Living Room Mood Board

I am sooo excited about our new house that I can't stop dreaming about how we'll decorate every space.  I've been pinning everything I like to specific boards for each room in the house so I could see all the elements together at a glance.  The problem is, my living room board got so full that I had to scroll...not good!

So I did what any obsessed (and pre-nesting)  new homeowner would do: I made my very first mood board!  Some of the items (the sofa, chair, ottomans, and possibly the pendant) are something that I definitely plan to have in the space eventually, but most are placeholders for (hopefully less expensive) future thrift finds/DIY projects.

1. Winslow Decorative Wall Mirror- $81.99- Overstock.com found here
2. Existing Fireplace- (similar)
3. Threshold Mission Log Basket- $34.99- Target found here
4. Avington Upholstered Slipper Chair- $169.99- Target found here
5. Existing Floors
6. Threshold Brass Gorilla- $9.99- Target found here
7. Console Table- $129.99- Target found here
8. Navy Geometric Rug- $329.99- Overstock found here
9. Wire Globe Pendant- $99.99- Shades of Light found here
10. Curtains- $32.99- Target found here
11. Karlstad Sofa- $499- IKEA found here
12. Navy check fabric for pillow(s)- $8.99/yd- IKEA http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90223727/
13. Green Pillow- $25- Etsy found here
14. Storage Ottomans- $44.99- Target found here
15. White Tray- $9.99- IKEAfound here
16. Paint Color- Benjamin Moore Moonshine

Making the moodboard was more time consuming, but also easier, than I expected.  I saved all the images to one folder, used Picasa (collages) to edit and arrange them, and added the number labels in GIMP (another free, but not very user-friendly image editing software).

The hardest part of the whole thing?  Without a doubt, that would be leaving my debit card safely tucked away in my wallet.  My inner cheapskate always seems to get a bit anemic when I'm pregnant, and Patrick has always been horribly indulgent; if I don't tell myself no, the answer is yes!  So far, aside from the floors and the mantle, this all belongs to me only in my dreams.  Considering how much overtime Patrick's been pulling to get cash together for closing, let's hope we can keep it that way for at least four more weeks!

Happy Monday!
-Kelli

My Macklemore Challenge

I've been absentee for awhile.  Sorry!

Anyhow, today at Young House Love, they're having a thrift store challenge.  You're supposed to take a $20 to a thrift store and see what you can score with it.  Here's my take!

Madi and I hit up our local thrift store last Friday to get this thing done.  She wouldn't cooperate for pictures, probably because she didn't want to be seen with me sans makeup.  She's 19 months old, and I'm already subjecting the poor child to public humiliation.  : )

 Here's what we scored for $2:

This thing is HUGE.  The inside of the frame is 2' X 3'.  I knew I wanted to spray paint the frame ORB, but I didn't know at first what I wanted to put inside the frame, so I hit up Pinterest and found this:

Source: etsy.com via Kelli on Pinterest

It's for sale on Etsy for $16.  I liked it a lot, but it was only an 8X10.  And, like I said, it was $16.  So of course, I tried to DIY.  First, I tried using Microsoft Word.  What a joke!  Then I pulled up GIMP (a free but not very intuitive image editing/generating software) and played around for a while.  Once I finally figured out how to manipulate text, I was able to put this together pretty easily:

It's not perfect, but it's good enough for us, for now.  And if it's good enough for you too, feel free to take it/print it/enjoy it.  Especially if you give me credit.  Or money.  Money is even better.

Anyway, blown up as big as it is on our wall, I can see imperfections (like how "protects", "trusts", and "perseveres" don't line up perfectly on the left side *shudder*) that would probably put me in the loony bin if I let them, so I try to only look at it from at least five feet away.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I had it printed by Shutterfly for $8.64 after a $20 discount that came in our latest box of diapers, and was shocked at how quickly it arrived.

After spray painting the frame, I used the original "art" board to make a mat.  I just cut a rectangle out of the middle about a half-inch smaller both ways so there would be room to attach the poster on the back. 

Normally I love crisp white mats, but since the word art was printed on plain white paper and used a very plain font, I thought it needed some interest.  So I covered it in some fabric I had laying around from Madison's 52 week photo project.

I ran out of painters tape halfway through (I would have used something cheaper if I had it on hand, but I wanted to finish before Madison woke up that morning), so I switched to electrical tape, which was a complete pain in the boat to work with.

Thar she blows!  And yes, that is a fat joke.  This thing is HUGE.  I hung it to be centered behind our love seat/on the hallway. 

We are still in dire need of art for over the couch, but I've got plans.  For Patrick.  (Oh honey, did you really think I was going to let you watch the Superbowl?)  JK.  He can work on it during half time.  : )

So the total cost for this sucker was around $11.  I'll take it!

Happy flippin' Friday!
-Kelli

PS- I linked at these blogs:

young house love 

What Our Office Really Looks Like

So I've left out a little tidbit on here for a while now.  The last time I showed you our office, it looked like this:

That picture of Madison is still our wallpaper..it's been Christmas all year!

 Sorry for the even worse than usual picture quality...I guess I had my camera set to low quality, probably so I could Craigslist something.

I hated almost everything about this room.  The bed jutting out and being the first thing you saw from the door made the room look smaller than it is-it's actually the largest bedroom in our house.  The bookshelf was not great quality (laminate), not safe (it leaned against the wall...we could have bolted it down if we liked it, but not-so-much).  The desk being stuffed in a corner made being on the computer not fun at all.  The desk itself, even though it was a very nice piece of furniture, was super dark and heavy-feeling.  It was also literally heavy.  Just ask Pat and the two guys that came to buy it.  (With Patrick lifting one side and two men lifting the other, his back hurt the next day!)

Obviously we sold the desk.  We also sold the bookshelves and bed, leaving the room empty except for Madi's toys and our computer on the ground.  So here's the (not at all finished) reveal:

Here's what we've done so far:

• Sold everything (clearing out the room)
• Bought a futon ("Emily" from Walmart...love it)
• Built a desk (and painted it blue BECAUSE WE CAN)
• Moved Madison's nursery rug into the office (because it's so nice and plush, but we never play in her room)

And here's what's yet to be done:

• Paint the walls (probably a soft grey so I can call myself a real blogger, haha)
• Replace the light fixture
• Address window treatments
• Build a console for under the desk (to hold/hide the PC, file box, and other ugly but necessary desk things)
• Finish refinishing the two desk chairs we already have (which you've never really seen)
• Untangle and hide all the cords
• Convince Patrick we don't need a printer
• Sew Madison a poof cover to contain all her stuffed animals (the huge pile in the corner by the futon)
• Hang real art (what's on the walls is literally only there because I didn't want to find space in a closet and the nails were already there)
• Replace the missing closet door knob
• Find a thrifted or free tv table (but not for a tv) for the wall across from the futon (the one on your right when you come in the door) for additional toy/office storage and a place for Madison to draw/color
• Cover the fronts of Madison's diaper toy boxes (under the futon) with fabric

Phew!  Between this room, Christmas gifts, and DIY Christmas decor, I am SOOOOOOO overwhelmed with projects right now.  But I'm also really excited for what I hope will be a great result. 

Are you overloading your (metaphorical) plate right now?  (Do you spend more time talking parenthetically than not?)  Do you have any soft grey (gray?) walls in your home?  Does all this talk about grey make you curious about the next episode of Grey's?

Happy Monday!
-Kelli

Paint (by) Numbers

Good morning!  I'm really excited today to link up to the Pinterest Challenge.  This challenge was started by Sherry at Young House Love and Katie at Bower Power last summer, and there's a new one every season.  This time, Erin and Cassie are cohosting.  The basic idea is to have a motivation to actually create something that's inspired you on Pinterest.  I actually discovered Bower Power through the first challenge, which I'm very grateful for; if you're not reading her blog, well, you should be.  If you asked me to sum Bower Power up in seven words, they would be: bacon, somewhat inappropriate jokes, and budget-friendly design ideas.  Pretty much right up my alley.

You may remember my first go at the Pinterest Challenge, the frame wall.  Since Madison doesn't spend more than half the day napping anymore, I needed something a little less time consuming this go-around.  I went back through my pins, finding pretty much nothing I'm interested in actually doing myself (am I the only one that can't not pin every crock pot recipe I come across?), then finally came across a tutorial for hand painting letters.

The method Jaime (she's the brains behind That's My Letter) came up with is, like most Pinterest ideas, pretty simple and pretty brilliant.  Unlike most Pinterest ideas, there is no Silhouette machine required!  You just print out the letters (or, in my case, numbers), then trace them onto your surface.

My plan was to use this method to make an address plaque for our house.  For the last five years, we've lived without one.  Normally, that doesn't affect our lives in any way, but when we have company (or the pizza guy) coming over, we find ourselves saying things like "we're the one with the red door"(not so bad), or "the only house on the street with the unmowed grass" (oops), or "the one with the broken down mustang in the front yard"(long story).  Not cool.

My goal was to do this project for free, with only materials I had on hand, or that I could beg, borrow, or steal.  Thankfully, I was able to complete the project without breaking any state or federal regulations.  My parole officer will be pleased (or would be if he/she existed).  All I needed was:

printer (if you want to get technical I also used paper and ink)
ballpoint pen
wooden surface (I chose an old shelf removed from our bathroom)
paint brush
paint (leftover from my mom's front door, this will also be our front door color)

First, I placed the numbers on the shelf plaque, then traced (with very firm pressure) them onto the wood.  Forgive me for the blurry number.  Better safe than robbed blind because you posted your address on the internet!

I was left with a very fine indentation of the numbers.  It was hard to see inside, but when I brought it outside into full sun, I was able to paint within the lines pretty easily.  I did make very light marks at the corners.

 Like I mentioned earlier, I just used what I had on hand, which meant painting these numbers with a one inch foam brush.  That's not what I would have originally chosen for the project, but it actually worked pretty well.

 I was able to complete the project, from start to finish, during Madison's nap.  Here's the before(the hooks were there from the previous owner's name plaque):

 And after:

 I really like the way it turned out.  I'm already trying to figure out what else I can use this technique for, but I'm not really into the rustic/country thing.  Hmm.  I guess it's time to get pinning again!

Did you participate in the challenge?  I'd love to see your project!

-Kelli

What's on My Mind Monday

Linking up over here!

 I.  Madison was generally fussy for so long (almost two weeks) that I was starting to forget her real temperament.  Then last night happened.  : )  Not only was she completely unfussy (nonfussy?, fussless?), she was on her sweetest behavior.  I think the reprieve was caused by a combo of her feeling better (she had been pretty congested) and a short break in her insane teething schedule.  She's a biter, so I can't be entirely sure this is accurate, but by my last count, my eight month old had as many teeth. 

II.  Praise God, that crazy-horrible night  was just a fluke.  Madison has gone right back to her 10+ hour sleep schedule with no problem. 

III.  I need to clean.  This weekend was not good for my poor house; it needs a bath.  Come to think of it, so do I.  I think I'm gonna go get on that.

Happy Monday!
-Kelli

What's on My Mind Monday

Linking up over here:

 

I.  Our garage door is starting to look presentable.  It's also no longer suitable as a prop in Final Destination, which is a nice bonus.  

II.   I think it's time to break out the edible finger paint again.  As I was typing "bonus", (I'm a multi-tasker)I noticed my sweet girl "painting" on her play mat with her own spit up.  She didn't seem to appreciate when I wiped it up (alternately, when I took away her "toy").

III.  House fever has abated.  Patrick and I are going to do the mature, adult thing by waiting to save money and then buy a bigger, better house.  In the meantime, this one is keeping the rain off our heads just fine.  Well, at least it will once we replace the roof.  : ) 

IV.  Madison seems to wake up just a little earlier every morning.  We've already pushed her bedtime back from 6:15 to 7:15.  I guess it's time to bump it back just a little more.

V.  Speaking of Madison, panic set in this morning regarding her birthday party.  When did she get to be eight months old?!  And who knew that eight months was only four months away from a year?! 

Happy Monday!

-Kelli

Good Form

One of the two most pressing items on our get-it-done-before-listing-the-house list was to make the back porch not look like it's falling down.  I say "look like" because, in reality, it probably would have stood up just fine for another sixty-five years as-was (as opposed to as-is).  However, I don't know too many buyers that would pay more than $40,000 for a house with a back porch that looks like this: 

Please note: the back porch typically looks about 75% less trashy than this.  All our projects are going on at once, leading to the junkification of the back yard.  We are gradually putting it back to rights.

 The columns have been like this for, well, longer than Madison has been here.  The main thing that stopped us from replacing them sooner was that they didn't line up with the concrete.  In the next two pictures, the screwdrivers (they're black, so they're kind of hard to see) mark where the center of the post should be.

We finally came to terms with the fact that we would have to pour an extension of sorts next to the patio, so the columns would have somewhere solid to sit.  To tie the extensions (there are actually two, one for each column) to the existing concrete, Pat used a hammer drill to make holes for a few rebar pieces.

He inserted the rebar halfway into the existing concrete, so now the three slabs are all tied together into one big piece.

Next, he built forms for the concrete.  I didn't notice his good form when I took this picture.  Ms. Dorothy, you should have had this boy in ballet!  Look at that natural turnout!  : )

After setting the forms in place, he tied a line to the center of where the top of the column would be in order to find the right place for the bottom anchor.

 Then it was time to make some concrete!  He mixed up some maximizer concrete by hand (he's no stranger to the process).

 At that point, it was dinner time for the boo.  That meant that while Patrick continued working, I absconded to the kitchen and took pictures of this cutie instead of the other one. 

While Madison worked on her bananas, her daddy poured the concrete into the forms and centered bolts in it directly where the posts would sit.

Then he was done for the day.  Or so he thought.  While he was getting ready for his shower (don't think too hard on that one) I heard him start to grumble.  After a few incoherent mumblings, I understood "Are you serious?"  He stalked out of the house into the backyard, (no worries, he was still appropriately clothed) and I followed him to find out what was wrong. 

He forgot to put the rebar in the concrete!  He had the ones that tied the slabs together, but didn't lay the ones that make each new slab rigid.  Oops!  Thankfully, the concrete was still wet enough to work with. 

The slabs had to set for twenty four hours before we could put any weight on them.  Patrick finished the slabs on Saturday evening, so we ended up having to wait until the following weekend to continue work on the back porch.  Fast forward to the next Saturday...

The installation process was pretty simple.  He finished installing the first post before I could take pictures, but here he is measuring for the second post.  The dog in the bottom right of the picture is my parents' dog, Baby.  We were dog sitting while they went on a cruise.  Must be nice!  : )

After measuring how long the post needed to be, he marked the treated 4x4 on all four sides, then made the cut.  I couldn't take pictures of the cutting process, because it was too loud for Madison to be outside for.

 Finally, here is the (structurally) finished product.  An improvement, no?

 

Next up?  Repairing/replacing the vinyl siding/trim, paint, and staging. 

What have you been working on lately?
-Kelli

What's on My Mind Monday

Linking up over here!

I.  We had the privilege of seeing a good friend (Madison "calls" him "Uncle John") graduate from basic military training in the Air Force on Friday.  If you've never seen an Air Force graduation, I would suggest adding it to your bucket list.  By the end when the airmen took the oath of enlistment and shouted the airman's creed, it was all I could do to keep all my tears in my eyes.

Sorry she's a blur.  But she is a really cute blur, isn't she?

 II.  Oh, Texans.  I hate to point fingers, but Jacoby Jones, really?  I could have done better.  I know everyone says that, and it's almost never true, but all he had to do was get out of the way!  Who goes for a ball on kickoff return at the three yard line with two guys bearing down on them?  Without that senseless seven point loss, it would gave been a "W" for the Texans.   Talk about Yates all you want, but what do you expect from the third string QB?  Jones, on the other hand, has no excuse.  Texans, if you're listening, I can make myself available next season for most Sundays and Saturdays.  I promise to never touch the ball, and I'll accept half of whatever you're paying Jones.

III.  When I went to get Madison from the nursery after Sunday School yesterday, she was asleep in Mrs. Bonnie's arms.  Why won't she ever do that for me?!  I was totally jealous.  Don't get me wrong; I was happy that she felt comfortable enough to go to sleep in the new(ish) environment, but still super jealous.

IV.  Work on our house continues.  I've got a few posts to write to catch you up on the progress, but I would have to slow down on the house to make it happen!

Happy Monday!
-Kelli

Beiging It Up.

Do you ever wake up with the urge to just hurry up and get something done?  Maybe something you hadn't really thought about doing until right that second?  Well, that happened to me Monday morning.  I decided that during Madison's nap (ha!) I would paint the bathroom.

Let's go over things that can get done during one of Madison's naps.  A load or two of laundry.  A load of dishes.  Sweeping/mopping the floors.  A shower.  Painting some frames.  Heck, it only took two of her naps to finish the fence last week!  But painting the entire bathroom in one nap?  Yeah, I must have been high on paint fumes when I thought this one up.  Oh wait, that comes later in the story.

So here was the plan:

1. Put Madison down for her nap.
2. Turn off air conditioner, seal off bathroom from rest of house, and nursery from rest of house, just to be safe.
3. Paint the bathroom.
4. Clean up and put away paint and equipment.
5. Relax a little.
6. Once Madison wakes up, bring her to Nana's and PawPaw's while the paint dries.

Step one went off without a hitch, and step two was a breeze.

 Now it was time for step three, the actual painting of the bathroom.  You can see in the next picture that I was all ready to go.  I was feeling pretty good about myself at this point.

 I mixed up the paint, which was free (my favorite color, ha ha) thanks to my parents having a little leftover from painting their house.

 I dumped it into our well used paint tray.  I count four (five, with the new paint) shades represented here.  I think we may have already gotten our money's worth out of this particular piece of equipment, and she's still going strong!  Hmm.  I never thought about it before, but it does seem like a "she", doesn't it?  With as much use as she's gotten, we should probably give her a name.  I like Patty.  Patty the paint tray. 

 So after Patty was filled with our free paint, I started rolling.  Here I am about two minutes into the project.  "I'm doing so well on time, why don't I stop for some pictures?"  If I only knew.

 Since our walls are paneled, I had to roll in two steps.  First, I'd press really hard on the roller to squish all the paint into the cracks.  I believe the technical term for this technique is the "press and squish", but I could be wrong.  Oh, and for some reason the next two pictures make the new paint look greenish.  It's not at all green.  The name of the color is "Desert Fortress", and it's a nice medium beige.

 Then I would do my Trading Spaces "W's" (or was it "M's", I don't remember) to smooth it all out. 

I worked for about an hour when I heard a terrible sound...Madison woke up early - like an hour and a half early!  My mom had already offered to watch her if I needed help, so of course I called Nana, then drove Madison over and got them all set up to play, then drove back home to finish the job.  Or so I thought.

I worked for another hour.  At this point I had already rolled the whole bathroom, and "just" needed to cut in.  Here's the thing.  There's nothing "just" about cutting in our bathroom.  It's practically all cuts.  I didn't think it would be a problem; I'm actually pretty good at it.  See below?  No tape necessary.

*insert pic of me patting myself on the back here

As luck would have it, somebody got hungry before I could cut in the whole room.  And it wasn't me.  Well, actually, it was me, too, but the "somebody" to whom I am referring weighs about a hundred and thirty pounds less than I do.  For those of you counting on your fingers and toes right now, well, I'm glad you'll run out of digits before you get to the result.  : )

So I ran drove down to Mom's, fed the sweet girl, put her down for a nap in her pack n play, then came back to the bathroom.  After about forty minutes of painting in the edges (as well as portions of the toilet seat, the faucet, the floor, and our new bath mat, since the paint fumes had reached their maximum concentration at this point), I was gloriously done.  Except for the touch up, which I have yet to begin.  But it's done enough for an "after" shot!  Forgive me.  I didn't have the energy to clean the mess out of the bathroom before taking the picture.  Actually, minus the radio and disgusting towel on the floor, it still looks a lot like this.  Maybe cleaning the bathroom is something I could accomplish during one of Madison's naps.  I might give it a try...next week.  : )

Honestly, while I do think it's an improvement over the "before", it's a bit boring for my tastes.  Maybe with a new shower curtain and towel rack and other staging, I'll like it a little more.  Maybe not.  But who really cares if I like it?  It's time to appeal to the masses, yo!

Wow.  I painted on Monday, it's Thursday morning, and the fumes still have me doped up enough to type "yo".  Maybe next time I'll crack a window.   

Please note that no brain cells were harmed in the making of this post.  All necessary (and some additional) precautions were taken to protect myself and my family from any toxicity in the fumes.  It's just nice to have a handy excuse for embarrassing slips of the tongue and paintbrush.  So hang up the phone already, Mom.  Unless you'd like to come babysit.  Then you can carry on.  : )