It's a Banquette, Baby!

Did you know that "banquette" is pronounced "ban-ket"? Well I didn't. Not until I'd gone around telling everyone I was building a "banquet" for a while and getting funny looks. Although I'd like to say we've been planning a fancy banquet (mmm, food), we have actually just been pining after what Merriam Webster describes as "a built-in, usually upholstered bench along a wall." Like this:

Source: bing.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

Love the whole color pallet

and this, which was made out of cabinets from IKEA:

                                                              Source: aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

And I like the tall cabinets that almost reach the ceiling on this one:

                                                                    Source: theoldpaintedcottage.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

                                                             

I didn't even think this was going to be a possibility in our space. We have a tiny house with just a little bump-out to serve as our dining room. (Please ignore the miss-matched chairs. I was in the middle of painting them.)

But, then I took a second look. If you can see beyond the cluttered space, the gazillion of plants (hey, it's the only room in our house where plants don't die!), and the hodge-podge of colors, perhaps you can envision a cute little banquette sitting along the far wall where the black chest stands. Even though we'd be adding a rather substantial piece of furniture to the space, I thought it might actually make the space feel bigger and more balanced, especially if said banquette was white and tall on both ends.

It might take a little bit of imagination to picture it, but to help you out (and to help us out) we taped an outline on the floor.

The area that juts out a little is where the tall cabinet will stand (there's another one on the other side) and the space in between will be the bench part.

Initially we planned on finding some short cabinets (like the kind that go over the fridge) at IKEA or a local handyman store like BMO (Builder's Material Outlet), which is how Pinterest photo #2 above was made, but what we found was even better (and cheaper!).

A toy box!

Well, two toy boxes, to be precise. We found them at BMO for $20 a pop, and they happened to be just the right size to fit in that nook, and the perfect bench height for sitting at a table. (3' long, 19" deep, and 18 5/8" tall)

You might think all we needed to do to "assemble" the chests was anchor them in place. But in order to ensure everything was anchored evenly to the back wall, we started by pulling up the old trim, which was easy enough. Evan just used a hammer and a putty knife. A little tap-tap-tappy, and we were good to go.

We snagged two tall cabinets from Menards for $250 a piece. We looked at BMO and Home Depot, but the ones at Menards were the right dimensions (most others were too shallow, wide, or expensive) and they were already white - bonus!

But alas, there were a few flaws where the pieces joined together. At first we were discouraged and wanted to return them, but the friendly man at Menards gave us a nice discount instead ($70 off). I'll take saved money over perfect cabinets any day, especially when we can just doctor these up with a little spackle and paint.

Even though these cabinets were almost the perfect dimensions, there was about an inch of space left on either side once we lined everything up along the wall. Not a big deal, especially since you don't really see the space unless you stick your head way over there. But for the sake of keeping everything seemless and to ensure little pieces of dirt, paper, food - whatever - don't find their way back there, we decided to cover it up with a thin strip of molding. We found some L-shaped molding at Home Depot for a few bucks a piece that we nailed into the wall with tiny finishing nails, and then just pushed the cabinet up to the edge sticking out.

Next, we anchored all cabinets into the back wall.  We used a stud finder to locate the studs and screwed the cabinets directly to the wall instead of using anchors.

We used 2 1/2 inch screws... about 16 per cabinet.

But of course, before sealing up that corner of our wall forever, we first had to leave our mark

My sister Sarah lived with us last summer and is a frequent guest/house-project-helper, so we thought it only fitting she sign our wall too. Just a little surprise for a future home-owner to discover some day.

Now on to the bench! First we set everything in place so we could visualize and make a plan. We knew we didn't want the chest completely flush against the wall, because otherwise we wouldn't be able to open the lid as it would dig into the wall. The solution? Inserting some 2x4s as little extenders.

Which we then covered with a cut piece of white particle board (bought and cut to size at Home Depot)

It might serve as a little space to balance back pillows too!

Here you can see how this solved our door-opening problem. Notice the slight overhang?

But that was just the plan. Now time to dig in and get dirty!

Evan glued the boards into the wall using liquid nails (oops, see the hole in the drywall?!) and then screwed them in at an angle for extra security. And yes, we did cover up an outlet in the process. We considered leaving an opening in the back of the chest so we could still have access to the outlet, but there already are two other outlets in that small room, which we figured is enough. We did mark the location of the outlet on the inside of the chest though, in case we ever get desperate and want to cut through to use it.

And ta-da! Everything is in place.

Isn't it amazing what paint can do? I also repainted the window frame and the surrounding floor boards as they were still a funny off-white color from the previous owners.

We plan on getting a larger, chunkier wood table some-day down the line, but for now this table works pretty well. I tossed one of our outdoor pillows on the bench to see what it would look like.

And I decided, to keep everything streamlined, I really needed to paint that back wall to match the rest of the room. You can see I'm playing with curtain ideas (that's just a tablecloth hanging there, but I love the yellow color!). 

The painted chairs were another project we tackled earlier this fall (I'll have to share that later). I know it's kind of funky, but I love how they add some dramatic color to the otherwise pretty neutral-colored space.

Here's some more pictures in daylight

You can see some future toe-board pieces on the ground there

That is most definitely my desk chair taking it up a notch at the table. I'm trying out an exercise ball in the office ... so far so good. Hard to resist bouncing.

My favorite breakfast spot in the house (especially once I get around to making a cushion)

I owe you a chair-painting story one of these days.

In this picture you can see some of the spaces we need to cover up, like the crack between the two chests. We're thinking we'll use some sort of pencil trim and then paint it all white. But thankfully this is usually covered up by the table.

Next up?
-adding toe-boards under the cabinets (in process right now)
-adding cute little knobs to the cabinets for some personality (will check out Anthropology)
-adding a few more shelves (they only came with two each) by cutting laminate boards to fit at Home Depot and painting, if need be
-covering up gaps between bench and cabinet, back of cabinets and wall, etc. with thin trim
-consider adding wainscoting somewhere, just because I love it and it has yet to make an appearance in our house
-curtains (make or buy)
-cushion for bench (I have to buy a sewing machine first!)
-new chandelier (or paint this one?) and swag it so it hangs above table (my dad hit his head about 10 times when he was visiting over Thanksgiving)
-Chunky wooden table (we're watching Craigslist like hawks!). I'd love to have nice wood instead of always having to use tablecloths to cover the cheap laminate. But we basically got our current table for free, so I can't complain.
-and hopefully someday we'll re-do our kitchen so we can get rid of our ugly and cumbersome - yet very useful - portable dishwasher.

But for now, I'm going to relax in my favorite nook!

(pillows from Restoration Hardware a few years ago when my sister worked there)

Perhaps some day I will serve a banquet on our banquette! Now wouldn't that be nice. I'll invite you over and we can practice saying ban-ket while sipping tea and savoring crum-pets!

Wrapping up 2011

Just a few weeks ago my family was all home in New Jersey for Christmas, decorating the tree, rolling out cookies, prepping one of my favorite meals of the year, and trompsing through the woods and fields with dog in tow. With four of us sisters spread across the country, it is a treasured moment when we all are under one roof, let alone home in good ol' NJ.

When we were little we turned into little ballerinas around Christmas time, pausing from our sugar-high-induced Nutcracker "performance" long enough to grab a taste of some "food to eat" (as Karrin used to say, aka sugar cookie dough) before resuming our "dance" - which, much to our frustration, inevitable turned into skipping and galloping in a circle.

I thought it only fitting that I set the following video of us decorating the tree in NJ to the much beloved tune from the Nutcracker. (and I'm happy to say I finally undecorated our Minnesota tree and gave it the boot last night ... so nice to have some more space in our house!)

ENJOY!
(I think my favorite part is when, just for a second, Scott pretends to run in front of the camera with lots of animation)

One of my favorite meals of the year: Swedish meatball!

Apple Salad with walnuts and homemade whipped cream

            

Our sugar cookies are kind of a big deal ; )

The recipe is actually my great-grandma's, and won the purple ribbon at the South Dakota State Fair years ago. Perhaps I will share next Christmas season. The key to decorating is to make an icing, not a traditional frosting.

The Pearson family

the Girls! KCKS (I'm in the process of starting up a sisters blog - I'll let you know once that's up and running)

Christmas morning

             

Sarah gave us all snuggly mittens!

Evan and dad got matching robes!

Christmas Day hike at Baldpate

Bryant Park, NYC

            

We wanted to go skating, but the line was way too long

Toparepa at a stand in Bryant Park. YUM.

Rockefeller Center: the tree! Great photo taken by my dad.

Nice pic of the parents in Central Park

Mike can't help but climb on rocks (Central Park)

We walked to the Upper East Side where we used to live (when I was a toddler). Up on one of the top floors!

On our way to the Brooklyn Bridge, here in the subway

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, with the Freedom Towers in the background

Impromptu visit with childhood friend Ariella (fellow Nutcracker dancer!) at a coffee shop in Brooklyn!

View of the city from Brooklyn, photo by John Pearson

We all met up at the Tree to congratulate Kirsten and Scott on ....

their ENGAGEMENT!

It was so much fun being in NYC to celebrate with them right away. Probably the highlight of the trip! We're so excited for them and can't wait for all the planning to begin : )

We also enjoyed lots of quality time with Max ... I won't mention who's butt this is ; )

See this post for more pics/videos of us playing with Max last year ... when there was tons of snow!

It's always sad when we all go our separate ways at the end of our visit, but there's a lot of exciting adventures in store for everyone this year .... Kirsten and Scott are planning their wedding (!!!!!), Karrin is headed to Madagascar, Sarah is moving to Alaska in June and will then be off to Africa for a bit, and Evan and I have lots of house projects and trip ideas in the works. Here's to a great start to 2012!

E & C Deck the Tree

I was sneaky.

A few weeks ago we got a Christmas tree. Although I would have loved to go to a tree farm like we used to as kids back in New Jersey, we've been really busy on the weekends with photo shoots and Evan's basketball coaching, so we opted for the pre-cut Menards tree. Not such a bad option, really. They have cute little trees that are perfect for our little Minneapolis house.

So one snowy Saturday night (I think the only truly snowy night of the year so far ... what's up Minnesota?) we got to work decorating our tree. But unknown to Evan, I had planted our trusty Flip Video on the bookshelf. Shhhh!

He figured it out by the end, but if you watch carefully (and I mean carefully, because it goes FAST!) you'll see him wave at the camera a little past halfway. Notice how he leaves the room for a minute at the beginning to put on a nice red shirt, per my suggestion? That may have tipped him off that something was a brewing ...

Our tree generally looks the same every year. I love anything and everything Norwegian or Swedish, so we have some straw ornaments tied with red thread, red wooden beads draped over the branches, and some wooden apples as well. I actually grew up with the same apples, and it was always tradition to start our decorating process with them, because you want them evenly distributed, of course. We also have various personalized ornaments, collected over the years -- and quite a few cows!

We're off to New Jersey for some relaxing, lots of games, and traipsing around NYC. Then we'll be back to spend some time with the Piersons at the farm. We'll definitely miss the white Christmas we had last year, but we're excited to celebrate, just the same.

Enjoy the video, and have a wonderful Christmas week!

Ninjas of the Night

We set out after dark, dressed in a hodge-podge of winter clothes. A neck warmer served as an ear-band for Karrin, mom's small sweatpants became Mike's running tights; a motley crew. But when you're on a night run, appearances don't matter.

I'm not sure if we lost track of time in our post Turkey-Day stupor, or if we were secretly just craving a night-time adventure, but whatever the case, we headed out on our run a little later than usual; the darkened sky didn't keep us indoors that November night.

We ran to the creek, then along the thin trail that hugs the creek bed and meanders up and around. A thin ribbon of path, where we shifted to a slightly vertical stride to keep trips and stumbles and twisted ankles at bay. But it's still quite possible to continue forward on a night time run even with brambles and uneven ground underfoot. You rely on your ears and your sense of touch -- and quite often your imagination begins to play.

We were the ninjas of the night.

I believe Mike even climbed a tree that had bowed over our path. A little night creature in the branches. 

Silently treading forward, our foursome made it to Lake Harriet where we paused and marveled at how far we'd come without tiring. The magic of the night, I guess.

But it's true, Mike said. It's often easier to accomplish tasks at night when darkness keeps your eyes from searching forward and forces your attention to remain in the present. Sure, your mind can wander, but you are less apt to think about how much further you have to go as you can't see what lies ahead.

Mike has lead many groups of kids on backpacking and rock climbing adventures (among other things), and will often lead the group on a hike at night, for this very reason. He's even tackled tricky climbs in the moonlight. Kids don't complain as much at night, he says. 

And it's kind of exciting too! A normal path can turn into a grand adventure in the moonlight.

I have never been much of a night runner before (partly because it isn't safe by yourself), but now I look for excuses to run at night. I like to be forced to dwell in the present, and not worry about what lies ahead. I am a planner by nature, so putting those blinders on and focusing on each foot placement in the present, is a welcome change. I guess that's the long and wordy way of saying the old cliches "stop and smell the roses ... enjoy the scenery ... it's about the journey, not the destination." But I like my running analogy better.

Try it. Become a ninja of the night. It'll keep you on your toes!

Note that my dad was most definitely on this run too (photo taken from his iPhone). He is the instigator of most of our runs when we're all together, and is always up for the next big adventure. And Evan even ran a couple miles with us that night - what a treat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's bustling here at the Pierson house: turkey is in the oven, refrigerator is packed with food halfway prepped, coffee is continually brewing, relatives have arrived, and the house is beginning to smell good!

Here's one new dish I'm introducing to the family this year.

But I wanted to stop in quickly on this wonderful day and reminisce a little about Tdays of yore. Remember this video I posted last year? It's one of my favorite Thanksgiving Day memories.

Today will be filled with great memories too -- Happy Thanksgiving!

Reuniting with an Old Friend

Tonight I spent some time with an old friend ...

I'm a little rusty, but it's always comforting to hear that familiar wooden creak, so intimate only I can hear, as I settle him under my chin, and to feel the taught cold strings slide under my fingers.

I was in third grade when I first picked up a violin. We'd been given two options: violin or cello. Although I must admit that I am drawn to the voice of a cello, I happily chose the violin to be in the company of friends and my older sister Kirsten.

Although I played in youth orchestras and then in college, most of my post-college years so far have found my violin tucked away in its case, the last concert program still lingering in its zippered pocket. But this year I decided to rekindle my relationship with the ol' violin and joined an orchestra: the Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra. I'm excited to be playing Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony (which has undercurrents of A Might Fortress is Our God), but the music is rather challenging, so I've spent some quality time with my violin this fall, brushing up and reminding myself of the old road map.

Besides practicing fingering and retraining my brain to think across strings, it helps to notice the little details of the violin itself that make me feel at home.

I forgot how much I love the delicate scroll carved at the top, in perfect cinnamon-roll fashion. At my first rehearsal this fall I was happy to find it still feels natural to sit with my violin resting on my lap, waiting patiently for my part to begin. As I learned to do when sitting in my youth orchestra, I found myself resting my lips on those wooden grooves.

And the moon shaped notch behind the neck, where I rest my thumb as I wait to begin ...

There's something in the waiting. It's such a great exercise for kids and adults alike, to sit within the music like that, just absorbing the sound. You don't realize it at the time, but you are imprinting the music into your brain -- your soul? -- so that years later when you are flitting through radio stations as you drive home from work you catch a snippet of sound that causes you to pause and brings you right back to that chair you sat patiently in when you were twelve years old and could hum every stanza of the Symphony.

Boredom is not an option. For when you're in an orchestra, you not only learn your part, but the flute solo and the clarinet's sad intro, the trumpeter's call -- even the conductor's stance.

One of my favorite moments is the very beginning of a piece when just a few instruments lead us out. It's oftentimes pretty quiet - just a flute or an oboe perhaps - and you wonder if the audience is tired and bored with the soft, lilting music. But this is simply the brink of The Beginning, and when you are familiar with the avalanche of exciting passages and harmonies ahead, those beginning moments hold anticipation.

... thanks again, old friend.

Read more about what my violin means to me in my previous post: Horcruxes. It just might have to do with Harry Potter : )

What are your favorite musical moments? Have you ever strayed from your instrument and then picked it up again? If anyone in the area wants to join our orchestra, let me know!

And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon

We have a tradition at our house where we only come up with a Halloween costume at the last minute. It's not that we dread Halloween or feel obligated to scrounge up a costume, thus pushing it to the last second before those trick-or-treaters start ringing. We're actually huge Halloween fans. It's simply more fun this way. It allows for spontaneity, requires creativity, is an excuse to wear some random things you have hidden away in your closet, and is FREE!

This Halloween my sister Sarah came over right around 5pm when I was busy starting this soup (it's great, try it! More like a Tortilla Soup than Chili. I think I'd like it even more without the chicken and with some garbanzo beans) and headed straight back to my room. Five minutes later she had become a Cowgirl! And notice our pumpkin with Woody? Haha ... non-intentionally theme appropriate (thanks Riley!).

I actually used the same pink-and-white shirt two years ago to be a cowgirl! (Read that post here). And last year I picked out a rarely worn red-and-white shirt to become Waldo. (Read that post here).

You should try it one year. Give yourself five minutes in front of your closet (and possibly other closets/storage cabinets throughout the house) and see what you can come up with.

Sarah's cowgirl costume prompted me to become .... a COW! Perhaps a horse would've been more fitting, but in this family, cows are kinda special. And of course when Evan got home he was game to be a cowboy.

I think it was right after posing for this photo with my tripod that we realized a whole group of kids were crowded by our door just watching us. Oops! I should mention that we had scary/Halloween music playing all night, and one little girl looked up to us with concern in her eyes, saying "it sounds really scary in there." Oh the fun of Halloween.

Here we are practicing our mooing/chewing our cud (Evan is significantly better at this than me).

We didn't have many trick-or-treaters .... more for us! Towards the end of the night we decided to relax upstairs by the TV, but were sure to leave a handful of candy on the front steps for those late-night teenage trick-or-treaters. I left about 7 pieces of normal candy, then a few mini bags of animal crackers, and Evan threw in an old candy cane, just for kicks ... you know, to see if what they would take it. And sure enough, and hour later, it was all gone -- candy cane and all! 

We installed our new full-glass storm door just in time for the festivities! It was a pain to put up and took a few hours, but it was definitely worth it. Now we can spy on the squirrels who like to sit on our doorstep and plot their attack of the pumpkin/decorative corn/you name it. I'll have to post a picture with the door closed soon -- you can finally see the finished blue door!

If you haven't seen this Halloween light show yet, watch it! It's amazing. We watched it about three times the other night. We're thinking a road trip out to California to see it in person next year? Anyone with us?!