Art on the wall

We just had our living room walls repaired from drywall damage so a nice new paint job was in order. The lovely blue really did make the room more finished and cozy. However, when all the painting was done, the pictures came off the wall and I decided to do a little moving around of things. I chose to move the picture that was previously above our couch to a different area of the room which left a big gaping space above the seating area. I had an idea of art work that I wanted over the couch, but I couldn't find anything that fit the specifications I was looking for. So, in my general "I can do it myself!" attitude, I got myself and the kids to Lowes and picked up supplies.

I bought 3 pine wood boards measuring 3/4"x12"x4'. I also got some large picture-hanging D-rings and heavy duty anchors for the wall. The paint is all leftover sample paint colors that are in my home.

First, I put on three coats of the base color (Olympic's White Smoke) using a small 3" roller. I could have probably gotten by with just one coat if I had taken the time to lay down some primer, but it really didn't use much paint for this project (I still have 1/2 the quart left) and it didn't take much time at all for this step. I let the base color dry overnight.



The next morning, I took my trusty 2" paint brush and got to work. The design is created by brushing, dabbing, dripping, and splattering paint from the brush. I didn't allow the colors to dry in between each application of a new color. It didn't make much of a difference since my house is pretty dry and everything set quickly. (Colors are all Olympic paint. Green = Quaking Grass, Red = Bonfire, Blue = Kaleidoscope, and Yellow = Toffee Crunch)



At the end of the day, when everything was dry, I flipped the boards over and installed some picture-hanging D-rings at the tops.



Then, with the help of my husband who is much taller than I am and can actually see that close to the ceiling, we hung the pictures on the wall with a 6" space between each board.



I think it looks pretty nice! I like that there's still plenty of white visible on the boards since it helps to reflect more light and brighten up the space. The blue on my walls (Sherwin William's Storm Cloud) makes the room pretty dark at night.

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

I have loads of ideas. I have no time to implement them. This makes me sad. :-(

Sewing:
BabyLegs
a dupioni silk ring sling
several bloomers for Miriam
make a Duck Tape Dress Form for myself

Knitting
finish my Central Park Hoodie
make Chris a reinforced pair of socks since he already wore a hole in the pair of socks I gave him for Christmas last year. :-)
both the kids need new hats. Wish their heads would take a break on growing so fast!
I need 3 or 4 more pairs of socks for myself in order to be able to wear handknit socks everyday. :-)
Miriam needs her own Christmas stocking!

Other Crafting
I want to create a trio of modern paintings to hang over our couch in the living room.
I need some form of keepsakes for Benjamin's and Miriam's current sizes. Ideas?
I want to create a mirror window in our dining room to help bring more light in.
need to hang the picture wall...as soon as I decide which wall that will be!

And of course, the house
the wallpaper needs to finish coming off.
the kitchen ceiling needs to be redone...as soon as the lighting can be rearranged (take down the chandelier, turn the fan into one that contains a light, take down the flourescent lights and turn them into recessed lighting)
then the kitchen cabinets need to be repainted and the walls too
the carpet needs to be taken up and new flooring laid down.

That seems like it should be enough work, doesn't it? Now, where to find the time?!

When we bought our condo in July 2008, we had these grand plans of remodeling. Or perhaps I should say I had grand plans of remodeling! My husband will instigate nothing of the sort.

The condo unit was staged beautifully. The previous owners, both of whom had passed away prior to the sale, had bought into the association as the units were being built in 1981. They were able to be right in the midst of the contractors, working with the designers to make it their own space. Because of this, we have a few amenities that no other unit has, such as a window in our dining room and an outlet in the main closet (they had placed a deep freeze there). They also picked out the carpet, fixtures, appliances, and wallpaper as the unit was built.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

As you can see, there's a tremendous amount of wallpaper and wall to wall carpeting. We had an assessor come take a look and with no structural damage, I thought it would be easy peasy to redecorate!

Unfortunately, as we tackled the kitchen and the main bath, we realized that there was no priming done behind the wallpaper. It was laid directly on the drywall. It didn't take long before our energy to continue burnt out. It also didn't help that I was getting more and more pregnant with Benjamin and couldn't handle all the fumes of wallpaper remover and paint. We left the kitchen half done with the wallpaper removed, a shody wall painting job, and cabinet faces repainted, and the main bath has half the wallpaper down.

This was supposed to be the year for finishing the remodel. However, we have had water damage to our unit seep down from the attic. This has damaged our walls and ceilings. I'm not going to be able to move forward with any cosmetic work until the structural work has been taken care of. Unfortunately, the condo association doesn't think that this work is a priority because they've taken care of the attic damage and "it won't get any worse" in my unit. It may be a year or two before they deem it worth fixing.

I wish I could say my condo looks as nice and clean as the seller's staging, but alas, I have 3 cats, a baby, and a husband. It will never look that good!

Laundry Closet Update

This is going to be the most tricked out Laundry Closet when I'm done!!

I decided on a wall paint color, and it just happened to be the same color that I used on my kitchen cabinets: Lima Bean green from the Martha Stewart collection. I had a whole gallon left, so I had plenty to do this small space. I ended up needing only one coat, which was a real treat when compared with the rest of the house!

It was a bit of a pain to pull the washer and dryer out because of the unmodern (and newly discovered, not up to code) hook-ups. We were a little too scared to completely disconnect everything, so I had to work around them in the very small space. As long as the laundry closet always remains a laundry closet, I don't think anyone will ever notice!

I picked up this 36" wire shelf from Target for around $10, and it's just large enough to fit all of our laundry detergents on, plus a little garbage can for dryer lint.

There are a few more things I want to add to this closet to make the most of it:

I need someplace pretty to dry my diaper covers. Right now, they're clipped onto the cabinet door handles with clothespins. I found this drying rack on Ballard Designs, but I don't think Chris would allow me $90 for such a small space! I have lots of ideas as to how to create one, but I'm still working out logistics.

I would love to be able to fit in a fold-out ironing board too, but the wall that has the outlets is the same wall that has the lightswitch. I don't know where I would position the board. The total length of the closet is 6 feet, so would it be too far of a stretch for the cord to place it on the opposite wall from the outlet?

Also, I want to hang a shower curtain rod right behind the bifold doors. This will give a place to hang coat hangers when the doors are open.

Now...if only updates to a laundry room would add $10k to our home value! :-)

Forward with a plan...

Although I no longer work at the Bank, I still do work outside my home. In order to help make up for the loss of my salary, I now take care of 2 young toddlers, as well as my son, at their house. I know the boys' mother through my employment at the Bank, but her husband works second shift and there is a good 6 hours of overlap when they're each at their respective jobs. This means that I get to spend my mornings at home, cuddling with my baby, and doing my housework.

I used to wonder at the people with piles and piles of dirty laundry, asking myself why they didn't just set a day each week and get it done. When it was just my husband and I, we sat aside Sunday afternoons for our "house time." We went to church, then to the grocery store, then did 2 loads of laundry, and finished any other errands we had for the week. Add a baby into our mix, whom we have chosen to cloth diaper, and we just added another 3 loads of laundry per week! We don't have a very efficient washer or dryer, so clothes take 2 hours to complete and diapers take 3 hours to complete the wash cycles. We didn't really have 12 hours to set aside for laundry on any given day. We've slowly been adding to the pile of "someday I'll get to that" dirty laundry.

There's something about babies that inspires one to be a better person, to lead a better life, to bring the focus back to the home. I have been trying to persuade myself to do a gigantic sweep of my house and fix everything I don't like. This has proved too daunting of a task for me. I need to start small and concentrate on the small victories. I will be prideful of what I accomplish and not focus on how much I have yet to do.

My prideful moment? I set a schedule for doing laundry. This is the only addition to my morning routine in a VERY long time, and I'm excited at how smoothly it fits in! It also frees up some of our weekend time.

Monday: wash diapers

Tuesday: wash my clothes

Wednesday: wash Benjamin's clothes

Thursday: wash diapers

Friday: wash Chris's clothes

Now, to continue on my YAY! LAUNDRY! moment, I want to clean up and decorate my laundry closet. Really, that's all it is: a closet. The washer and dryer take up all the floor space, and I have 2 hanging cabinets, only 1 1/2 of which are useable as they conceal heating duct work. There used to be a shelf attached to the wall, but it fell down and I've never replaced it.

Here's what it looks like now (obviously it's diaper day!):

So what should I do with it?

I love the canvases that my friend Jenny painted here.

I'm totally going to paint the walls (and the cabinets????) like they did here.

Any other ideas for me? Colors?