When most people think about Labor Day Weekend, relaxation, BBQs, the beginning of football season and the last opportunity to wear white come to mind. For us, Labor Day Weekend involved moving furniture around, taking the doors off the kitchen cabinets and not one minute of football (Which we all know is actually more like 20 real-life minutes anyway). And today is one of many days between Labor Day and Memorial Day where I will be wearing white jeans. We’re just not like most people.
Here are some of the fruits of our Labor (Day Weekend).
Gwyneth and I have loved this frame from the minute she spotted it in the dumpster, yet I’ve often thought it looked a little lonely. But Rule #1 of decorating a small apartment, “There’s only room for what you love,” meant it would hang alone until I saw something I loved as much as my trash-pile treasure. (If you want to get deep, I believe that rule applies far beyond decorating, by the way.)
Sure enough, I saw this idea on Pinterest last week:
And a set of white Umbra Wallflowers later, our frame isn’t so lonely.
While most of the time I have the urge to add things around the apartment, I do love the look of open-shelving in the kitchen and thought less might be more when it comes to the cabinet doors. So I broke out the step ladder and got to work. Gwyneth was very confused, but I was already picturing the cabinets painted and filled with Anthropologie ceramics. I climbed down the ladder and proudly texted my Mom the photo below.
Apparently, Mom was the only one more confused than Gwyneth. Within seconds I received the following text messages, rapid-fire style:
“I do NOT like the kitchen.”
“Where are the doors of the cabinets?”
“Looks unfinished.”
“And why is the mixer on the fridge???”
Sometimes when you put a lot of energy into something your interpretation of reality is a little misguided. Thank you, Mom for clearing that one up. I climbed back up on the ladder, replaced two of the cabinets (we decided we liked the one above the fridge open as long as the mixer was removed immediately) and sent the photo below back for consultation.
“Much better.”
“IMHO.”
That was fun. Moving on.
We were so excited when the cushion for our bench (another dumpster delight) arrived in the mail. I’m so thrilled that the bedroom is complete, and Gwyneth seems excited to have another option for places to rest while I do crazy things like ripping down doors and dragging the antique pie safe across the apartment with a bath towel. Again.
There’s one more home improvement still in progress, but we will be sharing soon. If you haven’t seen an update by this time next week, we’ve been electrocuted.
xoxo,
mk and Gwyneth
love the changes (and change-backs) – where did you get the butterflies? You and your mom are priceless together
Hey Beth! They are Umbra Wallflowers I bought on Amazon. And thank you – we have had a lot of fun working on the space together, all via text messaging. xoxo
cute story!
Thank you, Michael. We have so many projects lined up for this weekend, I feel another one coming up early next week! Have an awesome weekend yourself – can’t wait to see your latest DIYs!!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
Sorry…I’m visiting your blog for the first time, and am in awe of your talent, and humor. Not a stalker, I promise, but the bath towel to move the furniture, too much. I’m sure your downstairs neighbors have no clue all of this is going on…silent moving, love it.
Margaret, your comments really put a big smile on our faces! We are so glad that you found us! Thank you so much for reading and all your sweet words!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie