My Mind Palace

Hey! Remember when I said that I was hoping to finish my spare room soon? No? That's because it was like 2 years ago. (Whoops!)

It's still not done completely, but I really love this room. It is my little escape where I go to write or read or simply escape. We jokingly started referring to it as my Mind Palace (Sherlockians will get it) and it has somewhat stuck though I still call it the spare room on most occasions.

I decided that since we never had visitors, there was no need to get a futon as previously planned and got a comfy accent chair instead so I have set up the nice little reading nook for myself.

That's my writing idea jar, because I have a habit of coming up with new ideas before I finish current projects... you'll note there are already papers in there.

Since I had a reading nook here, I figured I should have my books here too so I moved most of them into this room.

I printed off some artwork but there is still some shelf space that needs occupied. I also want to get my writing area more organized, but at least I found a tissue box that even matched (why yes, I am a lunatic. Thanks for asking).

And since every room in our house is pretty small (this one is 11'x10'), I have my make up area here as well. 

There is still a lot I would like to do, but I am so excited to share what I have so far!

Throwing out the last year, literally.

Happy New Year, folks! 

Did you have a glorious night of fun with friends and family? Or did you sit in front of your computer beating a video game like I did? (And crying because it was a sad story!)

I wanted to finish up 2013 in a nice, clean organized way so that I could start the new year refreshed and feeling accomplished. I stuck to my goal of getting the Christmas decor down last Friday which led to re-organizing and cleaning up two closets that evening. Then Saturday I went to the Dollar Store and got some more organizational materials to do some more work! My husband was a big help in getting the decor put away and helping me move and lift stuff up high (I'm so glad he's tall).

I managed to get all the closets in order this weekend except the office closet because I don't even know how to start. Most of it isn't my stuff and I have no idea what to do with it.

But the linen closet is in line with the help of some fabric cubes I snagged for $4 at the dollar store (they are between $5 and $10 at Target so it seemed like a steal to me!)

I walked into the kitchen to do some dishes, and when I opened my cabinet to get a detergent packet I decided it was not to my liking...

So I yanked out all the crap under it and grabbed my contact paper.

Then I grabbed the rejected desk organizers & a matching waste basket to stuff things like sponges, gloves and such in. Now it is pretty and organized!

Of course I couldn't stop there. Even though I haven't gotten half the stuff I want for kitchen organization...

So I gutted the drawers filled with potholders, towels and aprons and moved them around and pulled out a grocery bag's worth of towels to be tossed or donated. I moved the aprons to the bigger drawer (I have a few aprons...) and stacked up the other stuff nice and neat in order by time of use. [That last part sounds weird but it just means that the Christmas and Halloween towels are in the back since those days are further away.]

Then I stopped myself because the rest of the kitchen needs to wait till I have made my Ikea trip. (And I still hadn't started the dishwasher...)

Apparently my organization/cleaning sickness is contagious though, because my husband started cleaning his desk that night. It snowballed (maybe with my help) and the end result was this:

The whole reason I wanted an "L" shaped desk was so I could work on the section opposite my computer, but it was piled up with the printer and a server underneath and I had no room. So Chris moved the server and the printer and now we both have desks that are quite clean!!

We also cleaned up the laundry room and got a rack to hang my cleaning supplies on.

The biggest accomplishment this week was purging, though. I am almost positive our garbage men hate us.

We took out 10 bags and 2 boxes of garbage! That of course includes Christmas and our normal weekly garbage, but GEEZ! That's is a lot of stuff! But don't worry, I didn't just throw away everything. I have multiple containers of items that I washed up and packed to be donated to my church for a missions fundraiser. And I am sure I will have more once spring gets here.

I still have so much to do, but I have to wait till my Ikea trip is over and a few things get moved. I'm really looking forward to all the accomplishments of this year, though! I have a good feeling about about 2014 and I hope you have a great year!!

The To-Do Blues

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/whatever other holidays you celebrated and are ready to start the New Year out right! I have quite a few goals and have already started initiating them (Goal 1: Don’t eat cake for breakfast – Work in Progress). I posted on Twitter (@Serestia) yesterday that I'm going to start adding "Feel Accomplished" to my to-do lists so that I will feel good about myself even if I only complete one thing on the list. You can borrow that idea. Pin it. Feel good even when you fail.

But in these things below, I shall not fail!

The Nameless Room

The spare room is pretty high on my list because I am SO CLOSE! I just need yellow curtains, a trip to Ikea, and to get the futon I’m dreaming of from Target’s website. I expect (read: pray to God) that it will be completed by spring. Probably. [Please note that having deadlines for projects is not one of my goals].

I want you in my house! Get in my house!

Re-Organization

Then we start the other project (projects like this is how we test the patience of my husband). 

I like to think of myself as pretty organized and I think if you ask many of my friends they will share the same opinion (I hope), but I find that it is a process. I keep excellent records, spreadsheets, and files but there are other areas of my house that are not what I want them to be. Here's what I'm going to do and you may want to consider doing it yourself! 

Step 1: Easy-mode. I have been keeping records of utility bill payments since 2006. I really only need to keep the last year so I'm pitching all the pre-2013 paper stuff. (I also keep spreadsheets and have the "Bills Monitor" app which is a wonderful tool, I highly recommend it. Setting up all your accounts takes awhile, but once you get the info in there you will have an easier time.)

Step 2: Grunt Work. Post-Holiday rampage. All Christmas stuff put away in an organized fashion. (This will actually lead to cleaning out our hall closet too because I store my Christmas village there).

Step 3: Gonna need a step-ladder. "Re-move" into my kitchen. I can’t find things in my cabinets and I have unused items in them that have been there since we unpacked (in Fall 2010). Make them navigable using matching Tupperware/storage for uniformity.

Step 4: Organize linen closet and other nooks and crannies. 

Step 5: Get rid of stuff! Seriously!

Low on the Totem Pole

The Shed. This is part of Step 5 up there. We have a shed FULL of stuff. It's boxes upon boxes of things we keep for sentimental value, but the truth remains: we haven't used it all this time... we aren't going to.

The patio. Yea... I've mentioned it before. We don't even know what we are doing, but we have narrowed it down to 2 options, both involve taking up the stones that are there now. I have a feeling it will be both options in this order:

1) Let it grow over into a normal patch of grass until we have taken care of other projects.

2) Have a concrete slab poured for the entire area.

Pictured: "Ugh"

The Bathroom. Eventually it will get to the point where the bathroom is the only unloved room in the house. I dislike everything about it, but it's not as easy to tackle as some might think. So it's low on the list, but on my mind. We'll get there.

Pictured: "Grrr"

So what about you?

Have you set up some goals for yourself? Are you going to make your house more livable? Are you going to shed some pounds (that's on my list too)? Are you going to (not) eat cake for breakfast everyday?

Recent Projects-Lessons Learned

I know I have been slacking, I was just focused on other things... For example making my last max level toon on World of Warcraft (I now have a max toon of every class.... till next month when the expansion comes out...)

I did complete a few things around the house though.

When I last posted about the bedroom I flaunted my dresser. But I didn't have the mirror up. It took a month of it sitting in the living room before I told my husband that it had to be done this weekend. So it was taken care of Friday night. It is much larger than I am used to and I have been startled a number of times seeing my own reflection out of the corner of my eye.

We also snatched up a nice bed set before they (whoever they is) decides that teal, turquoise, aqua and every shade of said colors are no longer popular and cease to make them.

I also took on what turned out to be a much more expensive and frustrating project: 

Blurry like Bigfoot and just as large and difficult to paint.

Our kitchen table was a huge pain to re-do. I was so angry all day and easily could have taken the same amount of money that I spent on spray paint to buy a less than durable new table at Walmart. It has taught me a couple of valuable lessons.

1. Go with the best paint. I almost always use Krylon, but the color I wanted to use on the chairs was not for sale at Wal-mart so my only option to buy it in Krylon was to spent double at Michael's. So I used Valspar, which is also a good brand. I used it for all the handles and other detail work in the bedroom. 

Boy did my eyes open! Valspar cans were NOT made for large items! The nozzle is not focused enough so I'm pretty sure that more paint went around the chairs than on them. And when it did hit the chairs it POURED on and they don't look nearly as nice as they should.

2. "If you are good at something, do it yourself." I asked my husband to help and while he did an good job and I appreciated his help, I'm pretty sure I could have done the same coverage with much less paint. Combined with the above fact about Valspar, that is a lot of wasted paint. I had to make 2 trips to Lowes.

3. Don't rush. The weather forecast had a 0-10% chance of precipitation all day, but the sky would constantly get dark so I was constantly worried. So I rushed. That just made things worse. Then I went to Walmart to get more white paint and I got one gloss and one dual primer/flat. I was in such a hurry that I didn't realize the cashier just scanned the more expensive one twice thinking they were the same. I didn't go back in because I was in a hurry and frustrated and while it was just like $2... with all the other money I dropped on paint that day I was a raving maniac over those $2. (Also the lady should have taken the extra freaking 30 seconds to pick up the other can!!)

Overall I do really like the table and it makes the room much more cheery.

But I learned a lot and I apologize to my dear, dear Krylon. I will never forsake thee again.

Also, I made this super crummy wreath today. I had seen one really awesome one on Pinterest and my mom had an extra grape vine wreath that was collecting dust, so I put this together... It is not nearly as cute as I was hoping. 

I'm sure the fact that the wreath itself is probably older than I am and has been buried in a basement doesn't help.

The Living Room Progress (Not Much of It)

In addition to re-decorating the bedroom, I am also trying to make the living room look less like a jumble of furniture and more like a room. We had brown and black furniture, blue curtains and a khaki couch. So I painted the coffee table a gray to help with the curtains (dark metallic-y blue) and throw pillows (a gray/blue) and entertainment center (black & silver). 

Then I went out shopping with a friend and got a neat piece to hang above the couch that would tie in the khaki and black/gray but I wanted to put pieces on either side. After a lot of work, we got some scrap booking paper from her house that had khaki and blue/gray and I put it in a frame after removing the glass and affixed some neat drawer handles to them.

Seems to work out okay, now to take care of the rest of the room.

Almost Done!

If you have been following some of my posts on here or Facebook you know I have been slowly re-decorating our bedroom. It was very... brown. None of the pieces matched and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't  amazing either. I ended up with a new bed set and needed to make the room come together (because I went to buy a lamp for the guest bedroom; yes, one new lamp=whole new master bedroom).

Here are some before pics of the bedroom:

And After:

If you look at my previous posts you will see the changes made over time; switched out nightstands to ones I painted, painted coatrack, painted one dresser and some accent pieces (a birdcage and also a basket that I never saw the need to post).

So that covered just about everything... except one more dresser. We happened to obtain a free one (with one wonky handle, some warping, and lots and lots of bugs!!)

So after an incredibly thorough cleaning and days of set backs due to storms, I finally got it painted to match the nightstands. 

 Before:

In Progess:

I used adhesive contact paper on the bottom and sides of the drawer to keep my clothes from smelling like wood (not sure how to get that smell out of the dresser...) and add some pizzazz. I got a bunch of it from Target for less than $6 and still have some to spare for something in the future!

After:

All that is left is to paint the walls gray and hang the matching giant mirror for the dresser and it is DONE!
I also am working on the living room, details in next post on that one...

Can't... Stop... Painting

I might have a problem. A spray paint problem. Not the huffing kind, the painting everything in the house kind. I already posted the bedroom pics and it is nearly complete as I added in a spray painted basket for my lotions and such and took care of my dresser.

This is all thanks to (the fault of) Better After. Ever since I saw her site I felt inspired. We fall short in the financial sector of our lives so we can't buy fancy new furniture. However, spray paint at Wal-mart is only about $3.67 /can. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but is always pleased with the results.

My dresser was really rickety and beat up when I got it, I had to do repairs before I started spray painting. Some of my amateur repairs made some new dents but it still looks better than before.

I just got this dresser when we moved into our house because my other one was gigantic, so we ended up putting it in the guest bedroom. Chris' dresser is the only thing in our bedroom that doesn't match now, but we are a little torn about painting it. It's metal and super heavy. But it is a good dresser and was my grandmothers so we just don't know what to do yet.

Final Product:

I was going to get new handles, but I really liked the old ones so I just painted those too. Why Not?! I'll just paint the cat next!

This is far from over. I still want to paint the office furniture, my coffee table and probably the cedar chest from my aunt. In the end I will have to spray paint the driveway as it currently looks like a bird pooped puddles of liquid skittles all over it.

If you have never been to Better After you should go get inspired. Her posts are always entertaining to read and even if you want to mindlessly wander through the internet, the photos are very enjoyable to look at.

Warning: Your vocabulary will be plagued with the following phrases; "I can do that!", "I should paint the ____!", "I'm gonna paint the whole house!", and "I'm gonna paint the whole WORLD!"

On House Hunting

House hunting can be a very exciting experience. When we first started looking at houses we were excited (or at least I was). The feeling dies down a bit though till you find the one you want.

There were some houses we looked at that were awful and then there were some that were amazing. And also some that were incredibly bizarre. I think every couple should go house hunting, even if they aren’t ready to buy that year or the next. Go see a few places. It’s a great way of telling what the other is drawn to. My husband surprised me with some of the things he said he liked.

Out of the houses we looked at, there were three that we really liked that we did not get. This ended up being a good thing, because they all had issues, but I was so disappointed. This is something that you need to get over. Don’t get down because of disappointments and don’t rush into something you can’t handle. That one flaw that could be a disaster waiting to happen. Unless you have a whole bunch of money to invest to fix something, don’t take a chance.

Example: The second house we liked a lot was amazing. It was very impressive and we were so excited that when we got to the problem area (the basement) I almost cried. Right there in front of the realtor. I kept trying to think of ways to fix it and even went as far as to ask my mother and husband who were there, “how hard would it be to pull the heating and air conditioning unit out of the basement and have the whole thing filled with cement?” Needless to say, I got some concerned looks. It wasn’t worth it. Foundation cracks, sump pumps… basements aren’t worth it. After that disappointment and others I thought, I determined I didn’t want a basement.

In comparison to other people, I’m sure we did not look at very many houses. But it seemed like too many. The first real estate agent we had didn’t seem to take us seriously and I’m pretty sure she felt we were wasting our time so we switched to a very awesome agent (Lynn) who showed us 2 of the 3 houses we loved. She happened to be out of town when we started looking at another set. While I hate that she lost a sale, we would not have gotten our house if she had been our realtor.

A good real estate agent, knows what you want and will help you find your right house. Lynn got a feel for what we liked immediately. I didn’t even get in the door of one house and she turns to look at me with a startled face and asked “What do you think?” We didn’t stay long. But the house we saw after that (awesome house #2), she looked at me and smiled as we walked in.

This is how an agent should be. When we switched to Necia, we thought it might be a little hard to let her know what we liked. That was not the case though. We looked at two houses and after the 2^nd one we were ready to call it a day because both were a big ‘NO’ and she looked at us and said “I know what house you want to buy, let me call to see if it is still for sale.” We thought it was a little odd, but we followed her back to our preferred area just 0.4 miles from our apartment to a house that was For Sale by Owner after picking up the keys from the sellers. She was right. We signed the offer that day and they accepted that night.

I should also note that we had gone under contract for a bit with another house and the owners did not want to make the requested repairs which were NUMEROUS (I had made a list of about 25…). I’m glad they said no. Because we paid $22,000.00 less for a house that didn’t need all that work done and was in a much better area with cheaper bills, etc. etc…. And what items we did request they do… they did them.

Don’t settle for leaky basements, cracked foundations and super steep hills.

Great advices for lots of stairs or inclines: We had one house just one house over from our apartment that had a huge garage and the house was actually the second floor. Lots of stairs. Lynn said when looking at places like that or even on a slope or hill. “Throw on some high heels and carry up a few bags of groceries. Then you will know if you want it.”

Home is Where All Our Stuff Is

Because I have not posted post moving photos and some people have still not seen the house, I thought I would post some. Keep in mind I'm no interior designer. I have not posted the Master bedroom because it needs some cleaning done...

Front Door
Before & After

Our door looked white from a distance. But it was actually a gray that almost looked like primer. So I painted it black since the front of the property is black & white. And then I had Chris put a new doorknob on it. I have been thinking about painting the design white... but I haven't decided yet.

Living Room


Bath
Everything we had for our bathroom (rugs, vanity items, curtains, EVERYTHING) was brown. Our bathroom... is very blue. I've been looking for a shower curtain I like but am not having much luck. But I have 3 that are brown/have brown in them. /sigh

Guest Bedroom

Kitchen-My Favorite room