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Several of you requested more Rufus during our break from fostering. Despite his grumpy demeanor, he seems to have captured some hearts out in the blog-o-sphere. So, without further adieu, here is Rufus as he comes out of his sleepy haze…
...zzzzzzzzz...
"Oh, hello Mother. Did the breakfast bell ring?" (Rufus is a big fan of Downton Abbey)
"I'll be ready in a second, let me just clean up really quickly."
"Mmmmm....leftover food stuck to my fur!"
"Quick streeeeeetch..."
"You know what? I'll just take my breakfast in bed today. Rufus doesn't do mornings."
I know you all may be plotting your schemes to kidnap him for your own, but that surly lump of JRT/Chihuahua goodness is mine!
I know this blog has become pretty dog-centric lately, but since this it was started mainly as a way for our family to see our home handiwork, I thought I’d share the work Daniel and I did on the grandkids’ room at my parents’ house this summer. I forgot to take any “before” photos, but to give you an idea, it started out looking much like my old bedroom:
Dingy blue paint and crappy old furniture…in other words, nowhere to go but up! We started by re-painting the room a nice base color: Behr Dolphin Fin. This way, even after my parents no longer need a room for the grandkids, they will easily be able to change out the accessories and bedspread and turn it into a regular guest room. My mom got in on the painting action this time.
Once the walls and trim were painted, the fun part started…that is, picking out the lamp, bedspread, chair, curtains, and picture frames for the gallery wall. Check it out…
The bedspread is from West Elm, curtains from IKEA, curtain rod from Home Depot, and the slipper chair & throw pillows are from Target.
All of the photo frames are from the Target Restyle Collection except for the large frame in the middle, which is also from Target but it is for displaying children’s art. We filled the frames with a bunch of photos of our family and Elise drew a picture for the art frame.
These flower photos are actually cell phone photos I took with my Android at Kauffman Memorial Gardens. I thought they totally went with the bright, fun look we were going for. We also took the closet doors off and replaced them with heavy duty curtains that are pretty stain resistant (since you never know where those little hands have been).
So far the grandkids really like it and my mom really likes it, too! Mission accomplished!
We’re not planning on keeping the large dresser in there – we’re still on the lookout for a smaller, vintage dresser that we can paint white to match the bed frame. Until then, we’ll consider this room DONE!
Next up: my parent’s bedroom. Maybe over Thanksgiving break?
Oh. my. goodness! I am so excited to have the very first guest post on our blog! Kate from Twenty-Six to Life was gracious enough to not only do a post for me – but she’s also letting me do a guest post on her blog – ON HER BIRTHDAY! So please give her lots of love here and then head on over to her blog and give me some love there!!
Without further adieu, here’s Kate (the birthday girl)!
Hi! My name is Kate. I blog at Twenty-Six to Life about all sorts of stuff like DIY, my dogs, and (my attempts at) dieting. Super huge big THANK YOU to Emily for having me as a guest blogger today. I’m excited to be blogging in a new space about one of my favorite projects.
Since you have no idea who I am, here’s a picture of me hanging out at the beach.
I look so happy and relaxed don’t I? A beach will do that to you. Unfortunately it’s not possible to be so happy and relaxed all the time. Say for example… when you’re building a bed!
I’ll start with the finished product first. Here’s the bed that I built based on the plans created by Ana White.
As great as it looks now, it took awhile to get it there. The first step was creating the “shell” of the bed, which is essentially three large bench pieces with huge cubby holes.
Next came building the drawers and adding trim. The Ana White plans don’t call for trim on the faces of the drawers, but I think the trim makes it look more finished. Not to mention, it hides flaws!
Lastly, it was time to prime and paint all of the pieces. I built a king size bed, so the “shell” and drawers are all really big. The pieces for this bed pretty much filled up any usable space in this 2 car garage.
Since building the bed a few people have talked to me about doing something similar on their own. I am 100% in the “Go For It!” camp, but I did learn a few things along the way that might help if you decide to undertake a similar furniture building project:
- Pilot holes are your friends.
- Your math will always be inexplicably wrong. (apparently two plus two equals four and a smidge)
- You will need to touch up the paint once it’s in place, no matter how careful you are.
- Drawers suck. A lot.
- Sanding sucks. Even more.
- Measure twelve times. Cut it too long. Measure again. Cut off a little more. Repeat as necessary. The piece will still not be the length you thought it was supposed to be, but it will fit. Go with it.
- When you finally get to sleep on it, it will be the best sleep ever. Because you’re so tired.
- Always accept help when its offered. If it’s not offered, resort to bribery. A free meal will buy a lot. It’s worth it.
- Always have another battery for your drill charging. If you have it, you won’t need it, but if you don’t, you will.
- Trim will hide a lot of mistakes.
- Do not, under any circumstances, say you will be finished by X date. You won’t be finished by then. Not even close. Just be happy with the progress you’ve made.
- Done is good.
- Really good.
Before doing this project I had never considered building my own furniture, but it’s incredible to know that it can be done. I’m so happy with how it turned out, and it’s pretty comfortable too.
This weekend we went to my parent’s house in Lincoln, NE to paint my old bedroom and turn it into an office for my mom. This is what my bedroom looked like for the last 26 years:
Dismal, right? Well, it actually was covered with posters when I lived there but has been more bare in recent years. We had 48 hours to turn it into a suitable office, so we got right to work.
After two long days, it went from sky blue to a serene green:
The paint color is Martha Stewart’s “Beach Sand.” We used a gallon of her paint from Home Depot and weren’t super impressed. While the color was beautiful, the paint wasn’t that great. It required two coats, while Behr’s Paint Plus Primer (which we normally use) only needs one. Lesson learned. The curtains are from West Elm (On sale! Extra 20% off!). I think I may have converted my mom into a West Elm lover…
That desk is a $20 Craigslist find – we didn’t have time to paint it this weekend but next time we go to Lincoln we’ll paint it light gray. My mom graciously agreed to use it “as is” for now. Also, the blankets on the bed aren’t permanent. My mom has this bedding from West Elm in mind:
We also want to get a new light for the room, but we’re still trying to figure out what would look best. My mom also wants to get platform bed frame eventually. So much to think about!
In addition to painting the bedroom, we also hung new curtains in the living room and dining room (Daniel raised the curtain rod to accommodate the new 96 inch curtains) and Daniel replaced my parents’ doorbell. We also made a trip to Trader Joe’s between visits with my brothers, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew.
All in all, a busy weekend but very productive.
Did you do any DIY projects this weekend?
