The "slide in" shelf

The one thing I hated about the nursery was the attic access (aka: cabinet door) on the wall.

I mean, how is this not noticeable:

So, I started debating my options, because, well, this was just not acceptable. I toyed with the idea of a large picture or other ways to hide it. Then one day I realized I was going about it the wrong way – don't hide it, embrace it. And that's where the concept of my "slide-in" shelf came from.

While we currently don't use our attic, we didn't want to block off access to it. So I came up with the concept of a built-in looking shelf that could slide out when necessary, and then put Brent to work.

The first order of business was to go through the cabinet, which was super exciting because I found my houndstooth stencil (so I can finally repair the hole).

Then we cleared it out:

Now it was time for measurements. We still managed to have scraps leftover from the man cave built-ins, so this was another free project. Brent didn't want to deal with the angle at the top – so we put a permit board there, and had the shelving unit below that.


Once it was built, the painting began:

The end result:

I am so happy with how it turned out!

I grew up in a 1920s cape code. There was detail everywhere and built-ins in every room. While this no nowhere close to that 1920s craftmanship, it does remind me of the house I grew up in and that makes me smile.

From eyesore to wow feature:

The master closet

While I'm a judgmental snob when it comes to those in "new construction houses," there is one aspect of new houses that I'm insanely jealous of – the master bedroom closets. I wish Brent and I had any form of a walk-in closet in our bedroom. Instead, we have this:


Yep, that's all the clothing space we have.

To make due, I also took over the closet in the second guest bedroom.


But, since that's Audrey's future room – something had to be done. So we cleared out our closet and got to work.


Brent had tons of board leftover from the built-ins in the man cave, so I figured why not get creative. We divided our closet in half, and each drew out a game plan of what type of storage we needed. Brent wanted a special section for his suites and some shoe storage, but maintaining room for other clothes was important to him. I went the opposite route and actually cut the clothing part of my closet in half. This way I had plenty of room for shoes, purses and other things. While it will definitely be different switching out close each season, that's what worked best for me.

Brent and had shelves built and installed in no time.


Then we got to buy/paint one of the few items we needed for this project – edging.


Much better.

The best part – my things now fit in this closet. Yay!


Sure it's not a walk-in closet, but I will survive. And now this means Audrey's closet is ready to be started.

Argyle accomplished!

It's done! The argyle wall is done!

Honestly, I'm still in a state of shock that I was able to finish it as quickly as I did. I started painting that wall white 3 weeks ago, and from there just worked on the wall off and on. Totally worth it:


Sorry, for the darkish photo. I finished all the touch-ups late last night – so this room was kind of on the dark side. I plan on taking new photos, once phase 2 of the wall is complete (but more on that later).

Here's how we made argyle happen.

1. Paint your wall your base color – this would be the color used the most. For the sack of your sanity, also have this color be the lightest color you're using.

2. Figure out how many diamonds you want (I wanted mine big, so I picked 5x8) and then make a grid. This goes super fast if you have one of those long levels. Brent measured/drew everything out in 5 minutes.

3. Now it's time to make some diamonds! Brent measured the size of one of the rectangles, and then divided the width and height in half. With those measurements he made a "mini rectangle template" on a sheet of computer paper, which was the fourth of the size of the ones on the wall. With that template, he was able to mark the halfway point in each rectangle (aka: where the diamond points go).

4. Start taping for color #2 (color #1 is your base color).

5. Paint color #2.

6. Peel tape and start taping for color #3.

7. Paint color #3.

8. Now it's time for some dashed line "fun." This was the part of the project I was dreading, but Brent and I found a way to cheat the system and make this task go by fast. Brent and I had some 6-foot edging for our closet project that was .75" in width. So, using the pencil intersections in the white diamonds as our guides – Brent held the piece of wood to the wall, while I taped everything off. For the length or each dashed line, I actually just used the length of a paint chip, that way I wouldn't have to measure anything.

9. Do touch-ups and then you're done!

I'm so happy with how it turned out. I'm especially happy that it's done, and I can move on to other projects like the nursery closet and turning the "door" on the argyle wall into a feature instead of an eyesore.

White wine-tasting party

I can safely say that my mom's birthday party was a success. As you'll be able to see from the photos, I kept it a similar format to the beer-tasting party – after all, if it ain't broke...

My reasoning for sticking with white wines was a simple one –

my mom + wine = spillage.

Well that, and that my mom prefers whites. But mainly the first reason.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

SAVE THE DATES AND INVITES
I love green wine bottles – so I used that to set the tone on everything I did.

FIRST GLANCE
Since most of my mom's friends haven't been to my house, I wanted a sign out front. (Well, I would have made a sign no matter what, but at least this time around I had an excuse).


THE STATIONS
We had four different stations set up around the house – chardonnay, pinot grigio, riesling/muscat and blends.

Aside from wine, each station had a wine opener, notepad, pen and napkins.

I designed the notepads, and then had them printed at VistaPrint.

Originally, I was going to get napkins with wine phrases on them, but when I saw these, I just couldn't resist.

For the station bottles, Brent drilled a hole in each one then we stuffed Christmas lights in them. (Just a warning – after 5 hours of being on those bottles got super hot, so we turned them off). As for the top part, I used a Silhouette.

We also had beer on tap for the non-wine drinkers. Brent and I definitely underestimated that amount of people we had in that group. The pony keg was finished off in about 4 hours, then that group moved on to mix drinks.

THE CHEESE BAR
Wine and cheese – it's a match made in heaven, so of course a cheese bar was a high priority for me. There were 9 different types of cheese, 3 different crackers and some fig spread, which went great with the Manchego cheese.


THE FOOD
I love appetizers at a party, and I can't see myself ever breaking away from this. Some of my mom's friends helped me out and brought appetizers as well, which made getting everything ready on Saturday so much less stressful.

The menu:

THE DESSERTS

The menu: Grandma's cream cheese brownies, cream puffs, lemon bars, pink champagne mini cupcakes, my mother-in-law's chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, chocolate-covered pretzels with heath bar and white chocolate-covered pretzels with sprinkles.


The phrase that pays:

PERSONAL TOUCH
I wanted to display pictures of my mom without making a huge production out of it (my mom would not like a picture wall). So, I cleaned off some wine bottles, created picture labels and placed them throughout the house.


I thought the party turned out great, but most importantly, my mom had a blast.

I hope to have the wine-party paper package available soon!

The other side

I love the built-ins Brent and I did for the man cave. But it was looking a little sad on the other side of the stairs.


So, during our "rush week," Brent and I added that task to the list and had this project finished in no time.


Our biggest obstacle was the vent, since we didn't want to block it. The solution: just letting the vent be.


The "end" result:

I still need to find something for the bottom. I was thinking some sort of basket for storage. As for the top, Brent's wanting to get a second TV.

Curb Appeal (day 8 and done!)

After today, the forecast is rain, rain, rain until my mom's party. So, today was the day to finish up the front yard; and after 8 hours braving the humidity – it's done!

Last summer:
Now:

I'm really happy with how it turned out. I can't believe this project can be crossed off the list. This is something Brent and I have wanted to do ever since we moved in, but kept putting it off because of time and financial fears. Thankfully, both concerns turned out to be a non-issue.

Time
I did this project in 8 days, and only had help for half of them. The project would have been done even sooner, but surprises like a gas lamp pole and a bed of rocks underneath the dirt – held me up.

The financial breakdown:
- Ripping out the bushes: free (DIY)
- Retaining wall stones: $80.85 (55 stones during Home Depot's spring Black Friday sale at $1.47, normally $1.69)
- Retaining wall toppers: $33.80 (20 toppers at $1.69 each)
- Landscape block glue: $9.60 (2 bottles)
- Shrubs and perennials: $113.66
- Mulch: $14 (7 bags during Home Depot's spring Black Friday sale)

Pre-tax Total: $251.91

Not bad at all.