ROBIN HOOD'S HIDEAWAY

On April 15, 2008 we closed on a 1955 Mid-Century Modern home in Merriam, KS that was custom designed by the late Donald R. Hollis of Hollis + Miller Architects. We will be sharing our journey as we update the house to make it our own, while trying to stay as close to the original design as possible.

Showing posts with label Halloween Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween Party. Show all posts

Monday, January 5, 2015

New Year's Resolution - Update Blog!!!!

Despite some hounding by LD and some friends, I only managed two posts in 2014.  I could lie and claim that we had no projects that were blog worthy, but I won't.  I was just plain lazy when it came to writing.  So my New Year's resolution is to  update this blog a lot more often than I did in 2014, which is not setting the bar too high.  Well here is to hoping that I keep this resolution.

In order to make up for my lack of updates last year I will try and catch you up with some of the highlights from last year.

Our Homeowners Association organized a bidding process for those of us that needed trees trimmed and/or removed.  We took advantage of the lower prices, and had several trees trimmed.  Unfortunately, we also had our silver maple removed from our front yard.  It had just sustained too much damage from previous storms, and it kept loosing major limbs with every storm we had.  We were happy to provide some work for a hard working crew during their off season.


Minor project, but worth mentioning.  Given the lack of contrast between our wall and house numbers, we decided we needed to make our house easier to locate (delivery persons, first time visitors, etc....) So we purchased a stencil from Modern House Numbers, and stenciled our address to the curb. Hopefully it makes it easier for the pizza delivery person to find us now.


LD had been lusting after some wall tiles from Inhabit Living for several years, and in 2014 she finally bit the bullet and placed an order for some of their Tierra Wall flats.  She put a ton of effort into the prep and installation of those tiles.  This project is worth a blog all on its own, so look for one shortly.



Not a house project, but certainly worth mentioning.  I was a frequent stalker of the IKEA construction site.




On September 10, 2014, LD and I joined a few thousand other IKEA fans in celebrating the grand opening.  It was well worth it!



So instead of having to travel 8 hours to get to the IKEA in Minnesota, I only have to travel about 3 minutes.  Walking and/or biking are also an option!

After much discussion between what the bar for Blackdog Bar would look like, it finally became a reality this year.  LD fell in love with a metal counter that she saw during one of the first weekends at the West Bottoms.  Unfortunately that specific piece was too large for our house, but she commissioned one.



There were a couple of bumps along the way, but she was very pleased with the final result.  It really fits the space nicely.  Now I need to take a bartending class!



It got done just before our Halloween Party!


After taking a hiatus in 2013, we were happy to host a Halloween Party in 2014.




Given the Royals success this year, it became a Halloween/Royals Watching Party.


I was torn between rooting for a team I have always liked (Giants), or rooting for the Royals.  I ended up rooting for the home team, and was very happy for the Kansas City Community.



We have finally started work on much needed landscaping in our front and side yards.  The first phase of this project is almost finished, stay tuned for more updates.


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Haunted Happenings


Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween, with more treats than tricks!  At Robin Hood's Hideaway we celebrated Halloween a couple of days early.  After foregoing our Halloween party last year due to our bathroom remodel, we were not about to let this year go by without celebrating one of our favorite holidays with friends.










In preparation for our party, however, we were busy trying to get some projects completed.  Here are the much overdue updates:


We are happy to report that after having settled on a new paint color for our office over a year ago, we finally got around to painting our office.  I am glad that Benjamin Moore still carried the color!  Unfortunately, the walls looked nicer and they made my desk and bookshelves stick out like a sore thumb.

My World Market Konrad desk and Riley bookcases did not really go with the style of the house (they had been a perfect fit for our other house).  So we ended up going to Minnesota and LD talked me into purchasing a walnut table top from the Room and Board Outlet.  We bought legs and a drawer kit from Ikea, and we ended up assembling a one of a kind desk that fits the room much better.  We also bought some Gallery bookshelves from the Room and Board Outlet.  

I celebrated my birthday in September, and LD bought me the chair that I fell in love with the first time I saw it at Room and Board.  




Hmmm, something about my birthday and chairs (last year she bought me an Eames shell rocker).



We also picked up a glass table top for the Herman Miller table base we had purchased a while back.  The round table looks much better in our dining area.  It has a few scratches that we will have to address, but for $9.99 it was too good of a deal to pass up.

To top it all off, we finally installed baseboards upstairs!  It was tedious work, but it sure finishes up the rooms.  I can't believe we lived without baseboards for three years!


LD also managed to purchase ALOT more decorations while I was away on travel.  We really need to build a storage shed, unfortunately that will probably have to wait till Spring.










The house looked quite festive, and it really set the mood for the party.  


It might have been a little too festive, since it actually attracted a "mystery" guest.  
One of our friends called me over and brought to my attention a phantom/grim reaper who was standing by himself/herself in a corner.  I walked over to welcome them to the party and to figure out who it was.  I really could not tell who it was, so I asked.  The only response I got were growling sounds and a husky voice that said he/she was hungry.  So I told him/her to help himself/herself to some food and drinks.  A few minutes later Mark asked me if I had figured out who it was because he/she had walked outside and left.  At that point I got a little worried and went to ask LD if she had interacted with the mystery guest.  She pretty much had the same interaction, and he/she never did identify himself/herself.  We felt it was quite creepy and we had Katy search the house to make sure that our mystery guest was not hanging around.


Nothing like a party to motivate us to get things checked off our 2011 to do list.  This party helped us accomplish three of our goals!