A Living Room Update

Well, I've been sort of stumped.  I had some changes I wanted to make to the living room but I just couldn't come up with what I wanted.  I knew the mantle area needed some updating, but I was stuck.

So, this is what we had going on.

  

Well, a while back anyway.  It was the best picture I could find.  It was fine.  But the mirror had been up there as long as we've lived here and I was ready for something new.  That's when my next problem came into play.

My dad made me this great wooden toolbox, exactly like the one my grandpa had carried when he was a construction worker.  So, it's very cool.  And I love it.  I just didn't know what to do with it.  I finally grabbed some white hydrangeas at Hobby Lobby and some floral foam and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  So I switched that out for the mirror on the mantle.

 

Pretty good, but it still needs something...  And if you're curious, that's a pheasant tail you're seeing over on the left.  My husband went hunting in South Dakota a while back and for this year's Christmas present I had his pheasant (that had been in my deep freeze for the past year) mounted.

So, the other day I was at JoAnn's picking up supplies for the cupcakes I'm baking for my sister's wedding and I saw these giant letters.  I knew I needed one.  Amazing and cheap.  I just didn't know where it was going to go or how I was going to jazz it up.   My brilliant husband says "Why don't you put it up above the fireplace"  Oh man, that's exactly why I married him.

I painted the whole thing gold with some craft paint I had on hand.  Then I grabbed my mod podge and gold glitter and headed to the deck.  The deck is the perfect place to glitter.  No glitter trail in my house.  I don't know why I never thought about it.  After my glitter had time to dry, I shook off the excess, my giant H came back inside the house to get hung on the fireplace.  I just used a 3M tab.

 

Have I mentioned I love summer vacation?  I've gotten so much done, it's great!  I'll be back soon with more of my summer projects.

Spring Wish List: House Version

Hi guys.  It's been a while.  I've been at the gym instead of DIYing.  But I am so ready for spring and I have some ideas/plans.

First up is our yard.  This is hopefully a spring break project, assuming the weather cooperates.  We need the ground to not be frozen solid.

 

We're hoping to fence this portion of the yard.  Coming out from the east (left in the picture) and making a big square out to the pond (which is behind me when I'm taking this picture) and then around the west (right) side of the house.  That way our crazy dog can go out and get some exercise more often.  And maybe the neighbor dogs will quit carrying off his stuff.  We have plans of how we'll do it, the weather/ground just has to cooperate.

And then there's living room art.  Guys, I'm just not feeling it.  In general I'm just not in love with the stuff we have on our walls.  I feel like it's just blah.  This is what we have going on above the couch right now.

 

I mean it's okay, but it's just not doing it for me.  I'm thinking a big canvas of a sandy beach and maybe some other stuff.  It's a big honking wall and it needs some attention.

Next on the chopping block is our bedroom.  It's a super disaster.  We don't have enough storage and our bedroom is pretty tiny.  Especially with our king sized bed.  In my dream we have two six or eight drawer dressers.  One for each of us.   I'd also like to get rid of our hulking old 32" TV (which would also mean getting rid of the stupid TV cabinet that the bathroom and closet doors slam into at least once a day) and replacing it with a nice sleek flat screen to hang on the wall.  In a dream world I would also ditch those doors for the bathroom and closet, maybe with barn doors.  We have three doors in a row on one wall, terrible design plan.

I also have some plans for our hall bathroom.  We have towels that just hang in there.  They match the bathroom.  No one uses them.  It's ridiculous.

 

It's completely my fault.  It was my decision when we bought the house.  New plan:  get rid of the towel bar.  Put a couple of hooks on the back of the door for actual use.  Put those green towels in the linen closet for actual use, what's the point of having them if they just hang there.  Replace the towel bar with some built in shelving.  Also, buy a new shower curtain.  That one's fine but I'm ready for something different.  I don't know what, just different.

 

And then my last thing on my immediate fix it list is our laundry room.  Oh holy cow.  My organization is not efficient.  The layout is not great, but for the time being cannot be fixed.  The washer is on one side of the room, the dryer is on the other.  And I just don't have the right storage.  The dream is to build (have my dad build) a laundry basket dresser.  With slots for four laundry baskets:  jeans, towels, brights/darks, and whites/lights.  And along with the laundry basket dresser, I'd like a cabinet with a door to stash some of those crazy things that have no home.  Two wrought iron (ish) four tier cake stands anyone.  And maybe on the very end of that cabinet some built in storage for snow boots.  Right now they just get dumped in the laundry room doorway, it's ridiculous.  

So, that's the current house wishlist.  I think I have my work cut out for me.  I was just starting to feel like our house might be done.  And now I'm laughing at myself a little.  It's never done is it?  What are you guys working on these days?  Anybody else seriously overcome with a case of winter blahs?

 

Time Flies

I mentioned that I got to go to Hobby Lobby the other day (total high light of my week!).  I was having serious decision making problems and all I left with was my bulletin board and supplies for that project.  I spent a long time in the clock aisle (they were 50% off) but I just couldn't commit.

So today I'm going to share some of my favorites.  Tell me what you think.  Which one needs to come live at my house?  I love the rustic looking ones but I'm just not sure that they're my style.  Ug, this is exactly why I couldn't make a decision...  Yes, there are TWELVE.  I have serious problems.

 

I love the birds, and it probably goes with our decor the best, but it's probably too small.

 

Same goes for this.  They chevron pattern is adorbs but, still too small.  And I know chevrons will eventually go the way of floral wallpaper and shag carpet...

 

This guy was big, but oh so pretty.  Also, upside down...

Kinda cute...

 

I almost brought this one home with me, I just don't know about rustic...

 

I liked the unexpected shape

 

I liked this but hate that the numbers 

 

So cute!  But once again, the aged thing... And it's probably too small?

 

This guy is pretty....

 

I really liked the map in the background on this one.

 

I like this too but it has the same number problem, so funky, I don't know that I could deal with that.

 

Crooked...  I like the kind of wood grain going on here.  I'm not sure it goes with our house either though.

What do you guys think?  Anybody else have problems making home decor decisions?  I thought texting a dozen pictures to my sister was a little overboard.  But, apparently that many clock pictures on the blog is completely acceptable...

Euw vs. Ooh

It's funny how words sound the same but mean different things.  I know kids, an English lesson.  Okay, not really.  So today I was eating a cookie.  I had a meeting after school and I bought cookies to take to my meeting.  Well, I was talking after the meeting and eating a second cookie.  I thought the first cookie tasted kind of weird.  After I took a bite, I looked down at the second cookie.  Mold!  Euw!  So disgusted.  I chewed a piece of gum and still couldn't get the gross mold taste out of my mouth.  Horrifying.  So, that's my first euw.  I mean I'm still thinking about the grossness.  Obviously, I threw the rest of those cookies away.  And they were those delicious Lofthouse sugar cookies with the frosting and sprinkles.

And now for the good Ooh.  Ooh, I did a little work on the mantle.  Let's do an eye-spy.  Can you tell what's new?

 Last Week

This Week

Okay.  It's not really hard.  But here we go.  On the left side, I painted the candle holders and I found a little turquoise bird at Hobby Lobby.  He was half off.  My mom weighed in and thought he was cute.  I like him. He may need a name just for fun.

On the right.  All that I really changed was I grabbed the little wooden "Love" sign and brought it over off the shelf.  Not a huge difference.

I'm pretty happy with it.  I'd kind of like something with a little more height.  And I'm still tossing around the idea of turning the mirror so that it stands vertically instead of horizontally.  We'll see.

What did you guys do over the weekend?  I started spray painting the chairs but I ran out of time and primer.  Then it rained the rest of the weekend.  Maybe tomorrow night.  Because the extra day light is really the only good part about day light savings time.  I definitely was not appreciating the time change when I got up at 5 this morning.  Where do you stand on day light savings?  

Springing Up

I am so desperately ready for spring.  I hate winter.  It's no secret.  I'm the most ready for summer, but I'll take spring.  That means it's one day closer to flip flops and lake trips, barbecues and sunglasses, driving with the windows open and margaritas.  Mmm, I love the warm weather.  Just as a disclaimer, I do not drink margaritas while driving.  Ever.  Windows open or not.  Just to clarify.  I don't want anyone to think I make unsafe driving choices.

The approach of spring means it's time to take down my Valentines decorations, the decorations I should've taken down last week when I was home because of the snow.  Yeah, those were still up until Monday night.  I only took them down because I had a friend coming over.  It's a little embarrassing.  The snow makes me lethargic though.  I want to curl up on my couch with a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate until the spring thaw.  My deck is still covered in snow and it makes me sad.

But, it's time to get over it.  I'm done with the snow.  And I'm ready to focus on spring!  And I'm debating myself.  I keep thinking about my mantle.  I don't want to go overboard decorating it for different seasons and holidays.  I don't want to go off the decorating deep end.  There are photos filling the shelves of our built ins.  And I love them.  They used to be scattered on the mantle too but I relocated them for fall.  So, I'm thinking of just setting a more neutral decor for the mantle and just adding little bits in when the mood strikes me.

I want a birdcage.  Or a big lantern.  I bet the lantern would be cheaper. And some ceramic birds.  I'm on this goofy bird kick.  And I'm thinking about some colored glass.  Or some flowers in my vase.  Something....

So, this is what we've got going on right now.  I grabbed some new candle holders on my way home from work on Monday.  And they were on clearance.  Even better.  I think I would like them better if they were silver.  But that's nothing a can of spray paint can't fix later.  I know I need some more height on the right side and maybe some other smaller pieces.

Help me!  What do you guys think?  Other than I need to clean my mirror.  I know.  Paint the candle holders?  Leave them dark?  Any good accessory ideas?  How do you decorate your mantle?  Everything else I stuck up there is just from shopping my shelves.  I'm just not 100% into it.  I want your opinions!  Give me some input.

Must be Magic

It finally happened.  I may have done a little dance.  Last night we got the dresser moved into place, the TV put on top, and all the cords threaded through the holes we cut in the back so that we could put the DVR and Blu Ray player inside.  Amazing! 

And I learned an important lesson.  I do not work well with others.  I've done projects by myself for so long that I am always sure I'm right.  Oops.  Last night I just had to tell myself to shut up and let my sweet hubby, who was helping me instead of watching basketball, figure out how to run all the cables.  I am clueless when it comes to setting up electronics.  We got it done though.  And we still like each other.  And the living room looks amazing.  It's possible I walk in there just to admire our work.

Before we get to pictures, let's do a cost breakdown.  It was so cheap guy, I totally can't believe it.
Dresser  $30
Paint, 2 quarts $20  (and I still have more than half of each left to be used for other things)
Hardware $18  (with two drawer pulls left)
Shelf Board $14 (there's a piece of that left too)
Grand total for a spiffy TV console:  $82
Not too shabby!  Still much cheaper than anything I would've bought.  And it matches our living room perfectly since I painted it myself.  And it has tons of storage space.  That hideous shelf that used to sit by the TV is now sitting in the kitchen waiting to be carried to the basement.  And the coffee table is back where it belongs.

Remember, this is what we started with.  I think it was totally worth my $30..Those legs remind me of Beauty and the Beast.  I don't know why.  They just do.  This is fairly normal for me and furniture.

And this is what we were living with.  The TV on our coffee table.  Ridiculous.

And here she is now.  Please excuse the fact that we were watching basketball when I took pictures.  It was the end of the Mizzou game.  It couldn't be helped.

It's not in the exact spot I want it, but it will work for now.  We're getting new floors soon(ish) so I decided I could live with it there for now. 

Oh, I just love it so much!  I can't wait to load the drawers up with CDs and movies.  And re-alphabetize.  My CDs have become a total mess.  And I love things to be in alphabetical order, it's my favorite.  Where do you store your movies and music?  Do you have a certain organizational system?

Patience

I am not a very patient person.  At all.  I want things done now.  I mean, not in a pushy, hateful way.  The lack of patience is usually really with myself.  I'm working on it though.  So, I'm not very patient when projects take a while.  Like this dresser.  It's been in our basement for two weeks.  I'm dying to get it upstairs and get the living room arranged properly.  Because what we're working with right now, just isn't working for me.

We're using that tiny end table as a coffee table.  My husband eats his dinner on it.  And I cringe a little every time.  That table is supposed to be sitting prettily by our big comfy chair, not in the middle of the living room.

But since we bought a new TV (finally) the coffee table is temporarily serving as a TV stand because we didn't have anything else to put it on until the dresser gets done.  So, I am desperate to reclaim my coffee table.  And possibly even more desperate to get rid of that shelf beside the TV.  It's been in our living room practically since we bought our house.  It served a purpose, but it's not attractive.  At all.  

So, you can see why I'm dying to get my dresser done and moved into the living room.  It's painted.  I'm just waiting for the paint to cure so that the TV can sit on top and not ruin the finish.  Arg.  The waiting is killing me.  I think it's coming upstairs tomorrow.  So, it's still sitting in pieces in the basement.

The drawers are all stacked up.  Ready to go in the dresser.  They're going to get filled with with CDs and DVDs.  I'm so excited.  This dresser is magical, it's going to allow me to get rid of two pieces of furniture - that ugly shelf and my leaning CD rack in the office.  

And the drawers got new hardware.  Hardware that is not straight out of the 80s.  That old hardware was rough, I think my childhood dresser had the same drawer pulls.  So, after two trips to Sutherlands (the first drawer pulls I bought were the wrong size, turns out you should measure) we have new hardware that is fresh and current.

And the shelves are set in.  The very nice guy at Home Depot cut the boards for me.  I haven't glued them down.  And I'm not actually sure that I will.  I can't wait to get the DVR and Blu Ray player on to the shelves.  And I love the turquoise inside.  Eek!

So, what projects did you work on this weekend?  Anybody else just waiting for the final pieces to come together?

Dressing It Up

Well, here's the deal.  I went shopping with my sister yesterday.  I didn't do any dresser revamping at all.  Disappointing!  I did pin some ideas.  I have great (I hope!) thoughts for what I'm going to do.  First, here's a refresher of my living room.

So, brown and turquoise.  And tan.  So that's what we're working with.  And I've been pinning a bunch of stuff.  I'm just still debating on the outside color of the dresser.  I'm kind of between cream and brown.  As you can see from the pictures, all of our furniture is dark brown.  Our built ins are brown with a turquoise back wall.  I know for sure that I want to paint the inside of the drawers the same color as the back of the built ins.

(source)

I mean this is gorgeous!  Obviously the dresser is grey instead of brown or cream but it's still absolutely gorgeous.  I just love the idea of a pop of color inside.

(source)

Obviously the outside of this is turquoise and I've promised to not have more than one piece of brightly colored furniture in the room.  But I think the combination of dark wood with the turquoise is gorgeous.  Love it!

(source)

I desperately love this.  I pinned it ages ago.  I love the stenciling.  I love the white with the pale turquoise.  It makes me think cream and bright turquoise would be okay.  I'm going to paint the inside of my top drawers (that are going to become shelves) turquoise for a fun visible pop of turquoise.

So, those are just some ideas.  I've pinned tons more.  I think these are my favorites though.  On my dresser I really want to take out the divider between the two drawers and put in new dividers to make three separate openings at the top.  I'm not sure how well that will work out though.  I really just need to take the drawers out and do some staring at the dresser to see what will work best.

What new house projects are you working on this winter?  Anybody else completely over-analyze all their projects and paint colors?  I think I need to go back to just going with my gut, my gut was usually smarter than my serious thinking thoughts.