Design Assistant Magnus gets a new bed...

I'm afraid that given all the work underway at the Ranch we've been neglecting the needs of our favorite design assistant, Magnus. And although he's really not much of a complainer, one thing was clear - he did not care for his dog bed. And when Magnus is unhappy...boy, what a whiner!



So we hit PetSmart to find the perfect bed. A bed that, selfishly, had to match the living room decor while still providing the perfect place for a mid-afternoon snooze. Low walls for chin-resting? Check. A furry lining for maximum comfort? Check. A color that goes nicely with white fur? Check. (that's the beauty of white dogs...they match everything!)

By jove I think we've found it!



But no bed would be complete without a personally monogrammed pillow, made of the same fabric as our headboard and bed skirt, and also courtesy of my mom.



Aaaaah...life is good!

Before & After: The Fireplace

Sometimes less is best.

Sometimes. Not always. Definitely not when it comes to chocolate, sequins, James Bond movie marathons or DSW. I could go on but you get the point.

Less IS best when it comes to mismatched fireplace design.

Behold our fireplace. A too-small colonial-style mantle with a modern stone face, a cheaply made built-in unit on one side and beige carpet.



Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

We struggled over how to fix the mantle. Replace it with some reclaimed lumber? Build a box over it? Paint it black? Ignore it and pretend it's not there? Tempting. In the end we decided to simply remove it all together. We hung our favorite painting over it the fireplace, added some accessories and cleaned the dang thing out (note to homeowners: a little shoveling of the ashes and some Windex go a long way). Paired with our new wood floors and kick-butt furniture layout and voila:



Now THAT'S a fireplace!

Before & After...again: Master Bedroom

I can admit when I'm wrong. Sometimes. Or I can at least admit when there's a better way to skin a cat. (What a gross phrase, huh? Some masochistic pre-serial killer probably came up with it right before hacking the heads off his sister's Barbie dolls and setting them on fire.)

But I digress.

Mom poo-pooed my Target sheets and make-shift master bedroom design. And so we hit the mall, the fabric store and our friendly neighborhood Thrift World in search of a way to make it better.

Let's revisit. Here's what the room looked like when we first spent the night in it.



Quaint, no? Sort of East LA chic.

Well we made it better with furniture and a bed and paint. (yay paint!)



But let's face it. This hodge-podge of mismatched furniture was sort of funky and cute, but it was a small step up from a dorm room. We could do better! We could have - gasp! dare we dream? - a headboard! And matching sheets that didn't come from Target! (not that I'm knocking Target...I love me some Target...some of my finest ensembles were created at Target)

BUT (and there's always a but) we still had to stay within our budget which is, ahem, tiny. Hence our visit to Thrift World where we found a headboard for - WAIT FOR IT - 98 cents. No, I'm not kidding - look at the receipt:



Add $28 to rent a U-Haul truck to get it home...



...and we've got ourselves a good starting point. Next we hit Dillard's for a super linen sale. And then it was on to Hancock Fabrics to find some coordinating fabrics for a bedskirt, throw pillow and headboard. We hit the jackpot!

Now to reupholster - there were two layers of fabric, each lovelier than the next:





I was tempted to keep this one but stained pastel paisley is SO last season.

Big thanks to Mom the Sewing Queen and Design Assistant Magnus for "testing" out all the fabrics for chew-resistance and softness against his nether regions. A little elbow grease and good sense and we're left with this:





I can't wait to sleep in it tonight! And Design Assistant Magnus and his nether regions are just going to have to find another place to park themselves.

Before & After: Guest Room #2

Things I love about my mother:

1. Her unconditional love no matter how crazy I try to drive her. And believe me when I say I try HARD.
2. Her quirky sense of humor.
3. Her cooking skills and patience with my lack thereof.

But possibly one of the most admirable things about the woman who gave me life is her ability to sew a bed skirt in under 15 minutes. Her proverbial kick in the pants got us feeling quite rejuvinated about home improvement. And together we decided to tackle the second guest room.

Let's take a trip down memory lane and see what it used to look like, shall we?



One word: Meh. Nothing great and nothing horrific about it. Sort of vanilla. No wait, I take it back...I love vanilla. This is more like...well like a plain rice cake. Nothing great, nothing stomach-turning.

The inspiration for the room? Mr. P's passion for surfing. As you may imagine there isn't a TON of surfing in Omaha. (shock! dismay!) So we decided to surprise him with a fun room that pays homage to his passion and makes our guests feel totally radical dude.

Voila:



If I may take a moment to toot my own thrifty horn, notice the black lamp on the nightstand. Here's what it used to look like:



$2 at a yard sale. $4 can of glossy black spray paint. Shade recycled from another lamp we had.

Toot, toot! Okay, now back to the room:







Design Assistant Magnus has never seen the ocean but he's pretty sure he would really like surfing and therefore approves of the room:



Surfs up!

Changing a light fixture...

Last week Mr. P and I decided it was time to add some pizzazz to our dining room which is still chairless. (sigh...) We decided that a new chandelier would be just what the doctor ordered. Perhaps you'll remember what the old one looked like:



Not bad, right? Just not as eye-catching as we wanted it to be. We picked out a new fixture and Mr. P decided to hang it himself. Only we decided to do this at 10pm...and we had to cut the lights for safety. So at about 11pm this is how things were going at our place:



Not good. But then we discovered the GENIUSES at DoItYourself.com and from then on it was smooth (-ish) sailing! Check it out!





P.S. Mr. P insists on putting Design Assistant Magnus' squeaky cheeseburger on my gorgeous palm-leaf platter. Why must he torment me?

Design Assistant Magnus got a bad haircut...

I shouldn't have listened to Mr. P. "Trim it short, get rid of the skirt and have them cut it all one length - he'll be cooler that way."

Here's the before:



Sure he's a little scraggly looking but so cute and cuddly!

And here's the after:



Oh Magnus. I am so sorry, buddy. It'll grow out...someday.

Garden progress...

Well helloooooooooooo blueberries! Yesterday I ate these for breakfast!



Poor Mr. P...no blueberries for him. (this is all our little bush produced) But I'm confident there will be more where that came from. Afterall, check out our robust garden:



Soon we're going to have tomatoes up the wazoo!





And I almost forgot...peppers, too! These are anaheim peppers which I think Mr. P planted in homage to our Southern California roots:



Does anyone have some fun tomato recipes? Otherwise I'll be using them as decorative centerpieces the way the HGTV designers use green apples.

...hey, I may be on to something there! Back off, Vern Yip! This one is mine!