This little guy...

es la bomba! It is the Houdini red wine aerator, and it fits right into the bottle.

Only $24.99 at Target!

We tried it out on this wine, which is cheap and delicious ($12.99 at World Market):

sigh

obsessed:

(Wisteria)

I think I'll take the whole room:

Things we wanted for ourselves while Christmas shopping

Swanson Vineyards Mix & Match House Reds
http://www.swansonvineyards.com/Mix-Match.aspx

pi'lo unbleached canvas zippered pouches and checkbook cover

http://www.pilo.ca/products.php?cat=1&subCat=2

Polopolo Small Tissue Box Cover

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61173126/polopolo-small-tissue-box-cover-line?ref=fp_treasury_6

Bobble water bottles with filters

http://www.waterbobble.com/

KitchenAid mixers now have glass bowls!

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/kitchenaid-design-series-stand-mixer/?pkey=e%7Cmixer%7C21%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C6&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCHNoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

Heart Factory

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62321553/heart-factory?ref=fp_treasury_7

dear santa...

....bring greenies!

C's Vintage Bar Makeover

C and her husband drove far, far away and into the scary woods to pick up this little gem listed on craigslist for a steal:

Those white quilted doors had yellowed over time, so I bought some grey burlap to recover them. Here is how that went:

...tada!

Out of the Weeds

When C closed on the house, here is what the front looked like:

Cute, but the overgrown pink crepe myrtles touching the house presented some issues: 1) impeded entry to the porch and obstructed view from the porch; 2) their contact with a 90-year-old wood house is conducive to wood rot and probably termites; and 3) those things drop pink flowers all over the white porch. Also note the amount of dead leaves on the palm tree (unfortunately) growing in our back yard.

Before starting work on the house, we had it tented for termites. My laziness prevented a picture of the sweet patchwork tent, but I did get a picture of the house with the "poison" warning sign out front. This pic also shows the first round of landscaping work:

The crepe myrtles were removed and replanted in the backyard, and the palm tree was trimmed.

The backyard was pretty crazy-looking before.

Ex. A:

Ex B:

There were two separate decks and a deck pathway... Luckily, my parents have a great landscaper, and he worked all kinds of miracles. In the front, he put in little ferns and gardenia bushes:

I planted the potted hibiscus!

In the backyard, he added sod, a flagstone patio, and some white crepe myrtles:

C's After Shots

The contractor is finally done! Just in time for Lights in the Heights...

Here is the LIVING ROOM now:

(here is how it looked before)

Here is the DINING ROOM now:

(here is how it looked before)

Here is the KITCHEN now:

(here is how it looked before)

Here is the GUEST ROOM now:

Here is the GUEST BATHROOM now:

Some hallway shots:

Here is the DEN now:

(here is how it looked before)

Here is the MASTER BEDROOM now:

(here is how it looked before)

Here is the MASTER BATH now:

Buried Treasure

L's former owners had original hardwoods that had never been finished.

They were simply covered with carpet for fifty years, or stripped out and replaced with tile.

This is the former dining room.

(and aforementioned chandelier)

The carpet was almost dark peach in some lights:


But alas, this unfinished goodness was below:


So up came the carpet in the dining room,
and up came the tile in the former-living room.

At first we believed there would be hardwoods below the tile in the dining room,
but it had been removed years before.

The wood stacked in the picture below is refurbished hardwoods (aka recycled)
that our contractor used for the former-living room.


Refurbished wood was also placed over the concrete in the master bath.
Initially, we hoped to stain the concrete but this was easier & less expensive in the end:

Then tough choices - wood stain.

(We went with the third from the left)

Final result of the former peach carpeted dining room:

Curtains are gone, chandelier is gone, and carpet is gone!