Our Pandemic Projects & This Week’s Finds

To say that this has been a whirlwind week would be an understatement… We wrapped up another school year with our little one graduating third grade this Friday, and it felt like such an accomplishment. (Most days, getting dressed feels like an accomplishment around here. )  We’re so proud of her and the grace & sweetness she displayed during this incredibly difficult year for us all. A year that has paradoxically felt like a minute and a century, depending on the time of day and the amount of caffeine in my system. I missed Friday’s post where I wanted to share with you a few of our favorite pandemic projects (those projects that kept us sane while the world around us was crumbling) so I thought I’d blend two posts into one. Our rose-covered trellis has been a lesson in and of itself. Patience is not my strength but in later years I’ve learnt to wait for the good things, and gardening truly is a waiting game. We planted these roses on my husband’s birthday, mid-May last year, and waited and waited for the bushes to grow and cover the trellis. We got baby plants last Spring and this is one year’s growth. I don’t know if it’s a lot or a little but novice gardeners that we are, we’re impressed! My husband snapped this photo a couple of weeks ago when the New Dawn roses were just beginning to open…

We also added a gravel path last summer and have plans on enclosing the bit of garden behind, adjacent to the house, with more picket fence panels, another arbor opposite the one in the picture, more garden beds and a central garden feature (I’m thinking a bird bath, an armillary or a bird feeder). Anyway, we’re still a long way from where we’re envisioning our garden to be but we have a plan 🙂 What has been your pandemic project? 

And because this has been the busiest week for us this year, yesterday we had a filming crew at the house for my husband’s work. He filmed a sequence of math lessons for an online school dedicated to working with high school students interested in math, arts and the social sciences on a platform called Massolit – and they used our (almost) finished library as a set. He is so excited about the room that I thought I’d share a peek with you. It’s not finished or carefully styled (my husband shoved the books in in a hurry, before the filming crew arrived), but we love the feel of the room already and thought you’d like a glimpse.

Our home library last summer, when the carpentry work began:

And here it is, the same corner this morning:

… and side by side… I plan to carefully sort through the books and arrange them by genre. One day…

While I designed the interior architecture of the room, from the trim and paneling style to the bookshelves – measurements and all – when it came to painting them I ended up being my worse client because I couldn’t decide between two scenarios I had in mind – dark and moody or light, clean and bright. Light and bright won and the shelves are now Linen White, by Benjamin Moore. It feels airy and open but also warm and cozy. More on the library project to come – beams will go in, to extend those in the living room, a new sleeper sofa, slipcovers for the wingbacks, window treatments, nice pillows… Styled shelves, etc. But for now, victory.

Anyway, that’s about it for updates on the home front. Here are this week’s finds:

1. Designer Philip Gorrivan Revives an 18th-Century Connecticut Home

2. A Provencal Farmhouse Exquisitely Decorated in Traditional Style

3. Bamboo Picture Frames

4. Scalloped Rectangular Tray

5. Super Cozy Chatsworth Chair

6. Swing arm library sconce

7. I’ve been planning to add more cottage charm to our flower garden and thought a bird house or feeder would look wonderful. Here is one of many I liked:

Large Bird House

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely rest of your weekend!