Just some pics....

I find myself in a week of too much to do and not enough time to do it...so I offer you a few cute niece pictures and that will just have to do:

Sequins & Sofas: My Father the Hero

Back to the house....growing up, I was lucky to have a very handy and innovative dad who liked to build stuff (walls, secret club houses in garage rafters, spiral staircases hidden under a trap door in a main floor closet that led to our basement rec room, more walls). In our current family home up north, the house is filled with shelves. Awesome floor to ceiling shelves with a simple yet sophisticated design....engineered to hold an elephant (if one could fit in a room and then figure out how to climb on stuff).

I knew right away upon starting my house buying adventures 2 or so years ago that when/if I ever found a house, these shelves were to be Project #1. Each time I viewed a potential house, the first thought was "where would the shelves go?"

As you know, that day came and I wasted no time calling him up to make my 'appointment'. We emailed some ideas back and fourth and he gave me a list of needed supplies based on some rough measurements. My original thoughts:

Upon his arrival, he spent a good portion of the evening before 'the build' doing math. Lots of math...

We came up with an awesome layout that allowed for extra space where the TV would go...in case I ever wanted to upgrade from the ginormous 27" screen I am currently rockin. Mama and I made a few trips to Menards because I got the wrong size/style of screws (twice) and he got to work cutting boards and mapping out the wall:

My intention was to take lots of pictures of the progress, but then my washer and dryer was delivered and the dryer wouldn't fit thru the basement doorframe. (Really? Thanks a lot sales guy who could have told me that before I bought it since I stood right in front of him measuring out the washer as I commented about how my doorway was quite narrow and I didn't have any room to spare...sorry, mini rant complete. And also, Boo!) I got a bit distracted with managing that little headache and then had to quickly head off to work....so at the end of the day, I returned home to this magical work of art:

Wowza....how excited was I?? Very. They made the trip back up north the following morning and I was left with the task of painting. Spackled the holes, sanded any rough edges and taped off the wall- ready:

It took a bunch of hours, then a bunch more hours of waiting for them to dry so I could fill them up with stuff. And let me tell you, it was worth every second:

Thanks Dad for making my all my shelf dreams come true! Love.

Toddler Talk: Tubes

Saw a cool idea awhile back and gave it a try:

Paper towel tubes (I covered them with cute duct tape to make them more fun) taped to the back of a shelf.

Wait for the kids to discover them and then just start to ask questions. Hey, what's that? What could you do with that? What do you think could fit in there? Then watch.

They will find all kinds of objects to explore with...and you can talk about big and small and why some things might not fit!

Sequins & Sofas: Stripe Central

I for sure have tunnel vision at this moment in time....all things house. So the next few weeks will most likely continue to be focused on just that. Plans and projects I am thinking about as they come together....so, here we go.

I painted my bedroom pink. Yep, like melted strawberry ice cream pink...with plans to add a wide vertical stripe pattern using a whitewash. My Auntie S has a similar design going on in her room and I have always loved it...and now with an actual bedroom of my own (instead of a bed right smack in the middle of my little studio living room...which I truly loved but am so happy to be done with), I wanted something FANCY!

The plan- #1: Using Frog Tape (I live in Frogtown after all, nothing else seemed appropriate) to mark off all the lines, I measured out 1 foot segments all around the room.

Things I learned: Using the weight of the tape roll itself was quite effective in creating straight lines down to the floor. I just let it hang down the wall and waited for it to be straight. This was in place of a plumb line (which most decorating websites suggested). Although as the tape roll got smaller, the weight was less...so...I just made it work.

#2: Measuring- A tape measure and light pencil marks worked just fine.

Things I learned: Make sure that you are keeping in mind that the painted section will be 1 foot exactly, and the non-painted part will look smaller...since the tape will take up space on either side of it. Ya know, so that part is protected from paint and when you take it off, all the stripes are equal. I know, not rocket science, but there you go.

Make sure to press down the tape very well after you place it on the wall. No one wants paint seeping through raised tape lines. No one.

I also added a little piece of tape to each part I wasn't going to paint to remind myself of the pattern. Again, duh...but after a few hours of painting, one stripe becomes the next and things could get a little crazy.

#3: The Whitewash- I did a little search on whitewash 'recipes' and found the most common to be 2 parts paint and 1 part water. I gave it a go and used a roller to paint on the first coat.

Things I learned: Don't freak out if it looks all blotchy and roller-y the first time around. Just get a even coat and keep going. Once I got all the way around the room with the initial coat, I wasn't totally satisfied with the look...but I didn't want to do another coat with the same mix in fear that it would become too opaque. So I mixed up a second batch and diluted it more...like 1 to 1. That final pass over made it all come together and even things out. Not sure if the design websites would agree or not, but it worked for me.

A pic of a stripe...you can still see the tape through the whitewash and a little pink coming through the paint as well...that was the goal.

#4: Let it dry- I gave it a little time to set up and then went to town with my favorite part of the whole day. Removing the tape! What a satisfying experience that was...with the peeling of each piece revealing the masterpiece below, and it was awesome! Just what I was hoping for:

With the addition of some very lacy white curtains, a new white lampshade and desk accessories, a soft white chenille rug (scheduled to arrive today, I can't wait) and a few other tidbits, my girlie (and very fancy) room is just about done! If only I had a chandelier....hmmmm, maybe.

Sequins & Sofas: Got a Window? Make a table.

I have a gal pal that was doing a remodel on her home awhile back and had some old window panes that she was getting rid of...I asked her if I could pretty, pretty please maybe have one if she was planning to toss them out anyway because, well, I had an idea.

I saved this window for well over a year in hopes to someday have a real living room for my little project to live in. Finally the day has come and I am excited to share my little window table with the world:

It was super easy to put together...just a few supplies:

A quick google search on the standard height of a coffee table (anywhere between 15 and 17 inches is acceptable by most websites I skimmed through), a trip to Menards, a little time spent in the plumbing aisle of said Menards fitting pieces together until I reached the desired height of 17 inches (whilst not forgetting to factor in the thickness of the window pane), a conversation with a cute old grandpa at the check out line asking if I was a plumber and what was I going to do with all those pipes and fittings, and 15 minutes of assembly with a drill and screws and I had myself and coffee table.

Eeeekkkk! I'm so happy...it's just what I pictured in my head and it was so easy! The perfect mix of old and new. Love.