Furniture Jewelry

Designers frequently refer to hardware as jewelry for your furniture.  I ordered some new knobs and pulls for Babe Jr's chest and night stand.  I enjoy expressing my more glamorous feminine desires through decor in her room that aren't exactly appropriate for parts of the house we share with Mr. Backwoods.  I definitely think these fit the bill.

 I love both the current and previous sets, but Babe Jr wanted to change out most of the pink in her room.  The previous hardware were antique replica pink glass knobs and pulls.  Both sets came from ebay, a great resource for unique hardware at affordable prices.

A little progress

The men folk got our meter box hung and wiring ran last weekend.  I cannot express how grateful I am for awesome friends and neighbors.  There really is a different mentality in a small town, that's reason numero uno why we moved back here from suburbia.

 

The inspector came today and gave us the go ahead to have the electric company come out.  Another example of small town goodness:  He called while I was gone to take Babe Jr to school and went on to the house even though he hadn't confirmed I'd be there.  Then he called from my Dad's house to say we passed, placed the official "you passed" sticker on the box, and gave me directions to his house so I could drop a check off with his wife later.  That kind of trusting attitude is refreshing.

And here's a shot of the well as promised.  This is what a $2000.00 hole in the ground looks like.

This weekend's DIY work will involve digging ditches and running water lines from the well and to the septic tank.  Fun stuff, I tell ya.

It's Spring!

The past few days have been beautiful. I forced myself to get out of the house today and take some pics as things start to bloom.

I love lady bugs, even though they sneak in the house everywhere and ping against the light fixtures at night.  I imagine them with long batting eyelashes like something out of one of those animated kid flicks about bugs.  This is a fairly clean edit.

The next two have been "Ortonized."  I'm loving that effect right now.

Spring Craft

I've seen springy wreaths all over blogland (like this one) and I decided that it would be a fun inexpensive craft to try.  I had some scrapbook paper left over from projects I made while decorating my niece's bedroom and I picked up some ribbon and a small wicker wreath at the Dollar Tree. 

I tried to find the styrofoam wreath forms that all the other bloggers seem to be using, but my Walmart doesn't carry them and we don't have a dedicated craft store in my little town.  I decided I wanted to cover the wreath all in green flowers and I had a limited amount of paper that color, so the small one from Dollar Tree worked out.  The flowers are pretty easy, you cut paper spirals then sort of roll them up and glue into place.  Here's a really good tutorial.  I started out working on this solo but when Babe Jr asked to help I jumped on the offer.  The flowers are simple but time consuming.  I cut a bunch of spirals then she rolled them all up while I cooked dinner.  After dinner we broke out the glue gun. 

I like how it turned out, and not bad for a total investment of $2.00.  I love the Dollar Tree!  I couldn't find my clear wreath hanger, the brass one from Christmas looked gaudy, and I didn't want to put a nail in my brand new door, so I just tied the ribbon right on the door knocker.  Here's a  pull back, it matches my door mat, too.

Ignore the ugly railing, that's temporary until we get a real porch built - but at least I don't have to get a boost up to get in the door now.  Welcome back Spring!

I ♥ Mood Boards

I had a lot of fun playing with mood boards for the new house, but I didn't realize how helpful they would be in spousal relations.  We accomplished 2 decision making goals with compromise and the help of the living room mood board I posted here. 

#1 - Mr Backwoods actually participated in making a decor decision and gave the thumbs up on ordering this rug from www.overstock.com.  And yay, its on sale now!  Hoping it stays that way until next pay day.

#2 - After a considerable amount of internet research, I found some aesthetically pleasing recliners on toysrus.com of all places.  I know, really odd place to find furniture.  But in the section with nursery furniture, they have some nice chairs meant to provide a comfy place for nursing a baby.  Mr. Backwoods really liked them because they not only recline, but rock, glide, and swivel.  They have great reviews from tired moms and dad's who've apparently spent a lot of time sleeping in them as well as rocking and comforting.  I believe the mood board has convinced him that bigger is not necessarily better in this case.  We are undecided on color but leaning towards the chocolate. 

Mr. Backwoods wanted a shade closer to the couch, but I was afraid we'd miss the mark and end up with a clashy mess, and all that taupe would be awfully boring.  I liked this punchy shade of sage.

But, his tastes are considerably more conservative.  So, we're leaning in the direction of chocolate as a compromise.  I can always play up the brighter colors with pillows and accent pieces.

I've not yet made progress in the chandelier vs. ceiling fan battle for the master bedroom.  After the living room decision success, I'll keep scouring the web until I find a light fixture that convinces him to see my vision.

Panorama

Last week we learned how to merge photos in my photoshop class.  The homework was to merge photos of your own to make a panorama.  I snapped several shots from the front door of the house while I was waiting around for the well to be drilled earlier this week.  After uploading them to photoshop, waiting for the software to work its magic it, and cropping down so that the edges even, I got this:

You can click the photo to get a larger image.  The trees are still bare, and the bulldozer isn't the most attractive thing in the shot, but you get the idea.  I think I'll take one of these each season and frame a series at some point.

Adventures in Mobile Homing: Part 3

Some of these were shot a week or so ago, its been put together for about that long.  But, I wanted to have a little more progress to write about than just a boring pic of the outside of the house.  Here it is before the skirting was put on.

And a few days later, after the skirting is done.

We're still missing the porch light and the stairs.  Where are my stairs?  The lady at the dealership called and they are supposed to have been delivered already.  Climbing in that door can be a 2 person job.  Sometimes it requires a helper to give you a boost or pull up, depending on where they are standing.  There will be a large covered porch on the front, hopefully withing the next few months, definitely before next fall.  The porch will have nice matching connected steps.  I wonder if trailer steps area  hot commodity on the resale market?

Today I wrote out another one of the more substantial checks required in this set up process.  There's no such thing as city water out here in the boonies so we had to have a well drilled.  It takes a big drill to make a hole 110 feet deep.

This is Dwayne, professional well driller.

Here is Dwayne again, with his sidekick, Wolfman.   Dwayne called him that, I didn't tag him with that monaker.

I wish I had shot an after photo today, I'll have to get one before we buy the pump and other well accessories.  $2000.00 and 2 days of work later, the result is a big pipe sticking a few feet out of the ground with an upside down bucket and a pile of rocks on top.  Thank goodness the pipe sticks up quite a bit.  I was in elementary during the whole Baby Jessica debacle and I was really concerned about my Dad's Jack Russell terrier getting into a predicament.  Don't worry, we'll be making a trip to Lowe's over the weekend and a more substantial cover than a bucket and some rocks will soon be installed.