Finally winter has given way to spring and shortly it will be full blown summer. A vegetable garden has been something I’ve wanted to invest time in since we purchased our house upstate over 3 years ago. I hadn’t until this year, had the time to get things moving.
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2 weeks left... kitchen renovation 2019.
It’s almost over.
It’s April 5th, 2019. I’m coming to the end of week 4 of my full gut Kitchen and Bath renovation. This is the first time I’ve hired professionsals to help me bring a part of our 1850’s farmhouse into the 21st century. It has been both amazing and exhausting. The exhausting part was mainly internal- me worrying about if the decisions I had spent years considering and mere moments finalizing them were very tiring. I agonized over little things like towel bars and paint colors and seemingly huge things like floor tile and cabinets. Paulo and I chose granite countertops which go in, in the next two weeks which I am still feeling stressed will be far busier than I dreamt of when I envisioned this kitchen. What happened to my white quartz with grey veining?? I think I spent a total of 6 months actually collecting options and then sourcing our fixtures, lighting and other parts we had to select and supply.
What’s done is done. No turning back. We have granite and it’s coming in hot. Will I always wish I’d spent the extra $250 for a soaking tub, maybe… too late! When it comes to a 2 room kitchen and bath renovation budget $250 isn’t much, but where do you draw the line? On what parts do you spend your money and where can you cut corners? At the end of the day I’ve decided this- if you’re not going DIY, you spend your money on the labor. The team we went with on this job was not by any means the cheapest of the 4 bids we had- but I feel pretty confident we made the right decision there.
I found the whole process of organizing and executing this project to be kind of terrifying, but also incredibly educational. I’ve dealt with all sizes of budgets during the time I worked as a prop stylist, but that was always someone else’s money and at the end of the day they had the yeh or nay vote. Being your own client and spending your own money is a whole nother ballgame.
But little by little piece by piece the house is coming together and I am feeling a bit more relieved each day. I’m still holding my breath on the granite and bathroom sconces (which I have a feeling are slightly bigger than they should be…) but the floor looks great. I’ll be sharing start to finish pictures of my renovation in another post once all is said and done.
If you want a little taste of the research I did during the project you can check out my Pinterest boards for the project; kitchen inspiration board, as well as my bathroom inspiration board and my ongoing Farmhouse Chic board where I will forever be adding my big dream inspiration for our home, as well as little things I find along the way.
Phoenicia flea and the catskills
Sometimes you just gotta get out. I am lucky enough to have a vehicle to take me where I want to go. This Sunday my friend Victoria and I decided we needed to get some fresh air and admire the lush green wilderness in the Catskill mountains. And, we heard there was a flea market! We left bright and early and had a few must see/do's on our list, farm stand and flea market, with the hopes of an estate sale or junk shop. Well as soon as we passed Kingston we found ourselves a farm stand. I bought a quart of beautiful and delicious strawberries. And Vic got herself some tomatoes and eggplant. None of the strawberries made it back to Brooklyn by the way. Yum.
As we continued on our journey we saw the sign! And we turned, and we drove a long way down a country road and then we saw another sign!
Then we turned and drove a long way down another country road and then we saw the Phoenicia Flea! It wasn't big, but it was beautiful. There were about 12 vendors arranged in a half circle around a little fire with picnic blankets laying about if you wanted to take a load off.
This week the flea was hosted by The Spruceton Inn (they rotate the location to different venues in the area). Spruceton is a small 10 room inn that is well off the beaten path and a great place to unplug for a spell. The decor is lovely as is the little bar which flanks one end of the inn. We did have extra incetives to visit the Flea as our friend Maresa, of Dusty Rose Vintage based here in Greenpoint, was a vendor.
Speaking of vendors, everyone at the Flea was absolutely lovely. Small Room Collective was there, a husband and wife team that travel the country in their airstream trailer selling a beautifully curated collection of vintage and design items.
I also had the pleasure to meet Paul Lowe of Sweet Paul Magazine, whose publication I have admired for quite a while. If you have not picked up a copy yet, make sure that you do. The photography is top notch and it's full of fantastic recipes, information about designers and decor and my favorite, crafting how to's. It's $18 an issue, but it's printed on high quality paper and reads more like a mini book than a magazine. I bought the Summer 2015 issue and am loving it!
My other notable purchase of the day was this AMAZING scarf. It's vintage wool in really fantastic condition. I plan to use it as a table runner instead of a scarf. I'm sure you will see it again soon!
After a few hours chatting and browsing we headed into downtown Phoenicia, which consists of one street with about 4 restaurants and several shops. We found a cute little place for lunch had a bite and then hit "The Mystery Spot" vintage store. They had a great space with lots of fun things to check out. We wandered around downtown and then hit the road heading towards Kingston. We stopped at a store called Scandinavian Gracewhich which sold, you guessed it, Scandinavian products (which I absolutely love). They had a lovely assortment of Ittalia glassware, Marimekko pillows and a display of Kingston, NY artist Andrew Molleur's ceramics, who also happens to be profiled in the Summer 2015 issue of Sweet Paul Magazine! His porcelain bowls and vases at that location are in vibrant orange and beautiful soft greys. Loved it all, wish I could have brought a bowl home with me.
Next we moved on to Kingston, which would be the final stop of the day before heading back to Brooklyn. It was a cute town, much larger than I expected. The downtown area felt more like a small city than a town. There were lots of cute little stores and eateries and I bet it's a nice place to live. Because it was Sunday most everything was closed up tight, so we just did a drive by and then hit the road. We followed the Hudson down south through Westchester County, which soon became the Bronx, then Queens and finally Brooklyn. We were happy to be home, but hope to visit again soon. Maybe even in August, as the Phoenicia Flea will be making another appearance this summer on August 15th and 16th this time at the Westfield Orchard, details available at www.phoeniciaflea.com.
If you need inspiration of your own to get out of the city for the weekend and live in the NY area Escape Brooklyn is an excellent resource. Even if you don't live in the area, their site is worth a look!