Somebody is a lucky boy!

A couple of weekends ago I decided I'd hit up some yard sales, because I was at 21 weeks, and the only thing I'd bought for baby W was four boxes of Pampers I got for $85 during a sale at Target.  I was getting really discouraged with what I was finding, when I came across a house that I considered to be the jackpot.  I ended up getting this Pack-n-Play, which retails for $199 at Babies R' Us, for $25. 

 

And this jumper/exersaucer, which retails for $89.99 at Babies R' Us for $15

I began to feel like I might make some progress at yard sales, but I was going to need to be more diligent about hitting them up.  Then this past Sunday, a woman I met at the church we attend, who has a 14 month old son, handed me two bags filled with clothes, bottles, pacifiers, food and more.  I was in utter shock at her generosity. 

 

Later this week, the sister of a good friend of mine, who also has a 14 month old son,  told me she was getting rid of stuff, and I was welcome to come and get it.  She literally filled my car.   

 

I came home last night crying.  In a good way crying.  I'm just amazed by the generosity of people, and am so touched that this little man is so loved.

 

For now, one of our two guest rooms is a complete disaster, but I look forward to going through everything this weekend, to see all the goodies Baby W has :)

 

 

 

 

Grid of Maps in our Foyer

Last winter I received a Jenna Sue Designs map print, of the city I called "home" for 33 years, from a friend as a Christmas gift.  I framed it, and leaned it against my wall. 

 

I loved the print, but it looked lonely, so a few months later I order two additional prints - one of the city my husband and I live in now, and the other the city he went to college in.

 

I decided I'd try a method for spacing the maps that I read about online; using wrapping paper that had "grids" on the back. 

 

 

I decided how much "space" I wanted in between, cut out around the outer frame (I didn't take a picture of that).  Taped the wrapping paper on the wall (centering in the hallway). Then used painters tape to create a grid on the wall.  I'm sure that explanation makes no sense at all. :)

 

I used some 3M command strips on the back of the frame, and stuck them on the wall.  Far from the most efficient way of creating my grid of maps, but overall I'm very happy with the overall look - and even happier that the entry to our home tells a bit about our history.

My new thoughts on nursery furniture

My inspiration picture for the nursery had white furniture.  I loved the look of white furniture, especially when it had straight lines.  I'd found the furniture I wanted to order and had pinned it for my reference.  Then, I took my husband with me to go registering. 

I never intended to buy baby furniture from Babies R' Us, but I wanted to walk my husband through the section to see how he'd react to different styles.  When he saw different styles of white furniture, all he could say was "it looks like it belongs in a girls room - if you pick that, we might as well start decorating with flowers and butterflies." 

Ugggh ...

Then I remembered furniture I'd seen from Land of Nod, from way back in the day (yes I was looking at nursery furniture 2 1/2 years ago, when I was silly enough to think that our first child was going to be joining us in 9 months).  Luckily, they still carry the line - and I think I like it now more than I did when I first saw it.

So as of today, these are the pieces I think will end up in the nursery ...

The Straight-Up Crib.  I love the fact that the front and back are the same height.  I love the straight lines.  I also like that it's solid wood, and made in the US :)

The Simple 6-drawer Dresser.  I may look into the Changer Top to hold a changing pad in place (it screws to the back of the dresser, and then can be removed when no longer needed).

 

The six cube bookcase - which will be outfitted with a combination of bins for toys, and open cubes for book storage.

 

I have no idea what I want to do for the glider yet, but I'm hoping to pull the trigger on this furniture soon.  That said, their website says the furniture is in stock for immediate delivery, and I want to get the stripes finished before I put furniture in the room ... so I may be waiting a bit longer. 

Picking paint colors ...

I have a hard time picking paint colors.  I just hate doing it.  When I found my inspiration image for the nursery, I remembered seeing a post that Shelley over at House of Smith's had done a few months back on painting stripes in her daughter's room.  I looked it up, and sure enough it was a grayish combo that I liked.  Shelley had used Eider White and Repose Gray...

 

I picked up a few samples from Sherwin Williams, and picked up four samples from the same sample strip.

 

 

The picture quality from the camera on my phone stinks, but after looking at the samples in many different lights, I decided to go with the Eider White / Repose Gray combo in 13" stripes. 

During a SW sale I picked up the paint in their non-VOC Harmony version and have gotten one coat of the base coat up.  Hoping to get the second coat up next weekend and the stripes painted out the following - while I still have balance on a chair :)

Nursery Inspiration

I'm in love with everything about the nursery Darci, over at [the good life], created for her son Jackson.  I suspect I will be pulling a lot of inspiration from her design.

My Nesting "To Do" List

As part of my nesting, I created a "to do" list, that I'd love to have done by the time the baby gets here ... although, I know that realistically that may not happen.  You'll notice a theme of decluttering ... oh and replacing flooring.  The puppy we got in July likes to eat carpet.

Foyer

• Hang key chain holder
• Make & hang subway roll
• Frame and hang maps
• Relocate existing mirror to dining room or living room
• Find and hang new mirror
• Find narrow console table (between  12” and 18”)
• Touch up paint
• Find rug for entry

Laundry Room

• Organize shelf
• Clean out dryer vent
• Buy/hang holder to hang iron

Office

• Make & hang curtains
• Install floating shelves
• Install ceiling fan
• Hang white boards
• Hang cork board
• Go through “to file” pile
• Create file folder labels
• Sort through black file cabinet
• Find dog bed
• 3-hole punch industry reports
• Sort through binders
• Create binder labels
• Sort through product baskets
• Paint out magazine file folders
• Find “reading chair”
• Install new flooring

 

Dining Room

• Touch up paint
• Make and hang curtains
• Hang sconces on either side of window
• Install new flooring

Pantry

• Create labels
• Reorganize shelves

Powder Bath

• Find/Hang Wall Art

Kitchen

• Find/Hang light over island
• Purchase bar stools

Living Room

• Hang Ceiling Fan
• Purchase new TV and wall mount
• Find narrower TV stand
• Reorganize DVD’s
• Find/Build Sofa table, for behind couch
• Find pair of lamps for sofa table
• Install new flooring

Master Bedroom

• Make/Hang sunburst mirror
• Frame lyrics to wedding song and hang
• Paint storage boxes
• Organize walk-in closets
• Hang shelves in water closet
• Find a larger/shorter dresser

Lanai

• Have screen installed
• Install Ceiling Fan

Garage

• Organize & Declutter
• Create an inventory list of deep freeze

Stairwell

• Reattach frames with command strips
• Purchase additional frames to repeat pattern
• Print up black and white family pictures

Bedroom #2 (aka nursery)

• Empty all work items
• Sort baseball cards
• Sort through remaining items in closet (perhaps move to bedroom #3 closet)
• Hang fan
• Stretch carpet
• Paint rooms (13” stripes)
• Order furniture
• Buy/Make curtains and hang
• Build abacus
• Order/hang artwork
• Organize dresser drawers

Bedroom #3

• Declutter

 
Bedroom #4

• Declutter
• Paint (maybe)
• Hang circular mirror over bed
• Hang chalkboard
• Hang wall art
• Paint second side table (living room)

Guest Suite

• Declutter closet

Linen Closet

• Declutter

It's been awhile ...

I know this blog has been very quiet, for a LONG time.  Honestly, over the past 16 months I've been in a bit of a funk - and blogging has been the last thing on my mind. 

I won't go into all the details, but the journey my husband and I have been on to start a family has been more stressful than either of us would have ever imagined.  I can't say I'd want to relive the last 2 1/2 years, but without a doubt we're closer to one another than I ever thought was possible.

That said, I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant and my husband and I are ecstatic about meeting our son in February.  The nesting instinct really kicked in when we had our anatomy scan, and I want a place to document this stage of our life.

I can't say my posting will be super consistent, or interesting to a lot of people - but I want to be able to look back and see what I have accomplished - and this is the place I plan on doing it.

We got a few things done ...

I was hoping to get more done before my father-in-law and his fiance came to visit, but sometimes life happens - like an unexpected diagnosis to infertility testing.  Erik and I have had a chance to digest the news, and we have an interesting road ahead of us; but I think there's going to be a lot of projects in my future to help distract me when we go through periods of waiting.

Come Friday we had curtains up as well as some wall art. The wall to the right of the French doors also has a circular metal wall art mounted; the wall behind the couch needs something else - just not sure what yet (suggestions always welcome).   Eventually we'll get another piece or two into the sectional, do something about the end tables, and a ceiling fan up, now that I'm a pro at hanging fans!

The dining room is shaping up.  I'd like to hang a mirror on the wall opposite the pictures (which I finally got straight - which meant installing saw tooth hangers on the back of the picture (and foregoing the wire hangers that came with the frames).  Longer term, we'd like to put in hardwood flooring and area rug, some type of curtains and maybe a tall plant.

In terms of the guest room - it doesn't really look the way I was thinking it would.  Eventually I want it to have a beachy/spa like feel. 

That said, the ceiling fan made it up, and I managed to do it all by myself.  The one in our master took 5+ hours, this one took an hour and a half, and that was mainly because I "lost" a screw in the motor when I was trying to secure the downrod to the mounting bracket and was attempting to fish the screw out without taking the fan off the ceiling.

I painted the IKEA Rast dresser a glossy black, but the pulls are looking a little dinky to me.  We also got some old pictures up, and a rattan trunk into the room.

There's still a lot to be done, but at least I've started to get that drive again, so hopefully you'll start seeing more changes soon.

Our Disaster of a Guest Suite

Last weekend our guest suite looked fairly sparse with just a few pieces in it.  The bed (which was my first grown-up purchase), a rocking chair (that was my mother-in-laws and she refinished when she was pregnant with Erik), a secretary desk and mirror that was my great-grandmothers, and a lonely lamp that Erik had with a whopping 40W light bulb in it - yeah it was dark at night!

Well, I decided the room needed to feel a little more "homey" as my father-in-law and his fiance are coming to visit the house for the first time.  Erik and I picked up a ceiling fan last weekend (that's still hanging out in our living room after a 5 hour debacle getting the one in our master bedroom up).  I also decided the room also needed some side-tables, lamps and art.  Nothing a trip to IKEA and Target can't handle. 

I started out picking up a side table and lamps at Target. I've been eyeing the lamps for a good three months, hoping they'd come down in price, but alas, they held firm on the price, so I bit the bullet.

Next up, an unfinished side table from IKEA.

Add a quart of black paint from Sherwin Williams (working on using the gift card I won in December), and I have a disaster area upstairs. 

I got a second coat on the pieces this morning, I plan to do one more tonight and let it cure for two days before assembling.  Other than that, I'm thinking that I'll do something with the frames in the background, bring up a rattan trunk I have in our living room (to go next to the chair), get the ceiling fan up, and possibly introduce this bedding I originally purchased for our master. 

 Hopefully it all gets done before Thursday evening, so I'm not rushing around on Friday!

Dining Room Art - Taking Shape

Back in January I had mentioned some artwork I'd seen that I wanted to attempt to DIY, five months later, I've actually started the process!

I started by creating a file in Microsoft Publisher; making it a custom size paper - 12x12 (same as scrapbook paper).

I printed the documents, which printed on four pages, and taped them together to give myself a template.

I pulled out my light table, and attempted to trace, but I realized how unsteady my hand truly is.  That's when I busted out a variety of cups as a tracing tool.  This special cup was purchased during Red Sox spring training; not only is it a good template, it also lists important dates! :)

The next step was to "trace" the pencil marks with paint.

Then fill them in.

All three "pieces" as they are today.  I'm going to make sure they're dry, then erase my random pencil marks.   

From there, I'm going to apply some distressing ink to give them an aged look, then pop them in the IKEA frames that have been hanging out in my office for the past four months and finally get some artwork up on the dining room wall.

I'm someone who typically likes clean lines and symmetry; my paintings have neither.  I'm hoping the imperfections will give them more personality.  I guess time will tell, and if over time I hate them, I can always replace them.

Bedroom #4 (also known as guest room #2)

Bedroom #4 will also be our second guest room.  Besides housing all of our unhung wall art, it currently contains a full size headboard and a dresser; items that were Erik's through the high school years.  These pieces are solid wood, however, the finish is a bit dingy, and in need of some love.   

I've considered stripping and re-staining, however, I'm contemplating giving these pieces a new life with paint.  Perhaps something like Layla, from the Lettered Cottage, did on the "Sand & Sea" room at the Screened Inn.

I've also thought of painting one of the pieces a light turquoise, but am still looking for some inspiration pictures I like.

Have any of you done a painted headboard and/or dresser?  Did you use a traditional color, like black or white, or did you do something with a little "pop"?

Dining Room Improvements

One of the first projects we tackled in the house was updating the light fixture in the dining room. 

Before

After

The new fixture is the West Elm Short Drum Pendant.  It comes with a plug, so I bought the conversion kit.  I cut the wire a little shorter than I should, and after I started stripping the plastic to expose the wires, it ended up being mounted a few inches higher than I planned.  Oh well, overall I'm still happy with the look.

I think the direction I want to go is either wainscoting or board and batten on the lower half of the wall.  The plan is to paint the lower half white and the upper half a light blue.  Still uncertain about window treatments and wall art, but I'll figure that out with time!

View - from my driveway.

Unpacking and settling has been going slow but steady.  I was so glad to leave a special gift for the recycling company, and hope to continue these gifts each week until I'm done.

On the Mend

I've been feeling discouraged by the lack of progress I've made on the house.  I've been trying to push myself to get stuff done after work, but by the end of the work day all I want to do is curl up and go to sleep.  After close to three weeks of feeling this way, and Erik asking me if I wanted to sleep on the couch because my cough was keeping him up at night, I went to see a doctor.  Come to find out, I've been battling a sinus infection ... for about 20 days.  I've been antibiotics for about 48 hours and finally feel like a human again.

So what's the biggest thing I've accomplished in recent times?

So the headboard isn't actually attached to the bed frame yet.  I was upholstering the frame when Erik was at a spring training game with his friends and couldn't lift it by myself.  When all is said and done, the headboard will be a few inches higher, and the mattress will be flush with the bed frame.  Now to figure out bedding and a paint color :)

7 Random Facts

My new neighbor, Kate, over at Kate and Khan did a post last night listing seven random facts about herself, and passing it along to seven other bloggers to list seven random facts about themselves.  I love how she put it "kind of like a chain letter but, with no promise of great fortune and no threat of haunting spirits."

1.  I met Erik on eHarmony.  I'd been on the site for 9 months, and after meeting my fair share of losers I decided I was going  to let my membership lapse, because I was tired of the monthly bill, and was having no luck.  A few days before my membership expired, on 11/11/2006, I was matched with Erik and he initiated communication.  I remember telling myself this was the last guy I was going to meet from eHarmony.  Little did I know it was going to be because he would end up as my husband.

2.  In 2003 I was contemplating a two year work assignment for my company in Munich.  During the process of getting the assignment approved, my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.  I made the decision that I wanted to stay in the country, so that if anything happened I was only a 3 hour flight away.  A year later, after surgery, two rounds of chemo and two rounds of radiation, my mom was on the road to recovery, and I was feeling like I needed to do something different with life, so I started grad school.

3.  We recently adopted my late mother-in-law's dog, a border terrier, Remi.  She's been living with us for three weeks, and I've really enjoyed having her live with us.

4.  The stress of the last 12+ months has really worn on me, and I've gained a ridiculous amount of weight.  I've just recently started to have the drive to get back to the gym (I've missed Body Pump) and start eating healthier.  I'm hoping that drive stays with me, and I can get back on track to a healthier lifestyle.

5.  Starting a family has been a lot harder than we expected (and I know the weight I've gained isn't helping matters).  We really want to be parents, and hope that we can achieve this goal in the next year or two.

6.  I used to do a lot of "creative" things.  I've taken four floral arranging classes and the three Wilton cake decorating classes.  I also used to do a lot of rubber stamping and dabbled in scrapbooking.  A lot of our wedding decor was "paper art" I worked on.  Most of my supplies have been packed up since I moved in with Erik, and have been packed away in a storage unit.  I'm hoping to get those boxes unpacked soon and start working on creative projects soon.

7.  I love coffee.  Specifically, I love regular Dunkin Donuts coffee.  When we lived in our condo in Massachusetts, the guy across the hall worked for DD corporate.  He would bring us new products they were testing.  It was really nice of him, but truth be told, my obsession was the coffee.

So, here's where I pass it along.  If you're interested in doing a post I'd love to read more about you - if not, I understand.  :)

My sister-in-law Michelle, Jen over at Domestic Jenny, Jenna over at Jenna Sue Designs, Jen over at Ashley Interior Ideas, Becky over at This Blissful Journey, Holly over at Chic and Lovely, Katrina over at At Home Alterations.

The state of things - one week out

I'm going to be embarrassed to show these pictures, but I figure if I do, it will give me the swift kick in the butt I need to get something done this weekend :)  To be fair, I was sick earlier this week and last night is the first time I felt up to tackling anything, but the boxes are starting to get to me.

Garage - Right Side

• Take broken BoFlex and empty boxes to dumpster/recycle center
• Setup Shelving
• Unpack "garage boxes" that have our miscellaneous tools

Garage - Left Side

• Bring the rest of the boxes into the house

My Office - I'm horrified by this room

• Purchase Expedit Shelving and baskets
• Unpack - most stuff will go into baskets and file cabinet (which is currently empty)
• Setup Computer
• Neatly stack remaining items

Dining Room

• Center dining room table
• Hang Light fixture (box in back left)
• Purchase quilted plate holders
• Wash & Pack China in quilted plate holders (part of china seen in front right of room)

Guest Suite

• Get last set of curtains up
• Hem curtains (from IKEA have iron-tape for hemming)
• Get bed re-made before Nan comes to town

Master Bedroom

• Get upholstered bed into room and setup
• Put blackout liners behind curtains
• Get rest of boxes unpacked
• Get lampshades for the two brushed steel lamps I have (not shown) so each bedside has one

Living Room

• Hang Curtains
• Bring speakers upstairs
• Put misc tools (cordless drill, level, etc.) back where they belong - the new shelves in the garage!

Pantry - it's scary I really don't know what I can accomplish this weekend

• Unpack china (top shelf)
• Come up with a game plan!

Let's see what's done come Monday morning.  What's on your list??