All the Kitchen Cabinets are in.....Hooray!!

Well we have finally been able to purchase the last few Ikea cabinets we were missing. So all the cabinets are assembled and installed. I have so mjuch storage I haven't even come close to filling it. So now all that is left to do in the kitchen is the backsplash with Stardust tile and the counter tops... The last cabinets to go in were the big daddy over refrigerator, two 30" drawer units and we added 2 more pantry style cabinets on either side of the 1 pantry we already had. I am so pleased with all the useable space.

Tropical paradise

Tropical paradise
Originally uploaded by aliciadesign

All the plants are going full force right now......

Greenery for the Tiki Bath

This past weekend I was showing my Dad and Stepmom around the area and we visited quite a few local shops. Since my guests shared my interest for Hawaiiana we visited the store Hula Beach in San Clemente. While perusing Hula Beach's lovely tropical decor I found something that I had been looking for. Tropical palm frond wall paper for the top of the walls in my tiki bath.

On a prior visit to the store I notice their back hallway had this cool wall paper called Urban Safari Green. They had graciously provided the name of it to me at the time, which I could not remember about 2 weeks ago when I was googling palm frond wall papers. To my delight, they now carried the wall paper. So I bought a couple rolls.

Since I am new to wallpapering I have asked the advice of my handy Aunt Jane in Texas. I am waiting for the perfect day to wallpaper. When I get this wallpaper up, I will get some pictures on the blog.

Modern Sofa Revamp

Well Brad's work has been a little slow, so we took the opportunity to get a few things done around the house.

We decided to re-upholster our sofa. This sofa was a gift from a client of Brad's up in Washington. They had the sofa in their basement, and were ready to part with it. We were getting our first place together and needed furniture. We loved the Danish modern look of the sofa. The former owners said that they got it from their parents who had bought it new. That was six+ years ago. When we got the sofa I knew I wanted to upholster it with a new color fabric. Overtime the brown actually grew on me. I always wanted a Charcoal gray. I liked the original texture of the original fabric. It seemed to really add to the subtle lines. About 7 months ago a neighbor down the street turned me on to a store in the area called UFO. Well after my first visit there I knew I had found upholstery heaven. The store has a wonderful selection of fabrics and trims. I scoured all the samples and decided on a George M Fabric called Quartz Charcoal. I bought 7 yards. I found ths chart after the fact but It seems quite helpful.

The process of actually covering the sofa went completely different from how I thought it would go. I pictured myself cutting pieces of the original fabric panels and then cutting new and sewing most of the pieces together and slipping the new pieces on to the sofa. Then making new cushions and covering those. Well when we started removin g the fabric, we realized that the sofa was upholstered as it was built. So we deconstructed the entire piece, documenting with photos the whole way. And then one more trip to UFO for more foam. Then we reconstructed the whole sofa with new foam in areas and the new fabric. I just love the way it turned out. On our second trip to UFO, we decided to do a headboard too. More on that soon.

Asian Table Top

Asian Table Top
Originally uploaded by aliciadesign

This is the state of the dining table lately. I love the collection of items. And I love that all this can be on the table and we can still eat too.. Yeah for big tables.

To the Studios

To the Studios
Originally uploaded by aliciadesign

These new plants are thriving but my Food Garden not so much..

My Pathetic Garden | Grow Gosh Darn it....

My Pathetic Garden
Originally uploaded by aliciadesign

Well how does my garden grow? Really really slow...
So apparently my green thumb does not work on my edible garden.
It is pathetic so far. I think I am going to get more worm castings to add to the soil and I think. And I am going to take the Shade cloth off...
Things keep turning yellow and shriveling up. These plants have survived so far, but I don't know how long. Watering is not the problem h as to be soil or something......