Kenley’s Oh So Pink Bathroom

A couple of ~~weeks~~ months ago, we decided it was time to work on Kenley’s bathroom. Of the four bathrooms in the house, we had already completed the pool bathroom (now Crosby’s bathroom) and our guest bathroom upstairs. We kept putting off working on it for one reason or another, but her bathroom had definitely seen better days. At some point, Greg grabbed her towel bar for balance and ended up pulling it off the wall, leaving a big hole that needed to be patched. It was high time to do something to it! I am hesitant to show the before picture, but full disclosure, here it is…

We asked her what paint color she wanted and she chose pink. I had a feeling that would be the answer, so I already had been getting some ideas of what I thought she would like.

Greg did all of the painting, installed crown molding, framed the mirror, installed the new light and all of the new hardware. Most importantly, he not only fixed her toilet, but all of the other toilets in the house, which seems crazy to be excited about such a thing, but they now all flush properly. It’s the little things, you know?

Majority of the supplies Greg needed were from Lowe’s. The paint color is Valspar Oh So Pink, the light is allen + roth Merington, and the hardware is Moen Caldwell (on clearance!). Majority of the finishing touches I picked up were from Target. The floral shower curtain and striped rug are from Pillowfort and shower curtain hooks are from Threshold.

I knew it would look better once we put in some time and effort, but I am amazed with how different it looks now that we are all done! I am so happy with it and now I’m wondering why it took so long to do it.

9Jun2016

Pool Installation – 2015

Posted in House Tour, Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

It’s been one year since we filled up the pool and I have yet to post any pictures of the process. It was leading up to Memorial Day last year that we were so hopeful to have our inaugural swim over the long weekend, but it wasn’t quite ready for us at that point. The following week, we filled up the pool and have been enjoying it ever since.

In February 2015, we had our landscaper come out to clear away the existing trees, bushes, and pavers that were there when we purchased the house. He was going to reuse them on other projects which was better than having someone else simply demolish the backyard and not save anything.

Untitled

The work on the pool officially began in March. The initial progress at first was very deceiving. A lot of different things happened in the first few weeks that led us to believe that the pool was going to be done in a month…which we knew wasn’t true, but it was exciting to see so much progress so quickly. By mid April, progress had slowed down immensely. There were many moving parts and many different entities that had to come out for their respective jobs, such as plumbing, tiling, paving, etc. Towards the end, we would see progress for a few straight days, then nothing would happen for a few more days. Once we got into May, the entire backyard was starting to take shape and we were just excited to be able to envision the end product.

While we’ve been enjoying the pool, we’ve also been making our outdoor space a little bit more cozy. We spend a lot of time out there, so want to keep it nice and functional.

Untitled

Throughout the process, Greg took a picture every time there was progress made on the pool, which you can see in the video clip or you can view the entire album. We also have another miscellaneous album of more detailed pictures of the progress.

We’re ready to jump in to another fun summer!

10Dec2015

Pinterest Christmas: DIY Cookies in a Jar

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

I am finally here to share my first Pinterest Christmas project with you!

This year, I made (actually, I am in the process of making) cookies in a jar for the teachers at the kids’ school. I went with the Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie because I asked Greg and our friend Ryan what cookie they would prefer to receive as a gift and the answer was “oatmeal”. I figured the cranberry white chocolate makes it a little more festive since this is a Christmas gift. I found the recipe through Pinterest (obviously) from Thrify Jinxy.

Here are all of the ingredients and supplies needed:

I got majority of my ingredients at Aldi (which is another blog post for another day) except for the brown sugar since they didn’t have any. The 32 ounce ball jars were purchased at Ace Hardware for $10 for a case of 12! Do not purchase these from your local craft store… they are way more expensive. Michael’s had them priced at $3 PER JAR!

My original game plan was to do one ingredient at a time over several jars, but after I made the first complete jar, I just continued to go one jar at a time. Here are a few things I learned from the process —

I do not own an 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon, so I eyeballed the measurement using my 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon.

You will make a mess in the process and if you have little ones, they will want to help, which means they will want to eat all of your white chocolate chips.

Once you start adding in the ingredients, you may think they aren’t all going to fit in the jar, but it really ends up fitting perfectly every single time.

The layers of your jars though will not be perfect. I know, this was a hard one for me to swallow, but some of my jars looked better than others. Live with it!

I really love how they turned out! I am planning to add a little ribbon with the instructions for baking tied on to them, but right now, I just like to admire my hard work. I definitely recommend these cookies in a jar if you are still thinking about giving some homemade gifts this year!

***

Don’t forget to link up to the Pinterest Christmas 2015 linky party with your Christmas crafts the entire month of December. Click the link below to add your blog link!

Also, don’t forget to check out what Misha is crafting over at Emerald City Diaries!

18Dec2014

diy Christmas ornaments + decor

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

This week I’m sharing a hodge podge of different little crafts I did to decorate this season. You know how much I love to make ornaments, so I continued that tradition this year. After finding this adorable fabric scrap ornament, I dug up a pack of styrofoam balls that I had purchased way back for probably a very good reason, which I cannot remember now. I also had a little bit of scrap fabric left over from my Christmas garland I made last year, so this project was a freebie! I started with the ribbon and a stick pin so I could hang my ornament. I then cut the fabric into (approximately) one inch squares and started poking them into the styrofoam ball. The fabric stuck on its own, so I didn’t need any pins. I would imagine you could use any tool that has a sharp point. I ended up using a this little cleaning gadget that came with my sewing machine. I love how it turned out and I definitely want to make more in the future.

The other ornament I made this year was Crosby’s birth announcement ornament! Misha also made one for Eloise and did a little tutorial on it, so check that out here!

This year I felt like I needed more festive decor for our TV unit in the family room. I had my eye on these waterless snow globes and felt like they would be perfect. I picked up a few extra Ball jars at Jo-Ann Fabrics (they also make smooth edge jars too!), as well as the fake snow. I found the trees on Amazon for $12. The small globes are candle votives that weren’t getting used in the house, so I decided to use them. I used the flat lids of two other Ball jars and attached them to the votives with spray adhesive. They look great from a distance, but not the best up close. I should have spray painted the lids white, but I’m not losing any sleep over it. They look great where they are!

Along with the snow globes, made a little festive vase. The (p)inspiration came from these JOY bottles and I just modified it a little bit. If Santa were to bring me a Cricut machine for Christmas, you will probably be seeing these JOY bottles again next year. For this project, I used one of the many frappucino bottles I have tucked away and painted it with the frosted glass spray paint. I put three rubber bands around the bottom of the bottle to make three stripes. I filled the bottom of the bottle with fake snow and put in two stem of cranberries.

Thanks for keeping up with our Pinterest Christmas projects this season. For more projects and inspiration, check out the other blogs in the A Pinterest Christmas series [Emerald City Diaries | Greg & Maggi | The Gilbertson Family | The Pena Family | This Grey House | Without A Doubt]. Share your Pinterest Christmas projects with us! Comment on one of our blogs, link back to a post, or use #PinterestChristmas2014 on Instagram!

11Dec2014

diy gift wrap cart

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

Leading up to Christmas, I had been wanting to get my gift wrapping essentials in order and under control. They were all thrown into our “junk room” and were in complete disarray. I would have loved to have a dedicated space in the house for gift wrapping, but I knew it probably wasn’t feasible, nor the smartest use of space since most of my gift wrapping happens in the last three months of the year. The inspiration for the gift wrap cart came from Pinterest, of course, and Ana White. I also found a similar cart sold at Crate & Barrel this season!

Greg had the day off on Friday, so he got to work on this project for me. He says that his way of relaxing and enjoying a day to himself is by building things in the peace and quiet, so I take full advantage of this! He followed the supplies list and instructions from Ana White and put it all together without any problems. Since he put it together, he has thought of some things that he would have done differently in the process.

The top tray holds my scissors, tape, pen, and gift tags. The middle shelf holds the smaller gift bags, as well as tissue paper; and the bottom shelf has boxes and bows. Eventually, I may have him put another hook on the opposite side if I keep acquiring more gift bags.

I plan to keep the cart in our office, so I can swap out the holiday gift wrap for birthday and seasonal gift wrap during the year and have everything at my fingertips if I need it. You know how much I love organization, so now that this area is organized, I am thrilled!

For more projects and inspiration, check out the other blogs in the A Pinterest Christmas series [Emerald City Diaries | Greg & Maggi | The Gilbertson Family | The Pena Family | This Grey House | Without A Doubt]. Share your Pinterest Christmas projects with us! Comment on one of our blogs, link back to a post, or use #PinterestChristmas2014 on Instagram!

2Dec2014

diy advent calendar

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

Welcome to week one of Pinterest Christmas!

Greg and I have been searching for the perfect advent calendar since last Christmas. I couldn’t break down to spend a lot of money on the one I really loved and it eventually sold out. We searched this year for one that we could do ourselves and I am so happy we did! Our inspiration came from Our Vintage Home Love and her inspiration came from Pottery Barn, so of course it was right up our alley.

Four 1×3 boards, 6 feet long
One 1×2 board for the trim
Stain
Maze nails, 2 1/2 inches
Two 12 pack mini metal buckets
Chalkboard stickers

The long 1×3 boards were cut down to make seven 34 inch smaller boards. Greg used the Kreg jig and made pocket holes to join the boards. He used the 1×2 as the trim and used the nail gun to attach the trim.

Before we stained the boards, we measured where to hang the nails for the buckets, which was the hardest part of the whole project. We tried to make it as accurate as possible by laying out the buckets to get a general idea where the nails would be. Once we had the buckets laid out, we marked the board with a pencil. Greg pre-drilled the holes to make the nails fit easier and to ensure the boards did not split when we hammered in the nails. Once the holes were drilled, it was on to the stain. We already had a can of stain from previous projects that we used to stain the boards.

After the stain was dry, we hammered in the nails. I added the chalkboard stickers to the buckets and wrote the numbers, then it was time to hang the buckets!

I am so happy with how it turned out. It has a great rustic feel to it and I know it will be used for many years to come. I wasn’t sure where we would put it once it was done, but we have the perfect spot for it in our entry way.

I am also thrilled and so thankful that the advent calendar is featured in the holiday issue of The Moms Magazine that came out last week! I shared the list of the fun, family friendly activities that we are using to fill the buckets over on Orlando Moms Blog, so be sure to check that out too!

26Mar2014

A Place to Play // Photo Tour

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

I’ll share more about this extensive project next week!

15Jan2014

{diy} barn door

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

If you would have told me two months ago that I would be telling you about a barn door my husband built, I would have laughed out loud. Then there was this day he came home and told me he was going to build a barn door. I brushed it off and immediately thought of other projects I would rather get done first. Little did I know, the wheels were already in motion and this project was a go.

Let’s rewind. The kids’ bedrooms are right off the kitchen and we had talked about how we wanted something there to divide the space, more so to act as a sound barrier. We love hosting parties and get-togethers, so we figured it would be used for many years to come. Our initial thought was to install a pocket door, but the door frame would have to go inside the wall that houses the pipes for the laundry room sink. We quickly realized that this would be a much bigger (and more costly) project than we wanted. One that would require hiring someone to move pipes, tear apart the wall, then install the door. No thank you.

[[ laundry room on left / kenley’s room ahead ]]

[[ kitchen ahead ]]

[[ kids’ rooms on right // guest bathroom straight ahead ]]

[[ kids’ rooms on left ]]

I had put this project out of my head while Greg was busy thinking up a solution….and then it came to him: a sliding barn door. After doing some research, he came to the conclusion that installing a barn door would address the issue of separation and sound while also being more cost effective and significantly easier to install. Not to mention it would look awesome too (hopefully).

As usual, Greg looked on Craigslist to find a beat up door that he could re-purpose to fit our needs but there wasn’t much out there. There are websites that sell custom-built barn doors but we needed an 8′ door because of the arched opening and those aren’t cheap. Greg then began researching tirelessly on how to build one. One of the pros to building our own door was that we could pick the stain color to match the wine rack to maintain some uniformity throughout the house.

Once he knew he could do it, Greg drew up the specs and headed to Lowe’s for the supplies.
For the door:
2 – 1 x 10 x 8 piece of wood
7 – 1 x 6 x 8 piece of wood
1 – 1 x 3 x 8 piece of wood
2 – 1 x 12 x 4 piece of wood
Wood glue
Stain
Wood & pipe clamps (borrowed)

…and so it began…

Greg divided the door build in half to make the gluing more manageable, once both halves were dry, he glued the two pieces together. To keep the boards flush while gluing, he clamped the door with six clamps and two pipe clamps and used cauls (crosspieces shown above). He worked on gluing the boards over several days since he had to wait for the glue to dry before moving on to the next step. Once it was a complete door, he began sanding and staining the wood over the course of several days. Once one side was complete, he and my dad flipped the door over so he could work on the backside. Once both sides were sanded and stained, he added the trim pieces for the door.

We chose to get the barn door hardware from Rustica Hardware, specifically this one. We figured it was worth the money to get a nice track system since the door will be used so often. It’s amazing how easy the door slides for how heavy it is.
Kenley can open and close it with no problem.

The finished product…

Greg installed a small track on the tile for the door to slide in, so it will stay flush against the wall while sliding. I don’t think this is entirely necessary, but since we have small kids, we figured it was a good idea just in case someone were to push on the door from the backside.

The door handles were purchased from Amazon: Large Pull and Flush Pull.

This project was very labor intensive but overall not too difficult given all of the research he did and the videos he watched. It took about two weeks to complete but most of that was down time since we had to wait for the glue and strain to dry after each step. It was nice that he decided to do it over Christmas break while my parents were in town, both to help with the kids and to help carry and hang the door. We definitely benefited from having two extra sets of hands around.

I will be the first to admit that I had doubts about this project, so I can honestly say that I am blown away by how awesome this door is.
I also cannot believe that Greg BUILT A DOOR!
It works wonderfully and looks so freaking awesome (if I do say so myself).

If you have questions regarding anything about this project, leave them in the comments, or you can shoot me an email!

21Nov2013

Home Sweet Home :: One Year

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

One year ago today we packed up a truck (three times) and moved just under two miles down the road.
To be honest, I really can’t believe we’ve only been in our house for just one year.
Especially considering that we now have two kids here, instead of just one!

I know I’ve mentioned this several times, but when we moved into our house,
every single wall was a cream color. The bank came in and freshened up, which was awesome,
but it was just very plain. Each time we added color to one room, we wanted to keep going
because it made such a big difference! Here is a rundown on what we’ve done over the past year.

We first started with Kenley’s room and added the DIY faux wainscoting. She transitioned into her new room
beautifully and now I’m realizing that I haven’t shared her room since we’ve moved her to a toddler bed.
I will post pictures of her true toddler room in the next couple of weeks.

Very early on, Greg tackled the ceiling in our family room. He painted and added crown molding to our coffered ceilings.

We updated several aspects of the kitchen, including the big hole/cutout in the wall, horrible pantry door, and the island.
Later on, we also added more modern hardware. You can read about the updates here and here.

The office was turned into an office / craft room combo room.

We updated the upstairs guest bathroom by painting the cabinets and framing the mirror.

Greg did a complete overhaul on the downstairs bathroom by adding beadboard, crown molding,
a new light fixture, the framed mirror, and bright orange paint!

The laundry room also got a complete overhaul from the paint color, light fixture,
drying racks, and storage, to painting the counter top.

Since we were adding another member to our family, we got to do another nursery!
I will share more pictures of Crosby’s room once he’s officially moved into that room.

We have also done a few other projects here and there that I haven’t shared yet.
Michael & Greg painted our master bedroom and master bath, and Greg painted the cabinets.
We also had the rest of the inside lower level of the house painted, as well as the exterior.
After much debate, we opted to hire help for that job since there was so much left to do,
and after it was all done, we were so happy with that decision.

In the immediate future, my goal for the holiday break is to complete the upstairs loft / playroom,
so I will hopefully be sharing that project after the first of the year.

In the not-so-immediate future, there are still several other projects that we’ll be working on,
so stay tuned!

Happy one year anniversary to our house that we’re making a home.

13Nov2013

LÄTT hack

Posted in Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

Every time I go to IKEA, I look at the LÄTT table and chairs in the children’s section.
I have no idea why I had been mulling over it for so long considering the entire
set is a whopping $20, but I had. Finally, I was at IKEA by myself a couple months ago
and I sent Greg a picture (like he had never seen it before), to get his opinion.
He said he thought it looked cheap… my response… it is. It’s $20.
Needless to say, I got it and I’m so happy I did!

[Source]

I got the idea to hack it from my friend Sally who recently transformed
her table and chairs for her two kiddos. Kenley had used it a couple times, so I knew it would be perfect.
There are a million and one ideas out there on how to hack a LÄTT table (seriously, Google it),
but here is what we decided on.

Paint

We used Silver Fox Flat Valspar spray paint and it took just under two full cans for both of the chairs and the table.
We decided on the color while we were standing in the aisle at Lowe’s,
so there was really no rhyme or reason as to why we chose that specific one other than the fact that it’s pretty!
Greg ended up spray painting the pieces prior to putting it together so the hardware didn’t get painted.

Chairs

I had received a shower gift that was wrapped in this navy blue fabric
and had added the fabric to my stash. When I went looking through it,
I thought navy would look pretty with the light blue color and went with it.
I believe the fabric was purchased at Joann’s.

I cut a small square of fabric out without measuring and wrapped three sides of the chair.
I already had a huge bag of fiber stuffing from a previous project,
so I stuffed it into the opening on the chair to make it soft and padded.
Then, I wrapped the final side of the chair and put it into the frame.
This part was tricky and definitely took two people to maneuver the fabric and cardboard seat into the chair to put it together.
I didn’t worry about the underneath of the chair, nor did I glue down the excess fabric.
I just trimmed off what I could after the chair was put back together and left it.
It’s not pretty on the bottom, but it works.

Table

Sally suggested looking on the Paper Source for gift wrap to use on the top of the table.
They have such cute designs and I immediately fell in love.
I also soon found another hack where they used a giant map that I liked;
ironically, it was also wrapping paper from the Paper Source.
Seeing it on another table helped me decide on the Cavallini World Map.
The gift wrap was larger than the table top, so I trimmed around the map so it would fit.
I chose not to mod podge it down so I could change it out later if I wanted to.
To protect the table and gift wrap, we laid a piece of 18×24 plexiglass on top.
The four corners had to be trimmed out a little bit for it to fit, but it works great!