Procrastination

For the past, um, 6 months? I've been saying that I need to frame the large mirror we have in our bedroom. It was originally in the kitchen and when I brought it upstairs to use as a full sized mirror in the bedroom it looked.... bare.

Here's a before shot:

Sorry the picture isn't the best.

So, Sunday morning, instead of studying, I headed out to the Community Forklift and picked up about 5 pieces of old wood trim to frame the mirror with. I measured and cut the pieces down to size to frame the mirror. Sunday afternoon I used liquid nails and glued the pieces to the mirror and waited. Fast forward a day (or three) and not all the pieces were sticking so I re-glued and clamped the pieces (mistakingly clamping to hard and breaking the mirror... we'll call that the "look") and 8 hours later... wallah. A whole new mirror.

Another pretty bad picture... sorry.

It's definitely a cool look and makes me want to use the old wood in other projects. The best part is that I got 5 pieces for around $5. Gotta love weekend projects.

Do I smell progress?

On Monday night, we picked up a pretty awesome "prop" for our engagement shoot. We drove about thirty minutes outside of the city so you know it has to be good (plus borrowed our friend and his car). Granted our photo shoot, isn't until October but this deal was too good to pass up! Ryan thinks I should keep some things a surprise so I shouldn't blog about it and this doesn't count (in my book, atleast). So I guess you'll just have to wait until October for the big reveal... 

I also got Ryan to hang up a shelf I bought for over the TV. I haven't finished putting the whole thing together so I figured I'd wait to show any pictures but I did finally take a some what decent picture of our bedroom , I think that's progress. Maybe my camera phone is starting to come to an agreement with my horrible camera skills... maybe.

yellow + grey = happy me

In kitchen news, Ryan also made it to the permit office this morning and should be getting the permit on Friday. Yippeeeee! And I ordered some tile samples. Some how I managed to ship the first samples to our old apartment and they never turned up so I just re-ordered them. I'm pretty excited to see if I like them as much in person. I have fallen pretty hard for them... and how can you not?

I mean look at that floor? What a beauty!

I ordered five different samples so I'm not sure I'll go with ones that are this light but I love the design. Swoon.

Weekend Plans

First off, I wanted to show off Caley's new "nails". They basically glue on and they're pretty fantastic (and fabulous all at the same time).

I think gold is definitely her color :)

She was clearly helping me work from home on Friday ;) On Friday, I also managed to run out to Home Goods and pick up an outdoor set for out front. Since the weather has been nice, we tend to drink outside on our front steps and I thought we could class it up by at least sitting on some cute chairs while we drink!

New set

The chairs actually fold up so I figured they could really be used inside or out back if we needed more seating. We also managed to make it to Ikea both Friday night and Saturday morning. Yes, we live a very exciting life these days, like I said 27 going on 47. Ikea trips always stress me out because A. it's Ikea and they have so much crap it's overwhelming and B. we always get there like thirty minutes before it closes and have to hear the Ikea voice counting down until the store closes. Friday we managed to run in and finish our kitchen design but we got the slowest Ikea worker helping us check out that she couldn't finish it before the store closed so we had to return Saturday morning. 

Ryan finishing up our design. On a positive note they did have cheese and crackers...

It was the last weekend of the cabinet sale so, as you could imagine, it was quite a mad house but we made it out alive and the cabinets arrive May 21st. Anyone want to help put together like 50 something cabinets? Oh, no? You have a life. Yeah, I used to too.... sigh.

When we got home Ryan went back to work on the brickwork. He said he found like 3 more skeletons in the wall. Yikes!

Re-building the wall

While Ryan was working on the brickwork, I was working on the bedroom. I finished our valances and I'm pretty happy with how they came out. They definitely soften the windows and add some nice color.

Done did.

I also bought a chair to replace Monkey's crate, since she's a big girl these days.

New rocking chair!

I want to make a cushion for it and I'm thinking about painting it white... or yellow. I can't decide. Ryan thinks the yellow would drive me crazy but for $40 plus spray paint I think it would be fun... Those pillows are actually from my bed but I was just seeing how they would look. Still loving grey and yellow :)

So, we've been officially living upstairs for just over two months and I'm starting to go a little insane. I made a whole chicken in the toaster oven Saturday and it was a disaster. Well the chicken was actually good but the mess it made wasn't worth it. I need a (working) oven and a kitchen.... soon enough, right?

Tackling the to-do list

Happy Monday! It's supposed to get to 86 degrees here in DC today! Good riddance cold weather!

Note to self: water the garden when you get home.

We had a gorgeous weekend in DC and we happened to have made it quite productive (minus Sunday, Sunday we pretty much just ate and drank all day... totally worth it). Back to Saturday, Saturday, my Mom came down for the day so while Ryan was working on the never-ending brick work, me and her went to Virginia to tackle some of my other errands. First stop was G street fabrics where, after searching the entire store from top to bottom, we picked out some fabric for the curtains in my bedroom. After discussing our curtain options, we decided that we would do two panel curtains by the window where the radiator is and valances for the other three windows. Luckily, they had just enough fabric for all of our curtains in the fabric I had chosen AND they were having a sale (and by just enough, I mean not enough but we were willing to work with it). Score! So we paid and headed out (after saving more than $50!). Fabric- check! Our second stop was Home Depot to get blinds for the bedroom and curtain rods. I had originally wanted real wood, white blinds but once we got to the store, it was either faux white wood or custom order white wood so we went with faux. We also picked up curtain rods for all four of the windows. Blinds + Curtain rods- check! So after a very successful trip to Virgina, we headed back to DC to tackle our projects. Once we got home, we roped Ryan in to helping us hang up the new blinds. Side note: Usually my Mom and I are pretty self sufficient when it comes to our projects but my Mom and sister had tried to tackle putting up blinds at her house themselves and it turned in to quite the mess, that my brother in law had to save them from. So, we decided to not waste any time :)

Before

New versus old.

Mom and Ryan taking down the old blinds.

Ryan putting up the third blinds.

After

It's crazy how much of a difference the new blinds make. They're just much more my style and they actually darken the room at night! Granted, I actually had gotten the wrong size blinds for one window so Saturday night we had to sleep with a sheet over that window but still I consider the blind project a success (plus I got the correct size Sunday so it wasn't too much of a tragedy).

After the blinds were up, my Mom and I went outside to plant the garden. We ended up planting 4 tomato plants, 4 eggplant plants (although I think I already killed 2), 5 or 6 pea plants and lettuce. We also re-arranged the outdoor space to make it much more conducive to having people over (once we don't live in a construction zone).

Can you spy the toilet? My garden is to the right of the stairs and my herb garden is to the left of the stairs (rosemary, oregano, basil and a couple of tomato plants for good measure).

Grill and seating areas.

We still have some work to clean up this area but it's pretty low on the priority list right now.

Once the outside area was set up, my Mom and I started on our last project of the day, making the curtains.

Fabric selected

After re-arranging the office, we realized we still wouldn't have enough room to work (since the paneled curtains would be floor to ceiling and our ceilings are 9'). So my Mom brought home the panels to make at her house (which isn't a construction zone), while I'll be tackling the valances myself this week, eek!

Bedroom to-do list:
Buy white blinds (wood or faux?)
Measure window for fabric measurements
Buy fabric for curtains (use groupon for G street fabrics)
Make curtains- in progress
Buy curtain rod
Hang curtains
Frame life sized mirror
Hang life sized mirror
Get artwork for above the TV
Frame artwork for above the TV
Hang artwork for above the TV


Not so bad, ey? We also managed to do the garden which was on another to-do list while re-arranging the outdoor space was just an added bonus! Thanks, Mom! You're the best! I swear, we'll pay you back with hard work ... some day ;)

And so it continues...

Isn't my hubby-to-be talented? He figured out how to draw our plumbing plans so we could get a building permit and get this show on the road! I shouldn't jinx ourselves but I did just scan the plans over to him so he could send them to our plumber...

On another note, I had been on a bedroom decorating binge for a few weeks but once I got it to a "livable" point, I kind of just stopped. Replacing the blinds would be expensive and making the curtains was intimidating so I kind of just threw up my hands... but now, I think I've gotten to the point, where I need to finish this room. (And by now I mean some time next week when I actually have time.)

Bedroom to-do list:
Buy white blinds (wood or faux?)
Measure window for fabric measurements
Buy fabric for curtains (use groupon for G street fabrics)
Make curtains
Buy curtain rod
Hang curtains
Frame life sized mirror
Hang life sized mirror
Get artwork for above the TV
Frame artwork for above the TV
Hang artwork for above the TV

So, about the artwork above the TV. I've been scouring the Internet to get ideas on what to do with the space. The dresser/TV is in a nook of sorts that needs some serious help. You'll notice that I have never included this view before on my blog and that's because it.drives.me.insane. I'm thinking of an artwork collage of types but what would you do with this space? The curtains will (most likely) be yellow or black and white and will hang on that left wall and the right wall has a mirror on it currently (which I'm thinking needs to go).

I'm thinking I might want to replace the jewelry box with a large vase or something that takes away from the TV. We considered taking the TV out of the bedroom but decided that those late night movies/ tv shows were worth keeping it in there.

Oh and sorry for the terrible picture, like I said, I was laying in bed (with a glass of wine) and the view was still driving me insane.

I like how you Dwell

So originally, I had decided to just register for a yellow coverlet at Pottery Barn and call it a day. That is until I saw this post at Apartment Therapy:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/roundup/spring-forward-with-seasonal-bedding-roundup-141132

& I saw this beauty...

Yellow + Grey = yes, please!

When I checked out the source I found out it was Dwell Studio for Target. Of course, I checked the DC Target store and just like my Dwell Studio pillow, it was sold out. Sigh. UNTIL I realized I would be in Dover that next weekend and when I checked the Dover store, cha ching, it was in stock :) So while my Dad was checking out patio sets I went straight for the bedding section to pick up my new coverlet and shams. I'm still not totally sold on the shams (especially since they're an extra $25 a pop) but I love the coverlet.

Winter look

Summer look

I kept the shams for now (they're not on the bed) but I'm debating if I even need them. I kind of like the mismatched look. Oh Dwell Studio, what did I ever do before you?

Yellow Me

While Ryan and Kevin were hard at work on plumbing, Elena and I went out shopping and found these beauties.

Ryan is not so interested in my throw pillow obsession.

When we got back from our victorious trip, we walked in to Kevin watching a how to solder you tube video on his phone while Ryan soldered the pipes in the basement. Nothing like learning on the fly....

Mirror, Mirror on the wall

So, it's been a crazy few weeks. I was in Philly all week last week for a conference so between that and our friend from college visiting last weekend, I chose fun over productivity. Good choice :). We figure we have to really buckle down considering the dumpster is rented for our kitchen demo starting on Saturday so we might as well enjoy our last weekend of "freedom" and we did. In between our plans I did, however, make one purchase (hint it's in the title of the post)...

Friday I ventured out to Home Goods because I really wanted to get a mirror for over our bed. There are a few other big purchases I want to make for our bedroom but this was my first priority. I searched the store high and low and finally find a gold framed circular mirror that I really liked. I'm about to buy it and a very interesting mirror catches my eye and it has all the colors of our bedroom in it. Score. I put it in my cart and wheel it around trying to decide if I like it. I text it to my sister with a "Cool or tacky?" question and when she doesn't answer, I buy it.

Cool or tacky?

I trek it home and when I put it my bedroom I hate it. Like, seriously, HATE it. Everything was wrong, it was entirely too busy, had too many colors and just looked horrible. I can not emphasize this enough. I felt completely defeated (partly because I just really hate driving out to Virgina on the weekend and now I was going to have to to return it.) So, on Monday, I trek back to Virginia to return it. I get to Home Goods and to my surprise there are two other mirrors that I like (note: of course the one I originally liked was no where to be found) so I send a text to Ryan, "Right or Left?".

Clearly I can't be in charge of these big decisions at this point.

He calls me and tells me how hideous he thinks the one to the left is and that I should pick the one to the right. Done. So I trek home, again, and have Ryan put it up and wallah, it's a beauty.

Now I just need some new blinds, curtains, pillows and some color!

Here's the before and after shots.

Before

After

Ryan: "Should we move it lower?"
Me: "No, why would we do that?"
Ryan: "So you can see yourself in it."
Me: "Um, no. It's not that kind of mirror."

You like? I'm thinking I want my accent color to be yellow so be prepared for some fun yellow pieces jumping in to the picture!

Matchmaking

This weekend was crazy. If there is one thing that I've noticed since we bought the house is that those lazy Saturdays or Sundays do not exist anymore.  Even TV watching can't be done alone, I'm either looking for design ideas, wedding ideas or searching for my next Craigslist find (yes, I'm addicted). I can honestly say I'm never bored. So this weekend was clearly no different but it was successful, oh yes, it was successful.

Although I really love my new duvet cover, I knew our room needed something more to pull it together. I had been searching for quilts thinking that a colored quilt might do just that but I couldn't find any that I loved. So Friday night I decided that we should head to Home Goods and try and find a carpet. I figured the next best thing to color on the bed was color on the floor, right? So, after work, Ryan and I headed out to Home Goods... in Virginia... during rush hour. It was great (sense the sarcasm). Besides the ungodly amount of traffic, the ride out there actually wasn't too bad and when we got to  Home Goods, Ryan had a conference call so I had a few minutes to spend in my haven alone. Of course, once the call was over, Ryan was back in the store to keep me on track. I had brought color swatches from our walls, the comforter, our furniture and the color I thought I wanted to incorporate (red). We went through a few rugs and found three that we liked. Two were beige with flowers and one was red with paisleys. Although I didn't really want a flowered rug (since our duvet is so modern), the colors were right and we thought it would brighten up the room, so we bought one of the beige rugs (guesstimating on size). After somehow managing to fit a 7'x9' rug in the mini, we had our new rug to bring home. We got it home and laid it out (this was not an easy task since it had to go under our *very heavy* bed) and it was horrible. It was glaringly obvious that the design and colors were all wrong. I hated it. There was no way. So, we rolled back up the carpet and drank some wine. Sigh.

Saturday I already knew I had to treck to Virginia to drop off some of my old crap things for Junior League and turn in some paperwork at Pottery Barn so I just added Home Goods to my list. I decided to buy the red paisley rug (note: I had spent about 2 hours searching rugs online after our first failure and could not find one that I loved) so it was a pretty quick trip at Home Goods (minus the 40 minute line). Fast forward 3+ hours of driving in the hell hole that is the Virginia suburbs on the weekend and I brought home our new rug. We laid it down and immediately I knew that it was perfect. The colors went perfectly and I loved the contrast of the comforter against the rug.

You like? (Ignore the uncovered box spring that has started to drive me insane.)

I'll post some more pictures later so you can see how well the walls go with the rug but it sure is a beauty (minus the ten pound hair ball on it) : )

A match made in heaven; well actually between Dwell Studio and Home Goods but that's besides the point.

And the winner is...

After much deliberation, I went with the third duvet cover by DwellStudio. It came in earlier this week and I am THRILLED of how it looks. I still need to add some color with some pillows and a blanket but I think it is going to look awesome. I love the white against the grey and the lines in the duvet are actually navy blue which is a nice touch.

Now to decide which color...

Big Reveal

So, here it is.. our bedroom... for now. Clearly, I need to make some curtains, get a new duvet and put some things on the wall but, all that matters right now is that we can actually sleep in it! And it's just as incredible as I thought it would be, maybe, even better. I joked that once it was done I would never leave it and now that it's getting there, I'm completely serious. I love everything about it. Ryan did such a great job on the floors and the walls are such a gorgeous grey and the trim, the trim just pulls it all together. All that design blog stalking is finally paying off :)

And it was a bright, bright, sunny day

Not really, it was actually a dark, cold night but that's besides the point.  After work on Wednesday night, we were very lucky to have our friend, Clark come over to move us in to our bedroom!!!!!

Clark putting on some furniture pads

Monkey helping out

Unfortunately, our bedroom furniture is large, very large, so we can't keep the tall dresser in our room. Tear. But, we'd rather have the room comfortable than cramped with furniture. (Well, actually, Ryan completely vetoed the tall dresser in the room, I was trying to work with it.)

It's all coming together!

It's still a work in progress but it's definitely getting there. Now if only I could decide on a color scheme...

New Home New Projects

When we bought this house, we were fully aware that we would be spending all of our time (and money) on projects to fix it up. Don't get me wrong, it's not a "fixer upper" per say, it's just not completely our taste. The master bedroom couldn't be more boring and the kitchen? Well that's just a whole different story. I knew I could live with the blue bathroom and the drafty laundry room but there were just some things that had to go... immediately.

Commence Project Master Bedroom.

Before Pictures

Before Pictures

When we were first looking at the house, at 8pm on a Wednesday night, we noticed that the whole upstairs had original hardwood floors, except the master bedroom. Being the conclusive people that we are, we decided that under the carpet, well that had to be hardwood floors too, right? You would think. So day one in the house we would rip up the carpet and wallah! there would be beautiful 100 year old hardwood floors.

Mistake #1: Never Assume anything about a 100 year old house, you'll just be disappointed.