Putting the Fridge in it's Place

Here is the beginning of what I'll call the "Refrigerator Repositioning/New Bookcase" project, or "Why it's good to have an Ian around". Stuff like this would cost a ton if we had to hire someone. But that IS why we got this house. We knew it needed work, but we have the ability to make it awesome.

Part 1: Breaking through the wall of the closet in the living room from the kitchen side. This is the new opening for the refrigerator to go in. The closet doorway in the living room will be closed off and turned into a built-in bookcase.
Look at the master at work...and a hint of the new paint color for the kitchen (stay tuned for more in the next post).
This is what the finished space looked like after drywall, paint and electrical.

This is the finished product!

Right now we have vases on top of the refrigerator, but Ian left space to eventually put a cabinet in over the refrigerator. There was a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo that went into this project, but I won't bore you with that. The important thing is that this move leaves so much space where the refrigerator used to be (in the middle of the kitchen)! You will see what I'm talking about next time ;) Trust me, it's like a whole new kitchen.

Where Sam Sleeps

This post is all about Sam, and his sleeping habits. Sam has a bed of his own, which he does sleep in. But his favorite place to sleep is in our bed...under the covers. At night he likes to have his back touching one of us, while he rests his feet on the other one. Here are some other favorite spots of Sam's:

In the laundry:

On the computer:

Other favorites include:

- In sun spots on the floor

- In cardboard boxes

- In a box of Ian's clothes, in the basement

- On the desk...preferably on the mouse pad, while it's in use

- in the computer chair...preferably right after someone has been sitting in it, and it's warm

- in the wardrobe, in Ian's sock bin

Sammy the Snowman

Look at my handsome boy!

This winter in St. Louis was particularly snow-tastic. It's fun for a little bit, but spring will be more that welcome. Sam enjoyed his first experience in the snow, though.


He does this thing where he switches from paw to paw, because his poor little toes were frozen. But he still did NOT want to come inside.


This is what the house looked like when we first went to look at it. It's been almost a whole year of living in our new abode. And, wow, have we done a lot in that time.

Where We Lay Our Heads

Here is a look at our bedroom thus far. We really have put no effort into this room yet, since: 1). Every other room in the house needed more attention, and 2). The greenish-olive wall color in here wasn't too bad...it at least doesn't clash with what we already have. Actually, I have no idea what color I would put in the bedroom. It bothers Ian more than me, but every time I look at paint colors I get nothing. I don't want to do beige. I wouldn't mind a green, but one that is less olive-y. I don't mind the darker shade either, since the bedroom is a decent size.

Oh, and we replaced the ceiling light (with a cheap light for the time being), after Ian rewired it. The one above, that came with the house, seriously left black scorch marks over where the lightbulbs were (which you can see above).

Here is what our bedroom looks like so far. Ok, that's a lie. Our bedroom never looks like this. It looks like this, but with clothes covering the floor and the bed never made.

We finally found a wardrobe, which took about 6 to 8 months of looking through craigslist, antique stores and auctions. It now holds Ian's hanging clothes, bins for socks and undergarments and sweaters.

We still need a headboard, a second nightstand and some sort of vanity/table and mirror for my makeup, etc.

Materials: (all from our apartment, except for the wardrobe)

Bed: Tempurpedic (best investment EVER, plus we got the box spring free, since it was the floor sample)

Bedding: Crate & Barrel

Sheets: Target

Orange pillows: Crate & Barrel

Knit blanket: Target

Wardrobe: craigslist.org

Side table: Made by Ian

Green table lamp: Target

Dresser: Emporium at Warson Woods (antiques)

Travel Posters

So we desperately need some artwork in our living room. Our office is full of samples of our work, so by comparison, the living room looks really empty. We decided to do a little project to get something up on the walls.

The two larger prints are from an old calendar of mine, full of awesome vintage travel posters. We custom matted them, since the were an irregular size, to fit into a standard frame size. the two smaller images are reproductions of travel posters that Ian got in Hawaii, right before we first met. We still need art for two larger wall spaces. One will be filled with custom art, made just for us!!!...hopefully more on that in the not-so-distant future.

No Pictures Please

This was my attempt at getting some Christmas pictures, and maybe one for our Christmas card, of Sam. He decided that we didn't need to have him on our Christmas cards after all.


Walking off the job, such a diva.

Cookies :)

It's no secret that I don't do the cooking around here. Ian's fantastic at it, so why bother? ;) But I'm not too bad at baking. I decided to give an assortment of cookies and treats to our neighbors, who have been so great to us.

The cute boxes I found at the Container Store.

Merry Christmas!

I love my Christmas decorations. One of my favorite things about winter is putting up our tree. Our tree is full of ornaments representing us...the trips we've taken, our hobbies and things from our lives both together and apart. Our tree tells our story...this is a tradition I got from my Mom.

My cute snowman hand towels that match the bathroom.

Look at all our Christmas card love...and Sam :)

Pumpkins and Leaves

Fall at the Kreidich house! Love love love!



Sam loves the fall too. This was his first experience playing in the fall leaves.


And LOOK at the tree in our backyard. Talk about color. I could sit outside all day and look at this tree. There is nothing like sitting out on our patio on a perfect fall day.




Here is my little DIY fall project. I made this wreath for our table. It was only a mild pain in the butt, as all craft projects turn out to be. But I think it worked out nicely. Ian contends that it is too big for the table. Secretly I do agree, though I pretend that it still works.