our home – Page 6

Gray, Gray or Gray

(Or grey?)

I’m obsessing about my foundation, which I’m hoping to paint this summer, along with scraping, cleaning and painting the basement windows and trim. (If I found the energy, I’d do the garage, but one insane project at a time, please.) Here’s what it currently looks like…

Er, that’s what it looked like last year after I did some planting and shutter painting, hee hee. *Busted.* Anyhoo, it’s currently a sort of bluish gray with some spots that need scrubbing or patching and re-painting. With a (cruddy) white facade, glossy black shutters, hunter green roof (sorry you can’t see it here; just envision with me), bright red front and back doors, and soon-to-be-painted-white deck and front porch, what would you go with for the foundation?

This one’s kind of charcoal, which I’m admittedly kind of into. It makes the black seem a tad less harsh and grounds the house…y’know…into the ground. 😉

Then, we have a not-as-dark, not-as-light gray. It also helps to ground the house a little but still has some “color” to it (if that makes sense).

I’m also considering using a floor paint on the treads of the deck and porch that will match the foundation (everything else white), so the color really does make a difference.

So, time to vote!

Which foundation color should I use?

http://www.google.com/reviews/polls/display/9000132448381897379/blogger_template/run_app?txtclr=%236e5e39&lnkclr=%23007cbb&chrtclr=%23007cbb&font=normal+normal+14px+OFL+Sorts+Mill+Goudy+TT&hideq=true&purl=http://megactsout.blogspot.com/
Woohoo! Voting is closed, and it looks like charcoal (darker) has won out! Now, I’ve just gotta find a place that will help me achieve this when I go to purchase the paint without raising an eyebrow. I get that a lot at the local Lowe’s. Love the place, but, as GOB would say, “Come on!” Can’t a girl make questionable decisions on her own without additional judgment thrown in?

My Love-Hate Relationship

Target. That mistress of (mis)spending one’s paycheck. That provider of home decor crack. That lesser of three evils (Walmart’s the devil…Kmart, where I once worked, is slightly less evil but stuck in a time warp of sorts…appropriate partnership with Sears). Target. I love it. I hate it. I love to love it and hate to resent myself for the post-shopping trip guilt that ensues.

It’s as if I wake up on my living room floor in a haze surrounded by bags of beautiful things and find myself swooning over them…then thrust into a mild depression when I happen upon the receipt. Buzzkill.

Last weekend, the only difference was that several of my purchases were on clearance. “Clearance” is usually one of those words that give most women and a handful of men cause to happy dance. In the aisle. While performing as one’s own back-up singer. Holding the clearance object as a mic. This case was no different (strange how the baby is only a tad amused by these public embarrassments these days…old hat, I guess), although I also knew that sometimes a clearance price is a matter of a difference of only a couple of dollars.

Here’s a crappy iPhone picture I took of my babies when I got home (clearly too dark for a picture, but I was too excited to care):

Doesn’t look like much, I know. The Tupperware-ish container on the upper right is now holding all of our baby food pouches, so it’s utilitarian, and the three miniature pails are for the Hadman’s birthday cutlery ‘n stuff.

Otherwise, the pillow was just over 13 bucks. That’s wicked cheap, and for a burst of color on the living room couch, it’s worth it. Ole, ombre!

Going with the sunshiney theme (am I looking forward to summer, ya think?), I got two gold items. The weird thing is, I’m usually not a “golden girl” (even our wedding rings are white gold), but the way that it’s being done these days, in a brassier way, I’m in love.

Also a small brass type of vase (or something) great for adding a pop of color and depth to a desk or bookcase and containing pens or…hell, anything. It’s just so damn cute!

Then there’s the brass cage hurricane candleholder. Ohhhh, Lord. I’ve been eying this for awhile, agonizing over whether or not to buy it, and when I saw the red sticker on it, it clinched the deal.

The white urchin is a glossy Nate Berkus clearance item that isn’t even on the Target site anymore — so I feel like I snagged a deal. It’s my first white accessory, so it does stick out a tad, but it won’t for long.

So, those are my splurges (among Father’s Day cards, a “Super Friends” toy for Hadley’s birthday, and a handful of other stuff at other stores). How about you? Is there a store that you have a love-hate relationship with? Do tell!

Finding Our Style

I’ve always been a tad schizophrenic when it comes to interior design. Even in this post from over a year ago, I agonized over the types of design blogs I’m drawn to — from fun and modern to eclectic to clean cottage, I’m all over the place. In an attempt to nail down my opinions and to see where my husband stands (I’m one of those ladies who likes to design keeping in mind everyone who shares the home, not throw flowers and frills everywhere and relegate the dude to a man cave; besides, mine would be more like a Batcave or something, anyway. And, yes, I’ll probably quiz my son when he’s old enough to answer questions, too.).

The results were a bit of a shocker, in more ways than one.

Your Style is Mid-Century Mod

Open, airy, organic spaces, all about form and function.
Sophisticated and sleek yet approachable, alluring.
My home is Mid-Century Modern.

Dude. Our house isn’t Mid-Century Modern in any way. MCM is downright impossible to come by in the Mohawk Valley, to be honest. When you look on Craigslist, you’ll mostly find over-priced antiques and outdated couches from 1989…also over-priced. (We live in a long since financially depressed area, which means wicked low priced houses. Why people think their furniture should fetch such a pretty penny eludes me.) So, of course, our house is filled with hand-me-downs (grateful for ’em!), re-purposed thrift store finds (again, hardly any MCM), and the occasional transitional piece (because, as I said, I had no clue what our style actually was!). Nary an Eames chair to be found.

This does, however, help me to obtain a focus. I know what our personalities are as a duo. We’re both creatives; in general, writers, but we dabble in sketching and painting (poorly, but it happens) and, of course, acting. We have a huge dorky fandom for the old, be it black ‘n white movies, classic music, vintage books and comics, antiques, and so on. On the whole, we’re pretty eclectic ourselves, appreciating the past in a big way but very much living with modern sensibilities and priorities (yet adhering to many traditional social restraints).

But, as I sit and look around our living room, this $#%& ain’t sleek. Organic pieces, maybe. Approachable? Hopefully. Perhaps there’s a touch of sophistication mixed in. But, without certain cheaper options (such as the elusive Ikea) around to help us fill our spaces with more modern pieces, we’re kind of S.O.L.

It’s refreshing to know what my man likes, though. Seriously, watching his selections as he took the quiz, my eyes were opened. A light fixture that hovered like a spaceship over a dining room table had me going, “Seriously?! I mean, if I’d seen that in a store, I wouldn’t have said I liked it because I would’ve assumed you’d HATE it.” He shook his head. Well, I’ll be damned! One thing about life; the surprises never stop! And, in this case, it was pretty awesome to have my eyes opened.

So, I’ll be doing some more research on what it actually means to be a fan of MCM (we’re still mostly transitional, I think; heck, I’m gonna, SOME day, inevitably throw some chevron in here SOME place…can’t be afraid of the trends, folks, embrace ’em) and analyze how to add a little here and there on a budget such as ours. After all, our surroundings help to sculpt how we live our lives; they can alleviate stresses, inspire change, and invigorate our souls. They can also do the exact opposite when they suck.

Oh, and I’d love to hear where y’all fall in the spectrum of design!! Are you a country girl? Funky? Old school Italian? Take the HGTV Style Finder quiz to find out and let me know in the comments.

And since when did it become FUN to take quizzes? Weren’t they quite the downer in high school??

Look What I Did! …About a Year Ago

Don’t you love when you’re going through the mass of pictures on your camera to delete those fuzzy throw-aways in order to have enough space to take pictures of student projects only to stumble over some gems you forgot you even took a picture of in the first place?

Hmm? Dontchya?

Well, I discovered a few projects that I worked on about one year (or a tad less than that) ago. I was full-blown pregnant, but the warm spring air was demanding that I get out there and do some work. So, this is what I did…

Ick. No amount of spray washing can clean this; I may have to borrow a pressure washer soon (and pray…and pray…and pray that it doesn’t take the finish off the siding). Anyhoo, awhile back, we got a new front door (we have also since put in new windows, all paid for one (or a few) at a time over the last 4 years), which I painted a perfect, cheery red.

(((Insert picture of red door here. Oh, wait. I don’t have one. Wait ’til I’ve finished my spring cleaning, then you’ll get a good eyeful.)))

These shutters have annoyed me since day one. It seems that all of the houses built (or renovated?) on our block at a certain time used the same materials…including this ugly green paint that has faded in the sun. I’ve tried cleaning them, but no amount of scrubbing fixes this blemish.

I pondered. And wondered. And envisioned. And pondered some more. What would go with red? Will I keep the foundation the bluish gray or turn it more of a deep tan? Should I find a nice kelly green, shiny black, or some other bright color to fix up the shutters?

Well, after so much thinking, I just decided to DO. Without further ado…

Shiny black, it is! After a few light coats of Rustoleum Glossy Black (for a buttload of surfaces, even this old crappy metal), here’s our current view…sans the flowers and flag. ‘Cuz, y’know. I did this a year ago. (And, man do I wish I’d gotten a picture of those flowers. They grew like MAD; neighbors still talk about how gorgeous they were. I hardly had to take care of them (seriously, with a newborn? I ain’t Martha), so let’s just call it luck.)

Now, the question is — do I keep the gray bottom? (There are spots in dire need of patching/cleaning.) And if the foundation’s gray, what color do we do the deck and front porch? Because, seriously, the front porch has been begging for something since we moved in, and the treatment we did on the deck last year ain’t cutting it (I like white rungs and stuff, but we did a paint/stain combo on the floor part and it looks streaky and is peeling a tad). Dark gray floor, white everything else? Whatchya think?

Oh, and my dream is to get some prices on a new driveway this summer, too. Just call me Rockafella Skank. Wait, don’t. 🙂

Bathroom Update #3

I know what you’re thinking. When will this %$#@ bathroom be done, already? (Either that, or “Who the $#@% cares about your stupid bathroom?” In which case, I say… “Um. Whoa. Harsh much? Go away. Please and thank you.”)

I’d be with you on the impatience train if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m finally seeing TRANSFORMATION when I look at the space. Sure, it’s messy and incomplete and we grow tired of reminding guests to “ignore our renovation”, but I can finally see the finish line. And, lemme tell ya, that finish line is purdy. Puuuuurrrrdyyyyy.

Here’s what we were last left with (and here‘s the horrific “before”, which doesn’t include the “arts and crafts” style vanity and mirror enclosure…*shivers*):

That color still has me super excited and lovin’ life. (Remember that color since the below pictures don’t do it justice.) But, NOW, we’ve finally laid the tiles to rest.

Rest in peace, Tiles. You weren’t really loved by us, but whomever decided to put you in sure liked ya, so you must’ve served some purpose. Enjoy the great hereafter.

I had originally wanted sheets of wainscotting, but for whatever reason, the guys nixed that and instead went with this plasticy material that comes in sheets about a foot wide that were cut down (and slid into each other). I’m not sure if this was a better choice or not, given how much white plasticy dust-like material we’ve been cleaning up (and this has been a several-Saturdays-in-a-row project, poor guys), but it does look awesome, doesn’t it? There are imperfections, but the house is pretty imperfect, so it’s suited.

You may notice that we still need to caulk/spackle the trim (it’ll actually be done by the time this post goes live; I just couldn’t wait to upload some pictures). Next comes the vinyl floor tiles and quarter round, then details!

Oh, and here’s the “had to find SOME vanity and the style we wanted isn’t available from Lowe’s or Home Depot anymore” vanity…which I actually really like for the space. We were going to go with a white one with a euro styling, but this works fine. It also came with a few dings (the trouble of going with a darker wood option) but it’s nothing some filler can’t take care of…if I match it properly. 😉 And, no, we don’t have the toilet paper holder up yet. Keepin’ it classy.

Almost done!!! Hopefully it won’t take much longer.

Bathroom Update #2

Fully intended to post this Monday; sorry about that! We’ve got a smorgasbord of illness here — croup, sinusitis, bronchitis — take your pick! Set me back a bit.

See? I said I’d get back to you with a bathroom update before another YEAR goes by. Yay, me.

Last you saw, our bathroom was finally de-poopified (in the manner of using some semi-gloss white paint to banish the poop brown accents FOREVER!!!)…

After two coats of a low-VOC semi-gloss paint (the name of which I’m trying to hunt down; that’s the problem with never-ending projects), here’s what we’re left with…

Not a massive change; we’ve still got the ugly mosaic tile, mismatched floor, etc, but things are lookin’ up. Even the hubs is a huge fan of the color and, after the final coat, said that it really makes the space look larger. You might not expect that when you’re moving from white to, well, ANY darker color, but it adds depth to the room that wasn’t there before.

Next up will be a project I’m handing over to the men in my life — beadboard paneling to cover the tiles. Once we’re “ready”, they’ll also take out the sink (forever, we’re replacing it) and the toilet (temporarily) to lay the peel-and-stick tiles on the floor and finish the beadboard on the potty/sink wall. I’ve also heard something regarding painting the shower surround from my stepdad, but I’m not sure exactly what is meant by this plan; the liner seems to be torn as far as my knowledge takes me (which, admittedly, isn’t THAT far; my stepdad’s practically a master plumber). So, we’ll see! Then there’s nitty gritty stuff like the molding for the top of the beadboard, hanging a couple of hooks for towels, finding and hanging a couple of open shelves over the potty and some sort of window treatment, accessorizing (on the hunt for art!), making a mini curtain (you’ll see why)…oh, and hanging my favorite part of the room — a $14.99 shower curtain that adds a huge pop of personality (and even a bit of color).

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the curtain! I’ve hunted FOREVER to find one that I loved and I finally found this at TJ Maxx. All the other curtains were over $20, which isn’t a huge deal, but they didn’t pack THIS much style, I tell ya. I look at it and can already hear my mom telling me that it won’t help sell the house; if that’s the case, I’ll throw the white one back up (it’s not in horrible shape, but it has a few snags from *ahem* a couple of cat claws), but why not surround yourself with things you love? Besides, I texted Dave a picture while he sat in the car with the little buddy and he immediately approved it…which kinda surprised me.

Anyhoo, any projects going on at your joint? How do you feel about bathrooms? Decorate ’em to the hilt or just clean them since your time spent there is so…um…utilitarian? Up for quirky art (we have a friend with a nude print in their 1/2 bath, which fits their personality pretty well) or soothing, subtle stuff?

Nursery Reveal – Devil’s in the Details

You’ve already seen a general nursery reveal here, but some of my favorite parts of the space are the little details. The personal touches that make it special. The room may not be perfect, but consider me smitten.

First, a reminder of the nursery as a whole…

Nifty, eh? Like I said — smitten! Now, here’s a look at some of the specifics that make my heart go pitter pat.

The “LOVE” over the crib is simply those papier maché (had to write it in the proper French format; hope to make Mrs. Turner proud!) letters that are available at any craft store. I hemmed and hawed over whether or not to paint them — white? Bright orange? Plum, if Hadley had been a girl? When all was said and done, I just wanted the space DONE, so I figured I could always paint them if the urge struck. It hasn’t. I love them au naturel. Oh, and they’re being held up with the hubby’s packing tape. Use whatchya got! (And, yes, I have to occasionally “press” them back up, but they’re nothing that will crush the bambino in his sleep, so we’re not worried.)

Time to get artsy fartsy! Aside from the “LOVE” ‘installment’ above, we made a bit of a collage wall o’ stuff. Here’s the general gist of the thing…

(The picture on the bottom left is of Dave as a baby. I’m trying to track one down of me. Few and far between, my friends.) And here are some close-ups…

This is a lovely print that one of Dave’s co-workers had made for us when the little guy was born. How. Cool. Is. That?!

And, of course we want the buddy to learn his “brothers'” names, so what better way than to throw some pictures on the wall? It doesn’t hurt that they’re right above the mirror (which he stares longingly into before trying to pull off the wall. Must take after his mama.)

This is a hat that Dave got from his family that we think is just awesomesauce. I think it was his dad’s, but you know we’re trying it on the little guy when his head grows a bit more. Gotta love a 3-D effect in the midst of flat art, and some history/sentimentality is even better.

I’m pretty proud of these guys — two oval thrift store frames, a couple of sheets of scrapbook paper and two tiny wooden dudes taped to the front and you’ve got Hadley’s favorite thing in the whole room. He’s mesmerized by them. Serendipity!

Yes, you can see me in the reflection. I don’t care! My mom sang this to me when I was a baby, so it had to be included in the room. (I’ve tried to sing it but can’t get through without tears.) I took my inspiration from a print I saw online, changed the colors a bit, painted the frame, and voila!

Speaking of stealing, er borrowing art ideas from the internet, I downloaded a cool font and created this piece, too. Another thrift store frame and some cutting (you can tell that it’s a bit small; I need to find a larger mat or something, but it’s no hurry. Oh, and notice the yellow letters…

Here’s a different angle. You can see the pattern on the curtains (which I made (!) using this tutorial), along with a McCoy pottery teapot (I think my mother bought it for me; the fact that my maiden name is “McCoy” is not lost on me) and a couple of cheap (cheep!), cute ceramic birds (another craft store find) that help fancy up the place.

Here’s another online print that we LOVE. Sure, the owls are cute, but we prefer the irreverent Beatles quote (er, variation of a Beatles quote). It’s our favorite song and we want our son to hold that meaning dearly.

I wish this artwork worked better lately… It still makes me laugh a bit, though. And ya gotta love dafont.com for getting juuuust the right font. (Run your virus scanner afterwards, though; ya never know.)

This art started life as a sweet baby shower card from a friend of ours. Strangely enough, giraffes have become the little man’s “animal,” but the colors and design just screamed “I need to be seen every single day!” Oh, and then there are a couple of antique blue glass bottles that I’ve had around forever, plus a basket for his toiletries. (This is high up, by the way.)

Speaking of high-up glass, here’s a place for us to keep some of our smaller toys, like blocks, an awesome organic wood teether (another owl) and the special musical turtle from Aunt Tara and Uncle Dan from their trip to Italy. I just love all of it!…which means, keep your glass-hating comments to yourself. 😉

And, last but not least, we have our rocking chair. It doesn’t get a ton of use (he’d rather be held standing up), but it came from my mother’s childhood home; God only knows how old it is. It’s got the best dark patina and helps make the place a tad more “serious,” playing off all the bright colors and modern prints.

So, these are just a few of my favorite details in the little man’s room. I’m hoping to do a bit of a source list/price breakdown of everything. Most of the items are hand-me-downs (or a gift, like the crib and the Ikea shelves), but I figure that’ll wrap up the nursery over-sharing.

Nursery Reveal – A Quick Peek

Now that the big man is 6+ months old, I realized it was time to let you guys have a peek at the nursery. Hopefully that’s as thrilling a phrase to you as it is to me. If not, that’s cool. At least I can look back one day and crrrryyyyy over what the monkey’s first space looked like.

It’s embarrassing as hell, but this is the only “before” picture I got of the space (which started life as a guest room…okay, let’s call a spade a spade — a catch-all room o’ crap)…

Yeah. I know it was a mess. So, you may be surprised to see what the room has become.

I’m planning to give some details in a couple more posts, but check out this post for my original inspiration for the nursery. I think I kind of achieved it! It’s definitely a fun space, but not too busy, with a certain amount of calm. Especially when clean. 😉 Hope you like it as much as we do!

Side note: Can you BELIEVE we had this mostly done before we had Hads and we didn’t know he’d be a boy? Standing in it, looking around, I’m not sure it would’ve suited a girl. Then again, I think he was speaking to me during the whole pregnancy, anyway, (whether I was hearing him or not) so why wouldn’t we have decorated for a boy? Hee hee.

Bathroom Update

I’m naughty. It’s been 20 months since I posted about my horrific bathroom. But, since this is a bit of a “no apologies” zone, I won’t be saying sorry anytime soon. Instead, I’m going to thank the heck outta my husband and pat ourselves on our slouchy little backs. We’ve officially been jump-started.

This is what we were faced with when we bought this place…

Say goodbye to poop brown. Hello, sleek, clean white!

Sure, it’s just the trim, but it was a pretty huge undertaking — especially around Christmastime. We did one coat of primer (probably should’ve done two) and we think about 7 coats of white semi-gloss. It wasn’t low-VOC because we’ve used the same trim color throughout the house from Day One.

I did a couple of coats; the rest were Dave. Originally, I hoped to do the whole job myself.

Psht. Yeah. Right. The downfalls of motherhood. The blindness of idealism.

As it is, we’re lucky that my stepdad has offered to help with a handful of the projects, and even says that “after the painting, it’s easy.” Then again, he was a plumber by trade. Here I thought that taking up the toilet would be the rough part.

So, what’s next? I’m hoping to paint the upper half of the walls (in a low-VOC paint); Dave’s not the best at cutting in, so that’s why I’ll be working on it. (Gotta do some more sanding and spackling first. Why can’t a project be as simple as “paint, done”?) THEN, the beadboard and floors will be attached (ie toilet up, sink out — we’re replacing the sink with something more practical; ya live, ya learn). Next, a bathtub surround fix-up. Then it’s really a matter of accessorizing and art-ifying!

Oh, and we’re also replacing the teetering monstrosity of a behind-toilet shelving unit that Winston loved to jump atop. Every time he did, I thought I’d get knocked out by the thing falling over. What a way to go — sitting on the potty.

Stay tuned! Hopefully, the next update will come this year rather than 20 months from now, ifyaknowwhatImean.

Operation Closet: Closed

Over my recent spring break, I performed what I can only describe as (in my skewed little world) a miracle.

It all started with a closet that was brimming with, well, crap. Coats, scarves, gloves, hats…and the occasional piece of randomness (on the bright side: Now we don’t have to decide which towel hooks to buy for the bathroom! How long ago did I BUY those??). Let’s just say that, like many doors in our home, we couldn’t close it. And being in the middle of our most-used living space, it was downright embarrassing.

The goal for this closet was to 1) purge our winter coats and maybe even make some room for *gasp* visitors to hang their jackets, 2) organize the top shelf area, 3) make some room for my everyday use bags, and 4) be able to see the floor.

While pulling out all the items in the closet, I found some wooden hangers that we got for Christmas (luckily it was this past Christmas, not last year or any other embarrassing year) to add some consistency and get rid of the ol’ plastic ones. Isn’t it strange how the worst part of organization is the fact that you have to completely destroy an area first? You can’t really clean a closet (or pantry or cabinet or…) without pulling everything out. So, long story short – that’s what I did.

Here’s a fun little “before and after” for you.

So, what’s the miracle? Not only can I see the floor AND close the door, but we can now toss our unsightly shoes there before company comes. They’ll never know! Tricky, tricky! (All the rest of our shoes go into the nearby ottoman…which makes me sick to think about because one of our naughty scratching boys who shall remain nameless has created his own artwork of pinhole scratches upon said faux leather ottoman. *sigh* It still fits its purpose and folks wouldn’t know unless I made them run their hand across it, but it’s the principle of the thing!) So, now our guests not only have space for their shoes to go near the door, but there’s room in the closet for their bits ‘n pieces. In other words, we can have folks over! Seriously. Who’s coming? (Too bad we’re booked solid the next several weeks, LOL.)

It’s closed!!

One other tidbit of trickiness to share: my favorite “work bag slash purse” (see in the last picture above; I retired the green for the mustard a little while ago) can now be treated with some respect when I get home, thanks to am M3 plastic hook or two. Although, admittedly, it still gets tossed near the ottoman 50% of the time. Ya win some, ya lose some. Either way, this is definitely a “Dude, Get On That Already” that’s been awaiting my attention for years. *bows* Finally!

Oh, and while I was at it, I replaced an outdoorsy wreath (featuring those fake red “buds” that I used to like so much) with a bit of summery freshness. This is our “dump everything” spot, so it doesn’t always look so tidy, but the ceremonious, aggressive deletion of red from the living room is definitely happening! You can also see my attempt at daily organization with our “mail basket” and ottoman.