Not Sure What to Call This Room "Makeover"

According to the house plans this is to be the dining room; however, if you know us you know we are not dining room type people so we have used it for:

a sitting room,



before....a very sad and forgotten room



then a room for the Christmas tree,

but the reality was we couldn't decide on it's best use. And since the room never had a definate purpose, I spent little no time trying to decorate. It was a "sad" room.


Finally it was decided it would become a music room, of sorts.  Craig and I are neither one master musicians but we do like the idea of being able to play something.

To start things off the overstuffed chairs were too massive for the room so we moved them to the master bedroom where they work perfectly.  For seating we used the love seat from our old living room suit and placed it on the diagonal. 



there is no white question mark on the wall...it is a reflection off the flash



The piano was moved to the "short" wall so the keyboard, guitar and amplifyer could be placed along the "long" wall.

piano on short wall displaying family photos

long wall

Last was the wall decorations.  Most of the things I already had.  I did purchase 2 frames and the flower print from Garden Ridge, all on clearance.  Grand total for the room was around $35.

I think it turned out pretty good. There are still a few small items needed to fill in the blank spots but for the most part the room if finished...or at least finished enough.



 

Home Office Makeover

Our home office is a room I dislike emmencely.  Reason being it is the first room you see when you enter our home and it was just a little too "officey" for my liking.  Typically the room is a little cluttered but acceptable. This past year the office became increasingly unruly because I was working on an estate and storage became a BIG problem.

 

 

We aquired the furniture from a past employer who was combining 2 divisions and had too much funiture after their move.  The employer told employees to take what they wanted and the rest would be disposed of.  We managed to get an desk/workstation, a secretary arm for the desk and 2 chairs. The furniture was fine at our former house because the office was upstairs out of view but now with it in full view a change was needed.

First I eliminate the hutch over the desk.  This was an easy fix; remove 4 screws and done.  Next I reversed the position of the desk and secretary arm.  With the desk and secretary arm reversed I don't have to turn around to see the front door or hallway.  It is now a sideways glance.

For added storage, I cleaned out the horizonal file cabinet.  Several days were spent reviewing everything in the file and making 3 piles; 1 for shredding, 1 for trash and 1 for storage.  Old bank statements and out of date insurance policies were shredded, owners manuals to appliances and lawnmowers we don't own anymore were trashed and miscellanious things needing to be kept but not requiring routine accessability were boxed for storage.  The file can now be used as 2 large storage drawers.

Finishing touches for the room include 2 baskets for holding printer paper, a clock, a mirror, 2 plaques and several empty frames.  Everything was purchased at Hobby Lobby at 1/2 price or less except for the empty frames which I already had.

Price of makeover: 

2 baskets 1@ 5.99

                 1@ 4.99

"L" plaque      4.99

lattice plaque 5.49

mirror              9.99

clock              12.49

spray paint      4.99 

Total           $ 49.43

I'm happy to say I'm pleased with the result.







I've now finished with project #1 on my New Year's to-do list.  I did what I promised myself and didn't start another project until this one was total finished.  There is a feeling of gratification in knowing I can now move on to another project and not have this one to come back to.   

Anyone Hungry?

Temperatures in the area have dipped to daytime highs in the 40's and nighttime lows near freezing.  Needless to say it is a little chilly and because of the cold we have some visitors looking for a place to keep warm.

Thanks to our neighbors who enjoy feeding birds, dove are in abundance.  Problem is the dove eat next door but like our accommodations for there rest.

These fat dove have taken refuge by our pool.  At times there are more than a dozen huddled together keeping warm. They fluff their feathers for added warmth and sit very peacefully for long periods of time.  

Just seeing them gives a sense of peaceful serenity.

However, they might look better on a plate with homemade biscuits and gravy.  Anyone hungry?

Laundry Room Makeover

DISCLAIMER:  I know my last post I said my first thing on my "to do" list was to organize the office.  Well,plans changed. 

Craig decided he/we needed to makeover the laundry room and when he decides to do a project I don't want to stop him or we might never get back to it again.
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Laundry rooms aren't exciting.  They are a necessary "evil" of a home. 

Our laundry room was a functional room with the one exception of storage.  It had one lonely shelf above the washer and dryer with a clothes bar attached.  The problem with the clothes bar was it was not high enough above the appliances to hang anything other than empty hangers.  The shelf was a "catch all" of clutter.

Over the weekend Craig decided the laundry room needed a makeover.  He wanted to add cabinets.

Since all the cabinets in our home are custom built on-site cabinets we can't match them so we needed to find a pre-made cabinet that would coordinate with the cabinetry in the rest of the house.  The cabinets didn't need to be an exact match since they aren't in a room with existing cabinets. 

Off to Lowes we go.  We decided on 36" Light Saddle wall cabinets.

First the useless shelf and clothes bar were removed and a leveler wood piece was hung so the cabinets could be stablized for hanging and would all be level in the end result.

Attaching the cabinets went surprisingly fast.

With the cabinets hung all that remained was to reattached the doors and touch up the paint. 

Voila'...the result. 



I made a window topper and added a Laundry sign to give the room a little personality.

Last but not least, I needed something I could use to hang clothes hangers of fresh laundry or drip dry items from.  I found a wrought iron wall plaque with 3 hooks at Hobby Lobby which works perfectly.  Remember I said I am breaking the habit of leaving clothes in a basket.

I am on the lookout for a decorative dirty clothes basket to put at the far end of the room but for now the room is finished. 

A New Year and To Do's

I can't believe another year has past.  2010 was a great year.  Many great things happened in 2010; birth of out beloved Granddaughter Chloe, I turned 50, Craig and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversay and life in general is good.

Tradition for a new year is to make resolutions but I'm like most people and break my resolutions after a couple of weeks.  This year I will make no resolutions however I will try to get things done I want/need to do and break some bad lifelong habits...like putting clean laundry into a basket rather than folding or hanging and putting it away immediately.

I have a very bad habit of starting a project and before it gets completed I start another project so ultimately neither get completely done.  This year I will try to start and complete a project before starting the next. 

My to do's for 2010 will be:

1.  Organize the office.  Our office is the first room you see when you come into our home.  It is always cluttered and in disarray.  Some of the problem is our file cabinet.  It is full and over-stuffed.  Most of the problem comes from years of old tax files that you have to keep "just in case".  I plan on scanning all our past year tax returns onto a zip drive which will free up a ton of space in the file.  We also have old insurance policies.  When we get the new one we file it in front of the old one.  Don't know why we don't throw the old one out immediately.  I guess procrastination is the name of the game.

2.  Update photo albums.   This is a project I have started several times with no success.  I want to divide the photos to 3 different albums; 1 for Kim, 1 for Josh and 1 for me.   This is a project that will take a while plus it makes a big mess before the end result (which is why I haven't ever finished it before...I get tired of the clutter). 

3.  Finish decorating the house.  We have lived in our house for over 2 years and I have never completely decorated the house.   There is something about having bare walls that just makes me sad.   Bare walls are cold and uninviting.  I like my home to feel warm and homey. 

4.  Clean out and organize the closets.  This is a biggie.  When we moved in I just put boxes on the shelves in the closets.  I'm not even sure what are in the boxes.  At the time I just needed them out of the way and never got back to them.  Who knows I might find some good treasures in them.  I'm hoping for $1,000,000. 

5.  Continue to eat healthier and exercise.  Since moving the Houston I became very seditary and as a result put on a considerable amount of weight.  Because of the excess weight I don't sleep good, my feet and knees hurt and I just feel sluggish in general.   Last spring Craig and I decided to change our dietary lifestyle.  We both know a "diet" doesn't work for us so we just are eating smarter.  Now if we go out to dinner we will get an appetizer and split an entree'.  At home we are eating more fruit and having a smaller evening meal with fish or chicken, salad and rice or noodles.  As a result I was able to lose 14 lbs.  However with the holidays, as usual, I gained 4 of those back; not so much from overeating but from inactivity.  I didn't get on my elipical once.

There are many more things I could add to my list and if...when I get these accomplished I will add more to my list.

Wishing everyone a very Happy and Healthy 2011

Today is Christmas

Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.   We are thankful for the many blessings we have been given this year.

We were fortunate to have Joshua, Kimberly, Mark and Chloe here this year for the entire Christmas celebration. 

Serious us



The "real" us.



                                     

1 Day 'til Christmas

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

by Clement Clarke Moore

or Henry Livingston

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!!