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and we’re in!!!

2011
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The day has finally come!  No…we don’t have a kitchen, nope…no flooring, not even trim…but–we do have a roof over our heads, painted walls, and beds!!!  Ahh, it’s the little things in life:)  I primed, painted, painted, and painted some more and finished our 10 and a half foot ceiling bedroom in a day an a half.  Do you think I was motivated?? Just a little:)  Especially since the night before we moved in we had to wake the kids up at 4 a.m. to move them into the house cause a severe storm was coming.  Which meant that mommy got squished between two little ones on a couch with not much sleep.   Do you understand the motivation now??

So, I’m gonna show a couple of pictures, I don’t want to do the “true” reveal until it is completely finished, but here’s a sneak peak as to how the “Lundeen’s” are living life now-a-days!

Whetstone gray by Martha Stewart did win, and I’m really liking the coastal bright feel it’s giving this room.  It warms up at night and looks gray during the day.  If you notice we have 3 beds in this room right now.  A new meaning to the “family bedroom.”  And no, not by choice, but it’s going quite well! 

There’s a tiny peak of the other “cutie-pie” bed in the corner.  It was the first time I got to set it up and put on the bedding since we bought it a year ago.  I can’t wait to put it into a girly pink bedroom and play it up!!  If you notice though, the kids sleep great in here.  I think they are happy to have a little bit of their own space as well.  We are also super happy we opened up the dormer.  It’s amazing how much more light it lets in!

Call my crazy but this is my favorite view of the room.  Not because I’m in love with my rattan porch fan that Ryan thinks is the goofiest thing, or because I just love ceilings, which I kinda do when they are 10 1/2 feet tall, but because when I look up from my bed this is the only completely finshed part of the room, and I can tune out the rest of the room and “pretend” it’s all finished:)

Aside from living in a house that does have exposed walls, dirty floors, orange linoleum and a tinge of bat smell, it’s amazing how adaptive we can be.  Lets be honest, I am not a rough and tough kind of girl.  Camping?? Maybe for a couple of days.  A dirty house usually=driving this girl crazy.  But somehow it works!  Maybe cause I see my kiddos unphased by the life around them.  Maybe because I see my hubby working his tail off to make a good home for us, or maybe cause a home is more about the people than what’s in it.  Don’t get me wrong, I think about how I’m going to decorate everyday…but surprisingly this “experience” has been very enlightening for me.  I pray that I allow God to use it in a way to teach me contentment.  I really do desire that!  I pray I do not take this experience for granted, and I’m excited to share with you a few of the struggles and triumphs that I’ve had along the way!  Thanks for sticking with me:)

Filed Under: Family

Another Slip

2011
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I ran away to Wisconsin this week, for good reason.  Ryan took my last functioning toilet!  It really is a good thing because that means he’s onto plumbing, yay!!  But, I didn’t really care to stick around to watch him put in the pvc while peeing on a tree if you know what I mean.  So to Grandma’s house we go.  Oh how Grandma loves us:) wink wink

While I was at home I thought I might as well bring a project with me, and while it crossed my mind to throw my wing back in the trunk, I second guessed it when I needed to pack up actual necessities.  So, instead I threw in Kynlee’s little rocking chair we got for free when we purchased her bed on craigslist.  The nice family threw it in for us:)  It was cute, but just not quite the right colors, so since I am in love with slipping these days (the result not the process!)  I thought it would be the perfect project to do while I was at home.  Especially since if I didn’t do it here it probably wouldn’t get done until she was too big to acutally sit in the chair!  Anyway, here is her cute little chair before..

It was fun kind of Grandmas bedspread chenille fabric, but some of it was rubbing off and the stripes didn’t match the new color scheme.  So, to the slip we go.

I started by buying 2 yards of duck cloth fabric, normally 9.99 a yard but I had a 50% percent off coupon and an additional 20% off the entire purchase, so it was only $8!!  I also bought some piping and a 1/2 yard of pink fabric to encase it in.

Once I got home I washed my fabric in hot water and dried it to shrink it up so it would still fit after I washed it once it was made (the beauty of slip covers!!)

Then I started by just draping and tucking the fabric on the chair.  This is allie’s version of “pattern making.”  Super precise :)  And I have a really great helper/expert sewer in the back helping me out!

After you tuck it you can start cutting it, and then pinning it tightly to fit.  Some people say to pin it a little loose so you have a little extra room, but I’m not a fan of the extra loose, sloppy looking slips so I tend to pin it a little tighter and figure it will stretch if it needs to!

This was my first piece.  I like to start with the back cushion seat and then the back of the chair. Then trim to leave about 1/2 inch.  You really do want to try to utilize your fabric as best as possible, so try to be smart about placement.

Here’s the slip all cut out and pinned, and then after it is pinned I baste, which means to loosely hand stitch all the seams.  Trust me, I’m a lazy girl on this kinda stuff, but it’s worth it on slipcovers!!  After this you carefully take the slip off, carry it to your machine, and start sewing on your basted line.  If you are going to do piping this is when you would insert it into the arms and top seams.  I like to do it after I have it all pinned.  I unpin one piece at a time, stick it in and pin it back up so I don’t loose the whole shape.  After an afternoon of sewing with my sister, about 4 hours later I had this little cutie!

I forgot to mention that I added a gathered skirt on the bottom to flirt it up a bit.  The skirt is the best part because it pulls the whole piece together.  Gathered skirts are super easy, you just measure how long you need it and cut a piece of fabric.  Hem one edge for the bottom and then loosely hand stitch the top in about 1 inch stitches.  Then pull your thread until it is loosely gathered, add your piping, and sew it on.  I pin it and then sew it on the right side and just stitch in the ditch.  Much easier than trying to flip it inside out!

It’s definately not perfect, and a cute little pillow with a “K” on it will help to hide some of that, but it’s a one of a kinder…and 8 bucks!  Can’t argue with that:)  Oh, and Kynlee loves it too, if you can’t tell by how relaxed she is, what a goof!

So I know some of you are super intimidated by slipping, but when I tell you that I am honestly not a good sewer, I mean it.  You just gotta try.  I always cross my fingers and say a little prayer that there will be no holes and that it will fit, and most of the time it does!!  Let me know if you slip something at your house, I’d love to see it!!

Filed Under: How-To's

We Have a Bedroom….Sort of!

2011
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Alright, I know I have been gone for a long time, but all for good reason! We have been extra busy at work in the house with no Internet or tv to keep a girl busy, so what else is there to do?? Sheetrock you say? Yep, well…a little. I have to give most of the credit to ry, his buddies, and his dad. They have been a great help!! But…I did learn to cut and hang a few pieces myself, I mean everyone needs to know how to sheet rock right?? So, let’s get to the the fun part! I’m sure some are getting sick of seeing the before, but we just need to giVe the after due justice:) so, here she is…

ahhh…brings back the memories.  Low ceiling, beautiful carpet, etc, etc. :)

and the odd closets that split the room up.

Things are looking a little different…and brighter.  Yay!  So here she is all sheet rocked and ready to be primed and painted:)

This is looking in from the hallway.  So much brighter and open.

Here’s the closets.  The one on the right will be for washer and dryer, Ry already made a nice little platform in there that needs to be painted to set them on.  The one on the left is our closet.  If you notice we have nice natural light coming into the closets from that odd little window that was hiding down there.  I’m usually not a fan of covering up windows, but when they interfere with decorating then it’s a must:)  And hey, natural light is a great feature in a closet!

We moved the bathroom door over and made it full size, and Ry also threw in some built ins above the door to store off season clothes.  We’ll find a couple of cabinet doors to cover them up and it will add extra storage, something we can all use!

And my favorite part, the false dormer!  It turned out quite nice, even though the window is about a window above the rest…it acts like a nice sky light and does brighten up the room a lot!  I’m thinking a nice little seating area under there.  My slip covered chair might work well!  Ryan also wired it for a puck light up there, but someday I totally see a chandelier going in.  I can’t overwhelm him all at once:)  If I talk about it enough though, it won’t be a shocker when I do approach him!  Love you baby:)

So, that’s what we’ve got for now.  It just got sanded Sunday night, so I need to visit the paint store soon and go to town.  Once it is painted we are going to move all three beds in there (party in mom and dad’s room!) and set up camp.  With a roof over our heads..how novel!!  We are going to wait on carpeting until the rest of the house is ready for it, but we are hoping that’s only a month away as well.  As for a paint color, I’m thinking something like this…

It’s called Whetstone Gray.  You know, the new neutral!  I like it cause it is a great mix of the sharkey gray that my bathroom vanity will be, and a warmer color to cozy up the bedroom.  We’ll see, I might change my mind once I get to the paint store!  So, stay tuned.  I”m really going to try to keep up the posting since stuff is finally starting to get done:)

Filed Under: Demo

Dressser Turned Vanity

2011
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While our house is under demolition, I decided that it would be good for me to work on a few things that I can do.  Like painting.  My first project??  Painting a $5 dresser I scored at a garage sale a couple of months back.  I had been inspired by a friend who had turned her dresser into a vanity, and then started to see a lot of “different” furniture pieces being used as vanities.  I loved the vessel sinks that people were using on top of them as well.  Here are just a few of the inspirational photos…

Such a fun cottage flare!

A little more traditional

Seriously, love the floors, love the curtains, would maybe change the faucets, but still stinkin cute:)

Alright, I think you get the picture:)

So what I most liked about this concept was that my vanity could look more like a camoflauged piece of furniture and piece of art, rather than just a place you brush your teeth and wash your hands.  I mean, seriously…how fun is that??

I was a little discouraged when writing this post, because I had taken pictures of the “before” dresser and put them on my computer way back when.  Well, the computer is packed away and now I only have the “afters.”  I know…how fun is an after without a before, sorry friends, huge letdown!  :)  But use your imagination with me!!

So this dresser started out with a reddish-orangish varnish all over it.  The pulls were the bronze scrolling flower type ones, you know the kind, you probably had them in your room when you were a kid:)  Also on the top of the dresser initials were carved with a lot of other fun details from a teenage girls room.  So, I took our power sander and stripped her down.  I must admit, I struggled with the idea of leaving it wood or painting it, it was that pretty after sanding.  Put, in the end I knew I wanted a very calming spa like feel to my bathroom and I really think this gray and white combination will give me that.  I also wanted to try out this “Sharkey Gray” a Martha Stewart exclusive that I got in my favorite Behr Paint and Primer in One to see if I would want to use it on my cabinets.  If you remember back to the picture of my ideal kitchen, this is the color the cabinets were.  Super subtle, but I think I’m loving it:)  So, here’s a little closer look at the sink.

I was orignally going to do a double sink, but after closer review of our bathroom quarters….the cute “character” got in the way!  The roofline slanted so that I wouldn’t be able to put up two matching mirrors, a must in my book to make it look right.  So, I decided on the cheaper alternative, 1 sink.  I also liked the idea of having more counter space since the sinks take up a lot of room.  I changed out the hardware for some polished n ickel pulls, and put a couple coats of water-based polyuerthene on the top to protect it from water spots.  I just found out yesterday that my faucet was backordered til October (not gonna happen) so I am on the hunt for a new one.  Here’s what I’ve got going for the mirror and light fixture.

Sussex Double Sconce

I scored the light off of ebay, its the sussex double sconce from Pottery Barn.  Again, I needed a small one to fit in the space.

Zoomed: Moen 23.87"W Sage Brushed Nickel Oval Bath Mirror

The mirror needed to be narrow as well to fit the space so a frameless one worked great. 

So that’s it so far.  We need to pick out flooring and then she’ll throw together real fast!  Yay, the end is coming…someday:)  I must tell you that more sheet rock went up last night.  Pictures to follow soon!!

Filed Under: Remodel