Around the House

Happy Labor Day, and happy first day of September! I haven't been keeping up with this blog as much as I would like to. But we haven't gotten as many house projects done this summer as we would have liked to, either. It's Labor Day weekend, and we spent Friday night with friends at the Bandits game, we spent all day Saturday cleaning the house and doing laundry, and we went shopping all day yesterday. Trent worked this morning, and then we watched a movie after he got home. It's kind of a lazy day for us today. So even though we would like to get things done, it's hard to find the time and the energy. Especially with summer slowly fading away, and the days getting shorter.

Anyway, I thought since I didn't have any new projects to share, I would share some scenes from around the house today. And show you a few new things I've picked up recently - And where I got them!

First up: The living room, which hasn't changed much over the summer. Some parts of this room are already looking kind of fall-ish, but I still have plenty of little pops of color for summer.

My old bird pillows from Target have been reversed lately so we can enjoy the chevron side of them a little bit. :) Also, my frame wall has been the same for quite a while - I'm pretty sure this is a new record for me.

Oh, and we've decided to start looking for a new couch soon. The cushions have seen better days - if you remember this post where I attempted to fix the cushions, well, the velcro sadly didn't work too well. It has only gotten worse. Plus, our small couch just doesn't cut it anymore. We need more space to spread out, and more room for when we have company over. So the quest for a new, larger, more long-term couch will begin soon.

Moving onto the kitchen, there's lots of new little things in here. Like my new handy storage bin by the door. We never have enough storage. And this cute little bin is just one solution to a space that needed some more love.

I picked it up the other day at Marshall's. I think it was like $15. It now houses things we can grab before we go out the door, like ice scrapers, umbrellas, and a few of Trent's shoes.

Onto other things like cute spatulas...I think I've started an obsession. I barely use these things, but somehow I've developed a weakness for them. The purple and turquoise one is from Gordman's and has common measurement conversions on the back, I kid you not. The green plastic utensils are from Target a few years ago. (And the timer is from IKEA by the way)

I found this adorable plate and these matching blue mugs a couple of months back. The plate was from TJ Maxx, and the mugs were from Gordman's.

I've been wanting one of these things forever: a drying mat. To sit wine and beer glasses on. Looks and works so much better than a paper towel! (Although now it has veggies from the garden on it for some reason) This guy came in a 2-pack from Marshall's.

Now onto the bedroom...And ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my brand new clothes hamper! I'm super excited about this one - also from Marshall's...my wire laundry hamper from college had seen MUCH better days. It was kind of falling apart...so this is its replacement. And it's beautiful.

This picture is nothing new, but I love when the sun shines in and makes shadows on the wall of all my necklaces on my necklace hanger I made a while back. It's gotten many new necklaces on it since I made it, and it still works really well. I still love it!

Trent has recently moved most of his clothes into his new storage bins, but he was still kind of lacking in the hamper department. Then when we were at Marshall's the other day (I swear we bought half of the store) - THIS hamper screamed - Perfect size for the hamper spot!! It's not the same color, but it kind of brings a nautical vibe in here, which is kind of cool. We were even thinking of getting a little boat statue to sit on top of the storage unit. I don't know, might be kind of cute. :)

It is pretty much adorable, and Trent even likes it, so that's a plus.

And finally, the bathroom - We get a new rug in here like every couple of months, I swear. We tend to ruin bathroom rugs pretty quickly..or any rugs, for that matter. If it's not Saleen tracking in dirt, it's spilling bleach or putting the rug in the dryer and it shrinks to half the size. #rugproblems.

So this is the latest bathroom rug, and once again, it's from Marshall's. That place and Target are my go-to stores for rugs. So many cute ones. 

And this is the other new-ish addition to the bathroom - my wire basket from Gordman's which is being used as the toilet paper bin. It actually lived under the sink at first, but after a disaster with the sink leaking and ALL of the toilet paper getting soaked (and my new bin), it has since switched places with the trash can. 

Please excuse the unpainted drywall behind it...the bathroom renovation has been put on hold for quite a while now. Also, there are old pillowcases and such in the hallway from cleaning yesterday. But what can you do... that's life, keepin' it real.

It's always nice to have a clean-ish house. It lets us focus on other things like decorating and renovation projects. :) Now to find a new project to complete....

Old Drawings

I recently dug up some of my old drawings. By that I mean that when I was in junior high and even high school, and I would get bored in the summer, I drew. We went to my grandma's and grandpa's house every day in the summer, and there wasn't too much to do but watch TV, make crafts, draw, read, hang out in the yard, and look at magazines. So, I watched a lot of TV, looked at a lot of magazines, and drew pictures.

I drew people a lot. Random people that I made up the stories of and told them on paper. But I also drew a lot of houses.



Mostly they were houses that I created in my head - usually how I imagined my house would look like when I grew up. My dream house, if you will.



Sometimes I was inspired by houses in magazines, or even my neighbors' house across the street from ours like this one:

Looking back I remember I was obsessed with tall, Arched windows. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? If not, see the drawing below. Or all of these for that matter.

I even imagined little suburban neighborhoods with cute houses and people jogging or walking their dogs outside. 

I wanted to live in a beautiful, new housing addition. But one where every house had their own unique style and personality. (And lots of windows everywhere.)

You can definitely tell which are my older drawings - they're a little less detailed, less realistic, and look a lot more "cartoon-like." --

I even drew my dream house layout. Complete with an indoor basketball court and in-ground pool. I'm guessing I was around 13 when I drew this. Yep, I was this kid:



A lot of the names and labels are hard to see in this picture, but I pretty much laid out a whole quiet little town here:

And this looks like a town straight out of the 1800's....I'm sure I was looking at pictures of those little miniature Christmas villages or something when I drew this:

All of those drawings are of house exteriors, but I definitely drew a lot of interiors too. I dreamed about being an interior designer in junior high and high school, and I used magazines for a lot of my inspiration. I constantly looked at my grandma's Good Housekeeping and Country Living magazines, and even the huge JC Penney catalogs, and drew rooms that looked like they came straight from their pages.

The funny thing is that I remember my grandma's ginormous drawer full of scratch paper, which actually came from my aunt, who was a third grade teacher. The leftover sheets of paper from her classroom went straight here for scratch paper. I drew on the back of Multiplication worksheets, coloring pages...even when I was at home I would draw on the back of church bulletins. And if you look closely at this drawing below, you can see an outline of Barney in a top hat on the other side. Classic. :)

Again with the arched windows...obsessed, I tell you.


I was also very much obsessed with candles. I swore that when I "grew up," my house would be full of candles. And of course they would be lit at all times. :)

I very much dreamed about having a deck someday to watch the sunset from, too.

Finally, I drew pictures of what I wanted to be like when I grew up and had my own house. What my house would be like, what I would be doing....

It was apparent from the start that I WOULD have a dog. That dog in the drawing above resembles Saleen a little, don't you think? Ok, maybe not. :)

Of course I would be an interior designer, or fashion designer, or some kind of glamorous, creative job. Well, I wouldn't say I'm that far off but I think I have a ways to go yet.

 

It's fun to look back at when I imagined what my "grown up" life would be like. Now it's right here in front of me and my dreams have kind of been replaced by reality. I'm here trying to fix up a century-old house into the house of my dreams, which almost seems impossible most days. It is what it is, right?

One Year From Today

One year from today I will marry my best friend.

On August 15, 2015, Trent and I will say 'I do' at a place that has quickly stolen our hearts.

We've fallen in love with the beautiful Historic Quarters One on the Rock Island Arsenal, and I cannot wait to create and share in the memories of our perfect day next year.

It is an absolutely gorgeous place with its elegant halls in the mansion and perfect sunsets by the river. I have a feeling that when we're old and gray we will continue to visit from time to time and look back on what will soon become the best day of our lives.

                    

I cannot wait to marry him one year from today. :)

Grill Makeover

It's finally time to post our Grill makeover! Another one of Trent's DIY projects. It's been a month or so since Trent sprayed on the first coat of high heat black paint on the old charcoal grill that Trent's friend Sean gave us. All that was left was another coat, some poly on the wooden pieces, and a few finishing touches. Now, it's finally complete, and here's the Before and After:

When Sean gave the grill to us, here's what it looked like:

Not terrible, still usable. But it needed a little sprucing up. A few coats of paint later:

And some Poly on the wooden side tray and handle:

Plus spraying the metal accessory tray out front a metallic color, and reattaching the emblem...here he is after his little makeover:

He looks all shiny and new now! (update - Trent thinks the grill should be referred to as a 'she', so my bad...SHE looks all shiny and new now. Geesh!)

Here are a couple of detail shots for ya....





I love revamping things with a little paint and making them look brand new again.

It's nice to have little side projects to work on throughout the summer to take our minds away from larger issues like the basement/ basement door and the foundation! I think we have enough large house projects to last twenty years....