Carpet Adieu

Keeping projects that I'm working on under wraps is not my forte.  If you follow me on social media, you have more than an inkling what I've been up to the past few days.  Hint: it has to do with floors.

After 4 1/2 long years of grumbling about the wall to wall carpet in our upstairs rooms, we're finally doing something about it!  I'm not the biggest wall to wall carpet fan.  It has it's place sometimes, but in general it kinda weirds me out.  No matter how much you clean or vacuum it, it absorbs dust and, stains and dirt from the houses previous owners still linger.  Especially when you have a textured loop like was in my office and the hallway- it was like velcro for dirt.  Ick.

I'd much prefer to live with hard wood floors with area rugs.  Not only are area rugs MUCH easier to give a deep clean to, they're also much easier to switch out when you want to give a new look to the space.  *steps off soap box*

In the past I've always tried to show you as little of the upstairs carpet as possible.  Between the bedroom, hallway, and 2 tiny offices, there was 3 different beige stained carpets that we planned to do away with from the moment we put an offer in on the house.  Some stains we inherited with the house, others are from a cat with a very sensitive tummy who also enjoyed using the carpet as a scratcher.  He's lucky he's cute and fluffly.

But back to the floor.  Probably 50 years ago, the then owners decided it would be a great idea to put plywood and then the carpet pad and carpet over the original wide plank pine boards.  Silly homeowners.

It's looking pretty promising that we'll be able to save the original 115 year old wide plank pine and as you can imagine, I'm cautiously giddy.  I still have to finish pulling up carpet AND plywood in Hubby's office and our bedroom, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed until then.

I'm also super excited because the floors finally getting woodified (totally a word...) is going to be a catalyst for mini make-overs in all of these rooms.  I've already got paint swatches in hand!  Who doesn't love a room make-over?

6 Months of Fiddlin'

Guess what!  I haven't killed my fiddle leaf fig trees yet!  And it's been 6 months!  That's quite the accomplishment for me.  I'm not exactly known for my green thumb especially with houseplants.  Succulents rarely have a chance around me- I kill them with water, and I kill other plants that need water with neglect.  oops. But BOTH fiddle leafs are still going strong! (ish)

Hector, my IKEA fiddle leaf suffered an early setback (as I mentioned in my first fig post) and got very very very mad at me for over-watering him and letting him sit in the puddle.  Thankfully, he's been making a promising comeback with new growth.

Charlie is not impressed.

Yes, Hector's not looking his best, but he's on the mend.  That's what I keep telling myself.

Even though all his original leaves are either gone or brown, he's got a bunch of new leaves including 2 currently sprouting.  Maybe there's hope for him yet!

At least if I kill this one, it's only a $13 IKEA plant as opposed to my other, nursery born fiddly dude, Victor:

He's much much happier.  I haven't tried to kill him once! (Sir Charlie Bear was following me around as I was taking these photos.  I think he was practicing for his Top Model audition).

This little fig tree is much much happier than his upstairs counterpart.  Aside from watering (after being repotted into a self-watering pot with plenty of drainage to prevent over-watering...), the only other upkeep these guys get is a bit of Miracle Grow Leaf Shine.  My endorsement is not sponsored, it just makes the leaves look bright and shiny.  See?

So shiny they almost look fake.  But not.

My mom's the one who's really knocking this whole fiddle leaf thing outta the park.  I picked her up an IKEA one when I got Hector and they were just about the same size and health.  Now 6 months later I have never seen a happier plant- it's jumped up by over a foot and a half!  If it keeps at this rate, my parents will need to cut a hole in the ceiling for it.

Her 'secret' is that she waters it a little every time it feels dry and it loves it's window.  She's like the plant whisperer or something.  Clearly not a trait I was passed.  Whenever I'm reminded of how lush Hector was when I brought him home (before the incident), I just wish I could find another in stock at IKEA, but the IKEA fiddle leaf figs are like the chupacabra- some have seen it, but many doubt it's existence.  One day, IKEA, one day.

Have you had luck not killing fiddle leaf figs?  I'd love to hear your secrets!

I'm super excited for the coming weeks, I have several projects up my sleeve that I'm hoping to finish up and share.  Good things are coming! Stay tuned!

Summer Reading List

Now that I've screwed my head back on and I'm out of the fog that finishing/selling a flip always ends up being, I'm on a self-improvement kick.  As the daughter of a librarian, I'm embarrassed to say that reading has fallen out of my schedule almost completely.  With the sun shining and technology screens that are unreadable outside on a glorious day, what better time to go analog and pick up a book. 1.  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Ask Hubby- I am a die-hard believer that your environment has a profound affect on your daily life.  If my house is a mess, generally, so I am I and it's not pretty.  I've been hearing people rave about this book like crazy lately and I've been eager to dive in!  I may already be halfway through this one.  While I may not necessarily agree with the author that balling my socks together makes them depressed (maybe I want depressed socks- makes it easier for me to walk all over them), she has some very poignant ideas about how to approach cleaning up your space.  Does this item bring me joy?  I 100% agree with her on the basic philosophy of this book: Clear your clutter, clear your mind.  Do yourself and your home a favor and read it.

2.  The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM)

I'm sure I'm not the only entrepreneur who struggles with setting a daily routine.  It's far too easy to treat every day like a lazy Sunday morning.  When you finally start being productive, half the day is gone!  I'm working to nip this in the bud and wake up bright eyed and ready for the day (more or less).  I heard the author interviewed on my fave podcast, The Lively Show and I'm sold.  Now I just need to read the book!

3.  Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Mysteries are my favorite.  Books or TV shows (how am I just now finding out about Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries??).  So when I heard about this book I was instantly intrigued.  It seems like a bit of mystery, a bit of humor, wrapped up in a very clever package.  I would expect nothing less from an author who has also written for several successful sitcoms.

4.  The Paris Wife

I want this book to be wonderful so badly, that I'll be disappointed if it's not.  This historical fiction is the story of the romance of Earnest Hemingway and his wife as told through her eyes.  I'm also a huge sucker for historical fiction and beautiful book covers.

5.  Let's Pretend This Never Happened

I can't explain why I haven't read this book yet.  I've been reading the Bloggess for years, so I really have no excuse.  She's hilarious and honest and addicted to weird taxidermied animals and if you aren't familiar with her, do yourself a favor and head over to her blog.  With her next book coming out in the fall, now's the perfect time to catch up!

Have you read any of these yet?  I'd love to hear about any good books you've read lately and what's on your summer reading list!