The apartment: The dinning room

Alright, I think its time to share with you where we have been living for the last 6 months. 

When we moved to California I guess we knew we couldn't afford a house, but didn't expect to live in a one bedroom apartment. We are making it work for us.

My goal for this space was to bring in a lot of color and make it more personal than our home.

This place is still a work in progress, so we are starting with the room that is probably the furthest along.. our dinning room.

When you walk into the apartment you walk into the living room which is open to the dinning room. 

I bought these chairs for $5 each, a little white paint and fabric from ikea and this is what i ended up with

I love these chairs.

That curtain I bought at target and hemmed it with hem tape. It hides that beautiful air conditioner, but blocks the sunlight. 

Painting: gifted from my mother in law done by my brother in law

Table: from our house from my mother in law

Chairs: $20

Curtain: $15

Lace table cloth: already had (I think its from ikea's fabric section)

Not too shabby for a whole dinning room. It is also very cozy.

What do you think?

herb it!

I posted this on face book what seems like forever ago, but heres the tutorial

Start with your plants in a pot

We used wire to tie the pots to the pallet, I twisted the wire around the pot as shown above

Tied to pallet 

and arranged how ever you like

(If you are staining or painting your pallet I suggest doing it before you hang your plants)

I stained mine, than stenciled each name next to the plants.

Finished and added sealant.

What do you think? I love it. 

This post will be linking up here

A calendar twist

So we were in desperate need of a calendar to keep all of our dates straight.

Who worked when and what days and what days we would have off together.

I didn't have a plan but I started with sticky white board material on the fridge, I liked it but it looked pieced together and blended in with the fridge too much for my liking.

So I went the other route, chalkboard sticky paper :) and some chalk board markers and we were in business, but again a little boring

I found this wood frame at michael's 

painted it yellow and instantly fell in love. 

I love the way it came out and it is so easy for us to tell when we are doing what. 

What do you think?

This post will be linking up here

Outdoor overhaul: Part I (the front yard)

 So, we have a party we are hosting soon and it gave us a swift kick in the rear to get our outdoor spaces party ready again. 

Two years ago this is what the front looked like:

Kind of plain with no pizazz or color

I was in need of some major changes, So I did some switch-a-roos with the furniture we had 

I rook a wreath I had added a $1 pinwheel from target and a wood bird from michael's 

( that I painted yellow and a cute small flower pot)

I moved a bench from the backyard to the front added some flower pots, a lantern and new pillows from pier 1

Chairs from the photo above with pillows from target last season

Up close of the small flowers

What do you think?

I love all the colors and flowers, they make me happy. 

The problems: the entry way

 So I have been stuck in many ways with this entry way and what we need 

When we moved in it looked like this:

Big stark white walls and kind of a mess

The issues I have with this wall is 

1. the closet is behind the door when it is open and hard to get to

2. We have a room divider that serves no other purpose than to throw stuff

3. There is a big blank wall after the closet that is "just there" 

So after I painted the living room Crocodile tears by Olympic, got a coat rack from ikea, a mirror from Gordmans and a side table fromTJ maxx this is what we had. 

(sorry, for the blurry picture)

Kinda bland and semi-functional. 

I have some ideas and have been looking around pinterest for some inspiration.

This is what I have found:

(source)

I love the mixture of textures

(source)

Again, love the textures and old/new look.

(source)

Love the functionality of it

So, my entry way needs to have a few things:

1. storage

2. functionality for bills, mail, magazines, etc.

3. Somewhere to put your keys

4. Look good and match the rest of the house

Are you working on or thinking of a new project?

Things change

On a regular basis, I move things or change them up. 

Pretty much since we lived in this home our living rom has looked like this. 

Not bad I know, but something just wasn't right. 

We went to a friends house up in chicago a couple weeks ago and we liked the minimalist airy feel of there apt, so I decided we needed a change. 

This is what I came up with

I moved the couch on the west wall and the chairs on the south wall where the couch use to be

I made the curtains from muslin 

Super easy, sew the top and bottom hem and slide through the curtain rod

I pain less then $10 for both panels with a coupon at hobby lobby

This is the table/lamp between the chairs

The table was purchased at salvation army for $10 and the lamp was a splurge at target for $40

I 

This pillow was made from a coffee sack for $2 fro a local art thrift store

The front counter has a gold frame behind the lamp, I like how the lamp is kinda framed

The frame was purchased at goodwill awhile ago

On the bookshelf, I wanted to proudly display our metal objects. I think it sums us up.

What do you think of the changes? We like it. 

Oh, buffet!

Lets talk about the buffet my dad built for a wedding present (yeah last year)

Yeah, thats the one.. isn't she beautiful. I think so

Ok, reverse (over a year ago).. I was inspired by 

this butcher block kitchen island from Joi at Nuestra Vida Dulce

I wanted an island also, but I didn't have the room for it

I gave my dad the dimensions and this is what he came up with 

(this is the only before pic I have.. sorry guys)

you can see it to the right of this picture before the kitchen reno.

The top was sealed to be used as a butcher blocks, it was not very dark and was often stained by coffee

so we decided during the kitchen reno that the top had to be darker and I needed a shelf for more storage.

 

detail from the front

the detail from the side

including towel bar and pretty grading :)

so what do you think of all of her glory? I love it. 

Do your parents make you stuff? Are they handy and help you out?