our little house in the woods

a few days up at the cottage...

on candycane lane

a fantastic recreation of disney's small world just a couple of blocks away from us on the infamous candycane lane.

word has it they are working on a sleeping beauty's castle too.

merry christmas!

holiday lights.

hanukkah'd it up a little for our annual family party.

by the numbers

Corbin Palms/Eastwood Estates Progressive Dinner 2011











counted at least 60 participants this year

- and a resounding "best ever".

bit more here.

dressed for dinner

prepping for our annual progressive dinner...



baking: lemon tart, nanaimo bars, molasses crinkles, whipped shortbread, rum balls, butter tars, cannoli

brewing: hot chocolate, coffee, champagne and brandy

everybody's doing it.

the "fauxdenza"





a much needed boost to our dining room.

we are on a roll!

and tomorrow...

paint the baseboards!

the big guns

the walls and hallway ceiling got me. lucky the fates recently connected me with a wonderful young family - of which one member is a professional house painter.

he started on the high open-beam ceilings today. and will be done tomorrow. a job that would have taken me the next couple of weeks.

{note to self: karma}

so for tonight our home is shrouded in drop-cloths. and dinner had to be out. (the girls were thrilled by the novelty!)









it seems to be waiting more patiently then i am.

getting busy.

while d is busy finishing the fence and other woodworking home improvements (baseboards!) i decided to paint. our front hallway is in dire need of it and i'll continue the project down the central hallway.



the girls helped empty the bookcases, wash the walls then lost interest.

(oh the books! they ended up taking a pile of them and curling up for the rest of the morning.)



i've finished spackling the first go-around and taped everything off.



tomorrow - the primer and hopefully a first coat of paint!

::work in progress::

with the new deck we decided to corral our chooks into one area of the yard. i know that we will still let them roam around - but like the idea of being able to contain them when we wish.

we installed the first section today:







we want something "airy" but strong. i am really happy with how it turned out.

hang ups

with an artistic 10 yr old and 7 yr old in the house we have quite a collection of kids' artwork. i have been storing it in two big tubs that i can stash under the desk. we also hang a rotating exhibition on wires in our hallway...



but i'm in a free-up-the-walls-and-floor-space state-of-mind and looking to purge.

some good tips at simplemom. i am thinking holiday wrapping paper shortage may be solved.

i always liked this idea found at remodelista

what is your solution?

thermostat

if we were in the market for a new one...

i'd definitely spring for this one from nest.



cute. and helps save energy = saving dollars!

found via remodelista

in situ

our new kitchen chairs



from modernica

(happy to be snapping pictures again, with my camera repaired and returned.)

sleeper

we have had a most unpleasant rodent incident today. it got into the office and hid in our sleeper-sofa. long story short, the dogs went wild, david got a big stick. and in the end it ran out the door. unfortunately i can't bear to hold onto the sleeper. bye bye. fortunately there are some nice options out there. hello...


sliding sleeper


encore


twilight


flat-out


case study

::

I have discovered forgotten fabrics (and books and clothing and...) as I cleaned out my closet as part of this challenge.



I thought about making this thrifted bit - a map of denmark - into a big pillow, (I think it was likely originally for a table top) but I fear it's too big. (It measures 35 inches square.)

napkins?

placemats?

any other ideas?

Miss Moxie apparently likes it. Perhaps a dog bed?

pillow talk

wolfum :: squaresville


leah duncan :: triangles


wary meyers :: painting

modernica sale

today only




what do you think?

for the kitchen.

made in L.A.

image via LA Times

Love this time lapse video of the move of the Eames' living room from their Pacific Palisades home (cum historic landmark) to LACMA as part of the exhibition California Design, 1930-1965: Living In a Modern Way, which is part of the larger Getty initiated exhibition Pacific Standard Time. (The Times did a great series on the Eames House and move over the weekend. Swoon.)

D could tell you a lot more (he's been installing work at the Getty), but as I get it, Pacific Standard Time chronicles the history of art and design in L.A. from 1945-1980. Venues throughout SoCal are participating. (We already took in the Beatrice Wood exhibition at SMMOA - so good.) The Getty will have two of my favourite pictures on display: David Hockney's A Bigger Splash, and Ed Ruscha's Standard Station as part of their exhibition Crosscurrents. (I'm told side by side even!)

The A&D is also going to have an Eames exhibition: Eames : The Guest-Host Relationship

So much good stuff to see this fall!

As I've said before, the Eames House holds my ideal aesthetic.

The most beautiful homes I've been in are those that tell stories.

{p.s. Do you know the book The House of Life? It is such a beautiful chronicle of such stories. A beloved gift from someone who lived with many stories.}

new deck

had the neighbors over this weekend to break-in the new deck. stood up well. but we all decided that the yard now needs a fire pit.

so...

next up - an "urbanite" fire pit where the ceanothus (that i killed) once stood. (ceanothus are notoriously sensitive to water. this one - planted before the raised beds were put in - couldn't take the excess moisture the veggie patch put into the soil. sigh. i'll miss it - but am excited about its replacement.)



the yard has really come together. its at its best full of family and friends.

open open house

a visit to pierre koenig's Scott House

amazing vistas. and a perfect example of socal architecture. the indoor-outdoor connections blew my mind.








a few more pictures here.

listed with valley modern.