A Little Crazy... My House is For Sale

We are moving.  The husband got a new job and we are off.  But not far, only about an hour North.  So, time to sell the house.  It is quite the experience.  One I never really want to do again.  Here's hoping I can find a home I love where we are going.

Here are some photos...

My front room/office.  Featuring Built-in Billy Bookcases inspired by Centsational Girl.

Great room area...

Basically, keeping my house in "showing" condition constantly is not my idea of fun :)

A Little Decorating....Framed Fabric

Nate Berkus totally copied me!!! I am absolutely positive we telepathically linked somehow, despite the distance between NY and Utah, and he sucked my design idea out of my head and featured it on his show yesterday. Don't worry Nate, I will forgive you this one time as long as you give a shout out to your homegirl in SLC next time you steal my idea! So here it is...framed fabric.

Every time I go into a fabric store I end up finding a piece of fabric I love. However, I never buy it because I know I will never get around to making something with it. The other day I found this darling fabric that I thought would be perfect for my playroom (perhaps a cute pillow, maybe some drapes). Just as I was putting the fabric back, while lamenting my lack of time and lack of sewing skills, I had an epiphany. Put it in a frame and hang it on the wall. That way I can still enjoy the beautiful fabric with no sewing required. A very complex idea indeed. There is no way anyone else has ever thought of this idea also, Nate Berkus included. (insert sarcasm here)

A Little Crafty... Build a Memo Board

But not just any memo board, a stainless steel memo board! 

I built this memo board to go next to my stainless fridge, I love it for it's look and it's functionality.  What a great hand-made Christmas gift idea.  Am I right or am I right?

Here is how to make it...
I first purchased the stainless memo board itself from IKEA. Then I visited my friendly neighborhood Home Depot where I choose my molding and had the guy cut it for me to fit around the board, which I brought with me, perfectly.  He was happy to help me :).

I came home and started putting it together.  I used this corner clasp that the Home Depot guy recommended (thanks guy).  It was a life saver.  Then I used a little wood glue and some staples to secure the corners.  I then used caulk to fill in the seams.  However, if I could go back I would use Spackle, because you can sand Spackle and you can't sand caulk.

Then I painted it to match my kitchen cupboards.

I then simply laid the frame over the board (it fit perfectly).   Thanks again Home Depot Guy!

Then, using wood glue, I attached an unused, laminated map (that I just had laying around) to the back in order to ensure that the board and the stay together.  You could also use poster board... but waste not, want not, right?

 Then I cut the map with a razor blade so it was glued to both the molding and the memo board but wasn't visible from the front.

I used my favorite home decorating product ever to hang them, 3M Picture Hangers.  If you haven't tried them you really must.  I love that they don't leave holes in the walls and they are easily repositionable and removable.

Now I use China Markers to write the things I don't need erase (like days of the week) and dry erase markers for everything else.  I even color code it... husband=green, me=red, daughter=pink, etc.  It makes it easy to keep track of what is going on around here.

Did I mention it's magnetic?  There are so many great things you could do with this project!  What will you do?

A Little Freebie...Halloween Decorations

I love to decorate for Halloween.  Something about the blood and cobwebs that just speaks to me...

Back before I had kids I thought it was a really great idea to buy highly breakable Halloween decorations:  spooky votive holders, ceramic jack-o-lanterns, even a glass cookie platter.  It didn't take long (Um, baby numero uno's first Halloween) to realize the error of my ways.  He is a boy.  A dirty, destructive, always into something boy.  You might ask, "How do you deal?"  I'll tell you.

Paper.

Easy huh?!  Let me elaborate.  I love free templates for the following reasons:

-They are FREE.
-They are easy to obtain.  Click print.  Boom.  You're in business.
-My kids can help.
-I don't turn into the Incredible Hulk (although it is slightly appropriate being Halloween and all) when the paper decorations get played with "too hard."

Here are some fabulously freaky finds to help you save your money (and maybe a little sanity) this Halloween...but do me a favor, will ya?  Take your savings and splurge a little on your candy this year.  Peanut Butter Taffy should not even exist.

Check out Country Living for these, among others:

And Martha, duh.  Would anyone else use the word, "unsavory" to describe paper mice?  Nope.  Describe them how you want, I choose awesome.

And click over to Matthew Mead for these.  Be sure to browse around the site fore some other, non-template, ideas!

By now you probably have a list a mile long of ways to use these templates (share them please!) but first, let me tell you how we spook out our house!

-Place a dark colored creature on white paper and frame it.
-Partially cover our family photos with tiny little creepers.
-Dangle them from the ceilings.
-Attach them to mirrors.
-Put large black cutouts in windows.
-Tape them anywhere my kids deem worthy, including the carpet :)

Happy Halloween Decorating!

A Little Decorating... My Great Kitchen Redo!

If you are one of my neighbors you have seen my in my garage, covered in paint, nearly in tears.  I have finally finished painting my kitchen cabinets!  Are you ready to see them?
Wait!  Not yet... first let's see what my kitchen used to look like...

 Not too bad right?  Well, I just never loved it.  I never wanted to be in there.  I knew that if my kitchen were white I would love it!  So, after lots of research and inspiration I went for it.

It would have been an easy decision if my house weren't only 5 years old.  And my cabinets are a nice alder.  Some people though I was off my rocker!  What if it didn't work out?

My inspiration:
Centsational Girl: Painting Kitchen Cabinets
Starter Home to Dream Home: NO Fear Way to Paint your Kitchen Cabinets
(I even stole my wall color from her - Quiver Tan by Sherwin Williams)
Better After has lots of great painting help too
This is the best info I found to help me.  I also visited my local Sherwin Williams store and consulted a neighbor who painted his way through college.

Top Things I Learned:
1. You don't have to use oil-based paint to get a hard, professional finish.  I used an 100% acrylic paint and it is awesome.  It will cost about $50 a gallon (wait for the sale).  This was important to me because my baby was only two months old and I didn't want those fumes!
2. Prime!  Cleaning and priming is key.  I use the Sherwin Williams Adhesive Primer, which they recommended for this project and I am glad I did.  I also sanded, scrubbed, sanded, scrubbed before I primed.
3. Use a Flow-Leveling Additive.  I used X-I-M Latex Extender.  It works like a charm to get rid of brush strokes.
4. I also learned some serious patience!  There were times I wished I had never started this project and wondered if it would really be worth it.  I read on others blogs who had undertaken similar things that it was so difficult but they would do it again in a heartbeat.  I wondered if this could possibly be true.  But you know what?  It is.  I hated it while I was doing it but I love it now!
Now, the moment you have been waiting for...

I know what you are thinking... That kitchen could really use some pendant lighting.  Amen.  If I could just convince the Mister...

So?  What do you think?  Has this been on your mind?  Do you dare to do it?  Have you already done it?  I must know!

A Little Decorating... My Baby's Nursery

I love a new baby but I hate trying to find the perfect nursery bedding.  In fact, I couldn't find what I wanted at all.  So I made it!

I had my heart set on oranges and greens.  I made the quilts and dust ruffle.  I bought the bumper (the minky fabric matches the quilts perfectly) and sheet at JC Penny. I wanted vibrant splashes of color to offset the neutral walls.

Speaking on the walls... check out the wainscoting my husband and I installed.  Do you love?  I love!  It was actually pretty easy.  The caulking was the hardest part.  The finished look was well worth the work.

The mobile is the crowning glory.  I picked it up at an adorable local boutique (Oopsie Daisy in Daybreak) 40% off.  It was still super expensive.  But I figure it's and heirloom.  It is all knitted.  Baby loves it almost as much as I do.

I wanted to spell baby's name in metal letters but I didn't want to pay for them.  So I bought inexpensive paper mache letters at the craft store and spray painted them graphite.

This rocker was given to me by some neighbors.  It had been sitting on their porch and they didn't want it anymore.  Thanks!  I spray painted it a light blue (love it with the geometric pillow $5 at Target).  I picked up the stepladder turned book shelf at a thrift store.  I was planning to paint it but then decided that I love the worn look.

The art is courtesy of my six-year-old daughter.  She is so thrilled to have contributed to her baby brother's room.  I just bought a few canvases at the craft store and some acrylic paints in the room color palette and let her go for it.

Baby's closet doesn't lend itself to doors.  That's ok, I almost like these soft IKEA curtains better.

Hope you love baby's room as much as I do!