Bedroom Reveal

Ready? Before...

and after!

Again! Before...

and after!

I am so excited to share this room with you all. This is the first room in our house that I have been able to redo from top to bottom. Every surface had to be repainted/rewired/torn out all together. I am so happy with the results. I must put in a disclaimer though...all photography in this blog has been produced by an iphone 4s/5s camera, so the colors are a lot more subdued in real life than they look in these photos. You get the basic idea though. Anyways... ONWARD!

One of my favorite things about this bedroom update is the ceiling fan. It took me forever to find the one I wanted, but even more frustrating was the installation. This room previously had knob and tube wiring. This project was way beyond my know-how, so I asked by dad (who pretty much knows everything) to 'help me out'. And when I say 'help me out' I really mean have him do all the hard stuff and I can hand him tools or something. I can't thank my dad enough for his hard work, its perfect.

My second favorite feature of the new bedroom is the herringbone accent on the walls. I've always thought of herringbone as chevron's cool older cousin. I painted this using painters tape, keeping the pattern loose and fun (perfection is my enemy).

Besides retouching the ceiling, walls and trim, this room also gave me my first opportunity to experiment with painting floors. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I would love to someday refinish all of the floors in our home, but right now is just not the time. These floors have been damaged pretty badly over the last century and my skill level/budget isn't were it should be for a project of that magnitude. So I painted. It wasn't all that difficult, but definitely time consuming as I chose to sand and paint by hand (no rollers here!).

So far its holding up nicely, with the exception of one bad scratch from trying to move furniture by myself. Not very bright of me. Fortunately floor paint goes a long way and I still have almost have half a gallon left for repairs and starting in on the next room.

Because this was my first time decorating a room from top to bottom, I wanted to avoid setting a budget for myself. Instead I took my time and purchased things like paint on a week to week basis as the project progressed. Because I saved money on simple things like spray painting the old floor grate and borrowing items from other rooms, I was able to spend a little more on decorative items that really make the room shine.

Save:

Rather than replacing hodgepodge closet shelving, I pulled off the mismatched contact paper, cleaned the boards thoroughly and then covered them with a coat of paint that unified the whole closet. The full length mirror was leftover from my dorm room days. I gave the cheap mirror a coat of spray paint and now it doesn't look so bad.

Splurge:

Mounted antler necklace holder. How could I resist. (From Marshall's. I don't feel that guilty)

BTW, this phoot is more representative of the paint color in real life.  Hosta, Martha Stewart.

Save:

Runner to cover damaged floors. Nuff said.

Splurge:

The bedding. Yes, I knowingly bought an egregiously overpriced bedding set from Target. But I love it. And doesn't true love conquer all? I just hope it holds up in the wash.

Save: 

Pretty much everything else. Furniture is all hand-me-down. I broke the mirror on the dresser trying to move it by myself (hence the only scratch on the newly painted floors), but besides replacing that, they were completely free. Half of the artwork was thrifted/gifted. The beautiful watercolor prints were purchased several years ago at Art on the Green in Coeur d 'Alene and are by Dean Crouser from Mt. Hood.

Needless to say, the room isn't quite done. The lava lamp doesn't really work for the space does it? I'll be sharing a tutorial on the herringbone accent walls soon.

2012 Holiday Recap

Its here, New Years Eve and were counting down the official end to the 2012 holiday season. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and family gatherings, but I also get incredibly stressed out. My husband (who I love very much) is kinda terrible at getting gifts for people. That pretty much leaves me in charge, and I really don't mind most of the time. The last week before Christmas is usually pretty terrible though. Between wrapping, shopping, mailing and worrying that no one will like their gifts, I tend to get a little overwhelmed. This year was a nice relief since we were able to gift out so many of our homemade jams, jellies, and butters. Everyone seemed to really like them too.

I ended up using a really simple design for the labels. Its just recycled card stock, printed out and glued onto  the jars with glue stick. See that sweet Harry Potter-esque font I found? I think it really brings the label together. I had picked up some other supplies such as fabric and bakers twine to make the jars a little more festive, but unfortunately only the neighbors and my Secret Santa's jars got decorated that fancy. A nasty cold right before Christmas kind of wiped me out. Even so, people seemed to really like them so I guess we will be canning again next year.


I figure that since its New Years Eve I had better post some photos of my Christmas decor before they all come down tomorrow.


Our tree turned out really nice this year. For some reason photos of Christmas trees never seem to do them justice. I love real trees, especially the way they make a house smell. For now we have a fake, and I can live with that. I'm hoping once we have kids we can upgrade to the real thing. For the children's sake of course. *Wink *Wink

Our pink and white tree. Why is it that they can't make purple lights that look purple? Some of my favorite ornaments...

A collection of some of the greeting cards we got this year...

Some lovely kitsch reindeer with googly eyes...

And even Bambi got into the holiday spirit, though I'm thinking next year some mistletoe would be nice. Hopefully we'll have the ceiling painted by then too.

I hope that everyone's holiday was as nice as ours and that the New Year brings wonderful things.

A Well Stocked Pantry

I love Christmas. I'm not ashamed. I know lots of people hate the holidays and can't wait to get it over with. I must be an odd duck because I just can't seem to outgrow it. I was hoping to get into the basement this afternoon to pull out some lights, but I have a thing about decorating. The house has to be spotless. I started cleaning in the morning and by the time I was satisfied it was well into the afternoon and a little too late. So this weekend I will go nuts. In the meantime I'll share what I finished today.

Look at our pantry!

Completely organized! I couldn't even fit it all in the photo without tripping down the stairs into the basement. Not bad for a first year canner.

And I finally got the cupboard door up. Its just a quick sketch, but at least its right-side up this time.

I still need to paint the inside of the upper cabinet, but I think its looking pretty good. I'm hoping if I get it cleared out most of my canning supplies will fit up there.

I was planning on making cookies too, but the day just got away from me. The husband and I finished our night with a caramel apple instead.

I've gone with my husband's mom and aunt for the past three years to the Custer's Christmas Arts and Crafts show. It features all kinds of local artists, crafters, and treat makers. I always bring home a caramel apple for me and my husband. This year I had to work but my mom-in-law got us an apple anyways We're so lucky! These are made by Big Bear Chocolates, here in Spokane.

 Nom!

Apple Peel Jelly and More Chalkboard

Despite being incredibly busy and working way more hours than I ever would want to at work, I've been able to get a few small projects done this past week.

We have two buckets full of apples left. At this point I'm pretty sure they're McIntosh, but thats just a guess based on the color and how sweet they are. They will probably only be good for another week so we've been in a hurry to use them all up.

I had Monday off, so  I spent the day canning applesauce and a jelly that was made from the peels and cores. I really cannot praise this jelly recipe enough. Not only did I get use out of the cores and peels that I would normally throw away, but it tastes amazing. More like an apple infused honey than a jelly.

 Here are the jars cooling. As always I was a little concerned about the jelly setting up, but it turned out fine. This was my first time using a recipe that called for pectin, so I was nervous that the taste might be off, but I really can't stress how awesome this jelly is. Recipes! :  Applesauce and Apple Peel Jelly.

I also tested out my new chalkboard cupboard door. It works well. I'm really into faux bois (French for false wood, cool huh?) right now, but this rough design didn't seem to work all that well with the pig that would be below. Plus I drew it on upside-down. Oops.

I guess its back to the drawing-board. Haha. Okay, I'll stop.

This little piggy went to market...

The new chalkboard door will open up just above this larger one.

Lastly, my crowning achievement of the week, I woke up super early Thanksgiving morning to clean out the fridge! Some of you may remember how my attempt last week somehow turned into cleaning behind the fridge and then painting back there and then painting the trim above the cabinets, etc...

I was going to post pictures of the inside but then I realized how pathetic it was for a married couple to have their fridge stocked like a bachelor. Soda, beer, condiments and eggs. Done and Done.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. The holiday season is officially upon us. I will start working on making labels for all my canning projects in the next few weeks. :)

A Kit Cat Klock

Remember those slightly creepy cat clocks with the wagging tail and shifty eyes? I am happy to say that I am now the proud owner of one. An early birthday gift from my sweet husband. These unique clocks have had a special place in my heart since I was a kid. I remember my mom having one when I was growing up, and my seven-year-old animal loving self was just enamored. I'm not sure what happened to that clock, but this one is all mine.

I'm usually not that much into the whole unboxing thing, but I have to share because the packaging is actually pretty awesome. I haven't been this impressed since I got my iphone. Clearly, this is where Apple got its inspiration for artful presentation. Ok, maybe not, but its still pretty good for a product that's been around since the 1930's.

I'm just now realizing that the kitchen is starting to get a pretty strong animal vibe. Owl cookie jars, pig trivets, deer antlers and now a kit cat clock. I guess some things never change.

How Not to Hide Power Cords

Cords are ugly. Its a fact. The most that we can hope for is to hide them behind a desk or table, or even sweep them under a rug like some horrible secret. Even with our best efforts, cord ends and outlets seem to pop out at every opportunity.

Although I love our modern comforts, I'm not huge on the aesthetic that goes with. Recently I found this awesome little GE clock, I'm guessing from the 70's. Its in great condition and perfect in every way-   except that it doesn't run on batteries. It has a cord running down the bottom.

Really cute. Its not that bad, right?

Right?

...

WRONG.

My solution? Let those cords show in plain sight and have a little fun with it. I used this really great example from xbmc.org as my inspiration, though I wanted something a little more organic and free flowing to match the fun style of the clock. I went to work with a little double sided tape and super glue.

Luckily the tape I used is only slightly cooler in tone than the paint in our kitchen. From a foot away it blends in really well. You can follow up by trimming any excess with a blade so that the tape is hardly visible at all. The double sided tape doesn't really have the surface area to hold the cord on its own, so a little bit of super glue between the cord and tape helps to keep everything in place.

 The end result...

Much Better!

I'm considering painting the cord so it pops from the wall even more. Maybe black or yellow?

Just goes to show sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too. (Not totally sure if the saying applies, but I do love cake)

How to Knit a Sweet Little Remnant Rug

This is a super easy project for anyone who can do a basic garter stitch. Use whatever fabric scraps you have on hand, or if you have a particular color scheme in mind, raid the remnants section at the fabric store. I found most of what I needed at the yearly Buddhist temple rummage sale in Perry District.

All you need...

Size 17 US circular knitting needles
Lots of fabric scraps. (The longer, the better)

The amount of fabric you need will depend on the rug size you want. My finished rug was about 22x36", and I probably used close to 3 yards to achieve that length.

Cut the remnants into 1/2" strips. These don't need to be particularly neat or precise. You can go wider or skinnier depending on your preference.

 You can either tie the strips together in a knot, or making a slit at the end, loop the strips together like you would a rubber band.

 Cast on 35 stitches. Make sure these are loose enough to work with comfortably. Depending on the width of your strips and type of fabrics you are using, you made need to change this number up a bit.

Start knitting!

  

Knit to the end of the first row.

Repeat row until desired length.

Bind off loosely and weave in the ends. 

Simple as can be!

This Rug is so easy and has a really neat texture under bare feet.

Puppy Approved. Dirty Dishes and all.

Bringing Things to Light

 Another busy weekend, although not much interesting to write about. A lot of cleaning and organizing. While not all that fun, its definitely a welcome distraction from everything else over the past week.  The porch looks much better. I scrubbed the walls and moved all the junk that was sitting out to the garage. Added some summer porch lights, spaced out the wind chimes, and.....

Tada! Don't mind the missing lattice, that's another project for another weekend.

Besides that I also tried making a mason jar soap dispenser. I've seen the idea around the internet and its really easy. Literally a five minute project.

All you need is a mason jar (any size will do) and an old dispenser top from any disposable soap pump. I saved mine from a used up Bath and Body Works soap. I initially tried to drill a hole through the jar lid, but to be honest I've never been great with power drills. After a few tries and only leaving a small dent, I just ended up hammering a screw through the top. This was much easier for me. I stretched the hole to the size I needed using a pen, and then trimmed the pump tube to size. The fit was so perfect I didn't even have to glue anything together.

The dark blue dish soap is a little intense, but it definitely beats having an industrial sized Costco container next to your sink!

The last major project of the weekend was cleaning and switching out the kitchen lights. After all the work I've put in I'm still very self conscious about the kitchen. Those glaring white cabinets and checkered floor show every spec of dirt and flaw imaginable. There's simply not enough time in the world to clean a white kitchen. I've even held off on sharing projects because the photos have always seemed a bit dingy, even after working my fingers to the bone scrubbing. Well, I finally realized that the disappointing photos weren't so much my fault, but an effect of the lighting  

Regular fluorescent bulbs were casting a yellow light over everything. In most rooms I don't think its much of a problem, especially with neutrals. With cool tones it can even lend some much needed warmth. However the lights in the kitchen made everything look yellow and old. I replaced them with natural fluorescent bulbs, which are supposed to imitate sunlight with a slight blue tint. I can't believe the difference it's made.

To make up for lost time, here are some projects I never posted on because I couldn't get a decent photo.

Old liquor bottles as storage for dry goods (Legumes, Rice, Pasta, etc.)

Pot and pan wall

Old school faucet and nobs 

(I can't take credit for this one or the pots and pans above. My husband's not half bad at this stuff!)

Cute seed packets

(Found these at Farm chicks)

Three tier fruit basket

(See all those white specs on the ceiling? It really helps if you have the right tool for the job. I literally tried 15 or more holes before I realized I needed a toggle hook. Hopefully my dad doesn't see this. Har Har Har.)

One last thing... Russia is now officially The Creaking Floorboard's  largest audience outside of the United States! To celebrate, here are some matryoshkas from my collection. So cute.

Dasvidaniya!