Open Wide

The mister got an itch over the weekend.  An itch to take the man cave from this:

To this:

The cool thing about this project is that it makes ya think that the opening was meant to be this way since the doorway to the kitchen is pretty wide.

I love how open it made the space feel! (Please ignore the random jackets slug over the chairs.)

Despite it being dark and night-time, there's a whole lot more light getting into the cave these days.

Pumpkins and Apples and Burlap, Oh My!

In honor of our new season, 912 ELMTree got some much needed spiffing over the weekend.  Hubster dug all my fall decs out and I'm very happy with the update.

Guess what I got?! More baskets! (I should really get help for this addiction.)

That herringbone pumpkin from Target is one of my faves.  I love the texture it adds to the bookcase.

My burlap was $3 from the garden section of Lowe's. Score!

 

Aren't the candles neat? I ordered them off Etsy after seeing them in Good Housekeeping.  The french writing on them plus the burlap give the house a rustic-kinda-feel that I'm digging right now.  Tres cozy!

More burlap.  My mom found the "M" pumpkin for me on her last trip.

How are you decorating for fall these days?

The Apple Farm: An Anniversary Tradition

Welp it's Monday again. 

This will be a crazy busy week for me with parent-teacher conferences and seeing my private school kids after school, so posting will probably be infrequent.  I'm bursting at the seems with excitement to share some man cave progress.

After posting our recent apple farm pics, I wanted to get a look at all of them, as the apple farm has been an anniversary tradition.

2010: 1 year of marriage

2011: Dos years

2012: 3 years married!

I predict that Eric will be making goofy faces when he's 80.  What do you think? ;0)

Man Cave Hint Hint Peak Peak

Hint hint.  Peak peak.

Weekend Photo Bomb

I'm going to attempt to write this post in as few words as possible so that I'm not late for church.

Friday: Eric's pizza. Mmmmm.

Saturday: Apple Farm.  Company fun.  April hail=bad apples.

Youngsters

Three years.

Lauren=more patient.  Eric=working on jokes.

Anniversary @ Vin de Set.  Oh la la!

Pretty view.



A Reason to Celebrate

Last weekend, we celebrated Eric's birthday (September 11) with surprise birthday excursions.  The day actually started off with birthday biscuits and gravy, since he claims we never eat them.

Biscuits and gravy isn't exactly my thing, but I think my boyfriend liked it :0)

Birthday destination #1:  The Museum of Transportation

If you've never been, GO!  It was super fun and a nice way to take in some "outdoor" history.  While the focus is heavily on trains, there are also exhibits on vintage cars, motorcycles, airplanes, and boats.  We had tons of fun walking through old trains. 

The airplane was definitely birthday boy's favorite.

Birthday destination #2: Schlafly Tap Room

I confess, this stop actually wasn't planned.  We ended up there because it was a little too early for dinner.  The website led us to believe that we were going to be able to take tours, but that actually was at a different location.  Oh well.  It was still fun!

Birthday Destination #3: Bailey's Range

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures.  It was de-licious!  Here's their website-Bailey's Range

Yesterday was our three year wedding anniversary.  Poor hubster had to work.  Boo.  But he sent me my favorite flowers-daisies-yay!

Basket Case

Here's something you probably didn't know about me.  I'm a bit of a basket addict.  Try as I might to stay away from them in the store, there's something about them that beckons me.  Like a siren.

 

 

They're just so dang useful for organizing and hiding all the crap you don't want people to see.  Old Xmas decorations?  Hide it in a basket.  Organize your medicines?  Toss 'em in a basket.  A landing spot for towels?  That's right, a basket. 

Anyone else have a basket addiction out there?

Man Cave: What Now?

The room is basically a blank canvas.  What now?  Since it's somewhat open to the dining/living rooms and kitchen, we want it to mesh with what's going on in those rooms but also be a bit more relaxed and comfy.  Here are some things we're considering:

Built-Ins

        

(Pawley Island Posh)

Built-ins would give us the extra storage we feel the house needs for when our future bebe's come along.  They'd also give us someplace to display our books, trinkets, and Eric's collection of airplanes.

New Trim & Flooring

                                            

(World Market)

As much as I hate to get rid of the current carpeting, it's inevitable.  You might remember back in January when we painted the panelling and took down the existing bookshelf ('cuz he was hanging out all by himself, throwing off the symmetry of the room and he just wasn't deep enough) that it left us with a bare spot.  Check it out here to get a reminder of that headache.  Also the Mister is chomping at the bit to remove our dated, Plexiglas sliding doors, adding fuel to the replace-the-carpeting-fire since neither of the carpets are underneath the doors. 

I love the way this painted paneling looks with the bright white trim and wood floors.

New Furniture With a Better Lay-out

( houzz.com)

Before, it felt like all of our furniture was pushed to one side of the room.  We want to strike more of a balance this time around, which might be difficult considering we have so little wall space on the entrance side. 

As for the furniture, I think two separate sofas is going to be the way to go.  Yes, I'm a huge fan of sectionals, but I don't think the room is large enough for it.

It's going to be a slow-going process but hopefully we'll start making some progress soon! 

 

New Drapes: A Work In Progress

You might remember from this post here that we're in the market for new bedroom drapes since I moved my treasured chevron ones into the man cave.    

       

(A Well Dressed Home)

Can you tell by the picture which "look" we decided to go for?

Gold it was!  These (as you can probably tell) are store-bought, clearanced-out from Marshalls.  When I compared the price, it was WAY cheaper to buy them than make them myself.

I'm so happy with the color!  The shimmery gold really worked nicely to tie the mixture of whites and creams together.



Currently, they're a bit short.  The plan is to add a white or creamy bit of fabric to the bottom to give more length and heft so they'll lay better. 

If I happen to find more on my next Marshall's excursion, I might think about getting more and sewing a couple panels together to make them more substantial.  If not, c'est la vie, I'm fine with the way they are now too.

Something's Missing

For the past week or so, 912 ELM Tree has been "doing without" something.  It's an update I've been meaning to get on for awhile now.  Any ideas?

We off-loaded our beaut of a creamy sectional last weekend to the highest bidder.  Don't get me wrong, it was a super comfy place to park your tush.  It just wasn't the right shape for the man cave.  We wanted it to work so badly that it was moved around more than the presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail. 

Uh that horrible antenna cord.

Without the sectional, Eric and I have been chilling on the floor or avoiding the man cave all together due to the lack of seating.  We did have a rather romantic pizza-and-movie date picnic-style to the Hunger Games the other night.  Stay tuned for the tentative Man Cave Plan!

Happy 29!

Yesterday my parents celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary.  Here's to many many more happy years.  Can't wait 'til the big 3-0 next year!

Couldn't find a picture of my dad on the wedding day but I found this one!

(Photo from 25th wedding anniversary party)

Curio-us As To Our Whereabouts?

912 ELM Tree has not fallen off the face of the earth.  As much as I'd love to say we snuck off for another sweet vacation, we're pretty much "grounded" until summer rolls around again.  Le sigh. 

I've been super busy with adding a new school to my caseload, mentoring a student clinician, and learning our new IEP database.  Hopefully now that I'm hitting my stride at school (and SLP-in-training is taking on more) you're regularly scheduled posts will be returning shortly.

One thing we've been meaning to talk about is the beautiful new cabinet that Eric's grandma (Hi Mary Jo!) recently gave us.

 

Isn't she a beaut?!

I love how it fills the space that used to look so awkwardly bare.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but the wood tone really sets off the wood around our windows and blinds.

Once we figured out where we wanted it, Eric anchored it to the wall so we don't have to worry about it falling over on anyone.  Special thanks to Grandma Mary Jo for the gift and to the muscles (Zach and Joe) that helped us move it!