Sharing the Joy

I mentioned in my first entry that I was really inspired by other blogs to begin my own. I really wanted to share one of my favorite blog discoveries. I check this blog regularly. It has guest bloggers, do it yourself (diy) projects, before and after shots, textiles, all sorts of wonderful resources and things (Only if your into design and homes). It always gets my creative juices flowing. I hope you love it as much as I do. If you ever decide to travel to any major cities, this blogger has lists of unique shops in each major city. YUP, even a list for little ol' Atlanta. So make sure you check it before you go traveling next.

A Superbly Featured Fire Place

One thing I love about our old home is it's fireplace. If only it were still up to today's codes, we would be sitting by that fire every night come winter. But unfortunately it is not up to code, and if we did burn a fire we would probably burn the house down, or fill it with smoke.

I have seen people do a lot of different and creative things with their old/non functioning fireplaces. I think it is a really interesting way to add character to your room. I figured we would throw a few candles in our fireplace like most people do and be done with it. I have been online checking out different ideas. One in particular that I LOVED, that I can't seem to find a picture anywhere, but it was a fireplace filled with old magazines stacked in columns. At added lots of color. Here were a few others I found online that were cool:




Our fireplace was sitting empty for a while and in desperate need of decorating. I was trying to brainstorm as to what we could do, and I really did like the candle idea, but it felt overdone. Us here at 1114 are not about doing things the normal way. Anyway, All of a sudden it dawned on me. And thanks to a wonderful gift card from Christmas to Pottery Barn, I was able to execute my idea. It is not every day that I have new and creative ideas, so I must say that I am really proud. Check out my superbly featured fireplace.

I love the cute little lanterns!

Being Green

There is so much hype around 'going green', sometimes I find it quite irritating honestly. But recently I have realized just how rewarding it can be. It can be a lot of work sometimes, but I've been appreciating how everyone seems to be working together to make it easier. Joe and I garden green. We have a push mower, which some may say is too much work and maintenance, but really it is not. The blades are self sharpening, how cool is that? Joe snagged it for $20 at the same salvage yard he got our hardware.
When we started gardening it didn't take long for us to realize we would also need a weed waker for all of our overgrown hedges...so of course we went for the electrical one which is superb. Why are people so opposed to having a chord to plug in? It is not really an inconvenience.
I know that you find this picture of our weed waker most riveting! And finally, our compost pile. This is the one I struggle with the most. I'm use to throwing everything in the trash. I also hate having a separate container under our sink full of rotting food waiting to get taken out. Yuk! But, it is fun to watch our pile grow and develop and I'm looking forward to getting to use it in our garden. Seems silly to pay for dirt.
That is how we do it. Some times it is inconvenient, and it takes patience, but this is what makes it most rewarding.