I finally found the Slipcover we had made for our simple parsons chairs. I had it made before we moved and then couldn't find it, until this week!!! It was mistaken for quilting fabric and tossed into the fabric basket.
I was so happy to find it because we've had an ugly brown parsons chair sitting in the corner of the guest room for months now!!
Because we're planning on outfitting the closet as a mini craft room, I'll need a chair for scrapbooking and sewing. And when it's not in use in the craft closet, it can be used in the guest room as a chair for putting your socks on, or just dropping your overnight bag on to :).
I found the fabric at Fabricana, and I also found a very nice seamstress who sewed it up for me for $50. It was the best $50 I ever spent, my sewing skills are amateur at best, and definitely up to the task of slipcovers, I'm at a throw pillow level! So for $50 I have a beautiful slipcover and my sanity is still intact, as are all of my fingers :)
Total Cost:
The chair is from Craigslist for $5
The Fabric cost $22
Seamstress fee $50
____________________________
Total: $77 for a totally customized slip covered chair for our guest room!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
PINK Shelf Liner and One more Organized Cabinet!
It's pretty obvious that Lee's the one who picked out our self liner for under the sink! Just Kidding!
But what a great husband who takes the time to install his wife's PINK shelf liner :)
He even took the time to install is around the pipes, I would have just cut a big circle around it and called it a day.
I think that shelf liner is great for the messy area under the sink. We keep our recycling under there and sometimes sticky pop cans leave their residue on the shelf, messy cleaners and dishwasher detergent ends up on there too. So to protect the shelf and add a cute pop of color shelf liner was our solution!
This pretty pink liner came from Michaels, on sale for $2.50 a roll!
Lee installed the recycling bin, it's from Ikea and it pulls out on rollers for easier access. It's awesome, it makes getting the recycling in and out a breeze. Because of our awkward corner cabinet it was a bit of a chore before.
The we added an adjustable under the sink organizer. In my opinion it's the best way to organize under the sink, it has removable slats so that you can fit it around sink pipes or in our case the garburator! It makes the best use of space under there!
Here's the break down of what we have under there:
1. Palmolive Eco Dish Detergent: It's really affordable, works well and is phosphate free so it doesn't pollute rivers and streams.
2. Fruit and Veggie Wash from Nature Clean.
3. Our Martha Stewart Cleaner Bottles. When we first moved in I bought some of Martha's new cleaning products from Home Depot. Once we ran out I started refilling them with Homemade solutions. The bottles are fantastic they are super thin so they line up together perfectly and don't take up a ton of room! I'll definitely be keeping these bottles and refilling them month after month!
Look for our post on Homemade Cleaning Products later this week.
4. Dawn Pure Essentials, I had a coupon for Dawn and their pure essentials line is free of extra ingredients like dyes, and their bottle is made with 25% post consumer recycled material.
5. My Houseplant care kit! I keep a set of scissors, fertilizer, gnat fly traps, little measuring spoons for fertilizer, a microfiber cloth for wiping dust off of leaves.
6. Baking Soda!!! I keep it in a little mason jar to avoid the half opened box sitting under the sink waiting to get knocked over every time you go in there.
We also have a little dustpan under there, it's from the Dollar Store (Dollarama if your in BC) and we used a 3M hook to hang it from the cabinet door.
And that our newly organized . . . I should say finally organized cabinet. We squeezed every bit of storage out of that awkward corner cabinet.
**All opinions on products are my own I was in no way compensated for this post, these are the products I use, and wanted to share with you!
But what a great husband who takes the time to install his wife's PINK shelf liner :)
He even took the time to install is around the pipes, I would have just cut a big circle around it and called it a day.
I think that shelf liner is great for the messy area under the sink. We keep our recycling under there and sometimes sticky pop cans leave their residue on the shelf, messy cleaners and dishwasher detergent ends up on there too. So to protect the shelf and add a cute pop of color shelf liner was our solution!
This pretty pink liner came from Michaels, on sale for $2.50 a roll!
Lee installed the recycling bin, it's from Ikea and it pulls out on rollers for easier access. It's awesome, it makes getting the recycling in and out a breeze. Because of our awkward corner cabinet it was a bit of a chore before.
The we added an adjustable under the sink organizer. In my opinion it's the best way to organize under the sink, it has removable slats so that you can fit it around sink pipes or in our case the garburator! It makes the best use of space under there!
Here's the break down of what we have under there:
1. Palmolive Eco Dish Detergent: It's really affordable, works well and is phosphate free so it doesn't pollute rivers and streams.
2. Fruit and Veggie Wash from Nature Clean.
3. Our Martha Stewart Cleaner Bottles. When we first moved in I bought some of Martha's new cleaning products from Home Depot. Once we ran out I started refilling them with Homemade solutions. The bottles are fantastic they are super thin so they line up together perfectly and don't take up a ton of room! I'll definitely be keeping these bottles and refilling them month after month!
Look for our post on Homemade Cleaning Products later this week.
4. Dawn Pure Essentials, I had a coupon for Dawn and their pure essentials line is free of extra ingredients like dyes, and their bottle is made with 25% post consumer recycled material.
5. My Houseplant care kit! I keep a set of scissors, fertilizer, gnat fly traps, little measuring spoons for fertilizer, a microfiber cloth for wiping dust off of leaves.
6. Baking Soda!!! I keep it in a little mason jar to avoid the half opened box sitting under the sink waiting to get knocked over every time you go in there.
We also have a little dustpan under there, it's from the Dollar Store (Dollarama if your in BC) and we used a 3M hook to hang it from the cabinet door.
And that our newly organized . . . I should say finally organized cabinet. We squeezed every bit of storage out of that awkward corner cabinet.
**All opinions on products are my own I was in no way compensated for this post, these are the products I use, and wanted to share with you!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Cupcakes, Cupcakes everywhere and not a one to spare
The cobbler's children have no shoes and this baker ate no cupcakes haha
We had a super busy weekend, baking up a storm over here . . . Wedding Cupcakes. Although I would much prefer a baking storm to Hurricane Irene, hoping all of you are safe and sound!
Since they were all white cupcakes I wanted to display them on a bright stand, but spending $20+ on something to display cupcakes was not really an option. A simple white stand is worth the investment, but something crazy that might only get used a few times in it's life isn't.
So, a trip to a second hand store to look for some lonesome, one of a kind dishes was in order.
I think that when shopping secondhand you have to keep your options open, and that's exactly how we snagged these flower dishes and hideous cups for $6. I had originally planned to buy one large dish and three smaller dishes but when I found this little set I couldn't pass it up!
A tube of silicone and 12hour drying time later the cups were stuck to the plates,
And we had a cupcake stand :)
Add some white wedding cupcakes,
a little banner and it's complete.
The cupcakes were rainbow sprinkle, with white icing, and little fondant flowers. I wish the pictures did them justice, but the white on white on white doesn't really show up well on camera (kind of like me haha).
I hope you liked our $6 cupcake stand as much as I do! It's funny because we made it to save money on something we didn't plan on using often, but I want to use it all the time now :)
Total Cost: $6 for plates and cups
Tube of silicone FREE (left over from another project) but if you don't already had a tube lying around it's another $4!
I think this project would be great with some mismatched plates and some candle holders in between, or super cute coffee mugs! It was so easy!! I hope you'll try it!
Linking to:
We had a super busy weekend, baking up a storm over here . . . Wedding Cupcakes. Although I would much prefer a baking storm to Hurricane Irene, hoping all of you are safe and sound!
Since they were all white cupcakes I wanted to display them on a bright stand, but spending $20+ on something to display cupcakes was not really an option. A simple white stand is worth the investment, but something crazy that might only get used a few times in it's life isn't.
So, a trip to a second hand store to look for some lonesome, one of a kind dishes was in order.
I think that when shopping secondhand you have to keep your options open, and that's exactly how we snagged these flower dishes and hideous cups for $6. I had originally planned to buy one large dish and three smaller dishes but when I found this little set I couldn't pass it up!
A tube of silicone and 12hour drying time later the cups were stuck to the plates,
And we had a cupcake stand :)
Add some white wedding cupcakes,
a little banner and it's complete.
The cupcakes were rainbow sprinkle, with white icing, and little fondant flowers. I wish the pictures did them justice, but the white on white on white doesn't really show up well on camera (kind of like me haha).
I hope you liked our $6 cupcake stand as much as I do! It's funny because we made it to save money on something we didn't plan on using often, but I want to use it all the time now :)
Total Cost: $6 for plates and cups
Tube of silicone FREE (left over from another project) but if you don't already had a tube lying around it's another $4!
I think this project would be great with some mismatched plates and some candle holders in between, or super cute coffee mugs! It was so easy!! I hope you'll try it!
Linking to:
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Cleaning Schedule
First, THANK YOU so much for all of your input on yesterday's post, I was blown away by the feedback! It was super helpful! I think at this point I'm going to sew the quilt then decide where to go from there, but I can guarantee they'll be some color!
One of the questions I get asked the most is about my cleaning schedule.
.
Short answer: Yes I do, but it's not set in stone. It's fluid, if something doesn't get done on the day it should it just gets moved to the next day. What's that they say "A clean house is a sure sign of a wasted life" I don't believe that! But I'm also not going to turn down a shopping day with the girls because I had it written on the calendar that today I'm going to vacuum the steps!
The Daily Grind:
~ Load the dishwasher
~ Wipe down the counters
~ Tidy the living room, fluff the pillows
~ Make the bed (most days :)
~ Pick up Lee's dirty clothes from beside the laundry bin (seriously . . . right beside the bin)
~ Walk the dog, poop patrol in the backyard.
~ Water the garden
~ and a million other things that seem to pop up everyday!
Here is how I organize my days:
Monday:
Clean out the fridge and figure out what we need from the grocery store.
Grocery Shop!
Clean up from the weekend. I do the bare minimum on the weekends, just dishes. So by the time that Monday comes the house could use a little TLC. I walk around picking up all the empty booze bottles off the floor and clean liquor off the counters from all the weekend body shots . . . just kidding! Monday usually involves picking up rouge socks from the floor and washing guest room sheets from weekend visitors.
Monday is also my day to tend to houseplants. I water them, wipe down their leaves, fertilize them every two weeks, and clip off dead foliage.
Monday is also bill paying day.
Tuesday:
Main floor cleaning day. Vacuum the living room and library, sweep and mop all wood and stone flooring.
Wipe down kitchen cupboard doors, clean all the stainless steel in the kitchen (fridge, stove, dishwasher) Deodorize the garbage disposal (a little bit of lemon does wonders).
Remove everything from Kitchen counters, and wipe down. Clean Stove top.
Dust main floor.
Clean Main floor bathroom.
Wednesday:
LAUNDRY
Ironing, folding etc . . .
Wednesday's is also the day I tackle what ever monthly chores there are (i.e. windows, gardening, seasonal things)
Wednesday's are also the chance I have to tackle sewing, knitting or organizing projects, or just catch up on blog work.
Most importantly Wednesday is the day that I bake, usually it's bread and something yummy for dessert!
Thursday:
Upstairs cleaning day. Just like Tuesday is our main floor cleaning day, Thursday is our upper floor cleaning day.
The sheets get pulled off and washed, all the carpets get vacuumed including the stairs and everything gets dusted.
Both the upstairs bathrooms get cleaned. All the laundry from Wednesday gets put away, and both of our closets get a tidy!
Friday:
Back to the main floor for a 'surface clean' because heaven knows it's messy already. Then the rest of Friday is spent getting ready for the weekend. If we're having people over it's spent preparing food and guest rooms, if we're going away for the weekend it's spent packing suitcases and making food for the trip.
I hope that was helpful, this cleaning system really works for me. This way I'm not doing the same thing over and over again. I clean the kitchen cabinets once a week so if I see a little smudge on the door I don't drop what I'm doing to clean it because I know that on Tuesday that will get clean. I don't worry about the full laundry bins because I know that Wednesday it gets done!
When my house is clean, I feel calm and in control. When my house is messy I feel like a mess. The schedule keeps me sane and my house clean! It doesn't have to be my schedule but I think a cleaning system is a neccessity, try it out, it makes a huge difference!
btw ~ I've recently started making my own cleaners so if you're interested look for a post on that
Next Week!
One of the questions I get asked the most is about my cleaning schedule.
.
Short answer: Yes I do, but it's not set in stone. It's fluid, if something doesn't get done on the day it should it just gets moved to the next day. What's that they say "A clean house is a sure sign of a wasted life" I don't believe that! But I'm also not going to turn down a shopping day with the girls because I had it written on the calendar that today I'm going to vacuum the steps!
The Daily Grind:
~ Load the dishwasher
~ Wipe down the counters
~ Tidy the living room, fluff the pillows
~ Make the bed (most days :)
~ Pick up Lee's dirty clothes from beside the laundry bin (seriously . . . right beside the bin)
~ Walk the dog, poop patrol in the backyard.
~ Water the garden
~ and a million other things that seem to pop up everyday!
Here is how I organize my days:
Monday:
Clean out the fridge and figure out what we need from the grocery store.
Grocery Shop!
Clean up from the weekend. I do the bare minimum on the weekends, just dishes. So by the time that Monday comes the house could use a little TLC. I walk around picking up all the empty booze bottles off the floor and clean liquor off the counters from all the weekend body shots . . . just kidding! Monday usually involves picking up rouge socks from the floor and washing guest room sheets from weekend visitors.
Monday is also my day to tend to houseplants. I water them, wipe down their leaves, fertilize them every two weeks, and clip off dead foliage.
Monday is also bill paying day.
Tuesday:
Main floor cleaning day. Vacuum the living room and library, sweep and mop all wood and stone flooring.
Wipe down kitchen cupboard doors, clean all the stainless steel in the kitchen (fridge, stove, dishwasher) Deodorize the garbage disposal (a little bit of lemon does wonders).
Remove everything from Kitchen counters, and wipe down. Clean Stove top.
Dust main floor.
Clean Main floor bathroom.
Wednesday:
LAUNDRY
Ironing, folding etc . . .
Wednesday's is also the day I tackle what ever monthly chores there are (i.e. windows, gardening, seasonal things)
Wednesday's are also the chance I have to tackle sewing, knitting or organizing projects, or just catch up on blog work.
Most importantly Wednesday is the day that I bake, usually it's bread and something yummy for dessert!
Thursday:
Upstairs cleaning day. Just like Tuesday is our main floor cleaning day, Thursday is our upper floor cleaning day.
The sheets get pulled off and washed, all the carpets get vacuumed including the stairs and everything gets dusted.
Both the upstairs bathrooms get cleaned. All the laundry from Wednesday gets put away, and both of our closets get a tidy!
Friday:
Back to the main floor for a 'surface clean' because heaven knows it's messy already. Then the rest of Friday is spent getting ready for the weekend. If we're having people over it's spent preparing food and guest rooms, if we're going away for the weekend it's spent packing suitcases and making food for the trip.
I hope that was helpful, this cleaning system really works for me. This way I'm not doing the same thing over and over again. I clean the kitchen cabinets once a week so if I see a little smudge on the door I don't drop what I'm doing to clean it because I know that on Tuesday that will get clean. I don't worry about the full laundry bins because I know that Wednesday it gets done!
When my house is clean, I feel calm and in control. When my house is messy I feel like a mess. The schedule keeps me sane and my house clean! It doesn't have to be my schedule but I think a cleaning system is a neccessity, try it out, it makes a huge difference!
btw ~ I've recently started making my own cleaners so if you're interested look for a post on that
Next Week!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Opinions Wanted!
WE WANT YOU! Now imagine a big poster of Uncle Sam pointing at you :)
I need your opinion, Lee has no opinion on this matter and I need help! I've had this star burst mirror forever, and I though I might try it over the guest room bed??
What do you think? A little plain maybe? I though I might add a banner back there too. And the Headboard and the nightstands are going to be a bright color so maybe that would add a little more interest? What do you think? Let me know . . . Don't be shy. But Keep in mind I have thin skin so nothing too mean, or maybe the sandwich technique, something nice, followed by something not as nice, ending with something nice :) haha Like A Sandwich!
Thank you in advance!
I need your opinion, Lee has no opinion on this matter and I need help! I've had this star burst mirror forever, and I though I might try it over the guest room bed??
What do you think? A little plain maybe? I though I might add a banner back there too. And the Headboard and the nightstands are going to be a bright color so maybe that would add a little more interest? What do you think? Let me know . . . Don't be shy. But Keep in mind I have thin skin so nothing too mean, or maybe the sandwich technique, something nice, followed by something not as nice, ending with something nice :) haha Like A Sandwich!
Thank you in advance!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I'm a wRapper . . . . word.
I'm a gift wrapper, not an actual wrapper, I bet you all thought I was going to start a new life as a hardcore rapper . . . right? Although DIY blogs are a well known stepping stone into the world of rap music, :) I think I'll stick to what I know, and I know how to wrap a present!
I refuse to limit the guest room to just a guest room. A room that gets used less than 10 times a year, more if Lee has a cold and snores all night, but generally only 10 times a year!
So the plan is to install a "craft room" into the closet, because no one who visits us stays long enough or is posh enough to need an entire closet of hanging space, and just in case they do . . . we'll install some hooks on the wall somewhere.
But because having it be a guest room and a craft room, and a refuge from snoring husbands ;) isn't enough for me, I also want to include a little gift wrapping station!
Somewhere to store the gift bags, I keep then give away again . . . I still have bags from my bridal shower 6 years ago waiting for the perfect opportunity to be recycled! Somewhere to keep the ribbon, the paper, the tape, the scissors and of coarse the curly string :)
I used our old dresser from our old bedroom, Lee took the mirror off of the dresser so that I could install the ribbon dispenser above it (in case your wondering the unit above the dresser is from Michaels). The drawers are perfect length for rolls of wrapping paper, and the shallow top drawer is just right for ribbons and bows!
Here it is: (complete with a little geranium bouquet from the garden)
"Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things" . . . . . . and curly string, I LOVE that stuff!
I refuse to limit the guest room to just a guest room. A room that gets used less than 10 times a year, more if Lee has a cold and snores all night, but generally only 10 times a year!
So the plan is to install a "craft room" into the closet, because no one who visits us stays long enough or is posh enough to need an entire closet of hanging space, and just in case they do . . . we'll install some hooks on the wall somewhere.
But because having it be a guest room and a craft room, and a refuge from snoring husbands ;) isn't enough for me, I also want to include a little gift wrapping station!
Somewhere to store the gift bags, I keep then give away again . . . I still have bags from my bridal shower 6 years ago waiting for the perfect opportunity to be recycled! Somewhere to keep the ribbon, the paper, the tape, the scissors and of coarse the curly string :)
I used our old dresser from our old bedroom, Lee took the mirror off of the dresser so that I could install the ribbon dispenser above it (in case your wondering the unit above the dresser is from Michaels). The drawers are perfect length for rolls of wrapping paper, and the shallow top drawer is just right for ribbons and bows!
Here it is: (complete with a little geranium bouquet from the garden)
"Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things" . . . . . . and curly string, I LOVE that stuff!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Great Read: The Dirty Life
I think the reason I enjoy reading about farm life so much is because it's something I could never do. It's not the hard work, it's not even the early mornings (although i don't love those), it's the rats and the snakes and the mice and I'm sure there are spiders :) Yesterday I went to weed the front garden and there was a really big worm and it scared me a little, in my defense it was a really really big worm and it only scared me a little!
None the less I still feel the pull of farm life,
Sometimes I take the long way home and drive through farm country, thinking about how nice it would be to have a big giant farm with chickens, and goats, and maybe a piglet or two! But in the clear light of day I think that I'm more suited to a little urban homestead (maybe with chickens someday).
The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball is everything I LOVE about the idea of having a big working farm, and everything that reminds me why I can't have a working farm. Things like rats in the barn, rats in the wall, anything to do with rats :) oh and a little thing called blood sausage, I know I shouldn't be surprised at what's in blood sausage, because it says it right in the name but wow!
I couldn't put this book down, I read it in two days and LOVED it. I cried almost as much as I laughed. It's a grab some tissues, grab your dog and hunker down for a weekend kinda book!
I hope you'll give it a read and let me know what you thought of it! Disclaimer: it's very in depth, you get a real up close look at farm life, the good, the bad, the ugly, the gory, the sad and the beautiful! I LOVED it and I think you will too!
None the less I still feel the pull of farm life,
Sometimes I take the long way home and drive through farm country, thinking about how nice it would be to have a big giant farm with chickens, and goats, and maybe a piglet or two! But in the clear light of day I think that I'm more suited to a little urban homestead (maybe with chickens someday).
The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball is everything I LOVE about the idea of having a big working farm, and everything that reminds me why I can't have a working farm. Things like rats in the barn, rats in the wall, anything to do with rats :) oh and a little thing called blood sausage, I know I shouldn't be surprised at what's in blood sausage, because it says it right in the name but wow!
I couldn't put this book down, I read it in two days and LOVED it. I cried almost as much as I laughed. It's a grab some tissues, grab your dog and hunker down for a weekend kinda book!
I hope you'll give it a read and let me know what you thought of it! Disclaimer: it's very in depth, you get a real up close look at farm life, the good, the bad, the ugly, the gory, the sad and the beautiful! I LOVED it and I think you will too!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Flowers on Friday: Grouping
First we wanted to thank everyone for their very kind words about our bedroom making it into This Old House's September issue! You are all so sweet! Everything is multiplied when you share it with others and this couldn't be more true than right here on The Manor! Our readers turn everything good, into something great and everything great, into something amazing!
This Friday's Flowers:
If you caught our bird's eye view of the living room you might have noticed our three little arrangements on the coffee table.
I Love taking a large bouquet of flowers and turning them into multiple smaller bouquets, usually they live their first few days here as a large bouquet and then as certain flowers die off we make smaller and smaller bouquets out of the longer lasting, heartier flowers!
Here's our little lily arrangements, center stage on our coffee table!
But after a couple of days on the coffee table I got tired of them there and moved them around the house, here's one beside the couch!
I LOVE having lilies in the house, everyday for almost a week it has smelt amazing!!!
Hope you have a GREAT weekend, I'm headed to a Canadian Design Bloggers West meet-up, a little nervous but also very excited! Can't wait!
This Friday's Flowers:
If you caught our bird's eye view of the living room you might have noticed our three little arrangements on the coffee table.
I Love taking a large bouquet of flowers and turning them into multiple smaller bouquets, usually they live their first few days here as a large bouquet and then as certain flowers die off we make smaller and smaller bouquets out of the longer lasting, heartier flowers!
Here's our little lily arrangements, center stage on our coffee table!
But after a couple of days on the coffee table I got tired of them there and moved them around the house, here's one beside the couch!
I LOVE having lilies in the house, everyday for almost a week it has smelt amazing!!!
Hope you have a GREAT weekend, I'm headed to a Canadian Design Bloggers West meet-up, a little nervous but also very excited! Can't wait!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Guest Post: Carly from Perfectly Pretty
Hi, Today I'm over on Perfectly Pretty and Carly is over here! I hope you enjoy the switcheroo!! Be back tomorrow with another Flowers on Friday.
Hello Maillardiville Manor readers, I am so excited to be guest posting on Ashli's beautiful blog as I am a huge fan of hers! Like Ashli, I am highly addicted to organizing and love living in a home where everything has a place. Before I get to the tour, I thought it would be helpful to give you a little background on our family and our home. I'm a stay-at-home mom of 4 year old twin girls and very lucky to be happily married to my best friend for over 14 years. We live in a small home (for North American standards), at only 1150 sq ft, plus developed basement and as strange as this may sound organizing and cleaning makes me happy! Now onto the house tour, I hope you enjoy!
My decorating style is definitely a mix of Ikea family functionality and vintage farmhouse finds. I also love to mix pretty pattern fabrics and textures to create a room's unique character. Here is a room-by-room tour of our home.
The Living Room
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
Main Floor Bathroom
The Girls' Room
The Master Bedroom
The Playroom
My Craft Room
To see more please drop by my blog, Perfectly Pretty, anytime and thank you so much Ashli for the beautiful feature!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
THIS OLD HOUSE!
More like "THIS NEW PANELLED WALL" :)
Short Version: We're on This Old House's website or more specifically our Panelled Bedroom Wall is on their site!
AND
We're going to be in their SEPTEMBER ISSUE!!! Hitting shelves soon! :) aaaahhhhhh!
Long Version:
When I was little I wanted to be an arcitect, then I found out I was no good at Math once they started adding the alphabet to it, so no architecture for me. Then when I was in High School I wanted to be a housewife, but I was told that wasn't an option, from just about everyone! So I decided I wanted to be an interior designer because I wanted to be in MAGAZINES!!!
Fastforward to July 2011,
Danielle Blundel sent me an email telling me how much she liked our super cheap paneled bedroom wall, and if we would be open to having it in THIS OLD HOUSE magazine's September issue!
Thank goodness it was an email she sent me because I was a little excited (okay A LOT excited). And had she phoned me she would have got an earful of excited screaming!
I emailed back in all my calmness and said that I would LOVE to be in the September issue. Then it occured to me that our house isn't really an "Old House" but apparently that was just fine, it could be about adding touches to make a NEW home look Older! Yay!!!
So keep an eye out the This Old House's September issue our Master Bedroom Wall is in it!!! We're so Excited! And so are our Moms!! :)
And until then you can see our Panel Project on This Old House's Site! Lee's super excited they used some of his illustrations!
Short Version: We're on This Old House's website or more specifically our Panelled Bedroom Wall is on their site!
AND
We're going to be in their SEPTEMBER ISSUE!!! Hitting shelves soon! :) aaaahhhhhh!
Long Version:
When I was little I wanted to be an arcitect, then I found out I was no good at Math once they started adding the alphabet to it, so no architecture for me. Then when I was in High School I wanted to be a housewife, but I was told that wasn't an option, from just about everyone! So I decided I wanted to be an interior designer because I wanted to be in MAGAZINES!!!
Fastforward to July 2011,
Danielle Blundel sent me an email telling me how much she liked our super cheap paneled bedroom wall, and if we would be open to having it in THIS OLD HOUSE magazine's September issue!
Thank goodness it was an email she sent me because I was a little excited (okay A LOT excited). And had she phoned me she would have got an earful of excited screaming!
I emailed back in all my calmness and said that I would LOVE to be in the September issue. Then it occured to me that our house isn't really an "Old House" but apparently that was just fine, it could be about adding touches to make a NEW home look Older! Yay!!!
So keep an eye out the This Old House's September issue our Master Bedroom Wall is in it!!! We're so Excited! And so are our Moms!! :)
And until then you can see our Panel Project on This Old House's Site! Lee's super excited they used some of his illustrations!
Birds eye view: Living Room
After snapping a birds eye view of the library, I thought you might enjoy one of the living room, I mean what good is it having high ceilings if I don't snap a couple of helicopter view photos!
I hope you enjoyed Today's Post. You might notice the missing ottoman that use to sit in front of the chairs? It now lives in our Master Bedroom. It was nice in the living room but It was a bit too cramped, we love our newly recovered square footage and there's a lot more room to play with Max so he's happy!
I hope you enjoyed Today's Post. You might notice the missing ottoman that use to sit in front of the chairs? It now lives in our Master Bedroom. It was nice in the living room but It was a bit too cramped, we love our newly recovered square footage and there's a lot more room to play with Max so he's happy!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
New Library Rug!
Options for Today's Post Title:
> eeeeeeeewwwww gross!
> Sick Dog = New Rug
> Seriously beep beep beep beep'n beep
> Lee I need your help! NOW!
I don't know if I really need to explain what happen . . . you get the idea!
So we went on a rug hunt, with a very strict budget as this was a very un-expected purchase. We have different criteria than most people:
> Like everyone we want it to look nice.
> It can't be wool, Max is a touch allergic, and Lee hates shedding rugs!
> It has to be neutral because it's an expensive part of the decor and I don't want a BOSSY rug to dictate the room!
> Nothing with too thick a pile or anything shag, not because I'm against shag, but if you have pets or kids you might know what I'm talking about. One of my closest friends had to get rid of their shag area rug because of an unfortunate playdough incident occurred.
I ran all over town for a week or two (I just re-read that and it sounded bad haha) I ran all over town looking for a rug, it took a week or two! (there better). I finally found one at Canadian Tire while Lee was getting supplies for an oil change on the cars. With an extra $129 on the bill, it was the most expensive oil change to date ;)
It's a Debbie Travis rug, she has a line of home products at Canadian Tire they are all very cute, and very well priced!
We chose this Rug because we liked the pattern, it's neutral and it's a statement with out being bossy! The Tablecloth curtains are a Spring/Summer accessory, during the Fall/Winter seasons I'd like to have different curtains and I think this rug lets us keep our options open.
Here it is in all it's not barfed on glory!
Birds eye view:
It's funny but I like it better then our old rug. Happy Ending for everyone, except maybe Max, although he's feeling much better :)
> eeeeeeeewwwww gross!
> Sick Dog = New Rug
> Seriously beep beep beep beep'n beep
> Lee I need your help! NOW!
I don't know if I really need to explain what happen . . . you get the idea!
So we went on a rug hunt, with a very strict budget as this was a very un-expected purchase. We have different criteria than most people:
> Like everyone we want it to look nice.
> It can't be wool, Max is a touch allergic, and Lee hates shedding rugs!
> It has to be neutral because it's an expensive part of the decor and I don't want a BOSSY rug to dictate the room!
> Nothing with too thick a pile or anything shag, not because I'm against shag, but if you have pets or kids you might know what I'm talking about. One of my closest friends had to get rid of their shag area rug because of an unfortunate playdough incident occurred.
I ran all over town for a week or two (I just re-read that and it sounded bad haha) I ran all over town looking for a rug, it took a week or two! (there better). I finally found one at Canadian Tire while Lee was getting supplies for an oil change on the cars. With an extra $129 on the bill, it was the most expensive oil change to date ;)
It's a Debbie Travis rug, she has a line of home products at Canadian Tire they are all very cute, and very well priced!
We chose this Rug because we liked the pattern, it's neutral and it's a statement with out being bossy! The Tablecloth curtains are a Spring/Summer accessory, during the Fall/Winter seasons I'd like to have different curtains and I think this rug lets us keep our options open.
Here it is in all it's not barfed on glory!
Birds eye view:
It's funny but I like it better then our old rug. Happy Ending for everyone, except maybe Max, although he's feeling much better :)
Monday, August 15, 2011
Meal Plan Monday: Lunch Special
On Mondays I usually elaborate on our Dinners but this week it's all about Lunch!
Lee's Lunch to be exact, me, I just eat what ever is in the cupboard or fridge (one of the luxuries of being a housewife) but for Lee his lunches are planned and packed!
Half of the time he has a microwave at work to re-heat his lunches, but when he's "on site" he has no available appliances, so a cold lunch is what on order.
My general take on Lunch is "Cook a lot for dinner, send leftovers to work with Lee" but that's not always possible, especially when there's no way to warm it up or when your husband is particularly hungry, eats all his dinner and essentially all his lunch too!
But thanks so the technological marvel known as Pinterest I've had A LOT more lunch inspiration.
Lee's Lunch to be exact, me, I just eat what ever is in the cupboard or fridge (one of the luxuries of being a housewife) but for Lee his lunches are planned and packed!
Half of the time he has a microwave at work to re-heat his lunches, but when he's "on site" he has no available appliances, so a cold lunch is what on order.
My general take on Lunch is "Cook a lot for dinner, send leftovers to work with Lee" but that's not always possible, especially when there's no way to warm it up or when your husband is particularly hungry, eats all his dinner and essentially all his lunch too!
But thanks so the technological marvel known as Pinterest I've had A LOT more lunch inspiration.
- There's always the Sandwich Standby! But I like to make it a little "fancier" than a plain old ham sandwich with mayo (although that's pretty Yummy too). One of Lee's favorites is SHRIMP and AVOCADO. It's super easy, I mash up an avocado in a bowl . . . add a little lemon juice so it doesn't brown, spread it on some whole wheat bread, top it with a layer of little shrimp and a handful of sprouts. Sounds fancy, super easy and if you can "catch" the shrimp on sale no more expensive than a deli meat sandwich! I LOVE these re-usable sandwich bags from WasteNotSaks.
- Lee loves salad for lunch, but only if you put some sort of protein in it. So a simple salad with hard boiled eggs or tuna or some shredded chicken, even a little chopped up smoked turkey from the deli counter. Then I top it with THIS copy cat Olive Garden Italian Dressing recipe! If you're going to be taking salad to work for lunch it's a good investment to buy a salad container that keeps the dressing separate, ours has an ice pack to keep it all cool, here's the LINK.
- Whenever I cook chili, I always make a triple batch, it's no more work then making a single batch and because your buying ingredients in bulk it makes it even cheaper. I freeze it in Glass Tupperware Containers (glass is better then plastic when heating something up in the microwave). I pull one out of the freezer the night before and by the time Lee's ready to eat it, it's thawed and ready to go!
- Making any regular sandwich in a wrap is always a hit, try a tortilla wrapper with herb and garlic cream cheese, smoked turkey breast and some sliced cucumber!
- A market near us sells rotisserie chickens for $6 (free range but not organic) I buy a couple and make chicken pot pie out of one and chicken salad out of the other! That's two dinners and two lunches for around $15 (after we buy the other ingredients).
- Quiche is always a favorite of ours, easy to make and delicious . . . Lee's response to his work friends when they told him real men don't eat quiche was "Real Men eat Anything" haha LOVE IT! I take any basic Quiche Lorraine recipe and add my own touches, chopped mushrooms, bacon, a little ham.
- I saw these little guys on Pinterest and an DYING to make them. Pizza Muffins!
- This creamy chicken avocado salad was super yummy and Lee requested it again!
- During the fall and winter I'll make a double batch of soup and send Lee to work with a thermos full and some Cheddar Bay Biscuits, always a big hit with the boys at work!
- Lee just reminded me to include, Pizza Subs! A couple of submarine buns, some pepperoni from the deli counter, some mozzarella cheese, and a few tablespoonfuls of pizza sauce (canned).
The WISE FAMILY won a poster print from Uprinting. There going to print a poster sized picture of their most recent trip to the beach with their little girl! Congrats!!!
Thank you to everyone who entered and THANK YOU to Uprinting.com for sponsoring
our giveaway!
Friday, August 12, 2011
IKEA Houseplant LOVE!
I Heart IKEA! I went there last week looking for a little box (more on that project next week) and although I didn't find a little box, I did find a plant and a pretty little pot to put it in, all for under $7! I said "oh no Ikea I only came for a box and you don't have one" and Ikea was all "but it's only $7 and Lee phoned and said you should totally buy it" and I was all "Lee phoned?" and they were all "yeah totally" so I bought it! On a side note, Ikea lies . . . Lee never phoned, but at that point it was too late! {insert evil laugh here}
The plant is a Tradescantia spathacea it's has green leaves with a pretty hint of purple underneath. They sprout off and create multiple little plants in one pot, so when it out grows the pot you have it in, you have the choice to either re-pot the whole plant in a larger container, or divide the plant up to make multiple containers.
I never gave much notice to ikea's plant section, but they have A LOT of great plants there, and for really reasonable prices. They have a large selection of succulents, they also have well priced orchids and I LOVE their little money trees :).
The pot was on sale for $2.50 I love the blue color, it matches the stars over the fireplace (as pictured below).
The pot was on clearance and I can't find it on their site, so I they're probably not going to stock them again, but if you like it you might still be able to find one! The plant rang in at $3.99,bringing our total to $6.50 + tax
I hope you liked our little Plant~ Anyone added any indoor greenery this summer?
The plant is a Tradescantia spathacea it's has green leaves with a pretty hint of purple underneath. They sprout off and create multiple little plants in one pot, so when it out grows the pot you have it in, you have the choice to either re-pot the whole plant in a larger container, or divide the plant up to make multiple containers.
I never gave much notice to ikea's plant section, but they have A LOT of great plants there, and for really reasonable prices. They have a large selection of succulents, they also have well priced orchids and I LOVE their little money trees :).
The pot was on sale for $2.50 I love the blue color, it matches the stars over the fireplace (as pictured below).
The pot was on clearance and I can't find it on their site, so I they're probably not going to stock them again, but if you like it you might still be able to find one! The plant rang in at $3.99,bringing our total to $6.50 + tax
I hope you liked our little Plant~ Anyone added any indoor greenery this summer?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Guest Room Curtains
"Many hands make light work."
~John Heywood
We made some great progress on our little guest room this weekend. In total we hit 3 stores, Ikea, Home Depot and Target oh I lied 4 stores, I also made a trip to Jo-Ann fabrics.
At Ikea we bought a Queen size Aspelund Bed and two nightstands at $49.99 each I thought they were a great deal!
At Home Depot we bought our paint. Martha Stewart's Sharkey Gray!
At Target we bought some plain white, grommet top curtains $24.99 for both panels.and at Jo Ann Fabrics I picked up some red polka dot fabric, about 2 yards.
Lee painted while I sewed, it was a really nice weekend! Here's the progress we've made on the guest room:
There is still a TON more to do:
* Make some art work (DIY something)
* Sew a banner
* Paint Closet and install shelves to store craft supplies
* Change out the light . . . maybe a DIY shade??
* Spray the bed frame and nightstands maybe yellow?? (did I mention it's going to be BRIGHT)
* a little word art . . . more details later
* Some new finials for the curtain rod
* Sew a bright colorful quilt
* and I want to add a roller shade to the window to block the light, maybe a little ribbon trim :)
I was feeling like we were making good progress, I now feel a little overwhelmed at what's left to do, but we've got until December!! (yay for self imposed deadlines)
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
UPRINTING Giveaway! 18" x 24" Poster Print
Today we have a giveaway from UPRINTING!
For our dining room we needed BIG art! Before we chopped up a wall decal to make our Piece de Resistance (aka. Dining Room art) what I really wanted to do was make a couple of Large Poster Prints of a recent carnival trip we took, but after talking to a couple companies, who print posters, it was clear that with the cost of the frames and printing it was out of our budget!
More to the Point, I found a company that prints posters for a great price! And they've offered to giveaway one free poster print for one of our winning readers!
With most companies to get a great price you need to order Poster Printing in large quantities . . . but with Uprinting you can order 1 print and still get a great price. Uprinting also offers, Poster Templates and Custom Poster Printing.
So start going through all the photos on your hard drive, and pick one to print because UPRINTING is offering one free 18" x 24" Poster Print to one lucky winner!
The Details:
Prize: One 18" x 24" Semi-gloss/ High-gloss Print
To Enter: Comment "I PRINT" below
Bonus Entry: Let us know what picture you're going to turn into a poster!
Prize Ships: US and Canadian Residents over the age of 18
Contest Ends: Friday August 12, 2011 at 12:00 am PST
**This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given.
For our dining room we needed BIG art! Before we chopped up a wall decal to make our Piece de Resistance (aka. Dining Room art) what I really wanted to do was make a couple of Large Poster Prints of a recent carnival trip we took, but after talking to a couple companies, who print posters, it was clear that with the cost of the frames and printing it was out of our budget!
More to the Point, I found a company that prints posters for a great price! And they've offered to giveaway one free poster print for one of our winning readers!
With most companies to get a great price you need to order Poster Printing in large quantities . . . but with Uprinting you can order 1 print and still get a great price. Uprinting also offers, Poster Templates and Custom Poster Printing.
So start going through all the photos on your hard drive, and pick one to print because UPRINTING is offering one free 18" x 24" Poster Print to one lucky winner!
The Details:
Prize: One 18" x 24" Semi-gloss/ High-gloss Print
To Enter: Comment "I PRINT" below
Bonus Entry: Let us know what picture you're going to turn into a poster!
Prize Ships: US and Canadian Residents over the age of 18
Contest Ends: Friday August 12, 2011 at 12:00 am PST
**This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given.
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