A Little Bit of House Progress

Hey- Just wanted to offer up a few photos that shows a bit of the progress we're making on the house! We've been here for about 1 1/2 months and are pleased as punch with how much we've gotten done! The whole kitchen is completely redone (Heath Ceramics kitchen backsplash... yay!)! And we have about half of the floors done! We've done a lot of painting -including the ceiling- in about half the rooms. We are doing all the work ourselves (Chris's parents were here for the first 2 weeks and were invaluable!) Hope you like what we've done so far! Let me know what you think!

(Before photos can be seen here)

YIPPEE!!! Our New House!!

After 3 years in our SF rental, we've decided to take the plunge and buy a house!! It's an amazing time to buy and we feel blessed that we're able to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there! Early in our search, we set our sights on buying an Eichler (<-- info link) ( or you can look at images of Eichlers) Their simple lines, use of outdoor space, and open layout appealed to us immediately! Both my parents have lived in Eichlers and Chris loves the mid-century modern era, so we instantly felt at home. There are a many neighborhoods of Eichlers on the peninsula and we chose to check out San Jose (Eichlers are, ahem, less expensive in San Jose than say, Palo Alto).

We found one that is structurally awesome (and includes solar panels on the roof!), but needs some updating throughout the house. First on the list are the kitchen and the floors. The kitchen is outdated so we're planning on starting over with new appliances, cabinets, and countertops. This is the biggest project for sure!! The tile and carpet floors aren't consistent with the Eichler aesthetic, so our plan is to take up the floors and polish the existing conrete floors throughout the house. Once those are done, we'll all move in. We'll tackle smaller projects like painting, etc. as we get settled and whatnot. 

We signed the papers yesterday and are scheduled to close tomorrow! We are so lucky that we found such a great place... can't wait to call it home!!

Here are a few 'before' pics. Hope you like them and can see our vision :)

 

Juicing!

I'm a big fan of awesome, healthy smoothies and juices!  I just made this one:
beet
carrots
celery
kale
cucumber
pear
apple
ginger
red bell pepper
I love just throwing everything in because really, you can't make a bad juice! Yum!!

Inspired by Zero Waste Home

A few weeks ago I read about the Johnson's family Zero Waste Home in Mill Valley, CA in Sunset Magazine. To say it was eye-opening would be an understatement! It's amazing, extreme, and so inspiring! They have no trash and only a tiny bit of recycling. They're mindful about what comes into the home and are passionate about the ORDER of the 4 R's :: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (as a last resort).

Before reading about the Zero Waste Home, I was moderately pleased with our lifestyle: we have resuable bags for the market, we try to get some items in bulk, we recycle & compost, use Earth Baby (compostable diaper service) for diapers, rarely use paper towels in favor of rags, and we're pretty mindful about what we buy and where it comes from. We have a toddler and I try really hard to resist buying him lots of things: his clothes fit in 3 drawers (jams/socks, tops, and bottoms), he has two pairs of shoes: regular ones and rain boots, and to keep the family sane, his toys are very contained! Other than that, I didn't really know what the next steps were until I read about the Johnson family. There are so many more things that we can do to make our lives better and create less waste for the landfills (and recycling centers). Time to take action! 

I've made some changes this week at home...

Goal #1 streamlined our grocery shopping: Major shopping is now done once per week and I have all the meals planned ahead of time. To me, getting our groceries/shopping/meals in order was step one to tidying up our home life. I'm also stocking up on reusable bags for bulk items. 

Goal #2 organized random drawers: I purged & organized my bathroom drawer and the junk drawer in the kitchen! We didn't need 4 rolls of tape, 18 sharpies, and 3 pairs of scissors. And all those products, etc. in my bathroom drawer that weren't getting used- gone (not magically gone, unfortunately... emptied, recycled, etc.)

Goal #3 decided not to buy paper towels: We've been good about not using a lot of paper towels; a roll would last about a month. But when the last roll was out, I decided no more. Fingers crossed that the cat and dog please refrain from throwing up or defecating in the house (that was my main use for paper towels). 

Goal #4 purged clothes and books that we don't need/want/use: Filled 2 bags with books and took them to the local bookstore. They bought most and the rest went to our local library. I have a bag in the trunk of the car for thrift store and one for Crossroads (nice clothes I basically haven't worn since becoming a mom!). Those are getting dropped off on Monday. 

I'm going to take it to the next level and make some new goals that we're going to work on. Here are a few ideas...

Buy fewer books. Check them out from the library. 

Buy more things in bulk. We have Rainbow Co-op in the city and I can buy so many things in bulk, reducing our consumption of plastics and other containers. I can buy in bulk everything from peanut butter and olive oil, to pasta and cereal, and even detergent and hand soap! Yay!!

Continue to organize different areas of the house where clutter lurks... there's a closet in the hallway (our only closet) that I can't wait to tackle. 

Get rid of lingering stationery, paper products, and envelopes, all leftover from my previous life as a stationer. Anyone interested in taking it off my hands?

Tons of tips from Zero Waste Home can be found here.  

 from Sunset Magazine