Bedroom, Bathroom and Porch

Three of these photos are from the summer.

We added the blue toilet to Scott's bathroom after he finally got it working:


We purchased new bedding for our bedroom. Those pillow cases are an Alexander Girard design:


Scott also found this amazing "Laurel" mushroom lamp for our bedroom:


And, last weekend Scott replaced the ugly front porch light with this:


Slow and steady wins the race. Enjoy! we are.

Loving Our Home Today

Maybe it's because I hosted a dinner party last night or it's because there are beautiful flowers on my dining room table perking up the place but I'm just loving the house today. So much so that I didn't leave it at all.

I began the day pulling weeds on the south side of the house. I hope I'm not too late to save the daffodils I believe are growing over there. The weeds were plentiful and the ants, even more so.

Before the end of the day our friend Lee stopped over to bring some fresh picked raspberries off his bush and to plant a sunflower plant for us. I can't wait for it to grow like crazy! The yard has a LONG way to go but I did make a dent in the weeds this week.

Anyway, all this love for our home made me take some more pictures. The only new thing you'll see is the couch below. Scott drove to Zeeland, MI a few weekends ago to pick it up. Zeeland is also the home of the Herman Miller furniture manufacturer. He was stoked.

Our new Eames Sofa Compact for the "family room"(we aren't sure what to call the room):



Backing up a bit to include the table:


A close up of the pattern:


I know the bedroom furniture was in the last post but those weren't such great photos. Not that these are very much better...but maybe a little:

Three of the 4 pieces:

(Still need new bedding. It's on the list.)

A close up of the bottom of the dresser (Soho made by Copeland):


And, finally, the room I was really loving today: The dining room.
The view from the entry way into the living/dining area (with my birthday present globe in the foreground):


And the table with the pretty flowers given to me at the dinner party last night:

(Nothing on the walls yet. We can't decide!)

The light fixture is from the house Scott grew up in. It's one of the only things he's carried around with him everywhere he's gone.

Scott cut a tree down in our front yard. It blocked the coolest part of the house - the garage windows. I agree you can see the coolness factor of our house better without the tree but I haven't come to terms with it being gone yet. It was a pretty little tree. Maybe the next update I'll photograph the outside.

Happy weekend everyone!

Bedrooms & Blinds

I'm thrilled to announce that the LAST BIT of construction cardboard has been pulled up from the floor. The remaining bit covered the floor in our master bedroom. We didn't have furniture to put in there and we hadn't picked a paint color and it just wasn't a priority. However, we stumbled on a major deal and wound up buying a new bedroom set and mattress. A much needed mattress, I might add.

We also had blinds installed throughout the living, dinning, kitchen area.

For your viewing pleasure (sorry they are just iphone photos):

Sun room blinds:


Half opened, the way we normally keep them:


As you walk in to the guest room:


New guest room dresser (and purple wall):


Final look of the corner:


The bed area (we already had this furniture & we'll get a duvet eventually):


Putting the new bed together:


All put together:


Close photo of new dresser/green wall:


Master Bedroom dresser & green wall:


Bed and a bit of the night stand:


Pippet enjoying her new bed:


Master bedroom sheets and duvet coming along with a dual blind. And we'll need a rug.

And at some point we'll get to that guest bath and the basement project. It really does feel like a home now!

And, I want to mention that all this has happened while I've been out of town for work. Awesome props to my husband for making it awesome. I can't WAIT to get home!

Hello, Old Friend

The snow is gone, spring flowers are popping up (what will they be?), we've ridded our garage of some furniture we no longer wanted and I have a mirror in my bathroom!



Absolutely stunning!!!

Another view (walking in to the room):



I now have a towel rack as well. Apologies for the bad iphone picture but it's easiest. Also, don't judge the 1 towel. I haven't even used this tub since the rack was installed. Maybe today calls for a bubble bath?



And, finally, a toilet paper holder. Living the life of luxury!



There is no way to take an interesting photo of the other things Ryan was able to cross off his list, however, the "bar" area now has a marmoleum floor to match the kitchen/family room area and the transitions from bamboo to marmoleum/marmoleum to marble are complete. He also added some trim above the fireplace.

Still no toilet in the "his" bath. Purchased one but the blue didn't match the original blue sink. Back to square one - trying to figure out how to make the original toilet work.

Still have walls to paint (sigh)and master bedroom furniture to buy as well. The next big round of remodeling will come when we re-do the hall bathroom, add the glass tile back splash in the kitchen, tear out the basement and remodel the walk-in closet.

Possibly today we'll hang the door on the "bar", maybe get serious about what shelves we'll hang in there so a few more boxes can be unpacked and, hopefully, we'll reorganize the garage.

I'll leave you with a photo of the tree which sets right outside our main window in our sun room. It's in the perfect location and is the backdrop for the whole room. It's just started to show it's Spring bloom:

Progress is Love

First, since I ADORE crossing things off a list, in the last post I left a weekend agenda:

Weekend agenda:
Buy dining room table
Clean mortar off brick
Entry way marble cleaned (in progress)
Thaw out (thank you higher temps!)
Maybe move some things from storage (please)
Pick paint color for living room (decisions, decisions...)

Okay - we didn't get to the last item but we DID decide on some version of lite blue. We just need to find that version....and figure out our bedroom.

I'm THRILLED about the dining room table (dinner party!) and the storage unit being 100% empty (no more storage bill!).

Okay, checkout the photos of the progress from above:

1st, the dirty (actually, unbelievable filthy, gooey, icky) entry way marble:


And the unbelievably clean, buffed, shining entry way marble:


We spent 3 or 4 days cleaning the mortar off the brick in our living room. Because we did much trial and error, I want to explain the process so other can hopefully save some time.

Pre-scrubbing:


We went to work with metal scrub brushes and a bucket of warm soapy water. Oh, and a LOT of elbow grease. A LOT.

A little more than 1/2 way:


At this point in the story we stopped to head to Pizzology for Valentine's dinner. Delicious!

Back at it we finished the metal brush scrub, allowed it to dry and we were left with a haze all over our bricks:


Loads of internet research and speaking to a "brick guy" along with some trial and error...and we ended up with a spray bottle of straight, white, distilled vinegar, and two buckets of warm water. The process went like this:

Scott sprayed the 100% vinegar mix on 9-12 bricks. He then ran a regular scrub brush over the bricks (metal bristles not required).
I took a damp rag and wiped the vinegar off and then a dry rag and dried the brick.
2 warm buckets were to keep the damp rag vinegar free. I would would clean the vinegar off, dunk the rag in one bucket and squeeze it. Then I'd dunk the rag in the other bucket and squeeze it out over the first bucket. Hope that makes sense.

We ended up with this:


Scott wants to touch up a few spots but otherwise.....YES! Clean brick!

Scott received his matching Eames for Herman Miller aluminum group lounge chairs he had been anxiously awaiting.

(Sorry for the shadow. The sun finally came out to play):


The back:


And, one other view:


We only have a typing desk left to receive. The bad news is I've cut off living room furniture buying. We need such things as: towel racks, toilet paper holders, more paint, a toilet for the blue bathroom and a master bedroom set. Oh, and we need to pay those pesky credit cards down.

Nothing new to add to the to-do list currently. We just need to pick some colors and save for paint.

Filling up the place

Scott has taken a self-taught class in mid-century modern furniture over the last 3 weeks. While in Chicago for a friend's wedding we hit several re-sale shops. He's also been all over Ebay....to a point where I told him he has to stop. We have regular ol' furniture to get us by in our living room for now. We, however, have not a stitch of furniture in our master bedroom. We also do not have a dining room table. We also have a whole storage unit to clean out. I digress....

The point is - through his ebay shopping excursions we've now acquired the two pieces below. There are two more chairs and a desk (this was actually my request) on the way.

First: A Knoll Bertoia Diamond Chair (covered):

And, our new coffee table is Knoll by Lewis Butler:

Scott says it isn't a "sought after piece" but it's still worth showing!


As for other goings on:
I've unpacked all of our boxes labeled "bathroom" which made room in the little bedroom to bring in some more boxes. I also unearthed some clothing (it felt like I went shopping!). Little by little I'm bringing stuff in from the garage in hopes to make room for the stuff in the storage unit. Not to fear, however. There are also 2 large boxes collecting loads of things we don't need. If it's been boxed up this long....ya know?

And, since the "restore" part of the house is getting closer to complete, I might as well turn this in to a a bit of a "Living on Sunny Ln." blog too. I'm fairly private so their won't be much.....but, I want to keep this space active.

Mostly I've been cooking. Today, I'm drying fruit in the oven:

Weekend agenda:
Buy dining room table
Clean mortar off brick
Entry way marble cleaned (in progress)
Thaw out (thank you higher temps!)
Maybe move some things from storage (please)
Pick paint color for living room (decisions, decisions...)

Kitchen Pendant Light

It's been up for a while but I just realized I had not posted a photo. Isn't she pretty?



Scott found it on ebay, in London. It's a Fog and Morup design (Denmark). It had a black cord on it originally. Ryan swapped it out for the white one you see here. It'll be perfect once our orange back splash is up (we're thinking that will happen when the guest bathroom remodel happens, April-ish).

Please also notice - the trim is painted! YAY!

Coming soon (ie: when the purchases arrive) - photos of the vintage furniture Scott has been addicted to finding. If nothing else, at least it'll help us pick some wall colors!

Bathroom & Blinds

Hi friends....

Things have been slow since the new year. There were little things left to do that aren't very photo friendly...but it's another step toward a mostly finished project. Other than that we've been waiting for a few parts for one of the sinks and one of the toilets as well as waiting on some more funds to hit our bank account.

As of today, my husband (the weekend plumber) has the sink in my bathroom working. We now have two fully functioning bathrooms!

Here's the sink toilet combo:


And the dual flush toilet on it's own:


This toilet replaced the 1979 toilet which was added when this bathroom was added on. Our realtor, Joe Shoemaker, told us he saw this sink at Meridian (downtown) so we snatched it up so all 3 sinks in the house would match. All the guts were changed out of it and it now works!

Last weekend Scott's project was to hang the blinds on the kitchen window. It turned out to be a pretty lengthy project but it's lovely to be able to hide my PJs and bed-head from our neighbors in the morning.



And an up close photo:


Still to go:
Everything needs painted and/or touched up
Caulk (everywhere)
Kitchen back splash
Kitchen pendant light
At least one threshold (maybe more than 1)
White bathroom light and mirror
Blue bathroom toilet
Guest bathroom needs renovated (only room we didn't touch)
New storm doors
Window treatment in bathroom, sunroom, living room, entry way and on the doors (probably some sort of stick on film. We aren't sure yet).
Clean carpet glue off sunroom floor
Clean mortar off the fireplace facing
...and I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting

Once we paint, we can finally finish unpacking!

Successful Brunch

We had our first "party" at Sunny Ln. in the annual Hangover Brunch. It was a success (though when will I learn and buy some more plates so I can stop doing dishes during most of the brunch??) and so much more comfortable with so much more rooooom!

At 5pm on 12/31 we loaded up Ryan's truck with tons of the big trash which was still cluttering up the house. He pulled out of the drive way and Scott and I went to work trying to make the house ready. The sun room was still piled high with doors, old carpet, tools, a vanity, and much more. Luckily my best friend Matt arrived with his awesome family. Matt and Scott whipped the sun room in to shape for sure. I'm not exactly sure what Kristin and I did. I felt like a chicken with my head cut off so it's all a blur. There was much sweeping, I do remember that.

There's still much to be done (another pendant light to hang, trim, PAINT!, there's one toilet and one sink in different rooms that do not yet work, window treatments, at least one thresh hold, fireplace, hall bath, door bell) but the house was ready enough to start 2011 with some love. And everyone did LOVE it. Here are few pictures from the day which show it off:

Diane and Matt introduce Elise and Liam in the family room area (off the kitchen):


Mary checks out the buffet brunch options:


The sun room is enjoyed by some of my favorite people:


The Page family finally gets to see where their daddy has been all these evenings:


Casey and her youngins check out the fireplace:


The dinning room gets its first taste of food:


Pemby enjoys the Bloody Mary's in the bar area:


The Wilson's enjoy some play time in the yard: