Saturday, November 18, 2017

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle: A Trophy Wife

A few months ago my parents came to visit with two extra suitcases. But that wasn't because they were staying for a month. It was because they had cleaned out their garage. Straight into mine, apparently.

Out of the suitcases came my old letter jacket, porcelain dolls that were gifts from family friends and my old softball trophies.



The letter jacket went back into garage storage (for my 20th HS reunion?!) and the porcelain dolls were set aside for Peanut. But what should I do with my trophies? I felt guilty for throwing them out, but I didn't want to put them back into storage. We definitely weren't going to display them on our mantle.

After perusing a few websites, I decided to make Peanut a hat/hoodie/purse rack from them.

Last month I made a hat rack for Bjorn using an old skateboard and it was a huge hit. This was Peanut's turn.

As I gathered all the materials and started the project, I found that it was actually pretty easy to unscrew the tops off the trophies. Off came all the little softball girls (and one or two soccer players). I spray painted them Peanut's color of choice and set them aside.



I had an old hat rack I found at a garage sale for .25 - boring old wood with boring old hooks on it.  But I knew that piece of wood was going to be perfect for something some day. And here was someday, just staring me in the face!

I unscrewed the boring "drunk Octopus" hooks and gave Peanut a gallon of mint-colored paint and a paintbrush. Presto chango, we had a pretty piece of wood with holes already properly spaced.

The screws on the trophy heads were larger than the pre-made holes, so I used a drill bit to widen them. Then all I had to do was twist them into the holes!



I love the way it turned out and I love that I was able to reuse my childhood trophies. Since I still have some left, I am looking to make a purse rack for me, too!

This is what the rack looked like 5 minutes after I hung it. So neat and pretty. 

This is what it looks like now. This is real life!

Monday, October 16, 2017

Happiness is taking a long, warm bath

There are two types of people in the world; those who walk into a flooring store, pick out the tile they want and are happy and those who walk into a flooring store, pick out a tile they like and then go to 47 other flooring stores to see if there is anything there they like better.

I am the first person. The Hubs is the second.

After going to all 48 stores, we went back to the first store and bought the tile I originally liked.

That is when I decided that the hardest part about renovation is not demo-ing, or choosing a contractor but it is making a final decision (every little minute decision) with the person you chose to share your life with.

I didn't realize there were going to be so many decisions. But after (painstakingly, agonizingly) hashing and rehashing each decision, we have the bathroom of my dreams.

Seriously, y'all. It is amazeballs.

If you check back here, you can see what we did before the real pros got their hands on it.

Now, it looks like this.

It's a bathroom paradise!
Oh that tile. It's so pretty, so simple, but took so much time to actually get it. Since it covered the entire area, from bath to closet, we needed a tile that completed our "look".  But what was our look? We went back and forth between something soft and calming and something fun and retro. We even bought an amazing floor tile from Home Depot that mimicked encaustic tile, a fun print I adored. Unfortunately, when we tried to match our shower tile to it (you know, the very first one I picked all the way back in May), it gave the encaustic tile a greenish hue, so we returned it.

The floor tile is called Prisma Gris from Floor & Decor.

This tile caught my eye waaay back. And was a bear to install. But worth it!

The shower tile is called Stone Silver from Floor and Decor. 
There were certain things in the bathroom that were important to either The Hubs or I. Things that made picking out accessories both easy and difficult.

I wanted oil-rubbed bronze hardware.


He wanted cross hatch hardware.


He wanted electrical outlets on both sides of the sink.

That is a monster HUGE mirror from Kirkland's. Lights are from Globe Electric, a Vintage Flush Mount Ceiling Light. They were bought at a liquidator and on amazon.
I wanted a built in toilet paper caddy that could hold an extra roll and other bathroom necessities.

Storage space for a small area. No more extra rolls on the back of the toilet 

The wall color is a match to Sherwin Williams Cold Morning
 We both wanted a five stack shelf and new hardware in the closet.

The pros built the five stack. The Hubs built all the other shelving and rods
A pocket door to separate toilet from sink area.

The frosted glass allows light through but still has complete privacy
A sliding barn door for between the sink and bedroom. Which my amazing husband made from scratch. It's the exact door I wanted for a small fraction of the price!

Isn't it gorgeous?! Definitely my favorite part of the bathroom.

By buying accessories on amazon, checking out liquidators around the area and doing part of the work ourselves (demo, painting, some building) we were able to get everything we wanted - and more! - for a budget price we were happy with. And now it's time to take a long, warm bath and enjoy it!


Tuesday, September 26, 2017

It's All Small Stuff

I'm trying not to sweat the small stuff, but when it comes to home repair/maintenance/remodel, it all seems to be small stuff!  There are a million small decisions and small issues that have to be made and taken care of everyday.

Change the air filter. Which smoke alarm is beeping? Sweep. Mop. Spackle the holes from sibling Monday Night wrestling match. Paint the baseboards. Sweep again. Can that plumbing be moved two inches? Screw this in, nail that in.

Ahhhhh, the beauty of home ownership!

While we wait for some of the big stuff to be done, I decided to tackle some small, but not insignificant items on the list.

First off were the ugly bulb overhead lights in all three bedroom closets. When I found the most amazing chandelier light for Peanut's room, I knew this was getting crossed off the list.

Goodbye ugly bulb


Hello gorgeous!

She just sparkles


Now I noticed we need to paint the ceiling. (Just another small thing!)

We found a not-so-amazing, but still better than before light for our closet, and poor Bjorn still has his bulb light. (His is the top picture; Peanut's was changed out before I could take a 'Before' picture.) I'm still looking for the perfect one for Bjorn.

Then, I wanted to change the handles on the kitchen cabinets. But since we are not doing a full kitchen remodel until we win the lottery or something major breaks, I didn't want to invest a lot of time or money in that change.

So, in the spirit of lazy DIYers everywhere, I took my $8 can of oil rubbed bronze spray paint and went to town.



Presto Change-o!

Both of these fixes took less time and money that it takes to make dinner. Why did I wait so long?!



Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Welcome!

It's been a much slower process changing things around the house than I had anticipated. Between jobs, the kids school and activities, there doesn't seem to be the time - or money! - to fix and upgrade and work on the house.

But we are trying.

Little by little, brick by brick, it will happen.

First up for this year? A new front door.

Nothing was really wrong with our front door, if you like a flimsy door with peeling paint, no natural light and a gap between the frame and the door. Or if you like a steel framed security door with mesh that the dogs kept sticking their paws and noses through.  So we REALLY didn't like our front door.



Boring.


After much debate, we finally settled on a door from Lowe's with 1/2 frosted glass on the top. Instead of a security door, we chose a storm door with a sliding screen. No mesh on the bottom means no doggies powering their way through it. (On that note, our screen door on the back door was ran into no less than FOUR times this weekend. Two kids, one adult and one dog ran through it. We need to work on that door next!)

Before and After

Before and After

With the front door open.


But we didn't stop there! I still thought it was the teensy-bit boring still and wanted to jazz it up a little bit. So now we have:


I LOVE it!  With the change this fun, bright door brought to the house, I am motivated to do all sorts of things I have been putting off. Updo the bathroom? Let's do it! Change and paint the siding? You got it! Rip out a bathtub? No problem!!!  

Don't mind the grass. We are saving on our water bill for a few months :)