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.

This weekend

Nesting is a funny thing. For me, it's like drinking a lot of Red Bull and having an extreme amount of focus on the tasks at hand. All I wanted to do this weekend was start getting things ready for Audrey, and that's exactly what we did.

What I worked on this weekend:
That's right, aside from touch ups – the argyle wall is now done. A lot of touch-up work will be needed (thanks to my husband making his pencil lines as dark as possible), but I hope to do all touch ups next weekend.

What Brent worked on this weekend:

Yep, what you're seeing is not only a super gross closet, but Brent's and my super gross closet. I'd been wanting an organizational system in our closet for awhile, and I figured this was the perfect time to make it happen. The paint finished drying over night, so hopefully our clothes will be back hanging tonight, and ready for a reveal soon!

In other Audrey news: We're buying our glider and finishing off our registry tonight. I'm so excited!

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 (days 6 & 7)

When I bought the toppers for the retaining wall, I pictured them all just fitting and looking amazing. Somehow I didn't process that the toppers are rectangular and the retaining wall is curved.

So, while I pictured perfection - my reality was:

My reality from the front door was even more obvious:

So, I handed off this project to Brent, who conquered it like a champ.

While there are several ways to cut stones, he used a circular saw with masonry blades. (Please note the plural on that – there's a reason those blades are only $2.50 each. He went through 7 blades with this project).

While Brent was cutting the toppers, he reminded me of Pig Pen from Charlie Brown, because of all the dust flying around him:

Once the toppers were cut, the view from the front door was much better:
After everything was laid out how we wanted it, we used landscape block adhesive to make sure the toppers stayed on.

All the hard work definitely paid off:

Now it's on to the fun part – figuring out what to plant.

In other rush week news: The leaves have been picked up and the man cave ceiling is done!

My March Madness

I had no idea lacking a job would be so exhausting.

It's been almost 3 weeks and time has flown by. Of course, March Madness is definitely helping. Brent and I even brought down the TV from the master to help with our basketball fever.


Brent had a friend in town, so we hosted an impromptu watch party last night. We got 2 pony kegs and took advantage of the kegerator for the second time (which were polished off at an alarming rate). It was so much fun. These were the type of gatherings I always wanted to host, and it makes me happy to finally get to.

Other than that, we finished off the side of the built ins. So, thanks to some bead board, it went from this:

To this:

Much better.

I can't wait to start the built-ins on the other side of the stairs (for the evenness and the additional DVD storage). Brent's decided to put a power and cable outlet over there as well, so he can acquire another TV. Such a guy, but I know next March Madness I'll be praising his TV hoarding.

Basically done!

I'm excited to say that the built-in shelves are basically done (well, kind of), but since I now have some free time, I figured why not.

Here are the progress pictures up until now:

Here's the "final":


Granted, the shelf decor isn't done (Brent has more sports memorabilia to dig out of storage), but you get the idea.

The unfinished part on the shelf is actually the side you see when going down the stairs (which I'll post about at a later date). The other thing left is putting the baseboard back up.

But, because Brent and I aren't that simple – the built-in project isn't done. There's more building left to do. See the other side of the stairs:


That, of course, needs a matching built-in with more DVD storage. :)

Progress report

So close to done...


All that's left is the trim. Hopefully that's a task for this weekend.

Tuesday

I'm excited to say that the building part of the shelves is done. Spackling, painting and adding trim is still on the agenda though.

Today's progress pictures:
And of course, the night I have energy to keep on going, I run out of paint. My goal for tomorrow evening is to have the painting done.