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Neon is my obsession.

Pinterest this week: Green is good

The dining room.

This is what the front of the house looked like when we bought it.

This is what it looks like now:

The scraggily tree has been cut down. And we got two new, prettier trees instead.

We also said good-bye to the huge, out-of-control holly bush in the side yard (the top of which is seen in the photo below).

Without the bush, we can actually see out the dining room windows.

Now we just need to get rid of all these things, too:

Now that the inside of the house is starting to progress at a decent pace, I can give some thought to the outside of the house. DC will give us some money to replace the concrete in the backyard with pervious pavers. Also, the backyard fence is falling over, so we need to get a new one. The photo above is a general dream for the backyard. I would use the square planting sections for vegetables, greens, herbs, and flowers.

The front of the house also needs some work. The previous owners weirdly painted only the porch area of the house, so we need to do something about that.

I’m going to look into getting the brick sandblasted. We also need to repair and paint the concrete porch floor and replace the bead-board ceiling. And we need a period-appropriate light and a less cheap-looking mailbox. Oh, and we need to replace the rusting iron railing with period-appropriate railing. And we need to get rid of the ugly security door and get a new front door. Jeez… At least the awnings are gone now.

Anyway, here’s a little of what I’m thinking for the front of the house.

This fixture from Rejuvenation is the style original to the house.

This mailbox from Restoration Hardware matches the light fixture and is not made of cheap aluminum like our current boring Home Depot standard issue.

This photo from our neighborhood in the 1920s shows what our porch railing should look like. I haven’t decided yet whether I want to go with the more authentic (and more high-maintenance) wood or go with the more practical PVC.

One improvement to the outside of the house has already been made…but I’ll save that for tomorrow.

My mom came to stay with us again to help with Jack. While she was here she made pillow covers out the Ikea fabric I’ve had for years. (She also hemmed the curtains, so the living room windows are now all officially “dressed.”) I kept meaning to make the pillow covers and never got around to it. It’s too bad she can’t be here all the time. So much more would get done.

Instagram nursery

Spring calls for color in the bedroom.

And in the dining room.

And in the kitchen.

Keith also painted our bedroom and the iron bed. Now we just need a little more furniture in this room.

Keith finished painting the dining room. He is awesome.

When my mom was pregnant with me, she made an orange and brown teddy bear named Smokey. He has traveled with me everywhere—to college, to England, to grad school, to Oregon, to DC. Now she has also made a bear for Jack—in blue and green, my favorite color combination.

The nursery still isn’t quite ready. Life with Jack the past week has been…busy. Maybe he’ll nap a little more tomorrow and give me time to finish up. In the absence of photos of our nursery, here are some kids’ rooms from my Pinterest board.

The nursery will be revealed very soon. We just have to hang things on the walls. Here’s a taste.

Dad brought us flowers.