[free]day

really, these days are my favorite.

i do enjoy seeing the transformation of a piece,

but there is something special about 

finding the piece. 

it is such an adventure.

and surprise.

you never know what you will find 

or where you'll find it.

i thought, since there are just

too many projects to even begin

to introduce more of my found pieces

{especially with the holidays coming up 

& the craziness of making gifts & baking &

spending time with families & working...

oh, dear. i am tired just thinking about it}

i will just remind you of the 

[free]day pieces featured 

within the last few months.

some of them are in the transformation

process. others i haven't had a chance

to love on yet.

but don't you worry.

they are absolutely, positively not forgotten.

and, maybe this will give me a chance

to actually catch up...

here they are. in all of their wonder

and 'lost'-ness.

gloria

edie & vivian {viv for short}

jill

mabel

amelia

jay & trudy

and

miss adelaide

phew. you may wonder where i keep

all of these pieces.

great question. it's not pretty...

just ask my husband.

but, remember one day i shall

have a grand shed full of 

all of my crafts, tools, paints & pieces.

and it will be marvelous.

and i will spend my days

creating and being inspired.

the end.

until then, 

i have projects projects projects

work work work 

and food food food.

i think the latter is the best.

hope you enjoy your weekend

dear friends.

i have some time to be creative

and i am very much looking forward to it.

                   .jessnicole.

ummm, ps: harry potter?!?!?!? 

go see it. 'twas grand.

lost & found

one of my sweet friends recently got married

and wanted to redeem

a dining table & some chairs 
for their little home.
{they were practically free for julie. 
a woman after my own heart}

so we got a chance to work on them

yesterday. my first full day of

painting in quite a while.

so...

here they were, somewhat lost & not as put together

and here they are found. 

beautifully & wonderfully new.

it is amazing what some sanding, painting
and staining will do.
{julie, look at you & your painting skills!
and don't worry, the shiny-ness of the chairs
is the dew from the morning. not the patina.}

amongst painting these,

we found some time to 

make a dresser & bookcase like new, too.

cannot wait to show you the pieces 

in their new home.

i love you julie.

and i'm excited to eat at your 
new table!

i hope you all have a spectacular thursday.


               .jessnicole.

ps: ummm, harry potter tonight?!!!!!!

poor man's gard[en]

this past saturday

mr. amazing 

 lived up to his name.

again. 

while i was at work,

he found the most wonderfully 

forgotten dresser. 

we think it was made in the 

late 1800s to early 1900s.

the handles are iodized, 

the wood finish is chipping & worn,

the craftsmanship is unique 

and each drawer has a keyhole.

seriously.

and, we ended up selling our old

dresser {& some rugs} which paid

for our new dresser. almost in full.

perfect.

i LOVE it. it fits everything.

even my trillion pairs of jeans.

what dresser does that?

oh, yes. the 100 year old dressers

{even though they hardly wore jeans back then} 

we know the dresser was handmade

and seems like it was custom built.

there is no stamp or label on it, and each drawer 

fits perfectly into

the drawer frame.

 we think this means some individual built it

for someone special. 

maybe a lover for his bride.

that is what i will believe.

and though the piece is absolutely not for sale,

i think i would like to name it.

 after much debate, mr. amazing and i 

have decided we shall name him 

{even though i would prefer it to be a her}

'clarence'

because he is by far our favorite piece 

of furniture we own.

thus far.

so though this is not necessarily 

an improvement to the structure & interior

of our home or our garden, he wonderfully

enhances our poor man's gard{en}:interior, 

into a rich & lovely landscape.

here is what clarence looked like 

the night we bought him.

and this is what he looks like now.

he just needed some cleaning.

he fits perfectly in our home.

i hope you are having a wonderful tuesday.

my day has been rather full. 

but i am looking forward to chili for dinner

and some much needed time with jonathan.

                       .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

today's post

features our 

guest bedroom.

when we first moved in

it was our 'african' themed guest room 

but we have recently acquired

some stunning furniture pieces 

and have been inspired to 

change the room a bit.

and, it's much more fun to 

change things every once-in-a-while.

it makes life exciting.

and satisfies the artist in both

of us...

so here is a before photo

i wish i had taken one of the 

finished african room. sorry.

you'll just have to see it in 

the in-between stage.

it was a room full of mainly reds, 

blues & some fun bold african

prints. 

it was a bright & colorful room.

quite fun.

but, because we both tend to get tired

of seeing the same thing all the time,

and because

jonathan is really good at finding great items

{& i am growing...}

we can redo things inexpensively. 

so that's what we are doing.

pretty much throughout every aspect of our lives.

doing things inexpensively.

minus toilet paper. 

we don't skimp out when it comes to toilet paper.

we'll gradually be working on the guest room

these next few weeks and i will keep you posted

when it is completed. i am super excited.

and, because i love decorating and love

autumn, i thought i would share 

one of my recent 'tablescapes'

with you.

  enjoy the rest of your tuesday friends.

jonathan and i are going on a date tonight.

finally. 

love.

                         .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

today's post

features a little addition 

to our kitchen

a handmade wall shelf

we recently celebrated our

anniversary in mexico

{see post here} 

and found two metal 

shelf brackets that were

handmade by an artisan 

along the coast of baja.

so, of course, mr. amazing

whipped up a shelf to

put some of our cookbooks

on, hide the nasty old-fashioned

telephone hook-up & give us more counter space

to use when cooking and baking.

see our empty wall

{on the left, & before the grey paint}

 before mr. amazing's work:

and now with our wonderful shelf:

thank you jonathan.

it makes cooking & baking

so much easier with the extra space.

and it hides the ugly phone jack.

and we spent $10 total. huh. perfect.

if you want to see more of our

kitchen {from previous posts}

you can go here.

have a wonderful warm november day.

november?!?!! oh my.

where is our year going?

i cannot wait for thanksgiving.

some yummy recipes to come.

do you have any favorite 

holiday recipes?? 

i would love to hear.

ciao       

                   .jessnicole.