Laundry Room Lifesaver

When you come through our back door, you walk into a little mud room/laundry area. Up until recently, I had NO counter space in there. I just had a small shelf and the tops of my appliances. Boo! Young House Love gave me the great idea of putting a board on top of our washer and dry to create a nice surface. They went a few steps further and put blinds to hide shelving and even put some art. Looks nice, doesn't it?



Now, I haven't done anything that drastic (yet), but let me tell you, having this new counter space has been AMAZING. Having a place to put the basket and place to fold clothes...Heavenly.

To begin this simple project, Adam and I stopped by Lowe's and found a piece of wood, with the top covered in white laminate. The bottom of the piece was chipped, so Adam asked for a discount. We got the whole laminate board for $8. He then cut the board to fit in our space. We laid down a non-slip mat meant for a rug on top of the washer/dryer. (This protects your appliances as well as keeps your board in place). And ta-da! You have a nice counter space! I bought 2 small baskets for $5 to keep laundry supplies and Sawyer's treats/daily walk supplies.

(Yes, that shelf is hung incorrectly. Some day we'll fix it!)

The bonus of this space? It's also great to work on larger scale projects. My craft desk isn't quite big enough for things like wrapping presents, so this space doubles as a craft area.
Next time we get out the white paint (hopefully when we start painting the bathroom, we'll paint that edge to give it a more finished look.

Have a happy weekend! I'll be posting our experience with the gutter shelves Monday!

Have You Noticed A Theme Yet...

...I love dresses. I used to wear them every day in the summer! I'm always drawn to dresses online or in the store. You may have noticed from all the posts on dresses by now.

Today, I hopped over to one of Cjane's blogs, and saw she posted about eShatki. She mentioned they made completely customizable dresses. Sleeves/no sleeves, v-neck/round neck, shorter/longer, bigger here/smaller there...you get the idea. Well, that's neat and all, but all I could guess when I clicked the link was that I could not afford a $200 customized dress.

Except...I only saw 2 digits in the price. Most of the dresses are between $39 and $59 dollars. What?! They do charge a $15 fee if you want to customize, but really?! A dress that could be made completely for me for less than $80. That's pretty good. Especially if you had a wedding or event to attend! Plus, they have tops, bottoms, accessories, etc. And it's all very cute. I think that I will pick out a dress to reward myself post-pregnancy.


Love this yellow dress.
Maybe put an elbow lenth sleeve on this one?!

Or maybe even this yellow one?

Check it out here.

Traditions, Traditions

Last week, on Etsy's front page, I spotted this adorable Love plate. Besides being a cute Valentine's Day gift, it reminded me of something I have been thinking about lately. With our baby's birth coming soon, and Adam's birthday in 2 weeks, I've been thinking a lot about family traditions. Adam and I have already started a few of our own, but I've been thinking about other fun traditions we could start now that we'll have a little one. I read somewhere in the blogosphere about having a special plate designated for each person in the family. The plate gets used only on certain occasions, like birthdays or if they accomplish something special, etc. I'm thinking that might be something fun one to start.

{More of Nina in Vorm's custom plates}

I want to continue my Mom's tradition of making every little holiday special. Every Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, or whatever little holiday it happened to be, we found a card, themed socks or a shirt, and some kind of accessory at the breakfast table. It wasn't about being an extravagant gift, but just a little something to show us that she loved us. Each half birthday, she would make a few cupcakes for us...again, just to let us know she was thinking about us. Little traditions like that are some of my favorite memories of childhood!

So now I'm asking you...Do you have any fun family traditions you would like to share? I would love some more ideas!

Gutter Bookshelves

We're hoping to tackle the gutter bookshelves today! I want to put 2 small shelves below the window in the nursery. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here are some pictures to help you get the idea. Forward facing books are much more appealing to kids and are a great way to encourage reading!

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This Poor Guy...

...is in for a real shock. His world is about to be turned upside down. Let's just hope he adjusts well!

Somebody Stop Me...

...from buying this duvet cover. The nice sunny weather these past 2 days has made me all antsy for spring. I saw this Pottery Barn duvet cover and fell in love. So bright and cheery...plus the light blue and brown coordinate already with our room. I have always wanted to change out our bedding for spring/summer. It's on sale for $79, but I just can't seem to justify it. I'm hoping it gets sold out soon so the temptation subsides!

The Nursery

After lots of broken promises, I am FINALLY posting these. It's not 100% finished, but close enough that I feel comfortable revealing it! I'll try to do a breakdown of the things in the room in case you're curious.

A few before pictures. As a disclaimer: We were using this as our "closet" because we were preparing to fix our closet. Hence the mess! Well, let's be honest, this was always our "junk room".


And now, here it is as a nursery:

A peek in from the doorway. I am SO glad we got the rug in a bigger size. The room was an addition at some point and they apparently didn't care about the wooden floor in there because it is the WORST flooring job in the world. Plus, it will be great for her to have carpet to play on since most of our house had wooden floors.


Here is a before of the smaller dresser. This picture actually makes it look better than it was. It was really chipped and those gold knobs had to go!
And here is the dresser now!


The bedding is completely done, except I need to bind the edges of the quilt. I loved making it and it was much easier than I expected!

The bookshelf before:

And after:
Most of the items on the bookshelf are from a box of my things from growing up that my Dad brought up to us. (My Mom is jealous right now reading this, because she has about 8 boxes of stuff she wishes she could bestow upon us!)

The closet Adam and my Dad built. I want to put little stuffed animals on the top with their legs dangling. I just have to actually get some little creatures first!


Next to the squirrel print I'll hang the cute wooden clock once I get around to ordering it.

Now for the details:

The $5 lamp before (well in progress anyway):
And after:



This cat came from our trip to Mexico and the plate was a gift from my Mom from The Children's Place.

LOVE the little boots from Peekaboo Monkey.

I printed various "r's" on cardstock and painted some wooden frames I had on hand.

Here is the vintage ebay light after it has been spray painted brown and given a new chain and wire. I love this light!

A cute little dress and my Snoopy apron from my own childhood. Hooks are from Pier One.

The art piece above the crib. I got this idea from this post on Design Sponge. It's made from toilet paper/paper towel rolls. There is always the worry about hanging something above the crib in case it falls...well this is perfect. I think a blanket would be heavier! I'm thinking I'm going to add even more to it. I love the look.

Wooden blocks I made that spell out her name.

My best friend Mary knitted this blanket as a wedding gift. I think it is one of the coolest presents I have ever gotten. I know it took her forever and I'm so happy that it has a perfect home in this room!

Print on the left from Heather and her husband's Etsy shop and the print on the right was actually part of my baby shower invite. My friend Melanie designed it. There will be 2 smaller prints underneath the brown frame that I have yet to put up.

Anthropologie knobs.

My friend Jess made this magnet board for me as a shower gift. She had asked me before the shower for my extra fabric and she surprised me by using it on the board. It looks great!

All but one of these books are from my childhood. Can you tell my favorite color was always green?

And a final breakdown with the costs (I always like to see the breakdown on sites like YoungHouseLove so I thought I would do the same). When I would see nurseries on OhDeeDoh, I couldn't believe how much some of them cost. Under $1000 was considered budget friendly...And now I know why! It really can be an expensive little room. It was my goal to spend under $1000 and we did it! We could've saved even more if we had gone with a used crib, but I fell in love with the one we got. Everything else I think was a pretty good deal. It just adds up so quickly!

Crib: Babyletto Modo Crib $300 (on sale + free shipping)
Dressers: Refinished KSL dresser set $100 (it also came with a cool standing mirror)
Rocker: Dorel Rocker w/ Slipcover $230
Dresser Knobs: Anthropologie $48 (total splurge, but I love them)
Lamp: Craigslist find $5
Ceiling Light: ebay $30
Pillows: Green, Tan and Brown $5 from Burlington Coat and Green Pattern from Target $5 (both on sale)
Rug: Pottery Barn $149 (after using gift cards)
Hooks: Pier One $12
Frames: All were frames we already owned.
Art: Kantan Designs Pray Print $5 (on sale), Owl Print by MMBurk (gift), Squirrel print from CacheCache $2.50
Curtains: Target $18 (I got one of the panels on sale because the packaging was ripped)
Paint: Glidden Celery Sticks $30
Fabric: $60 Various Etsy/Local Shops

Total: $999.50
Just barely under! And there you have it!

Is This Where I Turn Into A Mommy Blogger?!

I can't believe I'm posting this, BUT I think it's too great of a deal to not share for all you moms with kids in diapers. Currently online Target is having a diaper/wipes/baby toiletries sale. If you buy 3 products you get 10% off, and 4 or more you get 15% off. Plus, here's a code for you to get an extra 10% off: URTYJLI8. Additionally, they're "Up" brand diapers are on sale for $6.49 for a 56 ct. box. I've heard good and bad about the brand, but for about $5 with the discounts, I figure I'll give them a shot. And to top it all off? Free shipping. 5 boxes of diapers, 1 box of 512 wipes all for $37.55. Not bad at all!

And since it's semi-related. Here I am, full term, at 37 weeks. Little girl is free to come at any time! (You can sneak a peek behind me at the nursery.) Nursery reveal...TOMORROW! Woohoo!

Pinstripe and Plaid

Most of you probably know Adam is finishing up his degree in Business. He decided last semester that his emphasis would be Entrepreneurship. He is currently in a class where his first assignment is to start a business. His grade for this assignment depends upon how much he makes compared to his classmates. Now, as someone with a teaching degree, I am cringing inside just typing that. There are soooo many reasons why I think that is absurd. (But don't even get me started on some of his other professors...like his HR professor that has each student create a blog and write an "emotional response" after each chapter in the textbook. Yes I said textbook. Textbook?! Seriously? Since when is the purpose of a textbook to elicit an emotional response? Since NEVER.) Anyway, I digress....

When thinking about what to do, he brainstormed ideas for a business that he and I would both enjoy and that we could continue beyond the few weeks of this project. One of Adam's favorite presents from Christmas was a few pairs of handmade cufflinks that I made. If you know Adam, you know he loves cufflinks. He wears them to church on Sunday and several times during the week with a shirt and jeans. So, this seemed like the perfect venture for us.

We came up with Pinstripe and Plaid...Our own little Etsy with handmade cufflinks. So, since it is approaching Valentine's Day, I thought I would share these on the blog in case you have a loved one who might like something like this! There are tons of different colors and patterns to choose from and we will be updating our shop soon with even more!


We have twill cufflinks in just about every color!


And tons in cool patterns like these!

Bathroom Inspiration Board

We are literally sooo close to finishing up the nursery (have you heard that same thing before?). But seriously, almost done! We are putting on all of the final touches and are waiting on our rug!

Now, we're on to our next project. I really didn't think we would tackle sprucing up our "master bath", but we've had some amazing deals fall into our hands, so I couldn't resist. I've been dreaming of fixing it up for quite some time and I'm excited that it's really happening. The major eye sore in the bathroom is the sink area. The sink's pipes are all exposed and there is no vanity. The mirror is blah and the light, ugh, I hate that light with a passion (it doesn't help that it's falling out of the wall). It's pretty much the only room we haven't painted so it's still that strange green color.

Some ugly before pictures:

(I swear I just cleaned my mirror!)

Here is an inspiration board with a breakdown of the expected costs:



1. The bathroom already has trim running at about a quarter of the way up the wall. We've decided to paint the top portion white (with leftover paint we already have) and the lower portion a light blue/green color called Water Mark from Behr. Coral will be our accent color. I had been looking at the coral fabric pictured online. The cheapest I found it was for $15 a yard. On a recent stop to Joann's, I found the exact fabric on clearance. I got 2.5 yards for $5!
Paint: $20
Fabric:$5

2. I'll be making 3 art prints to go above our towel rod. I already have extra frames I can use and I'll just print them at home.
Art: FREE

3. I found these coral tea light holders and coral decor piece on Amazon. We happen to have a gift card to Amazon (thanks Comcast).
Accessories: FREE

4. We already have nice white towels and an accent towel in the blue/green color. I want to order a coral print hand towel from Pottery Barn. We also have a gift card for Pottery Barn, so again, no cost!
Towels: $0

5. I found this light on Overstock for only $39.99. We have a code for free shipping. It's not the most exciting light ever, but it will look nice and get the job done. Plus anything is better than the hideous gold fixture currently falling off my wall.
Lighting: $39.99

6. A new mirror! The one we have right now, besides being boring, is very wide. Which as you may guess, makes you look very wide. Which isn't that fun when you're pregnant. I avoid that mirror like the plague. We lucked out at Home Depot and found a mirror for $19, yes really $19. All it needs is some white paint to disguise its fake gold rustic color.
Mirror: $19

7. Again, cashing in on our Amazon gift card, I found this faucet for $44.95 plus free shipping.
Faucet: $0

8. Now, HERE is the most exciting part, for us at least. Our bathroom is a weird T-shape. The sink is stuck at the top of the "T" in between 2 doors. This means that there is not a lot of room for a vanity or sink, without have to shimmy around it. Well, Home Depot had a vanity + sink combo that is the PERFECT size. It is not very deep, so we won't have to shimmy anymore, but the sink part is wider and actually has space for us to place things. And the best part of it all, it was on sale for $70! I can't find a picture of the one we actually bought, but the one pictured is very close, except our sink is more round and has more room on it. The one pictured is actually listed on Home Depot for over $400! Yikes! I'll be using the coral fabric to make a little curtain to hide the bottom shelf.
Vanity/Sink Combo: $70!!!

9. We already own the rugs, shower curtain and other bath accessories in the right colors so again, we're not spending money.
Other Accessories: $0.

Estimated Total Cost: $153.99

Pretty good I think, seeing as a vanity alone is usually more than that!