Dreaming of blank walls and bacon

Although we're not moving into our new house until April (granted everything goes smoothly from here on out - so far, so good!), I'm getting antsy to get started on decorating the new place. Dude, I haven't even moved my millions of boxes of crap into this teeny tiny house, and already I want to add to it.

Yep. I have a problem. And I'm a-okay with that!

So, when I heard from the good folks at Minted, it was perfect timing to feed my future new home decor planning addiction. For those not in the know, Minted is an online marketplace of independent artists and designers. Those of you who know me well are well aware that I'm all about supporting artists and other talented professionals directly, and this is a super awesome way to do it. Plus, this way you can get something that's one of a kind while not burning too much of a hole in your pocket (because, as we're saving up for a house, I can totally use all of the money-saving tricks I can get).

I trolled around the site, which is fairly easy to navigate, and located quite a few gems - I had a hard time narrowing it down to just these! I do wish there had been more pop culture art to choose from, though (like Star Wars, some of my favorite musicals, etc...I guess it should really be called "Nerd Art").

Note: prices on these vary based on size; from what I've seen, the prices for the art prints themselves are pretty reasonable for what you get. 

Rectangles Revisited Art Print

I honestly don't know why I like this one so much. I think it's the colors - they're muted, yet somewhat playful. I don't think art has to be obvious to speak to you, does it? Price varies 

Deer Geometry Limited Edition Art Print

It's a deer! It's geometric prints! Put them together and you have something pretty damn cool! I can totally see this in my living room. Or my bedroom, weirdly enough...

Applied Relativity 2 Art Print

This is one of my favorites - it reminds me of Autumn, which is my all time favorite season. I feel like the geometric shapes are leaves blowing in the wind. Let's just say: this piece moves me.

Roof Party Limited Edition Art Print

Although my city dwelling days are behind me for the time being, I'm still definitely a city girl at heart. When I first saw this piece, I was immediately transported back to my days living on the north side of Chicago. Thooooose were the days....

Deer Point Fog Limited Edition Art Print

I know what you're thinking: compared to the others, as well as knowing my personal taste in art, this one is pretty run-of-the-mill. Honestly, I don't even know why I like it so much - my brain tells me it's just another picture of fog over some mountains, but for some odd reason when I look at it, I relax and find myself staring at it in breathless wonder. I guess the heart wants what the heart wants.

Before we move into the new house and make it pretty, we're having a last hurrah at our current place to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (as in, from when we first started dating. In college. Like, I was a teenager when I started dating my husband. Freaky.). And get this - to celebrate, we're hosting a bacon-themed party. Which means that Minted's new Save the Date Collection may come in handy....

Anyone else have a bunch of blank walls they're dreaming about decorating? Any other crazy people out there like Brian and I who have been together for a decade (or longer)?!


Full Disclosure: Compensation for this post was provided by Minted. Opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Back in the saddle

Howdy ho, partner. Hope ya'll had a fantastic Thanksgiving - ours was super low-key and relaxing. And I think we'll have leftovers for the next month or so. Delightful.

Anyway, since we're prepping the house for potential buyers, today we're venturing for the first time into...our bedroom!

DUN DUN DUN

You may be wondering why you haven't seen our bedroom on the blog yet - well, folks, that's mainly because it's the one room of our house that typically isn't on permanent display, so it can get rather messy. Trying to keep a house clean with a toddler is like trying to prevent a puppy from eating every pair of shoes you own. So, in an effort to keep the rest of the house somewhat tidy, our bedroom was often left in a perma-messy state.

Since there will be prospective buyers tromping through the house soon, we figured it was about time to spruce it up a bit. I've been debating how to decorate it - did I want it to be tranquil? Exciting? Crazy? Traditional?

In the end, I wanted a mix of tranquil with a splash of our personality (so, that would be quirky) - plus, I need it to be on the inexpensive side, since we're saving every penny we can for our down payment sometime early next year.

I'm thinking about either a gallery wall (we have a TON of wall space above the dresser on the other side of the room) or an eclectic mix of art related to some of our favorite music/movies (i.e., Queen, Van Halen, AC/DC, Star Wars, etc. - by the way, has anyone seen the new Star Wars teaser trailer?! Have to admit seeing the Falcon fly again was pretty heart-stopping!). Here are some that I found online that I'm thinking about:

Led Zeppelin "All of my love" Poster, Etsy (via SouthernSassArt), $12+ (depending on size)

Queen Poster, Etsy (via Posteritty), $13+ (depending on size)

Star Wars Rebel "Hope" Poster, Etsy (via tkbdesigns), $19+ (depending on size)

Star Wars Han and Leia "I love you/I know" Poster, Etsy (via CreativeSpectator), $21+ (depending on size)

Any other ideas/thoughts on how to spruce up a bedroom with quasi-personalized flair on a budget?

Step-By-Step: Re-Upholstering a Chair

Sometimes the best way to overcome grief is to distract yourself from it temporarily. At least that's what works for me.

So, to distract myself from the fact that my crazy freckle-nosed furball has passed on to the afterlife, I drowned my sorrows into reupholstering a chair that we got as part of a set we bought off of Craigslist awhile ago (it included a desk, this chair, and what eventually became Owen's dresser).

I loved the distressed look of the paint/wood, so I didn't want to change that. However, the cushion left much to be desired.

Yeah, it was pretty blaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.

I ran out to my local craft store and after perusing many yards of fabric, I ultimately decided on a navy blue with a white classic pattern.

And because actually re-upholstering the chair took all of 20 minutes (seriously, one of the easiest design fixes ever), to prolong the distraction I spent two hours on Photoshop creating this handy step-by-step guide. Ain't it snazzy?


WHAT YOU NEED:

• 1-2 yards of fabric (I only needed a yard, but if you're prone to mistakes or if having only 1-yard cuts it close you may want to get two or more)
• Scissors
• A screwdriver
• A ruler or a tape measure
• A staple gun and a package of staples (these run anywhere from $10 - $20 at your local hardware store)

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. First, turn over the chair and unscrew the base of the cushion.

2. So, turns out this wasn't the first time this chair was re-upholstered. I gotta give credit to the former owners - it was a step up from a pink flower nightmare, that's for sure.

3. Lay out your fabric, and set the cushion on it upside down.

4. Measure 3-inches away from the edge of the cushion on all sides. For ones that are not perfect squares and that bow out toward the end, make sure you measure three inches all the way down. Cut the fabric at these marks.

5. Fold the two longer ends over the edge of the cushion. Break out that staple gun and begin stapling, keeping staples about 1-inch apart and stapling about a quarter inch from the edge of the fabric.

6. When you're done with the two long sides, fold the bottom/top ends into triangles. This is similar to folding wrapping paper for presents.

7. Fold the fabric over the edge and continue stapling as described in Step 5.

8. This is about how the bottom of the cushion should look when it's all stapled up. Almost there!!

9. Lay the chair upside down on a flat, even surface with the newly re-upholstered cushion in place. Screw the cushion back into the body of the chair. Note: you may have to drill pilot holes for these, but luckily I had some mad skillz and mine just went right in, no pre-drilling necessary.

10. Place the chair right-side-up and admire your snazzy new(ish) chair.

-------------------------

Here's a final photo with the chair in its final place (until I decide to move it, that is). For the time being, we're using it as a phone charging station and extra seating.

Any other re-upholstering peeps out there? Tell me about your projects!

Why is it....

....you ALWAYS find the one thing you're looking for when you least expect it?!

Seriously, am I the only one this happens to? Like when we bought our couch. We searched for months for the perfect one and failed. Miserably. Then, one day at the mall we happened upon a Pottery Barn and fell exhausted onto the first couch we could find and it was like God Himself smiled down and said "THIS IS THE COUCH FOR YOU!!"

Source

Well, it happened yet again last Saturday when we happened upon a floor sample sale at our local Pottery Barn. We wandered in with Owen in the stroller and stumbled across a glorious console table that would look perfect behind our couch (or in our dining room, or as a media center...let's just say it has possibilities!).

The price at the store was $479. My smart, wonderful, handsome husband asked the saleslady if we could get it for $400. She checked and I think she was going to refuse us the discount until....

She saw THIS face.

And melted. We didn't get it for $400, but she did mark it down to $440! The lesson here folks? If you want an extra discount, bring something cute with you for the salespeople to gush all over, like a happy baby or a puppy (okay, maybe not the puppy...but you get the gist).

For those of you wondering how we were able to use our child's cuteness to score a decent discount, here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Before entering the store, make sure your child is fed and content, otherwise instead of getting a discount you could get kicked out and have no chance in hell at getting your dream piece of furniture. And we don't want that.
• Be polite and friendly – say hello to the salespeople, exchange pleasantries, talk about the weather, etc. But let’s be real – the true purpose of this is to let them get a gander at your adorable munchkin. Bonus points if you’re able to convince your kid to smile and wave.
• Wander around the store, peeking at price tags while simultaneously tickling/making goofy faces at your offspring. This will continue their good mood (see bullet #1).
• When you find the one you want, have one parent grab a salesperson while the other takes off with the baby. Again, going back to bullet #1 – you gotta keep the kid amused. You can also use this as an opportunity to change his/her diaper, further enhancing their mood and lessening any potential stinkiness.
• Go back to said piece of furniture while the other parent is in the heat of negotiations. Introduce yourself and your child.
• Watch your child work his/her magic on the salespeople.
• Achieve additional discount.
• Give your child a cookie and a toy with the money you saved from the discount.

Once we figure out where the heck we want to put it - and whether or not we want to remove the wheels - I'll post some update pics.

 In the meantime, any suggestions on where it should go?

More kitchen prettiness.

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't stand another minute staring at the sad-looking, stained, and torn blue flowery kitchen curtains that looked like they were salvaged from an old lady's estate sale.

I've been searching for the perfect kitchen curtains for awhile now, and up until very recently it's been a fairly impossible task. This was mainly due to the size we needed, which apparently doesn't exist. Okay, I lied - it does exist, but basically everything we found in stores and online looked like it was cut from the same Old Lady Country Shag collection as our current ones.

One recent Saturday I took one look at them and knew their time was up. I grabbed the fam, hightailed it to Hobby Lobby and bought some cute fabric. Because I'm really not great at sewing, I cheated and got iron-on adhesive and clip-on rings.

I don't have any before shots - just take my word for it that you're not missing much.

Here's the after (you may have seen a sneak-peak of them in last week's post):

Here are the project details at-a-glance:

• Total cost: $30
• Time: 1.5 hours to measure and cut material, as well as iron the hem
• Other deets: I used a 1-inch hem all around, and on the bottom I did a 4-inch hem. The iron-on adhesive worked really well - just make sure you use the "steam" setting with a damp washcloth on top so it gets hot enough to set.

Not too shabby, eh? I still can't stop looking at them - they really brighten up the joint. :)

A spot for baby.

My son's room was one of the first areas I tackled when we moved into our house last year. I wanted a space that could grow with him - too often I see fancy-schmancy nurseries with chandeliers and lace and ruffles that have to be completely changed around once the kid grows out of it in a year or two.

Based on my experience, here are some words of wisdom to moms prepping their nursery for their bundle of joy. Of course, feel free to take these with a heaping grain of salt - always do what's best for you and your family!

• Try to buy most furniture used if you can, although you shouldn't get a drop-down side crib per the new safety standards. Craigslist is a great source for this kind of stuff - in fact, the dresser I bought off a Craigslist seller for his bedroom was only $50. That's compared to the $600+ that Buy Buy Baby wanted for something similar. 
• Make your own nursery art or support artists on Etsy or at local shops. That way, you'll have some unique pieces and (hopefully) won't overpay for cookie-cutter artwork. I created almost all of the art for my son's room, and not only did I have a blast doing it, but I'm stoked that he can point to them one day and proudly say that his mom made them for him. Ahhh the little things. :)
• Find one item to splurge on. For me it was the rocking chair and ottoman, which ended up costing around $650. It was a HUGE help in feeling comfortable while feeding my son, and I don't regret this purchase one bit. Heck, I feel like it helped prevent what would otherwise have been inevitable visits to the chiropractor. 

Just some samples of my quirky sense of humor.

We have a light!

The light fixtures in our house are so obviously the ones that came with it. You know the ones - brassy, with clear glass and light bulbs that will burn your eye sockets to a pulp if you dare to glance directly at them. Yeah, those lights.

In a desperate attempt to stave off the Seasonal Affective Disorder that I have been afflicted with for what seems like years at this point, I drove my family to a neighboring suburb and somehow blundered into Crate & Barrel Discount Heaven (otherwise known as their outlet store).

I knew I didn't want the typical chandelier for the kitchen/dining room areas, so I was excited to find the following too-cool-for-school option:

I'm sure you noticed the $249 price tag. Although this quirky bunch of teak love was right up my alley, there's no way I would ever spend that much on a hanging lamp.

I checked the price tag, and the total came to...

$30.

No, that is not a typo. It was indeed a cool $30. Granted there was some scuffing on the inside of the lamp, and a couple of minor scratches on the outside, but it was still structurally sound. My reaction can pretty much be summed up as follows:

My handyman hubby installed it later that day. I'm super in love with it, although I'm still debating whether or not to paint/stain the outside once the weather warms up....we'll see how I feel in a month or so.

*Please note that this is not an official endorsement of Crate & Barrel - these are my personal thoughts and opinions.