Archive for January, 2010
Budget Blooms: Starting The Year Off Right
Thump. That’s the sound of us falling off the fresh flower bandwagon last October. From the first of 2009 through September we were enjoying one inexpensive (and even free) bouquet for each month of the year (a super sweet Christmas present from the hubs). But somehow the end-of-the-year madness (toss in a few holidays, a growing family, a bathroom gut-job, and an impending nursery makeover) sadly derailed our year of budget blooms.
Well, John was determined to kick this year off right with a happy and cheerful January bouquet for me (actually purchased on 1/1/10- what a nice “fresh start” to the year). This month’s arrangement hails from the grocery store and only ran us $4. Nice. And to stretch our flower budget even further, I separated the blooms into two mercury glass candleholders-turned-vases and proudly displayed our mixed batch of daisies, mums, and alstroemerias in this rarely seen nook of our kitchen:
We love how they look sort of New Years-y and cheerfully festive with the cake stand full of ornaments and ceramic fruit… but of course since these flowers are all long-lasters we’ll soon be replacing the ornaments with some edible treats (cupcakes if we’re bad, fresh fruit if we’re good) as the month goes on.
We really like how the happy pops of yellow in the alstroemerias (they’re almost springy- which is encouraging on some of the coldest days) pair with the fresh green of the mums and the big white daisy (along with all the other white accents like the cake stand, ornaments, and lotus candle holder). It’s sort of a winter-white-meets-New-Year’s-sparkle effect… with an optimistic splash of spring tossed in for good measure.
And of course for $2 per arrangement we’re pretty happy with our re-commitment to at least one affordable bouquet per month. But what about you guys? Do you have any favorite seasonal blooms that you whip out each January? Is there any other greenery that you love having around to start the year off right (a gorgeously scented potted rosemary? a luxe bouquet of red roses?). Do tell.
Wanna see our first grocery store bouquet from last January? Itching to check out February, March, April, May, June July, August, and September too? Just follow the links for some pretty sweet cheap-o (and even free) bouquets.
Some Of Our Other Homies
First, we’re sending out a huge congrats to Remodelista for their win in the Apartment Therapy Homies awards this week! Though it’s pretty hard not to feel like beaming winners too (after being includes among such an amazing group of fellow bloggers and coming in at #2 after such a flattering show of reader support- thanks guys!). Oh and if you haven’t checked out the full list of over 600+ nominees on Apartment Therapy you should definitely give it a glance (just scroll down the the bottom of the page) – especially if you’re looking for some new reading in 2010.
We also recommend a glance at some of our other homies: our “da bomb” sponsors who help Sherry and I keep this little thing that we call Young House Love going. As we do every month, we’re giving them thanks (props?) and giving you a quick list of sources for home goods, fabrics, jewelry, art and inspiration. So check ‘em out if you’d like. They’re the shizzle.
A Beach Cottage comes to us from Sarah, a London-born blogger who now chronicles life and style in a “tatty old beach cottage” in a seaside Australian town. If you love beachy style as much as we do, you’re bound to love Sarah’s Blog (you may remember her from this recent Reader Redesign).
Vol. 25 makes us smile. Whether it’s browsing the blog for inspiration or shopping the Etsy store for smile-inducing accents, Volume Twenty Five offers sweet and quirky designs (as prints, cards, shirts or even stamps!) that are sure to make people (and their walls) very happy.
Oliver Fabrics hooked up Nicole with some free pillows in this week’s giveaway, and still offers the rest of us tons of designer fabrics at prices you’d have trouble getting elsewhere (read: $40 a yard instead of $400 through a designer). And after dropping in on their new Richmond location last night, we’re even more excited that they’ve opened a shop nearby.
Design for Less is like a virtual tile inspiration board. And now that we’ve got our tiling skills down, we’re even more excited by the idea of bringing some swanky glass mosaic beauties into Casa Petersik (with a few smaller projects that anyone can do).
Z Gallerie is one of our favorite sources for all things white, ceramic and/or sparkly (and has been for years, even before they became sponsors). Lately we’ve really been digging their new Labyrinth and Modern Key bedding set, as well as some of their NYC (and other city) vintage art.
Emmy Lu is a great resource for amazing stationery and design (that you save on by printing yourself). Oh and did you notice that this week’s chalkboard Reader Redesign was actually sent over by one of their designers named Bethany? True fact! They’re almost too creative over there.
Etsy Kids sources and supplies all kinds of Etsywares made just for little ones. And you know we love their fun A to Z navigation, especially now that we can focus special attention on G (hint: it stands for “girl”). Really they have it all, from custom bibs and adorable handmade outfits to toys and art and more, there’s nothing that doesn’t make you say things like “cute” and “adorable.”
Century Finds is always fun to poke around for vintage treasures for your home (not to mention they’re in the midst of a New Year’s sale!). Plus they have a bevy of interesting recycled items that caught out eye this month, like kissing bird art made from old records and pillows made from weathered bank sacks. Very cool. Update: mention me & Sherry in the comment section of your order for 10% off!
Fame the Date is also in the midst of a sale (10% off with the code “BeMine”) so if you’re planning a sweet surprise for your Valentine this year, consider a framed date to commemorate a special day. You know we’re all about sentimental art, and their quality frames sweeten the deal even more (there’s nothing chincy about them so any date looks like a million bucks).
Lisa Leonard Designs is where you’ll find meaningful, hand-made sterling silver jewelry, like her new personalized Heartstrings pendant, or the aqua stone earrings that Sherry keeps getting compliments on (we even bought an extra pair for a friend’s upcoming birthday after she wouldn’t stop ogling Sherry’s ears).
Garnish is all about fun, thoughtful gifts and occasions packaged with care and personality. And this January weather sure is making the idea of a soup swap appealing – especially with those cheeky “Hello My Name Is” tags. Head on over for major entertaining inspiration and to peruse packaging that couldn’t be any cooler.
V for the Home is always worth a visit when you Richmonders are looking for some original, stylish and imaginative furniture and accessories that wow. Check them out in the West End at 5615 Patterson Ave (and bring a napkin or something to catch all that drool). You know how Sherry’s all about texture? Well they’ve got that down pat.
Blend Creations creates a blend of jewelry (imagine that!) for him and her in stainless steel. From their signature torus necklaces to quirky monster pendants and even your own custom designs, they really do offer a huge variety of modern pieces that feel both substantial and delicate at the same time. Oh and you can click their links to Facebook or Twitter for special offers too.
The Natural Sleep Store was our source for the Savvy Rest mattress that we curl up on every night before they even became sponsors. And now they have us dreaming of an organic crib mattress. The bean’s gotta sleep as well as we do, right?!
WallQuotes.com is a way to get your favorite sayings (whether it’s a custom phrase or one of their designs) on your wall with style. And we love their understated typefaces and meaningful messages. Plus you’ll get 10% off your order by entering YHL10 at checkout so you can finally say goodbye to those naked walls.
Now that we’re done throwing down some mad props for our homedogs (homeslices? corndogs? man, I’m soooo bad at this) – we just wanted to say one last THANKS to our wonderful readers. We’re always thrilled when you stop by to see what we’re up to and you’re definitely our homies til the end. Word.
Interested in becoming a sponsor? Email us @ advertise@younghouselove.com for all the deets.
Tackling The Bathroom: Chapter Five
After my tile laying extravaganza, the tasks of grouting and sealing seemed tiny by comparison – especially considering I had taken off the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s and had several days to accomplish them. But for some reason, I really dreaded grouting. From my dad calling it “the pits” to Katie Bower admitting it’s the hardest part of tiling for her and Jeremy, it really had me nervous. Even the guy at a the home improvement store kinda hinted that it wouldn’t be pleasant. Couldn’t we just leave it like this?
Unfortunately, it had to be done. And I had already put it off twice. Once when I mixed the grout wrong (I read “3 cups/1.4 Liters” of water as “3 Liters” – oops) and a snowstorm kept us from getting more. Then the next day, I picked up a replacement box with plans to grout after work, but then an accident (train + SUV = bad back up, but no injuries) got me home too late to tackle it before bed. The funny thing is that in the end these two twists of fate ended up being a lifesavers.
See, long before we even demo’d our first wall we had purchased our grout – nonsanded Polyblend grout from Home Depot. We opted to use nonsanded grout on both the shower walls and floor because it’s recommended for 1/16th” grout lines and because sanded grout can scratch marble. So we had had our box of “bright white” (for the shower) and our box of “nutmeg” grout (for the floor) all ready to go from almost day one… even though the nutmeg was a little redder than we would’ve liked. But sometime over Christmas break we got the tip that we should check out a specialty store like The Tile Shop for better grout that would last longer and was more mildew and mold resistant – plus they offered a wider color selection. Why didn’t we think of that?
We can’t speak to the quality yet (it’s supposed to be more durable and mold/mildew resistant according to the label) but our tipster was dead-on about the color selection. Not to mention they had a handy color guide that allowed us to hold up our tile against real grout (not just a colored label) to see how they’d look together:
So thanks to this trip we scored a batch of “standard white” (a more subtle white, which is much closer to our actual tile color than the “bright white” from Home Depot) and “mocha” (a much browner version of nutmeg without the garish red undertones). And it was the same price as the Home Depot stuff! Not bad. We’d later count our blessings that we hadn’t used the previous grout that would’ve made our shower lines look like over-whitened teeth and our floor ones look like bad auburn streaks, but first we had to actually get down to business and grout everything. So with better grout in our possession (and after allowing all of the tile in the room at least two full days to set) I couldn’t put off the dreaded project any longer. I semi-enthusiastically gathered my supplies, almost all of which were inherited from my dad’s previous bathroom projects (most of which were purchased at The Tile Shop), and this is what my little arsenal of grouting tools included:
- A grout float
- Sponges
- Buckets (at least one for grout, one for water)
- Paper towels & rags
- Flexible Grout Admixture
- Grout Release
- Marble Sealer
The first step was actually to use the last two items to prep the surfaces. The grout release acts as the “Pam” of the process (to borrow a baking analogy we once heard) when it comes to protecting your tiles. By applying it beforehand, it makes it easier to clean the excess grout off of your tiles later. The marble sealer did the same thing for our marble floors (oh and it’s the same product we would later use to seal the grout too- gotta love a multitasker).
Once the release had been applied to the shower walls and the sealer had been applied to the floor in advance of grouting, it was time to mix the grout. This go-round we were determined to follow the instructions on the box quite carefully (which had been a challenge to me in my previous attempt). Luckily this time I mixed the correct amount of liquid and grout powder to form some nice toothpaste-like grout. You can opt to mix powdered grout with water (like we did in our previous attempt) but after talking with the tile specialists we decided to use Flexible Grout Admixture since it was recommended with the grout that we bought and we already had some leftover from my dad’s bathroom projects. The perks? It’s supposed to help reduce shrinking, cracking and the discoloration of your grout in the long run. Always a plus, right?
More than one person had warned me that mixing grout sucked – especially by hand (which I was doing because I didn’t want to buy a special tool for the little amount of grout that I was going to be using). So I trepidatiously measured out as much grout as I thought I could use in a 25-minute span (since more time than that could cause it to dry out) and added the corresponding amount of Flexible Grout Admixture. Then I began mixing with a simple paint stir stick and, well, it really wasn’t that bad.
It took a little bit of arm power (okay, and one broken stick) to get all the lumps worked out and achieve what appeared to be the correct consistency- I’d read it should be somewhere in the neighborhood of a cream cheese, cake batter, peanut butter or toothpaste. I personally don’t consider all of those to be the same thickness, so I figured there was room for interpretation. The key is just to avoid anything too gooey/drippy or anything too dry and non-spreadable. Below is a shot of the mocha floor grout at what I deemed to be an acceptable take on toothpaste-cream-butter-batter. So after letting it set for ten minutes in the pail as instructed, I mixed everything up again and armed myself with the grout float.
The grout float is like a rubber trowel. I like to think of it as the notched trowel’s friendlier, less ornery cousin. As I anxiously awaited impending disaster, I followed everyone’s instructions of using the float to pick up a small glop of grout and firmly press it against the tile. Holding the grout float nearly flat against the tile, I spread the glop back and forth against the lines between the tiles letting it generously fill all of the cracks. With such small grout lines, this took little time and effort (although you should apply firm pressure to be sure to really pack those cracks). Then it took just a few scrapes of the float – this time at a 45 degree angle- to swipe away excess grout from the faces of the tile. Nothing too difficult yet. I started to wonder if I was doing it wrong.
Even after using the float to remove excess grout, there’s still going to be some left hanging around on the faces of the tile (remember, you just want it in the cracks). This is where the damp sponge comes in after you’ve done about eight to ten minutes of grouting (you don’t want to wait over 15 minutes since the grout is harder to wipe off once it starts to set). Using another bucket filled with water, I lightly dampened a big yellow sponge (lightly is key, I learned). Then with a few light passes (again, light is key) I was able to not only lift most of the remaining grout from the faces of the tiles, but also to smooth the grout lines in the process. Seriously, the ease of this step amazed me. As long as I kept my sponge clean (which involved freshening my water bucket a couple of times) and didn’t get too water-happy, the process was remarkably effective. Maybe it was the Pam-like Grout Release that I applied beforehand? Either way this project was a lot less miserable than I thought it would be.
Now before I make this sound like a walk in the park, I’ll admit that it was a bit tiring and boring to do this across the entire shower. Not to mention having to stop a couple of times to clean my bucket and mix new grout (in the end, I used about 3lbs of a 5lb container for the tub/shower surround). But when I was done, the effect was AMAZING. It actually looked like a place people could shower! And all the dark negative spaces between the tiles were filled with clean white grout which promptly shifted the emphasis away from the lines between the tiles and back where it belonged: to the tiles themselves.
When I managed to stop admiring my own handiwork on the subway tile long enough to repeat the process I turned my attention to the floor. Although mixing this batch was a bit more challenging (darker color = more powder to mix and more color consistency concerns to worry about), the actual grouting was much faster. I barely used 1.5lbs to cover the minimal amount of grout lines (since they were only 1/16th” wide and much less abundant than in the shower since the tile was a lot bigger). Once again, the difference was incredible.
That was, at least, until the haze started to make itself visible. No matter how awesome your sponge skills are, you’re bound to leave some degree of grout film on your tiles that may only show its ugly face once things start to dry.
But this is where that previously applied Marble Sealer is supposed to make your life easier. Whew. I used a damp sponge a few more times to wipe away the haze, which helped but still moved the haze around more than actually removing it. Hmm.
We did have a bottle of Haze Remover borrowed from my dad, but I was hesitant to apply yet another chemical to our marble floors so I tried another pass with a dry paper towel instead of a moist sponge. Voila. It took a bit of elbow grease and quite a few passes, but the dry towel technique did the trick on both the floor and wall when it came to removing the slight haze that was left behind after multiple spongings. Both surfaces even passed the white glove test (okay, we didn’t really use white gloves, but I didn’t have any haze left on my bare finger after dragging it across the shower walls or the floor). Victory!
After 48 hours of curing, the last step was to seal the grout. It actually ended up being 72 hours later for us, since about 12 hours in we had a minor “water incident.” Explanation: while I managed to work in the bathroom for weeks on end without this happening, Sherry joined me for about three hours to caulk and paint trim (more on that later) and somehow her posterior came into contact with the water valve for the sink, turning it on and sending a jet of water shooting up onto the ceiling (and therefore some heavy drips of h20 back onto the floor). She then ran screaming out of the room while I fought to turn off the valve. Needless to say, we thought an extra day of curing time couldn’t hurt.
But back to the sealing process: that was also a super simple and straightforward job, and I applied a few extra coats to both the floor and the shower wall to keep our grout protected and hopefully mildew & stain free for the long haul (we also plan to reseal things every few years for added security). Note: after sealing the grout it was slightly darker, so it blended in with the mocha tones in the tiles even more than it appears to in the pic below- score).
So as I wondered what all the fuss about grouting was – maybe working with super thin grout lines in a small room made our experience easy? – I finished applying a couple coats of grout sealer (the same Marble Sealer on the floor, and a product called SurfaceGard on the tub/shower surround). Believe it or not, the room could almost be called showerable again. We just needed to install the fixtures and caulk some of the edges first. Hello light at the end of the tunnel, it’s nice to see you.
Psst- Wanna read about the first few chapters of the big bathroom makeover? Check out Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, a little teaser post, and Chapter Four right here.
Jagged Little Pillow Freebie Winner!
I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised by how many of your comments on this week’s giveaway were pro-pillow fight. Though I agree certain conditions (like who’s swinging, where they’re aiming and how heavy the pillow is) can make all the difference. Just promise us that any pillows won or purchased from Oliver Fabrics are treated less like weapons and more like the stylish accents that they are.
As you know, Oliver is giving away one pair of matching pillows featuring any of the fabrics on their entire site. And while we’re obviously not eligible for the prize, we’re looking forward to checking out their selection in person tonight at their new store in Richmond (5612 Grove Avenue, if you’re interested). Though you’ll have to promise to behave and not start any impromptu pillow battles… unless it’s the kind we’re you’re fighting over a favorite discounted fabric sample.
So who’s claiming the first prize of 2010? Well, after I wooed random.org with a mixed tape of jams from the Alanis era, it said we oughta know that our winner is… Nicole (for whom a normal pillow fight isn’t enough, she prefers them at hotels where jumping on the bed is also part of the equation). Congrats! Now for the difficult decision of picking your favorite fabric (don’t worry, you can pick two if you want to do a coordinating front and back design, that way it’s more like you get four free pillows and two totally different looks).
And try not to be too bummed if you didn’t win this time. Next week’s prize is pretty great too. It’s a little something that we fell in love with last year- so much so that we actually sent it to everyone on our Christmas card list. And next week a pair of you will score one for yourselves.
Get more info about our freebies on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Oliver Fabrics.
Reader Redesign: Getting The Hang Of It
When Bethany sent over her simple yet oh so chic message board project we had to share the goods. Anyone can do this in an afternoon to add function and beauty to a kitchen, office, mudroom, or more. Here’s her letter:
Thank you so much for your upbeat positive attitudes and for all that you do to inspire creativity! I wanted to share a project that I completed a while back that was extremely simple, cheap and totally DIY. I think it’s a good fit for anyone who wants to feel more organized but doesn’t want to sacrifice style. I spray painted a garage sale picture frame and used leftover chalkboard paint to paint the glass insert of the frame with a few thick coats (then I waited a while before using it to be sure it was completely cured). You can check out more step by step instructions on my blog. Thanks again for the fun site! – Bethany
Isn’t that a sweet and simple little frame facelift? Especially because she used a garage sale frame and extra chalkboard paint that she already had laying around! Thanks so much for sending the fun before & after pictures our way Bethany! Your message makes an organizational freak like me grin from ear to ear. Full disclosure: my mouth is actually watering…
