2012 House Goals

Before I launch into what I'd like to accomplish this year in our house, I would like to revisit my 2011 House Goals and see how we did.

I finished the playroom, (which was #1) and just finished the laundry room (which was #2) although technically it was finished this year and not in 2011. The master bedroom (which was #3)...was completely neglected. I didn't do a thing except sell our old bedding at a consignment store.

So 2 out of 3 isn't bad. And I actually did a few things last year that were not on my goal list:

1. I put up a gallery wall in our upstairs hallway. And I still love it.

2. I added new hardware to all of our doors. I bought a couple of door knobs very couple of months or so, and by December, I had them all switched out. This was something I had wanted to do at our last house and just never did it. Hardware can be expensive, but doing it this way (buying a little at a time) made it doable. And I love how the new hardware looks. It's the details that make the difference, I think.

3. I put in a mini mud room in our under-the-stairs closet in the living room. It works wonderfully for us.

So, on to 2012. Here's what I would love to accomplish this year (sort of in order of priority):

1. My Office:  Get/install a desk. Get a desk chair and some other small furniture pieces. Drapes, paint. There's not too much to do, but it's becoming necessary for me to have my own computer space in the evenings. The spare room upstairs has great potential, but right now it's a huge dumping ground for outgrown baby things and other random items that don't have another home.

2. Pantry:  I'd love to organize by building in some more shelves and adding a cabinet and counter top in one corner. This space is pretty good now, but it could be great with a few tweaks. 

3. Entry table/door:  At the end of last year I purchased a table during a 30% off sale online. I love it, but it is really lonely on that wall with nothing on it or above it. I would like to accessorize this area with a mirror and a few things on the table. I would also like to paint my front door black on the inside. I think it will make it pop against my white trim and most importantly...it will eliminate the fake wood look that it is sporting right now. Blech.

4. Master Bedroom:  I would really like to make some progress here because I really have a good idea of what I want. I just need to implement it. I think I have been paralyzed because I haven't found the bedding that matches what I see in my head for that space.

I hope we can make some progress on these four spaces. And maybe even more...who knows?

Catch-up

It's the end of January and I feel absolutely ridiculous posting Christmas photos, but if you use a feed reader, you saw that I just did. I wanted the photos on my blog for archive purposes, but I pre-dated those posts so they wouldn't show up in late January. So, if you don't use Google Reader or another similar feed reader, you may have missed them. You can certainly go back and catch up (using the links below), if you wish. From here on out, only non-Christmas posts, I promise.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Sleeping Like a Baby

Laundry Room: Redone

At the beginning of last year, I listed my laundry room as one of the areas of our house I wanted to address in 2011. I got most of it done in 2011 and just finished the rest of it recently. The reasons I wanted to make some changes to my laundry room mostly stemmed from lack of functionality in that room. And the laundry room should be nothing if not functional.

Here's what it looked like BEFORE:

 

The things I didn't like / wanted to change:

1. That sink. I hate those plastic sinks with no storage. In fact, I changed out our plastic sink in our old house's laundry room. This time, I wasn't planning on putting another sink in because I wanted a counter for folding space. But due to unforeseen circumstances,that changed (see below).

2. The cabinet color. I planned to paint or replace the upper cabinets white to match the new cabinet I'd put in the sink area.

3. New light fixture.

4. Add a hanging bar between the upper cabinets and the right wall. I had a hanging bar at our old house and used it all the time.

5. Add hooks on the wall opposite the washer/dryer for hanging things. 

6. Add color. I planned to paint the walls and add some color via wall art.

7. Paint the back door (to the garage). It's not completely evident by those "before" photos, but the door was pretty beat up.

So, last fall, we got to work deconstructing our laundry room. We removed the upper cabinets (because I decided to replace vs. paint) and the plastic sink. During this time, I used my Pinterest laundry room board to help me gather ideas and inspiration.

And here's what the laundry room looks like now:

First of all, a new washer and dryer were certainly not in the original plans for this room. During this little renovation, we ended up having to replace our washer and decided to get a new dryer at the same time to match. Now that all that fuss (and expense) is behind us, I can safely say that I love my new washer and dryer.

But a new washer/dryer changed my plans for the room. I no longer needed the folding space where the sink was because I planned to put a counter on top of the new front-loaders. So, we did put in a sink after all. And, I obviously decided to forgo the hanging bar idea in favor of more cabinets (in other words...storage). I decided that I didn't really want a hanging bar after all (for several reasons).

The coat rack on that right wall (below) adds so much functionality to the room, especially since it's right by the door to the garage and also very close to the door to our back yard. In the winter it holds coats and hats, and in the summer it holds beach towels, goggles, and swimsuits. It's actually a combination of two coat racks from Target because I wanted the white trim, but the dark bronze hooks.  The hooks unscrew at the back and are easily switched out.

The sink is 9 inches deep. I like deep utility sinks. I would have gotten a 10-12 inch if I could have found one in my price range that fit my space.

A few details in the room:

That light fixture is actually intended for outdoors, but was exactly what I wanted. And inside that fixture is a really bright LED light bulb. It's awesome. The glass jars are dual purpose....they look nice and they also camouflage the washer hook-up that sits above the counter top height...and is ugly. You can sort of see it peeking out from behind that right jar. I decided to add a towel ring because whenever we washed our hands in the laundry room sink, we never had anything to dry them with. That mason jar turned soap dispenser is also a sentimental item...the jar was Casey's grandmother's jar. My sister-in-law gave that to us for Christmas last year and I love it in here. And it's not quite evident from the photos, but I added battery-powered under-cabinet lighting that I found on Amazon to help brighten the room.

This watercolor print (below) is by Katie Daisy of The Wheatfield on Etsy. I love it because of the color it adds to the room. It's also the perfect phrase for the laundry room, I think...Be Filled With Joy. And we see it every time we leave and enter our house since it's right by the door to the garage. Perfect.

Casey and I did all the work ourselves. We spread it out over a couple of months just because we're kind of lazy and didn't stay on top of the to-do list. We don't like to always use weekends for work, either. 

Here's a complete list of the details:

Wall color:                          Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams (in satin finish)

Washer:                              Kenmore Elite from Sears
Dryer:                                Kenmore Elite from Sears (gas dryer)

In-Stock Cabinetry:           American Classics from Home Depot in white

Countertops:                     Custom order from Lowe's (Formica, Sail White Oxide color, matte finish)

Cabinet Hardware:            Target

Sink:                                  Elkay Stainless Steel Single Bowl Sink from Home Depot

Faucet:                              Moen Special Order from Lowe's

Light Fixture:                     Outdoor Ceiling Fixture with Seeded Glass from Lighting Direct

Coat Rack:                        Target

Towel Ring:                       Target

Hand Towel:                     Target

Art Print:                          13 x 16 Large Format Print from The Wheatfield (Etsy)

White Frame and Mat:     Aaron Brothers
Large Glass Mason Jar:   Amazon (with wooden clothespins inside)
Large Glass Jar w/ Lid:    Target (with inexpensive powder detergent inside and a small metal scoop)
Slender Glass Bottle:        Slom Bottle from IKEA  (currently empty)
Under-Cabinet Lights:      Amazon

New Chairs

More than a month ago new chairs for our dining room arrived...my Christmas/Birthday present from my parents. (We found them on Overstock.com). They arrived in four long, skinny boxes. You know what that means...

Ethan had the idea to put two boxes together to make a real closed-in fort. And disappeared in there for quite a while with his toys.

Then, they came to help me assemble the 8 chairs. Whenever I attempt a project like this when they are awake, they are like moths to a flame. They always want to be involved. (You can even see "Pat" the hammer in some of these shots...they bring tools when they come "help.")

Ethan got to work sorting out the screws and washers. I cannot believe that we didn't loose one piece of that hardware after the boys played with them so much. I was just convinced that they would misplace (or throw away) something, but it all turned up when I needed it. Like I said, Ethan sorted everything into piles for me...quite handy, actually:

Logan climbed onto an upside down chair seat...

....and then couldn't figure out how to get off. Oh, that face!

Then, while Ethan was off playing in the boxes again, Logan took his turn with the hardware. (He's doesn't really put things in his mouth anymore, but I kept a close eye on him anyway.)

Logan is my mimicker. He copies things so accurately and always wants to do whatever Ethan, Mommy, or Daddy is doing. It's pretty cute.

Puppy Party Printables

Logan's first birthday party last August had a puppy theme. I made a few tweaks to the invitation and party printables so that I can share them with you. I can't share them exactly the way I did them for his party because they included some elements that I purchased. And that designer's terms of use don't allow me to share those elements as part of a freebie. (Sorry.) But, I think they are still cute so print away if they fit your needs!

(Click on the images below to download)

Indulgent Weekend

It has taken me almost two days to get back into reality after this past weekend. That's because Nonnie and Papaw (Casey's parents) kept Ethan and Logan at their house Friday and Saturday night. And Casey and I had almost one of the best weekends ever. Not to say that we didn't miss the boys, but we packed so much fun into the couple of days that they were gone. And I'm pretty sure they had fun too.

On my way home on Friday (after dropping off the boys), my mom called me to see if I wanted to go get a manicure and pedicure. I did. It's something I rarely get the chance to do. After that, we decided (on a whim) to go to a nearby antique "mall" that we've been wanting to check out. It was really cool and we spent about an hour in there just roaming around. Definitely not something to do with children in tow.

That night my family got together at Kobe Steaks to celebrate my birthday. After dinner, Casey and I went to see a movie. Our first in many, many months. In fact, we couldn't remember the last movie we saw...we are pretty sure it was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which would have been July last year.

Saturday, we slept in. That is a huge indulgence and I loved every minute. Even though I was wide awake at 7, I didn't have to get up. I got to read in bed for a couple of hours before getting up to shower. Then, we headed to have brunch at a favorite spot over by our old house. We both had appointments for hair cuts that day, so we did that after brunch, and then went to another movie. Two in one weekend. Amazing.

Then, we checked into the Gaylord Texan hotel for the night and went to dinner at their Old Hickory Steakhouse. The food was amazing. By this point, we could not believe all the things we'd been able to do in such a short time away from our boys.

We watched another movie that night in the room and slept in the next morning. Then, we packed up, checked out, and headed home to see our boys! Logan was asleep when they pulled up and went straight to his nap. Ethan was talkative about his weekend and shared some of his favorite parts.

It's hard for kids to reenter the realm of home (with parents) after being in the fun-zone at their grandparents' house. But, they've done well and Casey and I are still on a high from the amazing time we had. Since both sets of grandparents love to keep our boys, we've decided that we're doing this at least one more time this year!