Kitchen Files: Where to Park Your Keester

A lot of butt talk has been taking place as of late in good ol' Casa d'Armitage. We pretty much figured out what we're doing for the bench area in the breakfast nook, so then we had to move on to the three or four chairs we'd need for the other side of the table. I was initially thinking I wanted to do something like this:

Some fun painted traditional chairs. I figure this would be the easiest (and funnest) way to bring some of the accent red into the kitchen. I like the one on the far right, and the second from left the best. I haven't however, been able to find any quality chairs like that anywhere. I've been searching kijiji/Goodwill for months and continually come up short. They either aren't the kind I'm looking for, or they're a whole set (with table). So I started thinking about other options. Jase and I talked, and we figured since we were being so frugal, and coming under budget with everything else we could "splurge" on the chairs. There was this chair that I saw from the beginning, that I just kept coming back to, so it went to the top of the list.

They are these chairs from West Elm. I love the shape of them, kind of retro-ish, they stack on top of each other, and they're comfy and kind of bouncy (we tested them out when we were in Chicago). But at $83 a pop, they are definitely more of a splurge for us. So I started looking for a few similar choices that are cheaper.

I came across these from here, which actually aren't cheaper at all haha, and Jason doesn't like them anyway, so I guess there out...I think I'd only want one for the end even if I did get them.

Then there's these ones, also from Target that are considerably cheaper, at about $30 a piece...but they do have to be ordered online, and that kind of sucks. I'm also not a huge fan of the rounded top, I prefer the "scoop" look, like the ones from West Elm.

The Gilbert chair from Ikea, which is one of those, kinda like it, kinda don't type thing. Plus, I don't think they even carry it anymore, so it's out too. So that still leaves the ones from West Elm that I've liked from the beginning. 

Then I came across these ones:

There's no link to where they are from, or who makes them, but I love them. The simplicity of them is what strikes me the most. Plus that red one is speaking to me hehe. Jason really likes them too. And they also have a retro, yet modern vibe. 

So now we're at an impasse again. We both like the last chairs the best, but have no idea on where to get them. We could probably make them, the construction of them is fairly simple, and making them would save some money; but we're already making so much, (which I like) that I was looking forward to finally purchasing something. Gaa, I hate when trying to make a decision ends up causing more questions.

Different Strokes

Lets preface this post with hooray, we have internet back, so I can be up dating more frequently!!!

We have been ferociously trying to cross as many things as we can off our to do list, because it is so gratifying to physically cross something off a list! Not to mention it helps with big projects if you break things down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Helps to stop me from becoming a giant crazy person, and makes Jason happy…and it really helps keep us on track. Let’s take a look at what we’ve been able to check off at the almost four month mark:

Kitchen:

• ·      Rip out old cabinets & sink (donate to Habitat Re-Store) although we weren’t able to donate anything because they were custom built-in’s.
• ·      Rip out nasty carpet & lick ‘n’ stick (as Jase affectionately refers to it
• ·      Bust out the closet (that was previously the entry closet from old living room)
• ·      Remove the built in (donate) and take down the random 3ft wall again we weren’t really able to donate it because the doors had to be destroyed in order for it to come out
• ·      Replace insulation in outside wall we took out the old (and blackened) pink insulation, and doubled our R-rating from 7 to 15, by using the Rock-sol insulation. 
• ·      Frame up old closet & laundry room entry
• ·      Replace drywall on outside walls I found my new calling in screwing the boards up!
• ·      Add/move electrical outlets and lighting we moved a few outlets around, and figured out what sort of lighting we want (mainly just pot lights)...in order to get all the other moving/replacing done, we've got to get cabinets up.
• ·      Plumbing rough-ins Jase swapped out the old copper piping in the kitchen with ABS, and also discovered that they had the washer and kitchen sink draining tied into the same (too small) feed…which would explain the draining problems we’d seen.
• ·      Fix the steps into living room (extending kitchen floor – making it just two steps) 
• ·      Template out the cabinets (and go buy them before Jan 22) bought them on the 14^th, for almost $1,000 under budget, and got our hardware on sale, and thanks to the “cash back”, for free.
• ·      Take back wall to be even with pantry
• ·      Replace windows (if can afford)
• ·      Remove wallpaper Thanks Mer, for your help with that…it went a lot quicker with the two of us
• ·      Install new – floors, cabinets, counters, appliances, “breakfast nook”, etc
• ·      Paint (Benjamin Moore – Storm)
• ·      Tile behind stove 
• ·      Template & make countertops (black concrete with broken glass)
• ·      Put up picture wall behind seating area
• ·      Make  pendant light for over table
• ·      Get 4 bar stools for peninsula
• ·      Get chairs for table area (we’ve decided to splurge a bit on the chairs - )
• ·      Make table & benches for eat-in area

 Dining Room:

• ·      Rip out carpet
• ·      Reinsulate the two outside walls (re-drywall) again we doubled the R-rating on two walls here.
• ·      Replace window (if in the budget)
• ·      Move overhead light to middle of the room
• ·      Paint 
• install decorative moulding/trim to "formalize" the room
• ·      Refinish table and hutch to match
• ·      Refinish, reinforce and reupholster chairs
• ·      Make artwork and put up shelves
• ·      Make “bar” area
• ·      Install flooring  (Armstong “natural-antique” engineered hardwood)

Bedroom #2 (aka: Nursery):

• ·      Rip up carpet
• ·      Tear down wall in closet (using the linen closet)
• ·      Close off linen closet from hallway
• ·      Paint walls
• ·      Paint ceiling
• ·      Make and paint new doors for closet (to take up all of that wall)
• ·      Replace window (when able to afford)
• ·      Lay new flooring
• ·      Get and paint crib, & dresser for change table
• ·      Make bedding & other linens
• ·      Make light fixture

Bathroom

• ·      Take out vanity, toilet, tub
• ·      Rip off tile
• ·      Rip up linoleum
• ·      Take out wall between bedroom (eliminating the bedroom closet)
• ·      Build vanity
• ·      Pick out floor tile (mono flora in “white”)
• ·      Pick out shower tile (glass subway tiles in blues/greens)
• ·      Take out window (that was previously in bedroom)
• ·      Frame up new wall
• ·      Drywall new wall
• ·      Lay floor
• ·      Put in new tub, toilet & vanity put in a new toilet that the wholesalers gave us cheap to test out. It is comparable to the Cadet 3, and so far it’s been great. Although, we did discover that the floors are WAY out, so you’re sitting on a bit of a slant now haha
• ·      Tile shower area
• ·      Build storage towers

Bedroom #1:

• ·      Tear down wall between laundry room (before kitchen is completed, so we can close off the door from the kitchen) so far we just have a door sized opening
• ·      Rip up carpet & linoleum stuff (from laundry room)
• ·      Build closet (using small laundry closet at starting point)
• ·      Take out window (add a second one if possible)
• ·      Add another wall (that will be the new wall between the bathroom)
• ·      Paint (possibly Ben Moore – “dragonfly”)
• ·      Install new flooring (a medium brown)

Living room:

• ·      Remove built in & random 3ft wall
• ·      Rip up carpet (also rip it off the stairs)
• ·      Scrape stucco from the ceiling (and up staircase)
• ·      Figure out what’s going on with the messed up bouncy plywood floor – and obviously fix it
• ·      Properly insulate the floor & walls
• ·      Replace windows (the larger one first)
• ·      Build half wall to define entry space
• ·      Paint (Benjamin Moore “old prairie” & “wythe blue”)
• ·      Tile entryway area (black penny rounds?)
• ·      Lay flooring in living area (dark brown – possibly vinyl tile?)
• ·      Paint & reupholster “bench” for entryway
• ·      Figure out & install hooks for coats along with more storage
• ·      Refinish stairs & railings
• ·      Replace front/back doors
• ·      Put up new trim

Master area (phase 1):

    Bath:

• ·      Take off wallpaper
• ·      Take down tiles again, thanks Mer for the help….she was seriously a monster when it came to taking down those tiles.
• ·      Add forced air vents
• ·      Remove old baseboard heaters
• ·      Replace vanity, mirror & lighting
• ·      Put up bead board (to cover glue from tiles)
• ·      Paint walls (Benjamin Moore “stratton blue”
• ·      Paint floor (either hexagonal or penny-round style)
• ·      Put up new trim
• ·      Add some shelving (above toilet)

   Bedroom

• ·      Add forced air vents we have the ducts run to the bedroom, so we have a large gaping whole at the bottom of the wall, Brad still needs to get his butt into the attic to finish running the lines haha.
• ·      Remove old baseboard heaters
• ·      Raise closet rods (seriously they’re like 5ft from the ground!)
• ·      Paint dressers
• ·      Build or buy (cheap) my night table
• ·      Make pendant lamp
• ·      Paint table lamp bases & replace shades
• ·      Paint walls (MSL “cement gray”)
• ·      Stencil wall (MSL “anvil”)
• ·      Replace hardware on dressers & closet doors
• ·      Replace trim
• ·      Take out old air-conditioner & fix window
• ·      GET A NEW BED (which unfortunately probably won’t happen for a while)
• ·      Build & install floating shelf above bed

So we’ve made some progress on the house to home front, and so far we’re coming in well under budget which makes my heart sing quite a bit, especially since being laid off from a great paying job, and having to move to a minimum wage job money is tight, so anywhere we can save some coin is excellent. 

   During those beautiful warm weeks we had in March we crossed "get rid of the crap from the front of the house" off the list, hopefully if the weather ever warms up again we can cross a few more off the outside to-do list.

Some Flooring ideas

Jason was complaining that he didn’t want the whole house to be laminate. Which I both understand and find funny…since we don’t have any laminate in the house yet! We're doing cork in the kitchen, 

and an engineered hardwood in the dining room.

The bathroom is going to have tile and the bedrooms also will be having some sort of hardwood layed in them when we get around to it (whatever we can get for a good deal from another auction). He was suggesting vinyl. Which, wasn’t really ok with me, because all I could think of was ugly, tacky, roll out “mats”. I know that there are other options, that they’ve come a long way with vinyl, because I’ve seen them use some tiles and other, better looking things on all those home improvement shows. So I went in search of those, not the ugly things that I saw in Rona, or the Depot. I came across a site for Karndean International that have a TON of vinyl tile options that are actually, well, appealing! They don’t make me want to run the other way, like those sheets waiting on the rolls in the stores.

  I was excited. They were able to allow Jason and I to compromise, he liked the durability of the vinyl, and I liked all their options and the fact that they didn’t really look like vinyl. The best part is you can order samples…FREE…and a catalogue, and you receive it within a week. I ordered a dark sample, with the living room in mind, and then just a random one. I really love the dark one, it’s exactly what I was thinking of for the living room…super dark, with subtle wood tones, it actually looks like it could be real wood. They’re a “tile”, or basically a “plank” like a piece of hardwood, which just makes them look even more like real wood.

  So I love it, I’m a convert to the dark side of vinyl! I was pumped to show Jason we can have a good looking, durable, non-laminate option for the living room. I ask him if he likes it:

Jason: “Yeah, sure.”

Me: UGH! Seriously?! Yeah sure?! “So you don’t really like it then?”

Jason: “Well, not really.”

Me: of course you don’t, because I finally like something that’s vinyl. “I think it looks really natural, it’s got the wood tones, and veins running through it, it’s pretty much exactly what I was thinking of for the living room.

Jason: “Well why does everything has to look like wood?”

Me: Huh?? “umm…well what’s it supposed to look like? Carpet? It’s vinyl…”

Jason: “I dunno, tile?”

This is where I had to stop talking, because I was afraid I would say something that would spark an argument, because now he was just being ridiculous. Tile? Seriously, who puts tile in a living room haha? We went through a house that had tile in the living room, and he made fun of it more than I did! We’ve revisited it a few times, since that initial conversation, and he’s slowly starting to come around…I just keep reminding him that the vinyl was his idea, and I like it.

  Now the conversations are leaning more towards whether we’re going to take the vinyl all the way into the entryway, or if we’re going to do tile in the entryway – like (these) penny rounds. I love pennyrounds, and like the look of them on the floor in an entry way, but because our entry is going to be more open to the living room (divided only by a short, half wall) it seems more logical to extend the vinyl all the way out. (You know, because it’s so durable that people often put it in an entryway to begin with) As much as I love and want the black pennyrounds, I think it’s a better choice to just extend the vinyl, it makes it seems more seamless, and we won’t have to have that awkward seam hump. So it looks like we’ll be going with the lovely dark vinyl from Karndean International, unless we find something similar at an auction for cheaper.

Mood Board Monday - Emma Watson

I'm trying to get back in the swing of things, and since we STILL don't have internet (stupid company doesn't seem to want to respond to the many emails I've sent them),  so it's proving a bit more difficult than I would have liked. But, hopefully we will have internet soon. Here's another fun board I've been working on. 

This one takes inspiration from Emma Watson's interesting outfit. I actually really like her shirt, it's bold, and cool, and I would totally wear it, if I could pull it off haha. So with her outfit in mind, I set out to create a fun, yet sophisticated teen girl room. I really don't like pink, so this was a bit more difficult that I initially though, especially since the made up girl (Madelyn) in my head's favourite colour was pink haha, so it clearly needed to be represented.

Refreshing, no? It's girly, with both kid and adult aspects to it, that can transition with her as she grows into an adult.

1. Painting the walls the lighter of the two pinks, "Ballet Slipper Pink" by Martha Stewart Living, and the ceiling the darker "Persimmon Red" (also MSL) allows easier play with the accessorizing colours. And satisfies Madelyn by using her favourite colour.

2. A fun and glamorous chintz chandelier hanging at the foot of the bed, adds a fun pattern on the wall as it glistens. It's super fun way to bring in a traditionally formal aspect, like a   "chandelier" without having the stuffy, old world type associations. It's a great statement piece for her and her friends to admire...and it's on sale for a good price right now too!

3. Some simple shelves such as these from Ikea, spray painted a darker pink (or yellow, or gray) hang off the wall near the bed to house her books, as well as any nick-nacks, or stuffed animals that may need a home. 

4. The "office" area of the room offers a place to be studious, with a desk with plenty of room for paper and supplies, and a great furry chair to remind her to still have fun! Placing the mirror (that's made out of a vintage picture frame and painted a great raspberry colour) above the desk, it allows it to double as a "vanity", a spot where she can put makeup on, and get ready in her own space. (Because those pesky younger brothers she has seem to always be in the bathroom when she needs it)

5. No teen room is complete without a bulletin board to pin up pictures of your friends, and your celebrity crushes. This is an easy DIY Madelyn can do herself, with a large poster frame (which she can paint any colour she wants) and some sheets of cork board. 

6. Slightly more sophisticated bedding with yellow and gray stripes is something that can grow with her to a more adult room down the line. Some nice yellow, and dark gray pillows, and a cozy yellow throw complete the look.

7. A great yellow area rug like this one, or this one placed under the bed, help to anchor the room, and define a sleep space. Or, if a larger rug isn't exactly what she's wanting, a smaller,  circular rug placed at the side of the bed provides some warmth and texture on her feet when she first gets out of bed.

8. Graduating from a small twin bed to a larger double bed is a great feeling. And this fabulous, girly white canopy bed is an excellent choice for Madelyn - who of course spends lots of time chatting on her bed with her girl friends. She has the option of leaving it open,  which is fun, or if she wants some privacy - or to block out that pesky morning sun on weekends - she can put up some curtains, and shut out the world.

9. A slew of fun black and white pillows, like this, this, this, this, or this accent the bed, or furry chair. A teenage girl can never have too many pillows.

10. A lamp situated on the bed side table, in a fun shape and yellow colour, allow some light white reading, and is again something that is fun, but still able to grow as she does, and could find itself in another room, later on in life.

11. No bedroom is complete without a nightstand, and this option can either stay wood toned, or be painted white, for a more overall coordinated look. It's a fun piece that has more of a modern flair to it, with lots of storage for books, or magazines that are enjoyed while in bed. 

So there's Madelyn's room, I know I'm probably biased, but I really like it. Even though I strongly dislike pink, I could see myself in this room as a teenager.

Kitchen Files: Butt Candy

No, not in the candy G-string type of butt candy...that Jason threatened to wear to my ABC birthday party - which he thankfully did NOT, nobody needed to see his man bits dangling through the gaps, it was bad enough we all to bear witness to Brad's cheecks. I'm talking about "eye candy" for your tush haha.

 Since we’ve finished slapping up some walls, and the cabinets are coming together (albeit rather slowly), it’s time to start thinking about all the actual creation we have to do. There are a number of features in the kitchen we are choosing to DIY to save money; such as the concrete countertop – which we will hopefully be starting around the beginning of March. We are planning on building the table for the kitchen, along with the built in storage benches, and quite possibly stools for the peninsula. So naturally, I’ve been searching for any sort of inspiration we can use as a jumping off point for our own construction.

Here’s a reminder of what the layout of the kitchen will look like, and where the benches and table will go. The benches will be about 6ft long along the long wall, and about 4ft long on the other to take them to about the window. And we’re hoping to be able to get as much storage as possible from them. We don’t really need the storage right now, but we’re positive we will down the road, and there’s really no such thing as too much storage right? We’ve been debating whether we want a flip top, or drawers, or if we want back and seat cushions, or just pillows, or nothing at all. Do we want a rectangle table, or an oval? Yeesh, I guess I somehow just imagined it miraculously looking perfectly put together after we built the frames for them haha. So I pulled from a few of my favourites from Pinterest to hopefully come up with something that will best suit us, as well as our space.

I'm drawn to the fun colour combinations of this...and it definitely helps with my "pillows are better" argument. I also like the drawer idea, although I'm not a fan of the look of those knobs, I think they'd bug your legs too.

Here's another take on the drawer idea. I really like this idea...much more than the drawer from the front idea - this way you don't have to slide the table out of the way - or crawl under it. Plus we have the room for this type of style. I feel as though the more I look at the benches, the more I want cusions haha...it just seems sort of cold without any butt cushion. But the drawers with their clever dividers really strike a chord with me.

I absolutely love the look of this bench. I love the simplicity of the cushions, the back one that goes all the way to the floor, elongating the line of the bench. I'm also fond of the open end...a great place to store cookbooks perhaps??? It would work best with the flip top type of storage access.

Another fun drawer option, with pillows...I'd like to order a view like that please!

A little too formal for our tastes and style, although the table is right up my ally.

I love the look of this table. The clean lines, and low profile of it are ideal for letting a fun bench show through, and isn't bulky or heave if or when you'd have to pull it away to gain access to the storage compartments.

So there's our inspiration for the corner of our room. We're still trying to work out everything that goes with it...but we both agree that the table in the last picture will be waht we go with, a) becuase it's a sort of timeless look too it, and b) it really won't be hard to build. In terms of the benches we're rather torn on the style. I'm pro drawer from the side (like the second picture) but Jason doesn't really like that idea, not that he'd give another suggestion or anything haha. A flip top style might be easier to build, but in the long run, and in terms of functionality, I think a drawer would be best. And I am leaning more towards the third picture for cushion configuration. Hopefully we can start building very soon!