Shelves, and the Missing Keys

Trent has been so busy this week with his birthday, the Cubs game, and working...that he lost his work keys today and we spent a good chunk of the evening looking for them. We found them by the way, but he would lose his head right now (well, most days) if it wasn't screwed on. So needless to say, he's had very little time to work on the shelving unit for the bedroom this week. But I do have some in-progress pics to share.

These are from the other night (can't remember when - my days seem to be running together too for some reason). Saleen decided she wanted in on the action too, so you'll see her mug in a few pics.

At this point, he was still connecting all of the larger pieces to form each individual "cubby hole" as I like to call it. He used dowels and wood glue to attach all of the sides together.

I shared a picture of Saleen on Instagram and Facebook the other day, along with the photo below. I think Trent is pretty pleased at how his first shelving unit building project is going so far. I have to say I'm pretty impressed, too! 

Here he's putting the trim pieces up to see how they'll look when they are all attached. There will be trim pieces (about an inch wide) in front of all of the edges, to finish things off more and make it look cleaner and a little more polished.

It's not finished yet - still needs trim, some light sanding, stain, and the back, but all of the sections are now in place and it's starting to really come together. Just for fun, once all of the glue was dry, we took out all of our new bins and stuck them on the shelves to see how it would look.

It's coming out just like we pictured, and I think once it's finished, with trim and a dark stain, it will look pretty awesome in the bedroom.

Lord knows we are in need for some storage for Trent's clothes..especially since those keys that he lost....were in his piles of clothes!! Go figure! :p

Easter and Trent's 30th Birthday Weekend

I'm a little late with my weekend post, but we've been busy this week! Friday night we went out for Trent's big 30th birthday with a few friends, Saturday we shopped in the cities all day, and Sunday we spent all day with family for Easter. Trent's birthday was yesterday, and we didn't do much on his actual birthday. We both had to work, but after work we took a walk with Saleen since it was nice out, then spent the rest of the night cleaning the house. Today Trent had work off, so he went to the Cubs game / Wrigley Field's 100th birthday in Chicago with a friend. It looked pretty awesome! I'm still waiting for him to get home. And I'm so jealous! I worked all day. Ha.

Anyway, I thought I would share a few pictures from this weekend!

The birthday boy - out celebrating at Bent River Brewery in Moline.

I got him a new stereo / cd player for his truck!

Easter at Weed Park

Dad and I - he shaved his mustache off just in time for Easter. I don't think we'll forget that one!

The whole family at Weed Park.

It was definitely a busy, but fun weekend. And the weather was amazing. I'm hoping this coming weekend will be just as nice, and maybe we'll get some projects done around the house!

Decorating for the Bull: Taurus Inspired Decor

It's time for another monthly installment of Astrological-inspired decor. This month, it's Taurus (April 20 - May 20) inspired. The symbol for Taurus is the Bull, and its element is Earth. Being the Bull, Taureans are stubborn, but they're also very practical and reliable, and down-to-earth - they are an Earth sign, after all. They're loyal romantics, and very tactile - they love material things and being surrounded by pretty things! According to Astrology.com, "Bulls really aren't interested in living without beauty in their lives." 

In this roundup of Taurus-inspired decor, I've included Earthy tones, and lots of textural elements. I actually think this fits my style a lot, as I love neutrals and soft textures. Here are my Taurus-inspired decor picks (Sources at the bottom):

 

Sources from top to bottom: 1) Handmade porcelain bull from Etsy 2) Knit throw from Target 3) Woven pillow - Nate Berkus for Target 4) Nestos Rug from Anthropologie 5) Curtains from Anthropologie 6) Tufted chair from Wayfair 7) Ceramic bull bookends from Jonathan Adler 8) Sliced wood art from Etsy.

Below is my pick for a Taurus inspiration room. Full of different textures, the bedroom is the perfect place to layer in textural elements and neutrals:

(Image from here)

Hope you enjoyed this month's astrological decor post! Trent is a Taurus...though I'm not sure if he likes being surrounded by pretty things? :)

My New Cactus

We have a new addition to the living room. It's my new coral cactus!!

I had one at work on my desk and thought it was so cute. I love its pink edges. And it's actually pretty easy to keep alive. It only needs watered about once a week. So I finally decided to get one for myself.

It was about $15 at Lowe's. Its home right now is on the side table. I kind of like it there. It brings more color and life to the room.

I've also switched out some of the accessories for more colorful ones:

And I brought my flower pillow back down from my office.

I love the pink for spring / summer.

And love my new coral cactus. I just need to think of a name for her. :)

Update: This coral cactus was not meant to live inside our home in Illinois. She died shortly after this post. I believe her death was caused by over-watering. It was a slow, sad death. R.I.P. Coral Cactus - 2014-2014.

Bedroom Storage

So the other day I posted about a new storage project that Trent's been working on. I know you're dying to know what it is, right? So I'm going to tell you a little more about it today and why we decided to build it. Drum roll please.....

It's a bedroom shelving unit! And it's currently in progress, as you can tell by this photo:

The idea behind building this stemmed from the fact that Trent has virtually no real place to store his clothes. The closet has kind of been, well, taken over by my clothes. Ha. So until we can redo the closet space to make it work for both of us, we needed to come up with a storage solution.

To explain a little more about our clothes storage problem...here's our closet, as I posted about here, and as you can see, there's only room for my clothes right now:

And back in August of last year, since I was already thinking about getting some storage in here, I snapped these unedited photos in the bedroom to show just how badly we need clothes storage. Here are Trent's clothes on his side of the bedroom. This is how it normally looks with no cleaning or straightening going on:

Totally unedited, people. They are literally in piles on the floor. I used to think it was because Trent was so messy....but then I realized it was because he had no storage for his clothes.

This is how my side normally looks with no cleaning:

A lot better, right? And that's why having clothing storage helps!

We have been looking for a while for a storage unit that would work, but at the end of the day, Trent thought it would be best to just build a unit that will work best for what he needs. We figure it will probably be cheaper in the long run, and better-built than the store bought versions anyway.

The unit that he is building is going to have "cubes" that are fairly square, with cloth bins to store clothes. It is obviously being customized to how he wants it, but to give you an example - it's going to be kind of similar to this one or this one from Target, but may have a larger space for a small hamper as well.

He ordered nine of these storage bins to put inside:

Here's the above picture again so you can see where the bins will fit into the square-ish spaces:

It will be sanded and stained a dark brown or cherry finish to match the rest of the bedroom furniture, when the carpentry work is all done. He's using dowels and wood glue to fasten the boards together, hence the clamps and ties holding the pieces in place while the glue dries.

I'll be sure to share more in-progress pics and of course the final product when it's all finished and in its place in the bedroom! Trent's really excited about this little project. Today is a gorgeous spring day, and would be the perfect for working on the shelves, except Trent has to work all day and pretty much all weekend....so I'm home cleaning and working on things around the house! Oh well. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

New Project in Progress!

Surprise! Trent has a little building project in progress. It involved a couple of trips to the hardware stores this weekend and yesterday. He's been planning out his approach on paper and getting materials, but today he's finally starting execution of said project.

I'll reveal more about this little project soon...(hint: it involves storage) but for now I'll leave you with a couple of photos:

P.S. The weather is finally starting to look up, and I'm getting excited! Summer must really be on its way! :)

Hanging Curtain Pull Backs

We got a lot of little things around the house done over the weekend, which always makes me feel accomplished. One of those things was finally hanging the curtain pull backs we got for the west window in the living room:

It kind of stands on its own, so I felt like those would be a perfect addition to this window. And I love it. It looks so much neater and tidier. Like a more tailored pair of pants. 

Here's the before:

Below is the package - from Bed, Bath and Beyond a few months ago. The curtain rods in the living room were actually from Target, but the style is pretty much the same, and it is the same finish/color. I think I had a 20% off coupon that I used for them.

Trent did the dirty work, and I supervised, as usual.

Basically it was pretty easy - just a little measuring, leveling, and eyeing. Maybe took 15 minutes or so, tops.

I really wish the window trim was finished in here, but we will get to it hopefully this summer. The living room still needs raised a little, baseboard installed, and the window trim caulked and painted.

 It was nice having the curtains open and the sun shining in this weekend.

So glad we finally got these hung. It's such a little thing, but I feel like it makes the window look a little more polished.

And now to get to work on some OUTSIDE projects! Don't know about you, but I'm ready for 70 degree weather up in here...