When we started talking about having a DIY conference that we could really use to focus on the “home bloggers” niche, I sure wouldn’t have guessed that it would grow into such an amazing gathering!

If you haven’t heard by now, me and seven other uh-muh-mazing women are heading it up, and we WANT you to be there! What better way to get you there than to offer you a free ticket?

One lucky winner will be given a free conference ticket (valued at $200). You’ll have to get yourself there, of course. Oh, and you may want to pay for your hotel room…but we are giving you that ticket!

So what do you need to do? Each one earns you an entry!

• Comment here
• Visit Haven’s Facebook page to say hello! (This is where all the information gets thrown at you in real time, so it’s valuable to know about.)
• Tweet about it using #Haven2012 in the update.

This is just the start to how spectacular this conference is going to be. If you want to know the full lowdown of information, visit our website. I’ll let you know who wins on Monday. Woo to the hoo!

A few days ago, my brother (who lives in California) called me and said, “Hey, I’m in New York for a few weeks for work. Why don’t you get a plane ticket and come visit me?”

My non-thinking self: “Heck yeah! I’ll be there in ten minutes!”

My thinking (and true) self: “I don’t know…”

“What if I die in a plane crash?”

“Who will take care of my kids?”

“Who will make sure they wear clothes that fit them and shoes that match their outfits?”

Well, my non—thinking self won. My best friend assured me that the evil thing we call “mom guilt” had snuck up on me, and I needed to go. And have FUN.

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I’m still stressing just a bit (it’s what I do), but I’m hoping to be fully immersed in all things New York by tomorrow with no worries to hold me back!

So I’ll be leaving these little love nuggets…

and really wishing this guy would be holding my hand on the plane.

While I’m certainly more than excited to see this skyline, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that mean ol’ mom guilt is always nagging at me. That’s normal, right?

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Have a great weekend!

Woops. Did the weekend end already? Sorry about that. I found myself telling someone the other day that this is a busy time of year for me. I then realized that I say that about six times a year. I should probably come to terms with the fact that I’m just busy.

I’ve got parent/teacher conferences coming up next week, so that kind of keeps me from tackling any big projects around the house. Nothing worse than a torn up guestroom only to have your in-laws come up and have nowhere to sleep. So…..I wait. And I plan. Wanna see what I planned?

{Laundry Room}

I don’t know if you’ll agree, but I just love it when someone offers a “mood board” for the ideas going on in their head. I’ve stayed away from it until now simply because I’m fickle. Just ‘cause this idea is what I want today, it doesn’t mean this is what I’ll end up with. A mood board is a little too committal for me, and I don’t want to disappoint anyone. That sounds like I need therapy.

The wood sample in the board is for butcher block countertop. It’s a finalist, but not the winner yet. I love how it looks in the photo below. It adds a little warmth and texture to the space—two of my favorites!

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Not sure if it works? Check out these glam shots. Pretty a—ma—mazing!

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{All pictures via Decor Pad}

Planning a mood board is not the easiest thing in the world, but I think you get the idea. My excuse for not doing laundry is that I need a room transformation, so I should probably get moving on it. As soon as I’m not busy.

You may have noticed that I have decided to let go of Show and Share Day. My apologies. It wasn’t intended initially, but I started to enjoy that I didn’t have to worry about doing it on Thursday night. I didn’t feel like I was able to do the participants justice, and it was getting to be more work than I needed.

SaS Day required the most work on the weekends, and that’s the only time I have away from my career. It just makes sense to let it go. I apologize, but I hope you understand. This allows me to blog about various things on Fridays, and I’m pretty excited about that!

That being said, I want to take a moment to thank some people who mean a lot to me and a lot to this blog!

If it weren’t for Danielle, this blog would be a blank slate. That girl has an eye for what’s beautiful, and I can’t recommend her enough!                            

Tony is what I call “the fixer”. I would literally be lost without him. Our conversations usually go as follows:

Tony: “Hi, Chris. I notice that so-and-so problem is on your blog. Want me to fix it?”

Me: “Oh that’s ok! I can just fix it myself.”

Tony: “Hi, Chris. I notice that you didn’t fix the problem, so I went and fixed it for you!”

Me:  “Me dumb. You smart. Thank you!”

If you haven’t visited, Say it on the Wall, you must. Now. Laura offers vinyl options for your home, and I love the selection she has! It’s like no other. Go see for yourself.

    

I just love my Silhouette. What you may not know is that I use it for the most random things. I think people assume they have to be a crafter to need one of these, but I use it for all over the house. Labels, gift wrap, storage bins, organizing—you name it. SO glad I have one!

And finally, the Canvas People offer such awesome deals on photos to canvas, that I’m glad to have them on JaG. I used them for my son’s baseball canvas, and his friends always comment on it. Can’t beat a great deal for a great product!

And of course, thank YOU for sticking with me on this and letting me take a moment to show my appreciation for my advertisers! I hope you’ll visit them!

Nester is having a House Goals party, and it was just what I needed to start mapping out my plan for 2012. Since this post alone took me about three hours to write, I can only imagine how long the projects themselves will take. We’ll see.

1. That darn master bedroom. It’s a thorn in my side. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about it simply because we don’t have guests up there. (This is where I will pretend not to notice all the many jokes that could be made about that sentence.) It’s one of those “shut the door and worry about it later” rooms, but I’m making changes this year. Here’s a little picture tour for you.

Uhhh…anyone ever close up an entire window before? We built this house 8 years ago, and I’ve hated it for 7 years 363 days. It’s a pain to work around, and it really serves no purpose. Hate it. Of course, the pictures map out a LOT more work, but I’m in “Stage 1” of the idea right now. For those of you don’t know, Stage 1 means I am starting to bring it up around my husband. We remain in that stage for several weeks—sometimes months—depending on the project level. We have a system here. Stay with me. 

Of course, when it’s all said and done, it’ll look JUST like this. I really don’t think I’m that far off. I have all the essentials already. You know…4 walls, flooring, a side table. I’m inches away. I can feel it.

#2. De-boob. (What is this post rated?) Again…built the house years ago, but the complaint this time is that our contractor told us DAYS before the lighting was being installed that we needed to pick things out. Uhhh…ok. They had nothing we liked, and we didn’t have any time for special ordering. Annoyed would be a good way to describe our feelings. I hate all our chandeliers, and I’m getting rid of all the boob lights.

My poor laundry room light (above) has already felt my wrath. The light bulbs kept blowing out, and I don’t feel like there’s enough light in there at night. That’s what it looks like. Nice, eh? Below, you’ll see I conjured up some beautiful lighting to look into. However, don’t let my inspiration photos fool you. One of these pendants is over $1,000. Say huh?  Key words: inspiration photos.

 one, two, three, four, five, six

And lastly…back to the laundry room. It’s just there. Since I can’t bump out the wall about 5 more feet (don’t think I haven’t asked), it needs to reflect my style better. Also, I can’t guarantee that this picture was taken at 12:00. It’s very likely that I just don’t have a battery in that thing. Poor little room.

So I plan on painting, tiling, building, and installing. For such a small room, it’ll be quite a bit of work. Since my New Year’s Resolution is to do laundry more than once a month, I figure this is the most likely way to get me to do that.

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Finally, here’s a sneak peek of the first project I’ll be doing. My husband’s out of town for a couple of weeks (if you plan on coming to my house to murder me, I’ll murder you first), so I’m employing my father-in-law (who has no idea yet) to help me build/organize a linen closet. A 7-foot linen closet. Insert nervous giggle here. Aaaaannd now I’m sweating. 

I’m off to prepare my “Let’s do this, Dad!” speech to make him believe he actually wants to help me. Wish me luck. In the meantime, stop by Nester’s place. I love to see what everyone has planned for the year.

As much as I love Christmas, I sure do love how clean the house looks after all the decorations are gone. However, it can lead to a dilemma. How do you decorate? What do you use if you like to add decor to match the season? Well, if you live in Michigan you just decorate your house with tons of snow. And air conditioners.

If you’d rather not be that drastic, might I recommend just using a lot of white in your home? This velvet duvet is being shipped to me right now. I can’t wait. The idea of crisp white and ivory bedding sounds delicious to me right now.

Of course, I can’t wait to pair it with this new throw that I got from Santa my mom.  Velvet and fur on the bed? Yes, please.

Speaking of fur, I have another one in the living room. It immediately gives off the “warmth” vibe in the room even when it’s 12 degrees outside.

I like things to be quite simple around the house after the holidays. I tend to put items away just to “cleanse the pallet” for a while.  Nothing too busy. You may notice that I didn’t change things up too much from my Christmas mantel. I replaced the reindeer with a silver vase and took the leaves off the vases.

As for those vases, I had some questions about them. From a distance, I guess you can’t tell that they’re really just glass jars (purchased at TJMaxx) covered in sweaters I bought at Salvation Army. An easy way to winterize things.

I might also suggest using flowers. I think it’s an ultra-fresh way to soften up cold, wintery rooms. Unfortunately, I have a dead Poinsettia and some Narcissus bulbs right now. I don’t think those really count just yet. Here is some inspiration for you.

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I think the room below epitomizes a wonderful “winter space”. I love the crisp, clean lines, the touches of color through accessories, and the sparkle of the silver accent pieces. Throw in a crackling fire, and it became a perfect room.

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What d’ya think? Am I missing something? Textures, whites, fresh greens, and fireplaces are mine Share your thoughts if you have something to add!

I went back home for Christmas Eve to visit my family—otherwise known as my mom and my Grandpa. Small holiday gatherings for us, but well worth the drive home. I walked into my mom’s house, took about 15 pictures, and then my camera died. Or did it? Apparently it “rolled off the couch while I was moving some Christmas presents.” Can you guess the culprit? Well, it wasn’t me.

Me mum (pictured below) recently redid her fireplace, so I thought I’d show you. I would lu-huve to show you some before pictures, but she doesn’t quite have the blogger mindset that requires her to send those to me. 

Imagine a huge, brick fireplace (that was NEVER used) and dark trim as the before. Here’s the after.

She’s still not finished accessorizing it, but I thought she was off to a pretty fantastic start.

She had all the brick ripped out, replaced the surround with some beautiful tile, and encased it with a crisp white trim. It took some creative photography to leave out my grandpa’s “Frasier chair” as I call it. She really loves the way it turned out, and I do too!

She doesn’t know I took this, but she sent me out to the garage to get something out of the fridge. This is what her garage looks like. Seriously?

I had planned to go back out and take more pictures of the row of baskets to the right, but someone decided to drop my camera before I could get back out. He shall remain nameless, but he knows who he is. And he’s currently sleeping with one eye open.

How’s that for a title, eh? When we first got Maximus, I asked my students who have dogs how their moms (‘cause let’s be honest here) keep their houses from smelling like dog. The universal answer? “Yeah, our house just smells like dog.” Nooooooooo!

As much as I did NOT want to take on the responsibility of this 140-pound slobber ball, I knew it would be mine. More importantly, I knew I would be the only one who would really care if my house smells like dog, looks like dog, or tastes like dog.

I’ve been asked (a lot) how I keep up with him. So I’m here to tell ya how I do it. However, prepare yourself. It requires work—and a lot of it.

#1 The towel.

Oh sure…when that cute little snow-covered snout comes to the back door, it’s not that big of a deal.

But when Michigan winter (or spring…or fall) hits, it’s not so cute anymore.

The towel is a mainstay at our back door, and Maximus is trained to walk inside and freeze. He just stands there while we wipe him all down.

#2. I vacuum every day. Yup, every. single. day. And if I miss a day, I feel like dog hair creatures are going to attack me. It’s just my thing. I like to sit on the floor with my kids, and I don’t want that to include a bunch of dog hair. Blech! My saving grace is my BFF below. She changed my life.

#2.5 I have Alice do the hard surface floors with this bad boy every week.

#3 The Furminator. If you haven’t heard of this tool, I can promise you it’s right up there with DVR. That good. None of my dog-owner friends knew about it when we bought it. Now they all have one. It’s pretty awesome, and I make that my kids’ job.

                                 #4. Lots of baths. I’d say at least once a month—more in the summers. I’ve got two words for ya. Junkyard Dog.

While we bathe him at home in the summers (we have a hot water tap on our hose), we otherwise take him to our local Chow Hound which has a pet grooming area. They supply everything, and it’s only $10.00. Totally worth not doing it in our house!

#5. Open windows! Whether I have a dog or not, this is a necessity for me. Nothing grosses me out more than a house that has that “stagnant smell.” You know what I’m talking about? Usually while I’m vacuuming, I’ll crack a window or open the back door a bit. Then my husband will complain about how cold it is. It’s just a no-brainer—even in the winter.

‘Cause you know. That’s my view.

If Maximus were 100 pounds lighter, perhaps we I wouldn’t have to do half of these things. But it is what it is. I’m stuck with all his slobber and dog hair, and he’s stuck with my vacuuming and wiping off his feet. I think we’re gonna make it, buddy.

While talking with my husband the other day, he said to me, “2012 is gonna be our year, baby!” I believe him for two reasons. 1. I trust him. 2. He said it with an exclamation mark. Everything said with an exclamation mark comes true, right?

Not one to dismiss his enthusiasm for the pending year, I thought I’d throw in some resolutions that just might make that happen. Ready? (Click on pictures for links.)

1. Drink more water. Is it really that difficult? WHY do I struggle so much with this one? Never fear. It will happen.

2. Do laundry more often than once a month. I hate it. It hates me. We call each other bad names, and I’m quite alright with that. Perhaps our love will grow as my laundry pile shrinks.

3. Read a book? My best friends are laughing at me right now. Let’s pause while they compose themselves. Don’t worry. I read incessantly. I just can’t get my mind to focus on a book for more than…well, my record is 63 pages. I’m hoping my kids’ new my new Kindle Fire will help with that.

4. Buy a paint brush that I don’t end up throwing away. Just rinse it out, Chris. It’s not rocket science.

Believe me…the list could go ON. What about you? Resolutions? Hate resolutions? Perhaps your resolution is to come up with a resolution? Perhaps mine from last year can help.

I’m ready for 2012 and all the possibilities it will bring. I’m ready for painting some rooms. I’m ready for building some things. I’m ready for HAVEN!! I’m ready for more time with you.

Have a SAFE and fun New Year’s Eve. See you next year!! (Nope. Couldn’t resist.)