Organization Overhaul Completed

Tags

house projects, organization, remodel

Four portions of my kitchen have been reorganized for the new year of ’14!! I originally had only planned 3 – the shelves, closet under the stairs, and the pantry area; however, I realized with the new space in the closet, I could move boxes of dishes out of my upstairs closet and unpack them or restore them, which inspired me to clean and organize my dutch hutch. 

First here are the before and after pictures of the first three areas newly organized. 

 

The closet is very narrow and oddly shaped: 27 inches at the widest part and then it narrows to 25 near the floor. Yeah old houses are fun. 

Before Area 1: closet under the stairs

 

There was about two feet of space in the very back that was not even being used! As I struggled to move the shelf, I prayed that there were not mouse turds/nests back there, but it was clear! 

Semi-after: completely cleared out

 

In the far back area, I have the larger electric cooking materials (i.e. frying pan and griddle). There are a few more boxes back there now that contain dishes that are still in the boxes. Our cupboard space is limited in the kitchen and we like our Correll dishes. 

After Area 1

 

Small stacking bins are great for holding smaller items

 

Only items that fit on this shelf are allowed to be in the closet (kleenex, rags, swiffer wet pads, and paper towels)

 

These are very visible areas as the kitchen/dining area is all one room. I think I’ve done a good job keeping the food neat/tidy, but I just get tired of looking at it. The smaller shelves in the background contain cookbooks and vintage tins (flour, tea, etc), and the three shelves beneath are all frequently used office supplies. 

Before Area 2: the shelves

 

You can still see a few things inside the baskets, but overall they conceal all of that stuff quite well!! I was slightly disappointed in Target’s lack of variety in baskets. Are they going out of style? They had two choices. And I wasn’t willing to drive all the way across town to Michael’s. Grrrrr.

After

 

The pantry area received a new concealing curtain. I wanted a simple, geometric pattern that had vertical lines to draw the eye upward. It’s kind of a dusty grey, blue color. My husband hates it. Well maybe not hate, but is not very keen on it. (For one who hates clutter, the open pantry did not bother him). I still have my receipt, and I’m debating about taking it back and getting something a tad brighter. We both love the new rug though. It strangely matches our counters quite well and adds a new pop of color at the bottom of the stairs. And of course, Twiggy photo-bombed the shot (as cats are wont to do).  

After

 

This is my Busia’s dutch hutch that I think she had in her first home when she and my Jadja moved in. It had a cute little niche in the wall where it sat. It contained all the Pfaltzgraff china and on Christmas, she set up the Nativity scene on it. I remember when I was six or seven, I got my first camera with the cool flash bulb you stuck in the top and one of the first things I took a picture of was the Nativity set. 

After Area 4

 

In the winter, our kitchen area is really bright and cheerful around 10 a.m. and then again on really sunny afternoons as the sun sets.

After Areas 3 and 4

 

I’m really please with how everything has turned out!!!! Who knows what project I will tackle next. 

Finished Living Room Redecorate – as good as it gets

I suppose everyone has, once they move into their first house, that one room that somehow gets all the new updates/redecorating attention. Well for us, it was our living room. I was not a fan of how our living room furniture from our first apartments went with each other’s furniture or how it didn’t fit into the historical interior of the house. I was willing to wait a while until we found “the perfect” stuff. The first to get changed out were the couches. We had two (one for each of us). We gave away my husband’s and moved mine to the enclosed back porch. Next, we finally got what we refer to as “adult end tables.” Now our couch is a faded red, which I love because it won’t show the dirt. Next, in each of our apartments, we had survived with the three tier dorm side table meets bookshelf contraption. Again, fine for an apartment, but not so much for an older home. So last summer when I was in Minneapolis visiting my sister we hit several large antique stores and I found two perfect tables. (It was one of those moments that you kind of know what you are looking for, but only sort of and so you rely on your instinct of “I’ll know it when I see it.” Yeah that was me. It worked). Well with new end tables, we had to update the TV stand. We got a “build it yourself vintage inspired” model from Target. It fits really well. Then, the “bachelor chair” and my dorm chairs looked a little out of place. I desperately wanted my dorm chairs (from the 30s) reupholstered. I was willing to wait again until the perfect fabric inspired me. But then my husband convinced me to want and subsequently buy new chairs and move my old ones to the art studio. Woohoo. Another shopping excursion. I could not say no to that! We bought three new chairs altogether; two to replace mine and one to replace his bachelor chair. Because they had the two chairs (replacing mine) already in stock, we took them with us that day and just a few weeks ago, “his” chair arrived and we picked it up. My parents have always had fairly traditional furniture in terms of style and fabrics. While I love a beautiful floral print, I wasn’t so sure I wanted that type of fabric. I prefer more traditional lines, but more fun vintage graphic prints. Sooooo…..my husband found the chair he thought was the comfiest and I picked out fabric………with words……..Latin words. And he LOVED it. What?!!!?? I guess he is an English teacher. Hehe. I really didn’t expect picking out fabric to be that easy. I was just being funny and slightly obnoxious when I suggested dark grey fabric with cream colored Latin words. But if you love it….I guess that’s the one.

Here are the pictures!!!!

Living room with apartment furniture

My dorm chair

Back to school with a little rain

Tags

cat, rain, school

A summer of working results in not as much time to put the classroom back together. I was a tad worried, but nothing I could not accomplish. If push came to shove, my plan was to keep working until it got done no matter how late I had to stay at school. And then a small miracle occurred. Two former students asked if they could come back and help me. YES!!!! Of course you can! Within two days and with four students, everything was done. I couldn’t believe. Actually I could, because they are the fastest workers ever. Except when they talk…..and being on the forensics team results in a lot of talking. But I didn’t mind. I love just listening to them and watching them get excited about the same things I was excited about in high school. Living vicariously? Perhaps.

My start of class procedure is the best management tool I’ve ever implemented. Thank you Harry K. Wong!

New desk configuration. Seats face each other this year. We’ll see how this experiment unfolds!

Today we also got a very sudden-ish storm. We looked at the radar around 2 p.m. and there were just these tiny little splotchy clouds that seemed to fizzle out before even reaching the lower end of the state where we are located. Soon after I decide to go to Walmart to get some supplies for the weekend’s event. As I’m arriving in the parking lot, I can see the big clouds north of me. I was all “ooooooh a summer storm….too bad it won’t hit here.” I tried not to dally in the store because I hate loading/unloading the car in torrential rain/thunder. As I was starting the car, I hear the severe weather alert that it will be hitting the area in about 10 min. I almost made it made it home in time. There was definitely hail hitting the car as I turned on to our street. I couldn’t really see. I didn’t want to speed just to get to the garage faster because I was afraid of hitting someone/something or hydroplaning. Then I grabbed the bags with the ice cream and meat, ditched my sandals in the garage, and ran for it. I did not get as wet as anticipated. Bonus!

The intense rain drove away the heat nicely and gave us a froggy visitor on our grass!! This is the second SUPER humongous frog we’ve seen. The one I saw last year was a dark olive green with spots and this one is a bright spring green with a few brown specks in parallel rows. So weird. Naturally I had to take Twiggy out to see the froggy and she seemed intrigued!!! She kind of sniffed it and the frog bulged out its sides and lifted up its butt end. My husband shouts, “watch out! it will pee on her!!” I respond, “like shooting pee out of its butt?!!!” haha. So here is the pic of the froggy and the kitty saying hi!

Here, Twiggy gestures to indicate how big the frog is compared to her little kitty paw.

That time of year again

Currently, I sit on my back screened in porch. The past two days it was around 90 and very humid here in the Midwest. The heat has finally subsided; however, my classroom has no ac. It is near sweltering. For the past three days, people have come into my room, stayed five minutes and then asked me how I wasn’t sweating. I commented that, it must be because I spent the majority of my summer in knee socks, a corset, and three layers on top and five layers on the bottom while working over a wood stove in 90 degree heat, so no this isn’t really that hot. If my ancestors suffered, so can I. Therefore, a cool breeze – in fact the perfect end of summer cool breeze – drifts gently through the window on my right. I could not ask for a better evening on the porch.

I’ve hardly written at all this summer and I thought I would write a lot more, but I guess when it came down to it, I felt I didn’t have all that much to say. Oh well. School is starting again and that always brings up lots of new and interesting topics.

I did not complete any of my sewing projects. That’s not very exciting. I’m close to finishing one. I want to wear it this weekend too, but I’m not sure how I will finish it besides taking it with me to the event and finishing it there, which isn’t a bad idea. I made a bedgown. I’m fairly happy with it. Though, when I showed my mom my progress, she thought I had sewn the fabric inside out. But it’s woven cotton. Is there a right side? Not sure. But if I line most of the inside, and no one ever sees it, I’m not sure it matters all that much. So ha!

I also did not paint the upstairs “man’s” bathroom. My husband specifically went out of town for four days so I would have the house free to myself to paint merrily away without distractions. At the time, I totally forgot that had been our plan at the start of the summer!!!!!!! hahaha again. He was only mildly amused about my forgetfulness. Heh. So now my excuse is that I’m waiting for a cooler autumn day! It’s a tiny bathroom and I’d rather not paint upstairs with poor ventilation.

Since reading Better Homes and Gardens (which began when I was probably in middle school or some other young-ish age), I’ve always been on the look out for “my” bedroom. I see various color combos and types of furniture. But this one has neutral walls which I didn’t really think I liked all that much (though I would be open to changing them, and it was the perfect color of purple pillows – literally the shade of purple I have been searching for my entire life! I couldn’t believe it. My husband and I have been talking about the possibilities of moving vs. adding on to our current house. I told him either way, this was what I wanted our room to look like. I even interrupted his video game (which is un-pausible) to show him the picture. (I don’t think he really “got” it though. Heh).

In other decorating news, I’m the type of person who every so many months would rearrange my dorm room for no apparent reason. I like the little changes in life. Currently, I don’t have the time to rearrange entire rooms in my house (though I did rearrange the screened porch this spring) mainly because grading and coaching controls 9 months of my life.  In my previous school district, even though my room was not that much bigger than my current one, the furniture was much more flexible. I changed the layout each quarter. It was always refreshing for my students and me. It was never that time consuming or cumbersome either because I just told myself, today is the day I change it, no matter what! And that was that. Well after being in the same classroom for 3 years at the new district, I have had the same configuration. I really like my students to chat with partners a lot or to work in small groups. So my desk layout/seating arrangement accounted for this. In the back of my mind, I kept wondering, would it work if I moved the desks this way? I never had the time to change it during the year last year because, well, paperwork kind of explodes around my room to put it nicely. Well, this Monday, I had help and I said, we are moving the room to this new layout. And it TOTALLY works!!!!! I’m soooooo excited. I think it will be a wee bit different for students and first, but I will at least enjoy the change.

Lastly, Aug 24 was my last day at Old World Wisconsin. I truly enjoyed my time there and met the most wonderful people. I wish I could work with them forever. Honestly. Everyone is that amazing. When I got home on my second to last day, I forced my husband to take photos of me while I still had my hat on. So here are a few to share………

The bustle era is now my new favorite era. I desperately want to make a million bustle dresses!!! Why? To wear them. For fun. Because I can. 🙂

Bathroom remodel #2

Tags

bathroom remodel, old house, painting

The first we moved into our house, my dad and my husband did a slight remodel to the upstairs “man bathroom” (aka mathroom? maroom? haha). The previous owners had put in a two seater outhouse seat over the toilet – they thought it was rustic. Well, yest, it was certainly that and a lot more! Can anyone say: bacteria haven?! Sick. Hiding underneath the seat was actually a really nice, expensive toilet! Hurray.

Since then, we’ve done nothing to the room. Last summer, I got paint cards in various pale blue hues and hung them all over the bathroom so we could stare at them. The current ceiling is primed in a dull beige and the walls are either decent wood paneling (kind of tongue and groove but not really), wide board stained dark, or cheap wide boards with a horridly rough texture to them and painted an icky 80s “french” blue. I’m not tearing anything out. I don’t have that kind of time, patience, or knowledge and the walls are not in bad condition. So paint it is! And if the next owner hates it, they can rip it all out.

Finally, Sherwin Williams has a 40% off sale on paints and 30% off on stains. A few ideas from pinterest and here we go! I’m not going to start painting tomorrow because I work Tues, so it might be the weekend after. We’ll see. I’m just excited to start this project because my husband can’t keep living in an ugly bathroom. On his behalf, I can’t stand it.

Pictures will come later as I take them and the progress begins!

Bathroom Quick Remodel

Apparently I’m not done updating for the day. We’ve had a busy spring. So here is one more.

I always knew we would repaint the upstairs bathroom because even thought it’s not a disaster, it’s just not the look we are going for at all. And although the upstairs bathroom is not large by any means, it has more wall space to paint than the downstairs bathroom. While looking at pinterest one night, I found a picture of a kitchen corner that had bright vibrant verdant green painted trim. I loved it. But that color green would not really go with any other colors in my house. But I was inspired all the same.

As most decorating projects get started, I had seen one simple object in a store and decided to use that as my main inspiration. That object was a Sonoma bath curtain from Kohl’s. I love embroidery and for a non-hand embroidered product, this shower curtain was pretty darn cute!! I had to have it and Kohl’s cash made that possible.

Then I realized I had leftover paint from my remodel in the art studio. I figured, it’s only paint; if I don’t like it, I can repaint it! I decided to paint the trim around the window and the baseboard because they were already painted white (along with the walls, the baseboard heater, the sink, the toilet, tub, and shower curtain. Too bland. So pink it was!!

Before.

Boring white trim

Earlier this spring I purchased a new curtain rod and shower curtain rings because the originals were getting junky and gross.

New curtain rod and rings

As with all my rooms, I am going for the chic vintage flare.

Painting the trim and baseboards took 2.5 hours on a Saturday (that does not include the few hours it took me to move items, clean the floor, wash/prep the parts to paint, and tape around the trim) and I decided to wait a full day before putting on a second coat. The second coat went on Tues.

Here is what it looks like now!

Finished project.

Close up of embroidery on the shower curtain.

Little plant addition.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It makes me happy every morning because the pink hue reminds me of grapefruit which I love a lot. Now getting ready for work in the morning doesn’t seem quite so tough on beautiful spring days!

Quick wreath

If you are looking for an easy project that can literally be tailored to any season and any decor, then here is a super easy to make wreath. We made this way back in the day in my Brownie Girl Scout troop when my mom was the leader. If Brownies can make it, anyone can. This literally took an hour and requires no sewing and no gluing.

Here is what I did.

My colors were inspired by fabric I had purchased (quite a while ago for a different project) in a color coordinated bundle from my favorite quilting store, Patched Works, Inc in Elm Grove, WI. (The customer service there is amazing). I’ve been meaning to make a summer wreath for a while now and grading/school related everything has always taken precedence. But because it is Memorial Day weekend and soon to be 4th of July, I went with more patriotic colors. I don’t like super bright “Americana colors” so I opted for a softer vintage/rustic colored pallet.

Then, get an old write hanger. I found there are two types of metal hangers: the one that is INCREDIBLY hard to bend and one that is not hard to bend. Test out your metal hangers until you find one you can easily bend either just with your bare hands or with the help of pliers. Having manly help is awesome, but not necessary. When I was in GS, we made heart shapes.  (I’m pretty sure my dad and my other leader’s husband bent about 18 hangers for us for this project). I really like the heart shape because it’s “homey.” So I chose that shape, but a circle square or anything else works.

Hanger bent into a heart shape

Next, I just “eyeballed” the fabric when I cut it. But I measured it. Cut the fabric into 2 x 6(ish) inch strips. It can be shorter or longer than 6 inches, but I found that around 6 inches was easier to manipulate. Anything smaller would have been cumbersome (at least for me). The bundles I bought were quarter yard fat squares. I cut them down the middle and then cut the strips. The first picture is already the half of the quarter after I cut it.

Cut quarter fat square in half.

Here are the strips.

2 inches wide

Here is a wider shot so you can see how I have the fabric positioned on my cutting mat.

Cut from fabric

Here is my color selection. The solid colored one on the left is worsted wool; the rest are cotton.

Fabric color choices

Next, this is where you can get artsy. I like consistent patterns so I chose blue, white, red repeating. But it does not matter. Your choice!

I started at the top right of the heart, but again it does not matter. You basically fold the fabric in half, making a loop, and then pulling each end through the hole. To achieve the desired result, lay the folded fabric over the wire. Spread the loop, stuff the edges through wrapping it under the wire. Make sure when the fabric is pulled through the loop, the fabric ends go up and out so the fabric is on the “right side.”

Tie the fabric.

Piece number 1

Tying piece #2

Keep tying until you’ve gone all the way around the hanger.

Color scheme.

I had six pieces of fabric so I did two repeating patterns.

Pattern taking shape

A craft project is not complete without an interruption by a cat!

Twiggy helps!

Here is the finished product!!

Finished wreath

And now it’s on our door ready to greet us and whoever visits. The colors are a little off in this picture because it was late afternoon and my camera was being goofy.

Wreath on the door.

Living room redecorate – as good as it gets

I suppose everyone who owns their first house usually has a room that ends up getting redecorated first. Ours was the living room. We did not really plan it that way. It just kind of happened. I’m very pleased with the results. The first thing to change were the couches. My husband and I each had our own apartment furniture and it did not really fit with the historical interior of our house. I naturally expected this and was prepared to wait until I felt inspired.

Here were our first couches. Mine is on the left and I had a cover over it because I wanted to be able to easily change the color when I wanted. My husband’s is the white one in the middle that he is sitting on.

Living room with apartment furniture

Here is the new couch. Also note the new location.

New couch

Next, once we got a new couch, we needed new side tables. I don’t have pics of the original side tables because they are the two tier bookshelf things you buy at Target/Walmart for your dorm. I knew I wanted antique side tables but I did not have a particular style I was looking for. I figured I would know it when I saw it. That’s exactly what happened when I visited my sister in Minneapolis and went to the large antique stores. I got great deals on the tables.

Here they are.

Side table for me

Other table for between the two chairs (old living room chairs)

Then, my husband was jealous (as jealous as a guy can get over side tables that his wife has and he doesn’t) so, he “demanded” that we go buy him one too. Haha. Whatever you say honey. So this was the one he picked out at Target. He put it together himself. I like that it still looks “vintage.”

Manly side table

Once the three tables were in place, the TV stand was no longer acceptable. So that got updated also.

Ugly first TV stand

So this is the new waaaay classier one.

New TV stand.

After the TV stand change, the three chairs were replaced as of Easter this year. I already wrote on that event in another post, here. But most recently, the third chair (to replace the “bachelor” chair) arrived at the store and we picked it up. Now it is here!!! It has Latin writing on it!!!! Hahahaha.

First “bachelor” chair.

“Bachelor” chair

New chair which I LOVE!!

Latin!

The draw back to this chair is that it is not a recliner. Therefore, I took it upon myself (at my husband’s request) to buy an ottoman suitable for our living room style. I was shocked at how expensive ottoman’s are. Our living room is not huge, so I could not have one that is the size of a large dog bed; not going to fit. Together we looked at the ottomans at Target. For a guy, he was relatively impressed with the choices there. I bought three. I couldn’t decide.

Three choices for foot rests!

Here is what we went with.

Chair with Latin writing to replace the “bachelor chair”

I really wanted stripes because we didn’t have any stripes yet, and I think it’s a nice contrast and goes well with our other pieces of furniture. The only thing I dislike about it is that the legs are lighter colored brown when all of the feet on the chairs/couch is dark brown. *sigh*.

So here is the total living room. We really enjoy it!!!

Full living room

Flowers and man caves

Tags

cats, flowers, garden, house projects, man caves, yard

In the second spring in our home, we are settling into some spring traditions. Last year my mother-in-law helped a ton with planting several containers/boxes with me. She showed me the ropes and how to pick out flowers from the store and then how to fertilize the soil etc. Now this year, I felt comfortable accomplishing all those tasks myself.

So the asters in the boxes have not fared well. I’m not super upset about this because they cost 1.50 from Walmart. But still. I got flowers from there last year and they were fine. Are asters not hardy WI spring flowers? Hmmm. I guess not. Almost half of them have died. At least, I’m assuming they’re dead. The flowers have withered and died (so I popped them off, thinking/hoping new ones would sprout) and then the stalk turned brown. Not sure that’s a sign of life. However, the pansies are doing well and growing. Hopefully our little bout of frost Sun night (grrrr) did not hurt them too badly.

But in better flower news, the muscari have taken off and even a second flower sprouted out of each stalk! The hostas that I transplanted are all surviving too. They have filled in nicely. Lastly, the bright red tulips bloomed and so did the pink hyacinth. I love the color combo next to each other as well as the height contrast. I want more all around that rock. New goal. Then, in the shade garden all but one hosta (a bluish colored one) have come back and the bleeding hearts have shot up and bloomed and each of the two plants has two or three branches with flowers. So pretty!! Those are my husbands favorite. And yet…..he despises poppies because right now before they have grown a stem/bud/flower they look like weeds and he can’t stand them. I love them and I can’t wait to see them. I think we definitely have more than last year (haha). Because I want to keep them, I think I’m going to have a hard time convincing him to do so unless I figure out a place to transplant them to. So….now I’m wondering how do I transplant poppies? And where do I put them in my yard? They are growing int the “shade garden” which isn’t so shady when the trees don’t have many leaves.

Yesterday, on Mother’s Day, the cat caught a bird. I really enjoy the birds in my yard. And yet, I don’t feel bad letting her  catch and eat a bird. I figure it was not going to survive one way or another anyway so what does it matter. It’s only her natural instinct. After 7 years of living indoors, she finally caught and ate an animal. I’d say her life is pretty near complete!

Our third and last chair has arrived. We picked it up on Saturday. In buying furniture, I have totally followed in my mother’s path of don’t get anything white that will show the dirt. I don’t have time to clean or pay someone to clean my furniture. I brush the cat fur off and febreeze the room and we’re good to go. So my couch is a soft red color and my other two chairs are grey (not awesome for hiding white cat fur, but she knows not to go on them). Well, I still stuck to my mother’s advice and got  a dark colored chair, but this one has writing on it. I’ve ALWAYS wanted a chair with writing on it, especially since it became popular to have that rustic French writing on it. Yeah. Well mine is in Lation. hahah!!!! I was shocked my husband agreed to this fabric. When we have to pick out fabric or colors, I sometimes pick out the most ridiculous one just to see him get all grossed out by it because he’s a boy. When I pulled this fabric off the rack, he’s like “wow, that’s really fun let’s get it!”. I know my jaw dropped and the older couple near us was totally laughing and the newly weds picking out furniture together. I was like, “ummm alright” and then I had to contain myself from jumping and hugging him because we finally agreed on a pattern!! haha again! Since moving into our house summer of 2012, we have officially replaced all of our living room furniture. It feels really good and the living room has a very adult look to it! We are both very pleased. We still have all of my furniture from my first apartment (2 chairs and a couch from my grandma) and his “man bachelor” lazy boy recliner. That’s up in the computer room which has a newly obtained “man cave corner” complete with Hawaiian scented candle that I got in Maui on our honeymoon.

Craft Room Update

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