Duh.

You know how so many jewelry holders as tree and branch inspired? If you don't think they are, check out this one, this one, and this one. Well, I had a branch in an old vinegar jar on my dresser (I didn't know what to do with the branch, but I didn't want to get rid of it and it just ended up there) and today I was like, "DUH. Hang some necklaces from your overcrowded jewelry box on it." So I did.

TA-DA!

Unlike those ones I linked to above, this one is actually tall enough for all my long necklaces. 

{That's my jewelry box there in the middle of the dresser. I can fit everything in there, but with my necklace tree there is less tangling risk.}

 I love little things like this. Things that are pretty and awesome and functional, too. Oh, and simple. And free! Man, this little organizational gem has everything going for it.

The BIG list

So, after making the little list, I started to think about the major goals I have for the house. I've had a pretty complete picture in my head for a little while, but I don't think I've written it down in any of my various notebooks. So here we go.

Master bedroom:

• Somehow build a bigger closet/improve closet situation
• Purchase (maybe build?) headboard and bed
• Replace dresser hardware
• Hang some floor to ceiling curtains
• Big ol' rug
• Some giant (or just big impact) art-ish thing above the headboard
• No more bedskirt
• Door hardware to match the rest of the house (maybe just a whole new door)
• Refinish floor
• Replace dresser hardware

Upstairs bath:

• Above the door shelf
• Pedestal or wall mounted sink
• Mirror collage
• Replace tile (this one probably won't happen, but it's on my dream list)
• Medicine cabinet
• Tile baseboard
• New door/hardware

Eleanor's room:

• Paint, probably a greeny blue
• Remove the closet door
• Add shelves above the dresser
• Add some toy and book storage
• Replace boob light with something awesome
• Figure out a way to make the weird super skinny closet useful
• New door/hardware

Living room:

• GET THE LOVESAC OUT
• New couches or couch and chair combo
• Paint rug
• Coffee table (something like THIS)
• Expand collage
• Refinish floors
• Add storage- trunk, chest, dresser, armoire- by the porch door
• Console table next to the fireplace?
• Overhead lighting (maybe recessed?)

Hallways:

• Command center, shutter doors
• Chore chart by the linen closet
• Front hall hooks
• Refinish floors
• Hooks in the coat closet

Kitchen:

• More open shelving
• Move the wall back, demolish the wall between the kitchen and stairs
• Add built in booth/eating nook
• Paint cupboards white
• Upgrade countertops
• Hardwoods to match the rest
• Undermount sink
• Pedestal table
• Recessed lighting, pendant over the table

Stairway:

• Collage down the stairs
• New light fixture?
• Molding following the slope of the stairs

Family room:

• Built in entertainment center
• Sectional
• Roman shades or curtains
• Blinds
• Refinish computer desk and recover chair
• Big storage ottoman
• Display rock collection
• Storage by stairs and next to the TV nook (i.e. trunk, cedar chest, bookcase, console table, dresser)

Mim's room:

• Paint bed, add legs
• Wall collage
• Find an awesome dresser
• Rug?
• Toy storage solution
• Hang curtains
• Make closet functional
• Blinds

Downstairs bath:

• Dresser-> vanity
• Laundry nook shelves, hanging rod, high cupboards
• Towel hooks
• Shelves above toilet
• Pedestal for washer and dryer

Office:

• Buy a desk
• Sewing table
• Find and hang curtains
• Figure out fabric storage
• Paint filing cabinet
• Colorful steampunk (colorful for me since it's also my sewing room, a little bit steampunkish for Mike because he thinks it's cool)

Porch:

• Enclose, add door to the backyard
• Oak floor to match the rest of upstairs
• Built ins

Front yard:

• Tree in front of big windows
• Expand garden
• Privacy fence divider of front and back yard

Backyard:

• Gate back to patio
• Replace cement patio with pavers or slate
• Add a pergola over the patio
• Low retaining wall around patio
• Garbage can area
• Add paths to shed 
• Remake the shed
• Add trees on south side
• Playground
• Sand box
• Finish extending the lawn
• Plant the mini orchard
• Replace cow fence with cedar privacy fence

I'm all makin' all these mood boards

I love Polyvore. Lately I've been trying to put together some mood boards for the basement to help me plan my purchasing of furniture and accents. I'm going to wait until the basement is a little more finished before actually buying anything large, but I like to have a plan.

So here's what I'm thinking the family room will end up like:

{HERE's the picture on my Polyvore account, which sources all the items.}

 I don't plan on using the exact items I put in the mood board, most are just there to give me a general idea. I'd rather have a couch that was a little lighter and curtains that aren't so floral-y. I do love that floor lamp, though. And that end table and ottoman.

{Polyvore link HERE.}

When I was asking Mim about what she wanted for her new big girl room downstairs, she kept saying pink and rainbow (which are her current favorite colors) and I thought, why not? Why not let her decide on that stuff for herself? The walls (which I finished painting last night) are a very pale pink and I've already bought those curtains from Urban Outfitters. They're super bright and happy and just seem perfect for Mim. 

{Polyvore link HERE.}

This one is probably the farthest away from being a reality. It's my plan for the room that the girls share right now. Once Eleanor's in there alone I hope I'll be able to get it painted and get some of these things going. I have some floral vintage sheets that I've collected and I want to make some quilts and accessories for her room from them. I already have the curtains and that little elephant bank. I want to DIY that lovely little side table. Also, as a bonus, if we have a boy next (I'm not pregnant, but we do plan on having more kids) we can keep the wall color the same, remove the florals, and add navy blue. Right?!

Anyway, I love mood boards right now. I'm working on one right now for our master bedroom and who knows if that will even happen.

Before you paint...

I'm no pro, but I did learn a few things when choosing colors and painting our main floor before we moved in 4 years ago. To be exact, I learned 2 things.

*Never get a gallon of paint based on how the paint chip looks on your wall. It's not a big enough area to really get an idea of what it would be like if the whole room was painted that way. Narrow your paint chips down that way, but I'd say take the final 3 and then buy tester pots and paint an area a couple feet square on several walls. 

*Look at the sample painted areas several times a day (and at night), in different kinds of light. My lovely neutral tan that I picked for my kitchen 4 years ago turned out to be gross pinkish brown under the incandescent lights at night. Boo.

I also picked up another tip this round of painting. Actually, it's better than a painting tip. It was a painting epiphany. It was while I was priming the basement. I was all like, "Priming isn't so bad. I just do everything the same! No cutting in, no worrying about marking up what I've already painted." It was necessary to give myself little pep talks while priming because it got sooooooo tedious. Anyway, it was then that the epiphany hit. I realized that if I did the closet ceilings the same color as the walls, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO CUT IN. Best painting tip ever. Maybe it's one that everyone knows, but not me. The closet ceilings in the rooms upstairs are a nice crisp white. Blerg.

As you can kind of see in these pictures, the inside of the closet is all the same. I didn't save myself a TON of work cutting in, but I'm super slow at it and it makes me tense, so any little bit I didn't have to do was a triumph.

{This color is 50% Silver Drop by Behr.}

{This color is 50% Angel Blush, also by Behr. It took me a few tries to find a pink that was sufficiently warm as well as super pale, but I'm so pleased with it now that it's coming together.}

Bonus tip: Getting only a percentage of the color added (like 50% in both the rooms above) always seems to work better for me than getting the same exact color that's on the chip. Once the color is on the walls and reflecting the same color from everywhere, it always feels more intense than it was on the chip. So I cut the color in half and then when it's all over the place, it feels like I thought it would feel when I was just looking at the chip.

So anyway. Like I said, I'm no expert and maybe everyone is all like, "Duh. Those aren't tips, those are common sense." Maybe there's some novice painter out there that will get something from them, so the haters can just shut it.

Thanks for reading!

The little list

I think my favorite blog out there is Young House Love. Every so often they have a "Dude, get on that" post about something small that they just haven't gotten around to. That's what the little list is for me. I have the giant list, which is stuff like finish painting the basement, prime and paint trim for the basement, paint Mim's big girl bed before the basement is finished, paint or stain this awesome trunk (my latest DI find) before the basement is finished (because otherwise I will have to wait until spring so I can do it outside). Here's the trunk:

 Mint green, right? And they didn't even do a good job of painting it that crappy color. I was interested when I saw it, since I've been looking for something trunk-ish for quite some time. So I opened up on its terible creaky hinges and VOILA!

Beautiful cedar chest. I asked my friend to babysit it for me while I went and found an employee to put a sold sign on it. She's a good friend and she literally sat on it until I came back with someone. Good thing, too, since there were about 3 old ladies and one young lady hovering about. Anyway, that's big list stuff.

This post is about little list stuff that I just need to get done. All those tiny finishing touches that just haven't made it yet. 

Here's one that makes me crazy every time I notice it. Last summer I took off the curtains and the super old and crummy curtain rods in my bedroom. I need to sand, patch and repaint four of these little areas and I just haven't done it. I also need to put up a new curtain rod and hang new curtains (which I why I took the old ones off in the first place), but I'm taking baby steps.

Another master bedroom mistake here. Nothing above our bed but one little ol' hook. I had some crewel art up there, but it's getting a new home. We need a headboard, I think. And probably some new bedding. And something above the bed that I actually like for more than 2 seconds.

I have been meaning to paint this little desk since my firstborn was a baby (she's almost 4 now). That's how long ago I took the hardware off. I even have the paint!

Well, my bathroom redo got derailed by basementing, which I'm fine with. Because now the more I think about it, the more I don't want to repaint this vanity (that I peeled all that white plastic-y stuff off of). I want to get rid of it. I think a pedestal sink or maybe even just a wall mounted sink would be much better for the size of this tiny bathroom, and now that we'll have another in the basement, storage won't *quite* be as much of an issue.

{How's this for keepin' it real? It's looked like this since September, I think.}

 I need to rearrange all my plates and things on this open shelving (that I created here). I also still want to paint my cupboards white, but that's definitely on the giant list.

Another area, this one in the living room, from old curtains being removed that needs some love. I even sanded, patched, and sanded these ones so the only thing I need to do is paint. I would probably take 10 minutes, and yet it has remained undone for almost a year.

Curtains for this window. Also getting the Legos off the top of the piano. When the basement gets finished.

So, there's at least some of my little list items. Some of them might qualify for the giant list (like getting a new bathroom sink), but right now almost all these other little projects feel like they're on hold while we finish up the basement. (We're close, by the way.) I'm glad I posted them- maybe having them up here will be a good reminder. One thing's for sure, if I do get to them I'll definitely post about it again, because it will be that exciting for me.