The Sunset Lane

the Church House Kitchen

2016-09-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

I was going to write, I swear. I was. Apparently being a single mom, working full time, getting your masters degree, and redoing a house is exhausting. Don't let me fool ya, there were plenty of days that I did nothing or was playing with my friends. I could have written. I just didn't have the motivation.

My tired funny is mostly snarky bitchy comments and it's hard to give a shit about a damn blog I started forever ago. Snarky comments, sarcasm, math humor, and swear words are my love languages.

Who reads this shit anyways, right?

Apparently, a few people read it. (I love these people BTW, even if we haven't met). It's funny how you cheer people on from the sidelines. A few people gave a shit how the house turned out, how the kids are, if I shaved my head like Britney in a crazy breakdown, and if I survived divorce.

UPDATE:
The house is amazing and probably saved my sanity because I could be creative and didn't have to ask or run any ideas by anyone. You know why? Cause it's my fucking house and I can do whatever I want!!

The kids are spectacular and big. The bigs are in 7th and 8th grade and are beautiful and brilliant and cheerleaders, and take the advanced classes, and they're snarky and funny. I have determined that I will be purchasing a gun and need to learn to shoot as a result of these things. The littles are crazy and so smart too. Our house is always a busy hub right now. Practices, homework, dinner, friends, friends who are now family, more practices, baths (apparently I don't want the stinky kids, eh), love, and laughter. The laughter is good for my soul. I miss them like crazy when they aren't here. We go on adventures on the regular and I try to make as many memories as humanly possible. One day I won't be cool anymore. <----- that's a lie, I'm always gonna be cool. Damnit.

I didn't shave my head, I have seriously contemplated it though. For real. I did read some article about how Julianne Hough got a beach wave perm and decided that was a good idea. Against the advice of my best friend, hairdresser, mother, and the rest of the fucking world....I got a perm. WTF?!? Hello disappointment, my old friend. As a result, my hair is significantly shorter to cut the damage off, go figure. :)

As for the divorce, I survived.

I should post about the bathroom bc that was the first room that I planned to do and the inspiration post was written before this post, but I cleaned the kitchen this morning.... so kitchen for the win.

I kept the original cabinets and just painted them with this magical paint called Pitt-Tech. I will NEVER use another paint on cabinets ever again. This stuff is the shit! Smells fucking awful and will make your brain ache. But it doesn't chip at all. So the brain damage done by the paint fumes was worth it. I got a little drunk last summer and decided to paint the cabinets in my underwear in a two-day span. Not my proudest moment, but it got fucking done and looked 967% better.

This kitchen isn't huge, but I have arranged the layout in here to better fit everything. That floor was fucking dreadful. Original plan: to tile in some beautiful pattern. Saw the price and the floor wasn't level AT ALL. The house is from 1925 and was a church, it's weird. Hence, the reason I liked it so much also it was super cheap. New plan: to choose a good laminate floor that I loved. Plan that actually happened: choose the largest piece of remnant that Menard's has that I didn't mega hate. The cost of stuff is insane btw. A good friend of mine who does flooring came out and did an amazing job laying all the flooring. I came to see it when it was done, I laid on the floor and did laminate angels. He looked at me like I was insane, even though he knows this to be a fact :)

This light. This light. OMG this light. This had to be the light that went in here. I wanted vintage and fabulous and settled for brand new and fabulous. It's from Lowe's. The old man who watched me hump this fucker into the cart told me it was going to put out too much heat, and the cost to run it would be crazy. I told him if I didn't have it, my soul would die and my childrne could eat ramen for mommy to have a pretty light. He also thought I was nuts. He wasn't wrong. It is like a fucking fireplace!! Keeps the kitchen warm in the winter. :) I don't give a rats ass, I love it.

The sliding barn door is made from salvaged bleacher seats from the local school. My ex husband made the door and the track for me. He probably thinks I am crazy too, but he knows when I see a design, it's gonna happen. The rest of this shit is all thrift store finds, which I love bc no one else has it and if it breaks, I paid very little for it. Cheap and unique....sensing a theme?

Amazon, cause it's funny.

The countertop is laminate made to look like soapstone. High design on the cheap. The globes are a collection I had and friends and family added to it. They like my weird.

Target in the cheap area....trying to promote not killing the plants.

Got him at Goodwill, he had a twin...he didn't survive Oliver's need to play with him. The birdcage is from an estate sale. Again, weird, unique, cheap....me.

It's a real plant and it's been alive for like a year and a half now.

Other weird things I have collected or were gifts. That vase was a fun find with a friend while thrift shopping, it's still one of my favorite trips to the thrift store. :)

The plaque is from one of my best friends, the mason jar is full of chinese fortunes...the kids and I keep them all.

My mom paints rocks with the kids, they LOVE it! These may have accidentally been in the garbage disposal also.

Light is from Habitat for Humanity and has a match in the pantry.

Printed a bunch of my instagram pics onto magnets from Sticky9.

Garage Sale in Texas....I love toaster.

Needed a weird radio, I am always singing. Got it off a buy sell trade site on FB. Those are our dirty carnie fish from the fair last summer. They are the only survivors. Hank in the Tank and Princess Elsa of Arondale.

This is the tribe, they got big. Oliver is not amused by his mother or sisters, but he loves us just the same. :)

XOXO
-Kari

Church House: Bathroom Inspiration

2015-05-05T06:32:00.002-07:00

The first room that's gonna get it is the bathroom at the church house. That way we have somewhere to potty while we work on everything else :) Plus, it's small. I seriously am super excited. Like can't sleep excited about this place. I have lived in a rental, a tan rental, tan people. Inside and out. For 9 months. It's not the worst thing I've ever lived in, but I have no creative space. My brain is going off like fireworks to get this place started.

So here is the before:

That vanity....OMG. I found a little table/desk on the side of the road in September. I snagged it and threw it in the back of the burb while it was pouring rain. Yes, I'm that girl. Anyhow, it says property of the US Navy on the bottom. I have sat at it and imagine very important things were done at this little desk. In all actuality, some navy officer probably sat with his feet on it and clipped his toenails.

Whatever, it's mine now and last night I'm doing research for the Church House <dicking around on pinterest> and saw this and was like, BOOM, it's for the vanity!

I love the color of that vanity and that old rug in the bathroom. The dark gray will be the bottom of the Navy desk and also the built in cabinet in the bathroom. So, that's happening.

Black ceiling, black tile floor. If floors and ceilings can be sexy, <they totally can btw> then these are the bees knees for me. When I decided to buy the house, I was like I can budget for these beautiful hexagon tiles. They are around $10-$12 per square foot. Measured the bathroom last night and was like....ummmm no. I am going with matte black 12x12 tiles that are $1.32 per square foot. I'd rather take a mini trip with the savings than let my 2 1/2 year old pee on it while he potty trains this summer. Just sayin.

Love the olive green shower curtain. What I want to do: buy olive green velvet fabric and have this luxuriously beautiful shower curtain. What I will do: Find a set of full sheets in an olive green color I like or maybe a dark inky blue and use that as my shower curtain. Mainly because I don't want to be sad that Oliver pissed on the shower curtain and I have to wash it for the 10th time that week. Also, I love the old painting in the bathroom.

That tile pattern for the inside of the shower. That's it. No argument. It's happening. Like ASAP.

Another black ceiling/floor combo. Happening. and the black door and trim. Love.

All images via my hoarding of beautiful images on pinterest.

Follow me on Pinterest and on Instagram. Do it. Go follow me. I'll wait. Thank you!! :) Love your faces!

Later gators!!
Kari

Life Happens and The Church House

2015-04-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

So, sometimes in life shit happens. You are forced to go on adventures that you had never planned. You get lost along the way and end up finding yourself. I haven't written in a year. A year. Like Fresh Prince said, "My life got a twist-turned upside down." You're singing it now, aren't you?! Don't lie. We both know you are :)

Well, hopefully if all plays out this will be the lead-in to a slew of posts. Next Monday, I close on an old church house. It was picked up and moved and converted into a house. It has hardwood floors, huge baseboards, and needs a total makeover. This house is going to be my creative outlet for as long as I need it to be.

Monday evening, I will be consumed with tearing out what needs to be redone. In all reality, I will probably order a pizza and sit in the living room in my new house on a blanket. Take it all in. Let the weight of doing things on my own sink in, and the realization that I am capable of anything free me of any burden.

With all that being said and without further ado, I give you The Church House before photos.

I've got big, no HUGE plans for this place and for my life in general. Hope you stick around and see what happens!!

Later Gators,
Kari

Front Bathroom: Makeover

2014-04-17T11:17:00.001-07:00

The bathroom was gross when we moved in. I painted it with some leftover paint from our last house. It at least covered the nasty stained walls. Then we tore out the old vanity and scraped the nasty peeling vinyl floor and redid the bathroom.

Finally something I love!!

Way Before:

First redo:

It was so much better than before, but the stripes got on my nerves after a while and it was all very beige-y.

The vanity was a cheapy from HD and the finish wore off of it way too fast. So, I had to paint it.

The stripes had to go, had to go. I was so tired of looking at them.

Source List:

Wall Urchin: Target Threshhold

Pendleton Shower Curtain: DIY

"I'm Happy, But I'm Not Going to Clap my Hands" Art (I just asked her to print it on white paper instead of beige): ETSY

Border Collie "Yes, I herd you" Art: ETSY

Soap dispenser: Target Threshhold

DIRTY CLEAN bath rug: Urban Outfitters (no longer available)

Hexagon Towel Holder: Urban Outfitters (no longer available)

Stripe Towel: West Elm

Wood Stool, Mirror, Badminton Rackets: Thrifted

Emergency Box : Hobby Lobby (then painted with craft paints)

Tear paper art were made by Morgan and Hayley at school for mother's day a few years back.

xoxo

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SUNDAY: The DIY Showoff

MONDAY: Thrifty Decor Chick, Dittle Dattle,Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime
TUESDAY: Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Strictly Homemade
WEDNESDAY: Not Just A Housewife Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club
THURSDAY:My Repurposed Life. House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple
FRIDAY: Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Remodelaholic, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest
SATURDAY: Funky Junk Interiors, Tatertots and Jello

$5 Garage Door Makeover and counter top sneak peek

2014-04-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it's been 10 years since I've blogged. I've been super busy with, well life. It takes like 65 hours for every online teaching application. Usually after hour 40, my computer crashes and I curl in the fetal position to cry. I'm being a little dramatic...maybe.

I'm like thisclose to finishing up the kitchen. On Friday, Mr. TSL has no school so we will be rocking the subway tile together. If it doesn't get done Friday, I will do it Monday by myself. The counter top looks amazing and I LOVE IT!!!

Her are some picks of it being glued up and then stained. It look phenomenal! So much better!

Now to the garage door, last summer I painted it gray and we put up some huge house numbers Mr. TSL cut out with a jigsaw from a 1x12.

before:

After:

Now the front of the house had a little more depth. White house, white garage door, white trim. Got a little boring. This helped, but I really wanted a fancier garage door, so.....

I saw these:

I saw these 5 Gallon Stir Sticks. They were like $1.20 each at WalMart. I painted them ORB like I painted the handle and lock on the garage door. Then I took some liquid nails and glued them on like carriage doors :)

I really want to stain the concrete something warm to balance the gray and white....all in due time friends!!

xoxo

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SUNDAY: The DIY Showoff

need some sunshine.....

2014-02-27T11:33:00.001-08:00

I am elbow deep in a giant mess in my kitchen. Apparently, when your hubby brings home your countertop, a fire is lit under your ass to get the island painted. Meaning, all the contents of the drawers, the drawers themselves, and the cabinet doors are all over my kitchen and dining room covered in primer waiting for the first coat of paint to happen at nap time today.... totally excited to wrap up this kitchen makeover. It's getting close.

On a more depressing note, I am super sick of this friggin cold weather. It was okay for a while. Then we had a few days of 60s. I cleaned out some gardens, started plotting outdoor adventures, then low and behold. Boom. More cold weather. WTF.

To top off all the lack of spray painting weather, I am uber bummed that today my little brother left for his second tour in Afghanistan. Yep, the shitty place with all the war and shit, you know the one who's higher ups are no longer telling us they will protect our troops on the border or something. Yep that place. I cry. He lies and tells me he's going on vacation to Colorado and he'll see me in a year or so. It's our thing. Blah. He did get engaged the other day to a fabulous girl! I have had the honor of being asked to plan their wedding for the 4th of July 2015. So, I have immersed myself in the pinning of ideas for said wedding. I am so excited to plan it!!! Thank God for the distraction of Pinterest!

I needed some sunshine and then I saw all of these....now I want yellow everything. :)

images via

Kitchen Tile and some killer finds!!

2014-02-24T09:44:00.000-08:00

I bought all the subway tile and all the goodies to put it up. I'll be getting on that hopefully in the next week or so. It's not a large space, so it shouldn't take too long to get done. But, alas I think that about everything. The kitchen island countertop is thisclose to being done. I can almost taste it, that would be weird to taste you countertop, but whatever. Judgy, much?!?

I'm hoping it all looks like this when I'm done:

via

So, I peruse Craigslist to find all kinds of goodies. This weekend I scored big twice. We nabbed 117-large concrete pavers for $1 each!! I can't wait until the weather warms up and I can get outside and work on some curba appeal! On to my next score.....

I saw this pic on cl:

I like the dresser, but not for $125. Plus, I hoard dressers, chairs, lamps, and rugs. See that rug in the corner? It is a vintage oriental rug. I called about it. The lady said she'd ask her husband if he wanted to sell it...he said no. Then she said, I bet if you came in you could talk him into selling it to you. So, I went in. He was grumpy. He said no. I went in and instead of asking if he'd sell it, I offered him $40 for it. He just looked at me like I was crazy. He said, sure but you'll have to come back tomorrow because I can't move all the furniture off it by myself. So, I did. It's enormous. Like 11 feet by 11ft ish. Freaking huge. for $40. I'll post better pics soon, I am cleaning it today!

Kitchen Update: Planked Island, Black Pantry Doors, etc....

2014-02-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

So....this is the redo that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, some people started doing it not knowing 'bout the time, and they'll continue doing it FORVER just because, this is the redo that never ends......Is that song stuck in your head now?!? :) How about this one, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all....damn now, it's stuck in my head.

PLANKED ISLAND:
So, we planked the back of the island with 1/4 inch plywood ripped down at Lowe's.

need to putty the rest of the nail holes and sand

I freaking love those stools!! I love them even more because Mr. TSL got them out of the trash and brought them home for me! I actually have 7, but I think that's overkill for this small island :)

BLACK PANTRY DOORS:
I can't wait to paint this damn island, I am so sick of looking at it like this.....it's been done since December!!!

The doors do not look this shitty in real life. Apparently the flash catches the mark from where my 9 year old helped me clean and sprayed down the doors and did a crappy job wiping up afterwards.

What's that you notice? Why yes, I did get a Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas and I love it....I might go in and stare at it sometimes...okay a lot. The paint spots on the wall are for a new color, obviously. I have yet to find the right color. The lighter tan ones are too pink in the light in there. I think I need more of a gray.. My mom has the perfect gray in her house. The sample I had in that color looks really greenish...blah. Paint. Blah. That black door is the medicine cabinet (at least the tops shelves away from tiny fingers are. The other shelves house the waffle iron and little toys that get stores in there by the tiny fingers!!) Yes, I also got one drawer pull on....it took forever and I fucked up the holes on it, luckily the drawer pull covers it. I quit after that one. I think I'll make some template or offer dirty favors to my hubby to do it!! ;)

ETC:
Kitchen Globe Light made from fish bowls....yes you read that right!

Thrift Store Score: Mid Century Mustard Color Chair $5.99 plus 10% off....SOLD.

My Grandma and I made that pillow from a blanket I picked up at the thrift store too!! ;)

Thrifter for life!

xoxo

Label Maker Spice Jars

2014-01-13T11:46:00.003-08:00

I needed to organize my most used spices in a more uniform way and they needed to be cute, because they sit on the shelf out for everyone to see. So, I emailed this etsy seller and asked her to make me some. I saw some of her cute Halloween labels and a light bulb went off. Originally, I was going to buy a label maker and make them myself, but this was cheaper and I didn't have to do it! Plus, she was lovely to work with! She made them and shipped them to me super fast, all for $4! :)

the tall spice jars are from target, they are Archer Farms Spices in the grocery area. I just refill them with cheaper spices. The jars are from ikea, but I picked them up in the package for $2 at Goodwill! :)

xoxo

Obsession=This Bathroom

2014-01-07T16:24:00.001-08:00

This bathroom makes my brain explode with excitement!

Photo via Desire To Inspire.

the girls over at a beautiful mess posted it today. i die. i am already planning to redo our bathroom with a little inspiration from this bathroom.....what's that you say "you're in the middle of a kitchen reno" "didn't you just finish that damn bathroom" Shut your dirty mouth, hooker. Bite your tongue and be supportive.

xoxo

New Year and Goals for January

2014-01-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Resolutions suck balls. I, every year since I can remember, have vowed to lose weight. I hate this resolution. I sit down and figure out what I am going to do. I do it. I lose x amount of pounds. Then I plan out if I keep up that weight loss each week then I should be to my goal by______fill in whatever date it is. Then, I vow to keep track of it in my planner. I mark what my weight should be by that date and what it should be each previous week to maintain the goal. January passes and I'm over it. It was boring. The kids didn't want to eat the food I was pressuring myself into sticking to. I would try to make myself food and a different more delicious meal for my family. Sometimes, I would eat both. Kind of counter productive.

Then the guilt would set in. I mean seriously. Then each month that would follow I would re-plan my weight loss. Black scratch marks over all the "suppose to be" weights in my planner. Instead of hitting my goal by say July, I could do it by Thanksgiving....Christmas.....might as well just wait until the New Year and start then. I mean seriously...October: Halloween candy, November: Thanksgiving dinner, December: Christmas Dinner.........what's the damn point at that time in the year. Snowball effect.

This year is different. I started the Whole 30 program. It is awesome. I am not going to lie. It is a lot of prep work. Like I wash all the damn pots and pans like 2 times per day at least. Blah. I have figured if I do most of the prep on Sunday, then I won't have so much work all week. Plus, the kids go back to school tomorrow, so I don't have as much food to make during the day.

I am almost done with the first week. I'm down 8 lbs. I am ecstatic. But, that's not the point. I am tired of feeling tired and sluggish. I want to finish things I start. I am tired of sitting on the computer pinning shit, when I could be living my damn life. Seriously. Giant suck whole of time. I need to figure out a process to do this. Like a timer for myself for Pinterest. Anywho, this has given me more energy and when I feel like it, I will share the meals I am making.

Another goal of mine for the year is to think about things before I buy them. Too much money is being wasted on crap I see in other people's pictures or on pinterest and I really have no use for them. I am re-donating too much stuff. Plus, I just have a lot of things I don't need. Flushing those out this year too!
I want to focus on quality and not quantity. Like we need new shower curtain liners, instead of buying plastic shit from WalMart, I plan to buy cloth one's that I can wash, bleach, and will last longer...etc.

Now on to the house stuff for the month:

January:

kitchen
1. build the countertop for the island.
2. paint the island
3. put on all the hardware

living room:
1. rearrange some art
2. fix the desk area
3. build some boxes or crates for the entertainment center

dining room:
1. get the everyday mantle done
2. do something for a centerpiece for everyday use
3. hang the other light fixtures (we've already done this, but I like to add it because I need to blog it)

sorry no pics and it's all words. I'll get you something to look at later this week. That means I'll have to clean somewhere and take pictures, but whatever.

xoxo

Home Tour: Christmas Tree, Table, Mantle...sneak peek of new floor and kitchen

2013-12-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time in these parts and I hope to ~~clean~~ show you the rest of the Christmas decorations over the next week or so. Plus, Mr. TSL and I (mainly me while he was at work) laid the floor in the kitchen and dining room over 3 days! Pics of that in a sec. We are hosting Christmas this year and I am super excited. I almost alwasy do Thanksgiving and my sister in law does Christmas. This year we switched!

I don't do "theme" stuff for Christmas. Mainly because it would take entirely way too much planning on my part. I often only buy Christmas stuff after Christmas, so I would essentially have to plan a year in advance. Not happening. Plus, all the ornaments on our tree were mine and the mr's from childhood, or our kids picked them out. We rock white and colored lights...I want white, mr and kids want colored lights. We hang both. I am proud to say that other than picking up the brass candlesticks for the table ($10 for all of them on CL) I didn't buy anything for decorations! I am planning to buy some napkins for dinner and maybe 3 disco balls to replace the silver ornaments on the table, but haven't done any of that yet.

As for now, here is our Christmas Dining Room tour.

Because we have so many stockings, we use a gold painted dowel rod hung with some Merry Christmas stocking holders. This WILL NOT hold full stockings. So, when Christmas comes Santa leaves the stockings filled on the floor!

I had been looking for a wool plaid blanket for a while to use as a tablecloth and had all but given up on finding one for cheap. Then, I was helping my mom clean out some boxes and this was in one of them. She told me to throw it away...I kept it.

and that completes our Chistmas dining room tour....now on to some kitchen progress, new chairs, and new rugs.....

The pics are taken in really low light and the cabinets are more of an inky dark gray. The pics are spot on for the fingerprints on the dishwasher though!

Pic of the newi-sh (I've had it for a while and not blogged about it) runner on the stairs.

My new 8x10 Kilim Rug my friend was not diggin anymore, so we traded for a mirror I had from Hobby Lobby and a cake stand I hadn't used in forever! I freakin' love it! Thanks Erin! Plus, aren't those stools amazing....trash that Mr. TSL brought home for me. He brought home 7 of them! The Island is getting a makeover this weekend!

My new chairs I scored on Craigslist for $35 each. The black one was originally bright yellow. Couple coats of paint and the black is much better! I originally thought they were Eames Chairs, but they are in fact vintage Krueger chairs and were advertised as "Fucky Little Chairs" She meant funky, but now they are called fucky chairs.

xoxo

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SUNDAY: The DIY Showoff

kitchen progress: laying new flooring

2013-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Laying new floor........

old painted sub-floor got a coat of flooring primer

real life mess people. keepin it real.

It's actually all done and I can't wait to show you it when it's all put back together!

xoxo

Girls' Collage Wall Mock-Up

2013-11-06T12:59:00.001-08:00

I have been known to put quite a few holes in walls and later re-patch them. That's what I have to do after I put the window headboards and mirror up. That, ultimately, was more for Crafting with the Stars than what the girls really wanted. Their bedroom is very large and the are getting bunkbeds soon, so I will have this huge blank wall to do something with.

I had 2 packs of ugly wall dots, one pack I transformed to be gold dots with a little spray paint. The girls looked at them on the paper still and told me they didn't like gold. I was shocked. Then when they went with me to Jess's house and saw how awesome they looked they loved them!

So, the other pack is getting sprayed gold soon and put up on their wall. (they wanted them to go on their ceiling, but alas we have disgusting popcorn ceilings that I am not removing due to the fact that we live here and I am not freaking cleaning that crap up!) see what I plan to do with the popcorn ceilings here.

I mocked up a little wall example in Paint (I don't have photo shop, hell I've never even used it!)

the sources for the mock art on the pic above can be found here

Now to patch the previous holes, prime and paint them. UGH.

xoxo

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H&M Purchases

2013-10-25T12:33:00.002-07:00

A while ago, I decided I needed to start dressing better. Being dressed cute always makes you feel better. I often can be found in yoga pants and a crappy shlubby t-shirt with paint all over it. Most days I wasn't doing my hair or putting on make-up. I use to get ready and look cute for work, but when I had Audrey I stayed home, then Oliver came and it was even harder to get ready. Now, I take care of 2 other kids to help with money. This makes 4 kids under 4. ALL DAY. I was getting lucky to even get in a shower. Gross, I know. Or you are going, oh my God me too. Either way I was getting sick of it. I have a fat butt and not so big boobies. Both of which I am fine with.

Yes, some weight loss would be nice, but I found myself saying "I'll buy new clothes when I lose x amount of pounds.... I don't want to waste money buying cute jeans at this size, I'll just wear the crappy one's I have.....and so on." Well, eventually I hope to be a healthier weight I still need to feel fabulous now.

I was on a mission to get some pieces of clothing to make up some cute outfits for fall/winter that I would look cute, feel comfortable in, and not constantly be adjusting/tugging at my clothes.

A few outfits I wanted to piece together:

Also, I decided after staring at this pic forever that I most certainly needed to cut my hair. It was looking ratty and blah. My hair is very fine and looks stringy when it's grown out. It was also almost always in a weird wad of a bun on my head. Not a cute bun, but more like just out of my face bun. Shlubby again. So, I had my friend Tammy cut my hair. I love it. Like super love it.

Back to the clothes and the H&M Purchases. I was looking for some sweater/tunic shirts to wear with skinnies/leggings. I found some, they were like $50 each. Yikes. Then I was searching H&M's home stuff again. {I would rather buy stuff for my house over clothes always} I found some of their new fabulous pillows that totally tie my bedroom together, more on that another day. So, I decided to peruse the clothes. Fabulous and affordable.

Then I found this tunic sweatshirt. I order all three colors. These were $18 each.

And this sweater. I ordered, black, white and stripes. These were buy 2 get 1 free. Which made them $13.30 each.

This sweater will need a tank underneath, but I can totally make a few of the super cute outfits from Pinterest with these!

I cannot even explain to you how much I hate trying on clothes. Mostly because I usually look like crap when shopping and that just makes it worse. Plus, it's a pain in the ass trying to pull your 3 year old back into your dressing room while you baby screams in the cart you pushed into the too small dressing room and your older kids sit outside the dressing room and say "are you done yet?" Mr. TSL tries to help by taking them, but usually by the time he does that I am done. Like super done. Like "I don't care if I ever go out of our house I don't want to stare at my muffin top want to crawl into a hole" done.

I should get all dolled up, then try on clothes after I have had a few margaritas.

I buy clothes online a lot, because nothing is more stressful than trying to find cute clothes that fit your big butt, but aren't too big for your smaller waist and bust. These are the problems that plague me. Anywho, I freaking love all of these tops and the purse I ordered (first new purse in forever-usually it's goodwill stuff that's okay) and the pillows for my bed. I have never been 100% satisfied with an online purchase. There's always tha tinge of "the quality is not what I thought it would be." Not these I freaking love them and can't wait to get dressed! Seriously. That is a huge feat for me. I can see all kinds of kitchy house crap or furniture and see it's potential and can make it look amazing. Getting dressed has always been a chore, but I am actually excited to wear these.

via

xoxo

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Diagonal Wood Flooring

2013-10-23T11:04:00.001-07:00

My flooring is in, so I am super pumped! I will hopefully have it done in the next week or two!

More pattern options, laying it on the diagonal.

I think laying it like this will be significantly easier. I can't wait to start, but alas, I have to prep the floor and such.

via

xoxo

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deciding on a herringbone floor pattern

2013-10-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

After our foundation cracked last summer from 2 summers of extreme drought, putting matching hardwood floors in the living room and dining room wasn't an option anymore. We decided to lay new carpet in the living room and it's great. We still wanted something else by the door so the carpet wasn't eternally disgusting. So I chose peel and stick wood flooring.

While I have changed the entry, once again, I still love this flooring. It doesn't warp if it gets wet, it is super easy to clean and it's extremely affordable!

I also put it in our front closet and in the Laundry Room Makeover.

please note, I hadn't put the trim back on or touched up the black paint, yes my laundry room/pantry is black.

After living with it for a while, I have decided this is the flooring for the dining room and kitchen. With 4 kids, I don't always catch spills and I don't want to ruin a $2000 floor because someone's sippy cup leaked for too long. Plus, our painted floor {while this looked good for a while} is looking really shabby.

The total cost is going to run us about $300 in flooring and I am guessing another $100 in extra glue and floor primer. Significantly less than hardwood.

On to the pattern for the floor, I laid the entry, closet and laundry room normally. They were small spaces and a larger design would have been wasted. The dining room and kitchen however are a much larger space and I am trying to decide how I want to run the herringbone pattern.

These are my inspiration pics:

so lovely

I really like this one, it's less traditional and visually doesn't catch my eye as herringbone

the pic on the left the herringbone runs the opposite of the first pic I showed you

Thoughts?

via

Barn Loot: Ugly Tin Makeover

2013-10-10T06:19:00.003-07:00

I went to a barn sale months back and got a bunch of goodies. One of which was this ugly ass tin box that had a flower on it. The other was a fabulous coffee tin.

I spray painted the flower area with white, taped it off when it dried completely and painted it red!

Now they both hang out on my freshly painted kitchen shelves!

xoxo

White Top Cabinets and Color Choice for our bar stools

2013-10-09T10:19:00.001-07:00

I finished painting the top cabinets and shelves! It looks amazing and was a total bitch to do because of the paint I chose. We'll get to that, but let's see some pics.

This is a much better pic of how fabulous the sharpie marker subway tile turned out! :)

not sure why the doors look different in this one other than I suck at photography, they match in real life.

Now, my paint choice. I primed with BIN Zinzer Primer...it's the shit. Then I decided to roll the cabinet tops with Krylon roll on paint. This wasn't a giant mistake, like I have to redo them, but a giant time suck and pain in the ass. It drips, bad. Luckily I caught most of the drips, but it took 6 thin coats of paint. The paint itself is very thin and in using it you have to use tons of coats to reach your desired results. It leaves marks when you roll it then look a little texture-y to me. Don't worry it self levels and these don't stay.

The reason I picked this paint was so I could spray paint the doors and they would have the same finish and color. I should have just brushed the doors and rolled them, but hindsight is 20/20.

The doors painted super fast though. It took me about a half hour total after the primer dried to spray the doors to completely cover them. However it took forever to paint the frames, so next time I will be rolling all of it with better paint, much faster.

Now I have 7 of these stools that Mr. TSL brought home and had in the iron trailer (scrap to take to the recycler) I found one while I was looking for something and he said he had 6 more the school was throwing away. No freaking way. I might add the tops were broken and my mr fixed them for me.

They look like this:

my stools have a dark gray metal frame and need to be painted. These sell for $550 for the pair, so 7 for free is one helluva deal.

I could leave them with the natural finish and they would look similar to this because the island will be black.

These are the choices:

While I love the orange stools, I am thinking yellow or army green would look better with the red lantern over the island. Which soon will be getting a makeover! I am thrilled to start the kitchen and can't wait to finish it!

So what are you thoughts on the stools?

images via

xoxo

kitchen cabinets: one coat of primer!

2013-10-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

I painted one coat of primer on the cabinets! :)

before with 80's cabinets

It's all a huge freaking mess. But, progress none the less. It is so much brighter! I can't believe it took me 3 years to get to this! I love it :) I plan to put on the first coat of paint in a minute and the second coat in the morning. The paint I am using says second coat after 6 hours, but before 24. Here's to hoping 2 coats get it done!

xoxo

Large Red Lantern for $15

2013-10-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

Remember when I scored this lantern from a thrift store for $10. It started out freaking fugly, but it had potential. It was so damn heavy and I immediately got to work on it. Yes, I had other crap going on, but come on.

All the glass was in great shape and was beveled. It was going to be a total bitch to tape it all off and try to get the spray paint in all the nooks and crannies. So, with my super arm strength I held it above our dumpster and took a hammer to the glass. I bet my neighbors think I'm nuts. I was doing it and my mr. came running out of his garage to see what was wrong. Nothing just breaking some glass. He didn't even flinch, just nodded and went back to working. It's not uncommon for me to do something crazy.

I haven't decided if I love it red or if it will eventually be black, but here she is:

Remember the before:

One more after for you from the other direction:

Yesterday I scrubbed the top cabinets, took the doors off, and taped the cabinets in preparation to paint the top cabinets white! I also sprayed the hinges white. Can't wait to show you pictures soon!

So, what do you think black or red lantern. If I leave the lantern red, do I repaint the back door black? I am currently painting all the doors black room by room, so it would make sense.

xoxo

old light made new with a neon pink duct tape & gold ceiling dots

2013-10-01T10:18:00.002-07:00

My hilarious friend Jess moved in to a new apartment a while ago and she has been slowly been making it hers. It's super cute guys. Seriously. So cute!

Anywho, she recruited me for my super good looks and mad skills....kidding I do have mad skills in making cool stuff for cheap! So, we have been working on some stuff.

Scored this light from craigslist, it's brass and old and awesome.

I cleaned it up and it was lovely. But, it needed to be a plug in light and the light bases were falling apart. In steps some glorious neon pink duct tape.

Now, I am going to teach you how to rewire a chandelier to make it plug in.

It's super easy...I may be plotting to do this to a few lights. Don't judge.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an electrician. I did this myself. I am telling you how I did it. I am in no way responsible if you fuck yours up and burn down your house.

REWIRING A CHANDELIER

1. Collect your supplies: chandelier, wire strippers, needle nose pliers, a lamp kit from Lowe's (for the switch), electrical cord for your needed length, duct tape to cover the cord when finished, and electrical tape (it's must be electrical tape, no duct tape won't work for that part)

2. Cover the light bases with duct tape.

3. Cut cord to decide where you need the switch. You may skip this part if you don't need a switch. Her plug was behind a bookcase and we needed it to be able to be turned on without having to plug it in every time. Pull apart the wires with some pliers and wire strip the ends.

4. Join the ends together by twisting them like so, it doesn't matter which side you connect it to, just keep each side of the cord separate.

5. Now tape each exposed wire with electrical tape. You are going to be super excited at this point. After each connection has been made, (I had to do it in 4 spots) and all the electrical tape is on PLUG IN THE LIGHT!!! Do not wrap in duct tape until you have plugged it in. If it doesn't work you are not going to want to undo all the duct tape. I luckily thought of this ahead of time.

6. Sit back and realize how cool you are, text your friend pictures of her light. Seriously. Awesome.

Now recruit someone to assist you (I made Morgan and Hayley help hold it, child labor is free, woot woot!)

and cover the cord in duct tape. I didn't get a pic of this step because all the hands were holding the cord so the tape didn't get covered in Harley's dog hair!

Before I show you the finished product, I have to show you one more addition to this light for her dining room. My mom bought 2 packs of these dots at a garage sale, each pack had 4 sheets of dots.

I spray painted the dots gold and..............drum roll..................

It turned out so amazing!!

Plus the Brass Folding Ghost Chairs I found on Craigslist found a home at her place. They are perfect for her house!

We are also working on her bar cart and this gallery wall, she has to finish up her TV stand to make sure it doesn't conflict with the height of the art. :)

henry the pug wants you to know only you can prevent forest fires and he'll eat the rest of that if you are done with it.

xoxo

Faux Subway Tile Back Splash and Kitchen/Dining updates

2013-09-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

So, our kitchen is slowly being redone. We have been working on little projects here and there and it's coming along. It's nearly impossible with a hubs who works full time, I babysit and spray paint things, we have 4 heathens and a plethora of other things going on, to completely tear apart our kitchen for the sake of aesthetics. Slow and steady wins the race for us. Plus, I lack funds to go much faster. Keepin' it real.

I am dying to have a subway tile back splash. It will happen, but not until spring break. So, I started out by painting the wall white. It was already so much brighter. I was going to patiently wait for subway tile.

One wild hair up my ass and a sharpie later and I drew on my subway tile. I have had some people over and they went, "Hey you got subway tile, then I say nope just paint and a sharpie marker!! Plus Mr. TSL put up/made some shelves for the kitchen :)

Before we moved in:

Currently:

-ripped out the nasty ass crapet (yep tile looking disgustingly filthy carpet)
-painted the subfloor (temporary)
-moved the cabinets up and added a shelf underneath
-took out the cabinet above the sink and replaced with shelves
-put in above stove microwave
-changed all the appliances to black that we scored sweet deals on and/or got from craigslist
-took out weird pergola top off island and straightened the island.
-replaced the light with barn lights from upstairs
-replaced faucet
-painted walls, trim, pantry doors and shutter door medicine cabinet.

Now on to the dining room, the view from the kitchen when we moved in:

and now:

more dining room pics and some simple fall decorating:

my i will survive planter....i gently ease plants to their death, so i was hoping for a planter that encouraged survival!

xoxo

Candy Corn Toes and Pumpkin Cupcakes

2013-09-24T06:32:00.001-07:00

Revisiting a previous fall post:

I can't seem to like painting my fingernails. They just chip and piss me off. I do ALWAYS have my toes painted though! Seriously, I have had my toes painted as long as I can remember.

Plus, today I made pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream frosting.....to die for delicious!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Frosting

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl

4 eggs (at room temperature)

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

1 c sugar

1 c brown sugar

1 c oil

mix all above ingredients and fold in dry ingredients

pour into muffin tins (I use muffin cups too.) fill 2/3 full.

bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (I do 25 minutes)

Maple Cream Frosting

8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)

3 tbsp butter (at room temperature)

1/4 tsp maple extract (it's like vanilla and located near it at the store)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c powdered sugar

mix all ingredients except powdered sugar, fold in powdered sugar

allow cupcakes to cool before frosting....unless you're like me then wait until they are warm and not hot :)

These are so good you will thank me for introducing them to you or curse me for doing so....yum!

xoxo

little green school chairs

2013-09-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

mr. tsl and i are recyclers of all things. he and i are both teachers too, so that means when the school throws out old furniture, lighting, anything salvageable really, mr. tsl brings it home for me. love that man!

scored these two little school chairs for free:

before

xoxo