IKEA Party

Hi!  Happy October!  Almost November!  Yikes!

It has been very busy here this fall... Unfortunately, that hasn't meant busy with the house, it has been more just plain busy!  The school year is off to a great start (the first quarter ended this past week, can you believe it??)...

About three weeks ago, I decided to finally paint the powder room!  In two evenings after work, I slapped on a couple coats of Bay Waves (Valspar, same as in the master bedroom).  It's not decorated, though, so no pictures.  Who wants to see a toilet, anyway?  Related: I'm in the process of painting the kitchen the same color whenever I get a spare moment.  Aka it might be done by February.  :)

This past Saturday, I took off to IKEA with a few friends (Summer from my Eurovision Party, and her roomie Celeste).  Since the nearest one is about 3 hours away, this couldn't be the recon trip I would have preferred... so I jumped in with a budget and came out on top!

Among other things...

I picked up two sets of (2 panels each) the Ferle curtains.  I also grabbed ring clips, although I've decided not to use them...  This is just one set of the curtains.  They actually cover the giiiiiiant window!  I didn't expect that, hence I purchased two sets ($15/each).  I may double up for a fuller look, although I'm tempted to keep the spare set for fabric.

Next, I finally found a suitable rug for the living room... and a coffee table!!  Did I mention I was $20 under my self-imposed budget?  

Yay!  That green rug is delicious, no?  It's not high-quality, yet it will do for awhile... and that color is perfect.  It matches the netbook.  

Also in the aforementioned budget, I managed to get a new bed for the master bedroom, so (soon) there will finally be a bed in the baby's/spare bedroom.  Yay!  It's from IKEA's Malm series.  Once it is together, picture will follow... and then we will have to get a new mattress.  Exciting, no?

Until then, since it's been so long since I updated, here's a parting shot of Poly and her best friend, Stick.  They are relaxing on the old curtains.  

How did you spend your last six weeks?

Grey-ddiction

Happy September!  Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Wow, is it Fall yet?  Growing up in Pennsylvania, this weekend always signaled the end of summer and the beginning of crunchy leaves, long pants, and football games.  Living in the south... it was 90 degrees last night while we watched Alabama beat Michigan.  Roll tide.

It has been a busy last few weeks - ten days of school are already under our belts!  Wow!  So far, the year is going well.  Nothing very little bloggable has happened, unless you would like to hear about how this year we have enough seats in the cafeteria for all the sixth-graders *and* the teachers, so I can actually eat lunch now.  I guess I could talk about how I kind of went Pinterest!crazy and neon!nuts in my classroom.  It's bright and fun.

Here on the homefront, the only projects since the dining- and living-room wall art has been a new duvet set (thanks Target + Tax Free Weekend) and lampshades in the bedroom.  Woo!  I've been eyeing this duvet set for awhile - the mustard color goes well with the art and the dresser... and the cover reverses to a grey that is sooo close to the wall color.  Amazing!  To keep it lightweight for now, I put the purple and white quilt inside instead of the down comforter.  To balance out the look, I picked up two grey king-pillow cases, too.

The grey lampshades were on sale for $4 each at Lowe's.  I love Lowe's.  For those of you with eagle-eyesight, don't hate on the books on the nightstand.  Yes, the top two are Twilight and Harry Potter.  They are in French, though, so it's okay...  Below is a close-up of an identical shade hanging out with my perfume collection.  Accent art: paint chips in a Goodwill frame.  Classy.

Speaking of my bff Lowe's, I got an email yesterday that they are having a rebate special for $5 off a gallon of Valspar Signature paint, which is pretty much my favorite paint ever.  Seriously, it covers ridiculously well.  Anyway, one of the walls in the bedroom needs some touching up and I made an executive decision to paint the downstairs powder room in the same shade (Bay Waves), so I stopped by Lowe's yesterday to get a third gallon of this delicious grey.  While I don't like rebates (coupons = instant savings), I was able to submit the info online so hopefully it will process without a hitch and then I can stare dumbly at the $5 check I get in the mail.

The neat part is I think the gallon is going to be more than enough for a small wall in the bedroom and the powder room... so at 1am, I started eyeing up the paint for the kitchen.  Hmm.  Subtle yet anything is better than the flat, dusty contractor beige the kitchen still has.  Note: someone really needs to hot glue the laminate strip back onto the face of that counter.

Apple cider, pumpkins, what are your fall dreams?

Daddy Do List

After I flew home for my delightful visit to Pennsylvanialand, my dad and I drove back down to the South C.   That was fun. :D Actually, the drive was long (13+ hours) yet a pretty good time!  Did you know the driver is allowed to sing as long as it's not Van Halen?  :D  The drive was also a good time for us to catch up about things.  For instance, I had no idea my dad was once in an elevator with JACKIE CHAN.

Anyway, my dad was here for about a week (my mom flew down Thursday and spent the weekend with us) and I kept the poor guy very, very busy.  I did not take pictures of everything because no one wants to see the two toilets he fixed... however, he also put in a peephole in the front door and pegboard/baskets/hooks in the garage:

My pop also helped me install a new-to-me washer and dryer - my friend Eileen moved and I got some of her appliances, including these darlings and a giant French door refrigerator:

We also put on a new seal on the patio door... Yay!  However, I think my favorite projects were when we replaced the clunky, giant old white ceiling-fans-with-boob-lights in the living room and master bedroom with sleek modern nickel fans.  They are identical, except we chose to put the light wood out in the bedroom and the dark wood out downstairs.  I'll share a picture of the downstairs fan later - I'm in the process of sewing new curtains and will share all at once.

Do you notice anything else going on in the bedroom?  The walls are painted!!!  When my bestie was here two weeks ago, she kindly agreed to help paint the room!  I chose Bay Waves by Valspar.  The room gets the afternoon sun so the color is juuuuuuust light enough and juuuuuuust dark enough.  Gorg.  <3

Speaking of my bestie, today is Alison's Birthday!  Happy Birthday, Ali!  


Who are your celebrity run-ins?

In a White Room

I'm testing some color palates for the master bedroom... and I put the down comforter on so I could look at the duvet cover.  It's white with pale lavender fern-like designs.  My current obsessions (as evidenced by my Pins) are pale grey walls, yellow accents, and a few fuschia pops.  Note: the walls are not yet painted (chips are currently all over the window seat), and I am itchy to move the former owner's curtain rod up to the outside of the deeeeeeeep window.  Drives me crazy about four times a day.  It's on my to do list.  :)

As always, a work in progress:

What's your ultimate bedroom color scheme?

Heat Rises

Before moving into my townhouse, I really only ever lived on the second or third floor of buildings - two apartments, and my parents house - so I never fully appreciated the whole "heat rises" science experiment.  That being said, the upstairs was 68 this morning!!  Brr!  Pretty sure I could see my breath in the kitchen.  Since it is now 84 out, though, I'm not eager to turn on the heat.

My homebound student canceled today, so I was able to get home earlier.  I decided to use that time to update the ol' blogger.  Since my dad said he will check it "on occasion" I want to make sure there are pretty pictures for him to see when he checks in (Hi Pop!).

Remember, this is a work in progress... :)

I think I'll start with a picture of one of my favorite parts of the house thus far: the doorhandles on the first floor:

I'm eating my words from the last 6 months - I cannot believe the (ahem) creative paintjob in the great room/dining room actually goes with my items!  I do have new colors picked out... yet these are tolerable for awhile...

And finally... here's the master bedroom thus far.  Yes, the plastic is still on that lampshade and no it's not plugged in.  I'm not sure if I like it.  The picture would be wider and show the rest of the room except someone still has not unpacked three suitcases...

Poly's so vain - she probably thinks this post is about her.  Seriously, though, she looooooooves to hang out in the baby's bathroom.

XOXO!