snap, snap, snap

Get ready for lots of show-and-tell photos - yep, that's right, I found my camera! Since I'm terrible at remembering 'Before Shots' (I'm always just too excited to get started with a project), you'll just have to visualize this area with all beige walls and tools, bins and random paper bags strewn everywhere! Not to mention the shopvac, baseboard trim and uninstalled doors!


I thought this blue was so calming - it's very similar to the color in my craft room. The kids love doing their homework here and it keeps everything off our dining room table so I'm not just moving piles of papers from one countertop to the next. It's also easier for them to keep track of their homework papers. And now their backpacks aren't on the floor by the front door either! I decoupaged a board with an old Curious George book and Gavin added the hooks.


I still had the inspiration to decoupage, so I made this homework clipboard to keep their papers organized. We'll see if it holds up through the year.


And finally this bookcase I grabbed for $3 at a thrift shop, so I painted it orange and decoupaged pages from old books. The color inspired me on the opposite wall of this room which I turned into our reading corner.


So this is our new reading corner and we are always finding ourselves hanging out in here. It's not a great shot of the olive green chair I picked up off Craigslist, but it fits me and Worker Boy quite comfortably with a good book! It's been a lot of fun pulling each piece together to make such a comfy little nook. Can you tell I'm just a little proud??


This cabinet I found at the Goodwill - it was all wood with the ugliest starburst brass knobs! So I painted it, scuffed it and put on a glaze and new knobs and I'm so happy with it. It's a great piece with great storage.


I went nuts with this fabric combination. Now I just need to get in and sew up some coordinating pillows to bring all the colors together! I can hardly wait.


In the midst of creating new livable spaces, I organized our mudroom which was a complete disaster. Eventually we'll install cabinets (I love being able to close doors for a clean look), but for now this is soooo much better. Each kid has their own shelf with a basket for shoes and a bin for miscellaneous stuff like soccer gear, dance stuff, jumpropes, etc. Notice the paint chips on the wall? We'll see what happens next. I'm really enjoying adding color on our walls.


My desk needed some serious attention too - so I forced myself to go through most of the stuff and I got bins for the things that didn't really have a spot.


I've still got a long way to go this year, but I feel like this is a good start; "a great shot in the arm" as Gavin and I say. Hopefully the walls, furniture and organization distracted you from noticing our concrete floors (rough concrete, not the en vogue stained and polished kind) or lack of baseboards and window trim! I can hardly wait to sink my teeth into those projects.

More to come.....

House Project Mania

So I've been on quite a kick with getting our house to feel less like a remodel and more like a home! It's been a 5 year (yes, I did say FIVE) project and I've vowed to myself (and my family) that this year while the kids are in school I will be deep cleaning, completely overhaul our organization (or lack thereof) and actually decorate our home!

The moment the kids went back to school I was scouring (literally!) all our local thrift shops, goodwill & some antique shops - although there is quite a difference in pricing between all these! I've also been garage saling and craigslisting (did I just make up a new word?). Tomorrow I'll be meeting a woman at a halfway mark for a cool olive green velvet chair for our new little reading nook.

I've been such a fanatic about this new vision for our home, that I have completely neglected everything else - like blogging, even finishing sewing projects! Those cool grocery bags are still half-finished in a heap on my table. I haven't even thought about touching my watercolors - although I have painted, glazed and decoupaged quite a bit of furniture & room decor! I now have a pale blue wall opposite a burnt orange wall. I've bought at least a dozen fat quarters of coordinating fabric so I can make throw pillows and other stuff to pull it all together.

Anyway, I will be a lot more sparse this year with my blog because I am trying to be truly dedicated to finally finishing our home. I still have to work out cabinets thoughout the house, tile floor in the mudroom, closet organizers, floor, door & window moulding, painting all the trim, carpet in our bedroom and most likely engineered hardwood in the living room. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to coordinate all this and am looking forward to feeling great accomplishment at each step of the way.

I don't have any photos right now of my progress because a) I haven't taken any yet and b) I think I may have left my camera in Oregon over the weekend. I will be searching through our bags with the hope that it's deep down in a pocket somewhere. I will definitely post photos intermittently during the year.