Home Sweet Home
Someone in my F-list was giving a photo home tour, and I thought "hrm... self... your home has changed ALOT in the past six months... you should take pictures and document!"
I present to you a full tour of said home with all it's delightful changes that have happened so recently.
Home view from the street. Bear in mind, this is a rental! But it's one of the few rentals on the street, and we've really enjoyed staying in this home built in the early 30's.
Things that are new out front planted in the last couple months include the Iceplants
Also the sugar snap peas which Andrew planted as seedlings
And the rose bushes are going crazy as usual and now are the same height as my car
Going up to the big red door, notice the huge iris plant on the left
The entry way. This used to be our old TV stand. Originally, I purchased something to go there as a coat closet, and realized much to my dismay it was too tall when tilted to fit in.... so the ultimate goal later is to buy a bench that stores shoes and a huge mirror with hooks, all of it free standing of course so I don't have to attempt to screw anything into the plaster walls of a rental.
From the entryway you go into the living room. This is on your left. Behold, the huge coat closet thing that was meant to go in the entryway, but didn't fit... still a huge life saver. On either side are the kimonos that Andrew and I got while we were on honeymoon in Japan. I purchased some dress forms from Joanne's to display it. The sword was a housewarming gift to our last apartment together from a friend who introduced us. The flowers is my bouquet from my wedding... I'm still trying to figure out how to display it. On the shelving unit below the candles is a blue porcelain Japanese pillow that used to belong to my grandmother. This is the only object I requested when she passed away. As a child, I used to stick toys in there and then would be unable to extract them from the small hole... my brothers and cousin also followed suit when they were born. Hence it rattles due to the various crayons and building blocks inside and holds special meaning for me. Ultimately I would like to get two pieces of small to medium art to go above the kimonos, I haven't decided what yet.
If you look right from the entryway, you encounter the living room. Behold the new and improved media center! (Also only a couple months old and a PAIN to assemble.) Note to self, don't host dinner parties, AND be putting furniture together on the same day.
Also an extremely new purchase are our 46" deep couches which we love
Note the lovely arty floor lamp in the corner that was a new purchase that I managed to cram into my Mini Cooper S. Take that!
From the living room, you go straight into the dining room. I love that there's room for our table that expands to seat 10. Ultimately, I'd like to replace the mirror on the left with a huge art piece, and add a colored rug to the floor which matches the art.
Table centerpiece I threw together for a dinner party we held the night before
Please note and appreciate the track lighting kit. This bad boy took FIVE HOURS to throw up there. Yeah, proper tools would have been a good idea. And if our landlord asks, those are only screws holding that thing in there... not huge holes!
Lovely bar area... mmm. I love built ins.
I love this picture. It's a throw back to the first TV show that I ever produced. Student run production... kind of like a variety show. For one of our acts we decided to do "sock puppet theater" and did a scene from "The Godfather". This painting is our godfather. Gary took the sock puppet we created home with him and did the painting to hang on the set above the fireplace. He did such a lovely job and I'm glad he gave it to me after the show. It meant a lot.
Now entering the kitchen area
The island itself is new. We had an island, but it was way too big for the space, and we needed something smaller
A couple things I love in our kitchen. (If you ask Andrew, he would say he loves the espresso machine he just purchased.) For me, I love our knife set that his brother got us this Christmas. It's called "The Ex"
I also love our spice magnets on our fridge. Our old place was really short on cabinet space, and we have a lot of spices... so this was our solution.
Laundry room area
If you hook a left from the dining room instead of a right, you encounter the bathroom. This still has all of the original tiling which we love
If you go right, instead of heading into the bathroom, you will encounter the office. This was our most recent re-do project. Originally we wanted the colors in here to be green and chocolate.... but Target had other plans. Turns out doing blue and chocolate were a much easier color scheme to find. We pulled the rug from the dining room and threw it in as an accent rug. The desk and shelf are from ikea, as are the lounge chair and filing cabinet (with blue doors). However, the chair, filing cabinet and boxes on the shelves, we spray painted to make them the colors we wanted. The filing cabinet used to be beach colored, and the lounge chair once was med brown.
Andrew's new desk setup. There is a 24" Imac waiting to replace the clutter on the desk once Andrew transfers all his files over. The white balls are actually lights. Also note the pillow on the desk chair. That used to be a 1930's leather bomber jacket. It was the first item Andrew ever purchased for himself from his first paycheck. Unfortunately, it started to fall apart. When I met him, it was duct taped together and hanging in a closet. So, when he threw it out, I secretly retrieved it, and then had good patches cut from the leather and sewed together to create a pillow for him. The jacket was his first success purchase, it's only right that it goes in his office where he creates more success.
Other objects of interest in the office:
-This road sign to the Rolland Glass Company. This was the glass company Andrew's family used to own and how they made their money. The company was sold, but we still have the sign. To the right is the film cans from Andrew's first film he ever wrote, produced and directed along with a picture of him working on the set.
-On the side of the desk is where he has his signed stuff. This includes "The Office", cast and crew from a movie he co-produced "Yesterday was a lie", Darth Mal, and Super boy!
-On the back wall there is a huge puzzle we got on honeymoon at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka Japan of Howl's moving castle. Below it is a huge thank you card from the cast and crew of "Just Legal" which I got from them before leaving the show (They're so sweet!). Also is Andrew's eagle scout sash. And last of all is a huge poster of the movie "Yesterday Was a Lie" . By the way... THIS FILM JUST GOT ACCEPTED INTO COMIC CON 2008!!!! We are so psyched about this. And hey, free 4 day passes to Comic Con... awwww yeah.
On the side wall are two movie posters that Andrew got from the Alamo Draft House. And yes, the Iron Man poster glows in the dark.
Show hats up above from various shows I have worked on
More hats than you can shake a stick at on the back of the door.
Also a new purchase from our fav furniture store to hold Andrew's computer games and work DVD's. We love Urban Habitat.
Leaving the office towards the bedroom. Note more built ins in the hallway!
This bdrm furniture is new, from Urban habitat. I love the dark wood colors, and our bed is so high now!
A concept that I stole from my ex-step mom. Take an old frame, fill it with cork and then hang your jewelry via push pins. It's a great way to hang your necklaces and bracelets without everything getting tangled!
I love the window seat in here
Reverse view from the bed.
More damn hats!
Okay, going outside now towards the back... Single car garage with storage area on the left inside. Note more iceplants on the ground on the left. Before there was nothing there.
Towards the back, more sugar snap peas and a blueberry bush
My favorite part of the back yard. We got this set right around Christmas. It was Andrew's idea to hang curtains. (I executed.) We also hung rope lights and created a chandelier of sorts from above
View of the backyard from the patio. Note the two smaller rose bushes in front of the bigger bushes. They are "Clyde" and "Sarah". We purchased them three months ago... we really thought we killed them. But, they appear to be growing, and have even had a couple flowers!
Also in back we have a lemon tree
Huge cala lillies and night blooming jasmine
More rose bushes around the back of the garage. I think if I ever owned this space, I'd extend the garage to attach a finished office/guest house for Andrew to work in. I'd also add on a second bathroom to the back bedroom to create a master suite.
View of the patio from the back yard.
There you have it! A view of our home. I'm really pleased with the results. Everything turned out quite nicely. I guess now that's a sign to start looking for a new house that we actually own so we can start the process all over again.
I present to you a full tour of said home with all it's delightful changes that have happened so recently.
Home view from the street. Bear in mind, this is a rental! But it's one of the few rentals on the street, and we've really enjoyed staying in this home built in the early 30's.
Things that are new out front planted in the last couple months include the Iceplants
Also the sugar snap peas which Andrew planted as seedlings
And the rose bushes are going crazy as usual and now are the same height as my car
Going up to the big red door, notice the huge iris plant on the left
The entry way. This used to be our old TV stand. Originally, I purchased something to go there as a coat closet, and realized much to my dismay it was too tall when tilted to fit in.... so the ultimate goal later is to buy a bench that stores shoes and a huge mirror with hooks, all of it free standing of course so I don't have to attempt to screw anything into the plaster walls of a rental.
From the entryway you go into the living room. This is on your left. Behold, the huge coat closet thing that was meant to go in the entryway, but didn't fit... still a huge life saver. On either side are the kimonos that Andrew and I got while we were on honeymoon in Japan. I purchased some dress forms from Joanne's to display it. The sword was a housewarming gift to our last apartment together from a friend who introduced us. The flowers is my bouquet from my wedding... I'm still trying to figure out how to display it. On the shelving unit below the candles is a blue porcelain Japanese pillow that used to belong to my grandmother. This is the only object I requested when she passed away. As a child, I used to stick toys in there and then would be unable to extract them from the small hole... my brothers and cousin also followed suit when they were born. Hence it rattles due to the various crayons and building blocks inside and holds special meaning for me. Ultimately I would like to get two pieces of small to medium art to go above the kimonos, I haven't decided what yet.
If you look right from the entryway, you encounter the living room. Behold the new and improved media center! (Also only a couple months old and a PAIN to assemble.) Note to self, don't host dinner parties, AND be putting furniture together on the same day.
Also an extremely new purchase are our 46" deep couches which we love
Note the lovely arty floor lamp in the corner that was a new purchase that I managed to cram into my Mini Cooper S. Take that!
From the living room, you go straight into the dining room. I love that there's room for our table that expands to seat 10. Ultimately, I'd like to replace the mirror on the left with a huge art piece, and add a colored rug to the floor which matches the art.
Table centerpiece I threw together for a dinner party we held the night before
Please note and appreciate the track lighting kit. This bad boy took FIVE HOURS to throw up there. Yeah, proper tools would have been a good idea. And if our landlord asks, those are only screws holding that thing in there... not huge holes!
Lovely bar area... mmm. I love built ins.
I love this picture. It's a throw back to the first TV show that I ever produced. Student run production... kind of like a variety show. For one of our acts we decided to do "sock puppet theater" and did a scene from "The Godfather". This painting is our godfather. Gary took the sock puppet we created home with him and did the painting to hang on the set above the fireplace. He did such a lovely job and I'm glad he gave it to me after the show. It meant a lot.
Now entering the kitchen area
The island itself is new. We had an island, but it was way too big for the space, and we needed something smaller
A couple things I love in our kitchen. (If you ask Andrew, he would say he loves the espresso machine he just purchased.) For me, I love our knife set that his brother got us this Christmas. It's called "The Ex"
I also love our spice magnets on our fridge. Our old place was really short on cabinet space, and we have a lot of spices... so this was our solution.
Laundry room area
If you hook a left from the dining room instead of a right, you encounter the bathroom. This still has all of the original tiling which we love
If you go right, instead of heading into the bathroom, you will encounter the office. This was our most recent re-do project. Originally we wanted the colors in here to be green and chocolate.... but Target had other plans. Turns out doing blue and chocolate were a much easier color scheme to find. We pulled the rug from the dining room and threw it in as an accent rug. The desk and shelf are from ikea, as are the lounge chair and filing cabinet (with blue doors). However, the chair, filing cabinet and boxes on the shelves, we spray painted to make them the colors we wanted. The filing cabinet used to be beach colored, and the lounge chair once was med brown.
Andrew's new desk setup. There is a 24" Imac waiting to replace the clutter on the desk once Andrew transfers all his files over. The white balls are actually lights. Also note the pillow on the desk chair. That used to be a 1930's leather bomber jacket. It was the first item Andrew ever purchased for himself from his first paycheck. Unfortunately, it started to fall apart. When I met him, it was duct taped together and hanging in a closet. So, when he threw it out, I secretly retrieved it, and then had good patches cut from the leather and sewed together to create a pillow for him. The jacket was his first success purchase, it's only right that it goes in his office where he creates more success.
Other objects of interest in the office:
-This road sign to the Rolland Glass Company. This was the glass company Andrew's family used to own and how they made their money. The company was sold, but we still have the sign. To the right is the film cans from Andrew's first film he ever wrote, produced and directed along with a picture of him working on the set.
-On the side of the desk is where he has his signed stuff. This includes "The Office", cast and crew from a movie he co-produced "Yesterday was a lie", Darth Mal, and Super boy!
-On the back wall there is a huge puzzle we got on honeymoon at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka Japan of Howl's moving castle. Below it is a huge thank you card from the cast and crew of "Just Legal" which I got from them before leaving the show (They're so sweet!). Also is Andrew's eagle scout sash. And last of all is a huge poster of the movie "Yesterday Was a Lie" . By the way... THIS FILM JUST GOT ACCEPTED INTO COMIC CON 2008!!!! We are so psyched about this. And hey, free 4 day passes to Comic Con... awwww yeah.
On the side wall are two movie posters that Andrew got from the Alamo Draft House. And yes, the Iron Man poster glows in the dark.
Show hats up above from various shows I have worked on
More hats than you can shake a stick at on the back of the door.
Also a new purchase from our fav furniture store to hold Andrew's computer games and work DVD's. We love Urban Habitat.
Leaving the office towards the bedroom. Note more built ins in the hallway!
This bdrm furniture is new, from Urban habitat. I love the dark wood colors, and our bed is so high now!
A concept that I stole from my ex-step mom. Take an old frame, fill it with cork and then hang your jewelry via push pins. It's a great way to hang your necklaces and bracelets without everything getting tangled!
I love the window seat in here
Reverse view from the bed.
More damn hats!
Okay, going outside now towards the back... Single car garage with storage area on the left inside. Note more iceplants on the ground on the left. Before there was nothing there.
Towards the back, more sugar snap peas and a blueberry bush
My favorite part of the back yard. We got this set right around Christmas. It was Andrew's idea to hang curtains. (I executed.) We also hung rope lights and created a chandelier of sorts from above
View of the backyard from the patio. Note the two smaller rose bushes in front of the bigger bushes. They are "Clyde" and "Sarah". We purchased them three months ago... we really thought we killed them. But, they appear to be growing, and have even had a couple flowers!
Also in back we have a lemon tree
Huge cala lillies and night blooming jasmine
More rose bushes around the back of the garage. I think if I ever owned this space, I'd extend the garage to attach a finished office/guest house for Andrew to work in. I'd also add on a second bathroom to the back bedroom to create a master suite.
View of the patio from the back yard.
There you have it! A view of our home. I'm really pleased with the results. Everything turned out quite nicely. I guess now that's a sign to start looking for a new house that we actually own so we can start the process all over again.