Doorknobs

Happy weekend!  Hope everyone is enjoying this crisp, fall day!  I can't believe how cold it is this morning.  Rob has been up in Maine the past few days, so I'm feeling a little out of it.  He gets home in a couple hours and I can't wait to see him!

I thought I'd share a little quick fix I worked on this past week. I am working on the dining room post and am hopiong to get that up the beginning of next week.

Over the past couple months, I have really grown to love having an old house.  Even though it is so much work, it makes the benefits of all that hard work that much sweeter.  

There are so many great characteristics to old houses, one being the doorknobs.  We are SO fortunate that none of our doorknobs have been painted over.  Even though there are ways to get the paint off, I'm glad we don't have to worry about that step.  All they need is a good scrubbin'.

Bar Keepers Friend is the best.  It's cheap, and it gets the job done.  I happened to have some on hand that I bought when we first moved in to give our kitchen sink a good cleaning. 

Here's what most of the doorknobs in our house look like.  Gross.

I used a damp scouring pad with the Bar Keeper's Friend and just went to work.

Can you see the contrast of where I started to scrub?  One knob takes a little under 10 mins, so it's the perfect thing to do if I just have a short amount of time but want to get something done.

The end result

How crazy is that?!  And how gorgeous is that brass color?  I actually had no idea they would be this bright.  I put brass hardware on our cabinets without even thinking the knobs would match.

I then just wiped them down and used some Goo Gone to make sure I got all the nasty off.  Scrubbing took some paint off around the knobs, so after a quick touch up I was done.

 

I did all 3 doors in the kitchen, and now I just have to do ALL 6 of the upstairs doors.  I'm just so happy I discovered how easy this is.

 I realize this last picture gives you a little sneak peek into our kitchen.  It's been awhile since I posted our plans and to-do list.  We've gotten a lot done, but still have a few more things to finish up.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Painted Backsplash

Hello!  I'm sorry that for the past month my blog has said, "Merry Christmas"!  I've just accepted the fact that I am really terrible at posting, hopefully you have too :)

I hope everyone had a great New Year and you're sticking to all your resolutions!  I finally finished a project that I started months ago but then procrastinated on finishing.

We have talked about putting in a backsplash, but never got around to it.  I realized I could do this at basically no cost (I only bought a sample of the dark gray color).  So, I figured I would go ahead and try it.

I used a stencil from this book and chose this one because I thought it kind of looked like tile.

It was a bit time-consuming, which is why it took me so long to finish.  I only had one (15in?) square stencil and would have to do a couple coats for each stencil.  I used a sponge for the area above the sink, but realized using a small roller was MUCH quicker.

The design is imperfect in places, but I am happy with how it turned out.  Rob helped finish it off with some trim on the edges. (ignore the touch up paint that I need to do in this pic).

You can also see some of the other changes in these pictures, like the chalkboard above the stove.  It's just a piece of wood we had in our basement that I painted with chalkboard paint.  I've been having fun changing it up every couple of weeks.

Also, the window above the sink we've had in our basement for years.  I just wiped it off and put a piece of wrapping paper behind it.

So, I can finally cross that off my project list! 

$5 Fix

We only have one bathroom, but it's a pretty good one.  There are a lot of things I like about it;  it has entrances on both ends, making it feel bigger and there is plenty of room to sit on the floor and give the boys a bath.  We haven't done much to the bathroom since we moved in.  We're hoping to at least paint in the near future, but we often talk about changing bigger things down the road to make it more our style.

Unfortunately I am a terrible blogger and took no pictures of the before of this project.  When we moved in over 5 years ago, there were some light fixtures in the house that were outdated, one being in the bathroom.  There is a small pendant in front of the shower that had a glass shade with flowers and bows painted on it.  We never changed it and eventually just got used to it.  It didn't start bothering me until we got the shower curtain we have now.  So, I took off the glass shade and replaced it with a small white shade from an old table lamp.  It looked kind of ridiculous but at least the flowers and bows were gone.

I decided it wasn't necessary to replace the whole fixture and after some research realized we could just get a new glass shade.  I loved the look of this one from Schoolhouse Electric but did not love the $35 price tag.  Plus, it would cost $17 shipping!!  Here' s a little fact about me, I hate paying shipping on things.  I will do everything in my power to get free shipping on things I order online.  So paying half the price of the already expensive shade for shipping was never an option.

I started to look around on Etsy and Ebay and then I had an idea...why not try and find something at Goodwill?  They always have random fixtures and shades, so I thought I will try and keep my eye out for something.  Sure enough, the first time I looked I found something.

Again, I forgot to take a picture of exactly what I found.  It was a gold hard-wired sconce and it was pretty ugly.  But, it had 2 glass shades that were in perfectly good condition.

This is one of those projects that was cheap, and minimal work, but literally looks 100 times better.  Plus, now I have an extra shade, just in case.  It only cost me $5 total and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

 Rob and I both agree we like the vintage look of the fixture and the shade goes along with that.  So, again, another positive Goodwill experience!  I also bought 90% of Aiden's fall/winter wardrobe there and most of it was brand new stuff from Target.

So, always check out Goodwill- you never know what you might find!

Brady-Proofing

When Aiden was a baby, he never really got into things.  Other than moving a few breakable things out of his reach, we didn't need to do much once he became mobile.  I'm embarrassed to say we never even put up a gate at the stairs.  But, we didn't need to, Aiden just didn't care to go up the stairs.

Brady is completely different.  He gets into everything and thinks going up the stairs is a fun game.

Back in the beginning of the summer I had mentioned that we were going to do a project and make closed cabinets in the living room.  Rob had done a lot of research and planned it all out.  But, when it came time to build it, we were feeling like maybe it wouldn't provide as much storage space as our current shelves gave us and that we needed.

After a quick google search, we found people had made doors for the Ikea Expedit shelves and we were convinced that we could make something with what we already have.

Again, Rob did lots of research and planned everything out.  I really can take no credit for this.  Rob is really good at stuff like this and other than getting the kids out of the house and out of the way, I did nothing.

He did have to tweak a couple things along the way to make it work, but the end result is perfect.  I am so happy with how they turned out.  We used the same idea as this dresser, with the stained wood on the top and sides, and then the white doors.

The other thing we did was get a gate for the bottom of the stairs.  I did a lot of research on baby gates.  We knew that we wanted one that was more permanent and that swings open.  We wanted Aiden to be able to open and close out with no problem and of course, I wanted it to not look hideous.

Even though it was a bit pricier, we decided to go with this one, the Munchkin Numi Loft Gate.  I figured we would have it for years and with our uneven walls being an issue, it seemed like this one would be easy to install.

I also like that there is no bottom part that sits on the floor and would be easy to trip over.  When Brady is sleeping, we just swing it open against the wall, out of the way.   You can also completely lift it out of the hinges and put it away if necessary, but we haven't had a reason to do that yet.

So, there is an update on baby (Brady)-proofing.  As he gets older, we may find there are other things around here we need to move.  I love how different he and Aiden are from eachother, it's like a whole new experience this time around!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!  We are loving this cooler weather!

Summer Update

It's true, the summer is almost over.  I have been terrible at blogging (as usual), but we've been pretty busy.

We've had a great summer.  July was filled with lots of time just hanging out, going to the pool, and just enjoying summer.

We had a great trip to Maine a couple weeks ago with lots of relaxation and family time.

Slowly but surely, we have been getting stuff done around the house too.  It seems like it has been an ongoing process all summer and there are still things that we are finishing up.  I'm hoping to share what we've done in the next couple weeks.  But, here is a sneak peek of a little kitchen redecorating I've been working on. 

We have one more vacation before we call the summer officially "over".  I can't believe Aiden will be back at school in a week and a half and we'll be back in the grind of things.  Although, I am looking forward to being back into a regular routine.  

Hope you're all having a great summer and are doing something fun this Labor Day weekend to say farewell to the summer!

The Backyard

This past weekend we had family over and got to spend lots of time in our backyard, which is something we really want to do a lot of this summer.  Rob has put a lot of hard work into our yard, and it's come a long way since we moved in.  I thought I would share some pictures of all we've (mostly Rob) done.

One of the (many) reasons we love our home is because of the large space we have for an in-town twin home.  When we looked at our house for the first time, Rob fell in love with the yard.  He saw all the potential it had and realized how much space we have out there.  It was basically a blank slate, which he thought was perfect.  Here are a couple pics of the first time we saw the house, 5 years ago.  Please excuse my ridiculous expressions.

Here's a picture that makes it look really pathetic, the first winter we lived here.  

I believe one of the first things Rob did that next summer was put in the garden in the back of the yard.  Rob spends a lot of time in his vegetable garden, and now, Aiden is old enough to help and gets super into it.  I can take absolutely no credit for this garden.  It is 100% Rob, and it is pretty great.  

The picture below is from a couple of years ago inside the garden.  You can see in the picture above that we also got a shed that summer. 

Rob started breaking up the sidewalk that runs down the middle of the yard and used it to edge around the left side of the yard where we have hostas and other ground covering plants.  He also filled it in with mulch.

A major project a couple years ago was the deck.  The patio off the back of the house is not in great shape, but, it would be out of our budget to get that all broken up and rebuild something else.  The other negative about the patio was that it was a few different levels, not giving a large space for any furniture.  So, Rob had the idea to build a deck off the existing patio, making one large space.  Here are a few pics of the process.  Rob did an awesome job.  I love the built in bench.

Another huge project was the fence on the right side of the yard.  Our yard backs up to a firehouse parking lot in the back and we wanted to add more privacy.  Rob built the "gate" door when we first moved in so that we could let Bailey out in the yard.  It wasn't until a couple years later that we extended the fence from that, but that was Rob's plan all along.  ( I took the rest of these pics this past weekend, when the yard was at it's best since we had company)

Of course, the newest addition is the "tree house".  Rob had the idea to build it into the fence and like I said, he found this slide in the trash along the side of the road.  I got it cleaned up and it was ready to go!  Here is a closer look:

Some other projects over the years was the picnic table, which Rob built, and some areas with pea gravel.  I love pea gravel.  It's an inexpensive way to make things look nice.  Rob dug out this area next to the patio and put down pea gravel after he built the deck.  We would like to expand it to make it even larger and we have plans to do pea gravel under the picnic table since grass doesn't grow under there and it can get to be a mess.

  

The fireplace came from Rob's family's cabin up in Maine.  A previous owner was a potter and actually made that!  It is extremely heavy but Rob and his dad were able to bring it home from a trip they took up to the cabin one fall.  It is my favorite thing on our patio.  

This past winter we hired someone to put the back covered entry off the back door.  We mainly use the back entrance to go in and out.  So, we decided we needed something with a landing and that was covered to make it easier to get the kids in and out, carry groceries, etc.  It has made a huge difference.  We'll stain it later this summer.  

(it cracks me up how Bailey is posing in this pictures.  He's so weird)

There are lots of little touches, like the potted plants, the sun shade (which we got years ago from Ikea for $20!!), pillows, and a few projects I just finished for this weekend. 

I made a tablecloth for the picnic table.  The picnic table is really long, so I decided to use this old duvet cover from Ikea.  I love how it turned out!

I also covered seat cushions that I found at Target.  I would like to get a couple more for the bench.  

I put these paper lanterns up for the party on Sunday.  I picked them up at Marshalls a couple years ago for a couple dollars.  If we were having a party at night, I could string up lights and put them inside.  

Doing this post has made me realize how much we've really done out back.  It has happened over a span of 5 years, so I didn't realize how much it really was.  It's good to look back and see all our (Rob's) hard work!  We're looking forward to many more great memories out there!

Summer projects

I've been trying to write this blog post for weeks now.  Life feels so busy all the time and unfortunately, a lot of things I love, like blogging and house projects, have taken to the back burner.  Some days this really gets me down and I feel like I will never have time for these things EVER again ( I can be a bit dramatic!).  But, I've said it many times before that I will never get these times back, when the kids are young.  So, even though that means we've had to endure 5am wake-ups and dinners that are anything but peaceful, I am doing my best to cherish these times.  I mean, just look at these 2.  Persepctive, it's all about perspective.

Brady does have a diaper on, I promise.  He's just so fat he looks naked.

Ok, back to my post...

I love summer.  It is hands down my favorite time of year.  I love the warm weather.  I love the long days.  I love going on vacation and I love coming home.

Last summer was super busy.  With the anticipated arrival of Brady and numerous vacations, it felt like we didn't have a lot of relaxing time at home.  We spent a lot of time working on the third floor with the boy's room and I still can't believe we got everything done in time for Brady.

Even though that was a fun, big project, I am looking forward to working on some smaller projects around here this year, and having some more time enjoying our home. 

Rob and I sat down a couple weeks ago and went over things that we want to put our time and money into around the house this summer.  There are some things outside that Rob is working on.  One, which he worked on last week:

A "tree"house for Aiden.  To say Aiden is excited about this is a huge understatement.  Rob found that slide in someone's trash.  It just needs a good cleaning and to be attached and then it will be ready to go.  

We talked about how we want to spend a lot of time in our yard this summer.  So, doing some things to make that space nicer is a priority.  Rob's already done a lot of clean up in the yard and is of course hard at work in the garden.  I have some little projects for out there too; making a tablecloth, cushions for the bench.   We're having some family over on Sunday so I will try and remember to take some pictures of it looking spruced up.

Inside I have quite a few sewing projects I want to do.  I spent a lot of time  looking at fabrics, figuring out yardage, etc.  Here's my pile of fabric just waiting to be made into something.

One project I am super excited about is this floor cusion from pinterest:

Aiden is always wanting to put the pillows on the floor, which I'm not a huge fan of.  So, I'm hoping this will make him happy.  

We have one major project inside that we are going to do, and I'm super excited about it.  We need some closed storage in the living room for all the kid's toys, games, etc.  We love the shelves we have now because they work well in a small space.  But, with an almost-crawling-into-everything baby plus lots of kid stuff, we need closed storage, end of story.

Rob had this idea, it's on quite a few blogs, but I like this one the best from The Brick House.  I like the clean look, and I like the white with the wood.  It's also budget friendly considering how much storage it will provide.

Rob spent time doing lots of research and pricing things out.  We just need to sit down and find a few days on the calendar to work on this as we'll probably need to have the kids out of the house to get this done.

So, that should keep us busy for now.  I feel like my mind is always full of ideas and an endless list of things we want to do around here.  But, I am really going to do my best to enjoy our home this summer and not always feel like I need to get something done.

Happy Summer!

Sunny days

As I previosuly mentioned, I finished the curtains.  Love them.  Especially since I spent a total of $36 for fabric as opposed to this ridiculous price. 

I would really like to get a nicer curtain rod- one large one that goes across both windows and use clips to hang them instead of the pocket for the rod.  I think that would add just a little something more.  But, for now they are up and bringing us sunshine, even on cloudy days. 

Aiden always appreciates and notices when I change things around the house.  I love this about him.  He woke up from a nap when I was working on the curtains and was eager to help.  For a few days after they were finished he wanted to show everyone that came into the house and told me neumerous times how beautiful they were. 

I also finally covered this lampshade.  I've been wanting to for awhile but never took the time to find the right fabric and take the time to do it.  I'm glad I finally did. 

Did you notice I got the vase I wanted for my birthday?

Rob went back to work this afternoon for the first time since his surgery.  It's been nice having him home and even this week he will be around a little more before fully heading back to his normal schedule next week.  I made pancakes Sunday morning for the first time in a long time.  I don't think I've made pancakes since before Brady was born.  That's kind of sad.  

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start.  I can't wait for our trip to the city later this week.  I'm hoping to post some pics of some of our favorite things in the city.  See you soon!