It ain’t pretty, folks. Our yard this year that is. Just as I said we wouldn’t be working on the outside much if at all we have to or I’m going to cry and flip my freak. I’m already having feelings of running away hence the talk of moving near Seattle sooner. So tempting. We knew we weren’t finished last year and that we were putting things at a blank slate level. But, I want to enjoy stepping outside again instead of immediately making mental notes a mile long of things we have yet to do and feeling overwhelmed. I have that feeling inside the house so there isn’t much escape.
Some homes around here show lawn damage from “winter kill” and some of us lucky folks have yards (this is our front below) that look like this thanks to it. Snow into May and death to the grass/plants just doesn’t seem fair.
Yeah, that’s paint on the window we need to scrape off.
We put down grass seed and are watering daily. Please grow and be pretty again. I don’t have a picture of the side of the house but it’s lacking grass too. Embarrassing. We knew we’d have to plant more grass on the side and back yard but we did not anticipate the front having issues.
We’ll be working on the yard, the area between the 3 season and garage, the landscape on the side of the house and other things in the coming weekends.
Since it’s finally warm outside (temps will reach 90+ today), we tackled the clean up before the beautification. Leaves were raked, branches picked up that snapped off from the weight of the snow from a few weeks ago, the million tiny twigs are mostly gone, the random tulips and plants that popped up (the ones we thought we took out last year) were dug up and plants have been pruned. Only one more trip to the local compost site to go. A little more rose trimming and ridding of the driveway weeds and we’re on our way to things looking better.
I came up with an inexpensive way to improve our ugly outdoor space. Obviously had to be done.
Over this fantastic weekend (read more relaxing ), Greg and I bought some plastic edging and stakes, made plans to pick up some pavers and priced some plants and mulch. We took advantage of the Mother’s Day deals and bought a fire pit and some outdoor folding chairs for half price. And this weekend (Greg took last Friday and is taking this Friday off-yay) is the Goods for Good garage sales in town. Over 25 families and organizations with the proceeds benefiting charities and great causes. You know I’m excited.
The dresser is finished! That feels great to say since we didn’t think we’d be getting any furniture refinished and on the market with all these house projects.
The pictures aren’t spectacular. I’m still lacking a decent photoshoot area but there it is.
But back to this dresser. We’ve had it for a long time…when compared to the length of time we usually keep pieces we plan to refinish. It was one of the first we picked up (originally called ‘dresser 3’ back when I called them by the order we picked them up) and once lived in a barn. We used it to store our supplies in our workspace and avoided tackling it since the short, curvy piece had a lot of damage.
The bottom of 2 drawers had to be replaced and one entire drawer had to be put back together-glue and previous efforts to “fix” it had to be dealt with first…the dovetails were in rough shape. One drawer front was broken in half. With some wood glue, numerous coats of wood putty and lots of sanding, it’s at that point where you’d never know. Can you tell which drawer front it was in the after photo?
It came with rubber casters-not the originals-so I went into my collection of random bits left from previous furniture and found some wood casters which look much better and add height to this short chest of drawers.
The hardware I made after I found similar knobs on etsy. Take a natural wood knob, spray a section with gold paint then add a color over a portion of the gold. I had the navy, mint green, purple and yellow on hand and voila, a colorblock-like drawer pull.
I know, it’s a dark warm gray. We do a lot of gray. We have had many orders for gray and we have been painting the rooms in our house various shades so we have mucho gray paint on hand. I loved this matte Benjamin Moore Chelsea gray in the second bedroom and wanted to see it on this piece…after I had painted it a “custom” color (we mixed a bunch of the gray samples together to try to get rid of the stuff) but that wasn’t quite what I had pictured with the hardware.
The paint is matte and the finish coats of poly are matte. I think it’s pretty adorable. You can find it in our etsy shop and if you are in the Minneapolis area or close to southern Minnesota you can take this cuteness home.
I made this deliciousness over the weekend-a (mostly) one-pan dark chocolate chip skillet cookie and shared the recipe over at the Dabble today. You know you deserve this and it’s so easy. (And happy 54th anniversary to my grandparents!)
With all the happenings going on in the world I can’t recall the order in which the below photos occurred. They were definitely from the past week/weekend. Guess you could say this is our life according to Instagram my iphone camera apps.
With exciting photos like this of us waiting for our car maintenance, why would you NOT follow us on Instagram?
After the car repairs, we went to Target (a regular trip we do on Fridays) and I found these cute tins in the $1 bins.
I started using my Instagram account for public view (it has been set to private on purpose for a long time). It is shared with my food blogging life (the name is under thedabble-my food blog) so you’ll get a hodgepodge of furniture, food, decor, and anything in-between…as you can see.
Picked up some more stripper (and that is a cookbook bookmarked with paint swatches cause that’s how I roll).
Soy gel stripper in action. This is the antique Martha Washington sewing cabinet which is a stripping nightmare and is taking a looonngg-with 2 g’s-time to remove the previous finish/stain.
Greg made this veneer jointer out of one of his hand planes and some scrap lumber-notice the nails for traction left on the scrap piece from when we took out the closet doorway. Clever guy.
I’ve barely been on Instagram since I discovered the Camera+ app which has become my main source for photo taking. It’s private until I no longer wish for the photos to be (if ever…you don’t see a vast number of pics…surprise)-when I share them on the Wits. You can always choose which social media outlet you wish to share your photos if you want that option too. It’s a wonderful app (and I’m in no way connected to them). It has surpassed my adoration of Instagram.
The dresser I told you about, the one we refinished a few weeks ago. Too bad our master bedroom is a mess with projects.
Since I’m on the photo app topic, I also enjoy Diptic and am still on the fence about a few others (Hipstamatic, Afterlight,Snapseed) simply because I can do more on Camera+ and it seems easier to use. Yes, these are all on my iphone and I probably don’t need that many but I’m still experimenting.
Relaxing with a beer or what’s left rather.
What do you use?
*We nearly finished the small dresser-it looks good to go but Greg realized, after we put the hardware on, that he set the drawer stop the way he did for the left drawer to the top right drawer but it being an old, originally beat up piece, requires the stop to be in a different spot so the drawer functions well. He has been working long hours at his day job and unable to get to this task. When he does, I’ll get out my “big girl camera” (Canon Powershot-yep I don’t rely on just my iphone) and snap some shots to share.
For the past month I’ve been watching my calorie intake and getting my bum back on the treadmill four times a week to log some miles. (I’m down 8 pounds thank you very much.)
Over the weekend I indulged a bit too much but got back on the treadmill (and on pace) Monday to do what I could to take some of the damage away.
While I was negating some of the impact, someone else was wreaking havoc at the Boston Marathon, injuring over 150 people and killing 3 the last count I’ve heard this morning.
I was running my 3 miles on the treadmill at the exact time people were running towards the finish and crossing the line when the bombs went off. I realized that this morning. Just as participants were finishing or nearly finishing, celebrating, meeting their family and friends, feeling very accomplished and proud (probably exhausted) after the 26+ mile voyage on Patriots’ Day. Onlookers there for support, ready to congratulate and hug their loved one.
I can’t imagine the confusion and pain involved in these seemingly increasing horrific and deathly events. Planned and orchestrated by persons who so badly want to inflict suffering.
I’m heartbroken and flummoxed-as the rest of the nation is; my thoughts are with the city of Boston. The city is strong. I’m confident justice will be served. People will run again and those injured will be rehabilitated. Those lost will be remembered by the entire country. I know I won’t forget every time I lace up my shoes and hit the pavement or treadmill.
It has begun…garage and estate sale season! Well, there was one this weekend and I hadn’t a clue until we drove around our neighborhood and saw the sign. Like Ace of Base sing. It opened up my eyes and brightened my weekend. (I know those are not the lyrics by the way.) It was more of a mid-century sale too which we’re totally into. (Did you add “like every other person on the face of the earth”? I don’t blame you.)
We bought this chair for $20, the exact Ikea Grundtal mirror I already have and wanted to put in the basement bathroom and get a second to keep. (Blew my mind.)
It was $15 and had some residue (that cleaned off) but I probably could’ve haggled. I found 2 cookbooks and another paint by number piece of art which I really like too (the one on the left-the other was from our favorite local store). They are crookedly hanging up on the wall in the basement studio. As you can see.
The woman having the sale said she would have more next weekend (!) and also tried to get me to buy some hideous curtains that she thought I’d like since I liked the chair. They were bad, folks. I kindly passed.
We brought the sideboard outside with the warmer temps and sunshine to sand (so it wasn’t even 50 out…so what, who cares). We then brought it to the master bedroom which, if you regular readers remember, is really the guest room/office/workout room right now. We had no intention of working on the sideboard over the weekend but the veneer (almost $100 worth) arrived earlier than estimated so we got to work. It’s a challenge to replace most of the veneer on this antique and that’s Greg’s specialty so it resides in that bedroom for the remainder of the project.
The 3 season is empty of furniture in need of salvaging. One goal met. A very nice woman came to pick up the antique dresser with 2 friends and a local couple grabbed our Windsor chairs. The sideboard, antique Martha Washington sewing cabinet and Lieutenant Dan are all that are left. We deed indeed bring up the dresser we refinished (the one in this post and I forgot to snap a photo before we put all the veneer project mess in that room so I’ll show ya later).
Oh, and we worked quite a bit on the “short dresser” and it’s almost finished. I did a little spray painting action on some knobs and once it gets one more coat of paint and some matte poly it will be ready to go.
I’ve been very happy working on furniture in place of the house projects recently and wish we could continue that path. But next weekend we’re back to painting trim and putting up some base. I’ve been dreading that as has our checking account.
Hmm what else? Uhh Vivi ruined not one but two of our loofahs in an hour, two separate occasions, without us hearing a peep then she got a bath as punishment.
And finally…my links show up as different colors on this blog! Found the correct lines in the code that worked this time and none of the 10,000 times I’ve tried before. I see them at least. Right then, see you next time.
I’m going to warn you that these photos are not only bad but the rooms are not styled to any extent I am proud of or remotely chipper about and instead are “functional”…and they won’t be truly styled during any of the remaining time we have in the house.
The paint is Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl which you can see has a hint of green but is in the gray family.
I’m serious about this whole don’t mess up the walls thing that I added some cushioning to the mirror which leaves a mark on the wall otherwise. Vivi is about to get her workout on.
I’m at the point where I could move to Seattle next week but we have at least 10 months left here in Minnesota and lots of updates to make to the house. But here’s the master bedroom that we’ve turned into the guest room/workout/office for now. We’re still loving the small second bedroom and won’t be leaving it anytime soon.
I’m so eager to get going in Washington. To design, create, continue the path to a life that suits who we are with a fresh take, see and experience new things with the knowledge we’re going to fully “nest” finally in our adult lives. Maybe I can get out of the temporary/renter lifestyle mode completely and for good-something I’ve only partially experienced in this house. We came in knowing it was temporary, an investment.
This brass bed is coming with us and we’re seriously considering going from a queen to a full size bed as I brought up on our facebook page.
Besides getting things out of the house through craigslist, I’m trying to collect pieces of furniture for ourselves that I can visualize in our next home (most have been “the ones that got away” because I was too late and someone else snagged them)…a place we haven’t even found yet or are able to really think about. I’m avoiding getting anything that I don’t want to take with me for both furniture and the smaller things which means the plan is to not bring home as much as I did last garage sale season. We shall see. A garage sale of my own is in the works.
We changed the light in the second bedroom. Much better.
I don’t even want to put pictures or mirrors on the wall because I’m declaring them finished (except trim). They are painted, they have new doors and lighting. Maybe a little wall touching up before we put the house on the market but none of this fill the holes we’ve made stuff even though it would be a tiny fix. A million tiny fixes add up says my brain.
The hall is painted Passive gray like the living and dining rooms and all the new doors, minus the kitchen, are in upstairs but need to be painted.
My desire to move is far greater than the one to share my design and decor style. I would really like to. I have ideas for the place I can picture in my head but no, keeping it simple so we don’t add more to our plates. It hurts the decorator in me to say this. I am halfheartedly putting the rooms together but you won’t see much for inspiration and definitely nothing to brag about. So, don’t count me out on that side and let’s all be patient. I’m telling myself this to ease the guilt of being all about design with a decor blog and not showcasing it. A big part of it is money. I put money towards decorating the house and money won’t be there for another project that MUST get done. Therein lies reality.
Then there’s the dresser I told you about in the last post that is coming upstairs. I’ve never seen one like it and therefore have this intense urge to keep it for myself and move it across the country with us…which might sound weird but when you’ve rented/lived in 13 places (one required a 600 mile U-Haul move) in less than 10 years you learn to bring the necessities and get rid of the other things that are not absolutely needed. Overall, it leads to a minimalistic lifestyle which is why we have little furniture of our own in the house. Anyway, once we started sanding the dresser top of its water and coin marks (which took forever), we decided to sand the entire dresser and give it a few fresh coats of Danish oil. It will be ready to come up mid-week.
This antique Martha Washington ( I typed Stewart in first) sewing stand needs some attention (1 of only 2 things left to repair around here…minus our own furniture).
That was the case with many of the pieces I said we were just going to slightly repair and pass on to someone else who would hopefully work on them…I just couldn’t let some of them go with such little repair. Who knows if they would ever achieve their potential. I couldn’t bear that thought, especially since most of them have been with us for at least 6 months, waiting their turn to be renewed (I know they have no emotion and I’m a weirdo).
This bowing gentleman, Lieutenant Dan, is the second piece we have left to finish then we’re all out of piddies pieces to refinish.
Working on those 4 pieces over the weekend (yeah, we added another dresser to fix that wasn’t on the original agenda) reignited my wanting to work on furniture. With any luck, a few pieces might be finished in the coming month.
I mean, geez, I chipped old veneer from the sideboard for 3 hours and am trying to fit expensive new quarter sawn white oak veneer in the budget since we need it for the sides, a few drawer fronts and cabinet fronts.
The entire thing needs sanded and stained. Had we decided to paint it, we would have skipped removing all of the veneer and only cut out the damaged spots, filled it with a few coats of wood putty (with sanding in-between), gave the whole thing a good sanding then painted it which is a lot of work but the non-painted job takes even more work. So, you know we’re fully invested in this sideboard now. I’ve seen these used as bars and in entries for catch-alls and can’t stop thinking about them for that use.
Drawers put back together (still has veneer issues obviously)
One antique dresser is ready to go and functioning quite well with little effort. We had an offer from a craigslister the same day which was awwweeesome (when I say awesome I sing it).
Another dresser we started on long ago and left literally in the dust of the house projects got some more attention this past weekend and will continue to throughout the week. While browsing Etsy, I found some knobs someone could easily make themselves (a brilliant idea on the part of the seller though) and so my hardware plans for that piece have changed. I just need a decently warm day to get outside and work on them. Oh, and to place the supply order.
If you’ll excuse me, I need to go wash the paws of my sheepdog Henry and corgi Vivi who seem to find every bit of mud now that the snow is melting. If you want to imagine the act, picture 5’3″ me carrying a 70 lb. sheepdog then a wriggly 20 lb. corgi to the tub where both try to escape any chance they get wherein I end up wet and dirty. Sweet, muddy spring is here!
We're Annie and Greg Witkamp (aka the Wits, aka Em & Wit Design). We salvage, refurbish and design furniture and homes. We're taking a break from an online & social media presence (for the most part). Our time on the blog was memorable and fun, but we're off to other projects and opportunities. Most derived from our shenanigans here. We'll drop in once in a while, but just know we're off chasing our dreams, tackling goals and living a life we enjoy.
Our specialty is wood furniture in rough shape that we come across on craigslist, at estate sales, on the curb, in a barn, you get it. Those pieces are cleaned, repaired, refurbished and good to go for years to come. Sometimes we design our own pieces.
As of spring 2016, we decided to make this website, the Wits, about our remodeling homes and emandwit.com about the furniture. You can shop there, ask us questions, see our newly finished pieces and portfolio.
We sold our second remodeled home near Seattle in August 2018 and moved to Richmond, Virginia. Getting to Washington was a goal that took years to achieve, but we had an opportunity come up and we grabbed hold (again)!
You can watch our journey right here, there, and/or through Instagram.
-To see the projects we did to our first home, check out the home improvement page. To see our current home projects, scroll through the most recent posts. (I need to update that....)
