The Way You Do the Thing You Do

Does your kitchen ever look like this?

Do you ever have projects stacked around you?

How about kitchen gadgets put to use as wood clamps?

I'm sure no one else would use a stack of books as weights when gluing a drawer back together.

And you certainly wouldn't sand wood filler with your drawer sitting on the kitchen counter...

... making your faucet and sink and counter and everything look like this.

Even if the end result looked something like this?

That's a sneak peak of the vanity that matches the dresser I'm now working on. Can't wait to get it done so I can show you the rest. Even if I have to work in my kitchen! Do your projects sometimes take over your house?

Living Room Inspiration

Living Room Inspiration by ellie1005 on Polyvore.com

Living Room Ideas

A few months ago I posted about our plans for our kitchen renovation. 

 www.myhomeideas.com

I think I got ahead of myself. See, I got to really analyzing my ideas and realized that I kept wanting to squeeze in more counter space and storage and that really crowded the dining area. On a whim one day when I had my graph paper out, I decided to knock down the wall between the dining area and the living room. It worked! I had room in the kitchen for an island or peninsula that I'd been dreaming of!

Carmel's beautiful kitchen

Of course it's never as easy in reality as on paper. There's wood burning stove on the living room side of the wall in question. Moving it would require a lot of effort on my husband's part. Scooting the dining table and chairs further into the living room would also make our long and narrow space harder to arrange without being crowded. But I showed my sketches to my husband and he liked the idea! 

So now the tentative plan sometime in the next couple of months is to move the stove, knock down that wall (it's not load bearing, but there are 3 outlets and the thermostat to move) and install flooring throughout the living room and kitchen.

Gina's 2x4 flooring 

That's probably all we'll get to this year, what with bunkbeds to build, the boys moving in together, repainting their room...

www.bhg.com

...and getting the nursery ready for our new arrival. (Ok, this is just a dream. I'm pretty sure we're having a boy, but I love this nursery so much!)

www.target.com

As I mentioned in my 11 for 2011 post, we also need to focus on fixing the basement walls so we don't have any more wet floors. 

So back to the new floorplan in the living room, here's the rest of the plan. I'd love to get this sectional...

"Soho" by Value City Furniture

...and this rug 

www.lowes.com

...and use this color as an accent for pillows and pretties

"Rain" by Sherwin Williams

...and do this popular board & batten technique (same colors too!)

via Miss Mustard Seed

...and it wouldn't be complete without dropcloth curtains, right?!

Traci's dropcloth curtains

I'm excited! I hope we're able to pull it off. Hope you enjoyed the inspiration!

Pregnancy Update-24 Weeks

How Far Along: 24 Weeks

Size of baby: Just over 1 pound and almost 1 foot long--about the size of an ear of corn.

http://www.babycenter.com

Maternity Clothes: Loving my maternity yoga pants from my first pregnancy. They're faded and have paint on them, but so comfy! 

Gender: Boy. Not that's it's been confirmed, but I don't feel yucky and horrible and I don't look that bad, all things I've heard about carrying a girl.

Movement: Yes! Lots! 

What I miss: I'm not uncomfortable enough yet to complain. Give me a few more weeks!

Sleep: It's been more interrupted with potty breaks lately, but that might be the water I drink in an effort to mitigate heartburn. :(

Symptoms: Still no crazy cravings (I'm vegan and totally craved carbs both times and meat the second), but the heartburn has picked up. I also got a crazy tummy ache after using my elliptical. I guess I need to use it more frequently but not as long to build up those muscles!

Best Moment This Week: I got to really feel the baby move once with my hand on my belly. It really felt like a little foot! 

What I am looking forward to: Being DONE with the birth and just snuggling and getting to know this little human!

Stuff & Nonsense

I've been a bad blogger. Again. It's not the lack of inspiration, it's motivation that's been keeping me away!

I've been working on this: 

And it's beautiful! I'm so in love with how it's turning out! Just some poly and putting the handles back on the drawers and it'll be done! 

Then there's this to finish:

Just wish our garage wasn't below freezing so I could sand it...

My husband hung crown molding in the bathroom:

Gorgeous! Hello beautiful DIY bathroom on a budget! Of course most of the work was done two years ago and the pictures are hiding somewhere on the internet... Cuz they say things on your computer never really go away, you just don't know how to get to them. Right?

Meanwhile, we're in part of the country experiencing sub-arctic temperatures. That means some loooong days at home for me and the boys! Don't they look a little cabin-fevered?

My husband read about an experiment where you boil water then take it outside in the sub-zero temps and fling some in the air. 

Cool, eh? Kinda like a snow machine. It was -13 without calculating the windchill at sunrise (7 ish).

There's more, but I promise to be a better blogger and actually post stuff as it happens, kay?

Pregnancy Update-22 Weeks

How Far Along: 22 Weeks

Size of baby: About 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound.

http://www.babycenter.com

Maternity Clothes: It's maternity all the way. This might be TMI for some people, but for me it's an awesome solution to an annoying problem! See, with the ever expanding tummy, I had a problem each pregnancy with my underwear rolling down and just NOT being comfortable! So I got a package of cotton granny-panties. Seriously! I got high-wasted underwear that's 2 sizes bigger than my usual size. It's great! Not only does my underwear stay up where it should, my pants are doing the same! Third time's a charm!

Gender: Still sticking with 'boy' but I would love to be surprised.

Movement: All. The. Time. It's a great feeling.

What I miss: Still doing well. Sometimes I wish I could lay on my tummy at night.

Sleep: Nothing unusual yet. I always get up to use the bathroom (and check on my boys), but only once. Later I know it'll be more than that!

Symptoms: Everything is normal around here. No heartburn to speak of, no weird cravings.

Best Moment This Week: I got to meet my new midwife! It's still hard to have to switch from someone I knew and trusted, but I feel like I'm in good hands. She and her co-worker gave me some great nutritional advice which I really appreciate.

What I am looking forward to: I can't wait to meet this little one! I'm excited to know what he looks like what is special and unique about him. 

Bathroom Love

It's time.

I can't put off showing you our updated bathroom! Way back in October, my birthday present from my husband was a gift card to Lowe's and the promise to help me install whatever it was that made my heart pitter-patter. 

I bought beadboard. 

But we've been busy! Finally my husband had a week off between Christmas and New Year's, so he got to work on the bathroom. I wish I was cool enough to do it myself, but I'm just not there yet. Isn't it so clean and pretty?

While we were at it, I asked my husband to replace our oak cupboard with this shelf I fixed up. It looks so much cleaner in style with the beadboard. 

I refinished the wooden part of this clock--no more orange oak for me! I spent hours painting in that little room! I primed and painted the ceiling with proper bathroom paint so it won't mold, then painted the upper walls our favorite tan.

I painted these picture frames that used to be oak and hung them in a new place. The pictures are of each of my boys at 9 months, and yes, there's room below for another frame when our new baby is 9 months old.

The original door still hangs in the bathroom, but it got a fresh coat of white paint too. I took down the hook but found out when it was gone how much I use it, so hung it in the same place on the door with this piece of barn board. I love the stencil, and now our guests will always remember what room they're in. Ha!

Isn't the white beadboard and the tan wall so yummy?

I felt like we needed a little more storage, so I asked my husband to build a couple shadow boxes from barn boards. I LOVE the result! 

They're the perfect rustic counterpart to all of the clean white paint! 

A bathroom always needs reading material.

I hesitated painting the frame on our medicine cabinet, but I'm so glad I did it! 

Now I need to figure out how to paint the base. It's not real wood... And even with primer and a couple coats of paint, it'll wear and chip off, right? I'd rather put up with fake oak than chippy (not in a good way) paint. What should I do?

We're also missing base trim. I thought we could use the pieces we pulled off, but it just wouldn't work in a couple places. It's on the never-ending to-do list!

I LOVE my "new" bathroom! My only regret is that I didn't take before pictures. Bad blogger!

Thank you, dear husband, for your hard work!

Bathroom Makeover Party at Centsational Girl