Family Heirloom

Let me introduce you to the newest member of our family: our new dining room table and bench! They. are. AMAZING. I cannot even begin to tell you how absolutely perfect they are. When my dad and uncle said they would make us a table and bench, I expected something beautiful, but maybe a bit more rustic. This isn't rustic in the least bit - it's a true work of art.

If I saw this on any furniture store floor, I would be mesmerized. But since it was handcrafted with love by my Dad and Uncle Brad - it's even more special. It's hard to tell how many man hours went into this table, but I don't think it would be a stretch to say in the hundreds. Needless to say, we owe them BIG TIME. Thank you both for the love and time you poured into this project - we are quite fortunate, to say the least!

P.S. Here's an in-progress shot and our first table.

 Beautifully polished.

Just perfect.

Goose approved.

Did you notice my cute little Owl Salt and Pepper shakers? They were a gift from my Mom :)

Dreaming

We have a fun, little bonus room right off our bedroom and as you can see, it's a bit lackluster. It's a bit dark, has paneling and well, it has red carpet. It almost has a church cathedral-like feeling. We currently use it as an office/storage hybrid room, but I'm always dreaming up what we might eventually do in that room. Architecturally, it could be beautiful. While the space is a bit smaller, I'm loving the bright white room with wooden beams. The colors and simplicity are perfect. (If only we could have that view too!) At any rate, it's something to file away for the future!

The Before: Bathroom

It feels like many moons ago that we gave our bathroom a little facelift. I don't call it a remodel because structurally, the only thing we changed was the mirror cabinet. But dang, the little changes we took on made a world of difference. When we started, we didn't realize how much of an undertaking a simple "facelift" would be, but it was still so worth it - the bathroom finally feels clean! But let me count the reasons this old bathroom had to go.

1. The wallpaper was dirty and dinghy. It was splitting on almost every seam and on the black wallpaper, they masked the cracks on the seams by coloring the wall with sharpie. Clever? Yes. Classy? No.
2. The vanity was also dinghy.
3. The mirrored racetrack lighting was just not pretty.
4. The outlets only worked when the lights were on. 
5. The mirror cabinet didn't open well without a yank, which always made me think it would shatter in my hands. 
6. The chair rail looked weird around the outlet. (As you can see above)
7. The ceiling was wallpapered. I mean, that's less of an aesthetic problem and more of "pain in my rear for trying to get it down" problem. 

So I'll just let you soak in what we were up against. One of the many things I took away from this experience: I will never, ever use wallpaper. Seriously, it's the devil.

Like the hole-in-the-wall toilet paper holder?

Under the wallpaper, we were surprised with many years worth of paint. Pink, orange, and even some purple flowered wallpaper!

 

The original floors are great. The dirty vanity on the other hand, not so great.

This is after the first layer of wallpaper was off. Then we had to do 1-2 more rounds of scraping and sanding! I wouldn't wish this process on my greatest enemy.

Coming soon: The Finished Bathroom!

Secret Message

Remember when we started remodeling our bathroom back in SEPTEMBER? Well, I'm pleased to announce that it'll be finished soon! (It'll be nice to use the sink again - brushing our teeth and washing our hands/faces in the kitchen has been interesting) And a blog reveal will most definitely happen. But let me just tell you this: It's turning out to be gorgeous! It may be my favorite room of the moment. (Well, second to this room, obviously.)

In the process, I left a secret message for the people who remodel this bathroom next because it sure as heck won't be us; we'll either be gone or hire someone next time! We also put a dollar bill in the wall because it's honestly one of my dreams that good ol' Judy (former owner) left a giant stash of money somewhere - she was elderly so you never know, right? And I realize that a dollar wouldn't be considered a "giant stash" by any means, but sorta fun!

Oh, and we found more evidence of different wallpaper. Judy just loved her wallpaper.

Goodwill Gold

The same day I picked up my lamp, we also came across this little number at Goodwill. I wasn't completely sold on it at first because there were some dirt smudges and the frame was just plain ugly, but since I grew up on the water, it felt like an ode to home. And for only $13, I decided to take a risk and see if I could spiffy it up to fill the void on an empty wall in my living room. At least until I could buy some art that I really, really loved.

So we brought it home, even though Joe remained skeptical. First, I used a damp rag to rub off the dirt marks, which worked wonders - it came off and even make the paint wet again, so it looked like an original brushstroke. Then, I used some brown paint we had laying around to paint the frame. What a transformation!

Now it's hung proudly on the wall and completely complements the room - with the greens, blues and browns - it's the perfect fit. I'm not sure I'll even need to look for a replacement any time soon. What do you think?

P.S. It's signed by a Hendrickson, dated 1965 - it's like a little piece of history! Fun, huh?

DIY: Lamp

Since our living room doesn't have overhead lighting, we have to rely strictly on lamps. Luckily, we have a floor lamp from my apartment, but there was one little corner that needed a little lighting oomph. So I've been keeping my eyes open for the perfect lamp. Turns out, the perfect lamp is ridiculously expensive. I mean, come on, it's a lamp, why you gotta charge an arm and a leg? So until I could find this quintessential "perfect" lamp, I thought I'd bring a little light in our lives on the cheap.

Enter: Goodwill.

I figured if we could find a nice, functional lamp, and add a little paint and a new shade - it would bring it to life.

This was the winner. A $7 ceramic lamp with bent-up shade. (Fifi really liked it.) Please disregard the base, I had already taped it up to prepare for Operation Spray Paint. We picked a really pretty blue-green for a pop of color, but still tie in with our green walls and navy couch.

But Operation Spray Paint wasn't perfect. Some flecks of something from outside got into the paint and there were a few drips. So I had to let it dry and do some sanding.

But after a little TLC, it all turned out fine and dandy. Look at this beauty! Spray paint for $5 and a shade for $16 - with the lamp, that makes $28. This similar lamp goes for more than 20x that!

And little did we know, a lamp shade provides endless hours of entertainment for the kitties. Double score.

Labor Day

We took Labor Day seriously by laboring away in our bathroom. What started as "hey, let's take down the wallpaper and paint the bathroom" turned into a much bigger project than expected. First, this wallpaper was clearly designed by SATAN and consequently took a dozen hours to fully remove (and we haven't even finished the ceiling - yes, they had wallpapered the ceiling, who does that?!). It also did a fair share of damage to the walls, so we'll have to do some patching.

One thing led to another and we were dreaming up big changes, but we're holding back and just replacing the mirror/vanity for now. But even that will take more labor than expected - changing wiring to move the lights on each side of the mirror, patching a part of the wall because the Ikea model we found doesn't quite fit into the hole in the wall, etc.

But don't worry, we also got some quality water, sun and BBQ time in this weekend - more to come on that! In the meantime, if you know of anyone who does pro-bono bathroom work, send them my way :)

Oh-So-Studious

 

Is it just me or do bookshelves also make you feel studious? Whether or not they are filled with actual books (or pretty bowls and trinkets), a nicely styled bookshelf unquestionably adds a lot to a room. But you know what adds even more to a room? A pop of color, of course. Painting the inside of bookshelves - an inky blue, mossy green or even a bright peach - it can beautifully transform a room! Considering a quart of paint costs about $10 - in my opinion, it would be $10 well spent. I'm storing this away on my "future projects" list. One day.

 

 

 

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DIY: Halloween Decorations

Just give me some cardboard, colored tissue paper and a beautiful home and I'll give you some awesome Halloween decorations! Isn't this just the coolest? This holiday decoration may even top this one. Maybe.

(P.S. Like how I snuck 'beautiful home' in there?)

pic/via

DIY: Jewelry Organizer

Say Yes to Hoboken featured this AMAZING jewelry organizer that she created recently. I fell in love. So now I either have to a) find out where she leaves (probably Hoboken?) and steal it, or b) the more "politically correct" way, to make it on my own! So now I'm on a mission to find an antique frame, cute fabric that matches my bedroom and a few knobs. I haven't been this excited about a DIY project in awhile!

Aren't these knobs perfect?

DIY: Wrapping Paper

Stephanie wrapped my birthday present with pretty (some weird) Vogue spreads - how fun! She taped it all together first and then wrapped it normally. Isn't that a great idea? Get another use out of those glossy magazines we all love to buy.

(P.S. She got me an ice cream maker! I already have my eyes set on a few recipes. Let me know if you know of any other winners.)

DIY: Picnic Basket

It's no lie that I love me some picnics. For the past several summers, I've taken part in countless picnics at Green Lake or Golden Gardens. And while reusable grocery bags do effectively get picnic items from Point A to Point B, I love the idea of getting a cute little picnic basket.

So I've been on the search for a cheap option, but no one seems to be getting it right. Actually, those that do, are like a zillion dollars, which I'm not willing to spend. Last year, I looked at JoAnns and Target, but nothing won me over. This year has been just as fruitless.

What's a girl to do? Well, this girl asked her mom if she had a basket that I could snag. She did, but it looked like this (this is the bigger version, same design of the actual basket that I spruced up, but I forgot to take a before shot):


Needless to say, we're not in 1993 anymore when grape vines were cool. Today, well, it looks dated. That's when this DIY project came to light.

First idea, paint the top. So I sanded it down and painted it blue. It looked ok, but it wasn't as I had envisioned. Then my mom had the brilliant idea of gluing fabric on it. So we riffled through her collection and found some scratch fabric from an apron she made me for Christmas. Perfect.

Next update, the handle. Conveniently, it broke off which got me thinking of how to remedy that situation. Ah-ha - an old belt! So I cut up an old belt that was on its way to the Goodwill. I think I like it better than the original handle!

Meet my new picnic basket. This, my friends, calls for some major picnicking.

DIY: Shower Decorations

On Sunday, I went to Carol's bridal shower with Jessie and had a great time! (Except for the getting lost in Tacoma part - that wasn't too much fun... But we survived and made it in one piece.) Now I can't wait until the actual wedding!

The shower had the most amazing decorations. I was especially impressed with these fun, colorful lanterns. They are pretty simple to make - just get a couple different sizes of paper lanterns and glue or tape on a ton of colorful yo-yos (my mom made an entire quilt of yo-yos, so I've definitely seen my fair share of these), then you have a pretty little decoration to hang above the table. Simple, yet adorable!

photos via Everyday Delights