Let's catch up!

Hello! It's been a while since I've been around these parts... let's catch up!

Sam and I decided it was time to begin the demo for the laundry room. Since the house was built in the late 50's this room has been a bonus room, but it was never designed for a dryer. So we had lots of hurdles to get over like:

Demoing the old cabinets that were space hogs, and not practical for the tiny room.

Cutting a new hole in the side of the house to relocate the dryer (who's vent was initially going through an old  window...long story.)

Moving the water heater out of the middle of the room.

And getting a long drain for the relocation of the washing machine.

Whew. 

And of course, adding pretty things like bead board wainscot and new trim around the doors. 

Since we really only have evenings and weekends to work, it's been a challenge, especially having company in the middle of that. We no longer have a place to keep our food, so the kitchen is overflowing with everything that used to be in the laundry room/pantry. But the parentals don't mind! 

They came to watch Weston's last home game for the NAU IceJacks for Senior Night! I can't believe my brother and I will both be done with college this year (let's not talk about how long I've been done for ha!)

I whipped up a great pot pie for the family and topped it with sweet little hearts. 

And more demo continued as the family headed out. The room had a window at one point that faced the backyard. A shop was then added on to the house and someone merely covered the window with plywood. So while I was at work on President's Day, Sam took out the window and began replacing the drywall.

In the picture below, the water heater has been moved to the far corner, and the dryer is in it's permanent home.

I began an easy project for myself, to be hung in the office eventually. But ran out of corks...guess we'll have to drink some more ;)

And after many many trips to Home Depot, Kona finally figured out that sitting on the cart was easier than walking. She also know that people wearing aprons also carry cookies. So we now have a fat and lazy dog.

Just this past weekend, while Sam slaved away on more projects in the laundry room, I finally tackeled the task of removing the fabric and padding from this chair. A project that had intentions of a good beginning when my MIL was about my age, this chair was handed down to me about 1.5 years ago and has since sat on the back porch...which made us look like real winners I'm sure. Since the foam on the inside was rotted, it was leaked orange dust with every move and couldn't be kept inside....and we don't have a garage, so there. 

It no longer leaks orange dust, but I also don't have the funds to buy good quality foam right this moment. It's on the list of things to save for. And I also don't have any plans for the fabric to reupholster it either...any suggestions? I'm thinking a crushed velvet or bright floral pattern. 

While I was pulling out tiny little nails (only about a million of them) Sam was building the frame for the storage closet that will hide the water heater. Since this photo was taken, it now has walls!

And PS -- what a stud muffin I married!

And to thank my man for all his hard work, I made him homemade French Onion soup with toasted Harvati and it was AMAZING....if I do say so myself. 

Whew, it's been busy. How are you!?

The Master Bedroom: An Update

We've been in our home for just over a year - craziness! It's been so much fun to (slowly) work on decorating each room to have its own personality, collect pieces that speak to our needs, and really make the house US. We've definitely spent more time and effort working on the two rooms that we spend most of our time in - the living room, and the master bedroom. So today, I thought I'd show the how far we've come since moving into the house. 

We started off with this hot mess --- I.E. the mattress on the floor, chair for a night stand, and not a throw pillow in sight. Thank goodness this didn't last long. Our house was built in the late 50's or 60's (I can't remember the exact year) and apparently back then people didn't own many items of clothing, so the room has two teeny tiny closets that could barely fit my clothes, let alone mine AND Sam's. So we needed a solution, and we needed it fast! 

And that's where Sam's handy woodworking skills come in. I was drooling over a photo from a Pottery Barn catalog that unfortunately was about $1200 over our price range when Sam offered to build a replica for me! I wasn't about to say no, since my shoes had no home, and neither did my a lot of other clothes. So that's how we ended up here.

Pardon the messiness in the photo, but check out all the extra storage we gained! 9 cubicles! And we scored the crates from Home Depot for under $10 each - much better than the $60+ baskets that the Pottery Barn catalog showed. But we still had a lot of work to do. The comfy (but very manly) plaid duvet needed to go, and some personality needed to be brought into the room via curtains, frames, etc. 

This weekend I finally got around to staining the crates - I used Minwax's Dark Walnut, and left it on for the minimum time that it suggested - five minutes, to give the crates a nice rustic finish. The addition of some new bedding from West Elm, curtains from Target (a secret about those in a bit) and some frames that were a steal at Marshall's really helped bring the room together.

The throw is from One Kings Lane, and the pillow is one of my creations. Oh, and the cute little orange bowl was a $3 clearance find from Target - it works nicely for corralling all of my nighttime necessities - chap stick, tissues, and lotion.

 

The room is fairly awkward - with windows on two walls, and closets on the other two, the only place to put the bed was under a window. Not wanting our heads to be directly under a streetlight, we opted to put the bed on the far wall. The problem here is that the window is not centered on the wall, leaving us with awkward spacing on either side of the bed - tons of room on one side, and not enough on the other. So we opted to create a faux larger window to help center the bed on the wall. In the top photo you can tell because the sunlight is hitting it just right, the dark space on the left side of the window is actually the wall - but when the sun isn't there (which it isn't most of the day) it appears that our bed is under a much larger window, and the black drapes help to create a sort of headboard. This way we have equal space on each side of the bed. 

Now, about the curtains. I was able to save about $24 by purchasing only 3 panels - hanging two above the bed, and splitting one in half over the other window --- what!? Even though the curtains are hung wider than the window actually is to help the window appear larger, hanging two full size panels was so heavy looking on the window - especially since the curtains are dark. But cutting one in half, I was able to keep the look that I was going for, without weighing down the window. And saving some dollars is a good thing around here too!

So that's the update on the master bedroom. On the list of things to do next:

Some art or mirror to go on the blank wall next to the functioning window.

A statement dresser for the other side of the room (not shown).

A mirror to go above the dresser to help create a dressing area for me in the mornings (help keep the bathroom open for other uses). 

Spiff up the ugly closet doors.

And maybe a rug to keep our feet warm in the winter. 

 

The big brown dresser.

My list of things I want to do around the house is growing. Unfortunately it's too cold to paint. I'm too indecisive about fabric choices to start a quilt. We're going out of town. And the list of excuses just goes on and on.

But really, the biggest project that I want to get started on is the dresser. I love painting furniture so this is just screaming for me to start sanding!

Did I mention it's a high of 46 degrees today. Not ideal for being outside sanding and painting.

But it is ideal for brainstorming, so I thought I'd pull some images from my Pinterest board (if you want to follow me, click HERE) that are inspiring me to get out my palm sander and get to picking out colors. Maybe you guys can help me choose a color or some idea of how to paint indoors without dying of inhaling fumes.

Here's the original dresser, exactly how it is now:

Seriously, it's screaming for attention! It has 9 drawers, and 15 drawer pulls.

What!?

Unnecessary.

Here's my inspiration photos:

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Only the peacy color and the gold/yellow in the top of the photo.

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Basically, I really like BRIGHT colors. And I'll for sure being replace the top 2 drawers on the right and left sides with these great baskets I found at Marshall's. Sam will be doing some work on the dresser to make a nice platform for the baskets to sit on while still maintaining the structural soundness of the dresser. 

What do you think? Consider the fact that this is my coffee table:

What color wouldn't overwhelm the teal coffee table, but bring a punch of something else to the room. Without making the room seem too overboard with color?

InstaFriday

It's InstaFriday again! Woot Woot! I'm linking up with Jeanett from Life Rearranged. InstaFriday is just a place to post all those lovely phone pictures that otherwise would never be seen except by me...unless you want to follow me on Instagram, I'm LeahHeffelfinger!

With a few days off from work, Sam and I finally got around to rearranging some furniture in the house. We had a large dresser that was stationed against the wall as you come in the front door, but we thought it would be better put to use as a TV stand. So the book shelf that was home to the TV is now by the front door.

The goal for the dresser is to remove the top two drawers on the left and right sides, and replace them with these awesome baskets (barely visible to the left of the dresser). And of course, spruce up the entire dresser with a coat of bright and cheery paint. I'm picturing a minty green or goldish yellow. I'm also in the market for a pair of spectacular lamps to dress up the top of the dresser. But the biggest problem I'm facing is hiding the cords to the TV...any suggestions?

This is the old home of the dresser, now home of the Ikea bookshelf. I actually really love this little setup, but the wall is much bigger than it appears in this picture, so it looks a little... sad all by it's self. I'd like to do a nice gallery wall with some larger prints and photos and maybe switch out the bookshelf for a bench.

{Print by Pen and Paint}

We also worked on this area next to the front door. We swapped out an old beige lamp shade for this fun pop of yellow from World Market, and hung up some photos. I'm scouring the interwebs for a great deal on curtains for this room. I found these yesterday, what a steal! But not sure it's what I want...what do you think?

Next up on our agenda this week was the celebration of New Years Eve! We had some fine folks over for spinach dip. pigs in a blanket, and The Game of Things. It was a swell time. We mosied on over to the Museum Club for the count down, and were in bed by 1:00am.

...and we might have lite sparklers in the house.

It's ok though. Sam used to be a firefighter.

Tuesday morning after recovering from NYE, we went with our good friends Jamie and Eli to shoot our bows. I lost two arrows... apparently I need to practice more often. But it was only 28 degrees outside, so we decided to pack it up early and warm up with some yummy...you guessed it.... Frozen Yogurt!

Tuesday night was spent cuddling on the couch, finally watching Downton Abbey (It sucks you right in!) and playing with Kona.

Oh, and what's that little painting above the stove, you ask? Why it's a pinteresty thing-a-ma-bob that my Mom and I threw together over Christmas. Still on the fence as to whether I should keep it. It didn't quite come out the way I'd hoped. 

And finally, back to work I went on Wednesday morning. And the only good thing about going back to work was witnessing this pretty sight on the way there. Sights like this make you catch your breath and count your blessings for living in such a beautiful place. 

...Disregard my SUPER dirty windshield :)

 And that, my friends, is InstaFriday! The weekend is almost upon us (Thank the Lord) and I've got ZERO plans. Anyone want to hang out?

Oh and PS - I went over to Kohls yesterday to look for some dresses to take on my cruise (cause I'm super cheap like that) and I found two dresses, perfect for relaxing on the deck, for under $9.00 each! Plus a necklace to match for $7.50. Their clearance sections are all an additional %25 off, so go shopping!

A Heffelfinger Christmas

Our first Christmas together as a married couple has proven to be a hodge podge of random Christmas items thrown into one room. But better than nothing! 

This is our mantel. I painted the chevron stripes a few months ago. You can read more about them here. The shotgun shell lights were a gift from a friend a few years ago. And I whipped up the stockings by myself! (I have others for sale in my Etsy store - check the side bar to hope over!) We've only just received our first Christmas card (Thanks Aunt Courtney!) so they will be hung on the lights with little clothespins which are being stored in the cute little milk glass cup. 

I also got a wild hair up my you-know-where and decided it would be cute to hang glittery pine cones above our walkway between the living room and kitchen. I enlisted Sam's help in glittering, because obviously anything involving glitter is his favorite thing. Then I simply took some red and white bakers twine and wrapped it a few times around each pine cones and hung them on the nails that Sam put up for me. I think they are cute! And they'll probably stay up past Christmas. 

And of course, we have a tree too. Here it is:

Oops, blurry, but pretty!

My manly hubby cut it down for us in the woods! Yes, we had a permit, it was legal! And so fun! The amazing sequined tree skirt is from Target, in case you need to get one, which you probably will need to do because it's awesome.

I've never been one to be picky about the type of wrapping paper I used. But this year, instead of buying a $20 roll of red sparkly paper that can only be used during the holidays, I opted for a roll of $4.50 craft paper from Home Depot. I even stamped the recipients name and a "Love Sam and Leah" on each one before tying it off with twine or ribbon! Oooh Fancy Schmancy! 

I had to buy those pretty sparkly ornaments at Target because we didn't own any ornaments. But, now that has changed! We now have not 1, but 2 handmade ornaments, thanks to my Grandma and Sam! (The first one Sam made by cutting off the bottom of our tree, and then I glued some twine around it. The second one is made of wine corks by my Grandma!)

And that's our first Christmas so far!