Big Plans for the Exterior

Ok so the house is a 1994 Cookie Cutter. It is in decent shape but is full of brass, oak, and berber! I am hoping to give the place a big dose of character starting with the outside.

Front of the House Now

Using the Sherwin-Williams  Color Visualizer I was able to test a bunch of different colors and finally settled on deep blue grey. 

Next, I want to white wash the brick which I could potentially DIY but I am really afraid of heights so probably not. A mix of lime, salt, water and concrete is applied unevenly to the brick and left to dry. The more paste you put on the whiter it will be, the less paste the more brick will show through.  I like this house, but I would want a little bit more brick showing through. 

I also want to add a portico over the door. The way the door is just kind of sitting there really bothers me. Plus it would be nice to have a covering over the door because it is particularly hard to open which has proved to be a problem during those GA afternoon storms. I saw this one and thought the style would work. 

Currently the back of the house is like 5 different colors. Maybe they couldn't decide, then couldn't find a ladder, then didn't care. I don't know. But here is what it looks like now. 

And with the help of the Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer, here is what it would look like after. I chose a lighter grey for the fireplace to give the back some architectural interest. Would love to add wood shingles to the fireplace stack but that is definitely not going to happen.

 I also want to add some detail to the garage which I don't have a picture of at the moment. You can kind of see part of it on the left behind the fence. Oh, and in case you are wondering where those tiny stairs lead to... its a doggy door with a ramp on the other side. Jack will never ever ever figure out how to use it, so I am thinking a door would be really nice there. 

Here is a picture of the garage arbor that I think would look oh so charming. Might be able to DIY this part of the project. 

And last but not least the landscaping. Here I have no idea what to do. This is definitely not my area of expertise at all.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the crappy pic ... it is from google maps. 

Steve, of course, thinks the house is fine the way it is, but I certainly am trying to get him to see the light as we plan to live here for a while. We are currently leasing to purchase, so any big changes wont be until after we buy it in 6months. I was thinking if I could go ahead and get the quotes, we could get the extra money with the mortgage so that it will actually get done. Fingers crossed this plan does not get completely vetoed! 

Peace. Love. and Ginger ale 

New House

Sorry for the extended blogging vacation. Things have been all upside down in my life. We left our Louisville house around July 1st and moved in with Steve's Parents. We spent July visiting family and friends and going to the beach while looking for a job for Steve, but the whole living by the beach thing so did not work out at all.  The end of July brought a lot of good things though. We got an offer on our condo and the inspection went great! We, or I should say Steve's parents, close in September. 

Steve got offered a job the last week in July at North Macon Dental (yay times a million!)  but they wanted him to start August 1st which was awesome BUT we were thinking it would be more like September 1st. So we had a week to find a house to rent/buy in Macon and move from Louisville. We found a perfect house, and we thought even though the had a no dog policy, we that they might make an exception for tiny Jack. Nope! The second house we found was great, but then somehow somebody else got the application in before us. Steve then started stalking our real estate agent and called her like 45 times, but it finally paid off. A house came on the market Wednesday and we jumped on it. Thursday we drove to Louisville not knowing if we got the house. Friday the pod got delivered and we got a humongous Penske truck and hired the guys from two men and a truck. 

Back in July we brought just the essentials with us, and everything else was in boxes in the basement except for the kitchen stuff which for some terribly awful reason I put off to the last minute. Things were going pretty well but then one of the movers nearly sliced his finger off, and there was blood everywhere. He was deathly afraid of spiders and had screamed several times before, but this time his scream was followed by it got me! I thought on my gosh he got bit by a spider, but instead he had filleted his finger and it was flapped open. AHHHH! But right after that we found out we got the house so yay!

2 movers and 3 hours later, we finally had completely filled the truck, but I had missed a few cabinets and a few things in the basement got left behind. By the time we headed back to GA, my seat was the only open space in my car. It was crammed packed! Turns out that wasn't such a good thing because I (uh-oh) cracked the big screen TV! Whoops!

Unfortunately I haven't made serious progress on the house because a nasty summer cold put me out of commission for a solid week, but I am back at it and going strong. Going strong has actually translated to somehow making it look worse, but it needs to get better before Steve's patience wears out. He doesn't tolerate complete disorder very well! Plus I end up having to get him every little thing like I have a special map to which box the corkscrew is in. Yeah! Ok. Turns out KITCHEN is not a very helpful label.

Hopefully pictures of progress are coming soon starting with the plans for the Exterior. If you are curious about the house it is still up on Trulia.

Peace. Love. and Boxes.

Jail Break

Good news! I am getting out! Well for a few days anyway. Steve and I are headed to Brunswick later this week to check out two practices for sale there. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this prospect. Living near the beach... a total dream! Everybody cross your fingers that steve falls in love with one of them! After, we are headed with friends to Coco beach for the weekend! I need to get my pasty self into the sunshine asap!

We just got a call from our realtor Bruce who reported lots of activity on the condo front! No offers, but lots of interest is still a good thing.

Caught the in-laws holding hands in bed while watching tv... precious! But they also did their fair share of yelling accompanied by absolutely non-linear logic. Apparently Steve and I should get rid of his childhood bed in favor of 2 twins pushed together they currently have in a guest room. This launched a very big discussion which basically ended with plans to redo an entire side of the house. To keep the peace we held firm in our decision to keep steve's current and uncomfortable bed!

I have to say though, my MIL is currently my hero. Yesterday I hid in my closet for 10 minutes while Steve's mom attempted to kill the biggest wasps I have ever seen. They would not let me leave the bathroom! Steve informed me afterwards that they were in fact non-stinging mud-dobbers but I maintain that they looked very menacing.

Going to try to convince Steve to rearrange his bedroom. I'm almost positive he will say no, but I am still going to try!

Peace. Love. and Apple Rice Cakes.

I am famous!

Not! But I am in this video from Neocon this past month in Chicago. Note to self, find a mirror before going on camera. Oh well, it had been a long 3 days, and at least I didn't have mascara streaking down my face. Of course I would have had to at least attempted rocking some make up for that to happen. Nonetheless here is my five seconds of fame.

Watch the video

Peace. Love. and Air Conditioning.

I have an addiction.

I admit it. I am an addict. But I am so not ready to give it up. Have y'all discovered www.pinterest.com the most amazing website ever? If not check it out asap, but be prepared. It could become a marital problem. Just saying.

Was it always so hot in Georgia?

Graduation... everything I always dreamed it would be. Moving from a small town to a big city, getting a cute little house, making lots of friends. Oh wait, the exact opposite happened. We moved back in with Steve's parents in Haynesville. Where is that you ask? It is a non-existent town between Perry and Hawkinsville that consists of the R&K gas station. Fun stuff. It has been pretty comical so far. Steve's family is an acquired taste. They have a unique way of communicating which basically consists of yelling at or about something, mostly steve's brother Chris.

I have big plans for this month which consist of very intellectual pursuits including working on my tan, losing weight, eating healthy, and bleaching my teeth. I shared my plans for healthy eating with Steve's mom, and she vowed to help me. This plan started out with some seriously cheesy squash casserole, steak and potatoes for dinner, grits with queso for breakfast, and chicken salad on white bread for lunch. Im thinking, this part of my plan is not going so well.

I spent most of my first day here cleaning out and overtaking a guest bathroom. I was pretty pleased with the progress, but then looked around to notice that I packed absolutely nothing to cute up the place. I also discovered why steve had 1/8 the stuff I had when we were packing up the house. All his sentimental things are in his old room. After a mini panic attack, I decided if I have one room as my girly sanctuary, I could deal and promptly planned a trip to target. After that was settled I decided to try out my new bathtub. I turned it on then went to put some clothes in the wash. I got back, got undressed, opened the shower door to find a blood red bath. AHHH. Ok not blood just rust. That I can deal with. After take three on the bath thing, I finally got in the clear water to find it was a little cold. Adding more hot water....  seriously a bad idea. Oh well, surely one rusty bath won't kill me.

Tried to lay out only to find out that Georgia is freaking ridiculously hot. The concrete burned my feet. The chair burned my arms. And the pool was on its way to being warmer than my bath. Side note: Steve's dad is a do-it-yourself man. I have a feeling he goes by mostly a wing it and hope it works philosophy. So he has decided to make his pool salt water. Im no expert, but surely it takes more than just throwing in a couple bags of salt and hoping the algae will stop growing (which it hasn't btw). But maybe an super salty algae swim will counteract my luxurious rust bath or maybe I am getting all sorts of spa treatments at a hillbilly price?

Peace, Love, and Cheese Grits

Nick and Nikki's Kitchen Design

My fabulous friend Nikki and her husband Nick just bought a new house. We had them over a couple days before they moved to brainstorm some ideas for how to decorate on a budget. The kitchen needs the most work so we got started on a plan for that. Here is what we came up with! 

The Kitchen

The cabinets are in pretty good shape so there is really no need to replace them at his point. However, Nick has plans to take down the overhead cabinets to open it up a bit! All they need is a fresh coat of white paint and these adorable knobs from anthropologie. 

They will need 38 knobs @ $2.95 for a total of $112.10. All Nick will have to do is remove the old knobs fill in the holes and the top hole on the cabinets and drill new holes in the center of the drawers. So simple to do, and already the kitchen is going to feel bright and crisp. Next we talked about the backsplash. Glass tile is very expensive but if you notice the backsplash area is quite small. So it is the perfect place to add a bit of luxury. We picked out this glass tile from www.glasstilestore.com 

It is called Tao Bliss Glass tile and is great because it is a mix of clear and frosted glass which will add a nice dimension to the backsplash. I haven't taken measurements but I guess it would take about 12 to finish it because they will have to cut the sheet leaving extra that can be pieced together. At $14.95, 12 tiles would be $179.40. Because the wall is red, they will need to put at least 2 coats of white primer to be sure that the pretty sea foam blue green shows up. The web site allows you to load pictures of your own projects and I think this one shows it off nicely. 

Nick wants to remove the four upper cabinets and replace them with pendant lights and I think two of these very simple and very affordable lights would look just perfect. 

Hampton Bay 1 light 78 inch hanging brushed nickel pendant $29.97 each from Home Depot. The brushed nickel will perfectly complement the white and sea foam color palette. The floors and countertops are a beautiful blonde maple and they have a cherry dining room table and chairs from world market that will go in the eat-in part of the kitchen. To really bring out these colors, we thought this blue from Sherwin Williams would complement/contrast both nicely. 

SW6770 Bubble

The soffit above the cabinets would be painted white to keep the room from feeling too squat, but the rest of the walls would get the gorgeous Bubble color. 

Accessories and Art: the fun part! 

This green rug from West Elm comes in a bunch of different sizes but a 2x3 is $49 and perfect next to the stove or sink. Love it! And I love this big bowl from Z gallerie. A few big accessories really make a big difference and keep your kitchen from feeling cluttered. This bowl is perfect for the top of their cherry dining room table. Although it's almost $80, its big, beautiful and will make great impact.

Organic capiz Bowl from Z gallerie $79.95

This canisters, also from Z gallerie are huge and are perfect for what will become an island of sorts after the top cabinets are removed. Placed against the wall they will echo the cabinets and create a crisp look. Plus they are so versatile that when she gets tired of them in the kitchen, they can go virtually anywhere (on the fireplace, coffee table, sofa table, in the bathroom, etc) But you can definitely achieve this look by spray painting anything you have that is somewhat similar a high gloss white. 

Nikki claims she isn't creative at all but I think if she and Nick team up they can definitely tackle this project featured on crapivemade.com

It is just dollar store silverware spray painted and hot glued to the fabric wrapped frame backing. It would be oh so pretty to do the silverware and frame in white with a bright pattern. I think you could even get away with decoupaging a coordinating scrapbook paper to the back of the frame. It would even be cute to do 3 frames each showcasing different styles of spoons, different styles of forks, etc. Lots of possibilities with this easy fun diy. http://www.crapivemade.com/2010/06/kitchen-art.html

So this is somewhat the plan depending on how far their budget goes and how much nick can accomplish before he starts work as a dentist. Both Nick and Nikki just graduated (Nikki from dental hygiene) and I am so proud of them both. They are so excited to make their first house a home, and I will try to upload photos when they finish.

Peace. Love. and Raspberry Mambas.

Friday Favorites

1. Strawberry Cream Cheese
 My current weakness: bagel with strawberry cream cheese and sliced strawberries sprinkled with truvia (at least the last bit isn't completely sinful!) Seriously good and very springy don't you think? P.S. truvia is the best (well obviously besides sugar!)

2. Chic Succulents
 I am dying for the collection of various succulents I just bought. Maybe went a little overboard considering I have no clue how I will pot them or where I will put them but oh so chic! They are all so different and difficult to kill - a definite plus!

3. White Begonias
 I bought a bunch of flowers for my porch and my white begonias are by far doing the best. Instead of barely hanging on like the rest, they look fantastic and and are actually thriving. I don't have the best track record with the whole sun/part shade/ shade thing because kentucky seems to continually be rocking the part shade look, so I never know where to put things. Steve has no faith in my gardening abilities so at least this one little pots stacks up in my favor.

4. Hello Kitty Bandaids
 because apparently packing is a dangerous sport! Or maybe it is that my house is a total obstacle course at the moment. Either way I am constantly bruised and bleeding.

5. Aveno Pomegranate and Rice Body Wash
 love love love this stuff. Its slightly grainy which is always nice because I feel extra clean. And the smell is very delicate, so it is not overpowering once you get out of the bath. I have been skipping around with different TJ-Maxx finds and old christmas gifts, but I think I will stick with this one for a while.

6. Baking Soda
 I seriously buy the stuff by the bagful at Sam's these days. I am addicted. I especially love it for sprinkling on my carpet before I vacuum and for whitening my teeth. (I don't use it everyday, but a brushing with it couple times a week is perfect.) I also throw in a 1/2 cup in the wash, use it to clean/scrub pans, obviously have a box in the refrigerator,  and I sprinkle it on just about anything that smells bad before washing or vacuuming it out. Can you tell I am in love with the stuff? Plus It couldn't be any cheaper!

Peace. Love. and Derby Hats!

West Elm Headboard

How cute would it be to take this very affordable West Elm Headboard 

on sale for $99.99 (Queen)

and put your favorite fabric behind the squares. Even a muslin would look fab if you stenciled on his and hers, or your initials, or maybe right and wrong ... as in waking up on the wrong side of the bed. So many possibilities. It also comes in white. 

Here is the Brooke way to do it. (They way I would throw it together with no skill and screwdriver) 

Supplies: tape measure, 1/4 inch plywood cut to size, extra loft craft batting, about 2 yards of fabric, staple gun with staples, scissors, screwdriver and screws. 

1. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and get a friendly sales person to cut 1/4 plywood or masonite into a rectangle two inches bigger than your opening. You could make it easy on yourself and do one long rectangle, or if you wanted two fabrics get two squares cut. 
2. Hit up the fabric store or your secret stash for the perfect fabric. Measure before you go so you can be sure to get enough to cover your board with about four inches extra. 
3. While you are at the fabric store pick up some batting. I usually buy the cheap scratchy looking stuff. But feel free to go with whatever looks good. I would say its going to take at least two layers so it doesn't look skimpy. 
4. At home: Layer the batting and fabric over the board stretching the fabric and batting tight and stapling first on opposite sides ( like the top and bottom) then move on to the left and right. 
5. If you want to get all professional you could pre-drill holes 1/2 inch to an inch from the board in at least four places. I would probably do like six: two on top and bottom and one on the left and right. 
6. Screw your upholstered board to the bed frame. Avoid Super long screws. 
7. Set up and make your bed. 
8. Admire your totally fab new headboard. 

Notes: I change my headboard a lot. At first it was a white washed old door. Then it was a grey door. Now it is upholstered with 2inch foam batting and a black and white trellis print. Its fun to have options beyond just changing your sheets! 

Peace. Love. and Pillows

We are sooo in love with Jonathan!

So my fashion forward and incredibly cute friend Kelli comes back from spring break in Miami having visited Jonathan Adler's Store there. She brought in his book "My perscription for anti-depressive living," and it ispiried us beyond measure! I have been crazy for patterns and color for weeks. He definitely encourages us to go bold. Right now we are sitting in the studio wasting tons of time, and she just pulled out two more books and I am dying! Happy Chic Colors and Happy Chic Accessorizing are so fantastic. Definitely on my wish list. He has tons of insight and fantastic quotes. "Orange = Electrolytes for your Eyeballs." Love it.

So if you are looking to have a very happy house... get on the Jonathan Adler bus with us! We can't get enough!

Peace. Love. And Cookie Dough Blizzards. BB

back to blogging.

I really enjoyed blogging, but I was never fully committed to it. So when it came time to renew my iweb account, I couldn't justify paying the money for it when there are so many free blogging sites. And now that I don't have the access, I suddenly want to blog. Go figure. So here is my second attempt at blogging.

There is a lot going on in the Golubow household lately. Right now, Steve is in Charleston, SC taking his dental boards! Fingers crossed everything goes well. We both graduate in May and have to find a place to live and get jobs. We will be putting our condo up on the market soon which makes me beyond nervous, but I really love our place, so I am sure someone else will too. Its one of those rare times in life when everything is a possibility. Its so exciting, but I hardly have anything left of my nails. We are going to need to figure somethings out soon!

I am sort of addicted to finding the really cool things out there and sharing them with, well, everybody. So that is my plan for this blog. I plan to fill you in on everything I am obsessed with as well as things I think are not so chic. I will also fill you in on my crazy life, and my never ending battle to keep the house clean i.e. keeping the sink empty and the laundry put away.

Here is a list of my top ten favorite things at the moment:

1. Burt's Bees tinted lip balm
2. My collection of cheap Sunnies from FredFlare.com
3. Ziploc bags in every size (especially tiny ones to put my earrings and dainty necklaces in)
4. Aveda Rosemary and Mint Shampoo
5. Kindle on my phone (seriously addicted to the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series)
6. Comfort earring backs (these things rock, they don't fall off and I can sleep in my earrings!)
7. Loving my old standby eyeshadow Jest from MAC
8. What the Hell Radio Station on Pandora
9. Fruit Loops
10. The ingenious invention of the Bounce Bar!

Peace. Love. And Goose Down. BB