Playroom Planning

The time has come to transform our dining room (which has never had dining room furniture in it) into Mason's playroom.  The toys are taking over our living room and I know the toys will only multiply and become bigger and we will no longer be able to contain them in the living room alone.  
I have mixed feelings about this transformation because the dining room is actually part of our entryway, but I figure Mason is only going to be little once and when he's grown I can have a formal dining room.  
Thankfully, Brandon's dad has offered to build us a custom toy shelf and to also make us a custom rug from a carpet remnant.  Yes, we are very lucky that he is so handy!  Here is a picture of the shelving unit that he is building, only ours will have one more row of shelves:

Contemporary Kids design by Other Metros Architect ALVAREZ-DIAZ & VILLALON

I'm pretty excited about the big drawers along the bottom to store all of the odds and ends and then he is going to make the shelves adjustable so we can accommodate different sized toys.
I also need to start looking for affordable light fixtures.  I like the bright colored drum pendant that is pictured with the shelving unit but I'm having a hard time coming up with a color scheme that blends with the rest of our house and lends itself to a playroom.  I do like the patterns on these shades, but again I'm not sure about colors.

Same goes with art for the walls - I just don't know where to start.  Here are a few prints that I found that I really like, but none of them really go together, or at least it doesn't seem like they do.

{yes, an ode to Koby!}

{definitely for a boy playroom}

{I like the style of these prints}

I want this to be a very economical makeover so hopefully I can come up with a few good ideas to get this project started.  

Back At It

We are itching to get back to house projects around here.  We've taken a nice break to welcome our baby and now that we're a bit settled we are ready to cross a few more items off of our project list including a second coat of paint on the staircase walls, painting the trim in the hallway, and painting the trim and the walls in the master bedroom and master bathroom.

Speaking of the master bedroom, I recently purchased this duvet cover and shams for our room as an inspiration and starting point to update our room.

I've been eyeing this set for a while now and went to check if it was on sale recently and noticed that it was no longer available online!  Eeps!  So, I called the Crate and Barrel store in Leawood to find out if they had it in stock and they didn't.  But, the very helpful customer service person found it in a store in Ohio so I got it ordered immediately and they even honored the online flat rate shipping -- score!!  So, happy early birthday to me :)

I'm going to use this picture below as a guide for the look of our room.  We already have the dark furniture and were planning to paint our walls anyway.  The only difference will be the color of the coverlet.  Since we're trying to do this room re-do on a budget, I'm going to use our aqua coverlet that is currently on our bed, which might mean we paint our walls the lighter shade of green instead of aqua.

I would love to get rid of our ceiling fan and find a cool pendant fixture like the one pictured, but since our room is upstairs and heat rises I think we'll end up having to keep the fan...wah wah.

Of course we are also going to paint our trim to continue with the look we established on the main level.  At least this time we won't be trying to tackle the biggest area of our house at one time so it should be a pretty painless task.

As much as we would like to dig in to our bathroom and replace practically everything (including the carpet -- yes, we have carpet in our bathroom.  ICK!), we are just going to have to put some bandaids on it until we have the funds to do what we really want to do -- new tile floor, new countertops/sinks/backsplash, new shower doors, new tile around the tub, replace lightfixtures, etc.  For now, we will probably just paint the trim and the walls and call it good. 

I can't wait for this little project to get started.  It will be so nice to have a bedroom that feels "complete" and put together.  Now, on to choosing paint colors!

Pinnable Friday: Spring Has Sprung!

It is definitely Springtime here in the midwest!  The mild temps and rainshowers have caused the plants to sprout, trees to bloom, and the bulbs to pop up out of the ground.  Thankfully, Pinterest has also been full of all kinds of Springy ideas :)

Source: imgfave.com via Tessa on Pinterest

I love tulips and think this would be a great way to bring their beauty indoors.  And, since the back of our house faces west, we have plenty of sunlight for this project!

Source: holiday-crafts-and-creations.com via Tessa on Pinterest

I think this would be a very cute Easter centerpiece using real daffodils (wish I had found this long before now so I could have gotten a few bulbs planted).

Source: thediva-dish.com via Tessa on Pinterest

With Spring, comes fresh produce and yummy salads.  I found this recipe and think it looks pretty amazing. 

Source: tasteofhome.com via Tessa on Pinterest

To me, the perfect Spring dessert incorporates lemon in some way and while I have not tried this dessert yet, it seems like it will fit that bill!

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Tessa on Pinterest

Spring also means cool evenings and the new house has a big front porch that is calling for some furniture so we can sit out there and enjoy those evenings.  I love the pops of color and fun furniture in this picture.

House Updates

It is finally time for a much needed house project update!  We got the pics downloaded and organized, so I have no excuse to hold out on this post any longer.  Let's cut to the chase....

Here is our dining room, right before we painted the trim and the walls.  Picture light grayish beige carpet underneath that drop cloth.

And here is the same corner after paint and our new floor!

A broader shot for a better view.

Looking back towards our staircase and kitchen (we are redoing our stair case this coming weekend).

We painted the walls Mega Greige (Sherwin Williams color mixed with Benjamin Moore paint) and our trim is Dover White (Sherwin Williams color mixed with the Benjamin Moore Advance paint).  Our wood floor is a maple engineered wood with hand-scraping.  I believe the stain color is Espresso, but I'm not totally sure.  We (I use this term lightly -- I picked out the floor and Brandon and his dad installed the floor) put this floor in the entryway, dining room, half bathroom, kitchen and eating area.  And....we LOVE it!!  It is exactly what we had in mind and looks awesome with the new trim and base.

Here are a few in-progress shots from the floor installation weekend.

Here is the eating area with the kitchen to the right.

Here is another view of the eating area.

We've also started painting our cabinets.  Thankfully, Brandon has some connections and we were able to get the cabinet doors and drawer faces sprayed (for FREE!!) which has saved us A LOT of time.  

Now, welcome to our messy cabinets... (this is a full disclosure post so please ignore the dishes in the sink and the clutter covering the counters.)

Cabinets before, just for reference.

After we took the doors to be sprayed.  Yep, if you ever want to know what the inside of our cabinets look like, here you go.

{Pssst, those are my yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins cooling on the counter.}

And, here is what the cabinets look like as of this afternoon.

{I didn't realize he was taking a pic...this is my "Deer in the headlights" look}

Our goal is go get everything painted by Thursday (we are using Sherwin Williams Anew Gray mixed in Benjamin Moore Advance paint) so Brandon and his dad can redo the countertops and start the backsplash this coming weekend.  Woo hoo!!  

So, there you have it.  A quick glimpse into our home improvements.  I can't wait to show off the finished kitchen :)

Editors Note:  As I finished this post, which took me about 5.35 minutes, I realized that I should really do a more thorough job when blogging about our projects.  This is a monumental time in our lives as we are transforming this awesome house that we love and I want to remember what we did and the funny stories that go along with the projects, because I know there are some pretty funny ones to tell!  So, I promise to do better...for me and for the readers, whoever you may be :)

A Sneak Peek!

Obviously my posting has been sparse lately.  We have been quite busy around our house and were without a computer for a while which has made for less frequent blog time. 

But, as I mentioned things have been progressing on the home update front.  The trim is painted and we finally got some color up on the walls.  Here is a little sneak peek of the living room via pictures from my cell phone!



{excuse the mess....which translates to the mess is DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!}



Both of these photos were taken at night so the color, which is Sherwin Williams Dovetail mixed up in Benjamin Moore paint, appears a bit dark.  I'm in love with the contrast between the walls and the trim!  Now if only we could find drapes so we do not feel like the nightly neighborhood entertainment...

Next up on the list is to paint the entryway and dining room.  We have extremely tall ceilings in the entryway so we are going to have to get creative when it comes to painting those walls.  We will also be installing our new wood floor next weekend, which will make a huge difference!  I get to finally say goodby the kitchen carpet and hello to the lovely, warm wood floor (and visible dust and crumbs...I know!!)!

We are still planning to paint the kitchen cabinets and get new countertops and a new backsplash but we need to save a little money before we start that project.  However, my father-in-law pointed out that once the new floor is installed next to the cabinets that the cabinet painting will be on the fast track because we are not going to like the way the cabinets look with the floor and he's probably right!

Weekend Wrap-Up + 2 Recipes

We had a busy and eventful weekend and the time flew by, but I suppose that is just how it goes!

• We spent Friday evening hanging out at Mel Hambelton Ford.  Why you ask?  Well, we traded in the Fusion for a "new-to-us" Explorer.  The car buying process is not my favorite past time, but the people at Mel Hambelton made it as pleasant as possible.  And now, we have extra room, a lower car payment, and I'm not driving a car anymore.
• Once we got home we spent the rest of the night cleaning house so we could focus on other projects the rest of the weekend.  I must say, it was a really nice to go to bed on Friday night knowing I didn't have to get up and do chores in the morning!
• We got up leisurely on Saturday morning and headed out to run a few errands.  I left my garage door opener in the old car so we had to go back to the dealership to pick it up.  Then, we went to Kohl's so Brandon could get a new pair of jeans to wear with his birthday cowboy boots.  He got Levi's and not Wranglers so I've decided to call him an "urban cowboy" since he's not sporting the true cowboy jeans :)
• We also hit up every home improvement store on our side of town pricing paint for our walls.  We are looking at the paint and primer in one and locally Lowe's had the best price.  We bought one quart to test out in our bathroom to see if we like it.  We probably won't get to painting the bathroom until later in the week, though.
• Saturday afternoon I made a new cookie recipe and I must say, they lived up to the recipe title!!

 

• On Saturday night we attended our first Wichita Thunder hockey game with a friend and her husband.  She got tickets from her office and invited us to sit with them in a loge box.  None of us had attended a hockey game before so we were all pretty entertained!

• Sunday we got up and went to church, did our grocery shopping and went up to the hospital to see little Brooklyn.  Let me tell you, this little girl is quite the over-achiever!  She was born 11 weeks early and has been in the hospital exactly two weeks and while we were there, they received word that she was ready to move upstairs to the special care unit and out of the NICU!!  She will still be in the hospital for a little while, but she's progressing so well!  I would post a picture, but I haven't asked permission from her parents so you will have to trust me when I say she's a cutie!!
• After our visit at the hospital we headed home and painted a little more trim and dare I say, we are like 95% finished!!  We still have the staircase and the kitchen cabinets to do but those projects require a little more time so we are not going to rush getting those started. 
• For dinner, I made one of my mom's recipes that I had forgotten about until I found it tucked in my recipe binder.  It is a good Sunday evening meal because it does take an hour to bake, but it was so good and Brandon gave it the thumbs up, which is even better:
  
  Steak Mozzarella3/4 c. flour
  3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  Garlic Salt
  Pepper
  Paprika
  1 egg, beaten
  1 1/2 lb.s cube steak (I used round steak cut into pieces and then pounded a little)
  Vegetable Oil
  6 oz. tomato paste
  3 cloves garlic
  2 c. chicken broth
  Salt and pepper to taste
  Mozzarella cheese slices
  
  Combine the first five ingredients in a shallow dish.  Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Dip the meat in the egg and then in the flour mixture and brown on both sides in heated skillet.  Cook about 3-4 minutes per side.  Transfer meat to a 9x13 baking dish.  Repeat until all the meat has been browned.
  
  In the same skillet, saute the garlic for about a minute (you can also use onion, but I did not).  Add in the tomato paste, chicken broth, salt and pepper.  Simmer mixture for 5-10 minutes and then pour over the meat.  Top with mozzarella cheese slices.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  Serve over hot egg noodles or with mashed potatoes.
• After dinner we were stuffed and happy, but Brandon continued to change door hardware and hinges so we could put the house back together.  We finally crashed in bed for a little mindless TV watching before we drifted off to sleep. 



Pinnable Me Friday - Kitchen Ideas

One of the big rooms we want to eventually re-do in the new house is our kitchen.  Currently, it has light blue laminate countertops and a sky blue and white tiled back splash.  It also has the ever-popular (and I say that with sarcasm) honey oak cabinetry.  Pretty awesome, right?!?  Since the kitchen is one of my favorite rooms in any house, I definitely want ours to be fabulous!  So, thanks to Pinterest, I've been able to get some ideas of what I'd like to do.

This kitchen embodies a lot of the characteristics we're looking for:

• light colored cabinets
• glass inserts in a few cabinets
• fun hardware
• dark, solid surface countertops
• mosaic back splash

I don't love the light fixtures and some of the more traditional decor, but the bones are great!

Source: remodelaholic.com via Tessa on Pinterest

The thing I love most about this kitchen - the cabinet color!  I love the idea of a slightly grey cabinet because it adds a modern touch and is something a little different than the normal white.  I also love the cabinet profiles - straight and simple - along with the hardware and glass inserts.  The only thing I'm not terribly crazy about is the light colored countertops.

Source: suziebeezie.tumblr.com via Tessa on Pinterest

This is another kitchen that is similar to the first kitchen, but uses subway tile (a cheaper alternative to mosaic) for the back splash, which I also like.

Source: iheartorganizing.blogspot.com via Tessa on Pinterest

As for kitchen decor, here are a few things that have caught my eye!

A bold color!  We have not officially decided if we'll paint all of our trim white, so that will be one factor in the big paint decision, but I L.O.V.E. this navy blue color!  The kitchen has big bright windows so I think it could handle a dark color, especially if we paint our cabinets a light color. 

Source: hgtv.com via Tessa on Pinterest

I love the style of this kitchen.  Everything from the chandelier, to the kitchen table and chairs, to the curtains.  Such a fun look!  I'm definitely not crazy about the cabinets or countertops though...just an FYI.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Tessa on Pinterest

One of the other features of the new kitchen that we are excited about is an eating bar.  And since we will probably do our fair share of eating in that location, we'll need barstools.  I think these are fun and won't take up too much room or get in the way of traffic since the door to the deck is right beside the eating bar.

Source: elementsofstyleblog.com via Tessa on Pinterest

So, there you have it.  A few ideas for our new kitchen!