Perfect Chaos

After an emotional week we decided to stay busy. This past weekend was bedroom swapping so we can fit two kiddos into one room. How did we ever end up with so much stuff and where are we going to put it? We would have been better off moving into a bigger house. (I hinted for quite some time; husband didn't catch on, but we do love our home). Look at this mess in the midst of it and that's just the dining room clutter!!! Scary when you can barely find your child in the house. Where's Rory?

Did you find her?

My Dad also wired in some new plugs, cables and lights and worked his tail off for us again. Nothing is ever an easy task in our bungalow. We have holes in walls (due to old home issues per usual), spackling all over, toys array and accessories spread in corners. Not sure where our Christmas tree will fit this year? Planning and arranging for new baby is crazy in a two bedroom home, but we shall manage. Adding on is not going to happen, but basement detail is on the arise; However, getting a contractor or anyone for that matter to get back to us for a bid is IMPOSSIBLE. What is up people? Quit leading us on, you have an anal pregnant lady growing by the hour that is starting to flip out! I'm swollen from all the chaos and that is not cool. Watch out or I will start calling you myself. My husband has been quite patient (and tolerating my behavior thus far). Not sure how I'll do when we actually get started and have to move everything from the basement to the dining room, the yard, the garage? Not a clue where it will end up. I will lose my shit sanity eventually.

Now that the crib is set up Rory is asking for the baby. She wants "bean" now. I told her he's still cooking and he'll come around in March. Sunday night while putting Rory to sleep she says, "Momma, where is that baby? Is he cooking french fries in there!" haha... I lost it. She is hilarious! And I love her dearly for being a perfect angel while we were decluttering, cleaning and organizing. Amongst the craziness, she played with every toy, clothing and accessory in sight while feeding her babies and her cat. :) Kitty let her cuddle her with a blanket, feed her with a bottle and a spoon for at least an hour. I'm shocked Rory walked away without a scratch.

Notice outfit: summer dress, leggings, warmers on her arms, butterfly wings upside down, tank top and at one point she had on a hello kitty fedora, large yellow earrings and a scarf as a sash. I'm lucky she loves accessories. 

 We had a very productive weekend thanks to the help of my parentals. Couldn't have done it without them. Looking forward to seeing it all come together. Loving the rooms thus far, found sweet bedding for Rory so that helps me figure out the rest of their room. Paint colors, curtains, details, etc....yay to finally getting to work on the fun stuff. Boo to all the disasters that come out of improving our sweet home. Sorry Mom. Rear ended in her new vehicle minutes after she left us. Go figure. We always hit some bad luck during or after a project. Thankfully she is fine. Onto more home improving. I'm sure fixing out our basement will bring us some awesome surprise. But let's hope this baby does not arrive early and stays a cookn'. We have work ahead of us and I have no time to flip my lid!

   cheers

Small Spaces

I started organizing, purging, creating ideas in my head for the best possible way to use each space in our home. It's small, if we're not completely organized and things are scattered it feels incredibly cluttered. Adding another child to the mix makes it even more difficult. Kids come with a lot of gear! We shall manage a few more years. "The average American has too much stuff". So I'll keep sticking to those thoughts and convince myself we have enough room to get by. We will be minimalists! Closet space is next to nothing in our bungalow. First thing up...maximize the space. We're having them updated and shelved and all that good stuff. Then we are swapping bedrooms with Rory. Our room is bigger so two kiddos will fit in there nicely. I'm going to reorganize the entire house. Curtains, paint, moving furniture around... it should be interesting, to say the least. Then onto fixing out the basement. Think we can get it all done before this bambino shows up? hmmm, I'm not totally convinced myself. Here's to hoping!!! We can do it!

I've been researching ways to de-clutter and maximize small spaces. Many tricks out there...

Curved furniture! Gives you more room to get from a to b and the perfect solution for eliminating baby/toddler injuries.

Curves

 Elongate a space with stripes. This is great! Not sure I'll use this idea, but love it! Interior decorator Alex Papachristidis recommends creating a glamorous jewel box: “Use larger patterns on the fabrics. Stencil the floors and upholster the walls. With a small room, think grand—I always do.” 

Stripes



White spaces. Really likey crispy whitey rooms. Seem bigger too. Great for natural light areas. Hmm bedroom or living room?

Though, dark walls make a small room look intriguing. Yep, that's the new news peeps...these rooms are pretty sharp! Our hallway is painted dark eggplant. I love the color. A crystal fixture will give it some wow. I might try and paint some accent walls dark. We'll see. I also might change my mind 101 times, but eventually I'll get it right!


Go symmetrical! Pleasing to the eye. Tricks the eye to look more organized. I have to buy a few pieces to make this work in a room or two. I'm not going to be boring and create too much symmetry, but a little will go a long way.

Lamps

Chairs

Mirrors

I just found this blog, Tiny-Ass Apartment. "Wish you had a five-bedroom mansion in the hills and enough money to decorate it with stuff from Anthropologie that's NOT on sale? Face it -- you live in a tiny-ass apartment with only enough cash to buy... nothing. Here's how to still be fabulous."

Awesome! A quick go to place to find ideas for my Tiny-Ass House!

   cheers

Kitchen Makeover

I won't go into too much detail, but this was the most stressful biggest project we've taken on. Our little bungalow needed a kitchen remodel the moment we bought it. Reeeeeally wanted it done before Rory was born, but instead we started a year later and a shiny new kitchen was born. Project #3 turned into project #133. It's awesome, worth the wait! With help from fam and friends, Klint knocked it out of the park. It only took me 101 decisions to make, but I think it turned out perfect for what we need and great for resale. Still have lots of "things" to do around the corner, but at least we have a sweet looking room. We love it! Now if only we could add another 500-1000 square feet to our home; we'd stay for a long time.
Yes of course there was a disaster. Dad, the electrician, was helping one weekend. Again, I think he's the bad luck bug, maybe? You see, we decided to swap the gas stove in place of where the fridge called home. Things were moved a bit. Something was wiggled and tinkered in the basement, sparks flew upstairs. Flames were coming out from the kitchen floor. Thankfully Klint and Dad were right there; well, took a bit for them to figure out the extinguisher, but the house did not blow up. Whew. It could have been scary. It was not the electrician's fault, he is a professional. Our house could have blown at any given moment...a piece was missing or something was loose on the stove for years. Whatever it was, I don't remember exactly, thankfully someone was watching over us.

Before and afters. Not the best display of befores, but you get the picture peeps! HUGE transformation.

 Before...

Old Kitchen (less ugly 1990's wall paper and linoleum)

 

Stuff everywhere, no space what-so-ever, cabinets were not even worthy of refacing

  

Pre dining room wall




Sub floor, post double layered linoleum + stove that almost burnt down our home (it's now in our rental but it was properly installed this time)




Pre kitchen wall



After... o.meh.g. The dishwasher alone = happy wife mama chef! I wanted a grey kitchen. Got it, though I realize after looking at my pics I may need to add some color pieces to bring some more life to it.

Wall out, added bar





Stove and hood replace fridge wall





Fridge now where stove originally was



Semi custom cabinets with pullout drawers = life savor

Sub floor was stained ebony to keep some character. Love having wood floors in kitchen. So easy to clean.



Love the black granite composite sink and we centered it with the original window



Anthro cracked-like metal pendant lights

Splurged on the center light. It's impossible to find really nice clear glass fixtures that cost less than a fortune. Really.



 

Quartzite counter tops look similar to concrete = way cheaper

 

Added a raw piece of wood for shelf to throw in a bit of rustic with all the modern mix. Easy access to my books and spices too. Custom corner cabinets would have cost us too much, so we spent $20 on the brackets and it works great.



Much more functional. All for half the price it would have cost a contractor. Double smiles!

 

      cheers