Saturday, November 30, 2013

DIY Advent Calendar

Christmas is upon us! This year things are a little tight but I managed to get our Advent Calendar up and ready before the first.


I went with a simple, colorful design this year.


Each Advent is a scrap of 3" scrapbooking paper that I had, with a blank back for writing our sentimental sentiments on them. I decided against our usual advent to make things a little easier on us. Just a simple note each day. These are they types of advents I cherish the most.


Aren't the little clothespins the best?

The name of the game this Christmas is easy and fun and I think this meets those requirements. I'm still coming down from a delicious Thanksgiving with family but I'm looking forward to getting more Christmas up and out this week.

Cheers!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Sherwin Williams- Color Visualizer

Paint and I have not been friends this year. It isn't that the colors look bad, they just never seem to be exactly what I wanted. However, I will not be deterred! I have things to paint dammit! Lots of things. The stairs are my next victim.

Now that we have beautiful floors downstairs my stairs were really looking bad. And I mean BAD. 



When I painted them white I foolishly thought "but we don't wear shoes inside, they will stay clean." Obviously that was a lie. While we don't usually wear shoes inside, we do a lot of construction- which clearly leaves a lot of dirt. The scrubbing was getting old.

We finally found a runner that I liked (this one from Urban Outfitters) so the paint was all that was holding me back. Do I try to match the floor color? Do I go bold? Black? Gah! Technology to the rescue! 

If you've never used Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer tool it's a pretty simple thing. You upload a picture of the space and use the capture tools to select the bits you want colored. I started with this picture of the stairs with the runner placed on them.


Then, I used the tools to try out two colors: Caviar and Fiery Brown. I'll let you guess which was which. 


Obviously it is not something I'd hang on the wall, but it does give me a good idea on which paint color I like better. Fiery Brown reads more rustic and old world to me and Caviar is more modern. Caviar is my top choice but my mind isn't made up. 

Have you used the color visualizer? Or something like it? I feel like it would be great for big blank spaces but it would be a bit choppy around furniture and what not. I still plan on getting paint samples before biting the bullet. I just don't trust my computer screen that much.

Cheers! 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Floored: Part 2

We finished! And just in time for our Thanksgiving guests.

Here's the original before:




And the after:

The guest room before (sans carpet):


Now, with the new flooring:


We still need to add baseboards and moulding, paint, and style but things are looking much better down there!

Cheers!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Floored: Part 1

Yesterday we hit the half way point with our floor installation and it is looking darn good! After about 12 hours (including moving the furniture out and pulling out the old molding) we are done with the guest bed and half the hall.



Install is super easy due to the click and lock style of flooring we ended up with. Just like the cork in our kitchen you just snap everything together and it floats over your existing flooring.

We went with a felt underlayment for added warmth and sound cushioning. So far the most difficult thing has been cutting boards to go around (and under) the door jambs. I swear it takes twice as long as the rest of it.

I'll keep you updated on wear and tear but so far I love the stuff! Now it is just making me want to finish all of the other projects that need to happen down here… One thing at a time!

Anyone else install their own floors? I am super happy we decided to save the $1,000 or so and do it our selves.

Cheers!


Monday, November 18, 2013

Baby Blanket Round-Up


Baby needs a blanket! Here are some of my favorites:

1. Love the colors and pattern in this hex-quilt from Blueberry Park. Her stitching on the solid pieces is beautiful.

2. Super simple and very baby blanket from Needles. Maybe with brighter more modern colors?

3. This one was from Etsy by Mulberry Patch Quilts.  So far it is my favorite. It is no longer available for sale (boo!) but I think it could be replicated. It would be a great stash buster quilt.

4. You & Mie's Sunburst quilt is adorable.  She lays out the tutorial pretty clearly, but it still seems harder than the rest.

5. Mod is all the rage right now and this is a great design. Another cute Etsy find from Peace Love and Quilts.

It's been a long time since I quilted but I'd love to make something for the little one. I'm definitely leaning towards #3. It looks like a good beginner quilt.

Any quilting tips from all you quilters out there? I'm not hopeless but I'm not great either.

Cheers!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

It's A….


Boy oh boy! We had a great ultrasound early Thursday morning and am happy to report out little BOY is doing great! Now the name debate begins…

Thank you for all of your well wishes and congratulations. This is a very exciting ride to be on!

Cheers!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

It All Started with a Trip to Costco…


A few weeks back we went shopping to price out hardwoods for the downstairs. We had no plans to buy and hit up the usual places: Lumber Liquidators, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. A last minute decision that I needed Costco pizza and we stumbled on the best flooring deal I have ever seen!


This beautiful strand woven solid bamboo flooring was $2.03 sq/ft! Can you believe it? We snapped up 11 cases of it and have been letting it acclimate to our downstairs for the last week. Instalation begins this weekend. I'm stoked. This was one of my big "want to get done before the baby comes" items and it looks like we are well ahead of schedule. For once! 

Sometimes it pays to wander through Costco, just for the heck of it.

Cheers!

Monday, November 11, 2013

And That's Why I've Been So Moody…


That's right. I've switched to no-voc paint. Wine and cheese night has turned in to cheese night. I have a secret baby board on Pinterest.  Long, hot, baths have turned in to short, warm, showers.  We've combined the guest bed with the office. In other words, we are having a baby!

Obviously this has knocked me out a bit (as evidenced by the complete radio silence for the last 2.5 months), but now that I can keep regular food down and have some more energy I'm excited to start doing things again! We've already started some long awaited projects that get us closer to real nursery progress. Yay!

I'm due March 28th so that makes me about 20 weeks along, which means, we get to do our Anatomy Ultrasound this week! As long as the little one shows us the goods, we will find out if I've been growing a girl or boy (or dinosaur).

Can you tell we are thrilled? Thrilled! This was a long time coming for us, and I am so happy that even if I've been having a tough time everything else has been looking good.

Cheers!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

I'm Back!

After a much needed rest I'm finally back to writing. Also making a come back- my cookbook shelves.


Hopefully they last better than the last set. I love them! I can see everything and I actually use my cookbooks (shocker right?).

Hope everyone had a great summer! Mine was definitely full. 

Cheers!