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This, That and All the Things

If yesterday’s post title wasn’t any indication that, lately, we’ve had an affinity for the word things, well, then this random round-up should.

It seems – no, wait, definitely – that we’ve been so wrapped up in this house that we can’t form proper sentences. We’ll fully admit: this crazy ride has been up (really up!) and down (really down), and there seems to be little in-between. The entire weekend, Scott and I conversed in this manner: Hey, can you hand me that thing with the thing? To which the other would reply, Um, what? Oh! That thing. And hey, can you help me with this thing over here when you’re done with your thing? Bring that – um! – thing with you, too!

We’ve been working our little tails off in the basement garden unit, which has (gah!) turned into quite the beast of a project. We’re tying things up with the city as far as our home’s zoning goes, and in the meantime, we’ve been scraping, painting, fixing, de-mini-blind-ing and scrubbing.

While we’ve put in time every night last week and every day this weekend down in that unit, there’s still a lot more to do; again, more than we realized. With every flub and shortcut the former owner took, we’ve been mindful to do things the right way – a way that’s not always the easiest (and definitely the most bleeeep!-inducing).

But on the most-exciting-ever-omg! end of the spectrum, we have contractors! They’re back! They’re downstairs right this minute, pounding and sawing and opening up archways and widening doors.

It’s been challenging to wait patiently (to be honest, we failed miserably at that part), but now that they’re here, we’ve since added a few other items to the list: front door installation (mentioned here), further drywall repair (we just keep uncovering messes, what can we say?) and – if all goes well – we’ll be moving forward with the laundry room addition off of our master bedroom. So many changes have been made in just the couple of days that they’ve been here; we can’t wait to start documenting and show you. (Nothing beats a good side-by-side, right?)

I’ve been using all my power to stay seated on the second floor, but every part of me wants to be down there singing, dancing and praising their presence. Ceilings, here we come! Entryway, you’re up! Little nook room, you’re going to be so cute, and we’re going to take naps in you all the days!

But! Speaking of staying seated, can we take a moment to talk about the lack of a studio in this house? My current desk, while quite adorable in the former studio, is ridiculously small and impractical here. I’m no longer enjoying the added counter-height (just a personal preference), and I’ve been itching to get an old farmhouse table ever since I spotted this beauty at our local salvage shop (that was sadly way out of budget).

After admitting to Scott that, hey, we should really just build one from scratch, he became more determined than ever to find me the gem I’d been searching for. We’d find it for a steal, it would likely need a refinish job, but it would be no problem! This was all said, of course, before we went to Jubilee (for the second time in a month – a 45 minute drive from the city), before spending countless hours on Craigslist and before purchasing a $50 table from a thrift store that I immediately regretted. (It’s totally stashed in our garage right now.)

When my friend Jess asked me how the renovations were coming along, I told her all about my farmhouse table dilemma (Ugh, why is it so hard to find a vintage farmhouse table that’s 3’x6′ wide, with beautiful turned legs? I mean, really!), to which she replied, I’m on it!

The very next day, she shot me a link to this:

It was in our neighborhood (no suburb trekking!), it was under our imaginary $200 budget (although, we all know how budgets go), and it was 3′ deep, expanding to 6′ wide! And, and! Is this not the exact replica of the one that got away? In person, the finish is not nearly as yellow, and besides needing to install new aprons to permanently accommodate the extension leaf, it’ll need a good sanding and stain job. (We’re leaning towards this finish.)

Hey, I’m that someone with motivation! Right here. This girl. (Not to mention, we picked it up for $150!)

And that, our friends, are the things going on under this roof. There’s so much to share, but every project is so large (or does it just feel that way?), that breaking it all down into comprehensible stories seems… incomprehensible. The point? Things are going places, decisions are being made and humps are being busted.

Things are happening.

PS: You guys are on it! There are just 3 more custom portraits available for a timely Christmakuh delivery (after which, 2014 pre-orders will be readily available).

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  • K10.8.13 - 7:20 AM

    Nice craigslist find! I’m excited/jealous to see it refreshed. I’ve never read Jess’s blog….but if she’s that kind of craigslist guru/fairy….that’s definitely something I’m interesting in reading. Heading there now!ReplyCancel

  • Rachel10.8.13 - 8:29 AM

    I love that table! So gorgeous and it will look great in your studio :-) I’m excited your contractors are back and can’t wait to see all the pics!ReplyCancel

  • Laura at Rather Square10.8.13 - 9:46 AM

    Right price + in your neighborhood = Craigslist win! And happy to hear that the contractors are back, it must be so gratifying to see the progress they are making. :)ReplyCancel

  • Jodi10.8.13 - 10:14 AM
  • YAY! I’m so glad things are moving and that you found the perfect (well, will be perfect after you give it some love) desk for your studio!

    Also, how did I miss the laundry room addition. That’s awesome!

    Speaking of plans, what did you use to create your floor layout? I did a quick job in InDesign, but I’m thinking a program that’s designed for floor plans might be more helpful, especially when we start seriously talking about the kitchen reno.ReplyCancel

  • Kim10.8.13 - 11:15 AM

    K, after cruising around Craigslist for weeks on end, she did some serious magic to find that!

    Heather, our friend Nancy made those plans for us – I tried doing them on my own then said, forget this! She’s been so helpful as we tried to imagine what walls would like in different places… Find her here: http://havenbydesign.com/ReplyCancel

  • Emily @ Our Waldo Bungie10.8.13 - 1:43 PM

    Sweet find, guys! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!ReplyCancel

  • Jess Lively10.11.13 - 7:22 PM

    Yes, I realize that you are parking right now before heading to our house for dinner. But either way, I just caught up on your blog (I haven’t been keeping up with my reader since getting back earlier this week from Boston) and saw this.

    Hooray! I’ve had very good luck on CL, what can I say? Golden touch or good luck?

    Dunno, but I’ll take it.ReplyCancel

  • Haley10.7.16 - 4:23 PM

    What ended up happening with this table? It didn’t stick around?ReplyCancel

    • Kim10.7.16 - 9:26 PM

      We kept swapping until we found our perfect fit!ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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