inspired by the Petersik's nursery.  This vintage French magazine advert was my starting point for the whole room... a watercolor of blues, yellows and a few touches of pink.

We picked it up at a flea market in Provence a few years ago.  I just loved the colors and whimsy, and each time I see it I'm reminded of our amazing trip.  I had it matted in pale pink to feminize the room a bit.  It's one of the few pink things in the room.

I made the dog and cat silhouettes after seeing the idea on Prudent Baby.  The cross stitch of dancers on the top right was made by mom  for my childhood bedroom.  The painting of the boy is a study that was done of Frank as a child, for a larger portrait.  The two black and white photos are of Frank and I at about 18 months old.

 It's difficult to see, but on the bottom right I framed a tiny pale pink baby's vest that was worn by my mom in the 50s. 

That Brian Andreas hanging to the right of the closet doors was in Frank's childhood room. 

I found the globe below at World Market.  It's propped on a small glass tea light holder.  I can tell you now what a great purchase Sophie was!  Elsie still loves her, even after 9 months of play time.   She's scuffed up and worn down now, but well loved.

On the little bentwood chair hangs a very special quilt.  In the 1980s my grandmother made it for my future children.  I was a child at the time, but she had the foresight to create this heirloom gift.

She passed away long before I even thought about having children.

Mom and I spent a fun afternoon creating the mobile you see hanging over the crib.

It's simply scrapbook paper circles and buttons hanging from a wire frame we created.

The framed map on the wall below is actually a piece of wrapping paper I got from Paper Source.  It's a vintage map of Paris, and a great inexpensive piece of art!  We happened to have a frame that fit it perfectly.  Woot woot for happy coincidences!

Vintage childrens' books were gifted to us by our families.

Now, for the crib bedding.  We went with crisp white sheets, as I love on all our beds.  I whipped up the bumpers and crib skirt myself.

I wanted the skirt to "grow' with the crib, as Elsie grows and we move the mattress lower.  So, I simply sewed up four individual panels, one for each side of the crib.  I then pinned those to a mattress cover that was exactly the size of the crib.  That cover and the pins sit right below the mattress.  We've since lowered the mattress, so I repinned the panels to be the right length for the new mattress height, and it all works really well.

Does that make sense?  I'd be happy to do a tutorial post on this.  Leave me a comment if you'd be interested in that.

On the left side of the crib is a bookshelf, similar the one under the Paris map.  These two bookshelves used to belong to my grandmother.  They're similar sizes, so I painted them both a crisp glossy white, then lined the backs with polk-a-dot wrapping paper.  It makes them feel like a set, even though they're not.

Hanging above are more vintage baby clothes that were passed down to me.  I love that these pieces have sentimental value, and as a novice seamstress I can appreciate all of the intricate details (can you see that scalloped hem!?).

Behind the door hangs a cork board I covered in fabric and ribbon.  The white tacks on the blue ribbon are pushpins.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the nursery.  Leave a comment if you have any questions!

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