Apr 6, 2012

Far too long...


It has been far too long! I'm back, and with lots to share. Here are a few highlights of the last 6 months...

*Warning- These are all "before" or "in progress" shots, full details will be coming soon!

I was asked to style the VIP party in Saks for the Ontario Mills' Runway Event


I also finally got around to hanging stuff on our living room walls. Actually, now that I think of it, that whole room has changed.


Speaking of change, the girls' room got a completely new look as well. I'm really excited with the end result and love how the beds turned out. Plus, it just works much better for them which is always most important. I really can't wait to share this with you all.


I squeezed in some crafty projects too... I'll share a quick tutorial on this art project soon. What's not to love, instagram pics and mod podge?!?


And Timmy & Leslie hired me to do a little set up for their video product shoot...


I've got a bunch of other fun things to share, but it's going to take me a little while to catch up. Thanks for checking in again, even after this long absence.


Sep 26, 2011

More Organizing



Hey everyone! I thought I would quickly share what happened after I cleaned out my much neglected pantry. Well, once the pantry was looking just right it gave me the urge to tackle the three drawers in my kitchen that store almost all of my cooking utensils, baking tools, and other random things.

Here they are! I'm sure this isn't THAT bad, but I always like things to be as organized as they can be. Best part about being organized... it makes it easier for my girls to put the dishes away in the right spot!

This drawer is supposed to store cooking utensils... not candles, zip lock bags, and paper baking cups.


Next up is my baking drawer. Most of the stuff here actually looks like it belongs, it's just all too messy.


The bottom drawer stores my food vacuum sealer (love it!), ricer, hand mixer, and immersion blender. I use these items more often in my kitchen so I need to keep them within an easy reach.


After about 10 minutes of rearranging, and throwing some unused items away, here is what I'm left with. Soooo much easier for me to find what I'm looking for now.


The baking drawer


And the I-don't-know-what-to-call-this-drawer drawer


Here is the randomness that was left behind. The Kool-Aid packs I used to make play-dough 3 years ago, birthday candles, wooden spoons, and trash no longer cluttering things up.


Not terribly exciting, I know! But maybe it will give you a little motivation to get that random job done that you've been putting off for a while.




Sep 22, 2011

Rogers Room Redo {Part 3}



I'm back to show you the after picture of Kristin's bedroom. If you missed out on part 1 & part 2, check those out first! Let me remind you of what the room looked like before we got going.

Here's the before...


and...


 here's what it's looking like today! 

New bed, picture wall, windows hung, side table, dresser, paint...


The gray walls are just perfect!

Just to the left as you walk in the room we hung 2 old windows on the wall. She may put something in the windows one day (such as photos, maps, book pages, etc) but until then, they look pretty good just as they are.


Don't ya just love the picture wall? It's fun, different, and kinda quirky (pretty much just like Kristin!). Between the two of us we already had all of the frames. Also on the wall is an old vent cover (from this lovely lady), a metal owl, and a painting done by her daughter, Madison.

The chair that is being used as a side table was a $2.00 garage sale find.


And that bed! I found this stunning, antique bed frame on Craigslist for $99. Kristin loved it and bought it as quickly as she could. Then I kicked myself for not keeping it! I'm kidding, it was meant to be theirs, it's just too cute and perfect in that room.

We also added a new, white, $10 curtain to cover their closet opening.


Here is the repainted dresser ($40 + cost of paint). We also added an old dress form which she hangs necklaces on, and a pallet shelf I had lying around to store some books. The painting was a wedding gift to them done by a dear friend, Jen.


We reused a small cabinet they previously had in their room as a nightstand for the other side of the bed. Then hung a small cluster of mini frames, and covered the top of the cabinet with a yellow lace doily ($3 thrift store find).


Here's the breakdown-

Wood Antique Bed Frame- $99.00
Paint & Supplies- $60.00
Curtain- $10.00 (gift from me)
Dresser- $40.00
Yellow Lace Doily- $3.00
White Side Chair- $2.00 (gift from me)
Windows- $10.00 (already owned)

Total- $224.00 ($202.00 was the actual out of pocket cost!)


Not too bad, huh! $200 for a whole new room, including a new bed!! There are still a few odds and ends I would like to throw in there, but no hurry, it looks so great just as it is.

I hope you and Jon love your room.


Kitchen Pantry {Organize}


When our family moved into this house almost two years ago, it was a very sudden and quick move due to some major issues with our last home. Because of all the work that went into packing and unpacking a house within 10 days (or less), I wasn't feeling very eager to organize my pantry or closets when we moved in. So over the last 2 years I've done small projects here and there, but mostly I've just closed the door and pretended like they don't exist... Such as our kitchen pantry.

This pantry is such a black hole. Things go in but they never seem to come out. Each shelf is over 2' deep and not very wide. If I buy something that is needed for a recipe (such as the panko bread crumbs below), I sit them on the edge of the shelf until I need them. If something crazy happens and they work their way further back on the shelf, I'll never find them and I just end up buying more the next time I need them.


Here's a good look at them in all their unorganized glory...


Last week I finally broke down and decided to get organized. I pulled out our camping table from the garage and set it up next to the pantry.

By the way, in the background you can see my super cute, mustard, Timi & Leslie (Diaper) Bag. Amazing. Seriously.


Then I gutted the pantry. I organized the food into different categories as I went (pasta, baking, canned goods, snacks...),and tossed out randomly collected items from the last two years.

I was pleasantly surprised (and a bit baffled) to find:

-8 glass storage canisters, empty and ready to be filled
-10 packages of pasta
-9 cans of chicken (Amy Johnson, I bought these after you made me some really yummy chicken salad at your house... seriously, how long ago was that!!)
-3 canisters of oatmeal
-3 bags of brown sugar 
 3 bags of powdered sugar AND
-6 different types of flour. 


Look at that, there is a back to this pantry!

And yes, I do line my shelves in my pantry with floor tiles (my Grammy makes me!). It makes them easy to clean & dust, plus the cans and bags of food don't stick. It also looks a lot better. All of my kitchen cabinets that house pots & pans get the same treatment, along with the cabinet under my kitchen sink.


All that was left to do was to put it all back on the shelves. I had several large, metal, pull out shelves that I picked up at a garage sale. They're ideal for such deep pantries. I put them in first, then found homes for the remaining items.


I tossed my bags and boxes of rice and couscous into a basket so they would be kept neat and tidy. I also added a piece of wood in the back to be used as a small shelf to make the items in the back more visible.


I kept the oatmeal and cereal in their jars and added little chalkboards I had lying around to the pull out bins and baskets.

The metal baskets really are fantastic. Here is something similar if anyone is interested. I was able to snag mine for $20 for the set. I almost passed because I didn't want to spend $10 on each shelf. I'm glad I went for it now!


There you have it! It makes me happy every time I open that door. Of course this led to cleaning out my cooking drawers... Who needs spring cleaning? It makes a lot more sense for me to clean in the fall, right before the holiday season when my kitchen and oven are working overtime!



Sep 21, 2011

Rogers Room Redo {Part 2}


We're continuing on with part 2 of the master bedroom makeover at the Rogers house (If you missed part 1, check it out here). 

Pulling out the carpet enabled us to de-clutter at the same time. We took out everything that wouldn't be staying permanently and found it a new home, then we tossed anything not worth holding on to.

Here's the room after our first day of working.


Next up was painting! I love painting. It's pretty much instant gratification, which is always fun in a makeover project. We ended up settling on a nice medium gray for the wall (Benjamin Moore Greyhound 1579). After gathering painters tape, brushes, rollers, and edgers, we got to work.


We started by pushing all the furniture toward the center of the room. Then we wiped down any dust on the walls and began to tape away! 


We took turns cutting in on the walls with our handy Shur Line trimmers. If you have never used these before I highly recommend them, they almost eliminate the need to tape a room off. Maybe I'll do a little tutorial on how to use them best??


Once the walls were all painted, we decided to start on the dresser while waiting for the paint to be dry enough to peel the blue tape off. 

Kristin found this dresser at my thrift store for about $40. I actually almost bought it to redo but I couldn't get it home alone and I ended up forgetting about it... till she snagged it!


It was missing one drawer pull, but we have plans for fixing that problem.

We tossed around several ideas for dresser colors; yellow, emerald green, and teal (Benjamin Moore Bahama Green 2045). Kristin loves teal, so naturally it seemed like the way to go.

We took off all the hardware and began painting the drawer fronts. They all got two coats of vibrant teal paint. 

**When redoing a dresser (or anything with drawers) don't paint the sides of the drawers or they'll stick when you move them in and out.


Then we moved on to the dresser (by now, it's well into the evening as you can tell by the dark photos). It also got tw pretty coats of paint. Kristin decided she liked the dresser top left unpainted, with the old worn wood exposed. In the end it  worked well in the room and fits their style much more.


The room and the furniture were looking all freshened up so it was time to move our attention to the collage of photos on the wall.

Pretty much the second we decided on redoing the picture wall in their room we both knew we wanted to do something different and funky, something asymmetrical and a bit more whimsical. 

I always start by collecting everything I have that can be used on the wall and loosely laying it out in the arrangement I have in mind. Once it has a good flow to it, the hammering begins.


I don't have a single picture of the photo wall being hung up, so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see it all come together!

Also tomorrow... a total breakdown of the cost for the whole room makeover!



Sep 17, 2011

Roger's Room Redo {Part 1}



Meet Kristin Rogers. She's been mentioned on here a time or two... or 50! She is a dear friend of mine and we always seem to talk each other into going thrift store shopping, Starbucks runs, Del Taco, cleaning, organizing, photo shoot planning, painting...etc. We've been friends for quite some time and I'm so very thankful for her and her family.


This is Kristin...


Kristin, Jon and their girls live in a cute little house. The house has been such a labor of love, they've done some major work on this home and it shows! It's packed full of character and special details, and it's just so welcoming and charming.

This is their house.
(Instagram picture, it's the only one I could find)


As with any true labor of love, it takes time to redo every room in a home. Lots of time. Not just weeks or months, but often times it takes years. Over the last 8 years they've painted and landscaped the outside of their home, fixed up their kitchen, torn out lots of teal green carpet, completely remodeled their bathroom, added moulding and trims, and built an amazing bookshelf that lines their daughters' bedroom.

So what hasn't been done you may ask? 

Their master bedroom.

Kristin has been wanting to fix up her master bedroom FOREVER and she asked if I would help her out (or I begged her, I can't remember).

Before we get to the area that is in need of a little help, let me show you some of my favorite parts of their home.

First up is the living room. It's super eclectic and packed full of Jon and Kristin's photography, lots of antique treasures, and original hardwood floors.



Here is their kitchen. Yellow walls, a darling vintage stove, and the beautiful wood counters that Jon made.... yes made, with his own hands. I didn't even know people could do that!



Now that you've seen some of what they've done with their tiny and cute home, lets move on to the room they've been itching to show some love. 

This is their master bedroom. 


Not so bad, right?...

Well here's the part that makes them cringe every time they enter the room. The old carpet, clutter, and random stuff that need's a home... 




along with decorations they weren't crazy about and were eager to change.




Here is Kristin's wish list for fixing up her room:

-Change wall color/colors
-Pull out the nasty old carpet
-Declutter all the random things they've collected over time
-Dresser for their clothes
-Funky up the picture wall to make it more "them"

We also wanted to try and get this done with as little money out of pocket as possible... we all like a challenge after all!

So we got to it. First up, yank out that old carpet!




I would cut a section of carpet, then Kristin rolled the piece up (along with the padding), and tossed them in the kitchen until they could be taken out to the trash.



After an area of carpet was cleared, Kristin went back with the crowbar and pried up the tack strip along with any random staples that were holding the padding down.


We didn't even remove the bed to do this. We simply moved the bed from side to side as we cut strips. Since it was just the two of us we didn't want to go through the trouble of lifting and moving the heavy mattress... Plus there wasn't enough room anywhere!


After a good sweep and wipe down we were done! Start to finish I think it took us about an hour total. That's with FOUR kids to watch after as well... We don't mess around!

Here it is! It already looks so much cleaner, as well as more open and fresh!



Up next... Painting the wall! Check back soon to see what a coat of paint can do to a room. It's kinda amazing.