ITS TIME TO VOTE!!!!!

YO YO YO

I need your help!

Please vote for me!!!!!! 

A few posts back, I mentioned I entered my bedroom in Mandi of Vintage Revival's Epic Makeover contest.  But the only way I can win if if YOU vote for me!!!! 

So please, go to Vintage Revivals and vote for me.  I am #12!
Voting starts at MIDNIGHT tonight (Saturday...or, I guess that means Sunday?)

quick {inexpensive} closet DIY!

My closet

The bane of my existence at times.

Our first house, I had a nice big closet that was built into a dormer. For the most part, a walk-in closet, but you had to hunch over as you went in.

Our second house, I had a wonderful, heavenly walk-in, complete with built-ins.  I even banished my husband's stuff to the guest room.

This house? Not loving the closet sitch.  Apparently, they didn't think highly of storage in the 1920's?

This was my closet {judgment passing not allowed}.  Louvered doors from hell aside, I had a bad relationship with this closet.  Thankfully, I no longer had a 'business professional' wardrobe to stuff into my closet, but I do have to share with the family coats.

Say what?

Yeah. See that brown in the back? That's the door that is in the foyer/sunroom.  Good times. 

 

One morning, it was the final straw - the doors fell off the track for their last time and hubs ripped them off and said, "I think you need a closet organizer."

I said, "you think? gee. I've been saying for years."

So I cleaned out the closet...

 

{looking left. see the door?}

{standing in the closet. looking right. not very big, huh?}

This wasn't a planned project, so we didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. Hubs went to Lowe's and the guy working happened to be a contractor and helped him. Easy peasy and cheap.

Well, in all reality, it would have been easy peasy lemon squeezy if it were not for that darn door and the thick 1920's trim surrounding it. So boards had to be screwed into the plaster, first, to make things flush.

2 days later, I had a closet, sans doors (if history repeats itself, that will take a good year or so).  Its not perfect, but its 

oh

so

much

better!

{afterall, I do share a closet with the coats}

 

i got these white fabric bins at walmart. shudder. but they were the only ones i found in that size. i have things like my bathing suits in one, workout shorts in another, and sports bras & tanks in a third. i need to label them all cute and stuff. and oh, the nice thing about 1920's houses? tall ceilings. i have that extra row up there for stuff i don't need often

I emptied my dresser because we're painting the bureau and putting it in the boys' room. I actually like having my stuff on the shelves better. I can see my tank and tee colors. And I put my jeans w/ the waistbands out, even though its not as neat, because I saw on Jill GG's Good Life blog that she did it and I wanted to be a copycat liked the idea of being able to tell which jeans are which (not that I have tons of jeans).

 

{that backwards bin on the left houses the kids mittens and hats. the bin atop that has my leggings. crap - i have a whole bin-o-leggings at age 37.  what has this world come to?  the one on the right has my unmentionables and socks}

My sandals are shoved into this handing organizer, but not all my shoes fit in there. The rest are stuffed in a crate. So I think I need another solution.

So, until the doors are on, there ya have it!  Under $200.  And I managed to empty a bureau and a night stand! Go me! So for our new dressers, all I will need drawers for are my PJs and yoga pants! Woot!

 

The one where things don't go as planned

I have a closet that I have hated for years. And years. And well, since we moved into this house.  Its a closet that is in my bedroom, but that also shares a door on the backside with the foyer, which makes it the coat closet (wth?).  I will post before and after pics on when its done. Because the hubs is currently making it fabulous.

But in the meantime, earlier today as I was removing everything from said closet, he commented on a suspicious crack in it and I commented on the bubbled paint that was opposite it, in our room, that's been that way for about a year now.  He handed me a crowbar and away I went.  The paint came off -several colors of it - in big sheets.  Exposing this.

That's actually black.  Nice, huh?
Now, I am pretty sure that the walls were not that peachy-beige color when we moved in. So I can't be certain how long its been like that. But I would think we would have noticed it when we painted the room, right?
The good thing is that the wall was not wet. The mold was not wet.  But it smelled.  And dang, I have a headache.
The bad thing? We have no idea where the water is coming from. An ice dam last year? Soffits? Do we need to tear off the plaster and lathe? I hope not. If its fixable from the outside, can I just bleach what's been exposed and then can we seal the wall?  I have no idea, but right now, I am cursing my 1920's house.

Kitchen DIY on a Budget

Brittany at Love Stitched is having a SHOW ME YOUR KITCHEN! day, so here it goes!

We bought out house in July of 2003. The former owners had lived her for around 32 years and while they had taken good care of it, it certainly needed lots of updating. But it had good bones and we knew we could work with it. Afterall, we had owned 2 houses prior to this, each of them for 2 years, and we had updated the heck out of those.

But... we didn't take my pregnancy - with twins - and our toddler into account.  Oh, and the bedrest (in the hospital till they arrived, not even at home) shortly after we moved in. So, to keep it short, we're still updating stuff in this house.

The kitchen. OH the kitchen. When we moved in, it was god awful. I should have taken photos. There was this wallpaper on the walls.

 

And the cabinets were a cream color w/ a country blue moulding in the center of them (not sure of the name for that). Nasty.  And the flooring was 80's vinyl.  We hired someone to tear the wallpaper off and found layers of paint and wallpaper under. How cool is this paper?

So what we did to make it liveable was to put in new, cheap vinyl flooring and paint the cabinets white and replace all the knobs. And paint the walls, of course.

 

 

We lived like this for a few years, but frankly, using the kitchen was miserable. I hated that kitchen. The counters were nasty textured that I felt were never clean. And when I'd open those drawers, sawdust would fall into the cabinets below.

So we took the leap - on a limited budget - and tore it all out. We made a decision not to do custom cabinetry or to tear out any walls or anything like that, because with the housing market how it was, we were sure that we'd not get it back. We tried to maximize our space, trying to add a cabinet/fridge in the cabinet/desk...anything we could think of, on that empty wall. But there's limited walk-thru space and we couldn't make it happen.  So we stuck with the current layout.  And it was HARD.  In order to get a full-sized dishwasher (because we didn't move the plumbing), we were limited in the fridge design/style and size (well, unless we didn't want the dishwasher to open).  And we could only get a single bowl sink b/c of the space/dishwasher.  But we made it work. While being frugal, we tried to stay true to the style of the home. We DIY, except for hiring out for someone to replace a pipe and for someone to do the finish carpentry and install the window.  Oh, and the floor. Oh the floor.

We started to DIY, but found that there were too many layers. Our current floor (different than the first vinyl we put in when we moved in), subfloor, the fug floral vinyl, subfloor, and then asbestos tile glued to the wood floor.  Oy vey!

We took a leap of faith that the floors would be salvegeable and hired a flooring company to remove and refinish them back the the original maple.  Look at that nasty glue!

 

Holla! It worked! The finished product!!!

{curtains yet to be made/hung}

 

The only pics I have hanging up :(

My littles, back in 2005

Photogs I took in NOLA 2 yrs ago

See that material?  That's going to be my awesome curtains I am going to make for both kitchen windows. Very soon. And I took the cushions off the bench b/c they were nasty dirty. I need to recover them, but first need to find a fabric that won't show dirt or pet hair! And we hate that window. HATE IT. It will be replaced in the next 12 mos.

That's an ikea chopping block thingey that we've made into a breakfast bar since we don't have an eat-in kitchen. Can't put a table back there by the window b/c to the left, there's 2 doorways - 1 for upstairs, 1 for the back door/basement.

We're not done. And I am not talking about the curtains and window, either.  We got cheap countertops and I hate them.  I mean, they're much better than what we had, but a year or so from now, we'll get something better with an undermount sink (I think that's what I hate most...that I dont have that).  Because it looks like we're here to stay for awhile.

Master Bedroom, Part 3

Baby steps.
In previous posts, I've talked about our MBR woes...the size, our limited options, etc.  Well, I got the bedding, and I love it, but I need some decorating advice, please!

First, here's the bedding's real color.

Second...I intend on getting a 3rd layer of pillows to put against the headboard.  If anyone has seen a fabric or a sham in the store that they think would look good, please share!

Third....I purchased a few of these leafy pillows yesterday, simply because they were a good form and on clearance for $3 at Target (woot!). My intention was to make a cover for them.  Does it look horrid w/ the bed?
Note: the trim on the shams and comforter is actually labeled 'espresso', but in my eyes, its black.

Fourth...I think I am ok w/ the furniture being brown. It brings some warmth to the room. And well, it would have to be sprayed to be painted. And frankly, its a PITA to move b/c its clunky and huge.  What I'd love to do is try and sell it on CL since I don't love it, but I want to find some new stuff, first. But anyway....

Finally....walls. Oh the walls. What color???

Master Bedroom...Whaddya Think?

A few days ago, I posted about our bedroom woes.  Yet no one chimed in. C'mon people...wassup wit dat? I need help. Fo reals!
I got to losing myself in looking at websites and discovered that I did, indeed, really like this comforter from Target. Because as I said, I am so over the whole duvet thing. Done. Finito.

My walls are blue. And according to the reviews on Target's site, this is more mustard-y in person. So we'd fo sho have to paint the walls. And we're ok with that.
Right now (as in, today), this is a 360 of our seriously lacking, cracker box of a MBR. With little pieces of love taped up on the walls/mirror, courtesy of 3 little people:

 

 {standing in the doorway, looking at my sloppily made bed with the Duvet From Hell. And evidence that a small person slept in my bed last night. And those closet doors. Man how I despise those doors. Off with the doors!!!!}

 

 {Standing in front of the chest of drawers at the foot of the bed.  Next to the nightstand, jammed in the corner is my tall jewelry/flower/scarf chest}

 {Standing in the closet, looking over the bed at the bureau and mirror}

 

{looking down from the head of the bed towards the chest of drawers. doorway to the left}

{oh look! the fabric for the dining room chairs that I bought a year ago! pretend you never saw that, mnkay? I love that chair. I would love to reupholster it. I wish I had the proper place for it. I think it would be wonderful at my desk if I had a more girly desk}

So my idea is this... since I can't get rid of the furniture right now, what about painting it?? I thought about black after seeing this

image from here

Thoughts? Opinions? Rearrangements? HELP!!!

Thanks!

xo

Bedroom Woes.

I hate my bedroom.
Part of the issue is that we moved here from a home where we had a hulking master bedroom and our furniture (and more) fit just fine in it.  And now? We have this teeny tiny little box of a room. Not much of an oasis.  And I'd be ok with it, except that I do think it important that my bedroom be somewhat of a sanctuary. I need that to sleep. Otherwise I go through bouts of insomnia. And I am not a nice mom or wife (heck, I am not a nice human) when I am operating on 3 hrs sleep and a marathon of Intervention.

We have a 4-ish bedroom home. 2 up, 2 down. We're down, as is the 'den' (formerly the playroom).  The den does not have a door and the doorway was widened, so its not an option.
When we first moved in, we resided upstairs. The thought being that there was no way I could nurse twins (let alone the crying and the sleep apnea monitor) and get up at night after a c-section and do the steps.  Problem was, that left one child needing to be downstairs, alone. No bueno. I did not feel good about that. Nor will I feel good about that when they are teens :)  Also? Our honkin' furniture wouldn't fit up our 1920's curved staircase w/ the low ceiling. Good times.  We could get rid of it, sure. But we do have a new mattress that cost an arm & a leg and there's no split box spring. And the kids. So its not an option.
So we're stuck in our box. And I need to make it an oasis.  I tried with the blue paint. It screamed relaxing to me. But the bedding? I hate. It attracts dog and cat hair like mad.  And I am so over the duvet. I announced to C that last night, when I restuffed the duvet after washing it, that it was the final time. I am so done with that horse and pony routine.
So here's what I've got....

The bedroom is arrange differently than what it is in this photo. Bed is under the window, facing out. Dresser on wall where headboard was in this photo. Highboy still where it is in this photo.

The furniture is that mission style stuff.
Closet doors are a MUST GO. Hate the louvers. Hate them. Need some nice panel ones to match the other ones in the house.
Blue? Not attached. Willing to paint.
Bedding? Any color is an option.
I have one night stand.  I'd like 2. Or a table. And I need some cute lamps to flank the bed.

HELP ME DECORATE. Thriftily.  Ideas?????? I do like some of the Dwell Studio stuff Target has right now. Any comments on the quality?

Bathroom Facelift

Years ago, we redid the bathroom. When we bought this 1920's house, someone had already 'updated' the bathroom. Horribly, horribly updated it. There was this paneling on the wall. Only it wasn't a wood paneling. It was a metal, faux wood paneling.

It was glued the wall. And nailed. Fab. The tile that was under it wasn't ceramic tile, though. This photo does not do it justice. No... it was a peachy-colored metal tile.

I know y'all love that light fixture/medicine cabinet.

The husby tiled over the 'tile' and then we picked out a paint color to match the blue in the floor and I found a shower curtain from The Company Store to give the bathroom a pop of color.



Here in the city, if we really wanted to, we could talk to our neighbors through our houses. They're that close together. That's why I've always wanted curtains in the bathroom. In the summer, when the window is open and our neighbor is out in her driveway, I really don't like her being able to see me. Or vice versa. Since I was going to make curtains, I decided to change things up. It was time.

I found this fabulous organic cotton at a LFS, Drawstring Studio. Its Nancy Mims Free to Grow for Robert Kaufman. And I got it on sale on Cyber Monday!!


The grey rug on the floor matches the grey in the curtains. I went w/ a white shower curtain that will hopefully remain white and not covered with dirty handprints and toothpaste. And we did the walls in a really light grey that's in the same color family as the dark grey in the curtain & rug. I like the airy-feel of the room now!!!