Updated Office on a Budget

     It was a typical Monday evening when I convinced the hubs to rip out the carpet in our main floor office. We had planned on chucking that hideous carpet since the day we decided on the house. I'm not sure exactly why we kept it for as long as we did. I guess we wanted to torture our eyeballs for a little longer.

Ew

     We tore that horrible mess up and kicked it to the curb, literally. That night, I jumped (on the newish looking hardwood) for joy. Actually, it created a spiral of weeklong renovations and upgrades that eventually made for a pretty exhausting weekend "off".

     After ripping out the hideous wallpaper, slapping a coat of paint on the walls and rearranging some furniture we're left with a mostly finished product that we love.

C loves it too!

I big time approve of the organized closet, which was beginning to make my right eye twitch.

Office To Do List:

Rip out hideous carpet

Tear down disgusting wallpaper

Prime & paint

Hang pictures

Tear out shelf in closet

Clean up & paint window sill

Print calendar

Thrift a home for printer

Buy desk lamps

Buy reading wall lamp & install

Install floating shelves & wood letters

Spray paint chalkboard paint accents

Okay, so there's still lots to do.  

I don't think we'll ever be able to look around and say 'we're done'.

Thank god (or whoever created it) for wine.

Thrifted Kitchen Shelves

Holy crap balls, thrifting is fun!  

Okay so I'm old, but at least I'm saving money.  

One trip to my local Value Village and a quick stop at Dollarama later and Voila!  This kitchen works a lotta bit better for me.  For now... until we can do a complete overhaul, once operation income suite is complete...in oh, what could be another decade.  (Touchy subject.. it's been a lot more work than we expected...)  

Anywho... here's what I found on my scavenger hunt.

$4.99 for a set of 4 of the exact cups and saucers I wanted...pretty sweet start.

All 5 frames were .99 cents, the two trays were $1.50 each, and the wicker basket was .89 cents

.

...painted those suckers white.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with the frames yet because they're a wee bit tiny for a kitchen.  I might track down some funky scrapbook paper to fill them with and hang them diagonally in the stairrrwelllll.

If you read my post on Kitchen Karma, you know what my kitchen looked like before.  Everything on the shelves was super random, complete with a large, out of place plant.

Here it is now... I'm kind of in love.

Things I'm still on the hunt for...

Barnwood to replace that hideous clock

Window treatments

Track light fixture

Distressed wood bread box

 Wood bowl that will hold fake limes (to replace those not-so-matchy glasses on the top shelf)

In total I spent a whopping $21.54

Boom!

xo,  Kiara

Chalkboard Cupboards

Let me just start by saying....

One:

Two:

How are there so freakin' many awesome ideas out there?!

&

Three:

I'm a little obsessed with chalkboard paint.

Remember C's Chalkboard Cupboard?

someone put this kid to bed... mom fail.

... introducing the newest member of our chalkboard family...

Kitchen Chalkboard Cupboard

We gave this bad boy 2 good coats of chalkboard spray paint to make it nice and even

     This cupboard used to be a big waste of space.  It once, very awkwardly, housed our broom and dust pan.  That got old fast, so we put in screw hooks and now it stores our pots and pans.  

     

     I have two very good reasons for the switch.  First, trying to struggle with pots, pans & lids that were piled on top of one another in a small cupboard, while C napped in her nursery above the kitchen, was a bitch and a half.  And two, I refuse to have a repeat of what happened in our old apartment... I never wanted to deal with the chaos of finding a matching lid to a pot... so we ordered pizza ALOT.  

  

     It really doesn't sound like that big of a deal...but TRUST ME... it caused much frustration.  I wasn't having it and I'm a much happier person this way.  

#firstworldproblems

So ... Ta da!

Organized Pots & Pans hells yes!

In love with this paint.  Awesome gun handle = clean fingers and no cramping

Then I did my thang

Not too sure about this list... it's a nice idea...but come on, let's be real.

Now ... What can I paint next??

xo, Kiara

End of Summer Salads

     I'm so sad that summer is coming to an end.  This has been the best summer of my life and we've had so many good times with our friends and family.  These are my two go-to summer salads. They're delicious, super easy, and perfect for summer afternoon BBQ's.

Broccoli Salad

 The Goods:

• 10 slices bacon
• 1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 cup mayonnaise (I use olive oil mayo)
• 1 cup sunflower seeds

How to Make It:

1. Bake bacon on a cookie sheet until crispy. (this is by far the best and only way to cook bacon)
2. In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, onion, cranberries, sunflower seeds and bacon.  In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

     Sometimes I make this one vegetarian if I make it as a side dish for us at home.  But come on, everything is better with bacon so I wouldn't dare deprive my friends.  This is the only way the hubs will eat broccoli and he LOVES it.

     It's especially good the second day, once the broccoli has time to soak up the dressing. YUM!

Oriental Salad

The Goods:

• 2 bags of coleslaw mix
• 6 green onions thinly sliced
• 1 cup salted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup slivered almonds (toasted)
• 2 packs of Oriental Mr. Noodles (noodles only, put the seasoning aside for the dressing)

Dressing:

• 1 cup vegetable oil (I use extra virgin olive oil because it's healthier, but it does have a stronger taste than vegetable oil)
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 packs of oriental seasoning from the Mr. Noodles.

Directions:

1. Combine coleslaw mix, crushed Mr. Noodles, onion, sunflower seeds, and toasted almonds ( I toast them in a frying pan on the stove with a little butter).
2. Mix dressing and pour over salad if you're serving it within 20 minutes, otherwise leave the dressing off until you're ready to much.

     I just made this salad yesterday.  My mother in law gave me this recipe when P and I were first dating...it's pretty much the best salad ever and it's always a hit.

xo Enjoy,   Kiara

A Little Change Goes a Long Way

I came across this picture the other day and thought to myself...

 

So of course, I had to get the hubby to wake up early, before he went to work (he loves me), to help me rearrange our room.

 Here is what we accomplished! (Apologies for the dark pics, but you get the point.)

After

Makeshift Vanity... Eventually I'll be refinishing this...and buying a real stool.

We're pretty happy with the results.  Now all that we have left to do is...

Paint Trim & Walls

Refinish ALL furniture (yikes big job) & mirror frame

Add some better art

Add some better framed pictures

Buy a small bench for in between the vanity and dresser  

... keep alive the floor plant that the hubs is bringing me home (I'm the furthest thing from a botanist)

     I'm trying to keep in mind that this is our temporary bedroom until we have Thing 2.  After which, we'll be moving to the main floor, into a bigger bedroom, and away from the crying. (he! kidding kinda)

     We aren't planning on splurging on anything new until operation income suite is complete, hence the second hand furniture from our old party apartment & horrible decor, so for now I'm just making it comfortable & functional.  The sheer fact that we even own a house is a blessing.

xo, Kiara

Income Suite Ideas

Paint Colour

Living Room

Taupe Fedora by Benjamin Moore

OR

Decatur Buff by Benjamin Moore

Bedroom

Rockport Gray by Benjamin Moore

OR

Woodlawn Blue or Sea Glass by Benjamin Moore

Bathroom

Dune Grass by Benjamin Moore

Flooring Ideas

We've already decided that we're going to put carpet in the bedroom and living room.  Since it is a basement, it will be level and nice and warm.

Love this! It may be a little dark for a basement but the texture is bang on.

 For the kitchen and dining room I would LOVE to put in cork floors because they're green and beautiful, BUT...and that's a big but...they are pretty costly.  We will probably just go with a nice laminate.

PLEASE PLEASE can we get cork?!

...It will most likely be something like this...

The bathroom will either be ceramic tile or we might even flow the laminate from the dining room right in there.


xo, Kiara

Operation Income Suite

     Who starts a major renovation 4 weeks before adding a baby to the mix? We do!  Throw in a few unexpected electrical and plumbing problems, and lots of new drywall, and we're finally seeing some progress.  Our goal is to have a completely separate, one bedroom basement apartment that we can rent out to my Dad, so that we can pay our mortgage off super fast.  I already have a million design ideas for this awesome space!  So many that I can't keep them all straight in my head ... hence this renovation post!

We're planning our attack in two halves because it's just way overwhelming to think about everything all at once... well for me anyway.  The first half includes the bedroom, living room and bathroom, and the second half is the kitchen and dining room.

Awesome wood paneling & flooring

Soon to be living room

Bedroom entrance from living room

He re-wired the electrical completely and installed new outlets and switches to meet current codes since the existing wiring was from 1960! :/

 With the first phase of electrical finished, we began to drywall/tape/mud the bedroom and living room. It's finally beginning to look like an sweet basement!

Bedroom

Before the drywall is complete, he'll be putting insulation in the ceiling to soundproof the floors as well as make it fire-resistant (just in case!!) ....mostly so that we can't hear my Dad and he can't hear us...because....weird!

Man size bathroom

I can't wait to remodel this bathroom.  I always want to make small bathrooms really girly and pretty but this time I get to go in the opposite direction and make it bold and masculine. We decided to keep the existing shower (complete with 80's tiles), but we are going to install a new toilet, sink/vanity, storage cabinets and  hardware. We're looking into replacing the floor tiles in the shower but might end up leaving them for now....

Dining room (kitchen at the back)

     We aren't 100% sure what we're doing with the kitchen yet but we know the sink will be under the back window.  Hey! ... at least it's a start.  We're thinking cabinets with medium stained wood, dark grey counter tops, a matching breakfast bar from the post to the wall(it will be where the deep freezer is in the picture to give you an idea) and laminate-hardwood flooring. For lighting we will be putting in low-profile fixtures in main areas, and pot-lights everywhere else.  It's pretty cool watching it all come together!

Once all the hard labour is done, I will be taking over with choosing paint colours and flooring...the fun stuff!




xo, Kiara

Project Second Floor

 

     
     In April we officially became homeowners.  With a baby on the way, we basically just had enough time and energy to move in and clean the place up a bit.  The house is about 60 years old and probably still has the same interiors that were built with it.  Now, with baby C being a little more self sufficient, I have some time to think about what I want to do to the place to make it feel like home.  We are currently completely remodeling and finishing the basement into an entirely separate one bedroom apartment.  And when I say "we", I mean the hubs... because I am about as handy as a small pot.  He's rebuilding the place from the cement up and I'm responsible for the design part once he's all done.  Fun!

     So for now I'm stuck planning my attack on our second floor.  Upstairs we have C's nursery, which is the only room we redid and it's completely finished, our so called office that we never use, a tiny, two piece bathroom, and our bedroom.  This is what I've come up with so far...

 

Everything needs to be painted.  For some reason, every wall and ceiling is this hideous turquoise colour complete with matching floral wallpaper on the light switches.

The one project I'm totally psyched for is refinishing an antique sofa table for this hallway.  It's going to be home to picture frames and a cool lantern or bird cage if I can hunt one down.

 

This powder room is the worst room in the house.  It is horrible in every single way.  Let's just tear it all down and make an ensuite?

 

Our bedroom is first on the list to get a paint job... I can't sleep with this colour on the walls for much longer. Yikes!!

 

 

Our closet is the best part of the upstairs... but what to do with those little cubbie hole cupboards?

I need to come up with something fun!

I'm so tempted to paint all of the trim in this room white, but it's the original hardwood and I can't bring myself to do it just yet.  Maybe I will once we purchase our bedroom set.    

 Seeing it all laid out like this it looks like I have an insane amount of work ahead of me.  And how do I start?... pinning ideas on Pinterest for an entire afternoon.  Funny how Pinterest can make you feel productive, even though you really haven't accomplished anything. :)

xo Kiara