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My Favorite Products of 2019

January 2, 2020 by jessica Leave a Comment

I spent the first day of the new year snuggled up on the couch, unwilling (or perhaps unable) to move after having entirely too much fun with some friends the night before. It wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to kick off day one of a new decade, but I can’t complain when it was merely the aftereffect of spending time with people I love. I thought a bit about resolutions while I was couch-bound (and will share them with you next week). One of the things I’d like to do this year is make more sustainable decisions when it comes to my lifestyle and shopping habits. One of the best things we can do is to make thoughtful purchasing decisions and buy quality products that will be used numerous times and loved with abandon. With that in mind, I thought I’d share my favorite products from 2019 with you. (You can read my 2018 list here; I’m still smitten with all of those items and use them regularly — especially the hand vacuum, which I reach for almost every day.)

Trek bicycle – I used Dave’s sister’s bike from the ’90s for nearly eight years. I hated that thing. Half of the gears didn’t work and it was heavy. I’d be struggling on each hill while Dave flew by with his nice, lightweight bicycle that weighed a fraction of mine. I know my new bike barely cost anything in the world of cycling for people who actually do this for sport, but it was a lot for me (and after adding in a few accessories, it was close to $1,000). But you know what? I don’t dread bike rides now. I think I actually *gasp* enjoy them.

Pottery Barn curtain rods & West Elm curtains – You can see some of the before photos of our dining room in this post. The three windows along the wall look toward our neighbor’s house with only a driveway to separate the two homes. We took down those dingy, stained roller shades this year and added a curtain rod and sheer curtains. I love the traditional look of the curtain rod (we went with the standard finial) and the curtains have just enough texture to make them look more expensive than they are.

The Ordinary ‘Buffet” serum – This impulse buy from Sephora quickly made its way into my nightly routine. It leaves my face ultra soft and my complexion brighter — and you can’t beat the price!

J.Crew turtleneck sweater in supersoft yarn – I now own three of this sweater (two in light grey and one in emerald). As the name suggests, it is ultra soft. The shape is just boxy enough to be comfortable, but trim enough to be flattering. Plus, it doesn’t stretch out during the day. I’m obsessed with it and will likely buy it in another color yet this winter.

Kate Spade ‘Margaux’ crossbody purse – I bought this purse before our spring trip to Portugal thinking that it would be the perfect warm-weather bag with the light color, cross-body strap, generous size, and convenient slip pocket for my phone. It was even better than expected in person when I discovered that the slightly triangular shape allowed it to rest close to my body without feeling bulky. Plus, the pebbled leather repels rain. It was my most-worn bag of 2019.

Schoolhouse ‘Blooming Field’ pillow shams – I hesitated to purchase these when they first debuted and kicked myself when they sold out. I checked the Schoolhouse site every day for two months waiting for them to be restocked. The pattern is beautiful in person. We put these on unused pillows on our bed to use for decor rather than actually sleeping on them. I know they’re just a simple pillow sham and shouldn’t be that exciting, but the craftsmanship and attention to detail in the design won me over.

Speakman ‘Anystream’ shower head – Dave purchased this shower head for us after our old one started to lose pressure and wouldn’t get better despite soaking it in vinegar to loosen hard water residue. We really should have swapped them within the first few months of living here. It made such a big difference in the water pressure and our showers have felt so much better. It almost distracts me from the nagging feeling that we should really get at a bathroom remodel or at least a budget-friendly refresh.

Schoolhouse ‘Irvine’ sconces – We technically purchased these in 2018. However, they sat untouched in a box for six months until we finally mounted them in January of last year. I could go on and on about the quality of Schoolhouse products and that’s because they’re really that good. We’ve purchased less expensive light fixtures for other places in our home, and these are just far beyond compare when it comes to quality. We paired the brass sconce with these shades.

Weber ‘Spirit II E-310’ grill – I can’t believe we didn’t get a grill until our second summer in our house! Hanging out on the deck, grilling dinner with a cocktail in hand and music playing is my absolute favorite thing about summers at our home. We bought this one from Home Depot as part of a Fourth of July sale with free next-day shipping. It took some time to put together, but it wasn’t difficult. It cooks evenly and is a breeze to use and clean.

I’d love to know your favorite products of 2019!

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7 Halloween Decorations to Use All Season

September 11, 2019 by jessica Leave a Comment

ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE | SIX | SEVEN

I almost hate to breathe a word about Halloween and catapult us right to the end of October, but the undeniable crispness in the air along with my first seasonal sip of pumpkin beer the other night has put me in the mood for fall. And with autumn comes the desire to introduce some moodier decor into our home with a little bit of pre-Halloween shopping. It seems I’m not the only one, either. Retailers are pulling out the macabre merchandise earlier and earlier each year.

Aside from a few Target jack-o’-lanterns, I don’t have much in the way of Halloween-specific decorations — which is exactly what I prefer. I think Halloween decorations are best when they’re not limited to one spooky night of the year. I’ve rounded up seven seasonal decorations and serving pieces that are a little dark and a little moody, but would work just as well with your autumnal decor as they do on Oct. 31.

That pumpkin ale, however, is limited to a one-and-done endeavor.

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Progress Report: Front Porch

September 4, 2019 by jessica Leave a Comment

If you’ve seen my Insta story, you’ll know that I’m exceedingly proud of the progress we made on our front porch over the weekend. And, since those stories are fleeting, I wanted to be better about documenting progress on the blog. The pressure to post a “before” image followed by a beautiful “after” photo is real, but when you’re not a full-time blogger, it’s unrealistic to wait until everything is complete to celebrate success! Plus, I do think there’s value in showing that house projects take time and there will be plenty of “in-between” moments as you prioritize other things. So, here we are with a series of iPhone photos and athletic wear!

Obviously the door you’re looking at is our front door and opens into the entry. Our living room is to the right and the stairs to the second floor are on your left. The door on the right goes to what was an original porch that extended along the front of the house. We never use that door and will eventually be closing it off when we do a remodel of the exterior to add more windows and transform the dingy space into a functional sun room. (I’ve been using that space for painting projects and will take proper photos once I clear it out.)

Replacing our storm door had been at the top of to-do list all summer, but we kept putting it because it seemed intimidating. One of our friends insisted that it wasn’t too bad, so we ordered a new door and hoped for the best. Then Dave’s dad offered to help and we took him up on his gracious offer.

I’ll admit that the door doesn’t look terrible in the photos, but that’s a lie. This door was flimsy, had paint that had worn off, had remains of duct tape that I could never remove, and a weird and non-functional chain at the top. I could have painted it and added a new door handle, but really, it was time to replace it with something modern. Plus, I wanted a screen. I’m not sure if this door ever had one? If it did, it certainly wasn’t left with the house and was probably misplaced decades ago.

Removing the old door went a lot faster than I thought it would. The screws had been painted over and I figured it would be a bear to deal with. It wasn’t. But, oof, you can really see how rough the original door is in the sunlight. Honestly, it’s a gorgeous door, but it’s in need of TLC. There are dried spots thanks to sun exposure and the original varnish is cracking. Eventually I’d like to have it stripped and restained, but it’s so not on the top of my to do list. I’m torn on whether or not to polish the brass door handle since the patina is beautiful. (I’m sure no one has ever done it in the house’s 90-year history.)

I was so proud of this “after” photo on Monday, even if you can see all of the paint that was scraped away when we removed the existing caulk. I would have painted when the storm door was off had I realized that the new door frame wouldn’t extend as far over the trim as the original door did. So, keep that in mind if you’re ever replacing a storm door. Take it off earlier than you plan to install the new one and add a fresh coat of paint before the new one goes on. It would have been much easier at that point.

And here we are after a fresh coat of paint! The actual door removal and installation took about two hours and taping and painting took another hour. I think it makes the front porch look so much more inviting and I’m sorry that I waited so long to do it in the first place!

This fall, I’d like to stain or paint the floor (probably dark grey) and replace the light fixtures. The fixtures look okay in photos, but they’re such poor quality. They’re flimsy and, ugh, I just hate them so much. I’d like something in brushed nickle to match the other hardware outside.

Sources: Andersen storm door | West Elm door mat (also love this one) | CB2 mailbox (also love this one) | House of Antique Hardware doorbell

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15 Chic Indoor Planters for Your Home

May 1, 2019 by jessica Leave a Comment

15 Chic Planters for Your Home — *source*

Like any self-respecting millennial, I have an affinity for houseplants. I can’t step foot in a greenhouse without coming home with a new plant. There’s a lot of theories as to why my generation can’t get enough greenery, from wellness trends to replacing children with plants, and it has resulted in a doubling of houseplant sales over the past three years to $1.7 billion. All I can say is that it’s incredibly satisfying to put in relatively little work and be rewarded with something that thrives on that neglect. Plus, they’re such an easy way to update a room, adding texture and interest to a corner with minimal effort — especially when there’s a great planter to go with it.

I oftentimes have a planter at the ready in our house, just waiting for the perfect plant on my next trip to the nursery. I try not to hoard planters, but it’s really easy to do so when there are so many great options lately. I put together a roundup of 15 favorites below!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

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House Update: Custom Bedroom Built-In

April 19, 2019 by jessica Leave a Comment

Over the past year and a half, we’ve been tackling a lot of the household things we could do ourselves like painting, changing light fixtures and outlets, and other small projects. There are a handful of bigger things, though, that are too daunting for our skill set and we’re to the point where we’re ready to make some of those more impactful improvements. One of the things that bothered us so much that we decided to embark upon first was the hole between our master bedroom and guest room.

At some point in our house’s 90-year history, someone cut a doorway between two of the upstairs bedrooms. This was likely done when the house was a two-flat. There were kitchen cabinets in our guest room, and I’m fairly certain our bedroom was a living room. Since it’s just the two of us, it wasn’t the biggest deal for the first 18 months, but it was really annoying to wake up every morning to a project we’d have to deal with at some point. Making matters worse was that the heat vent, which undoubtedly faced our bedroom originally, was set in the floor between these rooms. It’s not a big deal when it’s temperate outside, but it’s obnoxious in the winter. You can get a feel for what we were working with below:

We thought about just finishing the wall on either side of the two rooms, but the paneling in our bedroom would be a challenge to match with the wood grain and joints. It would have doable, of course — and as our carpenter reminded us, everything is doable with enough money. Instead, we came up with a design solution to add character to the space that felt appropriate for the 1920s home and opted for a shallow built-in cabinet. Unlike a traditional built-in shelf, this one could only be five inches deep due to the depth of the wall, so anything we display will need to be skinny. We also needed to find a solution to add a register to the bottom portion since that was on the floor between the two rooms and needed to face the master bedroom. It was important to me that the trim around the built-in match the window and door casings in the home. Here’s what our carpenter came up with:

The only change I requested was that the top piece of wood extend to each side so the seam between the horizontal and vertical pieces was running horizontally. It’s annoyingly picky, but that’s how the rest of the windows and doors were done in the house and I knew it would bother me if it were different.

We actually ended up getting two quotes on the project. The first person wasn’t able to provide renderings or a sketch. That’s not to say that he wasn’t capable of executing the project and understood what I wanted, but now that I’ve worked with someone who is able to provide this type of visual reassurance that we’re on the same page, I’m going to expect that of any person working on our house in the future. It helps to address any concerns up front so there are no surprises.

The carpenters crafted the built-in off site, and we had them paint it for us. It cost an additional $300 to have it sprayed with lacquer, but it was worth every penny to have such a smooth, flawless finish. Also worth nothing is that we went with fixed shelves rather than adjustable ones, which allowed for a lip that extends down to be added to the front of the shelves. This created extra stability to guard against any shelves bowing in the future. It also helped with mounting drywall on the other side of the wall. Our house is plaster, but no one is fixing walls with lath and plaster anymore, so the mudding was blended to match the plaster in the guest room. We also had our carpenter match and fill in the original baseboards that were missing in the guest room, and do some baseboard and crown molding restoration in our dining room. It definitely wasn’t cheap when it was all said and done, but I can’t express how happy I am with how everything turned out. (If you’re in Madison and need a carpenter, let me know and I’ll pass along the info!)

We still need to put some thought into styling the shelves. For now, we just added some of the smaller items we’ve collected over the years. If you’re curious about any of the items up there now, here’s the info:

Small Delft bowl from Amsterdam
Vase from a flea market in Brussels — and my first time haggling!
Vintage brass cat from Charleston
Candlestick holders purchased in Seattle, but you can snag them here!
Target vase
Planters from Copenhagen
Glass bowl from Portland, which is available online here.

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