Happy List: #393

Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It’s Friday the 13th and I’m delighted to have you here.

This week on the blog I shared how we are taking down a stone wall in our Carriage House. It’s the first time we’ve done this type of demo. Hopefully, it’s the last too!

I also shared the quick makeover I gave to a thrift store table to make it fit with everything else on our front porch. It’s so nice to have another spot to set a drink or a phone when we hang out on the front porch.

I hope this Happy List leaves you feeling inspired, encouraged, and maybe you will even learn a thing or two. I know I did this week! I absolutely welcome the opportunity to connect with you and hear what you are doing and how you’re feeling. If you want to reach out, please comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Now, here is the Happy List!

SMALL SPACES LIVE LARGE

This vignette reminded me that a tiny space can pack a design punch, maximize functionality, and make you feel good too.

More pictures of this small apartment can be found at My Scandinavian Home.

(image: Dana Ozollapa Styling: C Lindholm design For Historiska Hem via My Scandinavian Home)

CROQUET WREATH

After seeing Lora Bloomquist turn croquet mallets into a wreath, I’m wondering what other ways croquet mallets could be repurposed. The crafty possibilities!

Get the wreath directions here.

(image: Lora Bloomquist)

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

Father’s Day is this weekend in the U.S.

Below is a picture of yours truly with my dad. He’s pretty great! If you want to know why I like horse art so much, this might be why. It was imprinted on me early. Ha!

Here is Handy Husband with our kids several years ago. I can’t imagine parenting without him!

Handy Husband wants to celebrate Father’s Day by going on a family trail run. I’m deciding when I’m going to break the news to the kids.

STONE WALLS

Architect Gil Schafer’s Hudson Valley home is for sale. I was drawn to the use of stone walls and stone steps in the gardens. There’s also a manicured tidiness to these landscape photos that appeals to me. See all of the pictures here.

We may or may not be planning on adding some stone steps very soon to our backyard. Act surprised when you see us working on them on social media, okay?

(image: Compass via The Glam Pad)

P.S. You can own this house for a cool $3.5 million. See the listing here. It was built in 1999. Schafer is known for making new builds look old.

CHELSEA IN BLOOM

I wish I had been in London to see the annual Chelsea in Bloom event. I am blown away by what people can create with flowers. I might be able to fit all my essentials and the kitchen sink in this handbag.

See more photos at The Londonist. The punk one might be my favorite.

(image: The Londonist)

READ AND HEARD

I listened to the most fascinating RadioLab podcast about human breastmilk. There’s a component of human breastmilk that humans cannot digest. This makes zero sense, so one scientist went on a journey to figure out why. I try to be careful about taking things at face value, so I went and did some additional reading on this topic to confirm that there is scientific consensus about this topic. There seems to be.

For those in the U.S., I read the ACLU’s information on protestor’s rights and had my kids read it too. This was super informative. One sentence stuck with  me, “If you are stopped, ask the officer if you are free to leave. If the answer is yes, calmly walk away.” It can be hard to be calm in a tense situation.

SMART IDEA

I think floating a bed in the middle of a room is an underutilized idea. Based on the number of real estate listing photos that I’ve seen in my lifetime (it’s a lot), many people need their bedrooms to function as more than a place just for sleeping.

In this photo, the designer designed a desk to go behind the bed so that the occupant doesn’t have to look at a desk while they are lying in bed. If you work from home, this could be your saving grace.

The tricky part is securing a headboard because most off-the-shelf headboards aren’t meant to float in the middle of a room.

(image: Natasha Lyon/Appreciation Project via Domino)

I also love the use of a bedskirt in this room. I’ve always liked a bedskirt, but I know they’ve been less popular in recent years.

MARRY ME BUTTER BEANS

The ‘Marry Me Chicken’ recipe took the internet by storm a few years ago. I have not made that, but I am now planning on making this Marry Me Butter Beans recipe from Live Eat Learn.

I just have to decide if I add the spinach or not. That would be a deal breaker for Handy Husband, but since we’ve already sealed the deal, I might risk it. No backsies now!

(image: Live Eat Learn)

P.S. I just learned that butter beans are also lima beans. I am still traumatized by the mixed vegetables in school hot lunches that included lima beans. GAG. We’d try and scoop them into our milk cartons without the teacher noticing. I’m not sure why the teacher even cared, but I guess I grew up in a different time.

POETRY MOMENT

Thank you, once again, for reading today’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend.

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

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