Workspace

We don't necessarily NEED a room that is strictly an office, but we do need some sort of designated office space.

Since it doesn't seem our house will be SELLING any time soon - I think I'm ready to resume some projects - only cost effective ones, of course.

I have some files upstairs, some down, some on the middle floor, some in closets, etc... I also have various office supplies piled in different drawers around the house. We have to plug in our laptop to use it because the battery is shot - so I get tired of that cord laying across the room too.

Our home has a very open and informal floor plan, so it makes sense to integrate a work space into a common area of the house. The breakfast room is a natural fit.

Actually I'm thinking of knocking out a wall and making our dining area the "great room" where we eat. So we'd be getting rid of the dining room. No one uses a formal dining room anymore anyway.

Then the "eat-in" part of our kitchen would become more kitchen/office type workspace.

The cool thing is - we already own the cabinets and window seat I want to use, so it should be a cinch :)

Here are some workstations I LOVE:

Photo from Southern Living

The floral wallpaper and busy rug aren't really "us" but I love the ample storage and the way the book cases frame the windows. I am wanting to use our window seat (with drawers) under our window.

Photo from Get Decorating

This is a pretty substantial work station, but I love the cabinets with the fabric inset panels, which offers a pop of color while still concealing clutter.

Photo from Pottery Barn

I LOVE this secretary desk and hutch. I love the soothing blues and whites in this room, and I love all the nifty little drawers. The downside to something like this is that I'm not sure I want something this small....AND I really want something that looks built in.

Photo from Southern Living

Another gem from Southern Living. I love the big open work space on the desk and the additional wall-mounted storage. The under cabinet lighting is great, and I love that the designer hung artwork on the wall between the cabinet and desk.

Photo by Sunset Magazine

I love the simple, clean lines and vintage feel to this office set up, and the small size would easily fit into the space we're considering.

Photo from Divine Design, Candice Olson

Finally, I love, love, love this basement family room and work space designed by Candice Olson of "Divine Design." I like that the half wall/bookshelf separates the space but that it's open enough for someone working at the desk to feel that he or she is part of whatever is going on in the family room. And of course, I love the shelves on the wall too.

So now the trick is - getting my hubs and my dad to start demolition :) :)

So Fresh and So Clean Clean

Ok - So just about every Saturday night I start thinking about what the next week looks like for me.

The goal for the coming weeks is to C L E A N!

I need to do it for a few reasons - because it's Spring and because I need to get my house ready for another baby! I've pretty much nailed down my favorite cleaning products, but the schedule, however, not so much.

Here are my favorite things to clean with:

So fresh and so clean!
I can use this on glass, my cooktop,
and my marble countertops.
Love this stuff.
It's freshness in a bottle.



When cleaning the bathrooms
put a shot of this in the toilet.
I also run a sink full of hot water
in the kitchen and pour some in.
It makes the whole house smell clean
even if it isn't.



My floors will never be the same!
This stuff is awesome on hardwood
and tile bathroom floors.
Shiny and clean!



Dusting is my least favorite thing.
Since it has to be done -
Pledge is my pick.
It is one you definitely don't need
to pass up for the generic.
Nothing works as well as
well as Pledge on wood.


Ok. Now my commercial is over.

What are some of your favorite cleaning products?

Anyone have suggestions for how to save money on cleaning products?

More than anything, though, I want your suggestions on organizing days and time for cleaning.

Comment away!

Out with the Old, In with the New

That's what some people say - but sometimes the old is just so darn charming!

I have a new favorite place! It's Memphis Wrecking Company! Who knew?! I'm loving the idea of this place! Though I have only bought one thing from them, they say they do demo on old homes in the Memphis area fairly often. Get ready to go and dig - it's just hit or miss to find what you're looking for there. In my search for "new (50 year old new)" glass front doors for my house I found this $8 surprise.


The pictures don't really look as cute (I promise it's cute). I'm a huge fan of old windows and doors. My next mission is to find a door/headboard for Reagan's new "big girl" bed. If you get a moment - stop by there and see what suits your fancy!

Upside Down Tomatoes

I've been pretty pumped about having a "box" garden this year. You know, where you build something that looks like a big sandbox and you grow a garden in it. Well, as my belly grows and I think about the hot hot summer and the big big belly - I'm thinking I might scale the idea down a little. I am thinking of doing a couple of pots of tomatoes and having a little herb garden. I may add a few things here and there in pots, like romaine lettuce and possibly cucumbers - we will see. I ran across this idea today - it is so cool - I HAD to tell you about it!

For me, this will be cool. I can hang it right outside my door. I can keep it watered and fertilized easily. NO WEEDING! They say it's easier to keep bugs, birds and other varmets away from your tomatoes!

FIRST
You get a cheap hanging pot! Yay! That's easy!

SECOND
You put a hole in said hanging basket.
YAY! Easy, right?!
I am good at putting holes in things.

THIRD
Take your little tomato plant and pull all the dirt from around the root.
Stick the roots into the hole - from the bottom.

See the roots!


FOURTH
Plant another tomato plant - the right way.
It should look like this.

FIFTH
In a couple of months, it should be nice and beautiful!
Hopefully bearing many tomatoes for lots of salsa and salad!

YUMMY!

These are not my actual pictures - but what I plan to do - so I'll let you know how it goes! What do you think?! Is this idea such old news that I'm making a dummy out of myself by posting it?!

Chores on the Back Burner

Does supreme tiredness mean healthy baby? If so, maybe I have several healthy babies in there.....because I can hardly stay awake.

So....you all have been there and understand what happens the first several weeks you're pregnant. You're SO tired.

I have wondered how I would do it with Reagan....when the tiredness set in....how I would take care of her and get all my chores done and cook dinner,
well, the tiredness has set in and I'm just not doing all those things.

I mean, I'm taking care of Reagan, for the most part. She has learned to go tee tee on the big potty and wipe herself.....all by herself...except I did find out the other day that the piece of toilet paper she's been using is the size of a dime....gross!! We worked on that and now she uses the whole roll, I guess that's better than getting that little piece stuck in there. For the most part, she's doing it all by herself.....she just needs a few extra baths.

She watches a little more TV than we usually allow.....and sometimes we both are still wearing pajamas from the night before when Shaun gets home.

Since Reagan has to take priority, she alone takes all my energy.....my house is a disaster and we are eating out....A LOT.

I don't know how people do it....with a whole brood of kids and one on the way. I know people do, I've seen it done..... so what am I doing wrong?

I will say that cutting the caffeine is a big part of it. I wasn't near as careful with Reagan, but since we've had a miscarriage, we want to be so careful and do everything right. I will have a Dr. Pepper every now and then, but no coffee....and that's what makes my day so.....exhausting.

I dunno, maybe I should enjoy this time.....since I'm not very sick and just tired. Shaun WANTS me to sit around and do nothing, and he is a lot of help when he gets home..... but if you know me, you know I can't stand it. AND he works so hard all day, I don't want him to have to come home and clean house.....and cook dinner.....and fold laundry....and rub my feet.
That's just not right, well all except for the feet rubbing....that's soo right, sooooooo right.

So, for now, when you come to my house, don't be disappointed in me.....I promise I don't want it to look the way it does.....but it just does.

If you have any suggestions or a cheap house lady that will drive out to the boon docks to clean my house.....let me know.

I'm off to the couch.

Paint Paint Everywhere!

I know, I know...two posts in one day.

I am kindof taking the day off...since I took an antibiotic on an empty stomach this morning and I've been "tee teeing with my mouth" all morning. That's what Reagan thinks I'm doing....poor thing....she's probably traumatized. I barely made it to the bathroom...so there's no way I could have gotten her busy...so she followed me right to the bathroom and watched. Sad, I know.

So you may remember me posting some pictures of our UGLY entryway a while back. It's a work in progress and with a 2 year old that loves to touch and walk through paint, my painting time has been limited. I'm just now finishing up priming and painting our living room and entry way walls AND trim.

I took a couple of pictures...they aren't great, but compared to before...they are nicey nice. See the before pictures first by clicking here. I don't think there are any before pictures of the living room. Just picture wood walls, wood trim and wood floors....dark, dark and dark. It's light and fun now! I'm loving it!

This is the living room.

Check out my make-shift coffee table.
(Shaun's idea)
It's a piano bench with a cabinet door on top.
I love it!
Simple. Simple.



A different view.
With Ursula Madden on the t.v.

Entry way
I'm thinking about this fabric on the little bench/couch.
Too busy or not?

White! I love it!


I decided to paint the kick-plate on the stairs.
You can see that some wood and bad paint
colors remain at the top of the stairs.
I'll get there.....later.


Don't the wood floors look so much better!
I love the contrast now.

It was fun.

I'm glad I'm almost done with this section.

Maybe we'll sell before I have to do the rest! Who knows?!

I'm off to mow. In the cold.

Remodel Overhaul

We have a very old home. It was built in the 1950's.

The brick used to be solid burgundy.

We're remodeling slowly.

Very slowly.

With paint.

The past few weeks I've been painting our trim. We're going from the woodgrain to the beautiful and wonderfully fresh "Cashmere White" trim. Thank you Walmart for paint that I would have thought was cheap and difficult to work with....nope it's just like that expensive stuff I've bought before at Home Depot. And it's $13.36 a gallon! Not offense, Home Depot, I know you're the better choice for so many other things, but Walmart is stepping it up in the paint department.

We moved into this house about 3 years ago. It had wood paneled walls, wood floors and wood trim. EVERYTHING was dark and brown. Well, we've managed to cover all the paneling and now it's on to the trim. So far it's been incredibly slow and painful. I hate painting. I love the quick result.

Here are the before pictures:

Yes. I painted this yellow. Please hold before beginning your "Candice is not such a good decorator" thoughts about me. Let me first say yellows are hard. Especially with all that wood around it. This was clearly the wrong yellow. It's getting a fresh coat in a creamy green.

Those are our....

Wait for it.....

FRONT DOORS!

You're probably wondering why I'm not depressed during the day, having no light coming in. Well, you're right. I am depressed. Ha! Not really, but I'm close sometimes, since our windows are also from the 1950's and you can't see out or in for all the bugs in them....that's another issue....we'll get to that next.

This is a picture of the beginnings of priming all the wood. Lots of primer. But oh, how you will LOVE the finished project.

So, I'm finishing up today. I'll post the 'after' pictures tomorrow! Guess you'll have to wait on pins and needles! Stay tuned. Soon you'll be seeing Cashmere White and Creamy Green. Trust me. It's nicey nice.

Just for kicks I'm posting some after pictures from our "piano room" .... I did it a couple of weeks ago. I don't have before pitcures, but just picutre royal blue with wood on the bottom half of the walls and wood trim.