a fresh color palette

The last few days have been pretty productive for me in the home to do lists, including finishing my half bath.  I honestly can't believe it's done especially since I've really been dreading re-painting the walls, but it was inevitable with all the holes that needed patching from changing out the towel bars and hooks and then a few weeks ago my cats decided to climb the curtains and yep it all came crashing down.  

Such happiness seeing  my IKEA print shining brighter against crisp white walls.   

The desire to change my walls from Behrs Peanut Butter to Martha Stewart's Vapor came about when I was inspired by the color scheme in this red, white and teal laundry makeover.  My favorite part of the design was the red knobs.  After scowering her post I found out where she had bought them, but after getting to the check out I stopped when the shipping for a pair of $3 knobs was going to be $10.  This meant I was going to DIY my own red knobs.  It was actually pretty practical since I already had the primer and red spray paint on hand and my cabinet already had the same shape knob only it was a pink flower ceramic knob.  It took several layers of primer even after lightly sanding it down for it to stick and then a few coats of red before I was happy with them. I do still need to add a layer of a clear sealer so they are more shiny than rough. 

I also had high hopes of using the sew now, sew wow fabric by Alexander Henry that Anna used for the ironing board cover, but outside of a toilet set cover I couldn't think of anything in the room that I could practically use it for and I didn't want to just frame it.  So you can image my happiness when I came across this $10 dove poster art on one of my trips to IKEA

 source 

I've yet to hang up a towel rail or hook, because after sealing seeing the bathroom so clean and crisp I didn't like how my IKEA ENNUDEN towel rack looked.  Plus, I really love the ceramic hook that Anna had in her laundry room, so until I can find one similar I'll continue to drape the towel over the cabinet door.

I used command strips to hang the mirror and IKEA RIBBA frame so I didn't add more holes.  I really should buy stock in them, because most of my frames and art are hung up by command stripes.  They really do save me from having so many holes in the wall from the countless times I've changed my mind.  I just used the Velcro stripes for the IKEA frame.  I always cut the Velcro in half vertically and use 1 strip for each side.  this way I get more use out of each strip, especially with the back edging being so thin.  However, for the mirror I opted to use another version, one that the wire could hang from.  

  

I also think that I will opt to using bar soap rather than a dispenser.  I really hate dispensers, especially if I decide to change out the soap.  Plus, I think it will keep it simple.

I'm quite happy with using my vintage telephone / record stand since it's not been very useful in the living room.  It's far to light and my cats like to catapult from it, which usually results in it falling down and anything on it.  This way they can't knock it down and it holds all my extra towels instead of them being on the back of the toilet tank.  I've also added the air fresher on top since taking the photo. 

The MYRVIKEN hand towels and PERSBY area rug are both from IKEA..  I tried looking on their site, but it looks as if they are no longer available.  I did just purchase sometime after summer and the hand towels were a new design then so they may still be available in stores. 

I didn't take out the anchors for my IKEA ENUDDEN toilet roll holder as I new I wanted it back and love that it holds to rolls so we don't have to change it out as often.  I also like that it has a "top shelf" which allows you to utilize the space.  At one point I had the air fresher there, but I really like my ceramic dogs so for now I have them resting there.

I do love how the whole look came out and it's far more refreshing and open and better liking to my Scandinavian design tastes compared to how it looked prior with the Behr Paint as you can see before with my last photographed update in May.

May 4th update

Below you can see my priming progress.  It was definitely a challenge painting this small and cramped space, but after two coats of primer and a coat of Vapor I'm sooo glad I did it.

I decided to just paint the bath walls white, but the only white I had was a matte finish, so I thought this could be a good way to veer from the Picket Fence by Martha Stewart that I painted the dining room, because it was stark white so I decided to go with my original white Vapor which has a slight gray tint to it.

I'm also glad that I  figured out how to paint behind the light fixture without having to disconnect the wires. It wasn't fun, but I'm glad for it.   

It feels good to finally have the walls painted.  I only needed one coat of Vapor, which I was very thankful for and after adding all the hardware and accessories I'm very happy with how it looks.

Cork Board Bills

I find that I am forgetful of things that are out of sight and my bills are no different so I've been reading up to find solutions that will help me stay focused on when my non auto pay bills have been paid.  

One post I found that was this one from Lovely Little Things It inspired me enough to actually create my own index cards that I added to my dining room cork board. Now my roommate and I will brake to keep track of when to pay our shared bills without having our account details out in the open.

I simply gather a blue med point sharpie and a few index cards and noted the bill name on top, added a few dots for visual and then listed each month so I can check off each month as they are paid.  then I added 2014 at the bottom.  The large page on the bottom right is our last goodwill log.  I wanted it somewhere that it wouldn't get lost until we were able to drop off our donation. 

Well start this in the new year so hopefully all will go well with our financial goals.

creativly speaking

Lately I've been calling my 3rd bedroom my creative space, which seems to fit all that I want the space to be; housing my workout gear, craft supplies, my workout gear, and home management system, and of course write my blog posts.  I'm pretty excited about my current plan, which I'll talk about later in another post, but I'm pretty sure it will make you laugh at how OCD I am when it comes to planning.  

It's been nice seeing the progression of the room even just over a few weeks.  Each day I have been working on a new task that moves at least one item out of the clutter zone and it's made the biggest difference.  It's also nice having some of my favorite things in use, like my vintage shelf that now houses my ceramic rooster, diy sun shine art, vintage deer stapler, and simply DIY art.  In the near future I plan to paint the vintage shelf love-in-the-mist (light blue) by Martha Stewart. 

Some other projects that will have to wait for another phase is painting my IKEA RIBBA frame Love-in-the-Mist.that I have show casing  an Eames print.  Can you tell I'm obsessed with this color blue?  Along with wrapping this pretty floral print from Joann's around a cork board.  I would prefer to hold off for now until I actually have my desk systems in place so I have a better grasp as to what size cork board I'll have room for. 

I would like to paint 2 of the walls the Love-In-the-Mist as well, and add in Moonglow (light green) and the pink from Cave Girl Office Reveal as my accent colors. 

At this point I don't have a deadline for the space to be complete as I know it's going to take some patience on my part to allow for time to find the exact pieces, in the right color and a convenient location.  It would definitly take less time if I bought the items new, but I just can't afford to do that right now so I'll be keeping an eye out on craigslist. 

For now I just have to use what I have on hand and try to make things work, but it's not been easy.  My desk is held up by two end tables so it's not quite table height so I end up hunching over in my chair to work. 

a little creative progress

It's been a challenge this last month trying to get myself organized at the home front, but I feel like I'm going to reach it by the end of this year which is a good feeling.  I've lived in my home for over a year and a half so it will be nice to finally have my home looking like a place I can be proud of.  

Lately, my focus has been completing mini projects for any room, and getting my 3rd floor room ready to tackle all of these projects.  It's basically going to become my creative space.  Yep I'm finally going to have a place where I can set up my computer and blog on a regular basis, work on my diy projects and my workout gear. 

Here is what I have so far, a make shift desk with a formica table top and 2 mcm end tables.  I'll have a post coming in the next week or 2 with how the room is coming along.  It really is getting closer, however I'll feel better once I have a legit desk and workspace for bill paying.

Resources:

the white board is magnetic $13 and purchased recently from IKEA. I used some mint & pink, gray/silver WASHI tape from JoAnn's to separate the days of the week and then added some white letter stickers from TARGET $5. 

Picture #1
I've had this frame for about a year now, and finally have a room where it's going to fit in.  I purchased it from TJMAX or Marshals and I'm really glad to finally have a home for it, because I really love this frame.  In it I've added a post card photo of Andy Warhol that I purchased from his museum in Pittsburgh a few years back. 

Above the photo is a modern clock with a silver rim.  I've had it forever it seems.

Gold Shelf:
I'm not a fan of the gold, but I love the shape of this shelf and was happy when I saw it for only $1 at a second hand store, especially since it runs over $20 on etsy.  This is the closet shelf I could find now that's similar.  I plan to paint it to match the new wall color, well it will match once I paint the wall.  I just decided on the wall color last week, Love in the Mist by Martha Stewart.

on the shelf I have a white ceramic rooster I found at TJMAXX last year.  I'm not a fan of roosters, but I really loved the modern twist on this one and just had to have it.  The mini pear bulletin board is also a second hand find with some scrapebook paper added for some visual interest.  The round frame is also from TJMAXX and I added a DIY art of SUN SHINE.  I used a similar method like my repeat art.  A white ceramic owl from TJMAXX, a 5x7 wall frame from IKEA with print out of an inspirational quote and then I used a pink sharpie to trace over the arrow and added a felt heart over the red one for some dimension.   I also have a vintage deer stapler.  I used some s hooks from IKEA grundel collection to hang my scissors from the towel bar. 

The mini corkboard is from Target.  I frame a cat print in my IKEA Ribba 5X7 frame.  The yellow chevron fabric is from Joann's.  It's the beginng process of my chore chart.

Here's where my chore board is at now and of course Adonis Mr. Center of attention and Goldie working his way out of the frame.  I took the day stickers from the white board above my desk since I had added them with the intention of using that board for the chores, but liked this idea better.  I really wanted to use this chevron fabric that I found at JoAnn's last week and on sale.

I still need to laminate all the cards and cute out the tab holes, then add more command hooks.  You can buy them in a pack of 18 for around $8.  I used a few inspirations for the board, which you can find oops I craft my pants, the workman family, the daily 5, and a beautiful mess,

I had this frame, along with it's twin that I used for another project (below), waiting for my command center.  It feels good to finally move out of the planning stage and into the implementation.  The frames were about $3 for the and they have plexiglass fronts which was a plus for me.

Once I took the original picture out I cleaned the plexiglass with window cleaner and to help move back all the picture tabs on the back I used a pan scrapper, which is a major time saver and easier on your fingers.

I also ironed out the fabric to smooth out the creases and sprayed 2 coats of starch (allowing a few minutes between coats and a quick iron before adding the 2nd coat) on the fabric before wrapping it around the backing. 

 I used painters tape to secure it to the back.  I like straight lines even when no one sees it so I used the scissors to also cut my painters tape. I used the level to make sure the chevron pattern was straight before taping. 

color run art

After my first 5K color run in DC last month I purchased a blue color run scarf to frame and add to my run wall.  I used the twin frame to the chore chart and followed the same process as I did above to wrap the fabric.  I plan to add 2 more run inspirations next to the color run art, but I didn't get around to doing that today. 

{60 minute} DIY WAKE.RUN.REPEAT

Tonight has been a rather productive night for me, and I'm glad to be posting as there has been a lot happening these past 2 months that I've wanted to post, but it keeps getting pushed aside.  Well tonight I'm also pleased to say that I've been working on a new way to organize my spare room, which I'm turning into my creative room.  It's going to house all my crafts, and easy DIY projects, along with my etsy office (for 2nd hand items), and my workout space.  I've been scouring Pinterest for ideas, and my brain tonight has been moving forward towards a few wall ideas for boards and a blog calendar. 

While scouring the web tonight I found a post from my office pin board with a home gym wall vinyl that I've liked, but at some point I'd figure out what I wanted to go about using it.  Well, tonight after doing a quick search to find a better image that I could trace and create my own cardstock I headed to my bedroom where my SHARPIE Paint Pen was located and came back up to my laptop and tilted the screen, then used 2 small pieces of scotch tape to tape it to my screen and then I proceded to trace the letters (the back light of the screen made a nice light box) with the small end of my calligraphy pen.  

Once I finished, and you can see that I wasn't very neat about it I carefully pulled the tape off the screen and placed a small section of newspaper under it, just in case it bled through, and used my paint pen and colored it in.  I took a little more time with this part, but overall the project took less then 2 hours. 

My creative space color scheme is going to be pink, black and white, so I luckily I had white cardstock and a black paint pen already on hand.  I decided I wanted to use pink for SLEEP, but not until after I already filled in the SL so only EEP will be pink.

supplies:

Sharpie Med Point Paint Pen, color of choice

Calligraphy Pen

Cardstock, color of choice.

laptop or light box if you have a printable

Once I trimmed my 8x10 card stock I found some inspiring scrapbook paper and trimmed it to fit the frame and then used double sided tape and laid the print right on top.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome and now I just need to find an appropirate frame for it and buy a pink paint pen to finish sleep.  I took it outside so you could see how nice it really came out.  the lighting in my creative space is pretty bad since it's a converted attic.

It's now residing on my workout stand next to my pants bin.  At some point I'll hang it on the wall, but I need to remember to grab some command strips from my the main floor.

{Weekend Organizer}: A White Picket Fence

instagram sneak peak 06/16/13

It's been very hard being in the middle townhouse and keeping our dog from wondering into our neighbors yard for which some reason he likes to poo.  Typically right behind our stair rail, not really in their walking path, so it's not really been a huge deal since we do keep it cleaned up as much as we can.  We have shortened his lead several times, but it leaves him leaves him a very restricted space even in our own yard to wonder around.  Our neighbors on the left have a double-sided privacy fence so that's been a benefit for us as well since we don't have to worry about that 8' stretch.    

I had initially been hoping to find a home with a fence, but with this house we had so many of my wish list items that not having a fence didn't seem like a deal breaker so we figured we would install one shortly after moving in.  However, after doing a bit of research on the cost of vinyl and wrought iron fences that idea became more of a distant future happening when the materials list had been calculated at over $200 even for my tiny 10'x8' yard.  Plus, I had hoped to find a wrought iron design that had a 20s feel to it, but that has proven to be more difficult then anticipated. 

We had actually forgotten about the fence for a while, until recently we had a one of our lighter vintage push mowers was stolen off the back deck and my mom took charge and began the search without telling me.  Though, being the item it was we have an inclination of who it was, especially since none of the more valuable items were taken.  It's just really irks me that some people feel that they have the right to take something off of someone's property that they neither own or paid for and feel that that's acceptable behavior. 

Within a day or two of our incident my mom had found a someone nearby who was selling a white vinyl fence they had been using as a dog run, and for only $40.  Although, I was a bit hesitant until I saw the fence (really after my mom called the guy and he delivered it) that it was going to be a size appropriate fence for my miniature backyard. 

The fencing was left on our deck for a few days until a friend of my moms could come over and install it for us, which ended up giving us a few surprises and costing us more to have the fence installed then the actual cost of the fence.

On day 1, we talked about the layout of the fence and then began the initial install of the largest 8' run, but that took several hours since there ended up being concrete and all kinds of debris under the ground to help support the walkway to the parking lot steps. This then directed us to purchasing another pole hole digger since the initial one was a very cheap model, and also a large piece of rebar to help break down some of the concrete.

My mom's friend kept working trying to break down the concrete, but I really wished he would have stopped, because we were one paying him by the hour and two he was working harder then he needed to and it would have made more sense to wait for the proper equipment so the job could have been done efficiently.

Saturday evening we made sure to head to home depot to pick up the appropirate supplies, like an Ames 48" post hole digger (an upgrade from the basic warped model my mom purchased from Lowes), and a Ludell 70 in. 17 lb. Tamper Head Digging Bar that was used to break up the concrete mess under the pavers.

On day 2, now that we had a better post hole digger, and the digging bar the process took half the time.  It took some time to settle in, but once things got started I had been called out to discuss the gate.  What I didn't understand was why we were discussing this again, since we had already talked about this yesterday and agreed that the gate would not open into the neighbors yard, but stay on the stone pavers.  I really don't want to be walking on the neighbors property, especially with it being a rental and we will have new neighbors soon who may not like us walking in their yard.  Once that was settled, again, the digging bar and post hole was used to make the way for the gate posts to be installed and then had to be leveled again so that they gate would be level.

It took a few hours, but what pieces we had for the fence was finally installed and only being 30" shy of finishing the entire project I think we did a great job at scoring a vinyl fence for only $40, which is the price of either an 8' section or the gate kit.  By the time everything was done we paid with installation and the fence what we would have for the entire fence so overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I am filled with jubilation that yes, I finally have a fence!  

Once everything was installed we realized that we were just shy of finishing the area by only 30" so for now we put up a doggy gate and used a brick to keep it from falling over.  So far it is doing the trick, but at some point I plan to use some garden post and shims to make a trellis and then rotate the rose bush so that way it can grow up the trellis and look as if we planned to leave that amount of space. 

Total Cost:

$32 Post Hole Digger (a friend is buying this off of me for $25)

$32 Digger

$40 Fence + gate kit (estimated cost of new $120-280)

$160 Installation

$239 Total 

{10 minute} Fabric Letter DIY

There is nothing like a little color to put a smile on your face and that's just what this little project did.  Yep, I'm smiling one because I completed a DIY project and two I have color on my walls!  It all started with in April when I finally installed my Run Strong gallery wall.  It included a few inspiration quotes and images that revolved around running.  I was was over joyed at how it turned out, but a few weeks ago I was trying to think of a way to add some color since mostly everything is white.  

Well, as I was sorting through a few things in my spare room I came across a few pieces of vintage fabric given to me earlier this year.  I wasn't sure what to do with them so I had them in my spare room and just this last week I knew exactly what I wanted to use one of the fabrics for as soon as I read this fabric wrapped letter DIY.   So the other night I gathered all of my supplied and while watching a movie I began wrapping my R. 

Supplies:

* batting

* fabric 

* scissors 

*staple gun
* cardboard or wood letter

I also came across this Fabric Letter DIY Fabric Art that makes using the cardboard letters a bit more interesting. I will definitely have to try this when I find a coordinating fabric to wrap around the sides.

I first started by wrapping the batting around and stapled it to the letter, though I think using spray adhesive would have worked nicely to.

As you can see it doesn't look very pretty from the backside, but the good thing is that no one will ever notice unless you take it down and show them.  I had already had a command strip Velcro attached to the letter so I made sure not to cover it so I can hang it back on the wall.

 

You can still see where the fabric was to short to go around the thick side of the letter, which is why at some point I will do some coordinating fabric to adhere around the edges so it doesn't look so rough.

 Ah, now isn't that better.

2013-01-02 Replace the faucet Sprayer

We've been living with a defective sprayer for the last month, maybe two months now, but have been a bit hesitant to purchase another one. The push bottom was stuck on the sprayer and wouldn't swap over to the sink and it's been a huge pain to do anything at the sink. During these last few months we had our contractor friend look at it while he was working on a few other items and after a few wackes on the side of the sink the button released, however, within a day or two it was stuck again.

I found this video on How to install a kitchen sprayer very helpful and less intimidating then some other ones I watched.  Although, it was still wasn't as easy as they made it since I had so many obstructions to work around under my sink. We have a garbage disposal and our hot water comes out the back of the cabinet and then connects to another tube to our hot water so it was a bit of a hassle to get around them since the blue tube wasn't budging.

After about 30 minutes I successful installed my Christmas sprayer and it looks much nicer then our generic sprayer and we're looking forward to using our faucet and water filter again. 

2912-12-12 Missing Mortar

After almost a year we finally decided to tackle the basement.  Though I wish I could say that our reasoning was because we were ready to tackle this project, but it was based on seeing a 4 legged fuzz ball racing across the floor.  On day 1 it took us 8 hours to sort through half of the basement, which included sweeping up mouse droppings, lose concrete and dust from the eroding mortar between the brick foundation then sending everything through into the shop vac.  

On day 2 we added our extra toiletries into 15 shoeboxes we purchased from Walmart for 97 cents each.  I would normally buy the same color lid and bin to keep it cohesive, but I really liked the look of the white lids with the blue transparent boxes.  I wanted to use pretty labels, but for now I have to settle for index cards and scotch tape.  

We were able to clean up most of the mouse droppings and mop up most of the remaining dust, but there is still much work to be done in order to keep the dust from building up again.  Plus, during our clean up we realized that the mortar between the brick foundation was pretty much non-existent and the next major project on our list.  I was told a professional would have to repoint it, so I contacted my handy man who was able to tackle the stair wall Saturday.  It took him 11 hours {2 days} to remorter the wall and fill in the broken and cut out area of concrete on the floor. 

 Here is a small section of the nonexistant mortar in our brick foundation for the side walls that connect to the outside townhomes.   

Here is an upclose of the the holes that some of the mice came through.

Here is a section of concrete that was left open.  My handy man said it looked like their had been a wall here that had been taken down when the city did their renovations prior to the previous owner, who I purchased the townhome from.  This area really needed to be filled in, because it's right in the middle of where I want my workbench and I didn't want to twist my ankle.  there were also a few missing bricks on the floor base that he brought in some extra bricks he had on hand to fill in the space

Now that he's tackeled the hard part, I'll be taking care of painting on the drylock, an estimated 2 coats before it's done and then we can move everything back against the wall and in January work on the other wall.  Between now and then well be dusting up in the ceiling to take care of the dust build up there before we add clear plastic tarts to the ceiling.  We hope that in doing this will be able to keep the dust down and not have to keep everything in plastic tubs to keep it from getting dirty. 

p.s.
I keep forgetting to take after photos.  I will post them sometime next week, as I would like to catch some daylight time maybe Saturday for a better photo without flash since the lighting is not so great.