Sister's Bathroom Renovation

This bathroom has needed some love for a very very long time. It was this way when I was living at home, all growing up. Untouched for 35 years. EEK!

And it's been a girls bathroom for 95% of its life. Hence the pink. that needed to go.

I didn't get a good picture but you pretty much have to climb around the toilet to get into the shower.  Fun stuff.
My mom told me this when we were getting ready to start demo... as if she needed to tell me, how many years had I done the same thing?? and told her?? Oh, well.

The vanity was still holding together but the countertop was badly stained and the light was sooo dim, and the mirror was marred on the edges.

Yanking down the wall. and we found some mold.
And my family did some demo without me and found dead mice. I was so thankful I was not there that day. Ew. Ew. Ew. Barf.

I was never so happy to see a hole. We were worried about where the new shower drain would line up and we ended up having to make the hole bigger to get it in but it was not as nightmare-ish as we thought.

Purple walls. My hubby tried to tell me I was supposed to do a different drywall/sheetrock for the ceiling but this mold and mildew resistant stuff said walls/ceiling so we went for it!

So "in between stuff" happened at this point. I have a love/hate relationship with mudding and sanding.
And texturing. Maybe it's just a hate relationship, because I despise it. I like the end result though...
hum....

My little sister and brother wanted to help... so much... so they got to paint! the girls picked out sweet pea, which grew on me a little. I would have picked something with a touch more blue, but it looked really good anyway!

The edge of the mirror was so messed up... so I used the leftover mosaic tiles and glued up the edge. It's so cool, I want to do this to my mirror!

We puzzle pieced the floor all different ways until we found a way that would work with the least amount of cutting. we're funny like that.






and the troublesome shower. Mike the plumber gave us a hard time about picking one he had never installed before but the benefit of a corner shower was no more climbing over the toilet to get in!








I don't know about you, but I really want to move in. Or at least take a shower.

I love the light. It has a wavy texture on it, that simulates ocean waves... it fits right in with the sea foam wall color and sand colored tiles! And the new-to-them vanity with a new laminate top looks awesome with the tiles! Could not have matched it better if I tried!

Little Man #2's nursery

Until a month ago this room was a guest room, with a king size bed taking up nearly half the floor space.
6 weeks out from my due date, I was slightly panicky. I wanted it done and quick, just so that it would be done and I wouldn't have to worry.

It took over 2 weeks to sell the mattress and get it out of there but there was a sigh of relief when it did.

Now I'm a week from my due date and it is done... I mean there's always more to add, but in a general sense... It's done.  Plus according to my little man #1, it has the very important "bubbles" -aka the paper mobile over the bed and the "balloons" -aka the paper lanterns over the changing table/dresser. 

Master Mess Makeover- the Afters!

Here are the afters... where the white dresser used to be. Now vintage themed!

 This is where that white dresser and my desk used to be...

Behind the door... i moved the bookshelf here after moving both of the dressers to the same wall together. One general place for all the clothes, clean and dirty to chill! Trust me, I still come around the door trying to get to the dresser that was here.

This is the wall that was home to the keyboard.

The keyboard found a new home, downstairs... where there's actually room for it.

Oh, and the bed, you were waiting for this... the headboard was a long process... because... the coral fabric is -get this- removable! My poor hubby suffers from allergies, and he was coming up with all sorts of ways to stretch it across and yet make it removable... it was so complicating!! So I sewed it to fit (front and back) and we added snaps to the backs of the buttons and wa-la! Removable!

Master Mess Makeover- BEFORES!

No, this isn't embarrassing. Really. Ok, maybe it is. Our master bedroom is the drop zone, laundry hiding place, mail drop, and must-hide-everything-guest-are-coming spot.

It does drive me nuts. Mostly I have not come up with practical ways of handling the mess and this room has been a free-for-all since we moved in. I was able to get my son's nursery pretty much set up in the month before he came, but all other accomplished projects have been done very slowly in the 2 years since and the master bedroom has not ever been tackled. 

But with another baby on the way and lots of future hours in this room with it becoming the command center again, I really need to get things happening! 

We did move downstairs to cooler temperatures for the summer so this room was free to get cleaned as I pleased. It took awhile but with guests coming and going I was encouraged to get 'er done!

So stare and comment away because the after pictures are coming!!!

Quote Art

FYI, these are pictures mixed and matched showing different steps of different projects. I'm not very good at doing step by step pictures of one whole project.... 

1. Canvas - Pick out your size of canvas. I have gotten 12x12s and 16x20 two packs at hobby lobby- the cheapest brand because I wasn't using regular paints or making a painting.

(I also picked up paint markers/pens for doing the letters while I was here)

2. Paint - I picked up a sample 2 oz at Lowes of the color of my choice. (BM-Palladian Blue) This was more then enough to cover 4 canvases. Or just use some leftover paints depending on who you are doing it for or which room it is going in.

3. Verse, Quote, etc. - originally for our room I was going to do a hymn but I couldn't decide- It was a toss-up of either the first verse of Be Thou My Vision or Lamentations 3- seemed appropriate for over the bed as a reminder as you go to bed or get up in the morning. For other projects, just cute little quotes I spotted while wandering on pinterest. 

4. Fonts - This may not be difficult for the average person but it was for me. I love cursive but I wanted something legible for anybody reading it. I printed off only one paper (two words) at a time until I got the size right. Microsoft Word was mad at me. :)

5. Wiggle room - I laid out the papers when I got to the right size and on my 16x20s I realized that the way I had them lined up was leaving some empty spots. So then it was back to Pinterest to find a way to fill them in. 

     Lace (clearance at the fabric store!) and Paint. I used double stick tape to hold the lace onto the back of the canvas. I was just going to sponge a lighter layer of blue onto the lace but the lace and sponge kept sticking to each other and the lace didn't stay in place. Spray paint to the rescue! I had white gloss laying around so I sprayed a light dusting of that onto the lace and then immediately pulled the lace off the canvas so it wouldn't stick.

6. Prep - Now your canvas is dry and you have your verse, quote, hymn picked out in your font of choice. 

I used rubber bands to line up where my words would go. For example my 12x12 was split for 3 lines, so my 1st line 3 inches down and then my 2nd line was 4 inches down from that line and then the 3 line was down 4 inches from that- leaving an inch of space at the bottom for the "tails" on the the y and g. Measure and adjust accordingly for what you need. 

7. Tools of the trade - Carbon paper (pick up at any office store), regular pen and your printed off quote. I used the rubber band to help keep my layers of paper and carbon paper lined up in the right spot. Trace the letters and it "magically" transfers onto the canvas. 

8. Magic - Remove the papers and rubber bands. Look! It's magic!!! I mean carbon paper. Use your paint marker/pen to fill in the traced words. 

9. Waiting- Let it dry. Usually I set it out of reach of little ones and let it dry for several hours or overnight.




10. Hang it up and show it off!

bookshelf - new look!

I would have never thought to do this, even though I buy my old books solely based on the cover and/or binding, I had never thought to turn them facing out- Thank you BHG for posting this picture!!!

I need to go shopping in my old guest room for more accessories. But the books are out and showing their stuff!

The New Year-- aka Planning mode

I am not a resolution person. My goals (if needed to be done) will always be accomplished:
Weight? It's 5 pounds at a time.
Eat better? It's a 7 day goal.
Sleep better? It's a daily goal.
Be more patient? ...Let's try 5 minutes.

It just so happens my home/decorating/DIY projects are all coinciding with the New Year. They have been on my to-do list or already started before the holidays came in like a wrecking ball. Ha ha! I had to. 
So here's my Resolution List: (to start on by the end of January because I am just that good.)

1. Finish painting upstairs guest room - 2 more walls need a second coat.

2. Paint the accent wall in the Master Bedroom - Palladian Blue!!!! - can you tell I am excited for this?!?

3. Rearrange furniture - Bookshelf moved from one guest room to the other.

4. Decorate downstairs guest room - It has a bed and 2 nightstands. It needs help.

5. Redecorate Master bedroom and hang art.

6. The office - dang it! Can't this room do itself???

7. Garage- or not. I keep telling my hubby that once we insulate and drywall it, that I will tackle it. And oh, my dreams are big... but I really have no idea where to start.

8. Decrapify and Organize.

9. Hang my gallery style frames in the hallway- print off pictures too.

10. Eat more chocolate- yes!

Happy New Years, and may all your dreams come true.

baby's 1st birthday!

My world traveler's first birthday. He spent his actual birthday in Madrid and I was really in love with the idea. Maybe why his bedroom is traveled themed also. 

French Vanilla Cupcakes and Whipped Cream Frosting. Stickers from Hobby Lobby.

 Deliciousness. Fruit, Veggies, and Airplane food- Pretzels and Peanuts. 

 Barf Bags. Just kidding, so they have a little bag of pretzels, M&Ms, Passport Sticker Books, and Juice boxes. 

I found these Earth paper lanterns, so cute! On the table are little clothespin airplanes that the kids got to paint and take home. And of course little foam ornaments.

I am really glad I bought the flag banner too. 

Finished Nursery

What a long process! But it's as done as it's going to get until he grows out of the crib.  

The pictures finally hung above his bed. I got it in the heart shape I wanted but it didn't look like what I was thinking it would. Still I like it better than any other idea I came up with.

 Just chilling in his rocking chair. The map sliced in 3 and framed as such is probably my most favorite thing in the room besides my little man.

 the pictures are maps i printed out and accessorized with scrapbooking stickers

 The giraffe puzzle that took forever to put together is now hanging in the frame my hubby made.

Decorating Pet Peeves!

There is only one reason why these decorating pet peeves are at the forefront of my brain. Dreaming of that future house.

I feel I should forewarn. These aren't recent pet peeves, these have been very permanently in my brain for most of my decorating experience and they are so common they are not going to change any time soon. I also apologize if you suddenly start noticing them everywhere and it starts bugging you as well.

So, Dreaming of that future house. We have an offer on a house. It's been on the market over a year. Only one other offer has been made on the house, which we heard was about a year ago and the couple decided that they didn't want to wait the 90 days to see if the bank approved it. Did I mention it's a short sale?? Our realtor warned us that it would be a really long wait. She's not kidding. We are over 30 days in and nothing. But our hopes are high. Even if we don't get it there are plenty of other deals out there.

In all of this, I dream of some changes that can be done to the house. Built 6 years ago there is little you would expect that needs changed. This would be true if I weren't such a decorator.

Who thought every house needed Oak stain? Oak flooring? Oak everything? What happened to Walnut? Or my personal favorite Espresso. Everything should be Espresso. The darker, the snazzier. Just sayin'.
Our hopeful house is all OAK!!! Ok, so it's not all oak, just all the wood or wannabe wood. but re-staining everything to at least Walnut is going to be a nightmare. I wonder if the hubby would let me paint the kitchen cabinets. 

thanks Rejuvenation!

Ok, so pet peeves.
1. Lights. I can't stand when people spend hundreds of dollars on chandeliers, pendants, fans, etc. and you can see they got the 4 pack of $2 light bulbs at Wal-mart. Is there no way to hide the lightbulbs? Lightbulbs should enjoyed but not seen. ever. unless they look like this.
Even these don't work everywhere. Use discretion!

Home Depot

2. Electrical outlets. If you are redoing a kitchen or having a snazzy kitchen being built with your dream home, don't buy the .25 cent wall outlets and covers from Lowe's or Home Depot. PLEASE! Buy the nice ones that can be well camouflaged by your backsplash. Not so camouflaged that you can't find them but so that i don't immediately count them all when I walk into your kitchen. Or bath- this applies to bathrooms too! 

Lowe's

I understand they are more expensive-- but 2 in the bathroom next to the counter? Worth it.