Planning our wedding from over 2,500 miles away was tough. But I soon learned that there are plenty of ways to DIY and add personalized touches to a destination or distance wedding. Our wedding anniversary is right around the corner, so naturally, I've been reminiscing about that day and all the planning that led up to it. Our day turned out amazing, but one of the hardest things about wedding planning for me was doing so from the other side of the country. We were living on the east coast and our wedding was to take place in my hometown in Northern California. While I had an event coordinator, I didn't … [Read more...] about How I Personalized Our Wedding
Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 6 – Interior Paint
Painting the interior of our modern playhouse provided the opportunity for some added character and color. I also used paint samples to create some retro (and budget-friendly) accent stripes. After the exterior siding was installed and painted, I moved on to painting the interior. If you recall from previous steps, I did a lot of "pre-priming" before things were assembled. This may seem tedious, but I really think it saved me a lot of time when painting the interior. In retrospect - I highly recommend that you prime as much as possible before the structure is fully built (within reason of … [Read more...] about Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 6 – Interior Paint
Weekend Love – No. 4
Before I met Eric I didn't eat steak very often - maybe at a restaurant occasionally. But Eric, being the master griller he is, has turned me into a bit of a steak "snob." When we lived on the East Coast we had a few places where we could get dry-aged steak. If you like steak, but you've never had "dry-aged" steak - you are totally missing out. But since we've moved, we haven't found any place near us that sells it. Recently Eric has considered a DIY approach to dry aging. If you have any knowledge on the topic of DIY dry-aging - please (please!) comment below. Our DIY modern patio table is still holding up … [Read more...] about Weekend Love – No. 4
Playhouse Made Modern – Pt. 5: Siding & Exterior Paint
Installing and painting the siding on our DIY playhouse finally made it start to feel like a 'house.' The horizontal cedar fence boards were easy to install and should last for years to come. The process of building the roof and installing the siding overlapped for us. Mostly because I was inpatient after the framing went up and wanted to get a glimpse of what the siding would look like. But in the end, the siding was finished after the roof (because of the cutouts needed around the beams). To install the siding we used the following materials and equipment: 35 (approx.) - Cedar fencing boards (5.5" … [Read more...] about Playhouse Made Modern – Pt. 5: Siding & Exterior Paint
Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 4 – The Roof
If there's one thing that makes our DIY playhouse 'modern' - it's the roof. Installing the mono-pitch and Suntuf panels had its challenges, but the result was so worth it! After the deck and walls of the playhouse were assembled, we started on the playhouse's modern roof. From the beginning, I was inspired by Houseful of Handmade's playhouse. I especially loved the roofing material she chose - it's made by SunTuf and it reminds me of a giant sunglass shade. It allows for a view of the sky while providing some shade and blocking harmful UV rays. But before we could install the Suntuf roof, we built a frame … [Read more...] about Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 4 – The Roof