Tile Me.

I'd like to play "do-it-yourself home remodeling" checkers... where instead of "King Me", you get to say, "Tile Me". I've been on the lookout for good and cheap tile for a while, and found some good deals, but none that are great. Even if I did, I'm scared about tackling this project... how do you live while you are remodeling your only bathroom?

We have done some updates in the bathroom... like put up an above toilet cabinet, changed the horrendous light fixture, and I've framed the mirror {long story, you'll get to hear about it later}

What i'm hoping to do is tile... everywhere, make some little alcoves, and do something with the vanity. But for now, I'm on the lookout for materials to do it for a reasonable price. So in the mean-time I sketched up what I see when I walk into the bathroom.

The End of My Self-Indulging.... For Now

Here he is, all in his new home! Don't you love how muscle-y he is? While I plan on {sadly} selling as much as we can when we move {not for a while}, I think Aslan is one I might have to keep with us. But now I'm dreaming of painting the walls just to get him a better backdrop!

{oh, and you get a sneak peak of the new crown molding we put up last weekend, we're pros now. I can't believe how good it looks and its not even finished!}

Some quick photoshopping for what Aslan might look like with a cold dark steel backdrop... What do you think?

Dear Aslan, You Complete Me

So if you couldn't tell from my last post I've been having a rough time. I've got big decisions to make that I can't figure out. Last Wednesday I found this little guy {shown below} at T.J. Maxx, and since I was killing time {I stay overnight an hour and fifteen away from home every Wednesday} I wondered around for about an hour. I probably visited my little friend, who I started fondly calling Aslan, about 5 or 6 times. I usually have pretty good control over my spending on useless decor items {my husband would say otherwise...}. But, anyways, I picked him up 5 times and put him back down after giving him a look-over 5 times. I left, happily, empty handed {with plenty of inspiration}. But I couldn't shake the little Aslan from my mind, I even dreamed about him. Then with all the stress and {failing at} decision making, I decided I needed him. And I have to say... he does make me feel better. 

I can't wait to show you how he looks in his new home.

I got a little Trunky....

So on my way home from work yesterday {after a long, hard, big decision not made} week, Chris calls me from work and mentions how he didn't pack a dinner. So I dropped by the store, got him a little microwave pizza and took the 45 minute detour from my drive home. {Lets talk about how my drive is already an hour fifteen}. I surprised him with his dinner, and unenthusiastically walked back out to my car. It was a hard week {I work 10 -13 hour days 4 days a week, so Thursday night = the start of my weekend}. I was emotionally pooped. Then I saw ROSS. I figured I'd treat myself to a little window shopping. I should know myself well enough that I shouldn't try to window shop in that condition. I couldn't help myself. I've always loved trunks.... So I splurged. I got 2 trunks and a faux book for $40. Wayyyy more than I would ever usually spend, but I sure was pumped to get home and see if all my books would fit {complete attitude turn-around, I'm going to turn into a trunk junkie!}. But take a look, I'm in love.

{The oil lamps will have to find a new home} The larger trunk hold all of the larger books perfectly, the smaller trunk holds all the smaller books with a little room left over, the basket holds my husbands collection of Star Wars books {I don't make fun of him}, and the faux book holds our printer & photo paper perfectly. Now I just need something to fill that gap... I might have spied something perfect while I was window shopping {controllably} earlier this week.... and I might just let my uncontrollable side loose for one more buy....

Dreaming of the Kitchen.... I Mean Closet Shelf!

If you remember, I work away from home on Wednesday's. So my creative, tool hungry side gets a little itchy. 

I've been thinking about what I can do about the storage above the closet. So I paint-tastiked what I'm thinking about. Just some cute storage boxes maybe... but can you tell I'm still loving this kitchen? There's something about that mustard and white pattern that hits my "me-likey" spot.

We don't use the stuff up there every day, so I wouldn't mind putting it all in storage baskets/boxes. But I'm not sure thats the look I want to go for. Does anyone have any good links they could share?

Floor up for grabs {and a new shelf to prove it}

So plan for the office number 2? Freeing up some floor space. Now we can say goodbye to our {faithful old} floor shelf. The new shelf was easy to install. The hard part was cutting my 1 corbel in half! I found extra wide corbels at Home Depot, but since I wanted them to sit flush against the wall I had to cut one corbel down the middle somehow.... Amazing, resourceful, and wood-loving friend at work? Perfect. My buddy used a band saw to slice the corbel right in half. 

My very loving husband caulked the shelf before I painted it... remind me to either give him one-on-one lessons next time... or just go ahead and do it myself! Just kidding {kinda!}. There were tons a few places I had to touch up, but over all he did a fine job.

I'm hoping to get a little bit cuter in my storage of the new shelf... but for now it will do, and we can sell our old shelf. It is nice to free up some floor space. I wonder sometimes if I'm a little furniture happy, and might do well to learn to cut back. 

I'm also feeling a change in the closet doors...

Basket Case Save

We've had the green basket since we got married {It was part of a wedding present}, I picked up the other basket from D.I. for a couple of bucks. I like basket storage, since you can almost pile anything in there and it looks good. So I decided to make these look a little better.

First I cut ripped out the handles, easier to do then I thought it was going to be.... Then I gave them a paint job and some lining... and ta-dah! New storage for our coming together office.

Basket #1 Not his final home... but he's down there under the left desk. Right now he holds the nic-nacs we don't know what to do with at our desks.

Basket #2 And of course the basket that holds a whole bundle of books.

Hotel Desks to {His and Hers} "Built-In" Style Beauties

Some of the office plans are coming together!

We got these two desks when we were first married. A hotel in town was selling stuff for cheap, and both of us being students, we needed desks. We got them for a steal. Too bad they were ugly. I've been on the lookout for a {good deal} set of desks on craigslist for the last 8 months. Then I got sick of looking. It was time to have good looking desks.

The desks are all wood, except the top has a laminate finish. No good. So I took some left over tongue and groove molding I got in a bundle {for a steal!} and nailed it right on top. 

Next I built shelves to sit in between the desks that were just the right width and hight to accommodate our technological pieces {fancy for: my husband works at best buy... and we have a lot of gadgets} 

I used the same paint as I used in the laundry room {after sanding}. The only difficulty in using "house paint" instead of "wood paint" on projects is that "house paint" takes longer to cure. Make sure and give the surface a good couple of days before leaving anything there. 

 I antiqued the top slats of the desks {back slat yet to come... I had to get the desks done, before I could get my buddy at work with a table saw to rip me some custom slats}. 

The kicker was the handles on the drawers. They really made a difference, and for just $2.00 a piece at Lowes. 

Can you believe how far they came? I think they turned out pretty sweet! What about you?

Since I used mostly left-over materials, the transformation cost me about $5

Yikes! {Plans for the office}

How embarrassing! With projects going on all over the house, the office became our disposal room. We couldn't live with it for long... so it became the next project.

So here are some quick sketches of what we're thinking up right now.