Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Thanksgiving 2012

Celebrating Thanksgiving this year took up almost a whole week. We had three separate turkey day dinners, celebrating with both sides of the family (Tuesday and Thursday) and then hosting our annual Friendsgiving feast at our house yesterday. That meant having 20 friends over for dinner.

We also went out with good friends to dinner and to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Friday night. I didn't take any pictures so I borrowed this one. It was a good show but I'm not sure what the baby must have thought of all the loud electric guitar music and laser beams of light shining on us.

As if all that wasn't enough we decided to get Christmas started early this year since we will be a bit preoccupied in a few weeks. We went with the fam to pick our Christmas trees today. We got another live tree that we can replant and watch grow over the years. We plan on putting it up later this week.

When we got home from the tree adventure we decided to pull down the Christmas boxes from the attic and before we knew it, James was already putting up lights his workshop and I was hanging stockings on our mantel. We still have more decorating to do but it's a start.

It was a busy week. Maybe too busy. I woke up this morning and literally every part of my body hurt, especially my hands and feet, which were also really swollen and achy after spending several days going non-stop. At 37 weeks pregnant it's probably a sign I should start taking it easier.

Energy Star Certified

I'm sure you're aware of Energy Star appliances and light fixtures but did you know that an entire house can also be Energy Star certified? That's right, and guess what? Our house passed the test!

In order to be Energy Star certified, our home had to pass a number of tests and be issued a HERS (Home Energy Rating System) Index number. The HERS Index is a scoring system established by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) in which a home built to the specifications of the HERS Reference Home (ie a "standard" new home) scores a HERS Index of 100, while a net zero energy home scores a HERS Index of 0. The lower a home's score, the more energy efficient it is in comparison to the HERS Reference Home. Each 1-point decrease in the HERS Index corresponds to a 1% reduction in energy consumption compared to the HERS Reference Home. Thus a home with a HERS Index of 85 is 15% more energy efficient than the HERS Reference Home and a home with a HERS Index of 80 is 20% more energy efficient. Our home achieved a HERS Index number of 48 which means it is 52% more energy efficient than the Reference Home and up to 90% more efficient than existing homes. We'll save over $1000 a year in energy costs compared to existing homes and because we qualified under various state and federal incentive programs, we'll also get a couple big chucks of change back on some of the energy saving investments we made during the construction of the house. Sweet deal!

We worked with a local HERS rater from the very early stages of planning through the building stages and the finishing details to ensure our home met all of the standards and criteria. Some of the major factors that influence a home's energy rating include:

• Effective Insulation Systems (remember the spray foam?)
  
• High–Performance Windows (remember the low E Anderson windows)
  
• Tight Construction and Ducts (see the super-highway of ductwork here)
  
• Efficient Heating and Cooling Equipment (remember we went geothermal)
  
• ENERGY STAR Qualified Lighting and Appliances (well, that's just a given).
  

After the house was finished our HERS rater came to do the final inspection (they literally count every light bulb in the house!) and perform a blower door test and duct test (to test the "leakiness" of the house and ductwork). Together with the results of the tests and taking into account all of the standards of construction (spray foam insulation, energy efficient windows, geothermal heating, etc) they crunch the numbers and issue your home a final rating. 48 was our number which means we passed with flying colors! Yippie. You can learn more about the HERS Index here and the Energy Star Home Qualifications here.

Summit checking out the blower door test and the ductwork test

Our official badge of honor

Table(s) for Two

We decided long ago that we wanted a rustic farmhouse table for our dining room. Now, I'm not sure if you're in the market for farmhouse tables, but if you look around the web, you will see they are not cheap to buy (see this and this). It didn't take us long to realize that there was no way we were going to drop $1500 or more on a dining room table. So, what did we do? We made one ourselves! It was really pretty quick and easy and because the process went so fast, I didn't really take many pictures of the process. We used FSC certified wood and stained it "weathered grey". James sanded the heck out of the top so it is smooth and glossy rather than rough. I think it makes a nice balance between the "rustic" look we were going for and the "retro" look of some of our other furniture (more on that later). The table is HUGE too - 9 feet long and seats 10 comfortably. You are getting a preview of our dining room chairs and chandelier here too. You'll get to see more when we reveal the rest of the room (ie, when I finish refinishing furniture!).

Of course, we couldn't stop there. James needed a table of his own. Our game room has a long "bump out" section of about 5-6 feet where there are two doors leading to the outside. It is the perfect space for a game table so James decided to build a custom shuffle puck table. Again, if you were to buy a shuffle puck table, you'd drop anywhere from $1200-$4000. Ummm...no. Not in the budget. So James got to work, designing, constructing and painting his own table. Can you tell what teams he routes for (he was a very happy camper last Sunday)?

Cool, right? Both tables have been a big hit already. There's no doubt they will provide both a place to gather and play with friends and family for many years to come!

Our Modern-Industrial-Farmhouse

James and I have lived in a series of one bedroom apartments since we moved in together five years ago. Needless to say, we don't have much furniture. Between all of our house projects I've been thinking a lot about how I'd like to furnish and decorate our new home, partly dreaming about how I'd do it if I had an unlimited budget and partly scheming up ideas of how to make it happen on our limited budget. I've discovered that filtering through all of my personal style and design preferences to determine how I want those influences to be represented in our furnishings and home style is a challenging process to say the least. Throw in James' design preference and it becomes even more complicated. After months of thought and many, many bookmarked inspiration pictures we are finally settling on a style "theme" if you will...or really, themes. Me- I trend toward mid century modern. James likes the industrial farm house appeal. Together I like to think of our design aesthetic as "old school goes modern comfort". Take a look at one of our Pinterest boards to get a better idea of our style inspirations.

Lovely mid-century Danish style credenza


Rustic industrial farmhouse vibe

The challenge will be to achieve this look throughout a much larger living space than we've ever had...on a budget. It's not too hard to find furniture these days, but quality and/or quirky furniture will cost you an arm and a leg and the cheap stuff is just...well cheap. Since our style trends toward "old school" we decided to start shopping at antique stores, something we have in abundance in New England. I spent last weekend with my mom, touring many shops looking for just the right pieces at just the right price. We had a fun day and saw a few interesting options, but the prices just weren't right. The last place we stopped was our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you haven't heard about these, they are awesome for so many reasons. We found two perfect mid-century dutch modern pieces for our dining room, a low dresser which will serve as a credenza and a little hutch for displaying some of our serving dishes. We believe they are authentic 1950's era and they are made of quality solid wood, something you don't find too often anymore. The two together cost $150, a real steal if you compare it to new furniture or antique store prices. It feels nice to give these pieces a new home too. Reuse and recycle! I'm planning on refinishing them both which should be a fun learning experience.

In order to achieve the more rustic yet modern farmhouse look, we are on the hunt for furniture pieces made from rough, raw or reclaimed wood. Several months ago I saw a bedroom set in a magazine that caught my eye. At the center of it was a reclaimed wood platform bed. It was gorgeous and eco-friendly. Read about the bedroom set here on Re-Nest. But at $2400 for the bed alone, I just bookmarked it in my "dream list" and forgot about it. Last week I was sorting through random furniture listings on Craigslist and guess what I came across? THE bed, never used, listed at a greatly reduced price and just 45 minutes from home! It was so unreal that I had to go see it. It must have been fate because after just a few minutes of discussion and negotiation, I was able to purchase the bed for $400 (remember, this bed was originally $2400!) and I was on my way home with my dream bed! It was still expensive but I consider that a pretty good deal, especially because almost all of the similar style beds we have been looking at would cost us at least that much or more and were of a much poorer quality. We haven't put it together yet, so I don't have any pictures but the Re-Nest picture of the bed is below. Now we're on the hunt for the perfect night stands to go with it.

Stay tuned for more furnishing decisions to come. And next week we'll be talking kitchen design. Things are coming together. We're finally closing in on the FUN stuff!!

Update: Since this page has turned out to be a popular one among those Googling "Industrial Farmhouse" I figured I'd direct anyone who is interested to our ongoing House Tour posts. I originally wrote this post well before we moved into our new home, before much of the furniture was bought or the house was decorated. It's still a work in progress, but it is, well progress. And if you're interested in learning how we built our "green" home from scratch, check out our Building Green posts. Thanks for stopping by, even if it was by accident! 

A Fourth Trip Down the Aisle

Last spring I sold my wedding dress to a very excited bride. It was a little sad to see her go but I always knew I was going to pass her on. I remember so clearly the excitement I had when I discovered this dress in a swanky (read overpriced) dress shop on the Connecticut shoreline. I also remember the crushing disappointment when I realized very quickly that I would never be able to afford it. Then came the reversal of emotions when I was able to find it used (twice used, actually), the excitement on the day it arrived, the anticipation upon opening the box and the pure elation of finding that it fit like a glove. It was truly meant to be my dress. I wanted to pass on all those emotions and I was so happy when I found Nhi to be the next happy bride to walk down the aisle in the dress. Nhi and I have been emailing back and forth, before her wedding and now after the happy day. She recently sent me pictures from her big day. It looked like an amazing celebration and this dress was very clearly also meant to be hers as well. I hope she decides to keep the magic going and pass it on to yet another excited bride. Check out all of Nhi's wedding pictures including more pictures of the dress here.

Antiquing We Will Go

This weekend we visited the Harwington Antique & Design Festival. Last fall James and I spent a weekend in the Finger Lake region of upstate NY and while there visited several large antique outlets. It's just fun looking through old stuff. To think about where some of the things have been and what the previous owners were like. We don't buy much but it's really interesting. Now whenever we are on a road trip we make a habit of stopping whenever we pass an antique shop, the weirder looking, the better.

Here are some sweet finds from the day. I decided to give the photos an "antique" look to go with the theme of the day. It gave me a chance to play around with some Photoshop techniques.

Gorgeous wooden trunks. Great for a living room or bedroom.

Pair of owl fireplace stands


Looooong bench. Would be perfect for the entryway of the new house.

Tea anyone?


Check out those rockers! Oh how we could grow old in those...


This mirror was a beauty. Can you picture it hanging above a mantle?


Drooling over this dining table.


Probably my favorite find of the day. Imagining these on our future front porch.


Old books. I can still smell them. love.


Skeleton keys. They don't make them like they used to.

While I can dream all day, the only thing that actually came home with us (aka the only thing that we could afford) was a handful of the skeleton keys pictured above. It's fun to think about what each key actually unlocked in its glory days. I'm glad we came across them today, there's lots creative ways we can incorporate them into the decor of the new home: exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C.