First day of School and Cabinet Reveal

Aleena had her first day of Preschool (4 and 5 year old class) today. I remember last year when she cried and didn't want to go, opposed to this year where she has been asking for WEEKS if it was time for school to start yet.

This year there were smiles and even some jumping up and down.

I was the one who dropped her off this year. Usually sweet hubby does but he had just come off a 16 hour work day so I didn't want him driving. The minute she got out of the car she was focused on getting into her classroom and didn't look back once. I was shouting good-bye at her back. She is growing up too fast.

Oh yeah- AND the twins are turning THREE on Thursday. 3!! My babies. We were talking about cupcakes and birthday cakes on the way to pick up Aleena from school and it hit me that on her next birthday, which is only six months away, she will be turning FIVE. Holy cow. Time is just flying. Please tell me I am not the only one having those crazy Mommy moments where you just want to freeze time because you just realized how crazy fast it's going?

As Aleena gets older she is turning into my little artist and will spend hours coloring or painting. The cabinet I am going to show you today she helped me with and she informed me that when she gets older, she is going to paint furniture too. Love that kid.

We bought this cabinet when we were living in our rental. I needed something to hold the printer and some of my sewing supplies and fit into the corner of our dining room. That was a pretty tall order but we found this one on craiglist (of course) and sweet hubby drove to Delaware to get it for me. I have one before picture of this (that I can find) but the others seem to have disappeared.

I am not usually into the waterfall pieces but in the pictures this looked interesting so I was so excited. Until it actually got to our house and I realized there was some pretty extensive veneer issues. The door that is open in that picture had half the veneer buckled from some water damage and someone had tried to (incorrectly) fix it. We lived with it as is for over a year (fits the printer PERFECTLY) and then I decided to mess with it. I took all the veneer off the one door and took off the rusty handles.  I painted it black and searched in vain for an off size cabinet handle that wasn't totally ugly. I didn't like the black so I painted it white with black accents. Didn't like that so I repainted it white. Then I added red accents with a painted top. That didn't turn out exactly how I wanted either. I was ready to give up.

I found out Miss Mustard Seed was releasing a new milk paint color called Artissimo which was a navy blue so I thought I would test it out on this piece and I love, LOVE it!

 

I filled in half of the holes from the old handles and added wood knobs instead. and stenciled the doors. It doesn't match anything in the dining room but I think that will help get me motivated to paint in there.  This is more than just our printer cabinet these days. It's also our coffee station.

 

We are using this cabinet more than ever so I am so glad that I finally like how it looks! Anyone else having a new appreciation for something they have owned for awhile?

My DIY Farmhouse Table

Are you wondering if you read that right? YES you did! I DIYed a farmhouse table and I am so proud of myself! I had a little bit of sweet hubby help but I made this for him for Father's Day (supposed to be for Father's Day but I only finished yesterday) so I didn't want him doing the heavy lifting on this one.

If you are wondering why I made him a table- I will explain. Remember how he very thoughtfully got me this table for Christmas?

I started refinishing it and we got it in the dining room only to discover that it was just too low. It was about 3 inches lower than a dining room table that is made today. While 3 inches may not seem like a lot, it made it very awkward to sit and eat and the hubby HATED it. While I was sad that he was not enjoying the table because there are so many things to like about it- the legs are just lovely for one!- my goal with this house is to find things we BOTH like.

 Since we had just spent money on a table I didn't want to spend a lot of money to replace it. The idea just kind of sat in the back of my mind. I really wanted a farmhouse table but legs aren't cheap and I didn't have much confidence in my building skills. Then I saw a post by City Farmhouse about how to build the easiest farmhouse table.

 

Basically they took a wood trestle table and added the plank top. I had one of those lightbulb ah-ha moments. I figured I could do that. I just needed a table base. I am not real big on trestle tables but I figured I would scour craigslist and just see what I could find.

I had trouble finding something that I could just use the base and when I found one I liked it was far too expensive to just use it for the base. I was really looking for something under $50. The less money the better. Then I found it! (I saved the picture from CL but when I tried to but it on here it was too small.) Someone was selling a table with a metal/wrought iron looking base with a faux marble top. It was missing the piece of glass out of the middle but for only $30 and they lived 5 blocks away. SCORE! I took the faux marble off and put it on Freecycle to get rid of it.That left me with a great base for a farmhouse top. I started scouring Pinterest to see if I could find anything close to give me some ideas. My favorite was this one.

source

 My base wasn't this pretty but I knew I wasn't crazy for thinking I could do it! I also found this 

source 

That isn't a farmhouse top but it's wood with the metal base and it has a bench which I would love to have in our dining room.

Then I started looking for plans to build the top. I knew I liked the farmhouse tables with the breadboard ends like this one.

source

Ana White is an amazing woman who makes plans for all kinds of furniture. Her site is AMAZING. I followed her Farmhouse Table plans. This is the updated version using pocket holes. I bought sweet hubby a Kreg Jig for Father's Day last year so I knew I could do it. 

I would love to tell you that I took all kinds of pictures showing my steps but really I was just praying I could get it to come together before our company arrives today.  I put this on hold when my MIL was coming to visit because there was just too much going on and even though we have been really busy the last few weeks I wanted this project completed! We haven't done any other work on our dining room but I feel like this is a great jumping off point for me! Drum roll please..... my table!

I made the stain myself! I will tell you about it in another post but it matched my cross back chairs perfectly! The other chairs at the table were also a CL find.

They were only $40 for the pair! I LOVE this table. The hubby loves this table.. and neither of us can quite believe I did it. I keep looking at it and maybe petting it a little. The kids even like it! is it perfect? No. But it's sturdy and pretty and I made it myself!

I am off to clean! We have the hubby's best friends staying with us for a week and then 2 Chinese exchange students for four days. I have a lot of cleaning ahead of me but I just had to share.

Anyone else do a big project they are crazy- proud -of recently?

A Rug Conundrum

Conundrum... pulling out the big words today. We are in the final push of getting ready for my in-laws to come visit and let me tell you I didn't get much of anything done on my list. We have been so busy!  I did get a few things done and I haven't stopped yet so we will see what I get accomplished.

I am still pushing forward on the living room and all 4 panels are done for the windows! We are still trying to figure if there is a way to boost the height so I haven't hemmed them yet. But I wanted to talk about rugs today. When we moved in we had fully intended to redo the hardwoods downstairs but we ran into a few problems. So we ended up installing carpet in the living room and dining rug but due to a time crunch didn't have a lot of choices. So we have tan carpet. Boring. For this living room makeover my thought has been to get an area rug for in between the couch and tv. We have had 4 contenders and with the 4th arriving today I think we finally have a winner.

We started out with a rug that I got from Home Depot on a special one day sale kind of thing.

 

I paid $50 with free shipping for this 5' x 8' seagrass rug. I loved the natural fiber, texture and pattern but the scratchiness of the seagrass wasn't working for us. We have two jute rugs in other places in our house and those work great for us but the seagrass wasn't working. This sat in our guestroom for two months before I finally dragged it downstairs and put it on craigslist.  When I listed it the same link that I put in this post showed the rug costing $124 (now it's only $80.) Since we really only used the rug for about a month I asked $40 and that is what it sold for. I feel ok with that!

Our second contender is one we used for about 2 months.

source

This is a little more modern looking than something I would normally pick but I was trying to find something the hubs liked too. I got this one from overstock with coupons and O Dollars it was about $60. It 100% cotton and was good until after 2 months of normal use it started to get really bad pulls. The white diamonds were not woven into the rug they were embroidered ON the rug and were very easy to catch.  I have this rug put away for use somewhere else maybe.

I decided to go back to my inspiration pictures that I had saved on pinterest. I found a lot of natural fiber rugs in the pictures. Since we already tried that route I looked too see if any of the rooms had any other things in common.

source

Notice it? Plaid rugs. I don't think I would have thought of it on my own but after I figured it out it seemed like a pretty good choice. The next trick was to find one. I tried Overstock again and ordered this.

 It was a disaster. It wasn't navy (although the description said it was) it was black. AND it was the scratchiest rug I have ever felt. I didn't even bother to unroll it. I just repackaged it and sent it back.

I searched for navy plaid rugs everywhere and finally found  some luck on pinterest (surprised?) And it led me to this.

I love when they give you more perspective on a rug then just the pattern!  I think it may be the same rug as my second inspiration picture. It's cotton but the pattern is woven in. The beige is in between the cream of our sofa and the tan of our carpet and I LOVE the pattern. It was $200 (ouch!) but I signed up for the email list and got $25 off which covered the shipping at least.

So I think we have Finally found our rug. Anyone else debating a big purchase?

Living Room Progress and Fabric Storage

I am not sure how it seems that we are even busier now that we aren't driving Aleena to school 2 days a week but I feel like I have lost time in the last couple of weeks.

As usual I am in the middle of several projects.  I have the blue kitchen cabinet doors ready to be painted so we can get them rehung, I started curtains for our stair landing to the upstairs, the living room curtains are almost  halfway done and I finally found something that will work for some fabric storage in my sewing room and I started painting it yesterday.

I have big dreams for my sewing room. Here is one of my inspiration pictures.

 

source

I really wanted to find something like that blue cabinet. I have been looking for over a year. The ones I found were either too expensive or I was too late or it just didn't work out. Then I started to realize that not only do we have to carry whatever I find up our awkward stairs but also through our crazy narrow bathroom. That narrowed my choices significantly.

I found this bookcase on craigslist for $50.

It doesn't have the glass sides like my dream cabinet but I think that might be better (less chances of breaking the glass.) It's is fairly small. It's 4ft tall and 30 inches wide and it has some fun details.

I got this from a sweet older couple that actually lived right behind where the hubs works. She was telling me how she would wax it and that she thought that was all it needed. I considered it. My sewing room is all wood and at some point I will get around to painting it white. Then it would be nice to have a wood piece in there. But then I got it home in the bright unforgiving sunlight.

I realized it was a bit more beat up than she probably realized. There are some pretty deep scratches in the sides. But I am ok with that because I don't feel as guilty for painting it now. I can't wait to show you the afters- once I get there!

I thought today would be a good day to give you a curtain preview. I have finished two panels out of four!

I love Love LOVE the way they look! I really wanted to move the curtain rods up so they hung from ceiling to floor. I don't think that is going to happen for two reasons. 1. Our plaster walls are in sad shape and I am not sure they are up for holding that much weight. 2. The crown molding that frames the bump out for the  fireplace is right where the curtain rod would go. So I guess they are staying where they are. I haven't hemmed them yet so if I can figure out how to hang them a little higher I will be very excited. I know that the tiers are still up from the old curtains. I don't mind how they look and the fact that they give us privacy but still let the light in is why I put them up in here in the first place. I am thinking we may have to live with it for a while and see how we feel. The blinds are kind of ugly so I am trying to figure out what to do with them. Suggestions? That is the only thing I miss about the old curtains- they hid the blinds.

I am off to try and make some progress in at least one project this afternoon. Hopefully I have some finished curtains to show you soon! Anyone else feel like they are drowning in projects?

Catching Up- Mother's Day, Family Thrifting and End of the School Year

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile but we all got sick... again. This time it was just a little virus. No throwing up- which I consider a bonus really- but it was over Mother's Day. Not the greatest Mother's Day ever but I got to spend it with my family and that was awesome. Aleena made me something at school.

Have I ever told you how much I lover her teacher? She is great and has the cutest ideas. She traced the kids' hands, cut it out  and mod podged it onto a tile with felt on the back. It's my own little Aleena coaster and I use it every morning when I drink my coffee. The following week my hardworking hubby had a day off in the middle of the week so we all picked up Aleena from school and hit the thrift store, followed by a local plant nursery and Red Robin for lunch. We had a great time! Thrifting is a little more complicated with 3 kids and a husband tagging along but I did manage to find this.

Which is currently hanging out on the shelves over my sink.

 

It was the best make up Mother's day ever. 

The other thing I wanted to share with you is that Aleena has finished her first year of Preschool. I am so proud of her. We really saw her blossom this year. Here she is on her First day of Preschool.

And here she is on her last day of this year.

 

How my Sweet baby girl has grown! The time is just flying by.

We had a real honest to goodness weekend this weekend for the first time in AGES and were able to start making some more progress around the house. Hopefully I will have lots to share with you soon!!

How about a Sneak Peek

at the fabric for the living room curtains?

This is the Braemore Henry Ikat in Navy which we purchased from fabric.com. This fabric usually retails for $24.99 a yard. Little bit more than we wanted to spend so when I found it at fabric.com for $18.98 a yard, plus 40% off, plus free shipping  I was willing to take the leap.I don't know how often they run their sales but when you are buying 12 yards of fabric 40% off is the way to go. I figure if we paid full price we would have paid $300. Instead we spent $137 on enough fabric to do four ceiling to floor panels in a room with  9 foot ceilings. 

Some of you are probably scratching your head at my fabric choice because this doesn't look like something I would typically pick. With this room makeover I have been pushing more for the Hubby's input (and he has been offering it more even when I don't want it.) We are putting some money into this makeover and I want it to be a room that we both enjoy. That being said- we have VERY different styles. This fabric was one of the few that we agreed on. When the fabric first came and I saw how big the pattern was I got a little nervous. I finally got around to cutting it up so I could start sewing and I couldn't resist "trying it out."

I had to stand on the chair to get it up there and I could barely reach but with this little preview I fell in LOVE! I cannot wait until I can get these made and hung. Guess I had better get that sewing machine warmed up.

Anyone else working on some big sewing projects?

~R

Lilacs and Living Room Progress

Happy Monday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I was fairly busy this weekend trying to get the bigger pieces of the living room in place. Also this weekend our lilacs finally bloomed. They smell SO good. When we bought the house last year the yard was a pretty big mess. Matthew spent a LOT of time last year clearing brush and fighting poison ivy (which resulted in 2 trips to the ER.) We have two lilac bushes but last year the white one was so overgrown with poison ivy that it never flowered.

The white lilac is on the right with just 2 branches which looks funny but it has quite a few blooms. The purple lilac on the left is much bigger but it seems to have fewer blooms this year. This is the view from our back steps. We don't really like staring at our neighbor's wood pile but we don't want to plant anything else back there until we have the poison ivy under control. Sweet Hubs did cut us a few blooms though.

They are brightening up our fireplace mantle.

Since the shiny gold of the fireplace is so distracting, here is a picture of just the mantle.

This is the first time since we moved in that the fireplace mantle is decorated so I love it, plus the lilacs are making the whole living room smell so good!

On the other side of the room we finally have a desk!

I am so happy we finally have a designated desk area! We don't have a  "desk chair." We have the chairs that I refinished that sit right next to the desk so we can turn one and use it whenever we need. If we just need the desk to be a table or a serving area if we have company we just take away the computer and leave the chair facing forward.

We are keeping it real by leaving the cords and paper shredder visible but at least they aren't sitting out in the open which they have been for the 17 months that we have lived here. By visible I mean you would trip on the computer cord walking through the dining room because the cord had to go from the wall over to the table. I am so happy it is tucked away now.

I got the drawer front sanded and stained and got to put on the pretty pull. It makes me smile.

I wanted to show you a picture of at least this half of the room all painted. It's hard to photograph with the way the sun comes in. There really isn't a good time of day to take pictures but I will show you my attempt.

 

It feels so light and airy in here to me now. We have come a long way in just a few weeks and with minor changes.

 

If you go back to how it looked when we looked at the house the first time I think we have come an even longer way! Before...

And After...

Yay!!!  All the big pieces are in place so I can start tackling smaller things now like curtains and hanging things on the walls.  I actually think I am fairly close to feeling like it is "done." What do you think?

The fireplace is going to have to stay an eye sore until we can come up with a plan or win the lottery (just kidding.) Anyone have some suggestions?

~Rosemary