One Step Forward, Five Steps Back

Hey guys, I'm back. That little break was unintentional but kind-of appreciated so here we go with the explanation: Dan and I tried to finish a couple projects around the house but only managed to created even more! Yes, I'm sure you know the feeling as well, have probably lived it, and will understand what happened. (Also, I saw and then subsequently started and finished reading this within the past week so yea, I didn't have a lot of time for projects)

See we tried to finish our closet "transformation" by finally hanging a proper door.

Then we we realized after an hour of demo that we didn't really know what we were doing and hanging a slab door is MUCH harder than a pre-hung door. Duly noted.

So then we tried to move on to another project: finish the trim in the kitchen.

We measured and cut all out trim only to realize the nail gun we borrowed did not fit the nails we already owned. Bummer.

So we moved on once more to hanging the floating shelves in the kitchen.

After measuring and drawing and leveling we got one shelf hung. And hated it. Sigh. The color was all wrong (who knew "white" could be so different) and Dan felt the floating shelves were a little too modern for the space. On to Plan B.

So in our efforts to get some projects done, all we did was create more half-done and barely-started messes.  Needless to say, we are slowly making progress on the homefront but no amazing After's are in our near future. But we will continue to trudge along and get as much done as we can before Spring when we hope to tackle the outside! Very exciting indeed.

And as if those three projects weren't enough, I made a little more progress in my dressing room. Remember I have a dressing room? I mentioned it once, then basically never said anything again but trust me, this room exists. I wrote about it back in August and kind of expressed my vision for the room which is still very much alive. It's just a matter of gathering the time and resources to make it happen!

Here's how it looked back in August. The room is wider than it is deep so there is no way to take just one picture of it. Here's the best way I can show it:

Just a couple weeks after we moved in I threw out the gross old carpet and then a couple months after that I painted the room Cookie Crumbs by Pittsburgh Paints. If I'm gonna have a room that's all mine, let me tell you it's gonna be pink. It definitely took me quite some time to pick one color that wouldn't be too Pepto but was still definitely pink. After hemming and hawing I finally decided on Cookie Crumbs and I love it. But then months went on and the unpacked boxes kind of took over so a good de-cluttering was in order. (P.S. The window will be replaced soon as well, it's on the list!).

This shot is a little nook we have at the back of the room that conveniently has its own light and provides lots of great storage.

And here's what we're dealing with under the carpet: dirty old subfloor. But I have plans...

And of course the crazy in-between stage of purging and sorting:

And here's how it looks now:

Of course the room is by no means done, but just one step closer to being both functional and pretty. Obviously the window needs to be replaced and properly dressed, the floors need a facelift, the plastic dresser has got to go, and the mirror must be hung. Hopefully this room will not suffer the same fate as all our other unfinished projects but only time will tell.

Last day of January, what? Can't even believe it.

Sweet Nothings

I love small space living. I love the creativity and organization it demands and how they force people to only keep the things they love for lack of storage for any other frivolity. This is nothing new to the blog of course since I've mentioned small spaces here, here, here, and here and have been blown away by people's creativity and ingenuity to make small spaces not only functional but beautiful.

Here is one more example. Mike and Maddie's Upper West Side apartment. Coming in at under 500 square feet this is a prime example of making a small space so lovely.

I think the consistency of the color scheme is what makes this single floor apartment feel unified. It is obvious that the main color is that beautiful aqua but then it is punctuated by red and yellow in almost every room and kept fresh with lots of white. For an even closer look, head on over to Apartment Therapy and check it out for yourself.

Pretty TP

Last week I picked up this little gem at a thrift store for 75¢ because I loved its colors mixed with the shiny gold and almost instantly I realized it was the perfect size for a roll of toilet paper. I don't know how this inspiration hits me, it's a gift I guess.

See how it shimmers in the photo above? Lovely. Upon further inspection I saw that stamped on the bottom it said Made in England which just adds to the charm. I also think it ties in nicely with the butterflies, no?

So for 75¢ and a good cleaning we now have a pretty way to keep our TP discretely out in the open. Much better than those cardboard ones in my opinion.


On a side note, as I was moving things around in the bathroom to take these shots I realized that some extra shelving could be very useful for everyday bathroom-y things like q-tips and tissues. I think that this wall would be perfect for a few floating shelves that can be both practical and pretty. I'll be sure to add that to The List. I just pulled this shot from my computer to show you what wall I'm talking about and man haven't we come a long way!

Refreshed Entryway

Adding in a hand-me-down dresser to our entryway was one of the smartest decisions we made. Not only does it add tons of storage both in the drawers and below for shoes, it gives me a nice clean surface to decorate 'til my heart's content. When I first put it in place it was sporting some subtle Christmas cheer and a thrift store mirror.

Then the mirror got swapped out for my Matador, I added in a second HomeGoods mercury glass tree and finished it off with some gilded letters from Hobby Lobby.

Now that Christmas is officially behind us (jeez it's almost February!) I toned things down just a tad more and brought in our awesome fan and tons of white in the form of milk glass, ceramics, and pinecones.

 

The middle "goblet" I actually found last night and it completes my collection! Would you believe I bought these at three different thrift stores?! Craziness. I love em so.

And now here's how we are greeted each day:

Still need to get crackin' and replace those way-too-short curtains that came with the house. Hint: they're getting the same treatment as the living room. 

Have a great weekend everybody!

I updated the Tour page to reflect these changes.

Wheredya' Get That?

If you were ever reading through this ol' blog and thought that same question, then this is for you. I have compiled a handy room by room source list for you all that covers everything from our floors to our walls and everything in between. The new "Source List" tab is located next to our "Tour" tab and the old "Amazon Store" tab has now become a link on my sidebar under the traffic feed.

So feel free to poke around at all the new changes and let me know if I missed any items on the source list!

Coat Closet: Phase Two

This past weekend I got to work on phase two of our tool-closet turned coat-closet makeover. This step involved lots of clearing out, moving unnecessary items to the basement, and paring down to the necessities. Only items that we use frequently were allowed to take up our valuable closet real estate. You can check out Phase One of the makeover here.

At Home Depot I picked up a set of brushed nickel closet pole sockets and Dan helped me get them up onto the walls. Basically we measured first from the floor all the way up to where we wanted the pole to hang and marked it on both walls. Then we measured across the closet walls (right and left) to the halfway point and marked that depth at the same point as the height mark. We had to use drywall anchors because there were no studs so after everything was in place we popped on our closet rod. I'm not sure if I'm going to paint the rod either because I don't want the paint to get all scratched from pulling hangers on and off and being slid all around. Since the bare wood kind of matches with the support beams across the back, for now it stays au naturale. (Note: The support beams across the back hold the vertical brackets. The previous owners used this as a pantry so there were shelves at each level)

All ready for stuff

Some $5 wooden hangers fit the bill

Board games and paint get to stay

I wanted to make sure the floors would be protected from things being brought in and out so I laid down our old bath mat and it fit perfectly, like it was meant to be there. Even though it's just temporary.

 

All our tools that used to be in the closet got pared down to the necessities and put into our "new" vintage box. Everything else went down to the basement.

Above the tool box I was able to hang our floor mop...

...which is thankfully hidden from view by our coats.

And here's how things are looking now with our vacuum tucked away nicely on the side. Yay for progress. I think all we need now is a door and we'll be rocking and rolling and hanging our guests coats in style!

P.S. Please excuse the poor lighting. The area around the closet has no overhead lighting so my only option was to bring in the floor lamp. Adding in some overhead lighting is definitely on the list of things we'd like to do...some day.

Updated picture during the day:

(Our kitchen gets crazy amounts of morning light, hence the glare)