Obsessed

I'm reeeeal into chevron patterns these days. I can't stop thinking about a chevron rug in the sunroom. Or the living room. Or the dining room. Or the kitchen.

This could get dangerous real fast.

Chevron has been one of those things that's been in the back of my mind for a while. I want it to fit in somewhere but it hadn't reached fruition.

Then, thanks to the totally talented bryn alexandra I happened upon this very reasonably priced fabric. Yes, please.



It had me wondering how many zig zag toss pillows one can have in her house and not look like a crazy person. I have my eye on the black and the yellow, of course. But the village blue and village green are calling to me too.

But earlier today, browsing Decor Pad for some gray paint ideas, I fell head over heels in love with these bold curtains.



And I am just dying at this bold chevron rug (and how gorgeous is that chair?)



If you want something a little more on the subtle side, how about this rug from West Elm?



For the very brave (and patient!) among us, how about an entire chevron wall?



Or for a high contrast look, this wallpaper from walnut wallpaper has me weak in the knees.



I'm even cheating on the monthly Design Sponge calendar wallpaper with a Riki Zaris Chevron Print on my desktop!

And speaking of obsessions, my birthday is coming up in a little over a week and I have a serious suspicion I'm getting living room paint! I already got a new iphone, so this would be totally sweet.

So what am I doing on my way home? Paint samples. I think I want Martha Stewart Bedford Gray, but I need to get a sample on the wall. This will be sample number 5, so hopefully it's the one, and we won't end up with another kitchen situation (My favorite part of reading that post? We chose NONE of the colors on the walls or mentioned in the post. And we love the color we ended up choosing in desperation without a sample. Go figure)

Post Along Project: The Porch is Done!

After sewing the hook and loop closures on the futon cover, and taking everything outside, the porch has gone from drab to colorful!

Before, our porch had some bright red chairs and yellow walls, but other than that, was lacking in color. The faded black futon cover and the old water damaged printer cart were just depressing.




Over the past two days, I've injected some color, some much needed storage, and a little bit of fun.

New art in white frames can be added to over time.



Brighter, more graphic throw pillows up the fun factor, and the navy blue futon cover in an outdoor fabric brings in color that will resist fading over time.







A newly blue baker's rack holds shoes, garden tools, and my ever growing philodendron.



We added a clock for a pop of red, and finally, the exterior doors are painted, and no longer disgusting.



I'm so happy that such small changes have made a big difference in the feeling of our back porch.





Now I've just got to pick a rug (and buy it) and this room will be DONE!

Almost done!

Yesterday afternoon, I was able to repot my new plants, paint an old toolbox red, and hang up the art on the porch (as well as a red clock we bought in February and haven't found a home for.

I also knocked out three pillow covers for the futon.



We relaxed most of the afternoon. Did some shopping, watched a couple of episodes of X-Files and The West Wing and had an easy dinner. While we were watching TV, I started to pin the futon cover, and I decided to go ahead and stitch it before I forgot how it was supposed to be put together!

All I have to do now is sew the hook and loop closures onto the flap and the back.



Then this morning, I got up bright and early and took care of my normal Sunday morning grocery/kitchen cleaning routine. Then after a breakfast break, I scraped the paint off of the glass in the doors, swept out the porch, and cleaned the litter boxes. Now, the hubs is on his way home, and we can finish the cover and move it back outside. Then we will hopefully get some afternoon so we can hang out there without melting.

Whoa!

So the schedule I originally set up for this project? The one I worried was too ambitious?

I'm blowing it out of the water.

I had the baker's rack painted, the art framed, the lawn mowed (after a minor freakout and a call to my husband at work when the mower stopped in the middle of the lawn), and the back door and french doors painted. All before 10 am!

I totally have my thumbs under my non-existent suspenders right now.

Now that I'm showered, I'm going to take a break for some lunch and HGTV. Then I'm going to start on the throw pillows and repot my new plants. I might even arrange the plant stand! When Brett gets home, we'll bring in the futon mattress, so I can cut the fabric into smaller pieces for pre-washing.

Looks like my Saturday will be more productive than I thought!

Update!

So I'm eating breakfast and I've already made some pretty big progress!

Yesterday, I took this art from the living room (we have something else in minf for this spot) and painted the frames white. I used the dregs of a can of spraypaint, and then had to buy another at $3.89.



Then, I used dafont.com (check out the dingbats!) and vintageprintable.com to print some art for the low cost of $0. For a project like this, where water in the air is going to be constant, I want something that can be easily replaced.

This morning I cleaned up the frames and put them all together.



I can't wait to see what it looks like hung up.

I also spray painted my baker's rack navy this morning. The dark blue will pop against the yellow walls, and coordinate with the new futon cover.



After breakfast, I've got to get going on the lawn, and paint the porch doors, assuming the rain holds off!

Post Along Project

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but it's also been a while since I did a project that took more than a day. So I'm excited to announce this weekend's Post Along Project: sprucing up our screened in porch!

After building our porch last fall, we kind of ran out of steam on the decor front and moved on to other rooms. We worked so hard on construction, that we were ready to just do something else. But now I'm ready to make it more than just a functioning cat lounging/reading room.

Here's the plan:

-Create a frame collage to go over the futon, and make art for those frames (Budget: $5, yes really!)
-Paint baker's rack and add some potted plants, as well as a basket for the shoes that gather at the back door (Budget: $40)
-finally paint the doors (Budget: $0)
-sew a futon cover (Budget: $70)
-recover throw pillows (Budget: $0)

Hopefully at the end of the weekend, all we'll lack is a rug. I'm still torn between FLOR tiles and the jute squares from World Market.

The schedule is tight, but doable.

I was off today, and I've already done all of the shopping (I scored outdoor fabric in solid navy for $3 a yard! which means my futon cover will be $25 with tax instead of $70) and spray painted some existing frames. I also created some art and will print it before bed tonight.

Tomorrow I want to paint the doors and the bakers rack, get my new plants potted, and hopefully cut and pin the fabric for the futon cover. I also have to cut the grass, since Brett is working an insane schedule. And we're supposed to get rain almost all day tomorrow. So it will be hectic.

Sunday will be spent with sewing, sewing, and more sewing. I've got to make the futon cover as well as recovering the three throw pillows out there.

Hopefully I can do it. The first update will come some time tomorrow!

The Big Pantry Clean Out

So, I know I haven't posted in forever. Sorry dudes. I would like to give some excuse but the truth is I'm lazy and unmotivated.

Last week I finally got frustrated enough with the state of my pantry and did something about it. At first I was just disgusted with the avalanche of plastic grocery bags that rained down on me every time I needed something. We use these bags for cat litter and the occasional lunch that won't fit in my lunch box. So they're a necessity, but I really needed a way to keep them under wraps.

Enter grocery bag holder.

But even though this one was a deal at $10, I remembered that my grandmother had one made out of fabric, and I wondered if I could make one with some scrap fabric. I found some directions (google grocery bag holder for tons of options. I chose these from Make It and Love It.)

I used some fabric and bias tape from my scrapbox, and bought half a yard of elastic for just 11 cents. How's that for a budget project?

I started with a rectangle of fabric, 20 by 25 inches, and pinned the short sides with a hem wide enough to push my 1/4" elastic through.



Then, I threaded the elastic. This was absolutely the hardest part of the project, and I struggled quite a bit. I eventually figured out that my best bet was to pin the elastic at one end, and poke through the other end with the sharp end of a skewer. Then I poked the skewer into the tube, and scrunched the fabric down until the elastic was exposed. Then I took it off the skewer, pinned it down on the other side, and sewed down both sides.



You will need two pieces of elastic. 11 inches for the top, where you can put the bags in, and 6 1/2 inches for the bottom, so you can pull them out one at a time.

Then pin the long sides together, right sides in, and stitch up the remaining side.



Finally, add a loop for hanging. You can use ribbon but I just used leftover bias tape. Turn it inside out and stuff!



And if the little peek into our pantry shelves doesn't make you break into hives, then check this out.



I didn't even take a picture of the rest of the pantry, since I couldn't look at it without crying. But armed with some serious determination, I bought a few bins and tackled everything else. After a few bags of trash and the discovery of several rolls of toilet paper buried under a pile of crap, we now have a clean, beautiful pantry.



We have a bin for snacks/breakfast, one for condiments/vinegars, one for Italian, one for soups/broths, and one for Mexican.



Since I took this picture, I also added a drawer organizer for some of our smaller hardware related stuff.

I'm just so happy to say I can actually walk in here!