jumpstart: 5 minor updates

Nothing has improved on our posting frequency since the last time we posted and this time we don't have vacation to blame! We have been working around the house on little things here and there but nothing seems noteworthy enough to earn it's own post. So here we were are, almost to the end of April, with a re-cap post that will highlight some things we have done since we last posted! 

1. Plants:

We are getting ready to build out our raised vegetable garden and our plants are really starting to look like plants instead of just little seedlings! It will be so fun to have them out in the yard instead of down in the basement. 

   

2. The Shed:

It's gone! There is still a huge pile of broken up cement that needs to be carted off but we are relieved that it's gone. It makes the yard look must larger now that we can see the whole back fence. Once we get the cement removed and the ground behind the pile (photo on right) leveled and back "up-to-snuf" we will build the raised beds and be in business! To see the original shed click here.

      

3. Painting the living room: 

Yes, we painted the living room over... originally it was white and then we painted it a darkish tan color that I (Lindsey) finally came to hate hate hate (you'll notice in the link that I didn't love it to begin with) and couldn't help but paint right over it!! Now, it's a lovely cream color and everything in the room looks much brighter and less cave-ish. It's a much better contrast even though it's not a big bold color. 

   

4. Outdoor patio set up:

We are so thankful that we have been gifted most of our outdoor furniture. The swing came from a client of dad's who no longer wanted it, the bistro set came from Lindsey's grandma's friend and the four metal chairs (there is also a table to come soon) came from Lindsey's Aunt Kathy! It's so nice to have family that love to take care of you and think of you when they make their own upgrades!! The original cover on the swing was gross so we decided to eliminate that altogether and just go with some outdoor pillows for the swing and chairs (9.99/two pillows at Costco!). The bistro set has cute striped cushions but I think I will recover those so everything matches... the jury is still out on that! 

   

5. Outdoor chandelier:

One of my weirdest ideas so far actually came together and Rob was kind enough to play along until it was complete. Now he actually likes the idea and it does makes our patio look a bit more interesting! I took a craigslist chandelier and ripped all the wiring out of it, cleaned it, planted ivy in each cup and hung it from our biggest tree!! (Thanks to our neighbors for letting us borrow their tall ladder :)) We are hoping that the ivy takes over and grows down so it "drips" from the chandelier... we'll just have to see what happens with this crazy idea. 

   

Our check-list is still long as ever as we are currently saving money and making some decisions that will push us in one direction or another with some areas of our house. Once we start working on the bigger things, the posts will flow once again!

Thanks for checking back in with us! Until next time, enjoy the sunshine!

hiding the chaos

We are finally breaking into the basement domain. To be completely honest with you, it's not an exciting space right now and we haven't even broken into what we would really call "phase one" of the basement renovation. We have made some small changes to make it feel more livable and organized. We aren't going to show you the whole basement today, just my desk area and craft storage area, that's where all the DIY magic happens anyway!

When we moved in we were thrilled about all the existing built in storage in the basement. The shelves in the finished part of the basement (seen below) make for such a nice space to keep all my craft and DIY items together in once place. In our last apartment we had to use multiple pieces of furniture to keep all these items organized and now I can see it all in one "swoop"!

This is the chaos that we have been looking at for months. It's all organized and I know where everything is, but it just looks like a hot mess. Our idea has been to hang curtains over the shelves to alleviate the immediate headache these messy shelves create but we wanted to re-use and not buy new. Due to the "reuse it" mindset we have, we had to wait until we moved things around up stairs until they were settled so we could see what there was left over. We ended up using curtain rods and curtains that came with the house. 

      

Rob installed the curtain rods for me while I put the curtains in the wash. They cleaned up quite nicely seeing as though (I believe) they have never been washed. 

As you can see, they are not "wrinkle-free" and they were much to long for the job we needed them to do, as well as unfinished/un-hemmed. I thought about what solution I wanted to use for about a day before just making up my mind and hemming them with the old sewing machine. I was going to hem them in such a way that they could be let down later but considering they were free and not a great quality curtain, I just decided to hem and cut. 

*Oswin was very concentrated on the noise the sewing machine makes. She is just too cute! 

   

I achieved an even hem by measuring down both side of the curtain and folding the hem to the same length. I went through doubled fabric for about two feet of hem (I didn't cut the excess off because I wanted the weight of the double hem on the bottom). I sewed the line up the full length of the curtain to add continuity since I didn't have any white thread on hand (I know, I know, what kind of seamstress am I?).

Once I had completed both sides of each curtain, I ironed the bottom to a crisp line in order to get a nice, even hem on the bottom. 

   

As you can see in the picture on the left, I was left with a pocket at the bottom of the curtain and I didn't like the way it pulled the sides in when it was hung so I cut the pocket out. The double hem still leaves plenty weight to keep the curtain down but keeps it from pulling in from the sides. 

The hem and a quick iron (can you believe it since they are still so wrinkly!) made the difference for these basement storage shelves. 

This is my whole desk area, the table folds down on both sides and we usually keep the right "flap" folded down but it's awesome to have the extended space for working on projects! The shelving unit to the left is from Ikea and just adds nice "quick access" for the things I use the most. The greenish yellow storage cubes are respectively filled with yarn, fabric, and desk items such as notecards, writing utensils and all the other odds and ends.

Like I said, the basement is far from finished and we are moving s.l.o.w.l.y down here because we want to make some major changes (ie. drywall, new stairs, etc). We are happy to make these types of simple changes in order to make the space livable in the time being. 

Did any of you take on project of this caliber this weekend? Nothing too crazy hard to accomplish but makes a big difference?

we're moving up... about five inches

This weekend was chalk full of activities and projects. We spent time with both sides of our family, played games, had dinners, and really enjoyed ourselves! In between all that good family fun, we worked on projects around the house, mainly upstairs, and scored some awesome deals on items for our home!

One of the things on our to-do list has been getting our bed up off the floor. We have been waiting to either build a bed frame or find one that we liked and in the meantime (the past four months) our box spring has been right on the floor. It doesn't really make sleeping any different but the bed is lower and it's hard to vacuum close by the bed. Adding a bed frame was always in the playbook for us, we just weren't in any hurry. 

Once in a great while I check Craigslist just to see what's happening out there and what may be available. Nine times out of ten when I do this, I don't find anything but that one time of ten is when I find something that we actually need that is in great shape, for an unbeatable price. Enter Wendi and her craigslist posting for a bed, chair, night stand and dresser all for $280 bucks! We don't need a dresser or night stand because of all the built-ins in the room but the bed was exactly what we were looking for and the chair was a perfect addition that we didn't know we needed wanted. In total the bed and chair were supposed to cost $110 (according to the original ad) but she gave them both to us for $100! Both pieces (valued at around $300) are in almost perfect condition and if we hadn't said anything, you would have thought they were brand new! 

Rob managed to fit the whole bed (disassembled) into the Torrent with the chair, what a guy! It was definitely a squeeze but we made it home. After some painting [we'll fully reveal that excitement in a post tomorrow] we were able to assemble the bed and waalaa! the room was transformed. For some reason, Rob and I equate nice bedding and bedroom furniture with the idea of being a grown up - who knows where that came from - needless to say, we were feeling mighty grown up last night when we stepped back and took a look at phase three of our bedroom process! 

     

     

Rob did most of the assembly while I handed him what he needed (and took pictures of him working). It wasn't hard to put together and thankfully the people we bought the bed from had opted to separately buy the slats for under the box-spring, always a nice addition. Once the bed was assembled we tipped the box spring and mattress back down and made up the bed. 

   

We like how the light wood offsets the darkness of the room and with the addition of the chair, it has something to match. Currently the built in drawers and railing around the staircase are a sort of dark cherry colored wood, but eventually those will be repainted and the natural wood look will be gone for good! Also the carpet, the purplish blue "elephant in the room", is being completely ignored during this process because it isn't going to last very long - our color scheme is designed with a wood or cork floor in mind. 

   

We are very pleased with the "final product" for stage three of this bedroom makeover. The chair and the bed tie together with their light wood, the fabric on the chair goes perfectly with the color scheme of the room (it's a burlap-y tan), the paint is working exactly how we wanted it to - here's your sneak peak at tomorrow's big reveal, and because I can't just leave a corner without flourish I added some empty gold frames for interest! All in all a successful weekend and a great deal! 

Did any of you snag some awesome deals this weekend? Take on a fun house project? Share what you are up to with a comment on this post! 

Until next time,

Lindsey 

*** In case you were wondering, our nosy pups were safe in their cages during this process so they didn't get into something they shouldn't. "How happy were they about that?" you may ask. Well, let me just say that Oswin is in fact not sleeping in this picture. When I got near her to take a picture, she closed her eyes in protest. Yes, she is that dramatic! As soon as she heard the camera noise she perked right back up and looked straight at me. WHAT A GOOBER. 

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 

bedroom upgrade: step two

Last week we finally changed our mindsets about our upstairs, bungalow style bedroom and decided that it should be just as "finished" as the rest of the house. Our first step in that process was getting some new bedding - a simple change that made a nice amount of difference while we were still living in a very large, very white room.

Step Two: Painting the angled ceiling

This past weekend we resolved to getting some color up on the walls / ceiling of the bedroom. Now, it's not as simple as picking a color and simply painting the four straight walls because as you can see in the "original" image above, the shape of the room is not typical. The angled shape creates an overbearing amount of white ceiling when left white. Merely painting the limited wall space isn't a strong enough contrast in a room of this size. In light of this, we decided to switch things up a bit. 

We chose to use the same color that we used in the dining room: Benjamin Moore White Water which I snagged for $10/gallon. When we painted the dining room, the color read a little more blue that we would have hoped but we still ended up loving the contrast it created. We thought having that nice "light blue" feel on the ceiling of the bedroom would be nice and cozy without feeling too heavy. 

After edging in along 22 edges and around 2 light fixtures, not only once but twice (gotta have good coverage!), I was feeling the ceiling painting pain. There is a lot of ladder standing when there are that many edges!! 

When I was ready to start rolling, I made sure to tarp below where I was working. It's amazing that the tiny little paint drops get all over everything - myself included! I channeled Dexter (the tarping not the stabbing) at some points during the process, but all in all got the impression that it would be very hard for him to do all that tarping and wrapping on his own - always a critic. 

After two coats of paint and some death defying balancing over the stairwell shown above, the ceiling was painted and the room was looking cozier than ever! 

   

The color, which read blue downstairs, now reads completely grey up in the bedroom. Crazy how paint can trick you! We weren't disappointed though; the white pinstripes of molding along the middle panel add depth and character that would have been lacking had we been able to just paint the whole ceiling as one smooth surface. So far, we are pleased! 

We have more plans for the bedroom but they are constantly changing and morphing with every task we take on. For now, we are loving the warmth of the colored ceiling and our new bedding! You'll just have to wait and see what is next. 

Until next time, 

Lindsey 

***It's always so fun when I am painting to have Rob come into the room I am working on and express his thoughts, usually along the lines of "Wow!" or "Looks great!" Since he promises that he is a terrible painter, he hold the dogs at bay to keep them from becoming my next paint project and comes to see me with moral support and an occasional Diet Coke! Gotta love that team work! 

feeling pinspired

I always have a lot of projects rolling around in my brain, sketched out in some book, pinned on pinterest, etc. and because there are so many, I have to decide which ones are necessary.

I would love to do all the projects that I think of or find, but the reality is once you finish the project, you have to have a place for it. Well, our small house doesn't allow for much "extra" without looking ultimately more cluttered than decorated; it's a fine fine line!

When we first moved into the house we had a garage sale that was a joint effort between us, my mom, Rob's mom and my aunt. At the end of the sale I collected a couple pieces that I thought I could repurpose into other things (these Christmas trees were one of the things I gained). Another was a frame with a print of three peppers, a little dated but intriguing to me, so I snagged it! 

Originally, I was going to use this frame to create a dry erase calendar for the kitchen but as I was painting, I decided that I didn't want there to be a white background as a part of the calendar and so I decided to set it aside. 

   

I did go ahead and paint the whole frame black so that I could use it for a project in the future. I switched to a different floating frame that I wasn't able to use anywhere else in the house for my calendar idea. I used the same aqua cards, pictured above, to make the date squares - the pinterest idea suggested paint chips for an ombre affect but I thought that would look too busy. Because of the frame size I went with 1.5inch x 1.75 inch rectangles and I was able to get six from each card. 

   

After placing all the cut out rectangles on the glass with rolls of scotch tape, I simply put the frame back together. I didn't add all the dates because they change every month and I didn't want to have to take apart the frame every month. Dry erase markers, which was my idea from the beginning worked out perfectly. 

   

With such clean lines it adds nicely to the kitchen without adding clutter to the walls! Last year our calendar hung on the fridge with magnets so I wanted to put it somewhere near it's old location, hence the wall next to the refrigerator. 

Project one, complete!

Once I finished the calendar, I went back to the pepper print. I still liked it and thought it was interesting, it just needed some modernization. I first used an Xacto knife to remove the green matting. 

      

Removing the matting made a great difference but the print itself still looked quite dull. I decided to try my hand at adding some contrast to the image with a black ink pen. I simply followed along all the original lines with the pen to really make the print look modern and far more updated than before. 

I think that the black outlines did wonders for the print and made it good looking enough to live in our kitchen! The corner that I placed it in was one that I was never settled on before, thinking that something was always missing. I think this nice graphic of peppers is just was the doctor decorator ordered! 

Overall, these projects cost me... NOTHING. It was a free crafting day at the Rebhan house and I was so happy to be able to not only repurpose one item, but two for our kitchen! 

Pinterest is a wonderful thing and I like it even more when I can create something that I find without having to spend one single cent! Always a win in my book. 

Thanks for following along, we are tackling some fun projects coming up so stay tuned! 

Until next time,

Lindsey