Decking the Halls

Here's a little taste of my Christmas decorating so far. There will probably be more. I can't stop myself.

This year's color palette is red and white for downstairs and blue and silver for upstairs in the kids rooms. I made a lot of paper ornaments and wall art this year, and the tree skirt (followed the tutorial here). I still have plans to make a star garland.

Just pictures this time. Enjoy the Christmas eye candy.

These name/meaning prints came from Recklessly Inspired, which also does fabulous handmade jewelry. 

The Case of the Goodwill Dresser, Part One (with random shots of pie)

The Goodwill Store is definitely one of my happy places.

Homegirl shall be moving to her new room soon--as soon as we manage to get it painted and set up, which means that her dresser (which had been residing underneath our tv) will be moving with her.

This one. 'Member?

This was only meant to be a temporary fix anyway, and plus, it always bothered me how the scale was off and it was too small for the tv and we needed more storage. I had been searching for quite some time for an acceptable replacement. I'd settled on a combination of cupboards from Ikea...and was willing to wait till we could shell out the nearly $300 bucks for them.

Enter Goodwill. And the skinny dresser.

The scale was better--it was narrower and longer and it had tons of drawers. 

And it was...$11.

(Happy dance)

Before I even started the makeover, I already liked how it looked. It obviously had some rough spots, but the drawers were reinforced and in really good condition. In fact the whole thing was almost in perfect condition except for the top.

Bubbles

Even though I wasn't digging the shiny eighties wood veneer, something about it just felt right. There was a door there where the basket is, but we decided to leave it off. I'm planning to get a taller basket to fit in there and store some toys, although Homegirl thinks that she belongs in the storage area.

I was really, really, really tempted to paint it a pretty color. I see all these beautiful pieces on blogs that have been redone in pretty shades of turquoise or yellows or grays.  But...I already had my creamy white paint. It would match other pieces in the house. One of my biggest things about living in a small house is making everything flow. And also, I change my mind A LOT when it comes to decor, so I'm striving to keep the big things neutral and adding color in my accessories.

The original hardware was (of course) brassy gold.

Even if I dug the brassy gold color, they still needed some sprucing up. Rust-Oleum's Oil Rubbed bronze spray paint to the rescue.

This was also my first experiment with DIY chalk paint. I'd heard how well chalk paint covers and how you don't have to sand or prime before you paint. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate sanding and priming? I decided to give it a shot. My sister in law, Lydie, gave me her recipe for chalk paint. Basically, it's one part plaster of paris that's been mixed with a little water till peanut butter smooth, and then three parts paint. Mixed really well. REALLY well. If you don't mix the plaster of paris and water really well first, you'll get lumps that are really hard to stir out. Learn from my mistakes. If you make chalk paint, please please please stir really well.

"I say this on my knees, Jacob Marley."

Anyway, I slapped on the first coat while watching "The New Girl."

And then I ate some pie.

And then I painted some more. And some more. I ended up doing three coats of paint, which is what I would have done with primer + paint. Here are my thoughts on the chalk paint: I liked, no LOVED that I didn't have to sand and prime. I liked that it was low odor. I liked that it went on pretty thick and had pretty good coverage.

However, I did notice that I had some tiny chalk chunks in the finish when it was all dry. It wasn't really a big deal, I just sanded them down in a matter of minutes before I put on a top coat.

I had planned on putting on a layer of wax after painting to protect it and make it smooth, because chalk paint feels like primer when it's dry. But then I thought, duh, why not just put on a thin layer of the original paint? Voila. Smooth finish, plus a teeny bit of extra coverage.

I really like the hardware best. And now I can't wait to organize all those lovely drawers.

I have something really special planned for the top of this piece. Something I've never tried before. Hopefully it works and it's not one of those cases of "oooooh, I can do that" and then when I do it it's like "that was a stupid idea."

We shall see.

In the meantime, this one's asking for supper.

The Problem With Lazy Butts Like Me

I sincerely wish I had pretty pictures to show you today. It's just been so dark the last few days there's been little chance for good photography, and what I'm blogging about today isn't that pretty.

Lately, I've really been trying to work at maintaining this place. I am forever dealing with the curse of laziness and procrastination. I want my house to be neat, cleaned regularly, and guest ready all the time, but most of the time I want to read books and blogs more.

My entire life I've been the messy sort. Not so messy that I should be on hoarders, but not nearly as tidy and organized as I long to be. My room as a child was always a mess. On Saturdays, we had to clean our rooms before we could watch tv and though I loved Garfield and Friends with fervent passion, I often missed it because it took me forever to get things picked up. I faced two problems: an overwhelming mess and the lack of moral fortitude to attack it with gusto in a timely fashion.

My adult life hasn't always been much better. I wish I could blame messes on my kids, but the truth is, when we were newlyweds our apartment was frequently a disaster. My worst places are kitchens and bedrooms, maybe because dishes and laundry are constant jobs that procrastinators quickly get buried under.

However, children have a way of introducing widespread chaos on the neatness of a household. Toys, clothes, food, games, crayons, accessories, and let's not even mention poor bathroom aim. Couple that with a tiny house and procrastination, and you've got a problem on your hands.

I find that my success as a domestic goddess comes in waves. Sometimes, I'm totally winning at keeping things cleaned up, but sooner or later, something will come up that throws a hitch into my desire to clean all the things and before I know it I'm buried under clutter again. I'm not consistent. Sometimes it's big things like morning sickness or a new baby, and other times it's little things like getting sucked into a good book or not getting enough sleep.

I've had a bit of success lately though. Maybe it's because I'm in my thirties now and I have to be a grown up. It's not cute anymore to not be able to walk through my room because of all the clothes on the floor. I know the key is regular maintenance--picking things up each day and not letting the mess get ahead of me. When I suck it up and do the dishes before bed, I feel so much better the next morning. It's mental for me--I have to decide to overcome the almost palpable aversion to doing certain things. Once I get started, I'm usually okay.

In the last few months, I've worked to keep my car clean, the dishes done and the laundry going. So far, I've been most successful in keeping the van clean. In the last two weeks, I've been a superstar, keeping on top of everything. I've loved it, but I've also known it probably won't last.

Today, I'm feeling the challenge. I don't wanna. We'll see if I overcome.

Here are a few little things I've noticed help my productivity: Making my bed every day. Rinsing off dishes immediately after use. Having pretty containers to store things like toys and shoes. Reminding the boys to take in their stuff from the van. Having a large laundry basket handy to collect all the clothes every day.

Here's where I still need major improvement: Paper filing, dusting (such a simple job, but so easy to neglect!), keeping the homeschool room picked up, having the boys pick up their room (out of sight, out of mind usually).

So tell me, am I the only one who struggles with being a Messy Bessy? Sometimes it seems like everybody else is better at this than I am. What are the things you struggle with or what are the basic jobs you make yourself do everyday? I'm all ears.

I did something!

As I write this, it is the night of my son's eighth birthday, and we just finished up a party with six little boys and now we are settling in for a sleepover, so my brain is about to shut down.

I'm tired.

The kids were fabulous. Not too loud, not whiny, not gross. They just played and ate and laughed and made a few boy noises now and then. Kids getting older is a good thing. It's an awesome thing.

But my feet are also getting older, and they're aching.

Anyway, I decided...or rather Pinterest told me...to make some easy artwork to hang in our living room. I am NOT the artistic sort, unfortunately. I wish I could draw and sketch and paint and craft, but my skills in those areas are extremely limited.

But Pinterest makes things look easy, and I end up doing things I wouldn't normally try. I saw this and thought to myself, I might could maybe possibly be able to do that.

I had all the supplies for it already--a couple of canvasses, paint brushes, and some acrylic paint, so I decided I had nothing to lose.

I used colors I already had in my accessories, but emphasized the blues.

And when they were (mostly) dry, I slapped 'em up on the wall over the piano...the wall that desperately needed covered because of all the nail holes. They aren't as beauteous as the original pin's were, but I'm happy with them.

I also got a couple new lamps recently since the big one in here bit the dust. Love them. You can see Thing Two goofing off in the reflection. Also moved over my coral and hung some photos.

So, for reference, here's what it used to look like over here before we moved the piano back in:

It actually hasn't looked like this in ages since we moved the dresser to the tv area. This wall has sorta been in limbo for awhile.

And now:

There ya have it. I still need to add Homegirl's handprint to the picture with the other two, but other than that, I'm very happy with the way this turned out. 

Conflicted

Sometimes I love my house.

Sometimes I hate it.

Sometimes, I like it well enough, but I can't stop imagining a different house.

That's me right now. It's not that I hate living here. I like the things we've done and worked on and changed. It's homey and it keeps the rain off our heads.

But we're starting to inch near to the place where we're thinking of selling. I'm very torn. On the one hand, I'm excited to think of how close we are to being out of debt and how we'd easily be able to afford a house that's a little bigger as far as a monthly mortgage goes. On the other hand, selling this place seems absolutely impossible and a mountain I just can't imagine climbing. When I think of how much it costs to sell...realtor's fees, closing costs, not to mention a down payment for another place, I just don't get how people do it. That's so much money! It just seems unrealistic.


I'm also pretty sure we'd lose money on this place. I'd be surprised if we could get an offer that's equal to what we owe on it. And our credit, though improving, isn't great. Could we even get a loan for another house?

And yet, people do it all the time. People who have less than we do. How??

It doesn't help that there are several houses in the area we want that I love that are a bargain right now. I found one last night that I had to look at twice. It was so lovely. Not perfect, I'd have to give up a couple things, but it looked worth it. If it wasn't for this house we're saddled with, I'd be making an offer.

I bet that's how nearly every homeowner on realtor.com feels. I wish I didn't have a house to sell first.

I guess it comes with the territory of a buyer's market.

It was a lot easier to buy the first time. Well, not easy. It still seemed expensive and confusing, but compared to selling, it was much simpler.

I wish I could stop thinking about having those extra square feet and closets and a bigger yard. But, lately it feels as though the walls are caving in here. No matter how much I purge, there's still clutter. I'm running out of storage places. The children are getting bigger and taking up more space.

I think it's because we're so close to being in a better place financially and the irresistible buyer's market that has me obsessing. It's so close, yet still so far.

I think I'll feel better when we wrap up a few dangling projects around here, like the attic and the bathroom. We just haven't had the time lately to tackle them, but once done, I'm sure I'll feel a boost of love for this place. Plus, with the holidays coming, there will be trees to decorate and lights to string and that's always fun.

I'm just going to keep reminding myself to be thankful. Thankful that we aren't facing losing our house like we once were. Thankful that each of us has a warm bed and more clothing and toys than we need. Thankful for friendly neighbors that don't mind if our boys climb the fence to play in their yard with their kids. Thankful that my bathroom no longer completely disturbs me (only parts do). Thankful that even though it's not much, it's ours.

School Daze

If you're looking for perfection, you're on the wrong blog.

Here at The Practice House, we don't strive for perfection. Perfection isn't even on our radar. We basically have one aim when it comes to projects: DONE. In fact, we'll settle for "Done Enough".

The ol' schoolroom was much in need of a revamp. For one thing, it morphed into a wreck over the summer. My children basically live in that room. Their computer is in there, their art stuff, books, puzzles, and millions of toys had settled into the crevices. And I barely entered it for three months. You can imagine the disaster.

Another reason to spruce up, besides the fact that I just can't truly start school until I have a nice neat classroom, was that I got a "new" desk. I'd been looking around on craigslist and garage sales for one that would work and that I could give a makeover. I mentioned to my mom I was looking for one, and she offered me one of their old ones--the same desk that I learned to write on. Sentimental value through the roof. Score.

So, here's what I started with--your basic 30 year old metal desk:

I primed it and then gave it two or three coats of Valspar spray paint in "Smoke". It ended up being almost exactly the same color of the walls in the schoolroom. That wasn't my intent, but it looks kinda nice. I'll show you in a minute. Patience.

When I got the desk into the room and straightened everything up, it felt like it was coming together. So, I took some night shots (which you're not really supposed to do on a home blog, but I'm a rule breaker).

It still had some issues though: The windows, as you can see, were fancily covered by a flag and a blanket. Also, just outside this shot, was a royal mess of papers and boxes. So, onward we marched.

Next came operation closet shelves, because I need storage space in there. This entailed taking everything out of the closet (and messing up what had been a nice cheery room again). Seth built several shelves in varying depths for me to store all the school/craft/game/whatever crap that lives in that room.

Here was the sad closet before (it was more sad before it was emptied):

After shelves and a whole lotta white paint:

Now we were in the home stretch. Just had to load all my junk into the closet and straighten everything up. And hang blinds. And then take a deep breath.

It might not be as pretty as you hoped, but I'm delighted with this closet. There's still a lot of room left, and eventually I will sort through all those papers and stuff and file/shred them and then it will be fancier. But for now, this does wonders.

And now, for the rest of the room:

Is it perfect? Hardly. But it's clean, bright, mostly organized, and functional. I'll take it! Obviously, there are a few more things to do.

Short term: Replace desk chair, touch up paint, hang a pretty curtain in the closet doorway, hang a bulletin board and some artwork

Long term: Either refinish or carpet the floors

Whew! One room is clean and looking great! If only all the other rooms didn't suffer neglect when I  am busy with projects. More mess to tackle.