Category Archives: House Projects

Mar5

Nursery Tour

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When we moved into our new place we had a bit of a dilemma.  It’s a three bedroom house, but the master and one bedroom are upstairs while the other bedroom is on the first floor.  With a young child under 5 and a newborn, I felt uncomfortable with us not being all on the same floor.  Call me neurotic, OCD, or helicopter mom, but I want to be steps away from my babies when they need me in the middle of the night.  To remedy this predicament, Aaron and I put our heads together and came up with a workable solution: sacrifice our walk in closet by transforming it into a nursery.

Here’s the closet before we removed all the shelves, clothes bars, etc.

The first step in converting this space was of course removing everything so we had a blank canvas.  I then painted the room the same charcoal gray I had painted the downstairs den/office/sitting room.

Once the paint dried it was time for the fun part: decorating! My originally planned color scheme was either red/turquoise or turquoise/green, but that morphed over time into green/charcoal.  Why the change?  Entirely due to an attempt to use up what paint I already had on hand.

After painting, Aaron pin nailed the chip board letters I covered in scrapbook paper (although I have to get the ‘Y’- we didn’t know at the time whether we were having a “Charley” or a “Charles), hung the shelf I painted green, and the mobile I made.

It’s a small space for sure, but plenty of room for a crib and chair.  Given that it is tiny we knew we had to make the most of the space.  To that end, Aaron built shelves in a the little nook and otherwise used what we had to make the room work for Charley.   My favorite item is the mobile I made using a round wood piece salvaged from an old chair, paper medallions Roscoe helped me make, fishing line, and ribbon.

So anyhoo- that’s it!  Even though it’s a small space it’s perfect for Charley and allows everyone to be on the same floor.  Who knows what we’ll do when she gets old enough to need a real room, but for now we consider this a problem solved.

Feb21

Utterly Pink

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I am not a “pink” kind of gal.  In fact, I’ve always had a bit of an aversion to the color.  When I was a kid my parents asked me what color I wanted my room painted. My answer? Blue.  It’s not that I think that all shades of pink are horrendous and I certainly don’t judge folks who think it’s the cat’s pajamas.  I just don’t want it in my house.  That is until I had a kid (soon to be kids).

Now that we’re mostly settled into the new place I figured it was high time to get Roscoe’s room in order.  Of course I asked him the same question my parents asked me at his age: what color do you want your room?  His answer(s)?  Pink and purple.  Seriously.  I don’t buy into that whole gender specific color theme junk so it’s not like I cared that he likes those colors, but why pink?  My least favorite color and that’s what you want?  My response was that he could pick one of those two and that purple sure was nice.  He insisted on the pink.  Of course.

 Luckily for me Roscoe was willing to compromise.  We decided that one wall would be pink and then the others blue, although even this plan got modified in the end.  Here’s the room before (complete with plaster repairs to fix all the previous resident’s nail holes).

So what exactly was the end result?  One wall ended up pink as planned.

 

One wall stayed the original green upon Roscoe’s request.

The last two walls were painted turquoise (left over from another project) and blue.

I stencilled the walls using orange and white paint in order to tie all the disparate colors together.  All in all, it turned out better than I imagined when Roscoe insisted all walls be different.  I don’t even think the pink looks that bad! I suppose the saying that anything in moderation really holds true…even for pink.

Feb8

Sheets & skirts- Exciting!

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This past weekend Aaron and I not only created a reading nook for Roscoe, we also worked on the nursery for baby.  While I am not ready for the big reveal yet, I will share a super duper easy project: making your own crib sheets.  You may be asking yourself why I would even bother making them, but I do have my reasons.  For starters, crib sheets ar $15 a piece and they aren’t even organic!  To me, that’s highway robbery when I can make my own for roughly $7 a sheet and 30 minutes of my time.  The other factor is that I have a specific color scheme and vision for the nursery which the crib sheets I found online and in stores don’t do justice.

After a little perusing on the ole web, I decided to follow the tutorial on the blog ”Everything Your Momma Made & More“.  It was easy to follow and, better yet, offered lots of pictures so I could verify I was doing the right thing.  In all honesty, it really was insanely easy to make a crib sheet.  Here’s how mine turned out:

Since I am already on the topic of crib bedding, I’ll also share with you pics of the crib skirt I made.  I picked up the fabric for a bargain at $4/yard.  It wasn’t at all what I was looking for, but when I saw it I knew it was perfect.

 When I began measuring the crib dimensions so I could make my skirt, I quickly realized that a traditional skirt made to drop on all sides wasn’t going to work as expected.  The reason being is that the mattress springs left no place for fabric to slip through on two of the four sides.  Behold Exhibit A.

While I could have just as easily given the old heave ho to the idea of crib skirt, I knew I needed the extra storage space under the crib minus the eye sore it would cause.  After all of 40 seconds of deliberation, Plan B was hatched.  I’d just sew two additional panels and tie them on to the sides.

Turned out pretty well in my opinion.  But enough sneak peaks at the nursery!  It’s time to get on with the day with the promise I’ll be back soon to show off the nursery in it’s entirety.

Jan30

Weekend Warrior

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Wowzers- what a weekend!  It was a whirlwind to say the least, but a very productive and fun whirlwind at least.  Let’s recap, shall we?  First off, my parents picked up Roscoe for the weekend and took him to the beach to spend time with his “Mee-maw and Grumpy” giving Aaron and I a full weekend to ourselves.  Seeing how this doesn’t happen ever, we were quite thrilled with the prospects of time spent one-on-one and getting some projects completed.

Seeing how it was my birthday on Friday, we started the weekend off by enjoying an incredible dinner at Table 16.  What made it even better is that our new location enabled us to walk to the restaurant and enjoy the sights of Downtown along the way.  The meal was delish and dessert divine and after we got home we got cracking on my one birthday present request- painting the front entry and sitting room.  Now mind you I understand this is not the typical gift request, but in my defense I am nesting like crazy and the ceiling height is 10 feet.  I normally would just paint by myself, but teeter tottering on top of a ladder at 8 ½ months pregnant just didn’t seem wise.

With Aaron’s help, we had the rooms taped off and painted in no time and the results are exactly what I envisioned!  The color was originally a cantaloupe orange base with a darker orange ragged on top.  Not exactly my taste.  But the new color?  Sophisticated, classic, and a much needed improvement.  Here’s the sitting room before:

And after:

 

The front entry before:

 

During:

 

And After:

 

The front entry has only successfully undergone Part A.  Part B is still to come.  Not sure when I’ll actually get around to this Part B, but fingers crossed it’s before baby arrives!

Jan23

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

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It’s a rainy Monday morning here in Greensboro, but today seems gorgeous to me for a multitude of reasons.  First and foremost, we closed on our Craftsman bungalow on Friday and moved in 99% of our things this weekend.  Secondly, we are so close to Roscoe’s school now we were able to walk there this morning (we couldn’t resist the opportunity despite the drizzle).  And last but not least, going in to work today means I have a much needed break from unpacking boxes, organizing, and general house settling chores.

All in all, I have to admit the move went pretty easily.  We had assistance from friends Porkchop and Boner (yes- you read that correctly) who brought over a big box truck and packed/unpacked just about everything we own.  Of course, Aaron’s parents were there to offer their invaluable assistance as well.  In a mere few hours we were moved from one house to another and ready to get cracking on furniture placement (at least I was).  After hours of moving a couch here, a table there, I needed a break.  And what better way than to make slipcovers?! FYI: that’s a rhetorical question.  I can think of a lot of things that are better than sewing as a means of diversion, but 1) I’m 8 ½ months pregnant and 2) I was exhausted.

I had purchased some random fabric a few weeks ago and thought it perfect to make simple/easy slipcovers for these rather too-traditional chairs.

My inspiration for making the slipcovers came from all the cute examples I found on the ‘net.  I figured it couldn’t be too hard to do now myself, now could it?

In about 30 minutes I was done with my version.  Not my best work by any means and I’m sure I’ll redo them in the future, but this little side project did give me the opportunity to sit on my laurels for a bit.

I’ll be back sporadically in the next week with updates about the house.  Til then, cheerio!

Jan16

The New Digs

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I am to sure lots of folks had an amazingly adventurous weekend.  Ours, on the otherhand, was spent packing up our current residence.   Not that I wasn’t thrilled to do it, because I was- it was just one step closer to moving into our new home.  The big surprise last week was that our closing date was moved up a week, meaning that we will be the new owners of our dream home in a mere few days.  Joy!

Being the hormonally-driven, nesting pregnant person I am right now, I was compelled to call our realtor to show us the house one more time.  The reason being I needed to take measurements of window expanses, countertops, walls, flooring, etc., so I could pre-plan the placement of every piece of furniture and accessory we own.   I admit to being a tad neurotic these days, but in my defense there are only 6 weeks wait until my projected delivery date and I prefer things in the new house to be 100% settled by then.  Explanations aside, let’s take a peak at a few photos of the new pad shall we?

Front Sitting Room

Kitchen

Dining Room/Living Room

 Master Bedroom

Roscoe’s Room

(Not shown are the downstairs bedroom, bathrooms, front room, nursery, etc.)

So that’s it in a nutshell!  Can you understand why I am so stoked about the impending move?  Looks like I’ll be spending this MLK holiday packing some more, but in all honesty I couldn’t be happier about it!

Aug26

Tour of Homes

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As promised, I am back today with a few photos of our new pad.  Of course, you are only going to see the rooms that are in at least a semi-acceptable phase of livability- you’ll just have to stay tuned for the follow-up post that reveals the remainder.   Yesterday marked a week from the first night we stayed in the new place and I am content with how far we’ve come.  With furniture in place, pictures and chotchkies (sp?) hung on the wall, and rugs down it’s starting to feel cozy and comfortable.  Without further ado, here it is!  (Feel free to share your thoughts or suggestions for making this rental more…interesting.)

Living Room

A picture you’ve already seen, but I feel compelled to show regardless :)

 

Kitchen

Kitchen Bar (not that I can enjoy it since I’m pregs, but a nice little filling station for the hubs and our guests)

Dining/Eat-in

Back Porch

Back Patio

 

And that’s all you get for now!  I’ll create another post next week to showcase the bedrooms, bathrooms (exciting! *sarcasm*), front view of the house, etc. Til then my friends, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and get in touch with your creative side.  Cheers!

Jul5

When One Door Closes…

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I have to admit that I was rather lazy this weekend and deservedly so, might I add.  After a beautiful weekend at the lake house, we returned home Monday morning to lots of laundry and an itch to fit in a quick weekend project.  Before I reveal the project, let me provide a little background.  My MIL keeps an impressive array of delightful decor magazines at the lake house.  They make for easy reading on the deck and are an amazing source of inspiration.  While perusing one mag I saw a rather simple kitchen revamp I felt I could easily similate: take the doors off and paint the inside of the cabinets.

Upon our return home, I enlisted Aaron’s help to take off the doors, sand where the hinges had been screwed in, putty, sand again, etc.  In the meantime I took out the dishes, glasses, and randomness that we had thrown in the cabinets.  It already looked better without the dated doors!

My first painting task was to prime everything inside and outside the cabinets.  When that coat dried I died my first backsplash coat of a yellow/green I picked up from Sherwin Williams.  Then on went the glossy white enamel on the shelves, cabinet sides, and exterior.  It took two coats two achieve good coverage with ample drying time in between. The result? Awesomeness!

I let everything set over night to make sure our dishes/glasses wouldn’t stick when arranged.  For a cheap and rather simple fix, I’m enjoying the results. Will it be a permanently satisfying fix?  No, but it will tide me over until we can decide on and afford a radical kitchen renovation.   An added bonus?  I have plenty of motivation to keep my cabinets neat and organized now that the contents are on full display. :)

Mar21

Spring Fever

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There is no denying we members of The Randall Household have Spring Fever. We have been opening up all the windows at the hint of a warm day, planning out several landscaping ideas, and generally engaging in enthusiastic talk about summer time adventures. I partly blame my own bout of ‘fever’ on my last week’s business trip to Orlando, Florida, where it was a delightful 85 degrees and sunny.

Once home, I was itching to get in the yard and begin the arduous task of whipping the grass, flower beds, and everything else into shape. While we did achieve some success outside this weekend (more on that later this week), I also felt the need to get things a little more fresh inside as well. I mentioned last week that I had repainted several facets of the kitchen to brighten it up a bit. While painting did indeed help, I really wanted some new curtains as well. I went to visit my favorite (and inexpensive) fabric place and was on the hunt for a graphic black and white print and/or stripe. What I ended up with is a huge departure from what I had originally envisioned, but when I saw the fabric I knew it was perfect.

The overall design is a retro, graphic floral print. I’m not a big fan of floral, however, the retro feel of the fabric matched the design of the kitchen given that it is late-1960’s. I sewed my curtains, hung them immediately afterwards, and, wahlah!, the kitchen was much more fitting for warm weather.

 Aaron took the whole decor thing one step further and made this adorable table arrangement using $1 tins from Target and bi-colored moss we picked up at Lowe’s.

While there is still plenty of work to prepare for Spring/Summer, I’d say we made some good progress so far. Three cheers for that!

Mar7

Rainy Day Motivation

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What a glorious and happy Monday!  The sun is shining, the sky is Carolina blue, and flowers are popping out of the winter dormancy all around.  Given how yucky and rainy yesterday was, today is an absolute godsend.  That is not to say, however, that yesterday did not have its perks.  Something about rainy days makes my motivation go into over drive, part of which I blame on my cabin fever from being cooped up indoors.  Anyhoo, I finally tackled a project I’ve been mulling over in my head for several months: the kitchen.

 A while back I painted the fireplace in the kitchen a taupe-ish color and the trim a glossy, dark brown.  Over time however, this color combo with the white walls started to feel dreary and uninspiring. 

I knew what must be done: repaint the trim and the fireplace.  I broke out my painter’s tape, brushes and four different types of paint: 1) Kilz primer, 2) Stone Cathedral paint (white with a touch of gray), 3) white enamel gloss for the trim, and 4) dark gray paint for the fireplace stoop. 

First step in painting for me is taping off everything.  With that tedious task complete, I then primed all the trim, then painted several coats of glossy white on the trim, and then painted the brick fireplace. 

 

This process took the entire day to complete and I cannot even begin to explain how tired I am of painting. 

Regardless, I am pleased with how everything turned out. The only downside? Now I feel the need to make new drapes in a graphic black and white for the windows to compliment the more sophisticated look of the fireplace.

Le Sigh; a crafty woman’s work is never done!