Down stairs

I'm going through craft/ home improvement/ home decorating withdrawal. Two weeks ago, I took a spill down our unfinished stairs. My back and hip took a beating, so I've been "taking it easy" ever since. But it has been anything but easy to "take it easy." I want to create! I want to attempt some of these awesome projects I'm seeing on One Pretty Thing. It's healing up day by day, so I'm hoping to start posting some new stuff this next week.


I've been feeling good enough to start finishing up Birdie's quilt. Two nights ago, I was about 45 minutes from finishing the quilt (squeeee!) when the most frustrating thing happened: I ran out of thread. Now, normally I'm a white thread kinda gal. I love using white on dark colors for a modern touch, and if you run out- no big deal, there's always another spool of white around somewhere. This time, though, I decided to use pink thread. It looks fantastic against the white backing. (Sorry, I wasn't agile enough to jump up and grab the camera, but I should have some to show for next week's post!) So I've fallen a few days behind in finishing while I wait to get out and get more pink thread. Grrrrrr.....

Just to remind you what I'm working on, here's the top of the quilt handing over Birdie's crib:

I was originally thinking about doing this for a modern backing....

but I chickened out and decided to go uber simple. :)


We've also been planning some updates to our backyard after being inspired by Camilla. Pallets for landscaping? Genius. These are some other ideas I've fallen in love with:

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I won't tell you which project(s) we're going to take on, but it's going to be cheap, fun, and easy! My three favorite words. 

See you next week with new projects!

Fun in the bedroom

No, not that kind. :)

The decorating kind! We've spent so much time on other areas of the Neglected Nest that we've neglected one of the most important spaces: our bedroom. It's where we unwind after our hectic days, and it's where we start our hectic days. Shouldn't it be a beautiful, functional refuge? We've decided to start answering that question with a "yes"!

Wall color is BM's Satin Sheets

We LOVE our Pottery Barn duvet set, "Floral Vine"

We've been leaving the windows bare to expose the white wood blinds and pretty trim that's original to the house. It's been so much easier waking up in the morning without curtains blocking the sunlight out! We love how fresh it feels.

(This is Birdie's room, but ours has the exact same windows. I just didn't get a "before" shot of ours. Oops!)

Isn't that trim work beautiful? Its one of my favorite things about our Nest.

Even though Mr. Nest and I each have a closet, living with just 1 dresser between the two of us has been impossible. So we found this one on Craigslist for $50 (but haggled him down to $45 because the condition was rougher than expected).

Yikes, right?!

Well, after a major sanding, 2 coats of primer, and 3 coats of BM's Fennel Seed paint, and 2 coats of poly, I'm thrilled with the results!

There are a ton of glass knobs out there, and we went a few rounds on which ones to get. In the end, I'm so happy we went with these (Mr. Nest's pick!). 

So I'm going to start working on our old one to match. It's amazing how similar the styles of them are!

I'm going to find something to do with these old knobs.

The new ones are going to look great!

I love how old and worn and dark our dresser has gotten over the years. But it's falling apart and needs a lot of TLC. I also think the room will look more cohesive if both dressers match, so it's getting painted. 

One more time-

Before:

After:

We still have lamps to makeover and a new rug to lay down, but we're already feeling great in our "new" space. Can't wait to reveal the finished room! Redecorating = bedroom fun!

Linking up!

 

When you can't take the heat, get out.... a ceiling fan?

Mr. Nest and I are getting ready to renovate our kitchen. It's rough. Really rough.

Ugh, that vinyl. That stove. Those 1950s partical board cabinets. The fake brick and plastic tile sheets liquid nailed to the plaster walls. It all makes my head spin!

This is also our only cabinet/ countertop space. And take pity on us: we have no dishwasher, so our Rubbermaid dish rack takes up valuable space on top of the insult of hovering over the sink every night doing the day's dishes. You can imagine how fun dishes have been in the last year since having Birdie. Gah!

The standoffs between Mr. Nest and I over who's turn it is to do the dishes is turning ugly.

So after nearly 4 years of talking and talking and talking about redoing the kitchen, we're finally doing it!
To set the mood:

We're going for classic, but modern. It has been our goal to restore some of The Neglected Nest's original charm. The poor girl deserves a good makeover now that she's 102 years old. We're still undecided about paint color for the walls, but we'll get there. At least the details are worked out! Oh yeah- and we're doing it all for under $3000!

The only thing we haven't worked out is heating and cooling. Our house has no a/c. Right now we have cast iron baseboard radiator monstrosities. Let me tell you, these are about as effective as shaving with a dull razor. Our kitchen is freezing in the winter and a sauna in the summer. So Mr. Nest found toe-kick heaters for the heat problem. But the cooling problem still lingers.

So I started investigating ceiling fans in the kitchen.

Country Living makes everything look possible.

But they can look less than designer if the ceiling is too low, or depending on the fan's style, or if the kitchen is out of date.

Case in point:

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We've decided to keep thinking about a solution to this problem, but I'm still keeping this option in the back of my mind.

What do you think about ceiling fans in the kitchen?

Tabling the Issue

Remember these Craigslist beauties?

#1

$10

#2

$3

Great deals, right?!

Both are going in this room

So #1 started out like this

But we hated it. Way too bright! By now, #2 had joined our fun. So they became this

(I'll explain those boards against the wall soon...)

I was actually fond of the patina effect on this one. But still, too turquoise. If the walls weren't orange, it might work. Too many bold colors in this small space, though, make it feel very closed in. And our house is enough of a circus without looking like one!

So they morphed again. This time, I'm in love.

 

 The new color is very neutral, and perhaps teetering on "blah," but I think they serve as a nice backdrop to the other highlights of the room. They let the pops of color take the spotlight.

One last look:

before

during

after

before

during

after

What do you think?

I picked up a third side table this weekend for the other side of the couch.

$20

Don't you love it?! The detail on the side, the legs, the vintage look- I love it all! Plus it will store my magazines. Birdie hasn't discovered the little shelf yet. Have I mentioned how much she loves shelves? Or that she's 100% daredevil?

So I'll be busy again this weekend, but I can't wait to have it done. Then we can move on to the board project. More on that to come!