Project House to Home

We have lived in this current house of ours for almost 3 years and if you walked in you would immediately think, does anybody live here? Of course we have furniture, toys, and other random stuff. But the point I'm making is that the house just doesn't look lived in, it's missing that "home" feeling. Part of the problem was the paint...eeekkk...when we bought the house there were some very random colors splattered around the place. Green, brown, tan, yellow, gold, faux finish, you name it the house had it. The first few years Jeremy and I looked at paint colors all the time and never could settled on that perfect combination of what we wanted to do. This lack of final color put all decorating on the back burner. As we know time flies and it seems like the months just passed by. Finally towards the end of last year we decided that painting was not a project we were cut out for and decided to just hire somebody to come paint it for us and hopefully help us decide on colors. We ended up with the most awesome painters who not only did a spectacular job painting the whole inside of the house for us, but also helped us to nail down the perfect color for the house. It's not too bold and not too bright. Soft and subtle with a million possibilities.
Now that the house is painted it's like a blank canvas just waiting for our special touches. Jeremy & I had made a pact that this year would be 2009:Project House to Home. I figured what better way to track the things that we do, both big and small, than right here. I can then look back and see just how much progress we made this year and I love before and after pics.
Random before shots of our blank canvas.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Monthly Organizing Round-Up - Living Room

Well I fell off the wagon there and have regretfully missed the last few months of the Round-Ups that are hosted monthly by The Org Junkie. I'm back on track now though and ready for this month's challenge.

This month’s Round Up is living rooms. This was a tough one for me to decide on whether or not to do the “living room” or the room where we actually do the “living” aka the family room. That’s a whole another post though, I never figured out why they call it a living room when seriously the only time it is used is for Holidays and not for living. Oh well I guess that’s why I work in Human Resources and not building houses.

The family room in our house is pretty organized for the most part thanks to the most awesome entertainment center. It fits the hole in the wall perfectly. The entertainment center though helps to keep things in their place. Except for the pile of papers that ends up there instead of on the desk where they belong and the Wii accessories that were begging for a home and not just a shelf to sit on. Last year I added some baskets to the shelves on the left hand side to help organize the play-doh. Play-doh is off limits in the playroom so I keep it hostage in the family room. The couch is a plus and a minus. The couch pillows are always piled up in the corner of the couch, but look so much better when actually set up nicely. There is a center console on the couch that keeps the remotes nicely stored too. All in all not too much to do here since the room kind of organizes itself provided I take full advantage of the organizing features.

The Couch Before

The Couch After....Ahhh
The Entertainment Center Before
The Entertainment Center After

The Home for Play-Doh & Wii Stuff

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Black Friday

Well you know that a Thanksgiving post has to be followed by one about Black Friday...It was a given and go ahead and admit it you were expecting it.
Black Friday this year I decided to lay low as far as the getting up before the sun and freezing outside. I took kid duty and stayed in my nice warm bed until they woke up then hit the shopping at about 9:00 a.m. There were some pretty good deals out there....probably the best 2 deals though came outside of the Black Friday Early Deals. Friday night we decided to make a trip to one of the many Wal-marts in the area in search of a few things that they were sold out of at our normal Wal-mart. This led us into a Wal-mart having an unpublicized Super Friday Night Deal which included something that Jeremy and I had been looking for...throw pillows for the new couch. Woo-hoo!! We had been looking at pillows but it was going to cost us a small fortune to get the amount we wanted. The pillows were on sale for $2.50 a piece for micro fiber solid color pillows. Score!!!
My next good deal came Saturday morning at Michael's. There is a space in the house next to the formal dining room that is basically a nook cutout....too deep for a bookcase but not wide enough to put a hutch in. Frustrating,,,until I saw the ad for Michael's. They had on sale a super cute table that would fit perfectly in this nook and also give me some workspace to put some crafting stuff. I love the way it looks!!!

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

House Snow Pics

Our house and neighborhood all covered in snow.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

New Furniture - Couch & Dinette

Now that the house has been painted, yes it's done!!!! Jeremy and I decided we should finally treat ourselves to a new couch we had been eyeing for a while. We picked this couch out months ago, but it didn't really go with the color we were going to paint the family room so we kept on looking. Now though, that the room is a more neutral color the couch we have wanted will match perfectly. So we went and did it today and bought the couch. We also decided to go ahead and get a new dinette set why we were there too. I can't wait for the new stuff to be delivered...hopefully it will be soon. But you know how it is with furniture people they always take forever.

Here are some pics of the furniture...

obviously not from our house since we don't have our stuff yet.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Freecycle

Freecycle is paradise for people like me that hate clutter and stuff being in my house. I simply post an item that I no longer want to look at, stick it on my front porch and BAM it's gone. Just like magic. For anybody that hasn't discovered Freecycle I highly recommend it.


Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

No More Painting

The novelty of painting has run out for Jeremy & I. It actually ran out a few months ago and we sat in this house with half painted walls in the family room. Not sure what happened, but the idea of painting just sort of fizzled out and we knew we had to do something about it. Of course, what option do you have when you don't feel like painting anymore?? Hire somebody to do it for us. And that is exactly what we have done and we couldn't be happier about the decision. Today our painters came out and completed all of the doors, trim, and baseboards. How they did all of that in just one day is beyond me, it would have taken Jeremy & I until 2010. I can't wait for the painting to be all done so the decorating can start. Now that is for sure something I will tackle.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

The bathroom re-do

The bathroom re-do for the kids is now complete. Well, except for a single hand towel that I need to get for the counter so people do not dry their hands on the hanging ones. I just haven't found the perfect one yet. I'm going to head out on Friday though and see if I can find the one that is going to finish off the bathroom.

Before: Rubber Duckies

After: Tropical Paradise

The towels I don't want anybody to use

The counter top (minus the hand towel)

Fishy rugs on the floor

Perfect match: Night light & shower curtain

It's really the simple things in life that make me so happy. Two weeks ago I ordered a night light off eBay, it has three surfboards on it. This single night light was my inspiration for re-dong the kids bathroom from the current rubber duckie theme which they have way outgrown. My plan was to start with the night light and see what path I ended down. Tropical, nautical, Hawaiian, really the possibilities were endless. Then last week I was on eBay (no big surprise, you will learn that I frequent that sight very very often) and came across a shower curtain that brought it all together for me and sealed the deal on where my theme would head. The shower curtain has surfboards, hibiscus flowers, and stripes. Awesome! I could totally work with that combination. I bought the curtain (thankfully a buy it now so I didn't have to play bidding wars with anybody) and this week the curtain came in. I tore open the package excited to see how it look in person.It was even cuter than I imagined!! Then I looked more closely at the picture and something seemed weird about the surfboards on the curtain. I felt like I had seen them before. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, those surfboards are the same exact ones on the night light. Score!! Turns out the curtain and the night light are made by the same company and are part of a matching set. I can't wait until I get the final few pieces for the bathroom and can put it all up now.

3M Command: The sticky but not sticky stuff

I've used this 3M Command stuff before and was always in awe of how awesome it worked. You stick these hooks to your walls and whenever you are done they just peel right off, leavng no sign of there ever being something on the wall at all. It wasn't until recently though when we began Operation: Decorate Kid's Rooms that I realized just how much I love 3M Command. I faced a serious dilemma as we put the final touches on the paint in Taylor & Cody rooms. I had a beautiful blank canvas to work with and a million ideas of things that I wanted to put up. But, I did not want to put any holes in the freshly painted perfect walls. What's a person to do? Pile of stuff needs hanging and walls don't need holes. I thought for a while and finally remembered about these super cool 3M Command hooks that I use at Christmas time to put the wreath on the front door and hang the stockings. I pondered for a few days how I could make a set of hooks work to hang pictures and stuff. Armed with a head of ideas and my wallet, I ventured to the local Wal-Mart to take a look at the 3M Command hooks. And low and behold, when I entered the row where they used to be it was like a light was shone from above. Instead of the simple small and large hooks they used to have I was faced with an entire wall of 3M Command products. Everything from the original hooks that started it all to picture hangers (exactly what I needed now), designer hooks (need some of those later), sawtooth picture hangers, bathroom accessories, clips to hang small things, holders to keep cords out of the way. Everything organizing and decorating, 3M Command now has it. I was in heaven looking at all of these cool gadgets that would make the kids walls look cute, and remain hole free. Armed with my basket of goodies I headed to the register happy to get home and start using them.

Now, this event took place a few weeks ago, and this week I finally got the chance to use the picture hangers and the teeny tiny hooks I bought. Awesome, wonderful, superb, those are the words I would use to describe my experience of hanging the stuff in the kids rooms. Not only was it wonderful knowing that there are no holes in the wall it was loads easier to hang the stuff without the use of a nail and hammer. Just peel and stick, so simple!!!

I promised you more

Just didn't think it would be so soon that I would finish one of my projects for Taylor's room and have it up and ready for pics. I had been working on it yesterday and last night made the finishing touches to get it to the way I wanted. This morning I was able to get it printed out, matted, and framed. This is in the entrance to her room, Taylor wanted something like Cody has (his room has the sports balls with his name) with her name on it so people knew whose room it was when they walked in. Like the pink walls in a house with only one little girl didn't give it away? :-)

Monthly Organizing Round-Up - Entryway

I'm posting a bit early this month my completion of the Monthly Organizing Round-Up from Org Junkie for two reasons. 1) I was on vacation this week, therefore allowing me time to get the entryway done early and 2) The end of the month is going to be very busy so I figured I would take advantage of the "down" time to get it posted. Now this month was a bit tricky for me, as the challenge was for Entryways/Mudrooms. Well a mudroom is something that I just don't have. Not sure if it's a "California" thing or what but the two houses I have owned and all the ones I have visited in this state simply do not have a mudroom. I guess it's just not on the list of pre-requisites for home builders. LOL!! Can you sense my jealousy of not having a mudroom? After seeing the mudrooms posted on Org Junkie I am a bit jealous that I don't have a mudroom. The other option for me was the front entrance, but there is nothing in the entrance at all, I promise you that. The front door opens and BAM you are in the living room. That left me with my only other option, which in a sense is the "entryway" for us. Through the garage. When you enter the house from the garage you are smack dab in the laundry room. I only call it a room because it has a door, but really it's just a laundry pass through space. It had a lot of potential though as it looked like a mess before I tackled it.

This is a shelf above the washer/dryer. It goes the length of the room and is a good height for all the necessities of a laundry room.

The other half of the shelf. My supply gathering spot. I used to have the supplies in a container, but needed the container for the kids closets, as I was short one basket and the one that used to house my cleaning supplies was a perfect match, so off it went.

(check here for their closets Taylor's Room & Cody's Room)

The side of the washer/dryer. So much potential what is that chair doing in this space though when the garage is literally on the other side of that door?
Ahhh...The aftermath of a day of FUN!!!!!

Looking into the laundry room from the hallway. So peaceful!!!

Purchased a container to put the iron and starch in. Makes it look cleaner and nothing better than having things that go together in one place. I was also able to bring some craft stuff in to fill some of the space on the shelf and finish off the room.

The other half of the shelf. Brought in some baskets for sponges, cleaners, and light bulbs. Also, have a nice little nook on the side for the home improvement books.

The chair that didn't belong made it's way into the garage, where it does belong. Added a hanging storage rack to hold dryer sheets, extra soap cups, and hooks for the hangers.

And of course, with each project there is always something that ends up being my favorite transformation. This is exactly what the laundry room needed...A bar to hang those extra hangers on, nice and organized and easy to get to when folding all the clothes. For this transformation I purchased a tension shower rod, easy to install and extremely functional.

There you have my completed laundry "room". I love doing laundry in my new space.

Taylor's New Room

Taylor's room is far from done. I have a lot more to do in here. But it's a start.

Taylor's room from the hallway

Up close of her bed

Her name above her bed

Close up of her name

Probably Taylor's favorite part of her room.

This is where her stage will go once Jeremy & I build it

Some simple decorations. She loves flowers in her room.
Her closet, no doors and so organized. My fav part of the room.