Make a plan, Stan

When I am about to do something I can't undo, I get a bit nervous. It's about the only time that happens when it comes to decorating decisions. 

Our house came with brand spankin' new light maple cabinets. Light maple is not my thing, but I'm not willing to paint, yet. I'm living with it for awhile. 

Thankfully, they are very simple. I'm not a fan of ornate. It's nice to admire from afar; it's just not me though. Another wonderful thing is that they did NOT put on any hardware. Which means I don't have to deal with their taste or the hole placement of somebody else's hardware choice.

I adore the 1910s-1930s when it comes to design, especially kitchen design (and men's clothes, but that's a different story). Have you ever seen the movie Oscar? I want that kitchen. It's in only one or two short scenes, but I'm the kind of freak who notices stuff like that. :) I have no pictures. But here's a 30s inspired kitchen:

 (source)

I love this too. Love it all, but look at that floor!:

 (source)  

So, when I saw these handles, I knew they were the ones.

But, I am about to put holes in the drawer faces. I can't undo it if I make a mistake. (Hopefully, I could hide it, but who knows.) So, I was trying to determine the placement. I used strong masking tape and just taped them on and snapped a picture.

Then I adjusted it and snapped another picture. 

Now I have pictures to compare, rather than trying to hold it in place with my hand and lean back and go "Position one? Position two?" 

Now, I can use the pictures to know that this is the right placement, 

and now I can get to the business of measuring so everything is centered left to right and even-stevens. I have to confess I'm still a little nervous, but this gives me a lot more confidence than I had before. Wish me luck!

Linking this to:

Eh. It's done. Bathroom project.

Problem: beige walls, beige tiles equals blah!

Detour: tried dark paint sample and it failed

Solution: cheap and easy, used leftover green paint.

Interesting side note: If you draw a line separating the front of the house from the back, every room on the back is now some form of green. Hmmm. Well, someday the master bedroom will get a new color. The green in there was inherited.

It's not adding a lot of contrast with the tiles. More than the original beige paint, but I'm just not wowed. 

I had intended to purchase something, but some unexpected expenses arose this month and I just couldn't stand the gray splotches from the tester anymore. So, I pulled out the leftover paint from the kitchen. Free is always good. 

Check out Little Man. He's always trying to get into photos! :)
 
My wish list for this bathroom is a new, slimmer vanity:

(source)
I like this one because I love dark wood, it has a full size sink, but slim body that has covered storage. (You can't tell from the picture, but the sink pops out more than the rest of the vanity.)It will make the room look a bit bigger. I'll have to save up a bit. 

I also want to take out all the tile and put in a new smooth bath surround because I don't like absolutely hate to clean grout! And I want beadboard wainscot in place of the rest of the tile. I've gone back and forth because some people say wainscot in the bath is bad because of moisture. What I think I would do though is seal it with a marine grad poly. With that, it should be fine, don't you think? Then I also want new colors and accessories. 

But other projects are priorities right now. Someday we'll get it all done...

Holy Snot Buckets, Batman!

Eck! The flu is running through our house. Really, the flu is not exactly a design element. :(

First it was the biggest Little Man (darn kids going to school and bringing home those icky germs!) Then, my husband who is bravely holding up and not grumpy all the time. Let's have a round of applause for Mateo. And now me. Yesterday I was in so much pain. Today I literally slept half the day.

So, holy snot buckets is the best I've got, and wow, is that not saying much. I have pictures and everything of the bathroom, but it's going to have to wait. Maybe tomorrow...

Such a tease

So, uh, remember when I said February was fabric time?Yeah, it has been, but it's really turned into little projects month.

The burlap project is taking a bit more time than I had hoped. I had to work out some problems with it. I've been documenting the process and will do an entire tutorial as soon as it's done. But for now, a little somethin'-somethin' to peak your interest:

Ode to a Trash Can

Our new addition: a trash can.

Have you recently shopped for a trash can? It's ridiculous. I don't have a "before," but as it happens with a receptacle into which trash is thrown, it got kind of gross and then the lid cracked. It was exactly like the new one except it was beige.

Why beige? Because it was cheap and the right size. I really didn't want a beige one again though. At the time, it fit in a closet/pantry so it wasn't seen, but in this house it has to sit out. We went to four stores. Four! Ridiculous!

First store had the exact same thing we had before, or round ones or black. I did not want black and I did not want round. Most trash is not round and the lids are smaller. The next store had even fewer choices and everything was more expensive than the first store. The third store was just a whim. I knew the prices wouldn't be great, but I thought the selection would be better. Wrong. One cheap one that was metallic beige. Seriously. No thank you. Or stainless steel. Now, I don't have stainless appliances. I don't want my trash can to look fancier than my appliances. But I looked at the price -- $70. What? That can't be right. Oh, yes, it was. Why would I spend that much money on a place to stick garbage?! But somebody must be buying them.

Finally, when I wasn't even looking I saw our trash can. Same thing as before which was working for us and in white. Why white? Well, we have bottle and can deposits to deal with, so that "recycling" can is already white and why not have some continuity. 

If you don't have deposits, I'll just tell you it's a pain! It's such a waste of effort since we already have a good regular recycling program. You cannot crush or in anyway make it more convenient for yourself because the machine has to read the barcode. You have to go someplace that takes them and then feed them into the machine one at a time. You get a receipt and then go stand in line to get your money back. Then, because you are already at a grocery or box store, you use the refunded money to go buy more beer

via

 and start the cycle again. It's how we roll.

After that all that shopping for something ridiculously simple, I felt like echoing Clark Griswold, "Hallelujah! Holy $#%! Where's the Tylenol?" But at least it's done.  

Giveaways?

What are your thoughts about Giveaways on blogs? Are they cool? Annoying? Do you enter them or avoid them?

I've been solicited to offer one and I'm not completely sure whether or not I'm interested in getting involved with all of that.

So, please comment away...

Another Kid's Room: Munchkin Uno

 Raise your hand if you live in a house that looks like the glossy magazine spreads. Anyone? I know a couple people. My house doesn't look that way. It never will, I say as I look across the living room floor at the K'nex that still haven't been picked up. Could you imagine even seeing K'nex in Martha Stewart's house?

Not my house. Visit Martha's site for more.

If something doesn't match, I expect Martha must banish it. A blog I like only allowed a rocking horse in their daughter's room because it matched the decor. This just cracks me up. I wonder how long that will last. Toys have an annoying habit of coming in all sorts of colors, shapes, and noises.

Still not mine. I love Genevieve Gorder, but this room was crazy work considering in a couple years the kid won't want that letter wall paper on the bookcases.

So, as I mentioned before, I long ago abandoned the dream theme kids rooms. I purposely go with a anything-goes-hodgepodge. Then nothing sticks out looking all funny like the crazy uncle of the room.

Munchkin Uno wanted to feel the love of a blog posting on his room, so I said, "Clean it up then." And he did.

He wanted blue walls and the house already had a blue room, so voila! This kiddo is my creative one. He long ago inspired me to just start putting his mountains of paintings and other art work all over his walls. 

Now that he is a little older he has wanted to put things of interest up, like a Star Wars poster. But I think it's his choice. I will say that lamp is a crazy uncle though. He needed one and it was on hand. I keep meaning to replace that, but he doesn't really care. 
 

 So, although he loves blue and wanted blue bedding, I tossed in some red to break it up.

I also purposely picked all different colors of boxes to fit in the Closet Maid cubbies. This is good for two reasons: 1. each type of toy has its own color for easier clean up time. For example, K'nex go in the red one. 2. They get a bit battered, so when I need to replace one, I don't have to worry about find the exact same color because they do change these things. 

Sorry, I should have zeroed in on the cubbies. I only realized that I didn't until I started posting and he's in bed. It would be quite rude to go and flip on his light for picture now.

Sorry, bad picture. Still taking them with my cell phone right now. The red curtains are actually covering his mirrored closet doors. He did not like the way the light reflected at night; it scared him. The fastest cheapest solution was to put curtains over them. It adds a fun splash of color too. His little table has been great though. He has had it for over 3 years and still has use for it. 

His toy box and dresser are hand-me-downs. We talk occasionally about changing the colors, but it's never a priority. Over time his room has become an even bigger hodgepodge. I imagine as he makes more of his own choices (that and he cannot keep it clean!) it will  look less and less like something Martha would condone. But I'm good with that. No invites for magazine spreads coming my way. How about you? ;)