Eichler: before & after photos

Before we go, I'd love to show a few before & after photos of the place.

My very capable husband and brother repairing water and fire damage (from 1969) in the master bathroom. I got out of much of that because I was 8 months pregnant. 

I couldn't find a "before" photo for the master. It had carpet. My husband spent his paternity leave installing the bamboo floors in our master bedroom. We also added insulation in the walls, smoothed out the textured walls, got rid of the trim at the top and used different baseboards. We redid the glass and closets. It's our favorite room in the house. 

The landscape renovation was long- 6 months for the construction. Much of that time we did NOT HAVE A FENCE. Living in a glass house with a brand new baby is not at all PRIVATE without a fence- hi workers! hi neighbors! where's the dog?!

While we're proud to have done all of the interior work ourselves (my husband, my brother, my husband's parents, and me), we were happy to outsource the exterior. Landscape Architect, Chris Jepson at Gamboni Landscape Architect, Contractor was All-Points Construction, and painting and some siding repair was done by Mike Moody Painting. We had a few panels of siding replaced by Scot Nicholls. 

We're Selling our Eichler

We weren't planning to move. We weren't looking to buy a new house. We'd only been looking for a small weekend cabin, but I'm completely addicted to Redfin and real estate so I always look at everything. I probably spend more time on Redfin than social media. 

So, I was just looking around on a Friday night (cuz I'm an old MOM now and don't go out on Friday nights), and I found an amazing house. Mid-century modern and on an acre of land! It looked perfect so I showed it to Chris. It checked ALL the boxes for our future home, but we weren't sure we were ready for the next house! We haven't even finished our sweet and amazing Eichler. I was taking the boys to Georgia that next Sunday morning, and Saturday was booked solid. Chris went to the open house on Sunday while we were stuck in Las Vegas (not awesome). He said the house was a winner! He was in love with the house and I was stuck in Vegas. Offers were due just a few days later. We did some hemming and hawing and decided to AT LEAST just give it try! We didn't think we'd be the highest bidder, so I wrote a letter and they picked us :) We were shocked, scared, excited, and all the other range of emotions. There was some back and forth and more hemming and hawing, but we decided to really & for reals just go for it. We had to put the Eichler up for sale to get some $$$ for the down payment. That was a hard decision! It wasn't done, we JUST built an awesome play structure, we LOVE the neighborhood and our friends in the community. Honestly, we were perfectly happy here. It went under contract in about a week. I hope the new owners love it & the community as much as we do. 

But the new house is stunning! I finally got to see it after returning from a 2 week trip to Athens. The property is perfect... gentle hillside with lots of trees, more space and room to grow, great light and windows, and more. We think it'll be a better investment, a better commute for Chris, better schools, and a better place for the boys to grow up. 

I've never posted "finished" photos of our Eichler because we never thought it was done. We're leaving some loose ends, but it'll give the new owners some fun projects. Here are a few photos that I took for the real estate agent. Who wants to take bets on how quickly they'll paint over the pink gate & door?!?!?

First Birthday: a Spring lunch

A big hooray for the best birthday boy who turned 1 last week. I can't even believe he is 1. We can't imagine life without him. He's so snuggly and easy-going. He's happiest outside. He loves his brother and family to bits and pieces and we all feel the same way about him. Good growin' young man. Happy first.

To celebrate, we had a little birthday lunch and invited my parents and my brother. It was very sweet & simple. I made pasta with pesto and grilled goat cheese sandwiches over fresh spinach (my two favorites). My step dad brought homemade hummus and guacamole and I made a pumpkin pie for dessert.

My older son did all of the stationery... The invitations are on bookboard leftover from a wedding I worked on years ago. My son wrote the baby's name on all the invites. He also made one for "Blast Off," the baby's unofficial nickname (it's what our older son wanted to name the baby). He also made place cards using washi tape on the wood animal puzzle by petit collage, and a pie banner (made from washi tape and toothpicks). It was so fun to have his help and he felt like such a big kid being included. 

I didn't have time to do much beforehand, but my family was happy to help with moving furniture outside and hanging my string of balloons. They even waited patiently while I snapped a few photos. 

Cute party hats by Oh Joy! for Target

I was able to take one photo before we ate. And the baby is showing off how he skillfully climbs right out of his high chair.

Crown on the climber is by tin cup.

a few new gifts... this is a great wooden race track from my dad. 

Landscaping Progress

Holy smokes- it's been three months since I've posted! Are y'all still there? With our on-going landscape project, a 4 year old, and our new baby, life is full right now. My nights aren't my own like they used to be before our new little baby-kins arrived. But I have a moment now to sit down and share some landscaping goodness. Since we purchased the house in the fall of 2011, we've mostly been working on renovating the inside of the house. We've done all the work ourselves (and by we, I mean my amazing husband, Chris. We sometimes get helping hands like my brother and dad, as well as Chris's dad and step-mom). I haven't posted much on the progress inside because I feel like I won't be ready to share until it's more complete... or at least until we're unpacked ;) If you want more, click on the Eichler tag at the bottom of the post. As for the yard renovations, we knew that my mom would do a stand-up job!! Northern California is all about outdoor living and Eichler home are the epitome of this concept! We'll have 2 dining areas, an outdoor kitchen, a lounging area (rocking chair & chaise), a play structure, and lots of awesome plants! 

We started measuring just over a year ago (thank you, Instagram photo, for helping keep our timeline straight). Below are some progress photos of our landscaping. I've posted a few before shots on Instagram (here and here). And early progress (here, here, and here. And I do love this photo of our Monterey Pine that Sumaiyya (thought foundrie) posted on her Instagram. Yowsers- what would this post be without Instagram!???

so, I'll give you a little tour! First photo, we have a new fence! You won't believe what a joy it's been to have a fence up again after months without a fence (and glass walls/windows!!!). It's black and so awesome! Our giant Monterey Pine was taken down, all 70+ feet of it (have you ever seen a 70 foot tree trunk with a chainsaw at the top?)

This is the inside courtyard. That pipe is for the future fire pit! And I got those Salterini knock-off chairs today (craigslist). Like all good things that pass through my hands, they'll be painted turquoise. Thank you, Chris, for *kind of* agreeing to let me paint them turquoise!

The back yard. Really the only thing that's the same is the lemon tree. I don't have a great before shot of this area, but this will have to do. It was basically all old deck, weeds, and dog poop (check out this one -the photo isn't of dog poop, I promise). There will be a lounging area under the lemon tree. A bamboo forest for the boys (dear neighbors, it will be carefully planted), some grass, and a sweet path way that goes all the way around (for bikes and other kid-vehicles). There will be a dining table on the concrete in the foreground and a play structure behind where I'm standing. 

The front walkway has nice steps with rocks (mexican beach pebbles). The house is going to be a dark grey with grey beams and trim

Front courtyard (future fire pit is off to the left). Orange tree is moderately intact from the beating it took from the pine tree. 

We picked up some kick-ass plants from my super favorite nursery: Flora Grubb in San Francisco! This is an aloe tree and I'm so excited about it! This is what it'll look like when it's all grown up. Here is a pic of the other plants I got at Flora Grubb.

SOOOOO, what do you think?!?! What's your favorite part about YOUR yard? 

Some days I feel like this project will never end, but I know it will. And in the meantime, we're just trying to enjoy it as it is right now.