Homemaking

First of all, remember when "Homemaking" was actually a thing?  And once a month your mom would disappear for a few hours to homemaking and return with crafts and other amazing things and you were jealous?  Tell me that wasn't just me.

Anyhow... in preparation for moving to my new house (in less than 2 weeks now!!!!) I've been doing some boring things, like packing, and some fun things, like house decorations.  Let me show you.

First up, a "whiteboard" calendar, shopping list and cleaning chart:

I'm tellin ya, that white picture frame I bought when we were first married was totally worth whatever I paid for it (which I'm sure wasn't very much).  It's been so good to me the past few years!  I've been using it as a shopping list board, but decided it was really bigger than I needed for that, and I'd rather have a calendar that I could write the month and days in and erase it and start over each month!  So I just bought a little fabric, busted out the Sharpie and ruler and got to work!  I drew the grid on the fabric, stuck it in the frame and voila!  A calendar!  The smaller black frames are a shopping list and a chore chart with daily, weekly and monthly chores to do.  Imagine these three frames on a perfect shade of light blue in my kitchen... aaaaah....

Next in line, pillows:

Now, I got pillows for free with the couches when I bought them in the spring, but they weren't super cute.  I didn't really care (I had a new baby, come on!), but now that I'm moving, I want my house to be aDORable!  So I took the old covers off and made new ones!  I must say, I love them!!!

And p.s. the walls in my new house are grey, with a couple light blue accent walls on the main floor and dark dark brown laminate floors.  So yellow grey and blue are clearly prominent here.

My next project was curtains.  Oh, the curtains.  My house doesn't come with blinds (new construction, remember?) and I refuse to live in a house without window treatments because I'm not okay with people being able to see in at night when the lights are on.  Naturally, I decided to make curtains-- which, by the way, will be hung the day I move in... I want my privacy, thanks!  My living room has 2 windows, and they're on a blue accent wall.  Here's an idea of the curtains for that room:

Of course, that's just one panel, and it doesn't look nearly as cute on a couch as it will on the wall.

Next are my bedroom curtains:

I wanted to keep them really neutral so I can decorate however I want in there.  These curtains are actually a sheer overlay with the floral pattern, then a light grey layer underneath, with a blackout panel behind it all.  Hard to tell in the picture.  But they're awesome.

And my crowning jewel curtains:

Lexsi's curtains!  So awesomely cute, right?  I saw a shower curtain like this at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and they were selling it for $50 I think.  I thought, "Hey I could make that!  And for cheaper!"  And I did... but now I understand why they charge what they do.  It took a looooooooooong time!  The ruffles are sewn onto blackout fabric, so it'll be nice and dark for that girl!

Finally, I refinished my piano.  My dad bought me this piano when I was about 10 years old.  He bought it used from CMU, and it sat in our garage for a long time while he sanded and stained it.  I was excited to re-vamp it, but I did feel a little guilty when I thought about all the hard work he put into re-finishing it for me 15 years ago... and I covered it all with paint in the matter of a few hours.  In the end, though, we've always said that when I had my own house I was taking the piano, and it just really wouldn't go with the other furniture and decorations in the room how it was!

Anyway, here's how it started:

And here's how it ended up:

I really love it.  Cause, come on... who else has a yellow piano!?!  My mom helped me re-cover the seat, which I love too.  I know it seems like a lot of yellow.  But trust me... it's going to be so cute!!!  In just a couple weeks, it will all come together wonderfully!

And now, just for kicks, a picture the creation I'm very most proud of:

Perfection.