Friday, August 30, 2013

Friday Fun!

Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you won the lottery? Do you think you would continue working? Travel? What home renovations would you do? There are so many inspirational pictures out there in the blog world, from simple DIY to extreme renovations. Like I have mentioned in another post, next year we will have our student loan debt paid off. That means we will have some extra money to finally put into the house. The basement is high on my list of renovations, as is the backyard. I've already showed my dreams for the basement, so now I'll go through some of my backyard ideas.
So who doesn't need a television in their screened in porch? Seriously, I am in.love.

 
Outdoor fireplaces are awesome. This second one is really what I would love. I can just picture all of us, our friends and their kids roasting marshmallows and really enjoying the evening. We are still trying to decide if we should go with an above ground pool with a wrap around deck (much more cost effective) or go all out and do an in ground pool with stamped concrete and beautiful landscaping. We were given quotes for both and there seems to be cost to a $40,000 difference between the two- craziness! So we are looking at both options right now.
 
This above ground pool is really nice, although my main dining area wouldn't be right next to the water! Seriously, they can't have kids!
 
This above ground pool even has a slide and a hot tub!! Love it!
 
This in ground pool is a.maz.ing!! So relaxing. Either way, above ground or in ground I would really like a little area for the kids to change into their swim gear, like this one.
 
{all original sources can be found here }
 
What would you spend your money on? Do you think an above ground pool could be as beautiful as an in ground? These decisions are really hard for me to make. Sometimes I want to go all out with the in ground pool but then other times I really don't want to spend the money on it when there are so many other things that I want to do with the house. Heck, there are so many places and things I want to do with my kids, so many memories I want to make with them. Camping, family vacations, play dates with friends. Decisions, decisions, decisions.....

 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Trendy Tot Tuesday: Little Boy Fall Fashion

So today as I link up with the fabulous Kelly, Lindsay and Megan for another Trendy Tot Tuesday, I decided that it was time to focus on the little fella in my life. The last two TTT posts have focused on Little Miss M and while she is momma's little fashionista, my little man C has a cute wardrobe as well. Dressing him for the fall will be just close to as much fun as dressing Miss M will be. So
without further ado here is some of the stylish attire I hope to be dressing Mister C in this coming autumn season.

I simply just adore this outfit from head to toe. The yellow shirt layered with the blue sweater and the green khaki's is just perfect.

I never thought that I would want C to wear skinny jeans but these are just perfect. I love the causal shirt layered with the plaid over shirt.

You can NEVER go wrong with Janie and Jack! This cable knit sweater is so adorable. C has so many J & J sweaters I found at a local thrift store (yes, I paid literally pennies for them) and they are now too small but I will never have the heart to get rid of them because I love them so much and they bring so many memories.

 
I just love the bright color of this cardi and maybe pair it with this blue and white plaid shirt and jeans it would be amazing! I.love.it!!

Although in reality, since Mister C has a mind of his own (and being nearly 4 years old) he tends to not let me dress him as much as I would like. So he'll probably be sporting something like this spiderman shirt and jogging pants most days.
But that is okay because as long as he is happy and comfortable that is all that matters (and I will take advantage of those days that he'll let me dress him)
 
{All original sources can be found here :Little Mans Fall Fashion}



Monday, August 26, 2013

Playroom Progress

Alert the media, we have another playroom progress update. The big reveal will be soon y'all, I promise. So I finally (even though I am as slow as molasses) got around to making the curtains for the playroom. I've shown you the wonderful, beautiful fabric that I bought for them.


Well, that fabric just sat around on my desk a while. Every.single.time I would go to the sewing machine something would happen, a child would need attention, the thread would break, the bobbin was threaded incorrectly (this was the story of my life). Finally today I was able to get everything in order and as soon as Ms. M went to bed I started. Now readers beware, I am NOT a avid sewer, I just like to think I am ;) I make curtains, pillow covers, blankets...things with straight lines. I probably don't do everything right, I always NEVER pin. I just hope I go in a straight line. Things work out usually, they are not perfect but I am okay with this. Life isn't always perfect but my products usually turn out nice and everyone is happy with them!

Firstly I threaded the machine.
 



Then (and some people would frown at me) I started to sew. I pray that I continue to go in a straight line ( doesn't usually happen) but I can always usually stay within my folded line.

 



Then voila, you have curtains. I love them and I believe they give the room some personality. C loves them too.




Another great thing about this material is that it is an indoor/outdoor fabric which I figure will work out great in a playroom meant for little kids and their little sticky fingers!

I also got around to hanging my alphabet cards. My idea of twine and mini clothespins was an EPIC FAIL! The cards were too heavy, and they came crashing down. I just put them up using sticky tac. I think they look great. Pictures of that will come very soon. I still have a few more projects to do before I post the full playroom reveal, but I think the room is coming along very nicely.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Inspiration Thursday: Home Renovations...WWYD?

So come this June (2014) both hubs and I will have our student loans paid off- yup, you heard that correctly. The huge amount of money that goes to paying off our education will be gone- halleluiah! So that means we can have some fun and finally do some home renovations like I have been dreaming about for the past 8 years. One slight problem, I'm so patient impatient I want to do everything all at once, but I am learning that can't be done so now it is the big decision of what to do first and really how much we want to spend. So today's fun is a little look at what I would like to do to our little nest :)

I love the light cabinets and light counters with a simple white subway backsplash. So classic and elegant and I will have to get some stainless appliances.
 
 That apron front farmhouse sink is absolutely to die for and the open shelving in the corner would be the perfect spot to display some dishes that we use everyday (but look nice).
I am so loving the open feeling that this staircase gives. I am considering adding the rod iron spindles and opening up to add a railing to the basement, possibly.
 
I don't want my sink in this location, but I would love to open my kitchen into the hallway to give a view of the family room. If I did it this is what I would like it to look like.
 
 
pzarchitects.com
My side step needs to be replaced, it is way too small and falling apart. This would be lovely.
 
houzz.com
Another white on white kitchen, classic.
 
 Another example of the corner open shelving that I want but I would paint them white, not this olive green color. I do love the little spot for cookbooks.
 
(original site unknown)
Another thing I need desperately is a mudroom. Kids come with so much crap stuff. It doesn't have to be massive, just something like this would be beautiful.
 
I LOVE this island. This would be perfect with lighter counters painted maybe a soft blue.
 
 

houzz.com
I want to cover up my massive stone fireplace like this.
 
or like this one...beautiful.
 

I would also maybe like to open up the kitchen completely to the hallway like this....
 
My basement dreams
My desk area in the basement, love the chair and table.
 
This is what I envision when you walk down my basement stairs.
I am thinking of having storage like this along one wall.
 
(both images are from)houzz.com
 
A small basement bar, hubs really wants this. I want it to be a creamy white color though to go with my nautical coastal beach house feel I want for the basement. (also add a microwave above the sink)
 
There are just so many decisions, hubs really wants a pool, I want the basement. The issue is how are we going to decide and come to a compromise. I think a pool should be last and even as much as I would love one now, I just can't justify the price that one will cost. Basically for the amount that a pool and everything that comes with it would cost we could do a lot of our interior work plus some exterior (screened in porch and side step). So over the next while we'll have to come up with a decision and hopefully we'll agree.....
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Painting laminate bookcases

I am sure you bloggers with children understand me when I saw children have A LOT of toys. Literally, they are everywhere. If your house is anything like mine, the toys start in one room and trickle into every.other.room! Seriously, I don't know how my children do it. They start off in one room and the next thing you know is there is a Hansel and Gretel cookie toy trail down the hallway into the kitchen, dining room and living room (which also leads up the stairs to the bedrooms and surprisingly the bathroom as well) I just couldn't take it anymore. We had a playroom, it just wasn't working for us. There wasn't enough storage space to host all those toys. I needed more shelves but really didn't want to fork out the money to buy new white ones.

"Ah-ha" I had 3 laminate blonde colored bookcases down in my basement. They really weren't serving a purpose. A while ago I had all of my teaching materials on them but then I got some new shelving and was using that. So I decided to search the lovely internet to find some tutorials on how to paint laminate products and I came across this one from Centsational Girl. She really sums it up nicely, so instead of me trying to go through the process step by step in great detail you should just go and visit her blog, she's awesome!

I started by sanding my bookcases lightly (sorry no pic). Then I dusted off the, well, dust.
 

Here I am getting ready to start priming.
 
Like Kate says, make sure to use a good primer. I used Cover Stain BIN oil based primer and it went on as smooth as butt-er!


It was beautiful out so I was able to do my painting outside, made for quick drying!
 
I then let those dry overnight. I stored them in my barn. The next morning (after I dropped the kidlets off at preschool and the babysitters) I tackled the rest of this project. I used some left over paint that I had lying around to save some cash.

Paint
 
After I painted, I let them dry and since it was so darn hot out they dried within an hour. I then repeated this step twice. Once they were fully dried I wanted to add some "pop" of color to the backs. I couldn't find a wallpaper in stock that I loved, nor could I find any fabric at the fabric store. So while I was at Wally World getting my necessary things I came across these outdoor table clothes on clearance for $2...Yup...SCORE! I loved the geometric print and it was navy blue. Perfecto. 

Fabric tablecloth for back of bookcases.
 
I laid the cloth out and made my necessary cuts and lined the backs of the bookcases. I was going to use a fabric glue but that didn't work so I just used hot glue on the corners to hold it in place and then I nailed the backings back on the bookcases. 

Laying out the fabric.
 
And well, tada, here they are!


 
I still need to touch up some of the shelves because they got chipped in transition into the house, but over all I am totally in love with the way they turned out. 




 
More playroom sneak peeks to come within the week.