Outdoor Light and Wire Removal

This shot is similar to what the back of the garage looked like when we moved in a little over two years ago. About a month after we moved in we bought a new light to replace the one you see in the picture to the left. Also note in this picture the wires that are attached to the garage - they were connected to the house and provied electricity to the garage.






In the picture below you can see the wires have been removed and the new light is installed.















Here is a close up of the light turned off...



















...and turned on (at Irvington Bungalow we like you to get the full effect). We're pretty excited about the new light and the wire removal - like I've said before - it's the small things. These may not be a huge difference except to those that look at the back yard everyday, uh, probably only Chad and I. :) 

New Paint in Bathroom

For the past few weekends I've been working on painting the bathroom. This is something I've wanted to do since we've moved in but I had to finish removing the wallpaper and subsequent nasty glue first. So painting the bath was my reward to myself. This is most likely a temporary fix as we'll remodel the bath when we do the kitchen as well. But for now we decided to paint the bathroom yellow to sort-of round out the pastel color theme going on in there. The color turned out a bit brighter than I had envisioned but I still think it looks tons better than the wallpaper that was there from the POs.


 

Butcher Block

A while back I talked about wanting a butcher block one day when we remodel our kitchen. I had found a picture of a small one that could fit in a corner or on the end of a kitchen island. Well...ask and you shall receive, right?
A few weekends ago Chad and I went to visit our super cool friends and their a-dar-able retro house they just bought. My friend, Tiffany, said she read on the blog about the butcher block and she had one that she didn't have a need for anymore - so she gave it to us! So nice! I love it. It is the size I wanted but it is so thick, which I happen to like. To the left is the little table it came with. It was painted a red color but I painted it black and distressed it.
This is a perfect fix for our small counterspace until we can have the kitchen remodeled. We decided to just put the microwave on top of it now in the breakfast nook but we plan on trying to incorporate it in our future kitchen. Thanks Tiffany!!

Paint Color Help

Does anyone have any suggestions for a green paint color?

Last December I posted about how we (or I) can't seem to choose a color for the living room. Our living room is fairly large but our woodwork is stained a very dark mahogany color. And the wordwork is about four (or maybe a little more) inches wide for the baseboards, crown molding, and the window casings not to mention the fireplace mantle. So I am afraid that if a color is too dark we'll feel like we're sitting in a dungeon no matter how big the room is. This is the room we are in the most so I want it to be cozy and homey.
The dining room color we are trying to match is a deep yellow/gold/orange color. It is American Tradition (Lowe's) called Homestead Resort Accent Gold. If you look it up on their virtual painter thing on their site, it looks nothing like it does on the wall. Nothing. On the site (of course, it does depend on the monitor, bla bla bla) it looks like a dark tan color.
Has anyone else noticed that when you paint on a plaster wall the color is drastically different than what it appears on the paint chip? I've painted many times on drywall and there usually is only a very slight color difference - hardly noticeable. But on our walls, the color looks very different. Maybe it is the lighting in our living room as well.
While I am soliciting opinions and suggestions, if anyone suggests Ruskin Room Green I'll scream. I sometimes peruse American Bungalow forums from time to time and this question of paint colors comes up often. It appears that everyone uses the same colors from the Sherwin Williams historic pres series. While I do really like that color it is WAY too dark for this room.
I'm looking for a rich green color that has slight yellow or green undertones. I'm not suggesting it be light like a pastel - just something where I won't feel like I'm sitting in a cave.
Any suggestions? (can you tell I'm desperate for a paint color?!!) :)

Recent Outings, Part 1

Last weekend my mom and I took a somewhat spontaneous trip to Madison, Indiana. It is about an hour to an hour and a half southeast of Indianapolis. It is an historic town along the Ohio River. It had been a long time since I had visited but I do really like this place. It has a historic main street with tons of anique and specialty shops. Very fun.

The picture to the left is a local, natural/organic grocery store in a restored old building. I wish we had something like this near our house!
This house was across the street from the grocery store. I just liked it. It is hard to tell if it is original or if there have been additions to it. Probably additions but they did a pretty good job in my opinion!
This is a restored and painted business of some sort.
This is a guest house! Can you believe it? This house and guest house were so nice and very close to the river. 

Recent Outings, Part 2

A few weekends ago I went to a local dairy farm called Traders Point Creamery. LOVE this place. They are organic and have free range chickens. Their cows are grass fed and allowed to graze. AND they have the best ice cream. Seriously. If you are planning a visit to Indianapolis you should check this place out!

Aren't these signs great?

This is the outside of the remodeled barn that keeps the shop where you can buy their products and the cafe, shown in the picture below. Love what they've done with the place!
Free range chickens. Why did the chicken cross the road????

At the end of this weekend, I'll post about the work we've been doing lately on the house. Still no great before and after pics but we've been making some progress - which feels pretty good!