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.