Master Bedroom

Which Way, Which Gray?

Published on March 12, 2013March 12, 2013 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Hey friends! Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday. I started a few projects and wanted/needed to finish them up. One of those projects is for our master bedroom. You see, here’s our current bed set up.

We had a bed frame and headboard, but they squeaked every time we rolled over. So annoying, so we took it out. Now we’re living bachelor pad style, with the box spring on the floor. At least we have two box springs to get some height. Yes, so fancy.

Ben built a bed over the weekend. And I have some work to do to make it purty. But, I need to choose a paint color. Wanna help? Right now, the room is a blank slate. Only the painted doors will stay. Possibly the bedding, but we’ll probably stick with white if we change it out.

Regardless of the item, I’m consistently drawn to blue-greens. Either Blue Sage or something similar will go on the walls when we get to that point. What color should we paint the bed? We’ve ruled out white (too much) and black (because we’ve already had one and want something different). Of course we’ve got several dark gray colors going on (the doors and the entertainment center). Which brings us to… light gray.

I pulled out a bunch of swatches I already had and then plucked out the too green/purple/dark ones, which left me with six contenders. Left to right we’ve got Gray Owl, Harbor Gray, Wickham Gray, Classic Gray, (all Benjamin Moore) Oyster Pearl Clark + Kensington), and Ocean Pearl (Behr) on top. Do you have a favorite? Or a light gray I didn’t mention? I bought a test sample of Oyster Pearl yesterday. On its own, it looks almost white. Against something white, it looks perfect. At least to me. I need to get Ben’s opinion.

What do you think of the color combo?

Would you go with gray? Or something else entirely?

Art with Heart

Published on September 19, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

For too long, er, the past five months, our bedroom has looked like this:

Ugly paint, minimal furniture, and no art on the walls. Come to think of it, the whole house looks like that. Well, I decided I had enough. Time to take matters into my own hands. When Jenny mounted a cheapo Kinko’s print to foam core, I thought it looked cool. Then Katie did it, too. And then a light bulb went off above my head. Hellooooo, we pulled foam insulation out of the wet bar in the pool house.

So I measured, hoping the foam was at least two feet wide. Hooty hoo! The foam was exactly 24 inches wide by about 4 feet. I had already gone through our wedding photos and chose two of my favorite ‘we’re not posed smiling at the camera’ shots. Sure the first one is blurry, but I like it that way. A little more artistic and unexpected. I love that it’s sort of a ‘moment in time’ capturing the emotions we felt that June day.

After sizing and editing the photos in Photoshop, I saved the files, headed to FedEx Office (I still call it Kinko’s) and had ’em printed. For $4.50 each, I got two 24 by 36 inch prints. I headed home and started cutting the foam. Well, tried to cut it. The utility knife didn’t work on my 2 inch thick foam.

If something doesn’t work, I call Ben to ask for his ideas. He suggested using the table saw. After a little begging, he agreed to cut the pieces for me when he got home. He did and it worked like a charm. Just to be safe, I had Ben cut the pieces at 23 1/2 by 35 1/2 inches. With the sides straight, I mixed up a little, okay a lot, of kelly green paint. Because I hate being careful when I don’t have to, I painted the sides first, then mounted my photos.

Speaking of mounting photos, I started by using ModPodge, which was a mistake. It bubbled up and I had to work with it a lot. After one short edge, I searched the house, knowing I had spray adhesive somewhere. Ah ha! Found it. Outside, I lined my print up, peeled back a small bit, sprayed, then pressed it into place. With that first edge stuck down, I sprayed the rest, working in smallish lines, pressing the paper down, and smoothing it from the center out. Because I did this along (and thought getting it to lay straight would be more difficult) I didn’t trim my paper before mounting. I had a little paper overhanging the edges, so I flipped the pieces over and carefully cut along the edge using a utility knife.

To hang these big guys, I decided to just poke a hole in the back for a nail. First, I measured a few inches down, then centered.

Ben suggested adding small pieces of pipe, just to prevent the nail tearing the foam. What a thinker. He cut two small pieces of copper pipe (which we were about to take to the recycling center).

With the copper tube centered in my cross-hairs, I pushed down. I couldn’t get the pipe flush unless I pulled out some of the foam. A needle nose pliers pulled it out and the pipe stayed wedged in the foam.

I hung the pictures on either side of the big window.

Finally, something on the walls! Two big somethings.

Better yet, these prints have meaning to us.

Walking into our room doesn’t make me cringe anymore. Rather than focus on the terrible wall color, I see pretty prints that remind me what a wonderful man I have.

And it only cost nine bucks because I had the rest of the materials.

A pop of green is another fun touch.

Only three more walls to get something on, including this giant one. Oy, that blue. Hopefully we can scrape the popcorn ceilings and repaint this fall/winter.

I don’t know which is worse, the awful blue or the burnt red in the bathroom. No wait, the red is much worse. At least there’s something pretty in the room now.

What do you think of the most recent additions? What art have you added to your home? Oversized prints? A custom painting? Blurry photos that you love?

X Marks the Spot

Published on August 30, 2012October 9, 2012 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

For a while, I’ve really wanted to make something interesting using striped fabric. Specifically, using stripe fabric cut at an angle. While I can’t make my vision come to life right now (hint: it involves a bedroom; don’t be dirty), I can make a version. Actually, I got my butt in gear after seeing this pillow, shared in our latest Etsy fav round-up.

I started with a green and white fabric I bought at Ikea and a piece of plain card stock from my stash. To minimize damage if I screwed up, I decided to make a 14 inch square pillow cover. Then I cut my card stock into an 8 inch square, which gives me a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

To make the cool x design, I measured a green stripe and marked the center with a little tick mark at the top and bottom.

Then I placed my square template on the fabric, lining the corners up with the tick marks and traced the edges.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Maximize your fabric by placing the squares right next to the other, slightly staggered in height.

Cut out the squares and place together to form an x.

Now pin the top two together, and the bottom two together like this, right sides together, keeping the stripes lined up.

Sew along the edges, then pin those pieces together, keeping the stripes together. I decided to use a gray faux silk backing with an exposed zipper bottom, but you can choose your backing and closure type. Envelope closures are super easy.

Originally, I planned to sew a second for the slipper chairs in the family room, but the green didn’t mesh well with the chair color. Now it lives on our bed.

The splash of color in our otherwise unchanged and boring room makes me smile.

And I like the faux silk shiny backing. You know I can’t resist shiny anything. I did mess up though. For some unknown reason I put the zipper along the whole bottom. I should have cut it down and centered it, leaving fabric in the corners for crisp edges.

Oh well, I guess that’s bound to happen when I’m sewing while watching White Collar. Can’t. take. eyes. off. Matt. Bomer. Seriously, he’s not even hot, he’s gorgeous. So I guess because I made this pillow while watching him, I’ve got a little piece of him in bed. Bahahaha.

What do you think of this design? It would work with any stripe size or color, too. Do zippers trip you up, too? Maybe you’re just a fan of White Collar? Or Matt Bomer? I am! I am! Haven’t seen Magic Mike, but anything with Matt is a sure hit with me.

Close(t) Encounters

Published on May 2, 2012May 2, 2012 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

I mentioned the lack of organization in the new house. Not only in the form of unpacked clutter, but a lack of storage space. Sure, the mountain house is larger than our first house, but the current storage is inefficient at best. Take our entry closet for example.

On the top shelf are two floating store-bought shoe racks. Neither are wide enough for the closet, nor tall enough for Ben’s work shoes. So we’ve got a pile of shoes on the floor. I did add a large hook for my purse and a hanging Ikea organizer to corral the most used shoes from the pit below.

The boys’ bedroom closet is rocking a similar look. A heap of clothes and bins of diapers at the bottom, crammed clothes on one rod (we’ll add a second rod soon) and two shelves above.

The linen closet is my best friend right now. It’s huge and holds the usual linen-y stuff; towels, blankets, and pillows. But, it’s large enough to pull double duty as our vacuüm and toy closet. Supervision required board games on top:

Bins of toys (which lived in our entertainment centers at the first house) on the bottom. And a chair so I can reach the top shelf.

Of all the existing storage, the master closet is the most useful for us. Plenty of shelves to hold my purses, pajamas, and such.

Ben’s side is similar, holding his t-shirts, socks, underwear, and shorts. Plenty of hanging space for each of us, including hooks for belts and hats.

In fact, we’ve got room to spare. This center shelving is bare, as is most of that top shelf.

I can hang all my clothes on one rod, leaving room for hangers and a huge pile of laundry on the floor. Gotta get a new outlet to get the dryer hooked up. Overall, we love the house. We’re just missing our built ins and organization. Did you notice I finished the paint? I love the color, Ben said. “It’s okay…for a closet.” He said he hated it at first, but I think it’s growing on him. Maybe not enough to paint the bedroom walls though.

How do you organize closets? Do you prefer built-in shoe racks? Hanging systems? Do you sort your clothes by color and sleeve length like I do? Have to have matching hangers? Share your secrets!

Move In Ready

Published on April 30, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode21 Comments

On Friday, I mentioned we moved in to the mountain house, as Ben calls it. I think a moment like that deserves a celebration of pictures. So, here’s the mountain house, filled with our crap, I mean furniture.

The entry isn’t huge, but we have a rug and storage bench for putting on shoes.

Our old sectional, which lived in the theater room at the first house, fits in the new living room with plenty of space.

We arranged the furniture to face the television about 2 1/2 feet from the window wall. I have high hopes for bookshelves on either side of the window and a window seat between.

Small end tables and a bookshelf turned entertainment center work for now.

Ben built that bookshelf for V’s nursery and we’ve had it in the basement for the past few years. It is the only piece of furniture that can serve this purpose until we get a chance to build a proper entertainment center. This also means Ben’s kick butt surround sound system is tucked away for the too small shelf. Once we finish the bathroom, we’ve got this on our to do list.

Okay, enough of my whining. Here’s our empty dining room. The stool and lantern are for the deck and the chairs are there as additional seating.

Some day we’ll buy or build a large table to go in here, but that’s not a priority. Right around the corner is my office. I’ve got my craft and shop supplies in the lower cabinets and lots of electronics on the desk top, but it’s totally functional.

Jack has deemed this her spot, so I tossed a few towels down to keep her cozy until I can make her a little dog bed.

Then there’s the kitchen. Oh, the kitchen. Even though this kitchen is at least twice the size of our other kitchen, we’re quickly learning the main cabinets are poorly laid out. Not as much storage as it appears to have.

So we’ve been stashing most kitchen stuff in the giant pantries.

That pretty French door fridge above? I hate it. Ben packed up all the food from the fridge and freezer at the first house on Friday. The fridge contents fit without a problem. However, the two drawer freezer couldn’t hold an entire box of frozen foods. As I tried to cram everything in, getting more and more frustrated while cursing the LG designer I started crying out of annoyance. The stress from packing while watching two little boys and unpacking had gotten the best of me. Luckily, we have space in the utility room for a chest freezer, so Ben bought one yesterday. Rant over. Check out the breakfast nook we’re using as the dining room.

That large window is a great place to watch the wild life in the back yard.

Friday night we had five deer visitors, right off the back patio.

It was chilly over the weekend, so Ben built a fire and we roasted marshmallows right in the family room.

Figuring out a layout for this room was tricky. We have several traffic patterns; one from the stairs, another from the hall, and a third to the sliding door. This works best, keeping everything centered on the fireplace and windows. Too bad we don’t have close enough outlets to plug-in the lamps.

I’ve moved my books from the old office into the guest bedroom. The pile on the bed is my sewing machine and 20 yards of fabric for curtains.

We’re still working on the main bathroom, so we’ll share pictures soon. Floor tile has been delayed and should be here tomorrow. The boys’ bedroom layout is very similar to their old room, just a few feet wider. Here’s V’s side, complete with a dresser due to the lack of organization systems in this house.

E’s side is so bare right now, but he does have a faux Jack to keep him company.

The last bedroom, our bedroom. We sold our bed to the buyer and we’re using the old guest bed for a while. Ben hates the headboard covering the window.

I finished painting the closet over the weekend and put our clothes away. Instead of a pile of clothes, we’ve got a stack of empty bins. Wahoo!

Ugly master bathroom with an awesome steam shower. Still ugly despite a few accessories. I guess putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t make it pretty.

You want to see something that really isn’t pretty (and kind of stresses me out)? The basement.

It’s funny because we’ve gained square footage over the last house, but we’re desperately lacking built-in storage. Not to mention we’ve lost two bedrooms (hence the mattresses) and practically two bathrooms. The main bath is under construction and the basement bath is just gross, leaving us with the master bath. Eventually we’ll get there, but I think the basement will look like this for a while.

Ben and Handy Sammy hauled over the washer and dryer, too. The plug for the dryer isn’t the same as the outlet though.

So that’s how we’re living in the new house. I’ve off to pack up the few remaining things at the old house and then I’ve got some sewing to do. Mama needs black out curtains in hopes of getting the boys to sleep past 6:30.

What did you do over the weekend? Do you have a sewing project in your near future? How about a move?