Out of the Closet

When I opened my hall closet on Wednesday morning, I literally took my life in my hands. The board games that were stacked precariously on top of each other finally gave way as the door opened, and they quickly slid off of one another, nearly decapitating me in the process. Clearly it was time to clean out the closet.

(Like how I picked up on that so quickly?)

Anyway, after much grunting and groaning and back and forth trips carrying coats, shoes, game, game pieces and the like, my closet looked like this. . .

And my living room floor looked like this. . .

Not pretty, my friends. Not pretty at all.

Obviously, I had to do something. I couldn't just reload all of my crap back into that ugly closet now, could I? So, I did the only thing I could. I gloved up and scrubbed that closet. I bleached and Chloroxed and magic erased until I was feeling quite happy from the fumes, and guess what?

My closet still looked like this . . .

Still. Not. Pretty.

Being the resourceful gal that I am, I scratched my head, thought a moment, and then came up with a plan. First, I ripped out that old carpet. The floors were in great shape underneath. Then, I found some leftover paint from other projects through the years. The colors weren't what I was envisioning, so I just mixed them together and Voila! A pretty color for free! ( And, you know how I love free! I love free more than bacon, and that is saying something. Seriously.) After some cutting in and painting, my closet looked like this . . .

It's a lovely shade of blue (although it is hard to tell from this picture). Much better! But, not quite there yet. Remember, I still had to figure out a place for all of this.

I remembered that Target (or Tar-jay Boutique in my vernacular) had organizers on sale this week, and I decided to invest in one to help with the closet clutter. While at Target, I bought an eight cubicle organizer, 4 blue bins, one polka dot bin (Ummm, yeah. I couldn't resist. Those dots just spoke to me. Soooo fun!), and two see through bins. My total was around, gulp, $77.00, but I think the result was worth it.

My closet is sooooo pretty! I think that I wouldn't even mind a mommy time out there, you know?

What do you think?

Potty - The Before and . . .After!

 I have been talking and talking about all this renovation that I have been doing, but I haven't let you in on it.  (Just call me a tease!) Anyway,  I am sure that you are quite sick of it.

I am. 

The kitchen is coming along, slowly, s o  s l o w l y, but I am trying to focus my energies on the facts that . . . 1.  We are doing this ourselves.  2.  We are paying cash for the remodel as we go.  (Just say no to debt!) and 3.  Because we are taking our time, we are doing things correctly.   All of these add days and days to our timeline, but it is slowly coming together.  

So, the kitchen remodel is adding to my insanity.  That is a given.  But lest you think that the kitchen is my only crazy project, I will let you in on a little secret.  I usually have several home improvement projects going at one time.  The more projects at one time, the merrier I say!  (I know.  I know.  I am nuts.  3 kids.  The dead of winter.  Hubby coaching basketball AND  remodeling?  Geez!  It even sounds crazy to me.)

My latest project was my first floor half bath.  It is off the kitchen, and when we bought the house, it was painted a shade of hospital-like green.  

Lovely, yes?

Ummmmmm.  No.

Not lovely!  Hideous old linoleum.  Potty chair (Did I mention I am also potty training?  Ellerie!  Not me.)  Pukey walls.

Just not pretty.

Not pretty, my friends.

One day while reading out in bloggy world, I read a post about using black in small spaces, like perhaps a kitchen, on The Inspired Room.  Immediately, I thought about my green bathroom.  So, one day while hubby was at work, I started painting.  Black.  I loved it, but it was even a bit too much for me.  I convinced hubs to install some beadboard and some leftover flooring and  . . .

Voila!

Pretty bathroom!

Now, it still needs a pretty towel and a few finishing touches, but it is loads better!  It was cheap too.  The floor was leftover from a project last year.  I already had the black and the white paint, so that was free.  I did buy 2 new knobs at 2.50 each and the rug that I got on sale at Kohl's on the clearance rack.  I think it may have been $15.  The material for the top of the window was leftover from my dining room window treatments.  The bead board was $20 at the Home Depot.  So, my total was around $40 bucks.  Not bad for a new bathroom!

Whenever I see it during the day, it makes me smile.  And, that my friends, is totally worth $40!

I am linking this post to Kimba's DIY day and to the Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party.  Hop on over to check out some really cool projects that can make your life a bit crazier too!

Deck the Halls!

(My fireplace mantel . . . gorgeous, isn't it???)

I love Christmas.

Seriously, I love it.

I love the jolly music playing everywhere.  In fact, much to my hubby's chagrin, I have my car radio set to a station that plays tunes all day and all night.  My kiddies and I sing at the top of our lungs while motoring around town.  Their current favorite is Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Sorry Mom!)  Too funny and too fun!

 I also love the lights that twinkle on people's houses.  Now, I will admit, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to stringing lights.  I prefer white, and I like it when it is neat, well planned, and well executed.  I am not a fan of half-way done lights that are strewn over a bush or dangling from a roof line.   I logically can appreciate that someone was in the Christmas spirit to decorate, but I can not appreciate the end result.  ( I know.  I know.  Snob!  Just get past it!) Instead, hubby and I point out, laugh, and generally make fun of some pretty sketchy Christmas light displays. (Which is totally not in the Christmas spirit . . . but I am being honest here, and . . . it is so much fun.  Sorry!)  I mean a blow up of Santa on a Harley next to a nativity scene???  Really??  And don't get me started on the blow up manger scene.  There is just something wrong with Mary, Jesus, and Joseph in cartoon-like bubble form.  I have a feeling that they were not meant to be adored next to a life-size Spongebob wearing a Santa hat.  Just saying.

But, the thing that I love the most about Christmas time is decorating my home.  I have approximately 10 rubbermaid tubs full of Christmas decorations that I pull out each year.  (No.  I am not exaggerating.  And yes, I know that it is excessive.) .  Now, I do not use all of the decor in the tubs.  Instead, each year I evaluate my home and my decorating desires and then I create or add or edit until I get just the right look that I want. I love doing it so much that I have actually considered going into business decorating other people's homes for Christmas.  I just haven't figured out how to do that and continue to decorate mine.  ( That and I'd be afraid that I'd offend someone because I don't like Santa on a harley. ) Sigh.  

Anyway,  I thought that I would share a few pics of some of my favorite spots in my home.

Here are the french doors that lead into my dining room.  

And here is a close up of the goodies above the door.

Finally, here is my Christmas tree.  As you can see, it is not the shrub that hubby likes, so needless to say, I won the battle. (As if you thought I'd lose!  Ha!)  It is all in reds and golds and it is beautiful!  Sparkly, gold, and red!  What's not to love, huh?

And now I am off to more decorating!

If you are in the holiday mood, you can check out The Nester or The Thrifty Decor Chick for more holiday decorations!

Happy Fall

It's fall!

I love everything about fall.   The colorful crunchy leaves, the crisp evenings that require an extra blanket on my bed, and of course, all the yummy soups and stews that comfort me on a cool day make fall a particularly lovely time of the year.  If I could just adjust to getting up and moving in the dark, all would be well in my world.  Well, not all.  (Ellerie is still potty training.)  But, a lot would be well.

Alas, I digress.

So, in order to spruce up my front entry, I devised a pumpkin house number.  Now, I can not take all of the credit for this.  I spied one of these adorable pumpkin house numbers on another friend's porch, and then I brazenly copied it, and added my own twist.  (Please forgive the picture quality.  I used my cell.)

This was seriously simple, and cheap.  Two fabulous qualities for an Annie craft.   I used three styrofoam  pumpkins that I got on after Halloween clearance last year.  I painted my house numbers on the front and then used a wooden dowel (is that the right word??) to put them one on top of another. ( Currently, they are listing a little to the right, so today I may tweak the dowel rod a bit to make it a bit more stable. ) The flowers are from stems that I purchased at the Dollar Store.  I took the blooms and leaves apart, rearranged them  and then stuck them into some floral foam. Finally, I placed them all into the ceramic witch's feet and pumpkin that I bought at Target for 90% off last year.  The result?

Darling.

And festive.

I love, love, love it.

What do you think?

****Hop on over to DIY Day at ASPTL to see more DIY projects.

Update on the Kitchen Remodel

The kitchen remodel insanity continues.  

Stage 1 . . . done.  

Stage 2 . . . on the burner.  

Stage 3 . . . still a dream.  At this rate, we will probably be complete right about the time the

 kids start high school.   In spite of this, I thought I would give you guys a peek and an update.

This is  Stage 1  . . . BEFORE.  

This area was a breakfast nook off the back of my kitchen.  Hubby recessed the refrigerator into the space, framed out around it, dry-walled, and created a walk-in pantry.  

This is Stage 1  . . . DURING.

This is a look into  the newly painted, walk-in pantry.   (The fridge is to the left, out of the picture.)  Notice the specs of drywall dust floating in the picture.  Seriously, construction dust is terrible!!

Another DURING . . .

This is the same view as before, but with the shelving installed by my loving hubby.

And, here's the newly formed pantry AFTER . . .

I can't believe how much storage I have now!

This is the window to the backyard within the pantry and  a partial view of the back shelf. 

And, a final shot of the back pantry shelf.

Fabulous, no?!?

I love, love, love it!

So, onto Stage 2.  Wall removal.  Island installation.  Insanity daily.  Fall is coming.  I am feeling like nesting. And, this is what the beginning of Stage 2 looks like.

I need some help!

Or at least some chocolate.

****This links up to the Inspired Room's fall nesting party.

Parlez-vous francais?

When we moved into this OLD house and my daughter said that she wanted a "French" bedroom, I seriously was at a loss for what to do. Her room at the time was a teal green hue everywhere. Molding, baseboards, doors and walls were all bluey green. Not hideous, mind you. Just not my Abbie girl, and definitely not french.

So, I pondered the room and the situation for a bit, and finally I was struck with inspiration. I was out shopping for the girls when I spotted a darling lavender swing top with navy blue grosgrain ribbon detailing. The Gymboree tag said that the top was part of their Paris line, and voila! I had it. I knew what to do!

That weekend, with swing top in tow, I headed to my local Home Depot. I used their color matching system to create a dreamy lavender paint for Abbie's walls. Step one was done. Then I ordered their decorator white paint ( yes, that is the official name of the white) for the trim and moldings.

That weekend I spent painting, painting and more painting. My hair looked gray from the specks of lavender and white that the roller deflected there. Then I hit my first dilemma.

The former wallpaper boarder was applied incorrectly and would not come off. Try as I might, I couldn't strip that paper ( and I have stripped loads and loads of paper). I was frustrated that my vision was not going to be, until . . . I figured out a creative solution. I just painted that border with the decorator white paint. Instantly, the border looked like it was part of the room's molding. It looked great, but I knew it was lacking . . . something.

Later, I discovered just what it needed. I found navy blue grosgrain ribbon, just like the inspiration shirt. I took the ribbon and hot glued it between the border and the wall. It was perfect!

Then, I knew that the beautiful doors that were so shiny and so white were unlikely to stay that shiny and white with my three kiddies running through the house. I decided that if I couldn't beat them (and have shiny white doors), then I could join them and let them get those doors good and dirty. So, one afternoon I painted the interior squares of molding on the doors with chalkboard paint. Instant character and instant fun! Abbie and the other kiddies love them!

For the windows, I found some navy blue and white toile fabric at the local fabric store for 50% off. Score! I hemmed them on the sewing machine (to this day, I can only sew straight lines)and then, I gathered them up with more ribbon. I used the existing window hardware and sheers leftover from my old house to create the whole window look.

Darling!

Finally, what french room would actually be a french room without the Eiffel Tower and some french phrases? I used three leftover white shelves of varying sizes from my old house to create the tower base and then I used oops paint to freehand the tower. The french phrases we checked online ( I wanted to be sure that I was putting up G rated phrases.) and then I freehanded those too. I could have used vinyl stick phrases, but frankly, I was too cheap.

The furniture and bedding was already white so there was no expense there. I did buy some navy pillowcases from ikea for a boost of color. The total cost of the room for paint, ribbon, fabric, and pillowcases was approximately 75.00. Not bad for a whole new room!

The result?

A darling girl's room that is not too juvenile, but not too grown up either.

Just perfect I think. I just love, love, love it!

What about you?

*****This post is a part of DIY Thursday at ASPTL and also the Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday.