Fun medicine cabinet...

One of the other projects on my agenda lately has been remodeling our hall bathroom.  It is small-- only 5'x7', so the goal is to maximize space while making it feel as big as possible, so we are doing a large mirror on the wall above the sink and toilet.  I once saw a wall length mirror that had a mirrored medicine cabinet built in and thought that would be the perfect solution, but it turns out it is a lot more difficult (and expensive) to build than it looks.  So I decided to put a medicine cabinet on another wall. As I was searching I was worried it might be too much mirror between the cabinet and the wall, but then I found this-- it looks like a picture frame but it opens!
 
It is called the Concealed Cabinet from a company called Innovators. You can put whatever art you want in the frame.  I think it is going to be great!

Winter home improvement...

Around this time last year I started working on a big garage improvement project. The homes where we live are relatively small and extremely expensive, so really using the garage makes sense (it is California, so a lot of people don't park in their garages). Ours, however, was not very pleasant:

The idea was to keep it as a functioning garage so we could park in it when we want to, but to make it a nice workroom that didn't feel like such a dungeon the rest of the time.  We decided to paint it white, epoxy the floor, and install some storage cabinets.  It took 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of semigloss paint to get all that wood covered, but it made a huge difference:

Then we applied Rustoleum Epoxy to the floor. It was only $120 and was another huge improvement from the bare concrete. You have to prep the floor properly, but it is really pretty easy and you can finish it in a weekend.  This is the floor before and after:

The white cabinets are actually the most basic kitchen cabinets from Ikea.  They were about the same price as the garage cabinets you can get at Home Depot or Lowes but much better quality.   I got a big craft table there too.  We also hung some white pegboard for tools and outdoor equipment:

This is the total before and after.  We love it and use it all the time.

First harvest...

Well, it is actually just one orange, so it is not exactly a harvest.  But it is the first orange I've ever grown so it's kind of exciting.  My sister gave us a blood orange tree for Christmas when we moved into our house two years ago.  Nice gift, then she said "it is supposed to bear fruit in 8 to 10 years."   Hmmm...we're patient, but that seemed like a long time.  However, two short years later, look what we have:

 It is tiny, but juicy and delicious!  Thanks Meg-- glad we didn't have to wait 8 years to tell you!

I love these vases...

I saw this vase in Cooking Light last month and finally got around to visiting the company's website.  Isn't it great? The company is called Chive and they have all sorts of great vases.  I really like them because I grow flowers in the garden but either never have enough for a big arrangement or the stems are too short to make it workable in the vases I have.  All of the little openings in these would be perfect for my garden blooms.  Plus I think they would look great in my house, which is mid-century modern with sort of basic furnishings. I also like these three-- "Flute," "Double Bubble," and "Caterpillar:"

Flowers...

I have strong opinions about flowers (being the Flower Lady's daughter and everything....)  I have probably seen hundreds of wedding bouquets, and I think this is gorgeous and I'll bet it smelled amazing:

Sweet peas and peonies... my favorite flowers.  I planted both when we moved into our house two years ago but I haven't had much luck with the peonies yet.  The sweet peas do really well.  I need to try planting some sweet pea seeds now because I hear they like the mild California winters, and I definitely need to work on the peonies... I would so love to grow a bouquet like this next summer!

(Via Style Me Pretty, photo by Ellie Grover Photography)

Easy Mailbox Update

Our old brass mailbox has annoyed me since we moved in.  It is in bad shape and doesn't match the door handles, knobs, or anything else, which are all stainless steel.  I found some nice ones online but they were expensive and I wasn't sure I would want one that stuck out from the wall.  Then I was browsing the spray paint aisle and found this:

It seemed like it would be worth a try, so I taped off around the mailbox,, sanded it a little bit, and sprayed.

   This:

   Now looks like this:

For a $6 can of spray paint I am pretty pleased with the results, and after a few months it is still holding up well!