Pepper Design Blog

Sledge Hammer Stories: Out with the Outdoor Room

Once upon a time… there existed a makeshift home addition known affectionately as the “Outdoor Room”. This little room had four wood paneled walls, plenty of windows and, um, well-used blue berber rug.

Upon purchasing our casita we knew our outdoor room needed to be at the top of the Honey-Do list. There was so very much to do though that it eventually fell somewhere between fix plumbing, re-wire knob & tube electrical and replace bathroom. Whew! Our list was starting to get long… But then one sweet summer day (pre all of the above list items), we decided to get moving on our new outdoor space… and visions of bbqing, sipping red wine and laughing with friends around a sweet outdoor fireplace began dancing through our minds.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a summer evening… and so the project was on.

Before we could design the perfect space, however, some major sweat was involved in tearing down the entire room (this is where the sledge hammer comes in), ripping up hundreds of bricks & slabs of cement, and clearing much backyard space. BUT… this is sort of what we had in mind when it would be finished:

Stay tuned! And if you really love home makeover projects, wait until tomorrow’s Friday Guest Blog by Young House Love – a neat play-by-play of a terrific home renovation by two crafty twenty-something-year-olds. I found this awesome blog while searching for like-minded posts to learn from… and it’s been an invaluable resource!

Our Little Labor of Love… Begins Here

Soooo…. this is our little nest. There’s something so special about your first home and all of the memories to be made.

And then there’s something special about old homes. They smell of wilted wood and dust, creak loudly when you walk and store dirt decades old in the grout of the kitchen tile or corners of your crown molding. But now (thank goodness) I love old homes. The history they keep, the stories they tell – it’s all a matter of embracing the cracked basket weave tile and imagining what potential lies ahead.

Back to that piece about an old home though. The true glory of our new casa lies in the following pictures because we *happily* have our work cut out for us.

Here is the kitchen and den. Love the colors? Me too (*wink). Did you know they made turquoise formica and matching window shades? Me neither. Read more »

The House Hunt is On…

As we continue to fix up our little Spanish casa piece by piece, I thought I might take a quick moment to catch everyone up to how we got to where we are today. It all begin just two years ago with a keen interest in owning our own little piece of property. I had recently become obsessed with a little nook in San Diego known as Kensington because it reminded me very much of the streets I’d like to one day raise my children on.

Kensington is a charming neighborhood with a teeny tiny downtown that houses a one-room theater, two coffee shops, a little library, small park and perhaps a half dozen skin and hair salons. It’s surrounded on three sides by San Diego canyon, allowing for a gentle ocean breeze just about any time of the year, despite the fact that it’s ten miles or so from the shores. The canyon helps to keep the spirit of the community protected and isolated from much of the rest of sprawling San Diego as well.

Kensington’s street’s are lined with palm trees and the homes are little renovated nests that replicate, for the most part, their 1930′s architectural counterparts. We were on the hunt for one such renovation project — the worst house on the best block, if you will. Take a look at three of our contenders… Read more »