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living room update!

by Kaylah Stroup July 31, 2022

This spring I was looking for some projects to keep my mind busy. I mean, the house is full of projects I still need to finish and tons I haven’t started yet but I needed something ‘easy’ to occupy my mind. I wanted a quick flip with great results to give me a boost! (This did not end up being a quick fix but it was definitely an excellent mental boost!)

Although the green on the walls in here was what inspired my whole ‘paint everything green!’ addiction, I realized that it was the wrong shade of green. (There are some shots of it at the bottom of this post.) It was more of a blue-based green. I didn’t realize that I was super picky about my undertones but I am definitely a yellowy green gal! So, that was the number one thing I wanted to change.

Then in true ‘if you give a mouse a cookie…’ fashion, I decided if I was going to do anything in this room, I ought to do everything else that was bothering me. I patched some decent sized cracks in the wall, re-finished the floor, and picked out new furniture!

The living room wasn’t terrible with what we had in it… but it wasn’t great. The blue couch I had been moving from apartment to apartment over the last decade no longer felt like me. Fast forward to this finished living room? It perfectly encapsulates my design style at the moment. I am OBSESSED with our living room.

Green couch in a green living room

PS. Peep the matching bandana Professor has to my leggings! Both are from Redbubble. You can use code ‘RBC-P22-thedaintysquid’ for 15% off your order.

sources + info!
couch is Sven in grass green
paint color is ‘Sweet Annie’ by Glidden
rug
snake lamp
hand chair
hand curtain tie backs

Of course, we can’t end an updated room post without a little peek back at some of the room’s previous looks! The first photo, with the red rug and curtains was the living room on inspection day. (I think all of this stuff, other than the tv and wall art, were all here when we took ownership of the house too.) The second photo is what it’s basically looked like the whole time we’ve lived here.


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wet specimen rose

by Kaylah Stroup June 16, 2022

Inspired by my pal Mickey, I decided to make a wet specimen from a rose out of my garden. This isn’t my first foray into the world of wet specimens. (This post is from ages ago but *ahem* you can see another wet specimen I made.) This was my first time ever trying to preserve a flower in isopropyl alcohol though! My dad gifted me this rose bush last spring so it felt like the perfect ‘very special thing’ to experiment with preserving.

Press play to watch the video below to see how it turned out.

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I certainly wasn’t expecting the color to drain that fast! It’s hauntingly beautiful, right?! I’m so excited to change out the alcohol in a few weeks for some fresh stuff. I’m already daydreaming about a shelf full of wet specimen treasures from my garden!

If you want to try making a wet specimen flower for yourself, all you need is 70% isopropyl alcohol, a glass jar with a lid, and flowers of your choice! Tag me @thedaintysquid if you post any photos of what you make! xoxo

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stroup mansion – hallway 2022

by Kaylah Stroup February 27, 2022

shirt from Redbubble. PS. You can use code RBC-V22-thedaintysquid for 15% off your Redbubble order, good now til June 30th.

Just dropping in to share some current photos from my hallway from the last month. Every tiny project that happens around this house reminds me more and more how important it is to document the house at every stage. So, even though this space isn’t finished here it is!

snake lamp // bird leg table

giant mirror

Although the hallway got a fresh coat of paint when we moved in, the real renovations aren’t something even close to the top of the priority list. I kept thinking that I’d wait until I did the big stuff (namely the floor) before I worried about hanging anything on the wall or even decorating.

Jeff and I kind of had an ‘aha!’ moment recently though. We decided that we should add to our tiny collection of portraits of strangers and that all of those should fill our hallway. I bought a few more portraits from Etsy and couldn’t resist hanging them. I’m not one of those people that plans out a gallery wall before hanging it so I’ve just been adding pieces as they arrive. Each new piece has made my love for this space soar. Aaand that’s how this all started. After that I added some new plants, picked up a clearance rug and splurged on my dream mirror.

There are still renovations I want to do up here but I truly love this room exactly as it is today. Honestly, I’ve felt that way about this space since the first time I saw it. It just keeps getting better and better!

rainbows made with this.

Can’t end this post without a little flashback to what this space looked like in 2013 while it was abandoned! I can’t lie, that wallpaper is pretty rad. I’m almost glad it was gone before we moved in or else I’d have definitely been tempted to save it.

This post contains affiliate links.

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stroup mansion halloween 2021

by Kaylah Stroup November 1, 2021

I knooow, It’s November already. Halloween is over, sadly. BUT I have to document this on the blog. I turned the sweet little rose garden in the front yard into a graveyard for October and I am OBSESSED. I truly can’t believe this is mine. Seeing this daily brought me so much joy. I even bought a set of solar-powered spotlights so people passing by at night could enjoy it too.

Looking forward to doing it even bigger and better next year. Fingers crossed I can get my hands on that stupid 12-foot skeleton. He’s what this place is really missin!

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my first tomato focaccia

by Kaylah Stroup October 15, 2021

This year I grew tomatoes for the first time. I mean, I grew A LOT of tomatoes. I didn’t have the best luck with larger varieties but my cherry tomatoes were a major success. I have eaten more tomatoes in the past three months than I have in my whole life. My favorite way to eat them is to roast them in oven with salt, pepper, olive oil and a boat load of garlic. Cooked up like that they’re literally perfect on everything.

On instagram I had been seeing photos of people’s beautiful focaccia art. I had never even had focaccia but I understood that it was some sort of bread-y thing that I could dress up any way I’d like. Seemed like the perfect way to use up tomatoes!

I followed this recipe. It’s not all that quick, requires some kneading and rise time. It’s enough work to make you feel like you’ve really accomplished something when you finally get to sink your teeth into it but easy enough that you basically can’t mess it up!

It turned out PERFECT.

ready to bake!

fresh out of the oven!

I hesitated sharing about my first focaccia here on the blog because it’s already been a few weeks and I guess I can see how it’s not really a big deal but you guys, I was SO excited about this darn thing. This year I’ve done more experimenting in the kitchen with things I’ve grown than ever before. (See: blackberry cobbler) It’s so satisfying. Gardening can be extremely frustrating and overwhelming but when things go right it’s truly the best. It brings me so much joy to know that I grew nearly everything in that meal. The tomatoes! The peppers! The onion! Right down to the herbs, those came from my garden.

Since this first one, I’ve made one each week! I’m obsessed. Each one has been better than the last as I learn what flavors I really like to lean in to. It’s been an awesome way to use up tomatoes but I’m also looking forward to experimenting with more artsy versions once my tomatoes are done for the season.

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stroup mansion – halloween dining room

by Kaylah Stroup October 12, 2021

Even though this is our second Halloween in Stroup Mansion, it feels like the first. We had only been in the house a little over a month last year at this time. Decorating for any holiday, even my most favorite one, just wasn’t a priority.

Halloween this year though? It feels SO exciting. I’ve been hunting for decor for months now. Living in our small apartment with tiny closets and no extra storage space meant that I basically had nothing for any holiday. I’ve been stalking the big box stores as well as thrift stores, antique malls and well, literally anywhere else that might possibly have something I like. My collection of Halloween decor is still quite small but I definitely picked up some neat pieces this year.

When I was in my early twenties I distinctly remember thinking “I wish I had kids to decorate for!” I don’t know why but I felt like I needed en excuse to celebrate big for any holiday other than Christmas. I’m so happy to have realized how dumb that was because holy smokes, this makes me so happy. Just out of frame, my dining room is still a work zone. There is drywall that needs mudded, an ugly fireplace that I need to spruce up and gosh, I hate the fabric on the chairs but every time I walk into this room I’m filled with joy.

I hope every year here Halloween can be bigger and better! I’d love to add more skeletons, more spiderwebs in here next year. I want to be able to share more than just one tiny spooky corner!

For this year though? 10/10! Would haunt!

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2021 pumpkin patch

by Kaylah Stroup September 30, 2021

Our first summer at Stroup Mansion! What a magical summer it was. JK. I didn’t have the most fun. It was hot… and wet… and mosquito-y. I had grand plans of spending the whole season in the garden but honestly, all the beds I made in the spring were basically ignored for a few months while I hid from mosquitos in the house.

Spring was amazing and thankfully, fall is looking like it’ll be just as dreamy! I’m finally able to be back outside in my gardens, enjoying all the hard work I put in earlier in the year.

I made myself three main beds back in early spring. There is my large flower garden, a rose bed, and a fairly sizeable kidney bean-shaped bed which I really had no formal plans for. That bed kind of became a catch-all. Anytime I stumbled upon a cool plant that didn’t fit in my flower bed vision or somewhere else around the yard, it went into that bed.

I had read that the best time to plant pumpkins was early June so that they’d be ready in time for Halloween. It just happened to be around that time that I had the realization there was no way I’d be able to afford to buy plants to fill that bed. Not to mention the fact that I didn’t want to rush into filling it with perennials just to get it done. My dad had given me a bunch of miscellaneous gourd, pumpkin, and squash seeds he’d saved so that felt like a great place to throw those. They’d keep the bed intact so that it wouldn’t become overrun with weeds. (Listen, I ain’t weeding an empty bed. I needed the motivation of something actually being planted in it!)

All that to say, what was just a way to use up some seeds and fill space ended up being one of my favorite things to grow!

I get so much joy from walking around my pumpkin patch each morning, scanning for new growth. It’s wild how easy they are to miss in the mess of all the leaves. That large white pumpkin in the middle? I didn’t see that until I did one last pass of the garden before taking these photos! It’s the largest one I grew and yet somehow I never noticed it!

I’m very much looking forward to going wild with this next year! I’ve been hunting down varieties I’d like to add to my mix. (Y’all have you seen black pumpkins!?!) I’ve even been researching growing them on a trellis instead of letting them run wild in my yard. I just can’t wait to at least double what I grew this year.

I think a lot of the satisfaction in these does come from the fact that I just didn’t enjoy my gardens for a few months and yet was still rewarded with these precious little things waiting on me when I decided to emerge. Feels like such a sweet fall treat.

If I didn’t love tiny pumpkins, gourds, and squash before (I definitely did) I sure do now!

outfit details
sweater
turtleneck
jeans
boots

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our new windows!

by Kaylah Stroup September 29, 2021

This post is sponsored by Universal Windows Direct.

Patio door off kitchen before + in progress.

We just celebrated one full year of living in Stroup Mansion. In these last twelve months, I’ve accomplished SO much. I’ve refinished original hardwood floors, hung new drywall, gone through gallons of paint but honestly, one of the most exciting things we’ve done for the house is get her new windows and a functioning patio door!

I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work with Universal Windows Direct the last few months and wanted to write a little bit about my experience and how easy it was to update our windows (and doors)!

The laundry room before + after.

We had a total of six windows replaced by Universal Windows Direct. Three in the attic (you can see those in this video!), two in the hallway (above in the photo with Klaus), and one in the laundry room. The laundry room window is one of my favorite improvements. It was one of the worst windows in the house. It hadn’t been replaced by the previous owner despite the fact it was cracked. I knew it needed to be replaced just based on that but I truly wasn’t expecting how much better a new window would look! I swear, it’s like the room has a whole new view of the yard now simply because you can actually see out of the window now.

The whole process was a breeze. Universal Windows Direct offers free estimates. They’ll come out to your home, show off product samples and talk everything over with you. They even do a neat little demonstration with a torch to show how their windows keep extreme temps from coming into your home. After you’ve picked out what you want, the next step is a measure tech visiting. This literally took no time at all. He came in, measured everything up, and then the order was sent to production.

Installation day is what you have to look forward to next. Can I just start by saying that when you’ve been DIY-ing everything it is SO nice to watch someone else work on your house. The install team was courteous, friendly, and super efficient!

Patio door off kitchen before and after.

Universal Windows Direct not only does windows but doors as well! Off our kitchen, we have a little concrete platform, absolutely perfect for plants and coffee breaks, but when we moved in it wasn’t accessible from the inside. The opening had been filled with two large windows that were held together and in place by boards. They were clearly placed like this with the intention they wouldn’t be opened.

Before this collaboration, I was a bit at a loss with what to do about this opening. I absolutely wanted it to be a door but quickly discovered it was a weird size. I would never be able to just find a door waiting for me at the store. The good news is that Universal Windows Direct makes everything custom. My goofy-sized door opening? Not a problem!

I don’t want to admit it but winter is well on its way here in Ohio. I’m not excited to have to turn our heat back on but at least I know our bill will be lower now that we have new windows that will keep the cold out!

Now is the perfect time to get new windows! Universal Windows Direct is offering buy one get one free on all windows (with no limit! Literally you could buy ten and get ten free which is pretty amazing!) Their windows have a lifetime warranty and if you sell your home that warranty is transferable to the next homeowner for 30 years! Can’t forget that they are also offering 24 months no payments, no interest!

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lunch – a photo series

by Kaylah Stroup September 23, 2021

Taking full advantage of the end of summer, I headed to Lowe’s to check out their clearance perennials. I scored a handful of plants that don’t look so great today but will be beautiful again come spring. I also found a small pal to bring home, a praying mantis!

I placed him in my garden and got to work planting my clearance scores. Afterwards, I ran into the house, grabbed my macro lens and set out to get a few glamour shots. What I captured might just be my favorite photo series of insects that I’ve ever shot.

Shot with a Canon 7D mark ii and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

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About Me

About Me

Hello!

I'm Kaylah! Renovating a 150-year-old home in Northeast Ohio. Likely found in my garden.

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The Dainty Squid is a for profit blog. and we participate in a number of affiliate programs meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase through one of those links. For more details click here

my favorite four books I’ve read so far this yea my favorite four books I’ve read so far this year! ✨ have you read any of these? any great reads in 2023 yet?! 📚🖤

(As always, I’ve got them in my stories if you want a screenshot. If you see this after the first 24hrs, they’re in my saved stories under ‘books!’ along with a bunch of others. 🖤)
Combining my old interests (cemeteries!) with my n Combining my old interests (cemeteries!) with my new interests (this old house!) 👻🏚️ Can’t tell you how excited I was to find that the original owner of our home is buried a short drive away. Had to go say hey and let him know about the heavily tattooed, green haired gal working on the house now. 😜
🐢!!! Okay, now to make stands for everything el 🐢!!! Okay, now to make stands for everything else that isn’t easy to display because this turned out so cute!!
the spare room throughout the years! ✨✨✨ 1. the spare room throughout the years! ✨✨✨
1. Today. 🖤
2. 2022 - Refinished the floor, handmade custom trim, fresh walls I spent 99 years mudding and sanding to smooth out and repair.
3. 2021. Peace out carpet squares. See you NEVER!
4. 2020. The room on the day we moved in. 
5. The room in 2013 while the house was abandoned.
just a nice little photodump ✨✨✨ cats, the h just a nice little photodump ✨✨✨ cats, the house, rainbows, lake erie 🖤
now vs when we bought ✨ plus some bonus plant ph now vs when we bought ✨ plus some bonus plant photos because yesterday was plant maintenance day and everything is looking 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻!
slowly but surely! 🖤✨ slowly but surely! 🖤✨
If you never hear from me again, it’s because I’m embossing all my books! 💁🏼‍♀️📚📚📚✨ For real, I’m obsessed! I’ll share a link in my stories as well as a better shot of what mine looks like.
So nice I thrifted it twice! 🎉 Seriously though So nice I thrifted it twice! 🎉 Seriously though, what are the chances?! I’m so excited to have found this comforter again. It might be *a little* much with the wallpaper mural in this room but I’m living my best maximalist life! 💁🏼‍♀️✨✨
heard this audio and instantly knew a kitchen floo heard this audio and instantly knew a kitchen floor video needed to be made… because woweee did it take forever to get this far. That doesn’t matter though because it’s DONE! The kitchen floor is laid, grouted and daaaang, it looks fly! 😍😍😍
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THE DAINTY SQUID
  • blog
    • all the posts!
    • stroup mansion
    • some of my favorite posts
    • plants + gardening
    • beauty, fashion + hair
    • reviews
    • window shopping
    • explore everywhere
  • about me
  • contact