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Halfway There {Partial Reveal}

October 18, 2012 2 Comments

Okay, so every-once-in-a-while my husband and I both get brave enough to tackle a larger DIY project than just painting. One that requires power tools. And this fall break weekend we did just that… (I feel like there should be some exciting music playing or something…I’m so excited!!)

We started with supplies. Bead board paneling for the wall, 1×2 for the shelf and bench supports, and 1×6 for the bench slats. We had some of the boards cut for us at HD because we just aren’t that accurate with the saw and some of the cuts needed to be done well. But…most of them we saved for ourselves because I’m a visual person and even though I had a plan, I just wasn’t 100% sure how it was all going to come together.

I grouped the pictures of the process in collages so as to not flood you with pictures. I got most of my methods from the internet or I made them up as I went along :). I wanted this to be pretty and looked like it belonged in my house, but I also needed it to function. As I showed you here, our entryway usually looks like a dumping ground. My hope is that if I give them somewhere pretty to dump put there stuff then it won’t be all over the floor – we shall see.

I bought some stock molding at HD to cover the cut edges of the plywood and attached them with wood glue and some tiny finishing nails. I caulked EVERYTHING. Caulk is my best friend, it covers all the mis-measuring, mis-cutting, and wonky wall problems. And, once you paint over it no one will ever know (shhhh…).

I decided to go with a dark stain rather than the faux treatment from my inspiration photo here.

I put hammers and chains in the hands of my 9 and 11yr. old and allowed them to go to town on these boards. They loved it!! We bought soft white wood that would distress and stain well. I wasn’t worried about knots or variations because I like the character.

I’m hoping to get the finishing touches – poly, touch-up paint – done and then install the bench boards. I shopped for hooks today and worked on number and placement of those, next is baskets for the cubbies.

Finished picture coming soon!!

DIY

Entryway Madness {And Happiness}

October 16, 2012 No Comments

In my last post I mentioned the disaster area that would be known as the entryway. No method has been found in the 11 years we have lived here to keep all the junk off the floor. In the past few months I have been thinking differently about the space. Maybe instead of a piece of furniture, maybe I just need to create some sort of built-in…hmmm…

So, here is my idea board (my first attempt and I kind of like having all my inspiration pictures in one place)

I’m excited to say that my husband and I were busy building this weekend and make some serious progress. I can’t wait to share the finished product and lots of pics of the process. Beyond excited for the possibility of organizing all our stuff!!

DIY

Progess…ha!

October 7, 2012 2 Comments

I’ve read several blog posts lately on progress. This is very freeing to me since I almost always have something in progress and very rarely have anything finished. So, I thought I would join the “progress” train. 🙂

As mentioned earlier I am working on lightening up the interior of my home, the biggest culprit of dark being the woodwork. So, last week when my hubby was across the ocean I decided to dive into the darkest place in our home…the hallway.

This is my hallway with the lights on…

This is my hallway with the lights off…

This is my hallway with the lights off and everyone’s bedroom curtains open on a sunny day…

This is what I decided to dive into…

Obviously this is progress, but who knows when I will be done 🙂

Especially since I believe there is another project that is going to trump finishing this one on the time line…the entryway…dun dun duh…

This is what it looks like right now.

We have had MUCH cooler temps the last couple of days. So much so that we are pulling out jackets, gloves and hats for those cold weekend soccer games.

This is where the magic will happen…hopefully

Have a blessed week!! Hope to be sharing a finished product somewhere with you soon!!

Holidays

Falling Up My Mantel

September 26, 2012 3 Comments

I love decorating for fall. Warm and cozy and natural. I wanted to share with you how I added a fall touch to our mantel.

Some things you see were already there. The framed horse print, the crosses and the “faith”.

On the left side I pulled out a dark metal vase and toss in some fall leaves with the yellow flowers for a pop of color. Then I pulled out a cute apple basket, and next to that I placed my the burlap pumpkin that I made. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of that. But, you can find the instructions that I followed here.

On the right side, I added a platter behind the “faith” to warm that up a bit. Then I added my dollar store pumpkins that I sprayed silver, and a couple of pine cones.

Simple but fallish. 🙂

Here is some of my other smatterings of fall decor around our family room.

No, I am not putting away my seashells. It reminds me of my happy place 🙂

Family

Happy 11th Birthday!!

September 21, 2012 1 Comment

This boy is 11 today…

Isn’t he a cutie?! There are so many wonderful things about Caleb but I’m going to borrow my friend Jennifer’s idea and share 11 today…since today is his 11th birthday 🙂 And what a coincidence that it was her Caleb’s 11th birthday when she wrote that post. I hope you don’t mind me borrowing your idea Jennifer I love it!!

11. Caleb is the one child out of our four with fair skin and blond hair – meaning he looks most like Van and I both when we were little. We were actually quite surprised that the others weren’t born with blond hair.

10. See that sweet smile? It is almost always there. He is so easy-going, nothing much phases him.

9. The attempt at the serious face cracks me up. He would like for you to think that this is who he really is, but in all reality he is incredibly compassionate.