HOUSEography

Kitchen Decluttering

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

I spent a few hours on Sunday reorganizing and decluttering our kitchen counters. A few weeks ago we got a new coffeepot and that's what started this whole process.

It's a Hamilton Beach Scoop and I love how it's a regular coffee pot with a single serve built-in. I am a deaf drinker but Handy Hubby requires regular on occasion so this solves the problem. I also reused one of my canisters for my coffee. It used to hold tea bags and packages of artificial sweeteners for visitors. Along with our pot filler over the stove, we have a perfect breakfast station.

But, the new coffee pot got the ball rolling. I put away our flour and sugar canisters in our cleaned out kitchen closet (more on that at another time).

I also took a bunch of other pictures of our kitchen while I was at it so you can see how much cleaner our counters look. Prepare yourself for picture overload!

Sadly the island was only that clean for about 15 minutes!

What do you think? All sources here except for the tiered wire basket which is from Willow House. I also updated a lot of pictures on my house tour page. Check it out here.

Homemade Valentine's

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, I loved Valentine's Day - especially at school. I loved exchanging Valentine's with my classmates and over thinking who got what Valentine from my pre-printed box of Valentines features Hello Kitty, Care Bears, Rainbow Brite or whatever the character of the month was. You wouldn't want to send the wrong message to a boy, right?

Now my little girl is in kindergarten and I was giddy when I read the Valentine's Day party notice. Each child has to make a mailbox and bring in Valentine's for the class. I knew exactly what I wanted to make with Elizabeth thanks to Family Fun Magazine.

The process was relatively simple once I finished editing the picture. She held a tube of silver wrapping paper which I turned into a white stick using Pixelmator (Mac App). I then ordered copies of the pictures from Shutterfly using a free prints coupon. Heart lollipops were from Target. Fortunately I grabbed two bags because several were broken in the first bag. I then made a slit in the picture near the end of the "stick" and slid the lollipop through. Elizabeth then taped all of the lollipops on the back of the picture, and we glued a 4x6 index card on the back for a little extra stability. Total cost of the project was less than $8 thanks to the free prints from Shutterfly!

Elizabeth is so proud of her Valentine's and cannot wait for Valentine's Day!

I forgot to take a picture of her mailbox before she took it to school yesterday but it was totally made by her and adorable.

Any fun Valentines in the works?

Winter Wreath

2012-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Winter is a daunting decorating task for me. I really like Valentine's Day (especially now that we have kids), but the other aspects of winter don't really call to me. So, what to do with the door. I pinned some door decor ideas on Pinterest (see that here). The greens and whites seem to speak to me. I started searching high and low for a wreath that fit the bill but of course the stores all have spring and Easter wreaths out (it's January people!!!). Nothing just green. So, I was determined to make something. I always have a grapevine wreath ready for customizing in the attic. I went to Michael's expecting to pick up a bunch of sprigs but found nothing that fit the bill, or they were $4.99 per stem. No thanks. Finally, I wandered into the garland section. Aha! Lots of green. Grabbed a pussy willow stem for some white and was on my way.

About 10 minutes after I got home, I put together this wreath.

I won't insult your intelligence with a tutorial. Just wrap the garland around and tuck in the ends. Voila.

Happy Tuesday!

Mommy Guilt

2012-02-06T13:43:00.002-05:00

As I was reorganizing our living room bookshelves (more here), I reorganized our photo album collection. Turns out that Elizabeth (my 5 year old) has about 7 albums devoted to her first year of life (including quarterly shutterfly albums and a raft of prints in larger old-school albums). Alex (my 2 year old) has 1 12-page paperback album which I got for free from Shutterfly. You can see the purple/pink pile of books in the lower right hand corner of this picture.

All I could picture down the road is him looking for his albums and not finding anything from his first year but Elizabeth bragging about her well-documented 1st year of life. Ugh. Mommy guilt!

So, while Alex was down for the count with the norovirus, I got to work putting together an album for his first year. Fortunately most of the pictures were already on Shutterfly so popping a new one together was really quite easy. 5 days later, I got this in the mail...

Nothing like turning lemons into lemonade! The kids have really enjoyed looking at the book. I have always been a big Shutterfly fan although they now have a lot competitors.

p.s. This is not a sponsored post. I just love Shutterfly.

Den: Small desk details

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I have a bunch of small things to share in the office. This may be the last update for a while unless I score a great deal on a rug this weekend!

First Handy Hubby filled in some gaps on the sides of the shelves which were really irking me. They were probably irking me when we built the shelves circa 2003-2004, but we forgot about it soon after!

Now he has filled in the gaps on the left and right side. I still need to touch up the paint but it definitely looks loads better. I still would like to add a door to the bottom right cabinet so we can store extra printer paper and other unsightly office gear.

Note to self: Do something about that random phone cable on the floor in the top picture. At a minimum, just reattach it to the wall inside the bottom bookshelf!

Finally, I added some cute details to the desk top. First, a vintage desk lamp purchased at a yard sale for $5 last summer. I thought about spray painting it but now I love the gray in this room, so it will stay as is.

I also wanted pens and scissors to be easy to grab. I picked up a clear plastic cup on clearance at Target for about $1.50. These are so cute and the teal color works well with the bookshelves. I have wanted a tape dispenser for a while and now I have one - sad but true. It's the first time I've had a real desk in 6 years, so give me a break! No more digging around for tape to wrap gifts.

Let me know if you see any great deals on gray rugs! The room feels cold and loud without a rug so I am itching to find one. Still looking for a permanent chair. The acrylic chair is taking up residence right now, but that will return to the basement when my parents visit next.

Have a great weekend! What are you making for the Super Bowl? We're heading to our friends Amie and Brian's Cheesebowl. It's a blast but not good for the thighs! No idea what I'm bringing yet but it has to be cheese-based. Ideas welcome!!

Old Blog & New Blog

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Wanted to highlight a pretty big change I made earlier this week. Some of you know that I had a second blog detailing our home renovation process called Arlington Home Addition. Recently I was referring to things over there which although they were old, they are still very much part of the story of our house. So.... I decided to merge the two blogs so all of the posts are in one place. It makes the labeling a total nightmare which I'll try to clean-up over the next month or so. But, it feels good to have it all in one place! So, if you want to see my first post back in 2008 (!), click here. You'll more than you ever wanted to learn about working with architects, contractors, subcontractors, drywall, paint colors, HVAC, and every other aspect of our home renovation process.

On a totally separate note, has everyone seen the new JC Penney catalog? How cute is that? It's part of their total revamp of the brand and stores thanks to their new CEO Ron Johnson, an Apple Executive. Read more about the changes here. If the clothes are this cute, I cannot wait to see what they do with the housewares and home decor department!

Most of my window treatments are from JC Penney but I've noticed the styles getting stale over the past year and they got rid of some things that I loved like cordless woven roman shades. Hopefully someone is listening and they bring back the good stuff!

Of course, this is really awesome news for those in smaller cities where JC Penney may be the only real department store around.

Den: Desk Chair Try-outs

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

I recently started calling our home office and guest room the "den". Not sure why really but probably because my family always had a den growing up - kind of a cozy place to hang out and where my dad always had a desk covered in paper. So, from here on out, the home office may be called the den or it may be called something else!

The next step in the decorating process for the den is finding a chair. I really didn't know what I wanted. I had looked in some of the usual haunts - Home Goods, World Market, TJ Maxx, etc. So far, nothing has come along. There are loads of options online but I decided to hold some "try-outs" with chairs I already had around the house. Of course I documented it for you!

First up, my acrylic TOBIAS chair from Ikea. Not sure I have ever shown this on my blog but it hangs out in our basement at our seldom-used desk down there - all a work in progress which needs to be documented at some point soon!

I like the look but it disappears a little too much. The desk is the centerpiece of the room and the chair doesn't feel like it really centers the eye as it should. It needs more weight at the center of the bookshelves. But I do really love this chair and it looks really expensive. Even my traditional-loving father really approves of it!

Next up, was one of the chairs from our living room (which I clearly kept after this post).

I really like this actually, but I still have one more to try... one of our kitchen chairs from World Market (documented here)

Not bad but not sure I would want to spend a lot of time sitting at this chair while working. It works well enough at the kitchen table since we generally don't sit there for more than 30 minutes at a time - we're fast eaters.

So, that little exercise really helped narrow down the options I think. I'm definitely leaning towards a parsons chair of some sort. I also like the dark wood of this chair. Hmmm.... wish I had 3 of these chairs already!! If anyone sees one at your Home Goods, let me know... actually don't because that may cause a tizzy of calls to shipping companies which Handy Hubby will not appreciate.

Here's the zoomed out view...

The great part is, whatever I do choose will definitely not have to be the "end all, be all" because it's just a simple chair! Remember that - no decorating decision has to be a forever choice, just the right choice for right now.

And of course, a "before" picture for comparison...

What do you think? Is this the right choice? Anyone else think that Ben is a horrible Bachelor? Did you have a "den" growing up? Wondering if that makes me a child of the '70s...

Living Room: Bookshelf Styling

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

After last week's book shuffle to accommodate our new home office, I was left with some shelf space in the living room. This made me so happy and I think the shelves were happy to be a little lighter too.

Our double-stuffed bookshelves looked like this

And after 20 trips up and down the stairs with books and accessories, they now look like this...

The best part is that this transformation didn't cost a penny! I already owned everything on the shelves. The ivory ceramic artichoke set came were a great Goodwill find last summer. I think I paid $7 for both. I love how they really lighten the look because the books are so dark.

So much better I think. What did you do this weekend? Any big projects in the works? Little projects? I have so many projects to write about that I'm feeling a little behind... Hopefully I can catch up this week.

Den: Styling the Bookshelves

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

We have a lot of books. A lot. I cannot even begin to estimate but the numbers are in the thousands. We've moved these books from one end of the house and back through the years. Many of the books (pretty much all of the "nice" books) were inherited from my grandfather, but we also buy some books but nearly as much as we used to. As a result of having so many books, bookcase styling was never a priority. The books had to fit wherever they could and styling was not a priority. Generally, ever bookshelf was jammed with books. Here are some examples:

Basement Built-ins

Living Room

See? Filled! This is about 3/4 of our book collection. We had more in the attic in boxes, in our room, and in the family room. The family bookshelves were the only remotely styled bookshelves we have.

Now that we have our office back (more on that here), we could finally unpack the last few boxes of books from the attic and spread out some books in other places so things don't seem so bookstore/library-ish.

Stage 1 was moving some living room books to the office. Here's how it looks now.

Not at all finished but a good first step. I'm going to add some more layers over time but it's a good first start. I've some plans for the two spaces on either side of the desk, although nothing totally ready yet. I was anxious to share because this room is coming together. The rug is definitely not staying and the roman shade needs a make-over but all in good time!

I have so much more planned for this room that I don't know quite where to begin. At the same time, I don't have a real vision yet and I try not to decorate without an ultimate goal in mind. When I browse for things, I seem to be all over the place. All the more reason to take a slow decorating approach, not a 2 weeks and we're done process - unless I find things for cheap or free!

Next up is a window treatment and a desk chair, and then we'll probably be on pause for a month or two while we deal with and pay for other projects (like the screen porch!). I have lots of organizing (free!) to do in here in the mean time so I'll feel like we're making progress even though we won't be making any more big changes. I wish the progress was going to be quicker so we'll all just have to hang in there.

Introducing Our Den

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Since we moved Alex to his big boy room (more on that here and here), we were left with a completely empty room. When does that ever happen? It doesn't happen to me. Even when we moved into this house after renovating, every room had furniture. Seriously - every room. And it looked full (and finished) to most people. Not to me, of course! Now over 2 years later, we have lots more furniture and we were filled up, until I sold our guest bed and stored the night stands in the attic either for future use or sale!

So, in a matter of days, we went from this...

To this...

Of course, there was whole lot of this in between...

Here's a few more pictures of the finished colors. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Sidewalk Gray and the back of the bookshelves is California Paints English River (both color matched in HGTV paint by Sherwin Williams). I took a few more days to pick these colors than I did in Alex's room, where I walked into the SW store and picked and bought the paint in 20 minutes or less. In this case, I did have samples hanging on the wall for a bit. Neither space is that big so repainting would not be the end of the world. I should also note that this is the first room I have painted completely on my own. I even did 99% of the prep work. Handy Hubby did do the calking because I don't really want to learn how to do that.

Hard to believe this was a nursery less than 4 weeks ago!

Obviously more to come...

Our next big project...Summer!

2012-01-23T11:32:00.000-05:00

Hope you had a great weekend. Honestly, we have had a rough couple of weeks with deaths, funerals, and illness. Having a 2 year old with norovirus (nasty stomach bug) definitely can put a cramp on your weekend plans. We did get some icy snow here on Friday night and Saturday morning so that just made us want to stay in more. Enough of that... I'm ready for summer, so...

We're going to renovate our screen porch! I've been thinking and talking about this for ages and we've weighed the pros and cons of doing this project which I am sure everyone does before embarking on something like this. Our porch is sufficient in its current state but needs new screens, a new door, and paint. As you can see in these pictures, it looks fine on the surface.

But, if you look closely, you'll see the peeling paint on the posts and floor and the stretchy screens. It's pretty much a bandaid right now. During our big renovation we didn't touch the porch and it became a big storage area for our stuff and some construction supplies. When we bought the house in 2002, we replaced the flat roof which was leaky and saggy. It was our first major project that we hired out. Then, about 6 years ago, we replaced the screens and beefed up the structural supports (some are pretty rotten). The floor hasn't been painted in 10 years and it shows. We also never fully finished covering the screen staples on the outside, so it looked fine inside but definitely looked unfinished on the outside. Now, 6 years later the whole porch desperately needs paint, the screens are sagging again (maybe because they aren't fully stretched anymore), and the floor is a disaster. Add on some major mold and mildew due to a crazy wet late summer and fall, and you have a real mess.

See? Pretty on the inside. We've done so much work on the rest of our house that this seems like a real blight on the property. Fortunately it looks pretty fine from the street but the view from our neighbors' We thought about just replacing the structure and that didn't really seem worth it - or that much fun! I had always dreamed about making the porch bigger. At times I considered enclosing the existing porch into a room (many of our neighbors have done this), but we don't really need another room now that we've done the addition. I also didn't really want to lose my porch. We eat out there most nights in good weather (in D.C. that's any day that is between 70 and 92 degrees!). The main issue is that when we have anyone else over, the table is not big enough. It's a 5 person table and that's definitely it. Even 5 is a little cozy.

You may be saying - what about your patio? Yes, we have a great patio but the mosquitos are so large and plentiful they will carry you away. Remember, Washington was built on a swamp! I'm hoping to work on this over the spring and summer - more on that then.

So, now we're back to the original problem - rotten porch which is a little too small. We thought about extending the foundation to the front and back but there are a lot of mechanicals on both sides which would be a hassle and expensive to move. We're going for big bang with as few bucks as possible.

So... the only other thing is to go out. We're hoping to extend the porch 3 feet. That doesn't seem like a lot and it really isn't a lot but it will make our very rectangular porch much more square. This will hopefully allow for a table for 6 and one extra chair in the sitting area. This would allow us to have 2 couples or my parents over or having everyone actually sit at the table when my parents visit.

Since this is a structural project which requires permits and inspections, we hired our architect Kaye Orr to draw up the plans. In less than a week, she had a survey of our property line done and She already sent the first draft which we commented on. She's going to visit the County offices this week to see what's what with the property line and how far out we can go without getting a variance. Knock on wood, it all goes smoothly.

More, lots more, to come on this!

Master Bedroom Bedding Updates

2012-01-20T09:56:00.000-05:00

You can probably picture my Handy Hubby's eyes rolling as he reads this post. Pillows on the bed are the bane of his existence. Of course, I adore pillows on the bed because it makes the cozy and inviting. He shouldn't complain about that, right?

For a while I have been considering adding Euro size pillows to the back of the pillow arrangement. I felt the bed needed a little more height because of the headboard. The issue hasn't been quite as pronounced since I upholstered the headboard and footboard though (more on that project here).

So, here's my updated bedding - new duvet cover at the foot of the bed from the Pottery Barn Outlet (pattern is Sydney Palampore and it's ). On a sad note, the Pottery Barn Outlet in Leesburg, Virginia where I bought these a few weeks ago, is closing next week. {Tears}

And here's a way before of the bedroom...

I've got a few more changes up my sleeve for this room. Might take a couple of weeks to implement since I forced myself into "minimal spending in January so we can spend money on some big stuff." UGH. I hate budgets but it will be worth it when you see what we're planning.

I also added a great magazine basket to the reading corner, also from the Pottery Barn Outlet.

I spent quite a few hours here between Christmas and New Years as I devoured The Hunger Games trilogy. Have you read it? I haven't read anything since coming down from my reading high. I need some recommendations. (Yes, I've read The Help - loved it too!)

Alex's Big Boy Room: Source List

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, after yesterday's big reveal post, here's the (hopefully) comprehensive source list, and some additional information on some of the details. The room is by no means "done" (is any room ever done?), but it's fully functional and the main pieces are in place. Window treatments are next on the list I think.

I hope you find this helpful but maybe not since I have had a lot of the pieces for quite a while and I tend to buy at deep-discount stores (Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Ross, etc.) so it's hard to find the same piece a second time but you never know!

Source List - Alex's Room

Paint - Walls (top) - Serious Gray by Sherwin Williams in flat mixed in HGTV paint (no VOCs and available at SW stores); board & batten molding and trim - Duron Toque White 7003 mixed in Sherwin Williams Harmony (no VOCs) paint in semi-gloss. More on the trim work here.

Furniture (bed, leather chair, night stand, white cabinet, dresser, and bookshelf) - hand-me-downs or purchased second hand at Goodwill or on Craigslist. Most will undergo some sort of makeover in the next few months... or year... more to come obviously!

Madras Plaid Quilt - TJ Maxx
Pirate Pillow Sham - TJ Maxx
"Alex" Pillow - Little Bit Funky Etsy Shop
Comforter - Tommy Hilfiger
Sheets - Tommy Hilfiger Carson Patriotic Lobster

Dog Prints by Daniel Kessler - Purchased at Eastern Market in Washington, D.C.

Poster over the Bed - National Book Festival (available on eBay occasionally) - off the shelf frame from Michael's.

Cordless Cellular Shades - Lowe's (love these!)

Madras Plaid Pillow - Macy's

Fleece Blanket - Ross

Pepsi Box - Yard sale

Caboose Print - B&O Rail Museum

Table Lamps - Stiffel

"A" & "M" Letters - Marshalls

Bear - Build a Bear (Elizabeth's gift to Alex when he was born)

Leather "A" - Marshall's

Metal Milk Sign - A.C. Moore ($1 on clearance!) - Wilson is my maiden name so it was meant to be!

Closet - Elfa (Container Store)

Rug - Land of Nod

Overhead Light - Seagull Lighting

Please let me know if you need sources for anything else!

Linking to: From My Porch to Yours

Alex's Big Boy Room Reveal!

2012-01-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

And finally, we're done with Alex's room...at least for now! There are still some things I want to do and furniture I want to paint but the room is done and totally functional. I love it.

It's such a sunny and pleasant room for my sweet little guy to grow up in. I find myself intentionally walking by the room to peek in and see how nice it looks. It's even better than I ever imagined. He absolutely loves playing in there which he rarely ever did before in his nursery. I attribute most of this to the sunshine and just general pleasantness of this room.

The good news is that we spent only a minimal amount of money on furniture for him, so most of the investment in this room was the closet. First, the bed was a hand-me-down from my grandparents via my parents. It was used as a guest room bed in both of their houses so it was pretty rarely ever used. It has a twin which is currently residing in my attic but we could use it down the road if Alex wants a second bed for sleepovers, etc. Right now he enjoys the floor space for playing!

The dresser was the same one from his nursery. It still needs some work which will happen eventually but I'm not in a rush. I purchased it on Craigslist for $75 a few years ago. The top was unfinished when we bought so we finished that to match the rest but handles really need an update! The nightstand was purchased from Goodwill for $15. That also needs work which might happen before the dresser!

The white cabinet at the foot of his bed was from my grandparents as well. It had legs at one point but they are long gone (and ugly according to my mom!). It might get a coat of paint at some point. The bookshelf was also from my grandparents' house. It's really narrow and not very deep so fit perfectly in that space.

The red leather chair was my grandfather's favorite chair. Whenever I sit in it, I think about him and how much he would have loved being with our kids.

Finally, the rug is from Land of Nod, and I absolutely love it.

It was the only major purchase but I was able to get free shipping so it was about $279 for the 5x8. Not cheap but it's a great quality rug. I almost purchased this rug from Pottery Barn Kids but in the end decided I wanted something more fun and that didn't shed like the PBK rug supposedly does (thank goodness for reviews). This was without a doubt the right choice. The Land of Nod rug has a great pale gray-blue edge and background which coordinates really nicely with the wall color. I never expected that one of my favorite parts of the room would be the rug! Of course it was the final piece of the puzzle.

Of course I think the board and batten molding is one of my favorite parts. Handy Hubby did a great job implementing my vision as always!

Let's look at another before and after because I cannot resist...

As our guest room in 2011...

Our guest room in 2007...

Previous owner's guest room in 2002...

And now today...

You've come a long way, little room!

I'll be back tomorrow with a source list for the smaller stuff. Let me know if there's anything you would like to know more about!

Linking to Evolution of Style, Funky Junk Interiors, Remodelaholic, At The Picket Fence, Tatertots & Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Shabby Nest, A Bowl Full of Lemons, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Alex's Room: Closet

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

The first step in getting Alex's new room ready was getting the closet organized. I plan to keep some clothes in there as well as all of the other stuff that comes with kids. Fortunately his closet is huge compared with our original closets pre-renovation. Unfortunately it looked like this when I started the organization process.

Starting a project like this makes me giddy. I love organizing disaster zones. Must be a genetic thing because my dad also really enjoys organizing things.

I started by clearing out the closet. Fortunately the basics are there - an Elfa closet system which we have used in every closet in our house. I adore these systems and the Container Store people who are there to help me with it. This is not a paid promotion - I just love them.

I knew I wanted to try the Elfa drawers. They are expensive but worth it. Fortunately I hit the semi-annual Elfa sale so everything was 30% off (it's still going on I think). Still expensive but hopefully this closet will work for him for many many years to come. We also keep a stash of leftover Elfa stuff in our attic which we used in our pre-renovation closets. Some of the stuff I have already reused but other stuff is still hanging out up there. Fortunately I found a shorter hanging bar and some hooks, but the shelves weren't the right size (although the Container Store will cut them if you ask really nicely). I have other things in mind for the extra shelves though.

I forgot to take a picture of the closet empty but it was so pretty.

I filled it up with Alex's stuff (which was in his room). Most of the stuff in the closet pictured above was moved to the guest room although the furniture was used in Alex's room. That one doesn't look so hot now so that will certainly be the next project!

Here's the new and improved closet.

The Elfa drawers are awesome - they slide so easily and hold a ton - 2 are practically empty! I decided to reuse his dresser but it only has 3 drawers so the extra space will come in handy as he grows. Right now we keep socks, pajamas and sweatshirts in there. This summer I'm sure we'll add bathing suits and hopefully UNDERWEAR!

Are you doing any closet organizing this week?!

Alex's Room: New Light

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

The light in Alex's new room was completely fine and I actually really still like it but it wasn't going to work in his room. It was slightly feminine, and I found a new home for it (of course). More on that later.

Handy Hubby worked some electrical magic and took down the old one and put in the new one.

Here's the after. The light is actually an exterior light from Seagull Lighting. It's a great fixture but I wish it was a tiny bit larger. I can definitely live with it though because I love the style.

I still cannot believe this was our dowdy underused guest room! More to come!!

Alex's Room: Paint!

2012-01-10T07:45:00.000-05:00

Next up in Alex's big boy room makeover was paint. We finished the board and batten molding (I can hear Handy Hubby as he reads this... "We?"... yeah, yeah, yeah). Ok. Handy Hubby finished the molding and then it was time to paint. From the get go, I wanted the top to be a dark gray with a slight blue tone. I'm going with classic blue and red but wanted something a little more sophisticated on the walls. I literally walked into our local Sherwin Williams store, grabbed a couple of paint samples and chose one in about 10 minutes. This is a tactic I use often and it works out for me about 80% of the time. Since I knew we only need a gallon of paint this time, I wasn't worried about making a bad investment. The final choice was Serious Gray by Sherwin Williams mixed in HGTV paint which has no VOCs (sold at Sherwin Williams stores).

After some calking thanks to 80 year old wanky walls, we dug in first with the lower half - Tocque White by Duron mixed in Sherwin Williams Harmony paint (barely grayish white which we have used on all of our trim throughout the house). Once that was done, it cured while we went away for Christmas week, then we taped off the top rail and painted the top half Serious Gray. Here's the result...

Honestly, I adore the whole room and can't wait to show you the final! Here's a close-up of the molding under the window casing. Handy Hubby just made a slightly rounded edge so that it blended a bit more with the casing.

We considered replacing the casing but did not want to open a huge can of worms. We also installed new cordless cellular shades from Lowes on the windows. Additional window covers to come (yet to be determined what form they'll take!) but these are a great base especially for kids because they are easy to operate and filter the light nicely.

In case you needed a reminder, here's where we started...

Kind of hard to believe it's the same room!

Old To Do Lists

2012-01-09T08:45:00.000-05:00

I found this old list in the back of a drawer in our family room. We made this list when we moved back into the house, or just before we moved in, after renovating in 2008.

You can see how we prioritized a few things (those with numbers on the left side), and we even finished a few things before putting the list in the drawer. 2 years later, there are only 2 unfinished projects - the rain barrel and the enclosures around the A/C units. I have good reasons for both. I have not found the perfect spot for a rain barrel yet. I have some ideas but nothing has jumped out as the perfect option. We haven't enclosed the A/C units because I am not happy with the newer unit we have. It's really loud and I have debated replacing it so that we aren't interrupted eating dinner on the porch. I wish I had paid closer attention to the HVAC decisions I made during the renovation but I think this fell through the cracks around the time I gave birth to Alex which took me out of the work zone for four or five days. It can be fixed but it's going to cost some $$$. I'm going to decide this spring whether I can live with it or not and then finish the enclosure project.

Still, I think Handy Hubby did a fantastic job knocking off all of these projects. Most were completed within a year which I think is great!!

I love finding notes like this which really take me back in time and remind me what we were thinking about at that point and what our priorities were.

Happy Monday (not).

Our DIY Stove Hood

2012-01-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

I've received a lot of questions about our stove hood in the past few years so I thought I should recap how we came to have this beauty. It's completely awesome. And it's also a DIY project. Unfortunately, we did this before I started writing the blog so I didn't take very many step by step pictures (or really any), so you'll get a brief explanation and no pictures.

When we were planning our kitchen, every kitchen I loved had a built-in stove hood. I love the stainless look but I have never loved big stainless stove hoods in modestly sized kitchens. I really prefer the wood look which coordinates with the cabinets although I don't think matching exactly is necessarily. Of course when I priced out the built-in options they were generally well over $1000 (not including the venting insert) and none of them fit our needs exactly, so we decided to build it. Well, Handy Hubby would build it and I would occasionally hold pieces and provide moral support!

We started with a Fujioh stove hood insert (around $250). We chose it because of it's good ratings, strong air pull, and it is relatively quiet on the low setting. The hood came with some specs on how far it should be from the stove (at least 24") and some other specs for installation.

I drew a quick sketch of the design I wanted and Handy Hubby went to work. The base part where the fan inserts, was relatively easy - basic a high grade plywood box. The same thing for the top piece below the ceiling. The challenge came with the angles on the top. There was a lot of trial and error and maybe a little cursing until the angles were just right.

Our contractor who built our addition came and helped out with the installation including punching the hole through the outside wall for the vent. It was painted using color-matched semi-gloss paint from Benjamin Moore. The final result is pretty fantastic we think!

Guest Bath: Framing a Bathroom Mirror

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

We did a little project in the midst of working on Alex's new room. The mirror in our basement guest bathroom has bugged me since we did it. Because of the sconces, my only choice was to do a standard plain mirror with cut-outs.

The plain mirror really did not fit the cottage/beach flavor we had going on in here. I had always planned to frame the mirror out but we only just got around to it 2 years later.

We got the trim molding from our neighbors, Meg and Jeff, who didn't have a place to store it so they gave it to us. I think they saw this as a challenge to see how we'll use it! Anyway, this hand-me-down molding, made this a no cost project for us so I am very thankful to them!

We did not have a good method of installing the molding other than glue since there was not enough wall to nail it to. We held up the molding and were disappointed that you could see the back of the wood which was unfinished. We quickly decided to spray paint the back of the molding which made the reflection less obvious when it was attached. We put the construction adhesive on the outermost edge of the mirror so it would not be visible in the mirror.

We then held the mirror in place for a minute or two, then used painters' tape to hold it for a day or two thereafter. Fortunately the molding was lightweight so it didn't take much to hold it in place.

A little wood filler and paint to match the trim, and voila!

It's now hard to remember what it looked like without the frame. You can also see a little of my DIY art in this picture. I'll give a little how to in a future post, if I can find the pictures I took of the process!

Alex's Room Progress

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! I feel like I am finally getting a handle on the various messes in our house. The combination of multiple projects and Christmas chaos was almost more than I could handle.

We've made a lot of progress in Alex's room over the past few weeks. I am so happy with how it's coming out! (For more about why we're making this change, read this post.)

Project #1 was installing the board and batten molding on the bottom half of the room.

Here's the blank slate we're working with. It's our former guest room and I never loved the color. Very blah.

Paint: SW Grassland

First Handy Hubby installed 1x4 pre-primed pine as the top rail.

Next Handy Hubby ripped out the top piece of our baseboard. Our baseboard is made of 2 separate pieces - a piece of flat stock and then a piece of curved molding on the top. Handy Hubby removed the top piece so we were left with the simple flat bottom piece. We chose to do this so the upright rails would not butt into the bottom piece oddly.

Of course ripping out a piece of 70 year old molding created a bit of a mess which required several coats of mud and patching. The large hole above was patched using a short piece of molding which squared off the corner. Handy Hubby did a couple of coats of spackle and sanding which delayed things for a few days.

Next he planned out the rails by centering a rail in the only uninterrupted wall (the other 3 walls have windows and the door and closet). He then measured 12" between each piece all the way around the room.

Next Handy Hubby started installing the vertical pieces. Of course, nothing in our 70 year old house is level or even so each piece had to be separately cut to size.

Here they are "dry-fitted" before nailing them (and before patching the walls below). He highly recommends this method in case you have to tweak the placement.

Next up, lots and lots of caulking!

Super Easy Holiday Cookie Bags

2011-12-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

I had to share this insanely easy holiday cookie bag which I originally found on Pinterest. I was looking for a new way to share homemade treats with our neighbors and friends.

I ran paper lunch bags through my printer. That sounds easier than it looks because my printer was not happy about feeding the paper bags and some of them got smudged. I hope to perfect the technique by next Christmas! I won't show you my "baked goods" since they are nothing to really write home about and although they qualify as homemade they do not really qualify as baking despite some use of the oven! I made pretzels with melted Rolos and M&Ms on top, magic bars, and white trash Chex mix.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

I'll be back in the new year!

Holiday House Tour

2011-12-21T07:30:00.000-05:00

With Christmas only a few days away, I thought I should share a few more bits of our Christmas decor before everyone runs off to be merry and bright this weekend! I finally got everything cleaned up and put away before hosting a small holiday brunch for a few friends on Sunday morning. It's so nice to fuel up on wonderful friend power before the holidays!

The front of the house is still sporting the same tired greenery we've used for the past 8 years. Honestly, I'm pretty tired of it and really need to change things up next year. Hoping to score some good stuff on the post Christmas sales if I get a few minutes to run out and shop with my mom on Monday or Tuesday next week. Not sure exactly what I need but something would be good.

Inside, the living room has some pretty basic decor including our second mantel decorated in more monochromatic tones than the family room mantel.

I decorated the console table with our kids' advent calendar and a couple of stained glass lanterns purchased at an outlet store about 10 years ago. Next year I'm going to decorate the mirror somehow.

Next up the dining room which is sporting red and gold everywhere. The balls hanging from the chandelier are plastic from the dollar store last year.

I like the addition of the wreath on the mirror over the buffet. I had the great vine wreath, floral picks, and ribbon in the attic and ready to go. Zero dollars.

Finally, I added one of my fake amaryllis to the liquor cabinet. My 5 year old added the baubles on top of the lidded glass container and I didn't realize it until I just saw this picture!

In the eating area in the kitchen, I used the same reindeer ornaments (dollar store) and greenery on the chandelier. The "BELIEVE" sign over the doors was from HomeGoods after Christmas 2 years ago. The fabric placemats are from April Cornell (I think) and the round placemats were a really cute Target find - they count down the days until Christmas.

Back to the family room the tree and mantel are still my favorite parts of the house.

4 more days until Christmas! Are you panicked?! I am 99% ready as far as shopping, packing, etc. Don't hate me because this almost never happens!

Gingerbread House Building Tutorial

2011-12-20T07:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I posted all about my neighbor Meghan's gingerbread party for 4 and 5 year old kids. (Read that post here). A great time was had by all in part because of Meghan's hard work in advance of the party. They key to making this party work for younger kids is to let them get to the decorating as quickly as possible. For kids who are 7 or 8 (and very patient), building might not be a problem if you have everything cut and ready to go. So, here's how it goes...

Make the dough using the recipe in the Joy of Cooking. Roll out the dough and cut out the front, back, roof, and sides.

Next, bake the pieces according to the recipe directions.

Next cover a pint container with foil.

Next, mix up a batch or two (depending on how many houses you're making) of Royal Icing (recipe here) and spread on each piece.

Then attach each to the sides of the pint container.

Finally fill in the crevices with Royal Icing.

Gather your candy and get ready to decorate!!

Aren't they adorable?!! Great job to Meghan (and Jeff) on all of your hard work!! And thanks for taking these awesome pictures of the process!

Happy Holidays!!

Gingerbread Revival

2011-12-19T16:55:00.000-05:00

My friend and neighbor Meghan hosted the now annual Gingerbread Party as a fundraiser for our kids' preschool. Honestly, the parents got a real deal when they bought this at the school's auction in early November!! Not only do they get 3 hours of shopping/wrapping/sleeping in but their kids came home with creations they were so proud of - rightfully so!

Learning from last year's (more on that here), Meghan ran the party the same way with only minor tweaks. This time we had a few more kids but that didn't seem to matter at all. I think the main secret to a successful gingerbread party with kids under 8 is preassembling the houses. That can get tedious for little (or big) hands so having that hard work done in advance leaves all of the time to ~~eating~~ decorating with the candy. Tomorrow I'll post Meghan's tutorial on how to make these adorable houses! As with last year, I'll give you a quick play-by-play in case you are planning one of these parties for this weekend or even next year.

Meghan planned on 2-5 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. The kids got there between 2 and 2:30 and all played in their basement playroom for 20 minutes or so. I helped Meghan get the last bits of stuff together and the table ready. When the kids sat down, this is what they had...

Then they decorated the houses for about an hour. We had 3 adults for 9 kids and that worked pretty well considering that Meg's husband was on icing making duty for a good part of that. Meg and I helped the kids find inspiration (they didn't need much help with that!), decorate around tough problems, scoop icing, and wipe their hands. The kids ate a lot of candy but that was all part of the fun!

When they were done, the kids headed outside to burn off some of that sugar. We had an incredible village of houses!

While Jeff watched the kids outside, Meghan and I made a mad dash to clean up the table in preparation for a quick snack before their parents showed up for the "awards ceremony."

Each child received an "award" for their house... Most Beautiful, Most Sparkly, Sweetest, Tastiest Looking, etc.

Here's my daughter's house for which she won "Sweetest House"!

Come back tomorrow for Meghan's gingerbread house building tutorial!