Making it Lovely » My Home

Our Organized Bathroom Storage Area

Making it Lovely — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:33:57 +0000

This post is sponsored by Glad®. Take small steps to reduce waste and earn a chance to win big. Sign up for Glad’s Trim Your Waste program here.

I’ll be starting on bigger changes to prepare for moving soon, but until an agent comes and I can go over my ideas for what we will do, I figured I should start small.

Our home has 2.5 baths — one full bath upstairs by the bedrooms, one on the main floor, and a half bath that we added to the basement when we finished it. The bathroom upstairs has storage directly outside of it. It wasn’t bad, since the system I put in place six years ago is still working for us, but it needed a little attention. Do you think we should add doors? There were bi-fold doors when we bought the house, but they were broken when we moved in, so we took them out. I don’t mind having the area open, but what would you prefer in a house?

Here’s the space now.

It’s not a huge difference (hence no “before” shot), but I was able to consolidate some things. Brandon’s stuff was on the other side before, along with the extra toothbrushes, bars of soap, and assorted other sundries. Now it’s all together, and the other side can be devoted almost entirely to linens.

We keep a small garbage can in the bathroom but when we have something recyclable to throw out, like a plastic bottle or the cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper, we bring it downstairs to sort in the kitchen bin. Trim Your Waste with Glad has more green ideas, and by signing up, you can be eligible to win prizes like $2500 to green your home, or make a donation to Keep America Beautiful. (More information and rules can be found here.) We do try our best to live cleaner and greener. Sometimes that means going through fewer paper towels by using cloth instead, and sometimes that means buying refills for cleaning products, soap, and anything else we can. My giant shampoo and conditioner refills are comically big, but I use them to refill the smaller ones in the shower so we are buying less packaging in the long run. It’s a small step, but it helps.

A quick aside: I remember that I wrote years ago about not caring about what shampoo and conditioner I used, and that I just went with the cheap stuff. That was before I fried my hair, trying to bleach it and go red. When I went for a hair cut the next time after dying it, my stylist used Kevin Murphy and my hair was instantly better. I’ve used it since.

I know it’s a little thing, but having my storage areas organized makes me happy.

Let’s Go!

Making it Lovely — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:25:19 +0000

Today is our anniversary! Brandon and I have been married for nine years. We’ve been parents for four of those years, and homeowners for six. It’s been good.

I’ve been trying to push him toward a new adventure for us and our family, but we weren’t in agreement. I wanted us to pick up and move to San Francisco for a year.

I love it there! You will too, and the kids will think the streetcars and trolleys are the best things ever! Plus they haven’t settled in with school yet! You’re home now, and I can work from anywhere! We’ll just rent the house out while we’re gone! We could afford it for a year! It will be fun!

And so on.

Brandon is more practical.

It’s an expensive city. It’s hard to find a nice place to live, especially when you’re new to the area. We have a dog and three cats — that’s not attractive to renters. We have a lot of stuff. Our family is here.

And so on.

Eventually, he relented, but it was not an excited let’s go! kind of thing. More like fiiiiiine, let’s go. I was disappointed. I’m not going to drag us all out there if he isn’t into it. An exciting year in another city would be marred by resentment, don’t you think? If we’re going to make a big change, we need to all be on board.

I’d been looking at real estate listings for months, finding amazing homes in the Chicago area that were way out of our price range. I wasn’t really looking for something, just browsing the same way you might watch House Hunters. Of course, it’s all too easy to type in our town, start narrowing it down by budget, number of bedrooms… You know. Just to see what’s out there.

Then I went on that Housewalk, and oh boy.

There are still things to do to this house, and I think Brandon would be happy staying put. It’s a great house, and we’ve made it really nice over the last six years, but there’s only so much we can do before we start to over-improve a property. If we knew we were going to stay in our home for another six years, we wouldn’t worry about it, but I’m ready for new projects. A new adventure! And when I talked to Brandon about it, he agreed that he was ready too. We’ll be looking for a new home, here in Oak Park, but hopefully in one of the historic districts.

We’re going to see what our house is worth (I have an idea, but I’d like an expert’s opinion), and we’ll start preparing to sell. I mean, I love pink paint in my living room, but I’m pretty sure that’s only going to appeal to a very small segment of the market. I think the Edison chandelier in the bedroom is probably pretty taste-specific too.

Our house should be ready to hit the market in a month, if not sooner. I’ll be sharing our progress here, of course. We’re excited!

La La La La Lovely Library

Making it Lovely — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:35:43 +0000

Sometimes I can’t come up with a snappy title. Sing it to this.

Hey, I can finally share more pictures of the library! I took these photos last month, shortly after adding the new coffee/play table to the space. Then my computer died and the little laptop I bought to work on while traveling (since I was doing so much of that last year) wasn’t powerful enough to edit RAW photo files. Luckily, my old computer was still under warranty, and I’m now working on a brand new replacement. It took a while to get it, but it’s here and it’s zippy!

Anyway, wide angle shots.

Got your bearings? Good. Let’s get closer.

Eleanor and August each have toys in their rooms, but we also keep a fabric bin full of stuffed animals for both of them in the library. It eliminates some of the “mine!” dibs to have them on neutral ground. That’s why it’s so good to have the castle out there too.

Clearly I put the cutest toys on top.

The fiddle leaf fig is still doing well. We had a rough first couple of weeks, but now it’s thriving.

I’d wanted a Michelle Armas painting forever, and when the one I really wanted sold out before I could commit to buying it, I was disappointed. When I spotted that smaller pink and orange one, I bought it right away, even though I wasn’t sure where I’d put it. Turns out it was just what I needed for the library. I also picked up one of those cube sculpture things I featured here.

And look! Decorating with books, in a library! What will I think of next?

A Few Updates for the Front Porch

Making it Lovely — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:54:55 +0000

The nice weather kind of happened all at once here, and now I’m realizing that the front porch needs a little sprucing up. New pillows, a few new planters, and a wire bunny I’ve had for a while will do the trick. I’m going to spend the day out there cleaning, and also tending to some landscaping out front.

Wood Doors, White Trim

Making it Lovely — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:54:42 +0000

I left the doors unpainted in the front entryway. (Thanks for your feedback.)

The door between the living room and the stairway shows its age a little (it’s original to the house, so 100+ years old), but I think it has character. We, or a future owner, could paint or refinish it someday.

And with that… hooray! All of the trim in the house has been painted — upstairs, downstairs, and in the basement! Happy dance time. I can finally cross that one off my list.

Wood Doors with White Trim?

Making it Lovely — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:39:29 +0000

I’m painting the trim in the front entryway. It’s the last spot in the house to get a coat of paint, so I’m finally getting on that.

Would you paint either door there? I’m thinking of leaving them as-is, even though I’ve painted all of the other doors in the house. The front door is kind of cool, and the door between the entry and the living room (off its hinges and leaning against the wall while I paint) is the prettiest in the house. It’s not weird to leave them wood, right?

Diaper Storage in the Nursery

Making it Lovely — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:04:01 +0000

We’re starting to talk up the whole “big boy” thing with August, about how he’s going to start sleeping in a bed, and that soon he won’t need diapers. He was pretty adamant for a long time about his morning bottle of milk too until we somehow lost his favorite bottle, and that was the end of that. He’s in that transitional stage between toddler and little kid, but for a while longer, he’s still sleeping in a crib and wearing diapers.

I showed his room not too long ago, when I took the doors off of one of the storage units in the space to convert it to a bookshelf. Here it is again, with even more books on the shelves. (Like toys, they seem to multiply.)

We don’t need as much storage for baby gear now that August is older, but the remaining side with doors still holds essentials, like face and body lotion and healing balm. All of the diapers and wipes are in there too, along with refills for our diaper pail, tissues, and stacks of no-longer-needed burp cloths.

I like to use Honest diapers because they’re plant-based and free of chemicals, but they still perform just as well as any other diaper out there. Plus they come in a skull and crossbones pattern! (OK, and cute little strawberries, anchors, and what-have-you. But the skulls are my favorite.) Their wipes are great too — nice and thick, and effective but still gentle. As with other Honest products, you can order diapers and wipes individually, or bundle them and save.

I’ll be a little sad when it’s time to change the nursery. It has been a good setup that has seen us through four years of active duty (starting with Eleanor, when it was hers), but eventually the changing pad will go, and the diapers and lotions will probably be replaced with toys. And that will be good too.

If you’re curious about Honest, check out their free trial. Also, Making it Lovely readers can enjoy $10 off a minimum purchase of $40 using the code Lovely$10off$40. Limited to first-time buyers (one per customer) and expires May 22, 2013.

Pink Loves Blue

Making it Lovely — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:44:47 +0000

There’s a sofa at Anthropologie that I keep calling the staff to pester about. I’m trying to catch it on sale once they’re ready to let go of the floor model so I can see if just maybe it can come live at our house. It’s big and comfortable and so pretty with its curves and single-button-tufting. And it’s blue. Kind of a teal/turquoise really, but to my surprise, I’m smitten with it. My iPhone pic isn’t doing it justice.

It isn’t on the website, but it’s the same as the “zesty” Winifred with solid upholstery and an additional support in the center. Same price too, but if I could sell my sofa and get that one on clearance, it wouldn’t be so out of reach. (A leather sofa can always wait.)

OK, so we’re probably not getting it. There are a million other things we could (and should) spend our money on first, but yeah, I’m embracing my newfound love of the color blue. I pinned the image below recently, and I’ve been finding myself going back to look at it over and over again. I like the symmetry, the hive vases, and the metal finishes against the wood, but what I’m really drawn to is the contrast of pink and blue.

(image source)

So good! I blame the the upstairs bathroom with its turquoise blue fixtures. Six years of living with them, and the color has charmed me.

The Exterior To-Do List

Making it Lovely — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:55:37 +0000

I didn’t do much to the backyard last year. Or to the front. Really, what I mean to say is that I didn’t do anything to the exterior of the house last year. This year, it shows. The garden needs tending, the grass needs seeding, and to top it all off, we should probably paint. The garage is starting to peel pretty badly, and the house could use some attention, too.

(Not our yard! That’s Jenna Lyons’ former garden.)

I had a grand plan of things I wanted to do to the outside of our home that I put together back in 2009, two months before Eleanor was born. Allow me to quote myself: “Of course, the arrival of spring will also mean the arrival of our baby, so maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves!”

Nah, you think? Childless me was so naive.

So now, two kids and four years later, I’m reassessing. I’m copying and pasting my original exterior to-do list, below, with some clarification.

paint & repair the trim
We still need to do this.
paint the front porch and the back deck
I would miss the hand-painted rug that I did, but the porch needs to be refinished.
replace the railings for the front porch with a style more appropriate for the house
I’d still love to do this, but at least our railings are functional.
cover the sides of the front stairs (lattice?)
Yep. Actually, stucco would be a more seamless choice.
build a gate to hide the storage area under our back deck (lattice?)
Still a good idea.
replace our ugly white screen doors with simple, unobtrusive ones
I removed the front screen door entirely because I couldn’t stand it anymore, but I’ve yet to replace it.
install gutters with covers that supposedly don’t need to be cleaned
We can skip this, and continue to have our gutters cleaned seasonally.
remove the aluminum siding on the addition and stucco it to match the rest of the house
We had a couple of quotes and this is cost-prohibitive.
change the house color
It would be nice.
paint the garage to match
The garage needs to be painted either way, and of course it should match the house.
put up cute new house numbers
Yes!
maybe change the mailbox?
Maybe!
add an outlet out front and in back (there are none outside)
We did this! And now it’s broken! Yay.
add another metal sculpture in front of the house (we already have one)
Really? One is enough, Nicole.
put in some foundation plants/shrubs
I sort of did this, but more is needed.
plant a small tree (pagoda dogwood?) out front
Probably not the best idea to plant a tree too near the house.

I feel bad, looking at this list and realizing how much of this has yet to be done, but it’s expensive stuff. And the only new item I’d like to add to the list? Build a wooden fence. The neighbor’s yappy dogs used to be an annoyance. Now that we have kids and they have a more aggressive dog that wants to bite their hands off, a wooden fence would be nice.

Pink Rugs: The Choice of Design Bloggers

Making it Lovely — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:44:50 +0000

Can I make that sweeping generalization in the title? Probably not, but I do love having a pink rug in my living room. (Although those chevrons have been done to death. It was not so when I bought my rug in 2008!)

I love this space from Holly Becker of Decor8, with its pink overdye rug. The photo appeared in her book, Decorate Workshop.

And Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy has a hot pink rug, too. This was his living room, featured in Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces.

You see what I mean about design bloggers and pink rugs? Maybe we’re an odd bunch, but I love the look.

I just wish I’d known better than to choose cotton for a busy living room in a house with two young kids, a dog, and three cats — though in my defense, we didn’t have children at the time. I’ve been looking at wool rugs for a possible replacement (maybe?), and I keep coming back to pink. Here are some of my favorites.

Madeline Weinrib Zigzag Rug
cotton, available at ABC Carpet & Home
This is my rug. It can be ordered in custom colors, but when I came across it in shades of pink, I had to buy it. I would still recommend it, but for a room with less foot traffic.
Dippy Pink Rug by Susan Sharp
wool, from The Rug Company
Gorgeous, and less in-your-face ombré as it appears on screen (as seen in Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s home, above, and repurposed in his apartment). It’s expensive though.
Preppy Pastel Pink Rug
wool, from The Land of Nod
The color looks more vibrant than pastel to me. The price is right, but the solid color is a bit plain.
Overdye Magenta Rug
wool, from Rugs USA
I like that the underlying pattern is less obvious than in some overdyed rugs. Less trendy. I would love this rug in my living room. Think it would work with my floral chair?