Steel and Glass Home in a Mesquite Bosque {Tour}

We waited too long. Over the last few years, we've been trying to figure out where we want to live when we retire. We love Arizona -- it's where we met and fell in love and married. Now, thirty plus years later, our kids are raised and are starting families of their own. Retirement is on the horizon.

Last year, we traveled to Arizona to see some properties near Tucson.

The Beach House Studio Reveal

Are you ready for the 2015 House Revivals craft room reveal? Okay, maybe not "the big reveal", but the "this is where we are now, and where we'll probably stay until my schedule frees up in, ohhhhhh, I don't know, January 2016 maybe?"

At the beginning of the year, this attic was a big overwhelming mess.

This Beach House is Getting Curb Appeal

Our beach house renovation is starting to move forward again!

Last year we renovated the last of a half-dozen decks.

Because this deck is ocean facing and subject to harsh elements, we bit the bullet and had custom stainless steel hangers and stainless screws installed.

How We're Turning Our Attic into a Creative Studio

Progress on turning our beach house attic into a studio continues, albeit slowly. It seems like work and social obligations (and back to back colds and flues) have conspired to keep us in the city and away from our beach house for the last month.

On top of that, I misplaced the cord to transfer photos from my camera to my laptop (I finally gave up and ordered a new cord), and my cell phone broke, so I wasn't able to access attic progress pictures from the last visit, so I am waaaaaaay behind in updating you lovely readers!

As you can see, contents of boxes are still being disgorged, and transferred into plastic containers. Where did all that stuff come from? My husband just shakes his head, and mutters something that sounds like "hoarders".

Going through it all has seemed a bit overwhelming at times, but at least we can see the floor finally! I had to stop progress at this point, to order more containers. (Actually, that was just an excuse to leave the attic and go for a walk on the beach.)

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this little dress, packed away with some sewing supplies. This was supposed to be part of my daughter's first grade wardrobe. I loved making her these simple jumpers -- so easy to whip up!  All this dress needed was to have two buttons sewn on. Sigh....

I remember that we moved shortly after the school year started, for my husband's job, then were transferred again almost immediately, and the little dress was lost in the shuffle. By the time I was able to unpack it, my daughter had outgrown it. Now, she's nearly thirty and has her own little girl, Summer Rose. I guess I should just get busy and sew those buttons on so Summer can wear it, right?

Here is a reminder of how the attic looked in February. Click here to read more of that story!

I've enjoyed going through stuff, and organizing. Lots of organizing supplies have come from the Dollar Tree, which I will share more about in a future post. To see a list of craft supplies I always buy from the Dollar Tree, click here.

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Attic Organizing, Time Traveling, and Cropdusting Adventures

Remember that attic project I've been posting about? The one with piles and piles of boxes? Yeah, that one.

I've been up there since Saturday morning, only coming down to eat or sleep. My husband had a business trip to Atlanta, so I took advantage of the time to come out to the beach house alone and work. Of course, my camera has broken during this process, so I can't share new pictures until I figure out how to download from my little backup camera.

How to Decorate With Zinc

Don't you just love an old-fashioned kitchen work table with a zinc top? Zinc can feel charming or industrial -- or even a little bit of both!

You may feel like zinc is out of your price range, but you can add zinc accents to your space on any budget.

For a big splurge, you might use this vintage architect's table as a kitchen island. This table would be equally at home in a farmhouse kitchen or an industrial urban loft.

factory20

Anything with chippy goldenrod paint makes me giddy, but add a zinc top and I am in love.

1stdibs

If you can't find just the right vintage piece for your space, SDS Designs builds custom zinc topped tables!

You can even use zinc for you countertop material. The zinc countertops in this kitchen, from Country Living, are simply gorgeous.

Country Living

Zinc countertops and tables may not be within your budget, and that's okay. You can add just a touch of zinc, with this boot tray, from Crate and Barrel.

You can organize your desk in style, with this zinc wire basket.

(affiliate link)Zinc Austin 3-Tier Paper Tray - World Market

Keep track of incoming papers with this beautiful zinc-finished tray. I love that it has a surface on top to put a pen holder and a few office supplies. I'm pretty sure I NEED this!

(affiliate link) St. Laurent Paper Tray - World Market

I am a big fan of mail sorting baskets, and these are no exception. This first sorter would be perfect in the mudroom for school papers.

(affiliate link) Urban Trends Metal Mail Organizer with 3 Shelves, Galvanized Zinc

(affiliate link)Urban Trends Metal Mail Organizer with 2 Shelves, Galvanized Zinc

craigslist

For an even smaller budget, I found these vintage Ball jars on Craigslist yesterday. I LOVE Craigslist. You can find vintage ball jars and Mason jars, with their original zinc lids in antique stores, on EBay, on Craigslist, and even at garage sales. They are a wonderful way to add storage to a kitchen or craft room.

Do you love zinc? Zinc lends such a warm patina to a space. I would seriously LOVE to have that chippy yellow table as my kitchen island, with lots of blue Ball jars for storage.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to House Revivals. We have lots of projects and tutorials planned for 2015.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cool Stuff You Find When You Clean Out the Attic

Cleaning out the attic, as it turns out, is kind of fun. You find all this awesome stuff you forgot you had! You get all the happy brain chemicals you might get from shopping, without any of the remorse you get from spending money and bringing home more stuff. It's a win win!

It's kind of hard to go wrong! When I left off last week, we'd just spent one weekend unboxing and getting rid of stuff, and two weekends building and placing shelves and caulking all the places where the wind came in.

Getting Shelves In the Studio Attic!

We've been hard at work on the Attic of Shame. My husband and I spent an entire weekend assembling shelves, then we did it again last weekend.

For each shelving unit, I had to go into the attic and clear the space for that unit, so all the heavy things were lifted and moved from the taller side of the room to the short side of the room, a bit at a time. Then, when it was time to put up shelves on the short side of the room, all the heavy things were moved back to the taller side of the room.

Adventures in Cleaning out the Attic and Creating a Studio

This post is about my attic of shame. Most people have a closet of shame, or a drawer of shame, but I have an entire attic of shame. Plus some closets and drawers.

When we finally moved our boxes out of storage and into our beach house THREE years ago, we were in a huge hurry and still doing major remodel work, so all of the things that we didn't know what to do with, and didn't want to deal with, got shoved into a tiny attic space adjacent to the sleeping loft. Along with all the random stuff, all my studio supplies got shoved into the attic as well.

And there it sat. For THREE years! Sometimes, in frenzied bursts of creative energy, I would tear into some boxes to find a certain supply I was sure I had. Sometimes I found what I was looking for, but mostly not. We had THE WORST movers, and nothing was properly labeled. The attic was a huge mess that made me want to cry. On top of that, since we must spend the work week in the city, and only get to go to our beach house on weekends, we found ourselves not wanting to spend precious beach time hanging out in an attic. Basically, when faced with a choice between a bonfire and an unboxing session, we tended to choose the bonfire. Which is great. Except when you choose the bonfire for THREE years.

Well, my Word of the Year is Intention, and one of the ways I want to be intentional is to spend more time at the beach creating. I had a long talk with my husband about "going down to the sea" intentionally to create for several days out of each month. Not too many days. My husband and I love each other, and like to be together, so I won't be deserting him; but I can often work from the beach house as easily as from the city condo.

So, I have been cleaning out the attic. Believe it or not, the pictures here were taken AFTER I spent a Saturday unboxing and getting rid of stuff!  The attic is going to become a "studio-attic". Of course, it also happens to be the only windowless room in the entire house, and contains only one light bulb and one outlet. But mostly, it contains NO VIEW. So, while this space will house studio storage, machines, and a large worktable for bigger projects, smaller projects will still be carried to the dining table, or my drafting table, where there is a view of crashing surf. Because, you just don't go down to the sea to hang out all day in an attic.

The first time we saw the beach house, I knew the loft above the living room would be a perfect studio. It was one of the reasons I chose this house (plus, there was the VIEW).  Sigh... Changing job commitments have changed the way we use the house. Now, we use the house for business entertaining about one weekend in four, and the loft has to function as a secondary seating area for games and socializing. I have a small drafting table against that far wall, next to the door, but my dreams for a huge loft studio have been dashed. Le sigh....

Okay, seriously, folks, don't feel sorry for me. I'm a pragmatist, and I understand the house has to earn it's keep. Plus, I still get an ENTIRE ATTIC! Which is more than I've ever had before. And did I mention that this attic is at the beach? After three years (four since we bought the house and started renovations), I'm still pinching myself.

As I was unboxing all that STUFF, that first Saturday, I realized my actions would be futile until I actually had a place to put everything, so I stopped working and curled up in front of the fireplace with my husband and put "buy lots of cheap pine shelving" on my mental to do list. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I went every Fred Meyer within thirty miles of our condo buying ALL THE SHELVES. The sixty inch high units are perfect for the "tall" side of the attic, and the thirty inch high units are perfect for the "short" side.

Do you have a dedicated studio? I could lose myself in Pinterest pictures of gorgeous studios. Mine won't be beautiful right away -- I will feel like I've won the lottery just to have it functional for now! Beauty will come in time.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to House Revivals, so you won't miss any of the fun projects we have planned. Please "like" and subscribe to us on Facebook, so you won't miss any of the stuff that happens between blog posts.., like this cow picture. Who doesn't love a great cow picture?

To find out how we met and  fell in love with our beach house, read this post.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

10 of the Most Popular Posts of 2014

Wow, it's hard to believe we're bringing 2014 to a close!  Here are a few of the most popular decor and craft posts from House Revivals this year.

While my vintage book page projects, especially the woven stars and snowflakes, are my most popular posts from year to year, these are the most popular new posts from 2014:


17 Pretty Ways to Decorate With a Brown Sofa was the most popular new post of 2014.

Another hugely popular post was Super Amazing Ways to Up-cycle Filing Cabinets.

Painting Interior Doors Black is another post that has been popular this year.


Five Reasons to Shop at a Thrift Store Right Now has been a big hit -- if you've read my blog for long, you know I'm a fan of up-cycling, re-purposing, and living a creative lifestyle on a budget.


How to Make Gorgeous Pendants With Dollar Store Supplies was published in December, but it has already become one of the most read new posts on House Revivals this year!

I made a lot of paper beads in 2014, and got really sore hands and wrists, so I devised a way to make a Paper Bead Roller with supplies most of us already have on hand.  How to Make Your Own Paper Bead Roller is a reader favorite!  I still use my bead rollers all the time, and they have saved my wrists and my sanity!

Apparently I'm not the only one who must live with dated colored bath fixtures! When timing or finances or life situation is just not right for a remodel, sometimes you just need to work with what you have.  Decorating With Colored Bathroom Fixtures should help you through your bath decor dilemma!

You were all interested in How to Dress Up Those Plastic Nursery Pots!  I simply do not have the storage space to keep lots of decorative pots and vases, so I turned to one of my favorite materials for this five-minute fix-up!

The Barn Door Hardware Guide started out when I was researching hardware for one of my own projects, and has been a favorite with my readers.

Earlier this year, I found a leather recliner on Craigslist.  It was the wrong color, so I researched DIY leather furniture dyeing. Ultimately, my husband decided he didn't like sitting on leather -- it was too cold and slippery in winter, and too hot and sticky in summer, so that recliner is now headed for the Goodwill. This is why we opted not to spend the big bucks right away on a new leather recliner or on a professional dye job -- we needed to know if we liked lounging on leather. I shared my leather dye research in this post, How to Dye a Leather Sofa or Chair.

These were your favorite House Revivals posts from 2014. Thank you all for visiting this site this year! Your comments and emails are so important to me.  If you had a favorite post that wasn't on this list, let me know in the comments!

Thank you all for sharing links to my posts on your favorite social media platforms in 2014 -- you are the reason House Revivals exists.  If there is a design, art, craft, or decor topic you would like to see covered in 2015, let me know in the comments.

Here's wishing you all a safe and happy New Year, and a fabulous 2015!

Remember When We Got That Energy Audit?

Last year we had an energy audit done at the beach house. Best. Idea. Ever! Around that same time we were buying another property and renovating it and dealing with the sudden loss of my husband's mother, so I didn't share too much about the improvements we made afterward. While I shared a little about the audit here...