now and then

this is our family the day we moved into our beautiful new home.

april 2011

Here we are 2 years later:

April 2013

then:

now:

what they looked like then:

 what they look like now:

ombre lovin :: a dresser redo

this revamp is so old, but i'm in the mood to catch up just a little.

i don't know why i've been in such a blogging funk and i don't care to explore it or apologize either so here it goes:

i'd been looking for a tall dresser for husband's clothes for a while 

when i came across this beauty at a garage sale for $20. 

and here's my version of the ombre trend that is everywhere right now.

i just used small acrylic craft paints so it was super cheap.

i had kind of a difficult time getting all the shades just right, but with that cheap of paint, i could afford my trial and error. i also kept the old hardware to save money and just spray painted them white.

are you into ombre yet? or already bored of it?

guest dresser

so our guest room needed a little help. i've had a vision since we first moved into this house, but not the funds if you know what i mean. i matched the wall color to compliment this amy butler wallpaper that i'm in love with. it will cover one wall behind the bed when i can afford it.

meanwhile, i needed a dresser. after a couple months of craigslist scowering and garage sale sifting, i finally found one with some great lines. and the best part? 20 dolla-make-you-holla!!!

i found it at a garage sale and it definitely needed some love.

i knew i needed to keep it simple since the wallpaper will be pretty bold and that paint color turned out a little bright for my taste. so i just went with a dark grey and sprayed the hardware white. big difference, huh? like i said, i LOVE the lines of this beauty.

next up? some white bedding, black frames, and wallpaper!!!

home tour: the boy's room

so the next stop on our home tour is the boy's room. 

if you read my blog at all, you know that his favorite color in the world is orange.

i was NOT about to paint the whole room orange. blue was the next choice.

i tried to add a lot of color for his personality.

his room is at the very top of the stairs and the first room you 

see when you come up.

the garland is made out of card stock and fishing wire.
the idea was from cluck cluck sew.

i made kavi's quilt quite a while ago and he still loves it thankfully.

these canvases were all kind of made at different times.
the top left 3 are made out of felt and the others,
i recently made using my friend's silhouette machine.
i think i might need like one more up there.

kavi loves to hang his art up in his room (or any place in the house for that matter) 

so i finally put together a little corner for him to display it. i grabbed this thrift store frame for

 like 6 bucks and sprayed it orange.

the K above his bed was super time consuming, but well-worth it. 

i purchased it at joannes and wound red yarn around all the sides. the nooks and 

crannies of the letter were pretty difficult to cover, but it turned out okay.

that's about it for the boy's room. 

oh, but i couldn't leave out these few shots of the little sister getting into his toys...

... and steeling his spotlight. so sweet baby carter girl!

chevron curtains- a tutorial

okay, so do you remember this post about my new curtains that i absolutely adore? well i promised a tutorial and that was like 3 months ago. i basically suck, i know. here it is nevertheless. this project definitely take patience and persistence, but the end result is SO worth. the money you save, and the drama these curtains bring to a room is amazing. 

you'll need:

drop cloth

painters tape

ruler

 about a quart of black paint (or whatever color you choose)

small sponge roller

hanging curtain clips

i started with a huge drop cloth from home depot. i wanted my curtains to brush the ground,

 so i bought the 9x12 size.

lay your drop cloth out. you'll need a big space where kids can't get in the way. don't forget to put a tarp or something underneath when you paint, bc the paint will go through. don't cut your drop cloth yet, you'll do that after we're all done painting.

now you need to figure out your measurements. this was the most difficult part and i made my husband help with the math and stuff. here's a rough sketch of how i did mine. if you want bigger or smaller chevrons, you'll have to adjust.

 i started a foot in from the left and 5 inches down from the top. mark a dot. mark another dot another foot in from the first one and 5 inches from the top, and so on till you reach the other side. these make up the points of the top chevron.

for the dip of the chevron i did 6 inches in and 11.5 inches down.

then for the bottom part of the chevron, i marked my dots just 6 inches below the top ones for the point and the dip. did i confuse you yet?

 after you have all your dots measured and penciled, you can start taping. to make a perfectly pointed edge with painters tape, look at these next two pictures. hold a straight edge over your tape at the angle you want your edge and rip the tape towards you. works every time.

 after tons of patient work and hopefully a helpful partner, you'll get something that looks like this. 

(i know it looks like my "white" chevrons are smaller than the black ones will be, but it's 

just an illusion bc of the edges of the tape.)

 now is when the fun part comes in. i used flat interior paint and bought a cheap small sponge roller.

just roll that bad boy on like there's no tomorrow.

and keep rolling and rolling. you'll have to put it on pretty thick for it not to look blotchy.

once it's dried, you can cut it as you like for whatever window you're using it on. i cut mine straight down the middle and trimmed some off the bottom once i hung them. i also left he edges raw, but you can choose to hem them. 

attach your curtain ring clips and your done! $30 vs $150? 

yes please! 

i hope someone finds this tutorial helpful. and if you choose to do them, please send pics! 

good luck fellow dyi-ers!

home tour: master suite

so jennifer has made multiple comments to me about how i have no pictures of our new home on my blog. i feel like no room in this house is even close to finished, but i've decided to post pictures anyway. maybe they'll be nice to look back on when my house is done someday. is a house ever really done?

here's our master bedroom.

from the door looking in

this window faces our backyard and we're upstairs

on david's side of the bed looking at the door to the hall and the bathroom/closet

that's our only dresser. we need another one badly!

looking into the bathroom/closet

bathroom sinks

tub/shower. the toilet is behind the door to the left

going into the closet. yes, that's a window.

it faces the front of the house and i love it.

david's side

my side

and the details:

remember how i switched our bedding? here
although i love the fabric, i decided i wasn't feeling it for out bed, so i used it here.
now i don't know what i want. plus, my brother gave us that bedding for our wedding, so i'm having a hard time letting it go.

other notes:
is your closet as crazy as mine?
i've always wanted a minimalistic bedroom, but i kinda feel like it's just plain boring.
that's it!

chevron curtains

SO. this was our front room.

are you ready for the sexiest paint color in the world?

then scroll down baby!

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dovetail gray.

 this paint color covers the majority of our home and i'm in love.

i knew i wanted some dramatic curtains to compliment our bright armoir,

but when i looked up chevron patterned curtain, they were basically non-existent.

i found a couple, but they weren't this dramatic and were way over priced.

so of course i made my own! i'm getting a tutorial ready 

to post if anyone is interested. total cost? about $30. 

and you'll never guess what they're made from. 

what do you think? are they too crazy? or just right?

i'd like a new light fixture, and

the curtains still need a trim at the bottom.

oh, did i mention that this is a no-sew project?