Winner!

I'm waaaaay late in announcing the winner for the My Memories give-away. Sorry for that!



The winner is: RHOME410!

Congratulations! Contact me for the code to download your new software!

Just so you know, you can still get $10 off this fun scrapbooking, card-making, tons-of-fun software!

WW: Frozen Fog

J'Door

We have ugly doors. 

There, I said it.

We replaced the exterior doors before the second winter hit--the first winter we dealt with a lot of heat loss because of old doors that didn't seal well. 

This post is not about that.

In our small, ranch-style home, there are only 5 interior doors--three bedrooms, the bathroom and the basement stairs. I realize that 5 hollow-core doors don't cost very much ($25/each), but once you add in door knobs and hinges it adds up. 

That doesn't mean I wanted to look at ugly doors anymore, so I fixed this one up--it's the door in our master bedroom that is _this close_ to being completely done! 

It's newspaper! The Saturday, November 23, 1963 edition of the Omaha World-Harold, to be exact. Random, perhaps, but I like it!

 
Here's a selection of the sections of the paper I put on the door, including ads (you can get a new iron for $9.88 or rent an apartment for $90/month), the classifieds (whoever bought this paper was looking for a pool table), movies and nightclub advertisements as well as the latest headlines about Cary Grant and more information about the assassination of President Kennedy. There's also a cartoon about an inquiry at a travel agency. The agent tells the customer, "Yes, we have something in your price range--we seat you in a deck chair and show you color movies." That sounds perfect for my budget!

I thought our house was built in 1963, but my husband says the county records have it being built in 1961. Oh well, it still would have been brand new when this newspaper was issued. Besides, I like the naturally yellow paper and the touch of history. 

 
I only trimmed off about a half inch to make the paper the right width. Then I painted on some primer and smoothed the paper on top. Yes, it has wrinkles. No, I don't care. When the primer was dry, I added a layer of polycrylic on top to make the paper a little more durable. 

So, what did I do with the other side of the door? Well, I certainly didn't get a good picture of it, that's for sure! 

(Oh, look, you can see my craft closet in the background!) 

Please ignore that the door was still drying during its photo shoot. And yes, it's dark! It's a slate or charcoal paint I got in the oops section. I like that it's not super dark black, and I'm hoping it'll stay cleaner-looking than the doors I've painted white (the insides of the nursery and the bathroom and the basement door).

Again with the not-a-great-picture thing, but the darkness on the left side of the picture is our new master bedroom door. I wanted to show you what the doors looked like before! The door at the end of the hall leads to my boys' room, and the narrow sliver of a door is the nursery. They were all closed at the time of this photo because it was nap time and there was a little cutie sleeping in each of those rooms! Just so you know, I was standing in the bathroom to take the photo. Yep. Small house! 

Besides the gorgeous new(ly re-finished) floors, this picture shows you that I've painted all of the trim in the hall! I am also done painting the hall walls! I want to hang some pictures and I still need to paint three more doors and the closet doors. (Across from the bedrooms are my newly painted and reorganized linen closet and craft closet.) I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

So there you have it; what to do when life gives you ugly doors!

What should I do with the ugly door knobs? Ignore 'em? Spray paint? Rub 'n Buff?

Inspiration Files: A Beautiful Home

I was inspired this weekend by an amazing home tour at Cote de Texas. Do yourself a favor and go see the whole tour--it's a Reader's Home Tour with lots and lots of pictures and so much inspiration! I mean, really look at this kitchen!

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Yes, yes, so I have a fixation with kitchens. But have you ever gotten excited about a hallway?

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Lookie on Pinterest

So beautiful!

What I really want to dwell on though, is this living room.

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Pamela on Pinterest

 Here's another angle:

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Ellie on Pinterest

It's so calming and symmetrical and just plain pretty! Here are some things we can learn from this room and apply to our own homes.

• Lots of comfy seats! This room has three couches! I like the layout too--it makes this area seem like a cozy destination!
• Simple, calming color palette. In this particular house, every room has the same color of paint, flooring and window treatments! I just love the blue pillows on the couches and that big dark ottoman. 
• Simple, cohesive window treatments. This look would be so easy to replicate with simple fabric and ring clips, curtain rods hung as high as possible and textured shades hung right under the rod. 

What do you like about this room? I want to go buy three matching couches and change out my curtains right now! Just kidding, Sweetie. Kind of. 


Here's another link to the reader's home tour at Cote de Texas. Enjoy!

Barns of Benton County: Big and Brown

New, bright and sturdy barns do exist in Benton County, but my camera seems to like the older, broken-down ones best.

 
(I'm also having lots of fun with all of the free options in Picnik when I edit my photos!)

This picture was taken last fall after harvest. It'll be fun to post pictures of the fields as they green and grow. 

Don't you wonder what this barn was used for? I think it's very unique with the tall middle section and odd slanted roof. 

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Quickie Organizing

 We all have stuff and stuff needs a place to go or it becomes a mess. For instance, my husband empties his pockets at the end of the day and things accumulate. He had a drawer of his dresser dedicated to this stuff.

But the drawer was overflowing and the stuff was disappearing into the abyss. Enter this hospital freebie made by Similac that we were given when son #3 was born.

I took 10 minutes to organize the stuff last week while putting laundry away. I followed these guidelines:

• throw trash away
• put away anything that has a home (for instance, shoe polish has a basket in the linen closet; watches go on a tray on top of the dresser, etc.)
• group like with like
• leave room for more

Every little bit makes a difference when STUFF seems to be taking over!

Vinyl & Canvas Art

I should have been painting the hall but I wanted to do something easier while my boys were awake. So I broke out the Cricut and experimented with cutting some vinyl. 

I've been wondering just what to do with this wall since I started our bedroom makeover in October. I love these canvasses and knew I wanted to hang them here, but it just wasn't enough by themselves. In our old master bedroom, we had them leaning on shelves, but since this room is smaller there isn't enough clearance on that side of the bed to feel comfortable with shelves that come out 4 inches from the wall. 

Cutting and applying the vinyl was a learning process, but I'm thrilled with how it turned out! Not to mention, I just adore this quote! 

I have found the one whom my soul loves. Song of Solomon 3:4 

Our room is really coming together! Hopefully I can cross it off the to-do list soon!