Sneak Peek: The pedestal is in!

Yep, that's right: the walls and trim are painted and the pedestal is in!

Still lots of work to do, but we're getting there!

Major Kitchen Organization Overhaul Update: Washer/Dryer Pedestal Has Been Built!

Whew! That took a looong time! We started the washer/dryer pedestal in May and we're technically not finished (I'm still putting the finishing painting touches on it, but we'll save that for another post, shall we?). It didn't need to take that long. And, actually, the part I'm posting about today didn't; it only took a few hours one Sunday. It's been the painting and trim and all that stuff that has gone sloooowly. 

The main reason why the project crawled along at a snail's pace was because the pedestal can't be brought in until the wall behind the washer and dryer is finished and painted, so there's no sense worrying too much about getting it done in a hurry. But now that there is a visible (albeit faint) light at the end of the Wall Treatment Tunnel, I wanted to get the pedestal all finished up so it's ready when the walls are done. I took some pictures of the progress. Like I said, the final, finished painted project will be discussed in a forth-coming post. 

Our pedestal was inspired by Sausha's pedestal that we found on Ana White's blog.

We started with 2 x 4s, 2 x 6s, 4 x 4s (treated)...

...and a big ol' piece of 3/4" treated plywood.

A few hours of this...

Got us this...

...then this...

....and, finally, THIS!

Ok, I know this isn't all that impressive, but it was a super big deal to me. Our first big "furniture" carpentry project!

I'll probably finish the rest of the pedestal this weekend, so stop by again for a final reveal :-)

Sunday Style - Perfect Autumn Outfits

Though those of us living in Texas still have at least a month of hot, 90-100+ temps to contend with before things start to get comfy around here in October, I've got fall on the brain bad. Even then, the weather really won't be conducive to the kind of clothes that my New England brain will always associate with fall: cardigans, leather boots, pretty scarves. But, hey, a girl can dream (and plan for Texas autumn, which happens in about...oh-I-don't-know...December). In dreaming, I discovered Polyvore this morning, so now I really probably will never get anymore DIY projects done! But at least I created a few perfect fall outfits.

They have some ridiculously over-priced items in them, but I looooove to try to find cheap versions of expensive stuff to achieve the same look on a dime. I'm going to do that with these outfits, so I'll keep you updated on my finds. For now, dream with me...of pumpkin lattes, a fire in the hearth, and the ability to go outside once more. 

Fall 2012 - Perfectly Simple by widgapae

Fall 2012 - Simple Red Flats and Top Shop Blazer by widgapae featuring slim tees

LBD with Autumn Twist by widgapae featuring drop earrings

Major Kitchen Organization Overhaul Update 7: Paneling is All Up!

The walls of my laundry room are covered in horizontal paneling!!! 

Big Tex and I finished putting up the panels this afternoon. In total, it took six packages of EverTrue Plank Paneling. At $10.97 a package, that's a pretty darn cheap wall treatment! Thanks to Karen at the The Quaint Cottage for leading me to these super affordable and easy-to-work-with panels. 

The project is far from done. The panels still need to be trimmed out, caulked, primed, and painted, but this is still a huge step. It feels like a major milestone and I'm super psyched :-)

What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?

I'm always looking for a palatable and convenient way to eat more vegetables, especially leafy greens (which I don't really like). So this morning I made me a little smoothie with about 2 cups of nutrient-loaded spinach in it, and it was gooooood. Check out the recipe below:

Widgapae Green Smoothie

2 cups spinach

1 banana

1 mango

1/2 cup plain, non-fat yogurt

1 packet of stevia

Water (as much as you need to achieve your preferred consistency)

Blend it all up and enjoy!

Major Kitchen Organization Overhaul Update 6: Paneling Sneak Peek!

Just a quick little update to show you some major awesome: 
The laundry room paneling has begun!

Getting My Brain Straight: What I Want Out of the Laundry Room

The laundry room project is on like donkey kong; I am conquering my fear and tackling it! As I was determining the levelness of the walls and marking out lines in 4-inch increments, I realized I needed one last soul-searching, inspiration list for exactly what I want out of this laundry room. Once the paneling and painting are done, I need to get going on the details that will make this room worth all the work that is going into it!

What do we use it for?

• Laundry (duh)
• Our washer and dryer
• Ironing board
• Laundry baskets
• Laundry soaps, etc.
• Clothes that need to hang dry
• Cleaning products
• Household product storage
• Light bulbs
• Paper towels
• Batteries
• Extra Soap
• Recycling
• Plastic
• Paper
• Aluminum
• Plastic bags
• Dog stuff
• Dog food container
• Dog bowls
• Miscellaneous dog accouterments
• Informal entryway (it opens to the garage, which is where we always come into and leave the house)
• Keys
• Sunglasses
• Spare change
• Purse/Bags
• Coats (in the winter)
• Shoes (I shouldn't keep my shoes here, but sometimes I just can't help kicking them off as soon as I walk in...)

This is not a large room we're talking about. We're lucky in that it's not a tiny closet, but it's pretty small and it wears a lot of hats. So I really want to maximize space and  squeeze every last inch out of the room. Oh, and I want it to be pretty. :-)

Here are some inspirational ways to deal with the above requirements: 

Ana White Homemaker

This takes care of both the washer/dryer issue and the laundry baskets. Bam!

Trends and Traditions

I love the idea of using an old dresser and turning the top into an ironing board. I'd have to find one that fit in the space next to our dryer pretty snugly, or think of a really good way to use the gap space. 

Piccsy

If we go with the ironing dresser route, I'd like to do something like this with the bottom drawer (but with three food bowls, instead of one food and one water bowl). 

Martha Stewart

Super easy solution for clothes that can't go in the dryer. I'll hang this below the small, high cabinets above the ironing board space (see current pics here). 

Martha Stewart

I don't really want to make this recycling center in the laundry room, but I think it would be perfect right outside the door on the garage wall. 

Martha Stewart

Love this simple idea for organizing coats and accessories. Smaller baskets would be great for sunglasses and other smallish things like hats, mittens, and purses. 

Martha Stewart

What about an ironing table instead of an ironing dresser? I'd be giving up storage space in the drawers, but I love the shoe tray underneath the table. Hmmm...


Gotta get the paneling and painting done, then I can get to this fun stuff! Ok, I'm going, I'm going...