irons in the fire

Happy fall y'all! OK, so maybe fall hasn't officially started but my pool is officially closed and my swimming suit is put away so in my mind, fall has begun.

Thanks to all who gave their two cents on a paint color for my little table. You had so many great ideas I kinda wish I had about four more tables so I could try them all out. I did make a decision though and got the sucker painted before the rain set in.

I hope everyone had a fruitful Labor Day weekend (if in fact you celebrate said holiday). I got a ton of work done, both on my house and for others. Here is a sneak peek of some of my work in the office. She's so close to ready for her close up. Soon my friends.

And I learned a valuable lesson - put something on Craigslist for free and suddenly you are more popular than Kim K. I had 43 text messages and 25 emails within the first hour. I felt like I was manning the phones at the Jerry Lewis telethon. And a tip for any of you looking to wheel and deal on CL - if the listing says TEXTS ONLY, NO phone calls, don't leave me several voicemails. They will be promptly deleted.

Today is a big day in the Little Black Door household as my baby starts pre-school today. So I'm off to take lots of pictures and then pretend to leave her confidently at school only to sneak behind a bush so I can peek at her thru the window.

Why do they grow so fast?

glass front doors - don't be afraid

About a year after we moved into our house I was locking the front door when the door knob literally fell thru the door. It was original to the house (70+ years old) and it had rotted from the inside out. Since our house is old and nothing is standard we had to get a custom door so I decided to get exactly what I wanted. I believe my door salesmen's exact words were "You sure lady?!" when I told him. But I've been thrilled with our choice. This door lets a lot of light into what would otherwise be a dark corner of the house and I love the character it adds inside and out.

We get a lot of complements on our front door. But those complements are often followed by questions. Don't you feel exposed? Aren't you worried about your privacy? How do you check to see who is at the door?

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While I understand the curiosity, I always find these questions a bit odd. No one cares what is going on inside my house. I have yet to find people standing in my yard trying to peek into my windows.

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Anyone who would try to break into my house isn't going to case the joint by looking thru the front door first. I'm pretty sure most thieves are a bit sneakier than that. And nosy neighbors are more concerned about what is happening in other rooms than the entry.

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There is a house not far from us with beautiful windows, great exposure and fabulous plantation shutters in every single window that are. never. open. Why?? I don't understand. Let in that beautiful light people!!

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And who are all of these people that are coming to your door? In the whole time I've lived here I can honestly think of only four times a stranger knocked on my door unannounced.

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As for people you know dropping by unannounced, the car in the driveway is going to give me away so I don't have a lot of places to hide, glass door or not.

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It is one of the best ways to get a double bang for your buck - big curb appeal boost and indoor light and style queen. What is not to love?

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So if you are considering it, or at all on the fence, I am here to tell you to go for it. You won't be sorry.

And remember, no matter how much glass we have, we still open it up to peek around the corner.

What do you think? Could you have a glass front door? Are you worried about privacy?

displaying your kids artwork without loosing your mind

Mondays are never fun, but everyone in my house is especially bummed as this Monday marks the last week of summer vacation. (Don't tell the girls, but I'm actually thrilled by this news). And since Eve will be starting pre-school (sniff sniff) I thought I would share my favorite tip for organizing the monster that is pre-school art work.

When Amelia started pre-school I loved every stinkin piece of art she brought home. Every piece was incredible. "Obviously my child is an art prodigy", I would think.

Then, she brought home more. And more. At times she'd bring home 3 or 4 things a day. It slowly turned from "what an amazing picture you made" to "another picture...great".

While I love my child, and of course think she's the best at everything she does, it was getting a bit out of control. There were projects everywhere. I think they breed in the night. Like some sort of sick Toy Story movie.

To corral the crafty chaos I put a small out of the way corner to use. This little alcove is off of the kitchen and leads downstairs to the family room, out to the garage thru one door and to a side yard thru the other door. A perfect place to add some craft cheer.

Each month I hang what she brings home on the door(s). Then, at the end of each month I take her picture with that month's display and then we take it all down and throw them away, keeping 1 or maybe 2 to go in her memory box.

Some months there is more participation in the picture than in others. 

We make sure to always get the calendar in the shot so we know which month we looking at. 

And some months I forget to remove the dog bowl before taking the picture.

We've got three years worth of these pictures and it has been really fun to look back at them and see how she's changed and how her art has matured. The paper monster is tamed!

What do you do to keep school projects and information overflow from taking over?

home office makeover - best laid plans

A trait that is at the top of the list when designing anything is flexibility. Things will always come up that you couldn't have planned for (without a crystal ball) and you've got to be able to bend and revise your plan. And almost always this works out for the best.

Case in point - the lighting for my office.

I had long imagined that I would use a huge black and gold lampshade as my 'chandelier' over my desk. I'd gotten the shade at an estate sale long ago and was waiting for just the right thing to use it for and my office was that thing. I even used it in my design plan.

So once I had the space cleaned out, and the paint was down, I started to play around with my lighting scheme. The space only had one sad little lightbulb hanging and the plan was to center a new light over the desk as well as add some other lights around the space and a few outlets for plugs, lamps (more lighting) etc.

But standing in the space I began to notice two things:
1. I don't have soaring ceilings down here so the light would either have to hang pretty close to the ceiling or it would hang down so low it would obstruct the view and act as one big blocker in the room. Kind of like that girl who's bangs are too long but she still lets them hang in her eyes. Clean it up girl!
2. I was planning enough lighting for a room twice the size of my office. I am all in favor of good mood lighting, but this was getting a bit crazy, even for me.

My perfectly planned lighting scheme was not going to work and I was feeling deflated. Damn it I love that black lamp shade! As I sulked in a G&T I remembered these beauties at a favorite local shop. They (the pair) are old, heavy as hell and beautiful. Very feminine and perfect for my office. They have since come to be known as the 'lady lamps' around this house and I'm madly in love with them.

And even though I said I would work to use only what I already had in this office project, they were my one treat.

And speaking of things I already had, my parents said I could use this old metal desk that sat in the back of my dad's shop for the past 20+ years.

Aside from a good cleaning, the desk was in perfect condition and just the vast workspace I was looking for. I used Amy Howard's Lacquer Spray Paint in Begonia (a full review of my experience coming soon)

and in an afternoon, had one very pink, very lady like desk. Perfect for my lady lamps.

The rug is one I got at a local annual sale. It is the same sale I got this stool, and these chairs (before and after). The rug was an impulse purchase because it was huge and TWO DOLLARS. At the time I had no idea when or where I would ever use it, but come on, TWO DOLLARS. It isn't my first choice but without intending to, the colors work really well with the floor and desk and did I mention it was two dollars? See hubs, eventually all that stuff I keep in our basement pays off.

So plans changed, things got lady like and I made lemonade out of two dollar lemons. That sounds like progress to me. Next up, curtains, fabrics and books, oh my.

Do you shop your own house when starting a new project? Do you buy things without really knowing where they will end up? Did you play a drinking game with my over usage of 'two dollars'? (You should have, I said it a lot)

home office makeover - from the ground up

As promised, I've got updates for you today on the old home office makeover. Which actually is a bit misleading as 'makeover' implies that I'm redoing a space when in reality there was no 'space' here. So I guess creation would be better. But let's be real, 'makeover' sounds more fun.

Here is the inspiration board I'm working off of. For those of you that have followed me on a number of projects, you know that I like to closely follow my design boards (type A much?). No straying for me. Except this time. This is truly an inspiration because as I said at the beginning of this project, I'm trying to work with what I have as much as possible. And sadly, I don't have a spare Madeline Weinrib rug in my stash.

I do have a big black and gold foiled shade that would make a great DIY light. And a desk that I can turn into something pink and fabulous. And an amazing arm chair from an estate sale. You get the picture. So know I'm aiming to replicate this as closely as possible, but changes to the plan are highly possible.

In other news my glorious hubs replaced my window with a brand spanking new one. It is clear, it opens up all the way and it is efficient. What more can one want from a window I ask you. I was prepared to write up how he removed an old junky 60-year-old basement window and replaced it with a new one. But then I sat down to write it and thought, what the hell are you doing? You know nothing about how to replace a window. You were watching Orange is the New Black while he did this. So I will keep it real - I have no idea how he did it. If you really want to know, let me know and maybe I'll have him do a post about it at some point.

So no tutorial, but a great before and after picture instead. Just as good, right?

So I may not have replaced the window, but I did paint the floors. I may have done a bit of spray painting down here in my pre-children days so the floor was even more trashed than a typical basement floor. But thanks to my previous experience painting basement floors (here and here) I wasn't worried. Thankfully I didn't have to remove any carpet strips or tacks this time, all I had to do was do a bit of light sanding and a heavy cleaning.

I did mix it up a bit this time and went with Benjamin Moore Porch and Floor paint because I wanted to use this beautiful color. Bermuda Turquoise. I have been dying to use this color for some time and it did not disappoint. It is the most beautiful, deep, rich, color. Evah!

Bam. I pretty much want to kiss my basement floor. How's that for things I'd never thought I'd say? I had to crop this picture as there are some secrets going on over to the right. To be honest there are secrets in plain view over to the left too but consider those a tease. Sweet progress.

Goals for the space:

- brighten it up

- fix and paint the floors

- do something with the exposed ceiling

- replace the window to let in even more light

- girly this place up to create a happy, adult work space

- add more light

- use what you HAVE

- get organized girl!

Now I just need to paint the rest of the desk, figure out storage, lighting and about a million other things. I think I'll go work upstairs on my closet to take my mind off of all this work. Ha!

Do you have a color you've been dying to try? A window you've been dying to replace? A show you've been dying to watch? (Seriously, I need some new Netflix recommendations). 

why finish one project when you can start another

The week has begun and I'm sure I'm not the only one who could use another day. I think its time to start mandatory three day weekends in the summer. Who's with me?

I hope all that celebrated had a wonderful Father's Day. We had a great afternoon with the hubs and my dad doing what they love - watching the US Open. And there was a Father's Day miracle when I was finally able to snag some peonies from Trader Joes. I had thought they were an urban myth but I ran in yesterday and there they were in all their white and pink glory. I'm sure everyone in the produce section thought I was crazy as I squealed when I saw them.

Another miracle is that progress has been made on the office. I'll share more with you later this week, but needless to say when the pool is calling your name, it is hard to spend time in the basement.

While I was hard at work, I ran to grab something from the hall closet. And I don't know if it's all the pool water in my ears or what but I could not take that black hole any longer. It is one of my goals for the year to get this closet in order so no better time to start than while you are in the middle of another project, right?!

Luckily the paint was drying in the office so I had time to kill. Off to Home Depot for color ideas and I was off to the races. More to come once everything dries.

So how was your weekend? Finish any projects? Start any new ones? Did you see Zach Johnson's hole in one?!

home office makeover - getting to zero

It's been a few weeks, so I thought it was time for an update on my home office. Between being out of town, the end of the school year, work, and general life, work has been patchy, but we have made progress.

Why have I found three extra doors when I can think of only one place upstairs that has a door removed? Good question. The answer is, I have no idea but I'm keeping them for sure. "You never know when you need a door," someone said at some point.

Cleaning out all of this, let's be honest, crap felt so good. I feel like the house has lost 20 pounds. And we cleaned at the right time as our neighbor was prepping for a garage sale, so everything went upstairs and out on their yard. Then the tarp went up.

I got a spray gun for Christmas and what better chance to use it for the first time than in a space where every single surface needs painted. We washed everything down and then went to town. The plan was to start with the ceiling and work our way down. I had grand visions of just spraying the whole space in a matter of hours and then spending the afternoon relaxing with a well earned G&T.  But, it turns out that whole 'you get what you pay for' thing is true.

Our gun was crap. It didn't have much power, in spite of the air compressor, and it was really...sploty (which I've just declared a word). It could very well be the fact that we were spraying a ceiling and maybe the thing wasn't meant to go at weird angles. At any rate, we were just able to get the ceiling done before I was ready to choke myself with the damn thing out of frustration.

So the paint gun went into the trash and I brought in reinforcements.

I love painting white over white. I'm amazed at how un-white the old white is/was each and every time.

I used Kilz and ceiling paint on the ceiling but since this is after all, a basement, I choose to go with Behr Basement Waterproofer paint on the walls. We haven't had any water in here (knock on wood) but an ounce of prevention... The paint went on well, it is nice and thick, and covered like a champ. We did two coats just as a matter of course but we could have easily gotten away with one coat.

While the girls and I painted, the hubs made fast work of drywalling this little spot since I'm not really a fan of the 'here are the back of our stairs' look. God I love a man that can knock out some drywall!

Everyone in the house pitched in and after several afternoons, we have arrived at this. A bright, white, empty space. I told you I got a lot of light down here. Now we can actually start on the room.

Let's take a minute to look at the before and 'in process'...

I love it already. Let's celebrate by crossing some things off the list.

Goals for the space:

- brighten it up

- fix and paint the floors

- do something with the exposed ceiling

- replace the window to let in even more light

- girly this place up to create a happy, adult work space

- add more light

- use what you HAVE

- get organized girl!

I've got great things planned for that floor and several ideas on the lighting situation so let's see what ends up sticking.

Do you like to have helpers when you work on a project at home? Would you rather spread a project out or get it done as quickly as possible? Is it weird that I have about three different light fixtures sitting in my basement and I want to use them all?

home office makeover - the beginning

We use every inch of our house and that is how I want it to be (I've talked about that here). Occasionally though, it does result in some creative thinking when it comes to carving out a new space in our little cottage.

Case in point - I need an office. I've worked from home for almost a decade now and originally I had a huge office. Then Amelia and Eve came along and over time my whole office was eaten up to make room for a family room/play room. So for the past few years, I've been a nomadic worker. Thanks to my laptop I could work at the dining room table, on the couch in the family room, outside on the deck, even in bed (shh, I know that's 'bad for you').  But a nomadic office leads to traveling office papers in every corner of the house. Things were getting lost, and colored on.

Then several weeks ago my computer went to the big help desk in the sky and I got myself a shiny new desktop. "Uh, Elizabeth, that was kind of a foolish decision - you can't carry a desktop around the house with you." I know, but it was like when you buy jeans a size smaller to encourage you to loose weight. That desktop was the push I needed to get started on the office I've been meaning to tackle for a long, long time.

There is a spot in what we call 'the basement basement' (aka - the unfinished portion of the basement) that makes for a natural office. It gets great light in the afternoon, has a closet and is screaming make me over.

So because we are friends, I'm going to take you into 'the basement basement', a space houses guests are never allowed, in order to show you the frightful before.

Totally screams office, don't you think? Me too.

So the plan is to spruce this space up and create a space that I will want to get, well, creative in. And if that wasn't exciting enough the plan is to use only what I have in my stash. This is partly due to the fact that I have a million and one estate sale purchases that need to be put to good use and partly because I don't want to spend big money down here.

Goals for the space:

- brighten it up

- fix and paint the floors

- do something with the exposed ceiling

- replace the window to let in even more light

- girly this place up to create a happy, adult work space

- add more light

- use what you HAVE

- get organized girl!

How long will this take? Good question. I'm guessing as long as it takes me to get annoyed with having a desktop at the creative station of the family room.

What do you think? Can I create something I'll want to spend any time in without spending the earth? Ever feel like showing your 'family only' space is a bit like posting a picture of your underwear drawer on Facebook?

one room challenge - where are they now

Today is a fun 'this is your life' kind of day. My friend Linda, Calling it Home fame and creator of the One Room Challenge, is having a party today. Everyone and anyone who has participated in the One Room Challenge over the years will be giving updates on their rooms.

Projects that were unfinished, changes that were made, or just the general state of the room today will all be shared.

As for me, not much has changed in the girls' room by way of additions or changes.

Full disclosure it looks like this most of the time. True life. (my mom is horrified right now).

Herbie did get some new bright orange poppies which he is very happy about.

And I did get a pom pom garland on clearance after Christmas that I'll use as a tie back for the corner window. Current version styled by my three-year-old assistant.

So the girls still love the room, I still love the room. The room is well loved.

The family room is pretty much the same story.

All the major players are still in place, it just has a more...lived in patina now. I won't blind you with the general state of toy tornado that that room seems to be in. Even I have my sharing limits. :)

So that's my ORC update. All is pretty quite on the western front. Be sure to go over to Linda's to see what everyone else's rooms are up to now. I can't wait to check them out!

And don't forget to sign up for my Wash Away Winter giveaway! You could be smelling sweet in no time.

a look at the loo - bathroom reveal

The loo? Yes, I obviously have Downton on the brain (does anyone else think that season went rather quickly?) So as promised I am supplying a good old before and after for your Monday viewing pleasure.

Updates to the bathroom were planned, executed and photographed. Let's take a look.

As I mentioned last week, a recharge for the bathroom that remained untouched for (gasp) almost seven years was long overdue. (Take a look at her major renovation here) Nothing drastic, just new paint, fixtures, shower curtain, towels and accessories. That's how I sell these changes to the hubs by the way - always use the phrase 'nothing drastic'.

To go back to the very beginning, here is what she looked like when we moved in.

And this is what she looked like until very recently.

And here she is in her pretty new outfit.

The space may be small but I'll milk it for all the pictures I can. So here we go.

The most visually appealing, best smelling soap a bathroom could have, courtesy of local favorite K. Hall Designs.

I couldn't find a towel bar that I liked for the right price and the right size, so I trolled the plumbing department at Home Depot and gathered up some lovely copper to make my own towel bar. Tutorial to follow.

The first of many prints I hope to own from Janet Hill Studio.

I got these wonderful white and gold fish hooks a long while back but never found any place to properly 'hook' them. So instead I took out the standard issue knob on the freshly painted medicine cabinet and replaced it with Elton the glamour fish.

Last summer I talked about my obsession with finding a unique shower curtain. Well I never did find one that suited, so I followed the lead of the great Tobi Fairley and had one made.

Thank heavens I have a wonderful aunt who can sew like the wind. She did a beautiful job and because of the custom work I was able to have her make it just the right length so I could take the curtain rod all the way to the ceiling. It is amazing what it has done for the room. The space feels bigger, brighter and well...taller. Imagine that.

On the opposite wall I made the wise decision to ditch the towel bar in favor of hooks. Let's be real, more than one person uses this bathroom so one towel bar wasn't cutting it. Yes we have a hook on the back of the door as well, but this is just so functional, and far more fun.

Benjamin Moore Gray Owl on the walls has done a brilliant job of brightening up the space, bringing out the gray in the marble floor and most importantly - makes the space feel clean and crisp even if the maid doesn't get around to cleaning it for a few days. Of course, not having a maid might have something to do with that.

And there she is in all her clean splendor. The changes weren't major but it has done a tremendous job of making it feel like we have a new room in the house. And she'll hold my spirits up until spring arrives. The moral of the story is small changes = big impact. Every time.

Have you made any small changes lately? Know anyone who will come to clean my bathroom? Is it wrong that I want to hug my shower curtain?

And be sure to come back tomorrow for a grand giveaway!

Linking to The Best of The Nest