{Week 13} The Boys

Kingston, Week 13: Sitting in our new-to-us wicker chair that we placed on our front porch.
Cole, Week 13: Also sitting in our new-to-us wicker chair.

The boys were very curious about this new addition to our home... so it only made sense to take a few pictures of them sitting in it, checking it out.  Kingston also thought it was important to take a photo of me sitting in the new chair:

Oh so glamorous.

{Following the 52 Week Photo Project... taking one photo each week of our boys in 2014.}

Hello, World.

This world map will eventually be going up in Kingston's bedroom, when I re-vamp it within the next month or so.  I have been a big sucker for the map trend used in home decor, so I was pretty excited when I scored this big (and I mean BIG) classroom World + United States map for FREE.

We've decided to hold off on the bunk beds until the boys are ready to share a room, so my decorating plans have shifted gears a little.  But, it will still be fun to re-organize and re-do their rooms in a different way.  I'm still in design mode, but will definitely share what I come up with.    

The Bunk Bed Debate.

Within the next few months, we will be transitioning our toddler to a big boy bed.  Which means, we need to buy another bed for our boys.  The plan is to move Kingston's current bed into Cole's room for Cole to "learn" how to sleep like a big boy; meanwhile, we will be putting bunk beds in Kingston's room.  Eventually, Cole will join Kingston in a shared room... which both seem to want already.  

That being said, I don't really want to spend a ton of money on bunk beds since I realistically only see them sharing a room until Kingston is about 10 (and that may be pushing it).  So, I've been perusing Pinterest for bunk bed ideas.  We have pretty much narrowed it down to two bunks - both from Ikea - the SVARTA bunk or the KURA bunk.  I am pretty much sold on the SVARTA, the hubs the KURA.  Both are pictured above in a collage of four photos I found via Pinterest (see HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE).  

The hubs likes the idea of a lower bunk for the boys... which means they could share a room sooner than later.  I like the idea of the metal bed, as it could grow with them if they chose to remain bunked through the middle school years.

So, I thought I would put it out here on the good ol' blog and see what you think.  Which one do you find to be the better of the two options?  If not an Ikea bunk, where did you find a reasonably priced bunk bed?  Any thoughts and suggestions are welcomed - just leave a comment!  Thanks, friends.

{DIY} Kitchen Update

We are far from finished with our kitchen, but I thought I would share a little update on our progress. Probably the most exciting and recent update on our project was to re-paint our white cabinets white again (yes, I'm a little crazy)... and we're about 80% done with that.  While we are leaving the four upper cabinet doors to the right of the hood off, I need to repaint the base of the upper cabinets and repaint all six of the lower cabinet drawers.  We prematurely re-installed the five upper cabinet doors on Christmas Eve, as we were hosting Christmas Day at our home and wanted to see how the doors would look (we have been living with all of the uppers off for approximately 1.5 years or so).  You really cannot notice a difference between the white paints, but I would feel better if they were the same and if the base got a little pick-me-up.  To make the cabinet pulls and hinges more cohesive, I spray painted all of our hinges a satin black and updated the cabinet pulls with a 4" satin black pull from Home Depot. 

Once I am finished painting our cabinets, my plan is to research trim options or design options for above our upper cabinets.  Then we'll take a break from this room and just make a few, small cosmetic updates until we decide what we want to do next in the room.  Given the hubs' motto, we most likely won't replace any of our current appliances until they die... so we'll be living with a mixture of stainless steel and almond/black for a bit longer.  Instead, Installing some sort of window covering and switching out the light above the sink may be in my future.

{DIY Christmas Decor} Tree Branch + Ornaments

While I usually do a pretty good job of decking our home for Christmas, I always seem to struggle in the kitchen.  So, with a few left over shatterproof ornaments and a tree branch found in our backyard, I found a way to bring a little holiday cheer to this room.

---> To recreate this look, you will need the following: tree branch the length of your choosing, jute/hemp rope, two thumbtacks, and a few ornaments.  Simply cut the jute/hemp rope, wrap it a few times around your branch and secure to the ceiling with a thumb tack at both ends.  Hang your ornaments as you like along the branch.  

Pretty easy - I think this project took less than 5 minutes to create.  And the best part?  It was free.  Everything I used I already had around my home.  However, if you needed to buy a few pieces to complete the look, it shouldn't cost very much.  Enjoy!    

{Home Tour} Dining Room Update

This space has really whipped itself into shape.  We originally used it as a dining room, then changed it to extended living room space... and now, back to dining room.  And I gotta say - I'm loving it.  The space really makes our home feel cozy and open, all at the same time.

The big change to this space was adding our new table that we helped transform this summer (see post HERE).

We find ourselves wanting to sit at our table often and not just for meals.  The boys even like to play at it and underneath it.  Next summer I will spend time transforming our chairs to match, but until then we added navy chair pads to all but one (Kingston's designated seat gets our old cushions since he spills often).  My plan is to paint them with the same milk paint I used to paint the trim/border of the table.  

Two other big additions to the space are the drum pendant and striped rug I found at Crate & Barrel for a steal of a deal.  The light this space gives is amazing, yet filtered thanks to the floating base design the fixture has.  And don't even get me started on the rug - I swoon every time I see it (the hubs thinks I need help with my stripe addiction... and maybe I do).  It adds just the right splash of color to really warm up the room.

Oh, and our table has two leaves (one is in place currently) - which allows it to extend to approximately eight feet in length.  When we host a big crowd (first will probably be this Christmas), we plan to scoot the table over to the window seat which will help add extra seating.  And we may eventually add a bench to the table too.  

So there you have it... probably one of my favorite rooms in our house.  I forgot to pan to the right to show our hutch as it stands today - maybe that calls for another post in the not-so-distant future.  Now, off to finish preparing dinner... happy Sunday friends!

{DIY Saturday} Progress with Painting

So, this half-green-half-grey wall has been in our home for about two summers now (eh).  Call it the result of a busy schedule... new baby... laziness... or whatever you want, but I finally tackled two of the remaining four walls that are visible from downstairs this weekend.  And I'm pretty proud of it.

You see, the above picture was taken from our living room, looking into our entryway.  When you enter our home, you can turn right and go upstairs (see the black handrail in the distance), walk straight down the hall (under the green wall), or turn left into our living room.  So this awkward half-green-half-grey wall has been featured for all to see for the past two years.  Double eh.

And just so you know, this was no easy feat.  I now know why the hubs so lovingly warned me six years ago that if I ever wanted to repaint our entryway, I would be doing it (and not him).  Luckily, we have a pretty great ladder that got me where I needed to be to easily get the job done... but I'm not going to lie... being up that high was not my favorite thing in the world.

Our entryway ceiling vaults all the way to the second floor ceiling.  So with our ladder extended its full 22-foot length, I was able to stand on the third-rung-from-the-top to carefully edge in two walls.  Then, I rolled each wall with a paint roller on an expandable arm.  Pretty great workout if you ask me.

Why did I paint only two walls this weekend you ask?  Because Kingston and Cole were both home when I worked on this project and it all had to be done during one extra-long nap (thank you, Cole!).  Have no fear... I don't plan on waiting as long to paint the remaining two walls.  I also have plans for our hallway off the entryway and our staircase banister, so no finished photos until that is all done.

Thank goodness it is Fall and the start of our rainy season... looks like I'll be busy for awhile.

So many pears!

We have lived in our home for almost six years, and our pear tree (that came with the house) has only ever produced one pear... until this Summer. We have pears coming out of our ears!  Seriously, friends - this photo does not do our pear situation justice.

While I have given some away, I am looking for fun recipes to use these lovelies in before they go bad.  So far, I have found these ones:

Spiced Pear Cake with Browned Butter Icing

Pear and Walnut Muffins

Did you open those links and check the recipes out?  Sound delish.  But I'm looking for a variety of ways to use pears.  So, if you have any suggestions (other than canning), please let me know!

Stain is a Pain.

This is our house, as it currently sits in it's stained cedar-sided glory.  We love it.  In fact, the cedar-siding was one of the big things that drew the hubs and I to this house.  It felt charming, homey, and rustic (for lack of a better word) to me... while it reminded the hubs of his family's canal house from his youth.  We knew we just had to have it.

Now, fast-forward nearly six years and while we still love our home... keeping up with the stain is kind of a big pain (ha).  It seems like we constantly need to work on our siding each summer and the thought of a painted home seems to grow on the hubs more and more each year.  So much so, that the hubs told me we should look into paint colors so we can paint our home next Spring/Summer.  Um, what?!  I don't know if I am ready for this.

And this is probably why he brought it up.  With the end of this summer drawing near, the hubs has been feverishly working on a few spots on the back of our home where the weather seems to wear the most.  In order to get rid of the trouble areas, the hubs had to sand down and reapply stain to each board.  Not so much fun work.  

So, my mind is left thinking.  And thinking.  Do I really want to give up the stained look we have going on now and join the paint world?  Will I regret saying 'ok' down the road, if we do end up painting?  I just don't know what to think... and so I blog.  While I do understand why people choose paint (minimal upkeep) over stain (almost constant care, if you do it yourself), I'm curious... What do you think?

DIY: Dining Table Re-Hab

The hubs works with one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet... seriously.  We were lucky to have the hubs help him build our crib before Kingston was born and now we are even luckier to have him restore a dining room table to our liking.  Talk about cool.  

Originally, he agreed to build us one from scratch.  Then, a friend of his offered up a solid oak dining room table in exchange for a fire place mantel.  Score on our part - with the table to use, it will be more solid than if he had built one from his own wood.

But... it was oak.  And of course, it didn't really jive with what I wanted our "forever" dining room table to look like.

So, we dissected my inspiration photo to find what it was that I really liked in a table (i.e. plank-style table top, border around the table top, and some "beefier" legs) and he got to work.

After just one day, I couldn't believe how much he had already changed the look of the table.  Pretty amazing, friends.  By using one of his many workshop tools, he was able to create a plank-style look on the table top, he built some pretty beefy looking legs (pretty much exactly what I had been thinking), and added a border to match.  Beautiful.

The best part about this table?  It comes with two leaves and expands from about five feet to eight feet... which provides for seating of up to eight (maybe even ten), easily.  Bring on Christmas!

This isn't a finished photo of it... and I think it was after only one layer of stain (we applied three), but just an idea of what it will look like.  The table top is stained with a gel stain in Java and the border and legs will be painted with a milk paint in Millstone.

Originally I thought I would add a little wear-and-tear to the table to make it have that vintage or antique style/look, but I've decided against it.

We are going to re-use our current dining room chairs, so I am working on re-painting them in the Millstone too.

Oh, and we may have a new Chandelier and rug in the works... hoping to share soon!

  

Glimpses of Spring

• Fresh-cut flowers on our kitchen counter
• A decorative birdie on a shelf in our kitchen
• A "Spring" banner on our mantle
• Little leaves starting to grow on our hydrangea plant 

Books, Cars, and One Sick Boy.

Last Thursday, the hubs came home early from work with a stomach bug.  We did our best to keep our distance from him... but Kingston ended up catching the same thing.  The past day and a half we have been working on lots of laundry, watching lots of cartoons, reading piles of books, taking a few baths, drinking cups of water and apple juice, and just hoping our sweet big boy would start to feel better soon.  

When he pulled out his cars and started lining them about around lunch time today, I began to think he just might be pulling through.  

My new wish?  That our house is too squeaky clean to carry that darn bug around anymore and no one else gets sick in our household.  We'll see. 

Lucky number 13.

If you ask the hubs, I may have a sickness.  And he might just be right.  But... is there anything better than a decorative basket?  I think not.

I found the one pictured above at JoAnns this last weekend for a steal.  It is now the proud holder of my little's toys, animals, and puzzles.  And if we were ever to get tired of the "Stuff" displayed on the front - have no fear.  We can easily turn this basket (or maybe linen bucket?) around; the seams are on the sides of this bad boy.  Oh, snap.

Oh... and if you were wondering, this basket marks number 13.  We now have 13 baskets... in the downstairs portion of our home.  There may be a few more upstairs.  A few...

Keeping Christmas.

I was a little faster than usual at taking down our Christmas decorations in December.  Usually, I like to enjoy them until the new year... but this year, I opted to take them down two days after Christmas was officially over.  That is, all but my Christmas card display and a strand of pine cone ornaments.   

I feel like they should probably come down, but just can't bring myself to do it yet.  I still enjoy looking at each card we received this year and I feel the pine cones could be neutral enough to be considered a "winter" decoration...?

What are your thoughts?  How long is too long to keep up these two reminders of the Christmas holiday?