DIY String Light Patio | Brooklyn House

Oh how I love string lights. They are so romantic. These classic lights can turn a blah backyard into bistro-like atmosphere in no time. I had my heart set on adding some string lights to the Brooklyn House backyard, but we had a few problems. First, there are no exterior outlets. Second, there are no structures to hang lights from. Womp-womp. My sleuth of a husband dug up this awesome post on how to rig up just the thing to create the perfect string light patio. I already miss summer dinners out there!

We ended up using two sets of string lights and spray painted all of the hardware and the extension cord black to match the retaining wall. Brian followed the above mentioned blog post almost word for word and it was a super easy weekend project. The whole thing cost less than $50 and I guarantee you will LOVE having these in your backyard!

Introduction | Myrtle House

Hello, friends! Thanks for stopping by. I am really excited to start this blog and ready to document the before and afters, DIY projects, and ups & downs of renovating a 1901 cottage!

Brian's Grandmother passed away in February of 2013. Granny was a true gem and lived to be 96. Her witty remarks, obvious disregard of what others thought, and overall sense of humor still keep Brian and I laughing when we think of her. When she passed, she left her home to Brian and his family. After sitting vacant for many years (she had moved in with family in 2007), Brian and I have decided to take on the project of renovating this home.

To be honest, we had a few options. We could sell the house. Given the small town city it is located in, the poor state of the house, and the current real estate market, the price we could sell it for would be dismal. After fees and such, it really would not even be worth it.

We walked through the house a few months after Granny died, and even though she was not my Grandmother, I felt an emotional attachment to the house. Her cute little aprons for making her famous Japanese fruit pies were still sitting in the kitchen. A chalkboard had scribbles from Brian when he was 10 years old that she never erased. This is the house that Brian's Mom grew up in. You could feel how much love there was in this home. We decided we didn't want to sell it.

This will be our second stab at fixing up a house. Our first house needed very minor cosmetic fixes. We replaced a few doors, painted every surface, and did some landscaping. The Myrtle house is a beast. Everything (and I mean everything) needs to be fixed. All new electrical. Part of the porch is caving in. The windows are busted. There is no central air. I am having a mild heart attack typing this. We know this is going to be a long, hard, expensive project and there are a lot of questions in my head. Will we go bankrupt trying to restore it? Will our marriage survive a renovation? Will it be worth it in the end? I really think it will be one of the most rewarding projects we will accomplish (when it is all said and done). :) I hope you will join us on this journey!

Living Room Design Inspiration | Myrtle House

While we start the not so romantic part of renovating a house (cleaning, demolition, structural issues), it is fun for me to dream about what this place could (and hopefully will) look like. Let's start with the living room; the first room you see when you enter the house. We want to use a lot of our existing furniture and also make this room feel soft, comfortable, but also slightly formal. This is the only true living space, so it has to make sense for movie & pizza nights but also for entertaining.

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We already have most of the needed furniture (as shown), so it is just a matter of bringing in a few warm and rustic accents like linen drapes and a cozy beige rug. The one thing I disliked about our old living room was that it felt very sterile. The walls were gray and we had black, white, and gray accents. I fell in love with Valspar's Winter in Paris (is that paint not named for me?). It is the perfect combination of blue, gray, and green. Our couch has some gold undertones, and I think it will look great with the soft blue and taupe accents.

Toodle-Loo, Antenna! | Myrtle House

The gigantic eye sore is gone! The scariest part was how little this thing was actually being held up! Can you imagine having to go to these lengths for mediocre TV?

Starting to look better already!

The Tale of a Dresser | Myrtle House

I have a confession to make. I am a furniture hoarder. I have a very difficult time saying 'no' to vintage furniture because I always see the potential in them. I am the crazy cat lady of old furniture. I think my sister even said one time that I needed a separate house for all of my treasures.

Craigslist is definitely a rush, but my favorite place to go is the Rehab Store in Morganton. Since this area used to be a major hub in the furniture industry, the city contains truck loads of amazing quality, vintage pieces.

We were working on cleaning out the Myrtle House and got to a point where we needed to drop off some donations. I convinced Brian we needed to go inside and just "look around." What could be the harm in that, right? Well, not ten feet inside and we spotted it. The most lovely, gigantic, French-looking dresser I have ever seen. It even had gold and blue accents - almost like it was finished especially for me. Plus, it would fit perfectly in the dining room and matched my existing furniture. Do we need to buy a massive dresser right now? Absolutely not. Did we have a truck with us? Um, no...

Thanks to Brian's great friend (and our amazing contractor!), we got the beast safely home in his truck. This thing is made by Mt. Airy National Furniture and is solid. I wasn't able to find many details about it (please email me if you are familiar with this company!), but I can already tell this is one of those pieces that is legit heirloom quality. The photos seriously do not do it justice!

I can't wait to turn this beaut into a buffet in the dining room and pair it with this rug, our chandelier, and the farm table made out of re-claimed wood from the backyard sheds (see below). Shhh, Brian doesn't know he is making that yet. ;)

Have you found any fun items recently?