Candy's Kitchen

adding more closet storage

2012-01-20T10:28:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick and minor update that has me dancing in my pants:

All the closets in the house are your standard bar and one shelf. It works, but either leaves a bunch of un-used space at the top OR a circus-car-packed-with-clowns effect when cram in as much as you can...

So, we built a second shelf. More organized & more storage! This is really quite simple: curt & screw to wall the 1x3 frame, and then cut shelf to size & voila! Add some paint, if you like things pretty... but ONLY if you like.

1x3 frame installed & painted

was also painting the shelf... both dry & both go up!

immediately jam with junk... TA DA!

Word to the wise: remove closet doors before embarking on this journey.

building built-ins: in progress

2012-01-18T21:49:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you about the state of things....

THIS:

THIS is the state of things. With a little of this...

...and a little of that....

Because, ya know, the perfect time to make a built-in is when you are 110 days out from your wedding....

Anyone surprised?

xmas 2011: ho ho ho

2011-12-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

I don't think you're ready for this jelly.....but get ready, cuz here it comes.

We decorated for Christmas. Which, I never used to be crazy for... UNTIL the beau came along and UNTIL I was slapped in the face with so much internet-blogland inspiration. And let me tell you, I am loving what we got going on! Now, there is more I would love to do, but budget, time, and space to store the other 11 months of the year is keeping me under control.

First, I put out some Silver & Gold (by ways of my spray-painted pine cones featured before.)

just like the clay snowman sang about

Second, I filled 3 vases with silver ornaments and silver Mardi Gras beads.

glam BAM!

I LOVE these. I would love to make some fake presents (in shiny red wrapping) and place around the base of the vases and under some vases to give more dramatic height. But I couldn't justify this when I had no room to store these empty boxes in the off season. Next house, for sure.

Third, we got a tree. A fake tree. A fake, white tree. Oh you better believe we got funky up in here!

won't you take me to FUNKY CHRISTMAS TOWN?!

Yup, sparkly white tree + all red ornaments = the hotness. I am in love. The reason why we have a pint-size ghost tree is because Xmas will be hosted by another, and we didn't want a real tree to die while we were away, and we wanted to enjoy the holiday cheer.... so, obviously, this was the only logical answer. Please tell me you love it and want to be like me. Or, you know, lie.

Fourth, the peace wreath from last year (seen/done here)? It's inside. MADNESS, I KNOW! But we needed to balance out an empty space & add some height so onto the wall it went (hung with a 3M removable hook.)

kum-bay-yah, yo

I figure, this is a more stylized wreath that could rep the hippy indoors and match the circular plate on the other wall. Oh! And we did think about mounting the wreath ON the gold plate, but it didn't look as good as we thought it would.

Fifth, the bar got blinged.

erm, the garland is level... the angle is just, um, messin with the view

That's a basic lit garland draped along the frame (with 3M hooks,) and strings of beads (usually for the tree) hung through the glass racks. It took a bit of finagling to get the beads to stay and more to get them the right lengths.... I scrapped having them all the same length because that would talk TOO LONG. Look at it all lit up! I love how the garland really frames the bar.

Sixth, the table.

The bowl is Ikea. The filler is, yup, more beads. The napkin rings? BEADS AGAIN! (Bet you didn't see that one coming!) And that lovely, delicate table runner was a gift from a very close family friend.

beads, beads... GLORIOUS BEADS!!!!!

adding some quaint to the otherwise glitz-fest

I have also, when we were using the chargers but not the fancy-pants napkins (I use those only for foreign dignitaries,) I put them all in the center bowl. I kinda like this too... like a pick-your-poison of, um, hand towels. Whatever.

So, there you go! This is how we deck our halls and bring out the figgy pudding. What did you do? Anyone hate a non-green tree??

(See Link Parties page for list of who I've linked too)

modg's wana

2011-12-09T13:03:00.001-05:00

I'm sure you are all tired of me NOT posting. Then saying I'm back. Then not being back. Hell, you've all probably forgotten about me. No matter!

Posting something amazing:

priceless art from MODG

I admit it. I follow a personal blog of someone I don't know. I blame her awesome nursery for it. But, it's a hilarious blog, so doesn't matter. Anyways, I am drawing attention her her blog, and specifically this post, because it's something I want to support as much as I can.

what it is:
Essentially, a "forum" or place for those who want to help others to connect with those in serious need to help (like, I-can't-afford-a-present-AT-ALL-for-my-child families). This means anything from sending used clothes & toys to sending brand-new gifts or making care packages.

why:
Other than "Tis the Season" and all, there was a judgmental comment on MODG's post about the birthday party thrown for her son regarding her personal finances. MODG responded with a post sarcastically saying she's Donald Trump's mentor, only to be met with comments from readers supporting her and ones explaining the hard or good times they are in. The magic came when other commentators responded to those down on their luck offering help. And from the spirit behind those comments, this drive was born.

So, if I can help by spreading the word, then that's what I will do. Should you want to help a family in need (or just want a good tear-jerker (whatever, it's dusty in here)), GO HERE.

--------

I'll be back this weekend with a post about how I took crap around my house in attempts to make it look less like "crap" and more like "holiday cheer". Peace out.

Cilantro: The Evil Divider

2011-09-30T10:42:00.000-04:00

This post isn't about the pros and cons about cilantro (or the record: PRO- it tastes awesome; CON- some people don't like it and this makes cooking for the masses a pain in the pa-tooey!) This post IS about a genius idea I had for keeping cilantro longer. Please witness the miracle:

it's alive, ALIIIIIVVVEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to try and keep cilantro as I keep fresh-cut flowers. And. It. Worked. This bunch of cilantro has been with me since September 9th. It is now September 30th. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!?!??! Cilantro is hands down the fastest-spoiling herb I have used. Two-Three days after purchase, and portions start getting slimy & wilt-y. Not cool. I never make it though a whole bunch (which are always fairly sizable!) before it gets tossed.... UNTIL NOW!

Here's the low-down: put stems in water (but not enough to submerge any leaves). Every couple days snip off the bottom inch (give or take) of the stems. Keep refrigerated. Use as needed. VOILA!!!!!!!!!!!

...

And if this is some kitchen secret that everyone knows about and no one has told me, than you all can go suck on a lemon. Am I the only one who didn't know this??

our wedding inspiration, v1

2011-08-23T09:28:00.000-04:00

Soooo, INSPIRATION:

Our Wedding Inspiration, v1 by csmenke on Polyvore.com

1) The paper lanterns (tent and aisle)

2) The pompom/tissue paper flowers (fancy-ing up the house)

3) The cake buffet (oh man, EPIC)

4) Sparklers... somehow.

5) Lemons & lemony-yellow

6) DIY chalkboard signs

7) I don't know why I had to include that table setting... I really only tagged it because I liked how they placed/arranged the napkins. But dammit, napkin arrangement is IMPORTANT!

Our colors: peacock blue & lemon yellow & white (and lots of spring green from, ya know, the spring and plants).

TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!

photo collage via polyvore

life- it happens

2011-08-04T15:02:00.000-04:00

Why hello, my friends, it appears life has kinda gotten in the way of blogging. A damn shame, if I do say. So, here's a quick update of why I have been on sabbatical:

Baked cakes (yes, plural - 6 of them) for a friend's wedding. Plan on sharing these details, which is slightly hard because...
Lost my camera. Yup, the one with all the cake pictures and all home DIY pics waiting to be uploaded. Wrench, please meet my plans. You make great bed-fellows.
Went on a week vacation to the beach. Much needed. Yay relaxation.
GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!! So, needless to say, I am somewhat distracted. My love of food, party planning and DIY are getting me carried away in a WHOLE new direction!

So please, excuse the absence. I hope to have some posts about home updates and the cakes. I will definitely share wedding prep when that gets going, as we plan to infuse as much of ourselves into this day as humanly possible. Excitement! :D

restaurant reviews: debut & ren's ramen

2011-06-09T11:42:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting half of this whole "cooking and renovation" concept. Not that I haven't been eating. I have. And not that I haven't been cooking. I have. I just haven't been documenting (writing & remember recipes and taking pictures). I must confess,* this is mostly laziness and hurried-ness to get dinner on the table before 10pm.** I promise I have a beautiful spring dessert that I will post in the next week and a re-cap on how I baked cakes (plural) for a friend's wedding and lived to tell about it soon after that.***

ANYWHO, something I have been trying to do? Yelp reviews. Why? Because I use them when looking for a restaurant, and figured I should add to instead of just take, take & take. I am a selfless saint.

Plus they make a pretty little map for me of the places I've reviewed. I like maps.

I've made a page for these reviews for anyone interested (i.e. lives around here.... though I will review anywhere I go on travels!)

everyone loves the lipsticked ducks more than my projects :(

Latest review is of Ren's Ramen in Wheaton, MD! An awesome noodle joint that opened a little over a week ago after moving here from Bethesda, MD. Go on & check it out!!! (my reviews and the ramen joint, that is!)

*That my loneliness is killing me no-oo-o-o-ow! Don't you know I still believe that you will be here & give me a si-ii-i-i-ign....
**Yeah, that's happened before. WORTH IT!
***So, the wedding hasn't happened yet. The whole "lived to tell about it" may be counting my eggs before they chicken out, or something.

guest room: red, red bed frame

2011-05-24T23:07:00.004-04:00

I painted a bed.

this is what happens when I have red paint in my hand... ducks get lipstick-ed

I also painted lawn ducks. But that is neither here nor there.

Back to the bed frame. Do you ever try to get the perfet paint stroke? Or lack of visible paint stroke, I guess... and then 15 minutes pass and you are still trying to get rid of that one brush stroke? Ahhh the joys of painting.

That was the biggest struggle with the bed frame. Oh man, especially with all the rungs and bumps and crevices. The WORST!

So, let us back up. The fourth bedroom started out like this:

Yup, blue-on-blue stripes. With dark blue window molding and doors. Oh, and don't forget the drop ceiling and the laminant flooring. Never forget those... never.

This was the cursed room. I tried two other colors, (the above being one of them,) before landing on the current color. Trust me when I say, that picture does not do the color justice. It was A LOT brighter and more fake-mint-chocolate-chip color. Not ideal.

This is how the room stayed for quite some time. Post-painting and flooring, but pre-housemate and pre-beau-mate. As you will see soon, this color is very hard to photograph with a small point-and-shoot. Use your imaginations, k? Or, just keep reading for a better color capture.

So this is what the room was like, with the new shipping crate, for most of the past year. The bed flip-flops from being against one wall or the other depending on my mood. I haven't been happy with the comforter set for a while. The material is kinda rough, and nothing you would want to cozy down on and read a book. My thought for this room was to be a little more bold and less two-tone. So, first stop was painting the bed a bold, candy/apple red after seeing inspiration A and B (blogged about here.) Excited? Ok! Lets get this party started!!

Step 1:

Erm, disassemble the bed frame and move to your painting area. I guess this was pretty obvious, huh? Moving on...

Step 2:

Sanding. All of it. All the cracks. Yup. You can feel my excitement about this step.

Step 3:

Priming! So, from here on out I will tell you I had no idea what I was doing. You should probably check out those with tons more experience (and awesome results that speak for themselves) if you want a real how-to. But here is how I did it. And it worked. The world didn't implode....

As you can see, I used a spray primer, (because I am lazy and impatient.) It worked. Went quickly. As with normal spray paint, make sure you do continuous strokes, holding the can 6-12inches away, and starting the spray before you get over the furniture piece. After it was fully covered, (don't worry if it isn't a solid white, that doesn't matter,) it was paintin time!

Step 4:

As you can tell, I started by using spray paint. Started. This became a pain within no time. That's because it takes quite a few coats to get it properly covered, and in doing so I made quite the mess of the drop cloth AND got a light dusting of red all over the patio. Which was lovely, really it was. A pink patio. Additionally, the spray paint wasn't giving me the thick and glossy feel that I desired. So, I switched to the old-fashioned can & brush (as luck would have it, Rust-o-leum makes the same colors in canned paint, so no color matching was necessary.)

I really love how the red plays off the green-with-a-touch-of-blue walls

Which, as you can see, looks awesome. It took longer to do this by hand, as very light coats are required to prevent drips and pooling. Again, the bumps & crevices took a while to cover. I did use a foam brush because... well, because I had a bunch of them on hand. And I thought Why Not? Maybe that was amateur mistake #59? Who knows.

no, those blue sheets ain't workin' no more

But it looks pretty! So win!

I also flipped the comforter over, to reveal a basic, tan, cotton underside. Ideally, we would replace the comforter.... but for now this works!

Now, this is where things get really, really Scandinavian. Or Ikea-ian. Whichever.

Step 5:

DECORATE! Yes, two of those pillows and the throw are from Ikea. I must confess, I love Scandinavian folk style. True, Danish modern or clean Scandinavian style is great, but there is something about the folk that I love. Am I alone on this one? Anyone?

The red pillow has been with me since college, I believe. It was definitely a good aide in visualizing how the bold red would go with the room when considering the frame. The white pattern pillow and the throw have been on my wishlist for a while, until I couldn't take it anymore and HAD to have them! And they are mine, now!!! Victory!

the beau says it looks like baboon heads on the throw...

Whatcha think? I am still rolling around ideas for what kind of comforter I want- something plush like the other guest room or something more quilt-like? and in what color? I fear white covers in both rooms would be dull/predictable... Definitely want to replace the curtains with something lighter, as there is only one window in this room.

These pillows aren't permanent. In case you were worrying about that. Something more should be here...

Now for the rest of the room:

I really love this dresser. It came with the beau as part of his bedroom set. And the hurricane lanterns on top are real oil and wick lanterns that ROCK!! Especially after the power outages over the winter, we are super thankful to have these. They give off a TON of light! I urge everyone to have a couple of these on hand for emergencies. We are clearly low on oil (which comes in assorted colors,) but other than that... perfect!

This is another great find from my own personal free flea market (i.e. hand-me-downs). I love the retro, clean lines! It needs a little wood glue & clamping before any weight should be put on it.... should probably do that soon, before a comic episode occurs.

We have three of these units, (the third is in the other guest room). As you can see, we really put these suckers to good use. I would love to find a way to re-do the blue basket-weave and fit it into our house... any suggestions? Is it easy to replace the inserts or am I best just painting over??

Look how fast Rita is! Shes like a blur... she IS a blur! ZOOM ZOOM!!!*

LOVE.

Anyone else painting furniture? I gotta say, I am really excited to tackle the dressers in the next room... Just have to pick the perfect color. Anyone inspired by something kooky? How about feeling the need to go bold with color??

quack quack

*The beau recently bought a new Mazda. You know the awesome-ness that is his new ride? It reads Zoom Zoom on the little screen as it is starting up! How cool is that?!

shipping crate: best place to hide a dead body*

2011-05-19T23:02:00.000-04:00

Lookie what I got!

What is it, you ask? It is an old shipping crate from the 1940s-1950s. Look how it opens:

Ain't it cool??

I love that you just needed a road and a town/state to get the shipment. We figured, (i.e. read and did a quick Google search,) that my grandfather sent this box home from a military post from the Far East, probably Japan, by way of San Francisco.

I wonder what was in it! Just clothes? Maybe books and samurai swords (my grandfather was something of an expert & collector)? Or maybe something more fun, like Asian art!

Anyways, I am excited to have it. It is a little rough around the edges, (which is a nice way of saying I got freakin' splinters and I am NOT amused,) so it will need a light sanding. I would love to change the color of it, but don't want to risk ruining the writing/stencil... so, for the time being it will stay this way.

I also figure, down the line, it would make a great coffee table with tons of storage for blankets or kids' toys... kinda like these:

photo credit: Ana White**

photo credit: Design*Sponge**

But for now, I am happy with it being extra storage in the house and without any permanent wheels attached. I guess this was an easy decision, as we already have a coffee table in each room that needs one... but let's make pretend this was a conscious design decision instead, shall we? Thanks. So, here you are; here is where this mammoth shipping crate is chilling for the now. I do like it as a side table, especially for a guest room that was previously lacking one:

On another note, I apologize for my hiatus. Its not you, its me. Obviously... you cant write my blog posts for me. Though if you could, that would be awesome. Now accepting personal diction-takers. Will pay you in food. Sometimes. When I feel like it. I promise I have posts planned! And pictures ready for uploading! Promises!!!

*You can't tell me that wouldn't fit a dead body! Maybe you could still use it to ship. That way your evidence is sent somewhere far away as you disappear.... Hypothetically speaking.
**UGH! The problem with sharing other blogs photos is they only put you to shame. I hope you all enjoyed my shame, you shame-vultures.

library turned man-cave

2011-04-26T13:40:00.002-04:00

Yes, you read that title correctly: this is a library that was turned into a man-cave... I dont know who won in this situation, but Im pretty sure I know who lost. The brain. The brain lost.

Lets start at the beginning, shall we?

BEFORE (kinda)

I forgot my camera the first day, so these pictures are after we took off the door to the storage under the stairs and cleaned that out, removed the drop ceiling, and...

...removed the kitchenette! Yup, there was a kitchenette on the first floor with a fridge, stove and sink (the house had been split into two separate living places, one that was rented out.) And, I was lucky enough that the fridge came with an old rotten egg, too. Special for me.

So, to recap: fridge, sink, stove, tile back-splash, crappy & damaged drywall, ugly flooring, door-less storage, and a collection of un-speakable treasures found abandoned by the previous owners.

DURING:

For more than the first year, this room was pretty much my storage/ staging area. As you can see, we installed the same floor here as in the rest of the first floor. There was damage to the bottom of the drywall, (some water, and a lot of wear & tear that would make installing molding impossible.) So, we replaced the bottom foot of drywall, and the full kitchenette-wall.

inconsistently-spaced studs are fun

pretty patched drywall

So, as originally stated, I was going to make this room something of a library. My aunt & uncle gave me their old bookcases/ entertainment center, which was going to house my millions and millions of awesome books that I magically would acquire. I am not completely positive if these guys will keep their current wood tone (or even keep as wood,) or what to do with the blue basket weave, but that is a post for another day.

As you can see, I also painted the room (in the same color as the aquarium room.) I also added a kick-a$$ rug and re-stained a $5 coffee table:

pretty flowers and yay for yard-sales!

see more about this staining project here

AFTER/ CURRENT

So, still kinda a library? A library of movies?? Does that count? When the beau moved in, he brought his personal Blockbuster with him, (AND we need MORE room for them!! They overflow-eth!) I believe the beau was scheming about this room from the moment he saw it: small window makes the room dark, perfect for a theater room! narrow with "built-in" nook for the tv, perfect for a theater room! good arrangement for surround sound.... perfect for a theater room! Sooo, instead of a quiet reading nook, it's a loud tv room.

With a million video games....

It sounds like World War III has erupted in my house.

I think by "theater" room, he really meant "gaming" room... I'm onto him and his dastardly ways!* There's pretty much no escaping it, other than the carpet and the wall color, this room is a 100%-approved Man-Cave.

*It is pretty sweet, and I do love this little nook..... but for the sake of hilarity, let's pretend I am a woman wronged, k? A "Gender-Neutral Cave" just doesn't have the same ring to it!

As you can see, this room still needs a TON of work: there's no floor molding, the "window" is still a vent leftover from the kitchenette, the old college-futon sticks out like a sore thumb, and the storage underneath the stairs is still without a door! I'm sure there are tons* more things to do in here,** but it's exhausting (depressing?) to think about.... so let's just make believe there are only 4 things I need to do here, k?

Fun thoughts: that orange & aqua ikat pillow (from World Market & it so awesome?) is the "inspiration"/ "guiding light" for the room. We have our minds set on a neutral tan-ish small sofa/love-seat to replace the futon. As you can see, there are already orange pillows & throws in there, and the rug pulls together the dark brown, tan and the light sagey-blue-gray-whatever-it-is-wall-color. I think just by replacing the seating, this room would "work" 10 million billion times better..... Oh, and we also want to find some kind of closed-storage end table for the corner with the lamp and table trays.

What do you think? Can you see it? Maybe? Kinda? ...not at all???

*Like fix the wiring for the chandelier....

**And hanging more art-work we have stashed away. The beau brought his classic horror movie posters, which I will mix with my classic old hollywood posters, someday.

dining room: a new-old floor!

2011-04-24T20:40:00.002-04:00

Man o' man, those stick tiles... I can't even begin to tell you how elated I am that they are gone! I love a good demo/uncover job- there's something almost addictive in the "ok, just one more tile" mindset that I had.

a window to Narnia

Backing up, when I bought this house, these green peel-and-stick tiles were in the dining room and kitchen, (I believe previous owners renovated the kitchen with stock cabinets, and wanted to make more of an eat-in kitchen than a separate kitchen and dining room.) Early on, I had removed the tiles in the kitchen to reveal basic white ceramic tiles. I knew the tiles in the dining room were installed over the hardwood that runs through the rest of the house, but wasn't sure 1) what the quality of the wood was, or 2) if removing the tiles would damage/strip the wood.

stupid puckering

These tiles quickly became the bane of my existence. With a house that is all hardwood, but for a few area rugs, Swifer-ing has become our floor-cleaning method of choice. This is a problem, when EVERY. LIP. OF. THE. TILES. PUCKER. UP. I may have exaggerated. Probably more like half. But it is the half that gets the most traction, and therefore the dirtiest, and even more therefore needs the most Swifer-ing!

So, as I stated in this post, while cleaning a few hours before my cousin arrived, I decided to pull back a little corner, and see how it cleaned up.

Then I pulled back a little more...

And a little more...

Until I pulled the whole tile up!

And then the beau came upstairs and caught me red-handed. Sheepish me.

BUT IT WAS OK! Because it looked awesome.

this was ~30min of tile-removing after work

All in all, it took us 2 nights after work (and after walking the dogs, and with one of us fixing dinner for part of it,) plus the first 5 that I pulled up out of impatience. Not too bad, right? Definitely an easy and fairly quick task (as far as DIY is concerned.)

And, here is how we did it:

To remove adhesive tiles from the hardwood, all we needed was GOO GONE, plastic putty knives, and a whole boat-load of paper towels (sorry, environment!) The tiles would pull up fairly easily by hand, with the putty knives as a back-up if we needed help and extra prying power. After that, a solid soaking of GOO GONE sat on the exposed adhesive for 7-15 minutes. We found that waiting made it easier to scrape up the gunk, instead of rubbing it off* with a paper towel right away. After the time was up, we used a putty knife to scrape up the GOO GONE and the adhesive from the wood. This created what can only be described as boogers.

*OH MY!

floor boogers

After all this was mopped up, we went over it with some warm and lightly soapy water, to get rid of the slipperiness left by the GOO GONE.

After the first full night of tile removal:

I will tell you that I shoved that giant trash bag full of tiles with my foot... and ended up with a cut on the inside joint of my pinky toe! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU COULD HURT THAT!!!! Those tiles were sharp!

After all the tiles were pulled up, we went over the floor with a one-two punch of Pine Sol then Old English. The rationale being Pine Sol would clean up any remaining residue from the adhesive remover and the Old English would condition, protect and make it shiny. What we didn't anticipate was in glossing up the dining room, we ended up feeling sorry for the rest of the house! Poor house, with its dull, dog-printy floors...

Anyways, we did find one area with a bit of damage:

It isn't too bad, but definitely not what you would call good. I don't know where this damage came from- in the two years I have been here, I have never seen any water come in or pool there. Gotta think it was a result of something the previous owners did, right?*

As luck would have it, we keep a door mat by the sliding door AND I had a second one stashed away. Laying both of these down helps to cover and protect the damaged area until we can properly fix it.

*... Right????!?! Please don't say my house is going to fall apart.

damage hiders

Plus, they look good and keep the feet (human and canine) from tracking all the dirt in the world in. Double score!

So, to sum it up: having continuous hardwood floors throughout the house makes the house flow, feel bigger and looks amazing (duh, double duh and triple duh.)

Final glamor shot (which was spoiled by this post, but oh well):

LOVE.

dining room: update

2011-04-17T22:50:00.003-04:00

BEFORE

These were from the real estate posting. You know what I noticed about real estate listings? You are never really able to tell how dingy the rooms really are...

Move-in day.

DURING

I LOVE those candlesticks! They were thrift-store purchases that were painted silver (see???) I plan to play around with how many I display on the table and in what way for different centerpieces. Oh, the possibilities!

Anyways, you can see that we painted the walls and hung curtains. Otherwise, there is not much else that we did to this room, until....

AFTER

Oh yeah, look at that beauty!! All hardwood and no stick-tiles! THE HOTNESS!!! So, after the curtains and the paint, we recently removed all the stick tiles (stay tuned for a more in-depth look at that in the next couple of days.)

A few things in this room that I love:

Here's a HomeGoods find though I forget how much it was (how many HG buys do I have? No clue. A thousand??? Yup, that sounds about right.) I love the star-burst mirrors! I am toying with the idea of making a star-burst collection on this wall... have yet to decide. What are your thoughts?

I still love this spray painted chandelier re-do (read more here.) Just realized* that I have a few touch-ups to do on it, though... WHOOPS! I am thinking about painting the candlestick holders a soft, buttery yellow. I was thinking about a design, but... don't know. What do you think?**

Paint a design (like yellow latice-work over the existing beige/ream)
Paint all yellow
Leave as-is?

*Ok, so the beau pointed it out. I was quite happy in my ignorance, thankyouverymuch!
**Note: I do have an extra candlestick holder to experiment with (I need to fix one of the holders, and they are sold in packs of two.

So there you go, our dining room! What do you think? I know its pretty ordinary, and I plan to use those shelves to add some personality, fun, and continuity to the space, but that will be in time.

Soon to come: the tile removal process! Riveting.

living room update (it's about time!)

2011-04-11T22:53:00.002-04:00

It's been long enough without an update on the living room. So, let's get this party-train started:

BEFORE

This pic is from the house listing. I dont know if you can really tell, but the walls were an attempt at beige, which went horribly greenish. Anyways, other than the MISSING QUARTER-ROUND MOLDING and a bit of grime on the floor, this room was probably the best in shape on move-in day.

DURING

I thought orange would be a good accent color for these rooms...

I thought wrong. The orange wasn't enough contrast, and in the end everything felt very orangey-brown. And not, well, "me."

I have since embraced my love of yellow, and there is no stopping me now! I particularly love the peacock/marine blue and yellow combination (and have an entire pinterest board devoted to it!*) Why do you care? Well, to be honest, you probably don't. But for the purpose of this post, you DO care because that's the direction my living room is going!

*I will follow you, if you follow me....

AFTER/NOW

VOILA! Much more cheerful and it makes me happy.

Much happier.

For more on that kick-a$$ bar, check out this post.

If that picture looks like everything is kinda off-center and misaligned, then I apologize. It's not. I think this is totally a perspective thing; I don't line up my furniture on a diagonal!

Now for a few details, close-ups, and things-I-love:

(Yes, this is a pic from the orange days. And I have no idea why there's a palate in my dining room...)

This beauty was from HomeGoods for about $25. I KNOW! There's a piece missing? Though I can't find where that missing piece is... but, for that price, I'm not gonna object!

We got this table and chair set (from here, only we paid $299.99... dunno what that crazy price hike is about!) The thought process behind this was to add more seating, especially with a Superbowl party nearing, and to give us another place to eat. Both of which, I am loving! I also enjoy how it doubles as a (better) place to put drinks- much more easy to reach than the coffee table/ottoman! I love the lines, both straight and semi-circles. The cushions are quite comfortable and, best of all, it's a Transformers-table! Check it out:

That's right, it expands! There are legs for the other side that unfold, too. I just didn't have the room to display that at this time. I'm super happy with the fact that this table can grow with us or be used in different ways in houses down the line.

These pillows were an Xmas present from the beau. He saw me go crazy for them while watching an episode of ColorSplash, and he thought to go online to their website & found out where they got them! Awesome, right? Then, the poor guy had to play defense when we went to a ZGallerie store to make sure I didn't buy them myself or, banish the thought, see something else I liked more! His surprise was safe, and I was so delighted to unwrap them!

On that note, he also got me these bookends:

THE BEST! They're really really well done. (For those that don't know, we are a greyhound household.)

I saw this beauty at ZGallerie on sale for $16, and I HAD to have him. Had to. And that little blue-bird is a good-luck thing; my mom always kept a figurine in the house.

I found this little vase at HomeGoods for $12. I love it. I love how it reads green in some light and teal in others. And, it is the perfect way to bring the colors of the pillows to other areas of the room.

These two candle holders were a host gift that I think work perfectly. I like that added bit of quirkiness the frog & lizard add. The blue coasters are also great, though I think I may look to get two more to make a set of four.

Ok, one more look at the whole thing... this time with a lazy dog sneaking into the frame:

stick tile removal: what lies beneath

2011-04-08T09:30:00.001-04:00

It seems as the temperature rises, so does our ambition. And so, even though I have fleeting moments where I think we will only have one project at a time- start to finish.... buuuuttttttt that doesnt happen. You know what does happen? We start 29 projects at once. Yup, 29.

We currently have the following on our plates:

Replace bathroom vanity and lighting.
Remove outlining bushes in the front.
Re-seed/grass backyard.
Paint bed frame in guest-room #2.
Paint dressers in guest-room #1.
And.... REMOVE THE STICK TILES IN THE DINING ROOM!!!

These guys have been here from the beginning. Originally, they were in the kitchen and the dining room making something of a larger, eat-in kitchen, I guess? During the first year, I removed them from the kitchen to reveal white, ceramic tile underneath. Though we knew the stick tile came up easily and that there was hardwood under them, we held off on removing them in fear of finding super damaged wood or damaging the wood in the process. Well, these stick tiles aren't just ugly, they are a pain in the patootie. They also have been peeling up at the edges, creating it impossible to sweep/swifer the floor (all the dirt just gets caught along the puckered-up edge!)

Enough is ENOUGH! I got so irritated at these while cleaning, I pulled up a corner and cleaned up the adhesive... then more of the tile... and more...

(I removed one tile on Sunday, but then ran out for a Sunday-Funday with cousins. After dinner the next night I pulled 4 more up.)

Look! Not damaged! Why would you EVER cover that up?!?!?! Seriously, WHY????

Some tiles take a little more muscle to pull up than others, but nothing too bad. After maybe 3 or 4 hours:

Holy Awesome.

I'll post more, with better pictures and how we managed to get it all up, once the room is complete. Weekend, HERE I COME!!

happy 2 year blog-iversary: a house tour

2011-03-29T23:00:00.007-04:00

Two years of blogging, and can you believe it- all of 5 posts! TOTAL! I know, I know. I can barely handle it.

I know my posting has been sporadic at times, and I certainly have many updates I need to make, still... BUT I wanted to look back at the original and remind myself of how far it's come. It's hard not to beat yourself up for not doing something every weekend or still having unfinished edges to a room. I also have the silly dream that there are new readers that may not know how much of a dump I got myself into... so there's a little bit of bragging angled towards them. Nannie-Nannie Boo-Boo!

Most of the before pictures were from the virtual tour the listing agent posted, as I forget my camera on move-in weekend. Which was also demolition weekend. I'll try to capture with my eloquent words how these rooms were when I was handed over the keys...

Rec Room

BEFORE

AFTER

Now is when we start the list of outdated photos for me to update... starting with this guy. We have curtains and a rug and other decorative items (see more here, here, here and here.) More on the aquarium here, here and here.

Man cave

BEFORE

AFTER

Long-overdue update #2. These bookcases aren't even IN there anymore! I mean, honestly. This room has our DVD collection, our entertainment center, and a fabulous futon (see the transformation and the coffee table staining.)

Guest Room #1

BEFORE

AFTER

haHA! This is what the room still looks like! Take THAT, neglectfulness! I hope to get curtains, a new pendant light, and paint the dressers....

(I guess I only posted about the soda-candle-glasses and not the room as it is. Still good! Still good.)

Guest Room #2

BEFORE

AFTER

More to come on this one.... but for now here's the history of this stupid room and a look at plans for it (yes, that makes #3 out-of-date.)

Downstairs Bathroom

BEFORE

AFTER

(Suspiciously missing. #4.)

Kitchen

BEFORE

AFTER

Working on this post... technically, this is #5 (the kitchen previously.)

Dining Room

BEFORE

AFTER

And THIS one is spot-on! Maybe a little shelf rearranging, but that is it! Totally kicking butt. (For chandelier spray painting and candle stick spray painting, follow da links!)

Living Room

BEFORE

AFTER

Uh, #6? Yeah, working on this too (in the meantime, look at the bar! And the previous orange color scheme!)

Upstairs Bathroom

BEFORE

AFTER

You've seen this one!!! (tiling, plans-that-were thwarted, how they were thwarted, reveal, and in-depth look)

Office

BEFORE

AFTER

Really really out-of-date, (#7,) but at least you see the wall paint and the rug? That amounts to something, right? RIGHT?!?!

Master Bedroom

BEFORE

AFTER

Done! (painting, curtain-closet, and new duvet posts.. check 'em out!)

Front Yard

BEFORE

AFTER

Sure sure, I will update this too (as of now you have just seen the bench and the original.) #8.

Back Yard

BEFORE

AFTER

What is this, like the second one that is actually current? Go me. For the full pain that is our backyard plight, see posts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

many of these should be "CURRENTLY" instead of AFTER...

Oh, and yes I am posting this exact post to the House Tour page. Some may call that laziness, but I call it "proper budgeting of time and resources."

backyard overhaul: starting a-new

2011-03-29T08:00:00.004-04:00

GUESS WHAT I FOUND WHEN I GOT HOME?!?!??!

BEST BF EVER!!!!

Back story: The backyard has never really, truly had a lawn, per se... small clumps of grass, sure. But a true lawn, consistent covered with the green stuff? Not so much. There was almost NO grass when I moved in (see below.)

sorry for the dark photo

And we have tried for YEARS to get grass to grow.... but to no avail. Part of the problem was not doing it right (as in, not doing enough seeding and fertilizing), and part of the problem was the pup.

REALLY patchy

only kinda patchy

So, the beau stayed home on Monday to make sure all was ok with the new pooch as she adjusted to the place and decided to take on the lawn! He raked & loosened the dirt, then laid seed and top soil-with-fertilizer (we got the Scott's new lawn top soil,) and covered it with straw/hay and roped off to keep the dogs from trampling it. We will water this sucker daily for a couple weeks and keep foot (and paw) traffic off it for at least a month. Fingers crossed!

Shared on Centsational Girl's Spring Link Party.

to-do list FAIL

2011-03-28T14:30:00.003-04:00

So, I was all gung-ho and boastful about my lofty goals for the weekend. Now is probably a good time to revise that to ~~weekend~~ month/spring aspirations. Let's recap:

Task:
1) Tackle backyard?
2) Start either dresser or bed-frame project?
3) Caulk kitchen?
4) Bake cakes?

Accomplished:
No, no, no and 1/2 done.

Yup. How's that for being a go-getter?! What we DID do was talk more about a plan for the backyard (including discussing having a stamped concrete patio put in,) bought grass seed & fertilizer to start on the lawn, and baked one out of the two cakes planned.

You know what I DID do? Picked up a new dog! I'll be updating the menagerie page with her story, but for now here's a picture:

furniture painting inspiration and weekend plans

2011-03-25T15:55:00.001-04:00

Otherwise known as: Biting Off More Than I Can Chew.

picture & inspiration: ApartmentTherapy

I want to paint my old & banged up twin bed RED! However, I think I am going to give spray paint a whirl with this guy- so many bumps & crevices... I think it's the best form of attack.

You see, I have a bee under my bonnet. Where, the "bee" is all the mis-matched woods that were free hand-me-downs, and the "bonnet" is my house. It just looks bleh (technical term). So my solution to all the dinged up, mis-matched furniture? STAIN or PAINT THEM ALL!!!!

Side Panel: How many painted pieces of furniture is too many? For a house? For a room? Discuss.

remind me to tell you about that little lamp...

Anyways, so the dressers in the grey guest room (or seen here) were hand-me-downs from a neighbor. As you can see in the pictures, some of the hardware is kinda hanging off. And no, I haven't thought to spend 5 seconds of my crazy busy day to fix those. It's avant garde.

So, as you can see, there's a yellow & grey thing going on in this room. My vision is to kick that color scheme up a little bit with a lil' bit of yellow dresses! KA-POW!

picture: DesignSponge

picture: Joyful

Love. Yellow makes me so happy.

So, weekend plans include either tackling the horrible scariness that is the backyard, starting one of the above painting projects (should PROBABLY pick up some primer first...), caulking a long-problem area in the kitchen (ooo, vague mystery!), or doing nothing but baking cakes. Decisions, decisions.

BIG news coming tomorrow!!! Stay tuned, class!

bathroom breakdown

2011-03-21T22:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, faithful followers, here is the more in-depth look at the vanity DIY. So, sit back, relax and prepare yourself for one long-a** post, cuz here it comes!

Plan of attack: use a kitchen cart, stained and poly-urethaned, hack it and then mounted a vessel sink and faucet. Install. Voila.

The Ikea Bekvam cart* comes with casters (wheels) on two legs and solid/full legs on the other two, making those couple legs longer than the others. Therefore, one must saw two legs down to size. Then, ones boyfriend must correct ones mistake and even out the legs.

Then came the staining. I find to get the best color by brushing layer upon layer of the stain on until it is not immediately absorbed by the wood- the piece should look wet. Let this sit for a while (see directions on the can- the longer you let it sit, the darker the color will be) before wiping off the excess with a rag. Letting the stain sit for a good amount of time is ESSENTIAL for the first coat- you will never get the color dark if you rush this step. Follow the directions for waiting period between coats (usually 4-6 hours), and repeat until satisfied with the result.

I think I did 3 or 4 coats of stain on all pieces.

Tip: be mindful of the sides! I prefer to either do the sides at the same time I do the top/face of a piece so that you avoid any drip marks or pooling on the visible parts. Alternatively, make sure you run a rag across the un-touched side after every application to catch any drips.

Tip: its easier to stain before assembly. You want to limit the number of crevices and corners you need to work into.

Next step, poly-urethaning! I can feel the excitement in the air! (PS- I used the basic Minwax PolyUrethane in clear gloss) This part requires more patience: slow & steady is the name of the game, or else you get bubbles. And no one wants bubbles in their poly... No one. So just go slowly in one, fluid & complete stroke from one side to the other. If you do get a bubble, just go back over again. In between coats, make sure to use extra fine sand-paper to rough up the surface and some tack cloth to remove all dust.

Tip: on pieces that I did all but the bottom at once, (like the top of the vanity,) it is handy to prop this above your work surface. In the picture above, you can see the top is resting on a couple 2x4s so that I could wipe around the bottom edge after a coat. This also allows you to poly (or stain) the sides without covering the work station with stain.

Oh, and I did 3 coats on the legs, shelves and support, and 4 coats on the top of the vanity.

For the shelves, which have perpendicular slats, I used this Minwax Fast Drying Spray Polyurethane. We used the same product on the wine shelves for the bar. Review: I have to admit, I am a fan! It works particularly well for items with ridges, nooks, crannies, elevations and such. This will never give you as smooth or thick of a cover as the brushed on version, but for protecting a low-traffic area? Fantastic! Another bonus is that you can apply coats after 2 hours, which helps speed up the process. If you use this product, I recommend spraying from all angles during a single coat.

After all the polying and the staining were finished, the beau cut two holes in the top for the sink and the faucet, (in accordance with the product instructions.)

We dry-fit the vanity to make sure everything lined up. It did!

....at this point I was getting super excited. LOOK AT IT!!

But then, DISASTER!!!!!!

Remember this guy? Oh yeah, he was a fun time. But, we were able to return the set and get a better faucet for the sink.

VICTORY!!!! As you can see, this faucet bends and shoots the water straight down. No water-launcher here! Onto the next hiccup in our plans...

UPDATE: Sink and faucet were installed per product instructions. We did a line of clear caulk around the base of the sink, in addition to a line under the sink.

So, at first look this is perfect. The J-bend was able to fit back on and the upper shelf could remain in-tact. Annnndddddd then, of course, we hit a road-block: we needed to extend the plumbing to reach the sink. The new plumbing has a larger J-bend, which did not fit with the shelf in place.

But just that one little slat was the offender...

...so we cut that little bugger out!

Ta-da! Solution! That is what we call problem-solving. And now for the glamor shot of the undercarriage:

Ooooo baby! That is some sexy plumbing! The beau got some better escutcheons (the parts that cover the wall holes at the base of the water valves and drain pipe,) and I must say it is looking pretty damn snazzy!

Ok ok ok, I know you are tired of my ramblings and lengthy words and half-shots. Well here you go, you demanding crowd (of 3 people,) here are your reveal shots (for full Before photos, see here and here):

BEFORE

AFTER

What do you think?! You think it is GORGEOUS and TOTALLY AWESOME? Well, good. That is the correct response.

And about that hand towel you see above? Well, my grand vision of this bathroom was to be fairly neutral, with natural, spa-like elements.... and with pops of spring green! Armed with a few hundred Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons, we went on a towel-hunting mission. A successful towel-hunting mission, that is. We got a set of the green towels, and a few accent towels in white waffle with three edge stripes in varying shades of green. OH, and I never showed you the fabulous curtain for that room we got awhile ago, (also B,B & B) so you'll get to enjoy that here, too. Go on, enjoy:

So, from here, all we have to do is replace that old, tiny medicine cabinet, (we have this one in mind,) and the hanging-by-their-wires dressing room-style light fixture, and this room is D-O-N-E! Oh, and replace the doorknob & hinges, but those are minor. BUT THEN! D-o-n-e. For reals.

One more look at that shiz-nit:

*Other Bekvam-hacked-vanities here, here and here.

upstairs bathroom reveal

2011-03-18T22:16:00.002-04:00

BATHROOM IS (almost) DONE!!!

You know, before I show any pictures, I thought now would be a good time to talk. Shoot the breeze. Chit-chat. Get to know one another. Because I feel I keep giving you these half-finished reveals; these semi-Afters. Well, lemme break it down for you: this is how home renovation goes. More particularly, this is how our renovations, as first-time home-buyers who are learning as they go and are working on a teeny-tiny shoestring budget roll, seem to go. Basically, ya do what ya are able to with the money and expertise you have at the time...

...then you wait until you have the money/help/tools to do the rest. It is agonizing and slow and, well, horrible for blog reveals. As you see, this doesn't phase me, and here you go! Another almost-done! Lucky you.

BEFORE:

Yup, this is the beauty I walked into. Peeling wallpaper on half the walls, classic black and pink tiles on the walls, shower and floor, a worn and stripped vanity with an un-secure top, and a blue tub. Throw in SEVERELY leaking plumbing in the shower and tub, and that was our bathroom! Jealous? Oh yeah, I know I am.

DURING:

It wasn't until last July that I finally showered in the upstairs shower! And man, what a luxury that was- no more scampering around & downstairs in my towel or robe... small victories. The wall tiles were removed, and drywall hung. The shower and floor were re-tiled with a neutral tile (see more about that here.)

AFTER:

HOLY CRAP!

Stay tuned for a more in-depth look....

vanity update: cue doom music

2011-03-07T21:30:00.001-05:00

Oh dear. Oh dear, dear me.

The beau and I had a HUGE google doc with a ton of sink and faucet options: white, glass and color... round, rectangle, other, etc etc. After working through all (like when getting fitted for glasses: "which is better, A or B? Ok, now B or C?") we decided on this guy. But, after we did a dry (HA!*) fit, meaning we hooked up the pipes and tested everything before caulking and tightening everything, we realized this combination of sink and faucet just will not do.

Why, you ask?

See anything wrong?

WE MADE A WATER-LAUNCHER! This combination of Kraus Sheven faucet should NOT be paired with this particular sink (also by Kraus)... I cannot stress this enough. The sink is on the shallow side, with sloped sides. When the water comes out of the faucet at a 45degree angle, it hits the sloped side of the sink and VOOSH! All over the vanity, the floor, and the poor soul standing in front of it. We tinkered around with the distance between the faucet and the sink (hoping if the water hit lower, it would be ok,) and with the valves at the wall (less water coming out, less water-ramp, right?)

In the end, we decided we want it to be "right" and not install everything and live with "1/3 water valves open", so we are exchanging for this... we are hoping that this style faucet, with the bend, will force the water straight down and hit the drain at a 90degree angle and, therefore, no splatter will occur. The new sink & faucet combo is $10 less than the original purchase PLUS we found a coupon code for Overstock, so MONEY SAVED! ...or at least breaking even after return shipping? Will find out how much that adds up to, soon.

With the design flaw** and the exchange.... we are ending up with the EXACT SAME SET (different color) as YoungHouseLove.

Here is hoping the new sink & faucet get here right quick!

*Dry... I WISH! Water, water everywhere.

**I was live chatting*** with an Overstock help lady, (to see if we had to exchange the whole thing or if could just swap the faucet- answer? whole thing) and she said something like "I just checked the product page, and if you install as the specifications say and as shown in the picture, the water will not splatter."

...

......

REALLY, lady? You are telling me I am wrong after I told you how we did everything to the instructions AND then moved around to see if something better would work? Do they teach that in customer service school? Lecture the customer on how they are obviously doing something wrong, even though you have no evidence to this.

So I responded using her exact words "I just checked the ACTUAL product, and if you install as the specifications say and as shown in the picture, the water WILL splatter all over the place."

**I LOVE live customer service chat! Beats waiting on hold to get someone on the phone (though, you can't really rant as easily), but I feel it's much quicker response time. And you can link to pages (which is easier) and you can do other things on computer while waiting, if necessary. Or, don't have to go to a place where you won't disturb coworkers or have enough bars for a call.

pop quiz: weekend plans

2011-03-04T12:00:00.005-05:00

Guess what we are up to this weekend? I will give you three guesses... in the form of pictures:

1. It involves shiny, pretty, wood that has been stained and polyurethaned. Any guesses yet? No?

2. The project involves the bathroom. Particularly, this bit of ugliness. Oh, and for the record, I have NO IDEA why I never threw a quick coat of white paint on that gremlin- I mean, the sanding was practically done for me! Again, would have taken me a few minutes while watching tv after work, and did I? Nope. Do not know why this bugs me....

Anyone? Guesses? Remember, there are no wrong answers. Except for when they aren't correct.

3. Ok, ok... so it involves a sink.

Ok, class, final answers?

entry way add-ons

2011-03-03T22:36:00.002-05:00

I did a quick little thing to the entryway dresser, and I am really liking the results! For bearings, when you enter the house, theres a bureau right next to the door, along with a stone-filled boot tray.* This is where we end up throwing our gloves, sunglasses, and dog leash.... and it always ends up looking a mess. So, time to fix it!

First, TO THE SPRAY PAINT:

I have no idea where I got this basket, but how retro is that?!?!?!

Took a good number of coats to get in every crack and crevice... but it was spray painting! So the more coats, the more fun!!

Finished result:

You actually saw this in the Xmas recap.

Perfect for hiding things, like store membership cards or extra dog-walk-bags

Then I saw this awesome idea from House Bella:

LOVE it! I do like the House Bella galvanized pail (which reminds me of how they display sunglasses in a Fossil store,) but this is a case of workin with whatcha got. I have two other matching bins of different, nesting sizes, which I hope to put to good use somewhere nearby. But, in the meantime, this new place to store the leash, totally out of the way! And neither the sunglasses nor the leash are makin my house look cluttered anymore.** FOR THE WIN!!!

I do think the top (dare I say, tablescape?!) needs a tall and medium item or two (listen to Mrs. Bower, she knows.)

*Awww! One of my first posts!!

**I totally believe in that old school saying: a place for everything, and everything in it's place. It's easier to keep your house clean and orderly that way.... I do not care if I sound like a Grandma. Shut up.

utility room overhaul: organize! organize! organize!

2011-02-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

We took on the (daunting) task of organizing the utility room!!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my utility room before we went all medieval on it's tuckus. You see, the utility room was always the part of my house I was most ashamed of. That's probably not true... there are, and have been, many embarrassing parts of this house... but this is one of the tops!

What I DO have, are pictures of the room from move-in day, way back in 2009!

The dryer wouldn't stay closed- it was taped shut.

Dingy, to say the least.

And then there was this pleasant surprise- the drain was hooked up to... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Imagine my shock when I first used the utility sink.

Game Plan:

Step 1) Take out EVERYTHING in the room, organize/take stock and toss the trash:

FYI- that is a bag of hay. Do you keep hay in your utility room??

Where paint and wood go to die.

This is what the room looked like without everything in it:

As you can see, it is less of a storage room and more of a storage hallway. How convenient. The cabinet against the back wall is from the kitchen (removed when I relocated the fridge.) I was using it as a makeshift tool bench; it failed splendidly at this task. You see, the back corner of the room is kinda dark and you have to weave around all the other items to get back there. I realized this was a stupid layout, as tools are the number one item I go into the utility room for, so why in the world would they be located the furthest away?! And why would I make it so difficult to see what I am reaching for?? Yeah, pure genius this was.

I hated that room, back then, sooooooooo much. So, so much. Dark, cramped, hard to get around in, and nothing in its own “place.“

I also want to demonstrate for whining purposes how the washer and dryer doors bang into the studs, and therefore do not open completely, let alone have room for me to stand in front of! I tell ya, my kingdom for a real laundry room. Ok ok, enough ranting and back to the actual project...

Step 2) Pegboard for tools:

This undertaking was also a perfect excuse for us to break in our new toys! For Christmas, we were lucky enough to get a Jawhorse, which we used to clamp onto anything and everything, as seen above. For those interested, it works as advertised- that wood is going NOWHERES!

We also got a kick-a$$ miter table saw, which we used to make perfect 45 degree angles, even though no one will see it!

Quick tutorial: using 1x2s, we made a basic frame to the desired specifications. We put a middle bar/ brace that lined up with the wall stud for added support. This frame (which, for the record, you dont have to make 45 degree cuts,) was screwed into the wall with wood screws: 3 inchers for the stud and 2 inchers when just into the drywall. Everything got a healthy squiggle (technical term) of Gorilla glue before mounting, as well. Next, the pegboard is glued & screwed* to the frame in the same fashion.

Voila!

Note: NO organizing should be undertaken without jazz hands and wine.

Step 3) New storage bins.

We got these puppies from Amazon- they come in four different sizes (and many colors!) There are also dividers to separate each bin further and they are stackable! Perfect. After laying out all our stuff, we calculated how many bins we would need, that way ensuring we weren't left with a bunch of extras.

Final Results:

The corner between the shelving units makes the perfect place to store extra lumber!

Before, we had all the extra lumber, drywall, and insulation* stacked against the right-side wall... needless to say this is a HUGE improvement!!

PEGBOARD! of TOOLS! Like in a REAL WORK-ROOM!!!

And before you say anything, no- we aren't going to outline the shapes of the tools to designate their places. That's just too much commitment, which wouldn't allow for organizational change-ups!**

That's right, AND we got a small-drawer unit for all our fasteners. We're gangster like that.

Little background on that table you see- IT ISN'T ONE! WA-BAM!!! Didn't see that one coming, did you? Well, the beau happened to have a Lack floating shelf from Ikea that was narrow enough to fit our needs (we didn't want a table that was too deep and would intrude into the already narrow walkway,) but big enough to hold the fasteners container and some miscellaneous items. So, we installed the shelf and secured an extra 2x4 to the corner for added support and to complete the “table“ look.

We've put any duplicate items and tools too small to hang on the board in the tool boxes, as well as extra pegboard hangers. All other bulky tools, like the palm sander, are kept on the shelf above the smaller board by the door.

So, yay? I SWEAR this would be incredibly impressive if you saw pictures of how it looked before. So, let's just pretend you saw the non-existent pictures and you are currently sitting there with your socks knocked off.

*We stored the insulation in the attic after cleaning it out.

**change-ups, a necessity!

attic clean-out: crap left from prior owners

2011-02-04T11:52:00.005-05:00

Foreboding

So, for those of you who don't know, this house is the house that keeps on giving. You may think to yourself, "Self, you know what I need? A bike mount for my car!" and my house will give it to you! For free! All you have to do is dig it out form under 4 years worth of leaves! Or, if biking isn't your thing, you may say "Gee willikers, I could really use a broken gas grill," you'd have it! But, if what you really covet most of all are bags upon bags upon BAGS of clothes, purses, miscellaneous papers, and pictures from strangers, well... look no further:

WHO LEAVES ALL THIS CRAP?!?!?!

So, the beau went up into the attic and dropped all the bags, with gusto and glee, onto my poor unsuspecting head. Don't believe me? PHOTO EVIDENCE:

I think it was around now that I started freaking out and feeling like I should go on the show Hoarders.* Couldn't get this stuff out of the house fast enough!!!

You can't tell me this wouldn't push you towards insanity

There was a solid 20+ bags left behind by previous residents in the attic. The idea of throwing out good clothing when people need it pained me. Couple that with an intense curiosity as to what was in all these bags, and the beau and I soon found ourselves opening every single one and riffling through!

We threw away most of the clothes because they were stained, had holes, or were too old (gotta love when the elastic waist band tears at the slightest pull!) But, on the positive side, two 55gallon bags made their way to Goodwill!

We also found tons of pictures, mainly from concerts (weird), in the bags, but a few photos were taken in the house! I was excited for these, as I wanted to see how the house was with all the crazy colors (seen here) but in the pics all the walls were white! What gives? Did they decide to just go NUTS right before leaving for my benefit?!?!?

Other fun things? This shell box:

So pretty. I think I should have gifted this to someone...

How 'bout some fashionable Betty Boop shoes:

Ooh la la!

There was a bunch of traditional clothing:

Kinda cool!

There were a few purses and shoes thrown in, and some great (read: ugly & falling apart, see above) Christmas decorations. But the most random items? Two $100 bills... from Korea and Brazil; an MS-DOS manual (the beau got a kick out of that,) some paperwork regarding immigration of a family member, and THIS:

A retainer with fake teeth?!?!?!

Well, if you're gonna loose teeth, at least it's the front ones.

The Aftermath:

These suckers were HEAVY!

We also found that our attic had not one, not two... but FOUR open holes in its side!!! No wonder we had a little squirrel making himself at home right above our bed (most annoying & scratchy squatter ever!) Soon after getting all these bags cleared out, we patched the holes from the inside. When it gets warmer, we will properly seal up all holes from the outside of the house and replace any shingles. I'm beside myself with excitement for this thrilling task. Sarcasm.

Holes. Lovely.**

This is a mound of insulation. This is also the freakin' PENTHOUSE of a nest that blasted squirrel made!

After all this was done, it was TO THE SHOWER! Nothing like being covered in attic insulation and up to your elbows in other people's clothing to make you crave clean.

Yup! That was our New Year's Eve fun (that I teased you with here.) The rest of the holiday was much better: celebrated our anniversary!!! Ahhhh, amour.

*I love/hate watching that show. It's fascinating, but after every episode you want to throw at least 16 items out from your house! I fear ever watching a marathon of that show would make me neurotic...
**Oh yeah, the beau? Was seriously unexcited (some may say "dreading,") at the idea of laying down & inching into that corner to access that far hole. I don't blame him!

power to the people; except us

2011-01-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

You know, it's pretty. It really is. All the branches are hanging low with the weight of the snow, which was so wet that it stuck to everything. But... but maybe it's a little too heavy? Maybe it would have been a touch nicer if this was a dry snow, and, oh I don't know... MEANT THAT WE COULD HAVE KEPT OUR POWER?!?!?!?

Speed Limit: Snow

Yup, officially without power since 7-8pm last night. We are officially in Pioneer-Mode. The bummer is all our wood to make a fire in the outdoor pit? Not protected from the elements. And is covered in snow. Man, a fire would have been so awesome- grill some sausages over the open flame! But it was not to be. (We do have a grill, so in the event that our power is still out for more than one day, we can always use that. Or just eat out. Every. Day.)

We have a pair of hurricane lanterns from my aunt and uncle that are AWESOME! If you don't have any, go out and get some. Seriously. These puppies on full-flame give off an insane amount of light. Plus, they are sturdier than candles and the flame is almost completely enclosed, so there's less worry about one knocking over or lighting your hair on fire. Just passing on some advice to anyone else in power-challenged areas!

Keep warm, you guys!

holiday re-cap: fa la la la la

2011-01-23T20:57:00.004-05:00

Not too late for a Christmas post, right? Right. Again, we didn't want to ruin the surprise for when our families came to visit, so no pre-holiday post!

First things first: The Tree.

This is one fat tree, lemme tell you. We went to a cut-your-own farm, and SOMEHOW found ourselves looking at the 8-10 footers... our ceilings are not 8-10 feet. Details, details. We found that the more mature, taller trees had a better shape (the perfect triangle!) and tended to be fuller all around (particularly at the top). As luck would have it, many of these larger trees also have a bare trunk for a couple feet before the branches start. So we simply cut the tree to our height, leaving the rest of the bare trunk behind, and lugged this sucker home!

Next Step: Decorating the Tree!

We are some crazy-lights people, so 345 strands of lights later... ok, maybe not THAT many strands, but close! We make sure to fully light from the inside to the outside of the tree before thinking about hanging ornaments. I, also, hang ornaments inside for depth and interest- I found some mirrored star ornaments (Ikea) which reflected all lights and other colors awesomely! I put all of those puppies deep in the tree.

Also at Ikea, I picked up two other types of ornaments: some black & white and red & white Scandanavian folk style bulbs, and some clear bulbs with red bursts inside. You can see both in the pics above and below- I cant tell you how much these new ornaments make me happy!!!

Another thing we like to do is to have an ornament that is for/represents each member of our family... this gets to be A LOT of fun (read: I took poetic license. Liberties.)

First we have me and the beau: I am the mixer- I love how retro it is, and obviously I am le chef de extraordinare. I am also le French language master. The beau is the Grill Meister, and if you've had his ribs, you understand why!

Then we have my brother...

Apparently, he is an alligator.

With grey hair and a cape.

Ok, I will admit that this has nothing to do with my brother, but it cracked me up and I liked the idea of getting him the most ridiculous ornament I could find. Besides, it is hand-crafted. From Germany. He should feel honored I found such a high-quality piece of art.

We found a great golf ornament for my father, and a pagoda for his fiancée.

This piece of awesomeness is for the beau's brother's girlfriend, who works at an aquarium- I think anyone would be honored to be associated with such a character, don't you?

And this guy just made us happy- Santa is a bad-ass snowboarder.

Ok, ok, enough with the close-ups, you say, and give us some full-tree-action? Well, alright already, here it is:

Ta-da! I love it. We have a good amount of basic ornaments, and I look forward to accumulating more and more personal (unique!) ornaments in the years to come!

Now, onto the stockings!!!

These babies are from Target, and I instantly fell in love with these guys when I saw them online. I love how bright and fun the green is, and (in case you can't tell) that white one is more of a cream. I like the knit look- it feels more authentic and cozy... like these were actual socks that we hung by our, er, TV with care. Plus? POM-POMS!!!!

Anyways, it wasn't all snowflakes-on-my-lashes and holiday cheer trying to get these. You would think it's just a simple trip to the Big T, pick up two of each color and call it a day, wouldn't you? BUT NO! The first (yes, first) store we went to had all but a second green stocking. So, we bought them and figured we will just hit up another store for the final one. Only to go to another store and see they were almost completely out of this style! This is when I start worrying obsessively. They did have an extra cream, so we bought that one just-in-case. THEN, I called every single Target within 20 miles in the hunt for the stocking... I finally found it, and, after sitting almost an hour in rush-hour-traffic, that sucker was MINE!

Totally worth it.

Yup, that's me!

And here are the stocking holders! Side note: who knew stocking holders were so freakin expensive?! Back to the matter at hand: these were totally DIY holders. The base was from Target (and THESE were just as hard to find as the stupid stocking!!! Every time they came into stock, they flew off the shelves! Sigh. Luckily, the store with the stocking had a ton of these guys, which is total fate,) and the picture frames were from Michael's. A quick bead of super glue (hot glue solidified instantly,) secured the frame to the base, and VOILA! Instant personalizable* stocking holders! Now, you can buy these in a store, but they will be a good $5-10 more expensive than crafting it yourself. We also picked up some garland and cut off a piece and glued to the holder for added decorating awesomeness.

The rest of the garland went around the chandelier... BONUS!

We threw a set of battery-powered lights (maybe 15-20 lights per strand) in with the pine cone centerpiece to make it more festive- I totally love this effect! It is one of the first things you see coming in the house, and really added a sense of romance and magic. Confession: both this and the chandelier garland ideas were courtesy of the beau. But I will take all the credit that you may chose to bestow on me.

This little guy has been with me since college. I gave him an update this year by spray-painting the base white, and dusting the needles ever so lightly with more white spray paint. The overall outcome is awesome- looks like a blue spruce or a light snow dusting! I also found some silver glitter/shimmer spray paint and put that on, cuz... why not?! Love.**

Other un-pictured decorations include the previously-posted dining room table centerpiece, some garland on the metal railing, candles in red, silver & green scattered around the house, and a fantastic red, green & white outdoor light arrangement!

And now for the horrors that no one tells you about. The embarrassment that comes after the lights go off. The death of the tree:

Our tree skirt is made of pine needles.

Oddly, this tree started falling apart in record time. Which was, ya know, fun. Always a good thing to have your tree, that has to survive not one, but TWO Christmases, to clutch desperately to the needles within two weeks of bringing it home. And we had an automatic waterer! Not fair, tree nymphs, not fair. Anyways, every time someone touched the tree- hell, every time you BREATHED on it- a shower of needles would pitter-patter to the floor. This made getting presents out from under the tree particularly amusing.

We ended up cutting the branches off the trunk, and putting those in a trash bag, instead of carrying the whole thing out of the house. If we did the latter, for one thing, we wouldn't have been able to get the full width out the sliding door, and secondly, there would have been a mammoth trail of needles the entire way. The divide-and-conquer method definitely kept all carnage to one area of the house.

Lovely.

So there you go! Our holiday house in a nutshell. Ho ho ho.

*I will make this a real word. Watch me.
**I have pictures from this, and the spray painting re-do of that little white basket: promise, promise, PROMISE to post that soon!

new duvet: i'm pressed!

2011-01-18T08:48:00.002-05:00

For a while, I had my eye on this duvet cover from West Elm. Then, soon after Xmas, a friend pointed out that it was on SUPER sale, WITH a 20% off code! This meant that I was able to get the duvet cover and two shams for less than $60- cant go wrong with that! Add in a down-alternative duvet insert/comforter from HomeGoods, and new bedding complete!

A few days after buying the duvet, and while (impatiently) waiting for it to arrive, I see YoungHouseLove got the same one! So, now I look like a copy-cat.... not true! But doesn't matter, cuz LOOK HOW AWESOME!!

I previously had a reddish-orange quilt in the room, and a lot of red-hued furniture. This was great, and very lux, but I was tired of it and felt it was too much red & gold and not enough contrast. Then, when the beau moved in, the mix-match furniture added to the many red-orange-gold tones in the room! The teal-green duvet presents the perfect amount of contrast and color to the room. I also love the amount of white in the design, as it keeps the room bright and lighter... and allows me to work in that ceramic rhino (from ZGallerie- I have a weird love of rhinos.)

I also really dig how the golden-brown in the duvet design really ties in perfectly with the gold on the walls, curtains, and previously-purchased decorative pillows.

We also opened up the room by re-organizing our clothes and closets, which allowed us to take out the tall dresser, (seen here.) I want to confess that re-organizing and re-arranging furniture makes me giddy-happy... and moving this dresser opened up so much space! Visually, when you walk in the door, you now have an unobstructed path straight into the room and there is a wider walkway on the other side of the bed. It also makes the back closet easy to access, and therefor use. And finally, removing the tall dresser from my bed set means that the only furniture remaining is from the same matching set. Makes for a much better, put-together room. LOVE IT!

UPDATE: I had some trouble getting these shams (which was a real "SHAM"! OH I kill myself!!) Anyways, I ordered two standards with the duvet, but they were listed as back-ordered until 12/31. Well, when the duvet finally shipped, the shams were still listed as back-ordered. I've had trouble before when things say they are back-ordered, only to suddenly change and say "nope, you ain't getttin' squat!" 3 weeks after you made the order! So, I started fretting and going back and forth about buying the Euro shams, which were still in stock... only to get a notice that said my shams were out-of-stock and sorry, SOL. Then I looked online, after deciding to get the Euros, and see that THEY were out of stock, but the standards were available for purchase?? Totally confused I called customer service and the lovely lady helped straighten it all out and put me down for a new set. End of the Story: I got my shams, the bed is made, and I love that WestElm customer service lady, where-ever she may be!

this is the bar that jack built, ya'll

2011-01-11T12:50:00.033-05:00

[or, how to create a bar from a closet]

Baby, it's cold outside... And I don't want to leave the house to go out. Logical decision: build a bar. Obvious, right?

TA DA!!! So, we decided to tackle this RIGHT before Thanksgiving... RIGHT before family was coming to stay for the weekend...

genius.

Anyways, this was previously a closet. Now, this is a bit of a controversial move: in a house that has almost no storage space, why would you get rid of a closet?! Well, I'll tell you why- because I said so. There. So here's how you convert a closet into a (dry) bar:

First step is removing the doors, shelf, hanging bar, and anything else left on the wall. Then we removed the inside molding. When you do this, you are left with a gap between the existing drywall and the end stud. We filled this with GreatStuff, (an expanding insulation foam.) Once this has hardened and set, we sawed off any excess and spackled over.

the beau sawing off extra GreatStuff*

After a fresh coat of paint (we painted this the same color as the rest of the living room to really make it part of the room - I forget who makes this paint, but I remember it being called Trench-coat,) we were ready to get crackin! And apparently, crackin means SHOPPING!!

We lucked out that Ikea has a mirror that fit our design to within half an inch or so?? Perfect! No glass cutting or special orders!

We also decided to go with a short Gorm shelving unit from Ikea, which fit perfectly AGAIN! Double awesome.

See how well that mirror fit? After a trip (or seven) to Home Depot, we got started: we mounted the mirror to measure off of, and installed the support strips. These will hold the counter and the top shelf.

Here is the puppy sawing some lumber. Poor pooch never gets a day off!

The counter-top, shelf and molding were bought from Home Depot. After these were cut to size, they were stained along with the Gorm shelves. The stain was picked to match the existing furniture in our living room.** After stain, we poly-urethaned the hell out of everything! Everything got at least two coats of poly, but the counter-top has four.

Meanwhile, we were also assembling the light box/liquor shelf... yup, like they have in real bars! The plastic was a cut-to-size order from an online store, which was adhered to the top of a wooden box that was painted black. Inside the box is a fluorescent light- we installed a new outlet in the old closet by running electrical from the bordering bedroom (where there was an existing outlet right behind the wall,) and installed a light switch and second outlet into the light box, (the second outlet is for blenders, etc.) One thing to remember when doing this is to drill a hole in the box and the counter-top in the same spot to feed the cord through to the wall outlet.

So, installation! The first thing to go up was the top shelf. This was a bit difficult and aggravating, as it is tough to keep the shelf flush with the support beam. We chose to put the support strips above the shelf because it is prettier that way!

The hardware to hang the glasses was purchased online. We went with a piece of wood that's usually used for stairs, as it has a curved outside edge. Works fine for a shelf, too!

After the shelf was hung, everything else went fairly quickly- the counter was screwed in, the molding was installed, and the light box was hooked-up.

Here's the molding around the mirror back-splash. I believe this is technically crown/ceiling molding? It really finished off the look and hides that extra half-inch gap between the mirror and the wall.

There is also molding on the lip of the counter...

and around the edges of the counter where it met the wall! Man, look at that corner!! And that's with just using a manual miter box.***

Now, as for the Gorm shelves- Ikea makes wine/bottle shelves for Gorm, but not for all shelf sizes. And we happened to get the size that doesn't have the pre-made bottle shelves. Because that makes life easier. Anyways, all that needs to be done for a bottle shelf is to install thin 1x1 strips onto the shelves, spaced to accommodate whatever bottles you plan to store there.

We also hooked up a mini-fridge with a basket on top to hide any of the many things that need hiding when you have a bar.

I think that pretty much sums it up... time for glamor shots!!

this pic was taken pre-bottle & glass stocking

Now, the only problem with having a bar, is you HAVE to stock it....

So whats the internet verdict?? We are beyond thrilled with the outcome and love-love-LOVE showing it off and using it for chic cocktails! We think it really finishes the room off, and definitely looks better than a boring closet. And, icing on the cake? We got this sucker finished, installed, and everything cleaned up all before our guests arrived!!

*You know, that stuff?? It really is great...
**Ugh, it is such a pain in the butt to match a new stain to an old piece of furniture? It is stupid tough. So my advice to you would be, if you are staining an item and have any smidgen of a notion that you may want to sometime in the future get another piece to go with that set? Buy enough stain for the whole dreamed-up project.
***OMG We totally got a fancy-pants miter saw with a LASER for xmas! IT IS THE BEST EVER! Molding, get ready to meet your maker!

happy new year!!!

2011-01-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year, Kiddos!

Sorry I have been M.I.A., but there was just TOO MUCH going on and SO MANY guests to blog. Added onto that? My laptop charging cord broke! But rest assured, I have replaced said cord and will be back and badder (literally) than ever!! I hope to have an all-encompassing Christmas post, a new closet-turned-bar post, and a great "my house is insane" post! Many apologies for keeping the first two items on that list under wraps- we wanted those to be a surprise for our visiting family and the inter-webs have a tendency to ruin that!

Oh, and New Years Resolutions?
1) Finish floor molding in EVERY ROOM OF THE HOUSE!
2) Finish upstairs bathroom renovation.
3) Major outdoor overhaul (curb appeal, backyard living space, actual grass?!??!)

Here's a little glimpse into how we spent our New Years Eve:

Yes, those are all bags...

tall glass of wax: coca-cola glass candles

2010-12-14T18:37:00.001-05:00

As I was unpacking some of the beau's boxes, I stumbled upon a collection of Coca-Cola glasses. I was confused. What? Where? When? Why?

Apparently, he got them for cheap from an artist/student/who-knows? These seven were in good shape, but there were a handful more that were... bad. Very bad. Like with a top still attached or white on the rims? I don't really know why half-done ones were sold with the finished glasses.... people are weird.

SO, I took the good glasses, dropped a votive in there and decided my grey & yellow & red guest room should REALLY be my grey & yellow & green guest room! Ta-Da!

The green accent is totally funner and more spring-like. I'm a fan. Unlike how I feel about those dressers. Definitely NOT a fan... just counting the days until I can show those guys who's boss!!

Anyways, I find these guys totally enchanting and awesome. The multiple, semi-clear glasses add such a twinkle to the room!!! It's really great. And better yet? Don't 100% with things we had laying around the house!

dining in style: table settings and spray-painted candlestick holders

2010-12-10T10:00:00.002-05:00

Table settings! How exciting!!!

Cooper Cameo!

...or ya know, not. Around October (YES, October- the month that ended 38 days ago. Shut up,) I laid out a new-to-me (i.e. inherited), thin yellow tablecloth. I'm really digging the pattern and I love how thin & gauzy it is- makes spills easier to get out! I threw some small, decorative pumpkins (not pictured) on there & called it a day.

Then, I got inspired. I envisioned a holiday table full of mis-matched candlestick holders, all in silver finish. So after obsessing over this idea for a few weeks, I finally got to Goodwill & a local thrift store to raid their selection.

It just so happened the thrift store was having a 1/2 off EVERYTHING sale, that day... so I think I paid a total of $6 for all these candlestick holders:

To clean, I merely submerged* in a big pot of boiling water for a few minutes and wiped/dried with a paper towel. Added bonus: fun droplets of wax floating around the pot, (and later solidifying into a filmy layer floating on top!) A quick sanding and it was SPRAY PAINT TIME!** A few coats of Rustoleum Metallic Silver (making sure to get all angles & crevices!) and done-zo.

*Or, submerged as much as possible, seeing as some were too tall to fit in the pot. Others had felt bottoms, which I didn't want to get wet, so those were dunked only halfway.***
**Yes, again with the spray paint.
***WORD TO THE WISE: be very VERY careful when taking the pieces out of the water! ESPECIALLY with the half-submerged ones! Water (BOILING water!) tends to collect in crevices you didn't know existed. This means when you flip the holder right-side up, all that boiling water falls onto your hand and scalds you and then you have to fish out ice cubes from your water while dining at a restaurant with friends to cool the burn. Seriously, be careful. It could happen to you.

How'dya like dem, er, pumpkins??!

At first, I piled all those tiny pumpkins in the center, grouped the candlestick holders into two parts and arranged all on top a shiny, olive-y/candy-apple-green table runner (from Overstock.)

... then I got a'lil quirky:

This is how the table looked while family visited over Thanksgiving.... they were amused. What I found fun was how much the pumpkins encourage playing and rearranging by my guests! It was a fun conversation starter, at the least.

And then? Then we enter the Christmas month:

The original vision was to use these candlestick holders to ACTUALLY hold candles! Wild! I picked up a container of candlesticks at Ikea for a song. Went with the "chandelier candles" over pillar/long taper candles as, 1) the tapers were out of stock, 2) tapers are more prone to shifting & sitting at an angle instead of straight up at attention, and 3) I like 'em chunky. So, literally minutes after my Thanksgiving guests left, I changed up the tablescape because I was a very eager beaver.

And then I couldn't stop myself...

TA-DA! This was the vision I had back in early November:

a) Hodge-podge of candlestick holders, spray painted silver and grouped together

b) Chargers! Like a grown-up!! Again, in silver.

c) Lighter (i.e. NON-hunter) green table runner

d) All added to my red plates & INSTANT CHRISTMAS!

I think I did pretty well for myself. In un-packing some of the beau's boxes, I stumbled upon a set of white, hotel napkins, which complete the look perfectly.

Yes, those are Hershey's Kisses on top of the napkins.

What do ya think? I do a little happy dance (on the inside) every time I see this. The runner is perfect! I wanted a simple runner that could be used for multiple designs and seasons. As done above, it works great for the fall with more oranges & browns. Add some red and silver, and we got Christmas. Maybe add some yellows and light blues or pinks & I'll be set for the springtime??? So many possibilities!

While gift shopping online, I saw Pottery Barn has the same idea... for 3-8 TIMES the cost I paid... FOR A SINGLE CANDLESTICK HOLDER! Ridiculous. I also saw Centsational Girl had the same idea for candlestick holders (and beat me to the posting-punch!)- don't they look awesome? The only problem is resisting the urge to buy more....

winter centerpiece: silver n gold pine cones!

2010-12-02T18:18:00.001-05:00

Uh-oh, here we go again! More of those spray-painted centerpieces!!

So, I will spare you another full recap of how I did these- for that you can see the October pumpkins and the November fall decoration posts (hint: find objects, spray paint, let dry, and arrange.)

For the winter months, I am all about pine cones and silver n gold. So... that is precisely what I did.

LOVE IT. I plan on pulling on some sparkle elsewhere in the room, but you will have to just wait for that! ...largely, because it isn't finished yet. Shh!!

wishing you a very hippie holidays: peace wreath

2010-12-02T11:51:00.005-05:00

Even hippies have holiday spirit!

So, remembering my new-found desire to de corate for the holidays, it should come as no surprise that I am hitting the ground running for Christmas and the winter months. I got it in my head that I had to have a peace wreath. Why? Because the phrase goes Peace on Earth & Good Will to Man.... so, I thought I would take care of the first part. You do the second part, and we will be good to go, k?

But then I saw Pier1 and Amazon had them! And they STOLE my idea!!! MINE! The nerve.*

Anyways, a how-to:
1. Buy duct-tape in a color that will match your intended garland.
2. Buy garland.
3. Buy wreath frame & extra for center pieces. I used straw frames- one large (~2ft) and two small (~8in) frames (these cost about $4 and $2, respectively, at your local craft store.. less if you use a coupon!)
4. Cut the two small frames at one point and start straightening them. The frames are held together by a wrapping of fishing line/clear thread, so I went through and snipped these lines, as well. It takes a couple minutes to work the straw straight and clip any remaining line that's keeping the frame circular.

5. Measure/fit the straight rods into the larger frame: start first by fitting the long center beam. Cut to size and secure with duct tape. Then work on the other two, smaller beams and secure, similarly.

As you can see, I ran out of the silver tape.**

6. Start wrapping garland!! I used super glue to secure the ends, and just worked my way around, making sure to check for bald spots every so often.

It PROBABLY would be a good idea to plan your method of attack to minimize back-tracking and starting new pieces. But I didn't think of this before starting, I just dove in and then contemplated my options at the first intersection.

I think this:

...would be the optimal way to go about it. Now, let us take a moment to bask in the glory that is Paint.

Ahhhh, Paint.

7. Trim any areas you feel the garland is too thick or obscuring the overall shape.

8. Hang on door! I used a 3M hook (the ones where you can pull the sticky back to remove with no remaining mark or damage to the surface,) and some hanging wire.

9. Step back & admire. Contemplate getting some flares and a leather headband.

Total Cost: ~$26

Oh man, I love this! I found the silver & green garland at Target for $5 or $6 per 18 yards. I ended up using 2.08 strands of garland (so, about 37 yards; YAY MATH!)... that one last bit needed, the .08 strand, really irritated me. Made me run back out to the store for a minuscule amount! But, there was just no way to stretch it, and getting extra meant I could make the wreath fuller.

Whatcha think? I kinda love it. Only, less "kinda" and more "really really". It makes me happy, and I think it represents a sentiment we can all get behind (oh god, corny!) I think it would be really cool in a bold red or blue garland, too!

*However, Pier1's cost $99! And that Amazon one has only 2 stars. Clearly, my version is rated A MILLION stars and cost way less than 100 smack-a-roos!

**Originally, I was going to do this in all-silver garland. That was my vision. But I could only find one place that had silver garland and it was sucky, and this green & silver was really awesome- bling meets homey. Perfect!

soups on: pumpkin soup

2010-11-19T13:10:00.001-05:00

Hands down, creamy* pumpkin soup is among my favorite soups. I prefer my gourd soups to be savory, and haven't gotten as much satisfaction out of a sweeter, apple & squash soup that I do from this recipe (or ones like it.) Added bonus? this soup is really easy to play around with and use whatever herbs & spices you have on hand.

I have made this with canned pure pumpkin and by roasting pumpkin halves... Gotta say, I default to the canned method. One of the things I love about this soup is that it's a pantry-staple recipe that can come together in less than 30 minutes. Introducing a whole pumpkin into the mix ups the cooking time to more like an HOUR and 30 minutes, and doubles the amount of dirty dishes! But, if you want to roast, see the note at the end of the post & knock yourself out. Me? I'll stay lazy and impatient.

...I think I need to make another batch. SOON.

Smokey Pumpkin Soup
serves a lot (maybe 6-8 servings?)

1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic
2-3Tbsp butter/margarine
28oz pure pumpkin**
14.5oz diced tomatoes (fire-roasted, preferable)
1c cream (1/2 pint) (can use milk or 1/2 and 1/2)
4c chicken stock
2tsp rosemary
2tsp thyme
2 chipotles + ~1tsp adobo sauce
2tsp smoked paprika (+more for garnish)
nutmeg, cinnamon & cayenne (~1/4tsp or less, to taste)
green onions (for garnish)

1. Melt butter/margarine over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, chipotles, thyme & rosemary. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 10 min.
2. Add tomatoes and let cook until fragrant, about 2 min.
3. Add pumpkin puree and cook for 5-10min.
4. Add chicken stock and let simmer. Taste & season. And throw in smoked paprika, cinnamon, cayenne & nutmeg. Simmer for as long as you are distracted. And immersion blender it up!*
5. Add cream. Taste & season.
6. Serve. Garnish with cut scallions and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Maybe some Crusty bread? A sprinkle of cheese?

Alterations:
a) Take out the smoked paprika,*** cayenne, and chipotles and add: more rosemary & thyme, and a healthy portion of sage to make a true harvest/fall pumpkin soup. If feeling crazy, replace maybe half the chicken stock with apple juice.
b) Replace chipotles with more cayenne/red pepper flakes for a stronger, earlier heat.
c) Add. Bacon.
d) Add shredded chicken/pork/beef.
e) Add black beans & cumin.

*I kinda prefer a more "rustic" (read: lazy) soup, and don't care that it's not perfectly smooth, so an immersion blender works fine for me. This step could also be done as part of #3. If you don't have an immersion blender... get one! In the meantime, you can blend this in batches in a stand blender. Also, I would recommend a stand blender & strainer if you want a smoother soup.
**To use a whole pumpkin: cut pumpkin in half and scrap out all seeds and strings. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of any spices/herbs you are planning on using in the soup. On a foil-lined baking sheet, roast at 375-400F until fork-tender (I'd wager this is around 35-60minutes, flipping the halves halfway through.) Remove from oven & let cool until you can handle. Scoop out the flesh & puree in blender or food processor. Continue recipe as above.
***BALDERDASH! Smoked paprika on EVERYTHING!

from blah-brass to chic chandelier: spray-painting a chandelier

2010-11-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

After my re-found love of spray painting, I started searching the house for my next victim... and if I can't spray-paint the dog, I'll have to settle for the dining room chandelier.

I LOVE them! Love love love.

So, I first found myself in a bit of a pickle: what color do I paint MY chandelier?? I contemplated A yellow/mustard to match the living room?* Black to match the kitchen appliances? Dark brown to go with all the furniture/wood? White, because that seems to be the most widely-loved?

[BEFORE]

In the end, I chose an cream/almond, (aside: they REALLY need to broaden the spray-paint color selection! Rust-o-leum, please take note. Thank you.) I figured brown or black would be too dark. And yellow... while I would LOVE it, I don't know if I could have found the right shade. One day, I will have a boldly-colored chandelier... but alas, not today.

Anyways, this change was amazing. I am absolutely in love with it and couldn't imagine going back to the silly brass!

Here's how:
1) Clean the chandelier thoroughly with windex/409/vinegar (particularly needed when the owners before you never cleaned and your house was left vacant for 6+ months with an open window...**)
2) Scratch up the surface with some sandpaper.
3) Tape off any wires or parts that shouldn't be painted (like the light bulb sockets.. could also stuff these with tissues.)
4) SPRAY PAINT! Remember: light coats! and many of them! until fully covered! It's best to start spraying with the nozzle facing the middle of nowhere & then drag across the object, (this prevents puddles of paint.) I hung my chandelier in a tree out back (very outdoor-party chic!) for even, all-over coverage... especially when pulling the chains/wires away from the fixture. If you don't have a place to hang yours, I hear putting it in a large box works well... or just lay down some newspaper and go at it!

[AFTER]

Upon re-hanging, I saw a small spot I missed- if this happens to you, just spray a lot of the paint into a plastic cup and, using a q-tip/paint brush/foam brush, dab on.

I also bought a fabulous 16" ceiling medallion to really set this puppy off in style! Whatcha think? Be kind, tell me you love it.***

The next question is, do I paint a pattern (with a yellow to tie in the living room) on the candle sleeves or leave them as-is?? Oh decisions decisions....

*OOPS! Haven't shared that update... but that was only because it wasn't really "done" until recently! I'll do that soon... but for now, you can see a peek in that before shot.
**I'm not bitter.
***I really can't wait to see my dad's reaction... he's a lover of all things traditional and, particularly, of brass light fixtures.

chandelier inspiration images: Apartment Therapy

fall deorations

2010-11-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

It seems I have caught the seasonal decorating bug.. can't decide if this is good or bad. Anyways, while finishing the pumpkins for Halloween, I went a little spray-paint crazy....

We've been over the pumpkins, but as you saw, there were pine cones also getting worked-over... Why pine cones? Well, cheap, for one, and "winter-y," for second.

Let me clarify. By "cheap," I mean "free." Seriously, if you are paying for pine cones, then you're doing it wrong. I collected a few types of cones- come short & fat and other long and flakier. Variety! The spice of life!

So, as with the pumpkins, I first did a layer of white paint and followed up with metallic paint. This requires a couple coats to cover all the ridges and crevices, but the result is awesome. Also? excluding drying time, this project is done in less than 15 minutes! I find these spray-painting projects are perfect to do after work or in between bigger tasks on a weekend. They are fun and full or instant gratification.

I tossed the gold pine cones in with the pumpkins & gourds from October for a fantastically "Fall" centerpiece. You like?

soups on: roasted eggplant & tomato soup

2010-11-05T14:56:00.001-04:00

In catching up on my Smitten Kitchen, I came across a recipe for Roasted Eggplant Soup. At first, I wasn't that interested, but read through just for the hell of it... and then started drooling at the picture of the soup before being pureed. And that's when I knew I had to make it. Curiosity & drooling got the best of me.

You see, the original recipe is fairly simple: calls for roasting eggplant, tomatoes, onion & garlic. Simmer in broth and then blend all together to get a smooth, pureed soup. That has a weird, kinda unpleasant, light brown color to it. BUT! I thought all the roasted veggies HAD to be delicious, especially after spicing it up, so I gave it a go. But I kept the soup in chunky-vegetable form! Innovative! Genius! All of those things, yes... I know.

Before you go any further, can I just apologize for the pictures? The camera was being funky & I had to resort to the cellular phone. Sad world.

So, the general idea was to cube the eggplant, chop the onion, and roast. I skinned 1/2 of the eggplant (thinking I would give a quick immersion-blender to a portion of the soup to thicken it up), but left the rest with the skin to give more structure. The tomatoes were roasted whole, to preserve the juices, but then cubed once out of the oven.... making sure to get as much of the juices into the soup pot as possible!

And the result? Amazing. Totally delicious and soon to be in regular rotation. I get really excited for vegetarian soups- I feel they are a great way to lighten up but still have a comforting & filling meal.

Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Soup
serves 4

1.5lbs eggplant(s)
1 yellow onion
3 tomatoes
6-8 garlic cloves
4c chicken stock
1/2c heavy cream
1Tbsp fresh thyme
1tsp cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp red pepper flakes (I had to use a "Hot Shot" blend, which was less than ideal)
smoked paprika
chili powder
cheese (feta, goat, a sharp-hard cheese... whatevs!*)

Preheat oven to 400F

1. Peel 1/2 of the total eggplant. Cube all of the eggplant into 1/2" pieces. Halve the tomatoes. Dice (medium) the onion and peel garlic. Throw all onto baking sheets (keeping vegetables separate), and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Roast for 40min, but check every 15 or so to make sure they aren't burning (particularly the garlic!)

2. Allow vegetables to cool. Add chicken broth to a pot, along with thyme and 1/2 the vegetables (make sure to add the skinless 1/2 of eggplant.) Bring to simmer and give a few rounds with immersion blender.

3. Roughly cube the remaining tomatoes and add, with juices, to the pot. Add remaining eggplant, garlic and onion, as well.

4. Add heavy cream, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Allow to simmer for at least 10 minutes. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle smoked paprika & chili powder, to taste.

5. Serve with cheese sprinkled on top and crusty bread (garlic bread, if you are like me!)

*The recipe called for goat cheese, but recommended feta... I thought I had feta. I was excited about feta. I was sadly mistaken. So we ended up using a sharp Swedish cheese called Prast/Prastost,** which worked fine. Next time definitely trying goat or feta, though!
**I am like a kid in a candy store at the Ikea Swedish grocery store, (and no, I do NOT mean the cafeteria)!!! I love trying the cheeses and jams... and highly recommend all. In terms of cheeses, Prast/Prastost and Herrgard/Herrgardost are very good, widely appealing cheeses. If you like sharp cheddar, you'd like these two. Vasterbotten is also an excellent cheese (the Swedish "Emperor of Cheeses"), and is more like a Parmesean Reggiano with it's sharp, nuttiness.

happy halloween!

2010-11-03T12:28:00.000-04:00

Halloween means two things: Pumpkins & Costumes! Ok, maybe the third would be Trick-or-Treaters... but I thought it would be creepy to take pictures of other peoples' kids. So, you only get two.

1) Pumpkins

Both of these suckers were huge, (which, I must say, pleased the trick-or-treaters!) Mine is the one in the background- I fell for this bumpy & wonderfully imperfect pumpkin that I knew I just HAD to make into a grouchy old man. Fun.. but next time I get the urge to buy an ugly duckling, it will be just for show... that skin was tough to work with!!

The beau's pumpkin is the bigger one in the front. He got all fancy with skinning off parts before carving AND did rounded edges. Attention to detail...

Love them both! But... I think a woodland creature has started to snack on them.... maybe time to pitch 'em. Doesn't matter- Already have ideas for next year!

2) Costumes

Clearly, everyone else who goes as Old Hollywood stars are doing it wrong.. you HAVE to dress in black & white if you're gonna do it right!

This was at the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rallies (Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive). We received TONS of praise for the sign and the costumes (credit where credit's due: the sign was all the beau's idea... he's a clever one!) It was really quite wild to get stopped ever 10 steps by a group of people wanting our picture; and made it difficult to make good time! Anyways, though it was a lot of fun & I greatly enjoyed the transformation... I was super glad to wash it off and be able to freely scratch my chin without a second thought.

Added bit of fun: we were pictured on the Washington Post Blog as part of a vote-for-your-favorite-sign survey from the rally! Check it out!

coffee talk

2010-10-22T14:57:00.000-04:00

BEFORE:

Let me just start by saying I got this coffee table for $5 at a yard sale. I love yard sales. But, ya know, they just don't make 'em like they used to. Back in the good ol' days, you could find everything and anything at them! But now (and, maybe I'm just going to the wrong ones?) it seems they are all and only clothes. Maybe a stray toddler toy... but clothes clothes clothes! I don't WANT your clothes! I want your ugly furniture I can make purty!

I already had the stain on hand from the aquarium transformation (which, was a leftover stain my mom had & wasn't using!) It's a polyurethane finish & stain all in one, in Antique Pine. I love the color, and ya just can't beat the price (er, free!) So, after a quick sanding, especially where there was a watermark and discoloration, I got to work. I would advise if you are doing a similar project to work from the bottom up. This way, you don't have to flip the table onto it's newly-stained-top to get to the bottom, nor do you have to work around a wet top trying not to get on your arms as you reach underneath. Second tip? Think about the easiest way to stain the wood going with the grain,* especially when you have the planks put together at contrasting angles. I had difficulty getting the outside, border planks stained without messing up the middle ones! But, if you find you mess up just get some more stain and start over. No harm no foul.

*ALWAYS GO WITH THE GRAIN!

AFTER:

I'm so loving this table! The wood really took on the stain nicely and it has such a great deep color while keeping some golden glow shining through. Absolutely thrilled! And, kinda neurotic (read: violent) about keeping this sucker protected from now on... COASTERS, PEOPLE! Coasters...

I have since got two baskets from Ikea to perfectly fit under, on the lower shelf to hide all the miscellaneous items needed on or in a coffee table- video game controls, remote, magazines, etc etc.

So, whatcha think? Just tell me it's awesome, please? It will make me happy.

curtain closed closet

2010-10-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

One of the first things I did when moving in was remove some HORRIBLE hanging, accordion closet doors in my master bedroom. Wasn't difficult... they were already 1/2 falling off! So, for the better part of a year and a half, this is how my closet presented itself to the world:

Other than being too busy with other projects, I really don't have a reason why I didn't just install new, sliding closet doors...

I was REALLY REALLY busy, ok?*

So, I had some extra window scarves that happened to match my bedspread perfectly. So, after hanging a $5 curtain rod,** VOILA!

It's a good, interim fix. The curtains are usually open, as life it just easier that way. But when company comes, I can close them for a more finished, (though not completely sealed off), look. Whatcha think?

(Oh, and YHL totally has curtain-closed-closets, too... but theirs were installed and make for something of a dramatic built-in-bed look! Check it out here)

*Yeah, I don't believe it, either.
**Ok, it wasn't nearly that easy or fast! It's an awkward angle, and you have to prop a flashlight up to see. And then I kept hitting something that was NOT drillable*** or hitting NOTHING which meant the screws didn't hold, but ya know what? NO ONE will see these itty bitty mistakes. So there.
***Why isn't "drillable" a word?

paintin pumpkins

2010-09-28T12:26:00.001-04:00

This year the need to decorate hit me like a tidal wave. Like a ton of bricks. Like a... like a... ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! So, when I saw these pumpkins, I felt inspired and wanted them all for myself.

They are crazy easy, and crazy cheap. For under $10, I picked up some ceramic and foam pumpkins from Tuesday Morning and Michaels. Then, another $5 for spray paint, and VOILA!

So, a layer of plaint white (to kinda smooth the lines.) Then a layer, or five, of the metallic paint...

Let dry. Arrange.

And bask in their glory.

So, whaddaya think? I had a moment where I thought it odd to start decorating a house that is 1/2 done, (I mean, come on! The window behind these decorations is lacking, you know, TRIM.) But... what the hell. Tis the season for pumpkins!!!

Oh, and pay no attention to those pine cones. Their day in the spotlight will come soon enough.