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.....

completion

I actually finished putting the glaze on the cabinet today - yea! I'm very excited about the results - especially since this is the first time I've attempted something like this. I still need to apply the clear varnish (otherwise I'm worried that dust will collect in droves since it's kind of sticky) and then put on the new hardware when it arrives.

For those who didn't see it the first time, here's the memory of the ugly cabinet's past life....


And here's the makeover version! Sorry about the clarity, I wanted natural light instead of the flash. I promise a better photograph for the final product.



Since I have all the supplies still out, I'm thinking about doing the same process to a wall shelf I've never done anything with. It should turn out pretty cute. And then I thought maybe I'll do a giveaway with it. What do you think? If you're interested in participating in the blue-glazed shelf giveaway, just leave a comment to this post and I'll draw a name from a hat next Monday.

progress...

I thought it would be a good idea to show my progress on the ugly cabinet - which is not so ugly anymore, by the way! When I put on the first coat of blue paint - Bay of Fundy (funky name, hunh!) - I kept telling myself not to freak out since the white primer was showing through. So by the second coat I was a lot happier with the results and almost considered putting on the varnish and skipping the whole scuffing and glazing altogether since I'd never done that before! But I forged ahead (more photos to come).

It's amazing how quickly a project progresses when someone else is occupying the kids and you decide not to worry about the appearance of the house! BUT, then that time period is over, you have to return to reality and the project gets put out in the Back 40! I worked a little bit today right up until getting dinner started couldn't be delayed any longer. I think I see a window of opportunity on Sunday?? Wow, that's pretty far away.

Here's a fun quiz if you have a few spare minutes...

Take the Quiz here!

way too much going on!

I have so much to catch you up on!
Two weeks ago we did a really cool project for the 1st grade art lesson and now it's all put together. The students each got a section of the picture to paint with just three colors and they didn't know what the whole picture was.


The point was that they were more focused on the colors and mixing them than on the end result of their painting.


They loved seeing it all put together a few days later.


I feel so honored because the teacher wants to put it up for Open House this Thursday. We also worked on their end-of-the year art portfolios.

I don't know about you, but it suddenly seems like there's a lot more to do between now and the end of the school year. Open House, field trips, talent show, luncheons, parties to plan, not to mention teacher gifts! I'd love to hear any cool teacher gift ideas that are not too time consuming.

Plus, I've got lots of my own stuff too! I've been working on that ugly cabinet I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.


I'm still not done, but I'm at the antiquing part now. I'll just show a few photos now and gradually add more as I progress. I was very thankful for Gavin's orbital sander which helped speed along a normally very slow step in the process.


And Sunshine helped paint the primer in all the corners - there were a lot of them!

We also finally planted the veggies in the garden. I asked Gavin to run out this evening to reinforce the wire fence to protect the garden from greedy deer! We'd all be so crushed if everything got eaten. It was a great way to spend Mother's Day (Happy Mother's Day, by the way, to all you wonderful, hardworking moms out there!) - the whole family outside digging in the dirt, getting the soaker hose ready, babying the seedlings. Now the hardest part is waiting for the harvest. The kids and I painted pictures of the veggies on scrap wood a few weeks ago, so we put them out next to the seedlings - we hope to put them on stakes soon.


So, of course, in the midst of this flurry of activity and busy-ness, I had to buy material for curtains for the kids' rooms - as if I needed another project! Actually everything was $2 a yard! I thought this fabric looked like buildings in a city, perfect for Worker's construction-themed room.


The girls have pink and purple walls and didn't really need a busy pattern, so this seemed just right.


I'm not too sure when I will get to them, even though curtains aren't that difficult. It all boils down to time.

Please don't even ask me about the Everyday in May thing - I haven't touched any of my watercolor supplies since last weekend. Maybe I'll be more dedicated in the summer?? Wait, the kids will be home all day wanting me to be their Planning Director. Despite my perceived complaining, I'm definitely looking forward to summer days and not having as tight of a schedule. The kids and I are starting to put together a list of projects (most are not that big) that we can do together. I'll keep you posted.

Estate Furniture Finds

We didn't exactly go to an estate sale, rather, it came to us! My mother-in-law cleared out her mom's house so she can rent it out and had all the furniture and boxes of stuff sent to our house so we could go through it all. I thought there might be a few things, but I think I got caught up in the moment because we ended up with a lot of stuff!

We had so much fun on Friday and Saturday discovering trinkets, letters, coins and gadgets in each box. Gavin just sat and read through his grandfather's letters, journals and looked through a lot of old photos. His grandfather didn't talk much about his earlier years, but apparently he was quite the conservative Scottish rebel at Oxford - and quite handsome too!


This is Arthur's desk and chair. It has a bookcase on the other side if we wanted it to face out and the desktop is made of leather.


I was so happy to have a nice bookcase for storage.


I just love this sidetable that now sits in our bedroom. The tabletop is white marble.


This dresser was made in Sweden and is in excellent condition. I told Gavin I didn't know where to put it, but I'd find a place! Notice all the dishes I found on top of the dresser. There's a really nice cabinet with glass doors that I plan to use like a hutch. I will finally be able to display my grandmother's china!


This cute cabinet is for storing silver. I found several sets of silver (probably not complete) with interesting designs. We'll have a silver-polishing party sometime.


We also got a lot of art to put up. Most of it is very serene with muted colors. This is a large piece and will add interest to a plain wall.

Some of the styles I might not pick out if I were shopping in a store, but it's been fun getting all these eclectic additions for our home and adding character to each room.

There's another armoire we'll bring into the house when Gavin gets some help (not me!). It's pretty ugly in its current condition, but I'm planning on painting it and then distressing and antiquing it. Hope it works! But it'll be great storage for the kids' art supplies and gift wrapping materials. Ugly photo soon to come.