I can’t believe Spring is just around the corner! It seems like I was just putting away the Christmas decorations yesterday (don’t worry, I wasn’t). But, here we are anyway.

So, to celebrate the upcoming season and arrival of Peter Cottontail, I did a little Spring decorating. Nothing major, but enough to brighten up our place and add a little ‘spring’ to my step (groan, did I really just go there?) Of course I did.

In the kitchen I added some cheer behind the sink in the form of this awesome free printable and a little Spring cyclamen.

Come on, you know you are singing it now… #sugarhillgang

Look at my little cyclamen bud about to open up. So cute.

And no, I did not match my counter spray and dish soap to my Spring décor… but how awesome is it that they match!? It’s the little things people.

And, looking up I have some more pom pom trim which I strung up as a whimsical banner. Little bunny tails everywhere!

In the living room we have another fireplace. This one has a larger mantel so I have a bit more flexibility here.

Another area that got a bit of Easter love is one of the end tables in the living room. I simply added some faux eggs to a glass vase and put them beside my gold tree bark lamp. Because every tree bark lamp needs a vase of fake eggs (obvs).

Hippity Hoppin’, Easter’s on its way! Anyone else infused a little Spring or Easter at their place?

Yes I know, cliche but SO true! What a difference paint can make!

The basement of our house is multifunctional. Part of it is Chef Kev’s media room (or “man cave” as some may say… but not me, because that term kind of annoys me) and the other part is a one bedroom (currently vacant) income suite. And ALL of it was UGLY.

For reals. Industrial blue/grey carpet, painted brown trim and doors (nope, not wood but deliberately painted milk chocolate brown trim and doors). And yes, it was oil based. And the cherry on top? Well, not a cherry but rather mustard. Yes, mustard yellow walls to go with the blue carpet and milk chocolate trim and doors.

Yum.

It was all kinds of special. The top two floors of our house had been nicely updated by past owners but heading down the basement was like entering a different dimension. We are going to renovate the basement down the road and will update the carpet at that time so for now it stays. However, milk chocolate had to become white chocolate and mustard had to become grey. It was an order (by me).

But enough about that… you want before and afters right? I’ll share the space leading down to Chef Kev’s non-man-cave but save the suite paint for another post.

Oh, and due to the MONSTROSITY of this job (four coats on all the trim and doors anyone?), we hired it out. Thank goodness for Uncles who paint #unclechrisforthewin! #andhisfriendmike

Opening the door to head to the basement used to look like this (not too ugly yet but just you wait)…

(See, the real ugly is starting).

But now it looks like this:

And now…

We still have a ton to do in here (details in this post) but it’s starting to take shape!

Before:

Oh, notice the brown venetian shades too? Evvverywherrrre down here…. But gone now… We have some white ones that are going to be installed this weekend.

The other side of the room before:

And now:

And one more thing to note, looking towards the hall before you will see we had three doors in about 6 square feet (the one you can’t see is the one I showed earlier which leads to the hall between our side and the suite). THREE. Weird.

So, now we have one (the one you can’t see from this angle but I promise it’s there). Because, ain’t nobody got time for three doors!

So, here we are! Still a lot to do but SO much fresher and brighter. And the carpet doesn’t even look half bad now since it’s paired with colours that MAKE SENSE!  Sorry, to yell, just passionate that milk chocolate and mustard never ever need to meet again.

Progress!

Last month I left you with our progress on the double desk in our office/bonus room. At that point it was looking like this:

The desk was complete but in need of stain (if you are new to this blog you may wish to catch up on the vision for this space here).

Well, wait no more. Ta da!

Stained!

We went with a nice rich brown that was deep, but not too dark. Here is how we did it…

First, I taped around the wood desk top along the walls and cabinets. The desk is fixed to the wall so I could not pull it out.

Then, I gave the desk a thorough light sanding (220 grit sandpaper) and followed that with a tack cloth to pick up all the dust.

Next, I did a coat of wood conditioner. Wood conditioner is great for prepping your surface to receive the stain uniformly. I used Miniwax Water based Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner. I chose the water based product because it has less fumes and clean up is easier.

I applied the wood conditioner with a brush and used a rag to rub it in and pick up the excess conditioner. After it dried I did another light sand and followed again with a tack cloth.

For the stain, I tested a water based stain (on a scrap piece of wood) but was not happy with the results. In the end I went with a oil based version as I liked the finished product better. I chose Varathane Ultimate Wood Stain in Chocolate.

To apply, I used a foam brush and applied quickly in sections. Then I followed with a rag to rub it in and pick up the excess stain. You can use a brush or rag to apply but I opted for a foam brush because I could just throw it away when done. I hate cleaning brushes after they have been used with an oil based product. Blech.

I only needed one coat of the stain, so once that was dry I applied my first coat of polyurethane. The poly protects the surface and helps seal in the stain.

For the poly, I went with Miniwax Oil-modified Polyurethane.

Chef Kev’s recreation room (or “man cave” as some may say) needs help. We haven’t done anything to the room since we moved in this past summer and it’s time to show it some love. Manly love of course. So, we’re going to be a dude and bromance this space.

Eventually we are going to take over our whole lower level and make a large media/recreation room (part of the basement is currently a suite). The future reno will be a big one, so won’t happen for awhile. Until then, we definitely want to infuse a little character into Chef Kev’s space and make it look better then it does currently.

The room does not have much natural light since it’s in the basement which isn’t a big problem really, as the room is mostly used for TV watching. However, it still feels drab and dull.

Here are a few photos that I shared in my “settling in” post back in the Fall.

Well, this just can’t work the way it is. Sure, it’s moderately functional but… Oh but. The mustard walls and brown painted doors and trim sneer at me each time I walk downstairs. I sneer back mind you, but they are still #winning. SO, I did what any person who claims a wall is sneering does… I made a plan to change it!

Here is a mood board of where we are going…

1) artwork – I have some AMAZING vintage London Underground posters that my mother-in-law gave me. I plan to frame those and get them up. I also have some awesome English pub trays too which will definitely find a home here (Did I mention Chef Kev’s family is British)?

2) industrial shelves – will add a masculine touch plus provide room for storage. Something like these ones (shown above).

3) a manly clock or something along those lines. The one in the mood board is from here.

4) bookshelves to go in the weird ‘nooks’.

5) our existing sectional

6) our existing TV – we’d like to update our TV stand too (not shown)

7) farmhouse style coffee table – I’d like to redo a Craigslist find with a rustic treatment (reference photo)

8) paint! – a light grey on the walls and a dark charcoal in the media alcoves. And the trim, all getting a fresh coat of white paint.

So this is the vision for where we are heading. As you can probably tell, I’m going for a rustic, masculine space. Everything Chef Kev needs to drink his beer in peace. I mean watch hockey. No, I mean drink his beer. Actually, I mean drink his beer and watch hockey in peace.

Until I come down. Bwwaaa haa haa.

AND, the best part? The painting has started! I will post an update soon!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was nice – full of running errands, play dates and visits. Just the way I like it 🙂

You may recall from my “settling in” update a few months after we moved, that our spare room was this hot mess.

Well, I’m happy to report that… well, it still looks like this. Okay, so maybe I’m not so happy to report that…

BUT – we have a plan! Or (more accurately), it’s a “we-have-family-coming-from-England-this-Spring-and-I-will-not-subject-them-to-the-room-in-this-state-so-did-something-about-it-PLAN”.

After some thinking and browsing I came up with a direction for our guest room. I wanted it to be calming and inviting. I also wanted to use our existing dressers and bed since we already own those.  So, I set off in search of things that could make my vision happen.

I whipped up a mood board this weekend and thought I’d share!

1 – curtains: I loved these ones for their calming grey and blue pattern. I also thought these colours complimented the birch toned Ikea dressers that we already own. A dark curtain rod will play nicely (good curtain rod) with our existing headboard and the light fixture hardware/details.

2 – light fixture: so much prettier than our 1990’s boob light. Just so much prettier… And softer. And prettier. And nicer. And prettier.

3 – Art: not this one necessarily but something photographic, abstract or painted that has colours tying the room elements together.

4 – bedding: Yes please! This was the first thing I chose  for the room and then picked the others items to compliment. I loved the pattern, the colour and the price. Score.

5 – our existing Ikea Malm dressers. We have two back from the days of Chace’s nursery (sniff). I’d like to update the dresser by doing little leather pulls in white (similar to the inspiration photo in the circle)

6 – bedside table: something like this one perhaps?

7 – paint. I plan on painting a light grey or blue shade.

I haven’t purchased any of these items yet but this is my plan! And in the wise words of Mike Tyson (according to my google search) “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.” So, let’s hope I don’t get punched in the mouth. At least not before I can make this happen. And then after that too. Why would anyone want to get punched in the mouth?

Have a punch-free Monday everyone.

I’m sure most of us can sympathize recognize this…

 

So, I organized. Awhhh yeah! My favourite word (oh wait, there is “wine” and “coffee” in the dictionary too). Okay, so maybe my third favourite word. Anyway, now the pile-o-clutter looks like this.

 

Serenity.

To achieve this calmness, I first separated the stack-o-chaos into piles. The point of this was to see what categories I could lump them into.

I came up with:
1) “Reference” (for things like recycling schedules, Chace’s school notices etc)
2) “For Review” (notices about programs I may want to check out, forms I have to read still etc)
3) “Action Required” (forms I need to fill out such as book order forms, field trip forms etc) and
4) “Projects” (ALL the paperwork that comes home from Chace’s day – spelling, art, poems etc.).

A note about the “projects” folder: when that folder gets full I take the paperwork up to our office where it gets placed in a larger box. Once a year I go through the box and save the best pieces or my/Chace’s favourites. I recycle the rest (will he miss a piece of paper with an orange crayon line across it when he’s 20?). In the end I am left with one large manilla envelope for each year filled with all of the papers I’ve kept for that period.

The file compartments attach together easily by simply sliding in and latching together in the back.

 

I used these Martha Stewart adhesive metal bookplates to label my files, but from what I’ve heard they are hard to get now or discontinued. I don’t know why though because they are awesome! To print the words, I used my label maker (aka my third arm).

 

To attach the file system to the tile backsplash I simply propped it up and used a few 3M Command picture hanging strips to keep it in place.

Tucked in beside the fridge, I now have a tidy, clutter free system that helps keep me organized.

 

Do you have any tips and tricks for keeping clutter at bay?  I’ve been using this system for awhile now and LOVE it.

Stay in touch and follow along…

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