I love it when a plan comes together. (A before and after.)

I completed a project!

This is a big deal. I am the queen of leaving things half-baked when is comes to up-cycling and repurpose-ing (am I making up words with hyphens now?). Ironic, considering my children's tendency toward the same half-baked-ness drives me absolutely batty. *ahem*

I'm really not that bad. It's a matter of lacking storage, really. If I had a garage or barn where I could store pieces until I had a chance to work on them, nobody would notice. As it is, my dining room is my work space and often my storage space - I paint, saw, and sand there if it's too hot, cold or humid, or the piece is too heavy or cumbersome to take it outdoors.

So it was with this latest project which involved a heavy wood door that I turned into a headboard in our master bedroom.

 Before - big bed, no headboard.

Let me give you a bit of a timeline.

Sometime this spring I brought 3 old interior doors home from work. I saved them from the Dumpster after they were torn out during a renovation project in our 100-yr-old building. For a few weeks those doors leaned up against a wall in my house. Two of them are still there awaiting future projects. The third was the perfect height to turn lengthwise and use as a headboard.

So I set about making plans. Surfed Pinterest boards to find a simple design I liked. Picked up some paint stripper thinking if the wood underneath those layers of (probably lead-based) paint looked any good I would give it a rich-looking stain.

Over weeks I had paint-stripping and scraping sessions which involved me carrying this heavy door outside, spraying or spreading paint stripper on it, waiting oh-so-impatiently for the stuff to do its magic, scraping, sanding, and eventually moving the door back inside, frustrated that I couldn't remove the paint as easily as I had hoped.

(I took pictures during this process and promptly lost them when my cell phone went kaput because who really backs their stuff up to the cloud?)

I finally abandoned the idea of staining the wood and sanded the old paint off as well as I could (wearing a mask, of course ... which makes me sweat just thinking about it.) I even got out the Dremel to sand the intricate little corners ... which I then abandoned because it would have required more time and effort than I was willing to give on this project.

I decided to re-paint the door using the bright blue paint I had purchased for our master bathroom (another item still on the to-do list).

I painted it. Painted again. Did a little distressing with sandpaper. Realized the door had a sour/musty smell that did not go away with layers of new paint. Googled it. Discovered shellac was probably the answer. Bought some shellac. Got busy with life in the height of summer and moved the door so I wouldn't be tripping over it. Finally decided it was time to knock this sucker out and vowed I would complete it by the time I went to bed on Sunday.

So I went to town after church yesterday and bought a $3 piece of wood for the ledge and $2.36 worth of heavy duty wood screws. The crown molding I already had - it must have been an extra piece because it's been floating around in our closet since we bought the house. I grabbed a scrap 2X4 from my in-laws', which I would use as a little extra support for the door to sit on.

There were a couple of casualties.

I broke off one of those 3-inch screws that was supposed to hold this large piece of wood on the wall above my head. My fault. Because of course the walls in this house are not straight, and of course I had to push my luck and try to use a 59-cent screw to bend a solid wood door to the shape of the wall. FAIL. Don't try that, kids.

Also? I need a new level.

We should have a moment of silence for this guy. I remember buying this when we installed the tile floor in our front room. It has been with me through many a project, but I didn't realize I had left it on the bed and I sat on it. Oops.

Once I made up my mind on the paint scheme - Paint over the shellac? Leave the shellac as the top layer with the aged/yellowish look? - it was relatively easy going. Here's a shot after the door was up but before I installed the ledge:

The ledge was easy - cut to size, paint, and tack it on. The crown molding? No. Crown molding is from the debil. If you are a whiz at cutting and installing crown molding please don't tell me how easy it is. I will never do it again. I will buy those cheater pieces so I don't have to figure out any corners.

Fortunately I'm a whiz with spackle and sandpaper. And paint. Paint covers a multitude of mistakes.

Voila! The finished product.

I have some finish work to do on it - a little more spackle and touching up the paint, but I think it looks pretty cool. I'm not sure yet what I'll put on the ledge, but I love the idea of some large black and white family photos.
 

We have lived in this house for 14 years. We have added character with paint, wallpaper, flooring, furniture, etc., to every room of the house except this one - until just a few months ago when I finally painted the dirty white walls a soothing green (it really is pretty, but the lighting in these photos makes it look kinda' drab). More and more as the kids get older and stay up later I tend to retreat to my bedroom for some quiet time; now it feels less like a punishment and more like a haven where I can read a book, watch what I want on TV, take a snooze, or on the rare occasion that he's home, enjoy some quality time with my husband.

 Before:

 After:

I love it!

Now if I could just get that master bathroom painted ...

The only thing we can really count on ... is change.

Forget death and taxes. "Change" is forever the word of the day for the Pipe Lifers. What's that they say? "A rolling stone gathers no moss?" I suppose back in the day being a "rolling stone" was not such a great thing. Always moving around, never sticking in one place or with one task for very long doesn't give a person (or family) time to grow roots ... hence, not much stability.

But I look at it differently. My life never lacks excitement; I'm always on my toes. There's no risk of monotony here (with the exception of the weather, but that's par for the course during Michigan winters). And I wouldn't know how to live any other way. Except that my life is all about being adaptable, so if I ever had a stretch of all-the-same-all-the-time I'd figure that out, too.

Here's the thing, though: I'm a girl who loves a plan. I have a need to know what's ahead. Good, bad or ugly, just let me know so I can be prepared ... that's what I'm always telling Steve. I am forever running through scenarios and what-ifs in my mind, and that's not always a bad thing. It's not worry, per se (though I've done my share of that, too), just a need to be one step ahead. No surprises. Even if we're taking the road less traveled, please just give me some notice so I can pack a bag, ya' know?

And so it is, and has been with us lately.

Not more than a week ago Steve was telling me he'd be working in Colorado longer than expected. I was making plans to fly out there with the kids for spring break at the end of March. I was also slightly cranky that our income taxes were still sitting on the accountant's desk, not done yet. I was counting on that refund to buy some plane tickets.

Well. God has His own timing, doesn't He? Steve may be leaving Colorado in the next couple weeks, taking a short-term job closer to home to get us by until the next big project - the one we've been waiting on - starts around the first of May.

And that would be a good thing, because having Steve within a day's drive from home would make it much easier for us to visit. I haven't seen my sweetheart since December 30th and that's just too long.

I'm sure glad I didn't have a chance to buy those plane tickets to CO. Hmph.

Of course nothing is ever "official" until it actually happens, so I try not to get too excited. The key for me is staying busy here at home, and I've certainly been doing that lately. Aside from the usual shuttling kids around and keeping the household running smoothly, there's always plenty of organizing and decluttering to do, and I've gotten some painting done in the kitchen and the hall bath. This week Sam and I tore up the nasty old carpet in the living room. I don't have anything to replace it with yet, but I'm not scared to walk around on sub-floors for a while. (Helloooo, summer project.) My allergy-prone body is already thanking me for getting that carpet out of here. Steve's not gonna' recognize the place by the time he gets home again.

And the dogs, of course, keep me busy while the kids are at school during the day. I'm looking forward to warmer weather when I can enjoy being outside with them as much as they enjoy being out there.

That's about all I've got as far as updates on us. Not a whole lot of news ... and that's not all bad.

Procrastination is biting me in the butt.

We have more fresh snow this morning. It was a pleasant surprise, I can't lie. But it was just a fluffy inch or so ... not enough to hide all the stuff on the patio I haven't put away yet.

I do this every. stinkin. year.

I did at least get the lawn mowed one last time before the weather turned really cold, so our front yard doesn't look like the snow fell on a hay field. But I still have patio furniture and flower pots scattered hither and yon. At least most of them are empty - I did get around to doing that. But every time I walk in or out the front door I am reminded of these half-done projects and it grinds on my nerves. I don't know why I let it bother me so much; it's my own darn fault. I need to use that annoyance as motivation to get it done, though. It looks like temps will be a little warmer this weekend so maybe I'll ask Rachel to bundle up and help me.

One thing I have not been procrastinating on is my Christmas shopping. I'm feeling pretty good about having checked some items off my list, and even got a few of them wrapped today. I've got some Christmas tunes playing and I'm about to pull out some decorations. The more I think about it though, the more I am convinced we should keep the decor very simple this year with the puppy still "exploring" everything/everywhere with his mouth. Gunnar was just at the vet on Monday and he weighed in at 66 pounds. He's five months old and he's huge. His tail alone could take down an 8-foot Christmas tree. So we're going small, fake and on top of a table with the tree, and we'll make it as fabulous as we can. If I have a tree all lit up and my nativity scene set out I'll be happy. I'm really looking forward to doing some crafts and baking and watching Christmas movies with the kids leading up to their holiday break from school. And hopefully Steve will have a nice long break from work over the holidays, too.

My goal is to have a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas season ... starting now!

A bedroom makeover fit for a tween.

Ten years old is a "tween" age, no? That in between, "not a little kid anymore but not technically a teenager" age?

That would be my daughter. My lovely, spirited, girly-girl when she wants to be, tough when she has to be, younger child.

Steve bought her a t-shirt for her birthday this year that I think perfectly fits her personality. It's from Smith & Wesson, it's black and has the S&W logo in bright pink writing and in white says, "Yeah, I shoot like a girl."

But lest you think pink is her favorite color, she would quickly (and loudly) tell you pink was so yesterday. She has moved on to purple. How befitting. Because purple is the color of royalty, ya' know.

Regardless of her current fave, no 10-yr-old really likes mustard yellow (she says with authority). And that's the color Rachel's room was before we repainted the walls this week.

Now, in my defense, the deep yellow perfectly matched a beautiful antique toy-themed wallpaper border we hung in that room when Rachel was about a week old. It was a sweet little nursery with a honey-colored crib and a quilt rack and a set of shelves that held mementos from the hospital and little stuffed bears and bunnies and pictures in frames.

No more.

Rachel's room is now striped with teal blue, white and purple paint, with sparkly sheer curtains and bright white book shelves. She traded the big, old painted bookcase her Papa made for her for an old sewing table I had that she now uses for a desk. She has new lamps, a few new storage containers, and rugs with a hint of zebra stripe on their borders.

Her fuzzy new comforter should be here within the week ... I still need to hang the curtains that will block out the light ... the trim around the doors and window need to be painted white, as does her bedside table ... and we have a new bed picked out which we will order as soon as the funds are freed up in our budget. But even with a handful of things yet to do to finish off this room, Rachel is really enjoying her new space.

So, without further ado ... some pictures.

 Before ... 

Sweet, no?

Once we got the wallpaper border off we started by painting a white stripe around the middle.

Then we taped it off and painted purple on the bottom section.

And then blue above the white stripe.

Once the painting was done it was all about the furniture and accessories.

Rachel now spends more time in that room than she ever has. She loves it, and that makes me so happy.

 Fun, huh?

Every tween girl needs her own space, and this one's pretty cool. Rachel and I spent most of a week working on it while her brother was away at summer camp.

Time well spent, indeed.

BUSY! And some garden photos - woohoo!

We have been so busy. Crazy busy. And while I do try to take a few minutes here and there to enjoy some quiet time for myself, the world doesn't stop just because I am wicked tired.

So, what have we been up to? Let's see. Steve has been working his tail off within the high-security walls of the Marathon oil refinery in Detroit. I don't pretend to understand everything he does. He is responsible for making sure certain contractors do everything by the book and according to the customer's specs and safety guidelines. He has the perfect mix of patience and assertiveness to be a pipeline inspector. I? Would not. I have the "people person" part down, but the patience ... not so much. So mostly I pray for my husband's safety, be supportive when he needs to vent frustrations to me, and try to keep things at a dull roar at home so Steve can focus on his job.

This week was a toughie as far as that "dull roar" thing was concerned. I was unavailable to answer my phone at the moment Sam's school principal called to tell me about some trouble our boy had gotten into at school, so daddy ended up getting that call at work. Hey, it's all part of being a parent, and Steve is great about that, too. I can't be two places at once or available to everybody at all times. But I was sorry Steve had to deal with the initial impact. In the end it was a bit of a hiccup in everyone's day, but you'll have that sometimes.

Sam, I think, will be the happiest kid on the planet when school is done for the year. He has little motivation for school work to begin with, and even less when he makes a poor choice (nothing malicious, just a "bone-headed" thing to do, as I like to say) and it results in revoked privileges and more chores at home. He does have a fire in his gut for other stuff, and will stay up late at night to work on something he loves. And he's been incredibly helpful to me as I've worked on creating new garden spaces at home.

Here he is filling our new raised beds with fresh black dirt. Over the past few weeks we have shoveled and shoveled and raked and shoveled some more.

And he even planted a few of his own plants:

This is one of two pots Sam planted - this one's habanero peppers and he also has cayenne peppers. 

Now what in God's name do you think we're going to do with all those peppers?! I sure ain't eatin' 'em. But hey, caring for some plants and watching them bear fruit is a simple thing that brings him joy. It's all good. (And I do believe he will eat them. He's into this "the hotter the better" kick.)

Rachel has been busy - and has kept me busy - with a little bit of everything. She was so excited for her track and field day at school this week that she was up early that day and crawled into bed with me to wake me up. She had a bag all packed with her lunch, sunscreen, a blanket to sit on, snacks and extra water. I had a chance to stop by the track as I went from one commitment to the next, and I was so glad I did. I watched her win on the last leg of a relay, then watched her take 2nd place in a sprint. She came home with five or six ribbons that day. We might have a runner on our hands!

Rachel has also been helping me in any way she can with my gardens. When we finally started planting I dug up my clump of chives from one garden (which I have given to Rachel to grow flowers for a little cut-flower business she wants to start) and moved them to the new raised veggie beds. Rach had to take a picture of the roots ... I think they're pretty healthy.

To the left there, behind the chives, you can see Kevin. Kevin is a blinged-out garden ornament bird Rachel got me for Mother's Day. She named him after the bird from the movie "Up." Kevin's pretty cool.

I have been gardening a lot. I have built garden boxes, shoveled/loaded/unloaded sand and soil, hauled brick pavers, hoisted and dumped bags of pea stone, built a chicken wire cover to keep the cats out of the garden beds (Oh look!! Giant litter boxes!), and finally got to do some planting. All of that I have done in my spare time when I wasn't picking asparagus for the neighbors, babysitting for another neighbor, tending to my own children, preparing for a trip to Washington, DC with Rachel and about 200,000 other Girl Scouts (have I mentioned that?), nurturing relationships with family and friends, and taking care of all the "regular" household tasks a mama takes care of. It's no wonder I'm tired!

But I do so love these gardens. Last night after the kids had gone to bed I sat on the patio with just the glow of some solar lights, the cool breeze, listening to frogs croaking and crickets chirping ... and I watched the stars appear. I just sat there in the shadows of all this hard work we've been putting in. How often do we take the time to just sit? To just ... be?

I kicked back in that cheap plastic Adirondack chair and thought how nice it would be to have a chaise lounger for the patio. And then I started to think about upgrading the cafe table we have to a nicer set that could seat our whole family ... and more potted plants ... more color ... and a fire pit ... and, and, and ... and I had to stop myself. Reign in it, just like I tell my kids to do. I did, and then I was able to appreciate my surroundings even more. I was able to focus on that feeling of joy, that smile I always smile when I get home after a busy day and see butterflies floating and bumblebees buzzing around the plants scattered all over the yard - and wow, there has been an abundance of all kinds of flying creatures this year. My goal is to enjoy them ... to enjoy the peace they bring me, and savor the joy I feel when I am tinkering in my gardens. And when the light of the day fades, to just sit and know that no matter what happened during the day, tomorrow will dawn bright and new.

Oh! Here are the pictures I promised ...

Time for a little dusting.

Holy smokes. Y'all? We got some MUCH needed rain last night. And now the layer of dust on everything in my house is doubly obvious to me.

You know, more obvious in the sense that I can't look at it today and say, "oh well, no sense in clearing that away because it will just be dusty again in five minutes."

So here I am, to-do list in hand, kids off to school, myself all properly caffeinated and in comfy clothes and hair whispies pulled back in one of those best-inventions-ever (if it would actually stay on my head) stretchy bands ... I got Pandora streaming through my TV and windows cracked open - because people? It was 82 degrees in my bedroom when I went to bed last night. I am not kidding! And I couldn't really keep the windows open because it was raining as I fell asleep.

It's all good though, because we're having air-conditioning installed in the house this week. Praise Jesus! We have always been fortunate to have a window AC unit that cooled the house nicely in the summer, but I hated how it blocked a window in the front of the house all summer long. And that I had to call on someone to help me put it in. And take it out. And last year I actually had some duct tape around the edges to seal it around the window on the inside. Now, I do love me some duct tape, but that was pretty ghetto.

So in a few days I'm gonna feel like a princess. I might not leave the house for a while.

But today? Cinderella. Time for me to get started.

That "good" kind of tired.

I am exhausted.

Eggs. Hoss. Ted.

But it's that worked-really-hard-out-in-the-fresh-air-and-sunshine kind of exhaustion, so it's all good. Except that my entire body hurts, too.

And I mean everything hurts. From stem to stern. Even my fingertips.

Yesterday I spent most of the day shoveling sand to fill in low spots in our yard, and peeling sod away from one end of the house where I decided I'd build a flower bed. I planted a few perennials there a couple years ago and thought I'd be fine mowing around them. I was wrong. What happens is either the grass grows a foot tall before I find the time to rip it down by hand, or I lose half my hosta plants because I insist my teenage son go all the way around the house with the weed whacker.

Today I bought some landscape timbers and this evening Sam and I started setting them in place to define the edges of the flower bed. It won't take very many, but because we're working on a bit of a slope it takes some time to get them level. Hopefully I'll finish that up tomorrow and then I'll just need to get some good soil to fill in and I can plant some more plants there, too.

I also have a stack of lumber and plans drawn out for some more raised garden beds. These I'm going to build at the end of our patio with stone pavers in between. There's nothing like walking out the front door and picking fresh veggies for dinner or some fresh herbs to add to a salad.

I'm really getting excited to put some plants in the ground - some veggie plants that will eventually provide us some sustenance, and some colorful annuals. But it's still a little early in the season and I'm not crazy about having to cover plants to avoid frost, so I'm keeping busy with preparations. It's so rewarding to see the progress after a few hours of work, and to know that I will enjoy a lot of the things I'm working on year after year.

If my body cooperates and the rain holds off I'll be back out there tomorrow. And I'll take some pictures. Tonight, I rest. Sleep's gonna' come pretty easy.

Swapping out a light fixture.

I did it! I hung a light fixture. All by myself. And it works!

This is a big thing for me. I have this fear of anything having to do with electricity. I like being able to hit the switch and have the lights come on, but I don't really want to have anything to do with what happens within the walls to make it work.

Alas, my go-to guy (Steve) isn't around and the last thing I want to ask him to do when he finally gets some time at home is to hang a light fixture. (Although I did find out it's pretty uncomplicated, it just helps to have another set of hands to assist. Which I didn't.)

I've been on the lookout for lighting fixtures for ... ever. Our house is full of builder-grade brassy, cheap-looking fixtures and I'm tired of looking at them. But rather than spending hundreds of dollars for a bunch of new fixtures, I have kept my eyes open for fun, funky, used (or clearance priced) fixtures with character.

A few months back I bought this one at the Habitat ReStore:

I wasn't sure where it would end up, but I knew it would look better than any of the lights we had in the house. I purchased it with the idea that I would spray paint it, and once I decided where it would go I chose Rust-Oleum's Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze.

$15! Not bad. Maybe not as great as a garage sale price, but certainly better than new. 

And yes, the glass really was that dirty.

Here is what I was replacing:

Looks safe, no?

And classy.

I don't even remember how long that "temporary" fixture has been hanging there. It's one of those things that we got used to, and it started blending into the background.

Well, NO MORE!

I luuuuurve this new light.

And though I can't say I am totally over my fear of working near electricity, I can at least tell you I will attempt a similar project again, with a little less trepidation.

Neat detail, huh? It has almost a Moroccan feel. I likey.

The glass cleaned up fine (but even if it hadn't I wouldn't care - I'd put the light up without it), the paint looks good (though I do have a couple touchups to do), and best of all the light actually worked when I turned it on.

I do have a couple of adjustments to make. The screws that came with the crossbar that attaches to the box in the ceiling weren't long enough, so I had to dig through my toolbox to find some replacements. They'll work for now, but if you look closely - in person, maybe not on the pics - you can see the canopy isn't quite flush with the ceiling. Definitely gotta' fix that. But overall, I think I did pretty good!

So now I can add something to my list of possible projects I can do myself. Win!

'I got a bee in my bonnet.'

Ever hear that expression? Ever get that feeling? Like you've been pondering an idea and now you need to do something about it?

I got a bee in my bonnet last night - not sure why, but hey, when the mood strikes I figure I better use it to my advantage.

So what did I do? Not dishes. Not laundry. Not vacuuming. No shaking rugs or changing bed linens. No taking out the trash. All of which needed to be done.

No. The most pressing thing on my list was putting the Christmas decorations away. Which meant taking them down. Yes. It was January 19th and I still had bulbs and beaded garland and all sorts of Christmasy stuff hangin' around. Including a tree. NOT the "real" tree - the one we all insist we want, even though nobody wants to remember to water it; that was taken down weeks ago - but the smaller, artificial tree that was decorated with all the kids' ornaments from over the years. The one that stood in the living room.

It just didn't bother me all that much to still have it up. I seriously considered leaving it for a while longer. But then I remembered how dusty this house gets, and how much I hate dusting.

So I forced myself to get it all packed up and tucked away under the bed and in a closet. Even though I'm never quite ready to see the last of it go.

Clearing out those spaces gets me excited to do a little more decluttering around the house (it's an ongoing effort) and to tackle a couple DIY projects I've been meaning to get to. So here I go ... I'm going to write it here to keep myself accountable. First up: I need to figure out some sort of "system" for the kids' area near the front door. We put up sets of hooks for each of them a couple years ago and they quickly got into the habit of dropping/hanging their things where they need to go when they come in the door, but - and I'll show you with pictures - that area always seems to look unkept. Or rather, be unkept. I have some ideas for it, but we'll see how (or if) they pan out.

Wish me luck.

Easy peasy DIY: Spray-painted sconces.

I am constantly on the lookout for frugal finds that can add character to our home.

As if, considering the personalities who live in this house, we need any more character. But I digress.

I've gotten into the habit of stopping by a local thrift store or three on a weekly basis. I do things a little differently than many thrifters; instead of having a list of items I watch for, I have a mental list of spaces I am trying to brighten up and I stay open to using anything that might work for any of those spaces. It could be a mirror, a piece of furniture, picture frames (with photos, printed quotes, or even empty), old wood or containers repurposed in some creative way.

One of my recent  finds was this pair of sconces.

I picked them up at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $2 each.

  Nice little detail.

A little wood ... a little metal.

 A little rust, even.

 Now, before I show you what I did with them I just want to point out a few reasons I choose second-hand items whenever I can.

1. It keeps stuff out of the landfills, and that's important to me. I need to remind myself of this when I am disappointed by a rather hefty price tag on a thrift store item. ($5 for an old Mason jar with a glass lid? REALLY?) Often the prices are similar to those for which I could find an item NEW on clearance at Walmart. Sometimes I'll pass. Sometimes I really like the second-hand item and I will go ahead and buy it. It just depends.

2. It's cheaper. Nevermind what you just read above. When you get down to it, if I outfitted my home via a Pottery Barn catalog ... or even the JCPenney catalog, it would cost a small fortune. Buying most of our decor from thrift stores and garage sales (and yes, the occasional clearance rack) lets me stretch the budget a little further. Plus, it often means we're supporting a good cause, too.

3. Quality. Many of the things I pick up second-hand have been taken out of old houses or donated to Goodwill because they appear to be past their prime. Old. Outdated. I love it when I pick something up and there's some heft to it. I love it even more when I flip it over and see an old, faded sticker that says "Made in the U.S.A." (I like to find "USA" on new stuff, too.) Craftsmanship and quality just aren't as popular these days as cheap (inexpensive) and readily-available.

OK, ready?

Spray paint is our friend.

I particularly like the Krylon Fusion because it sticks to just about anything.

I didn't even sand these - just wiped them clean with a damp cloth.

Nice, huh?

And since I have about a bazillion places I could use them and haven't decided on their permanent placement yet, I swapped one out where I had easy access to a wall hanger, just to see it up on the wall.

(Forgive the photo quality - it's rainy and dreary this morning, so not much natural light.)

Simple, shiny black.

*Love!*

 Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

 Yes! They're gonna' need some bling!

Maybe a simple teardrop crystal hanging from the bottom tip.

Hmm ... I'm going to keep my eyes open.

I'll try to remember to post a picture when I get them up on the wall for realz. Just remember, spray paint is a quick, inexpensive, easy way to make something new! When you're shopping around for items to spruce up your home, don't cast something off because it's ugly. Try to imagine it cleaned up and with a fresh coat of black or white or teal or red or your-favorite-color paint.

Good stuff.

And TGIF! Enjoy your day, y'all.

This week is flying by.

Wednesday?? How can it be Wednesday already?!

Listen, I'm just going to get right to the point. I had a great night of sleep last night, woke up refreshed, and then those blasted children sucked every ounce of energy out of me within the first hour of my day.

Every. Ounce.

I came back from putting them on the bus and flopped down on the couch where I spotted my wine glass from last night sitting on the end table. Don't even think that if there was a smidge of anything left in it I wouldn't have sucked it right down.

Alas, it was empty. (Hence the good night of sleep.)

I decided 7 a.m. was a leeeetle early for wine anyway. I decided to skip the coffee, even, and head out for a walk. I could blow off some steam and even vent a bit to my walking buddy.

It doesn't matter how many times the gurus say it, I'm still amazed at how a bit of exercise makes me feel so much better. The sun is shining too, and that's always helpful. Now I'm ready to get my day started ... again, and on a better note. I have a few errands to run, a lunch date with my mom, and maybe a little nosing around the second-hand stores while I'm out. It's probably a good thing we don't have a garage because I've got DIY projects piling up and I certainly don't need any more room to store them. At least the way they are now I'll eventually get tired of tripping over them and I'll actually start working on them.

Aha! I need to add spray paint to my list.

Enjoy your Hump Day, peeps. We're on the downslide and headed toward the weekend. Wahoo!

"Jack's on crack."

Jack is the GPS unit I keep in my truck. He's my lifeline when I'm traveling, particularly to faraway places I've never been.

I am safely home now, but I was convinced while driving to West Virginia to see Steve last week that Jack might get me killed. Or worse - stuck somewhere in the hills of southern Ohio after dark.

About the third time Steve called to check on my progress during my trip down there I told him "Jack says I'll be there at 8:56, but I think Jack's on crack." Jack was telling me the speed limit was 55 mph (probably because I was technically on a state "highway"), but for the last hour or so of driving I couldn't go more than 35-45 mph because of all the hairpin turns and switchbacks in hill country.

I made it there, though, safe and sound. And after a lovely week of doing lots of nothing, I'm home. I wrote a few blog posts in my head on the way home; nine hours of driving alone will have ya' doing that. But in the couple of days since I've been back I haven't done much writing or much of anything else except spend time with the kids. Because by golly I actually started to miss them those last few days I was gone.

It was so nice to have some time to myself and very little responsibility, but there did come a time when I had my fill and I was ready to return to life at home and what little routine we've had here for the summer. One week away and I'd had enough. (Poor Steve - he hasn't been home since the 4th of July. I know he must be missing it so. Having us go there to visit him is great, but it's nothing like being home.)

Today we had a contractor here pouring a concrete patio off the front deck of the house. It's a perfect day to be working outside with temps in the low 70's and a nice breeze. Home improvements always get me excited about the next big thing and what else we can do to make our home more cozy and a place where we all love to be. This project is perfectly timed to help turn my attention back home, too ... because even though I was ready to come back from West Virginia, I am longing for the simplicity of the days I spent there. I want to be here, but the reminders of all the things left undone or half done while we played all summer are adding up.

The new patio won't be finished until tomorrow when it's sealed, but it's already inspiring me. I spent some time today cleaning up my gardens and trimming back plants that are past their prime, and now this evening I'm turning my attention indoors to face the music. It's time to start clearing some cobwebs.

Checking in.

Friday again already. Whew. I have been crazy busy and by the time I sit down at night I'm too tired to catch up in blogland. But I'm alive! In case anyone was wondering.

Steve is settling in in West Virginia. He's happy with his work, which makes me happy.

The kids have one week left of school. I think we might all live to see summer vacation.

My days have been filled with a constant rotation of activities. Planting stuff, building stuff, picking asparagus with the neighbors, tending to all the other living creatures in the household - two-legged and four-legged - and all the other stuff that goes with being mom and dad and homeowner.

I sure haven't had any trouble falling to sleep when I crawl into bed at night. And I'm not a sun worshiper but I'm beginning to look like one; I've been out in it a lot lately.

For once in what seems like ages we have absolutely nothing on our calendar for the weekend. I could get used to that. I'm going to pick up a few more plants today and hopefully I'll have some time to sit back and relax for a while.

Have a great weekend!

A sweet little 'before & after' in the entry.

The entryway in our house was one of the first areas I painted after we moved in. I didn't think much about the paint color beyond wanting something that a) was relatively neutral, and b) hid all the little toddler fingerprints.

A tan color called Sheepskin accomplished both, but I didn't take into account the color of the closet door and trim which ended up blending into the paint. So the entryway has always been rather blah and not at all a reflection of the cottagey style I've grown into.

But at least it hid the fingerprints.

The other issue I've had with the entryway is I've tried to corral the entry "activities" there with a chair for putting on and taking off shoes, a place to put said shoes, a place to hang/store coats, jackets, the dog leash, and drop keys and mail.

Oh, and if I could make it feel welcoming when visitors enter our home, all the better.

I think it's been a decor and functionality fail. Even my own family wouldn't use the chair; they'd grab their shoes and walk through the living room to sit on the couch and put their shoes on. Umm, HELLO??

So the entry has been my latest project. I decided to re-paint it with the lighter tan (or is it beige?) I used for the hallway and kitchen, and I've been keeping my eyes open for a small table I could tuck into a corner with a lamp and maybe a dish or basket for odds and ends.

At the same time, I've been helping my mom and aunt clear out my late grandma's house in preparation for selling it. While hauling some stuff out to the garage the other day I found this tall, slim piece of furniture stuck in a corner of the garage.

Perfect! I asked my mom if I could take it. And if I got it home and it wasn't perfect for the entryway I would make it work someplace else in the house. Five drawers! How could I pass up the opportunity for more storage?

You can probably see this piece had a hefty layer of varnish on it. What you can't see is how it smelled like moth balls.

It seriously smelled like moth balls.

I took all the drawers out and left the whole thing sitting outside in the sun all day, which took care of most of the smell.

And then I sanded it. I despise sanding with a passion, but I wanted to paint this baby and nothing was gonna' stick to that.

My paint of choice?

I have this thing for Flat White lately because I tried it on one piece of furniture and loved it. I should buy it by the case.

Anywho ... ready?

Piece of furniture: free (spiders and all ... *shudder*)
Two cans of spray paint: $7
Another can of spray paint for good measure: $3.50
5 new brassy-looking knobs:  $15 (Totally worth it.)
Total: $25.50

 *Swoon!*

I think this piece must have been part of a larger set because one side was unfinished and had holes in it like it was screwed to another piece. I don't care. And I'm going to have to take it back outside on another sunny day and let it air out a little more because there's still a hint of moth ball smell when you open the drawers. But that's OK because I love it! (The furniture, not the smell.)

We now have a place to store extra hats and mittens within the kids' reach instead of in a box on the closet shelf, which in turn frees up closet space for bulkier items like sleeping bags and whatever else needs a home.

I also love how a prettied-up piece of furniture and a lamp make this space feel like part of the rest of the house instead of a doorway to hurry through to get to someplace more comfortable.

(Yeesh. These pictures are not the best quality but you get the point, right?)

I'm still working on collecting some items for the other walls in the entryway, but this little makeover has given me some wicked cool inspiration. I love it!

Fun with fabric.

I have been a pillow-making fool this week.

Yes, excitement abounds in the Pipe Life household. *groan*

Why pillows? Well if you watch any DIY home decorating shows on TV, what do they always use to add "pops of color" or "texture" to a room? Pillows!

I've been slowly-but-surely working on cozying-up a couple spaces in our home and those spaces were begging for more interest. I get a lot of inspiration from fabrics in various colors and patterns, but if I bought enough to make drapes out of all the ones I liked I'd go broke. So rather than just drool over them in the store, I buy a yard or two so I can take the inspiration home and find a way to use it. Pillows are easy to sew, the kids enjoy stuffing them, and I get some added interest in my decor without breaking the bank.

What makes the Sit Here To Take Off Your Shoes chair more appealing?

A pillow!

 Don't you just want to squish your lower back into that cuteness and relax for a sec?

I cannot tell you how much I adore this fabric right now.

 *Love!*

 What makes the little conversation corner more inviting?

Pillows!

Oh, and formerly very lodgey-looking red and green plaid cushions recovered in something bold and fun.

Boring, slip-covered couch? *shrug*

Looks much better with pillows!

I made seven pillows - let's call them "custom" because that makes them sound very important - for less than $30. I've looked at pillows in department stores and the ones I like are $15-$30 each. EACH! Seems like I got a pretty good bargain, eh?

I would have given you a how-to play-by-play here but a) I didn't take pictures while I was working, and b) I am not someone you want to take sewing lessons from. I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to sewing. Pillows are easy, though, so if you're considering ideas for sprucing up your place, check out your favorite fabrics shop (or find the fabrics section of Walmart) and be inspired!