2011: Blast from the Past

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2011 is nearly over, so we’ve put together a year in review post filled with favorite posts and highlights from the year.  First, here are the favorite posts of 2011, in order of views.

1.  Paint Stick Sunburst Mirror:

2.  Coffee Filter Pendant:

3.  Painted Chevron Rug:

4.  Thread House Numbers:

5.  Painted Ceramic Mugs:

6.  Bird, Tree and Feather Gallery Wall:

7.  His and Hers State Art:

8.  Herringbone Pillow:

9.  A Finished Office:

10.  Wood Kitchen Counters:

11.  Paper Bird Mobile:

12.  Wood Moooi Pendant:

And now, month by month highlights of 2011.

January: A cheap and easy perpetual calendar.

February: We started (but still haven’t finished) our laundry room:

March: An interactive map art for the boys’ bedroom:

April: Revamped a thrift store lamp:

May: We celebrated one full year of blogging and shared our kitchen plans.  Surprisingly, not much has changed.

June: Refinished an outdoor bench:

July: Went shopping and helped my blog bff Jen with a curtain project:

August: Made plaster casts of our boys’ feet as part of our gallery wall:

September: Ordered our custom-made sink which spurred the whole kitchen remodel:

October: Officially started our kitchen remodel.  By the end of the month, we had ripped everything out and installed cabinets:

November:  Tackled much of the kitchen, getting our upper cabinets in place:

December: Met up again with Jen, but we invited you, too:

Thanks so much for sharing 2011 with us.  We’ve had so much fun and we’re hoping for great things in 2012.  We’ll see you next year!

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Donkey and Lemon

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It’s hard to believe this is the last Friday of 2011, and one of the last days of the year.  How has the year gone by so quickly?!?  We’re wrapping up 2011 by announcing the winners of our 24th giveaway.  Here they are, as chosen by Random.org:

Number 30, Linda, number 55, Britny W, and number 26, Jen N.  Congratulations, ladies!

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Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year.  What are your plans? Going to a party?  Hosting a party?  Hanging at home?  Going to bed before midnight?

P.S.  We’ll be back this afternoon with a year end wrap up.

Stools, and Not the Gross Kind

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Well, we ordered three stools for the bar.  What did we get?  The Twist stools from World Market.  We took advantage of a Cyber Monday 20% off everything sale plus a free shipping code from EBates.  This was the first time I’d used EBates, but if I get another 8% back, that puts another 20 bucks in my pocket, making our stools 28% off plus free shipping.  So we spent $80.95  per stool which originally cost $109.99 each.

That’s better than the 25% off or free shipping we considered before Thanksgiving.

Fortunately, the stools are fantastic.  Super sturdy, heavy-duty, good-looking, and adjustable.  Three tuck nicely under the bar top without taking up space in the living room.  A few readers warned us about backless or swivel stools with little kids, but so far they’ve been great.  We haven’t let Everett sit on the stools, but Vincent has been totally fine.  And, the swivel feature amuses them.  Both boys turn the seats like they’re driving.

As you can see, we still have finish work to do on this side, like adding trim to the cabinets, filling nail and screw holes, and painting, but the space is usable and that’s what really matters.

What I like best are the heavy wood tops.  Nothing cheesy or fake here.  The color to the seats coördinates beautifully with the wooden counter top.  Bonus!

Now if Ben and I could agree on a color to paint the cabinets.  I want white to match the entertainment center because they’re technically in the same room.   Ben thinks we should paint the cabinets the same gray as the kitchen lowers because they’re back to back.

What do you think?  Do you have bar stools in your home?  What style do you have?

Green Equals Green: Insulation

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Before leaving for our Minnesota vacation we finished a somewhat kitchen related project.  I say somewhat because we finished everything in the kitchen which required attic access.  Support framing for the wall we tore down: done.  Wiring for new lights: done.

Ben is all about energy efficiency.  Since buying our house, we’ve installed new energy-efficient windows and doors, added two inches of foam insulation around the exterior of our house, yanked out our old furnace to upgrade to a geothermal heating and cooling system, and replaced our tank water heater for a point of use water heater.  For years now, Ben has wanted to better insulate the attic but held off until we finished everything in the kitchen.  So, the time had come.

We chose cellulose insulation because it is easy to use, cheap, and eco-friendly.  Cellulose is a fancy word for shredded recycled paper treated with fire-retardant chemicals.   Of course adding any insulation will help reduce heating and cooling bills, saving you money.  But did you know that cellulose is one of the greenest building products?  Here are a few facts I learned during our research:

  • Cellulose takes less energy to make than any other insulation.
  • Has the highest recycled content; up to 85%, reducing paper in landfills.
  • Is regionally produced, limiting trucking and shipping emissions.
  • Homes insulated with cellulose require 26% less energy.
And, as an added bonus, cellulose can slow a fire from spreading by 22 to 55 percent.  Here’s a video demonstrating the fire ratings between houses insulated with fiberglass, cellulose, and without insulation.  Skip about three minutes to see the experiment.
If you’re planning on adding insulation to your home, check out this insulation table to compare different types, R values, and how green each is.

I know, I know.  I sound like I work for a cellulose producer, but I swear we’re not being paid to say this.  In fact, we’ve paid $678 to insulate our entire attic.  When Ben came home with twenty-two 25 pound bags of insulation, I naïvely thought that would be enough.  Turns out, he had to buy 52 more eighteen pound bags to cover the attic with 15 to 18  inches.  It seems strange, but we added 1,486 pounds of insulation to our house.  That’s just paper!  Ben figures we already had an R value (resistance to heat flow) of 20 before insulating.  He added enough insulation to get an R value of 60, including the existing insulation.  Wondering how much you’d need for your home?  Here’s a handy calculator to help you out.

Now that we’ve covered the benefits, let’s discuss the process.  Home Depot offers a free hopper rental if you buy 10 or more bags of insulation.  Two people are required for this job.  One to pour the bags into the hopper and another in the attic spraying it in, moving everything around.  Obviously we tackled this project during the winter.  I think the timing was less than ideal because the hopper is outside with a hose attached to the hopper, keeping the door cracked letting in a lot of cold air.  Our upper level was freezing during the six or so hours it took to get the insulation done.  Luckily, we have a basement and a fire place, so the boys and I hung out down there watching movies.  And that’s why I don’t have any pictures of this.  I’m not about to go in the attic either.  But I would suggest trying this in the spring or fall.

Have you added insulation to your house?  Did you know cellulose had such a great fire rating?  Did I completely bore you with a word filled, picture-less post about shredded paper?

Sharing the Goods

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We took the day off yesterday to recover from Christmas.  And we were stuck in a car for 12+ hours without internet access.  Hope you all had a happy holiday filled with family, friends, food, and fun!

Today, we’re sharing some goods.  Both the ‘Will and Home goods.  Get it?  Both stores have ‘Good’ titles.  Ha, so punny this morning.  Anyway, last Tuesday, my buddy Jen and I invited readers to meet us at the Roseville Goodwill during our Minnesota vacation.  Several sweet gals showed up to share a night of shopping with us.

We had a blast chatting and everyone bought something.  So, I thought I’d share my Goodwill finds with you.  First, I spied these melamine plates, originally from Target, for one buck each.  Immediately, I snagged six to use for the boys.

Does anyone else feel that most kid items are ugly?  We have plastic plates and bowls already, but we’ll have glass doors, so I want something that looks pretty when displayed in our new kitchen.

Right across the aisle, I spotted small pink juice glasses for only 49 cents each.  I debated getting these because I saw only seven glasses.  Then I noticed the eighth glass on a lower shelf and popped them in my cart.

Thrift stores are a great place to find dishes.  Always a variety in fun colors.

When Jen offered up a Goodwill challenge, I had to find something to make over, so I found a thick hard cover book, but it didn’t have a price tag.

Turns out, that worked well for me because I got the book for only 15 cents!  I have plans for the book, I just hope it works!

Because we had so much fun at Goodwill, we invited everyone to cross the street to stop at HomeGoods with us.  After wandering around the store, I found myself in the bath section where I scored something for the kitchen.  Remember when I looked for different knobs for the upper cabinets?  Hobby Lobby had tons of decorative options, but nothing both Ben and I loved.  I found bubbly pink knobs, but wanted a different color.  Sadly, this style was available only in pink.

Even though HoLo had 50% off hardware, the pink knobs would cost $4.50 each.  Which is why I was thrilled to find a set of four clear bubble knobs for $9.99.

We’ll have six upper cabinet doors, so I bought two packs and we’ll have two extra knobs if one breaks.  Or I can use the knobs on night stands or something.

And, unlike the teal knobs I liked, these have satin nickel bases to match our drawer hardware.

I love the subtle look of the bubbles and the difference between the lower and upper sets.

But that’s not all that HomeGoods had to offer.  We’ve been spending many of our nights curled up on the couch in the theater room and every night we clean up before going upstairs to go to bed.  The nightly process includes cleaning up the toys the boys played with, changing diapers, corralling any dishes, folding up blankets to put away in the entertainment center, and usually carting a sleeping child or two upstairs.  Some things won’t change, but I thought a simple wire basket could drop blanket folding.

For a 10 basket, it’s quite handy.  Two favorite blankets tuck inside nicely and are accessible.

We got a few home related Christmas gifts, too.  Jen gave me a beautiful West Elm tree ring pillow cover.

My sister Ashley also gave me a few pillows.  One with a silky scalloped design and two with a velvet floral pattern.

More teal in the theater room wakes up the windowless space.

 

As a Christmas gift to myself, I have finally entered the tech savvy world.  That’s right, I got an iPhone.  I’m so excited I’ll be able to upload photos easily, even when I’m not at home!