Sunday, July 22, 2012

Back on the blog train

So it basically has been forever since I last posted, and for those of you who have checked back the last few months, I apologize for your disappointment. But, I really am going to try this again.

The last few weeks have been incredibly motivating. It’s amazing what starting one project can do to jump start the rest of them.  In the past month, I started to change up our guest bathroom. I really had no plans as to what I was going to do, or what color I was going to paint it. I just went to Lowe's, stood in front of the paint selection for about 10 minutes and decided on the spot. Yep, teal and gray. Done.  I immediately went home and got to work.

The vanity in our guest bathroom is not the best. It’s old; the drawers don’t close very easily, and in its prior state was half painted. I’m starting to learn, whoever lived in this house before us really had no idea how to paint, lay carpet, add an addition, level the floors, and even the walls were a mess.  So we’re doing our best with what we have. One day my husband will come home and I will have ripped out the vanity and force him into getting me a new one (or letting me turn an old buffet into one. That will take some convincing). If you need an image of what I’m talking about, I saw it on Pinterest/ Pottery Barn and it is to die for. See below. 


Pinterest/ Pottery Barn



Okay, back to reality. I painted the rickety old vanity a beautiful teal color and added some door knobs, from Anthropologie that will knock your socks off. I had to mix it up with the knobs, you may look at Antro’s hardware selection and think “nice, they’re only $10!!!” but when you need 6 of them, it adds up.  So, instead of investing more money than the vanity is worth, in knobs, I went to Home Depot and found these great brass (yes, I said brass) knobs. They perfectly accent the center of my new Anthro knobs and they only cost $1.98/ea. 


Martha Stewart/ Home Depot


Antropologie
This is the clear version of the knobs I used
Once the vanity was done, I moved on to painting the walls.  They gray is the perfect.  It provides enough color on the wall to make the space look complete (well, currently it’s in progress, but you get my point). Painting the room took a while, the bathroom is massive.  Our walls are also plaster, as this house was built 102 years ago, and it absorbs paint like you wouldn’t believe. 

At that point, I still really didn’t have a color pallet going; I knew it couldn’t just be gray and teal.  Since I really hadn’t done any planning with this bathroom from the beginning, I figured, what the hay, I’ll just keep wingin’ it. Once I got to Ikea and found the red linen cabinet, you know the yellow one that is alllllll over Pinterest? Yep, found it red. SCORE!  I also found a gold mirror on clearance to replace the ugly white mirror we inherited in this bathroom. Once I spent the few hours putting the new linen cabinet together, I added some awesome Antro knobs and called it a day.
Hemnes Linen Cabinet

Pull Knob from Anthropologie



Levanger Mirror from Ikea 
The faucet it also gold/brass-ish, you won’t believe how hard it is to find gold faucets (that aren’t real gold at $900+ a pop).  I settled on this Delta faucet from Lowe's, and I couldn’t be happier.
Delta Faucet from Home Depot



The shower curtain is from Crate and Barrel.  We finally used the last bit of our gift card from Christmas (tear).  The rest of the little decorative stuff is either things I have moved from other rooms, or picked up at random places while I’m out. 

There are a few things still to come. I need to hang a few pictures up on the walls, add the towel rack and toilet paper holder. I’m currently in the process of spray painting the old rack and holder to see if I can just reuse them! Wouldn’t it be great if I could “replace” them for just the cost of a can of spray paint? I will keep you posted.



While you wait, enjoy the photos J  More to come when the room is complete!








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Friday, December 30, 2011

The Big Move


So the day has come and passed. We have officially moved in to our new house.  I can’t even put into words how exhausted excited Adam and I are.  However, it wasn't all smooth sailing; we had some bumps along the way.

Here we go...

The bad stuff
1.       My brother came in from Tennessee to help me move, instead, he had his appendix removed ( below )








2.       We only hired movers for the “ big stuff”  big mistake.




3.       Our box spring didn’t fit up the stairs, so our movers left it downstairs for us to figure out
4.       We don’t own an SUV which resulted in many, many, many trips back and forth.
5.       I have no cable or Internet until January 3rd

The good stuff
1.       We are all moved in
2.       We passed on  the keys to our new tenant yesterday
3.       We got so many gift cards for Christmas that an entire bed set was bought, free of charge!








4.       I am getting some great antiques from my parents in January ( think: 1800's Chifferobe and then antique looking knobs from anthro. can you say awesome wardrobe for about 20 bucks?)
5.       I no longer have to walk up 20+ stairs to get to my house
6.       Milo has a ton of space to run around and is an awesome co-captain on long drives



7.       Granite counter tops
8.       New appliances (coming soon!)
9.       Lots of new spaces to decorate
10.   I have a washer and dryer that doesn’t require quarters (can I get a hallelujah?)
11.   Did I mention I don’t have to walk up 20+ stairs to get to my house anymore?
12.   That there are so many good things about moving into this house that I’m just going to end the list here for the sake of your time and mine.

Stuff I learned
1.       Never listen to a lady that works for Lenox when you are registering for your wedding gifts.
2.       I could host a wine tasting for 30+ people using real wine glasses (thank you, Lenox lady)
3.       I could also provide coffee for those 30+ people after they’ve finished their wine.
4.       Don’t give in and buy a new box spring when the movers say it will not fit. Take it apart and haul it up stairs yourself. (Nice job, Adam and Mr. Curley!)
5.       Just because your house is bigger, doesn’t mean everything will fit. Just look at our basement ( it’s full of boxes )

Okay, so I’ve learned about a million other things, but for now, I’ll leave you with that.

Stuff I was reminded of
1.       My husband is amazing. See new leather Pandora bracelet, with a house charm.



2.       My family is amazing
3.       I’m super blessed to have all of this


One last thing, I went to the casino last night for my grandpa’s birthday and it looks like I’ve just added some unexpected funds into the decorating budget. Yippee! Merry Christmas, to me!


Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011

Great News

Well, a miracle happened last week. Our paperwork was done early, and we can close early!! We are closing...TOMORROW!!! We can't believe it. We now have zero time to get everything packed and ready to go. We did get a bug chunk of the packing done last night. Its amazing what you can do in just a few short hours of straight packing dedication, and no distractions. We were on a mission. There may have been a solid hour where Adam and I didn't speak, we each just took a room and went at it! Tomorrow, I will try to take as many before photos as I can. I will update you tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Little Evening Treat

    As I promised, here is what I've been working on. This is a concept for my new living room. Most of the furniture we already own. The only new items would be the side table,coffee table and a couple little accents (bowl and pig!). Now, here is where I need you. Which table selection do you like best?  Also, what do you think about the rug? I'm in love!

The Pia table from Crate and Barrel (thank goodness for xmas gift cards!!)
 Or
Marble tables from CB2 (we can also use our gift cards here!)

Okay friends, tell me whacha think!

Monday, December 12, 2011

It's been ages since we spoke...


I can’t believe it’s been 10 days since I last posted. I feel terrible. I’ve had intentions on posting every single day. It’s really just been nuts.  Too many Christmas parties to count and we couldn’t even go to half of them.  So here’s an update.

 I was actually able to GO INSIDE MY HOUSE on Tuesday last week. It was as lovely as I remember.  My Relator, June Newman, an awesome Comey Realtor if you need one in Cincinnati, was nice enough to open the house up so I could take some measurements. Adam and I are lucky enough to be getting all new appliances ( except our range is staying!) once we move in and I needed to know what size to be looking at.  I also took some additional photos of the granite counter tops, (see below)  I’m struggling to figure out what color/stain I’m going to put on our cabinets. I just can’t figure it out. It’s tough with the super dark floors. I don’t want my kitchen to be dungeonesque but, I just LOVE dark wood.  If you have any suggestions, please please please share!




Granite Color

Current Kitchen color scheme..Ignore the ugly mirrors above the cabinets, they're leaving ASAP
So after talking with Adam I decided that I probably should start shopping (instead of just dreaming of all the wonderful things I want to put in our house).  So here’s what I bought; drum roll please….a vase and a candle holder and a side table. Yep, you heard right. That is all I bought. It’s a lot harder than I planned to pick all of this stuff out.  The side table is a floor sample from Crate and Barrel hello, $35.  The vase was on clearance at Crate and Barrel for $12, and the tea light holder I actually got from Home Goods for $9.99. Not too shabby. 


You can stack 'em!

So this isn't the exact one I bought, but it's close!

I bet you want to touch it


Hopefully I'll be able to post some things I've been working on very soon!!


Friday, December 2, 2011

Quick Friday update

   Last night Adam received his acceptance letter from Xavier. Starting January 9, 2012 he will be working on his MBA. I am so very proud of him! However, I must admit, I feel a bit guilty for what I'm about to share. As soon as I read the letter, visions of my home projects started to get blurry. Images of me digging DEEP into my (already) empty pockets, and only finding lint started to haunt me. yikes.
     

"you know what they say, Lint is a shells  best friend."- Marcel

   On a positive note, he doesn’t have any loans from undergrad since he was a little smarty and got a full academic scholarship. THANK YOU, CARL LINDNER! So here we go...add this to our tab. 


if you don't know who Marcel is, You Tube Marcel The Shell with Shoes on...you will laugh until you cry.
 
Have a great Friday!