Is renovation the right word to use here? It’s probably a bit too strong. But since we’ve done literally NOTHING to this bathroom since moving in besides hanging a shower curtain and changing lightbulbs occasionally, it feels appropriate! This project is already underway (exciting!!), so I thought I’d share a bit about our plans today!
Here’s the before. (Yikes, bathrooms are so hard to photograph!)
This bathroom it is the only one upstairs in our home. Though our children’s bedrooms are upstairs, it’s mostly used by guests right now (our current routines mean our kids bathe and brush their teeth in the downstairs master bath 99% of the time – more on that here). I’m assuming at some point in the future, though, our kids will use it more, so as I thought about design options, I wanted something that felt appealing for both kids and adults, and for both boys and girls.
Almost immediately, I zeroed in on Julia Rothman’s Daydream wallpaper from Hygge & West. I have loved it since at least 2014, when Jenny Komenda used it on the ceiling of her playroom! John, however, was NOT excited about the idea of wallpaper, so I compromised by agreeing to use the removable version. If the future wallpaper catastrophe he’s imagining ever materializes (?), we will have options.
I ordered samples of the yellow and green colorways, and as I waited, I put together this little board:
The samples arrived, and interestingly the clouds are different shades of blue, which is hard to tell online: the clouds in the yellow colorway are French blue, and the clouds in the green colorway are almost gray. In addition to preferring the French blue, I thought the yellow would pick up some of the creamier tones in the floor tile (which we aren’t planning to change) and the countertop (also not changing), so we went with the sunshine colorway!
That decision made, I revised my board to the current plan:
It makes me so happy! Here’s where I am in the project and what’s left to do:
Paint the vanity. We went with Benjamin Moore Palatial Skies and so far I’ve done two coats of primer and the first coat of color! I feel like I am worse than the average person at choosing paint colors, so I have my fingers crossed. Waiting to see whether we need new hardware (probably something simple like this) until the paint is finished. The blue vanity above is from a room by LEB Interiors, but I’m not sure what color she used!
Remove the builder-grade mirror, repair the drywall underneath, and paint the walls. I was originally planning to remove the mirror myself but Youtube videos intimidated me, so I think I will hire this out along with the wall painting to our favorite handyman. We’ll use Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace for the walls.
Wallpaper the wall above the sink. It’s just a rectangle, so I’m going to tackle this myself! Probably with some begrudging help from John :)
Change out the light fixtures. Thinking these ones. (Is this the right order? Should I replace them before or after hanging the wallpaper?)
Switch out towel bars for hooks. I think hooks are better for guests and often easier for kids to use!
Hang a new shower curtain. I haven’t seen it in person yet, but to bring the blue color into the shower room, I’m hoping this one will be the right shade. The white waffle weave I considered earlier in the process is here.
Add rugs, art, step stools, and any other decorative accents. I’m so looking forward to adding a little personality to this space! The step stool in the board is so beautiful but also $$$, so I will probably hunt for one at Home Goods :)
So there you have it! While I’ve made good progress this week on the vanity, things will slow down a bit from here as we wait on our handyman – we are on his schedule for late September. I’ll be back to share the finished result once everything is in place!
Friends, I’d love to hear: have you ever used removable wallpaper? Will it get the best of me? Any tips to share?
My 2020 goal of streamlining meal planning is ticking along nicely. It’s satisfying to feel like I’m making real progress on something when so much feels out of my control – AND it’s something that’s making my daily life better right now! Progress has taken all different forms, but today I wanted to share one simple hack that’s been so helpful for us with meal planning.
June school photos!!!
Emphasis on simple. We hung a magnetic dry erase board on the side of our fridge and use it to track inventory of our freezer stash. Now, I can easily see what we have on hand without rifling through our cold storage. This is helpful for both deciding on our meals for the week – what’s in the freezer that we can base a meal on? – and for assembling a grocery list – what do we already have that we don’t need to buy?
You could certainly do this with a pad of paper, but the dry erase board is a neat solution. To note: we don’t include EVERYTHING in our freezer on the list – mostly just ingredients that are relevant for meal planning. For example, you won’t see frozen cookie dough on the list above, but rest assured we are always well-stocked :)
That’s it! A simple meal-planning hack that’s helped us plan more efficiently and waste less food.
I’d love to hear: what meal-planning hacks do you swear by? Also, a question: with my recipe binder pretty much complete, I’m curious if a video flip-through would be of interest? I could give you some commentary on my favorite recipes? I’m not really much of a video person, but thought this could be fun. Let me know what you think!
P.S. If our dry erase board is sold out, this one looks very similar! Ours is fine but nothing particularly special, so don’t worry about going with a different one :)
It seems like everyone’s growing something this year, doesn’t it? I love it! I’ve been comparing garden notes with friends just as often as I’ve been swapping recipes and kiddo activities lately, and it feels springy and hopeful. So, let’s dish the dirt today, friends! :)
Our primary growing spot is our 4×8 garden bed in our backyard, carefully positioned to take advantage of as much sun as possible. John installed it in this spot the month after we moved in, and a few years ago we replaced our original raised bed kit with one from this Etsy shop, which we LOVE – super high quality, lovely details, and easy to install. The boards are really thick and it feels like it will last a long time.
Though we’ve experimented with a bunch of different vegetables over the years, we’ve settled into a consistent rotation that reflects what we like to eat and prioritizes produce that is expensive and/or tastes noticeably better when grown at home. For us, that mostly means tomatoes and herbs.
This year, we’re growing eight tomato plants: three cherry varieties (Sun Gold, Husky Red, and Super Sweet 100) and two medium varieties (Patio and Better Boy). We’ve found we don’t get enough sun for the bigger guys, so we stick to our sweet spot! We’re also growing basil, rosemary, jalapeno, Lacinato kale (for our beloved chickpea pasta), blueberries, and a few different kinds of lettuces.
Elsewhere in our yard, we have jasmine, coneflowers, lantana, scabiosa, heliopsis, Knockout roses, daisies, azaleas, hydrangeas, gardenias, and our beautiful Golden Celebration garden rose, among a few other things.
If we were to have more room some day, I’d love to grow peas, more berries, more tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and zucchini – as well as many more flowers (zinnias, cosmos, dahlias, peonies, clematis, sunflowers, more roses, lilacs!).
One tip: though we enjoy watering with the kids almost daily, John installed drip lines last year, and it made a HUGE difference in the productivity of our plants, especially with our summer travels. The lines are not that expensive and take a half hour or so to set up. Totally worth it, in our opinion! We bought this kit, which was plenty for our 4×8 bed, and this hose timer.
Now, friends, I’d love to hear: what are you growing this year? Or, if you haven’t had a chance to get plants in the ground yet, what do you dream of growing in the future?
After staying in two different homes over the holidays (and doing a little cooking in each), I came home to our kitchen with a new appreciation for some of our everyday tools (and a few items to add to our wish list that I loved using as a visitor!). Since we cook at home at least six dinners a week, I thought it might be fun to share some of our most-loved and most-used kitchen work horses. Whether you’re adding items to your wedding registry, building up your own mealtime arsenal, or looking for an idea for the next time your mother-in-law asks you for a gift idea, I hope this is helpful!
I’ve already waxed poetic about our Le Creuset dutch ovens (and the funny story of how we bought our first one), but they easily deserve the first spot on this list. We have a round 5 1/2 quart (my favorite) and a shallow round 3 1/2 quart. We use the biggie for making soups, stews, pastas, braised meats, risotto, orzo, and much more. I probably cook with it 5/7 nights a week. It goes from stovetop to oven to table beautifully, and is so easy to clean. Pick a color you love, because you’ll have it forever :)
Speaking of easy-to-clean: one of my favorite Shark Tank discoveries is the Scrub Daddy. His smile accurately expresses how easy he makes dishwashing!
We registered for a Calphalon cookware set and use many of the pieces daily (particularly the small and medium sauce pans and the stock pot). These are also easy to clean, which I love, but my favorite feature might be the glass tops, which makes it easy to see what’s bubbling at a glance! Our set is very similar to this one except ours are silver, not black.
More registry big dogs: our KitchenAid mixer (ours is black) and our food processor. The food processor got daily use in our seasons of making purees, but even now it earns its spot for making salsa, tikka paste, and just generally chopping stuff.
We don’t have a huge collection of one-off tools, but there are two that I’d recommend: an immersion blender and a griddler. We use the immersion blender for soups often (plus the mini chopper it comes with is really useful, too!). The griddler is great for grilled cheese, pancakes, and quesadillas in a pinch. The plates go in the dishwasher, which, if you can’t already tell, is an important attribute in our home.
I don’t have a ton to say about knives except that you should have them and keep them sharp :) I would recommend specializing with a great bread knife, and we love these little paring knives, too. This is the best peeler.
Now for a few things that I have no brand loyalty to, but would recommend saving a spot for in your kitchen: a blender, crockpot, simple wooden spoons, a citrus reamer, a big (for pasta) and little (for berries) strainer, a set of nesting mixing bowls (ours are very similar to this), mini silicone spatulas, several plastic cutting boards, and a slim plastic slotted spoon (I don’t love the bulky ones).
Finally, two things I’d like to add to our mix: a compost bin (this one is in my cart) and a lovelier dish rack.
TL;DR: I really, really love our Le Creuset.
I’d love to hear: what’s your number one kitchen item? Everyone’s cooking patterns and favorite recipes are so different, and I’m curious to hear!
