House Projects of 2019

 While my dad was visiting for Christmas 2018, we were grateful for his expertise and work to build a porch on our home.  We were amazed by his skill in creating a curved porch and are forever grateful to him, he is always willing to help each of his 7 children with whatever they need, especially home improvement projects.

After searching online and not being able to find low profile chairs I wanted for our deck, Ben took on the task of building them himself and they turned out to be perfect for the space.  We painted them a deep green... I am in love! With the chairs... and Ben, of course!

 Ben has become quite a wood worker this year, he build an outdoor dining table and bench for our backyard deck. No better way to get exactly what you want, than to build it yourself.  We love eating some our meals outside, especially since our yard looks fantastic these days.

 

Ben installed a new fence in our yard, and although he is pictured here staining it, I was the one to stain most of it. :)

 

After my dad installing canister lighting in our kitchen in 2015, we finally got around to finishing the ceiling and actually hired someone out for this dirty and tedious job.

Finn and Fox got bunk beds!!!

I love how ocd/organized Ben can be! We spent days organizing and purging our garage and shed together.

Boys Room

 

We moved the boys into a bedroom together in order to prepare a room for their baby sister. It is cute having them both sleep in toddler beds and sharing a room. They are doing just great, not disturbing each other and enjoying being together. We are happy with how the room turned out!

Baby Room

I had so much fun decorating and prepping for baby girl to arrive. Piece by piece her room came together and I love it. 

I made this faux flower bouquet so that it would contain the pinks and peaches to match her room.

A pink Swedish Dala Horse, handmade from Sweden sits atop her dresser.

We purchased the Moroccan leather pouf and the ornate gold dishes on our trip to Morocco this year.

We purchased the giclee, Pink Pirouette from the artist, Michael Kuseske. We love his art and have a painting of a white flower that Ben bought me for my birthday in our living room.

This little flapper bird was a gift from Aunt Ali and Uncle Eric. We named her "Lady Bird."

These two posters are framed in rose gold metal frames and are words we love to help remind her of who she is.

We absolutely love these painting of birds on layers of glass, made by an artist and Benjamin's friend in Ecuador.

mi casa es su casa

It will be two years this July that we have called San Antonio home. Time has flown by and in the meantime... 

we have grown to love our home, 

share cookies, herbs, and friendly banter with our neighbors,

hog the swing at the neighborhood playground,

make friends with the kids that Finn stares at at the park, 

mark our territory with sweat (and blood) on the running trails,

say hello to the deer who show up at our back door,

survive initiation of the dreadful cedar allergies,

become "regulars" at Thai Chili down the street,

enjoy the sites San Antonio is famous for, 

and be embraced by our church family.

This house is the perfect size for our growing family. With 3 bedrooms there is room enough for guests. A large office and 2 car garage provides Ben with his much needed space for his busy and booming business, and most importantly- a large open living space allows us to host lots of PARTIES!

Since we are renting the only changes we could make to this pink kitchen was to paint over the atrocious 80's pink brushstroke border and the matching backsplash tiles. I keep dreaming up what I would do to this room if I owned the place. We are renting until 2015 so until then, I will keep on dreaming on!

No kitchen table yet... but it is the perfect spot for Finn to roll around in his little car.

This guest bedroom is calling your name...

Finn's bedroom...

The wooden frames are art by our brother in-law, Bryce Lafferty. We LOVE his modern artwork!  The mirror port-hole was once Ben's parents.

This vintage armoire was a rare find at a thrift store. And thanks to Benjamin, with a little TLC and some paint it is one of our favorite pieces of furniture in the house.

 This movie marquee F was found by Ben at our favorite antique mall. With a smokin' hot coat of red paint it is PERFECT for our mister Finnster.

These pictures of French planes were bought in Paris for our "boy one day." We took them home, matted and framed them for Finn.

This poster of Switzerland was bought in a little shop in Gimmewald.  We knew it would one day be in our boys room as well. The changing table was a gift from Ben to me while I was pregnant. He found it at a thrift store and spent hours refinishing it.

Each of the homes we have lived in have been special in their own way. This home is where our family took on a whole new meaning when we welcomed Finn into the world.  We love the comfort and spirit of this place, but I can definitely say, no matter where we are, it is just as the corny song goes...

"HOME IS WHENEVER I'M WITH YOU."