Le sigh. It seems like just yesterday that I set up this vignette above the couch. It's hard to believe that it was two months ago. It's harder to believe it is already disassembling itself. It lasted a solid 2 weeks before Greta noticed it and ever since, it has been a battle. She […]
When RYOBI caught word that we were having issues with our drill a few weeks back, they were happy to help us understand how a drill should work. In true Jedi fashion, Ryobi promised to hold up infinitely better than our drill and that it wouldn't stop when it hit a stud like our current […]
I love free money. It gets me out of the house and onto one of my favorite activities: treasure hunting. Yesterday, Pier 1 was doing a little promoting and giving all of their facebook fans $10 off a $10 (or more) purchase. I sprung on that and set a few ground rules for myself. Mainly--I […]
A little over a week ago, I got a stencil in the mail from Royal Design Studio. I was anxious to give it a try. Chris was... .... ...apprehensive. You may remember (if you don't check out the house tour) that all of the bedrooms and bathrooms have stenciling around the ceiling and some of […]
Were you worried something happened to me? Something did. A little thing called vay-cay and I didn't want to announce it to all of blog land because that's dangerous. I repeat--announcing that you will be gone from your house for a set amount of time on the internet is dangerous. But we have returned now--pictureless […]
Especially for this reason: Last night, I shared laughs with 2 of my 4 sisters, Andi and Patty. We are the three youngest in our family and don't get to see each other very often. Even though Andi lives in Mexico and Patty lives in Idaho, I am so grateful that we can all hop […]
It's hard when you work really hard on something and it just doesn't look right. Or feel right. Or you flat out, don't like it. For some people, the hours put into a project alone are enough for them to live with it. Even when I put hours into something, and even when I blog […]
It was one of those weekends where it felt like there was no down time (except for those late nights we spent watching LOST on instant play). I guess with a toddler and a new house that needs fixin' up--it's kinda expected these days. On Saturday, while Chris was busy tending to the yard during […]
Or at least how I did it. There are about 150 tutorials online on painting cabinets and I researched thoroughly the different possibilities and techniques. Some things I did, some things I threw out the window and there are some points that I wish I did. But the main goal was achieved. Our kitchen […]
Today is the big hanging-the-cabinets day! Unfortunately it's also find-a-dentist-quick day because Chris's filling and part of his tooth came out while brushing his teeth at work. And Greta has decided to continue her cranky streak because of her teeth, too. Except, in her case, they are busting through her gums--not out of her mouth. […]
While browsing around Pinterest last week, I came across a little tip that said you can clean out all of that old paint that gets dried and stuck in your paintbrush with boiling vinegar. When my brush gets to that point, I usually just throw it out and get a new one for around $5 […]
First things first: Yes, I finished painting the cabinets. We are gonna give them a few days to dry before hanging them, but you can definitely look forward to after pictures along with the whole process (pronounce it with a long O for fun) later this week. Quite a few of you mentioned that you […]
After extensive tutorial research and 5 hours of internal battling over whether to start or not, I took the plunge: That's just primer, fyi. I'm sure I'll have a whole list of tips and dos and don't-worry-abouts when I'm done, but right now--I gotta say the sounds of Jim Gaffigan and a few other comedians […]
It took me ALL day to hang curtains in the dining room. All day long yesterday. Of course, Greta needed attention and some outside time and we had to run a couple errands, but I was thinking it was gonna be a quick during-her-nap project. But, I was wrong. Next to paint, window treatments can […]
While I am here wrestling with a power drill that is seriously lacking power (I don't think I am supposed to have to use a regular screwdriver once I hit a stud because my drill stops working), I am serving you up a special treat. Real life in our casa. Greta insists I chase her […]
Did Greta's room need new curtains? Yes. Only because we had other plans for those white curtains that we snagged for 50% off a while back at Ikea. So, to replace them, I had plans to make my own curtains for her room and leisurely looked around for a patterned fabric that was playful, but […]
Chris and I had a few different ideas of how we wanted to spend our long weekend. I saw us painting the kitchen cabinets and he saw us just chillin' and barbecuing. So we compromised. I tackled a large painting for our dining room wall and he helped me build the frame and stretch the […]
Remember all that canvas Chris got me for Mother's Day? And now think about that big blank wall in our Dining Room we left white. It's about to get a splash of color.
We do more than work on our home. Ha! Tons more. And although it may seem like our life is revolved around fixing up our house--it really is just a hobby. I try to do one project a day and sometimes it doesn't happen until after Greta goes to bed, or there are some days […]
In the dining room (I didn't even drag you along in suspense). For now, at least. And wow, what a difference! And in case you can't remember how this room used to look, here's where we started: Then we painted everything a light, warm gray and DIYed a new light fixture and things looked a […]
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Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations
