List checker-offers unite!

Raise your hand if you've ever put something on a list that you've already done just to have the satisfaction of crossing it off. I see you all out there with your guilty hands in the air. 

Let's face it, it feels damn good to cross things off a list and I'm happy to say that I've done a pretty good job crossing things off a list I published (there's nothing like putting your list out in front of an audience to make you want to succeed) back in August but I've not done a great job telling you about it. 

So I thought I'd circle back and feel the collective satisfaction of checking a few things off the list.

First on that list from back in August was to paint the kitchen chairs. I did that in September and I've been really happy with the results. That chalk paint is some hard-wearing stuff. Although I mentioned that I might end up painting the table with it, I never did that. Repainting the table is a project that needs to happen (in spring) but I haven't decided yet if I'll do it in chalk paint or not. It wears wonderfully but it does have a pretty specific finish which varies from chalky (duh) to a slight luster after a couple coats of wax and some buffing.

Next on the list was to get some art on the kitchen wall. Well you know how that turned out: huge success. I still love the vintage botanical charts every time I look at them and I can't think of anything that would have worked better in that spot. I feel like I should get a checkmark and a plus sign for that one.

At the time, I think I meant to mention that I also needed to get some art for the master bedroom but I forgot in the middle of that big ol' list. Well I'm happy to say I checked that one off the list too. There is a big, empty wall in our bedroom that has been getting a little depressing lately because it's so gray. Don't get me wrong, I love the paint color (Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, which is also in the kitchen), but it was just too much. I knew I needed something big for that spot and I knew I wanted something colorful but not completely crazy because it is, after all, a bedroom. Fortunately I just happened to come across a One King's Lane sale featuring canvas prints from Michelle Armas at a fraction of the price she usually sells them for and I picked up two. One of them, called "Laura," is a monster that just so happens to fit perfectly on our bedroom wall. I love it because it brings in the light blue of the bedding and the window seat cushion and also goes with some of the accessories we have on the open shelves of the built-in. I think, technically speaking, I've got it hung sideways because there are some drips that are now running across the canvas, but that's the beauty of abstract art: you can hang it whatever way you like.

I've never bought a print on canvas before and I have to say I'm really impressed with the quality. It's difficult to tell it's not an original.

Next on the list was reupholstering the Craigslist cane chairs I bought a long time ago. I'm really anxious to do this project and I've purchased all the fabric I need for it, save for the really expensive Chiang Mai Dragon print that I keep trying to find on sale somewhere. So it's on the radar but this one didn't really get anywhere yet.

Redoing the back room is also still on the to-do list. In order to work on that room we need to move the furniture out of it so Mr. Much More Patient has declared that I have to make some room in the basement to store the furniture. And making room in the basement for that means getting a few other projects finished first. Plus, we're hoping to pound this one out in a few weeks so we're waiting until we're both home with a little time in our schedules to get started.

I also mentioned making some changes in the living room and I'm happy to report things are moving on that front. So far, I've changed out the ugly lamp, reupholstered the two chairs that sit in the window by the game table in a fun ikat dot print, bought a new, neutral couch (which I still love by the way), sent the mustard-colored chair and ottoman out for reupholstery (it's been two weeks and he said three to four so I'm hoping it will turn up soon) and, I'm very happy to announce, we finally got the rug we've been waiting for since spring. I haven't showed it to you yet (other than a sneak peek on Instagram) because I wanted to wait for the chair to come back first. There are a few other details to be attended to in there, but it's finally coming together and it's a total relief.

Chair reupholstery 101

A new, neutral couch!

Next on the list was restaining the coffee table. I did that a few months ago but didn't show you because I forget to take pictures and I stained it a color that's not too different from what it was so it didn't make for a dramatic before and after. But the new stain completely rejuvenated it and even though the stain color is similar—it went from a dark cherry/mahogany color to a medium-toned stain similar to our media console—it now works much better in the room. 

I also mentioned a few things that needed to be done but weren't on the list for this winter. One of them—the downstairs bathroom—is still not being touched. That poor, ugly, forgotten bathroom is destined to be the last nail in the coffin in a renovation of our house that will span more than a decade. It still has the distinction of being the only room in the entire house that is completely untouched by us, even though it was declared to be the ugliest room in the house even before we had officially purchased it.

I also said the kitchen was not happening. Well, in fall we got a new walnut top for the island, so that's a minor improvement. And as it turns out, a few other improvements may be in the works, but we're waiting for a few quotes on some things before that one becomes official.

A new walnut butcher block top.

So that leaves the list looking like this:

• Paint the kitchen chairs
• Paint the kitchen table
• Get some art on the kitchen wall
• Art for the bedroom
• Reupholster the Craigslist chairs --coming soon
• Re-do the walls and ceiling in the back room
• Change the color scheme in the living room -- halfway there
• Restain the coffee table
• Gut reno the downstairs bathroom -- nope, not happening anytime soon
• Make some changes in the kitchen -- maybe?

How are your winter to-do lists progressing? And what's on the to-do list that you're planning to tackle this weekend?

Vintage botanical chart giveaway

OK, folks, today is the big day. I am SO excited to be offering this amazing giveaway from Bonnie & Bell.

You might remember that I spent three years staring at a giant blank wall in the kitchen while I searched for the perfect art. I absolutely fell in love with some of the photos I was seeing of vintage botanical prints but I wanted something very large scale. I even asked Lauren Leiss of Pure Style Home (she is a seriously amazing designer with such a fresh perspective, not to mention a mom of three boys) where she found large scale botanicals like she has in her own home (well this is her old home because she's in the process of renovating a new house but I'm positive they'll find a place of honor in her new place too) and like she often uses in her clients' homes.

Lauren Liess/ Pure Style Home

Well I found vintage botanical charts on Etsy in the Bonnie & Bell shop. But because I'm insanely picky, I was looking for specific charts. Linda, who owns Bonnie & Bell was amazingly patient and helped me find the perfect charts for my space.

Linda and I spent a lot of time corresponding via e-mail during the time she was scouring Europe (I'm serious about that, I think she found the horse chestnut chart for me in The Netherlands) for my chart, and I was absolutely thrilled when she offered to do a giveaway for my readers.

So here's what we came up with. Bonnie & Bell has very generously donated a vintage botanical chart of the potato vine to be given away to one lucky reader. This is a Jung Koch Quentell chart that was originally used in German schools. It is paper on a linen backing and is rolled up on dowels. I love the look of the dowels, but some people choose to remove them (they are easy to remove without damaging the chart) and frame the charts instead. It is 33 inches by 44.5 inches without the dowels and 36 inches by 46.5 inches with the dowels and it is gorgeous!

Close-up of the flower

Close-up of another flower plus the dowel

I'm using the Rafflecopter widget to hopefully make entering a little bit easier. In order to enter, just leave a comment saying where you'd hang this beautiful chart. Would it go in your kitchen, like I did with mine? Or maybe in your family room like Lauren did? Or would you be the best friend/family member ever and give it as the most most amazing gift ever? You can earn additional entries by doing a few other tasks, so up your odds and do them all!

I'll accept entries until November 15. If you have any problems at all with Rafflecopter, e-mail me at impatientgardener@gmail.com and I'll get you entered.

You may have to click to the original post in order to enter if you receive this via e-mail.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Art at last!

We've been looking for a new sofa sort of off and on and a few months ago I walked into the place where we bought our last sofa and talked to the same designer who sold me the one we currently have. I told her exactly what I was looking for and she walked me around the showroom pointing out everything they had that might fit our needs.

The conversation went something like this:
Furniture girl: How about this one?
Me: Nope. Too tall.
FG: Oh, here's a nice one. What about this one?
Me: No, the arms are too skinny.
FG: OK, well, we have this one over here that might work.
Me: No, I don't care for that one either.
FG: This is why I love working with you. You know what  you want.

I'm not really sure she meant the first part of that last statement and but I know she had the second part backwards. I rarely know exactly what I want, but I do know what I DON'T want. I know the right "one," whether it be a sofa, art, lamp or even a husband, when I see it but I don't know exactly what I'm looking for until I lay eyes on it.

I also don't do placeholders. Early on in my decorating-my-own-place life I bought an awful Ikea chair that filled a space in a room just because it was cheap. I hated it. It was uncomfortable and kind of ugly and I think it scarred me for life. Since then I'd rather sit there with nothing or use something I already have that I don't like rather than buy something to fill in "until I find the right one."

And that's why the huge wall behind the banquette in the kitchen has been blank for three years. It drives me nuts and every time I show a picture of it I included a little asterisk about how I knew the wall looked stupid blank but I was waiting for the right piece of art to come along.

I can't tell you how much art I looked at, but none of it spoke to me. I thought about making my own driftwood sculpture or even painting my own canvas, but those certainly would have been disasters.

Since the kitchen is one of the most light-filled rooms in the house, I liked the idea of bringing the outside in with some kind of botanical, but I didn't want anything fussy or formal. And then I (well actually my friend and design sympathizer Roisin) found these vintage German schoolhouse charts at the Etsy store Bonnie and Bell.

Of course picky old me was not satisfied with the charts that were in the store. No, I needed something special (I told you, I know it when I see it). So I started working with Bonnie and Bell owner Linda to find just the right thing. I swear the woman is a saint. She poured through piles of vintage charts (she has all sorts of contacts in the European antiques world) until we found the oak one on the right. Then it was just a matter of finding the right partner for it. I really loved the colors in the Sundew, but then I did a little research on Sundew and found out it's a carnivorous plant and as weird as this may sound, I just wasn't comfortable with a carnivorous plant hanging over my table (visions of "Feed me, Seymour, danced in my head). The same went for some of the zoological charts Linda had. I absolutely love the chickens chart, but I have a hard time thinking about raw poultry while eating much less looking at chicken innards, as pretty as they may be.

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So I did a little research on these old charts and found one that I knew would work: horse chestnut. So Linda set out to find that chart for me and sure enough, in a couple weeks she located it for me!

I was so happy when I unrolled them. They are so lovely and wonderfully but gently worn. It's completely charming that they aren't totally perfect. One was printed in 1967 and the other in 1977 so they aren't THAT old, but just perfectly aged.

I once heard a designer say that every room can use a little black. Before I hung up the beautiful botanicals, the only black in the entire kitchen was the black cords on the pendants over the table. Originally I was worried that so much black on the wall might overwhelm the room or make it unbalanced, but I think it adds just the right statement to the room and actually makes those cords fit in more.

Check out what it looked like before.

And now after. Which do you prefer?

I'm so happy I waited to find the right thing for that wall. You know it's right when it just feels like home. And that corner just became my new favorite place in the house.

And one last look from a different angle (where you can see my homemade seed packet art works great with them.

There's great news to go along with this post. Bonnie and Bell's Linda (who apparently didn't tire of me even after I sent her on a wild goose chase) has agreed to work with me on a giveaway. Stay tuned for details!