feeling pinspired part deux

I would love to commit to a once a week craft or Pinterest inspired project but the reality is that I won't ever live up to that commitment. Not only because sometimes time gets away from me but also because I will run out of places to put things! I think, instead, I will just create a series of posts that are "pinspired" (like this one here). This way, they will all be organized, you can see if these projects are something you would like to try yourself and I don't have to lie to you about getting a post up each week! Deal? Deal.

This week I did a project for which I have had the materials for months. I like to have somewhere to stick notes that is a little more specialized than the calendar or the fridge, where things can get lost in the shuffle. So while watching Alias (the third to last episode, OH MY!) I decided to complete this project. 

Ikea sells cork hot pads for 2.99/pk of 3 and you just can't beat that price! I decided, after seeing a similar idea on pinterest, to use these to make cork boards for our kitchen. 

This project felt free because it took me so long to use the hot pads after buying them but in reality it cost me a whopping 2.99+tax. 

I used two t-shirts from Salvation Army that I had bought for another project a year ago and they just happened to be the right colors for my current use. All the other materials were things I had on hand and waaalaaa another "free" project! 

      

I opened up the t-shirts at one of the side seams and then looked for an interesting part of the shirt. After finding what I wanted, I laid the hot pad on the shirt and roughly traced a 2 inch border circle onto the shirt. Once it was outlined, I removed the hot pad and cut out the circle. 

      

I used the hand staple gun, with 1/4 inch staples, to fasten the material to the pad. I placed a piece of cardboard on our coffee table just in case of any rogue staples. Because the material of the shirts was nice and stretchy, I was able to get a nice smooth edge around the circle. 

I used one shirt for one circle and the other shirt for the other two cirlces, with plenty of material left over in both shirts! 

To hang them on the wall, I used a small piece of yarn knotted at both ends and secured them with two staples. These cork boards aren't heavy at all and adding notes won't add much weight so this hanging method is plenty sturdy! 

We decided to hang them in our side entrance hallway. Because of the way the stairs turn at this entrance, we are able to see these at eye level from the kitchen but they are above our head on the landing. It's a perfect spot so we don't forget important things as we are walking out of the door! 

   

As you can see, we haven't done anything in this area of the house yet: yellow door, cream organizer, etc... all to be addressed at another time! 

This was a nice little project that took me about twenty minutes once all my supplies were gathered and I even got my first note! He's my "most favorite" too! 

Have any of you put your own spin on something you found on Pinterest?

the forgotten room

After posting yesterday and going through all our progress we realized that we had never shown you our spare room / den area. It's funny to us, since our house isn't that big... how could we forget a whole room?! 

We think that because the room was a storage room for so long after moving in and because it's not a main living area where we spend a lot of our time, it was easy to over look. Oddly enough though, some of our favorite and most personal decor items rest in this room! 

So there you have it, almost three months after everything was placed and adjusted and hung up, we present our spare room / den!

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In our last apartment we had a second bedroom that we used as an office. We made it as cozy as we could while still having to look at computers, shelves of craft materials, and piles of finished wood signs, etc.. Needless to say, it wasn't as cozy as we would have hoped for a spare room and our guests usually ended up on the couches in the living room. 

In our new house we moved all the office stuff and one of the larger, more comfortable couches down to the finished part of the basement to create our offices and a hang out place to work without sitting at a desk. (We haven't even shown you the basement because it's still in shambles.) 

Thankfully, because of the space the basement provides, we were able to use our second room as a combination spare room / den. As you can see in these pictures (taken before we even moved in), the room has some added interest with the wainscoting and chair rail. It's a little odd to have these details in a spare room but we think that the previous owner used this room (bedroom 2) as the dining room and bedroom 3 (our new dining room) as a spare bedroom. Confused yet? 

    

As for now, the walls are still all white but we may be changing that soon. We know for sure that we will leave the wainscoting as is to give the room a base and then add a color above for some contrast. The color will fall into our house scheme, but we aren't sure of what end of the spectrum. Stay posted to see what we choose! 

   

When it came to furnishing this room we were able to use what we already had. Always a perk for furniture that would otherwise go into storage and for us and our wallets! 

• Futon: Lindsey's futon from college that had been in storage for the previous two years we have been married and now it gets to see the light of day again! We appreciate it's function as a bed for guests or a couch, in its upright position, for some extra hang out space. 
• Side Tables: These were the night stands from our apartment bedrooms, we like using these in this room because it gives a little more guest room comfort. 
• Red Arm Chair: This chair had a home in the living room of our first apartment and our bedroom in our second apartment. It's broken in and perfect for reading! 
• Floor Lamp: A hand me down from Rob's parents that has served us well the last two years. When we moved into the house, I got a new shade that matches the decor and gives the lamp an updated style. 
• Cube Storage Unit: This is a newer addition that we only had for the last year in our second apartment. I love all the cubbies because it's so easy to display simply things in a fun and less "bookshelf" kind of way!
• Carpet: The carpet is a hand me down that we decided to flip over and use the back side for display - this method definitely wouldn't work with all types of rugs, but it's always worth a look!
• Curtains: These were given to us by my mom, she had them extra in her linen closet and they were a perfect match for this room! Thanks, Mom! 

Lots of sentiment is held in this room! Above: you can see how we have decorated the cubby unit with 7+ of our favorite things; it's so fun walking into a room and seeing things that make you so happy. Below: On the left you can see the wall above the futon which is where we display our wedding photos in collage frames along with other odds and ends we use to decorate. On the right you can see our very cute dogs how we kept the seating chart from our wedding day and now use it as large wall art in our spare room! 

   

I'm so happy that you all finally get to see our cozy little den, we're sorry it took so long! It's a great area for hanging out with the pups, reading a book or hosting a guest. We are thankful that we can now have a space like this in our home. 

Until next time, 

Lindsey 

three look-books on a budget

Hello everyone! We're running with a different kind of post today - trying to get some creative juices flowing!

I always love having all my ideas in one place, so today I decided to put together three look-book pages from some of my favorite places. These three pages are budget friendly to inspire you and get some creative juices flowing for all of us!! I am so excited by the items I was able to find for all three categories: Under $25, Under $50, and Under $100!!

Now of course there are so many more items that could have fit into these categories but these are the things that struck me most. I wanted to show that it isn't hard to find beautiful items that bring character and color to your home on three different, very wallet friendly budgets! 

1. Temple Jar I in Coral - Joss and Main - 17.95

2. Temple Jar II in Yellow - Joss and Main - 20.95

3. Nate Berkus Stoneware Vases - Target - 12.99 & 17.99

4. Threshold Round Mirrors, 3pc - Target - 24.99

5. Elephant Hook - One Kings Lane - 12.00

6. Threshold Decorative Maze Pillow - Target - 19.99

7. Nate Berkus Arrowhead - Target - 7.99

8. Threshold Jackson Frame - Target - 14.99 (up to 29.99 depending on size)

9. Threshold Faceted Vase - Target - 24.99

1. Threshold Demijohn Vase - Target - 44.99

2. Sanibel Stag Bookend (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 48.95

3. Azteca Pillows (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 39.90

4. Metal Sunburst Mirror - Target - 34.99

5. Bali Toss Pillow - Target - 30.50

6. Nate Berkus 12" Tray - Target - 34.99

7. Mika Pillows (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 39.90

8. Gloria Bolster (set of 2) - Joss and Main - 49.95

9. Ikat Table Runner - One Kings Lane - 29.00

1. Etoile 12" Pendant - Joss and Main - 84.95

2. Threshold Honeycomb Accent Table, Gold - Target - 79.99

3. Threshold Slipper Chair, Charcoal Heather - Target - 79.98

4. Tivoli Wall Sconce - Joss and Main - 52.95

5. 3 Piece Elephant Set - Joss and Main - 59.95

6. Handmade Chrome Porcelain Garden Stool - OverStock.com - 99.99

7. Milla Magazine Rack - Joss and Main - 55.95

8. Henriette Table Lamp - Joss and Main - 67.95

9. 3 Piece Tavern Counter Set - Joss and Main - 98.95

If you are not a member of Joss and Main or One Kings Lane I would highly recommend signing up; you can click on either of the following links for an invite! No, I am not getting anything for promoting these sites... I would honestly just like everyone to have a membership (which is free) to find so many beautiful and unique items for your home! Things move fast on these two websites and items only last days so make sure that you keep checking back. 

I hope that you were able to find some inspiration - I sure had fun putting together some look-book pages for you all! 

Until next time, Lindsey 

bathroom facelift

We were so happy to find a house that didn't need any major work, especially in the bathroom or kitchen since those are always such expensive rooms to makeover. We feel so blessed to not go through that. Now, even though they don't need much in the way of remodel, they both definitely needed some work in the way of a facelift. So here is what we did to spruce things up a bit - since the bathroom was the first to be finished we'll post about that room first. 

We went with black and white because it is so clean looking and so effortless at the same time. The floor in the bathroom is a black marble with white markings so we just took our cue from that and ran with it. 

All in all we added much more that what was already existing in the bathroom. The tile (which you can see here) is not terrible but we didn't want to look at the grey/green and maroon all the time, so we used a shower curtain to hide the shower. We added towel hooks so there would be somewhere to put wet towels, what with the curtain covering up the shower door rails and because that space was so blah and empty before! 

When we moved in there was one shelf, very high above the toilet - the metal kind that they have in hotels. Well we didn't like it, it made the room look blank and cold so we took that sucker down. Of course it left four large holes in the wall that needed to be spackled and re-painted but it was worth the extra step to get something pretty in the bathroom. I (Lindsey) am from the school of thought that a bathroom should be just as lovely as the rest of your house and not just a forgotten room. Hence, the shelves above the toilet - somewhat functional and somewhat just for looks.

Here is my new favorite house treat, a laundry chute! It goes right down to the basement and the laundry plops down right in front of the washer - so handy. I never thought I would like it or use it but now, after only a month, I can say that I would put one into any house we live in from now on!

It's not a very big opening, but even a towel fits right down! 

So far, so good and we love the way the bathroom looks from the hallway. We are "done" with the bathroom for now and will keep looking for deals and discounts on certain hardware that we don't like...

Aren't these gold and silver fixtures lovely??? No, they absolutely aren't.

Thanks for keeping up with us and our improvements (little by little)! Until our next report, Lindsey (and Rob too!)