stuff i’ve made

queen anne dresser refinishing :: part 1

my husband and i took care of our uncle george for the past 18 months.  he was a kind man with a generous nature.  he had nothing, but gave everything he found to those in need. he treasured this queen anne dresser, which belonged to his parents. i decided it should stay in the family. […]

Restoration Hardware-inspired big boy room reveal

as i listen to Big A trying to ‘soothe’ himself to sleep in his new big boy room, i feel guilty. poor little guy. sometimes he goes down quickly, and sometimes, he’s over-tied, i think…and he fights it. so i’m distracting myself with this post as i obsessively check the monitor… we got him into […]

How to paint wood to look like weathered Restoration Hardware wood

hi friends! i’m back with another furniture painting tutorial on how to use chalk paint to get a weathered wood Restoration Hardware finish. here’s my inspiration. a wonderful wood pier that we visited on our summer road trip. the irony is that the piece i was painting, was in fact, a real Restoration Hardware dresser….from the early […]

cook. shoot. paint. eat. june 2013.

now i’ve done it. all this blogging about painting free furniture found on curbs or via craigslist curb alerts has created a few monsters within my circle of friends. so the time had come to bring a few of us together for the next installment of cook. shoot. eat. this time, we added some paint. […]

garden love

How to grow hydrangeas from cuttings

It was a gorgeous day today. The sun was flooding into our kitchen nook. Don't you just love days with no schedules? It seems like … [more...]

Orchids 101

I've always loved orchids, but was always intimidated by them. Last year, a neighbor gave me the most gorgeous Phalaenopsis orchid (the most … [more...]

look who’s here? spring garden!

[more...]

summer hydrangea tablescape

i love hydrangeas. i had the luxury of spending a few hours in the garden today and cut a bunch of hydrangea as they're starting to look a … [more...]

a gorgeous, romantic, Napa wedding

we just returned from the most gorgeous and romantic wedding....ever. the setting was idyllic with the changing leaves and warm breezes. i wanted … [more...]

attack of the bunnies!

When we landscaped our yard, I specifically researched how to keep the rabbits out.  We specifically built raised veggie beds so that the bunnies … [more...]

spring has sprung. hyacinths are popping already!

the first signs on spring are here...trouble is, we haven't really had winter.  and as i write this, the temperature is dropping to the high 30s here … [more...]

[more]