MENOPAUSAL NEW MOM

Aloha Friday - Recyle, Reuse, Reinvent Edition!

2012-01-27T00:01:00.034-04:00

Now that I'm in the midst of decorating our home, I've been on the hunt for accessories and furniture to fill in the gaps. Personally, I love vintage finds, especially when it comes to furniture, glass and lighting.

Most new furniture is made of particle board with fancy veneer unless you want to shop the $1,000 plus stores for solid wood. For me, finding an old piece of solid furniture for a few dollars and then having it sprayed the color of my choice plus updating its hardware is a lot more fun and original.

How about you? Do you shop Vintage or prefer New?

Thursday Friends Cafe Blog Hop

2012-01-26T00:02:00.009-04:00

Welcome to the Thursday Cafe Blog Hop

Hosted by Me, Tammy's Two Cents and Keeping Up With The Rheinlanders!!

How It Works!!

Please Follow All Three of Us

And Then Visit As Many Other

Blogs As You'd Like!!

If You Are A New Follower

Please Let Me Know So I Can Follow You Back.

LINK UP YOUR GIVEAWAYS BELOW!

Thursday Friends Giveaway Link Up

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

Please Link Up Your Giveaways

Valued at $25 or Higher!

A Little Splurge Makes A Big Design Impact!

2012-01-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

One of the downsides of owning an old home is the non-standard sizes of our windows. It's not very often I can purchase ready-made drapes so I knew as part of the redesign of our 5-year-old daughter's room, I would need to go custom. From the top of her windows to the floor is over 91" so I knew the typical 86" panel would not work.

When I heard our local fabric shop was having a 1/2 price sale, I knew it was time to splurge. Here's the fabric I chose for her two windows so that's 4 separate panels each over 90" in length. That's a heck of a lot of fabric so I knew I would have to choose carefully because this was going to cover a lot of space.

Here's what I found that was a good match to her blue wall color and right in line with my chocolate/cream color scheme.

Big leaves that were the perfect companion to the flower decal border above her wide baseboards.

Here's one window done and the other window is only about two feet to the right so talk about

impact!

As intimidating as choosing drapery fabric can be, this was definitely a home run and well worth the splurge and she loves them!

Custom Touches Make It Yours (or hers)!

2012-01-23T09:00:00.043-04:00

I'll probably being doing this bedroom makeover for our 5-year-old daughter for the next six months because instead of adding the standard bed-in-a-bag, I'm designing her room from the floor up using some of what she already has, some new pieces and some I will make.

Since I already love her room color, I'm going to keep the blue and accent with chocolate brown, a warm cream color with a few splashes of deep pink or fuchsia to add lots of interest. Drapes have been ordered and now it's time to think about dressing the bed.

That's where these cute pillows come in. They were 50% off at our local fabric shop and the color is a perfect match with the leaf-design drapes on order there.

But to dress up these standard pillows with a girl's bedroom in mind,

I found these shimmering tassels

So with a tassel on each corner,

these throw pillows now have a little feminine flare that will be perfect

when mixed with her bedding!

Sunday Showcase Link Up Your Giveaways

2012-01-22T00:01:00.006-04:00

Link Up Your Giveaways

and

Show Us What You Got!!

Aloha Friday - Do You Cut Your Own Hair?

2012-01-20T00:01:00.019-04:00

Aloha Fridays are brought to you by Kailani in beautiful Hawaii at An Island Life where Friday is the day to take it easy while anticipating the coming weekend. Today I'm going to link up, take it easy and ask a question.

In my career days before marriage and our daughter, I used to have my hair done professionally every 6 or 7 weeks, cut, color and style at around $100 a trip. Now that I'm a SAHM, I only have my hair done by a professional just before a special event.

In between trips to the salon, it's me with the kitchen scissors hacking away at my bangs to keep them out of my eyes while the rest gets pulled back in a ponytail.

So this week's question: Do you cut your own hair or make regular trips to the salon?

Thursday Friends Cafe Blog Hop

2012-01-19T00:02:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the Thursday Cafe Blog Hop

Hosted by Me, Tammy's Two Cents and Keeping Up With The Rheinlanders!!

How It Works!!

Please Follow All Three of Us

And Then Visit As Many Other

Blogs As You'd Like!!

If You Are A New Follower

Please Let Me Know So I Can Follow You Back.

LINK UP YOUR GIVEAWAYS BELOW!

Thursday Friends Giveaway Link Up

2012-01-19T00:01:00.002-04:00

Please Link Up Your Giveaways

Valued at $25 or Higher!

A Little Glam For a Little Girl

2012-01-17T18:00:00.054-04:00

Yes, I'm still working on our 5-year-old daughter's bedroom but with the massive decorating challenge I've taken on, this is going to take a while.

Today I decided to inject a little glamour into her surroundings. Since her room doesn't have an overhead light (yes, 120-year-old homes have their challenges), I'm not able to install the cliche chandelier in her bedroom ceiling. So to add a little glam, I turned to eBay and found these gorgeous vintage glass knobs with all their original hardware still intact.

They are the perfect size to dress up the four doors on her double closets (I know, the photo only shows one of her two closets but you know what I mean).

Boring Before

Glam After!

For just a few dollars per door, I've added lots of sparkle to this side of her bedroom but I didn't stop the glam there!

to be continued.......

Toy Storage Solutions

2012-01-16T09:00:00.015-04:00

If you've been following along, you already know I'm in the midst of finally decorating our home after the 7-month renovation we did back in 2007. If you're wondering why it's taken so long, I had a 1-year-old baby at the time and menopause. Need I say more??

Getting back to our daughter's room (she's now a 5 year old), I knew I had to come up with a way to store her ever growing collection of stuffed animals. Anyone out there know how so many of these critters manage to take up residence around children?

So here's what I came up with after a visit to our nearest Michaels store. This "laundry basket" features a durable wire interior and is made with a heavy-duty woven fabric. The chocolate brown shade is perfect to add some drama among her snowy white furnishings and the round shape injects some feminine curves in her room. The fact it's on casters means it's easy for her to move around.

But the best and most important part of all, it was on sale!! Original price was $49.99 (talk about mark it up to mark it down), with 40% off at the shelf with an additional 20% discount at the check-out!

One more problem solved!

to be continued........

Sunday Showcase Link Up Your Giveaways

2012-01-15T00:01:00.006-04:00

Link Up Your Giveaways

and

Show Us What You Got!!

Aloha Friday - Customer Satisfaction?

2012-01-13T00:01:00.001-04:00

Last week, I watched a show on TV where shoppers were surveyed regarding which stores they felt had the worst customer service. The top three here in Canada were Canadian Tire, Zellers and Walmart with Walmart taking top spot with the poorest customer service.

My personal choice is Walmart too. The wait to return items there is a nightmare not to mention the challenge of tracking down a clerk for assistance.

How about you? Which department store in your town has the worst Customer Service?

Thursday Friends Cafe Blog Hop

2012-01-12T00:02:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the Thursday Cafe Blog Hop

Hosted by Me, Tammy's Two Cents and Keeping Up With The Rheinlanders!!

How It Works!!

Please Follow All Three of Us

And Then Visit As Many Other

Blogs As You'd Like!!

If You Are A New Follower

Please Let Me Know So I Can Follow You Back.

GIVEAWAY LINKY FOLLOWS!

Thursday Friends Giveaway Link Up

2012-01-12T00:01:00.002-04:00

Please Link Up Your Giveaways

Valued at $25 or Higher!

Natural Wood Lovers....Look AWAY!

2012-01-10T09:00:00.035-04:00

If you've been following along, you know I'm in the process of designing our 5-year-old daughter's bedroom by using several things we already have, modifying a few, buying a few and making a few. Fingers crossed it all comes together in the end but for now, I'm enjoying the process, challenges and all.

Sometimes when designing a space, you will have a few important and expensive pieces you want to use even though you know they won't work in the vision you have for the room. In our daughter's room, it was the gorgeous solid oak headboard custom made by my dad in the mid 1990's. Oak was a popular choice then but in this space, the golden oak was definitely not going to work.

So I did the UNTHINKABLE!! I painted over the solid oak!!! I know a lot of people will freak at this but if it's done right and you can then love it in the space, it's worth doing. I didn't grab a paint brush and get busy on this expensive family heirloom. I arranged for it to be professionally sprayed so it would have a perfect finish with absolutely no brush marks or paint runs and I'm glad I did. It turned out beautifully and of course, I asked my dad beforehand if he had any objections and like a great dad, he gave me his blessing.

Here's how it looks now and I am thrilled with the result. It was well worth the $200 investment to have it done right. One little splurge that will be an important focal point in my little girl's room once we add some pretty bedding.

to be cont'd........

Time For Some Little Girl Fun!

2012-01-09T09:00:00.027-04:00

Last week, I blogged about finally doing a little interior designing in our old home. First up is our 5-year-old daughter's bedroom and you can read my two previous posts on it HERE and HERE.

I don't know very many little girls who don't love to play dress up and my daughter is costume crazy! She loves hats and costumes and all the little accessories that go with them. So when designing her space, I wanted a place to display all her cute accessories in a fun way and one where she could easily access them.

That's when I thought of a Hall Tree. They have lots of hooks, take up very little space and if I was lucky, I would be able to find one with lots of feminine curves to offset the square and rectangular shapes of her bedroom furniture. After checking around our little town, I couldn't find a thing I liked new so I decided to post in our local buy/sell ads. Ten days later, here's what found me for only $20!

It's the exact dark wood tone I was looking for and check out those curves!! And this little beauty comes in three pieces so by removing the center dowel, it's the perfect height for my little girl.

And here is it now, the perfect place to hang hats, purses, belts, necklaces, scarves, costumes, and yes, even a couple of boas! With a top that spins, she will be able to easily access everything. Just goes to show, thinking "outside the box" and checking your local listings can pay off.

to be continued........

Sunday Showcase Link Up Your Giveaways

2012-01-08T00:01:00.004-04:00

Link Up Your Giveaways

and

Show Us What You Got!!

Aloha Friday - Designer Edition

2012-01-06T00:01:00.025-04:00

Aloha Fridays are brought to you by Kailani in beautiful Hawaii at An Island Life where Friday is the day to take it easy while anticipating the coming weekend. Today I'm going to link up, relax and ask an easy question.

This week, I took on the challenge of decorating our home after the massive renovation we did back in 2007. Let's just say having a 1-year-old baby at the time left little time or energy for me to do anything but throw what we moved here with into each room. Now that she's in kindergarten, I finally have the time to do a little "interior designing"

So this week I'd like to know "Who makes the design decisions at your place?"

Here my hubby can't keep his nose out of what I do but overall, I usually get my way. How about you?

Thursday Friends Cafe Blog Hop

2012-01-05T00:02:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the Thursday Cafe Blog Hop

Hosted by Me, Tammy's Two Cents and Keeping Up With The Rheinlanders!!

How It Works!!

Please Follow All Three of Us

And Then Visit As Many Other

Blogs As You'd Like!!

If You Are A New Follower

Please Let Me Know So I Can Follow You Back.

YOU CAN LINK UP YOUR GIVEAWAYS BELOW!!

Thursday Friends Giveaway Link Up

2012-01-05T00:01:00.003-04:00

Please Link Up Your Giveaways

Valued at $25 or Higher!

Here's What I Have To Work With

2012-01-04T09:00:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, I posted my New Year's Resolution to finally do some decorating around our home. I'm starting with our 5-year-old daughter's bedroom and described the challenges of the overall shape and design of her room HERE.

Moving on, here are the pieces in her room now that get to stay:

This 5-drawer white dresser with matching desk was part of the furniture from my hubby's home when we married. Good thing I didn't have a boy! It's perfect for our little girl's room so no additional expense here.

The drum beside the dresser is one of our daughter's favorite instruments so it gets to stay. A room with this many pieces of square and rectangular-shaped furniture needs a few round shapes anyway.

This rocking horse hand-crafted by my dad for her stays too!

These 3 paintings were purchased in Belize by my hubby and then professionally framed. I've already edited out a 4th one that was purchased separately. With the limited wall space I have, I may need to edit another. Time will tell but I really would like to use them. So colorful and fun for a child's room. The one at the bottom is huge, the other two are half its size.

The wall color is a medium blue best represented in the rocking horse and desk photos and it stays. I love it! The Persian rug on the other hand, will find a new home at our cottage. Just too bossy to decorate around with all the other colors I am working with here.

Her queen-size box spring and mattress will stay.

So there you have it. This is the starting or "jumping off" point I'm using to design her bedroom. I'm hoping to create a space that isn't just for a small child so I will be trying to use an eclectic blend of Contemporary, French and Traditional design with a bit of fun and whimsy thrown in. Hopefully a room she will love!

to be continued.......

I Love A Challenge!

2012-01-03T09:08:00.002-04:00

I know most people start off the New Year with the challenge to lose weight but this year, my New Year's Resolution is to finally decorate the rooms in our old home.

For us, the last five years has included the birth of our daughter, moving twice, doing a 7-month long renovation on our historic home and designing and building a log home. Any wonder I've been so inconsistent blogging??

First up is my 5-year-old daughter's bedroom. She didn't have the cliche nursery because we were moving within a few months of her birth and then taking on a lot of other projects at the time.

So here's the challenge with her room. Sometime during the 120-year history of our house, someone removed the dividing wall between two bedrooms to create one large room (15'x25') across the front of our home. Sounds okay on the surface but when you see how the walls were modified, the problem becomes clear. Where do you place the furniture?

One wall is all closets, one wall has two windows with cast-iron radiators in front of them, one wall has a fireplace with wall-to-wall bookcases and the last wall has the door off center to the left with the door also swinging in to the left.

Here's what I'm hoping to make room for with this limited wall space:

Queen-size bed

bedside table

desk/chair

reading chair

side table

5-drawer dresser

clothing rack

chalkboard

bongo drum

toy storage
rocking horse

Some of these items I already have, some will need to be modified, some I will buy, some I will make and yes, there will be photos.

Overall, the biggest challenge will be to do this on a limited budget. There will be a few splurges and a lot of creativity to stretch every dollar.

Wish me luck!!

to be continued........

Sunday Showcase Link Up Your Giveaways

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

And For Those Of You

Looking For A Place To Showcase Your Giveaways

List Away!!

Aloha Friday - Has Santa Moved To China?

2011-12-30T00:01:00.007-04:00

This Christmas, I couldn't help noticing how many of the items under our tree were "Made in China" regardless of how diligently I try to buy Canadian or USA made products.

It's not that I have anything against China but when I see the desperate state of our economy, I wish we had more options to buy children's toys made here. Christmas in just North America alone must keep China working flat out 12 months of the year.

So this week's question is: "What percentage of the items under your tree this year were made in either the USA or Canada?? How about the percentage "Made in China"???