Category Archives: Moving

Housewarming Party

Posted in Liz's Life, Moving by

This Saturday we hosted our friends and family to our house for our official housewarming party. Although we’ve been living here since November, I wanted to get as much of the house decorated as I could before opening our doors to show it off. If you remember, we literally had no furniture prior to moving in, so furnishing our house has been a big undertaking for me!

My approach was pretty unorganized. I knew what my overall style was (cottage, country, shabby), and basically just started buying things I liked and hoped they would go together. Thankfully, I think for the most part it did all come together. I had some organization with the help of excel spreadsheets and Pinterest, but the for the most part I just had a mental vision for each room.

By far the hardest part for me was picking out suitable rugs for each room. Since our house has hardwood throughout, each and every room needed a rug. I tried it both ways, picking out the rug first and decorating around it and picking out the rug last to compliment the room. Both were hard and I second-guessed myself a lot! Thankfully my rug go-to’s RugsUSA.com and Wayfair.com made the price of the rugs more palatable, so I didn’t feel too much pressure with each purchase.

Since I didn’t show you guys the outside of the house (for safety issues because this blog is public), I thought it would be fun to show you some pictures of the inside. My goal with this house was to have a mix of vintage, to go with the 1880 build date, and modern fun. Everything in the house also had to be toddler-friendly, meaning not cost so much that I would freak out if it got ruined. Nearly everything is washable, including all the couches/chairs!

Okay I’ll stop rambling on and on, here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Living Room: This is the first room you enter in our house. I wanted it to be the most “grown up” room in the house. The couches are Wayfair custom upholstery in Carly. They are slipcovers that can be dry cleaned, which is good for toddler life.

Blue, gray and cream living room slipcovered couch and chair

This gold bookshelf is actually a $70 IKEA hack. I spray painted the IKEA Vittsjo bookshelf with hammered gold spray paint and voila! IKEA Vittsjo hack
This is the kitchen and back entrance. The previous owners did a fabulous job opening up this space, so we can enjoy an open concept with the old house charm. The counters are a white speckled quartz, the backsplash is mother-of-pearl and the cabinets are a deep brown.

Open kitchen and dining room

The chandelier and table are from Wayfair, with the addition of an IKEA kids chair. The mirror is an antique store find for $30!

white dining table Barn door on bathroom

Wallpaper in bathroom
Off of the kitchen is a sitting room with built ins and a bar. Yes that is a kegerator! Probably my favorite feature on the first floor in this tucked away nook that is perfect for Lila’s toys. I painted her that little table out of an IKEA $20 kids table. 

Built in bar First floor toy storage
The TV room has original doors from 1880, but otherwise, I wanted this to be our fun, casual family hang out area. I got the white Ektorp sectional from IKEA and the entire thing is machine washable/bleachable, making it perfect for kids. The rug is another favorite of mine and is from RugsUSA.com. We repurposed Luke’s old trunk from his days as a bachelor for a coffee table.

IKEA Ektorp white couch IKEA White Couch Rugs USA colorful rug
The house originally was a duplex, but the previous owners restored it to a single family home. While they did it, they exposed this beautiful brick.

Exposed brick in house batman Quote

When we moved in, the stair railing stopped in the middle of the stairs, leaving a big opening at the top.  I was worried Lila or another child could fall through, so we had this piece of glass fitted for the spot.Glass stairway

At the top of the stairs is a giant window that originally made me fall in love with this house. We turned the space into a sitting room, where my painted chair and an antique trunk now sit. The rugs upstairs are from Wayfair.com and the buffet is from an antique store.

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Painted upholstery with chalk paint

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In our master bedroom, I wanted the focus to be on the beautiful antique bedroom set we received from Luke’s parents. It used to belong to Luke’s Aunt Lynette and is in perfect shape.

Custom Etsy Blackout curtains Antique bedroom furniture White bed
Lila’s room of course needed to be PINK! so I chose a very pale, pretty pink that she could grow into. Her shag rug is from RugsUSA and the furniture was picked up at a local antique store.

Pink girls bedroom Pink and green girls bedroom
Here’s our itty, bitty guest room. Too small to even really photograph, but still cute!

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Lila’s playroom is pretty much all IKEA. The IKEA daybed is awesome because it opens up to have a second twin bed and drawers for storage. This room gets A LOT of use. :)

Green and blue playroom IKEA playroom storage
The fourth bedroom is currently being used for Luke’s office. He rocks the stand up desk, so there wasn’t a need for much office furniture. One thing we got him that he loves is a beverage cart from IKEA that he uses for coffee and tea. And that’s an upstairs porch off his office, which will get a lot of use this summer.

Yellow home office

The upstairs bathroom (yes that is singular!) has the classic black and white tile floors with some great modern updates like the built in storage, pretty sink and white subway tile in the shower. Eventually we will outgrow this one bathroom up situation, but for now it’s working just fine. The IKEA cart provides some great extra storage and acts as my rolling vanity.

Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 4.05.15 PM Black and white bathroom tile
Speaking of porches, here is the back porch on our first floor. My next project is to paint that table with chalkboard paint on top and blue on the bottom!

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So there you have it! Thanks for going on this little home tour with me. It’s still a work in progress, but I am really happy with how it’s all turned out so far. It’s nice after many years of renting furnished places, to finally live in a home that is exactly our style with our stuff.

If you’re curious about anything in the house, leave a comment and I’ll share a link to where I bought it or how I made it!

 

 

How to Paint Upholstery With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Posted in Liz's Life, Moving by

It’s been just about two months since we moved into our new (old) house and little by little, it’s starting to feel like home. I have most of the big furniture done and now am moving onto the smaller details.

One spot in our house that left me a little perplexed was the landing at the top of our stairs. It has this giant picture window that I love, but I wasn’t sure how to utilize the space. I decided after doing some Pinterest sleuthing that it would make a nice, bright little reading nook.

The thing is, I did not want to spend a bunch of money on a chair for this spot, since it likely will not get used all that much. I had heard that you could paint fabric through this Facebook Annie Sloan Chalk Paint project group I joined. “At first I thought – painted fabric?? Won’t that be super crunchy and crack?”

But after seeing some great before and after photos, I decided to give it a whirl. Keep in mind this was my FIRST ASCP project ever. I convinced Luke to go to Goodwill with me to pick out a cheapo chair. We snapped this red one up for $15!

Painting fabric How to paint a fabric chair

That combined with about $60 in painting supplies I picked up from Pottsies and I was ready to go.

Now before we go any further and you immerse yourself in learning this process, keep in mind the results are amazing. Here’s my before and after…

painted upholstery with annie sloan chalk paint

Pretty crazy, right? Okay now that you’re visually convinced, here’s the process.

Supplies You’ll Need

Here’s what I used to do the job:

– an old moving blanket to protect the basement floor
– painters tape
– 220 grit sand paper
– Paint jug to mix the paint
– 1 liter pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue (I used 80% of the can)
– 1 small tester container of ASCP in Pure White
– ASCP clear wax
– 1 paint brush from Lila’s painting kit (no joke)
– Spray bottle filled with water
– and old t-shirt for the waxing part

How to Paint Fabric with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I started off by cleaning the chair with a spray disinfectant and a good vacuuming. Then I mixed some of the duck egg blue paint with about 20% water. This helps the fabric soak up the paint. Before I started painting, I sprayed down the whole chair with water until it was wet but not dripping. This again helps the fabric soak up the paint.

Then I just started painting! I really wish I had taken pictures throughout the process, but I was in my zen mode and completely forgot. It really is relaxing to paint.

While painting, I didn’t really follow any direction. I just made sure the coverage was even and I used my brush to work it into the stitching, crevices and piping. I didn’t even tape off the legs either. ASCP wipes off easily while wet and otherwise you can just paint over it, like I did with the pure white.

After the first coat, I let it dry 24 hours, then ran the sand paper over it lightly to soften up any rough spots. Then I wiped it off with a rag and repeated the whole process from the day before. Spray the chair, water the paint down 20% and paint a second coat.

If you’re painting a light colored chair something darker, two coats may be all you need. Since I was going from red to light blue, I needed a third coat and then some touch ups to get complete coverage.

Once you are satisfied with your coverage and the chair is completely dry (24 hours), you apply the wax. I just used an old t-shirt to dab on some wax, rub it in and then wipe away any excess. This is the part in the process I wish I had not rushed because there are some spots where the wax is definitely thicker than others now that it’s dry.

So lesson is to take your time waxing and make sure the coverage is even. After the wax dries 24 hours, you can buff it if you want a slight sheen to the fabric.

After the fabric portion of my chair was done, I flipped it over and painted the legs with Pure White. The great thing about ASCP is that you don’t need to prime wood at all. Just start painting. I was done with the legs and distressed them lightly with sand paper in about 20 minutes.

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How Does it Feel / Hold Up / Not Rub Off?

The first question you probably have is how does the chair fabric feel now that it’s painted? To me it feels like a soft pleather. Cool to the touch and smooth. Not crunchy or hard at all!

Painted fabric with chalk paint

Then you might wonder how it holds up over time? Well the jury is still out for me as my chair is only two weeks old. I will say, a painted chair probably is best served for a low-traffic spot. I’m not sure I would want to have it be my “comfy” daily use chair. That’s why I put mine at the top of our landing.

Finally, does the paint rub off? No siree! The wax acts like a seal on the fabric keeping the paint intact. It also serves as a waterproof base to make clean up easy. I think of it as almost like scotch guard. I have done several “butt tests” in my black leggings and nothing has ever come off on my pants (if you consider leggings pants like I do :).

I’m happy to say my painted chair has found itself quite at home on our landing. I paired it with a rug from Wayfair and an antique trunk I got at our local antique store The Vault for $25. I just have to dress it up with a cute pillow and decor, then it will be complete.

Painted upholstery with chalk paint How to paint fabric with chalk paint Annie sloan chalk paint on upholstery

I have been so thrilled with how easy this whole process was. Again this was my FIRST project with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint ever. I have already begun scouting other things in our house I can paint. This little step stool from IKEA was my latest project done in the span of one nap time.

ikea Bekam step stool painted

If you have any questions about how I painted this chair with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, leave a comment and I’ll answer.

Happy painting!

 

A Blue, Turquoise and White Playroom Design

Posted in Liz's Life, Moving by

We officially move into our house on Monday. I am so excited to get in, get settled and start life in our new home. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been wonderful living with my parents these past few months, but we are ready to have our own space.

We literally have no furniture, because in Tahoe, we always rented furnished homes. I’ve been working hard to piece together each room in our house and purchase as much furniture as I can, so we aren’t sitting on the floor for dinner. Plus we are hoping to host a small family party for Lila’s birthday just 10 days after we move in (aggressive, I know).

We worked with local designer RCI Interior Design to help with furniture placement. colors and to pick out some furniture for us. Since we weren’t physically in the house, it really helped to have some measurements of each room and an idea of where furniture should go.

I’ll plan to take some photos once we are all settled in, but until then, here are some of the furniture pieces we’ve picked out.

First up, the playroom: The playroom is upstairs and will be a mix of white with turquoise and other blues/greens. We got most of the stuff from IKEA for this room, because kids and messes.

I love the white day bed we got there. It has three drawers plus it pulls out to be two twin beds for sleep overs. We are pairing it with white storage cubes with wicker baskets, a bright rug and this cool storage table also from IKEA – each level has storage.

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I’m excited to see how it all comes together and to FINALLY have a place for all of Lila’s toys. If you’re interested in any of the items I’ve posted, visit my Playroom Pinterest page and each item is linked to it’s store.

I’ll be back with some photos once we get settled. Until then, wish us luck with our eighth and hopefully LAST move!

My Dream House

Posted in Liz's Life, Moving by

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Our search for the perfect home has had a lot of ups and downs. I was starting to feel like the right house was never going to come along, when suddenly the universe took charge and said “I got this.”

It started about a month ago when I was playing with Lila at a nearby park. For some reason I felt compelled to drive to the next town over and see if there were any new listings we might like. We had zoned in on one area, but there were basically NO houses for sale all summer there.

Low and behold, as I drove down our ideal street, I noticed a “For Sale by Owner” sign in front of a beautiful historic house. I put the number in my phone and immediately called our realtor, Christine Stowell, to have her check on it for us. She called me back…

“Okay they JUST put the sign up today. The house is 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and has been completely updated … BUT they already have four offers. Are you sure you want to still see it?”

Luke was wary of getting into a multiple offer situation, but I convinced him to at least go see it. We were getting pretty desperate after all and this house could be perfect. We set up a showing for the next day, and I’m so glad that we did.

The owners of the house greeted us at our showing and explained that they had bought it as a run-down duplex and lovingly converted and restored it from top to bottom. They went out for a walk so we could tour the house.

And oh my gosh, you guys, it was/is so amazing. I literally was running from room to room gasping,

“LOOK at these antique doors!! Even the hinges are original!!”

“OMG I LOOOOOVE this light fixture.”

“The wood floors throughout are to die for.”

(Yes I sound like a valley girl when I get excited)

At one point Luke and Christine thought I had fallen or something because I screamed “AHHH OH MY GOSH!!” when I went up the stairs and saw this huge, amazing picture window. To say I was excited about this house would be an understatement. Here is a list of things I loved about the house:

1. It was built in 1880.

2. It has original wood floors throughout the whole house.

3. The owners put in gorgeous thick crown molding throughout.

4. Despite being an old home, it has an open concept first floor.

5. It has a big front porch, a side deck and two screened in porches (one up and one down).

6. Many of the door knobs and hinges are restored and original.

7. There is a several hundred year old ginkgo tree in the front yard that drops all it’s leaves in one day.

8. It is one block to a super cute downtown with shops, restaurants and more.

9. The kitchen is totally updated with quartz countertops and beautiful appliances.

10. It’s not huge (2400 sq ft), but has a ton of nooks to maximize the space.

I was ready to put in offer in immediately, but Luke wanted to sleep on it. That entire night I was so excited about this house that I didn’t sleep a wink. The next morning we put in an offer and after meeting with the owners the next day, our offer was accepted!!

All in all, the house was on the market just one week. ONE WEEK. I feel so lucky that I randomly decided to drive by that house when I did and saw the for sale sign. We very easily could have missed it.

I am dying to show you all a picture of the outside, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that from a safety perspective. Once we move in (Nov 3), I will show you all the beautiful details inside of the house. For now it’s on to finding furniture to match our cute antique home.