Den

laundry is not a high priority for me.  i literally think that if it was up to me i'd just have this continuous pile of clean laundry that i'd spread out all over the floor, and i f you wanted clean clothes you could come and sift through and find what you want and put your wrinkled clothes on.  i can keep up with washing and drying and dumping in a pile, but folding and hanging? that part stinks.  hmmmm, maybe i should have a "closet" room where i dump all our clothes.  that'd be worth sacrificing a room in the house for.  can i get an amen?

here's a little spin around the den.  which has also been tried as a dining room.

let's remember it's move in condition:



it just screamed potential.



and now:



i explained the ikea bookshelves here.



i moved all of these pics in from the entry way.  i'm gonna do a big black and white there at the bottom left.  i just need to take a really fabulous picture this fall, as is tradition.  the room's also in need of a rug and i think it'll feel finished to me.  i can't decide between sisal/natural or a pattern.  luckily, i don't have to decide right now because i there will be no rug buying any time soon ;)



coziest room in the house bar none.



light is from home depot.



ok, i lied. the room will not be done with a picture and a rug.  the space around the tv needs some help too.... at the very least a cord cover.



view from the front door.  that silver sideboard is there temporarily.  and those decorations aren't even there any more.



view to the front doors.

Kitchen Now

well, a day late, but here we go.  let's start with our latest house walk through in the kitchen shall we?  i've said it before, but the goal is to gut the kitchen and start over.  i'm thinking i have about a decade to decide what i want to do in here before i get the opportunity ;)  the last time we saw the kitchen it looked like this.  when we first bought the house, the kitchen looked like this:



the 70's called..... they want their kitchen back.



seriously.
but so much potential here.



please note the carpet in the kitchen that was covering hardwoods and the light fixture that had burnt out lightbulbs 90% of the time.  it's like it ate them.



one of the little things that we recently did was replace the gross, black, drippy faucet.



a little handy man and handy child work...



aaaannndddd....



look at that!



ahhh... little changes make big statements.  the can light over it needed help too.  it was just old.  things get old



i've been wanting to try one of these $20 kits from lowes.  "as easy as changing out a lightbulb" it says.  transforms can lights to pendants.... ooohhhh.





not bad!



i just picked the glass globe to match this track light.  not my #1 choice, but the ceilings are low and this light is really bright in a dark room.



we put up this simple ikea pot rack and shelf to fill in the missing cabinet and cover the messed up tile a bit.



the drawers and cabinets all got some updated hardware as well.



smashing



from the dining room



from the den.
barstools from overstock.

Dresser Re-Do

it may seem like old hat to some of you, but it's shocking how many questions i still get asked about the how to's of furniture re-doing.  in light of that, i've had big plans for some time now to do a more detailed furniture making over post.  better description, exact steps.  i thought i was doing that with this dresser, but when i went to sort out the pictures, i realized i hadn't taken nearly enough.  i started this project back in the fall.  the big hold up has been waiting for the hardware to be put on. i bought it ages ago, but needed to find special screws and drill new holes and basically more work than there's been time for.   i purchased this dresser for nothing at a local used furniture place. i love the shape and was excited to transform it.  unfortunately, the only "before" picture i have is this one below.  and no, i'm not at all upset about an excuse to get a new piece of furniture to actually do a step-by-step with :)

edit: i just found a "before" picture from another post!





i prepped the garage by push pinning tarps to the wall and spreading some out on the floor.



i removed all of the old hardware.



there were these little divots left from the pulls.



so i sanded the spots down until they weren't grooved anymore. 



then wiped off all the dust.



i never sand entire pieces down anymore.  i just quickly cover the entire thing with this primer and a brush.  quickly.  like, slap on a thin uneven coat.  the idea is to have a bit on every surface so the paint sticks.



this is my favorite spray paint.  they carry it at home depot.  people often ask why i spray paint.  well, there may be limited color choice, but it's cheap and by spraying something you get a super even coat.  plus it's really quick.  i can spray on a thin coat, run back inside and keep cooking or playing or whatever then pop back out for more thin coats all day long until it's done.  easy.  fast.  obvious?



so here's the finished product! the pulls are all discontinued from hobby lobby.  i bought out what they had on clearance which is why they don't match, but it's charming, right?  i've since taken that picture behind the tv down.  i've asked jon to wall mount the tv for us again (we have the mount, just not the time ;) and i may mix some art work in around it.  any other ideas?? it's hard to know what to do around a big ole tv in the middle of the wall.  and the dvd and cable boxes don't fit in the chest.  ideas?  hope this was helpful!

Robin's Egg Blue

the highchair's robin's egg blue!
i did a coat of primer and two coats of gold paint before i realized it just wasn't happening. so robin's egg blue it is! it is my favorite color of all time after all.

pretty shnazzy compared to the before.



the chair was in such rough condition, i actually had to sand out the doggie chew marks and crusted on food before priming and painting it. well worth the elbow grease and 15 bucks!

*******edited*******
painted with:
rustoleum painter's touch spray paint in aqua satin finish from home depot

Lately

thank you so much to all of you who left me a message on the last post!!! so encouraging!!! you like me, you really like me! and if you haven't left one yet, shame on you there's still time!
while ya'll were so kindly leaving me a message....i was working on a new little project:



i scored this wooden highchair for $15! i should have it finished up by the end of the week so we can park in the garage again ; )

many of you may be thinking to your self, "self, what on earth do meaghan's kids do while she's working on all of those projects?" well, wonder no more! they hang outside with me! riding bikes (with the car parked at the end of the driveway for safety of course)...



sitting in the stroller...



...and just hanging as brothers!



finn's sawing logs inside.

Little Table

have i been project lady lately or what? here's the latest...i painted the kids' little table with tintable chalkboard paint! it comes in about a dozen tint options, but i chose chocolate brown.



what once was white and boring is now chocolate brown and interactive! nothing is off limits for the chalk.



jack's interpretation of a race car.

and when they're all done...just wipe clean with a damp sponge! so much better than plain ole white.

Redo's

so here she is...the silver sideboard!



i have to admit, i painted it a week ago, but it doesn't have the hardware that i want on it yet so i wasn't going to show you ; ) jon said i couldn't leave everyone hanging though so, there you go. it will one day have beautiful glass drawer pulls and knobs. someday...i'll show you how cool that is. for now though, i sprayed the original handles black.



in order to avoid sanding (and a million cans of spray paint) i primed for the first time in my life. it wasn't that bad, and i only had to use 3 cans of paint. my back up plan if the spray paint didn't work was going to be silver leaf. thank goodness the paint worked out!



in another corner of the room...here's the current state of the desk. i got the $120 topiary after christmas for $20!!!

the random decorator things on the top were 90% off. i would seriously never pay 35 dollars for those things!

jon really does use the desk. it's prayer letter time!