Getting my design on!

I have to be organized. If I'm not i go crazy! (ask the hubby) So I wanted to organize my kitchen.
I moved a bookshelf into my kitchen to put all of my appliances into one spot and out of my laundry room. Next I had some extra fabric and velcro.





Then I cut the fabric to size and came up with this.

Then I wanted to jazz up my kitchen a bit. I basically used allot of stuff that I had on hand in my kitchen and from other projects.

I got these from Ikea awhile back and finally put them to use to hold my most used spices

This is what I had for a back splash well there was no back splash.

I had this wall decal laying around. So i decided that this would make a great back splash. Here is the final results..

I like everything, nice and neat. Plus I didn't have to spend a dime! Just the way I like!

2 Weeks in!

Today marks my 14th day as a non-smoker. It actually has not gone as bad as I thought it would be. The biggest thing that I have noticed now is how much time I have on my hands. You don't realize until you quit smoking how long it actually takes to smoke. I was a pack a day smoker so it took up quite a bit of time. Now that I have all of this time I'm trying to make the most of it. Ive been focusing on crafting and designing, also exercising. The other thing that i am learning to do it deal with my stress better. I'm learning that stress is going to be there whether I light up or not. Plus I want to be a role model for my kids! Do as I say not as I do doesn't work for a pre-teen.

I love running.. I love it not...

Photo courtesy of Runners World

I want to love running. I really really do, but every time I try to run I just don't feel it. I have been trying to do couch to 5k for over a year now and every time I cant get past the third day. Like on Monday when I dropped the older two off at school and decided it would be a great morning to go for a run with the baby, but alas Ihad to dodge military people and I just couldn't find my groove. My dream right now is to run a 5k and I'm really wanting to sign up for the Disney 5k in January but I'm scared that I'm not going to love running and quit. Its annoying! Well I'm going to try again on Friday and see if I can get into some sort of groove. Wish me luck!

Same name, New look, New direction!

Wow its been awhile since I have posted. But it was intentional. I have been thinking alot lately about this blog and the direction I would like to take it. I love design and how to make my house a home on a shoe string budget but I also have alot of other passions that encompass myself as a whole. So after allot of thinking I'm going to take this blog in a more lifestyle type direction. There will still be stuff about design but also cooking, crafting, health and wellness, all the things that encompass who I am. Each day will be something different from a recipe of the week to things and places that inspire me to my desire to run a 5k to my battle with the butts, with a little design and craft thrown into the mix! So I hope that you will join me on my roller coaster know as my life!

back from the brink of design and organizational hell...

Its been while.... The summer was a little nuts and the beginning of the school year even more so with 2 kids in school now. I have to admit that i got a little discouraged over the summer with the amount that I wanted to do and the small amount of space from which to work with, but I'M BACK!!! My brain all of a sudden started thinking about design and organization. My house is a mess... closets stuffed full to the brim with a bunch of stuff.. Even my bedroom is turning into a storage room. I am going to be taking a different approach this time around though as we are waiting for a 4 bedroom to open up here on base once our lease is up, which is about 5 to 6 months away. So I'm going to be doing alot of closet organizing and I'm going to be diving into building some of my own furniture.(will post a separate blog in the coming weeks on this one)but for now I'm in the process of finishing up our computer closet and doing a massive organization of the linen closet so stay tuned for those!

Your gonna do whaa.....

This next project is going to be a challenge. We have this coat closet in our hallway.



We though it was great until we opened the door to find our coat closet full of shelves.... So we use it as storage

but not much longer... This is going to be our computer station. Now I know what u might be thinking. How can you turn this 2x2 closet into a computer station? Well we already have the shelves now its purging time to see what can stay or what can go. I'm going to show you how to use a fabric treatment on the walls so it looks like wallpaper and also some handy storage ideas for little money!. I hope you turn in next Friday to see what I have done!!

Who wants to see a makeover!!

So its reveal time for the bathroom. I do have to say that I'm really impressed with myself! I think it came out awesome!!(if I do say so myself). More importantly it took me about 4 hours of work and I was well below budget. So lets see the before again to give you a reminder of what I was up against.


As you saw with my prior post the bathroom was plain and white, with the wonderful pink tile floors! I was going for a more soothing feeling in the bath reminiscent to the Cape Cod Style.


I know you probably cant tell what paint I used because I'm not the cleanest when It come to this sort of thing, but if you are looking for a No VOC paint then look no further Than The Freshaire Choice from Home Depot. There is no smell at all and they use a dye pack to color the paint. It can be a little pricey at around 45 Dollars a can but well worth the investment for the environment as well as the no smell feeling. Now I already had this paint left over from another project so I did not have to include it in my total cost for the makeover. This color is called tranquil pond.


First up was the taping and the painting. Which took me all of 2 hours from start to finish!



I found these knobs at Target. I was originally going to get some wooden knobs and then spray paint them a chrome color, but these where actually a little cheaper and I think look better.



And of course the best part is the accessorising! I had these green pots in my dinning room but little hands kept touching so i figured they would like there new home here better.


Remember how everything was being bounced off this color pallet. So are you ready!!



How great does this look! I cant wait for my kids to go to bed, put on some music have a glass of merlot and sit in the tub!

Now lets do a budget breakdown!

Paint,already had on hand $0.00

Accessories, already had on hand $0.00

Towels,Curtain and Rugs $0.00

Cabinet Knobs $9.99 at Target

Cup for bathroom 6.99 at Target

Valence 7.99 at the Air force Base Exchange

Total cost for this bathroom makeover $26.16!!

Isn't that fabulous!! It is also one of my key points to making this blog. As a military family we always have extra stuff on hand most of the time from all of our moving around. It doesn't take allot to make a room beautiful!

Well tune in Friday to see how to turn a coat closet into a computer station and my ideas on how to make the most of your Master bedroom!

Here bathroom...where are you???

My first makeover is going to be my lovely child sized bathroom! At our last duty station we had 2 full baths and we are now down to 1 bath with a family of 5!! So I'm trying to make it more functional or as functional as it can be for 4 females and 1 male.( I think the hubster is crying in the corner). I want a calming vibe in the bathroom. Now my whole house this time around is going to invoke comfy seaside living! I grew up in Massachusetts by the water and I love the Cape Cod type style. Blues, whites and greens with a little bright color for some added funk and pop! Okay okay I know you want to see some before pics so here we go!!!!

*** Check with your military housing office or property manager to see if its okay to paint!!!


This is our bathroom.. Notice all of the white and pink, yes I said pink floors. I actually don't mind the floors because they are original to the apartment which dates back to the 1950's.


Well folks this is all the cabinet space we have! I like the cabinet but I'm going to replace the knobs. Its just a little to white for my taste.


Obviously the bathtub. Its just your basic run of the mill type. It does have a little bit of storage if you have shampoo and conditioner that is itty bitty :)


Here is the other side of the bath/shower. We already replaced the shower head with a new rain shower type. I love this shower head and it was so easy to install! My biggest complaint with this shower is that I don't have a place to put a shower caddy for my toiletries so I'm going to have to get creative!


This is my absolute favorite part of my bathroom! Can you imagine candles or even a nice little green plant here!


Everything is going to be bounced off this color palette. Doesn't it invoke a nice soothing bath when all the kids are in bed?! I have had this shower curtain for about 4 years now and I love, love love it!

Well that's my bathroom and I'm sticking to it!(well not like I have a choice lol) So are you as excited as I am about how is going to look!!

Ryan

The lay of the land...I mean blog

I'm starting this blog for the purpose of giving ideas as to how to design and decorate your military home! As a military family (army here!) we are constantly in transition. We move around, usually every 3-5 years and we are constantly decorating and re-inventing our homes, which is kinda cool because you can see what works and what doesn't and what FITS and what doesn't. Whether we live in military housing or "out in town". We need fabulous, affordable and easily transferable design ideas to make our temporary quarters look livable and permanent. I'm a firm believer in the phrase "home is where the military sends you", So I hope you follow me on my journey as I try to find affordable and portable ideas to turn my new military house into a home!