Tour de popup

Bienvenidos! Welcome to our pop-up. We will give you a quick tour of the joint. 

Ugly door makeover: how to cover a doggie door

Welcome to our house we have a doggy door on our door that leads to the garage. It is the first thing when you come into our totally renovated condominium. But we don't have a dog that size and nor will we ever. The previous owners left this gem for us. Also when you come over listen for the sound of faint yipping.  Well thats the dog who used to use this doggie door. It moved next door and it never stops barking. Until recently we had an awkward neighbor situation. You see, the people who moved next door used to rent our place - until we bought it from their former landlord - then they moved next door. We share the same wall. Now I do not know if it was our peppy spirit, or because we pretty much gutted the place they used to live in, but we never quite clicked with them or their yippie yorkie.

Cheap and Easy Garden Beds

When you live in a community where a lot of the houses are the same you have to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Not only do we need to stand out but we have to compete with extreme botanist who seem to be able to grow anything by whispering to it. I am no such gardener. Most of my plants do not make it a week. But I still wanted an array of foliage to welcome people as they entered. I had hoped for a sweet smelling flora and fauna arrangement that would whisk you away to sensory bliss. However I was not willing to spend any money on such a dream and so we went a very cheap direction.

The Burrow joins the Vintage Market

This summer can be called Summer of Crafting 2014. I embarked on a mission to create and become a member of the crafting community. I have always gone to flea markets, re-sale shops, and outdoor markets and thought I can do that. Well this summer I did. On July 19 I joined the French Nest a outdoor vintage market full of artistic and creative vendors.

Decorated Deck

I am obsessed with our pretty little deck. We have given our deck some special love recently. We added a fresh coat of stain, purchased some festive decorations, added a metal shelf (free and given an up-do), and of course there are some twinkle nights. Even more glorious than that a friend did the stain work for us - hallelujah and amen to that. It is amazing to think that almost a year ago we were chucking trash over the side of this deck during our furious renovation stage. Almost a year ago painting the deck was the farthest thing from our minds. And I think I've been talking about out door rugs for a year. I have what is called an obsessive personality... 

Making my own chalk paint

This summer I have embarked on the most amazing journey of crafting. After I fell in love with chalk paint I simply had to paint everything I own with it. However, sadly dear sweet chalk paint is a pricey friend and with only a small budget to spend on crafting I needed to come up with a viable solution.

Chalk Paint Experiment: Patio Cushions

I am sure crafty dare devils have been painting fabric cushions for eons but I just discovered this clever little trick. We were the proud owners of a nasty set of patio cushions. We are ashamed to say that we grossly neglected them. We left them out side all winter (twice). At this point a new set was needed. So I got to researching cheaper, craftier options.

Patio Furnishings

Our patio finally looks finished and complete! We finally did something right. I am amazed at how many people we can seat back there. I am just itching for a party! Almost all our furniture was pre-owned and then re-loved by me. Our pots came from our rehearsal dinner and the end table is war relic. Like always we could do more but we are gonna settle into what we have and enjoy. We are halfway through the summer and we both just wanna flop into our comfy love seat drink wine and stop fretting about it. After all that work we can sit and say "it is good." :) I imagine thats how God felt about humans when he made them - a wonderfully imperfect masterpiece. Enjoy our tour of our masterpiece. Marvel with us at that hand lain patio. All the aches and pains were well worth it.

Newly Stained Patio

We weren't really thinking of staining our deck - mostly I have been sick of painting. I don't know why painting is such a love hate thing for me. I love colors and the idea of making something new with paint but to be honest I am not a very good painter. I am impatient and hasty and sometimes I don't even tape - I just wing it. Needless to say we have some touching up to do all throughout the house. Sorry hub I just wanted it done. 

Laying a patio: Oh boy we're Jimmy Jacked

The last and final step (what step are we on even) is to sweep Quickrete Power-loc Jointing Sand into every crevasse and them use a shaker head (I call the Jimmy Jack) to force all the pavers into a locked positions. Then you wet everything down every 10 minutes for an hour and your patio is as solid as a rock! The only thing left to do was to fill in those edge pieces with halfzies. Because we had an alternating pattern we needed to cut half pieces for every other edge row. We attempted at first to cut these piece with various power tools. It turns out a good ol fashion hammer and wedge did the trick. Hub got so good he could split them with one whack. 

Laying a patio: Laying bricks is the easy part

The beautiful thing about laying your own patio is you get to literally touch every brick that goes into the ground. I think we touched each brick 3 times. From moving the bricks into the trailer, then into a wheel barrow to get from the front yard to the backyard, and then from the wheel barrow to the ground. Gloves were the most vital tool for this job. This is the final post for a 4 part series to get to patio bliss.

Laying a patio: I was not made to dig

             

So far on our patio journey we have purchased pavers see: Laying a Patio: Craigslist Pavers and made a level perimeter see:  Laying a patio: Why do we need a retaining wall?

If you are wondering why is it taking them longer than most...well this is for many reasons and I have come up with the following list of explanations for this endless project.

1. People on pinterest lie about how easy stuff is

2. We have no idea what we are doing so it takes longer to figure out

3. We are working with a very unleveled surface

4. The soil is clay based so hard to move wet or dry

5. We only have time to work on this every other weekend (if that)

6. Our adorable puppy distracts us and we cannot help it 

7. We need to eat every 2 hours so we have to take breaks for that 

8. rain 

Ok so enough with the excuses, here we are in the next phase - Digging and Screeding 

Laying a patio: Why do we need a retaining wall?

The night before we dove into patio laying we had spent 5 hours loading and unloading craigslist bought pavers. See our post Laying a Patio: Craigslist Pavers to see the insanity. We both felt the excitement of getting our pavers and seeing our dream of having a large patio area, we of course wanted to start laying right away. But our patio had to remain in the trailer for a few weeks until we had finished preparing the area. (of course we didn't do this ahead of time, we got ahead of ourselves but that is normal) We had to address the number one issue of having a patio - making it level.

Meet our Glamper

We have a new addition to the burrow estate. A 2014 Rockwood Popup Camper. Its our cabin in the woods on wheels, our get out of town fast mobile, our we can go anywhere with it burrow. I must admit it was a bit compulsive but we thought it out. We had been save save saving for a while and now we have a timeshare we don't have to fly to. In the area we live in there are countless places to camp within an hour away. I shouldn't even call it camping because around here it is considered glamping. And we are not ashamed - its posh and cannot really be considered roughing it. Let me share with you some of it's selling features

Laying a Patio: Craigslist Pavers

Before

Now that the grass is in we got the backyard "bug" and just want it all done. When we laid the sod we left the right side undone because we planned on eventually laying a patio.  So we spent a few weeks scouring craigslist looking for free or well priced used patio pavers. On a Friday night, we found a guy selling unique pavers. He lived about an hour away but he had 1600 patio pavers plus 400 edge pieces and a good amount of red patio clay called Red Breeze (you use for leveling the ground). We haggled him down a bit, unloaded our utility trailer, borrowed a friends bigger, more powerful truck, grabbed Subway and cash on the way out of town and headed to Denver. 

Sod in 5 hours

Lately a lot of our projects get started on accident and come down to God's funny timing. We had talked about what we'd like our backyard to look like and how someday just someday we'd like flower beds, a patio, a L shaped couch, outdoor rugs with moroccan patterns, and lush green grass that we can walk barefoot in. Our current state of affairs is quite dismal. Our grass was patchy at best and was not grass but weedy, dry crab grass (not ideal for bare feet). The yard was primarily dirt which in spring time translates to mud.  Our back yard isn't large only about 500 square feet but we wanted it that way. When shopping for the burrow we both agreed we did not want to take on a large yard at this time. Hub had lived and owned a home with a yard three times as big and lamented often over the time it took to maintain. He wanted a yard that could be mowed in less than 10 minutes. We time him now when he goes out there. It probably takes more time to get out the mower than to actually mow. As for me, up until now I hadn't been able to keep anything green alive - every plant, herb, flower, and frog died on me. I was a little apprehensive about keeping a while backyard ecosystem alive. But one happy day in April we got a sign that it was time to start the backyard reno.

A grand entry

Seems like forever ago when we first took pictures of our home. Remember our dark a dreary entry way, it was carpeted, had a dark wood railing and had 1970's light fixtures. Back in August 2013 we ripped out the carpet, then sometime in September I painted the railing a creamy white,  and the walls were painted cement grey, and sometime in November we put in a chandelier. Then we just left it. I hung some pictures but the floor was unfinished until March 2014. But this is how home improvement goes. Somethings just take longer to complete and you have to be able to live with the undone. 

Bathroom Tile

We didn't mean to start renovating the bathroom but we serendipitously stumbled upon a tile we fell in love with for a quarter of the cost.

We've been away...

I am so ashamed my last post was over 6 weeks ago. But I have a really good excuse we became parents to a 4 legged cutie who consumed our time and attention. So welcome Jackson Brey a red lab to the burrow.

Updating an outdated Bathroom Vanity

We recently jumped into our bathroom model. After coming upon an amazing tile deal we decided to retile our bathroom a little earlier than planned. And since we would have to remove the vanity anyway for the tile job why not update that at the same time.

Hands Free Garbage Pull

Have you every been cooking and had chicken juice all over your hands and needed to open up the garbage door? This very scenario has happened to me many o times. We decided that this must be fixed not only to protect ourselves from salmonella but also to keep our cabinets and knobs cleaner. This was a very simple fix.

Prepping for a yard remodel

The beginning of a long journey to outdoor living bliss...  

It is spring time and thoughts of grilled kabobs and tasty watermelon dance through our heads. We imagine sitting in our yard surrounded by fresh grass and fresh flowers. Our garden is blooming and our puppy is obediently chewing on a toy. But...it is just a dream and we are very far from this dream.

Working on future posts

The last few weeks we have been busy working on a few big projects around the burrow. Look for some post to come on tiling, stair treads, garage organization, sodding, novice gardening, chalk paint, puppies, and more!

Creamy Coconut Chicken Comfort Food

Most of my cooking happens in one of two pots. My LeCreuset crock pot or my LeCreuset stew pot. And since it continues to be cold and snow I am still in the need of comfort food. But this is quite a conundrum since I am not eating a ton of that bad goodness you add to comfort food. I crave mac and cheese but lets not even talk about that.

Chalk Paint Table

This past summer I heard about chalk paint. I have been fascinated with the concept for many months. I I'd been watching youtube and studying up but in the end I am a trial by fire kind of learner. So I decided to go for it. A friend of mine was looking to re-do her office space into a comfortable reading nook. (It was a stor-all room). Around the same time a friend gave hub a free table! We have no need for it so I decided to paint it up for my friend and it was a win for all.

Many uses for cheap hooks

I most recently purchased a box of plastic cup hooks. I planned on using them to hang mugs (we have an abundance and clearly needed to make room), but I soon discovered they could be used for many more purposed. We went hook crazy and used every last one.

Roasted Indian Spice Chicken Dinner

Dinner is ready and chicken is on the table. Nothing is more domestic than roasting a whole chicken. I am extremely proud to announce "Husband! Wash up, the roast will be done soon!" Ok I don't ever say that but I do feel quite accomplished to successfully roast a bird.

Breakfast Pizza for Cave People

It seems everywhere I go people are getting on the  clean, green, paleo, natural, sugar free, grain free, gluten free, pasture raised food train. David and I just call it the health train and the mantra is moderation. It is so strange how even healthy can get boring...so we spiced it up one night and made breakfast for dinner and pizza for breakfast. I made paleo friendly breakfast pizza and it was delicious-i-o-so. It was paleo-tastic with a side of awesome-sauce. To make this amazing breakfast pizza I first gathered up the ingredients. (You may notice a slight obsession to Sprouts Grocer) 

Painting the bathroom

Low on the priority list is our master bath. It is our only full bath in the house. We have big dreams for that bathroom but since the bathroom is vital our our daily survival we have to plan the upgrades around a busy lifestyle. We plan to replace the floor, add a box around the tub (to hide its plasticness), change out the glass shower doors, replace the vanity, change the tile surround in the shower... oh man I am getting tired just thinking about it. I have to admit to my impatient tendencies and so for the past few weeks I have been ruminating on the state of the bathroom. It was irritating to look at the spot where I had put a paint sample on the wall (in August), and the holes we put in the wall when we were installing a cabinet (I had David move it twice). On the way home from work one Tuesday, I decided I had had enough! I declared to the car that the bathroom was to painted at once! I stopped at our friendly Joseph's Hardware store and bought a gallon of Tiffany Blue paint for the walls and a blue for the cabinet.

It is always scary buying paint. You pick a color and then while they are mixing you have all these doubts and second thoughts..."ohh maybe I should go with something darker, or maybe something more green, oh no what if I hate it, what if it comes out too dark, did I choose the same color as our other bathroom they look so similar but I can't remember...." Someone please tell me I am not the only one who has this type of internal freak out as they mix the paint. I kept the mantra going in my head..."trust your instincts, trust your instincts, its just paint, trust your
instincts..." I calmly purchased the paint, headed home, and got straight to work.

 I turned on SCANDAL (my new obsession) and got cutting. I know there are proper ways to make perfectly straight lines and not get paint on the ceiling but I just free hand it. It is not always perfect but I am ok with that. Whenever perfection plagues me I remember lines from my favorite book A Severe Mercy, where the couple takes a hammer to their new car so that they are never owned by material posessions. The couple never wants to live in such a way where their things determine their actions.

Three hours later (depite imperfections) I was in love. The bathroom got a whole new look. And those holes are no longer as noticeable, and the vanity doesn't look so 90's with the paint color. I decided to put off painting it blue for now. I believe I bought us some time until we complete the renovation with hopefully a whole new vanity. David was out of town during the transformation. When he returned he loved the color. He also complemented me on my freehand cutting job. #imawesome

A Memorable Chandelier

When we got engaged David planned an elaborate scheme of lies that included a horseback ride to a place that brought us together. During the horseback ride we came to a spot in the woods we call Narnia. There he had set up a chandelier and a bistro table. It was at that spot that he asked me to marry him. My first response was "are you serious?" and when I finally realized what was happening I of course said "yes!" In preparation David had hunted for a chandelier that would fit my style. He of course is very good at picking out things I like. He told me then that one day we could hang the chandelier in a house of our own.

Well now we are in it...a house of our own. At first we decided we decided to hang the chandelier over the dining table. It needed to be converted into a usable light fixture but, given all of our other projects, this did not happen. When David and I received the Indian lamp from my sister, see post DIY Light Fixture, we decided to change the plan. 

First we determined that the chandy would me moved to our bedroom and we would use flameless candles on a timer to bring a little romantic mood lighting.  

This was very simple process....first we measured and found the perfect centered location. Then we installed a hook. Last we shortened the chain and hung the lantern. We turned on the candles for that final touch then laid down, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

 

I finally understand why people crave a bedroom oasis. We can now escape to our bedroom and relax. Everything in our bedroom is soft and comfortable. We love to lounge in bed and enjoy looking at the flat ceiling and the glowing chandelier. If only it could happen more often...

Our bedroom setup is far from designer, nor overly costly. With some hunting, creativity and generous wedding gifts we created a luxurious space worth relaxing into.

Duvet Cover - Macys
Mirror - TJ Maxx (thanks Mom!)
Chevron Pillows - Crate and Barrel (thanks Caitlin)
Chandelier - Thrift store find
Matching mercury glass lamps - Macys
Shortened Blankout Curtains - Tailored Hand me downs
Crocheted Blanket - Hand made (thanks Carolyn!)
Night stands - Thrift store find
Ottoman Storage - Hand me down
Lantern - TJ Maxx (thanks Amanda!)
Rug - Macys

DIY Light Fixture

 My sister is living her dream and living abroad in Bangalore, India. She has been working for a NGO called Interenational Justice Mission working with clients in hard situations. You can check out her work on her blog at http://chellycalandra.blogspot.com. In May she will have been there for 2 years. I am so impressed by her work and the impact she is making on the people around her. For Christmas she was able to come home for a month. She packed her suitcases with gifts and treasures for us. One of those treasures was a metal lantern. The lantern is stunning, it is made of copper. As she handed it over she said... I am sure you can figure out something creative to do with this. Oh I am sure you can imagine the glee and giddyness over the crafting that would ensue. David and I decided we would like it to be a light fixture in our kitchen. We said that eventually we would make this happen. I figured it would be one of those summer projects. I was very wrong...

One evening when I was out with girlfriends my hub secretly made it happen. He bought a $10 hanging sconce and a $1 hook and went to work. He cut a hole in the top of the lantern and threaded the wiring though the top then swung the lantern over so that it was centered over the table. (hub knows me so well and my affinty for symmetry and centeredness). He hooked up the lantern to our dimmer switch so we can have mood lighting. The following  morning I discovered the installed lantern the following morning when I went upstairs for breakfast. Hub timed the amount of time it took for me to put it on instagram. He was very accurate. There was alot of screaming and yelling and jumping up and down.

When we turn on the lantern the light glows white and green. If you look closely you will see that the lantern has a turquoise green glow. The inside of the lantern is a very beautiful green. At first I thought this was painted but David later discovered the lantern is made of copper and the green is a result of aging copper patina. This made me love our lantern even more. We estimate this type of lantern would cost $$$$ in the states. We are so grateful to Chel for lovingly shlepping it across the world for us.