Scariest Water Heater on the Block

I don't know why my boys are a bit cautious when they step into our basement laundry room...


...it's not like they're immediately greeted by the most bizarrely frightening warning label ever, or anything.

Poor stick man.

Is that normal, or did the company that made my water heater employ a particularly twisted artist?

{P.S. My stairs are being featured over at Ucreate today! If you've never been to Kari's fabulous site, hop over there and check it out... she highlights some of the best stuff on the web, it's definitely the place to be if you want to get great ideas!}

Painted Stair Runner {Reveal}

I'm so very excited!

They're done, they're done!

Remember how unfortunate my stairwell used to be?

I think it looks so much better now... 

Ignore the green walls. One project at a time, you know?  

This was my inspiration photo:

via Pottery Barn "Kids' Rooms"

And here is the final product...

I love how the faux stair skirt lends a crisp look to the space, and I think all that ridiculous taping (hours of my life, people!) paid off. 

I also adore how the painted runner turned out. Yellow can be such a tricky color, but I am head over heels in love with this one -- it's a warm muted gold, definitely not a school bus throwback.

And even though the teeny tiny dark stripes nearly gave me an ulcer and some gray hairs, I'm also really glad I took the time to tape, paint, re-tape, and patch them until my eyes crossed.

We're talkin' several-hours-on-my-hands-and-knees-using-a-baby-paintbrush patching.

Did I mention that I'm so, so, so excited that my life is back my stairs are done?

What exactly went into this project? Check it out:

New $10 Light Fixture

Wallpaper Removal

Patching & Texture

High-wire Painting & Painted Walls Reveal

Carpet/Linoleum Removal Part 1 and Part 2

Faux Stair Skirt

Painting & Taping

Also... here's a step-by-step of how I painted the runner, in case you needed to make one yourself!

Linking up to:

The Stories of A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Beneath My Heart, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Nest, Finding Fabulous, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots & Jello, SAS Interiors / Green Door Designs, Under The Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, The DIY Show Off,  Thrifty Decor Chick, Today's Creative Blog, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Elements Interiors, Shanty 2 Chic, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Centsational Girl, Decor Chick, The Art of Doing Stuff,

Home Stories A to Z, Not Just A Housewife

Decorating With... Mirrors

Happy Monday, friends! It's mirror time, and I do love them so. In fact, I couldn't pick just a few favorite examples so I decided to share a berzillion photos of mirrory fabulousness with you today.

 Mirrors have an almost magical quality -- they can seemingly enlarge tight spaces, brighten rooms that lack natural light, act as portable "windows" and create eye-catching focal points. Not to mention they allow you to check out your Heidi Klum-esque good looks before going out to one of your many soirées. That's why I like them so much, at least.  There are so many different ways to decorate with mirrors! Want to create an expansive, seamless look? Go frameless.  via Interior Alchemy Or maybe you need something that will make an statement? Find an ornately framed mirror and let it shine. via Country Living  You can incorporate mirrors into one of your gallery walls, or create a grouping of mirrors that can stand on its own...  via domino via Home Sweet Home
   via Design*Sponge (Side note: That last photo makes my heart go pitter patter. So. fab.) Make a bold statement and instantly expand your room by hanging or leaning an oversized mirror against a wall... via Interior Alchemy Double the size and light in your entry by using a well placed mirror... 

via Southern Living

...and use mirrors in your dining room to create some real drama (the good kind, no worries).

 via Lonny (Ahem. That dining room above is another major heart pounder for me. Love. it. !!!) Speaking of dining rooms, take an inexpensive over-the-door mirror and transform it into a table runner that can catch the candlelight at your next dinner party and cast a glow across the whole room. via Real Simple Think about what a mirror reflects and use it to highlight art, views through windows, or colors in a space.  via HGTV Just be careful about where you hang mirrors in bedrooms; make sure you're not reflecting your half-dressed self to your neighbors or passing cars.  See? I'm full of practical advice! Do you love mirrors like I love mirrors? Stand up and be proud -- displaying them throughout your home does not mean you're vain, it means you have good taste! Don't forget to come back next week for "Decorating With Storage!" Sharing this post at:Krafty Kat

The Stories of A to Z

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Are We There Yet: The Stairway Edition

After yesterday's sneak peek at the stairs, I began thinking that I actually needed to post an update since it's been a while. I don't want people thinking that I've stopped working! Heaven forbid. No way no how, friends. I'm hard at work, my knees are bruised and my spirit is dampened, but it is not crushed!

I will emerge victorious! Stupid stairs.

My original plan was to stop posting before I started painting, and a week later unleash the final product with a dramatic, "voila!" moment.

Yeah, well. That didn't really pan out. The gig is up. I am painting my stairs.

Here are some things I've learned from this project:

1. Paint every other step to maintain a basement escape route. Go back later and paint the other ones.
2. Lock your pets up beforehand to reduce the risk of paw prints in your primer.
3. Give yourself twice as much time as you originally estimated to finish the project. See #1.
4. Taping off stairs for painting is incredibly time consuming -- make sure to pay special attention to tricky corners (where the riser meets the tread, etc.) to reduce the risk of paint bleeding under the tape.
5. Painting over the painter's tape with the original color before you paint the stripe (yes people, I painted a stripe! So much for surprises. SIGH!)  is a great way to eliminate bleeding under the tape.
6. You can also use paint the tape with clear glaze to avoid bleeding -- mod podge is NOT an acceptable substitute, no matter how lazy/impatient/innovative you think you are. Go to the store.
7. Hire a professional Be patient. You can do this!

Seriously crossing my fingers that we'll have a reveal next week. Three... coats... of poly... this weekend. Blarg.

I'm a Squirrel

So far, my 2011 resolution of finishing what I start is not going exactly as planned... while I'm not completely deserting projects, the squirrel in me (lover of shiney new things) can't help but move on to the next project.

My stairs are still receiving attention, I promise. It is taking a lot longer than I thought it would, and if I dropped everything to obsess about them, my posts would be grinding to a halt right now!

Here's a sneak peek I shared on my facebook page yesterday though...

I'm nearing the home stretch but patience has never been one of my strong points. That is all I will say about that, lest I have a bloggy tantrum about how I think stairs might be the dumbest thing on the planet. And yes, I'm aware that it is a ridiculous statement to make.

So in true squirrel fashion, I wanted to share what I'm working on this morning!

This is my boys' closet. It's small and I want to make it a more efficient space for them to share.

Not to mention their silly little plastic drawers have been too small to house all their stuff for a year or so now... 

I was going to get them a used dresser to refinish, but I decided to build some cubbies instead. Whenever we do end up selling (which we have no plans to do anytime soon) I think a nicely designed closet will definitely be a notch in the 'pro' column for my cute little house anyway.  And when I found out how inexpensively I could fix this space up (especially since I would have had to purchase a dresser anyway), I was sold.

I can't wait to share the finish product sometime next week! I'm excited to take this step forward in my boys' room, which was on my to do list for 2011 anyway. Plus, the idea of an organized closet makes me a bit giddy... until I remember that I'm talking about my boys' closet, and it will never, ever, ever, stay organized.

Oh, boy. Boys.

Me vs. Wild

My husband spends approximately 40% of his free time trying to convince me to go camping. He talks about how fun and fabulous it would be. He makes elaborate plans, buys camping gear, and brainwashes talks to our boys about  it, too.

The problem is, there are a few reasons why I struggle with the idea of going on a real camping trip:

•   I've only been camping once before, and little green worms fell from the trees. I. am. serious.

• I'm a giant wuss.

• Tents offer no real protection from scary things like bears that want to eat me for dinner.

• I like plumbing, y'all. Showers and toilets are not optional

• Spiders are not okay in my world.

• I've watched too many Man vs. Wild episodes that involved eating horrible, horrible things when trapped in the wilderness.

• And I would undoubtedly get trapped somewhere, in the wilderness.

•  Would you want to be trapped in the wilderness with this??

• Did I already mention bears and wussiness? Because both of those apply.

Unfortunately, I don't know if I'm going to be able to avoid it this year -- I've given Mike my list of demands suggestions and what kind of mother would I be if I got in the way of good, old fashioned bear-snacking family fun?

Are any of you campers? Do you have any tips for me? Does dry shampoo really work? What can you do about falling worms?

Can't we just keep camping in the backyard and call it good??

 I guess a girl can always dream.

Decorating With... Books

It's time, it's time!

Pardon the fanfare, but today is the first post in my first series and I'm feeling like such a grown up blogger. Shh, don't tell anybody that it's not true.

I decided to start with one of my favorite things in the whole world: books. We go way back, books and I; many a nerdy afternoon of my tween years was spent pouring over the "Babysitter Club" series, and the mere mention of Mr. Darcy or even Mr. Rochester makes my heart skip a beat.  I love to read and I hope my children continue to share that love as they grow.

Source unknown

When you can't walk into a bookstore without taking advantage of those sneaky 'buy 2 get 1 free' book deals, those books will undoubtedly begin accumulating. You need to put them somewhere, and naturally you want them within easy reach for when you're jonesin' for your next Mr. Darcy fix... what to do? Incorporate them into your decorating, of course!

Source: Lonny

I think books in decor are the bee's knees, for a few reasons:

•  I love books and I believe in surrounding yourself with things you love.
• Books add warmth to spaces and lend them a homey feeling. When you look at a styled room in a Pottery Barn magazine, you see photo galleries and you see stacks of books. Whether or not you love and adore PB, you have to admit that their stylists excel at creating authentic, inviting, lived-in spaces -- and books are a great way to accomplish just that. 
• Books are so versatile! They come in every color and size imaginable, you can stick them on a shelf, stack them, or display them.
• Did I mention that I just love books? The feel of the pages, even the smell of them... yeah I'm a geek who will never, ever own an ereader, thankyouverymuch. Reading is a sensory experience for me, and I can't picture curling up in a cozy chair or in the bath with an LCD screen. 

Source: Selina Lake

There are tons of options when it comes to decorating with books. The obvious choice would be, "stick 'em on a bookshelf!" and that's great, but if you want them to add to your decor you need to be a bit pickier than that. For example, I do have a spot in my basement where I store the few books that I'm not keen to have on display (old anatomy workbooks, well loved Calvin & Hobbes comic books, my lone Nora Roberts trilogy... ya know. Those books.)

Source: HGTV

After you decide which books make the cut, then you can stick 'em on a bookshelf. Vary the heights of books next to each other, turn them on their sides and stack them horizonally, lean a grouping against the side of a shelf, and add decorative items for visual interest. Get creative! I've seen people cover all the books on a shelf with paper so they look the same, or group them by color like in the photo above.

I tend to be a bit more free and 'loosey goosey' (a technical term) with my books, but you should decorate your home in whatever style makes you happy. And rainbow shelves are definitely smile-inducing.

Source: BHG

Please don't stop at shelves, though; you can decorate with books in almost any room of your house! Display your cookbooks in open shelving in your kitchen, use them for height in a vignette in your living room, pile them in in a foyer or an unused corner of a staircase, use (carefully made) stacks as a table, or decorate your guest room with fun reads for visitors to peruse.

Source unknown

If you don't already decorate with books, try adding a few to your decor and see what it does for your home. You might be surprised!

Don't forget, next Monday is "Decorating With Mirrors!"

Linking up to:

The Stores of A to Z

Someday Crafts

The Shabby Nest

Spring Is Springing...

Yep, springing. Spring has not quite sprung yet, but it's working on it.

And it's about time. Oh, the perils of living in the land of perpetual winter. You can't get your hopes too high around these parts... Mother Nature likes to surprise us with snow storms in May. Now if it would just stop raining for more than 2 hours, I'd go outside and rake up all the muck under my trees. I can't wait to start muckraking. Hardy har har.

This will be the first spring at our house with grass in the backyard. Our backyard is small, but it's got lots of fabulous, big trees around the fenceline. Unfortunately, the acidic pine needles plus all that shade meant it wasn't the easiest place for grass to survive. Last spring it was a big mud patch, and coupled with our new mud-loving puppy... well, I wasn't the happiest of campers.

We made the tough decision to remove a tree that was toward the middle of the yard and shading everything out (I'm a big fan of trees... it was a sad day in my little world). We had the sprinklers worked on, added topsoil, and put in some sod.

And by we, I mean the handiest of hubbies.

I can't wait to get my hands dirty again this year... I always have a giant list of things I would love to accomplish both inside and outside the walls of my house. I'm not a particularly gifted gardener, but I'm not completely unfortunate either.

I'm interested in finding out... does your love of decorating and house-y things spill over into your outdoor living spaces and gardens?

Top o' the Mornin' to Ye

Are you wearing your green?

In honor of the holiday, please ready yourself for the best joke of all time:

What's Irish and stays out all night?

Ahem.

Paddy O'Furniture.

Heehee! Get it? Patio furniture? Of course you do. It's genius, I tell you.

Source

I heart Ireland. I've never been there, and I hate Guinness, but if you have red hair (like my oldest sister) I'm jealous, if you have that fabulous accent and boy parts (Colin Farrell) I want to run off into the sunset with you, and if you have a house on the Emerald Isle, I'm coming to visit. No... really. I am. Get ready.

Source

I like to use holidays as an excuse to have some fun with my family's menu, and St. Patrick's Day is no exception. I can't picture a St. Patty's Day without corned beef, because I like my American traditions.

This year I decided to change things up a bit, and I wanted to highlight my menu just in case any of you are desperately lookin' for some last minute food-related additions to your plans. 'Cause, you know... I'm helpful like that.

For breakfast we're having brown soda bread topped with butter and honey. It's a recipe from Our Best Bites, which is an amazing food blog.

Side note: guess what this is??

It's butter! Kate and Sara of Our Best Bites suggested freezing then grating butter before you cut it in to flour, to make it easier. This might be one of my favorite baking tips, eveeeeer. Love it! (I didn't even freeze this butter, I just used it straight from the fridge and it worked great.)

For dinner, I'll be making deli-style corned beef sandwiches with coleslaw -- another Our Best Bites recipe. This is my favorite sandwich right now, and since I'm not a fan of cabbage or slow cooked veggies, this fabulous sammy might be my new "go to" meal for St. Patrick's Day.

And last, for dessert I'm making an Irish cream bundt cake. I think I might be the most excited for the cake, because I {unfortunately} have a special cosmic connection with baked goods.

Is my menu authentic? Nah. Do I care? Nah.

Source

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you... enjoy the day and don't get pinched!

Two New Finds...

Oy. My family has the plague or something, and my voice is only starting to sound normal again after I went all weekend long whispering. (side note: losing your voice is pretty much horrible anyway, but when you love to talk like I do, aaaand you were scheduled to sing on Sunday... well, talk about frustrating!)

I thought I'd show off my two newest tax refund treasures... even though we're saving most of the money instead of having our kitchen redone like I wanted ('cause I'm an irresponsible fan of pretty things like that) we did set aside a bit for some fun. Hubby bought a fancy little tent for backpacking and fly fishing and other manly activities. Laaaaaame.

I bought a fabulous little table at TJ Max...

I saw it in the aisle, our eyes met and music started playing while angels fluttered about... or at least that's what it felt like. I instantly fell in love with the paint treatment and the gorgeous color. And the best part?? It only cost $19.99. It's the perfect height for our giant chair, too.

Also, remember the secret boyfriend I mentioned in this post? Well, he came home to live with me for good.

He was a bit more than $19.99. However, he was clearanced and missing one little mirror (that I'll be able to replace easily) so I got him for a great price.

I'm oh-so-happy that I don't have to hide my love any longer.

My First Blog Series

This is the part where I pretend to know what I'm doing writing a blog. Hardy har har.

Just for fun, I've decided to write a short series this spring about my ideas on decorating with specific objects. I'll focus on a different object each Monday for the next six weeks. I'll be sharing ideas and examples and generally injecting my two cents into everything. (because I'd probably die if I couldn't share my opinions)

Here's the schedule:

March 28: Decorating with... books

April 4: Decorating with... mirrors

April 11: Decorating with... storage

April 18: Decorating with... pillows

April 25: Decorating with... plants

May 2: Decorating with... collections

I'm excited for my first try at a series... hopefully I'll see you there next Monday!