Kindred Styles

The owner of a shop at the market where I work asked me about my real work one day. I got out a Peppered Paper business card to show her, and she immediately asked if I would design a business card and some new tags for her. I think she liked my style. She loved the hand cut type and bright colors- just two of my favorite things. Now, if only I could get connected with others who share this kindred style.

I really haven't done much graphic design work, and it's mostly just been for my own marketing, but I love when my style naturally expresses the idea of a business or concept. With a business name of LaDeDa and a shop named Accentuate the Positive, I think we were off to a good start. I ended up designing six different sized tags for her along with a business card. Some tags were tiny... with lots of info get on them, but I think they'll compliment her merchandise perfectly! I'm glad she was so drawn to the reds and oranges because otherwise I probably would have tried to play if safe with more quite colors, like green or something.

Anyway, check out her shop and new merchandise tags next time you stop by the Southern Market. She does have really cute gift items- I think we have a similar shopping style too!

Real Simple Wisdom

Last night I sat down to scan a document and noticed I had a nice selection of quotations right in front of me- my printer is on top of this bookcase. I loved reading the inspiring quotations from my Real Simple spines and don't think I usually even notice these when I pull them out of the mailbox. Maybe a quote of the week would be fun to try out on peppered paper, the blog or the actual paper? Until then, here are a few to share from my bookshelf.

"Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really." Agnes Sligh Turnbull

"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness." - Elsa Schiaparelli

"I can live for two months on a good compliment." - Mark Twain

"Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt." - Sir William Van Horne

A Work in Progress - Part Two

The Studio

Can you believe all that dark wood paneling? We also had this paneling in our kitchen nook. Several people seemed to think we should leave the natural wood, which was most likely added in the 50's. We have no regrets. It looked better and better with each coat of paint, which were many. Sometimes even the smallest fixes, like repairing a hole in the floor or some cracking plaster, make such a big difference, but painting all of this panelling definitely made one of the biggest improvements in the feel of these rooms.

The Basement Stairway

I actually don't have a good "before" picture of the entire basement, but we've cleaned it up a ton as well. The first picture of the stairway here is post removing a 500 pound cast iron coal burning furnace, thus the grease and hand prints along the walls. It's telling that one of the first things I needed was a clean place to keep our cleaning supplies, with crisp clean blue walls- so many ways to apply color theory! I braided all the onions from our garden and hung them up there as well, if you're wondering what's on the wall.

Perennial Garden

Just one of many perennial gardens, with more to come! We added the fence after we adopted Lulu. It completely changed how the house looks from the street and opened up the side yard. And, provided this little corner for some planting. We've dug up hundreds of iris and day lily bulbs from the back yard, along with lots of old stone, which we used for the walkway and border here. We even dug up a sink- see below. We still haven't made the caps for the fence post, or fixed up much of the exterior, but we're counting down the days now till the painters come to visit! So, certainly not a finished "after" photo, but I thought it would be nice to include one of the exterior.

Of note- the enormous camilla trees on the side of the house that bloom in March, the wild nandina we can't control, and some rosemary I planted from one of the arrangements at our wedding!

I love black eyed susans and cone flowers!

some type of phlox we got at Ijams Nature center-

it's tripled in size since we planted it in the fall

Lulu practicing how to use the gate instead of jump the fence

what else could be under there?

literally hundreds of surprise lilies, and this doesn't even include all the irises and day lilies!

Again, so much more to come! We've done so much in these two and half years, but still have four rooms to go, plus more on the exterior, in the yard, and in the details. I'll keep you posted.

A Work in Progress- Part One

For a while I've been considering posting some "before and after" photos of our home renovations, but I've never wanted to because we're not really finished with anything. For instance, we need some nice art for the walls, some pillows shams for our bed, new light fixtures in the kitchen, and more flowers and trees! And that's just for the rooms that are somewhat "finished." However, after my post about getting our house appraised, I thought I should fill you in on some of the details. After all, I understand the importance of the process and realize that is really what home restoration is about. We'll never be completely finished, so please consider that my "after" pictures here really mean much better, certainly not finished. And, the good news is we'll have more "much better" pictures soon because our appraisal came in higher than expected!

The Kitchen

Along with the yard and the neighborhood, this is the room that sold me on the house. I love the windows, the view of the stone path to our garden, and the openness of the kitchen. It's perfect for us. We salvaged all of the cabinets, converting one into the island. My mom even salvaged the giant sea fan for us (top left). We added all new "scratch and dent" appliances, a butcher block from IKEA, a porcelain sink from the Habitat store, some chalk board paint, and a spice rack, custom built by Laurence.

The green for the cabinets was difficult to get just right. The color I started with was too green and the second attempt not green enough. So the solution was to mix the two myself- a nice combination of Asparagus and Relaxation, so fitting for our kitchen. Lots of the little details I'll have to post about individually, and hopefully our nook will be finished soon, along with new lighting in the entire kitchen.

The Guest Bedroom

Really, this is our bedroom for now, but we call it the guest bedroom- maybe one day. I know, how incredible is that wallpaper! I had to do some convincing to keep it, but I love it! Especially with the arrangement of black and white photos against the velvety gold background, and the soft blue walls complimenting the wallpaper and the curtains.

I like to think that this wallpaper is original to the house, it looks very 20's to me, but could have also been added in the 70's, not sure. The velvet texture is kind of lost in these photos, but you can imagine what it's like. Oh, we also had to close off an exterior door that was added when they duplexed, i.e. decimated, the house in the 70's.

The Bathroom

Some more favorites from our house- the sea foam green tile and the world map shower curtain! I guess I have favorites from every room in the house, actually. Sometimes Laurence says I'm too positive about everything and that I need to be more critical. So, even though that blue floral wallpaper looks like it's cool and funky, underneath I discovered several patches of water damage, including some rotten wood in parts of the window. My criticism - even if people used to just take baths, who puts a wooden window in a shower?

Since we agreed refinishing the bathroom should be first on the list, this little room was my introduction to spackling. At first it seemed like a genius invention, then came the sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding. Two and a half years of restoration and I can say without hesitation, I hate sanding, but I love our new bright bathroom!

Much more to come...

Dog Days of Summer: Lulu Floats the Holston

Lulu's not big on taking baths, or swimming in cold water it appears, but she did love running around the rocks and exploring the shores of the Holston River. It took her a few hours to get used to the canoe, meanwhile Laurence and I got a nice workout shifting our weight to balance out the extra 60 pounds that kept rockin' the boat. She's just so cute!

This picture sums up our day nicely. We passed a few fishermen off the shore, but our little canoe was the only boat on the river that day. After working on the house what seems like every weekend this summer, our day trip was a welcomed and relaxing respite. Hopefully lots more to come; there is so much beauty around us in East TN!

A dinner consisting of our catch of the day and garden's bounty was the perfect ending to our delightful day. I caught the Rock Bass and Rainbow Trout, by the way:)

Red, White, and Blue

"Cherry Smash" left on our doorstep by a neighbor, lots of Queen Anne's Lace all around us, and five pounds of blueberries picked... I love summer. Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

Getting Our Home, and Heart, Appraised

I don't usually get too personal on this completely open to anyone out there journal I've been keeping, but an interesting event took place today... our house was appraised. Turns out that this very ordinary step in the process of refinancing is quite personal. We put off this event for a week in order to finish up a closet that's been in the works for just over two years, that along with our other little in the works project, our entire house. As the week wore on our anxiety escalated. Heart, soul, sweat, tears, bruises, back aches, Saturdays, and way too many buckets of Kilz primer we've invested in our house; how can we possibly begin to convince this stranger of its worth?

The interesting thing happened when Laurence walked back into the kitchen after seeing the stranger off. We smiled at each other, both understanding the immense relief the other felt. The appraiser gave no sign of a great score. He was actually very dull, and as he was leaving just mentioned something about "punching all the numbers in" and 3-5 days. No, our relief and contentment resulted from having to question the worth of our home ourselves.

Nights with friends around a fire pit on an unfinished and awkwardly painted patio can't be put into some kind of algorithm. Observing vegetables thrive with neighbors in what was once an overgrown lot as countless diy stories are told can't be punched in either. Nor can the long sweaty Saturdays, the trips to the Freez-o and Lowe's, the thrill of figuring out how to rewire a light switch or discovering a bed filled with day lilies that hadn't bloomed in years.

No, the value of our home is not measured by its appearance. Our home is just a backdrop, brightly colored with many imperfections, to the countless meals and conversations that take place here. The cracking plaster and unfinished doorways provide such a welcoming and relaxed environment. I hope that quality isn't lost under the layers of spackle and paint.

Our final appraisal: We are extremely grateful to live in a home worth so much.