Friday, May 24, 2013

New Series: Weight loss journey

I am starting to get serious about losing my excess weight. The main focus of this blog is decorating and organization, but it's also about my life in general too. This is going to be a big part of my life, so I wanted to blog about it. I will share more about what I'm doing as I go. For now, here are my starting pictures - blah!

 

Starting Weight: 193
Goal Weight: 155

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Mission Organization: Garage Update

I really wanted to have more done to the garage by now, but the weather is not cooperating. It has rained all weekend for the past 3 weeks. Then, this weekend I've been under the weather. But, we have gotten some stuff done. We cleaned the floor really well and sorted through all the stuff.

This was when I first sorted through everything.


I had a Goodwill pile, go inside pile, to wash pile, and burn pile.


I had also set aside stuff that could be hung on the walls.


 
We moved the toolbox and shelves over to this side of the garage. They aren't organized yet because we are going to have to move it all to paint eventually.



I'm glad we are making some progress.

Monday, May 20, 2013

House Tour: Baby Benji's nursery (Part 2)

It's time to show off the rest of Benjamin's nursery! I am so excited to share this room because I'm so happy with how everything turned out.

This is the view from the doorway.

 
To the left is his dresser and closet.

 
This dresser has been in our family for many, many years. It had a very dark stain on it when I received it. It needed to be restained or painted badly, but the solid wood frame and drawers were in excellent condition.

Originally I was going for ombre drawers, but it didn't work out. First the Lowe's paint guy gave me 2 of the same color paint pots. I mixed 2 colors together to get an in between color, but it didn't work quite right. Then, even though I was careful to keep the drawers in order, appprently I didn't do so well and the darkest drawer wouldn't fit in the bottom slot. So, we decided to just mix them and I really love how it turned out.

I reused the original pulls, but touched up the brass a little with some Rub n Buff.

 

The painting was done by my sister off an inspiration piece I found. Didn't she do a great job!!! The owl was my mom's when she was a kid. The lamp and gray bowl are from Target. The white pot is from Ikea. The deer is from a store in the mall.


The next wall over is our wood wall! I can't even say how much I love how it turned out!!! I sewed the curtains myself (fabric was purchased from fabric.com).

 
Close up of fabric:

 
Then we have our reading corner.

 
 
I had lots of inspiration from Pintrest and Etsy on the art. The geese, racoon, bear, and bobcat prints I found online, printed and framed. The quote I made up online and printed. The fox I made out of scrapbook paper. The deer I cut out and modge podged to the wood plaque I painted (I sell this in my Etsy shop). The tree trunk I printed out online then we used our thumb prints to create the leaves. The "wonder" plaque used to say cafe. I painted it and my mom cut out the letters on her Cricut. I modge podged them on.
 
 
 
The rocker is from Ikea and it is so comfortable! I made the pillow from burlap and stenciled the letters on.
 
 
 
My parents did the bookshelf for me. Since the dresser was off white, we couldn't find one to match. They bought this one and painted it with leftover paint from the dresser while I was on maternity leave. The bottom boxes house thin blankets and burp clothes. 
 
 
 
The last wall holds the crib. We ordered the crib from Walmart.com. The sides have wood slats that go well with the walls. Note: Benji is still in a bassenet in our room, so he doensn't sleep in his crib yet. That's why there are stuffed animals in it.
 

 The letters are cardboard letters that I got at Hobby Lobby and painted with silver paint for a zinc look.

 
 
We used Harrison's old mobile, but replaced the animals. I bought the patterns from Etsy and my mom sewed them.
 


I hope you like it as much as we do!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Inspiration Friday: I love my little house


I found this pillow on Pintrest (here). It describes perfectly why I love our little house. I know one day we will move into a bigger house, but I always want to have a modest sized home. I love being so close together.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Mission Organization: Jewelry Box

Several years ago my hubby bought me an awesome gift for Christmas:
 
 
What looks like a picture frame is actually...
 
 
Really awesome jewelry storage!
 
I really love it and I use it every day. Over the years it has gotten loaded down with stuff and I don't wear it all. So, it was time for a clean out. I took everything out and looked over what I actually wear. There wasn't enough hooks for all my necklaces, so I grouped like items on the same hook. But, I tried not to have more than 2 necklaces to a hook.
 
 
It's still pretty full, but the right side of the necklace section is a lot better and it's easier to get a bracelet off too!

Monday, May 13, 2013

House Tour: Baby Benji's Nursery (part 1)

Benjamin's room is my favorite room in the house. It was a labor of love, but it was worth every minute of time it took.

I knew before I was even pregnant that if we had a boy I wanted to do a wood accent wall and a woodland animals theme. So, when we found out we were going to be welcoming another boy, I got to work determining how we would create our wood wall.

We mostly did the same thing as seen here (except our plywood was 1/4" thick because Lowe's pulled the wrong boards). There are many ways to do a wood wall, but we picked this way because it was about the cheapest option. The only cheaper option was using pallets which I could get for free, but it was a lot of work. Being pretty pregnant when we started, I didn't want to deal with the pallets.

So we bought plywood from Lowe's and had them cut it into 4 inch strips for us. Then, when we got them home, I did some calculating. To avoid having to run out to the garage to make cuts at the end of every row, I planned all the rows ahead of time and the lengths of boards we would need. Then, as hubby cut them, I would mark the length on the side I didn't want to be facing out. We cut the boards at all different lengths so the seams would be staggered. Then, we moved all the boards inside and let them sit for a few days.

We borrowed my dad's air compressor and used a staple gun to attach the boards. For the most part the boards were pretty smooth, but I sanded boards as needed. I used the side that had the best grain or knots because I was going for a rustic look. I would hand hubby the right length of board and he would attach them. We opted not to use glue because we didn't want to totally ruin the drywall. So far, only 1 board has come loose a little. After several nights of work, we had this:


 
We decided to do the accent wall on the wall with the window. Not only because it's the first wall you see from the door, but the room was already painted gray and it didn't want it to get too dark.




 
Then, it was my turn to do most the work: staining. I had only ever stained one item and I had used a stain that you don't wipe off. After reading a lot about different staining options and a failed Pintrest attempt at making my own, I decided to go with Minwax Woodsheen in Plantation Walnut.
 
 
 
There were several reasons I chose it.
 
1. It is water based. Since I was having to stain inside I really wanted to have as few fumes as possible. Not only because I was pregnant at the time but just because we all (especially our 4 year old) didn't need to be breathing that in. Stain fumes stick around forever!
 
2. It is stain and finish in one! And it is fast drying- I let it sit 3 minutes before wiping it off.  I like anything that is fast!
 
3. Easy clean up - soap and water. I still wore gloves during application though.
 
I would highly recommend this product! It was so easy to use and the results were beautiful. I worked over 3 nights and then had this:
 


Hubby and I were very happy with the results! Part 2 of Benji's nursery to come and you'll get a full view of the wall.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Inspiration Fridays: Bedroom remix



I came across this picture on Pintrest (from here) and fell in love. Our bedroom walls are already that color and I love them. But, the pops of coral make it even better! Since I found the picture I've had my eye out for coral sheets, but no luck yet.

I will definitly keep looking and will be adding some coral to our bedroom!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Mission Organization: Harrison's Closet


 When I started organizing the linen closet last week I ended up working on Harrison's closet too. I had worked on it not long ago, but it gets messy so easily! It wasn't as much of an undertaking though. I didn't take everything out. I just rearranged a little to make it look nicer and make it easier for Harrison to get to his toys and for us to get to his books.

Before:
 
Top shelf was too-big clothes, jackets, box of coloring books.

Next shelf: box full of candy that I have no idea what to do with, books, diapers (for nighttime), Awana's bag.

Third shelf: games.

Fourth shelf: large toys and a box of outgrown clothes (I toss stuff in there as I come across it in his drawer. Once it's full I fill a large tubberware container to store for future use.
 
 


 

Afters:

Top shelf: Too big clothes

Next shelf: Books and that stinkin box of candy. What do you do with candy that everyone buys for your kid? Harrison gets tons and tons of candy and he never eats it!

Third shelf: blocks, puzzles, Alphie, and coloring books

Bottom shelf: bigger toys and the box of outgrown clothes




And now just because I enjoy it - side by sides:



It makes me so happy to have a freshly organized space!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Promised Pictures of the Garage

I'm warning you...It's bad. You can turn back now.



Are you sure?



From the driveway:
 
Left side:

 
Right Side:


Back wall:
 
 
Entry to the house and my little cutie pie:


Boy, do we have our work cut out for us. It wasn't this bad not that long ago, but we started dumping stuff out there instead of bringing it in. And then puppy dragged stuff out everywhere. I'm very excited to get started! See the toolbox in the picture above? That wall is going to become a "mud" area. I can't tell you how excited I am for that!

Friday, May 3, 2013

Inspiration Fridays

I have some very OCD tendencies, so I'm really having to fight my inner self and not have a specific posting schedule. I don't want to box myself in. I want to be able to blog about whatever is going on. But, I would like to start a weekly post for Fridays. Just a short and sweet post - one picture that has inspired me during the week and a short explanation.


I love every single thing about this. It makes me smile! I want our kitchen to have a farmhouse feel and this picture is just perfection. I even have a wall about this size that I'm not sure what to do with. I don't want to copy this completely, but I'm getting some ideas.

I love the color - the green with pops of yellow and orange. I love the wire baskets and the wood crate. I love the functionality of all the food storage, but that it fits in and looks good too.


Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Mission Organization: Linen Closet

 It was raining this weekend, so we didn't get to work on the garage. But, I still tackled some organization projects. I've learned that whenever I get an itch to do a project I better do it because the motivation doesn't usually last long.
 
I took on the linen closet first because it has been bothering me for a while. Since our house is so small we have to make every nook and cranny work well for us. The linen closet has a ton of jobs. It holds games, towels, craft items, pictures, a box of cables, and hubby's shoes.
 
Here are the top 2 shelves before:
 
 
 And the bottom 2 shelves before:
 
 
 
The first thing I did was take everything out. I weeded out trash and items that could be donated. We had a ton of gift bags, so I kept some and passed the rest to my mom. Then, some items got moved to other locations. It's funny how one organization project usually turns into several. Like wanting to move the printer paper into the desk brought on organizing the desk drawer. 
 
Then, I took a look at everything left and worked out how it would work for us best. I worked on Harrison's closet at the same time (post to come next week) so that I could keep like items together. Before the adult games were in this closet and his games were in his closet. I decided to keep them all in this closet and I moved coloring books to Harrison's closet.
 
Now the afters! Top 2 shelves:
 
 
To the left are all the boxed adult games and to the far right are all of the boxed kid games. The middle basket is full of smaller (cards) or odd shaped (bop it) games and play doh.
 
The next shelf is for towels. The left is supposed to be where the regular towels go, but we are out. Oops! The middle is hand towels in the back and wash clothes in the front. The white container is baby wash clothes and beside it are hooded towels. In the back are beach towels.
 
The bottom 2 shelves after:
 
 
Starting on the left side: The monkey bag is full of gift bags and tissue paper. The wicker box is full of cards. Then there is a poker set that wouldn't fit up top and a ton of candles behind that. The far right is a box full of cables, a box of larger photos, and some batting.
 
Then there are Hubby's shoes and our step stool.
 
Now for side by side comparisons for fun!
 
 
 
Ahhh, so much better! I am much happier!