Project Update: Master Bedroom Refresh

When we moved into the house, we had purged most all of our bedroom furniture, except for the SO's heirloom dresser. For the past handful of months, we've been furnishing our bedroom and have had a ton of fun doing it. I wouldn't say it is finished, but the bulk of it is done.

We wanted a serene bedroom that was restful and we both love blues and greens, so we went with it.

We started with a new ceiling fan from the Modern Fan Company, then added the Tate bed from Crate & Barrel in a custom woven fabric.

I found the Paul McCobb night stands from an L.A. dealer, and the rug is toy poodle from Flor. The lamps are from Crate & Barrel and the white vinyl-covered square Paul McCobb stool was an eBay find.

It still needs a few pieces of flair, however. Maybe a subtle graphic treatment on the wall behind the bed?

Project Update: Trough Pond A Go-Go

The pond is alive!

Austin Outdoor Studio sealed it a few days ago, and after letting the seal cure for 48 hours, we filled it with water. No leakage, much to my relief.

We've added a hardy water lily and some blue flag irises, along with some snails. The lilies are still under the water, stretching to reach the surface, and will show themselves in a day or two. Fish will have to wait about two weeks for the water to temper itself and some beneficial bacteria to build up in the pond and filter.


Voila!

Cool Art: Jill Rosenwald

If you've read the blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a ceramics and pottery addict. And you can probably do the math.

etsy + me = big problem.

Jill Rosenwald has some really nice pieces on Etsy.

Modern and delicate, with a beautiful muted pallette.

I want.

Project Update: Pond Landing.

A monolithic black steel pond appeared in our courtyard this past week. It is all done except being sealed.



Austin Outdoor Studio is doing it, and it will be another week before it is ready to be filled. We already have some plants and a large batch of Chinese snails waiting in our front door pot pond.


I can't wait to see it full of water, with plants and a fountain.

The fountain itself will be nothing but a short, bubbling jet. Water movement is healthy for the pond and the sound is nice, but we are not fans of high-drama water features.



We are really happy with how it is turning out.

Project Update: More Landscaping

A few updated photos of the backyard transformation.







Jonathan from Austin Outdoor Studio installed our tree well and metal edging, seen above. He did a great job. And, we added a couple of pavers. They're rather heavy.


Below you can see how nice the metal tree well looks. It'll look even better with a little rust on it.

Coming up: Jonathan installs a metal fountain/pond. Stay tuned.

Landscaping Continues on and on.

Once you start landscaping, it is difficult to find a stopping place. So, we're poor.

When we moved in, we a modern wall/fence combo designed and installed by Mark Word, and that was our big investment in major home improvements for a while.

After a break, we're back in the landscaping saddle and writing so many checks we're getting wrist aches. And headaches.

But it is looking great. The low retaining wall and dirt work was done by Jose from J.C. Masonry here in Austin. He had done a few friends' work, they recommended him, and he was great. He followed up every morning until I was happy and the job was done. He doesn't have a website or I'd link you there.

We installed the pavers ourselves. It was a major job and frankly, I intend to live out my days without doing that again. But we love the way it looks a bit garden-y and modern at the same time.

The rock tree well is temporary. A reader recommended Jonathan from Austin Outdoor Studio for metal work, and he's installing an iron landscape strip and a nice iron tree well on Thursday. (Thanks, Ryan!)

Jonathan will be building us a square iron pond as well, which will be installed in a couple of weeks.

More updates to come...

Concrete Conundrum.

We've been landscaping.

What looked like this:

Now looks like this:

On the upper area where there is currently sand, we want to do something like this:

Big, simple plain slabs of concrete...even bigger than above, with gravel and plants between them. (and more plants than above) The sand is already in place for pouring it.

We can't seem to find anyone that could do a small concrete job like this, and do it well.

Any suggestions?