Projects

If you know me at all, you know I love projects.  One of the reasons I was excited about the house we bought a little over a year ago was because I saw the potential it had.  It takes time to get things done the way you like them, but it's definitely worth it in the end!  In the past couple months we've gotten some projects done around here (some big, some small), and it's been pretty awesome!

I always knew I wanted the back wall of my master bedroom to be painted with some sort of design, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  One day I decided to just go for it, which is typical for me!  I bought some painter's tape, taped off a design, and painted it with paint I had on hand!  As usual, I didn't consult DJ first, and as usual he was very complimentary of my design decision.  I'm blessed to have him around-- he's super tolerant!  So here are the before and afters: 

In the spring, I decided I really wanted another rocking chair before Pyper was born.  We have a big recliner/rocking chair in our upstairs living room which is super comfortable, but we only have a couch and loveseat in our basement living room, and I really wanted a rocking chair since DJ and I spend our time down there in the evenings once the girls are in bed and inevitably I'm going to want to rock Pyper down there some times.  I wanted a little rocker, and didn't really want a glider.  I had a glider with Lexsi and it broke really fast.  Well lucky me, I found this rocking chair online for only $5 from someone here in Brigham!  It's a whole lot like a rocking chair my mom had when I was a kid, which I kind of loved.  I took the back and seat off and brought them down to my mom's house, and she recovered them for me!  I paid about $25 for the fabric and new padding, so in total I only paid $30 for this super cute rocking chair!  I love it!

This last and most recent project was by far the biggest and most time consuming of our recent projects, and I feel super gushy about it!  When I moved into my house, the upstairs living room was carpeted, the walls were all beige and the railing and hand railing to the stairs were honey oak... not my fave:

Before we moved in, we painted all the upstairs walls except the two going downstairs, because we didn't have an extension ladder to be able to reach all the way to the top.  If you know me at all, you can imagine how much it drove me crazy to see those two walls the ugly beige for over a year when everything else was a nice dark grey!  Yuck.  Last summer or fall some time, I decided to get to work on the railing.  I painted all the spindles white, and it was a good start:

Shortly after, DJ stained the top and end post of the railing to match our kitchen counters, and it looked even better!  Then he ripped up the carpet and installed new flooring, so things were moving right along:

Unfortunately, with DJ being the head coach of three different sports, he doesn't get a lot of time during the school year to do home improvement projects.  I have told him numerous times that the reason he doesn't work in the summers is so he can work for me, and he's such a good sport about that!  As I already mentioned, he's super tolerant of my ideas, and is happy to jump in and help make them happen!  I decided at some point during the past year that I really wanted the wall going downstairs to be planked.  I figured it would make a good focal wall, and fits in well with the overall design feeling in our home.  So a couple weeks ago, we went to Lowe's and bought a whole bunch of plywood (8 sheets I believe, but I think we only ended up needing around 5?).  We brought it home and DJ cut the planks into the size I requested.  I spent a couple afternoons white washing all the planks.  I also decided that, for variety's sake, I'd "blue wash" some of the planks using the blue paint we have on our big wall in our living and dining room.  I'm SO glad I did!  I think it adds serious visual interest.  After the planks were all painted DJ installed them.  We had to buy an air compressor and nail gun for this project, and totally blessed out when we found what we were looking for on sale for only $50!  We also had to get an extension ladder.  The cost of the tools we purchased ended up being more than that cost of the wood to do the wall, but that's totally okay cause now we have the tools for other projects.  That's just part of owning a home-- accumulating tools and supplies for home improvement!  In the end, the wall turned out just how I wanted it to... I'm obsessed!  It's so awesome to have the space finished, and see my ideas become realities!

 This is the bottom of the stairs:

One day I want to refinish the stairs so that the step is wood, stained the same dark brown as the railing, and the rise is painted white.  For now, though, with toddlers and another baby on the way, carpet is just a safer finish so we're sticking with that!  I love this space so much!