Turn Right at Lake Michigan

Monster Project: The Master Bathroom {Progress}

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:34:00 +0000

Okay, so these aren't the photos I was planning on showing you, but for some reason I can't get a good shot of what all we've been working on, so MOVING ON.

We've managed to get about half of the backer board up on the walls, and we've purchased all the tile (save one little stupid piece we can't find anywhere), so that's kind of great:

We're kind of stuck because the next pieces need to be precision cut to accommodate plumbing and windows and such, which requires two of us, and you know, we have these children that require our attention for things like food and diaper changing and the saw is really loud at night when they're asleep so yeah. Tiling has the same issues, too.

But wait, what's that, you ask? That shiny little trinket hanging over the space where the toilet will eventually be?

Let's talk about the Light Debacle, shall we?

Way back when, about the time we acquired Clementine and decided to build a bathroom on the first floor, I knew I wanted a chandelier over the tub. I mean, obviously, I love me some chandies. But the whole point of this bathroom is a bit of an over-the-top glam place however tiny to enjoy and relax and just feel luxurious.

Anyway, so I was all excited when I found a chandelier I loved at IKEA forever ago, and since money was tight (when is it not?) we only bought the big one and not the little one for the light over by the toilet. We were all, yeah, we'll come back for that soon, and went on our merry way.

Except, knowing IKEA, it wasn't there the next time we managed to get back. The line had been discontinued, and you couldn't even find it on eBay. I even participated in a bidding war on a home decor blog that someone was selling one they had about a year after it was discontinued -- once that $15 thing went upwards of $75, I tapped out.

So for the greater part of two or three years, I've been trying to find replacement lights for both fixtures, finding that anything I liked was WAY MORE EXPENSIVE than the IKEA and especially since I wanted two, and we'd probably have to re-wire for new lights since we wired the existing electrical boxes for the IKEA lights, so I was just really disappointed and frustrated by the whole thing.

And when I started to feel really down about getting anything ever done in there, I'd troll eBay searching for any sign of the lost chandelier, always coming up empty handed.

Until about three weeks ago, when one popped up in the UK. And I had enough eBay bucks to cover the cost of the chandy plus part of the shipping. And Kyle agreed we could afford the rest of the shipping.

And there was much rejoicing in L'Casa.

It's actually a bit bigger than I anticipated, and isn't a dead ringer for the other chandelier like I remembered, but it's damn close enough since I really didn't pay much more than it would have been in store way back when. Obviously we have to shorten the cord so you don't have to avoid it if you walk to that part of the bathroom, but that's super easy.

So now we have all of our light fixtures in there, which does a lot for reminding me what this space has the potential to be if we could just get to it. Hopefully we can get some more done this weekend, but we'll see.

Purging Onward.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:25:00 +0000

So, something that sort of trailed off last year was the Purge 100 thing. It isn't that we stopped doing it, mind you, but more that I stopped talking about it because it was kind of boring even to me.

I get rid of stuff on a regular basis now instead of purging once or twice a year and then getting rid of too much and lamenting that and then re-purchasing some things and it just goes on and on in an endless cycle.

Anyway, by the end of the year we'd only gotten rid of 71 "things" -- which is a loose definition. A thing could be a piece of furniture, it could be a large box of clothes donated to charity, it could be a round of sales on eBay or Craigslist. I kept it flexible like that so that I could mentally qualify all kinds of things instead of being too strict and then over-purging and again, we're back at the place where it becomes a terrible cycle.

I, however, vastly underestimated the sheer amount of stuff you accumulate with two small children. Not only do you have their various forms of gear and clothes, but then there's the toys and the craft stuff and the sets and the outside toys and the inside toys and with two this close in age, if one child gets something the other MUST HAVE IT TOO, because otherwise, it's WWIII and Mama's nerves can't take it.

Gratefully, I've found a couple of groups on Facebook for selling or trading just kids' stuff in the area, so that's helped a little. But still. How do you decide what stays and what goes -- what toys they love and which they won't miss when they can't tell you? It's not the same as with clothes or gear -- they pass a certain age, it's no longer appropriate.

So we're keeping it going, because with wanting to move in the even slightly forseeable future, I want to have to pack as little crap as possible (and I'm aware with showing your house that you can only have like half of what you own in the house because people are dumb and can't imagine spaces to be blank or with their things in it, ugh). However, we're doing it with more of a caveat -- the goal is five things a month, or for every one large item we bring in, two medium items have to go. I've updated the page to present, and I think I can account for at least the dining room table as we sold the kitchen one to a girl from my dance studio.

Anyway. I swear I'll have updates on Thursday for you. It's not that they're not happening, its just that I can't get around to taking pictures. Which I know is what you all come here for, so, hang tight with me.

First Baby Step Towards Goodbye.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Okay, so I have a good deal of progress for you, but here's the thing. I've been struggling to keep a migraine at bay since Sunday night and I'm losing so the photos I was taking were exceptionally crappy and trying to fix what I could in Photoshop with auras and such just wasn't working out.

So you have to wait.

But, we can talk about something that is eating up way too much of my non-existent time lately.

That is Zillow.

Between the iPad app and online, I am stalking the crap out of houses. I find one on the area MLS service, I go check it out on Zillow. I don't know what an area's like, I look it up on Zillow. And, the kicker, I'm stalking our own house and neighborhood on Zillow to see what houses around us are selling for (it's not much, which is awful) and to watch their "Zestimate" of our house go up and down on a little chart.

You know how I love charts.

I've been on the site since July, but haven't really done much with the profile associated with our house because ... I don't know, I didn't think it was important. But now, using the site to basically creep on other people's houses and find out pretty much everything from its last selling price to its annual taxes to the "zestimate" value and mortgage prices, I see how important just putting it out there could be.

So, I did something a little crazy.

I listed our house with their "Make Me Move" option.

It's not really a clear FOR SALE thing -- more like, if someone wanted to pay X amount of dollars for our house tomorrow, we'd vacate. I set it way too high and I know that, but I tried to think of what it really would cost for us to just up and leave immediately. When we actually are ready to put it on the market it costs to list it with Zillow, but that's a bridge we can cross when we get there.

Part of using the "Make Me Move" feature though, is uploading photos. Of which I have an abundance, but not many are very finished-product-y. I mostly used ones from my failed Apartment Therapy project from September, so only four rooms are currently able to be seen.

Now you'd think, after running this blog for 2.5 years and writing about my house all over Charles & Hudson and guesting at Brooklyn Limestone and The Lil House That Could and being pinned by Offbeat Home (oh, I will do a house tour for them someday) and even throwing it out to AT that I'd have no issues putting L'Casa out there and being all BASK IN THE GLORY THAT IS MY HOUSE.

But the thing is, there's a marked difference between the Internet and my neighbors. Not my literal neighbors, mind you, but the people in the area who may for whatever reason consider living in my home. Style is very personal, and I know that what makes me happy is not the status quo.

It's intimidating, to put yourself out there like that. To let people into the place you've worked so hard to make your own, to make a home, and to know that people will sell it short because we've made choices that others wouldn't. To know that people will probably gasp and snicker and use words like tacky and gaudy because they can't think outside of the box that Pottery Barn has drawn for them to see that this home was made of love, and for them to appreciate it for what it is at it's core, not just the surface.

Because I know I've looked at houses and have been shocked with the choices other people have made, to put it nicely. And I know my house is not most people's cup of tea, and that there will be people who think it's fugly as hell. But the thing is, I love it so much, and this home really has become a reflection of who we've been the four years we've lived here. The thought of whitewashing it all for the maybe chance of selling it for a few bucks more kind of breaks my heart.

I've said it before, that if I could just pick this house up and move it to the burbs, I would. But that's not a realistic option.

So yeah. First baby step towards listing the house for sale, first baby step to saying goodbye to a home we haven't even finished yet.

Fraught, is I think the word of the day. Fraught with conflicting emotions.

Hopefully I'll have fun photos for you Thursday.

*Just a note -- this post is in no way sponsored or condoned by Zillow.com, and I received no compensation to talk about it or its services. I'm just honestly obsessed with it. And the iPad app? AMAZEBALLS.*

Monster Project: The Master Bathroom {Sneak Peek}

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Just a quick sneak peek into what we're working on ...

Hopefully more to come next week.

Stalemate.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:21:00 +0000

I don't have any pictures of progress for you, I'm sorry.

We began a project, then realized it was not at all going to work, so we returned everything and got materials of a new project we are yet to start because the weekend was almost completely spent on the first two parts of the process. So.

I do have another house I could show you that we liked, but I'll save that for another time.

We've also had a bit of a reality check this week as far as it comes to moving. The work that needs done in order to enable us to move isn't just structural with this house. We need to seriously clamp down on our budget (which is fairly bare bones as it is) and practically erase ALL of our debt before we could even dream of qualifying for a mortgage under the new guidelines, not to mention somehow save up a ridiculous sum of money for a down payment. Which, as I'm sure you understand, feels monumental at best.

So I think we're starting small, with trying to get things to a state so we can refinance, so at least we have a little more wiggle room in our budget. That's still a fairly huge thing to tackle in and of itself, but somehow it feels more manageable. Probably because it doesn't involve open houses (where we'll have to remove not only ourselves, but all of our pets and keep the house IMMACULATE which, with said pets and toddlers, ha) and packing and moving and all of that.

At least if we get our mortgage payments down, we can concentrate on the next steps, which are all equally huge in their own right.

Spring is a lofty goal, and that's me trying to be positive. Realistically, it's going to be a couple of years living incredibly strictly before we'll be able to take that leap.

So I feel stuck between doing the bare minimum on the rest of the house so we can just concentrate on moving, and continuing some of the plans so that the house still feels like home since we don't really know when we'll be able to afford to move.

Ugh, this grown up stuff, it's for the birds.

Monster Project: The Master Bathroom {Progress}

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Okay, so we haven't made as much progress in the master bathroom as I would have liked, but there's still a bit of January left. I just keep getting caught up in two things -- (a) the neverending list of things that will need to be accomplished in order to sell this house (even down to like purging my craft room and cleaning ALL THE THINGS) and (b) stalking houses. It's like a new competitive sport wherein the competition is ... myself? I don't know, I just keep trying to find houses that have everything we want and at a price we can afford and SURPRISE, that's really effing hard to do.

Anyway, we did manage to get a couple of things done when we weren't nose-to-screen on Zillow.

First, we hung our bathroom vanity light because we can:

Since we have Clementine and the antique pedestal sink we're kind of trying to go with a more Victorian theme (NOT GOTH OMFG) and so we've picked super traditional fixtures for everything. This is the first peek into all of that for you, isn't it?

It's ridiculous how much stuff we have just waiting to be used -- we've been collecting stuff for this bathroom forever it feels like.

Here it is with the lights on -- it has two bright white (so slightly red tinted) CFLs in it that look like your standard bathroom bulbs. We'll see how that pans out once the space becomes functional.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.

I attempted another project rather quickly because I've had the materials for seriously four years and it was just time.

I used frosted glass window paper to "frost" the bathroom window:

It rolls up on one of the edges of both panes, but I'm not terribly worried about it. The frosting is pretty thick and we've not really felt the need to close the blind again, which means we get a lot more natural light without the neighbors being able to see into the bathroom (unless the window is open). Once Clem moves in and we get a shower curtain rod thing, I don't really feel like there'll be much need to even keep the blind there. Of course, we need to do trim and such again, but WE'RE WORKING ON IT.

Close-up-ish:

Not bad, right? Ah, privacy.

Now if you could see my dining room, you'd know we have a lot of work still ahead of us, but for the mean time I'm reveling in the little victories.

Wishful Stalking.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Of course, now that we're all YES, LET'S MOVE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER I've begun torturing myself with checking real estate listings in the area we think we want to move to. I've already seen one I really liked be sold, and I've only been looking for about a week.

Masochism, I do it well.

I thought I'd share one with you that is probably well above our price range unless we get some serious assistance from the gods or whatever -- even though with rates what they are today, it says the mortgage (under the best circumstances) would only be about $100 a month more than we pay now. Which, I mean, WUT.

Anyway, this is in a nice suburb, but within walking distance of a super nice suburb, so it's a great area with probably a lot of families like us. It's 1614 square feet, which is more space than we have now (we have 1251). It's a three-bedroom, two full bath Cape Cod with complete finished basement (that they list as being a possible fourth bedroom) on a lot that's about twice the size of our little parcel. It has hardwoods throughout (kind of a must with as many pets as we have) and a wood-burning fireplace in the living room. There's also a one-car detached garage, which, I mean, better than street parking for sure.

You know I got screen grabs for you, right?

How stinking cute is that? I mean, okay, it's kind of bland, but bland can be fixed. That's what shutters and window flower boxes and such are for.

On to the interior!

This is the living room with the wood-burning fireplace. It's just so ... yes.

The living room from another angle, into the breakfast room ...

WITH BUILT IN HUTCHES! TWO OF THEM!

And here's the back patio area, which is quite large.

Okay, based on this it's all YAY and GORGEOUS and PLEASE LET ME LIVE HERE, right?

But we all know better than that. And while we like the DIY stuff and the projects and whatnot, we know that we're getting busier with the kids and life and such, and we're not the young things we were when we bought this place (funny what four years can do to you) so we're hoping to keep projects of the more "slap some paint up and call it done" variety than the "tear down plaster and drywall" kind.

With that in mind, let's look at the rest of the house.

Here's the kitchen:

Which, yes, makes me want to cringe. I know cabinets can be painted and such, so it's not a deal breaker by any means. I'd have to see it in person, but wherever we move we hope to be at for a very long time, so a future remodel wouldn't be out of the realm.

Here's looking into the kitchen from another angle ... and the dining room? Or maybe I have the dining room and breakfast room switched. And yes, gross, paneling.

A more direct view:

I mean, again, you can paint paneling, or if worst comes to worst we can fix this ONE ROOM if we have to.

So it's a 1.5 story, and the upstairs is one huge room:

Which is nice except it doesn't have a bathroom up there. They're on the first floor and in the basement. Still, not hateful.

The two first-level bedrooms are the same exact size:

It'd be hard to know who would go where, because I'm personally not comfy with both kids being downstairs and us being upstairs, but you know, that's just details to be worked out later.

On to the finished basement:

LOOK! GIANT CAT SCRATCHY THINGS BUILT IN! It's the only place there's carpet, and you know, it's one of those things we might change or might not. I just see MORE SPACE for things like KID STUFF and it makes me happy. I don't even much care about the drop ceiling because it's a basement, I get it. The laundry room is in the basement too -- nothing special but a lot better than my weird cave area.

The only thing I find suspect is that there are NO PHOTOS of either bathroom. That could be a deal-breaker, depending on what they look like. But then if you remember what our bathroom looked like at first, it would have to be pretty bad.

This area is always kind of popular -- people that want to live in the super nice suburb but can't swing it live around here -- so I'm pretty sure house values would stay fairly stable and resale wouldn't be an issue when we got to that point. So I doubt this house will still be available when we're finally able to move, since we don't know when that'll be, which is a bummer. The last house we eyeballed stayed on the market damn near a year after we spied it, but it was recently bought or taken off the market or something because the signs are gone and the listing isn't active anymore. I know that means we just weren't meant to live there, and I wasn't completely head over heels for it, but I really like this one. The street looks nice, the area is great, it's the city we've been thinking about moving to that has pretty good schools and great community stuffs and just DAMNIT. I want to go to a showing really bad, but I haven't seen any open houses listed for it, just showings by appointment. Blarg.

But I can still wistfully stalk, right?

Just nod in agreement.

Starting 2012 On A High Note.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:02:00 +0000

Here's the funny thing about hitting my breaking point with the ghettohood -- I started feeling this way back in December, when the kids and I were all super sick to the point Kyle actually stayed home from work to help so I could get better. If you know Kyle in real life, you'll know that this is VERY unlike him. He doesn't take sick days. I had to fight him to take off more than a day for our wedding -- and we got married on a Friday. Both kids were born on a Friday and he was back to work on Monday. (Actually, I'm not 100% sure about that with Tova, but I know it was the truth with NICU-baby Kiedis.)

But I couldn't wrap my brain around all of the logistics while raging from fever and inner ear infections, so I slept, eventually coming up with the concept of The Year of Fruition and vaguely talking to Kyle about it between blackouts. Then got healthy and I really started working for the dance studio and you know, shoved it to the back of my mind only to have it reappear EVERY NIGHT on the drive to and from the studio 25 minutes away, past some really nice effing houses in that suburb. And I don't mean like estates or anything -- more houses not that different from mine that have actually been taken care of and maintained and in places where there are nice neighborhoods and good schools and things I'm afraid we're never going to get to experience.

Then the new year rolled around, and like the person I am, when I saw a link on one of my regular sites for yearly horoscopes for 2012, I was like OMG, drop everything and check that right now. And I did, reading not only the broad overview, but the career and relationship ones because, duh.

Think what you may about horoscopes, but I'm going to tell you I'm a flaming Pisces and have the glyph saying as much tattooed on my lower sternum. I find them reassuring. Kyle says they're self-fulfilling prophecies and I tell him to shut his Sagittarius mouth because he just doesn't want anything telling him how to live his life because THAT'S HOW SAGS ARE and usually he drops it, like a Sag does.

Anywhoodle.

My horoscope said I'm moving in June.

Usually horoscopes aren't that direct, especially when covering a broad time frame like a whole year. But there it was, clear as day, talking about moving into a new home in June. It said I needed to get my writing(!) and other important stuff done by then because "things look quite lucky for you in real estate during the second half of the year, when Jupiter enters your domestic sector."

Guys, I nearly shit a brick.

SO. Fire under ass? LIT.

Think of me what you may, but damnit, if the stars say I'm moving, then I best get on top of things.

So we're talking a lot in terms of if we had to move next month, what would need to be done and move on from there. Obviously this includes finishing the master bathroom, TRIM throughout the downstairs, completing the outside railing, and a few other would-be-nice-but-we'll-see-if-we-get-to-it medium projects.
If we make it to the summer without any potential for relocation, then we have some larger things to maybe tackle in order to not only make the house more sellable, but also make it more livable for us if we're to remain here for longer than we anticipate, which honestly in this market (and this neighborhood) is a very real possibility.

So this weekend, the first in quite a few where we had no obligations, I finally grouted the downstairs bathroom tile.

I. LOVE. IT.

We also went to Home Depot to get supplies to finish the walls, which I'm hoping will happen in the next couple of weeks so by the end of the month we can have all the fixtures hooked up and TA-DA, master bath completion before February. Of course, that probably realistically means we'll be lucky to have it done before April, but I can still set lofty goals whenever I damn well please.

I will have to say, though, finishing all these floors is severely cutting down on my indoor spaces to paint things and even though it's been in the upper 40s and low 50s and it's JANUARY IN OHIO, I'm not counting on that one bit. So much painting -- so many fumes. Ugh.

Anyway, this is a bright spot to an otherwise icky start of the year full of flat tires and broken toes and other things that are making me REALLY look forward to that bliss my horoscope said would also happen this summer. Mama could use some zen after these last few years.

I linked this post up to One Project Closer's First DIY Link Up. I met Ethan when I was representing Charles & Hudson and he's super nice. So you should go check it out. :)

The Year Of Fruition.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:54:00 +0000

Per usual, I had all of these plans about what I was going to accomplish over the break with Kyle home. I was going to redesign this blog! I was going to tile the downstairs bathroom! I was going to fix the upstairs bathroom! I was going to BE AWESOME SUPER HOME RENO LADY!!!!!!!!!!

And that didn't happen.

But what did was strange -- somewhere between the midnight obscenity screaming next door and the new slew of less-than-awesome renter-neighbors moving in all around us and yet another round of being BFFs with Dispatch about the double across the street and its druggie squatters, I had an epiphany.

I'm over the ghetto.

And I want to move back to the suburbs.

We have to be real about our situation -- NOTHING has gone according to plan, just about, and Chicago was a pipe dream borne out of some Postpartum desperation to hedge an event not even I knew was on the horizon.

So I'm seeing our home projects with a new eye -- one to get shit done and get the eff out of Dodge. Of course, this is going to take a while due to money and planning and time and those things -- but instead of feeling like I can save this house and this neighborhood and we could potentially live here for a really long time as long as X,Y, and Z all work out in our favor (which we all know is hardly the case) I'm ready to finish what we've started, maybe do some projects, maybe not others, call it for what it is, and move on to the next step in our lives.

Hopefully one free of plaster dust.

So I present to you now, The Year Of Fruition.

We're going to take 2012 to get our shit together -- with the house, with our finances, with everything -- so that we can move on up out of the East Side and back to the 'burbs where honestly, we both feel more at home. And that's not to say that L'Casa doesn't feel like home, because it does very much from the inside, it's just that view out the windows and the general decline we've watched happen that makes it hard to not feel beat by the system, I guess.

So. The changes will happen. But for right now I have a graphic and a loose plan and for now, that's good enough.

Turn Right 2.0.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:21:00 +0000

I know, I keep just disappearing on you.

Fact is, I've got a lot of LIFE stuff going on right now and not much time to think for myself never mind blog coherently, so I'm taking a break until the New Year, when I hopefully will be able to unveil a whole new level of awesome for this here blog.

You can always still find me on Facebook or Twitter because social media is my drug of choice, but yeah, I'm going to enjoy these holidays with my family and not from the couch behind my laptop.

I hope you have a very merry and happy everything, and I'll see you in 2012! :)

The Ghettification Of The Upstairs Bathroom.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:04:00 +0000

So. Things had been uneventful for a wee too long, yes?

Let me set the scene for you.

Our upstairs bathroom has a removable hand-shower shower head thing. It's been super convenient for things like the shaving of legs and the bathing of offspring, and it makes the otherwise super-low shower head actually tall enough for me and Kyle to fit under it without stooping. It's supposed to have a million settings, but since it came with the house, it doesn't really adjust to any of those other settings.

Anyway, so last week I was minding my own business, taking a shower as you do, and Kyle was all "Hey, watch the shower head because the bracket [that holds it in place] is cracking a little."

You can see where this is going, right?

Yeah, that beast fell right on my left shoulderblade like it was trying to take me down in a knife fight. It hurt like hell and sure enough, upon inspection after swearing like a sailor with Tourette's, the bracket had broken clean apart. Because, in true form, what looked like something nice in the house was actually cheap crap and we should feel blessed that it lasted this long.

Anyway, in order for showers to continue in the house, I pulled either a completely brilliant move or a completely white trash move, I'm not sure.

I duct taped the bracket back together and then the shower head into the bracket. With purple duct tape, no less.

But I don't have a picture of it because NOT EVEN DUCT TAPE could save this situation. And who did the shower head attack next? Why me, of course.

I mean I'm glad it didn't fall on a child but SERIOUSLY, SHOWER HEAD? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?

So we've been holding the hand shower while we bathe in whichever ways work for us which has been inconvenient but not unbearable while talking about going to Home Depot to get a new one but not feeling terribly rushed.

Well, yesterday I went to take a shower and the crisis situation went up a couple of levels.

We had been draping the hand shower over the shower head connection where the bracket once was. But apparently, if you didn't place it just so, it would fall. And it did.

But it took the hot water knob with it. And not just the cover, but the actual pin part that turns the valve and lets you have hot water.

After not having hot water for about two weeks a couple of months ago, I was not ready to play this game.

So, welcome to our completely ghetto shower:

Yes, our water lines are crossed, and the hot water is on the right. And what you see there is a plastic vice which is holding on to two nails I hammered into the plastic part where the pin is broken in order to create something for us to turn. It's apparent that this is not even a good temporary solution, but WE NEED TO BATHE REGULARLY and we won't be able to get to the Depot until probably Friday.

Nevermind we have no idea how to change out knobs plumbing-wise and I have the sneaking suspicion we'll have to remove some of the surround panels to get to what we need to, which, UGHUGHUGH.

So yeah. If it's not one bathroom, it's the other.

L'Casa's First Thanksgiving.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:26:00 +0000

Sorry about the late post today -- I've been struggling with my computer and Chrome for some reason, out of the blue the last couple of days. Like Chrome won't open, then my whole computer freezes and I have to shut it down manually and try again. It's very aggravating.

And for the record, yes, I've done anti-virus and spyware checks and defragmentation and uninstalled and reinstalled and I just can't figure it out. I'm freaked a little, guys.

But you didn't come here to talk about my computer loss paranoia. You came to see photos of my dining room, didn't you?

Well, I hope so because that's what you're going to get.

So as you may or may not remember, we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for my mom's dad and her brother who came in from out of town to visit for the holiday. We did it Wednesday night since my dad's side of the family, who are all local, do their thing midday on Thanksgiving, which this year was also Kyle's birthday and he didn't much feel like being in the kitchen all day. So we had an early evening dinner scheduled, and now PHOTOS:

I HAVE A DINING ROOM TABLE. We got it from West Elm, and we got it on sale plus a coupon so kind of stupid cheaper-than-IKEA cheap. However, those are all still the cheap IKEA chairs we've always had, so there's that. The rug is also from West Elm, and we're still not completely sold on it. We still have some time on the no-questions return policy, so we'll see if it stays or not.

The view from the kitchen:

We were worried that the table wouldn't fit eight , but we're pretty sure as long as people are okay being "intimately sat" that it'll be fine. You know, once we have eight chairs, because right now we only have six. And there's another view of the rug. Tell me your thoughts because seriously, we're torn. And ignore Cheech's butt. He wouldn't move for anything.

A close-up of my tablescape, if you will, with my china (most of it being used for the first time). I don't have nice fabric napkins so fancier paper ones had to do. My mom brought the roses.

I was more than a little stoked to be able to have my first semi-formal dinner at a real dining room table and not just at some teensy table shoved in the corner of the kitchen. And I was pretty proud of all the cooking we pulled off -- almost everything was from scratch, and was equally delicious. Of course I forgot to take pictures of anything edible ... well, except these:

Not bad for the first ever turkey I even dared to look at sideways never mind cook, right? All thanks goes to The Pioneer Woman for some awesome (and extensive) recipes that made this newbie's turkey still moist a full week later.

Anyway, I have more computer battles to wage, so we'll see what I'll figure out for Friday.

Also, if you don't read Tabulous, you should check out Monday's post. I'm doing an honest to cheesus giveaway and I only have two entrants so far, which makes me sad.

Being A Grown Up.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:30:00 +0000

So I know last week I was all, hey, I have sweet photos for you, but per usual life has just completely overtaken my plans and all those sweet photos went un-edited, sitting in my camera with the photos for the police of the squatters across the street stealing furniture and windows from the vacant double across the street ... and loading them into the renter neighbor's house.

On top of that, the kids and I all still have ear infections.

Anyway, so in case you don't read my other blog, I wrote last week about receiving an anonymous gift and the guilt that comes with ends not so much meeting despite your best efforts. Which made me feel super awkward about posting a lot of the things I'd planned on posting because they very easily could be taken in contrast as hypocrisy or generalizations (uninformed, but nonetheless) could be made saying we have money issues because we do things that could seem like random large expenditures.

So I want to come clean here a minute -- most, if not all, of our renovations and large purchases are on credit. And yes, all those little payments add up and are part of why money is tight for us. We've been making progress on paying things down and consolidating debt and such, but the truth of the matter is, without our credit cards, not only would we still be living in a construction zone, we'd be doing so naked because we wouldn't have our clearance Old Navy and Target wardrobes, either.

When we made the decision to buy ourselves grown-up Christmukkah presents, we did so knowingly going into more debt. We had a plan, and still do. But it's a precarious situation when your water bill triples and your license plates need re-registered (both of them) and your freelance gigs lag in remitting payment and then the kids get sick and you get sick and suddenly, you have a third of what you normally have as a food budget for two weeks and you try your hardest, but you barely make it a week before you cave and ask your parents to take you grocery shopping for the bare minimum because otherwise, you won't have food for breakfast in the morning and it's hard to explain to toddlers that water is all you have to drink when all they know to say or sign is "milk."

And I'm lucky, because my dad told me not to be conservative in shopping, though he did bust my balls a bit about how much we spent in comparison to what he spends on groceries -- but he's one adult and we're four people and six animals, so there is some room for adjustment there. He just graciously bought us a cart load of groceries and a Peppermint Mocha for me (my first of the season since we've been too broke to spend $5 on a coffee) and helped me carry them in the house without so much as a gripe.

I think this is indicative of a lot of families right now -- my dad even told me that a lot of people are struggling right now and not everyone has someone to fall back on -- but that's all it takes, an unexpected bill or illness or one late paycheck -- and you're screwed. We get by usually and with a handful of creature comforts and sure we pinch pennies, but we get by. That is, unless something unexpected rolls around, and we just aren't in a place where we have any room for error.

Anyway, I wanted to get that all out in the air before I started in with our Thanksgiving festivities this week, two weeks after the fact, because I'm sure if you read both blogs it must seem off that over there I talk a lot about not having money and over here I'm nearly constantly showing you something new that's cost money, so there it is. We're in a lot of debt, and we squeak by every paycheck paying the minimums on the credit while paying our bills in order to have enough money left for things like groceries. We have every intention of changing that this upcoming year, but I'll get to that later on in the month.

So after all that babble, here's a teaser for the goodies coming up for the rest of the week:

Monster Project: The Master Bathroom {Progress}

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:21:00 +0000

Hello there!

I'm finally healthy again, so here we are!

Let's get down to business, yes?

When it comes to the Master Bathroom, we've been at a bit of a standstill. There are a lot of different components to getting this project done, and it's very specificially sequential. Meaning we can't just skip past something because we can't afford it or because we don't have the tools or whatever.

Luckily, my dad's been helping us with the financial aspect of it, so it's down to coordination of plumbers and some good old fashioned work on our part.

The problem we were facing was that we had some plumbing work done without Clementine the clawfoot tub actually in our house. Now that we have her, we realized that we had to re-jigger things quite a bit to make any sense of the bathroom.

We were all set to go a couple of months ago, and then our hot water heater stopped working and the overflow drain in the basement was backing up again so, you know, priorities.

But we finally got to the place where the plumber could come and drill holes for the proper placement of the faucet for the tub ... and they're almost exactly where they were before when there was a sink in this location.

The holes to the left are where we moved the plumbing to, and the holes with all the sawdust is the new place. The problem with the old holes is that they weren't placed correctly in relation to where the tub was going to be (like the faucet wasn't going to run into the tub, but just outside of it, which completely defeats the purpose of running water), and under the floor right there is ductwork that runs to the living room and a floor joist, so there wasn't really anywhere to move them by the drain that would make them functional. Boo.

But the good news was that once we figured out where the plumbing needed to be situated, we could do something I've been wanting to do for probably a year now.

Tile. The. Floor.

Now this is the first time I will have tiled a whole entire floor and not just a decorative bit, so I watched a great deal of YouTube videos from Home Depot and Lowe's and The Tile Shop to see how it was done. We measured the midpoint of the room lengthwise and then at each width (because there are three different widths in the bathroom, ugh) and went about dry laying the tile (which we've had forever thanks to my mom) to make sure it was flush and plumb and to see where we'd need to make cuts.

So here's what we ended up with:

The view from the bedroom -- the big space is where Clem will eventually find her forever home.

And then the view from where Clem will be into where the sink and toilet will be. The places you can see the cement board still is where we're going to have to cut down sheets of tile to fit, so for now, this is what we've got. It's still so great to see the potential progress, though, and to have one more thing that's just been living in my head actually come to fruition.

Of course, I have to actually lay the tile and then grout it ... and then we have to tile the walls, and then we can install the toilet that's hanging out in our dining room and the sink that's in the bedroom and of course Clem who is currently hanging out at the end of our bed causing a great deal of bruised kneecaps ... once the plumbers set up her plumbing and everything. It's still quite a ways away from finished (especially since we don't have the wall tile yet and aren't going to be able to afford it for some time yet) but any progress is just that -- progress.

Monster Project: The Master Bedroom.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:01:00 +0000

I know, I dropped off the face, during NaBloPoMo no less.

Apologies.

Kiedis has been super sick (I'm taking him to the doctor today) and Tova's teething with a cold and now Kyle and I are both feeling under the weather.

It has not been fun around these parts, let me tell you.

But before all that illness descend upon this star-crossed house, I did manage to start a couple of projects that I intended to finish last weekend and now hope to revisit this weekend if I'm not dying.

First up, I began to paint the inside of our bedroom door to match our walls.

The totes were supposed to be a deterrent for the kids and cats, but it didn't so much work out that way. I'm using the same satin paint color as the walls instead of the high-gloss I've got squirreled away because I wanted the door to fade into the background when it's closed.

And boy does it ever!

After having the door the ugly maple color of everything else in the house we've since painted, and then bright primer white for like another ever, having even one uneven coat of black on the door has made a world of difference in the bedroom.

Of course we need to put up trim which will cover some of that white along the frame, but between this and the wallpaper covering up all the primer white we had in the room it's like a whole new space. Everything just feels bigger without all that contrast highlighting how ... not big ... the space is. It's amazing.

Now I have to run to get Kiedis to the doctor, but hopefully tomorrow I'll have pics of the other project we started for you.

Send healthy vibes our way, yeah?

Friday Round-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:38:00 +0000

On Charles & Hudson I wrote about my go-to everyday tools and reasons why you should document your renovation.

And on with some other links!

I am so relieved that I am not alone on this. Purge 100, anyone?

If you don't understand some of the #Occupy movement, this should help you.

Daniel's tute on painting was cracking my shit up. And what he says on painter's tape? TOTALLY TRUE.

This is completely non-house related, but in case you aren't connected to my other blog in any way, my family was featured on Offbeat Mama this week due to my friend Jacquelynn Buck's vision. Guys, it doesn't get much better than that. FYI -- those train tracks? Like two blocks down and a block behind our house, no joke. We could have walked there.

Now I have some crap to move around because I HAVE SOME TILE TO LAY SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Have a great weekend and stay tuned!

The Chronicles of Clementine, Revisited.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:09:00 +0000

Well, we haven't talked about our beloved Clem in a while, have we?

As it stands right now, basically my dad is the sponsor of our downstairs bathroom renovation. He desperately wants us to be able to refinance because we bought in 2007 and as the years have gone on we now pay on our mortgage what most people pay to rent houses around here, which is DOUBLE if not more than what we would be paying if we could refinance. That's just not right. My dad loves a good deal and sticking it to The Man (even though he totally works for a different The Man) so he's taken it upon himself to get our bathroom complete so we can pass an inspection and save ourselves a crapton of money, hopefully.

Which is awesome and completely unanticipated and amazing and we're so grateful it's just stupid.

Anyway, getting Clem to functional has to go in crazy stages balancing with the plumbing being added in spurts and things like tiling and refinishing her insides and placement of things like a sink and the toilet and it's a very sort of confusing process but we're working on it.

In order for the plumbers to make sure the plumbing is all kosher, we needed to have the faucet and supply lines already in our possession (so they can get the spacing and height correct) and to have the clawfeet back on Clem to again assure of the proper height for the supply lines and faucet.

The way our clawfeet work is that they sort of slide into place, and then there's a small divot in the foot allowing a bar or some sort of rod-like device to insert and create a tension mount, if you will. Previously the feet were held on by carpenters' nails that we had to cut through with the Dremel to get them off.

We tried to use bigger spikes, but we couldn't find anything that was thin enough to fit through the hole but thick enough to suffice.

So we ended up getting some large roofing nails and a few of those on each foot did the trick:

If you look really closely at the front most foot there you can see one of the nails, but that's just because of the angle I took the photo at. When you're standing there you don't see them at all.

So, now that THAT'S complete and we have the fixtures waiting in the basement courtesy of my dad, I've called the plumbers and they might show up as soon as THIS AFTERNOON to begin roughing in the plumbing. After they do that, I can start to tile the floor, which when that's done means we can then install the tile on the walls and then the toilet we have waiting, meaning if I have to pee in the middle of the night I don't have to go all the way upstairs and probably wake up one of the kids in the process.

This is nothing short of miraculous, people. Especially considering that for most of the time we've lived here, we've only had one functional toilet.

Cross your fingers, guys, that they show up this afternoon, because I COULD NOT BE MORE STOKED.

Well, yes I could, but it's still pretty major.

I'll have another round up for you tomorrow, so you'll have to wait until Saturday (NaBloPoMo, y'all) to see if we've gotten anywhere since this morning.

Send good plumbing vibes our way!

Monster Project: The Master Bedroom.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:04:00 +0000

After we completed our late-night wallpapering project and slept for a whopping four hours before the kids got up and were blissfully unaware of Daylight Savings and that extra hour they should have slept, we took a more rested look at our work and how it was pulling the room together.

We definitely liked it, but there was something just a wee off about the end effect (you know, other than the fact that we don't have trim or a bed frame or anything).

Our bedding.

To jog your memory:

That bedding is about a year old, and I really thought it would be perfect for the feel of the bedroom. And it was, while that wall was still white. But with the silver in the wallpaper, the white looked almost garish and the ombre pattern more competed with the toile instead of coordinated.

Never mind the first time we washed it something happened in the dryer and it got a sizable tear in it as well as a couple of subtle dryer burn marks, ugh. We bought a matching duvet cover to recoup, but it just wasn't the same.

So Kyle and I talked it over, and we decided that as a early Christmukkah present to ourselves, we'd get some new bedding, leaving this to be the back-up set if catastrophe strikes.

And it arrived yesterday.

Behold:

It's the Organic Pintuck line from West Elm in Slate. We also sprung for a new Organic Down Comforter and Organic Down-Alternative Pillows also from West Elm to round it all out. We slept on it last night and it was a good, solid sleep without neck ache from a crap pillow or comforter stuffing all up in my hair when I woke up.

Dreamy, you guys.

Kyle likes it too, because while obviously I'm the head designer around here I do try to balance his influence in the choices I make. He's also very vocal about what our bedding looks like -- he hated the original bedding we brought into the house that was mine from before I knew him. I think he said it was too slippery or something, but when I handed that over to a friend of mine when we got the white bedding and she needed new bedding for her new place, he was ECSTATIC. We picked the white bedding together, but it was more of an impulse buy than a thought-out purchase.

I've been eyeing this bedding for a long time now, and love that it's organic. I'm also super big into pintucking or tufting, so it makes me happy. He likes the more masculine color and simplicity of no real pattern. He's less sold on the pillows (he's like a pillow snob, it's crazy) but I asked him to give it a week or so before completely shunning them. I think he'll adjust.

So look at us, buying grown-up things for ourselves for the holidays. Now we just have to focus on a bed frame so we can have under-bed storage we desperately need (there are reasons you don't see the other side of the room about ever) and again, things like trim and accessories. We're both leaning a little bit away from the IKEA frame we originally liked and more towards the PBTeen one because we feel like the IKEA one might get lost in everything and feel a little too Bedknobs and Broomsticks whereas the PBTeen one is a statement without being all up in your face like the wallpaper.

Of course, we don't have that kind of money, but we can dream.

Monster Project: The Master Bedroom.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:51:00 +0000

Okay, so Saturday night Kyle and I decided that it was time to take on a new venture in our DIY capabilities -- wallpapering.

And of course, we decided to do this at 10 PM because, hey, time change means an extra hour! when in reality it just meant we were tired as hell when we were finished ... and what said it was 2 AM but of course felt like 3 AM.

The wall in question for papering is the one that is between our closets, where our bed fits. Well actually right now it's just our mattress because we sold our bed to my brother, but you know, someday when we get a bed that's where it'll go.

Anyway, before we could even start on our project we had to fix the light switch on this wall, which is in a weird spot admittedly but was too much of a hassle to move because there used to be about seven switches in this room that all had to be just so for the overhead light to work. We got it down to just this one and moving it to over by the door where it would me more logical just was asking too much of the wiring. It is awfully convenient for turning off as we go to bed, though, so there's that.

The electrical box kept popping out of the wall, and some inspection by flashlight (because it was 10 PM and we flipped the fuse for this room so we didn't kill ourselves trying to fix the box) showed that there was nothing for the bottom of the box to attach to because the wood slat it was previously screwed into split and broke off.

Ugh.

We hacked a way to fix it using a piece of wood left over from restructuring the kids' cradle and perhaps some Gorilla Glue and we're just not going to talk about it because, yes, I curse the previous homeowners for their crazy "fixes" all the time and here I went and did something similar. But you know what? Box hasn't moved a millimeter since we fixed it and that's all I really care about.

Moving on!

Like good little DIYers, we watched some YouTube videos on how to wallpaper from the big box stores as well as one Kyle found that was some couple hanging wallpaper for the very first time. I think they were bloggers but I didn't catch from where.

And then we spent the next four hours hanging wallpaper, which I now know why people don't like to do it.

BECAUSE IT'S MADDENING.

That first strip is easy to get up. It's the subsequent ones when you have an intricate pattern that looks like it repeats more often than it actually does so you end up cutting some paper wrong and then it looks terrible but you don't want to waste the paper so you figure it out anyway and hope no one looks too closely.

Also? Wallpaper paste feels disgusting.

Anywhoodle, here's a photo of halfway through, with two strips up:

In case you didn't catch it yesterday, the paper is a soft black with a silver toile pattern on it. It's pretty much amazing and while maddening, makes me happy to FINALLY see it up after hoarding it for nearly nine months and coveting it for much longer before that.

There are also a whole lot of action shots that Kyle took of me hanging the wallpaper but he doesn't really understand how to use my camera settings and I was unbathed and angsty because I was tired and I'm realizing that projects like this generally make me rage quietly -- I don't know if it's excess testosterone flowing from working with my hands or what, but basically I'm not down with putting angry blurry poorly lit photos of me in my construction clothes on the interwebz, sorry.

Now, for the reveal:

Eventually we're obviously going to put up some crown (story of my life) and probably run some trim down each side of the wallpaper to frame it more (as well as run baseboards along the bottom) and I have enough extra paper to do a couple of crafts with, so it all worked out in the end.

I was a teensy bit worried that it was too gauche or over the top borderline tacky right after we got it up, but a couple of days out I really like it. It helps to soften the room and give it a more romantic quality which is always a bonus in the bedroom, amirite?

Anyway, more updates to come on this space, but I already feel like this is a HUGE improvement and a step closer to not sleeping in a construction zone for the first time in ... three years.

Monster Project: The Master Bedroom.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:31:00 +0000

If you go back in the archives, you'll be able to find that pretty much from the beginning I've been scheming this bedroom. And it's made a crazy amount of progress, for sure, but that doesn't mean there's not still a lot of work to be done.

But we're finally getting to a point where we can work on decor type stuff instead of construction type stuff for the most part, and that's the easier stuff to knock out quickly anyway, so that's what we set about to do this weekend.

What you may not have noticed about me is that I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes to creating these spaces in our home. If I see something I know is perfect for whatever space I'm thinking of even if we're not even remotely close to being at the point where it's usable in the space, I typically try to get it so that I don't spend years looking for something similar and never finding it, causing me angst and anxiety and general crapitude. So that often means that I find spaces in this renovation process where we have everything we need to do something on hand, we just need this thing to happen first or that thing to work itself out or sometimes it's just making the time to tackle it.

And what better time than Daylight Savings to use that extra hour (at 2 AM no less) to do a couple of those things?

First was something super simple that it literally took me maybe 15 minutes:

We had needed a way to prettily hold back the curtains we have over our closets when we use them or just don't feel like closing them. The curtains came with fabric tie backs, but I wasn't digging them.

These metal & glass tie backs I had found at Big Lots back before we even completely moved in. I have a matching curtain rod, too, for when we get some trim up around the window in the bedroom so it'll all go together. Anyway, I'd misplaced them for like 18 months when I finally found them ... in one of the bathroom closets. With some light bulbs. I can't explain it, but I'm pretty sure it was me putting stuff "somewhere safe" which also means I'll never remember where I put it.

Anyway, since I'm hoping for more statement-esque tie backs for the window, I decided to use these on the closets to give it a little extra something sparkly. Best part is when the curtain's completely closed you can cover them up so they don't disturb the visual plane. Easy peasy.

Now, the next thing was much harder, as it was something new for us to do and we started on it at 10 PM Saturday night because we're crazy. Well, I am, and Kyle just aides and abets most of the time. You'll have to come back tomorrow to see what it was, but I'll leave you a teaser:

It's about to get crazy and overtired up in here.

And I'm not talking about the kids, for once.

WTF Sunday.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:46:00 +0000

Nope, that's not a question, it's a statement.

Anywhoodle, with the "extra" hour this weekend (and children who did not get the memo) we decided to tackle some things around the house. Of course I'm going to save the awesomesauce for the week because I realize you all have lives and things better to do than check my blog on the weekend to see what shittery we're up to now, but I thought I'd share with you a couple of WTF moments of the past weekend to amuse yourselves with.

Weatherstripping fail:

Yes, I fixed it -- I completely removed it, reattached the rubber flapper thing, and screwed it back into our century old door though the idea of doing so makes me cringe a wee bit higher than before to avoid this from happening again. We'll see how that pans out.

Now, some back story. Our house did not come with a doorbell, so we bought a wireless one because what do we know about wiring a doorbell? And it was great until it became possessed which we thought we fixed but then it still kept ringing all the time and freaking me and Cheech out so we just popped out the batteries and gave up.

However, we had an old doorbell button outside from who knows when (above which we placed our wireless button) that we just sort of left because it was quaint.

That is, until people would ring it incessantly thinking I was ignoring them when indeed, nothing was happening on our end. Somehow the wireless button was invisible, but also not functional, but you catch my drift. Two doorbell buttons -- no doorbell being rung -- people waiting irately outside -- me blissfully oblivious.

So I decided to remove both doorbell ringers so people would learn to knock.

(A) I figured out why our wireless doorbell was possessed. The battery in the BUTTON was corroded. Easily fixed and hopefully we shall have a doorbell again soon.

(B) WTF?

WHAT OR WHERE IS THIS HARDWIRED TO? HOW DO I COVER UP THAT TERRIBLE HOLE? WHAT DO I DO WITH THOSE WIRES?

Sometimes, I really greatly dislike the previous homeowners.

Ugh ugh ugh.

Saturday Snippet.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:35:00 +0000

Remember this post?

Well, ends up that we VOLUNTEERED to host a small Thanksgiving for my mom and her dad and brother and my brother and of course, my family that actually resides in this house.

So, yeah.

Developments coming soon.

L'Casa Christmukkah Wish List, Part One.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Quickly, I wrote about the zombie apocalypse for Charles & Hudson. You're welcome.

*****

Now, normally I don't like to talk about the holidays this early because dude, CALM DOWN, let us get our turkey on before it's all Santa and the Gefilte Fish up in this piece (and because Kyle's birthday is the week of, if not the day of, Thanksgiving every year so he has the kibosh on any decor until after his birthday) but I'm going to be honest, when you've got littles and are hoping to throw some kind of shindig (true story!) you've got to start thinking about this business way ahead of time.

Not to mention if you sign on to Pinterest these days, brace yourselves for the holiday decor bonanza. That started probably a month ago. Oy.

So, I thought I'd spend these round-up dates for the next couple of weeks going over the things we'd love to see under the Christmukkah Shrubbery this year. Because who doesn't love a wish list?

Anyway, today's finds are all from Urban Outfitters. Ever since working on L'Nursery Deux I know they're a place I can find some funky stuff that doesn't require me stalking eBay or digging through the thrift store that got my debit card hijacked and multi-charged for the same purchase which overdrew our account right as the kids' diapers were due to come out and generally made me want to stab things.

Ahem.

This first thing is something I want VERY BADLY and it's even on CLEARANCE but we have to do stupid things like pay the water bill (which TRIPLED) and register our cars for the year in this month's budget, so it doesn't fit into the plan right now and I'm pretty sure they're going to sell out before we have any extra cash to procure them.

I'd love two of them for the master bathroom. I like the playful aspect of it, and at $60 a pop when they were $100, it's hard to beat. I know, I've been looking for a long time.

Next up is a cord kit so I can hang a decorative chandy in Tova's room courtesy of her fairy godmother and my good friend L. I have an IKEA one but the attachment parts don't fit so I'm thinking a cord kit from the place where the fixture is from should do the trick.

Now on to organizational things! Most of these are intended for the master suite since space is at a premium in there.

I like this for towels in the bathroom:

And this for accessorizing by the dresser to keep it out of the bathroom:

I think this would be great on the back of the door for robes or even frequently used accessories. It looks like most of the hardware that came with the house, which I love:

This would be awesome in the bathroom since we have a vintage pedestal sink which doesn't really have the real estate for superfluous products:

I would like to put two of these on either side of the mirror in the bathroom to assist with said real estate problem:

I pretty much need two of these for the curtains for the bedroom window:

And a couple of these would be great to use for towels/purses/clothes/accessory hooks in either space:

And there you pretty much have it. Simple things that would make the space feel super awesome once it gets closer to completion -- which it has been, but that's a post for another time -- that make my heart swoon and my debit card hand itchy. Next week I'll be talking UO's big sister, Anthropologie, so be braced to clutch your pearls over that one.

Purge 100: The Last Leg.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Have you all forgotten about Purge 100? To be honest, I do quite often. It's not that I don't want to get rid of stuff -- I'm constantly thinking about what I can sell or give away or repurpose -- but I'm having a hard time getting around to doing it.

Predictably, we've run into a few situations where we've gone looking for something only to discover we no longer own it, and then it's a pain in the ass to replace it. Other times, when I'm inspired to get rid of things I'm often alone with both kids and that doesn't leave much room in the Matrix for hauling of things, and by the time I wait for Kyle to come home we're both exhausted by the day that things just lay around forever, waiting to be either put back or put out.

But I promised myself to be done with this by 2012, which is right around the corner. And I still have 32 "things" to get the eff out.

I also didn't really take into consideration that things would still be coming in to the house, so sometimes I don't feel like we've made much progress at all.

I'm not sure with the impending holidays how to make a go of getting rid of 16 things a month that will make any sort of impact. Some of the things I'd rather sell than give away don't appear to have any buyers; other stuff I worry about getting rid of and then needing at a later date. It's not really yard sale season any longer here in Ohio (as I'm typing this it's pouring rain and 56 degrees out) so one big swoop doesn't seem possible unless I do a tag sale and even that's iffy.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Or requests for items from my home? Depending on the offer I might just take you up on it. I'm open to just about anything at this point.

Something To Hold On To.

noreply@blogger.com (Tabatha) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Notice anything different about L'Casa?

Perhaps from another angle?

We have railing on one side! This was my project all day Sunday, and I do mean all day. I was out at 8PM finishing this beast by street light (since our lamp post has black lights in it for Halloween) and let me tell you, this seems like it would be such an easy peasy job, but once you start messing with angles and symmetry it's actually quite the beastly project.

Let's just say I didn't take close-ups for a reason.

We still have to glue the little top parts down on that side before winter, but at least now we have something to help us up and down the stairs throughout winter. This is especially awesome since Kiedis is capable of handling stairs on his own as long as he has something to help guide him, and hopefully it won't have to be our hands now so we can do things like carry Tova the-non-mobile-child or groceries or whatever.

Here's the view from the top:

My hands are still all curled in from using the hacksaw eighteen billion times and from the weird angles at which I had to hold the drill to get things properly screwed in. And it was only in the mid-fifties to low-forties outside while I was doing this, so I definitely feel arthritic in my joints from dealing with this.

It was nice to get my hands dirty again, though. I don't mind the cuts and scrapes when I have something to show for them other than my own klutzy-ness.

And for the curious among you, we only have the one side done because you have to buy the balusters (the vertical stick parts between the posts) separately from the rest of everything in sets of 6 and there are 11 holes before you make any cuts per rail of which we have two for each side and we only had enough money to buy for one side, so yeah, the other side will probably have to wait until Spring which bothers me more than a little bit, but there's not much I can do about it.

Also, the entire time I was working on this it was under the nosy eye of the old woman next door. I mean, she swept our elderly neighbor's stairs no less than five times while I was working ... and they were clean after the first time, I assure you. At this point the sound of her voice makes me want to stab things repeatedly, but again, not much I can do about it.

Baby steps, I tell you, and this place will be gorgeous inside and out.