Summertime Breakfast

William asks for pancakes and bacon, to be eaten on the patio, almost every Saturday.

Lately the mornings are too cool and overcast with our typical June gloom to eat on the patio.

And often we're just too busy for making pancakes and bacon.

But today was the first time in a long string of Saturdays that we weren't hosting a party, heading out somewhere, or had a big project to conquer.

And the sun was out!

So breakfast on the patio it was.

Oh how I love a sunny, summer, Saturday!

To make things even better, we had our first peaches from the bare root tree we planted last year.
And I put some of our black berries in the pancakes.
I think they were the best pancakes I have ever had.

And, I'm feeling better.
Not 100%, but about 80%, and that feels about a million times better than I have for the past 3 days.
No more body aches and fevers.
Instead a mommy who feels like getting up and making breakfast.
Breakfast together at the turquoise picnic table?
It's one of my most favorite things.
Ever.

Good idea, William.
You are a boy after my own heart.


Now I have the rest of the day to enjoy.
I'm going to try to resist the urge to get things done since I am feeling better.
Instead, I'm going to play chess with William while the baby naps and the rest of the family is out looking at a vintage fridge.
Yes, that's right.
A vintage fridge.
I'll keep you posted.
Happy Summer Saturday!
Love from,
Greta

Turquoise Paint

It feels like eons since I've written a post.

There are so many reasons why I've been absent.

Some of the more complicated ones are discussed here.

Others are less complicated. 

And a whole lot more fun.

Like painting.

We've been painting things turquoise.

The weather has been so beautiful lately that we spend as much time as we can outside.

We do a lot of our school work outside on a blanket under the avocado tree.

Spending so much time in the backyard has me itching to do all sorts of projects out there.

One of the things we've tackled is the playhouse.

Take a look at this floor.

It was crying for a makeover.
So we gave it one.

James did the cutting in.
He has a steadier hand than I do.
And he loves being better at things than I am.
It's any kid's dream, right?

William and Lilly did the rest of the floor.

There are a few places with extra paint.
But I'd rather they get to paint their own playhouse and make a few mistakes, than I do it all myself and make a few less mistakes.
Because really, only James would have done it perfectly anyway.

We've done a bit more on the playhouse.
Maybe I'll get around to doing a little tour of it soon.


After painting the playhouse floor, I got out the turquoise paint again.

And I gave our picnic table it's annual, summer coat.

It looks so good in turquoise.
Practically everything does.


There have been lots of other projects, big (sorting and organizing hundreds of books) and small (spray painting light switch plates).
I hope to share them with you.
Sooner or later.
If you've stuck around despite my sporadic posting, I appreciate it.
I do like being here when I get the chance.


Love from,
Greta

For the Love of Spray paint

My husband is addicted to spray paint.

From the amount of spray paint cans we have in our garage, you might suspect him of being a tagger.

But he's not.

He just loves to spray paint furniture.

Lamps.

Hardware for the front door.

Mail boxes.

Halloween costumes.

You name it, he'll try spray painting it.

We (mostly he) tackled these lovely tables over Thanksgiving weekend.

They were in pretty bad shape.

Lots of scratches, dings and a generally ugly finish.

Just as we started sanding them, I remembered, "I have to get some before pictures!"

Here they are having been just touched with the sandpaper.

When sanding for spray painting, it is important to give the piece of furniture a "tooth".
That is something for the paint to grab onto.

We did not sand deep or hard enough to take out all the scratches.
We just gave each table a good rubbing down and made sure there were not any real uneven spots in the finish.
The secret to a good spray paint job lies not just in the sanding but in using a primer.
Get gray primer.
It works best.
And give your piece a real solid base coat with that primer.
It will make all the difference in the world.

Let the primer dry well and then put down your final color.
This turquoise is amazing.
It is really saturated.
It makes me happy every time I look at it.
I could not be more pleased with the end result.
Spray paint magic!

Aaron also hit this lamp I bought at an estate sale more than a year ago.

I really bought it just for the shade.

The lamp is kind of weird.

Aaron said it reminded him of a bomb from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.

So he hit it with some orange spray paint to see if it would look any better.
I like it a lot better.
Still not sure if I love it, but I'll give it some time and see if it grows on me.

And just to give you a final glimpse of the wonder of spray paint, here is the table and lamp before spray paint:

And here they are after spray paint:

Magic, I tell you, magic.

What do you love to spray paint?

Love from,

Greta

Cut the Clutter: Vintage Paper Trays and Organizing the Kids' Art

One of the most often asked questions I get about my house is how I keep it clutter free.

Let me tell you, it's a battle.

Part of it stems from my own neurosis.

I am kind of a freak about clutter.

Or, according to my mom, I am a total freak about clutter.

But she's a freak about crumbs on the floor, so we all have our own issues.

For me, keeping the clutter to a minimum is one of the ways that helps me happily spend my days in a small house with 4 other people.

We're all here together, all. the. time.

There just isn't room for clutter.

I subscribe to the theory that everything has a place and I try really, really hard to put things back right away. (95% of the problem is not putting things away.)

I encourage (sometimes it sounds more like nagging, but, whatever) my kids to do the same thing.

And my husband.

But, keep in mind that all of my drawers, cupboards and closets are not clean.

I do try to keep them that way.

It's just that there are a couple drawers and closets that are like black holes. 

No matter how hard I try, they are always a freakish mess.  

I try to pretend they don't exist.

And, if the rest of the house is pretty clutter free, I can handle a messy closet here and there.

Kind of.

So, since I get so many questions about clutter, I thought I'd share some of my cutting clutter ideas.

Here's the first one.

I've been trying for a while to come up with a workable solution for organizing the piles of drawings my boys produce on a daily basis. 

I think I finally figured it out.

Best part?

It involves vintage!

Read on.

........................................................................................................

I have a soft spot in my heart for vintage office supplies.

I've shared this shop with you before.

It's just a little bit of vintage office supply heaven over there.

I could spend 100s of dollars.

But I don't have 100s of dollars to spend on vintage office supplies.

That's why I was giddy when I found these 3 beauties at a rummage sale for $2.

$2!

A sturdy, well worn stapler, a solid metal 3 hole punch and a perfect paper tray.
True, they aren't fabulous colors ( i dream of finding an orange or red one that isn't priced at a small fortune) and as I said, they're worn.
But you can't even get a crap, plastic stapler from Target for $2, and the one you do buy will break almost immediately.
So, this stapler might be worn, but it will last.
And besides, it has character.
Anyway, as stated, I was giddy.


I brought them home and put them in the office/schoolroom.
And wondered...how will I use that paper tray?

I looked at the boys' side of the desk and inspiration hit.
A place for their art.
Have I mentioned that I hate clutter?
It is my nemesis.
Clutter makes me tense.
Call it a disease if you will, but a clutter free house is balm to my soul.
So looking at this pile of papers every day drives me mad.

My boys draw constantly.
Their desk is always covered with a pile of their drawings.
Every so often I go through it, save a few treasures and toss the rest.
I can't keep it all.
Nor do I want to, because, let's be honest, some of the drawings are not very good.
But I don't want to sort through the pile every day, and sometimes not even every week.
So the pile grows and grows, until it takes over the whole desk, and I get all panicky and frazzled and go through the papers acting like a crazy woman.
Am I the only one who does this?
Please say no.

Enter the vintage paper tray solution.
Each boy gets a tray.
At the end of the day, they sort their own papers, deciding which to keep and which to toss.
At the end of the week, or whenever I get to it, I sort through the keepers, decide which ones we are really keeping, and put those away in a binder.
The desk top is clutter free.
And my sanity is restored.

All that for less than $2.

You gotta love a good rummage sale.

Now I just have to find a try for Lilly and Davy.

Keep your eyes peeled for me.

Love from,

Greta

PS Just to clarify, no one else's clutter bothers me.  

Just my own.  

I don't live with your clutter, and probably would not even notice it when I was at your house.  

So don't get all freaky on me and say, "I could never have Greta over--she'll judge me for my clutter."

I wouldn't.

Although, I did think it was fun to clean my best friend's room when we were little.  

I doubt she thought it was fun.  

But I was cleaning her room for her, so she got something out of it.

I liked organizing things.

What can I say--I've always been abnormal.

I Love a Man Who Appreciates a Good Throw Pillow

While we were on vacation up north, Aaron bought this pillow.

We saw it in the best fabric store EVER one afternoon while we were in Paso Robles.

He said, "I really like this pillow.  Should we get it?"

Ummm.  Yeah.

People often tell me how lucky I am that Aaron and I have the same design sense.
That we compliment each other.
That we have the same vision.
It's true.
I am lucky.
Funny thing is, he is the one who has informed my style.
He had the vision and I caught on.
Sometimes I take it in places he might not go, but usually he likes what I come up with.
We rarely argue about how to decorate.
Anymore.

Another thing I hear often is, "I don't know what I'd do if my husband had an opinion about how to decorate the house."
I'm actually glad I don't have that problem.
I love decorating our house together.  
It's fun.
In the distant past, I didn't always trust him, and so we'd fight, and then I'd give in.
Because, ultimately, it never mattered as much to me as it did to him.
And then, oh bitter pill, he was (almost) always right.
So now, if our opinions differ, I usually say, "let's go with your idea.  You're usually right anyway."
(Feel free to comment now on how lucky Aaron is to have me)
And, to prove my point, look how good the pillow looks in my green rocker.

The man has a great sense of style.
And besides, how can I not love a man who cares about a throw pillow?
One who actually knows what a throw pillow is, for that matter.
Yep.  I'm lucky.


The pillow has also come in handy for other things.
It makes a good pillow for ring bearer practice.
See?

My little brother got married this weekend.
All 3 of the kids were in the wedding.
So this week they donned their wedding duds and practiced a bit.
The new pillow came in handy.

I can not resist a small boy in a tie.
Seriously.
The cutest thing ever.

For a few more photos from the actual wedding day, go to Lilly and the Brothers.

To find out the name of the awesome fabric store, come back tomorrow.

I plan to do some blogging now that our whirlwind month is over.

See you then!

Love from,

Greta

Home Tour

Welcome to our home!
Built in 1952, our house is a fixer.
Our vision is to return the house to way it might have looked, inside and out, when it was built.
We've been here for 2 and half years and have done a lot, and there is always more to be done.


We're big fans of mid century modern design, but our house won't look like a spread from Design Within Reach.
(because, frankly, we do not have $200 to spend on a folding chair. seriously.  we prefer the $3 vintage sort from the thrift store)
And hopefully our home doesn't have this vibe either. 
(go check out the link--hilarious)
Our home reflects who we are.
So next to our Eames rocker, you might see a table we bought at a garage sale.
We're not purists.
We just like good design, beautiful colors and filling our home with the things that make us happy and tell our story.


Please take a look around and see what we've done with the place so far.

The Living Room

The Art on our Walls

The Kitchen Remodel

The Vintage, Metal Kitchen Cabinets

The Baby's Corner

The Kids' Room

There's still more to show you.

Our bedroom, the school room, Aaron's studio, the outside, laundry room.....

And we'll get there.

Slowly but surely.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Check back to see what's new.

Love from,

Greta

You've Got to Have a Vision

I am lucky enough to be married to a man who can look at this:

And see this:

Or this:

When bought our house 2 years ago, it wasn't the mid century modern house of our dreams.
It wasn't an Eichler or a Cliff May. (aren't those Cliff Mays dreamy?  that neighborhood is right down the street from us.  i love those houses.)
As far as I could see, there was nothing mid century about it other than it had been built in 1952.
It was a 50s war box.
And I really didn't like it all that much.


But we needed to buy a house we could afford.
A lot of people didn't and you know how well that has worked out.
Aaron had looked at a lot of houses with our realtor.
A LOT.
(I am surprised the man still speaks to us)
And he had a vision in mind of what he wanted and what we could do with it.
Without overextending ourselves.
(when I say what we could do with it, I totally mean he, because I am not doing anything except watching the kids while he works and bringing him cold drinks.  but whatever)


When he walked into this house, he saw it had good bones.
It had the kind of floor plan we liked.
It had that big window in the living room to let the outside in--very mid century.
No unfortunate, poorly done, cheap "upgrades" had been done to it to get it ready for sale.
It was still in its mostly pristine 1952 state.
With all the wear that comes with that.


But when I walked in and saw this:

I wasn't that excited.
I never imagined that in 2 years that same kitchen would look like this:

Or that this breakfast nook in the kitchen:

Could be transformed into this:

Like I said, Aaron is a man with a vision.

And even though we didn't get to buy the house of our dreams in the neighborhood of our dreams, we are turning this house into the HOME of our dreams.

It's slow going.

It's hard work.

But we're having fun.

And we're making this place all ours.

And I have to tell you, I'm getting pretty proud of this little ol 50s war box.

It just goes to show you, being happy with what you've got is all about you and not about what you've got.

..........................................................................................................

So, the renderings.

We are still trying to decide which color to paint the trim.

Aaron put orange up on one of the windows and it looked good.

We both liked it a lot.

But we are not 100% sure.

It's just so hard to be sure until we see all the windows done.

To aid us in our decision making progress, Aaron drew up a rendering with the trim orange and one with the trim turquoise.

Then he went ahead and started to add all the other ideas for the house that have been floating around in his head for the past couple of years.

Let me give you a little explanation of his plans

The base color of the house will be white.

The door will stay turquoise because we are totally in love with how it looks.

The trim around the roof and door, as well as the gable end will be green.

The trim around the windows will either be orange or turquoise.

There will be diamonds on the gable end.  

Aaron will make them.

The wooden slat 'boxes" will cover an original shelf mounted to the house, and a hideously ugly air conditioning unit.

We only used it for 3 days this whole year, but man did we ever need it on those 3 days.

He will continue the wooden slats on the gate along the driveway.

The new gate will replace the gross, black wrought iron one that is there now.

We will re do our landscape as well--all there is now is some grass--adding succulents, native plants, some of these, and some large pots in either orange or turquoise.

He also wants to add to our very narrow walkway, paint the brick porch and put a strip of grass or other low growing plant down the driveway.

Whew!

But, if anyone can do it, Aaron can.

He really is amazing.

And I'm not just saying that because I like him so much.

Perhaps he could start a side career as a landscape designer.

You know, in his spare time.

Now you get to weigh in.

What do you think?

Orange or turquoise?

Fire away.

Love from,

Greta