Cabin in the City

Books, cats and midwestern charm.

Home Improvement

by Leave a Comment

An Ode to Green Carpeting

Filed Under: Cabin Tagged With: ,

We’ve been remodeling our home since January. And by “we,” I mean Michael and I had the good sense to hire some very talented people to tackle 99% of the work.

This project was major. Our stairwell was demolished and replaced with a totally different layout. We now have wider, sturdier steps and a railing that does its job. As for the bathroom, it was absolutely gutted and then expanded slightly.

I knew from the jump that this remodel would completely change our home. Functionally and aesthetically, it would be a big improvement. And with many home improvements, one job begets another. We knew that part of shifting the footprint of our bathroom meant getting rid of our green carpeting.

And at the time, I was OK with this. I figured that this rug had a good run (at least 40 years) and that despite my affinity for its Kermit color, it was probably time to say goodbye. After all, there were hardwood floors hiding underneath! I told myself this over and over and over again.

Black kitten on green carpet

So one day after work, I pulled up the carpet in the hall. Some of the work had been started by the crew and I just had to finish the rest. The wood wasn’t as pristine as I expected, but I was happy with the progress.

A few days later I moved into the den, the room I use as an office and sewing space. As I started to work, I was glad the floors underneath were in better shape. But as I started to hack into the carpet so I could roll it up and cart it out in smaller pieces, I panicked. I realized that I really didn’t have to tear up the carpet. I could have ripped up the stuff in the hall and left the living room and den as-is (with some cleanup, of course).

So I sat there on my den floor utility knife in hand asking myself what the hell I’d done. Why did I want to tear up this carpet so badly, especially when I found out the wood wasn’t some hidden gem just waiting to be uncovered? Why did I insist on making light of ditching one of our home’s most prominent features?

But in the end, the carpet went. Yes, I did cry and tell Michael that our home was losing a statement piece. Michael is kind and thoughtful; he reminded me that yes, the carpet was a statement, but our whole home is full of wonderfully weird statements like the original rock garden, cone fireplace and cedar-planked walls. And we’re adding statements all the time like a 60s-inspired light fixture above our stairwell, the giant tree painting in the entry and, of course, my favorite Green Lady.

Wood paneled living room with hardwood floors, area rug and black cat

So I cut myself a small piece of rug to cling to as a memento. I fully intend on using it somehow—maybe as a mat for a photo. And until then, I’m going to do my best to weave some much-needed olive green into our decor.

by Leave a Comment

Going Native

Filed Under: Cabin Tagged With: , ,

Photo via Ebert’s Greenhouse Village where I got all my plants!

When we started reimagining our yard, the part I most looked forward to was planting. I love plants and flowers. I don’t keep any houseplants (thanks to our cats), so outdoor plants are my bread and butter.

At the beginning of the summer, I thought I’d made my plant decisions (it was a goal of mine all the way back in May!). With the help of my mom and a few ideas from a landscape designer, I scoped out beautiful hydrangeas, boxwoods and mock orange. They all seemed so elegant, plus I’ve dreamed of having hydrangeas for ages. But as the summer went on, my plant order (yet to be placed, thank goodness) didn’t sit quite right with me. So I started making a few tweaks. And a few more. And I started to notice that the only plants that I felt really confident about were the native plants I had selected.

That’s when I decided to go 100% native with our plantings.

Really, it made the most sense to Michael and me. These plants would naturally thrive and wouldn’t require a lot of extra care the way something exotic forced to grow in Wisconsin would. So now, we’ve got a small garden full of native plants, most of which are very attractive to pollinators, butterflies and birds. It looks great and it’s good for the environment, too! That last part was pretty major for us. If you want to improve the world – even if that just means making life better for bees or helping a tiny lot in the city become more natural – you gotta start at home.

Here’s what we planted this year:

I’m hoping to add a few more perennials next spring to fill it out. I’ve got my eyes on lupine especially – we saw so much in Bayfield and we fell in love with it.

If you’re interested in planting native species at home (and home is Wisconsin), the DNR has great resources like this guide!

by Leave a Comment

Oh Make Me Over // A Bathroom Mood Board

Filed Under: Cabin Tagged With: ,

For months (and months and months) now, I’ve been brainstorming a bathroom makeover for my home, and it’s time to put a few of those ideas to paper screen.

Now, I’m a firm believer in not updating homes just for the sake of updating – house flipping makes me so so sad – but sometimes updates need to be made to improve a space’s functionality. That’s where this bathroom update falls. Right now, our bathroom has the original tub, sink, vanity and fixtures. But these are all very worn and in some cases, just downright broken. Combine that with some iffy wiring, a hole in the drywall and peeling wallpaper and you’ve got a solid case for renovation in my book.

I’m in the earliest stages of this project now, but before I got ahead of myself I wanted to make a mood board to help guide me along my way (and to help me visualize if what I’m thinking of is not a good look).

And while I do have quite the cabin on my hands, I wanted to take this room in a bit of another direction – a tropical one. While that doesn’t exactly suit the rustic vibe of my house, I’m OK with it since the major parts of the room – the tile, vanity and fixtures – will be pretty classic.

mirror // palm photo // vanity // subway tile // rug // plant // faucet // shower curtain

drawer pulls // hexagon tile // towel // tray

And there you have it! This is something I should have tackled ages ago! But ages ago Target’s new Opalhouse line didn’t exist (and I want it all).

by Leave a Comment

Basement Blues

Filed Under: Cabin Tagged With:

I love my home. I love so much about it – the coziness, the wackiness, the memories it holds. But sometimes I hate being a homeowner. It can be phenomenally terrible. How?

This is how.

Yep, that is my yard being torn up so my basement can be repaired. What’s wrong with it? Almost everything. Three out of four walls were bulging, the drain tile was rendered almost useless by mud and tree roots and the whole thing leaked like no one’s business. It was bad.

So this is the sort of shit you do to fix it up. You hire a crew to wreck your yard, wreck your basement floor and put it all back together again all so you can sleep at night knowing that your foundation won’t collapse and your husband’s assemblage of musical instruments won’t be ruined by water coming in all the damn time.

NBD. Just a 10′ deep trench in front of our door.

This is what real home ownership looks like. It is not all picking out midcentury sofas and Anthropologie drawer pulls. It’s not curating the perfect china cabinet or finding the right brushed brass light fixture. Home ownership is hard, repairs are hard and shelling out the cash is the hardest yet.

But you do it.

And you try not to let every lifestyle and home décor blogger out there bother you when they post a picture of their kitchen “before” and it looks like you kitchen’s “after” except 100 times better.

by Leave a Comment

The Best Laid Plans: Home Improvement Edition

Filed Under: Cabin Tagged With: , ,

I’ve owned my house for a little less than two years, which means that for the past two years, I’ve lived with my lackluster bedroom. Once I signed on the dotted line, I had big plans for this space. Oh man – I was going to make it look so cool and relaxing with lots of neutrals and then make it all pop with a statement wall. Or not.

image

The neutrals that I thought would make this place look airy and soothing, just ended up making the place look drab. And that statement wall? Well, maybe that would have been cool if I picked the right shade of emerald or jade instead of what I like to call dinosaur green. When you stir this together with a plethora of furniture, clothes that need donating (but never make it to Goodwill) and ill-planned layout, you get sort of a wreck. So after two years, I’m saying goodbye to this half-baked plan and moving forward with a mini-bedroom makeover. Here’s what I have planned to improve the space.

High contrast

Besides the lot of neutrals being so blah, they also faded in with the woodwork – literally. I think a good remedy for this is to go high contrast. That means picking a rug that doesn’t blend into the floor and upping my paint game.

More art!

The walls in this room are embarrassingly bare. Michael and I started to layout a gallery wall, but we soon realized we needed more frames and then just stopped. This time I’m following through.

Paint

First time around, I didn’t do a great job, despite my best efforts. The old walls absorbed the paint like a sponge and after three coats, I couldn’t deal – I washed my brushes and called it good. This time I’m recruiting my dad for a little help and making sure that I do the job right.

And I haven’t forgotten the important part – color! I’m still a fan of a green, only this time a darker, more sophisticated shade, like a hunter green. A deep shade like this is probably too overwhelming for the entire space, so I’m thinking of painting the bottom half of the wall in this moodier shade and then the top in the same snowy white (only a better coat). I said I wanted contrast, and I think this could be the ticket.

A silly update

I won’t lie – I love having a TV in the bedroom. Yes, I know that pre-sleep screentime can mess with your rest and that tech-free bedrooms are supposed to be more relaxing, but I don’t care. Once in a while I like to catch up on my stories from the comfort of my own bed. And I’d like to do that with something a little more streamlined than the 90s-era box that sits on our dresser. Lucky for me, my dad is opting for a bigger screen, leaving his smaller flatscreen to me. Less bulk, more modern, same cozy Shark Tank viewing. That’s a win-win-win.

The finer points

By this I mean all the finishing touches. That means if I think matching nightstands will complete the space, I get them. Or if I think some baskets will keep the closets cleaner, I buy some baskets. Living in a perpetual state of oh it’s almost done is annoying. I committed to reworking this room, so that means seeing the process through to the end. So that means when it’s all done and dusted, every item on my to-do list is done.

Stay tuned, folks. I’m starting on this makeover NOW. I’ve already briefed my dad on the paint situation and nabbed some new art.  It’s happening!