Our Guest Room

I am in the process of making over the guest rooms to get ready for visitors this summer. You would think finding pieces for the room would be easy, seeing as I own a furniture consignment store, but it's a very challenging task!!

I've decided exactly what I want, now I just need to find the pieces. Right now Michael's childhood bedroom is looking nice and cozy, but it certainly isn't finished -- at least not by my definition of the word!

I want to brag about my very clever idea. I framed the Wi-Fi password and put it in our guest room. Mike and I cannot figure out to change it so it's stuck being this ridiculously long code of numebrs and letters. Instead of it being scribbled on the back of a Dunkin Donuts receipt in the kitchen junk drawer, I printed and framed it! :)

That's just a close up of my summer strawberry dessert on the nightstand. I'll keep you all posted on the guest room re-dos! Much love xoxo

Spring 2013 at 32

The weather has been absolutely perfect these past few days, and Mike has been working really hard to improve the curb appeal at the house. I took a bunch of pictures yesterday before I headed to work. Here are some photos:

Some flowers blooming in the circle in the driveway.

Last year Mike planted tons of bulbs throughout the property. They are filling out nicely!

That's the rock wall Mike is building. AMAZING!

Closer view of the rock wall.

The bulbs Mike planted last year are starting to bloom.

A view of the house from the front yard.

More flowers :)

Gorgeous purple ground cover. Mike said his mom transported this plant from New York many years ago!

Mike built the wall, cut down trees and planted some flowers on the side yard.
The view from the screened porch has much improved!

Up-cycled Printer Drawer Jewelry Holder

I've had this project done for a while now, but I just didn't know how to display it. The finished product had been leaning up against my closet door for about a month. So the other night Mike and I were brushing our teeth when he asked me if I noticed anything different in my closet. I took a peek and sure enough he had mounted it to the back wall in my closet and it looked great! BAH he is awesome. My fabulous handy man! He is also really awesome at yard work, I'll have to post some pictures of his awesome landscaping ASAP!

Anyways, Mike's Dad gave me this printer drawer to sell at Furniture Consignment Center, but I had this brilliant idea (that I saw on Pinterest once).

First I cleaned it, very well. Then I taped off the metal siding and spray primed the entire drawer.

Then I painted it! This took a long time. I kept thinking I was done, but then I would find a bunch of sections I had missed. The second coat was easier :)

Up close shot of all the nooks and crannies.

THEN I used a really small drill bit to make holes in the top of most of the little sections, and used pliers to screw in each eye pin and hook pin. This also took a long time.

But it was all totally worth it! Before I felt overwhelmed by the big pile of earrings in my jewelry box. The lid couldn't close any more! But now I'm ready for more earrings!
I am going to start collecting funky peace sign earrings, it's my new thing. ☮

So what do you think? I hope everyone is having a lovely May day :)

Home Renovation: Does It Ever End? Save Me Genevieve!

It seems like Mike and I always have a super long list of home renovation projects. The kicker is we are always trying to do it on a budget.

So far we've cleaned, painted and decorated the guest rooms, painted the halls upstairs, redid our master bedroom and bathroom, and completely redid the living and dining room. (I'm so sorry I haven't posted these pictures yet. I promise I will this week) Here is our remaining list:

Kitchen - The whole thing. Paint, Table, Curtains, Lighting, Cabinets, Sink, Countertops, Microwave, GenAir Down Draft Gas Stove/Oven (Need Gas Line First), Refrigerator (Freezer Bottom) Here is my Kitchen Pinterest Board where I've been collecting inspiration. I want to draw a little bit of each. I also have a Houzz "kitchen ideas" album. LOVE both these sites.

Bathrooms - Redo 3 of the 4 bathrooms in the house. Tear out the laminate and tile it! I want better water pressure and really nice toilet - not that I don't love having to hold the handle down for 30 seconds to make sure it fully flushes. I'm not feeling particularly inspired by any style. Mike will choose a nice decor, I just have to help him rip it out and then install everything.

Change 2nd Floor Carpeting - Right now we have a very outdated and allergen attracting borderline shag carpet throughout the entire second floor. EVEN the master bathroom! Hopefully that will change in the bathroom makeover.

Tile the Entryway and Replace Front Screen Door

Laundry Room - Redesign the layout, paint and replace the washer and dryer.

BASEMENT - this is in caps because it will be the last project we get to. It's the most fun to do but the least important, so the responsible thing to do would be to get everything else done first and then the basement. So that is what Mike and I are doing. We're so good. Of course since I can't wait until I have my own exercise room and a sweet home movie theater and a rockin' functioning bar with a hot tub out on the patio, I have a Houzz "basement ideas" album to gather my ideas.

Oh and some point make or find curtains for the TV Room, the bathroom and the bedroom.

And this is why I hope I win the Windex Touch Up Sweepstakes. Now I know this isn't a contest, but wouldn't I be the perfect person to bestow this $10,000 towards the kitchen? That will at least get us past the most painful part of home renovation: the MONEY.