tiny house renovations

about a year ago, jeff and i moved to pasadena from los angeles and while the transition has been a bit harder than we thought (we realized we are more city people than suburbanites), we are so in love with our little house.  we do have friends here, but a lot are also still in la and claim our place to be so f**king far away (their words, not mine).  they can't just pop over anymore like they used to, which of course has caused jeff and i to become nesters.  i don't know how others do it, but once i'm all the way home in pasadena there is zero chance of me getting back out on the freeway and driving 40 minutes to la. i have to go straight out from work, or it's not happening (again reason why we should be living in la).  i can't complain too much though, because my sister & brother-in-law and our two adorable nieces live minutes away and that is pretty priceless.

back to my point, in the old days i would spend my some of my free time driving 15 minutes to visit girlfriends, i now spend that time looking around our house thinking "what else could i do to make this place cozier?"   of course, these are words that jeff hates, because he knows that means more work for him. 

the catalyst for this weekend's projects came from these pink tulips i bought at whole foods.

i love that they come in simple brown paper and actually have directions (that i never took the time to notice before).  maybe that's why my previous tulips have just flopped over after a day?  according to them, the secret is trimming the stems while still bound in their original paper and leaving them that way for four hours. also, here's a tip i learned from a florist:  put a penny in with your water and your tulips will last longer.  then just put these beauties in your favorite vase.

they looked so lovely in my jonathan adler vase that bayou had to take a sniff or two.

and then i started thinking "where else i could put these babies?"  the pale pink was such a pretty hue on our entry table, but the wall  behind was just too bare.  so, this led me to having jeff hang a few things -- the gold mirror and letter "j"

and i have been dying to replace this hideous light fixture in the kitchen. i mean, seriously.

having no clue how to do this, i coaxed (read begged) jeff to please help.

while he was doing this, bayou and i took a time out for a little snuggle.  i know it might look like jeff is doing all the work here, but i like to think of myself as the creative lead on this project, and of course put my producing skills to work, making sure things get done on time :)

before i debut the new light fixture, i should also tell you we added a yellow chalkboard that just makes me happy looking at it.  i don't have the before and after of the chalkboard, but we (read jeff) also repainted an old frame a co-worker had given to me (thanks ms. vay), got a piece of plywood, primed and painted it with chalkboard paint and voila:

 now we have a working "to do" list (judging from a few of these shots, i need to put photography lessons on that list)

isn't it amazing what a little inspiration (and a super handy husband) can do?