2013 Home Goals Progress Report

Can you believe we’re almost halfway through 2013? Where did the time go?!?

With that in mind, I thought it would be a good time to do a mid-year check of my 2013 home goals.

#1 Make Decisions and Kick Fear to the Curb

I think I’m doing really well on this one so far. I’m actually making decisions and I’ve made a lot of progress so far this year. The kitchen is almost complete and I’ve made significant progress on the living room and office. Now I just need to keep the momentum up until the end of the year!

#2 Stop Procrastinating and Start Spending

Done! I finally bought a new stove in February and I bought a new sectional in May!

Landscaping the backyard is probably going to be my next big home purchase.

#3 Live and Let Go

So, I finally admitted to myself that I cannot do it all and ended up hiring someone to clean my house. It’s totally worth the money! Seriously, there’s nothing better than bumming on the couch watching Downton Abbey while some cleans your house.

And yes, I’ve started watching Downton Abbey. I’ve watched four episodes so far – I like it, but I’m not completely obsessed yet…I’m sure that’ll happen though. My boyfriend is going fishing tonight, so I’ll have the TV to myself and will probably finish Season 1.

One Bonus Personal Goal:

Live Healthier

Like all of my attempts to eat healthier/exercise more, progress on this one is spotty. I started tracking my food and exercise using My Fitness Pal and that’s helping me to hold myself accountable, but I still wouldn’t say I’ve been very successful with this one yet.

At the beginning of the year I also called out some specific projects/rooms I wanted to work on this year:

Painting My China Hutch – Not Started

The Backyard – Not Started

Guest Room – Not Started

Office – In Work

So far I’d say I’m doing pretty well keeping to my goals for the year. Now I just need to keep up the pace for the next six months. It should be fun to see the difference in pictures from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2013!

Yellow Ticking Stripe Curtains

As soon as I ordered my new rug I knew that I’d have to change my living room curtains. The blue Moroccan print of the rug was too much with the blue Moroccan print of the curtains.  Plus I’ve always wanted longer curtains so I could move the rod up higher.

I searched around for new curtains, but nothing caught my eye, so I decided to make my own…again. I ended up buying five yards of Michael Miller Yellow Ticking Stripe fabric from eBay for $8.50/yard.

I really cheated making these, so please don’t expect a tutorial on how to professionally sew curtains. I used the leftover iron-on hem tape from my office curtains to hem the top and bottom and I left the sides as-is. Someday I’d like to add lining…someday.

I re-hung the curtain rod 5 inches higher, which really makes the window look larger. To hang the curtains I used a set of curtain rings that I found on clearance at Target. I spray painted them white to match the rod.

Doesn’t the window look so much bigger now?! I’m still getting used to the lighter color curtains (right now it looks a little washed out), but I like the change. I think I’ll like it even more once I add bamboo blinds and bring some more color to that side of the room. And with that, another project is crossed off the list!

Find sectional

Replace arm chair

Buy rug

Find coffee table

Sew throw pillows

Buy garden stool

Style entertainment center shelves

Replace missing baseboard

DIY abstract art

Re-paint console table

Buy large plant/pot

Paint China Hutch

Decorate fireplace mantle

Sew curtains

DIY card catalog

Accessories

Spa Blue Moroccan Trellis Rug

The living room has needed a rug since…well, since I moved into the house. The living room/dining room/kitchen area is all tile flooring with high ceilings, so sometimes there’s a bit of an echo. Adding furniture helped, but I knew a rug would help even more. Plus adding a rug can really help pull a space together. I held off buying a rug until I bought a new couch (and until our puppies were housebroken), but that didn’t stop me from eyeing the Moroccan Trellis rug from Rugs USA. Now that I finally bought a new sectional (and our dogs are housebroken/have a doggie door), it was time to do some rug shopping.

I knew I wanted the Moroccan Trellis rug in spa blue, but I wanted to wait for a sale. I refuse to spend $566 on a rug! Granted they’ve been running a 50%-off sale for awhile now, but I knew I could do better if I just waited for a holiday. Luckily I was right and over Memorial Day weekend Rugs USA had a 65%-off sale plus free shipping on all their rugs. That’s right – I got this $566 rug for $198! I think that’s a pretty good price for an 8’x10’ wool rug.

I’m so happy with my new rug and would recommend it/Rugs USA to anyone looking for a new rug (I’m not being paid/perked to say that). It’s soft, plush and gorgeous in person. I should also mention that some of the reviewers complained that the rug sheds a lot, but I haven’t noticed any shedding yet. And for anyone wondering about the colors - the white is an off-white and the blue is a blue/gray, but definitely more blue than gray.

Oh, and the dogs love it too. Ringo was so excited when I rolled it out and he’s already rubbed his body over the entire thing.

Now I just need a new coffee table that doesn’t block so much of my pretty new rug!

Find sectional

Replace arm chair

Buy rug

Find coffee table

Sew throw pillows

Buy garden stool

Style entertainment center shelves

Replace missing baseboard

DIY abstract art

Re-paint console table

Buy large plant/pot

Paint China Hutch

Decorate fireplace mantle

Sew curtains

DIY card catalog

Accessories

DIY Farmhouse Style Desk

Are you ready for one of my favorite DIY projects ever?

Yep, my boyfriend and I built a desk! Actually, he did most of the building. I was mostly just an extra set of hands to hold pieces together during assembly.

We used the Fancy X-Desk plans from Ana White. The plans were great, but I’d suggest reading the comments before starting on a project. For example: the plans call for five 2’x4’s, but you really need six. Luckily someone wrote that in the comments or I would have had to go back to the store…and I would have been annoyed!

(source)

We also had trouble with a couple of the measurements, but maybe it was just us (although one of the comments mentions the same issue). 

You’ll notice that our back pieces face a different direction than the plans. We cut those pieces as described, but they didn’t fit correctly so we just screwed them onto the back.  No biggie.

Once the desk was built I used stainable putty to fill in any holes and then I stained the desk using Minwax Dark Walnut. We let the desk air out for a couple days (stain has a really strong odor) and then moved it into the office. It fit perfectly!

(Ignore all the cords/modem/router behind the desk)

Both of us are pretty proud of our build and happy to have our own desk space. Now I just need to bring in some accessories and storage. You’ll also notice that I finished the second yellow paint-dipped chair!

Finally, the office is actually functional for two people! And with that, another project is crossed off the to-do list (but another project has been added...it never ends):

Sell current desk on Craigslist

Clean out room

Paint stripes

Replace outlets and switches with white ones

Build desk

Paint chairs

Buy pair of desk lamps

Buy and paint file cabinet

Cords/modem/router solution – newly added

Mount TV on the wall

Create a gallery wall around the TV

Build pallet artwork

Additional artwork

Sew curtains

Buy sleeper sofa

Buy/build end table

Buy dresser

Paint dresser

Sew pillows

Add accessories

 

Charcoal Gray Sectional

After months of searching and another month waiting for it to be made, my sectional is finally here! And I couldn’t be happier!

It’s the Broyhill Ethan sectional with a customized layout and fabric. I bought it from a local store called At Home Furnishings. They were friendly and gave me a pretty good deal - I highly recommend them.

I ended up spending about $500 more than planned, but it’s exactly what I wanted plus it’s better quality than I originally planned on buying, so it was worth it. AND I already had the extra money saved up, so I didn’t have to charge more than I could afford (which I wouldn't have done anyway).  

Plus I was getting sick of looking around. I didn’t have the best shopping experience at a few stores, so I was pretty much over the whole buying process. I think maybe because I’m young some stores didn’t take me seriously. In a few stores I had sales people walk right past me to other customers and offer them help instead of me.  One sales lady very rudely told me they didn’t have what I was looking for and walked off. It was pretty crazy!

Anyway, I’m so happy with my new sectional! It fits the room so much better and now we have a lot more seating. Plus now there’s room for all of us to lie down – we spent about 7 hours on Saturday bumming around on the couch watching a Law & Order SVU marathon and it was amazing.

If you’re wondering what happened to my old couch, I put it on the curb with a free sign and put a curb alert listing on Craigslist. It was gone by the next morning.

Now that I have the main piece of furniture crossed off the list, I can really get moving on the living room makeover. I’ve already ordered a new rug!

Find sectional

Replace arm chair

Buy rug

Find coffee table

Sew throw pillows

Buy garden stool

Style entertainment center shelves

DIY abstract art

Re-paint console table?

Buy large plant/pot

Paint China Hutch

Decorate fireplace mantle

Sew curtains

DIY card catalog

Accessories

Front Porch Planters

This post brought to you by Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.
Now that the weather is starting to heat up (we’ve already had a few 100°+ days), it’s time to get the yard cleaned up and ready for summer before it gets too hot to work outside. The planters on my front porch have been pretty pitiful looking since frost (and lack of watering) killed my poor flowers.

I’d say it’s time for some new flowers! I picked out a large marigold plant for each planter plus a few smaller packs of other colorful flowers. I like to use Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix when I’m planting anything indoors or in a container. I really does work better than the cheap stuff.
 Anyway, start by adding a little soil to the bottom of your pot. Add your largest plant - be sure to loosen up the soil and roots a little.

Then start adding more soil and the rest of your flowers. It’s such an easy project, but brings so much color and life to the front porch. Plus the planters are easy to move, so it’s a great solution for renters.

Once all of the flowers are added and soil filled in, sit back and enjoy the colorful addition to your porch. 

And now I have to show you how much better the porch looks with my new flowers plus my new spring/summer wreath. I think it’s fair to say my house looks a lot more colorful and welcoming now.

For more gardening inspiration, follow Miracle-Gro on Pinterest. It’s a great resource for fun garden projects and tips. You can also find articles and videos full of expert gardening tips at Miracle-Gro online. And check out The Gro Project for other fun gardening projects like the Toyarium or Origami Garden.

Kitchen After…For Now

I still have a couple projects left on my kitchen to-do list, but I’m ready to call the room finished for now. It looks significantly better than the rest of the house, so it’s time to move on and share the love with other rooms.

As a reminder, this is what the kitchen looked like when I bought the house. This was taken during the home inspection:

Before I moved in I bought a new dishwasher and my parents bought me a refrigerator as a housewarming gift. Eventually I replaced the microwave and did a little decorating. This is what the kitchen looked like before I decided to focus on decorating/finishing the kitchen:

Back in February I created this mood board to help me focus my ideas and create a cohesive looking room (one of the things I always struggle with):

Three months later I’m ready to present the After…For Now pictures:

I still need to tile the backsplash, update the kitchen artwork, create a new sign for above the sink (to replace the bon appétit sign), and add some more finishing touches (potholders, towels, etc). Oh, and I decided not to add the “eat” sign (I didn’t really have anywhere to hang it), so that’s been removed from the to-do list.

Now let’s talk about everything on the list that I did finish, plus links and the budget breakdown:

Add hardware to kitchen cabinets

Package of 10 Knobs $22.26 x 2

Single Knob $2.97 x 3

Drawer Pull $4.97 x 6

Knob/Pull Hole Guide$7.47

Replace stove (stainless steel) $622.63 - $17.13 (Ebates cash back)

Replace faucet $121.45
Update menu board $2.17 x 2
Re-pot plants $11.96 x 2

Add herb garden to window sill  
Small Pot $1.29 x 5
Small Saucer $0.89 x5
Craft Paint $0.33 x 3
Herb Plant $3.48 x 5
Set of Herb Markers $14.00

Sew new faux roman shades

Gray/White Striped Fabric $36.20

Heat n Bond $2.40 x 2

Buy rug $38.00

Owl Crock $5.75

Bamboo Utensils $4.97

Oil/Vinegar Bottles$2.99 x 2  

Fruit Bowl $9.58

Cow Creamer $5.48

Total $999.98

Not bad considering 60% of that is the new oven! After finishing the remaining projects and offsetting that by however much I sell my old oven for (still haven’t listed it on Craigslist) I should still be around the $1000-$1200 mark.

And with that I’m ready to call this project done…for now!