Our First House – Page 18

Paint Debate

Published on August 25, 2011September 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

I’ve considered paint colors for the laundry room and just can’t decide what I want. Can you all lend a helping hand, well, voice? Initially, I thought we’d paint the laundry room walls the same pale green color we have in the basement bathroom, with blue accents.

Because our laundry room was nowhere near finished, I added peacock blue accents to the bathroom.

The rooms are on opposite sides of the stairwell, but if we use the same color, I don’t want matching rooms. Kinda shot myself in the foot on that one. So, now I’m wondering, do I paint the laundry the same color as the bathroom? If so, what accent color should I use? Yellow and lime green, like this?

I don’t want to use pink or purple. After all, this is Ben’s office, so nothing too girly. The cabinets will remain white, so brown with lime green might be an option. The tan floors and canvas curtain have similar tones.

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Maybe adding a pattern somewhere?

Or, I could nix the green paint entirely and go with grey paint and any accent color I want. I just know we need to lighten and brighten up our windowless laundry space. I keep going back to two of my favorite recently revamped laundry spaces. Jen at IHeart Organizing’s laundry room is fresh and fun. No, I’m not saying this because she’s my friend. I’d like it even I never met her.

Young House Love’s grellow and pink laundry room is light and airy, without being serious.

What are your thoughts? Any votes for green walls with yellow and lime green accents? Green walls with brown and white accents? Grey walls with any color accent? What are your favorite laundry rooms?

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Published on August 23, 2011August 23, 2011 by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

I know Friends has been over for years, but I still love it and watch the reruns. When I sat down to write this post, I thought of Phoebe’s shower song and had a good laugh. What do I have to share that would remind me of Friends? A spiffy new set of soap pumps for the shower. Remember Phoebe’s “Lather, Rinse, Repeat” song?

I started with two cheapie, $2.77 each, ceramic soap pumps from Wal Mart, a ceramic paint pen and an idea. To limit guests searching through drawers or keeping ugly bottles out, I decided to make pretty pumps for shampoo and conditioner.

I made a template in Photoshop and printed several onto plain paper. Then, taped over the bottle, placing my template over, to make a stencil. It worked, looking like this:

Using the paint pen left over from these mugs, I filled in the exposed area and removed the tape. Unfortunately, the ink didn’t blend well, so I nixed the filled in look. I had hoped for something similar to Target’s line.

So, I thought of another way to make a pretty design. Dots were the answer. So, I carefully drew an S on one pump and a C on the other.

They letters are far from perfect, but our guests now know what they’re using.

Of course, if you want to do this at home, you could easily print off a letter to use as a template. I used the Engravers MT font. And, the ceramic fared just fine in the oven. Just remove the pump part.

Don’t the new pumps look nice in the shower?

I’m considering making one for my face scrub. But, these could look and work great for lotion in a bathroom, in the kitchen, you know, where ever a pump is necessary. Or, mark salt and pepper shakers. Pretty designs would look excellent and add a custom touch.

Want to make a set of your own? Do you have a favorite bath set? Have you used the porcelain pens? If so, what did you make? Do you use any Friends phrases? My friend and I recently moved a piece of furniture and I yelled, “Pivvvvvvaaaaaat! Pivvvvvaaaaaaat!” We both started cracking up.

P.S. We added a new tab including quick links to projects. We’ll add this project soon, but check out the page for inspiration and projects to do this weekend.

It’s a Wash

Published on August 18, 2011November 2, 2012 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

We mentioned a tiny change we recently made to the kitchen. It definitely isn’t a drastic change, but certainly was necessary. Until last weekend, our kitchen faucet was sad. And ugly.

And old. And creaky.

And leaky.

Ben and I discussed what style we wanted and needed.

A single hole instillation was a must.
Pull down style is preferred from pull out. Wondering what the difference is? Our old faucet is a pull out, but a pull down faucet has an arched neck, so the sprayer pulls down.
Brushed nickel or brushed stainless finish. No polished chrome.
The sleeker the design, the better.
Made by Kohler, Moen or Delta.
The cheaper the better, without sacrificing quality.

A quick trip to Home Depot yielded great results. We decided on the Kohler Simplice for $218.

We brought the faucet home, unpacked it, and held it in place to make sure the granite window sill didn’t stick out too far for the faucet to fit in. A sigh of relief, the faucet just barely fit. So, we cleared out the cabinet and Ben started installing.

Less than 30 minutes later, including a trip to the hardware store for longer screws, we had a shiny new faucet. Oooh.

It has a sleek pull down sprayer, complete with a stop button. Ahhh.

Sadly, it isn’t in the remodeled kitchen, but it is prettier and doesn’t leak! Of course, we’ll use the new faucet after the remodel, too.

Do you have a long list of requirements when looking for a new faucet? What style do you dream of? An industrial sprayer? Have a color preference?

Plunge into the Lagoon

Published on August 16, 2011August 16, 2011 by Our Humble Abode59 Comments

Well, I did it. I painted the bathroom mirror. Before, the mirror had a finish straight from the 90’s. It didn’t look too bad from afar.

But get up close and you’ll pick up what I’m laying down.

On Thursday, I didn’t know which color I’d choose. After ~~much careful consideration~~ deciding to take the bull by the horns, I chose the boldest option, Lagoon. If I hated the color, I could easily paint the frame a safer color, like ORB (oil rubbed bronze) or white. I picked up another can of Rustoleum’s Lagoon blue (a super pretty greenish blue) Ultra Coverage spray paint and got started. First, I taped off the mirror, being careful to cover every part.

Two light coats of the satin finish paint later, I had a bold mirror. And guess what? I loved it. After allowing several hours of air drying time, I brought the mirror downstairs and hung it up. I peeled off the kraft paper, but left the taped edges, just incase Ben hated it. I don’t know how he could, just look at the drama the color adds.

By the way, the color in this photo seems off. In person, it looks extremely similar to the Ikea bottle on the left. This is the most accurate picture I could get of the color.

Pretty, right?! Luckily, Ben saw it and said he didn’t care whether it was blue or the original finish. Right after his half-hearted approval, I tore the tape off to make the mirror officially done.

Now, when you enter the bathroom, you’re greeted by this. Hello, lovely.

And, the bold color still works well with the muted sea green paint color in the adjoining theater room.

I think we’ll keep on trucking in the peacock-blue direction. So much so that I’m looking at everything to see where I’ll add another unexpected pop of color. Next stop, art. And finally putting an outlet cover on that outlet.

Do the new changes float your boat? Like the bold color enough to try it in your own home? Where do you have unexpected pops of color?

The Change Up

Published on August 15, 2011August 15, 2011 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Despite finishing the basement nearly a year and a half ago, most of the rooms are filled with left over and unwanted furniture from the main level. We don’t have a definite plan for decorating and we’re on a tight budget because we’re saving up money for our kitchen remodel. Don’t get excited, we’ve made very little progress on that front, but we do have a mini change we’ll share later this week.

With guests coming tonight, I thought it was time to fix up the basement bedrooms. The smaller of the two wasn’t so bad.

You know, if you think an industrial sewing machine isn’t so bad. Or lack of closet doors. The other bedroom wasn’t as great.

It’s a warehouse for chairs, exercise equipment, and flooring.

Fortunately for our guests, we’ve made some changes, but I have teased you long enough. It all started when I got a bug up my butt to sell the massively dark queen bed from the larger bedroom. Craig and his infamous list to the rescue. I listed the bed for $500 or best offer, including a mattress. A few days and phone calls later, a couple stopped by to look at the bed. They said they’d take it, so Ben hauled the bed to their house the next day. Finally, I could put my plan into action.

You see, I have always disliked the king mattress being in the smaller room while the queen bed was in the larger room. Why didn’t we just put the queen bed in the smaller room? Because the bed with headboard was too long to fit in the small room while leaving room to walk around the bed with the sewing machine. Yes, I did just say sewing machine.

So, on Wednesday while Everett was napping, Vincent and I set to work to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. First, I hauled the king mattress into the large bedroom and the queen box spring and mattress in the small bedroom.

We still have to get a bed frame and make a head board, but the size of the bed is much better for this room. It allows for a larger side table. I bought this table for only 25 bucks from Home Goods on our recent Minnesota trip.

It’s super lightweight, but the design is versatile. The faux crocodile top adds interest, too.

With the king bed in the large bedroom, the mattress sat right next to the La Z Boy, so I had to think of an alternative layout. Knowing we can’t get rid of furniture just yet, I worked with what I had.

I moved the chair over to allow for the bed to be centered on the back wall with a nightstand on either side. Makeshift art that I hung above the bed and two small ottomans at the foot, just to give them a place. We still have a pile of hardwood flooring stacked along the wall, but it’s the only place we can store it, so it stays.

The rocking chair now sits closer to the door, taking the place of the dresser. To make the chair placement seem more intentional, I created a little reading nook, complete with a small side table and floor lamp.

Now, you see this from the doorway.

To the right of the entrance, we have a bookshelf Ben built, which originally lived in Vincent’s bedroom. You know, before Everett was born and we needed to make space for the crib. Really, we don’t need this bookshelf any longer, so it may find a new home via Craigslist. Until then, I wanted to make it seem useful.

Ben’s weights had to stay, but by adding a blanket and towels, it can serve as guest storage. A few random books, candles, vases, a mirror, and art add a little more visual interest, but still a far cry from finished or pretty.

While we’re on the subject of guest storage, where did the dresser go?

In the smaller bedroom, across from the bed. Still, not perfect, but our guests now have a place to unpack and set junk. Hopefully, some day, we’ll find a better place to house the manly sewing machine. Overall, I think the rooms look better, and, we gained $400 by selling the too huge bed frame. So, that’s how we updated the basement bedrooms without spending a cent. Of course, we plan to add art, furniture we actually like, and accessories to make the rooms feel more complete.

What do you think of the changes? Any free suggestions for improvements? What changes have you made without spending any money?