That’s a Little Shelf-ish

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Over the weekend, Ben acquired a five (more like 6) gallon bucket filled with brass for reloading.

After he sorted it, lovingly stroked it, and oogled it, he had to find a place to put said brass.  Which was a problem.  Yes, we’ve added cabinets and shelving, but he had already filled two cabinets with other ammo and brass.  Notice the ammo cans behind the buckets in the photo above?  And we certainly don’t what to put an 80 pound bucket on an upper shelf, even if the bucket weren’t too tall to fit.  Hearing something crash down is never a fun event.

Luckily, we have some unused space behind that curtain.

Now you see why we hid that behind a curtain, and this was after cleaning all the junk out.  The plumbing along the floor is from the geothermal to our well, the water heater hangs on the wall, and the wire poking out of the sheet rock is not hot, but is for the future steam generator for the basement bathroom.

We decided we could build a shelving unit to store Ben’s ugly reloading equipment and our left over paint.

First, the boys measured the space to see what the largest size could be.

A few 2 by 4’s and scrap plywood worked nicely.

Sorry, I don’t have any in progress shots because it went pretty quickly while I was tending to the kiddos.  Basically though, Ben used long screws to secure 2 by 4s to the wall and resting on the floor.  Then, he screwed a vertical support and plywood.  It’s not the prettiest shelf, but it works and is hidden.

Previously, our left over paint cans were hidden away in the unfinished steam shower, aka under the stairs, blocked by a pile of tile.

The good news?  We now have the one gallon formula for the tan paint in our living room: 101-24  107-2Y24  109-12  + B12  That is in the Olympic brand.  And, we’ve decided on a laundry room color scheme.

The bad news?  We still have plenty of work to do before we can start painting and decorating the laundry room.  Like add trim around the door and floors.

And install decorative faces and cover the wires on the upper shelves.

Though, a few weekends ago, I did wet sand the drywall to prepare for primer.

Then, I still have to convince Ben of my back splash solution.  Apparently he doesn’t want anything pretty in his office.  Does he know who he’s married to?  Why wouldn’t I want the laundry room to look pretty?

Even though this room is far from done, it is usable.

Do you have to find creative ways to store your (or your hubby’s) junk?  Where do you keep your left over paint?  I’ve thought about keeping a small jar of each color for touch up and pitching the rest.  I mean really, if I’m going to get off my lazy butt repaint an entire room, why on earth would I ever use the same color again?

Our Humble Sponsors: September

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Am I the only one having trouble remembering it is September?  I started typing August.  Seriously, this year has flown by.  We wanted to stop in to say thanks to our fantastic sponsors, IHeart Organizing and Samantha Kay Jewelry.

As you already know, Jen is my blog BFF.  Jen and her hubby have created a beautiful home and we’re lucky enough to read about it on a daily basis.  I’m loving their basement remodel, including Jen’s new studio space and a new dressing room, complete with a beautifully stenciled wall.

Talk about love.  Now I’m kinda regretting having white trim in every room.  I’d love to have a wall paper-esque, interesting patterned space.

Samantha Kay Jewelry is a new Etsy shop, but chock full of beautiful accessories.  The Mary Kay Cadillac Necklace is beautiful and simple.

The Lil Jon Necklace is interesting and unique.

How about this Cinderella Necklace?  So pretty.

I really love Samantha’s interesting jewelry designs and creative names.

Two amazing sponsors, two great Etsy shops, and one blogger keep this humble blog running.  Thank you so much for your support and sharing your creative gifts with the world.

Gimme a Giveaway: January Jones Winner

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Another Friday and two more winners!  First, let’s discuss annual vacations.  We’re jealous of many of you because you get to take warm weather vacations.  We go to Minnesota several times a year to visit my family.  Not very exciting, warm or exotic.

Anywho, the winners of the January Jones Road Trip prints are…

number 10, Alex and number 23, Katie R.  Congratulations!

Kitchen Drawings and Ideas

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We’ve been seriously discussing our impending kitchen remodel.  Neither Ben or I have ever planned a kitchen remodel, so we have tons of ideas.  Because we don’t talk much about the ugly kitchen, let me refresh your memory on the state of things.  First, we started out with an L shaped sink/dish washing/refrigerator/food prep area.

Here’s our first round of ideas from about a year ago, obviously a rough sketch.

Basically, we thought we’d keep the same cabinet layout with a few slight changes.  We’ve always planned to pull out the soffit to add more cabinet space to our small kitchen.  The biggest change we had planned was extending the corner cabinet from the ceiling down to the counter.  Then, we removed the bank of cabinets over the peninsula.

We really loved how much more light and open the kitchen felt, so now we’re nixing that set of upper cabinets.  The stove side of the kitchen backs up to the living room, but feels very closed off.  And if the vent hood is on, forget about being part of a conversation.

To open up the kitchen even more, we plan to knock down part of the wall behind the stove.  It is load bearing, so we have to keep a support pillar on either side and a beam across the top.  Essentially, we’ll have the kitchen entrance doorway, a large, wide ‘doorway’ over the kitchen cabinets, and then the dining room doorway.  When we tear down the wall, we’re also getting rid of the awkward soffit on this side, kind of like this:

Of course, since this drawing, we’ve discussed more changes that we’re happier with.  As far as the design elements go, we’ve never really wavered on those choices.  We’re still gung-ho on the apron sink, subway tile marble back splash, and hardwood floors.  It’s the layout and functionality that we keep changing and evolving, which we’ll share when we have another drawing to explain the madness.  For now, you can read my chicken scratch ideas detailing each element.

I’m glad we didn’t renovate the kitchen a few years ago, because I’m sure we would be just as annoyed as we are with our current kitchen.  Have you put a project on hold?  Are you happy you waited until you perfected the plan?

Pinspiration: Fall

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Yesterday, we shared a few projects we’ve done to gear up for fall, but we’re not done yet.  We decided to tap into our Pinterest account to find more inspiration, or as I like to call it, “pinspiration.”  Leaf Leave it to Martha to have several cute, nature related ideas, like this acorn cap mirror.

It’s a shame we don’t have many oak trees here in Montana.  However, we do have leaves to create a hanging leaves mobile.

I think this same process could be used to make a light shade.  Use a wire wreath form to tie the leaves around and hang over an existing light.

Gather real or fake leaves to make a leaf covered monogram to hang on your front door.

If you have a few bottles of craft paint left over from past projects, ask your kids to help you make painted leaf art.

Gather sticks, twigs and branches to cover a plain table for a statement piece.

Use washing soda to make leaf skeletons.

What is your most recent fall inspired pin?  Willing to give one of these projects a try?  Maybe you already have?