REMEMBER THAT TIME I CRIED OVER CARPET?

well, i got home and i love it.

 

say whaaaa?!

 

yeah.

 

i ran downstairs to see the finished product and almost cried HAPPY tears. it looks so nice! it looks a lot lighter and you can see a hint of gray and it just looks...perfect. maybe it was the fact that you can see the trim now? who knows.

 

but, praise god.

 

seriously, praise him. do it. because he pours out his blessings on even the most trivial, ridiculous things. like carpet.

 

the kids ran from one end of the basement to the other, just having a blast in the wide open space. hallie did cartwheels and forward rolls and henry just ran around in circles. we didn't want to come upstairs, it was so fun.

 

 

 

awesome.

DON'T CRY OVER CARPET. SERIOUSLY. (BUT DON'T FEEL BAD IF YOU DO)

so, we are still working to fnish our basement.

 

we are soooo close.  i just wanted the flooring to be done. when the floorings done, we can use it. i don't care about the decorating or furnishings yet - we can make due with what we have as long as the flooring is done.

 

so after much, much debate, i ordered carpet.much, much debate. i ordered a light grey/beige color that was inexpensive and looked pretty basic. no biggie, not much thought otherwise. the basement is over 1,000 usable square feet, so i couldn't do anything super amazing or awesome. and that's fine. it's a basement. who really cares?

 

i certainly didn't. right up until they started installation yesterday.

 

AND IT IS POOP BROWN.

 

there isn't a single hue of gray, it's a dark brown. it looks like the carpet i grew up with in the 1990s. it certainly does matches the sample i used to make sure it wouldn't be too dark....but unfortunately when you spread it over the entire room it apparently turns poop brown.

 

so i stewed (and prayed) over it last night and woke up just totally bummed out about it. i called to see if there was anything that could be done and sure...if i wanted to spend a bunch of money, something could be done.

 

so i stewed on that a bit more and cried (ridiculous, i know - but it's a lot of money no matter which way you dice it )....got some advice from my usual source (barb) and then turned to my friend (traci) and asked her to talk me off the ledge. i honestly figured she would tell me to buck up and spend the money now, etc.

 

 

 

instead, her words:

 

"It's a basement.  Lesson learned but again...it's a basement!  No worries.  People don't stare at carpet.  Just accent with colors that don't make it look so "poopy"  :)  You will be fine and even more fine when someone spills on it...b/c you won't care....Life's short right?  It all happens how it should, so don't let this little thing bog you down."

 

and with that...i felt better.

 

because she's right.

 

life is too, too short. big deal. i can handle this.

 

i can consider it a challege to decorate on poop brown.

 

sigh. poop. brown.

 

the end.

WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING INSTEAD OF BLOGGING.

we are re-doing hallie's room. HORSES. yes, horses. yeesh.

how do you make a cute little girl's room "horses" without looking like a western puked on it? or without going too overboard with the horses knowing that she will change her mind next week?

it's tricky, i tell ya.

her wants: a sky with clouds (whaaaa?), pictures of baby horses and a big horse.

my wants: organization. shelves. a place to put all of her many, many things.

what we did: blue walls, clouds handpainted by moi, a grouped-by-color bookshelf, stuffed animal net/hammock/thing, floating shelves, lots of bins and storage, a new toy chest, painted her headboard and dresser, added a mirror, put up a giant horse decal thing-y, new horse sheets, framed pics of baby horses from etsy and added a storage unit of drawers to her closet.

and it's done....mostly. i stayed up late lots of nights doing lots of stuff. and things are finally coming together. the headboard is still not on and the mirror is not yet hung up. and neither is the stuff animal net/hammock/thing. but it's really, really close.

and here are some pictures of the progress:

i'm not gonna lie - it sucked getting all of these stickers off the dresser to be painted. and sanding the crayon? not my favorite.

book wrangling.

color coding.

new shelves!

storage! organization!

yay for chalkboard labels!

clouds. boo-ya.

Walls. Real Walls.

I'm pretty excited today. We are starting the long process of finishing our basement, starting with the drywall. We had it framed out when we built the house two and a half years ago, but decided to wait (and save) before doing the finish work.

This is what our basement looked like last night. Bob, Dave and Bummy got the drywall hauled into the basement and put insulation/plastic on the outter walls.

You know, it is really hard to take pictures of a framed basement. No walls or whatnot. Not pictured - the rest of the main area, dave's man land or storage room.

Nevermind - here's a picture of the other side of the main living room area. I tried to get pictures of the drywall and apparently didn't do a good job. Who knew it was so big? Or heavy??? Thanks to Bummy and Bob for the help! We have awesome friends.

This morning the drywall guy, Dan, will start hanging the drywall and finishing will probably start next week. I can't wait. I have already started decorating, but that is still a loooong ways away.

Oh, and here is Hallie this morning, right before I left. I love this girl. Crusty nose and all.

Approaching a Nursery.

I'm almost 20 weeks and starting to come to grips with the fact that we are not going to find out the sex of the baby. This is hard for me, you see. I am a planner. I love to shop. I love to decorate. I hate anticipation and suspense.

My husband is not a shopper, decorator, and he enjoys anticipation and suspense. (loser).

So we are not finding out this time. Just shoot me, please.

There is a tiny (very tiny) part of me that is excited. That part is now looking ahead to the nursery. How the heck to decorate a gender neutral nursery sans shades of yellow or green.

Here's what I'm thinking. Feel free to not give me your opinions.

(PS - The room is already blue - SW Hinting Blue - it will stay that color, girl or boy)

Too girly? Of course the owl pillow will be blue for boy, pink for girl, etc. But the bedding will just be a simple white bumper. I already have the white crib skirt. I love the prints and I love the mobile. The vintage flashcards are darling and we will do my regular long white IKEA curtains on the windows.

If it's a boy, I will butch it up a bit with some cute fabric like this:

or

If it's a girl I will doll it up with scallops bordering the room - oh how I wish these could work with a boy too. But they don't.

and

Pretty garland. See the blue? That's about the right color.

So that's what I'm thinking for now.

For Aunt Liz.

And Mom.

And Barb.

And Abbie.

And anyone else I complained to about this pillow. I finally found it, bought it and love it.

It will look much cuter once Dave makes me a headboard, and I replace the mismatched shams/pillow cases with the fresh white ones I have. Why don't I just do that already? Maybe tonight.

The rest of the room is coming along. I wanted something casual, fresh and low-key.

(still waiting for Dave to hang up that second picture above)

I repainted the ding dong table white (from mustard yellow) and spray painted my lamp yellow instead, warm sunflower or something.

I love spray paint.

Left to do:

Dave to become un-busy and make me my upholstered headboard.

Buy new night stands.

Buy lamps for night stands.

Put on my new white bedding (cover and pillow cases) (I love IKEA!)

Done!

Ta Da!

The new backsplash. I found it very hard to photograph - it's delightfully shiny. It consists of 3x6 white subway tiles with bright white grout. I sure am glad we went with white grout (good call, Barb).

Do you understand how difficult it is for me to get a good picture? Let me give you some out takes.

Doesn't Hallie just look thrilled to be alive? And please excuse my dishes drying. I much prefer to air dry dishes rather than dry them and put them away immediately.

Downstairs Bathroom.

(above: not my bathroom)
I ordered this shower curtain for our downstairs bathroom. I just love it.

This time around, I know exactly how I want to decorate.

Too bad we have no drywall up and are nowhere near starting this project.

But hey, I'll be ready, right? And this way I can spread the expense out so it's not all at once.

And this is the sink I want. It's ridiculously expensive and probably won't happen, but I love the shelf on the bottom where I could put guest towels, toilet paper, etc.

I also already have this print for over the toilet. It's pink, but I thought it was a fun variation from the ever-popular Keep Calm and Carry On.

I'm still thinking about the wall color, but I do love light, light blue, so I'm sure that's what it will be. Or maybe just a cottage white.

The mirror will something simple and probably from Target. I really like the one we have in our half bathroom upstairs, so I might try to find something similar. Or a plain white medicine cabinet for storage could work.

The floor will be tile, and I do love a nice penny tile.

Or, hexagon.

We already have a toilet ready (thanks Dad and Bev!), so as soon as we sheetrock (the entire basement), hang a ceiling (for the entire basement), prime, paint, tile the floor, and install the sink and toilet (shower is already in.), we are good to go!

Rockin' With the Rhythm of the Rain.

Don't you think I need this for our front porch? We live facing a pond for pete's sake!

I dream of a deep porch swing, loaded up with quilts and pillows, rocking with a baby in my arms (not an announcement!) and Hallie leaned against me and Dave.

Heaven.

Plus, isn't the yellow fun?

(edited because I apparently don't know how to spell rhythm.)

Backsplash.

Okay, this is not my backsplash, but I forgot the camera again. Same idea, white subway tile backsplash with white grout.

It looks fabulous. Finished, clean, dare I say....perfect? It suits my kitchen and my style.  I absolutely love it, so come over and see it sometime!

In other news, I thinking about doing this in my dining room. I've been collecting fun and different plates from the thift store for a while.

I love this look.

I was originally thinking above the bed, but ouch! What if one of those things fell off the wall?

Before.

Fiesta!

It's like a party in my cabinets!

Wanna come over and tickle the ivories?

Be warned...a few keys stick. She's had a hard life. And there's more brutality to come, just you wait until Hallie starts lessons!

Perfection.

My grandmother-in-law recently gifted me a million and one jars. And not just any jars. They are Perfect Mason jars. Of course.

And they are so pretty. Hallie likes them too.

The Blue Room.

We have one room in our house that is dedicated to toys. Oh, who am I kidding? The entire house is dedicated to toys.

Anyway.

The "Blue Room," is currently Hal's toy room. It will eventually be Baby #2's bedroom (no, that is not an announcement), but for now it is riddled with toys and such.

Last weekend I went and organized the damn thing. I put designated bowls for jewelry next to her dress up trunk. I moved the kitchen so it was closer to the table to allow for more realistic play. I orgnized the cubbies and took out the "baby" toys.

I did all these things so that it could eventually look like this:


Impressive, huh?!

Living Room - Before and After

Before:
Hated the huge, blank wall.
Hated the clock hung waaaay too high.
Hated how it all just blended together.
Needed a darn end table.
Hated being told that I am Shabby Chic. I am NOT Shabby Chic. At least, not intentionally.





After:
Added a rug.
Added mirrors.
Moved the clock.
Shortened the sewing table and used as an end table.
Added a framed poster where clock was.
Moved in the other lamp from the DR.
Painted the TV stand.
Much, much better. We're still working on the accessories, but I can finally take a deep breath. Wooooosh.