2013 Goals

1. Organize one room per month - Kitchen, Bathroom, Office, Storage Room, Laundry Room, Bar, Kids' Room

2. Pay off one school loan

3. Save to build a shed

4. Save to put in new windows

5. Build garden in back corner of yard

6. Paint drink station

7. Paint trim of one room per month - Kitchen, Bathroom, Kids Bathroom, Office, Bike Room,

8. Paint Play Center

9. Make an outdoor rug or get a cheap plan one and paint it.


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10. Paint outdoor chairs and varnish

11. Make a gallery wall up the stairway

12. Make a frame like this..

2013 Backyard Projects

1. Plant a wildflower garden by the firepit.

Echinacea 'Julia'

Compact and citrusy! 'Julia' is a bright orange coneflower that's a member of the Butterfly Kisses series of dwarf varieties. Ideal for tight spaces, this pumpkin-color flower grows just 15 to 18 inches tall.

Sedum 'Pure Joy'
Sedums are a joy of gardening -- they are easy-care, drought-tolerant, and come in a wide range of foliage and flower colors. This new upright sedum offers all that and a bit more. It changes looks every season: In spring, small blue-green serrated leaves emerge, growing into a perfect low mound -- a great asset to the front of the border.

Echinacea 'Supreme Cantaloupe'

Absolutely the color of a slice of ripe cantaloupe, 'Supreme Cantaloupe' coneflower is gorgeous for bouquets. The young brown-eyed flowers with a frill of double petals resemble gerbera daisies.


2. Make drink station out of Baker's Rack

3. Paint a porch rug from a canvas drop cloth.

 

Source



HGTV Painted Canvas Rug

4. Nurse your lawn back to health. 

5. Paint Chairs and Poly

Look at Young House Love to see how to use this varnish on chairs after painting.

6. Replant vegetable garden. Look at This Website to see how to mix soil/compost and mix eggshells and water for not so hot peppers and tomatoes.



Recipes to Try

 Zesty, Juicy Vegetarian Summer Sandwich

Ingredients

Serves 4
1 pound (scant 2 cups) fresh ricotta
Zest of 2 lemons
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 4 teaspoons for drizzling
2 pinches coarse kosher salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
4 long, even slices of very good bread
2 large, perfectly ripe avocados (approximately 18 ounces), at room temperature
1 pint mixed-color grape tomatoes, cut in half horizontally (you won't use quite the entire pint)
8 red pearl onions equaling 2-3 ounces, thinly sliced into rounds (or equivalent in thinly sliced red onion)
4 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
Skin of 1 preserved lemon, flesh removed, finely diced
½ teaspoon toasted poppy seeds


Directions
Mix the ricotta with the lemon zest, ¼ cup olive oil, and salt and pepper, and set aside.
Arrange slices of bread on a cutting board and divide the ricotta mixture evenly among the four slices. Spread into a generous even layer.
Split the avocados, remove the pits, and slice each half into even slices without cutting all the way through the leathery skin. Then, with a soup spoon or a flexible rubber spatula, release the flesh and arrange the slices neatly and evenly among the bread slices.
Artfully and attractively arrange the tomatoes by nesting them into the soft avocado. Then arrange the red onion slices over the tomatoes.
Garnish each sandwich with the sesame seeds.


 

 Maple-Glazed Salmon

Makes 1 lb of fish
1 pound wild salmon filet, de-boned
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl combine maple syrup, cardamom, paprika, cayenne and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Adjust to taste.
2. Arrange salmon filet on a cutting board. Remove the bones (if your fishmonger hasn't already) and cut into pieces, size as preferred. Brush syrup mixture evenly over the salmon filets. Place a large cast iron skillet into the oven and allow it to heat up for about five minutes while the salmon rests.
3. Place the salmon in the preheated skillet (scale-side down) and cook for about 10 minutes. Brush more glaze onto the salmon and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until the salmon is cooked to your liking

Overlays

SUPERimpose

This charming chest is an "upscaled" rendition of this.....

$69 IKEA 3 drawer "Malm" chest.

A month ago I sent out a "heads up" to some of my followers concerning the release of the latest issue of  House of Fifty magazine online.

I recently found the time to check it out. It's a great issue. One of the articles I enjoyed the most (pg.66) was a piece on business partners, Danika Herrick and Cheryle Rhuda, co-founders of O'Verlays. 

After using vintage fretwork panels on a piece for a client, the two were so impressed with the outcome that they decided to pursue a venture manufacturing their own fretwork designs. 

With their online store, O'verlays, offers many patterns, varying thicknesses, and panels available in sizes of up to 4 by 8 feet. They offer custom designs as well. 

I particularly love the idea of using this product to affordably update an older home.

Before:

Pattern, Gracie:

After:

These 60's / 70's sliding closet doors look amazing.

We've all seen some version of this heavy pine bed. O'verlays takes it to a new level.

I'm the first one to say that I think that some of this trend can be "o'verdone". That being said, with a little imagination, a little O'verlays goes a long way.

k