Just for the fun of it

I have been wanting to spruce up our living room, and one thing i have been wanting to do is hang some more pictures- but holy smokes are picture frames expensive, at least when you want to multiple it by 10. So on a recent trip to one of my not-so-secret-anymore favorite stores, I grabbed a few super cheap frames from Hobby Lobby in their craft section (I am talking about start at $1 a frame here) as well as a couple other odds and ends and ta-da! i got a wall collage of stuff for a steal. My wall started out like this:

 i wanted to make sure what i got would work so i quickly organized a layout i thought could work (this pic is missing a few pieces but you get the idea)

 I actually used white paint that we had left over from when we re-painted our picket fence outside. So yes it is exterior paint, but it sure worked great! And i swear by frog tape (the yellow tape below) for any project that you need crisp lines for.

 After a few quick coats of paint, I let my frames dry over night and quick threw in some pictures we had on hand.

 I knew it was going to be tricky hanging these, so i quick traced the frames on some paper and cut them out so I could have templates to work with (I also poked holes in the paper where the nails should go by just laying the paper on the back of the frame and poking a pencil through the slots)

 After I got everything lined up and leveled, I got Nate to help me hang them (usually we can't do projects together, but this one went really well! I thought so at least..) And we ended up with this layout. I threw some cork in the frame on the bottom to use to pin up christmas cards (ok, so we don't really get too many- maybe because none of our friends have kids yet? I'm just gunna go with that..) or for other random stuff I find to be PIN-appropriate (get it? cause i love pinterest? ah, i crack myself up sometimes...)

I really want to get a table to go under the frames but that will have to wait for another day. 
Happy fall everyone!

Photo Challenge

Over a year ago, we bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i

and we still really don't know how to use it how it should be used. We had very good intentions that we would learn and take a lot of great pictures, and while it definitly takes great pictures and we have improved slightly, we still have a lot to learn..over the past few months, i have been pinning a ton of tips and resources on ways we can get to know our camera and use it to its full potential

 I may have a pinterest obsession, but i don't want to be someone who never uses the great inspiration it provides!So I have decided to take the (drumroll please) 30-DAY PHOTO CHALLENGE! (ignore the dates below, obviously whoever created this pin did not take into consideration that it is not June every month)

 yes, it will be great fun. one of the tips i got from a photographer was to just take your camera with you everywhere. so if you see my during the next month, please know that i am not lugging my camera everywhere because I am a super photographer who can't live without their camera. wish me good luck!

Eye on the Prize

Nate thinks I am crazy/unrealistic to do this (I stalk the local house listings, looking for our next house) but i cant help it! I know he is right, but c'mon, its my passion to see spaces become beautiful and livable again! And I know we have to wait at least one year, because otherwise we have to pay back our home buyer credit... but I still have fun dreaming, and secretly hoping somehow we can still buy one. I may be torturing myself, but i love it :)

This is my latest find. I love Zeeland, but with not much to choose from in the style I like, Holland may be the future for me.. but what potential this home has. I am giddy with the idea of kitchen & bath demo and wallpaper removal.

And just look at that bay window and fireplace, plus the high ceiling, trim, oh how i could go on...The floor plan actually shows that this has TWO kitchens? For real?!

Be still my beating heart! So if there is anyone out there who wants to buy this house with me and fix it up, let me know :) I am ready for some late night projects!

Handle Time

Once again, this week I broke out my all time favorite home improvement tool.... spray paint!
I have lost count of how many of my projects or things in my home are now rattle canned... so why not one more?
Here was what a couple of the door knobs on our main floor looked like

 A couple light coats of oil rubbed bronze spray paint later, all done!

Turned out pretty good. I really wanted to get them on before I went to bed so we could close the door to our stairs tomorrow (otherwise Sophie can push the door open, even if it is just a millimeter open and ends up on our bed all day...). I may have been in a touch of a rush though, they were just a little tacky yet and i left a slight finger print on one of them. Oh well, i think you have to be standing one inch away to even notice!

Guest Room Re-do

Recently I felt the urge to update our guest bedroom. I didn't like anything going on in there and we still didn't have side tables or lamps. Just a bed and some shelves, we are so good to our guests, right? I don't have a before pic and it is still a work in progress!

 New side tables (spray painted black-super cheap from Hobby Lobby of all places!), lamps from Ikea (already owned), printed off some floral images on photo paper to mimic the design on the bedspread and framed in cheap matted pictures frames (from Target), new bedspread (Target), new curtains (also Target, but already owned the sheer ones).

 The mirror was hauled up from basement. It was left by the original owners in the half bath on our main floor but I spray painted the frame black to match the tables. The shelves have been in that spot since we moved in (originally got it on closeout from Target). I really want to paint the room a different color but I got the stink eye from the hubs so that will have to wait for now...

Corner Counter

Our last project for the laundry room is completed. We had this awkward space next to our dryer that was hard to figure out what to do with.

We decided to use some left over butcher block from our kitchen to make our own custom storage. I owe Nate a big high-five for this one as he did a great job! He cut the block down to size and created the base with the shelve. I then painted the base and found some baskets to slide in.

We were gong to add a piece of trim under the base of he butcher block to finish it off, but will see if we get around to it since it doesn't look too bad without it actually! So eager to have this extra storage and the counterspace. Ah, the things married women get excited about...

Laundry Light

I was recently inspired by pinterest and a random home improvement blog I follow (ok, kinda religiously. you can see the post here) to make pretty much the cheapest/coolest light ever. I have had the inspiration pinned on one of my pinterest boards for quite awhile. But it wasn't until the young house love post that I felt inspired to make my own clothespin chandelier! We had replaced the old light in our laundry with a traditional plain domed one, but still had two ancient lights still left hanging in our back entry (we had kind of run out of steam and since we had only one more new dome light left, we just threw the extra one down in the basement- they came in two packs so we couldn't really return it). WELL, I decided i would move the laundry room light and join it with it's long lost cousin from the basement into the back entry and make my spectacular laundry room light (drumroll please..) for less than $6 total! Yes, that's right. And it was super simple and easy. I ran out to our local dollar store to pick up my items:

Yes, that is a pink trash can. I got the trash can and several packages of clothespins for $5-something (lost the receipt already), we already had the spray paint on hand so that was free. I quick gave the trash can a few coats of white spray paint, clipped on my clothespins, and snipped away the bottom to end up with this:

I just used fishing line to attach it to the light fixture- it was the "base" of one of the old fixtures i took from the back entry. I used the scews that used to hold the glass part of the light on as hooks for my fishing line and voila! a new $5 light shade.