analytics

April 30, 2012

Attaching our Headboard to the Wall

Our headboard has been through a lot with us.

In June 2011, I found her.
Untitled


In July 2011, she got painted turquoise (and I made a plan to cut off her legs).
Untitled

In November, she got painted white.
Untitled

It has been quite the transformation.
Untitled

Problem is - NOTHING has happened since July.  We have a really short bed (no box spring and a low bedframe).  The headboard was meant to be on a taller bed - PLUS it wasn't attached to anything.

It felt fairly secure, but it created a 5 inch gap between the wall and our mattress which led to the MOST annoying pillow sinking problem.  Plus, it was hard to make look good.

So, Bubbs got out his saw.

And chopped her legs off.

While he did that, I painted some spots that needed love on the wall.
Untitled
They were from places we patched or scraped or just did a bad job painting in the first place.

When he put the saw away, he watched the monkey while I ran to the hardware store to get some supplies to hang it on the wall.  Bubbs was convinced he could hang it with supplies he had, but I wanted to do it right.

I bought some flush mount hangers (at 3.29 for two).

Bubbs screwed them on the wall, then onto the bed, and called me in so we could mount it.
Untitled
(those doodles on the bed fit perfectly into the doodles on the wall.

Except.

It didn't work.

See how there's that piece at the base of the headboard.  That one.  The one that holds the whole thing together?
Untitled

It was taller than where we put the hangers.  So we just scraped the hell out of the wall and weren't able to hang them.
Untitled

So, Bubbs MacGyver'd it (you will see that this is a theme from the entire weekend).

Taking washers, he stacked them up until they were the right height.

Untitled

T helped on the other side
Untitled

Till it was finally done.
Untitled

Except.

In all the banging, carrying up and down stairs, and moving...it got majorly dinged up.

Untitled

Thank goodness he didn't mount it to the wall permanently.  I can just unhitch it and bring it back downstairs for another coat of spray paint.

That's a project for another day.

*I think she looks like a teensy bed now.  Sadly, I think we need either a different bed altogether or a box spring to raise the whole thing up a bit.  We had the low bed to accommodate the munchkin sleeping with us, but that hasn't happened in months (we sleep in HIS bed now).

Next on the list though is getting new bedside tables because those ones are WAY too short.

April 25, 2012

Hiding our TV - Again



Untitled

We originally bought the Expedit because I hated the idea of having a TV in the living room, but there were just no other options in our new house.  I figured I could hide the TV somehow.

Using the fabric wall hanging that used to be over our bed, we cut out the frame and hemmed it to size.

First we used tension rods to hang the "screen."

When that started sagging, we changed it up and  just used double sided velcro to stick the screen up there.

Anyway - I hated that the fabric was in two pieces (we did it that way for the tension rod idea to work).  But I loved the fabric.  It didn't compete with the crazy blue and white curtains and it was neutral enough to go with the rest of the room.

Untitled

It was looking a little shabby though.  And there was NOTHING cute about it.

I headed to Cost Plus (it is so weird to me that some people call it World Market) and bought out their curtain supply.  The one we used to hide the TV is actually supposed to be  a shower curtain.  I also bought curtains for T's room (he needed them since it was getting light much earlier).

I cut, ironed on some hem tape, and added the velcro (using the same iron on hem tape).

Untitled

I like it okay.

It still isn't ideal - but I'm sort of re-thinking the whole piece of furniture (don't tell bubbs - I had to fight to get it in the first place only a year ago).

It is actually kind of cool the way the fabric plays off the curtains.

Oh - but I cut it sideways - oops!  Can you see the people in the middle? 

April 23, 2012

Montessori style floor bed

I've gotten a few questions about T's floor bed, so I thought I'd show pictures to show how easy it is to build.

Untitled

We moved T to a big boy bed when he was 8 months old. We were (well I was) super frustrated that I couldn't do the transfer without waking him. I would nurse him to sleep in our bed then try to move him to his crib. He would always wake up when we moved him.

We didn't want to have him sleep the whole night in our bed so we needed a solution.

I had read about Montessori rooms that used twin beds or even crib mattresses on the floor. We had a cotton organic futon in the house, so we started by using that. It was amazing. I would nurse him to sleep, he would fall asleep, then I could sneak away for grown-up time and not worry about him crawling off our high bed.

We baby-proofed his entire room so it would be totally safe if he were left alone in there or woke up while we were sleeping. In the beginning we put a baby gate up in the doorway when we left and we just left the door open.

A few months into this set up we all got bad allergies and I remembered that I had read that floor beds could grow mold. They say that if they aren't raised up, the air doesn't circulate and the moisture that our bodies naturally produce while we sleep (plus the daily fog moisture) can create mold under the bed. I didn't pay too much attention to it since I had done it for a year in an apartment while I was single and it wasn't a problem.

We lifted the mattress to check and the bottom was covered in mold.

Talk about feeling like bad parents.

We headed out the same day to buy him a fancy pants organic hippy mattress. We went with Organic Rubber Latex with a wool cover.

The store we went to "A Happy Planet" was great working with us and not trying to sell us the same insanely expensive mattress we bought for ourselves like 6 months before. Since we always end up spending at least half the night with him we decided to go with a queen for our comfort. Plus, the mattress has a 30 year warranty, so someday it could be our guest bed as well. He also told us that they could build us the "frame" for the floor bed and they do it all the time.

Untitled

It is essentially three 2x4's that are cut to the length of the bed (in our case, the same length as our queen bed).

Then you roll the pre-made slats over them and screw the corners in (so they don't move around). You can get the slats from ikea (or craigslist). Ours were provided by our mattress store.

Untitled

We wanted ours raised bit more, so he put little pieces of wood under the 2x4s (one in the middle - see how it raises up a bit?, and one on each corner).

Untitled

We live in a funky house with sloping floors, so we had to add another piece of wood under one corner to even it out (so it didn't make noise when we snuck off after he fell asleep).
Untitled

For full disclosure, there are a few things that aren't great about this frame.
It is a little squeaky when we (meaning big people) get on and off.
We should have put felt under the boards because when we have to move it, I'm always afraid it is going to scratch the floors.
It isn't really good looking. I know this shouldn't be too important, but you just can't make T's bed and have it look great since the bed is all scrunched up against the wall.

But, we have total piece of mind.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you have other floor bed frames that work for you!

Updates in Parenting

22 months rocks big time.

Our little guy cleans up his toys when he leaves a room. Like every time. Even at his cousin's house. I know I'm supposed to love him unconditionally, but I love him more when he does this.

He come RUNNING through the house yelling "HELP DISHES" if he hears someone running the water. And he actually DOES help.

And the biggest miracle of all? He's sleeping. Like all night. For two weeks now (minus one night where he hadn't pooped the day before and the groaned in pain all night long).

He's putting together 2-3 word sentences - and sometimes even more.

T's been singing the last word in a phrase in songs for awhile, but he's just started singing the whole thing - and singing to himself as he plays...ALONE.

We had an amazing weekend out of the house at the beach and the river. T spent a lot of time in the car though. At one point he was singing Happy Birthday, but rather than using "rolo" as the name (his aunt) he sang, "Happy To You, Pinecone" and cracked himself up. My little guy is telling jokes.

His naps are going later and later 1:30-2ish and his bedtime is horribly close to 9:30 (it's been consistently 8pm since he was like 2 months old).

Anyway, life just got a little easier in every way.

Life back 2012.

April 13, 2012

Mid-Century Inspiration

So, um, we're a little behind on Mad Men.

Tim and I jumped up in the middle of Season 5, Episode 1 (last night) when we saw this:





Source: houzz.com via Mama on Pinterest




Because we had just done this:


Untitled


Bubbs brought that gold metallic "sculpture?" home a few years ago from a junk store. I was seriously against it. SERIOUSLY.

He would have our entire house look like it was out of my aunt's house if he could. I won't tell you which Aunt, and since I have like 20, she'd never know. Her amazing house hasn't changed since 1968.

I like a little mix of modern and mid-century.

This gold thing was way too much for me.

My plan was to spray it white, but I thought I'd check it in the room first.

I loved it. The gold on the blue rocked.

A few nails and it was in for good.

It only took three years for me to like it and get a room that it would work for.

Makes me fearful to toss other things that are stacked up as "maybe" in the garage...

April 12, 2012

Changing up a lamp shade

We bought some lamps at our favorite junk store. I thought they would be easy to fix up and would look great in the rumpus room.

They appeared to have plaster bases that are formed to look like wood and painted brown.

The chips look horrible because they are clearly white and not just rustic brown.

Untitled

The tops were groovy, but a little destroyed, ripped, and stained
Untitled

So I found some fabric scraps at the local store for $1.00 a yard. I thought it was appropriately mid century.

It was ALL wrong.

I hated it.

It was too thick so it didn't pleat right, it was just big and ugly.

Untitled

So, I fixed it.

Untitled
Untitled

We have two and the fix really makes the rumpus room WAY better.

This is my office now - we originally built it for Bubbs, but he's since gotten himself an office job, so mama's takin' over.

Untitled

Next we have to figure out where I put my desk...

April 8, 2012

I was not prepared for Easter

We aren't doing Santa, so I think that pretty much means we won't do the Easter Bunny. A few days ago the weather started feeling like Spring and I got in the mood for Easter. This surprised the heck of out me. I LOVE Christmas, but Easter? Wha?

I bought flowers and decorated my new windowsill (installed with the 'remodel') with fennel from our CSA box.

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled
(what you don't eat popcorn dipped in applesauce?)

We took Turner and his little friend to a farm to look at a baby lamb
Untitled

Love blossomed
Untitled

This might have been the coolest thing we saw
Untitled

Easter for us, when I was a kid, was driving all over at least three hours in the car in fancy dresses and looking for quarters scotch taped on eggs at our Nonni's house.

In an attempt to start our own traditions, I decided we would do Easter.

I bought a Lamb Leg (my new favorite food) and a ham (which I hate, but thought we should have because its Easter?).

Fresh strawberries, pound cake, whipped cream for dessert, leg of lamb, roasted vegis, and scalloped potatoes.

Yesterday I put food coloring in mugs, googled "how to dye easter eggs" (rookie), took off all of T's clothes and set him loose.

He LOVED ploping the eggs in the dye. Which splattered my kitchen. Awesome.

Untitled

I LOVED the stains it left on my table - inspiration to FINALLY do something about the hideous Formica top.

After one of the worst nights we've had in a long long time, we woke up and Daddy had hidden the eggs.

Turner and I were curled up together and Daddy came in.

"Turner, a magical bunny came and hid eggs all over the house."

"um, daddy, what about our no lying thing?"

"oh, um, a Pretend magical bunny came to our house."

Great.

So the hunt began.

And T couldn't have cared less!

He was too lazy to bend over to get the eggs and when he did, he just wanted to dump them from his basket. When he would find one, we would exclaim, "wow! you found one! Do you want to put it in your basket?" T would say, "no, eat." And proceed to put the egg in his mouth. Then smash it in his fist.

So far, we've had a loverly spring day. Mama cooked, T and daddy had adventures. Cousins are coming over for an afternoon at the beach and then we eat.

April 4, 2012

Making Pillows

The king sized bed dilemma.

So many cute duvet covers don't come in a King Size.

We finally found one, but for some reason the shams were for queen pillows.

Untitled
(those top "space filler" pillows sunk into the heavily spaced shams)

It made for a really awkward look when making the bed.

Last weekend I took the left over fabric from the kitchen banquette seating
Untitled

and made some simple pillow cases!

Untitled

Untitled

I promise no more patterns in the bedroom. Solids only for now.

10 minute project, almost impossible to mess up.

April 2, 2012

Inspiration

We joined a Home Exchange website. The houses are some of the best decor inspiration I've ever seen. Would it be totally weird to pin some of it?

We already have a few exchanges set up in places we want to spend weekends!

--------------------------

And...I got a new camera charger. It was only 39 dollars, plus the $65 ticket I got for running in and forgetting to pay the meter.

--------------------------

I realized that doing projects is way more satisfying than cleaning the house and when I do my projects FIRST, I clean the house way faster. So, in order to be happy, I must work out and I must project, the rest just comes.