A little tweaking and now I have a desk

I wanted to share a little tweaking I did today.  After sitting at the DR table or with a laptop on my lap (while watching The Voice) - I decided that I wanted my own designated desk space.  The old secretary in the LR didn't give me enough space to spread out, so it really serves as more of a paper storage area.  Fast forward, to a discussion I recently had with my ex.  We have a deal that all furniture split up during the split would be offered to the other, should we ever want to part with it.  Turns out, he offered up a desk we once had in our former life together and I found the perfect place to put it. 

My tweak to the TV room, now has a desk facing the golf course and I love the view.  I shot of the true before:

Then after the room re-do:

And now after the "tweaking" done today to make space for the new desk:

The desk overlooks the golf course, so I can easily day-dream about improving my golf game

and while I really wanted my much loved orange lamp on the desk - the scale was wrong...

So I did the change up on the lamps and happily found the orange lamp a new space.

I'll close by saying a little tweaking is good for the soul..... I'm happy to have a new place for my laptop, with a view that allows me to dream of becoming a better golfer.

Black and Yellow - A Bath Update

First I should say that this is the bathroom that we plan to gut and turn into a master bath, once we do the large master bed/bath area.  This will be a big project, as we plan to take 2 small BR's, a hall, this bath space and steal a bit of closet space from another BR.  I have no idea when funding will be available to do this rather large scale project - unless I win the lotto :)

So, I decided that until we take on the Master Bed/Bath gut job, I would spiff up the little bath so that it looked a tad bit more cheerful.  Here is the before shot of the little bath, before I began.

Black and yellow and straight out of the 1950's!

Don't you just love the lovely mirror and florescent lighting?

Since this space is slated to be gutted, I decided to TRY not to spend more than $100.

I have been inspired by stripes lately and had never done them before, so I thought hmmmm....this might be a good time to give it a go.  After prepping the ceilings and walls, which were in really rough shape and needed to be scrapped and sanded, I thought - shit, with all this prep work just to get the walls smooth am I really inspired to put more time into this little space.  so, I closed the door and took a breather for a couple days.

This is what I saw everytime I opened that door:

So after a couple of days, I finally mustered up the energy to continue with black and white horizontal stripes.  My thought was that it might look like a prison outfit (although I think prisoners these days are more hip and wear orange)....but if it looked like shit when I was done, I thought paint is cheap....all I have to do is repaint it.

After painting the room a fairly bright white in a flat, I purchased a quart of off the shelf black

"flat" paint for the horizontal stripes.  After reading that Frog Tape was worth the extra money, I opted to spring for it instead of using the blue painter's tape.  Smart move and thanks to whoever the blogger was who made the recommendation.  Measured and taped, only to find that I mis-measured a corner and when I got to the end...where all the lines are ideally supposed to connect - mine did NOT.  Grrrrr! Now I will admit this was the second time I started thinking - really, do you really want to do this?  After a few not so nice words, I ripped the tape off where I had boobed it up and taped again.  First coat of black "flat" paint goes up.  The next morning, I walk in to find that it's not really flat paint, more of an eggshell and looked shiney against the flat white.  I knew it would always bug me, so I rummaged around and found a can of black chalkboard paint.  Second coat went up in chalkboard paint and black stripes were now flat black.

A during shot of the progress:

Ok, finally the finished result. 

A better shot of the stripes:

For the few little touch ups needed - guess what I used???

White Out worked like a charm....

and ta-dahhhhhhh.....

I love my black and white horizontal stripes, the update mirror and light fixture.

Cost breakdown, white paint $30 $15, (but enough left to paint the other small bath - so that really makes it $15), quart of black paint $8., frog tape $5., mirror HD special $40, Overstock light fixture $60.  Shower curtain and monogramed towels free - a gift from my sister who had purchased the shower curtain from Ballards and never used it.  Lucky for me both of our last names begin with "B".  So, ok I think I spent $128 total, which was pretty darn close to my $100 budget.  I'm happy with the damn stripes, but who new painting 3 bold stripes would be such a pain in the ass!  Truth is I ordered a stencil to try in the other bath - yes, if the 3 stripes were a total pain, I may just shoot myself with the stencil project :)  Stay tuned!

Back at it ...

Wondering why you have not heard a peep out of me?  OK, a clue or 2.

Dreaming of a new Parisian flat

Loving all the "fleurs"

Why don't we have small flower shoppes with reasonably priced flowers in the US???

Picking out a ton of cheese to go will ALL the wine consumed was an absolute must!

Seeing some of the sights,

Eating and drinking our way through the city,

and did I mention dreaming of one day buying a place in Paris???

Hey, a woman can dream!

Anyway, I'm back to my real world and think I have almost adjusted to the time change - so let the next DIY project be finished.  Close to having a little something to post....just waiting for the electrician to come hang my new light fixture - or find a man with good electrical skills :)

The Living Room - Before and After

My apologies for it taking me so long for this post to finally appear.  Suffice it to say, I have been technically challenged.  First with camera issues (solved by purchasing my new Nikon) and then by a laptop that died a slow death.  When it rains it pours....so off to purchase a new laptop that I am now adjusting to.  Trying not to be too sad about some of the files lost but not having everything backed up and moving on.

As promised to YH - finally a post of the reveal of the LR.  Hurray!  Odd but when rooms come together over time, you often forget how bad they looked when you begin. I give you a couple of before shots, just so you can appreciate how far it's come.

The day I first saw the room - it looked like this.  I wish I could find the picture that I had of when the renters were here (lost with my laptop crash) because it really looked very sad.

Another angle - shot from the fireplace wall

And now a few after shots:

A few extra shots just for good measure....

And for those that may be wondering about this aspect of the mantle arrangement:

Many years ago I ordered a series of letters and started putting inspirational words on display for the kids to see.  A twisted traditional began with my oldest son almost always

coming in and changing the inspirational word to something like "nerd", "rad", "dumb"...getting the idea here.  Flash forward a couple of decades and a few mantles later and I decide to again put theinspirational words on display for the twins.  Oldest son comes over and again does his routine of the change up of the word - and now guess who's carrying on the tradition? Yep....the twins.  The other day I came out to find the word "mule".  Guess the good news is that they are challenged to think of new words with the limited amount of letters we have left in the series.  So the family tradition continues in a fun and entertaining way and it's always obvious which are the words I choose and which are the funny words they choose.

For the record, other than the paint and the drapery panels, there was not much cost in pulling this room together.  I had everything from previous homes and lives.  Guess the real question really should be why the hell did it take me so long to get it pulled together.

Hope you enjoyed the post...post a comment and let me know what you think.

Off to play golf.  Hmmmm..... maybe that's why I'm not getting these rooms done as quickly as I should be!



My messy little packrat

Why is it some kids just aren't born with the "neat gene"? I'm a fairly organized person and I tend to like things clean, neat, orderly.  So how is it I end up with a daughter that is a total packrat and could care less if things are a mess?  Quite obviously the child has never heard the term "less is more".  She seems to think "more is more" and just for good measure, let me throw in the fact that she does think her space is organized.  Perhaps to her it seems that way.  To me, I tend to want to sneak in (when she's not around) with a big garbage bag and go on a wild purge session.   Ok, I confess.....I have!

Now we have yet to agree on the design and re-do of her room, so I'm opting for one step at a time.  Have I mentioned the child has an opinion about everything? Kind of like her mother I suppose.  We picked a wall color and painted the room a peach when we first started.  She has decided that she wants white, green and hot pink to be her additional colors.  so - while not what I would pick, I am trying to work with her on her color choices.  Guess it's fair to say we started working on her space this weekend.  Step 1, attempt to get rid of some of the mess by getting her a desk.  Off to IKEA for something that a) worked with our selected colors (IKEA always has white, right?) b) was inexpensive and c) would work in the space we had.

I give you her before shot - fair warning it's a mess.....

And after I found the perfect little desk at IKEA and her father came over and helped with the assembling of the desk, the after shot:

BTW, never believe IKEA sales people when they say it's very easy to assemble.  It took 2 college grads giving it our best college try to put it together.  I could have never done it solo.

So - I'm amazed by the fact that not only was she thrilled with the desk, but she very neatly put everything in her 2 drawers in a orderly fashion and helped me clean the room.  It's a start!

To date we have:

Wall color - painting and trim done
Blinds installed
Green rug found and down
White desk

Next up: change out the bed (from a single to a full size), find bedding, rearrange layout of the room, DECLUTTER.  I'm hoping that the tidy white desk is going to inspire her to like a more streamlined look.  However I would not place a bet on this ever really happening.  I think the "more is more" look somehow suits her in an odd sort of way and hey....I figure they eventually grow up and move out :)

Pretty in Pink?

For the record I have never liked the color pink.  Never!  Even when I was a little girl, I never remember going through the typical pink little girl phase.  When I think of pink now, it reminds me of a good friend (LM) who does pink well in a beautiful Barbie kind of way.  Pink just seems to suit her and although in many ways we are much alike - we are not when it comes to the color pink.  She loves it - I loathe it.

So when I was faced with a pink tiled bath here at TUD, I sort of thought OMG, it's really pink!  Further, I sort of cringed when I understood that budget limitations would prohibit any sort of gut/reno to this room anytime soon. I knew that the pink bath was here to stay for awhile because other rooms are just way ahead on the priority list.

The question then became, how in the hell can I make the pink bath at least a bath we could live with and not totally cringe every time I walked in??? Hmmmm.....a challenge for sure.  First step, find a fabric that could bring some tones in that I at least liked: taupes, browns, etc. and incorpate not one 1 but 2 different shades of pink tile.  Easier said than done.  I searched for some time before I came upon a fabric that I thought might do the trick, but finally found one.  The rest unfolds below - before shots remind me of how bad it looked:

oh BTW, I forgot to mention there was also a lovely fake marble laminate countertop

and a 2-tone pink tiled floor.  The room basically screamed PINK when you walked in.

Also an old cabinet and wonky sink.

It was a toss up as to which looked worse, the counter top or the tile.

On second thought, all that pink tile was far worse!

At least the tub and toilet were white.

The last before shot - I promise.

For a woman who hates pink and also has had some pretty fabulous baths in my former lives, I wanted to first show you the true before shots, so you can understand my angst with how can I transform this bathroom, with say under $500.  No gutting for that price, no big change outs for that price....so let the budget transformation begin.

By far the most expensive investment was the fabric for the custom shower curtain.  I figured it was worth the price of about $200 (fabric and labor) to cover as much of the pink as possible?  While the fabric is a bit wild for my normal style, it had all the colors that I thought might just work.  Then I went to my go-to light beige for the walls, to tone down the pink a bit more.  So without further explantation, I give you my after shots.

Do you think the wild fabric is wild enough to divert your eyes from noticing the pink?

Hey, the "wonky" sink is growing on me.

The ugly counter top got a new look with Rustoleum's counter top paint.

Warning: if you use this stinky product be prepared to have the fumes

force you to leave the house for at least a day.

A close up of some "pretties", aka further diverting the eye from the pink tile.

Since this does serve as the children's bath area, a helpful lesson for life is on display.

Note: to the 3 tween/teen girls who will be in residence this summer.....

the "P" is especially for you.  remember the "lighter" you come

to the States, the more shopping you can do while here!

Finally, a shot of the floor.  Per the suggestion of our much loved

Nate Berkus, when you have an ugly floor and can't spend big

bucks, try the new peel and stick vinyl.  I have to agree with

Nate of this one....for $60. and some patience - you can rid

yourself of a really ugly tile.  It made a tremendous difference.



So there you have it.....it's still pink, but a little prettier in pink.  Since 3 girls will be using the bath this summer, I thought to myself, well maybe they won't think pink is as bad as I do.

What do you think????

Recent purchases that made me happy

Wondering if I found that camera cord?  Nope.  It's still missing.  The good news is that I had ordered my new Nikon from Amazon.com and it arrived.  now mind you, I had to read enough of the manual to actually take some photos, but mission accomplished and I did get some shots. 

So first up, on the guess what's made me happy lately column besides the fabulous new Nikon!).  A few recent purchases that all just please me.

Take a look:

A fabulous new book featuring 36 amazing places, which I plan to enjoy 1 chapter at a time.

If you have a chance to purchase this, I think it's woth the spend.  I found this copy at HomeGoods for $50.

Next up on the clearance aisle at Target:

I just loved these plastic-great-for-outdoors plates. 

 I bought all they had @ $1.48 each and am on the hunt for more.

Last but not least a cool little tin ice bucket:

Figure it will be great for BBQ's this spring/summer - outdoors chilling down a few bottles of white wine

or for my beer drinking family and friends....perhaps a bucket of cold beers.

Are you noticing a common theme here?  Yep, it's my "fix" for my love of orange these days. Still got my groove on for orange and I'm not even sure exactly why.  I have never ever used or even thought about enjoying this color until now.

So here's to HomeGoods and Target - 2 of my favorite stores for a quick pick-me-up.  I can almost always run in and find something cool and cheap.  Did I need any of these things?  well no, not really ....but why let that burst my bubble?