The Basement 0verhaul Chapter 7

I bet you forgot about our basement renovation. :) Considering we had the work done two summers ago, and I still haven't shown you what it looks like today. If you want to read the old posts in this basement saga, be my guest. I'll wait while you refresh your memory. :)

Last we left off, the bathroom was drywalled and the electrical was run throughout the rest of the basement. Hang on to your shirts, because you're going to see a whole lot of progress in the following pictures. Ready?

In a nutshell, drywall went up and was spackled.



Stair risers were added, and new stair treads made the old, creaky, scary stairs so much better.



The stairwell walls were skimcoated to make the new drywalled spots seamless with the old plaster walls. Dust was everywhere.



Then the guys told me that I needed to plan a day out of the house so they could do all the sprayed priming. They were worried about all of the fumes affecting Javi. So we hightailed it out of there, and they spent hours spraying every last crook and cranny of the basement. We came home that evening to... (sing it with me) "a whole new world." :)







Now it's really looking like a room we can live in, right?



The ceiling is my favorite part of the whole basement. Because the house is nearly a hundred years old, it was built on enormously thick wooden beams. There was too much crazy going on in addition to the beams to just leave them as they were, so we opted to prime the entire ceiling. I love the way it all looks now.



Then they painted the floor with porch and floor paint. We were originally going to use a floor epoxy, but our contractor's paint guy said the off gassing is terrible, and that it's not cleared for indoor use. So we used "ultra durable" floor paint, which has proven to be very non-durable. It's great for the interim, but eventually we'll have to address that issue. But it instantly made things look all fancy pants!





The guys also finished the bathroom, but this post is getting too long. So we'll fast forward just a few months, thanks to the magic of the internet, and show you a quick preview of the wall color we chose down here. And... then it was on to the fun parts! Furniture! Rugs! Decorating!



xoxo,

Jenny

Keep Calm and be happy happy happy

Do you watch Duck Dynasty? We do. We like it. It makes us laugh. We're still working our way through season 2 (we're so behind the times, I know.) but my absolute favorite part of that show is anytime Phil says "xyz makes me happy happy happy." :) We even got Javi to say it, along with Hey, Jack! #parentsoftheyear

Anyways. I'm slowly adding personal touches to the basement, and I wanted to put my own spin on the ubiquitous "Keep Calm" posters. So I sat down one day to create a graphic that I could turn into a watercolor. I started googling the crown and trying to find a font that closely matched, when my super smart Lover suggested searching for a Keep Calm generator. Turns out there's a keep calm o matic! 

So, I whipped up my graphic, printed it out and transferred it to watercolor paper. Then I got my paint on. Observe.




I love it. It's hanging over the couch in the basement. And you know what? Every time I see that little painting, it makes me... happy, happy, happy.  (You saw that coming, didn't you?)

xoxo,

 

Jenny

Snowy Day

Mirror, mirror times three

These days I love simple and easy projects. Ones that can be completed during a nap time, ideally. At our local dollar store, whilst shopping for ... gift bags? cheap conditioner to shave my legs with? disposable aluminum pans? :) I came across these little silver frames that I thought would look adorable as little mirrors. Here's how I completed this uber simple project.

Start with your frames...



Buy some round mirrors that are the dimensions of your opening at the craft store of your choosing. (I like Michaels and Hobby Lobby, personally)



Replace the glass in the frame with the mirrors.



Voila! :) Cute little mirrors.


I wanted these on the wall in the downstairs bathroom, so I also made a wire loop and hotglued it to the back of the frame.





These were light enough to hang with command hooks - easy peasy. Also, I didn't buy a square mirror, so I just slipped aluminum foil into that square one for now. I'm thinking about putting an actual picture in there, but it's just so small!



Pardon the trimless bathroom door. We're working on it. Baby steps people!


Psst! This isn't the first time I've made a picture frame into a mirror! Check out the cool mosaic frame-turned-mirror in this post!

114 Things in 1/14: Success!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

That, my friends, is the sound of me exhaling a huge breath of relief. It's the sound of boxes of stuff leaving my house. Of bags of garbage; paperwork that no longer needs to be stored, broken or unusable items, washcloths used up and way past their prime. Gone-zo.

Someone once said that our stuff owns us. And while Lover and I strive to eschew materialism, and only have things in our home that we need and use, it requires constant vigilance and commitment to stop the creep of stuff. And that stuff? It has a cost. It requires sorting, cleaning, organizing, fixing... the list goes on and on. SO, anytime we reduce the amount of stuff we own, I feel liberated.



I did a pretty good job getting through my list of places to sort and organize. Here is that list, updated.

Basement (Kitchen Clutter, Storage room shelves, paint cans and tool cabinet, Laundry room, bookshelves)

Back Entry (Shelves, Chian cabinet)

Kitchen (Cabinet under sink, Top of fridge, cookbooks, Other cabinets, Junk Drawer)

Dining Room (Buffet drawers, Dresser drawers, Coupons, Receipts, Junk Drawer)

Living Room (End tables, Franchute, Mantel bookshelves, Toys)

Master Bedroom (Lover closet, dresser, My closet, dresser, Nightstands, Window seat)

Bathroom (Vanity, medicine cabinet)

Hall (Linen closet, Trunk, Hall closet)

Javi’s Room (closet, shelf over changing table, Large cabinet)

KK’s Room (closet, dresser drawers, window seat)

Attic (toys, finished side)

I took two boxes of toys to the local kid consignment store to sell. (Toys, by the way, are worth peanuts). I tossed a stack of unneeded paperwork that weighed at least 5 pounds. I filled boxes and boxes with stuff to donate to charity.

And the total amount of things we're chucking? 215!!! 215 items that will never be welcomed into our home again. Can I get a yee haw? :) Leave a link to your blog in the comments and tell me how much YOU got rid of!

 

 

0ur 2013 Christmas

Christmas may possibly be my favorite time of year. Although I do love spring, with a passion that only comes from living through the long, dark winters of the northeast. But Christmas, with its twinkle lights, sentimental decorations, anticipation of gifts, and the celebration of the birth of our Saviour? It's my favorite.

I didn't do many of the things that are typically "Christmas" to me this year. I didn't go all out decorating the house this year. I didn't spend hours and hours at the mall, finding just the right gift for each person on my list. I didn't spend weeks in the kitchen, making dozens and dozens of cookies to give away to all of our family and friends.



And sometimes, that was really frustrating. I wanted to be crafting the perfect garland to hang from our mantel. I wanted the perfectly wrapped presents set carefully beneath the tree, on the perfectly arranged tree skirt. (Hello, have you met my toddler?) As I thought more about it, I realized that the limitations pressed upon me by having two little ones, and a finite amount of energy, meant that I am finally learning to focus on the real things that matter at Christmas time. Plus, if I had the perfectly decorated tree, there never would have been a chance for Javi to bring us into the living room to show us the tree decorated with a stuffed monkey, three toy cars, a train and a bulldozer, hidden in the branches. Saying "Yay! Good job! Monkey in a tree!" :)



I spent a lot of time planning a family breakfast for Christmas. For just the four of us, and my brother Dan who is staying with us right now. I wanted it to be simple, delicious, and something that everyone would enjoy. I made this sausage casserole, cinnamon buns (from a can!) and orange juice. It was perfect.



We always have a big family celebration on Christmas Eve, and I did my best to stop throughout the night and soak up the traditions. Lover's family clamoring for him to play Silent Night on the guitar. Everyone joining in and singing a rousing rendition of Feliz Navidad. Even the chaos that ensues from having 21 people, 11 of which are children under 10, in a very, very small apartment. It just wouldn't feel like Christmas with a lot of space, you know?



I was taken aback by how much work Christmas was this year. I got pretty discouraged about it at times. I went to bed so tired on Christmas Eve - all I wanted for Christmas was to sleep for days. But there were so many blessings. My kids were lavishly loved on by all of the family - and that makes me so happy. My sister in law graciously offered to host my side of the family, all I contributed was a salad. Lover took me out to look at Christmas lights, one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Lover and I spent a lot of time talking about what we want Christmas to look like in our family. We settled on just stocking gifts this year, and that the gifts would be consumables. Javi was in seventh heaven with a stocking full of candy canes, applesauce, and fruit snacks. It was adorable. Oh, and coal in the toe of course! :)

We saved all year to purchase gifts through World Vision for Christmas. The kids aren't old enough to understand yet, but I so look forward to this being a part of our Christmas preparations; passing around a gift catalog, picking out gifts for others across the globe that will truly make a difference in their lives. I tell you this, not to brag, but to share how much that helped me when I was overwhelmed with the commercialism that surrounds Christmas.



It was a wonderful Christmas. Jesus was born. He died for us. He blesses us every day with family and friends. And that, my friends, is what Christmas is all about.

114 Things in 1-14!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Getting rid of 114 things in 1-14![/caption]

Update: I can't seem to find the time each week to post about my progress, so I'll just do one recap post at the end of the month to share what I got rid of. I'll try to do a linky then so you can share too!

It's that time of year again. :) Can you feel it? That itchy, uncomfortable feeling of all the STUFF in your house? I'm feeling it. Although the itching may be dry skin. Our forced air seems to have a more drastic effect on my skin each year. But I digress - it's time for 144 Things in 1-14!

As I've done for the last three years, I'm challenging myself to get rid of 100+ individual items in the first month of the new year. It's a great way to simplify and get things organized after the rush of the holidays. I'd love it if you joined me! I'll be posting a linky each Friday in January for you to link up your blog post, or you can simply comment on the blog (or Facebook!) to let me know how it's going.

I'm posting a huge list below of all of the places that I need to sort through for this challenge. Don't feel intimidated by it. I love lists, and get a rush from crossing things off. :) Feel free to only work on one room, if that's what you prefer. Anything and everything qualifies! I'm considering counting the huge clumps of hair I've been losing lately - at this rate I'll be bald by the end of the month! :) Have fun purging!

Basement (Kitchen Clutter, Storage room shelves, paint cans and tool cabinet, Laundry room)

Back Entry (Shelves, Chian cabinet)

Kitchen (Cabinet under sink, Top of fridge, cookbooks, Other cabinets, Junk Drawer)

Dining Room (Buffet drawers, Dresser drawers, Coupons, Receipts, Junk Drawer)

Living Room (End tables, Franchute, Mantel bookshelves, Toys)

Master Bedroom (Lover closet, dresser, My closet, dresser, Nightstands, Window seat)

Bathroom (Vanity, medicine cabinet)

Hall (Linen closet, Trunk, Hall closet)

Javi’s Room (closet, shelf over changing table, Large cabinet)

KK’s Room (closet, dresser drawers, window seat)

Attic (toys, finished side)