Welded Picket or Glass? The Eternal Question

For thousands of years human beings have puzzled over certain questions:

Ranging from the mind boggling--“What came first: the chicken or the egg?” 

To the philosophical—“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Oedipus was confronted by “Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?”

Surely we can’t forget out about the eternally bizarre phenomenon that was “Where’s the beef?”

Over here at fortytwentyfour, we’ve been puzzling over the latest question confronting our home building.

It has to do with railings; deck railings specifically.  Tonight, we went to one local big box home improvement store to check on some deck railings that the dadtractor had recommended to us. 

We’re going to go with Clearview Railings.  We like the price, they seem sturdy, and aren’t too outlandish in style.  Now we just have to decide what color and style.

I’m immediately drawn to the new “Welded Picket” or “Picket” style because it seems modern, but traditional with good clean lines and will likely not seem out of style in 10 years.

(Pictures from Clearview Railings)

Our second option is a glass railing which would give us a great option for being able to sit on low chairs without losing our view of downtown Seattle and Rainier Valley.

 

My hesitation with the glass railing system is that we live in Seattle.  It rains here A LOT.  Keeping windows clean on the house is bad enough, but having to constantly clean glass railings too?  That might make me go absolutely insane.  I’m also concerned that while glass railings look good initially, in 5 years they may look like a relic of the 1990s and we’ll question why we ever chose that.

The second choice we have to make is color.  Clearview makes railings in all sorts of colors, but we are leaning towards something in the white, gray, or black family.  The other colors simply wouldn’t work with our house color, deck color, and trim.

Thoughts?

Knocking Your Knitted Socks Off

When we moved into the house, Micah’s Mom sent me an email about a box we received the month before.  I didn’t open the box because I thought it was a Christmas present but it turns out that it wasn’t a Christmas present.  It was Christmas decorations.  Get ready to see something that will I know will knock you right out of your knitted socks.

What is it?  It’s a completely knitted nativity scene.  Yes, completely knitted down to the baby Jesus and the 3 friendly sheep.  Here are some close-ups.

Wiseman anyone?

How about the Holy Family?  I love the Mary figure. 

Last but not least, the shepherds and their flock.

Amazing right?  Micah’s Mom made THREE nativity scenes.  Yes, three!!  One to keep, one for us and one for Micah’s brother’s family.  Speaking of his brother, Micah’s sister-in-law, Sarah, is a knitting whiz.  She’s so fast and so creative.  I saw her whip up a baby hat in a matter of hours and it was perfect.  Everyone in Micah’s family has a super cool hand knit Christmas stocking made by Sarah.  I drooled over these stockings the first few Christmases we spent together.  I wanted one and thought about knitting one but I don’t have the skills for that.

This one’s Micah’s.  The fabric lining matches the background fabric on the button.

We spent our 3rd Christmas together in New Mexico and when we arrived, I saw this:

I knew I was “in” when I saw that stocking.  In years past, Micah’s parents kept our stockings and would bring it with them where ever Christmas was held.  This year that gave us our stocking to keep in our new home.  I’m already excited for Christmas!

Momager may not be a knitter, but she can crochet with the best of them.  A few months back I showed Momager this picture from Apartment Therapy.  I wanted it but knew it was out of my price range.  I thought about making it but it’s way beyond my skill level.  Pretty Right?

This weekend Momager called and asked me if I’d like a similar bedspread in White or Grey.  She had a lot of yarn in those colors and was looking for a project.  I’d take this bedspread in any color but white and grey just happen to be our bedroom colors. 

She may even throw in a few of these just because.  I may just have to have her teach me to crochet like this.  I promise I won’t go doily crazy.  I promise to only make cute pillows like these for good and not for evil.

Cat Sighting

I just went outside to see if Jose needed anything to drink and I saw 3 of the 16 cats sunning themselves on our deck materials.  I ran inside to get my camera but they were gone when I got out there.  They’ll be back.  I know they will.

Come Into the Closet

We finally got sorted through the master closet and it looks so much better.  The shoe rack is up.

The shirts are folded but we need more shelves.  Actually, we have the shelves, but we need to cut it down to size.

We got all the clothes hung and most of them on wooden hangers.  A few more sets of hangers from Ikea, and I think we’ll be rid of the white plastic ones forever.

Dresses on one side and Micah’s pants on the other.

Let’s move on the dresser.

I changed the wedding table runner to a piece of grey felt I had laying around.  Micah moved his hats into the guest room and I put up a grey purse in it’s place. 

I got Micah this mug from Anthropologie and it’s perfect for his watches. 

I also got this egg tray from Anthropologie.  I love it.  It’s exactly  what I was looking for.  I like Anthropologie for little accessories like this.  Actually I love Anthropologie for everything but usually all I can afford is the $6 “M” mug or the $14 egg tray.

We also sorted out the purse situation.  Micah hung up a set of hooks in the master hall (?) that’s in between the master bedroom, closet and bath.

We put it next to the mirror.  If we (or I) need more space for purses, we have an empty wall I can take over.

We’ve even did a little planning in the future.  We hung up a weird tie rack I got Micah a few years ago.  I don’t know why I love it so much, but I do.

We have master bedroom progress pictures coming up soon!

To Be (Green) or Not to Be (Green)?

Recently I ran into a friend from work who I hadn’t seen in almost a year.  She asked me what I was up to and I told her we just built a house.  She was impressed that we had found land in Seattle to build on and was equally impressed that we had moved to South Seattle.  Apparently the Ballard and Capital Hill area were “so played out.” 

As we walked, she asked me about which Green Builder I used.  I let her know we didn’t use a green builder, we used my Dad.  He may not be “green” but he’s really good at recycling materials and advising customers to invest in something that will last forever because he’s a cheapo.  That’s green right?

My friend, or now co-worker, seemed a bit put off that someone from Seattle would not build green.  I’d heard it before, so recited my usual speech.  You know, “My Dad(tractor) built the house and we only paid subcontractors (at a deeply discounted rate) and his crew.  We wouldn’t have been able to afford to build ANYTHING with a green builder.  It’s just not in the cards since Micah’s a teacher and well, you know, our salaries here.”  She seemed to think we were just being cheap (which we were) and that if we saved up for a year or two, we’d be able to afford someone green to build the house.  OK yes, we were being cheap, but seriously, we would have had to save for about 10 years. 

After a “friendly” back and forth, I finally told her she had no idea how much it cost to build a green house or even a regular house for that matter.  She was looking at a green 1 bedroom condo for $290k less than a mile from us, how much did she seriously think a 3.5 story house cost?  She guessed about $350k since we already owned the land.  **Shaking my head**

Micah and I thought long and hard about a “Green House” early on but soon realized it wasn’t going to happen.  We’d need way more than a “green” contractor,” we’d need a “green” architect and “green” materials.  We did a very, very conservative rundown of what building green would cost for the same size house and we came to something in $550k neighborhood.  Um, yeah, our entire project including architect fees, building, materials, permits, subcontractors and eventually landscaping will be about $280K.  I’m pretty sure we can’t save $270k in two years.

In the end, we didn’t give up on Green.  We went with the environmentally friendly Hardie Board for siding.  We liked all the design options and we’ll never have to replace it.  It’s fire resistant and is the #1 choice of Green Builders.  All our appliances are energy efficient.  We splurged for a tankless water heater which is much more energy efficient than a tanked one.  We bought AMAZING energy saving Pella windows.  We LOVE them.  Seriously, they work so well!  They keep the heat in and the noise out.  On another note, windows are expensive.  We spend over $9,000 on windows even with a 10% discount.  Isn’t that insane?

We also went with cork floors for the kitchen and bathrooms and wood throughout the house.  I know, wood?  But our thinking is we’ll never have to replace it like you do carpet.  We bought a high quality wood that can be refinished unlike bamboo.  We’ve also thought about being more green in the future.  The design of our roof makes solar panels possible in the future.  Of course, we’d need more global warming to make more sun in Seattle possible.  I guess the roof isn’t quite a win – win. 

She still didn’t seem to understand, but I guess it doesn’t matter since the rent for her green, 1 bedroom apartment is the same amount as our entire monthly mortgage payment. Um, SO THERE. 

Given the circumstances, would you build a house now that wasn’t entirely green but was affordable, or would stand firm on an entirely green house even if it meant it was out of reach for a very long time.  There’s no wrong answer, we’re just curious.  We wish we could have gone entirely green, but it just wasn’t in the financial cards.  Actually, we knew that if we didn’t build now, we couldn’t have afforded to build (green or not) at all.

Cat got your Honda?

Moving into our new house, one great fear was that we wouldn’t like our neighbors or even worse, they wouldn’t like us. 

So far, we’ve lucked out on this end.  During construction, one neighbor across the alley let our workers use her water supply and another let us use their electrical supply as we were getting it set up. 

Some of our anxiety slipped away as we learned little by little, that we had little fear as most of our neighbors probably weren’t Pat Robertson, Bear Grylls, or members of Guitar Wolf. (OK, maybe Bear would have been OK, but he’s a little over the top)

One thing we didn’t really think about was the prospect of our neighbors having pets that would cause problems.  As part of the house planning process, we liked to take walks in our “new neighborhood.”  We discovered some great local animals in the neighborhood including one house that has at least two goats and several heritage chickens—a true urban farm.  We may actually ask to borrow the goats to mow our lawn.

We also noticed on one of these walks that our neighbors had a couple of cats who recently birthed kittens.  Assuming these kittens would be given away, we didn’t really think much of it…

Shortly before moving in, Momager asked one of the neighbor kids how many cats they had. 

“16” said the neighbor.

Now, we are trying to figure out how to deal with all these feline friends.  We didn’t trap them in the walls as the framing happened so we avoided our largest fear, however they still pose an interesting problem:

How can we get rid of some of these cats which will surely soon have kittens, but not harm the cats, or anger the neighbors. 

Friends have suggested no-kill shelters, calling Seattle animal control, or even fox urine, but none sound too appealing.

We’re totally perplexed, but I’m tired of having small paw prints cover my car every morning.  Any suggestions?

The bright side?  Rats and mice will never be a problem, and the grey cats are really cute

They look almost exactly like this

Closet Help

We’ve been in our house for over a month, and we still haven’t “completed” an entire room.  The halls need touch up paint, we have posters to hang, closets to organize and rooms to decorate.  Every time we plan to tackle a project, something happens.  Take yesterday for example.  I was going to finally take on our master closet and get the shoe rack installed, jewelry organized and hats and purses sorted out.  Instead I stood guard in the garage.  Micah open the garage door to go for a bike ride and and when he went to close it, it got stuck.  We tried to disable it but we still couldn’t get the door down.  Dadtractor was an hour away, so we had to wait.  I wasn’t guarding the garage from potential thieves, I was guarding it from the 16 cats that live next door.  Yes, SIXTEEN cats.  They are outside cats and are always trying to sneak into the house.  They love sleep on and under our car too.  Yes, they are adorable (especially the grey ones) but I don’t want them in the house.

Eventually Dadtractor came by and removed part of the garage opener.  We’re not please with the company who installed our garage door (and fireplace).  I called Cressy Door Company to ask if someone could come out and fix the door and they told me that they don’t have any technicians who work after 4pm.  Seriously?  We both work 7am to 3:30pm.  Micah’s a teacher and can’t leave work early.  Next time we have a garage door installed (which we hope is never), I’m double checking that the service department works reasonable hours.

Anywho, I was going to sort out this:

Micah’s clothes

Our shelves – we need more! And someone’s shirts need ironing!

Jewelry, hats and perfume – Oh My!

I honestly don’t know how the closet got to look this way.  OK, I do.  We just wanted boxes unpacked, so instead of taking the time to put everything properly, we just shoved stuff into the rooms they would live in.  At least we (and by we I mean Micah) installed the closet organizing set and got his ties in order.

I decided that since I wouldn’t have enough time to overhaul the entire closet, I would just pick something easy to tackle.  I went for the jewelry.  My main problem was finding a way to organize necklaces.  Apparently, I have a lot of necklaces.  I though about tacks in the wall but that seemed like too much of a shortcut.  I dropped by Urban Outfitters at lunch and looked at necklace stands, but nothing caught my eye in the store.  After standing in the closet for 10 minutes just staring at the mess (you know you do that too), I came up with this little number.

Yes, it’s a little ghetto, but it does the job.  I actually used the purse at my wedding.  I took picture hooks and with pliers, manipulated the metal so it would hook on to my purse without glue or causing damage.  The nice thing is that I can add more hooks if I need them and this didn’t cost me anything.  We had the hooks already.

I put up the mirror we got at Ikea for $7, dug up a table runner and breakfast goodie stand from the wedding and found the necklace bust thing I bought on clearance at Urban Outfitters last year.   I put Micah’s jewelry box up and one of his hats that matched the display.  Yes, Micah has a jewelry box but he only owns watches and collar stays.  I like the overall look but I think we need a few little trays or dishes for all the watches, a new runner in white or black and of course, we need to remove the paper towel roll chillin’ in the back.  Why is that there?

Tonight I am installing the shoe rack thing.  It’s going to happen and when it does, life in the closet will be so much better. By the end of the weekend purses and hats will be organized, shoes put away and shelves looking presentable.  I’m telling you, it’s going to happen.  Now I just need to figure out how to organize hats and purses.  Any suggestions? 

Fabricating Decks – PART 2

We came home on Tuesday and found a second metal deck in our garage that would require threading wire.  I guess we better look for my makeshift needle.

As promised, here’s a picture of the first deck up and looking lovely off the craft room.  Yes, the craft room has a deck.  I know, it’s a bit much but the room that’s currently the craft room was suppose to be the TV room. 

I think it needs a plant or something colorful.  Did we tell you how much we love the doors to all the decks?  We went with french doors with built in blinds. 

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It seems cheesy at first but they look great.  It’s nice not having to worry about what kind of window treatments to get for glass doors.  It’s also fun to open and close the blinds. :)

Fabricating Decks - PART 1

I asked Miguel (one of the crew) what he’d be doing on his day off and he told me he was going to fabricate a home for his dog.  It took me a few seconds to realize he was going to build himself a doghouse.

On Thursday I came home, put my stuff down, looked out the front windows and saw this:

and this:

They had started fabricating our deck for some insane reason.  Three guys sat outside my windows pulling up a 400lb beam as Dadtractor and Jose pushed up.  I couldn’t watch for very long.  It made me nervous.  They we’re really (REALLY) high up.

They managed to secure the first ridiculously heavy beam a little after it got dark.  They came back on Saturday to lift up the second beam.  We felt guilty for being inside and just unpacking boxes when this madness was going on outside.  

Micah went about installing various electronic equipment and hiding from windows and I started lunch for the crew.  We were delighted when they asked us to run some errands for them.  Neither of us could stand to watch what was going on outside.

I should say that before they started on the front deck on Thursday, they install the back deck off the craft room.  I forgot to take pictures, but I’ll post them tomorrow.

P.S.  Lunch was a HUGE hit with the crew.  I’ve made this recipe before and people who don’t like chili rave about it.  We skip the Chipotle and it still tastes amazing!

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Devilish Chorizo Chili with Hominy – from Sunset

Ingredients

• 2 1/2  pounds  uncooked chorizo sausages in natural casing
• 1  pound  ground lean beef
• 2  large onions, chopped
• 5  cloves garlic, minced
• 2  cans (7 oz. each) diced green chilies
• 1/4  cup  chili powder
• 1  teaspoon  ground chipotle chilies
• 2  teaspoons  chopped fresh oregano
• 2  teaspoons  ground cumin
• 1  can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2  cups  (12 oz.) ale or other hearty beer
• 2  cans (15 oz. each) yellow hominy, drained
• Salt

Preparation

1. Squeeze sausages from casings into a 6- to 8-qt. pan over high heat; discard casings. Add beef, onions, and garlic. Stir occasionally over high heat, breaking sausages and beef into small pieces, until meat is browned and onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Spoon off and discard fat.

2. Add green chilies, chili powder, chipotle chilies, oregano, and cumin. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3. Stir in tomatoes, ale, and hominy. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Will Work for Pho

If my Mom ever found herself hungry and broke, I bet you’d find her on a street corner with a sign that reads, “Will work for Pho.”  Seriously.  She’s done it before.  Well, minus the broke and sign part. 

Last week I wasn’t feeling well and Micah suggested we get Pho for dinner since it was my night to cook.  Way back when (6 weeks ago) we lived on Beacon Hill, we ate Pho a lot.  At least once every 10 days.  We lived blocks from the Little Saigon area of the International District (a.k.a. Chinatown) and had our pick of about 20 Vietnamese restaurants. 

Now that we’re not near Little Saigon, the Pho options are limited.  Micah gave me the choice of trying one of the divey Pho places 8 blocks away or driving 15 minutes to our regular spot.  I was starving and not feeling great, so I picked the divey looking Pho Bac.  The interior looked like a story book jungle painted by an 8 year old.  There were trees on the walls and flowers hanging from the ceiling.  The 6 patrons were a diverse group; 2 girls in their mid-20s talking about relationships, a Russian man telling the server about his last trip to Moscow and family of 3 eating Pho family style.

We perused the menu which consisted of 15 Pho options and 4 rice dishes.  We went with our regular order of Pho Tai Nam and waited patiently for brothy goodness.  In 5 minutes, there were bowls of Pho on the table and soup spoons in our hands.  I have a position on Pho.  Yes, a position.  If the Pho is really good, then you don’t need to add any condiments or sauces besides lime.  I always add sprouts, (Thai) basil and a little squeeze of lime and assess the situation.  If the broth isn’t right after that, then I have to pollute my Pho.  Micah pollutes first and then tastes.  **tisk, tisk.**

All I have to say is pollution was not necessary.  That was the best bowl of Pho I’ve had in about 15 years.  Seriously. The broth was full but light and completely delicious.  We both raved about the Pho through the entire meal, on the way home and over the next few days.  I’m still talking about it. 

So what does this have to do with my Mom?  Well, as soon as I got home I had to call and tell her about the Pho.  She LOVES Pho.  I think she’d eat it everyday if she could.  Actually, she loves soup.  When Dadtractor is out of town, she does have soup everyday. 

When I told my Mom about the new Pho discovery, she was so excited.  Now we had a place near my house to lunch at.  The next day, my Mom emailed me with a proposition.  She knew that Micah and I were trying hard to get the house together but with the crew there until 7pm every night and our 5:45am wake up time, it was hard to make any real progress during the week because we’re so tired.  Mom offered to come over on Saturday morning and help us clean.  She’d sweep and help clean the main floor so we could concentrate on helping Dadtractor and sorting out our master bedroom.  In return for her services, we would have to take to our new favorite Pho restaurant.  I know a bargain when I see one, so I agreed. 

As planned, she showed up at 9am on Saturday morning and got to work.  When lunch rolled around, we all piled into the car for the hyped up Pho.  She was skeptical but ordered anyway.  After her first spoonful of soup I said, “So, did you see God?”  She smiled.  She did indeed.  “Did you see God” is my Mom’s way of asking us if something was ridiculously good.

So for $6 (including tax) my Mom saw God and we got a clean living room.  I would have treated her to lunch there without the cleaning, but she wanted to work for her meal.

Also, it turns out that we’re not the first ones to discover the goodness at Pho Bac.  It happens to be a favorite of local celebrity Chef Tom Douglas.  Rumor has it that you can find him there having a bowl of Pho for breakfast every so often.

A Decorating Crossroad

I’m at a decorating crossroad.  Micah laughed when I told him.  He thought it was a little melodramatic  -- like when I told him I was a prisoner to my virus (the flu) last October.  We thought I had H1N1 and I was home sick for 10 days!  But seriously, back to the crossroad.  I don’t know what to do about our walls.

When we were packing up our wall art, many moons ago, we both came to the conclusion we wouldn’t have any wall space.  We went back and forth about which pieces we had to hang and which pieces we’d have to find new homes for.  We told each other no more wall art purchases and for the first Christmas in a long time, neither of us received a poster as a Christmas present.

Now that most of the interior construction is done and the crew is down to completing finishes, we are finally getting a chance to put rooms together.  First the rugs, then the furniture and now the walls.  Oh the walls!  In some rooms we have no wall space and in other rooms we have wall space for days.  I feel like we have two options.

Option 1 : The minimalist – very little on the walls

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I like the idea of option one but I also feel like it would be too white.  We were able to paint a few walls but we still have about 90% of them white because of the open plan and rounded edges.  I also feel like a lot of empty wall space makes the place look unlived in.  Sometimes I come into our main living area and feel like I’m visiting someone else’s home.  There are no reflections of us (apart from the furniture) on display.  The only room that really feels lived in is the study and that’s because we’ve painted it and put the bookshelves up.  There’s always to the alternative…

Option 2: The Show - filling in all the space

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I like this idea – sort of.  We plan to do a picture wall in the TV/family/game room but I’m not sure about elsewhere.  I don’t want my bedroom to be overwhelmed with images.  I want to feel at peace when I open and close my eye for the day.  I think we need to come up with a middle ground, I just don’t know how to do that.  I tried hanging our wedding poster up in our room (where we have a lot of wall space) and it kind of looked sad surrounded by so much white space.  I’ve been thinking about investing in large floor plants to break up some of the space.

Another decorating dilemma is deciding whether to decorate a room all at once or to collect pieces over time.  I see the advantages of both sides.  If you decorate all at once, then you finish a room completely.  You are focused on one design palate.  If you collect over time, then you can really put together pieces you love.  You have the time to be picky.  The big problem would be a lot of unfinished rooms or rooms with a lot of placeholder pieces that don’t necessarily go together.  It could be years before you found the perfect side table.  **sigh**

Welcome to my decorating crossroad.  Any idea of which path to choose?

Jokkmokk is Finnish for A Great Deal

After grad school and summer in Seattle with Micah, I moved back to the DC area as he was finishing up at St. John’s in Queens.  My parents came to visit shortly after I moved and were appalled by two things: no rice cooker and no dining table.  I tried to explain that I didn’t eat rice everyday as I had during my youth and that sitting down at the table by myself seemed a little sad.  I had just started a new job, so I could take off to hangout with them during the day.  When I arrived home on the second day of their trip, there was a shiny new rice cooker waiting for me.  It was the smallest one they could find. 

On the 4th day of there trip they insisted we head out to Ikea to pick up a few things.  My Mom and I wandered around and when we met Dadtractor at checkout, there was a large box in his cart with the word Jokkmokk on it.  The next day a table and four chairs appeared in the apartment.  The rice cooker?  Not really that useful.  The table?  A great buy at $100 for everything.  I used that table a lot.  It was the scene of our very first Thanksgiving together.  When we packed up to move back to Seattle together, the Jokkmokk table and 4 chairs came with us.  

We enjoyed the Jokkmokk set for over 4 years in our old apartment.  Again, it was the perfect size for our apartment and there were only a few times that it was too small for the number of dinner guests we had.  When we were in the thick of the house building process, Micah and I finally decided to graduate to a big kid table.  It’s beautiful and we love it like a child. I couldn’t let go of our Jokkmokk even with a new table on the way.

Before the actual move, we got rid of the chairs through Craigslist for $20 but we still had the table.  I decided we had 4 possibilities for the table.

1. I could use it in the craft room as a work table
2. Micah could use it in the band room.
3. We could cut the table in half, mount it against the wall and use it as an entry table
4. We could cut the table in half and use it as part of the vanity in the main floor bath.

I was leaning toward options 3 and 4 until I realized that 3 wasn’t an option.  The table was to deep and wide.  I asked Dadtractor about option 4 and he said he’d try.

We came home on Monday night and found this:

And while I was making blueberry muffins for the crew (of 2), Dadtractor and Jose were busying installing our sink.

Jose trimmed the tabletop down so it would fit in the space.  He removed the back two legs and instead mounted the table to the wall.  We have some leftover white round tile from the shower that we’re going to use as a backsplash.  We also have some of the mosaic cork left, so we might try to incorporate some of that too.  Wait until you see the finished bathroom.  It’s going to look great!! 

So for $100 over 6 years ago, we got a table and four chairs.  We used them everyday for 5.5 years and then sold the chairs for $20.  Then we converted the table top into a vanity for our bathroom for $0.  I’d say we got a great Ikea deal. 

What piece of Ikea furniture turned out to be a great investment for you?

P.S. We have plans for the rest of our Jokkmokk table.  They will be making another appearance at 4024.

Office Space

No, we don’t have a red stapler but we do have one that looks like this:

We also have an office that looks like this!

Once we got the wall painted (yay!) and the books unpacked, the whole room just came together.  The only things we purchase for the room was a gallon of paint and the Ikea drawers below the desk. 

This a bad picture, but is shows the desk area and the rug.   We haven’t put anything on the walls or curtains in the window, but that’s next. 

What’s also next is the purchase of a nice chair.  We found that we had extra room in the office which would be perfect for a good comfy armchair.  Micah says it would be a great place to sit and grade papers.

Oh Crate and Barrel…

This isn’t quite Micah’s style, but it could work in an another color.

We both like this chair but with a $1200 price tag, it’s way out of our league.

We also found a few “mid century modern” options on Craigslist but none really jump out at us.  We’ll just have to be patient and hope something amazing fall into our lap.

We’ve got a short trip to Portland planned at the end of February, so maybe we’ll find something there or home that the chairs we love (below) will be on sale at West Elm.

**sigh**