Target Clearance Alert

I had to run to Target for a couple things today (which always ends up being a dozen things, haha) and did a happy dance when I saw their adorable Threshold kitchen items freshly marked down on clearance!

I've been eyeing these canisters for weeks, but just couldn't bring myself to pay full price even though I love love loved them. But today, they were 50% off! Holla!!!

Don't they just add such a nice touch of happy to my counter? I'm going to put coffee in one and sugar in the other to make a nice little coffee station.

There was a bunch of other kitchen items on clearance as well, including the adorable Threshold color dipped baskets. I was this close to buying one of those, too, but then remembered we're on a budget. Duh, Sam. ;)

So, if you've been eyeing any kitchen items at Target, hurry in and scoop up some great clearance deals! Again, I'm not being paid or perked for writing this, just another nerdy decorator moment. :)

Rooms to Go isofa

Have you seen Rooms to Go's new isofa? I'm ridiculously excited about it! You design your own couch by picking your style, color, and couch pillows! And have I mentioned it's actually affordable?! I'm stoked!

We've been planning to replace our couches in the spring and have been wanting an ivory or khaki colored couch. Problem is, the couch cushions are usually hideous that come with the couches and I'm not always in love with the fabric. But, now you can pick!

Here's what I have picked out. I'd just add some pillows with light green in them. Is it spring time yet?!

And, no, I'm not being compensated or perked for posting this. Rooms to Go has no idea who I am or that I posted this. I'm just a nerd and am excited about designing my own sofa...affordably! :)

A Big Ole List

I've been off my A-game when it comes to blogging lately...mainly because I haven't felt well and have zero energy thanks to Little Girl. But, she's healthy and growing and kicking away in my belly, so I'm super thankful! :)

Hubby and I have been dreaming again. We both love house projects and dreaming of how to make our house better. I love when we stay up late at night just talking about and planning out our house projects.

Last night was one of those dreaming and planning nights. We have a list on our computer of house projects we'd like to do, but I figured I would put them up here so you can dream with us! So here's what's in our heads these days, both things we've finished and things we want to do. Some of the room titles are links that will take you to all of the posts from that room. Enjoy!

Front Porch:

-Redo rocking chairs
-Hang a swing
-Put plants on either side of door
-Hang a wreath
-Grow a vine on the sides for privacy


Front and Side Yards:

-Put in natural stone edging
-Redo some of the bushes in front and side
-Plant a cherry tree out front


Back Yard:

-Level yard. This is a HUGE project that we would have to hire out, but would give us much more usable yard space. Our house is on a hill, so part of the yard has a steep slope. We would love to put in a new retaining wall and build up the hill to make it even with the rest of our yard, then fence the entire yard in.
-Plant an Autumn Blaze and a fruit tree after yard project is complete.
-Possibly build a small swing set


Back Deck:

-Purchase a couple large planters to garden in.
-Purchase a deck table with umbrella for shade.
-New door mat and decorative plants.
-Eventually, we'd love to turn the deck into a covered porch or sunroom.

Living Room:

-Hang curtains for privacy (phase 1)
-Replace couch pillows for existing couches
-Purchase rug
-Decorate wall above couch
-Eventually replace shades with plantation shutters and possibly get rid of curtains (phase 2)
-Replace couches (soon!)
-Repaint
-Finish large scale decoration for above fireplace
-Purchase new couch pillows in light blues, light greens, and khakis (after new couches)


Entry Way:

-Purchase entry table
-Replace temporary shade with something permanent
-Decorate walls
-Purchase new rug
-Repaint

Dining Room:

-Redo table and chairs
-Hang curtains
-Purchase buffet/cabinet
-Repaint
-Decorate walls (about halfway done on this one)
-Eventually put in board and batten

Kitchen:

-Reorganize drawers
-Hang organizer for baggies and wraps
-Install pull out shelves for pantry cabinet
-Install cabinet door on back of bar to gain access to corner cabinet space

Breakfast Nook:

-Install plantation shutters on door
-Purchase new table and sell old table
-Purchase bar stools
-Figure out shoe storage solution
-We would love to figure out how to build in a pantry, but that's for another day ;)

Laundry Closet:

-Reorganize


Downstairs Bath:

-Purchase new shower curtain and towels
-Install hooks for guests to hang towels on
-Replace toilet
-Replace vanity and sink
-Replace tile floors
-Repaint
-Install plantation shutters
-Possibly replace tub with stand up shower if we do a massive pantry building project

Playroom:

-Repaint room and add striped accent wall
-Replace window coverings
-Replace or repaint counters
-Reorganize closet and build shelves
-Hang gallery wall
-Hang frames for kid art work
-Replace gold boob light


Coat Closet:

-Purchase shoe shelf
-Hang hooks for scarves
-Reorganize


Linen Closet:

-Reorganize


Master Bedroom:

-Repaint!!!
-Replace curtains
-Purchase chair for corner
-Install bedside lighting
-Replace gold boob light with ceiling fan
-Replace vinyl shades with blinds or plantation shutters
-Hang all hanging art and frames (there's nothing on the walls right now!)


Master Bathroom:

-Repaint
-Decorate walls
-Replace vinyl shade with plantation shutters
-Hang a shelf
-Replace toilet
-Eventually replace vanity/sinks/fixtures
-Eventually replace large mirror with two framed mirrors
-Eventually replace tile
-Eventually expand shower and replace tile

Little Boy's Room

-Repaint
-Hang blackout curtains
-Replace vinyl shades with 2" blinds
-Replace lighting with ceiling fan and move existing lighting to playroom (it's a nice Schoolhouse Electric light)
-Hang artwork
-Hang shelf
-Reorganize closet and hang more shelves (almost done!)
-Purchase end table


Little Girl's Room:

-Empty Closet (almost done!)
-Repaint
-Install board and batten
-Replace vinyl shades with 2" blinds or blackout roman shades
-Hang curtains
-Paint tree branch on wall
-Purchase new dresser
-Purchase new end table
-Purchase bedding
-Purchase rug
-Reorganize closet
-Replace hardware and door handles
-Replace gold boob light with ceiling fan


Kid Bath:

-Repaint walls
-Repaint trim
-Hang new shower curtain
-Hang artwork
-Replace vinyl shade with 2" blinds or plantation shutters


Office:

-Repaint
-Reorganize
-Replace vinyl shades with 2" blinds
-Hang curtains?
-Move guest bedroom furniture into office
-Hang artwork
-Install digital thermostat


Office Bath:

-Repaint
-Frost window
-Hang artwork


Downstairs Hallway:

-Hang artwork
-Repaint


Upstairs Hallway:

-Hang artwork
-Repaint


Garage:

-Repaint
-Hang shelf
-Purchase locking storage cabinet for chemicals
-Reorganize (partially done, but still have a ways to go)
-Hang wall organizers for tall tools like rakes and brooms
-Redo flooring


Miscellaneous:

-Install tankless water heater
-Install digital thermostat upstairs
-Install digital thermostat downstairs


Whew, this list makes me tired, but really excited!

Some News

Well, we finally spilled our big news to our friends and family, so now I can spill with you all! We are pregnant with a little girl!!!! We are super excited and expect her to make her big debut around New Year's.

So, if you've noticed how s-l-o-w it's been around this blog lately, now you know why. I have been sick and so far, still don't really feel much better. I'm getting a little bit of energy back, but not much. Enough to actually clean and cook a little, but that's about it. 

Hubby has been working his tail off getting the house ready. The new baby has us completely rearranging a couple rooms. Our current guest room will become the baby's room, so the guest bedroom furniture has to be moved over to the office. But, before we move everything, we wanted to paint the office since the existing paint was pretty nasty. Hubby just finished painting and has been reorganizing and purging everything in the office to get it ready to move the guest bedroom furniture into there. We sold a couple of bookshelves to make room for the guest bed, so our office will be a combined office/guest room when we're done. Making sense? :) Basically, it's crazy town up in here. 

After we get the guest room furniture out, we will be starting on the baby's room. I have some big plans for in there that I can't wait to get started on! Here's the initial plan of what we have up our sleeves: 

-First up, install board and batten on the walls. The baby's room has a short attic door, so I want to install board and batten because I love it and because it will help the short door blend in. We have something taller and simple in mind, like this from Centsational Girl.

-Paint the walls pink and purchase bedding. We're thinking a deeper shade of pink, not pastel pink. We are planning to use the Pottery Barn Penelope bedding. We LOVE it! We will probably only do the bumper, pillow sham, and possibly the quilt or sheets for money's sake. We purchased Little One's crib bumper and pillow sham from Pottery Barn and have been SO impressed by the quality. I have had to wash the bumper and pillow sham a million times and they hold up very well, not to mention how soft and plush they feel. Pottery Barn bedding is high quality and worth every penny! It's one of the few things I'm willing to splurge on.

Here's a picture of the bedding and the paint color we had in mind. It's a little bolder than I normally go for, but with the board and batten, only the top third of the walls will be pink making it less overwhelming.

-Install blackout roman shades. The old, curled vinyl shades in there now are awful! We're thinking of just doing plain, white blackout roman shades like these. Hopefully, I can find a similar but cheaper option!

-Hang floor to ceiling lightweight curtains to soften the windows. I'm thinking pink with tiny white polka dots or something. I love these, but they are a little heavier (and more expensive) than I want.

  

-Paint a branch with birds on it above the crib. We're thinking a simple branch that arches over the crib and has a few leaves and birds on it like the ones on the bedding. Nothing too fancy.

-Move Little One's (or I guess I need to rename him to Little Boy on the blog! And while we're naming, let's name the baby Little Girl. I'm SO original, I know!) crib and chair to the baby's room and purchase a dresser and rug. We will be posting the big things like the board and batten, tree, paint color, and curtains on the blog, but after that, we'll be saving the furniture and details for personal friends and family. Sorry internet friends, everyone has their own internet privacy and safety boundaries, and posting photos of our finished kids rooms is not in our comfort zone. It's just how we sleep at night. :)

Well, there's my baby brain dump! We are still working on Little Boy's bed rails, but hopefully we will have them up on here by the weekend. They are taking a bajillion coats of paint. Hubby did a really good job on them, though, and I can't wait to share them! 

Summer Salad

Hi! Long time, no post! We just got back in town from vacation last night. We had a great trip to see my family, then met up with Jeremy's family to go to Sea World with them. So fun! While we were on our trip, my Grandma broke her hip, though. The last part of our trip was spent at the hospital with her. She did great during surgery and is now on the long road to recovery. She is such a trooper. I'm so thankful we were in town when it happened and were able to be with her. Please pray for her if she comes to mind!

We've been eating a lot of fried food while on the road, so tonight we wanted something fresh and healthy and NOT fried. I saw Pioneer Woman's new Chicken Taco Salad recipe and knew it would be perfect for dinner tonight. It turned out great and was very yummy! I will definitely be making this many more times!

Here's a link to the recipe. I was going to re-write it here, but then you'd miss all of the beautiful pictures on her site. Go check it out and drool over the deliciousness!

I followed her recipe exactly, except for these few exceptions.

-I seasoned my chicken with chili powder, seasoned salt, and a little bit of onion powder. It's what I had on hand.
-I used canned corn instead of fresh. I just drained it, then browned it in the same skillet I used for the chicken.
-I majorly cut back on the cilantro. We are not huge fans of cilantro. I think next time I'll actually omit it completely.
-We omitted the avocado. Both of my boys scrunch their noses up at avocados, so I didn't bother.
-I assembled our salads on our individual plates instead of all together since I knew we couldn't eat it all at once and would have leftoveers. Soggy chips in the leftovers=gross. ;)

Try this salad! You won't be sorry!

Linking up to The Larson Lingo's Summer Salad Swap!

Some Much Needed Down Time

Yup, we're getting some much needed down time! Hello to my hubby's vacation time at work! Wahoo! I'll be off the radar for a little while, but will be back soon with some after pictures of our latest project for you! Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far!

Lately

I feel like such a blogger slacker these days! It's definitely not because of a lack of projects, though...they're just not finished yet. Here's a snapshot of what we've been working on. Most of it has been woodworking, so when I say "we" I really mean Hubby. I sit in a chair next to him sipping ice water and chatting his ear off and lend an occasional hand. He loves it. No, seriously, every time I just sit and watch him and chat with him, he comments on how much he loves it when I keep him company. Try it, ladies! Of course, I'm sure it doesn't hurt that when he has power tools in his hand, I can't resist calling him a hottie about a million times. But, back to the projects... ;)

First up, we're building some bed rails for our little guy. More on that later. But, can I just say my hubby is doing an amazing job on them?

Project two is painting the guest room/office. It's a hot mess in there right now! But, it's all edged and ready for rolling. No pictures of that one yet. Sorry.

Last project on our list is finishing Little One's closet shelves. I'm happy to report that the shelves are built! Now we just need to paint them and organize everything.

Hopefully I'll have some finished projects to report soon! Have a great Monday!