StarterHouse

Cheap Art: Water Color

I love cheap art.  It's no secret around here!  It works out since we don't really have a decorating/art budget.  So my latest venture was to take a pack of cheap IKEA prints (I know, I know...do I ever shop anywhere else?  No.  The answer is no.) and kick them up a bit.  They were black and white prints with a baked goods theme--perfect for our kitchen.  I used my kids' water color set (the cheapo kind from Target or Wal-Mart that has 7 or 8 basic colors) and tried to make them look a little more than 'cheap IKEA prints'. 

I spent maybe ten minutes on the project and after they dried, I taped them to white copy paper and used some plain wood frames that I already had and that was it:

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I'd take a picture of the entire kitchen so that you could see how these fit in with everything...but I only have a few minutes of 'quiet time' (formerly known as 'nap time') so you'll just have to wait on that ;)  

So they won't have me winning any awards.....but they do brighten up the kitchen (which with the dark granite, backsplash and floors the space can use all the help it can get!).  They also make it a little less serious (I'm doing my best to stay away from the word 'whimsy'........ugh, if I hear that word one more time......;).
 

-k :)

Hellloooo!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted...we've been out of town and had a few other things pop up.  We've made a little progress with regard to the paint in the master bath...otherwise, I'm counting on Joe to knock some things off the 'honey-do' list during his vacation.  (some vacation, right?)  Seriously, he's looking forward to getting the bathrooms officially done and not hanging over his head.

So here's what we did in the master bath after we painted the stripe:

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(Glamorous work...)

 

Yes--I climbed up the ladder and did the cutting in and the rolling....oh man was I feeling a little dizzy in that corner!  Joe was holding the ladder for me.  I volunteered and it felt good to be doing some of the not-so-fun pieces of the projects. 

Anyways, after two coats of paint had dried, we realized that the paint color for the stripe was DIFFERENT than the two coats of paint on the back wall.  ummmm. 

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I tried to talk my way around it.  It was the light from the window...or, the reflection of...whatever...Then we checked the cans...sure enough, someone had entered the wrong combo of numbers and the stripe was off by one of the numbers.  Unbelievable! 

Guess which wall we re-painted?  Yep, I taped off the stripe again and quickly painted one coat of the correct color (Valspar's Cincinnatian Hotel Hannaford).  That did the trick!

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I'm so glad we did it--it made such a big difference! 

 

More updates to come:  I finished the backsplash for both bathrooms and Joe has made major progress--stay tuned!  And thanks for reading.  I had a good run with my posts and I'm hoping to get back into a regular rhythm :)

-k
 
 

Chic Schedule Board

We've been tinkering around with different ways to use/keep a schedule around here...life seems a bit more manageable when we have a plan for the day.  But, as I'm sure you can relate, life isn't written in permanent ink.  We needed something that we could change at a moment's notice.  I made a small board with velcro and little squares with different activities that could be rearranged depending on what we felt like doing....it's not big enough and I don't have enough different cards to accommodate our random activities/outings.  A chalk board would work and I've seen some pretty creative ideas for this in blogland, but I'm not feeling that motivated ;) 

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Then I saw this post from Paper n Stitch  via How About Orange and I couldn't believe the answer was so simple, easy, and attractive:  a message board made from a picture frame.  It's genius!  I had an extra frame on hand (the twin to the one I used for the boat print for the master bedroom shelves) and I tested the front (since it's not glass) to make sure my dry erase markers would work and the ink would erase:

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Then I occupied my 4 year old while I attached the fabric to the cardboard insert:

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Then I just attached the fabric covered backing to the frame and that's it.  So easy!  And here she is in all her glory in the dining room:

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Here's Kate's version of 'play' ;) 

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Also, we had to change 'read' to 'TV' while mommy worked out and showered.  It's awesome to have such flexibility!  And the kids have so much fun sitting with me to write up the morning schedule and helping me pick what pictures to draw.  Let's face it, I'm no artist...but they get the idea.  So far, we've only used it for the morning part of the day.  Hopefully, I'll get my act together so that we can use it post-naps, as well. 

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I'm not crazy about the yellow fabric (and you could use anything--even keeping it white would look nice in a frame..especially if you have nice handwriting!), but it was only $1 and it's a light enough color to work for this purpose.  I liked this green fabric (below) that I put in the frame first, but Townes chose 'yedow' because it's favorite (not a news flash for anyone who knows him):

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This would be great anywhere in your house--kid's room for you to leave cute, loving messages; the kitchen for the day's menu, or daily schedule; or as art with a nicely written quote that you can change with the swipe of a paper towel!

Happy Tuesday :)  -k

Trashy? Not With This Beauty

I am loving this new trash can that sits on our bathroom vanity.  I'll give you three guesses as to where I bought it.....oh wait, you only need one guess?  My sister says that the associates probably know my name at IKEA.  It's not that bad, but they might recognize my face!

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So here she is in all her $12.99 "Gasgrund" glory:

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It's the perfect size for bits of tissue, q-tips, cotton balls, etc.  And our narrow bathroom leaves little room for a trash can.  We had an open trash can in the past, but having toddlers is like having a dog..you can't leave things open.  It's just an invitation for them to get in there and mess things up.  Gross.  Then we had a small one with a foot pedal for the lid.  That was better, but finding the perfect location so that neither of us had to walk very far (and we had to walk because of the whole foot pedal issue) just didn't work out.  (Lazy much?) 

So this little can has been in play for a few days and I'm already loving it.  Joe thinks it's pretty cool, too!  (I'm telling you, finding things for your home that everyone can agree on isn't always easy.)

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We've made some serious progress in the bathrooms.  I can't wait to show you more...

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Also, I'm pretty proud of myself--this makes two weeks in a row of Tuesday and Friday posts.  I'm on a roll now...

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Thanks for stopping by!  -k :)

They Make It So Easy, Yet...

...I STILL didn't get the backsplash in the middle bathroom done perfectly! 

I had planned to use the mortar and grout that we used for the tile floors (we have quite a bit left), but I learned from that tiling experience that mixing a small amount is really challenging. 

I was also intrigued by the new 'tile setting mat' that I'd seen over in the tiling section at Home Depot and Lowes.  It seemed too good to be true!  No mortar to mix, no clean up, no worry about getting mortar all over the wall, counter, etc.  I picked up the box a few weeks back to see how much area it covered...12 square feet (that would cover both bathrooms).  But it was $40...a little steep considering the bag of mortar we have downstairs is free.  

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At Lowes the following week, I found the same stuff on sale for $20!  This meant I could do it while the kids were napping, or basically whenever (and wouldn't have to worry about Joe being here to help me with mixing the mortar, etc.  I could do the mixing myself, but it's just easier to have an extra set of hands when dealing with messy stuff especially when you have to consider two little monkies possibly walking in at any moment). 

The box says it all:

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I mean, look how happy she is to be installing her backsplash:

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With our shelves (that will go above the toilets) almost finished, I'm getting the itch to get all the little things done so we can finally put these bathroom renos behind us. 

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This stuff is as easy as you'd think...literally cut the 'paper' to size, peal off the white backing and apply to the wall.  Use a grout float (or piece of wood) to smooth out any bubbles.  Then remove the clear, top layer and press your tile firmly into place. 

Here's a shot of the paper with the white backing and the clear cover:

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Once you get it up, you can grout right away.  Since we needed unsanded grout for the mosaic tile instead of sanded (like we'd used on the floors), I had to buy some.  I chose to buy the premixed acrylic latex from Elmer's that is also mildew resistant and ideal for mosaic tile. 

Despite being pre-mixed, it's still a little messy to apply...but I'll take it!

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The only problem I had in the entire process was not getting the long pieces of mosaic tile on straight--and this stuff is REALLY sticky, so it's super hard to remove it once your tile is put into place.

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Unfortunately, I didn't quite realize that one area of my tile was a little higher than the other (from my vantage point it looked straight...it's not until you are sitting, say, on the toilet that you would notice it).  It's really 'off'...no problem at the bottom since we'll fill it in with caulk, but the top isn't straight and that will probably be noticeable with the straight frame of the mirror sitting about an inch above it.  

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Anyways, what's done is done.  We didn't name this blog 'StarterHouse' for nothing!  We're learning as we go so that we'll eventually have a dream home that has perfectly straight tile ;) 

I could cut out that section and redo it, but if we can live with it, I'll just let it go.  We'll see...It's definitely a lesson learned for when I do the master bathroom (which will be after we paint the back wall).

I'll also post a shot of this backsplash once we caulk it and get the mirror back up. 

-k :)