Last time I left off I hadn’t shown any progress on my hallway.

Well I’ve painted it ‘Chocolate Froth’ with a steel blue stripe at head height. I didn’t like that blue at first, but with the art hanging I like it a bit more.

I moved my art around, finally hung up my Wilco concert poster, and framed my Standing at the Edge of the Water print from 20×200. That was an ordeal. I went to Michael’s to get a custom mat and never heard back from them to come pick it up when it was ready. I finally went to the store yesterday and it was sitting in the back with a mat that was cut incorrectly and a note saying that the frame I picked out would not work with the mat. Thanks for notifying me. Luckily, I talked to the manager and she was very friendly and gave me a discount on the new frame I picked out. That’s good customer service.

So, it’s not an amazing transformation, but it does brighten everything up, and I love looking at my happy little art gallery. I’m still thinking about getting a mirror custom made for the door at the end of the hallway. That will brighten it up even more.

-Liz

Check out the page to see what Apartmetn Therapy readers would do with my hall. There are some great suggestions, and a few hit the nose on what I decided to do.

I painted it this weekend. You’ll have to wait a few more days to see what I did, but there is a quick description in the AptTherapy post!

-Liz

What do you think? I just got this from 20×200.
It’s a little brash, but I like the colors.

-Liz

It’s a rainy day and Brentan’s out of town and I am here thinking of things to change at home while I’m alone. My biggest peeve right now? My boring blah white hallway. See exhibit A:

I like the prints that are on the wall, but otherwise, I like nothing.

What would you do to jazz it up and make it fit in with the rest of the house?

I’m thinking possibly: a chair rail with different colors on either side, a chandelier, a big thick racing stripe in some fun color, or just lots and lots of frames and photos.

Please give me your thoughts!

-Liz

Photo adapted from epsos on flickr

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ll be out celebrating with my sweetheart at one of my favorite restaurants tonight.

I hope you can celebrate love in all of its many forms somehow today. I’m lucky to have a lot of it in my life now and always, and I hope you are too.

<3 Liz

Heart rock collection - California

I am attempting to take photos of all the rooms in my house and today, I will post some pics of my red powder room.  I am getting tired of the red and will probably soon change it but is has served well as a great backdrop for Christmas decorations, Valentines Day doo-dads and even Fourth of July kitsch. The thing I love most about this room is the little 2 inch ledge on the cap of the wainscoting.  I have collected heart shaped rocks for a number of years and love to display them in the bathroom. My son, Sam, took the photo of rocks in his hand while we were walking along the shore of Lake Superior one summer day. The  room is full of wonderful memories of trips to Costa Rica, Florida, Texas, California, and my cabin near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

I’m thinking about Valentines Day… and about giving a special heart shaped stone to someone I love to let them know how much they “rock” ! -Peg

How to clean cast iron

My favorite pans to cook in are my cast iron skillets. I use them everyday.  They are the most versatile and  indestructible  cookware that I know of.  They are the best non stick type of pan as well…better than any of the most expensive  teflon type pans in fact.  They also add a bit of iron to our food which is something I’d prefer over adding a bit of aluminum.

They need to be seasoned to create the wonderful non stick effect. This is really easy to do and nothing to be afraid of.

First, I’ll address seasoning a new cast iron pan, then I will talk about cleaning and caring for older pans.

1. Congratulations, you bought a beautiful brand new cast iron pan! You are so smart! The manufacturer has coated the pan with a coating to keep it from rusting in the store. This needs to be scrubbed off  before you first use the pan. So, squirt some soap in the pan and scrub it with a scrubby. Now, add a little water to the pan, just a 1/4 inch and put it on the burner to boil the water. After it is boiling, dump out the water and watch the remaining water evaporate.

2. Next, add a generous dollop of vegetable oil to the hot pan. Wipe it around with a paper towel. Wipe the inside and outside of the pan.

3. Put the oiled pan into a hot 350 degree oven. “Cook” the pan for a 1/2 hour or so then take it out.  It is now seasoned and ready to be put to use…for the next 100 years or so!

Every time we use a cast iron pan, we add a bit of oil and heat it up so we are in a sense, seasoning it. The best way to maintain and season a pan is to cook in it, a lot!

Now, here is what you need to know about caring for an older pan.

Some people say that we should never use soap in a cast iron pan and we should never scrub it. They advocate a little salt to swish around and wipe it ‘clean’. Some people say that it is a crime to use water at all and all you should do is wipe the pan out with a paper towel and not wash it at all!  Yuck!  I have always use soap, a scrubby and lots of hot water.  After, time and many family dinners, a fully seasoned pan will be simple to maintain.

1. First thing to do is to wash the pan just as you would wash any pan…with soap and water.

2. Now, scrub it well.

3. Next, add a bit of water to the pan, just a 1/4 inch will do. Put it on the stove and turn the burner to high.

4. Dump the boiling water into the sink and watch the remaining water evaporate.

5. Finally, after the water has evaporated, put a tablespoon of vegetable oil into the hot pan and wipe it with a paper towel. Truth be told, if you use your pan everyday, this step can be skipped more often than not.  I do it about once every few weeks. But then again, I am seasoning my pan every time I cook so I guess that I am not really skipping this step.

Take care to never put a damp pan or dish nested inside a cast iron pan. It will rust and make a mess. If this happens, simply scrub off the rust and season it again with a little oil.

One more tip: To make the pan work like non-stick cookware, heat up the oil (and pan) before adding  other ingredients. Food will stick to a cold pot but not to a hot one.

Done! Now get cooking! Try this wonderful corn bread recipe…I changed it a bit by putting the batter into my cast iron pan and popping it into the oven.  The crust comes out golden and crispy. Yum!!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmothers-buttermilk-cornbread/

Enjoy the day!  -Peg

For this one, I’m going to look at sculptural pendant lamps. I was looking around for some vintage interior shots and found a ton to use on the Life Magazine photo archive site.

I like this living room and want to have it in my next house. The wood ceilings, walls of windows, patios on both sides, and overall laid-back California feel of the place seems so livable. (It’s actually in Martha’s Vineyard!) This house is so pretty, and you can see more pictures of it over at The Selvedge Yard.

But the focus of the picture is the pendant lamp in the foreground. I see these all the time these days. Where and how did they originate?

Pendant lamps apparently date back to ancient Greece, where they used to hang animal fats and perfumes in clay pots with wicks. Things have come a long way since then–more modern (from the middle of the century) pendant lamps have been inspired by industrial versions from the 1920′s and 30′s, like the one below. These are my favorite pendants right now.

1920's Pendant Lamp from DesignBoom

They also appear on either side of the bed in this 1954 vintage ad for Armstrong flooring.

Bedroom featuring pendant lamps from an ad, via Retro Renovation

Nowadays, pendant lamps are still inspired by industrial ones,  but they’re also made of colorful glass, can manifest themselves as huge chandeliers, or discount versions from Ikea, like the one below.

Ikea Pendant Lamp

Most home bloggers have probably written about pendant lamps, since they are ubiquitous in design. I like Michelle’s vintage industrial inspired one over her table, from Decor and the Dog:

Rustic Vintage Pendant Reproduction from Decor and the Dog

You can DIY a woven wooden pendant lamp, like they did on Poppytalk:

Poppytalk's DIY Pendant

I’d love to install an uber modern, uber high end pendant over my dining table some day, like this one, via Freshome:

Modern Pendant via Freshome

Or this fun pink one from Kartell, via Design*Sponge:

Pink Pendant via Design*Sponge

Emily from Go Haus Go even put in ‘pendant lamps’ in her dollhouse for the I’m a Giant Challenge! They are made from Christmas ornaments.

Dollhouse pendants from Go Haus Go

To be honest, I don’t have any pendant lights in my home. Maybe that’s why I’m slightly enamored with them. Do you have pendant lamps in your home? Any vintage ones? I’d love to hear about your connection to these historic pieces!

-Liz

image from Potterybarn

I have been seeing some lovely photos on Pinterest (follow me!) of painted brass candlesticks and lamps.

courtesy from Billiemonster.com/blog

As a matter of fact, I have painted a number of chandeliers including these two that I painted for Liz and Brentan’s country wedding.

So here is what I did:

1. I used #0000 steel wool to clean and scruff up the brass hook so the paint could adhere to the metal.

2. I next sprayed on a coat of primer that is made for metal. I let it dry for 1 hour.

3. Since I wanted my hook to match the bathroom mirror frame, I could not use spray paint.  I used the same yellow latex enamel from the mirror and my floor cloth projects  to paint my little duck. I was careful to paint a number of thin coats to avoid lumps and drips. I also lightly sanded with my #0000 steel wool between coats. I let the brass show through a bit because I wanted it to keep it’s vintage look.

4. When it was thoroughly dry, I sprayed a couple of coats of clear polyurethane to add more protection.

5. I also painted the heads of  2 screws that I used to attach it to the wall.

6. Look!

sprayed with primerFinished HookIt works!

Finished Hook

-Peg

Yes, the slippers went fast. I was able to pay more attention to the show than to what I was making. I made the Men’s size L so that I could shrink them and make them felted. They were pretty ugly but I soldiered on thinking that once they were fulled, they would magically become charming and beautiful. Next day, I dumped them in with the wash and put them in the dryer with some towels. They shrank but I had to wash them 2 more times to get them to fit. They looked a little better but not much…

Ugly or not, I rarely give up on a project. I am stubborn that way. The slippers were very thick and warm but also very slippery. I now needed to figure out a way to make them less dangerous. I decided to put a leather sole on their bottoms. I had some deer skin and spent the next 2 evenings sewing the leather by hand onto each slipper. They were becoming uglier by the day. I snaked a lace around their tops to make them stay on my feet. I thought about making some felted flowers or something to try to cute them up but well, I think I’m  better off  letting well enough alone. They are warm and they are comfortable but not much else. Sometimes, things can get ugly. Happy knitting! – Peg