We have a winner!

I was going to wait until we actually started painting the house to announce the final color choice, but since the weather is not cooperating...

The winner is Crabby Apple by Sherwin Williams. Love the name -- so apropos for the house. This photo however is terrible -- the color is actually more of a purply red than an orange red.

Anyway I know some of you may be disgusted by this decision, because the poll says green is still edging out red as the color of choice among you lovely readers. I really appreciated your opinions and input though! We both felt red was the right choice deep down, so we went with it and we're both very excited to get this going. If only the weather will hold!

Real closets with real shelves!

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend was as fantastic as ours. We had both ample worktime and playtime. We actually accomplished everything we set out to do this weekend! In the words of my husband, "That's only the second time that's ever happened. The first time was when we painted the living room, and that was almost the death of me." He's not exaggerating on either point.

Honestly, the main reason for this accomplishment was that we didn't set out to accomplish much. Keep your standards low, and you'll be amazed at how good you feel about yourself when you achieve your goals! ☺ What were our goals? 1) Mow the lawn. It was attracting attention both from wild animals and our neighbors and had to be tamed a bit... And 2) Finish the closets in both guest bedrooms. It has been tough trying to keep things organized around here without proper closet organization. We had no shelves, no nothing -- just a bunch of junk piled up behind a closed door.

At Lowe's, a standard Rubbermaid closet organization system with rails and shelving costs about $100 per closet. We wanted something nice that inspires us to be organized, but we also didn't want to break the bank getting it. So we devised our own plan to get organized and save a little money.

We bought thick dowels, some cheap pine lumber to support the shelves, hardware and 12" melamine (plastic-coated) shelving -- all for under $100 total for both closets. We thought about getting simple plywood to save even more on the shelves, but the melamine-coated material was much less work and hassle -- no sanding, painting or concerns about snagging your clothes necessary. Plus, a 96" length of melamine cost only $15, giving us two shelves, or one closet's worth. Not bad, all things considered.

I'd read on thisoldhouse.com that many closets have too much hanging space and not enough shelving/drawers. So, using my closet as the visual example (below), we ended up installing one high shelf for seldom-used items and one long rod for hanging clothes...

...as well as one low shelf 16" off the floor for shoes, boxes, drawer units, etc. to reside above and below.

It's not fancy, but I have to say: this one improvement has done more to make our house feel more homey and comfortable than almost anything else we've done. We finally have a decent place to hang our hats, so to speak. Our next step is to install some small bins/hooks on the back of the closet doors. That is prime real estate for stowing small items like belts, bags, etc. I just have to find the right thing. I'll keep you posted.

Both this room and my office (which has a duplicate closet where S keeps his clothes) will eventually belong to our kids, providing that we ever get around to having any. So these closets are really a temporary storage solution for our personal items until we get our master suite finished. At that point, we'll have a whole room dedicated to laundry and storage. Our master closet will be a mecca of organization -- the stuff that dreams are made of. I can't wait. Until then though, these closets will do nicely!

So now our yard looks good, our closets look good and we feel a little better about the state of things after this weekend. Oh, and BONUS: During Saturday's organization frenzy, I managed to part with two trash bags full of clothes to donate. It feels good to simplify a bit -- even if it takes a little extra work to get there.

What did you do this weekend? Was it good?

Recipes Wanted

This is our temporary "kitchen," shoved unceremoniously into the corner of the living room. You can maybe see why I generally crop it out when posting living room photos.

It looks a little pathetic, but we are SO thrilled to have a functioning fridge after 18 months without... Cold drinks! Ice! Food preservation! Fortunately S's parents live close by and have an open door policy on their home and refrigerator, or we'd have never survived this long.

That said, the little toaster/convection oven is our only means of cooking right now. Our microwave is MIA and we don't have a grill yet... so if anyone has any oven-only recipes, please send them my way! I googled with frustrating results. It doesn't count if you have to brown everything first! Anyway I'd like to try making some little casseroles and stuff just for the fun of it. I think buying a grill is going to become a priority here shortly.

FYI just behind the fridge is the doorway (currently blocked off with insulation and blankets) that will eventually lead into the dining room, with a few steps ascending where the fridge currently sits. Obviously, the dining room is not our #1 priority since we aren't doing a lot of cooking...

But I will if you send me recipes! Oven-only, preferably easily halved to fit into the world's smallest baking dish... Anyone have an inspired ideas?

Now that we've all learned patience: PAINT!

After spending a full 27 hours prepping and painting this weekend -- 9 hours Friday night, 12 hours Saturday and 6 hours Sunday -- the moment we've all been waiting for has arrived. The living room is PAINTED! We tried 3 different samples of putty/beige/tan colors and hated them all, so we went with the same perfect creamy off-white (Valspar's Homestead Resort Jefferson White) that we used in my office.

It's admittedly a little hard to see in pictures, but we are 110% gung ho about how it looks in person. In fact, we are almost giddy about it. My parents helped us paint on Saturday (thanks mom and dad!), and it got their stamp of approval as well.

The blanketed doorway (below right) will eventually have steps leading up to the dining room.

And now for a controversial surprise! Yes friends, that is a chalkboard wall.

I know it's not everyone's taste -- visit any major design blog and search for chalkboard paint, and you'll see that the general opinion is very divided on whether it is cool or not. Some people are "totally over this trend," others just plain hate it and still others can't sing its praises enough. We happen to love the idea (S especially!) and have been thinking about which wall we'd paint since the day we bought the house.

As it turns out, it looks so darn CRISP and fresh in our living room that even we are pleasantly surprised! I was concerned it would create a black hole effect in the corner, but it doesn't at all. Black accent walls are making the rounds on design blogs lately, and it kind of serves the same purpose -- except you can write favorite quotations, daily scriptures and little notes on it. My home office (essentially just a small desk) is going to sit in front of it, so it will serve a practical purpose as well. It looks so good I almost don't want to write anything on it!

BONUS: Our stair treads and railing are stained black (below), so it makes for the perfect transition and ties everything together.

We chose such a subtle, neutral wall color so that the furniture -- and the people we love sitting on it -- would be the focus of the room instead of the walls. In such a big space, a bolder color would feel overpowering. Fortunately, the choices we made are even better than we envisioned. Victory! (And how frickin AWESOME does that beam look? Good job, husband!)

We still have some details to finish up (touching up the trim, installing quarter round, socket covers and light fixtures) but those are a piece of cake. We are exhausted but in a good mood today.

So, what do you think? Do you love or hate the black wall? (You're allowed to thoroughly hate it if you want. I won't be sad.) Are we crazy or geniuses? Is it what you expected or completely surprising? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

In progress: Living Room Floor

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had an amazing holiday week! Despite the fact that our pipes freeze about every other day, we're starting 2010 with a lot of hope and excitement. Soon we'll have a living room--which will double our current usable living space. (Woohoo!)

S and I were both off work during the holiday break, so amid all of the fun and traveling we found time to nearly finish installing the hardwood flooring in the living room. All of my fingernails are broken and S's knees will probably have bald patches for years, but we have a lil system and we're getting pretty good. Here's the lowdown on our progress this week:

Rosin paper serves as the moisture barrier.

My job: Sort, choose and lay out the pieces, and chop the ends to finish each row. (Note: S caught me at a lax moment without eye protection. I hope my dad doesn't give me a retroactively failing grade in woodshop!)

S's job: Tap the boards in place, minimize cracks and operate the pneumatic nailer. (WHAM!)Below: Our progress after the first day. (The first row is the hardest.)And below, our progress after the second day!

Almost done! In total we'll have spent about 15 hours on this floor, which to us was pretty encouraging.

What do you think about the color? I actually didn't expect the coloration to be this variegated, but I like it. Not bad for $1.50 per square foot! It's not a color I've ever really seen before, but I think the variations give it a unique rustic look that will fit well with our rustic modern vision. I'm looking forward to getting some paint on the walls, finishing up the woodwork and finally getting some furniture and rugs in there. I can see it starting to come together, and that's awesome.

We've got a lot of fun (and no-so-fun) projects planned for the next few weeks, so stay tuned for more updates soon! I'm praying that 2010 will be a great year for all of us, so let's all find some motivation and work hard to get it off to a good start, yeah?

Bathroom Clutter Control

Our guest bathroom (currently our only bathroom) has been a work in progress for months. The idea was to get the basics finished and worry about making it nice and cozy after we accomplished some other projects around the house.

Being the vain people that we are, we tend to accumulate tons of grooming and beauty products. (Why do I have FOUR types of moisturizer?) Since organizational details hadn't been a major focus in the initial renovation, over time we began to need a solution to keep our stuff properly wrangled.

Enter the Kroken cutlery caddy from IKEA, hung on the bathroom wall just last night. The faux wrought iron look complements the Anthropologie towel hooks quite nicely, I think. Bonus: the buckets have holes in the bottom for drainage.

We had a brief debate about how high it should be hung, but after trying a few options we agreed on this spot because it was easily accessible yet out of arms' way. (Admit it. That was the pun of the century.)

Slowly but surely, bathroom, you're coming into your own. At the very least, you've come a long, long way from your original state! In case anyone forgets what the original looked like, here's a photo:

Ew.

Living Large: Living Room Update

It's been awhile since I've posted progress on the living room, but it's now getting exciting enough to share. The drywall is now up and finished, and my dad came this weekend to trim the doors and windows. It's a big room -- about 500 square feet -- and I'm looking forward to chilling out in its spaciousness someday soon. (You can come!)

Below: Can you see where S started sanding the floor joints to prepare to lay flooring?

Below: Future entertainment wall. It will be SO nice to have TV again!

Below: Utility closet, space heater (still no heat!) and tools that need to be stored elsewhere.

Below: Very rickety old bookshelf that will soon be firewood. I'm clearing it off tool by tool...

Below: Dust-covered ebony stained steps, with the risers primed and ready for paint.

Still left to do:

• Cover steel beam with trim molding
• Lay flooring (I'm actually excited about this)
• Install baseboard
• Caulk windows and doors
• Prime and paint walls and trim
• Install steps leading from dining room to living room
• Probably a hundred things I'm forgetting because I don't want to overwhelm myself

It's kind of hard to know what to do next, but our goal is to have it mostly done before the New Year. I think it's possible. Maybe. Yeah?

Some shades of green to take away the blues

It's been a miserably cold and rainy week here, resulting in little progress around the house... so let's talk about some happy green walls to cheer away these (extremely premature) winter blues!

This is our bedroom right now, and it's kind of sad because I have spent exactly zero hours styling and decorating it. I didn't even straighten the pillows or hide the lamp cord before snapping this picture. The IKEA Malm bed doesn't fit the aesthetic of this house at all, let alone this room. But since this is eventually going to be a guest or kid's bedroom, and because we have about 8 thousand other things going on, I am hesitant to put a ton of effort into fancying it up right now.

That hasn't stopped me from looking for inspiration, though, for when we turn this space into a guest room. The turquoise-with-a-hint-of-seafoam color is a tricky one to work with, and unfortunately my search has shown me that well executed rooms with this wall color seem to be rare. Some though, like the following, I could definitely live with:

This gives me bedframe and antler envy. (via d*s)

How much does this room make you want to write a letter to an old friend? (via d*s)

Not a bedroom, but its smart restraint is quite nice. (via AT)

A little mish-mashy, but casual and inviting. (via houseofturquoise)

Perhaps too pale and too Californian, but there's something I like about it anyway. (via decorpad) Paler still, but so calm I feel a nap coming on. (Mom, do you see that sliver of lamp on the right?) (via Country Living)

I feel a little less gray and chilly already! There's something so soothing about these shades of turquoise. Now if only I had a stove and a tea kettle, I might be able to cope with this awful weather.

Labor Day Laboring

If anyone has noticed my silence for the past few days (probably not), please know it's because my computer had a brush with death and I've been working to revive it. Fortunately a new CPU fan (cost: $10) seemed to be all it needed to perk back up. Praise the Lord.

Anyway, it feels good to be back in business, because some good developments happened over Labor Day Weekend:

The neighbors brought over some fresh eggs from their henhouse. Pretty and delicious!

And my parents down from PA came to help out! Here's my dad prepping the steps to be stained:

Dad put the first coat of stain on the stairs while they were here and gave us some pro tips on finishing them up. Using woodshop teacher-approved techniques, I have since applied the second (and final) coat of stain as well as one coat of polyurethane so far. After another coat or two of finish, I will start the fun process of painting the risers and the casing. Oh, how I dread more painting...

I do have up-to-date pics of the stairs with their sweet new finish, but I'm going to wait to post them until the process is completely done. Things look a little (and by a little I mean a LOT) messy right now, so I don't want anyone to lose faith in the project before it's finished.

Don't hold your breath quite yet for the final product though -- S and I are going to be on vacation in Maine all next week, so we will be taking a much-needed break from this house madness for a few days.

But prepare yourself for when we get back... We've got big plans, baby.

Elements of an overall good weekend

1. Install a decorative piece on the hallway baseboard to fancy things up a bit, and give the walls two coats of paint (because it's going to be coat weather around here very soon). The color doesn't show up well in the picture, but it's superb I promise.

Color: Valspar's Bay Waves

2. Wave goodbye to a ton of scary mutant weeds as your father-in-law goes crazy with his bobcat, creating this lovely flat side yard ready for fun and picnics! (You're invited! Bring your own grass seed!)


3. Do absolutely nothing productive on Sunday afternoon, and opt instead for some festival fun, good food and live music at a local winery.

"A bottle of wine is like life itself - it grows up, evolves and gains complexity." -- Sideways

Mixing a little work with a little play is, I think, the best way to spend the last few precious weekends of summer.

Accomplishment: Stair Railing Edition

One of my elementary teachers always used to say, "Now give yourselves a pat on the back," whenever we'd do something smart. Even to a second grader that kinda got lame after awhile (cuz we were like, super smart all the time), but today my back is practically sore from all the pats I've been giving it this weekend. After about 5 weeks of preparation and measuring, we finally assembled all the pieces to the stair railing -- and it is awesome.

Check out the step-by-step process:

3 newel posts set in place

Measured and marked the spacing for the balusters. I'm not a math person but after 2 hours of puzzling I did an OK job.Drilled the holes for the balusters. The easiest, breeziest part of the show. Set the railing. (So hard! I had to stick my finger in a tiny hole underneath the rail and awkwardly screw on a nut without being able to see it. Much swearing ensued.)Trimmed and installed the balusters and the fillet strips in between Repeat! Voilà!Très Magnifique!

Even though we still have some details yet to finish, I have never loved a safety feature this much. *Pat pat pat.*

Home (Office) Sweet Home

I'm pretty sure that for the past 11 months, I have been the only telecommuter in the world who has had to drive 40 minutes to get to and from her office every day. Well, today is the beginning of a new era; at this very moment I am sitting in my own home, at my own desk, in front of my trusty work computer in my very own home office!

While S was supposedly "working late" last night, he was actually clandestinely carting my stuff from his grandparents' house (my former office) and setting it up in our spare bedroom. Let's talk for a second about how awesome my husband is. While some women have to worry about what their husbands are really doing when they say they're working late, mine is actually doing something incredibly thoughtful and amazing that makes my life easier!

My vanity table serves as a desk for now, and the framed poster (don't judge - I like it) keeps the sun out of my eyes in the early morning since this window faces east. Internet is a challenge where we live and because of the state of our renovation, so S researched some options and got me a Sprint wireless card. So far it's working well as long as I connect to my company's VPN only when necessary.

Since my desk is so small, this console table serves as my writing/work zone and general junk accumulation area.

I am so excited to be telecommuting for real now. Even though I've officially been working 1,200 miles away from my employer for almost a year, I finally feel legit. My boss even sent me this Maryland Labor Law poster today as the icing on the cake.

Buzzkill poster aside, I'm thrilled with my new workspace. And I love the fact that we've made enough progress on the house for me to start working here. Thank you husband! I love you even more than I love my new office.