We have 2 large (8 feet wide by 4 feet tall) windows in our living room.  Nice, but they’ve actually always been an eyesore since we moved in a year and a half ago because the previous owner apparently ran her sprinkler and let it hit the house.  Here in Likely, this causes horrible water spots on the windows and you couldn’t even see through the bottom half of those windows!  We’ve tried cleaning them with normal window cleaner and a few other solutions, but those didn’t take it off, and we kind of just gave up for now because we knew we needed something better.  This has been driving Glenn’s dad crazy…almost every time he stopped by (he’s a UPS man so that is often!) he would say something about a product he heard about or asking us if we’ve tried something to fix it.  Like I said, we pretty much ignored the problem and just kept the blinds closed!

Gross, right?  We thought they were ruined and we had to live with them like this!

Now a few weeks ago Randy (Glenn’s dad) dropped off a little white jar of ‘stuff’ to clean windows, and we really didn’t think much of it.  He does things like that all the time.  We didn’t jump at the chance to try out this product or anything, it pretty much sat on top of our refrigerator for a week or so.  So one Friday morning I’m making our bed and I stop to admire the view out of our sparkling-clean brand new bedroom window, wishing it was the same in the living room and then I remembered the little white jar.  So I went out to the kitchen and found it, read the directions on the back, grabbed the materials I needed and went outside.  I put some water in a stainless bowl, then you dip a sponge in to get it wet, dip that in the jar of white powder, and then go to work on the windows.  I scrub a little circle, then grab a damp rag to wipe it off and in my amazement IT WORKED PERFECTLY!

Isn’t that a great view?  We were seriously missing out and now we open the blinds every day!  Our windows look brand new with very little effort and no harsh chemicals, thanks to a $4 jar of ‘magic’ powder! It’s called ‘Nothin’s Better Water Stain Remover’ (I’m not making this up) and it is worth its weight in gold!!

For you locals you can buy it at Carsten’s!    Check out these results…before on the left, and after on the right.

See our little jar of the stuff out there?  Love it!  And to do both of our 8-foot windows and the storm door glass, it didn’t even take the whole 4 oz. jar.  Next up is the camp trailer windows!  You can use it on all kinds of surfaces (Glass, chrome, porcelain, tile, fiberglass, aluminum and stainless steel will shine and sparkle as new.  Removes water, mineral stain, rust, scum, paint overspray, oxidization.)

I promise that I started the job, but as soon as Glenn noticed me out there working on the windows he came out to see how it was going.  And took the scrubber from me because he had to try it.  And he finished the job.  Strangely, he does that a lot.  I’m not going to complain. 

Magic.  Seriously.  Go buy some now!

Do you have water spots?  Do you have a ‘magic’ cleaning product you’d like to share?  Please tell us!!

File this post under “Things That Catch My Eye So I’m Going To Share It/Save It Here.”  As usual, I just couldn’t help myself.

Because I could totally live here.  Exactly how it is.  Black paint, cement walls and floors (if they’re heated, of course), giant windows, an amazing patio space, giant beds, built in bunks, a view to die for.  We even love that it’s underground.  It is located in a little odd place – I’d rather be out all alone in the middle of nowhere, but my husband and I completely agree – we could move into this house just how it is and live perfectly happy.  How about you?

Is that a heated outdoor tub I spy? (Above.)

The living room furniture even looks somewhat comfortable, which is a necessity in my house.  But where is the TV?

I had to double check for a bathroom picture, just to make sure I liked it all, but it did not disappoint.

If not to live in then to vacation in…right?

I’d love to see a floor plan…

What do you think?  Are you attracted to the slightly quirky, modern aesthetic of this Swiss Mountain House, or does this look do nothing for you?  What style of design would you categorize yourself as your favorite?

{Images courtesy of Trendir via SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects via Gizmodo, via Abitare}

Wow…have you missed me? If you’re reading this, I guess it means you might! I have been working my fanny off, but am able to spend a little more time blogging today, and I finally took all sorts of photos to share! So I have to say that I am LOVING our new set-up. I hope our pool table is enjoying his freezing cold new home in the garage, because I don’t think he can come back. Sorry, dude. Especially now that we have a giant new dining room table that has taken his place! A F-R-E-E table at that. It was just sitting in the barn out at the ranch (my in-law’s ranch). And I hope she loves her new home (yes, she’s a she!), because if so, the feeling is mutual! Plus with the whole house (inside and outside) decorated for Christmas I am finally able to relax in here and enjoy my home! Isn’t that the best?

I haven’t really posted any new updates on my living room in a long time (it was never my favorite room in the house), but we’ve inherited a lot of free furniture (my favorite kind!) and accessories that I get to borrow for now (more on that later) so it is much more pulled together, which makes me happy. Not my dream living room, but definitely one that makes me happy. So here is an old photo of the living room, from last February, which is the last time I took photos of it.

And here it is today, after the big switcheroo and Christmas decorating has been all done! So here are the photos, in their un-edited glory (wayyy too many for me to have enough patience to edit, plus I just want to get them to you!). Enjoy!

This end is where the pool table used to be (hallelujah!), and it is now the living room.

And this end is where the living room furniture used to sit, so it is now the dining room.  With a real table that will allow us to have more than 2 guests!

Now with the lights on…(Glenn wouldn’t get out of my shot, hehe).  He’s enjoying the new space, too.

Instant dining room!

But now my ‘original’ dining room, which I loved as it was but it was just a little cramped, is now a sad little nook again. Someday we plan to extend the kitchen out there for additional countertop and cabinet space, which will help so much with our tiny little kitchen.

Before…

Today…home to dog beds and high chair.

I can just see an ‘L’ shaped kitchen extension going in there. Okay, back to the living room…husband included.

And the funny thing is, rearranging really breathes new life into furniture for me.  I had stuffed my black cheapie coffee table into a corner in the old arrangement (because I didn’t like it) but now it fits here and I like it again.  And I was also not too happy with my curtains in the other arrangement, but now I like them again!  Before it was because they were stuck behind the sofa and behind a cedar chest on the other window, but now they have space to hang and be shown and just be how they’re meant to be!  Not hidden.  I like it.

Boy Scout wreath…complete with our little hanging puppet, and bow that is falling apart, hung on a Wal-Mart wreath hanger. It smells very good, though.

Dog’s stockings…hung on the metal sun, which I think is going to be moved to the backyard come spring.  I have big plans for that ‘new’ dining room wall!

And our stockings (a la Pottery Barn)…hung on the baby hearth gate.

Did I mention that I love my new table and benches? I do. They just need a little TLC after being out in the barn for a few months.

My house is full of borrowed accessories right now (via my sister-in-law). Her stuff is in storage until they find a new house (they’re staying out at ‘the ranch’ for now), so I get to babysit. And I’m really going to miss them when they’re gone, and by ‘them’ I mean the faux orchids, not my sister-in-law (they’re not going anywhere!).

We’ve even decorated the outside (and have gotten a couple of honks of approval – we live on the highway and are the only house that’s all lit up!). Now, I want to say that we’ve never been on of ‘those people’ with blow-up Christmas characters, but at $20 a piece at Wal-Mart last weekend, we just couldn’t resist. Because Harper would love them, of course.

Maybe tonight I’ll take a night shot for the blog.

And even though it is still technically fall, winter has arrived in Likely.  I can’t wait to let Harper go play in it, but she has to get over her cold first!  She’s excited!

So I’m dying to know…should we bring the pool table back or is the new living room better?  Do tell!  And what do you think of our Christmas decor?  I always miss it when it’s gone! xo, L.

Have you ever wondered where those chilly drafts are coming from?  If your windows are sealed tightly?  How well your walls are insulated?  Or if you have a moisture leak somewhere in your home?  Maybe you should try having an Infrared Energy Audit done on your home.

‘What is an Infrared Energy Audit?’ you may ask…well, a qualified and trained professional (such as David, shown in the pictures below) comes into your home and uses an infrared camera to capture temperature differences in various areas throughout your home. Throughout their training, they learn the key areas to look at; appliances, corners, windows, etc. He or she will take infrared pictures of your home, compile them, do the research and create a detailed report to send back to you. They’ll give you tips on how you can fix inefficiencies that they find, and make recommendations on the next steps that you should take. It might be as simple as caulking a seal around a window, or they might recommend that you upgrade appliances (only a recommendation, though, but they can really tell how much energy that fridge is draining!).

These first 2 images are both sides of the brochure for the company that David works out of — feel free to download it and check it out. It might answer a few more questions, or it has the contact info. for The Rider Group, who was great to work with.  They are based out of Reno, Nevada.  Download the PDF of the brochure here. I should be receiving their detailed report any day now, and I’m excited to share those results with you as well!

The overall process took about an hour and a half (our house is approximately 1400 square feet), and he looked at every window, corner, closet, doorway, appliance and wall – and he even went outside to take infrared photos of the exterior, roof, and windows.

He even let me follow him around to take pictures of him and ask questions.

I was very interested to know how much of a difference our new windows were making, how well sealed our doors were, and if there were any leaks around the wood stove that he could see.

This window (in my office) is not new…brr.

Harper’s closet has the trap door to access the crawl space underneath the house, plus it’s back to back with the bathroom, so I wanted to make sure things were nice and clean there.

“What is this stranger doing in MY room?!?!”

Lots of moisture, even on our new windows…but I don’t think it has anything to do with the windows themselves.

The color differences account for temperature changes, and there is a handy little scale on the right side of the screen that can tell you exactly how hot or cold something is.

See the studs in the walls? Very handy (but expensive) stud finder.

He also measured and counted all of our windows to account for the proper ratio of heat loss that we should be having in our house (square footage/area of windows). Again, I’m very excited to see the results that he’s compiled and I’m sure I’ll share them next week. To read more about Infrared Energy Audits, click here.

Have a warm and toasty weekend! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Yep.  That’s what we started to build last weekend.  When you live in Likely you have your own well for your water and your own septic tank.  Ours is right there in our back yard, and it’s really not buried that deep.  As you can see from the photos I took this weekend, we have two green tank lids that stick up right out of the dirt.  They’re made of plastic and plastic + sun = brittle plastic.  We didn’t want the tank lids to get sunbaked because that would be downright dangerous if something (or someone – eek!) fell through.  Fortunately the septic tank is only as old as our home ownership journey (which is about 16 months), but we didn’t want it to be left out there in the elements any longer.  So a few weeks ago, Glenn dug some holes, poured some concrete and set some recycled wood posts in, which was the beginning of our new septic tank box.

Although we needed to build a box around the septic tank, we still needed to be able to access the tank for pumping, etc.  So when planning the design we decided to make the box do triple duty: protect the tank, act as extra storage, and built at seat height for a little extra seating outside.  As I said before, Glenn used some scrap posts that we had around and he set them in concrete around the box.  He then purchased some brackets and framed it in with 2×4′s to reinforce the box and add strength.

Here’s a photo, admiring the new window in Harper’s room.

But it reminds me that we still need to paint the trim on the house…..

Harper was a big help, too…and you can see that the green plastic lids are right there, sticking up out of the dirt.  Perfect size for a little girl I know to fall through if they somehow got damaged..  Not good!

This (above) is right after Glenn cut the tops of the posts off with his chain saw.  Good thing that Glenn is married to an interior designer, because I knew right off the top of my head, exactly what height to build the top at for a standard seat.  Or he could have just walked inside with a tape measure and measured a chair…

It’s approximately 18″…in case you were wondering.

Does your man own a chain saw? Mine does. And he uses it…a lot.

Almost done! Doesn’t our new grass look nice? A little patchy still, but at least we have grass now.  We should be able to fix that this winter while there’s snow on the ground.

Finished! With the frame, anyway. Now we just need to put the sides and top on. Hopefully it will be finished this weekend, but you know us…fishing might be a little more important while the weather is good.   Isn’t this a beautiful November so far? Here in Northern California it’s been sunny and in the 70′s!  Love it!  Not looking forward to the gloom and cold.

Happy Veteran’s Day! Go thank one you know tomorrow…or every time you see them.  I’m giving a shout-out to my cousin, Matt, who is stationed in the army in Hawaii (poor guy, right?) but he’s also recently home from his 2nd Iraq tour and he’s only 24.  He’s also my hero and I really hope that I get to see him over the holidays!

xo, L.

PS – My giveaway for 3 Rosebud cards is still going on through this week!  Head over there for the details!!

Okay, so I know that I promised to post pictures of our remaining new windows today, but I need to wait until tonight to take photos.  I didn’t take any last night and I didn’t like how they turned out in the morning light, so I’ll post it tomorrow.  Plus I can’t stop thinking about what I’m going to post about today instead!!  In my blogroll you’ll see a link to Urban Grace Interiors.  It is a blog by a Florida Interior Designer named Ericka, who is also a new mommy, and she has the most beautiful taste I have ever seen {it reminds me of the designer I did my internship with, actually}.  Plus she can write a super short post about Purex Sheets for laundry and receive 144 comments.  Anyway, if you haven’t headed over there before, you have to take a look.  But that is not what this post is about.  See, Ericka has an identical twin sister named Darby who also has a blog {Fly Through Our Window} that I recently discovered.  She blogs about her kids, their family, crafts, recipes, God, life, their remodel, etc.  She lives in Alabama.  After reading through the first couple pages of the blog, I came across her post on Exterior House Details.  Their house was so ugly when they bought it two years ago.  Scary ugly (I’ve seen a couple of Ericka’s posts about Darby’s house on Ericka’s blog – am I confusing you yet? – and the house was crazy, crazy ugly.  But all homes have potential, don’t you think?).  Okay, I’ll just show you what I mean.

I really love the color orange, but this freaks me out.  But amazingly, she turned the bathroom above, into this:

So that is just a glimpse into her talents.  And remember, Darby is the non-interior designer twin!  Anyway, back to what this post is really supposed to be about: her Exterior House Details and how much I am drooling over her paint job.  Her house (like mine) is brick.  Multi-colored brick.  With a lot of wrought iron.  We’ve talked about painting our brick, but part of the beauty of brick is that it never, ever, ever has to be painted.  So we’re a little torn.  I could talk about the pros and cons of painting my house, but that is for another day!  Well after seeing Darby’s before and after, I’m very, very tempted.  I love her colors.  Here it is before said paint job.

And here it is today.  Don’t you love it?

I think my favorite part is the doors.  Good news for us, she was kind enough to note what the colors are!  The body is called Clarksville Gray, the trim is called Texas Leather, and the doors are a custom mix {all colors are by Benjamin Moore}.  For the doors, she wanted a darker and richer version of the Texas Leather trim, so she asked for double the formula of Texas Leather, plus some black.  Pretty smart, right?  I really love black/gray/almost black exteriors, and this house really makes me swoon.  And I love the contrast of the gray against the green in the trees.  Plus her roof color (it looks like dark gray shingles) is my favorite as well – when we re-shingle our roof we’ve already decided on dark gray or black.

What do you have to do to paint a brick house?  First you have to power wash the brick.  When you start to consider finishes, you have to know that masonry ‘breathes’ so you need a special masonry sealer (she used a product called Loxon by Sherwin Williams, which primes and seals brick).  Any large cracks or gaps should be caulked after this step so that no moisture gets in under the paint.  Then you can simply paint the house with regular old latex or oil based exterior paint.  There are other coatings out there that you can use, but this way sounds the most simple to me.

Another option, which we’ve considered, is whitewashing the brick instead.  This is an inexpensive brick coating that can easily be applied, can last 20 to 30 years, but doesn’t start the vicious cycle of maintenance that you start if you paint the brick.  It gives your house a faded look, but it can be a completely different look than naked brick.  Think of an ‘English cottage’ look.  Or how E.T. looks when he’s really sick in the movie.    There seem to be a few different ways to create a whitewash solution, but you basically start out by mixing ivory hydrated lime and table salt then add water.  You can paint it on as thin or as thick as you want, leaving as much or as little exposed to give it the look you’re going for.  (Info via Ask the Builder.)  Here are some examples of what a whitewashed house might look like.

{Image via flickr, linked}

{image via flickr, linked}

You can whitewash interior bricks, too.  Oh yeah.

{image via Apartment Therapy, linked}

As you can probably tell, I really love Darby’s exterior color scheme.  And I think it would work with our house whether it was painted, unpainted, or even whitewashed.  If you look really closely at our pink brick, it has flecks of taupey gray and dark gray/black material in it, so that is what I’ve been studying to pick paint colors for our trim, doors and accents.  I just haven’t made up my mind yet.  But I’m liking this a lot.

I bet Glenn never thought that we’d live in a pink house!  Are any of you out there brick dwellers?  Have you painted? Or even whitewashed??? Let me know!!

Great inspiration here.  I even love her garage. What do you think of her exterior?  Or her orange bathroom!  I hope you enjoyed this little bit of color therapy this Thursday!!  I know I did…and I just had to save it here.  xo, L.

{images via Darby at Fly Through Our Window, linked to sources}