This weekend...

The past week has been an absolute whirlwind. We have to be out of our current house by tomorrow, so that means we're moving this weekend! We're starting today, to be exact. We're going to crash with my parents for a few days while we finish up a few loose ends at the farmhouse. In general, we're pretty happy with everything that's been completed over the last week. The to-do list we had taped on the front door was really long and almost everyone who came through the door (with the exception of my parents) made fun of me about it. It's almost done though. Ha! Here's what we have left to do before we move in:

• paint new kitchen wall
• clear coat floors 2-3 times
• paint trim throughout house
• hook up gas line for stove
• gut mudroom
• clean!

Totally do-able. The previous owner left a bunch of interesting stuff behind, so we're both excited to have time to look through it all next week. I'm going to take tomorrow off to move, but I'll see you all again on Monday with before and after photos. Have a great weekend!

Winner...

Yay! We have a winner of the forage 1st bow tie birthday giveaway! Random.org chose mdg! She said...

I love forage! & somethings hiding in here. I would love to wear this bowtie as a headband on a date with my hub!

Wish granted, mdg. Congrats! Just send me an email at hownowdesign [at] yahoo [dot] com. Special thanks to Shauna & Stephen of forage bow ties for hosting this rad giveaway. I know we're all looking forward to many bow tie birthdays in the future!

Swept away...

How many brooms does one house need? I'm guessing your answer wasn't 5. We found this cache of brooms in the farmhouse and there's also a pile in the barn. Odd. In other news, we're almost done sanding the floors. This is the first time we've refinished floors and scraping was exactly what I imagined...hellish. We bought a stripping gel called Citristrip and, to be perfectly honest, we simply didn't have the time to apply a stripping gel to a small section and wait 45 minutes for it to work its magic. We ended up using an industrial cleaning product that the guy at our local flooring store recommended, called Mex All-Purpose Cleaner. We mopped it on, let it sit for a few minutes, mopped again, and then used a putty knife to scrape off the old varnish, paper, and glue. Mixing it with very hot water at maximum strength seemed to work best. No matter what product you use, I don't think it's an easy job. All of the doors in the house need to be refinished, so we're definitely going to give Citristrip another try. Any tips (besides being more patient) for refinishing wood?

A man in a blue suit...

This is what PRH has looked like for the last two days. I'm very sorry, folks...he's taken. Nothing looks better on a man than a blue paint suit, don't you agree? OK, maybe not. This is the face of DIY, people. All of the walls are painted and I spent yesterday and the day before scraping floors. What a job. Ewwww. There are wood floors throughout the entire farmhouse, but the catch is that each room has a different type of wood. The upstairs mostly appears to be pine (that's seen better days) and the downstairs floors are a combination of oak, maple, and pine. It's going to make for an interesting refinishing job tomorrow. I'll keep you all posted! 5 days in and we're almost finished with Phase I (don't tell PRH I'm calling it Phase I though...he may faint).


By next week we should be able to enjoy the gardens...

Hair and house guests...

I have two words for you...renovation hair. Yes, my friends, this is the before photo. Oh.my.word. OK, let's move beyond my massive pile of sweaty hair. See the little bird below? It was our first overnight house guest, albeit an uninvited guest. We opened the door on Saturday morning and she (he?) was swooping around the dining room. Based on piles of evidence, she had clearly spent much of the evening swooping around the dining room. Thanks a lot, little bird. FYI: visitors who poop on our floor won't be receiving an invite in the future.

This weekend...

Thank you all for your sweet congratulatory messages!!! My friends, we are beyond thrilled to get started (or re-started) on the farmhouse renovation. Here's what we finished yesterday:

• disgusting curtains down
• cabinet hardware off
• all carpeting out
• all of the mirrored tiles are gone
• the wood valance is gone in the kitchen (which, we discovered, was hiding the uneven window frame)
• cabinets are cleaned and prepped for paint
• bathroom linoleum is gone
• the faux stone wall in the kitchen is down and prepped for installation of new wall today

Here's a look at PRH and my dad taking down the faux stone.


I was thrilled to see that taken out. We have lots of work ahead of us...we can't wait! Have a happy weekend and I'll see you on Monday! Don't forget to enter Shauna & Stephen's bow tie birthday giveaway.

Bow tie giveaway...

Today I'm thrilled to announce a fabulous giveaway from Shauna & Stephen of forage bow ties (and something's hiding in here) fame. Not only are they both adorable, but they're also incredibly talented. I'm constantly inspired by their projects. In celebration of their 1st bow tie birthday, Shauna & Stephen are generously giving away a blue chambray lady bow tie to one lucky winner. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment and let us know where you'd wear your blue chambray bow tie. Roller skating? On a date? Perhaps to a bow tie convention? We want to hear! Comments will end on Tuesday, July 26th at midnight and I'll announce the lucky winner on Wednesday. Fun, right?

Yay yay yay...

Someone pinch me!!! The keys to the farmhouse are in my hand.

A dream realized...

So, you've seen a few of the houses that didn't make the final cut. Let's take a look at the one that finally did, shall we? The first time we saw this farmhouse was well over a year ago and it was awful. I mean, absolutely disgusting...we could smell mold the minute we walked in the door, the only bathtub was full of wrapping paper from the 1970's, and the stuff piled everywhere else left only a narrow path for us to walk through the house. It had definitely seen better days. We had looked at a TON of houses at that point and my thought was that if I couldn't see past the junk, no amount of chatter on my part would convince PRH to buy it. We both voted NO after that first visit. Fast forward about a year and our wonderful (and patient!) agent, Ken Howe from RealtyUSA, contacted us to say that the farmhouse hadn't sold, but had been cleaned out. Did we want to take one more look? I had dragged PRH to so many houses that he boycotted this visit. So, while he was off at work, I packed up the babies and we went to give this farmhouse one last chance. I don't know what shifted over that year, but the moment I pulled into the driveway, I knew we'd buy the house. There were a few days when we thought the house sold to a cash buyer (remember this post?); mass amounts of crying proved that this was the place for us and the seller accepted our offer on March 4th. 140 days later, we own a farm!!! It definitely hasn't been easy and our project list is long, but we're thinking it'll be worth it. I'm not sure how this doesn't terrify me, but here's what we have to look forward to as far as the interior goes (my favorite part). Houndstooth, anyone?


goodbye, mirrored tiles everywhere...

goodbye, filthy mudroom...

goodbye, gross staircase...

so long, repulsive kitchen...

goodbye, dirty upstairs floors ...

adios, moldy wallpaper and nasty green carpeting...

We're SO happy to have the key in our hands and enjoy this. As EZ E said yesterday, "I have lots of excited to be a farmer."...

Thank you all for sticking with me over the last few months. I can't wait to keep you updated on all of our projects!
xo, Abbey

Buyer beware...

When PRH and I started looking for a house over 3 years ago, we were specifically looking for a place that had seen better days. Some houses that we looked at were so bad that PRH would just look at me and laugh. Today, I thought it would be fun to look back at just a few of the houses we've looked at over the last few years.

This house (above and below) was the first one in Buffalo that we ever looked at. It was on a beautiful street, had amazing woodwork, and the layout was fantastic. It also needed major structural work, didn't have a driveway, and the "smoking room" (second image down) was pretty revolting.


This house (below) was in a dodgy neighborhood, had an awful "newly remodeled" kitchen, and needed all new windows. It also had two staircases, amazing woodwork, the layout was great, and the light was incredible. We put in an offer (and counter-offer) that the sellers didn't accept. The house then sat and sat and they finally ended up accepting much less. In the end, I'm glad this one got away.


This was one of the houses we looked at when we first moved back to this area. I really wanted this house (I blame the pregnancy hormones), but everyone advised us against purchasing it. It was enormous and had been completely gutted; it didn't even have a kitchen or bathrooms. At the time, I saw that as a plus because every house we'd looked at up until that point had horribly remodeled kitchens and baths. The woodwork was absolutely amazing...you can't see it in this photo, but the staircase had ferns and other plants carved into it. Loved it!


I still dream about this house, but will admit that it would've been a chore (especially with a new baby). Check out that paint job...

I'll be back tomorrow with 'before' photos of the farmhouse. Prepare yourselves! :) In the meantime, I know you all have good stories about houses you've looked at...do share!

Stocks and suffragettes...

Our Tenenbaums-inspired game closet is really shaping up. I've been working on it for well over a year now and found a great vintage game, called Stocks & Bonds, to add to the collection yesterday. I gave it the once-over in the store, but didn't really check it out until we got it home. Ah-mazing. The color palette alone was enough to make me smile for half the day. It's the simple things in life, my friends.


These reminded me of my library check-out card collection...



I have to admit that I'm not much of a game-player. In fact, PRH and I tried to play Battle of the Sexes last night and I quit because I spent more time yelping about stereotypical gender roles than playing the game. Yes, Abbey Hendrickson = big fun. Need further proof? Here you go: I think my ladies Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Gage would be annoyed by that game too. Oh yeah...I just totally name-dropped two suffragettes from the 1800's...what what?! But wait, it's about to get even more fun: did you know that suffragette Matilda Gage was L. Frank Baum's mother-in-law? Yes, The Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum. Slightly off topic, but still rad. I digress. Stocks & Bonds is a score and I am a suffragette-loving dork.

Faker...

I've been trying really hard to keep my mind off this farm-buying holding pattern by...um, painting the pots of our fake plants. Too bad we only have two. Wait, did I just say too bad we only have two fake plants?! Ugh...just go ahead and unsubscribe. Things have gotten ridiculous in this joint. However, should you choose to ignore the fact that I'm a complete freak, I promise things will get better soon! Back to the plant: here's the before (that photographed much better than it looked in person). It was meant to look like terra cotta, but had a hideous greenish tinge that bothered me every time I looked at it (again, we're ignoring the fact that I'm a freak). I like the new version better and can always re-paint them later down the road. Plus, our fake plants are clearly thriving in their new painted pots, don't you agree?

RIP or SIP...

Rest in peace, or better yet...swim in peace, Blowhole. Who knew I'd cry like a baby when our 16-month-old betta fish died? What a way to end the week.

This weekend...

It's a flowers in beer bottles kind of weekend...whatever that means. I suppose it's a 'when life gives you lemons' sort of deal. Happy weekend, everyone!

Details...

I jinxed myself yet again yesterday...we still do not own a house. All I'm going to say is that I'm reeaaalllllyyyyy resisting the urge to morph into a crazy nastyass honey badger. I've had enough. Let's change the subject though, shall we? I recently picked up a copy of Carol Spier's book, The Finishing Touch: Details That Make a Room Beautiful, and have been thinking about it. The book is packed full of great spaces and ideas that I could easily translate in our own space. We had dinner at my parents' house last night and I was thinking about their attention to detail. Here's a perfect example- the cabinet itself is pretty gorgeous, but it's that pop of blue against the greenish wall that just kills me every time I walk into their house. Add the stacks of red cookbooks (my mom is a cookbook fiend) and I think you have a pretty fabulous combo. I'm curious...what's your favorite detail in your house? Feel free to include links.

UPDATE: The paint color is Behr Cattail Brown. It's even better in person.

Best plan...

Meet Mandy. She's a pretty accurate representation of how I look this fine morning. To be truthful, she's a pretty accurate representation of how I've looked for the last 65 mornings. Kicky is madly in love with this baby (not so much me some days) and has been carrying her everywhere. Mandy replaced the filthy dog puppet that Kicky had been carrying around...you know, the dog puppet that we had to purchase from the library because someone loved it even more after she christened it in syrup. Yeah, that kind of love. Anyways, this is how Mandy and I look as we head out the door for Closing: Part II. Let's hope the power of my crazy hair combines with the power of Mandy's crazy hair and scares them into just selling us that damn farmhouse. Mandy and I aren't leaving until they do...and what lawyers want a grown woman sitting in their office all day holding a doll that looks like this? I have a feeling that this is our best plan yet.

Ugh...

I jinxed it...they moved our close date to Thursday. :( I also forgot to mention that I'll be away tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm headed to NYC to wrap up a freelance project that I've been working on for the last couple of months (I promise to tell you all about it as soon as I can). After spending much of the day in tears, I'm looking forward to a couple of nights in the city to get away from all of this house business. Hey, Kinokuniya and Strand, here I come! See you on Thursday, my lovelies! xo

Fruit trees...

We had our final walk-through at the farm yesterday and (I'm going to say this really quietly so I don't jinx it) we're scheduled to close today at 12:30. While we were there, PRH gathered fruit from several of the trees on the property. We can identify almost all of it, but does anyone know what this is (photo directly below)? One person suggested crab apple (seems too small), someone else said hackberries (?)...

We know these are apples...

these are wild grapes...

more apples...

The farm has been abandoned for several years, so none of the fruit trees have been properly maintained. We even found an orchard on the edge of the yard that's completely grown over! I have a feeling I'm going to have to learn how to can this year. Raise your hand if you have experience with canning. Any suggestions or book recommendations?

Splash...

This weekend was hot, which made it the perfect opportunity to break out this spongeball project from one charming party. I actually think this would be fun to have at a grown-up party. Spongeball fight, anyone? EZ E and Kicky had SO much fun! So much, in fact, that I wasn't too grossed when I got drenched in baby pool water (which we all know is just diluted pee). Oh, and check out Kicky's navy blue pedicure. Can you believe she let me paint her toenails?! She spent the weekend pointing at her toes and says, "Mama, look! Fancy!". We also painted EZ E's toenails, but he decided navy blue wasn't his thing and we didn't have any other colors that met his exacting standards. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!