my wandering mind...

You will see this post title quite a bit from me. It is because I find it nearly impossible to focus on just one project, just one room, or just the house, or just the yard. You know what I mean. I take everything in and I am perfectly happy that way. It drives Mr. LOH pretty nutso, but, he married me knowing I am like that. I should be focusing on the final touches for Anna's bedroom. I know. I know. I know.

With the celebration of Christmas just around the corner, I start thinking about what I should get for my three deserving children and wonderful husband. You're thinking that we ALL do that right? Well, do you all think about what kind of gifts would look best in your house? Do you think about a current project you are working on and how that gift should be a slam dunk with that project? I do. I am so bad like that.

Benny's room has been slowly evolving into a sports-themed room. It began as a woodsy-camping-wildlife kinda thing and "evolved" into football and basketball. The boy changes his mind with the wind. I can totally relate.

 

We started out with Vintage Camo sheets from PB teen. One navy and one black.

 

Our final answer? Circo Score! sheets from Target.

 

Benny loves the pattern and they have a vintage-y vibe to them. Don't you think?

I love PBK bedding. It is divine. However I can't justify spending money on the sheets anymore. My kids burn through their sheets for whatever reason or they go from spider-man to squirrels to football to elephants to star wars or something wildly unpredictable like that. I bought these sheets from Target and actually like them more than the sheets I have previously purchased from pbk. They are a very nice quality! They aren't on the beds yet - I plan to save them for the reveal. Once we start using them and washing the bajeebers out of them, I will let you know how/if they hold up. I have high hopes for these.

Any who, I've been looking for basketball hoops for Benny's room. There are a gazillion choices out there. I would like it to mount to the wall. I have this ambitious itch to paint the backboard myself and do something fun and funky. I just might do that. We shall see.

 

Pottery Barn Kids hoop. But do I want a toy? The chalkboard score keepers are a nice touch. No prob for a DIY project.

 

 

Or a real hoopy hoop? Sorry about the photo. Just couldn't get it right.

Any ideas out there for indoor basketball hoops for a young boy's room? I would love to hear from you.
It should be D-U-R-A-B-L-E. Boys will be boys!

Have a great weekend and thank you so much for visiting!
~Emily

sports...

I have two sons and a husband. My husband and I met because he came to my hometown university on a football scholarship in college. I happen to love football. Lucky him.

Now that Anna's room is just about complete, I find myself occasionally (ha!) browsing the www looking for things for Benny's room. He and Isaiah share a bedroom. Thankfully, they both have the same interests so I don't have to tape any divider lines on the floor nor do I have to hang a long curtain to separate them and their private space. We don't allow computers or gaming of any kind in the kids' bedrooms and they don't have TV with the exception of dvds that we find acceptable for all of them to watch. In other words, they don't spend much time in this room anyway.

Nevertheless, I find myself wanting to make it welcoming and comfortable for them and their guests. I also want this space to grow with Benny. He is only six years old. I don't want a do-over on this room anytime soon.

I am thinking about picking up a couple of these from Ikea.

Ikea doesn't offer consumers the option to read reviews on their products. I am looking for any feedback on these pieces that you may have.

Do you like the red?

Or do you like the white?

I think either color is safe for a boy's bedroom. I just can't decide. Something about that pop of red is really exciting to me. The white feels safe and definitely neutral. Maybe I should let you all decide...

I will mix them up with some walnut-finished beds. I haven't found any that I like that I can afford, but this one had me at hello.

                                      Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous weekend!

Warming up...

Anna gave it some thought. Perhaps, furniture isn't so bad. She said we could work on her room together. Actually, she pronounces room as "woom". She doesn't pronounce the "R" sound very well. We'll work on that. Too dang cute.

My numero uno design inspiration for Anna's woom.

via House and Home

This gave me an idea for furntiture. Nice legs.

via pinterest

Love the cornice and the fabric. I haven't decided if I will do this yet for Anna's woom.

It looks so amazing.

via pinterest ~ I could not find source

I can safely say, a reveal is in the near future for LOH.

Hang in there!

Man, oh man! I heart craigslist...

 

Found these.

 

 

These are the Pottery Barn Wingback chairs.

They were in the store window a few years ago. They were also way out of my budget.

Until now.

I heart them.

 

 

They kind of look like hearts, don't they?

 

 

The cranberry twill slipcovers are immaculate.

Only a slight bit of fading (normal for that color from pottery barn) that I can easily accept.

Nobody's perfect.

 

 

I sat there all twitterpated over my chairs. Then it hit me.

I still had the red cranberry slipcover for my pb basic ottoman!

I leaped into the garage and began digging through mounds of clutter storage and found it.

I held onto it all of these years knowing that I would need it again someday.

Sometimes, it does actually pay to be a hoarder.

 

 

Sometimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ummmm, that was unexpected...

I'm talking about Anna's reaction to the arrival of her new bedroom furniture. I spent so much time on pinterest and houzz just planning what I would like her room to look like. I lost sleep over the paint color for the wall. I was waaaaaay out of my comfort zone by choosing a soft gray - purple. Of course, I love it. I spent hours during the late evenings slopping on layer on top of layer of primer and paint to her planked ceiling. I had a hitch in my giddy-yap and a pain in my neck for almost two weeks after that ceiling fiasco (more on that later).

 

 

I wanted her to be away when her furniture arrived. I imagined how her smile and bright eyes would light up the room as she hugged me and praised my hard work and dedication. I imagined her dancing and twirling around in her GORGEOUS bedroom. Oh Joy!

Anna walked into her room and took a look around. She walked over to her baby and went to play with her on the floor near her kitchen set. I stood there ready to squeal like a toddler but I thought she should do the squealing first. Her eyes welled up with tears and she collapsed to the floor crying. I listened closely to her words as I stood there speechless and in shock. She was upset because the furniture (that I was so thrilled about) was taking up all of the play space in her room. She had no appreciation for the time spent, money invested, or the skill of the talented person who worked on restoring her furniture. Her only concern was that I had just filled her room with furniture and her fantastic wonderland where all of her imaged travels and parties came alive was gone. I stuffed her fantasy land full of stuff. She was upset and wanted it out. My first reaction - I am sorry to say- was frustration. I thought -to myself- she was ungrateful. I pushed all of the furniture into a corner in the room and pushed her bed up against the wall. I gave her imagination back. She stopped crying and asked me if I would like chocolate or strawberry cake with my tea. She asked me to swaddle her favorite baby for her. I stood there for a moment and then told her I would be right back. As I walked down the hall, I heard her sniff her little sniffle as she began soothing her baby to sleep. For the first time in all of my years of painting and re-painting, fixing, remodeling, restoring, working so hard to make rooms just right for whoever was using them, I realized I was really, truly, only doing that work for myself. It is that simple, my friends. I walked back to my precious Anna and I told her she didn't have to keep her furniture. I was sorry and that I would take the furniture out of her room. I asked her to let it stay in the corner for now until I came up with a solution to our problem.

It took most of the night to grasp that one. Her clothes were in cardboard boxes. Her mattress had been on the floor for two months. Things were mismatched and chaotic. How could she not love all of this new and wonderful bedding and furniture? I don't know. She just didn't. That was how I left it. She just didn't want what I wanted. It is really simple isn't it?

 

Check out this C.H.A.O.S.

That was shoved into her closet. The only area of the room I didn't attack redesign.

With that, my reveal of Anna's room is delayed. I had planned to post about it today. We are leaving for Minneapolis this weekend to visit friends. It will be a nice change. Anna and I will spend time together, while the boys spend hours catching up and xbox-ing. I won't have the time to play with her furniture placement until the end of next week. For now, we both pretend the furniture isn't in the room.

 

A little sneaky peeky for you...

~Emily

Anna's Bedroom Furniture...

You've all seen it. Multiple times. You may have had these same pieces when you were a little girl. I follow a ton of blogs and it seems like there is always somebody blogging about their version of how to update this furniture. My post on how to update this furniture is very simple: Pay someone else to do it.

But first I did this:

I let it air out in my garage for several months. It was a little stanky. It had contact paper inside every single drawer. It was ooooollllldddddd and stubborn. Must have been German contact paper. (Just kidding, Grammy.) I searched the internet for the best ways. I tried and tried to peel that stuff out. I scraped. I soaked it. I tried to heat it with an old blow dryer. I didn't want to use any chemicals. Defeated, I cursed the existence of contact paper and was certain that the devil himself created it to make me crazy. I walked away from that contact paper like a big girl and I didn't look back for a few more months. As progress was made on Anna's room, I decided it was time to have the furniture painted. One amazingly hot, dry day during the drought of 2012, I put all of those drawers out in the sun in my driveway. I was going to get that contact paper out AND keep my cool while I was doing it. I lined the rest of the pieces up along our path and went back inside to get a bucket of soapy water and some rags and towels. Then, what happened next still amazes me to this day. I walked up to the drawers, I took a deep breath, and gently tugged at a loose corner of the contact paper. IT CAME UP IN ONE DANG PIECE, MY FRIENDS. ONE WHOLE PIECE. My kiddos saw this and joined in the fun. I felt joy! Elation! It was fantastic! Everyone peeled up entire pieces of contact paper and those drawers were German (just teasing, Grammy) contact paper free in a matter of minutes! As it turns out, the heat of the sun and probably the warmth of the concrete they were sitting on, warmed that stuff up. No scraping, chemicals, soapy water, or blow dryers. I love sunshine. By the way, that was a tutorial just in case you hadn't noticed.

After the contact paper came up, I soaped up the inside and outside of that furniture and rinsed it well. It was so clean. I left it all sit in the sun and dry out. We loaded it up into my car after dinner that night and I took it to The Lost Finish the following morning.

You know this stuff. Everyone does. I got the entire set for $100 on craigslist.

Vanity and mirror, chest  of drawers, headboard, footboard, and cornice for headboard posts.

My assistant. Don't look inside my garage. Don't! You're looking, aren't you? Stop it.

Dixie. So darling.

One side of the vanity.

Chest of drawers. Three drawers to be exact. Oh, and the footboard.

Wanna see more? I know you do!

See you soon and thanks for stopping!

~ Emily

It's finally done!

Anna's bedroom furniture is ready! I've waited so very long. I got the call that her furniture will be ready for pick-up next week! I am so excited. I've waited months, and months, and months. No joke. Not for the furniture to be complete - that only took a couple of months because they were swamped. ( I will write more about the painting company later.) We first had to demo Anna's bedroom. Then we had to put it back together again. We were also demo-ing (is that a word?) the boys' bedroom and the basement for our new media room. We started back in February and still have small projects to complete before I feel the rooms to be worthy of a reveal.

 

Lets flashback to Anna's nursery. Pottery Barn Kids Dream Rocker, Madeline crib, Jocelyn toile drapery and crib bedding, and sabrina basket.

 

 

That is the matching changing table. These pieces are so beautiful. I sold them on craigslist and saved the money to update Anna's room. I used an overhead projector to paint the 'A' on the wall.

 

 

Another angle including the white ceiling fan. That little dog bed remains empty now. Our little pooch passed away shortly after I started blogging. We keep her bed, well, because we want to.

 

 

A view of her closet area and bookshelves. I just remembered that I never painted her doors! They are leaning on the wall out in the garage. Ugh. I guess that project is going on my to-do list for this week.

Both the bookshelf and that little white table are from Target. They are both still available. 

 

 

She was rockin' the curls in our first summer living in the house. This photo was taken May of 2010. The first summer we owned the house, we didn't live in it. It was being remodeled and we put an addition on. That was 2009. We lived with Rhyan's parents.

 

 

That's Anna on her second birthday. Aaaaaahhhhh!

She just had her fourth birthday and it is time for a big girl room.

My next post will explain how I found her furniture and where it's been for two months.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thrifting on a warm Autumn day

Anna and I hit our local thrift store on Thursday morning after dropping her brothers off at school. I was looking for a table for our front entry. I didn't find a table. However, neither one of us left Vinnie's (St. Vincent De Paul) empty handed.

Anna found a no-sew fleece princess blanket.

She couldn't walk away from it.

Can you blame her?

She actually wanted to take a nap!

Best smile I ever got for only $3!

I bought my own bit of coziness for $1.50.

Pure wool. Brand new. Heaven. Perfect for the chilly nights just ahead of us.

What have you found at your local thrift stores lately?

Thanks for stopping!

~Emily

My wandering mind

Here I am right smack in the middle of remodeling my basement yet I find myself dreaming about the future remodel of our kitchen. Is that crazy? Is it odd? I just don't know. Could it be that I so desperately long for the change in the kitchen (more efficient floor plan, new appliances that actually work) that I so selfishly focus on it? Honestly, the remodel in the basement is a gift. To say I strongly disliked the way it looked before we bought the house is well, an understatement. There wasn't a single thing I liked about it. Not one thing. I didn't bother to furnish it or put photos up. The only time the place was dusted was twice a year: Thanksgiving and my oldest son's birthday. Yes, I admit that. I am the type of person who finds it very difficult to care for a space that I don't love. I did the same thing with my 13 y-o minivan, by the way. I will spend some time this evening surfing the internet for furniture pieces to store an xbox and a playstation along with many other electronic media devices that I don't even know how to turn on, let alone make any use of. So, there's my answer. This media room remodel isn't for me. It is for my husband and children and their visiting friends. I don't watch tv. I'm not a gamer. I don't even know how to sit still long enough to do anything leisurely like that. The kitchen is my space. It is where I spend all of my time throughout the day and late into the night. There lies the reasoning behind my lack of attention. So, dear hubby, thank you so much for the work you do and continue to do to make our house a home. I will try to focus on the task at hand and not wander (to far) away from where you are.

xo Emily

Part Two of PB Basic vs. Ikea Ektorp

Whew! Whoa! Whaaaat! I got lost in our remodel and left blogland for quite some time. Here I am and I am ready to write.
I have had my Ektorp for almost a year now. It is holding up quite well. Kids, dogs, friends, hubs, everyone sits on it and enjoys it. It is easily mistaken for our old pb basic sofa. I am happy to report that the stiffness of the cushions is a thing of the pass. They have softened with time and we all enjoy sitting on it.
Overall, the construction of the two sofas appears to be where the similarities make them well, two very different sofas. I can't tell you what my pb sofa looks like on the inside. The guts of her are protected by upholstery and stuffing. The ektorp's guts are there and exposed for all of the world to see. Her skirt flutters upward with a slight breeze and ugh! She is cheap and easy! Nothing to hide! She is vulnerable and I don't like it. So why did I invest in more pieces you ask? Because I am cheap but in no way easy. Oh no, not easy at all.

Pottery Barn basic chair

Ikea Ektorp

Solid wood PB basic leg (Does she sugar those beauties?)

Ikea Ektorp (plastic darling. Nothing but plastic.)

The soft drape of the basic white twill cover.

Ikea Ektorp. The skilled seamstress called-in sick that day.

The plastic legs show now that I washed the cover once and followed the instructions. Bummer.

Naked PB Basic

Naked Ektorp

Ektorp

That is visible plywood(?) and this "upholstery" is dang near see through.

PB Basic. No plywood, or hinges, or guts. She is classy. I like to have girls like this over to Highland.

(Ummm, yes, that is a sock on the floor. My dog has a fetish, okay? The funkier the better.)

 

Yes, those are her springs and hinges that you see. And yes, that "fabric" tears very easily.

 

 

The ektorp cover shrunk-up tightly after the first wash. My basic and charleston covers never did that. It is so tight, the cusions are bending inside them. When I called ikea and asked about this, I was told the covers are not under the 10-year warranty; only certain parts of the frame. When my first cranberry twill cover from PB faded excessively, it was replaced immediately. PB even had the defective one picked-up for me at their cost -not mine. Ikea said "too bad, so sad, sista!"

 

Isn't that a pretty label? Yep. I love her.

 Okay, okay. So you get it. The PB Basic sofa and cousins are the better buy. It really is that simple. If you want comfort, quality, and excellent service, then buy the PB Basic. Everything about it is better. Everything. Splurge on the down cusion option which is simply a dream. We have the down cushions on our Charleston. Like naps? Oh yeah. If I had all of the money I needed, I would buy anything but ikea furniture. I've been to the stores several times. I've looked at the pieces. I've flipped them over and wiggled them and tested them the way my pets and children would live on them. But, Ikea furniture fits into this mom's budget so I buy it and I like it. I can buy THREE ikea Ektorp sofas for LESS THAN the price of ONE PB Basic sofa. I can buy 12-14 (seriously?) new Ektorp covers for the price of ONE PB Basic cover. (BTW, the ektorp chair and sofa covers fit on the PB pieces ;). They are tight, but they do fit.) I haven't tried purchasing a pottery barn basic cover and putting it on an ektorp. That is a great idea though. It would probably produce some great results. I might have to do that. I confess that I love the pb basic covers. Even the least expensive twill covers are so much better in quality than the ektorp covers.

Now, listen closely, buy ektorp covers and keep them on your pb basic pieces. When you are having a party or guests, put the pb slipcovers on. Keep them nice and tidy for the good days. You know, like your good china or guest towels. I don't have either, but I'm sure some of you do.

Friends, you get what you pay for.

Buy the Ektorp if you are broke and/or have kids, dogs, friends, and you eat, drink, sit, live on your furniture. I recommend them. However I strongly recommend the pb basic simply because of the quality of construction. They are made in the USA too. Buy the Pottery Barn furniture if your budget allows.

Will you sweat bullets if someone wants to watch a Tinkerbell movie and eat Cheetos at the same time? Seriously. Don't sweat the small stuff just buy OXYCLEAN.

I'M BACK!

Thanks for stopping in!

~Emily