Crafty and handy.... :)

I like to get my craft on.

Whilst trolling my local thrift store the other day,

I came across these ceramic cuties.

I have no idea what their original purpose was?

At first I thought it was a back plate for a doorknob, but

there's no hole for the doorknob?

Anyway, I thought they were cute.

And they were....99 cents each!

SCORE!!

All they needed was a good cleaning and

some fab gold letters:)

Cute eh?

So yeah, I like me some crafts.

But let me tell  you, 

no one crafts like Rio.

NO ONE.

She makes kiddie tents, banners, and headbands...

and the cutest leather dream catchers:)

Oh! and she makes BABY SHOES!!

....AND paints the bestest watercolor pics!!

and then there's her jewelry...

I ain't got those painting skills.

But I CAN however cover ugly old frames with this

favorite gold paint!

Anyway...

Rio's house was overflowing with all these crafty things and they really

needed to find a home. 

So we packed it up and set it up at Carpinteria's once

a month flea market this last Saturday:)

We got there bright and early and set up our wares.

We were all set up with time to spare!

That is until I went to find my square:(

(I'm a poet and I didn't know it)

You know, that thing that makes it easy for people to pay with 

a credit card on your phone?

Yeah, I had like 3 of them. But do you think I could find even

one that morning??

Of course not!

So I sent the hubby to Starbucks, where I knew they sold them.

Yeah no. They were out.

Well I'll have you know that there was an angel standing in line

behind my hubby.

He said "Dude, what is it you're looking for?"

"I think I can help you out!"

Dear David Budlong,

You ARE the best handyman in Santa Barbara!!!

I don't know you, and you don't me but

you SAVED THE DAY!!

and I truly thank you for it:)

Best job ever... :)

I've never had a "real" job.

Nope. Never had a 8-5.

You see I got married a week after I turned 19,

and 10 months later baby Rio came along:)

and 2 1/2 years later baby Ryne:)

And thus began the craziest, most underpaid,

under appreciated, bestest, most amazing job I would have for the rest of my life.

I was fortunate to marry a man who would do anything

to keep me home with the babies, and I LOVED him for it.

We were young, poor and blissfully happy:)

I laugh when people say that Rio and I look like we could be sisters,

because honestly sometimes it feels like we are.

We literally grew up together:)

It's crazy, I was done having children at the ripe old age

of 22.

I'm crazy and creative. 

I married crazy and creative.

And I gave birth to crazy and creative.

Twice.

And I was going to have grey hair early because of it.

Rio quit taking naps before the age of two in exchange for

coloring, painting and beading and talking on the phone.

I walked out to the garage one day to find Ryne had taken his

brand new bike completely apart, just to figure out

how it was made and put it all back together.

And you can imagine my freak out when he was riding a 

motorcycle by the age of 5, and surfing by 7.

Well these two absolutely adorable babies of mine,

surprised me with the best Mother's Day ever.

I thought we were just going out to dinner, when the 

hubby said "hey, we're a little early so let's go

check out the waves" and pulled into 

our favorite park in Summerland.

I honestly had no idea!!

There were flowers, balloons, crab legs, dessert, wine,

candles and a beautifully set table.

Seriously all of my favorite things:)

But my favorite thing?

These two.

And the fact that this amazing job I have

is going to last a lifetime:)

Project Beautify Grove..... :)

 I'm just gonna be honest here, when the hubby sent me pics

of this house I was a little scared.

I'd never done a mid century modern before, but the minute

I walked in the front door I couldn't WAIT to get going!

Let me introduce you to the Addison House.

This house was built in 1958 and was featured in Architectural Digest in 1961.

This house had never been on the market before, and the sellers were really

selective in who they wanted to sell it to.

After googling us, we were their pick!!

What an honor.

And honestly? Pressure!

They knew the house needed work, but really wanted someone who would

update it but respect it's original architecture.

Here's the exterior before:

Here's the after:)

We painted the brown parts of the house Dovetail by Sherwin Williams,

and kept all that was white- white:)

pic cred

 Here's the entry door that opens into the courtyard and front door.

It had white plastic panels that just kind of looked cold and unfriendly.

 We replaced that plastic with glass, and now you can see inside that beautiful

courtyard:)

pic cred

This is the before of the courtyard with a view of the front doors.

Here's the after:)

The wood wall was covered in the same white plastic panels.

The wood just added some much needed warmth!

We used that same wood throughout the property  on other

walls so it all tied in.

pic cred

 This is the entry just inside the front door.

See that sliver of a grey pocket door back there?

It was original to the house and it's over 6 feet wide and awesome!

pic cred

And just check out that original brass hardware:)

Then we turn the corner into the kitchen/great room.

The kitchen was more of a galley style, and very very dark.

Oh! and the entire house had popcorn ceilings... :(

We painted almost every wall and ceiling in this house 

Marshmallow by Sherwin Williams.

It's a nice soft white:)

And can I just say that 

Denovo Fine Cabinetry in Tempe, AZ really hit it out of the

park with these gorgeous cabinets!!

The mini sputnik lights are from Dot & Bo:)

The gold brackets are from PB teen. They come with

white shelves, but I had my son Ryne make walnut

ones to add some warmth:)

And oh my goodness I love this tile! It has the best smooth

texture to it! I found it at Tile Co. in Ventura. Sorry I don't

know the name! :(

It's a really pretty grey/tan color and helps tone down all

the white:)

See that seam in the ceiling? That was a track for a folding screen.

And just to the right of the fridge, was an opening to the front

entryway.

 We closed in that doorway and moved the fridge to that wall.

We kept all the skylights in the house and just replaced the

glass with a really cool vertical striped glass.

I went with this simple gold hardware throughout the kitchen.

I found them at Capitol Hardware in Santa Barbara.

The surround countertops are Quartzite Taj Majal.

 The island is white Caesarstone.

The faucet is Delta. It's the Trinsic Collection in champagne bronze.

And then there's the fireplace.

This stinkin thing was the nemesis of this entire project!!

We went round and round as to what to do about it!!

After installing the floors, the brick looked pink.

So we painted it white.

But it had huge mortar gaps and it looked terrible.

So we painted it light grey.

Terrible.

Then tried to fill in the gaps and paint it dark grey.

Terrible.

By this time my hubby was about to divorce me, and

my son run away.

 So we covered that whole mess up.

We sanded off the brown stain on the hearth and got it down to

it's original beautiful color.

My son made the walnut mantel and corbels.

And we were all happy again:)

I used the same Dovetail grey that is on the exterior, because

from so many windows you can see that color, and I just felt like

it made it all run together and not so busy?

Did I just make any sense at all? 

It's freaking late and my eyes and brain are sooo tired!!

I really must try to blog earlier than Monday night at 11pm :(

source

Oh I love this bubble tile, it kinda looks like ocean bubbles:)

And some of those circles are pearly like shells.

This is the hall bath. That sink was original

to the house and I couldn't bear to get rid of it.

I wish I had a better picture of the linen floor tile, and

that amazing grey marble top :(

 This is the master bedroom.

It has amazing windows and views of the Channel Islands on a clear day:)

The hubby did that wall treatment to add a little pizzazzle to this room.

The pendant lights are from West Elm.

Most walls and all ceilings and trim in this house are painted Marshmallow by Sherwin Williams.

A few are Worldly Grey by Sherwin Williams.

Here's the lovely before of the closet/master bath.

We saved that cool drawer cabinet and added hardware and put it

in the new master closet.

The trough sink is Duravit. 

The sconces are West Elm.

This house was such fun. We all were a little

sad when it was done! 

This beauty sold before she hit the

market, but is taking back up offers.

You can check out more pics and details here.

The Kale House.... :)

About once a month the hubby and I journey to Arroyo Grande.

It's about an hour and 45 minute beautiful drive north:)

Well every single time we pass this beautiful house...

I die.

I  would silently wish that the hubby will turn to me and say-

"let's go check it out"

Because honestly, that's my favorite thing ever!!

This last time my wishes came true!!

The hubby took the nearest exit and we went driving around trying

to find our way to her.

And whaddya know? We found her:)

This sweet old gal sits on a hill on Bradley Road and Betteravia just 

above the 101 freeway in Santa Maria.

She sits proudly in the middle of (what I think is) a kale field.

Isn't she just perfect??

I LOVE HER!!!

As we walked around her we noticed that although she's boarded up,

she was boarded up with respect. 

And that makes me happy, because I feel like somebody might

still love her too:)

She looks like she's never been added on to?

Hallelujah!!

Doesn't she just look like a strong farmers wife and can't you

just picture her saying

nuh uh uh!! with her finger in the face at the

mention of an "addition" ??!!

I can:)

She said leave me alone! I'm perfect just as I am:)

And is that an outhouse??

All I know is she's dreamy.

And my dream would be to shine her up for my sis in law,

so her and her sweet hubby could move right in and he

could work at nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base....

Sigh.....

 And just because I know you all like you some sneaky peeks..

here's a few of our near completed Ventura hillside project!

I would have shown you more pics but the cleaning crew

is there today and getting her all polished up for her

first showing on Wednesday!!

I'll show you some fab before and afters next week!!