The Happy Homebodies

What We're Up To

2013-05-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Things are moving 100 miles per hour over here! We started moving into the new house on Monday night, so we've been spending our spare time shuttling odds and ends to the new house and taking care of projects we wanted completed before we moved in. We've got friends and some of the husband's high school football players (free labor!) coming over to help us on Friday, so we're saving all of the big furniture pieces until then.

We hired the same painters who helped us paint our first home to help us paint some rooms in our new house this week. We're DIY-ers through and through, but we also know our weaknesses. We're not good at painting walls and trim, and did I mention we hate doing it? We do! I could paint pretty pictures on canvas all day but stick a roller in my hand and I turn into a major grouch. These painters do a great job and are super affordable, so we feel like it's money well spent.

We picked out some paint colors on Monday, and they got started today. I literally did a little jig when I came over tonight after work and saw the built-in cabinets primed and ready for white paint. Some awkward white girl dancing was involved. Fun fact: I used to be on a traveling clogging team when I was a little girl and sometimes I can't help but break into some of my favorite clogging steps from back in the day. It's like riding a bike. ;)

*Please forgive the horrible iPhone photos– it was all I had with me and we do these projects at night since we have to work during the day! You can follow along with us on Instagram under JordanG106.

Now that the cabinets are primed, they will be painted with Sherwin Williams Pure White. When comparing samples at the paint store, it seemed the closest to a pure white to me. Some were too creamy, and others were too blue. It really is tough to pick out the perfect white, so I hope I got it right with this choice!

Despite the terrible lighting below, you can see that the painters have already finished the living room. We liked the color of our first home so much (Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter) that we decided to use it again for the main living areas in the new house. I know it's hard to tell, but it really looks so much better than the yellow-y beige they had before, which you can see in that wall to the right. As my mom texted me after I sent her this photo, the new color makes the wood floors look so much richer!

We stayed at the house really late last night working on not-so-fun projects, like scrubbing the kitchen cabinets and drawers as hard as I could to remove the grime. The previous owners weren't a super messy family or anything, but they didn't really deep clean when they moved so everything needs a really good scrub.

I opened up all of these cabinets to see what it might look like if I took off the doors and made them open shelving, like I did in our first house. What do you think?

While I was scrubbing the cabinets, the husband was sanding down the texture on the walls of the kitchen so the painters can paint that area next. The texture looked a little something like this, and this technique was only used in the eat-in area of the kitchen, the dining room and guest bathroom. I'm guessing they used the texture to cover wallpaper, but I'm not a huge fan of how it looks. We used a sanding block to make the texture much more subtle before the coat of paint goes on this week.

When we first walked into the house when it was completely empty, we detected a faint pet odor in the house that I didn't notice when the previous owners lived there. A little Googling quickly taught us that hardwood floors soak up a lot of odors, so we decided to lay some baking soda down on top to soak up any smells and freshen up the house. We used a big broom to sweep it around and get it in all of the nooks and crannies. We let it sit overnight and used the shop-vac to vacuum up the powder the next day. It smells much better, and our plan to do this to the other rooms before we give them a good cleaning. There is so much to do before the big furniture comes on Friday– I'm predicting a lot of late nights this week!

I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with my to-do list and stress of moving earlier this week, but one peek at the newly painted walls and cabinets reminded me how much I love our new home and how blessed we are to have this opportunity. I know it's super important to remain thankful even though my right arm and lower back are really aching from scrubbing my heart out in the kitchen last night!

***

On a separate topic, our neighbors to the north in Oklahoma are facing unimaginable destruction this week. I can't imagine what they are going through, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch the news coverage. Learn how you can help here.

We have had our share of tornadoes down here in the DFW area, and my mom even had a tornado tear the roof off parts of her elementary school in central Texas on Tuesday (thankfully she is fine). I decided to download the free Red Cross Tornado App, which was really helpful yesterday when we were under a tornado watch all day. It sends you live weather alerts depending on your location so you can be aware of the weather even if you aren't near a TV or radio. You might want to think about downloading it if you also live in an area that is prone to tornadoes.

* Focusing on our progress instead of the growing to-do list... *

Our New House!

2013-05-17T19:54:00.000-05:00

We officially signed our life away today and are the proud owners of a new home! Now it feels real. I've been very excited to show you these photos so you can see our new digs, but I didn't want to jump the gun. Now that the deal is final, let's take a look at our next house project...

Our new home is 2,550 square feet, which is a substantial upgrade over our current 1,640 sq. ft home. More space to play with, hooray! Other perks over our first home: bigger bathrooms, creek view, nicer/bigger kitchen, hardwood floors, high ceilings and a split-bedroom floor plan. It was built in 1987 by a really well-regarded builder, so we feel good about the quality of the home.

Here's a peek at the curb appeal, which has a lot going for it already. I love the curved driveway and small patio out front. We fell head over heels for the tree-lined neighborhood right away.

(Most of these pictures were pulled off of the listing or taken during our visits to the home.)

We plan to add more plants out front, switch out that orange-y tile, paint the front door and switch out the lighting. It's going to spruce it right up!

When you walk into the house, you are greeted with a formal living room that features french doors connecting to another living space, which I plan to use as my office. To the right of the front door is a nice dining room that looks out into the front yard.

The dining room is a nice size, and I really love the large windows.

I'm really excited about the room I plan to use as my office. The view of the creek is amazing! I work from home twice a week so I'll spend a lot of time in this room.There is a door leading out to the deck, plus another door leading to one of the guest bedrooms. The ceilings are really high and interesting in this room, which is always a bonus.

The kitchen is literally in the center of the home, directly between the formal living room, den and dining room. I was happy to see the white cabinets and stone backsplash, both of which are already our style. The yellow wall color has to go, but the bones are great! The corian countertops are nice, but we'll have to replace the appliances eventually. It's nice to have an additional eating area, which we don't have in our first home.

Just off the kitchen is a lovely den with great built-ins. I'm super excited about decorating this space!

Off the back of the house is one of the main reasons we fell in love with the house: the creek! That bright green deck rail definitely needs to go away...

The house has four bedrooms. Three guest rooms are on the left side of the house (if you're looking at the house from the street) and the master bedroom is in the front right corner, near the garage and laundry room.

The first guest room faces the front yard and has plantation shutters (the only ones in the house) and hardwood floors.

The second guest room is pink and green, so it will need a paint job.

The third guest room faces the backyard.

In between the first two rooms is a large guest bathroom that needs to be updated. That will be a fun project to take on!

The master bedroom is a nice size but could use some personality.

The master bath is nicely updated, although it's not totally my style. Oddly enough they have a long countertop with only one sink. I have no idea what prompted that decision but I'm sure we'll change that eventually. This will be our first time sharing a bathroom!

Well that about does it for the first tour of our new home! What do you think? We are so excited to actually move in next week! We've already made plans to have the living spaces painted next week, so big changes are coming right away. Stay tuned!

* Feeling blessed! *

Upholstery Input Needed!

2013-05-15T21:14:00.001-05:00

I've started calling this chair "The Glove," since it reminds me of a giant baseball glove. We bought it at the flea market for $75.

It's basically the most comfortable chair ever, but the aesthetics leave something to be desired.

The back and sides are brown leather, and the top layer is a yucky, worn out microfiber. We've decided to have that microfiber part reupholstered, but we can't decide what type of fabric to use. What would mix well with the leather?

My first thought was to try to match the leather, but that's not very budget friendly and it might be hard to find just the right color to match. It's going to cost some money to reupholster it, so I don't wat to sink a lot more money into the material choice. On the other hand, I want to make sure I choose something we'll be happy with for a long time so that the dollars we spend to reupholster end up being money well spent.

I searched the glorious interweb for inspiration, looking for chairs that mix leather and fabric, but I'm not finding much.

Modern Chairs by New York Furniture And Accessories Decadent Avenue

Candice Olsen Collection Marco Chair

I was thinking about using some sort of menswear fabric like the Horchow chair, with brown leather straps to help tie it all together. What do you think? I'm completely open to other ideas– I'd love to hear what you would do with this chair if it were yours!

* Help! Share your ideas! *

DIY Nightstand Facelift

2013-05-12T21:28:00.000-05:00

My BFF Kelsey brought her nightstand over this weekend so we could give it a quick facelift. She picked up this cute mid century piece for $10 at her local CCA Resale.

We started off by removing the drawer and spray painting it white. She brought an old leather belt that we used that to make a handle for the drawer. We cut it into a 6 inch piece and painted the opposite side teal for a subtle touch of color. Then we attached it to the drawer using hex screws. I was inspired by this awesome nighstand makeover from Mandy at Vintage Revivals.

See how the blue paint on the other side of the belt reflects on the white? That was a happy surprise!

For about 20 minutes of effort, we were super pleased with the results!

Now her nightstand suits her personality! I'm in love with the leather handle. I can't wait to try that on one of my own pieces of furniture!

* Because spray paint fixes everything *

Randoms & Happy Weekend

2013-05-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Packing is in full swing at our house! It's very bittersweet to see all of our personal artwork and photos come down from the walls. I can't believe our time at our first home is almost over...

And yet it's so exciting to think about our new home and all of the memories that will be made there! We are scheduled to close on May 17, and our lender says we are ahead of schedule (knock on wood). I'm hoping everything continues to go smoothly as we approach the big day! We aren't allowed to actually move in until May 21, so we still have more time to pack.

***

We are celebrating a special milestone today– 10 years since our first date! It's hard to believe that much time has passed already. This picture is from our first summer together back when we were little high school kids. I feel so blessed to have met the love of my life at 16. Time flies!

***

When we were packing I came across this note card I wrote a few years ago, tucked away in my craft cabinet. Don't you love it when a powerful Bible verse pops back into your life like that? I guess He wanted to remind me of something. Duly noted!

***

Check out some of these fun links I found this week:

• Amazing artwork with a summer vibe
• Met Ball 2013 red carpet photos (My favorite? Sienna Miller)
• Kentucky Derby red carpet photos, the exact opposite of the Met Ball "punk" theme
• Hello there, classy baseball tee/sweater. Come into my closet!
• Lucite, lucite, lucite

What do you have planned this weekend? We're celebrating our mini-anniversary with dinner and movie tonight, but then we're rolling up our sleeves and packing up our garage tomorrow. Nobody ever said moving was fun, but it will all be worth it!

* Have a great weekend! *

Thrifting Megapost!

2013-05-08T18:19:00.000-05:00

If you've been following this blog for the past month, you know that we're moving to a new house. All of the sudden we're moving from 1,650 sq. ft. to 2,550 sq. ft., so I could really use some affordable furniture right about now. Ever since our offer was accepted I've been checking Craigslist and visiting my local thrift store and flea market, stockpiling treasures to use in our new home. I found all sorts of good things this weekend that I'm excited to share with you!

On Saturday I visited my local Christian Community Action store (CCA Resale in Lewisville, for any DFW readers who might want to check it out). Any thrift store is hit or miss, but I've gotten all sorts of good stuff at this particular store in the past. My Haverty's dining table, for example, and my awesome set of gold and white greek key china. I've learned that the best day to visit this CCA is Saturday because that's the day when they have the most inventory, and they also run different sales all day on Saturday. That's prime time for a thrifting addict like me!

Right when I walked in the store, I spotted this shiny stainless steel trunk. It reminded me of something you would find at Restoration Hardware, like this Mayfair Steamer Coffee Trunk for $1,355. I loved the detailing and the fact that it had drawers in the front. Even better, the drawers were lined with a nice fabric and featured nail head details inside. It seemed like a really quality piece.

This trunk is 51"x20" so it's pretty darn big. With a price tag of $150, it seemed a little steep for a thrift store purchase. But on the other hand, it was in basically brand new condition (except for that small dent on top, which didn't really bother me). I figured the husband would love it, so I texted him these photos. Sure enough, he loved it. I got the go ahead to make this my first purchase of the day, and the ice was officially broken! Pretty soon things started tumbling into my "sold" pile at the front of the thrift store.

Next I grabbed this extremely heavy brass and crystal chandelier for $20. It's vintage and awesome and totally girly. I'm not sure where I'm going to put it in the new house, but it will certainly find a home. It looks almost exactly like this chandelier in one of my home inspiration pins!

My mom is starting a little shop full of thrifted goodies and stuff she finds during her shopping adventures (now you know where I get it), so I bought her a couple of things for her shop. I almost kept the $35 blue/white storage chest for myself, but the husband promised he could build me one if I wanted, so I turned it over to my mom. Here are the lovely goodies I found for her:

A super pretty French Provincial marble top side table just begging for a fresh coat of paint for $50:

Nabbed this cute blue/white chest, perfect for toy storage (or to display linens and pillows in my mom's shop!)... She has plans to replace the legs to make it a wee bit cuter, so I can't wait to see how that turns out. It was $35.

Bamboo screen in perfect condition for $7. This will add some great texture to her store, and she can use it to display jewelry. It would be a cool headboard too, and it could be any color in the rainbow with a little spray paint action. I told her she should think about weaving some ribbon through it to make it playful for a children's room, so we'll see what she decides to do with it!

I loved this brass and ceramic tea kettle by Mikasa for $20. It's a bit of a splurge for a thrifted tea kettle, but the shape is so classic and sculptural. It would look great displayed in a china cabinet.

You know you bought quite a few things when you have to call in the hubby to bring his truck!

We're currently storing the trunk in our entryway, so this picture (which is awful, sorry) gives you a better idea of the scale.

The next day we made a road trip with friends to Canton First Mondays, which is a giant flea market in East Texas. If there's one thing I've learned about Canton, it's that I like to hang out in the outside area where the goods are more affordable. It's like one humongous garage sale out there, and I can't get enough. I also like to go on Sundays because it's the last day of the flea market for that month and the dealers don't want to load all their junk back into their trucks, so they are more likely to give better prices on Sunday. I love this flea market so much; It's like Christmas for me when we get to go there!

Our first purchases of the day were this kitchen table ($60) and awesome geometric vintage pendant light ($15). This dealer came down a lot on his prices for both of these and told us he was excited that he didn't have to load them up at the end of the day. (I got the feeling his wife, who wasn't at the booth when we came, might not have agreed with his pricing philosophy. Haha!)This table is just what I was looking for, so I was extremely excited to find it for $60. It's going straight into our new eat-in kitchen!

I considered buying all of these letterpress trays (set of 8) for DIY wall art, but I couldn't accept the $185 price tag.This was the same booth where we bought the items above, but he wouldn't come down very far on his price for these because he said his wife paid a lot of money for them originally.

I did snatch up this extremely heavy vintage mirror for $25. It's going up in our current master bathroom since I want to bring my Wisteria mirror to the new house. Hopefully our new tenants like it. It's pretty big in scale so it makes the small bathroom feel a little bigger.

Can we take a minute to appreciate how creepy this looks? I literally stopped in my tracks when I saw it. Then I gathered my bearings and snapped a photo for Instagram, like all good social media lovers would do! :)

Check out this wacky chair we came home with. I promise you, it's the most comfortable chair ever. It rocks (literally) so it would make a good future baby chair, too. The sales girl said it was a mid century womb chair, but I'm not sure. I haven't been able to find exactly anything like it online, so it's a bit of a mystery. We have plans to keep the leather part and reupholster the rest, but I'm not sure what fabric to use. It did remind me of the leather Copenhagen chairs at Restoration Hardware for about $1,600, so we were happy with it once we talked the dealer down to $75. It will be about $200-$300 to reupholster it, but we're excited to have a one-of-a-kind conversation piece for our new living space. The husband has already claimed it as his personal chair, of course.

Kind of looks like a giant baseball glove, doesn't it? I can't wait to get rid of that brown microfiber stuff on top!

Lastly we stumbled upon these rocking chair pieces for $4. I've always wanted to convert our $5 estate sale chair into a rocker when we have a baby, so it was so fortuitous to find the perfect rocking chair pieces at the flea market. Now it will be a snap for the husband to convert this chair whenever we are ready!

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend for bargain shopping! Which piece is your favorite? Have you found any great deals lately?

* Happy Wednesday*

DIY Brass Light Makeover {Bye Bye 1980s}

2013-05-05T21:21:00.000-05:00

Right now in the interior design world, there is good brass and there is bad brass.

Good brass is slightly darker and has a less reflective finish, like this very cool chandelier I saw on Pinterest. It's back "in" and is being applauded for the warmth it brings into a room.

via Traditional Home

And then there is the bad brass. I'm sure you remember, the 80s and early 90s were full of it. It's super shiny and lightweight and really more gold than brass.

via Ugly House Photos

I don't think I've ever been to a thrift store that didn't have several of these 1980s brass lights. It seems like every home builder used them during that era, and now homeowners are so graciously donating them to their local thrift store.

I've been looking for a brass light makeover candidate for a long time, but I was hoping to find something a little bit less "builder basic" than the average thrift store brass light. I was so excited to spot this HUGE brass light right next to the tube TVs. After a little negotiation, we settled on $15 for the brass beauty. Score! (I bought the smaller light too for $5. I have plans for that little guy, too!)

Here are some photos to help you see the scale. I'm 5'9, if that helps. I'd say it's about 36" tall, but I never got out the tape measure to find out.

I loved how big the light was, plus the fact that it was a classic lantern style with some nice curves up top. I figured she would clean up nicely!

This project is easy enough for anyone to do, but I will admit that it's a bit tedious. The first step is to take apart the light to make the next step – spray painting– easier.

Then begins the tedious part, taping off the glass panels. Painters tape is your best friend when you do this type of project, and you have to be extra careful to get every spot. covered.

To get that classic style we were going for, we decided to paint her with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. Why didn't we go with a trendy color? Because it was so tedious to tape off the glass that we are hoping choosing a classic color means we only have to paint it once!

We also spray painted the candlesticks a solid white color to help them look less dated. I couldn't wait to put her back together!

You can see in this picture that we missed a spot on the inside of the top edge. We ended up having to touch that up later, oops!

Isn't it amazing how much more current this light is? Hard to believe it's the same lantern chandelier with a touch of spray paint!

It was about this point that we realized we should have tested the light before we went through all that tedious work! Then came the moment of truth as I muttered many tiny prayers... We have light!

The only bad part about doing these before and after projects for a house we don't live in yet is that we can't do the best photo, which is the one with the light actually hanging up in the house! My tentative plan is to use this as the light in the entry way, replacing a smaller chandelier they have there right now. I feel like it's going to have a great impact because it's so large, so I can't wait to see how it looks! Of course I will post another picture here when I'm done, showing you the actual space. This is how the entryway looked when we toured the house:

Do you think it will be too big? I think it will be just big enough to make a statement, but I guess we'll find out once we actually get to hang it! I was inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest:

For comparison's sake, I searched for similar indoor lantern chandeliers online (36" or bigger). I found this one for $2,100 (ouch!) and another at Restoration Hardware on sale for $725. I'd say $15 is looking pretty good right about now! Hooray for spray paint!

***

I did some major thrifting this weekend, and I can't wait to show you what I bought for our new home! I'll be back with that post later this week. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram (@jgrantham106), you've already seen pictures of our new treasures! I love to post pictures as I shop: "It's live shopping. I need second opinions," I explained to the husband today as I tapped away on my smartphone. Make sure to hop on over to Instagram to give your advice on how I should reupholster our new funky mid century chair (which is, by the way, the most comfortable chair ever). I'm stumped on that one so I need some good advice!

So far we've only dipped our toes into the packing process, but we plan to dive in head first this week. We're two weeks away from moving! It's starting to look a lot less like home around here, which is already bittersweet. I'm happy to report that we have an agreement with our first tenants, so we're excited about that. We were able to find a nice family through our friends, so we didn't have to advertise the rental or anything like that. It saved us a lot of stress and hassle, so we're feeling very blessed. God always takes care of us when we need Him, doesn't He? He never fails to amaze.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I'll be back soon with a thrifting megapost! :)

* Another Monday already? Say it isn't so! *

DIY File Cabinet Revamp

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

The last time we went to the Pottery Barn outlet, the husband bought five of these $5 file cabinet bases with the hope of making different tops for each one. We finally got going on the project once we realized we really wanted a file cabinet to organize all of our important papers before we moved. Moving is very motivating, and working on DIY projects is an excellent way to procrastinate on packing! :)

We weren't sure what we wanted to use for the top of the cabinet. One day I was driving home from work, tossing around the project in my head, when I remembered these flea market tiles I bought in the fall. Remember when I used one as a stencil for my favorite pear painting?

We didn't have enough tiles to do anything substantial like tile a bathroom or kitchen backsplash, so this small project was perfect! We didn't have to buy anything to make the new top– we used scrap MDF for the top and spare cabinet-grade 1x4s as trim.

We had a $5 file cabinet base to start with, which was a great start.

The husband used his miter saw to cut the 3/4 inch MDF to size. Soon, we were tiling!

Once the tile was set and sealed, the husband cut a 1x4 in half to make a border around the top. It helped finish off the piece, but it still didn't look original to the cabinet.

The husband has been wanting to buy some special router bits for some time now, and this was the perfect project to try them out. He shopped around online and eventually bought this set from Amazon. MLCS 8377 15-Piece Router Bit Set with Carbide-Tipped 1/2-Inch Shanks

We decided to mimic the trim on the bottom of the cabinet, so he used his new 5/32 inch roman ogee bit to shape his square trim into something more elegant. It made all the difference in the world!

I painted it with some flat black paint, which ended up being a perfect match. We squeezed the cabinet in beside my black desk in the studio, which also happens to be from the Pottery Barn outlet. It ties in nicely because they are the same shade of black.

I'd estimate our total cost for this nice file cabinet to be right about $10, so I'd say that's a pretty great deal! It's just an added bonus that we now have a nice looking spot for our important documents. What better time to organize your life than when you are moving, right?

* Files for miles *

Quick Fence Facelift

2013-04-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

As we dream about the changes we'll make to our new house, we also have to get our current home ready to be an income property. The husband has a list of projects and fixes he wants to make before our tenants move in, so we're going to tackle those over the neck couple of weeks. First up on the list? Giving the fence a facelift so it looks fresh for the new occupants!

Scott built this fence all by himself right after we bought this house, and it was A LOT of work. When you invest so much time and energy into something, you want to take care of it so you can make sure it lasts. One of the ways to take care of a cedar fence is to regularly apply a "wood protector" product called a waterproofer that protects the fence from water, UV rays and other elements. It's an annoying job, but you have to do it if you want your fence to hold up. Replacing fences is very expensive, so we should all be motivated to properly maintain them!

Our fence has been through some crazy weather (remember these raquetball sized hail stones?), so it needed to be freshened up. We chose a tinted waterproofer, Thompson's WaterSeal Natural Cedar Wood Protector, since our fence was starting to turn gray, but you can also apply a clear version if you prefer the color of your wood as-is.We bought two five-gallon buckets for the fence and had about two gallons left over.

The last time Scott sealed the fence, he did it by himself. The process was tedious and frustrating because some of the color came out unevenly. This time we decided to try a two-person method to avoid those problems. We also added an ounce of linseed oil per gallon of sealant because we heard that would make the stain hold up longer and be more durable. Time will tell on that one!

We put the waterproofer in a pump sprayer and used that to apply the sealant. (We had a one-gallon sprayer but would recommend a 2-gallon one to make it more efficient.) Scott sprayed it onto the fence while I followed behind with a large paintbrush, evening out the application and making sure we didn't miss any spots. It didn't take long for my right arm to become dead weight, let me tell you! With both of us working at a fast pace, the fence was completely waterproofed in about three hours. It would have been less if we had a bigger sprayer and didn't have to stop so often to refill the paint. Next time we'll invest in a bigger pump sprayer to save ourselves some time.

All in all, the project cost us about $175 in materials (10 gallons of Thompson's water protector, a pump sprayer, some linseed oil and a big paintbrush), but we feel like we got a lot of bang for our buck. It looks like a brand new fence!

The new color is really rich and makes the fence look much more expensive, in my opinion. I'd compare the process to dyeing your hair. It's a little shocking when you see the different color for the first time, but then you realize how much better it looks than what you had before. In the end, it was totally worth the time and effort. Hopefully going through this process once every two years helps us keep this fence in great shape for a long, long time!

We should find out today about the appraisal on the new house, so we're hoping that goes well. Obviously we need the house to appraise to get our loan! Once we have the appraisal and permission to move forward, we're going to start packing up the house. Our goal is to make this transition into a new house (and the process to turn this one into a rental home) as smooth as possible and reduce extra stress, so we'll see how that goes. Sounds like famous last words to me, but I'm trying to stay positive! :)

* One task down, a million more to go. *

Spotted.

2013-04-24T20:40:00.002-05:00

You'll have to forgive me for my sparse blog posts these days. Moving = survival mode! Whose brilliant idea was it to move into a new house, turn our home into an income property and balance my busiest time of year at work all at the same time? Oy vey.

We have negotiated to receive some closing costs from the seller of our new house (yay!) and they agreed to repair some "squirrel damage" in one of the eaves of the roof. We are thrilled that they were so cooperative and willing to work with us. We're one step closer to moving in!

Next up, the appraisal. We should find out the results on Monday and see if the home is worth what we're paying. Let's hope so because I really don't want this deal to fall through!

So... I've got furniture on the brain now that I have a lot of new rooms to fill. I've been scouring Craigslist for great deals (none so far) and stopping at some of my favorite thrift stores. Today on my lunch break I wandered into a random antique mall down the street from my job. These are some of my favorite things I spotted at the little antique mall.

How cool are these mid century stools? They were amazing; the price, however, was not. I can't pay $1,500 for some stools! I do love the fact that they are so unique and in such great shape.

I really loved this 70s rattan screen. How great would this look spray painted a bright glossy color? The pattern is super fun, and it would make a great headboard. I found the exact same one for sale on One Kings Lane but I can't tell how much it was going for. This one was $175.

I came very close to buying this $50 wrought iron fireplace screen, but I wasn't sure if the dimensions were right for the new fireplace. That circle pattern is very elegant though, and I may go back if I measure the fireplace and find out that it will work.

And now for the weirdest thing I saw at the antique mall, this wacky lamp. I don't even know how to describe it! Not our style, but I love seeing weird things I haven't seen before.

Have you found any cool furniture pieces lately? I'm looking for a chunky pedestal table for our new kitchen. I want a bargain though, so nothing has been cheap enough yet!

* Craigslist Addict *

Randoms & Happy Weekend

2013-04-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Another lovely Friday is upon us! It's such a good feeling to be on the cusp of a restful weekend (although I'm coaching a volleyball tournament all weekend, so I'm not sure how restful it will be).

We had our home inspection yesterday, but we're still trying to figure out what fixes to ask for. Everything looks pretty good and the inspector didn't see any major problems. He wanted us to send a roofing expert to examine the roof because it was raining during the inspection (which makes it hard to judge the roof), so we're doing that today. Once we have that info, we'll decide what repairs to request from the sellers and hopefully work that out shortly thereafter!

I snapped a few Instagram (@jordang106) photos while I was at the house during the inspection. The backyard view is so peaceful– I can't wait to set up my home office in this room!

And here's a sneak peek of our new kitchen, complete with the inspector's stylish tool bag!

I've decided I won't start packing our current house until we are out of the option period and have worked out the contract completely, including repairs after the inspection. I don't want to jinx anything. It would be pretty heartbreaking to have it fall through at this point, I'll admit. Let's hope we can come to an agreement that's fair for everyone!

***
Emily Henderson, former HGTV Design Star and one of my favorite bloggers, hosted an Instragram contest where we posted pictures of the piece of furniture we would save if our house was on fire. It was an interesting exercise because I love so many pieces of my furniture, but in the end I decided to save the Wisteria shelf in our dining room. I paid $300 for the giant bookcase at one of their flea market sales not too long ago and it's been a love affair ever since. What piece of furniture would you save if your house caught on fire? (God forbid... I'm so glad this is just a hypothetical situation.)

***

Jenny Komenda over at the Little Green Notebook is always impressing me with her innovative solutions for imitating expensive items on a budget. Take, for example, her idea to paint inexpensive white lampshades from Target with black screen printing paint to get that sleek high end look. Brilliant!

***

Sale alert! I have had my eye on the Foiled Dot Napkin Set from Anthropologie for quite some time now. Hot pink and gold polka dots, what's not to like? When the priced got marked down from $25 to $4.95, I pounced. They arrived yesterday and are oh-so-adorable. They have more, including a blue set, online.

***

Do you have fun plans this weekend? I'll be spending most of my time at the Dallas Convention Center, coaching up a team of 11-year old volleyball stars. Should be fun! (And tiring, of course.) I hope to be back on Monday to show you what we did with that awesome arabesque tile I scored at the flea market a long time ago! We just have to actually finish the project first...

* Have a great weekend! *

Daydreams for the New House

2013-04-17T22:01:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like buying a new home to send your decorating imagination into overdrive. It's a whole new blank canvas to work with! Seeing how much money you are spending to buy the house makes you feel like you should never buy anything ever again, but walking through all the empty rooms makes you want to buy so many things. Such a weird tug-of-war going on in my brain right now!

I've had this Home Inspiration board on Pinterest for a long time now, but I've been looking through it these last couple of days with renewed interest as I think about translating some of my favorite rooms into our new home.

We're inheriting a kitchen with warm white cabinets, white-ish Corian counter tops and beige tiled backsplash that looks something like this. I think it's very pretty, but I'd love to make some small tweaks to make it my own. I've been pouring over my inspiration images and seen these beautiful white kitchens that give me some great ideas!

via NateBerkus.com

via Lonny

via Southern Charm

via My Design Dump

I have noticed that most of my favorite inspiration images have brushed or satin nickel knobs like this one from Martha Stewart, so that might be a very easy way to change the feel of the room. Right now the knobs are sort of a dark bronze color, but they almost look copper. I don't hate them, but I don't love them either.

Then I started looking for inspiration for our built-in cabinets in the den. Here's the picture from the MLS listing:

Here are some of my favorite images for styled bookshelves. Looks like I need more thrifted nick knacks to fill up my shelves! (Just what the husband wanted to hear...)

via Decor8

via Full House

via Designsponge.com

via One Good Thing

This is what I have in mind for the fireplace, instead of the brick. I'm thinking a stacked stone would be really pretty and tie in nicely with the white kitchen and stone backsplash.

via A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

via Fresh Home

We are so excited! We're having the home inspection tomorrow morning, so we're hoping and praying that everything goes well and that the home doesn't need major repairs. I'm going to go over with my good camera and take some pictures and measurements so we can really start making plans!

* Daydream Believer *

Offer Accepted!

2013-04-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well folks, it looks like we bought a house!

When I left off on Friday morning, we knew we were the first offer on the home. There were 10 showings that day (the first day on the market), so we had a feeling more offers might come in. By mid-Friday, we knew that we were now one of four offers on the property. Ugh, another bidding war! We knew we'd have to raise our original offer since we were now facing stiff competition, so we went back and forth trying to figure out what to do. We really wanted this home, but it was toward the top of our budget and we didn't want to go crazy and overpay. In the end, we offered full asking price and asked to keep the refrigerator.

The realtor met with his sellers at 5 pm on Friday night to pick the winning bid. When our realtor called to give us the news, we were shocked that we actually got the house! I was speaking to her on the phone, so I gave the husband a big grin and a thumbs up. I hung up the phone and said, "I totally feel like we are on House Hunters right now." I always thought it was funny how the couples just sit in a restaurant and wait for news from the realtor, but that was exactly what we were doing! We already had a date night planned for Friday long before this house came on the market, so we happened to be sitting outside on the patio at this trendy restaurant when the call came through. It was so scripted- haha!

Now we're in the option period, so we'll be having the inspection this week and going through that process. I don't want to share too much until it's all finalized, but I will share with you the part that really sold us on the house– the backyard!

Here's a picture from the MLS listing. The lot isn't that huge, but we were completely smitten with the fact that it backs to a creek. It feels like we are off in the woods, even though we are right in the middle of a busy suburb in Dallas/Fort Worth. The back of the house is filled with windows that look out to the peaceful surroundings. It creates a very relaxing feeling that we couldn't resist!

This city where we bought the home is relatively new, and most neighborhoods were built between 1993-2000. The only problem with that is the lack of "mature" neighborhoods with big trees and nice landscaping, which is what we really wanted. We stumbled upon this tiny hidden neighborhood and were drawn in by the gorgeous trees and greenbelt area. It's just what we hoped to find! There hasn't been a home sold in this neighborhood in two years, so I guess people like it there and tend to stay. That's always a good sign!

I'll share one more photo with you because I think it will be one of our first projects in the new home and I'd love to hear your thoughts. This is the den, which is located right off the kitchen. I love the built in cabinets around the fireplace, but I definitely want to paint them to brighten up the room. That oak just doesn't do it for me. (Don't kill me, natural wood lovers!)

What color should we paint them? The kitchen cabinets are a warm white, so I was leaning toward using that color in this room so they can tie in together. But I also think a warm grey/beige could be nice. Or we could do white cabinetry with dark backgrounds like Young House Love. What do you think? I already have plans to resurface the fireplace, too. I think this room can be a "wow" when we're done with it!

I'll be honest, my feelings are all over the place right now. I'm thrilled that we got the house, and it's super fun to visualize what we can do with it. It's a wonderful house, and I think it's the perfect long-term home for us. I get warm fuzzies when I think about living there for many years and raising a family inside those walls. On the other hand, it's quite hard to think about letting go of so much cash that we've worked so hard to save. Then I remind myself that this was the whole reason we were saving up in the first place, but it's still a little scary. It's such a BIG purchase!

As I mentally process through the excitement and nerves, I move on to feeling overwhelmed with the to-do list. We've got to get through the inspection process, appraisal and all that other fun home-buying stuff. Then we need to start packing our current house up to make the moving process as smooth as possible. We also need to ready this house for our first tenants, which means some small paint touch-ups, some changes to the locks, little jobs like that. We need to work out the rental contract, figure out a moving date... The list goes on and on.

No one ever said moving was easy, but I know it's worth it. Can I snap my fingers and have all the heavy lifting be over already? If only it were that easy...

* Time to find some boxes *

Randoms & Happy Weekend

2013-04-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

Good morning! What's new in your world?

We've had a roller coaster week with the house hunting. (What else is new?) On Tuesday night, our realtors advised us to take a break from searching since the prices just keep going up and the market shows no signs of slowing down. They thought it might be best if we waited for the frenzy to slow down after a couple of months since we don't have to move right now. We had a long discussion about it and decided we were fine with waiting.

The next morning, the husband went to the men's Bible study at our church before work and mentioned the house hunting process. A guy we don't know mentioned that he was selling his home, which turns out to be a house that we had offered on before (mentioned here as the home that's price was raised $15k after we offered). Perhaps it was meant to be after all? Scott and the seller talked about the home and the fact that we had offered on it at its original price, and he said the price was negotiable. Then his realtor called and said it was NOT negotiable. "My client won't consider a penny less than asking" were his exact words. We were getting conflicting stories all around. Anyway, the whole ordeal was very confusing and we didn't know what to think. Last night we showed up at the scheduled time to take another look at the house, but he wasn't ready to show us. He asked us to come back later. We kind of threw our hands up in the air and decided to give up on that home once and for all– not worth the mental energy to figure out what's going on there!

However, right before we went over there I had checked on Realtor.com to see if anything new popped up. There was a new listing slightly outside the neighborhood we were considering, but still in the great school district. I looked at all the pictures online and got really excited about it, so our realtor took us to see it last night. The home ended up having everything we wanted, and we both loved it. (The husband especially loved that it was only one mile from where he works– nice commute!) We made an offer last night and are waiting to hear back. We heard the home had 10 showings yesterday in its first day on the market, but we were the first offer. We'll see what happens!

We know by now that the odds are against us in this market, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up. At the very least, it was a nice reminder that the perfect home for us is out there and we should hold out until we find one that makes us VERY excited (like the one we saw last night).

***

Can we talk about how terrible this lamp is? I spotted it at our local thrift store. The hat has a hole in the top so the light can come through. Where does one find a straw top hat? It's like Abe Lincoln meets Blossom!

***
When we were at Ikea, I bought a glass cabinet door for $4 in the as-is section. I knew I could do something with it! It's basically a wood frame with glass inside. I thought I could use it as a dry erase board or use it to frame artwork. Do you have any other ideas? It looks like this:

***

Speaking of frames, check out this gallery wall I spotted at Wisteria. I would never think to stack so many frames right on top of one another like that, but it does create a really interesting look. What do you think– too busy or just right?

***

What do you have planned this weekend? The husband and I are going to a NASCAR race of all things! One of his students gifted him with free tickets, so we though we'd go check it out. Bring on the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber! Texas Motor Speedway is a really impressive facility that can hold almost 200,000 spectators, so I'm looking forward to the adventure.

* Have a great weekend! *

Window Shopping: Ikea

2013-04-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't been to the land of Swedish meatballs in several months, so when we found ourselves in the neighborhood on a weeknight (the least crowded time), I convinced the husband to brave the blue and yellow retail maze with me.

I took pictures of my favorite things, a little "window shopping" for my blog friends who perhaps don't have an Ikea nearby or avoid the Ikea shopping crowds like the plague. They had several new or new-to-me items that I really liked! Did you know Ikea has the option to shop online now?

Window Shopping: Ikea by jgrantham106 on Polyvore

Clockwise from the top left (click on the smaller pictures above to link to the product):

• Olunda- This butterfly art is super affordable and right on trend. I love the splatter paint!
• PS 2012- This chest is begging for an awesome paint treatment. Rubix cube, perhaps?
• Socker- I was smitten with these white greenhouses, perfect for an herb garden.
• Satta-These acrylic handles would really add a unique touch to a standard dresser. I'd even love to see the clear acrylic ones in a bathroom or even a kitchen!
• Frode- If you need folding chairs for extra seating, they might as well be cute. I'm just saying.
• Kastanjenot- I really wanted to buy these woven planters for our fig trees, but the husband didn't like them. I think the natural texture mixed with the modern white handles is very cool.
• Frasera- Chic whiskey glasses, a must have for people like me who don't drink whiskey but enjoy displaying pretty whiskey glasses in their china cabinets.
• Ovraby- This campaign-style photo frame was decidedly un-Ikea looking. Love it.
• Kasset- Office storage is always better when it looks nice. I bought some of these for my studio to store my art supplies and crafting tools.
• Sanela- They have these heavy velvet curtains in several colors, and they're a nice change from the lightweight cotton varieties Ikea already carries.
• Sommarkul- Nothing brightens up a kitchen for spring like a punchy dishtowel.
• Raskog- I was really tempted to buy this turquoise rolling cabinet for my office. I would put my paints in it and wheel it around into the living room so I could paint in front of the TV!

Apparently every second Wednesday of the month, Ikea gives an additional 50% off the merchandise in its as-is section. I never knew about it! We bought a couple things from that sale, including a striped tablecloth ($2), a glass cabinet door ($4, for a DIY project) and two stuffed animals (50 cents) that made our two spoiled nuggets very happy campers:

Which of the items above is your favorite? I'm a sucker for that turquoise color, so I loved the rolling cart and folding chairs.

* Why is it suddenly cold again? Come on, Spring! *

The Blue Period

2013-04-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I was jogging after work yesterday, trying to relieve some stress and clear my head. (My runner friends say that running relieves stress. I'm not fully convinced, but I figured it was worth a shot!)

Then came a little mental sequence that made me shake my head. My train of thought can be a little strange sometimes...

"I'm feeling blue," I thought to myself. Thinking about the color blue made me think about Picasso's Blue Period. "I like painting– that might cheer me up," I thought. "I should go home and paint a picture of myself in my blue period. A blue 'selfie,' like Picasso would do."

So I jogged myself right back to my art studio and pulled out my blue acrylic paints. I was done with my Picasso-inspired self portrait an hour later. And yes, it did help clear my head. Painting is therapeutic– unless you don't like what you're painting and it's not coming together how you envisioned, in which case it becomes highly frustrating!

My husband said it was "a little creepy," so I added some pink cheeks. Pink is a hopeful color, don't you think? The late Lily Pulitzer said so: "Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink." That's a fabulous quote that I wished I owned in poster form. My next artwork, perhaps?

I like how she looks up on the mantel, layered with my pear painting. I used a lot of the same blue craft paints in each piece, so they tie together nicely.

I want to know, what do you do to cheer yourself up when you're feeling blue?

* Blue Moon *

Randoms & Happy Weekend

2013-04-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

Another week just went by at lightning speed! Slow down!!

Here's my latest house hunting update: We still haven't found "the one." We visited a mega fixer upper this week, but we felt that it was slightly overpriced for the amount of work it needed. It's new on the market, so we're going to see if it sells right away. If not, maybe they'd be willing to negotiate.

I started off the house hunting process thinking it would be fun, but so far it's been more stressful than fun. The stress comes from the super-competitive market and the fact that we have to rush out to see new houses right away in case they sell on the first day (which means either paying full price or even above asking price). We rearrange our schedules to see these houses and are joined by 4-5 other couples walking around the same small house. It's awkward. And for super frugal people like us, it's hard to wrap our heads around the fact that we will not find a bargain in this real estate climate. "But I only buy off the sale rack!"

Anyway, I'm not trying to be overly dramatic about it. Obviously we are blessed to be in a position to buy another house and are fortunate to already have a roof over our heads, so we aren't under the stress of some other families who need a place to move immediately. That being said, I would love to find something soon so that I can free up some brain space to think about other things!

***

My parents came up for Easter last weekend, so I decided to make a simple Easter tablescape for our holiday dinner using items I already had around the house. I ended up hunting around my closet, where I found this bright blue floral scarf that actually worked really well on the table.

I paired it with a blue mason jar full of Alstromeria (had them three weeks now and they're still going strong) and some of my favorite pears. Then I used my thrifted china to polish it off. I liked it so much that my table still looks exactly like this even though Easter has come and gone.

***

I made some cupcakes this week and topped them off the new Cool Whip Frosting. Have you tried it yet? I really liked it! Some people are all-about-the-icing people, but I prefer the lighter whipped frosting that isn't quite as overwhelmingly sweet as some from the grocery store bakeries. Plus I love regular Cool Whip, so this is right up my alley. They have it in chocolate, vanilla and cream cheese, and you can find it in the freezer section right next to the regular Cool Whip.

Cool Whip has a Pinterest board filled with recipes using the frosting, so the possibilities are endless. I had some left over after icing my cupcakes, so I have been adding a little spoonful to my plain greek yogurt to sweeten it up. Very tasty (and less calories than my other favorite thing to put in greek yogurt, peanut butter)!

***

You know how sometimes you get into a "funk" and don't even know why? Is that just me? Sometimes everything in my life is going just fine but I just don't feel enthused about anything. My mood becomes what I like to call "blah." I've never really known how to properly describe it, but this blogger struck the nail on the head when she described the "doldrums" and how to bring yourself out of it. I thought it was a really good read.

***

Did you watch The Bible on the History Channel? I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to others. Sometimes I have a hard time remember Bible stories, and I feel like seeing them acted out really helps cement them in your mind. I'm not saying it's perfectly accurate because they did have to develop some characters and add some extra interest to some parts, but I think it was a completely non-cheesy, well-produced show about the most famous book in the world. I kept thinking how expensive it must have been to produce. You can buy the full series, The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, on Amazon. I think they're selling it at Walmart, too– I saw a sign for it at the front of the store.

***

What do you have planned this weekend? The husband is having some of his college friends come over for a bromantic golfing weekend, so I think I'll have some free time to hang with my best friend and look for treasures at the thrift store. Overall it should be pretty relaxing, which is always great!

* Have a great weekend! *

Cool Book Page Wall

2013-04-02T21:10:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry about the lack of blog posts lately! Things have been so hectic between our jobs and the house hunting (no luck so far, unfortunately), so I haven't been able to work on the blog as much as I'd like.

I thought I'd pop in to show you this really great book page wall I saw at the Wisteria store. Wisteria is one of my favorite places for inspiration. It's located near my work, so sometimes I drop by the store on my lunch break to check out the latest products and admire the beautiful vignettes.

This wall treatment would be so easy to accomplish, and it creates this great texture that is super cozy and inviting. I'd love to have a wall like this in my office, studio, craft room, etc. Perhaps wallpapering your library with book pages in your library is too literal, but hey, why not?

Have you spotted any inspiration lately? What are your favorite stores for getting ideas? I'd count Anthropologie, Wisteria and West Elm as my top three.

* Book worm *

Wishlist: Spring in My Step

2013-03-26T22:23:00.000-05:00

We've had a cold snap in Dallas/Fort Worth these last five days or so, and it's had me craving spring more than ever! As Easter approaches this weekend, I'm dying to add some spring to my step with some bright colors, both in fashion and home decor. How about you?

Wishlist: Spring in My Step by jgrantham106 featuring an ankle-strap sandal

Be gone, cold wind! Hello, happy colors!

* Cheers *

Easy DIY Easter Wreaths

2013-03-24T18:10:00.000-05:00

It's fun to decorate for all of the holidays, but it's really only fun if it's simple and easy to do. Most people, myself included, don't want to spend hours and hours on DIY decorations that can only be used for a small part of the year. That's why these super simple wreath tweaks are awesome. I did both of these in an hour, and now our home is ready for Easter!

These wreaths celebrate the true reason for celebration– the resurrection of Jesus! What a beautiful holiday to celebrate, am I right?!

For the first one, I took the green berry wreath (from Hobby Lobby) that stays on our front door all year round and added a homemade wooden cross for this special holiday.

We had some wood scraps sitting in our garage, and they were the perfect size for this little cross. I didn't even have to cut anything! I stained it with red oak stain and used two screws (from the back) to attach the pieces together.

The next step was to wrap some hemp rope around the cross, adding a loop from the back to hang your cross from the wreath. SO easy! I think it looks awesome on our front door and is a nice way to mark the holiday in a subtle way.

We have a square boxwood wreath on one of our interior doors, so I thought I'd do some quick, easy and free addition to tweak it for Easter. I ended up using some white card stock and floral picks to add the words "He is risen" to the wreath.

First I cut small squares of white card stock, and then I used a black marker to write "He is risen."

Then I hot-glued them to the floral picks, but you could also use toothpicks.

Since this wreath is floral foam, you simply stick them into the foam to spell out the words.

Piece of cake, right? Then once Easter is over, you pull them right out and your wreath is still good as new!

These projects cost me zero dollars and only one hour of my life. That's my kind of holiday decor!

I'm curious, do you decorate for Easter?

* Sweet, simple Sunday *

Randoms & Happy Weekend

2013-03-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

It was one of those weeks that flew by and also seemed to take forever. Do you ever have those?

We've been doing a lot of house hunting this week. On Monday, we lost out on another house. Get this: The seller got so many offers the first day (above asking price) that he took his home off the market and put it back up the next day priced $15k higher! This is craziness.

After that debacle, we ventured outside our small town to the neighboring community where the husband works. It's very similar to our town, but it's a bigger city so it has more selection. You can get more for your money, and you won't be in a bidding war on every house. We found a really nice home and made an offer last night, so we'll see what happens! It's SO different from our current home so I'm really intrigued by having a different challenge. I'll keep you posted, of course.

***

Have you seen this newspaper clipping on Pinterest? Isn't it crazy how times have changed? We women would be so much more relaxed and grateful for our bodies if our mentality was still like this. Sigh.

via Pinterest

***

The house we're considering is red brick, which isn't my favorite type. I was looking for options when I stumbled upon this house in Southern Living that went from red brick to a soft, muted grey. Isn't it gorgeous? They did it with a lime wash.

via Southern Living

***
I tried this quinoa recipe, but it was just so-so. I'm still looking for better options! Let me know if you know any good recipes...

***

Have you heard of Creating with the Stars? It's a blog contest pitting some of the most creative people around in a battle of ingenuity and resourcefulness. I was totally blown away by this DIY version of the West Elm wood tile dresser. How great does this look?! Go to the link above to see this and more amazing, inspiration DIY projects.

via East Coast Creative

***

Do you have fun plans this weekend? We're hosting some friends for a little cookout tonight and then relaxing on Saturday and Sunday. I'm hoping to squeeze in some little Easter crafts as I prepare to host some of my family members next weekend for the holiday.

* Have a wonderful weekend! *

Home Staging

2013-03-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

We've been doing some house hunting lately, so one of the things that's really been on my mind is how to make your home "shine." As I'm walking through these homes, I'm often thinking about how each home would be shown off better with just some easy, inexpensive tweaks. Here are some of the things I've seen so far and how I would change them if it were my home to sell!

I don't want to seem like a know-it-all here, so please take these as just my personal opinions. Everyone has different circumstances when selling their homes, but this is just what we would do if we owned these homes.

1. Lighten Up.
Many of the homes we've toured have felt dark on the inside. We aren't all blessed with floor-to-ceiling windows (especially in older homes), but we can do our best with what we have. Turn on all of your lights and open all of your windows! Most people want a home that feels light and bright, airy and expansive. If you have all of your lights on and it still feels dark, consider investing in light bulbs with higher wattage. For example, I just toured a master bathroom that had a ton of light fixtures, but they were all very low wattage. I think the goal was to add dim mood lighting for long soaks in the bathtub, but the recently renovated bathroom would have looked so much better with brighter lights!

Bright, airy kitchen (with lights on!) by Sarah Richardson. Photo via Canadian House & Home

2. Declutter
You know what we (buyers) think when we see a house that feels very cluttered? You must not have enough room for your stuff. That makes me think your home doesn't have a lot of storage or perhaps not enough closet space, which means we won't have enough room for our stuff if we bought your house. That's a negative right off the bat.
Sometimes it's as simple as putting stuff away. We toured a home recently with a pretty fabulous laundry space, complete with a whole wall of cabinets, a built-in desk, etc. The only problem was you couldn't see any of the cabinets or the long counterspace because it was covered in a heaping pile of dirty laundry! That laundry room was a great selling feature, but they were completely covering it up.

A welcoming, organized laundry room via Better Homes & Gardens

3. Play up your home's best features.
I can think of two homes recently where I was completely shaking my head because they had failed to do this. In the first, the home had a big pool with a huge back patio. Major selling point, right? Buyers should have pictured themselves lounging on pool chairs with margaritas and then rushed to ask their realtors where to sign. However, this back patio and the area surrounding the pool was filled with mismatching, junky patio furniture and dead plants. Dead plants just don't help a space look its best! Putting just the slightest bit of love into that outdoor space probably would have sold it in a heartbeat. Sweep winter-y debris off the patio, get rid of any dead plants, think about removing the rusted BBQ grill that hasn't been used in ages. If possible, rent or buy a patio set that helps people envision the luxurious life they could live in your home. I know sometimes there isn't money for new furniture to stage a home, but the nice thing about investing in furniture before you sell is that you can usually take them with you when you go to your new home.
Another home we toured had a really beautiful floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. It was the showpiece of the home, for sure. However the couch was plopped right in front of it, with its back to the fireplace! The arrangement of the room completely blocked the view of the fireplace when you walked in because these homeowners had arranged the room to center around the TV, not the fireplace. I thought that was a big shame because the fireplace was my favorite part of the house and buyers ideally should be drawn to it as soon as they walk in.

Beautiful fireplace via Indulgy

4. Carpet isn't always your best friend.
Another trend I've seen in the homes we've toured is that several home owners put down brand new carpet before they put their homes on the market. I understand that carpet is one of the cheapest flooring options, but I feel like a lot of people don't want carpet anymore. My husband and I keep saying, "What a shame, we'd have to tear up all that brand new carpet right away." We have dogs, and the carpet would soak up the smell of our pets. Surely we can't be the only potential buyers who wouldn't choose carpet? I would rather have a flooring allowance to pick out our own floors once we bought the home.
While on the subject of flooring, we have seen many homes with more than 5 different types of flooring in the house– and these aren't really big houses. Vinyl in the kitchen, laminate in the dining room, carpet in the living room, a different laminate in one bedroom, and so on and so on. It raises concerns in my head about trying to make the home feel cohesive once we bought it. Would we have to replace all of the floors? Will the flooring levels be uneven because they are all so different? What sort of headache are we signing up for here? There may be some buyers who overlook having different types of flooring, but I know it would be a bonus for us if we saw only a few different types of flooring in the home (for example, laminate or hardwood floors in the main living areas and carpet in the bedrooms).

5. The garage matters.
At least, it does to my husband. Want a man to fall in love with a house? Show him a well-kept garage with great storage. He'll start picturing his toys in your garage, his car parked in that space, his tools lined up neatly in your workshop. Women fall for the kitchen; men fall for the garage. If you're blessed with a big garage with built-in shelving, a workshop, anything along those lines– play it up! Put bright lights in there so we can see it. Organize your tools neatly to show off the great storage options. It's a great selling feature for many men out there (and women, too).

via The Container Store

What do you guys think? Would these things matter to you? What have you noticed when you've bought or sold a home? I'd love to hear your thoughts...

* Happy Home Shopping*

Randoms & Happy Weekend

2013-03-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

Let's start the randomness off with a little update on our house hunt:

We are on offer #3 right now. I told you about the first offer we made and how we got nervous that it was too expensive for us. We're terrified of being house poor!

Since then, the selection of homes in our price range has completely depleted to almost nothing. Literally, there is only one home on the market in our range right now! Because the selection is so small and so many people want to buy a house in our area (great school district, central location in DFW), every home that has come on the market since has immediately gone into a bidding war.

We put a full price offer on a nice home in a great neighborhood earlier this week, and then the seller's agent got back to us with a long list of requirements for us to make on our "best offer." I'm sorry buddy, that was our best offer. Don't you know we don't pay full price for anything?! It's a miracle we offered you full asking price!

Anyway, we withdrew our offer from that home and moved on. The next day, a really adorable and more affordable home came on the market that we really thought would be a good fit for us. Once again, we made a full price offer. Apparently the seller is "overwhelmed by the response," which means we must have been joined by several other offers (of course). We are hoping to find out by tonight whether or not our offer has been accepted, which is not looking promising at this point.

The worst part about this crazy housing market is that we can't really get excited about a home because we know the odds aren't good that our offer will be the one that's accepted. It's a self protection mechanism to restrain your enthusiasm, you know? The competition is fierce, and we aren't willing to overpay. The fortunate part is that we have a lovely home anyway and we aren't desperate, so we keep trying to remind ourselves of that reality. It's easy to get swept up in the competitive spirit and throw down a bunch of money, but that would be a bad decision.

So, that's where we are right now. As always, I will keep you posted! So far it's been an exercise in patience and restraint. We're getting good practice in trusting our instincts and waiting for God to open the right door (and not getting mad when a door closes).

***

These are some of my favorite Instagram photos of late (@jordang106):

Rolling through the Texas countryside

Backseat road trip warriors

Peekaboo doughnut/You are what you eat

***

The husband has been working on random projects during his spring break this week. I already showed you his adorable doggy fence windows, which have been a huge hit with the nuggets so far. He also pressure-washed the fence, planted a pear tree transported from our friend's yard, reupholstered the center console in his Chevy Silverado (random, I know), and rewired his vintage fan from the flea market. I can't wait to see what he does next! Haha.

***

Am I the last person on earth to discover quinoa? I finally made some this week and actually liked it! I can't say the same for the husband– he basically hated it. Oh well. I have a big batch of plain quinoa in the fridge– what should I do with it? Please let me know if you have any good recipes!

***

Do you have fun plans this weekend? We are making a day trip to east Texas tomorrow to visit some of our best friends who just had a baby. The rest of the weekend will [hopefully] be calm and uneventful. Who knows, maybe we'll have a new house by the next time we talk!

* Have a Great Weekend*

DIY Fence Windows for Dogs: Tutorial

2013-03-12T22:14:00.003-05:00

If you've followed this blog for a while, you know we have two ~~destructive~~ adorable dogs. "Nuggets," we like to call them. And if you've liked the blog on Instagram, you may have seen this photo on Monday:

You see, these two nuggets take protecting our backyard very seriously. So seriously that they have destroyed parts of the fence to have a clear view of who's walking by.

And since the husband spent so much time slaving over building this fence, the puppy damage was particularly painful for him. As soon as he went on spring break this week, he made it project #1 to install custom puppy windows in our fence to [hopefully] prevent further fence carnage.

Now our fence features three custom dog windows, aka "doggy peepholes," so the nuggets can perform their guard dog duties without digging more holes and destroying more fence!

The husband told me exactly how he did it, so let's walk through the steps. Here's what you need:

• jig saw

• miter saw

• power drill

• galvanized wood screws (must be galvanized or they will rust and discolor your fence)

• cedar picket (or whatever wood you used for your fence)

• galvanized steel wire mesh

• wire cutters (or strong scissors)

First, you need to decide where you want to put your windows. We chose to put ours at eye level for our dogs (except for the first one, which had to go where they had already torn a big hole). It's a good idea to put your windows between fence runners so that you only have to cut through the fence planks.

Use the jig saw to cut the hole in the fence to whatever size you want. The nuggets really enjoyed this part. "Look mom, it's just like riding in the car and sticking our heads out the window!"

Using the miter saw (which makes it much easier to make angled cuts), cut the extra picket to the length you need for your window with 45 degree angle cuts on each end. This will help you make the beveled frame for your window.

Captain obvious instruction of the day: you'll need four angled cuts to make a window frame.

*MIND: BLOWN*

Use the wire cutters to cut the wire mesh to slightly smaller than your wooden frame.

For extra stability, the husband placed the wire mesh between the planks and the fence runners, which are on the inside of our fence. You could also just place the wire mesh over the hole in your fence and begin applying the frame if you want to simplify and eliminate some steps.

Once the mesh is in place, use your power drill to screw the frame onto the fence.

Once the frame was finished on the outside of the fence, the husband also added a frame to inside to make that side look polished and finished. He only needed three sides for this frame because the fence runner was used for the bottom.

We were super pleased with how the doggy windows turned out! The dogs love being able to see the street without contorting their body or eating through the fence.

See how dirty our fence is from the recent storms? Yuck. Today the husband also rented a pressure washer to strip off the dirt ($20 for two hours from Ace Hardware). It made a big difference, and now the fence is ready to be resealed. He plans to do that tomorrow. No one is as productive on vacation as my husband! (Thank goodness– it takes away the envy for me, since I don't get spring break in my line of work.)

So, do you think your dogs need some fence windows? It's a pretty easy project if you have the right tools. Special thanks to our neighbor, Charley, who let us borrow his miter saw. (The husband is now obsessed and has been looking for his own miter saw on Craigslist all day– imagine that!)

* Window to the ~~Sidewalk~~ World*

Small House, Big Rug! + more

2013-03-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Rugs were 40% off at the Pottery Barn outlet this weekend, so you can probably guess how this story is going to go...

I made the husband pull out and unroll several huge rugs (no small task– muscles definitely necessary) and we eventually found a [big] beautiful rug we both loved. WIN!

Here's the winner: Ikat Links rug from West Elm! We got a great deal, paying only $288 for the 9x12 size, which is selling for $850 on the West Elm site.

Ikat Links rug, West Elm

We loaded it into our truck (along with all of our other purchases) and started the three hour drive home. That's when the situation got a little hairy. We were just cruising along the Texas countryside when the sky opened up and released its fury on us. We couldn't even see the road in front of us when we were driving, that's how hard the rain was coming down.

We white-knuckled it through the storm safely, and we rushed the rug out of the truck as soon as we got to my parents' house. This was the scene in the eat-in kitchen on Saturday night:

The good news is, the rug didn't get nearly as wet as we feared. We let it air out overnight and it was good as new, with no extra odor. Phew!

I am so pleased with how it looks in our living room! It really ties the space together and makes it feel complete.

The rug is almost too big for our tiny space, which is a nice problem to have! I never thought we'd be able to afford a 9x12 for this space, so it feels like such a luxury. You have to love outlet prices!

So what else did we buy?

Well, I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that we've been searching for a filing cabinet. We came home with FIVE filing cabinets! That's right, the husband went crazy at the Pottery Barn outlet, buying up all the file cabinets. We just couldn't resist, since each one was marked down to only $5!

What's the catch? Well, none of the cabinets have tops. They are each pedestals meant to be part of custom desks, so the top is open like this one:

Printer's 3-Drawer File Pedestal, Pottery Barn

These cabinets retail for $339, so paying only $5 (a whopping 98.5% off!) was just too good to pass up. I mean, the hardware is worth more than $5! Now we have five of these cabinets, and all are different colors, styles, hardware, etc. The husband plans to craft tops for each one out of different materials and either give them to our friends or sell them on Craigslist. Can you believe he bought about $1,700 worth of cabinets for $25? Not too shabby! (I'm happy to report they were not damaged by the rain storm we encountered on the way home.)

My best friend asked me to look for photo ledges for her bedroom, and I found her two white 5" Holman Ledges for $5 each (normal price: $55). Another great find!

One of my favorite sections of the Pottery Barn outlet is the kid/teen section. I guess I'm still young at heart? I can always find good deals in that part of the store. This time I found another capiz chandelier. (Last time I went to this Pottery Barn outlet, I bought 3 capiz chandeliers and a capiz baby mobile, including the West Elm capiz chandelier in our dining room.)

If we end up moving and renting this house out, we want to take that West Elm chandelier with us. Yes, I absolutely love it that much– I can't bear to part with it. I thought this Classic Capiz Chandelier from Pottery Barn Teen would be a nice replacement. I'm not sure how much it used to sell for since it's not available anymore, but we paid $60. I figured that's a pretty good price for a dining room chandelier. This similar (but not as pretty, in my opinion) fixture is $780 at Shades of Light.

Classic Capiz Chandelier, PB Teen

Also found in the PB Teen section, a lap desk with a built in iPhone dock and speakers! This is such a great find for me because between my real job and my blogging hobby, I spend a lot of time with my laptop. It always gets hot and heats up my legs as I'm working, so this is an awesome solution. I got the sheepskin one, which is very soft and neutral (and doesn't scream teenager). Original price: $189. I paid $15. Score. And the speakers work great!

Speaker Lap Desk, PB Teen

And that's not even all we bought! Yes, we spent hours in that store. Our last purchase was this cool industrial shelf– Kendall Wall-Mount Shelf– for $40 (original price $112). It's going to be perfect below the pencil art in my studio and ties in perfectly with the industrial magazine rack I already have hanging in that room.

Kendall Wall Mount Shelf, Pottery Barn

All in all, it was a very successful shopping day. My parents found some great stuff too, so everyone went home happy. My mom bought the $399 Hudson Media Console from West Elm for only $40!

Of course you never know what type of deals you'll get at an outlet mall, but we always hope to find great bargains that make the 3-hour drive worth our time. This time we definitely did!

I'll be back with another post soon with an update on the [increasingly frustrating] house hunt.

PS. I finally updated the Home Tour! It was quite a bit outdated– I'm sorry about that!

* Rug Love *