My Current Project! Office/Playroom Combination!

So if you know me you already know this, I have a compulsion to only show people things when they are 100% finished. But I've decided to break that rule by showing you what I am working on currently! Let me start by what took me to this project, there were a couple of problems:

1.) Veda's toys were starting to attack my living room, which meant that every time I tried to sit down and relax I was drawn to mountains of unattractive plastic, noisy junk.. I mean treasures ;^)
2.) The office, which we had already redone, was painted way to dark. I still love the accent wall (see below) but the main color I let my husband pick out, and as a result when I was studying at night it felt dark and oppressive. (To see this wall color look at my post about scrap booking storage)

3.) For God knows what reason I felt like a bad mom because Veda didn't have a playroom?!?!? Don't ask ;^)

So I decided to make my office into three things: an office, scrap booking room, and play room. And no this is not a big room by any means.

I am not completely done with this redo, still some finishing touches needed, so I'll post the few solutions I came up with on the way!
So one of the things that has helped the most with space is thinking outside the box a bit with furniture placement. I have noticed that it is "in" to have a desk sticking out into the room with only the side touching the wall. "Ding!" the light bulb went off and this was exactly what I needed to free up a ton of space!!!
The desk that would "stick out" would be the scrap booking desk. I got it form a hotel with a chair for 10 bux! (woo-hoo!) My husband and I did a quick paint job so that it matched the rest of the room a while back. But the problem was that it didn't have a back to it, so you could see all of my scrap booking storage totes underneath, yuck! So this is what we came up with!!! Bought 2 yrds of fabric at JoAnns, and some stitch witchery (I do not sew, it always ends badly). I measured the length and then ironed the stitch witchery on to create a hem. Then stapled it to the desk! It works perfectly!!! And what's great is that my 2 yr old is still in the "out of sight out of mind" phase, so since she can't see my scrap booking supplies they are left alone!Under is the back side where the chair will go!

Inexpensive Bathroom Facelift!

When I first walked into our spare bathroom I felt like I was experiencing vertigo! The crazy tone on tone stripes and emblems on the wall were a bit much. But like other projects I had to sit in the floor and stare at it to think out my plan of action, budget in mind.


To start with I looked at the decorating things I had from our apartment prior, as well as the towels etc. And thought that with what I had it would have a slight safari theme. So we chose a camel wall color. But by far the BIGGEST impact was painting the cabinets an off white. I would recommend choosing a semi-gloss because it stands up to wiping and cleaning much more. Now normally I would just spray the hardware, but the style that was in the bathroom was hideous, so we went out and bought a pack of hardware for around $18.00 at the local big box hardware store. And there was enough that I had a few pulls left over. What you can't see in the before picture is that the mirrors were big and boxy, I wanted to break that up, and lucky me, my birthday was coming up :^). So my mom lovingly went to TJ maxx and scored these awesome round mirrors for around $25 a piece!

Now when I went back to that big box store to purchase a towel rack I was shocked! They are ridiculously priced! (Well unless you want brass) So, I bought brass! I took the spray paint left over from my chandelier make over (it was the perfect color) and sprayed it, here you can see the toilet paper holder before it was sprayed and what a difference it makes.
And for the shower curtain, I picked up one of the keep the water in not out curtains that every shower needs on clearance at WalMart, and then for that extra punch I hung a tension rod (which are only a couple of bucks) almost at ceiling height, and hung the drapes we use to have in the apartment, which ironically is the same color as the accent tile in the bathroom!

And there it is! Paint is what made the biggest difference in here! And remember if you have a small budget just add accessories as you go, that's the best way to do it! (The toilet decor ;^) is a decoration my mom and I made for my wedding! Never would have thought it would wind up in the bathroom!)

Scrapbooking Storage!

In the midst of re-doing our scrap booking/office/playroom I was having trouble actually organizing my scrap booking stuff! Well let me re-phrase that, I was having trouble organizing it in-expensively! I needed a space to keep my tools that I use often, in sight, but not in the way.

So back when I worked at a Portrait Studio we were sitting in the tech room chatting and putting picture CD's away, these came in big cylindrical CD cases that we just threw away! And that's when I came up with my scrap booking storage idea!

Under the shelves The CD cases are upside down and attached with small finishing nails, screws would work great as well! I had started by attaching them with glue but they fell off. And on top of the shelves I have kept the rod in that holds the CD's and used it for ribbons.I am not working on cutting slits into the sides of the ribbon storage cases so that you don't even have to open them.

This has by far been the best and CHEAPEST storage solution I have found!!!

From lighting don't to lighting Do!!!

One of the easiest and fastest fixes that we did was refinishing the chandelier in the dinning room. The before picture is a bit hard to make out, but you've seen this exact chandelier before.

In your grandmothers house possibly? Or maybe in your own when you first moved in? Lighting makes a huge change and a dramatic impact in a space, but replacing a chandelier can be pricey.

After considering looking on CraigsList for a new fixture I started to really look at the one I had. The bones of this piece were fine, and with fine tuning I love the way it came out!

The first step (after taking the fixture down of course ;^) was to spray it
We used a spray by Rustoleum, it runs between $5-$7 dollars per can. I went with a rod iron look but with a bit of brown undertones to warm it up. I would recommend going with the Hammered Finish. It made a huge difference, and gave the piece texture. It actually only took me two coats to cover the fixture well.

Now this next step is where you would have to be shopping savvy. I removed the globes and instead opted for shades, which are more modern and gave the fixture a warm look. These shades come in an amazing array of styles, but can sometimes run you $14.00 a piece! And when you need five of them it adds up fast. Luckily I found them for $5.00 a piece at big lots! A recommendation for you if you can't find them is to check out your local craft store, even if you go with a plain looking shade you can buy a couple feet of beaded trim to jazz them up, and still wind up with a great value, and it will be more custom!

So this is the finished product, and for $30 dollars or so you have an amazing new lighting fixture!

Re-Finishing a Deal of a Dresser

Well, after months of storing our clothing in the closet and those plastic storage tubs, we decided it was time to tackle our next project, a dresser! Being budget minded we could not just go out and buy one that was already pretty, oh no, we had to go hunting!!!

My husband and I spent the day traveling to different Salvation Army and other thrift stores. At our last stop, a Salvation Army in Wayne, we found this gem. Well okay, my husband did, I however at the time did not feel the same, which is odd because normally I am the one with an open mind. But can you blame me? It had been a long day and my 1 1/2 yr old little girl had enough, and as a result so had mommy. But regardless I just couldn't pass up the $25.00 price tag.

After we paid we went to lift the dresser into the car, and it fell apart >:0. At this point I was almost in tears and totally done with the whole dresser experience. I spent the ride home silently cursing my husbands name for his input in bedroom furniture.

But, after a day of realizing I over-reacted we got to work. First we sanded the finish a bit so that the paint would stick, we then screwed the top back on, with extra support from some wood glue, because this dresser couldn't just look pretty, it had to actually function!

We added primer followed with two coats of black paint (we had a quart lying around from a previous project). Amazingly the hardware on the dresser was already a great choice, so that cut out a nice expense for us. But looking at the completely black hunk of furniture I decided it needed something. So I got some basic silver paint and a cleaning cloth. I spread a bit of the paint on a Styrofoam plate and dabbed the rag on top, then I rubbed it into the groves and went back over to wipe off. I also took a sponge brush and lightly stroked the drawer faces.

The result was awesome if I do say so myself! It matched our bedroom perfectly!!!! And here are the results!

Tip-Toeing over Tea Pots

As you can see it is 1am and I am blogging not sleeping.... My amazing idea of having coffee once I finished my shift at work (7pm) to stay up to do homework obviously wasn't the greatest seeing that I have to be up in 5 hours.... But tonight I am glad I have stayed awake...


It is possible that the Lifetime Movie I just watched is inspiring my emotions to come on full throttle. But as I walked through my house, that is less than perfect in its current state of disarray, I had a feeling of nostalgia wash over me, of emotion so strong it made my eyes tear up, yes, now that I type this I think it was indeed the Lifetime Movie.... As I made my way into my daughters room to peek in on her sleeping, I passed by her plastic kitchen, tip-toeing my way over the ceramic tea set that had yet to be picked up after our late evening tea party. My foot landed on my worn, but loved carpeting, and I stopped, yes right there in the hallway, and thought about my life.

My life has always been planned, by myself of course, each painful detail to the T, but as of late it has changed, which if you have been following the plans my husband and I have you would realize.... I guess it started a while back when "I don't want kids until I am thirty and have traveled the world" turned into, "I am ready!" and that very day Michael came home from work early, and well, you know the story. In my plan, the original plan before the idea of a family came into focus, when my foot touched the ground as I mentioned earlier I would be feeling a cool firm hardwood floor, in a loft Michael and I rented somewhere classy. I would be an assistant to some lawyer, slowly climbing the corporate ladder myself while I go to school. My days would be filled with making appointments, getting lattes', while wearing a form fitting button up and a pencil skirt. You see the detail? I did indeed have it planned out....

But instead of feeling a pair of Jimmy Choo's beneath my feet I felt the cool touch of ceramic, my daughters tea set, and realized this is exactly where I want to be, anyway who cares about Jimmy who? He will be out of style in the blink of an eye... But this, this family of mine, who are not "penciled" into my obsessively detailed life plan, but tattooed, because this is forever, and this is where I want to be, will forever be in style in my book.