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Ok I have done pretty much NOTHING to the deck, but wanted to share a few "progress" photos.  The deck is still peeling and in terrible condition, along with the chairs, but ignore all that.  I'm stoked because I bought some plants and they have already made a huge difference! I'm doing my best to not kill them - no promises though. I snagged a few boxwood's on sale at Orchard Supply, and they're lined up against the wall right now. I think I'd like to get two more to line the entire length of that wall so it's more full and symmetrical.  Obviously the boxwood's still need to be planted, but they are at least temporarily brightening things up as they are.   I see them sitting in a taller wooden planter... something like this : Having them there makes it easier for me to envision what else I see being planted there.   I'd like to stagger some plants, so that something taller - a vine climber like jasmine or creeping fig - can make its way up the...

We've been having some pretty incredible weather in San Francisco lately, and as a result, we've been spending a lot of time having dinner or drinks out on the back deck.  I even just love taking my book out there on weekends to read and get some sunshine. The downside?? It's not looking so hot these days...  The upside?? I have a plan, and it looks something like this... Embroidered Pillow ,    Flamingos ,    Decorative Wall Installation ,    Striped Seat Cushion ,    Stone Garden Stool Yep, the back deck is about to get a pretty fabulous makeover, and I'm looking to keep costs down here.  This transformation is going to take a lot of paint, a few plants, and a few well placed accessories. Before I break down the plan for you, let's take a look at the deck's current state, shall we? We've got a whole lot of peeling paint on the floorboards and wooden posts, some random cleaning supplies in the corner that are no...

Soooo... there hasn't been much news on here about what's going on in the living room... and that's because not a ton has been going on in there since our fireplace update . I need to take some "before" photos, even though they're more "during" photos - while the rug from the living room of our last apartment has made itself a new home in our bedroom, the furniture currently in there is the same as before for the most part.  Here's a little refresher from before we moved: Two love seats... lots of dark fake wood furniture...  I did the best that I could with what we each brought to the apartment together, and we made it work for two years.  I actually kind of liked it once I distracted from all the things I wasn't loving (black man couch... super duper modern everything...) Well, things are about to change... and SOON! We just bought THIS sofa from Pottery Barn a few weeks ago. It looks a bit dwarfed in this photo, but it's big.  Really ...

Big week for the blog... second post this week!  Woot woot :-) Earlier this week I posted about the rustic shelving DIY project that I worked on, and today I wanted to share some photos of the completed project, now that the shelves have been styled. I am certainly no expert on styling bookshelves, but I did learn a few things as I went - especially after several failed attempts at styling them.  They were looking messy.  Cluttered.  And I was frustrated because I loved them with nothing on them, and was hating them with all our stuff. The challenge for me, is that these shelves are not just for display.  They actually needed to be practical (ugh, I hate practical) and store things - mainly books and magazines.  It's not like we have a ton of books since I have done most of my reading on a Kindle for the last several years, but we do have SOME, and I'm not willing to part with most of them. All my design books, which happen to be big and beautiful and perfe...

Our dining room has new shelves!!  They are a little rustic... a little glam... and totally perfect!  I'm SO THRILLED with how they came out! Just look at them!!  So pretty right?? I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon, with my drill, level, and measuring tape, hanging these bad boys up. These shelves are a DIY I'd started a few months back, and then they got totally neglected out of sheer laziness.  They'd been sitting in our garage for about a month after I stained the wood, and then sitting against the wall in our dining room for another few weeks before I finally decided to do something about them. I don't know what came over me this weekend, but I was on a mission to finish unpacking, and with several boxes of books staring me in the face, I knew it was time to get these shelves installed. Originally, I'd been envisioning a lovely rustic bookcase like this or this , but in the end I didn't feel like I could commit spending that much on a bookshelf I...