Stuff you want to see

Ok...so we've been busy doing a bunch of little projects. Let me start with our headboard. For those of you who have been to our house, you might have noticed that we haven't done much at all to the "master bedroom". It's the only area upstairs (minus the going-to-rip-out-bathroom) that isn't finished with baseboards and trim. No decorations, no window treatments. Basically just carpet and paint. And Joel and I had talked about wanting to do a headboard eventually but it was at the very bottom of the looooooong to-do list. So I just subjected myself to thinking that it probably wouldn't happen this year and I was fine with that. Then....Joel started working on the window trim (he is actually again as I'm typing this). He had a lot of extra scrap pieces, and he was thinking...hmmm what can I do with these? Props to my man for coming up with the design. I loved it b/c it was edgy & different. Then we went back and forth on the what to stain it or just to leave it all natUral....

As seen below:

Option 1: stain it to match our wood flooring

Option 2: stain it like barnwood

Option 3: leave it natural..with a clear coat

I'm sure some of you might have chosen differently. Joel was actually leaning towards the all natural, but I always lean towards the ashy/rugged look. Thankfully he let me have the final say and I picked Option 2. I even decided to stain it on the unfinished side. Add that extra bit of texture.

All he had to do was cut the pieces to length and I stained them all with a light white/grey base & then rubbed some Spanish oak on top of that. Then added a clear coat. It only took us about 10 minutes to nail it to the wall...and bada-BOOM...instant headboard. Scrap pieces + stain on hand = FREE!!

So here's the BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

We did spend a little money on these beautiful sconces from Restoration Hardware. Found them on super sale online. I love them soooo much! They totally keep in with the vibe of the house. And my super-handy-man drilled a whole in the bottom of the plate and added a little light switch so we can just reach up and switch off the light..soo convenient! He wired it all in himself and it looks and works beautifully. Those bulbs add such a warm light to the room too. Like a soft glow from a fireplace.

And while we're in the master. Check out my view from my bed. Ohhh WAIT....is that a brand new window? Well yes it is...I'm so glad you noticed. Now to find time to make the window treatments...GRrrrrrrrrrrrr. Anyone feel like taking that project off my hands???? I would love you till the end of time.

More windows going in. Joel and I hefted that beast out of there all by our selfsies. Not gonna lie..his muscles are at least 5 times larger than mine...so he carried 83 & 1/3% and I carried 16 & 2/3%. Yeah my genius of a husband just gave me those stats...but he did say that he would give me a little more credit than that. Why thank you dearest husband.

Ok I know Joel is trying to do the "bend and snap" in this pic. But try to pry your eyes away from his tooshie (um...yeah I never say that but sometimes really cheesy words pop in my brain whilst blogging)...and focus on our brand new windows!

Oh and did you know that I'm the avid gardener now? Yup. Um...nope. I mean I try but I am not a natural green thumb. But I'm liking it so far. Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for helping me with a lot of the prep work of cleaning things out and picking out all my plants. Look at those happy little guys just chillin on my deck.

I still had a bit of clean up to do. Look how mangled that side flower bed looked.

So here's the BEFORE:

Annnnddd after a load of topsoil and some TLC...the AFTER:

I have a bunch of wildflower seedlings just beginning to sprout. Can't wait to have my own "field" of wildflowers.

Flower bed under the master window...

Ooooooooooo.....check out all the colORS!!

Here's a BEFORE shot of the other flower bed and the old window:

and the AFTER!! Ohhh sweet Moses you so prEETtyyyy!

And look at this. Hello my little flowA! She just opened up this morning and she is a beeeeUty!!

So RECAP....old shutters, old windows, nasty flower beds, and mossy mossy lawn.

Ohhhhhh YESSSSSSAAAA!! Brand new windows...especially those casement windows. Look at Kai (my little Vana) displaying the swinging action! And those grubby shutters gone...and my beautimous flowery beds and I'm just noticing this now...how GREEN-TASTIC my lawn looks compared to the before picture.

Lawn BEFORE:

Lawn AFTER: (still some bald spots but we've got him on a good diet)

Bonus to having SUPER nice neighbors? We scored this old lawn mower for ZERO moola.

And the spoils of having a freshly cut lawn? A family picnic dinner.

O-kAy....into random shots that make me happy.

Jakey devouring a massive cob.

Jakey trying...and succeeding to shoot out of that bazooka NERF gun. (Thanks to Chris & Dano for that birthday present to Kai)

The Jakester rocking out after the church service. This pretty much goes down every Sunday. It's in his blood.

Random shot of some Quinoa milk that I made for my allergic little man. Now I no longer have to buy the expensive stuff from the store...this Mama knows how to make it from scratch. Pat on the back...thank you.

Who is this good lookin kid? Woah little heartbreaker! Here he is super proud that he made that bird house with daddies help.

Joel and I took Kai on a date to see "The Croods" (hilarious and cute) and the boys went into the "hurricane machine" afterwards. Snapped this candid. Makes me break out my pearly whites....ugh my golden nuggets?

Good times with Tia Betsy. She LOVES reading books in all her many voices/accents. The kids absolutely love it...lover HER!

And we've had the pleasure of hanging out with Trevor on some Wednesdays. It's a handful with these little guys but a lot of fun too.

 

That's it my pretty's...happy long weekend to you Canadians..and um..happy weekend to the rest of my peeps.

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