That Nook

       *** The response to our planked wall was encouraging, so Thank You! Back to our previously scheduled program...

       This house is full of poorly used space. Wasting space drives me bananas. Most of us can't afford the square footage we dream about, so we have to ensure we're using all of our precious space as best we can. We have to make our homes work for us. Sure, it takes some energy, planning, and thought, but there's lots we can do to make things function just a bit better for our needs. Nice interiors with expensive furnishings would be nothing if it weren't for good storage. So as we save up our big bucks (and energy) for a few key pieces of furniture and hardwood installation, we're working on some smaller storage solutions that will make our home much more successful.

Enter: That Nook.

It sits just to the right of our entry door 

(which will be upgraded to a single pane french door -after the hardwoods). 
You can see it from any vantage point in our living area.

It is such a waste of space!

It is only 17" deep, so not deep enough to actually hang human size coats.

This nook is complete with a cheap faux wood shelf, 

and a cheap wood dowel hardware contraption.

Imagine us digging through that puny basket for the other glove,

the missing shoe, or a hat for Quincy.  It's not good. 

The other night, I finally realized what we could do to make that area work better for us,

so it's full steam ahead on some organization.

Compared to our plank wall, this should actually be a pretty quick fix type of plan,

and should take us less then two months to complete. Fingers crossed. 

I saw these striped canvas baskets over on pinterest several months ago, 

and I've been trying to figure out a place to use them ever since.

Amber Interiors

Many designers have used them and in every image I've come across, 

I love them.

Lonny Magazine

       More amazing about these bins, is that they are so obtainable. They are available over at the Container Store, and they start at $10.00 a pop. I watched Containerstore.com for a sale /free shipping for months (our nearest store is about two hours away), but just in case you're wondering, they don't offer much in the way of sales online. So, at 10 bucks a pop, I decided to get a little crazy, and pay full price (gasp!). They are on their way here, at this very moment. Consider it a little New Years, Let's Get This Damn House Organized, gift to myself. We're getting five, one for each of us, including Blue (to wrangle his dang leash, collar, tennis balls, bones, etc.).

       But I know you're dying to know what these beauties will now be perched on. Easy. In walked some thick wood shelves.

Southern Hospitality

Source Unkown

       We'll be keeping this project totally affordable by building ours from wood that we already have on hand, and picking up just a bit of what we need. I'll be using some stain to darken it to our taste. In my head these shelves will look very intentional, built in, and cleaned lined with no brackets showing (Jon loves it when I give him a little challenge). Now I'm on the hunt for the perfect letters, so that each bin can also be labeled for each of us. Hopefully, I'll have an "after" soon which will include a more final view of our planked wall! Until then...

Our Behemouth Wall: An Update

       Just when I was about to nickname our house the 50% house, because we only get to about 50% completion on any given project, we actually finished a project. Okay…sort of. I mean, we're really close. If you follow me on Instagram you may have had some idea that this post was coming. If you don't follow me on Instagram (you should!), then here's a glance at what we've been up to since November.
       Walking into our house, there is a small (as in tiny) mudroom and then you are led directly into our living room. Our one and only living room. It's been suffering in the looks department since the day we closed on the house, but it's currently the main focus of our work (and wallets). In this space, there is a 17', windowless, featureless, no-tv, wall. It was a gigantic blank canvas, that really needed some immediate attention.

Here is the wall, while the sellers were still packing up.

Kind of hard to believe we wanted to buy the place, heh?

To be honest, it has looked just as bad since we've been here.

I talked about this wall, and my plans for it, here.

A random place to start our main floor updates…possibly.

Very needed…totally.

I debated many an option for the wall. 

But the choice became pretty clear, all on it's own. 

You see, I have loved white planking for years. 

Years!

That character. That texture. 

It was just what our design challenged 1980's home needed.

It gives an open and airy feel and we wanted this area of our living room

to flow easily with our open plan dining and kitchen spaces as well.

It can read very coastal, but with lots of layered furnishings 

and contrasting dark elements I think it can also read as very Country Cabin.

It was just what the doctor ordered.

Next, I weighed what exactly I would hang on that large expanse of wall.

The previous homeowners didn't get it right.

One square image was certainly not appropriate for that expanse. 

I considered a mixed gallery wall with some dimension and different finishes,

but ultimately settled on a grid style gallery wall.

I love symmetry, and it would be a great place to incorporate this style of arrangement. 

Lastly, I had to decide on what style of frame we would use.

This affordable frame from Target quickly became the glaringly correct choice.

They have a reclaimed look to them,

and the tones were perfect for the other browns that will be popping up in our living room

(via leather, hardwoods, etc.)

We used a couple of them in our bedroom, and Jon actually liked them.

When we both like something, it's a no brainer.

These Threshold frames are in high demand, so needing 20-22 of them,

I had to place a few orders when they presented themselves as available online,

and I grabbed a few in stores in person as well.

I was able to take advantage of sales,

so in the end they came out to about $13.00 each. 

A totally affordable mass wall arrangement if you ask me.

There are lots of tutorials on how to accomplish a tongue and groove 

or planked wall online, and many are more economical then the route we took.

We want to ensure that any work we do on the home is done correctly

and will add value, so we went with the more expensive technique

of tongue and groove 8" pine planks. 

We picked ours up at our local lumber yard for about $350.00, 

and got them home just before some rain set in.

The kids were enrolled in daycare and we both happened to have a weekday off, 

so it was the perfect opportunity to jump on in.

That was back in early November.

Here's that wall one last time, just before we got to work

(all of the white paint samples I debated over is a WHOLE other post).

Truth be told, Jon wasn't completely on board with the whole concept.

The coastal look I tend to gravitate towards, makes him nervous.

He's constantly (as am I) considering re-sale in our market and 

beach house, does not sell in the Sierras. 

He was doing it for me.

Those first couple of planks took a big chunk of time to get perfect.

Our house, like most, isn't perfectly level,

and as we had read the first couple of boards were the most important to get right.

All of the cut outs for the light fixtures and power outlets 

definitely slowed us down as well. 

I will say that Jon thoroughly enjoyed having me at his beckon call all day long.

When he said lift that or get me this, I was on it.

And I didn't complain, BECAUSE I WAS GETTING A PLANKED WALL!

At the days end, after eight hours child free, this is what our wall looked like. 

I should probably mention here, that this wall, has been a lesson to me in how long it takes to tackle something. Seriously! I have a whole new level of respect for craftsman and builders. I honestly thought the wall would be planked, primed AND painted within the first eight hours. 

Wrong!

Several weeks later, Jon finally had a half day to himself, 

and when I came home from work WE HAD A FULLY PLANKED WALL!

And then it sat. And sat. And sat.

Jon was actually convinced that we should leave the pine exposed.

A few nights before Christmas (festive, aren't I?), while Jon was at work 

and the kids were tucked into bed, I decided there was no time like the present to prime.

And so, prime I did.

And several nights later, I painted. 

And painted, and painted.

Two coats of primer, and two coats of paint, 

plus all of those little grooves, took a good chunk of time out of my life 

(the wine may have contributed to my slow pace).

Okay, okay, okay, enough already, right?

Here she is

(we had just dragged our dying and dry Christmas tree from the house,

so please don't mind the pine needles).

Obviously there is LOTS of finishing work still to be done. 

All of our new wall switch plates are currently on their way to our doorstep, 

there is trim to be decided on,

yeah, and photos in the frames might be a good idea too.

But it was either write this post, or put together a photo order, 

and I went with a blog post.

You're welcome.

I'm happy to report that Jon likes it as much as I do.

We finally have one place in our house that reflects our style,

and that we like to rest our eyes on.

Who knew that a white wall, with some picture frames

and a couple of new lights could make a girl so happy?

So consider this an in-progress post,

not a finished-project post.

I had originally been obsessing, 

and had actually purchased (but cancelled quickly) the Reed Sconce 

for this wall. They were going to be over $600.00 for the two, 

and I just couldn't live with that.

Thankfully, I had a little lighting miracle (I should share the full story),

and instead grabbed up these Jordan Sconces on sale with free shipping

coming in at $100.00 each. Done and done.

       This wall is actually just the starting point for us for this room. We have a full furniture plan for our living area, hardwoods being ordered soon with installation beginning in the Spring, a storage project starting any day, and several other home updates (including Jon and I's Christmas gift to ourselves), and an Outdoors/Adventure room taking shape for Nolan. There is actually a post already in line for Thursday, so stay on your toes people!

Our Fall Porch

       Hi. My name is Meg. I'm an absentee blogger. Now that that's out of the way, let's move on.
       
       On Friday, I finally committed to what Nolan & Quincy will be for Halloween (I have a real commitment issue when it comes to Halloween costumes; so many good possibilities, so few un-opinioned years), and I placed a few key orders online for the pieces of their costume that I needed (please note that I am already second guessing my costume choice, but at this time, I have to move forward). With that out of the way, I decided that I actually had some time to devote to some Fall decorations. So that's what I did this weekend. I was devoted to decorations.
       Here's where the story takes an interesting twist. Jon was out of town for the weekend, so it was just me and the kiddos. As I usually do on nights when Jon isn't home, as the sun sets, I lock everything up. All the doors. The windows. Pull the bedroom blinds. My car. You get the picture.  After bedtime on this particular night, I had a second wind so I did lots of picking up around the house. I figured my Saturday morning would be a happier one if the house was already in good shape. But oh no, I didn't stop there. I figured I should get a jump on my decoration projects while I had a few moments to myself, so I headed out to the garage to see what I had that I could work with. I had run into our neighbors that evening on a walk, and found out that I had free rein on lots of freshly felled trees in their yard, so I was basing my plans on incorporating some free stumps into the design. I walked into the garage, and decided I would use some spray paint that I already had on hand to spruce up a few things that were sitting on my shelves. Here are the inner workings in my head over the next few minutes:

"Well, if I'm going to spray paint (in the garage), I should close the door so that the fumes don't get into the house." Picture me then pulling the door from our garage to our small mudroom closed. 

"I should make sure that door (that I just consciously closed) is unlocked."

Imagine me then walking over to the door, attempting to open it, and realizing: Oh Crap! I just locked myself out of the house!

With the kids asleep inside!

At 9pm!

And it's 30 degrees out!

And I'm wearing flip flops!

       After I had a mild heart attack in the garage, and for a moment thought I might actually be trapped IN the garage (seconds later realizing that the garage door button was 3 inches from my shoulder), I proceeded to check all of our doors. Yep, locked, just like I thought they would be. Luckily, we have a little lock box with a house key in it. Unluckily, I couldn't remember the code to the box. No problem right. I could just walk to a neighbors house, call Jon, and find out what that code was. Oh wait...I don't know Jon's cell phone number either (5 years of marriage, and I cannot for the life of me remember his last four digits). For years, when I need to know his number, I refer to our checks which have them printed on them. That wouldn't work this time...those checks were inside. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Will I need to call a locksmith?
       Before I allowed myself too much time to freak out, I started checking windows. My first attempt was a bust, it was locked. Then I thought I could give our kitchen window a try. From the day we moved in I was frustrated that I could never get it to latch well. So I popped off the screen (which I didn't know that I knew how to do, but desperate times call for desperate measures), and gave the window a push. IT WORKED! Oh Lord. I have never been so happy to climb over a kitchen sink before in my life. When I descended into the kitchen, Blue was staring at me very concerned and confused. I on the other hand, was extremely relieved.
       And that my friends, is a long way of saying: Here's our Fall Porch set up.

       I'm pleased with myself to say that this cost me $4.00 + the cost of the pumpkins. I had grabbed the lanterns years ago for free at someones yard sale. They were brown and rusty. The thought has probably crossed my mind a dozen times that I should get rid of those dang lanterns, but I could never bring myself to do it.  A little gold spray paint later, and I'm loving them. 

The blue vase- that was a $4.00 clearance find at Michael's that I picked up on Saturday. 

I just wish I had picked up about four more of them.

The pine cones and leaves were all courtesy of our yard.

And all of the other knickknacks, I already had on  hand. 

They just needed some new life.

The view from our front door looking out.

       We're still hoping to make a big scarecrow to post on our front lawn. Crossed fingers that it happens this week!  Happy Fall Ya'll!   A little update soon on our Master Bedroom project, and where our house plans are taking us the next few months.    

Spendy McSpenderson: A Stop Shop & Our Plan

       I'm currently under a self mandated Stop Shop. Maybe this isn't a household term in your home. I hope it's not, because it's not very fun. It means, simply, I can't shop. It means, we need to make progress and utilize everything I've already purchased, before I can buy ONE MORE THING. It means, I'm doing a lot of oogling and web-window shopping, but I'm not actually clicking "buy". 
       I have been collecting, gathering and acquiring lots of great things that we do actually need and that I actually love, in order to make this place look like a home. But, our pace of completing painting projects, building furniture, re-upholstering, etc. etc. isn't actually keeping up with my quick pace of buying. So, I'm not allowed to shop (unless it's supplies for said projects) until we catch up with ourselves a bit. But, it's making me be a bit more resourceful, and it's giving me time to think through decisions. 
       While on my stop spend, I was still able to get two Euro pillows that I've been wanting, with a random gift card that we had. Now I just need to find shams that I love to cover them (my sham hunt is heading into it's umteenth month).

And, while out making a return to Pottery Barn 

(which means putting money back in my pocket), 

I found this yellow lamp shade on clearance for $12.00 bucks, 

and it was pretty much exactly what I had in mind.

Oh, and with a birthday gift card that I had on hand, 

I just nabbed up two wire baskets at WestElm

that should fit perfectly on our nightstands open shelves

(on sale + 10% promo code + free shipping + gift card = score!). 

So what else have I been adding to my wish list?

These amazing canvas striped storage bins over at 

The Container Store have me obsessed.

I want four of them for our living room built in shelves. 

Hellloooooo cute storage.

Terrain is selling an amazing watermelon colored print quilt. 

I'm thinking it would make an awesome statement wall piece for Quincy's little room.

(I've changed my mind on the plans for her room at least a dozen times,

maybe this will actually get me back on track).

And I would L.U.V., to have one of these at the end of our

upholstered bed (also by Terrain). 

After we actually get it upholstered, of course.

And can save up the 500+ bucks that it costs.

        Aside from doing lots of online window shopping (it's not the ONLY thing I do), Jon and I did make progress on formulating somewhat of a plan of attack on projects for the next few months. It's all subject to change, but it's certainly giving us the direction and focus that we need to feel like we are making change in our home happen. Our goal is to continue our focus on our master bedroom until November. It won't be complete by November, that we know, but it should be three-quarters of the way there (no room will be complete until we can afford to install new flooring). November may sound far off, but in reality, we know it's not. Once November hits, we hope to tackle the dreaded job of painting our open concept living room, dining room and kitchen and then devoting the winter months to progress on that main floor. We're talking new light fixtures, drapery, blinds, built ins, area rugs and art work. I can't wait to see that all start to come together.

       In more current news, I'm so happy to report that we've made some big progress in our Master, so I'll be back next to share a few images soon!

Something for the Grandkids

       We officially have a case of too much going on, limited time, the frustrations of home ownership and limited resources (moo-lah people, moo-lah). Such is home ownership, I'm quickly learning. No wonder people go years and years before actually making a place their own. This is proving to require a lot of determination and unfortunately, a lot of patience. Let me get you up to speed, because I know I've been quite the absentee blogger. A couple of weeks ago, we were hit with two surprises. One being that our home owners insurance policy is requiring that we do some work behind our pellet stove (that's the type of fireplace that we have) with firesafe shielding material. This is requiring some research on building codes in our area, figuring out exactly what we want to do with the space, looking for materials, etc. etc. Next up, we were hit with a crazy thunder and hail storm. That led to a waterfall weaving its way through our foundation and into our basement. Foundation issues are no-bueno (and have us wondering if we bought , so we're working on a resolution for that issue too.
       But back to our regularly scheduled program. We've been chipping away on master bedroom projects at a snails pace, but slow and steady wins the race, right? Last weekend we painted the walls, which I'll share more on in the next post. Something else that has been in the works, is two custom nightstands that will be flanking our bed.

Well hello paint can, which ended up being a color I don't love, 

which is a whole other post.

       At some point, night stands with open bottom shelves caught my attention. I liked the fact that you could use a basket or metal bin to add additional texture to the nightstands. To me they came across as a little bit country, which I like. I know, night stands are a bit of an odd feature to give too much thought, but once I become fixate on one idea, I have a hard time letting it go.

       So, in the name of doing-it-ourselves, we headed over to Ana-white.com, where there are tons of free project plans on how to build lots of different kinds of furniture. Immedietely, I found plans for the bedside tables that I had in mind.

       I don't love the way this one is stained and styled, but I like the overall design. So Jon headed to the lumber yard with a list of the wood he would need. This is where the story takes a sad turn. I wish I had a picture of that little pile of wood to show you. 

Jon: I bought the wood for the nightstands.

Me: You did! Where is it?

Jon: In the garage. Go look at it.

We trotted out to the garage to find a pile of, oh, 7 pieces of lumber.

Me: Nice, that's awesome babe.

Jon: That's just the wood for one of the nightstands. Guess how much it cost. 

Me: Ummmm...$60.00 bucks? (because the measly pile could not have been worth more then that).

Jon: Nope. Guess again.

From Jon's tone, I figured I was low, and unfortunately not high, on my guess.

Me: $90.00 bucks?

Jon: Nope...$160.00 bucks.

Me: What!!! For one table? Ummmm....I could have bought one for less then that. And that doesn't include staining, hardware, and our precious time. Crap. 

       When I proposed the idea of returning the lumber to the lumber yard, and just buying a couple that I liked, Jon was not on board with the idea. Apparently it would be a major blow to his ego to walk into the lumber yard with a few pieces to return. So, we decided to take the price tag with a grain of salt, make the best of it, and to love that little pile of lumber, despite it's pricey cost. 

       Jon got to work on constructing the first bedside table. We customized ours to the measurements of our space, as well as one usable drawer, instead of two tiny, frustrating drawers. Jon says that any project takes sixty times longer to do if you have two kids. So changing a light bulb- usually a one minute project- will actually take sixty minutes to get completed. You might know where I'm going with this.  Yeah, it took him a while, finding time after I got home from work (letting two kids run around a workshop with power tools isn't the best idea), on the weekends, or during nap time.  Because wood glue needed to dry between various steps, that added to the slow pace.

Oh wow, here he is now, working away in his 

man cave/workshop/likes to hide in here/

still not completed space.

      They aren't even complete yet so this is a midway progress report, as opposed to a Ta-Da! report. Here's how Ms. Cost Us a Fortune in Lumber is looking so far:

       She's spacious. She's roomy.  She's really simple, but I kinda love her. So I'm on to picking stains and shopping for the I-can't-live-without-it hardware. The good thing about Jon and I, is that we have one area where we really balance out. I am not a perfectionist. I don't have the patience. I'd rather have things be done and crossed off my list. But Jon. Good old Jon. He does things right. He takes his time. He waits and waits and waits... until the glue is perfectly dry and it's time to begin the next step (I can guarantee I would be drilling away with the glue still wet and  things would be sliding all over the place. We'd definitely end up with a drawer that didn't function and a crooked shelf.) In the end, the money we spent, doesn't seem all that bad. Because we're hoping they'll live on in a future guest room, and we'll hand them down to our kids when they have no furniture in a place of their own, and maybe, just maybe, even our grandkids will hold on to them. 

       So, I'm scouring the world wide web for pulls. At first I loved these from WestElm. They speak to my love for all things nautical and I've got a gift card burning a hole in my pocket. 

But then, this finish kinda got me thinking.

I'm still very undecided on the pulls. 

And the baskets.

My gosh the baskets. 

There are so many options to think of. 

Weaved, round, rectangular, metal, printed canvas. The list goes on.

I could shop for baskets as a full time career I think.

or 

Both from container store

       Jon and I better hurry it on up with the nightstands, because our next project is already sitting in waiting. That's right, Meg-does-Craigslist strikes again! This morning we picked up the bases for what will be our desk in the master bedroom.

       Sure, they may look hideous now, but they were $25 bucks for the pair, we picked them up in town, and I actually kinda like the hardware. Imagine them sanded, painted, a face lift on the door fronts, and they'll be looking fab. I guarantee it. Or at least, I hope it. We also have light fixtures for the master in the mail at the moment, AND I just had an amazingly rejuvenating and successful trip to Reno where I gathered lots of needed goods (with little money spent).

       As an aside, I want to mention that I wish I could blog every day. I wish I had the energy and time. Trust me, I think about blogging every day, but many days, the kids, work, a glass of wine, a book on my kindle, or a conversation with Jon win out. Some evenings, I actually do have a bit of time, but I'm moody from a long hard day, so the posts that I write don't come out right. Most days, I just can't find the time. So now that I'm back to working full time, my posts will probably be more sporadic, but I still plan to share our progress and projects, as we tackle them. Please continue to follow along, as I'll share everything I can, when I find the precious time!