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Our Home | Staircase Inspiration

I hope everyone’s had a peaceful weekend. A string of chilly mornings and a touch of the sniffles had us bundled up with hot cups of tea and the first spicy vegetable soup of the season. It was a blessing to slow down a bit and enjoy some time indoors. The cold temps also had us unpacking the rest of our boxes (yes, we still had some to unpack 🙂 ) looking for sweaters and warm blankets. We did manage to make some progress here and there, mostly paint touch-ups on the fence and mowing the backyard but I also had some time to gather my thoughts and work on a new house project we have lined up, our staircase… 

Image of the staircase taken on the day we closed on the house…
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A Fence & A Cottage

Happy Labor Day weekend! Summer is over and gone are the long, sunny days. Instead, fall is in the air, the first of the leaves are browning and the kiddos are back-to-school. Ballet classes, swimming lessons, chess club – busy, busy times ahead for this momma and her girl. I’m trying to plan our schedule carefully and to pencil in enough doing-nothing time in which we’ll just enjoy each other’s company, cook, play and, of course, do nothing . (Although I can’t remember the last time I had nothing to do, haha. I don’t remember how it’s done either! 🙂 ) And speaking of things to do, on the home front we’re wrapping up the whole building-our-picket-fence business. The end is in sight, I can feel it and, most importantly, I can see it. Our contractor just finished installing the two side gates and did and awesome job. The only thing left to do is replace one of the fence panels at the far end (it came warped, the risks of working with pressure treated lumber, I’m told 😉 ) with a fresh one. Then more priming & painting and we’ll be done. We have a three-day window before the temps drop and the rain sets in so we’ll be very busy laboring this weekend!

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What We’ve Been Up To

I hope everyone’s enjoying these last few days of summer. The end of the hot season is bittersweet around here. We had the best time with our girl, we worked so hard on our cottage, took long nature walks and made countless trips to the pool. We read and listened to music, and just enjoyed the bounty of summer – fresh fruits and time outdoors. I just love how the days feel lazy and slow-paced mid-July and August.  I’m also laughing because I just called our summer days “slow” when in fact, since our move, the days have been anything but. When we moved into our new house we made a long list of projects we wanted to tackle. Some of them easy and straightforward that we could do ourselves (like painting, adding crown molding and new baseboard molding), others more involved that would require contractor work (kitchen upgrades for example). And although we’ve checked quite a few things off of our to-do list, it still feels like we’re only beginning. Overall, my plan for the house is to straighten out the architecture a bit and simplify the floor plan before we start investing in new furnishings. To that extent, we removed the old fireplace screen, painted our living room walls a soft, warm white which I LOVE (Benjamin Moore – Linen White) and used our existing furniture to decorate. I love this room right now and I promise I’ll photograph it soon and share it here on the blog. It’s nothing fancy, and items in here have been repurposed and recycled but it’s so cozy and comfortable  it’s become my favorite space in the house. I’m also learning to be patient and wait for the good things – home improvement on a budget takes time. Nevertheless, some things did get done.

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The Joy of the Hunt

A week away from blogging has made me realize just how much I miss you, both blog readers and bloggers alike! Friday afternoon we returned from a short trip to New Haven, CT  relaxed after a few days at the beach but also exited to keep working on our cottage. Right before we left I spruced up the house and left everything in order because it makes coming home from a trip so much better. Upon returning, we flung open the windows, quickly vacuumed the house, dusted the rooms, watered our plants, loaded the washer and then put on a kettle. Surprisingly, we were ready to tackle the LONG list of house to dos right away and thanks to a tireless (and amazing) husband, we started working on the yard right away. We are doers by nature and taking a break from routine has made us that much eager to get things checked off of our project list. (We’re crazy!)

Downtown New Haven – I was smitten with this classic New England facade
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Design Books to Read This Fall

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but fall is approaching faster than some of us might like, or wish. I love summer and we’ve enjoyed the best weather this past couple of months but we’ve been so busy feathering our nest that we didn’t feel August sneaking up on us. I love summer, yes I do, and although I do not like the thought of it ending anytime soon, we do have quite a few things to look forward to this fall. One of them is the design book launch season! Are you excited? So many great designers have new books coming out this fall that my Amazon cart is bursting! Here are some of my favorite new releases, available to pre-order, as well as a few seasoned ones that I’m coveting as well.

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