What An Improvement!

Then

Now

Nook Beautification

Since moving, I've become a regular Craigslist peruser.  I have a laundry list of things I'm looking for to outfit the new house. At the top of the list were table and chairs for the kitchen. After having little success finding a table, we took a trip to the Habitat ReStore where we found a pedestal table crying out for some TLC. A few days later, I found some chairs on Craigslist that fit perfectly with the table.

For the last month, we've lived with them as is with the plan to do something eventually.  When I finally got around to figuring out that the something meant adding a pop of color and painting the table blue, my mom had the perfect color suggestion: Aubusson Blue. Well a can of Aubusson Blue paint sat on the shelf for a couple of weeks. When my step-dad offered to paint the table one evening we jumped at the opportunity.

When my mom brought the table back to us, it was as good as new! The peonies from her garden in the vase she found at Goodwill were just icing on the cake. My mom is so skilled at creating beautiful things! I added a rug from Overstock, with a smaller one by the sink. It's worth pointing out that with little ones in the house, the only kind of rug I'll buy for the kitchen or dining room are indoor-outdoor rugs. They are normally less expensive and can be washed off with a hose.

There's also a paint sample on the wall. I went ahead last week and put up paint samples in every room. It may take us a year (or more) to get everything painted, but we've got a vision.

The Starting Place

We've been in the house for just over a month. There are no longer boxes that need to be unpacked with any urgency. In fact, the boxes that remain packed up will stay that way until we get some more storage. We'll get around to making improvements but it's always nice to note where you're coming from. Without further ado, here is a quick, unedited, unstaged, glimpse-of-real-life house tour of our Starting Place. 

The living room serves as our laundry room. Don't hate. I'm planning on moving this activity to the basement. Sometime. 

My step-dad is refinishing our dining room table (Merry Christmas to me!). 

From the kitchen, I can see into the playroom. But, I would like to be able to see more of the playroom. So in a couple of weeks, we're going to open the doorway by at least four more feet. Peter and I both thought it would be a good idea then our neighbor, who has a home identical to ours, told us it was the one thing they wish they had done right when they moved in. That was all the nudging we needed. 

Here, in her natural habitat, you can see my diaper-clad first born enjoying an enriching episode of Curious George while sister naps and I snap a few pictures of the house. We love having a playroom!

This is the office. Yes, that is wallpaper designed to look like a cork board collage. No, we will not be keeping it.
Cole likes her new room. She also like "the friends" that adorn the border. I haven't had the heart to tell her that "the friends" are coming down.

Ibbie's room is always the most presentable! Maybe because she barely has anything. 

Our guest room is a holding pen. 

Now the master bedroom room is half awesome and half pit. And since the girls have been sick the top of the dresser is serving as a medicine cabinet. 

"All Good Things. All Good Things."

We watch Frozen, often. Please imagine Olaf reporting, "All good things. All good things."

Friday morning we closed on a new house. Effectively ending the current transition chapter of our lives. It's been five months since we moved. We've settled on a church, neighborhood, and preschool. Cole is already friends with five of the children that will be in her class next year! I know my way around town enough not to need the GPS. And we have friends. Friends that offered to watch the girls when we moved. Friends that popped-in on the day we closed just to say, "Hi" and offer help. It's overwhelming and, yet, not surprising. This is exactly where we are supposed to be, even on the days my heart aches to be back in Tennessee.

Even finding our new home was a testament to the people we have met here. Many of the best houses in Newark are sold by owner or even just through word of mouth. I'd been looking diligently for months with no success when two of my friends mentioned the same white house for sale by owner in their neighborhood.  The day I drove by was the day we told the owners we hoped to work out a deal.

Our new house sits on half of an acre, has four bedrooms, a playroom, dreamy hardwood floors, and lots of wallpaper. It'll keep us busy. Nearly every surface of the home needs paint, the bathrooms need updating, and one day, in the distance future, the kitchen needs a makeover. But all of it is very livable for right now. We're so excited to make this new house a home. Hopefully, our long-term home.

I made sure to take pictures of the empty house so that we can track the progress as it becomes our home. Even if it happens at a snail's pace. We have time. And I have ideas.

Playroom

Kitchen

Living Room

Office

On The Agenda

Our house is a bit disheveled at the moment.

We're converting the guestroom/playroom into a big girl room for Cole. Converting the room is turning out to be a bit more involved than it initially seemed and somehow the project is taking over our entire house. Here's the working list of tasks to be accomplished:

• empty the closet in the playroom
• relocated the items in the closet to other closets throughout the house and the attic
• repair a bracket on the attic stairs so they are functional
• relocate the items from the shelf in the playroom to the living room
• move the shelf in the playroom to our room
• consolidate the clothes in my dresser to fit in Peter's dresser
• paint the big girl room
• move my dresser into the big girl room
• get the twin beds out of the attic and assemble 
• outfit the big girl room with new window treatments 
• find headboards, footboards, and accessories for the big girl room
• childproof the big girl room

The plan is not to force Cole to move into her new room before baby sister arrives. Of course, if she shows interest we'll encourage the move. As it is, we have a bassinet and pack n' play that little sister can sleep in for months so Cole won't be asked to give up her crib prematurely. Stay tuned for more updates on the room.

The Yard

Oh, the yard. What a time it's been. This was our lovely yard in September, prior to any work. We had to plans to put in a patio when we learned one of the trees was dead and needed to be removed. 

Here's the yard after the tree was removed. Devastating. I could get into it, but I won't. After a short conversation, the company agreed to regrade and sod our yard since the damage was excessive.

Here's the yard now. There were two days between the sod and the patio installation. I didn't take a picture. We opted to go with a stamped concrete patio from Batlz and Sons. What a dream they were to work with! All in all the yard looks pretty good now. It'll look great once the sod starts to spread and turns green. 

Here's a close up of the concrete. I suppose it looks as good as you'd expect a picture of concrete to look. I'm excited to use the space once it warms up a little. I'm going to start keeping my eye out for some patio furniture- not that our tailgate chairs aren't perfect.

Dining Room: A Switcheroo

When we got the new chairs in our dining room, the proportions seemed a bit off. The mid-century chairs looked awfully tiny next to the large bookcase. For Christmas, Mom gave me a beautiful hutch she painted. Initially, we used it in the living room but after a bit of thought (and nudging from my decorator momma) we switched the bookcase in the dining room with the hutch.

 

The chairs coordinate with the hutch which is pretty cool. Switching around the furniture lighted the whole room and made it look bigger. Since moving the furniture around, the dining room has gone from Completed back to a Work in Progress. Eventually I'd like to find a mirror for over the hutch, a chest of drawers to replace the side table, and possibly some hostess chairs. Conveniently, HomeGoods is opening in Memphis- well, out East- so I know I'll be able to find some bargains. (Side note: Yes!!!! I've been hoping for a HomeGoods in Memphis for years. When I saw the "HomeGoods Coming Soon" sign on Germantown Parkway I actually turned around and drove by it again. I could hardly believe my eyes.) Our new highchair offers a pretty fun pop of color in the absence of table linens which aren't exactly baby proof. Oh, you may notice the closet doors aren't closed anymore because of Cole's jumper. Babies sure have a way of marking their territory, which in Cole's case is our entire house, both cars, and life. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

If I was really on top of things I suppose I'd have a Before and After picture of the living room as well. But I don't. Maybe soon. Or maybe not. Just trust it looks much better and more balanced with the bookcase on the back wall.

Cole's Room: Tour

Cole's room is finally in a place where I can call it "done-for-now" so I suppose it is time for a tour.

This is the view from the door. Our glider came in last week and after just a night I decided an ottoman was must. I found a golden-yellow one at the Worlds Away Outlet that matches her crib skirt perfectly. Erin gave me the pom-poms she made for my shower and I made a few more to cluster in the corner. Cole likes to look at the pom-pom bunch while on the changing tray so I call them decorative and practical. 

Over Cole's crib I put together a small gallery wall with her initials, small paintings, ceramic pieces and photographs. (Yes, her crib is pulled a few inches away from the wall to prevent injury in the event something were to fall.) She was given a darling elephant mobile by our kind friends, the Days, which Peter hung from the ceiling. The window treatment was a generous, hand-made gift from a skilled decorator in Baltimore. She added black-out lining to the back of the panels which has been very helpful during nap time. I had the crib-skirt made by a local seamstress with fabric I already had on hand. Originally I was going to use the fabric in our room but after changing my mind, it sat purposeless in the closet. Turns out I love the classic stripe in the nursery!

On the wall across from the dresser and to the left of the crib is the shelf we painted. Slowly but surely the shelf is filling up with books and other treasures for Cole. We picked up a beverage tub and two plastic bins from Target to hold her toys.

Overall I'm so pleased with the way Cole's room turned out. While I planned a gender neutral room, after Cole's arrival we added a few feminine touches that made the room decidedly girly. I used lots of items we already had which helped me stay within budget. It's been so fun to see how well everything, old and new, goes together. Cole officially moved out of our room into her own last week and, so far, our little Birdie has registered no complaints! 

Bargain Chair Makeovers

While adjusting to life with a newborn and hosting out of town family, the last three weeks have been a blur. Actually, thus far 2012 has been a blur. As a result there are a few changes around the house that I haven't written about. They include the near-completion of Cole's nursery, further attempts at growing-up our master bedroom, and the make-over of three chairs. For now, lets focus on the chairs.

As Peter and I have set up our home we've been fortunate to receive hand-me-down furniture from our parents. Unfortunately, when our dogs were still puppies each one decided to attack a chair necessitating reupholstery. Up until recently, I was under the impression that reupholstery was way out of our home budget. We put the chairs in the attic and simply dealt with the lack of seating with apologizes and smiles. In December I learned of a local reupholsterer whose prices were more than reasonable. In the mean time, I found two fabric store with bargain pricing. Early this year I bought some fabric and finally called the reupholsterer. In January, she pick up three chairs (the two that the dogs attacked and one with a palm tree print that simply didn't fit our decor). Recently, we got the chairs back and they are beautiful!

The chair Gunther attacked goes in our bedroom. I still need to add trim to the bottom of the seat but it's nearly finished. I love the new fabric and the way it brings in the coral from our bathroom.

Before

After

The chair Lily attacked goes in the living room. This poor chair suffered irreparable damage to the cushion and the arms had to be reconstructed. After being reupholstered, the chair looks as good as new and is perfectly neutral in our living room without being boring.

Before

After

Lastly, I had the two box cushions from my "Grandparent Rocker" recovered. The palm trees on the cushions were cute at the beach but they look a bit out of place in our guest room. I found a honeycomb-textured orange fabric remnant at Premier for the cushions and then bought a yard of tan striped fabric for the piping.

Before

After

I'd say the reupholstery was well worth the $180 we spent. It took ages and a bit of comparison shopping but our diligence paid off. We ended up extending the life of our hand-me-downs significantly for way less then the cost of new seating.

Date Night!

A few months ago, I decided  that once the baby arrives we will hang his/her initials on the wall above the crib. I went to Hobby Lobby while they were running a sale and picked up the letters for our boy-name initials and girl-name initials. From that idea, sparked a desire to create a gallery wall around the initials. We already had picture frames and plates to include. As I was coming up with potential layouts for the wall, I noticed a small gap that needed to be filled. I figured a ceramic cross would go well in the space so I started looking online. I quickly realized it would cost just as much for us to paint our own cross as it would to buy one. So, to Seize the Clay we went!

Seize the Clay is a paint your own pottery shop. After a bit a research, I learned they offer half price studio fees during a Wine & Cheese event every Friday night. I invited our friends M and E to join us for the crafty date night. I called ahead to make a reservation for the four of us thinking that it was entirely unnecessary. Well, was I ever wrong! When we walked in we were shocked to see the place was packed! There were groups of women, birthday parties, and other couples on dates. Who knew so many people enjoy painting pottery? 

I decided to paint a vase while Peter painted the cross for the baby's room. While I may be creative in other areas, when it comes to painting pottery I have one strategy: Use only one paint color. With my strategy in mind, I selected a Pottery Crushed Crystal Glaze. While it looks like mud before firing, it will turn into a lovely mix of blue, green, teal and yellow once it spends some time in the kiln.  

       

Peter was tasked to paint the ceramic cross for the nursery. As a paint your own pottery rookie, he followed my strategy and used just one paint color for the cross. He used a Fun Strokes Fleckles glaze which should produce small flecks of color in the glaze once fired.

 

Once the baby is here we'll get the gallery wall up with the appropriate initials and the finished cross!

Laundry Closet: Shelves

The other project Peter and his dad took on last weekend was enhancing the storage in our laundry closet. I put in a request for one additional shelf but my father-in-law decided they could do better. And boy, oh, boy did they! 

I forgot to take a picture of the laundry closet before they started working so I dug this picture up from when we toured the house with our realtor. Hopefully the old tenants don't mind...

Peter and his dad came up with a plan that would significantly enhance our storage in the closet. They decided to add two additional shelves, one above the current shelf and one below. They decided to build the upper shelf in a u-shape in order to best utilize the space. Since we don't have a basement or garage, the guys worked in the backyard. Peter already had a stock of wood in his shed so they only had to get brackets from the store.

 

With the wood cut, they worked together to hang the shelves. 

It took hardly any time for me to find items to store on our new shelves. I've been working on making space available throughout the house in order to create openings for the various items that we will acquire in our role as parents. 

 

Next up for the laundry room is paint! Peter and I are going to paint the shelves and perhaps the walls.

Master Bathroom: Hanging the Valance

One of the projects Peter and his dad accomplished last weekend was hanging the valance in our master bath. When we got our new shower curtains we also got a valance to help dress up our bathroom. Peter and his dad knocked out the project in record time.

Step one was to cut a piece of wood to the exact width of our shower. They opted to get wood that was already primed. This meant that once hung, the project would look complete from inside of the shower. Of course, we could have painted the wood or covered it in fabric for the same effect.

With the wood measured to the proper length, they set about stapling the valance to the wood. Since the top edge of the valance was roughly cut it took a bit of strategizing to be sure the valance was attached evenly.

Once stapled to the wood, all that was left to do was screw the valance into the ceiling. The white of the valance helps break up some of the coral and it balances the white shelves on the other side of the bathroom.

Initially when the valance was just a concept, I envisioned coral trim on the edge. The seamstress who made the valance struggled with the best way to attach the trim so we opted out. However, once hung, I realized that the valance does need something to ease the transition between the solid white and printed fabrics so my mom and I will be addressing that when she comes next month. 

 

Regardless of the trim issue, I think the valance looks wonderful. I love the shape and the way it enhances our bathroom! The two panel shower curtains certainly look better with a valance. For the record, I did not iron the valance before it was hung, I'm just going to hope the wrinkles fall out over time.

Master Bathroom: Shower Curtains and More

For the last few years, the master bathroom has been a low priority space for change. But over the last several months we've been making improvements to our bathroom. I suppose it started because we've been working on our bedroom (I'll get pictures up soon!) and I wanted the bathroom to look complete as well.  As you may recall, we took ages to decide on a paint color for the bathroom. We lived with various color samples on the walls for a long time. In April 2010, I put a blue sample on the bathroom wall only to decide I wanted a warmer color. Then in February 2011, I decided with certainty what that color should be and in, April 2011, Peter painted the bathroom. 

Once the bathroom was painted, the next issue was the shower curtain. The tile in our bathroom goes up to the ceiling so we needed a very long shower curtain. Using some beautiful Schumacher fabric that matches the color of the walls, we had two panel shower curtains made. We typically keep the two curtains together so pardon the scarf that I used to tie off the curtain. There is also a valence that will go at the top, but we haven't quite gotten around to hanging it. Soon enough. Once the new shower curtain was up, it become a catalyst for other changes in the bathroom. It started with some new bath mats. 

       

We decided to hang some shelves above the toilet. After a bit of window shopping, we found some white floating shelves at Lowe's that were easy enough to install.

The shelves offer some additional storage which is very useful. They also add height to the other side of the bathroom which is visually appealing. For Christmas, my sister gave me some beautiful fish prints which I tucked into some IKEA frames we already had and hung by the shelves.

       

Finally, I wanted to reduce our counter-top clutter. So Peter and I set about clearing out our respective drawers and then reducing our counter-top items. I wanted to get trays for each of us to store our remaining counter-top items but I was met with some resistance. Initially Peter was hesitant to the idea of only having a tray, but after a week of discussion we decided to try it out. Once the counter space was clear, he found he favored the trays and they got to stay!