Going For It

Happy Monday!!  Our weekend was crazy, so I'm actually glad to get to a routine this week.  I hope you are all staying warm wherever you maybe.  I'm so excited to be sharing the kid's bathroom tile choices with you today.  It is a space I will be very excited to see once it's all put together.  

I think one of the biggest hang ups many of us face when decorating is the fear of making a mistake.  Home imporvement projects are not always cheap and when you are installing or replacing something there are many things you need to consider.  However, from personal experience I have come to realize that we often settle for something we may not like as much as something else all in the name of resale, or what the latest decor trend is, or what the "experts" tell you should or shouldn't do, and often what our mother says we should or shouldn't do (don't get me wrong, mother's have great advice, but sometimes they may not quite get your style).

Why do we do that?  Why don't we just get what we like the most and be ok with it?  I think it stems back to our days of schooling and thinking that if we don't pick the right thing, we fail.  Guess what?  Is there really a "right thing" in decorating?  I don't think so.  The "right thing" is different for everyone.  Obviously there are rules of color and decor which will help, but they don't always apply and can be tweaked to individuals and individual styles.  That's what makes decor so amazing.

Many things in this house were in an incomplete state when we bought it and that was more by my design then the choice of the seller.  We opted to have him not complete them so that we could finish them the way we wanted.  The kids bathroom is a good example of this.

 Sorry this photo is blurry.  

But it's a good look at the whole bathroom.

Here is one of the shower, 

which is where the work really needs to be done.

Since the bathroom is currently in a condition which makes is unusable, it is a top priority before we move in.  I was planning on using the existing flooring and finding something I liked to match it for going in the shower, but the truth is, I really don't like the floor tile.  It has too much orange.  I feel badly since the seller worked really hard on it and actually did a great job but it's going to get ripped out.  

Also, it's not a huge space so the cost is relatively low to replace it.  If it had been in a larger space,  I would have made it work somehow.

So off to the Tile Shop I went a few weeks ago to start looking for exactly what I wanted.  There are so many choices, that it can get overwhelming.  Since it is the kid's bathroom, I knew I wanted something whimsical but still classy, childlike but still mature.  It's a fine balance to get all that.  

I decided on the surround tile for the shower pretty quickly.  I had found a smaller similar tile at Lowe's, which I may still use once I see how the larger tile looks.  It's a white porcelain with a wave in it.  It gives movement to what would be just a plain white tile and has a water feel to it.  For an accent boarder I decided on a glass circle tile in greens, blues, and grays.  It reminds me of bubbles and fun but it doesn't look too kidish.  When in came time to pick  the floor I went back and forth and finally decided to really go out on a limb and chose a smooth stone/pebble floor.  Because nothing else really says whimsy and fun like a stone/pebble floor.  Here they are all together:

MANY people (namely my mother and husband) have raised concern about the floor being comfortable to walk on and easy to clean.  I can say it is comfortable to walk on.  I took my shoes and socks off right there in the store to check.  As for cleaning, I guess we will see.  I'm not too worried about it.  

The important thing is that when I look at all of them together they just make my heart happy.  And let me tell you friends, I have learned from experience that if a decor choice makes my heart happy, I'm going to like the final result.  I can't wait to see it all together in my space.  It will be a small space of extra happiness in a house full of happiness.  It really can't get much better.

Observations from My 38th Year of Life

Yesterday I turned 39.  Wow, one more year til 40!  It's hard to imagine people.  Truly it is.  It was a great day and I was showered with many notes, gifts, and chocolate to celebrate the day.  I thank you all.

The breakfast table when I came down in the morning.

Last year I came across a tradition another blogger did on her birthday and decided to follow her lead.  This year I took careful notes throughout the year so I'd be ready.  So without further a do, here are some of the things I learned during my 38th year of life.  They are in no particular order and are totally random.

1.  Prayer is an essential component of my self-esteem.

2.  Truth is not for man to determine.  It is for us to discover and then live by.

3.  Individual worth is constant.  It can never be added to or taken away.

4.  I am not the only one who still has complete meltdowns on occasion.

5.  Don't be afraid of hard work.

6.  The youth of today (and especially inside my church) need to have a higher standard of personal conduct set for them and the leaders/adults need to not be afraid to hold them to it.

7.  You need to go on vacation.  It revitalizes you and gives you a new perspective on your life.

8.  Have a designated bowl for vomit!  When children feel the need to throw-up, it doesn't matter how many times you've instructed them to run to the bathroom because in that moment, they will be frozen to the place where they are and vomit everywhere in said place which will most likely be on your couch or new carpet.

9.  If you need something from someone, don't ever directly question someone's professional opinion even if you think it's a fair and just opinion.

10.  I'm not a sugar cookie fan.  I've made them so many times and they just don't do anything for me.  I'm going to stick to chocolate chip.

11.  Why is "Charlotte's Web" all about the pig?  Shouldn't it be about the spider who can spell?

12.  I HATE fruit flies!!!!

12.  Medicine is God's tool for helping us with many of our problems.

13.  Unless a man has AWESOME decor taste, he should only have about 10%-25% say on the decor in a home.  The home is a woman's "desk".  How many men have their wife come decorate their office at work?  Why are some so insistent on decorating their wives?

14.  I stand corrected on the sugar cookies.  I will eat Lynn H's sugar cookies and I will never try another recipe.

Nothing to overly profound, but all true beliefs or observations from this last year of life.  I'm excited to see what I come up with this next year.  Hopefully less wisdom on vomit and more wisdom on sugar cookies.

Kidlets #3 and #4 "took me out to lunch" for my birthday 

at one of our favorite places, St. Louis Bubble Tea.  

Taro Root Snow with Boba!  It's the best!!

Have a great weekend!!  Come back Monday for the kid's bathroom tile choice reveal.  It's awesome!!!

Some of My Favs

Overnight we received about 5 inches of snow.  It is our first real snowfall and I love it.  It's a day I want to curl up in a warm blanket on the couch with some hot chocolate and read a book.  I may just do that later this evening.  But I have tons to do, so no cozy couch for me yet.  Luckily hubby didn't have to go to work because of the snow so that is an extra bonus!

For those of you who can snuggle up today and just may be looking for some good home decor reads, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite blogs.  I come across new ones all the time, but these have been some of my favorites.

1. The Lettered Cottage: Layla and Kevin feel like old friends to me.  I have been following her for years now and love just about everything she does.  She is cute as a button and seems like a truly happy person.  They are in the process of adopting a baby so that is another adventure she has been sharing lately.  Hopefully that blessing will be realized soon for them.  Kevin has mad photography skills and together they make a great team.  Layla actually went to decorating school and frequently offers lots of helpful free advise.  In fact, she currently has a free download able book on Space Planning - as in your house spaces, not outer space.  You will not be disappointed if you go take a look.

2. The Inspired Room:  Melissa is a newbie to me.  I have just recently started following her and have loved what I've seen.  She's a big deal in the decor blogging world and is even publishing her first book in March.  I have already preordered it. Go HERE if you'd like to as well.   I have no doubt it's going to be good.  She has tons of decor and organizing tips that won't disappoint.  She is also not a huge DIYer which is nice to see that you can still have a decor blog and not have to do everything yourself to get credit for your taste.

3.  Nesting Place:  This is also a new blog for me, but Myquillyn (very unique name), has got my number!!  Her philosophy about your house and the way you should see it is like manna for any sole who feels discouraged about the state of their home.  She also has written a book which I will be blogging about that at a later time, but if you can't wait to hear what I have to say about it - and truthfully you can't, nor should you wait to hear what I say about it - go HERE to get your copy.  I'll wait until you get back from doing that to continue.  It will be some of the best money you've ever spent.

4. Life in Grace:  If ever I coveted a style, Miss Edie Wadsworth would be the winner.  I would even covet her name.  Her style is full of color and randomness that some how magically all comes together.  I hope someday to have at least one room that mimics her home. She is also a great cook and a God fearing woman which inspire me as well.  She just seems like a super fun person that I would really like to be friends with.  She has a southern drawl that just pulls you in.  I called her first if it ever come to that.

4.  Thrifty Decor Chic:  I saved this one for last because I have probably been following her the longest.  Of all the blogs I follow, Sarah has got my style in almost every way.  I love everything she does and her home just makes me happy when I see it.  She is my decor twin sister but much more of a DIYer then I'll probably ever be.  Perhaps when all my kids are in school, I'll join her on that front.  Her house is BEAUTIFUL, yet she is constantly finding new and fun ways to update it.  She is a consistent blogger as well which makes following her nice since you know there will always be something up.

There you go!!  Just a few of my favorites.  I hope you find sometime to curl up and take a peak at them.  They are all great and you will come away encouraged and inspired.  Let me know what you think!

The Power of a Cheerleader

I grew up on the western boarder of New Jersey in a small place called Holland Township.  The local high school I attended was fed by 5 small surrounding elementary schools.  My graduating class was just over 180 students.  Pretty tiny.  We were a division 2 school so we had a lot of sports but not everything.

When I entered as a freshman I remember going to one of the football games and seeing the cheerleaders perform during the game.  It was a small squad consisting of no more then 5-10 girls.  They basically jumped around, shook their pom-poms and yelled, "Let's go Team".  It was pretty unimpressive.

Somewhere between my Sophomore and Junior year a new cheerleading coach was hired.  What seemed like overnight to me, the cheerleading squat was transformed!!  Instead of doing a few flips here and there and waiving their pompoms, they were throwing each other in the air, doing hard gymnastics, and actually making cheerleading a sport.  It was amazing.  They ended up blowing the competition away when they went to compete at the local and state levels.  To this day (over 20 years later) they continue to have great success and win many competitions.  I'm proud of them.  

I've thought a lot about what transformed this team from nothing of consequence to being leaders in their sport.  It really comes down to one thing.  Their coach.  Other then the normal turnover in high school, the girls were the same.  There was no real push for a better program.  We didn't have a special school wide fundraiser or recruitment on their behalf.  It really all came down to a coach who had seen better, knew how to teach better, and most importantly - instilled in the girls that they could be better.  The talent and ability was always within them, they just needed a little help finding it and bringing it out.  The coach was an example of the ultimate cheerleader.

In that same high school, I played basketball my freshman year.  There were about 20 of us on the team.  I loved our coach.  To this day he is the best coach I ever had.  We practiced hard and we played hard.  I always wanted to play my best and never wanted to lose for the sole reason that I knew it would disappoint him.  Not because he would be mad, but because I knew he knew we could do better.  He believed in us.  Truly believed in us.  That belief alone made us strive to be our best.

Unfortunately, he didn't coach many more seasons of freshman basketball and the JV and Varsity coaches just didn't have the same belief in us as Coach Petty did.  By our Senior year the number of players from that freshman team still playing was 1.  What changed?  I can tell you it wasn't because we all of a sudden lost a ton of talent.  It was because we didn't have a cheerleader who believed in us.


Cheerleaders are on the sidelines of games to get the crowd excited and to get them to rally behind their team.  They don't infuse players with added talent or strength.  They simply try and help players remember and embrace the talent and strength they already have.  Through the years I have come to realize that this same principle applies in almost every aspect of our lives.  To be successful, what everyone needs more then anything else, is a cheerleader.  A person who believes in them and knows how to rally behind them to unlock and push themselves to excel with the talents and strengths they already have.

Recently I have had a lot of people ask me for help in decorating their homes.  I'm always happy to give my opinion and help them.  What I've found most interesting in this process is that most people already know what they want, they just need a little encouragement and help to push them in the direction they already want to go.  So when it comes to your home and decisions you want to make put my voice in your head and listen as I say, "If you love it, do it!  It will all come together.  Don't be afraid to try.  The power is within you.  Trust yourself and go for it!  It's ok if you make a mistake, you can fix it or do it over.  We learn from our mistakes.  You're amazing and your home can be amazing too!"


Whether tackling home decor or anything else, my thoughts for you this weekend are this: Be a cheerleader and find a cheerleader for you.  We each need to be and have both in our lives.  People are amazing.  We do amazing things.  Just think what we could do if we believed in ourselves and each other just a little bit more.

"GO TEAM!!"  "GO YOU!!"

Go HERE to watch a video of Delaware Valley Regional High School Cheerleaders 2013 National Championships.  "Go Terriers!"

It's All About The Base

Happy Thursday everyone!!!  We have plummeted back into a deep freeze after enjoying almost 60 degree weather this past weekend.  It's given me a good excuse to hunker down at home and stay warm.  Good thing too since the cold/flu bug finally bit me.  I could feel it coming on yesterday so I pushed through trying to get as much done as I could.  Who else does that?  Unfortunately we mothers don't really ever get a sick day.

Enough about me, let's move onto the house.  Today we find ourselves back in the kitchen.  I am going to have to tackle a huge project soon in there and I'm hoping to get some good feedback from everyone reading this.

If you will remember, the cabinets are a lovely oak variety and are original to the house so they have a fair amount of wear and tear on them.

Lovely Oak!!

Visible wear on the doors.

Some doors even have cracks in them.

And, they're just really dirty.

I have researched a bit on what exactly I should place on these to make sure I get the most use out of them.  I will definitely be using an oil base primer.  The kitchen is so high traffic that I don't have a choice.  In our current home which also had oak colored cabinets when we moved in, my mom helped me paint those with an oil base primer and latex paint and they have held up splendidly for 8 years.  I painted them white which I've loved and I've never had a problem with the stain color bleeding through.

In my research for this house, I've come across a product called "Brushing Putty" sold by a company called "Fine Paints of Europe".  It is a super thick primer that covers wood grain and allows for a smother finished product.  It does require sanding (frowny face), but it does seem to get some good results.  It is also not cheap.  The largest size they have which is a little less than a gallon sells for $125.  But, that is still WAY cheaper than new cabinets so I'm willing to give it a go.

What have been some of your favorite paint products to use on stained wood and painting in general?  I'd love your feedback.  I'll let you know my final decision soon and will hopefully have progress pictures to show you.

Have a great day!  And keep warm!

Kitchen Update

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  Mine ended up being more crazy then initially planned (thus why this is going out on Tuesday instead of Monday).  Kidlet #1 coming down with the stomach flu.  Nice!  I'm bracing myself for when the others (and possibly myself - Blah) follow her lead.  I shouldn't complain, this is the first real bad sickness this year - knock on wood!  Wish us luck!

Today I'm going to give you a little update on the kitchen.  I have gone through about 30 different scenarios regarding what to do with this space and I'm really excited about what we finally are doing.

In the first few weeks after buying the house I had a lot of people come through to give me bids on various jobs.  Everyone had an opinion on what I should do.  Even though it was like drinking from a fire hose, it was really good because I got a ton of ideas.  Some unfortunately just didn't end up being feasible at the present time.  They would have taken a lot more money and time then I could afford to spend right now.  The big idea that many wanted me to do was to knock down the wall holding the pantry and refrigerator.

 By knocking down this wall, I would have opened the room up to a study that is currently behind this space.

The doorway to the right of the refrigerator space is the one that leads to the study.

Close up of the door.

Inside the study.

It would have been a nice space to have.  It would have made the whole room seem so much bigger.  I was planning on make it into a sitting area where my kids could play and watch TV while I made dinner and cooked in the kitchen.  By opening the wall up I would have had to find a place for the fridge.  The only realistic space would have been to the left of the sink which would have required me to remove my peninsula and turn it to make an island.

Can you picture it?

I know it would have worked and it would have been fun.  I was ready to do it until we realized that the beam supporting the loft that is above didn't run the entire span of the kitchen, meaning the walls of the pantry and refrigerator were supporting.  I could have had a structural engineer come in, things moved to have made it work, but it just would have been too much.  At the height of all of this, I had a guy in who has done several kitchen remodels and flips and he said that a kitchen remodel of this extent was a "want" and not a "need".  Since this house has a lot of "needs" he advised me to hold off until I could just focus on the kitchen.  It was great advice and I listened to him.  

However, by not knocking out the wall I was able to do a project I had intended on all along.  I did end up deciding to take down the pantry doors and push back the back side of the pantry about 20 inches to create what I'm calling a "Baking Center".  I'm so excited!!!

I'm able to do this because in the study is a closet space just on the other side of the pantry.  We started work on it this week and her is the progress so far.

The view from the kitchen side with the wall knocked out looking into the study.

The view from the study looking into the kitchen.

Unfortunately there was venting in the wall, but it was fairly easy to move back with the wall.

The new wall up and ready to have the venting moved.

New wall in with sheet rock from kitchen side.

New wall in with sheet rock on study side.

I'm so excited for this space and have some great ideas in my head on what it's going to look like.  Hopefully they come together.

Are you wondering what I'm going to do with the study?  Well I lost my little pantry by doing this so the study is now going to be my HUGE walk-in pantry!!  It's going to be awesome.  My husband first thought the space was too big for a pantry.  But I don't think you can ever have too big of a pantry.  Am I right ladies?

There you have one of many of my ideas for this space.  I can't wait to show you more.  Have a great day friends.  Go chase your dreams.  It can be amazing!!

Transitioning

Things are starting to really pick up!!!  We have demolition in the kitchen which I will do a post about for Monday.  I honestly think this is the busiest I've ever been in my life and while it's a titch stressful, I'm loving it.  While I have to think ahead, I try and not get too ahead of myself.  It helps contain the stress.

One thing to help contain the stress is to plan as much as possible and hope that it will eliminate stress down the road.  Getting one house ready to live in and one house ready to sell is huge and organization/planning is necessary for it to go as smoothly as possible.  There is a lot that is going to have to take place between our current home and the new home and my husband and I are going to have to divide and conquer.  We have a scheduled dinner date this evening to discuss the action plan.

One thing I've decided to do to make the actual transition between the two homes a bit easier is to go through my current home and designate where everything I currently have, is going to go in the new home.  I started an excel spread sheet on it last night.  Here is what it looks like:

Many things will be going to the equivalent  rooms between the houses, but many will not and in order to reduce the confusion I am hoping this will prove to be very useful.  I also hope it will help me get rid of what I don't want/need well before the move.  We'll see how useful it all is in a few months.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!  Ours is packed.  At least on Sunday we will slow down.  I love that day of rest built in.  It truly does rejuvenate the soul.

Go HERE for a great talk.  He even has a great story about finding the perfect house for his family.  How I miss BYU devotionals once a week, but I'm so glad I still get to hear them through the amazing gift of technology.  

Underwear

“It’s way more fun to buy a 

necklace than it is to buy underwear.”

-Greg Tilton

I love to make places beautiful.  I love being in beautiful spaces and I have quite the vision for this house and what I want it to eventually be.  Unfortunately, I’m a long ways off from being able to do everything I want in terms of décor because this house needs a lot of what I’m going to call “underwear”. 

I think we all would agree that picking out a new area rug or furniture piece is much more exciting than spending the same amount of money on paying to have your chimney swept or your house mitigated for radon.  But the chimney needs to be swept and the radon needs to be mitigated because in the long run no area rug can make up for your house burning down or your family member developing lung cancer.

While I have done a lot of work trying to estimate costs to the best of my ability there are always those costs that will sneak out from behind a corner and getcha.  I had one said cost present itself today.

Radon mitigation can be fairly straight forward.  Dig a hole, put in a fan, vent to the outside, done.  But of course, our radon mitigation is not quite so straight forward.  When digging your hole in the slab, ideally you have rock under your slab.  Less then ideally, you have dirt.  I’ll let you guess what we have. 

Since we are planning on putting a bedroom in the basement, properly venting the radon is important to us and when you have dirt, it makes it more difficult to do that.  A way to help that is by installing French drains.  A French drain is basically a trench dug out all around the inside of your basement slab which then has rock poured into it, then a pipe, then more rock, and eventually concrete repoured over the top (if I understand correctly from what the guy was telling me).  It’s not cheap.  It’s expensive "underwear".  

So with each new piece of necessary "underwear" a "necklace" gets crossed off the list.  But we all know that if you’re not comfortable on the lowest layer, it won’t matter how cute your necklace is because all you’re going to be thinking about is how uncomfortable you are.  And we also all know, necklaces come and go in the fashion world, or in this case the home decor world, so I know there will always be one I will love.  I just might have to wait a little longer.  But at least I’ll be comfy while I wait.

{Digging the Hole}

{Venting to the outside}

{This is incomplete.  The guy wasn't done when I left,

 so I will add on more pictures once I get them}

Bathrooms Reveal

Happy Groundhog day!!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We didn't get the snow they were saying we would and that actually was a real let down.  I love snow and we have hardly gotten any.  At least Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we have 6 more weeks of winter to make it happen!

I thought today I'd reveal all the bathrooms.  There are actually 3 full bathrooms and one 1/2 bath.

Let's start with the 1/2.  

This bathroom is located right off the current laundry room and is tucked away in a corner.  It has a sliding door and is super tiny.

Here is the kid's bathroom.  I laughed out loud the first time I saw the sock.  It looks just like some guys foot coming through the wall and I found it so funny.  Clearly we need some tile work done.  I don't hate the tile on the floor, but I don't love it.  We also need a toilet put in.

Next we have the Master Bathroom.  There isn't a whole lot I like about this bathroom.  Since there is a ton of things we have to do to the house before we move in, a lot of what will be done to this room will be cosmetic.  The good thing is, anything, will make it better.

Last, but certainly not least, we have the basement bathroom.  This room is just scary, but all it really needs is a little TLC, paint, and a good scrubbing and we will be set.

There you have it!!  All the bathrooms in the house.  As we start to work on each one I will do posts on the plans I have for the space and why I decided to do certain things now and certain things later.

I'm meeting with a few more contractors this week and just finishing up gathering all of my bids and then we will be ready to start rolling.  I will be glad to finally see things start changing.