Table Legs and Curtains

The next two projects to blog about will be the table legs debacle and the living room curtains I'm planning on making soon.

Perhaps Everything Happens for a Reason

Originally the plan for this room was to be orange with the orange curtains I was making from my Ikea fabric.  Well our Ikea trip turned out successful but not for my material.  I did not have enough for the small window, only the two big ones.  These Ikea curtains jumped out at me as I was walking away from their window treatment area and I literally ran back to get them!  What I love most about them is that they have the cafe curtains style with the grommets on top.  I love how they look when hung!

So I purchased the curtains, a little worried that working backwards again would lead the same problem I had in my bathroom.  I worked backwards from my shower curtain, and after painting the bathroom, decided I didn't like the shower curtain with the color anymore.  This time, we were successful! 

I looked back at my paint chips and fell in love with the color Blue Aguave by Behr.  However, we had a coupon for Lowes, and I've had good success with Valspar, so I decided to see if they had a similar color.  They didn't! BUT, they were able to make my Behr color anyways! They tinted my paint the color I wanted!  Now, if you are tinting paint, you cannot return it.  Make sure you like it before you ask them to make you your color.  No regrets here!

 So, I joked with one of my friends today that I really should have name this blog "Things I Saw on Pinterest that I'm Going to TOTALLY Try."  Here is one of them!  Line your paint tray with aluminum foil! I had tried this on the bathroom upstairs, but didn't have foil big enough.  This time I made sure I did. 

 Prepping to paint the room took me about two hours to tape the entire room off last night.  This time I even taped off the ceilings.  It worked out really well.  Usually I free hand it and it works just fine too, however, this cut the "cutting in" portion of painting down drastically!  

 This morning I corralled the pups in the bathroom and they watched me paint from behind the gate.  

 I started around 8:30am and had finished the first coat by lunch time from top to bottom.  By 2:00pm I was finished painting! What a workout it was!

 Look how straight the ceilings are! So crisp looking! I'm definitely doing this in all my painting endeavors from now on.

 My curtains from Ikea really ended up looking quite good with the color we chose.

 This panorama photo is a little awkward but gives you an idea of the room.

 My new pillows from Ikea flank the futon.

 The children's corner.  As you can see there are pictures to be hung.  My that'll be for another day.  No we don't have children, but we do have Godsons/Nephews! 

Looking forward to getting the photos up tomorrow!

Ikea Trip: Semi-Success!

I had some success at my Ikea trip! The biggest disappointment was that they were temporarily out of the orange fabric that I was going for.  The big bummer about that was-guess when it was due to arrive.  Tonight.  Oh well, better luck next time.  I can always find a reason to go back to Ikea.

My loot:
-picture frames $2 a piece
-decorative pillows $13 a piece
-curtains (2 panels in each package) $25
-candle $5
-kitchen counter "spoon holder" - $5
-chalkboard/bill organizer $14

It was still a successful trip and I was able to bring my best friend and her baby on their first trip!  Even though we didn't eat any Swedish meatballs, we still both found some amazing things and didn't break the bank!

Project for tomorrow: the den/family room will be painted! I've already made a dent in taping off the room. (If you want to do something well, you have to make sure you spend time prepping!)  Can't wait to show off my progress tomorrow!

Friday Night: Planning for Saturday Ikea Trip & My Pups

Tonight I'm getting mentally ready for my trip to Ikea tomorrow.  Planning out budget, must buys, and what would be nice to buy!  I am taking my best friend who has never been!  She's going to have too much fun.  Ikea is like my amusement park.  

My handsome puppy Jackson wants to know why I'm browsing the internet instead of petting him.  He doesn't mind the unorganized, not styled home he's living in (he probably approves of the piles of clothes and linens that need to be sorted, washed, unpacked still after a month of us having moved in).  We were so happy to finally have a HOME for Jackson and our other wonderful pup Mr. Darcy.  

We've had them both now for over 4 years; in that time they've lived at now 5-6 places.  Now they get to be home.  Jackson was originally Ryan's dog that we got our senior year of college as a puppy.  He's lived in Farmville with me in my apartment, moved into my husband's townhouse six months later when school was over.  I rescued Mr. Darcy a year after we had gotten Jackson from a local vets office my friend was working at.  He was a stray who wandered over to their offices and lived there for a few months until I adopted him.  He lived with me at home for about six months.  Finally we moved in together, and they lived in a condo in Glen Allen together for two years and then a house in the Ginter Park area of Richmond. During our transition from the Ginter Park house to our home we were temporarily "homeless." They could not stay with me where I was staying, so they stayed with our good friends in Farmville.  Finally, after years of moving, they get to be home!  

We don't plan on moving for a LONG time.  

Can't wait to show you my finds at Ikea tomorrow.

Picture Progress

We got a few more photos in, this technique is really helpful to make sure the photo you hang is the right distance away from the others. Husband simplified the ripping the paper off; he starts the nail and hook where he wants it. Then just hammering enough to make a mark on the wall, removes it and the paper. After he finishes the nail in the wall and hangs the photo.
I am thinking about exploring Hobby Lobby tomorrow for some Bs to go on the wall as well. I've seen several on pinterest in their stairwell assortment of pictures and I'm a fan.

Bathroom Update- Work in Progress

The bathroom is coming along quite well! The color looks great, the new fixtures are hung and functional (the previous toilet paper holder was located above where the trash can is in the photo.)  The windows are better, but still lacking window treatments.  We did find a nice window film to tide us over, providing us with privacy-but we're still not sold on any specific type of curtain.  Any thoughts?

When we had gotten the first part of the window up!

Bathroom Checklist:

paint the walls- Summerhouse Blue by Valspar

hang fixtures- Moen from Lowes

window treatments

new trashcan

bathroom "art"
Shower curtain-Target

*new floor* (we have in our possession new vinyl leftover from someone's kitchen project that would be lovely, however, we're not sure if we have enough or if we can seam together to fit.)

What else do you think this bathroom needs?

270 Colors to Win!

Planning Out the Den on Election Night

I've been gathering paint chips, fabric scraps, and perusing pinterest for ideas to decorate my "den" with.  This room is currently the main living area, or the comfy room.  It has the television and the comfy couches.  When we expand our family, the house was built for this room to be the master suite, but for now it is better suited for entertainment.

Here is the space I am working with.

My inspirations! 

I have been inspired by fabric I purchased from Ikea several months ago and have saved to create curtains.  (Under the fabric you can see my decorative helper taking a nap) I love the grey palate with the orange, and I'm debating colors to paint the wall.  So I've gone as far as getting a bunch of paint chips and taping them to the wall so I can look at them and debate.

'

I know, it looks absolutely crazy.  The nice thing about this is that I can see the colors in different lights and times of day and I have already vetoed several.  I want to make sure that I do NOT paint my entire house blue, which I'm sure I would if I had no self control.  I think the top leading color at the moment is in the orange family, called "sweet carrot" a Behr color, which is more of a dark tan color with hints of orange.  I'm not sure if this is too "matchy matchy" or if I should perhaps consider the purple or green family.  Both I think would compliment the fabric.

Some of my pin-spirations:
color palette
living room

I look forward to showing you the progress of my space!

My Blank Canvas- The Empty House Tour

So let me take you on a tour.  Of OUR house! It is still so exciting to be able to say our house!

We really are excited and a little overwhelmed about all of the space, but look forward to being able to grow into this home for years to come.

Let's start at the top and work our way down.
Upstairs we have two cape-cod, sloped ceiling bedrooms with average sized closets, a full bathroom, and our "nook"

 Bedroom #1 (this is before it was our house- at our final walk through!)

 Stairwell and "nook"

 Slightly awkward but pretty spacious linen closet in the bathroom.

 Bedroom #2 (They are almost, but not quite identical)

 The hallway nook.

Here you can see where the dormer windows provide the nook and bathroom spaces with normal height ceilings.

 

My kitchen!

I love the view outside of this window, just trees!

I am in love with all of the counter space!

Hallway & door to the basement.

Main floor water closet/off the master bathroom.

The tub (I'd love to get rid of it one day and have a walk-in shower) 

The master bedroom which is currently our den/tv room.

The eat-in kitchen area and counter. Yeah, that's going to need some painting.

Living room.

And again.

Laundry.

Now, to the basement!

 Steps to the "apartment"

 Main room of the apartment.

 Strange half-kitchen. (There is a sink!)

 Bedroom in the basement (This will hopefully become our craft room - every Girl Scout's dream is to have a craft room!)

 Other side of the basement bedroom/craft room.

Big basement closet! (Previous owner's belongings left behind)

 The one painted room in the entire house.  The ugly blue bathroom.  

 The utility side of the basement.  

Welcome to our house! I look forward to showing you how we change it into our home!

Our Slightly DIY Tartan-Travel-Cheesecake Wedding

It has been almost a year since I married my sweetheart.  What a year we've had!  All I can say is that I am proud to be his wife and look forward to all of the adventures our life has in store for us yet!  As we near closer to our first anniversary as man and wife I thought it would be really awesome to show you a little of our wedding that I worked so hard to come to life.

Now, this was not completely a DIY wedding.  When it came down to it, I knew there was only one of me, and only 24 hours in a day.  So thanks to family, friends, and some really great vendors, especially my photographer Lucy O Photo whose beautiful photos I've included below, I was able to pull off my tartan-travel-cheesecake wedding.

 My bouquet. I used the colors of the my husband's families tartan (did you know each family name has a tartan associated with it?) I'm glad his was full of beautiful fall colors.

 My two garters hand made for me by one of my lovely and talented aunts.

 My bridal party flowers.

 My headpiece- Now THIS was a DIY project that I could not be more proud of.  I used a piece of embellished trim and two flower clips I found at H&M.  I cut the trim to size, added a piece of ribbon to each side so the headband could be tied and the ends of the ribbon hidden under the hair.  I detatched the clips from the flowers and hand stitched them to the trim.

 The tartan tie, the inspiration for the entire wedding.  We had this tie for a few years, and it is my husband's favorite.  I carried it with me for wedding planning purposes.

 Altar flowers.

 Here you can see the colors of the tartan carried throughout the wedding party.  The bridesmaids wore navy blue with red shoes, the junior bridesmaids in hunter green with navy shoes.  The groomsmen (and lady) in black & navy the ushers in red.

 Another of my DIY projects! My mom made the table runners out of a very close tartan fabric we found at Joann's.  These red mosaic vases we found at Kohl's after Christmas and got very cheap!  If you begin planning a year ahead, you can get themed items on sale after the holidays!

 The bases of the centerpieces are pieces of tree cut by my uncle with fake leaves and real pine cones- Each of the tables were named after a city.

 Our wedding luggage tag favors- I bought this pattern which was very well written and helpful.  It was a labor of love, but was eventually successful with help from MANY friends and family members to get them cut, ironed, folded, sewn, grommets hammered... they turned out great though! Even now I hear from guests that they used their tags on vacation!  They're sturdy and colorful!

The pins on the tartan bobbles were for guests to place on the map which you will see below.

 I am not a cake person.  We decided that at our wedding we would have cheesecakes.  They were splendid!

 Our map, you can see Virginia awkwardly at the bottom, the idea was that since we were having guests attending from all over the world (farthest was Japan) that people could put their pin where they traveled from.  Some guest got a little creative though!

 Instead of a guestbook we had a photo book of our engagement photos for people to sign.  This is now our coffee table book!

My last DIY project that I'm quite proud of- the collection of family wedding photos from both of our families in one beautiful display!

This was one remarkable and amazingly meaningful day that I'm proud of being a part of and organizing/designing!