poor man's gard[en]

isn't it a lovely tuesday?

maybe i'm really optimistic

because i'm sitting on a balcony

overlooking the pacific ocean

down in newport coast.

but, you don't have to be

on the ocean to enjoy

your day. it just helps. 

today's poor man's gard[en]

features our completed kitchen.

yes, completed.

we finished tiling the floor,

touching up the walls with paint,

and putting the baseboard in.

and, our fridge is back inside.

all in all, we spent a total of $120.

a bit over our projected total. 

but it usually happens that way, right?

and, if you really think about where our

kitchen started and what it looks

like now, it is a great deal.

we are enjoying the new look of our kitchen.

and i broke it in by cooking some yummy

thai food the other night.

here are some before photos

boring...

outdated...

& here is the completed kitchen

do you see those floors? 

you could call us professionals now.

but seriously, we cut our own tile

(i used a wet saw for the first time),

measured, glued, grouted, nailed, 

and painted everything. 

it is so satisfying building something

from scratch and seeing the finished product.

i am now inspired for more projects. 

just no grouting, please. 

(the grouting was the worst part

of the whole experience. worst)

and, to see a previous blog that captures

more aspects of our kitchen, you can

go here

now we are ready to finish the outside of our home.

oh, and we found more space on the side of the

house that would be a great space to plant

a vegetable garden. perfect! that is the next 

step to our garden. i cannot wait.

jonathan and i are also down in newport

coast until friday evening. 

it is going to be a nice time

of sunshine, solitude and beauty.

that being said, this week's features

will be a bit different

as i am not able to paint pieces this week.

but i promise you won't be disappointed

with some of the things i'll share

in lieu of my normal features.

i hope you are inspired today, dear friends.

i would love to hear some of your personal 

creations and projects. love!

                     .jessnicole.

[free]day

today's [free]day is a piece

a few friends found for me

at a fundraiser garage sale.

our sweet friends, jesse & joanna 

are adopting a baby boy

and, of course, because adopting

is not easy or inexpensive, they hosted

a garage sale to help pay for their

little boy, sammy.

though he hasn't arrive yet, 

he is already so loved.

{you can find out more of their journey

in adopting sammy here}

the [free]day piece is 

azura

she is tall and stunning.

azura is going to be gorgeous 

and rich in color. just wait.

i hope you all have a fabulous 

friday. and a fun weekend.

love to you all.

                .jessnicole.

lost & found

i would like to be sipping tea

outside in my garden right now.

reading a good book.

doesn't that sound lovely?

{obviously with a nice breeze}

well, since most of us cannot 

enjoy that romantic setting right now,

i thought i would at least

inspire you all. 

happy thursday. 

and happy lost & found

here is a worn in & lost 

nelle

and here she is, all garden-ed up & found

to see more photos of her or to purchase 

lovely nelle, visit my etsy shop here

enjoy your thursday. 

and just imagine yourself relaxing outdoors

sipping tea & reading a good book 

(or relaxing your eyelids. whichever you prefer)

love to you friends.

                    .jessnicole.

the poor man's gard[en]

good afternoon, tuesday!

i feel alive today. it's a good day.

this past weekend was amazing.

my husband and i re-did our kitchen floor

{with the help of my father-in-law,too}.

we put new italian tile in, grouted it and

then touched up the kitchen walls.

we went to pasadena to play some bocce 

at the park with wonderful friends,

drank some delicious tea at our favorite teahouse,

looked at some great art, went to the flea market,

found some amazing pieces {photos to come}, 

met up with our sweet flea market friends, 

ate amazing thai food with jonathan's parents,

and ate at blu jam cafe with good friends yesterday.

then we saw inception.

oh, and i got to drink an amazing

margarita with one of my favorites, tiffany.

 ugh. a wonderfully full weekend of 

friends, food, life & love.

now, don't let those amazing excursions fool you.

laying the tile and grout was hell.

actually, the grouting was the absolute worst thing

i have ever had to do. 

 i am not lying. dramatic, maybe.

but not a lie. 

a few mishaps here and there made it harder 

than it should have been.

and, i now know why people pay

a ridiculous amount of money for someone

else to lay their tile. 

but it was worth it in the end. 

here is an {almost} completed kitchen.

we still need to put in the baseboard & paint it

and then move our fridge & kitchen items back in.

but we are so close. 

and, because i wanted to share with

you some of the amazing things

we came across at the flea market on sunday,

here are some photos.

i'll take photos of our wonderful finds

later this week.

gorgeous tapestries a woman hand stamps

her hand stamps you can purchase.

umm, next time, please.

love.

more love.

how fun.

seriously. what cool things to use 

for a creative project?!

clocks.

this tub made me covet. it was $800. 

but that $800 could be well spent, no?

okay, maybe if it was an eighth of that price.

and this. oh how i would love to have

this in my backyard.

so as you can see, the flea market was so much fun.

if you have never made it to the pasadena flea market,

and you are ever in the area, it is such a great experience.

just make sure you wear shorts & sunscreen if you go

during the summer months.

they host one every first sunday 

of the month from 9-4.

i've got some amazing new projects in store 

for disregard{en}, and

a few projects for some clients {so great}.

it will be a full month. 

i cannot wait to share with you.

i hope you all have a great tuesday. 

be full of life & creativity today.

                       .jessnicole. 

[free]day

we started laying the tile in our kitchen!

it is almost complete.

my husband and father-in-law

cut the tile, place them 

& i just finished applying

mud to adhere them to the floor...

here is a photo.

since i am not able to take a photo

of a new free find 

[and boy have i found 

quite a few this last week] 

because my workspace

 is full of our kitchen gadgets

and refrigerator, i thought

i would share our tile 

process with you.

and, remember, this tile we found

for free! yes. free. 

so, this is a free find for the day. 

to lay all of the tile

in our kitchen and back foyer 

we spent a total of about $80.

to lay italian tile. nice tile.

i am proud of us.

seriously. 

it already looks so much better.

we are filling in the grout tomorrow

and then i have to touch up the walls

and baseboard. it should be completed by 

monday. i cannot wait to show you 

the final results.

i hope you have a great weekend friends!

                         .jessnicole.

it's not a lost&found kinda day...

only because we are working on our kitchen

floor today. the prep part of it.

okay, well, mostly jonathan.

but i'm helping. 

so i know thursdays are normally

days that i show off my lost & found

pieces but i haven't had much time 

this week to do that. so, 

here are some photos to show you

what stage we are at with

the kitchen floor transformation:

ugly. yes. but it has to get ugly

before it can become beautiful. 

oh, and it smells. the glue used 

to lay the cheap laminate down

was at least 30 years old. at least.

and there were three, i repeat, three

layers of laminate that had to be 

ripped up. my husband is the best.

{to see where the kitchen started go here}

so because i need to be inspired

with beauty after looking at my kitchen

i thought i would share some of my

finds with you. 

photos via me&alice

a breath of fresh air. sigh.

on a more personal note, these last few

months have been so fun for me.

it has been so freeing to dream and create.

sometimes i am not quite sure what my taste

is because i love everything beautiful, and

want to paint & use everything i come across. 

i love the all white, romantic look, i love

the bright, funky look. i love the eclectic look 

and i love the clean, sophisticated look.

ah! see?! everything. 

but i am so glad you on this creative journey 

with me. i have felt so encouraged in these

last few months by all of the responses

and messages sent my way. 

thank you.

we are working on laying the tile tomorrow!

photos to come. and, hopefully i will

get a chance to post a new free find.

have a great evening friends.

                       .jessnicole.

  

poor man's gard[en]

hello friends!!

today is a belated 

poor man's gard[en]. 

 some unexpected events occurred

yesterday & i needed to help a sweet

friend all day. so.... no blog.

but i promise this week will be full

of some exciting things!

my weekend was so eventful & enjoyable.

i found two amazing finds on friday! 

both of them are going to be great end tables.

and, i went garage sale-ing saturday morning

with my cousin-in-law & found 

more great tables.

i cannot wait to show you 

photos of all of my finds!

my husband, jonathan, also found time to 

finally clean up our study/office.

somehow, even after living in our home

for 10 months we still hadn't finished

our back office. it has mainly functioned

as a storage room-meets-office

for the first 10 months living here...

but, it looks great now.

photos to come. i promise. 

and, jonathan also found time to clean up

the front a bit more.

two juniper bushes down. four to go.

get that crabgrass out of there. it's nasty.

bringing style & color to the front. 

it will do. until we can bring life

with paint!

we still have a ways to go but we

are gradually moving along.

and, this friday, my father-in-law

is coming to help us lay the amazing tile 

in our kitchen. to see my previous post 

about our kitchen, you can check here.  

i am going down to the oc today

to help my wonderful mother-in-law

create an inviting and beautiful

atmosphere in her new office.

hopefully i'll get to take some

before and after photos for you all.

have a great day dear friends.

it is already wednesday!!

                   .jessnicole.