justem: little bits of this and that

Our New Old WI Home: The Parlor

The Parlor.  That sounds so fancy.  We could just call it the "side room." Or, if we wanted to be overly descriptive and not at all fancy, "the TV room." ;) But, I like "the parlor." The parlor is actually one of my favorite rooms in our house, which is interesting, because it's filled with old, mismatched furniture.  This is a perfect example of how a room can be totally imperfect, yet still pretty close to perfect. ;) Here are some photos and some thoughts...

It's hard to get a good photo of this room. (I need a wide angle lens!!)  It is off on the side of the living room with French doors that open to the living room and a glass panel door that leads to the dining room. Here is what it looks like if you are standing in the middle of the living room:

That red couch is a WRECK.  It was the very first piece of "real" furniture we bought a long, long time ago. Since then, it's been peed on, puked on, and had food spilled all over it. Our dog used to chew her rawhide on the arms. The back cushions are destroyed. The flip side of the seat cushions are covered in sharpie. Once I had the brilliant idea to try and wash and dry a seat cushion cover...yeah that worked out well. ;) This couch is a well-loved disaster.  We are thinking about having the back cushions restuffed.  Note to self - never EVER buy a couch with soft detachable back cushions again! You may know that I have a thing for pillows. I like to think that my fun pillows totally detract from the awful couch!  The table was a Craigslist find. My husband refinished the top, and it's as good as new. Solid wood and sturdy!  I also got the two Coke crates to hold magazines and library books from Craigslist - in case you haven't noticed - I get a lot of stuff from Craigslist! The "end table" is a TV tray. We are classy. ;)  The only new item we purchased for this room was the rug from IKEA. My husband was skeptical at the time, but I really think it works well...and in the words of the Big Lebowski, it really ties the room together. ;)

 We got a set of the black IKEA chairs for our wedding - so they are 10 years old.  Only one is in the room right now. Again...the pillows are my plan to draw your eye away from all the "not great" stuff!! ;) It's hard to see, but my mom gave me the crossstich of Madison that is sitting by the plant.  It's probably as old as I am, and I love it. The window coverings are the same as the ones in the living room. I don't love them, but they were a quick and inexpensive fix when we moved in and needed to get rid of the old ones.

On the other side of the couch is a hand painted chair that we received a gift and an old soda crate that has special meaning to me! I envision it someday holding vintage quilts or afghans!

Our entertainment center and TV are against the back set of windows. It's not the greatest place for a television because of all the light, but it was the only place in the house it would fit.  Our entertainment center is from IKEA. It's much more modern in than the rest of the room, but it fits in the space, so we'll keep it for now! This is the most boring photo ever... ;)

If you look in between the two sets of doors, we have an old Mission style library shelf that I got off of Craigslist. When I first purchased it, I was worried I had made a big mistake because it doesn't stand flush against the wall. It would have originally have been a free standing shelf (or attached to others like it) in an actual library. However, I've grown to love it. In the interest of "keeping it real" here is a photo - complete with remote controls, books and toys, and that fan which we put there in the summer and never bothered to put away in the winter! ;)

 I didn't even bother to take a photo of the other corner of the room. It holds a gigantic radiator and a single picture on the wall. It's even more boring than the TV side of the room, so I thought you'd be okay not seeing it! 

As with all the other rooms in the house, when we moved in, I made a a big list of "changes" to make.  Most of them will probably not happen for years...but I will share just keep track of our progress!

• Fix ceiling (cracked) and put up a tin ceiling
• Take down plant holders
• Hang pictures
• Clean walls/touch up paint
• Window coverings 
• Refinish Floor
• Clean/Fix red couch
• New chairs
• New coffee table/side tables
• Fun pillows for couch
• Rug
• Replace outlet covers
• Repaint radiator
• Eventually replace windows

Our New Old WI Home: The Living Room for the Holidays

For awhile last year, I shared photos of the progress in our house. But, then, I stopped...for a few reasons. First, my house is always a mess.  Don't let the pictures on Instagram fool you. On the average day there are toys and food and dirty dishes and laundry and whatever else my little tornado children have left behind in their path of destruction. Second, I am the kind of person who doesn't like sharing things until they are perfect. I have been wanting to share photos of this room or that room, but I was always just waiting to fix problem A or finish issue B. Well, after a year of living here, it's very obvious that nothing is ever going to be perfect. ;)  I love home decor blogs, and this is never going to be one, but I would like to share more photos this year on the blog...mostly for myself so that eventually I can go back and look at all the progress I have made.

Take, for instance, the living room.  I last posted about the living room in March of last year.  I remember thinking back then that things didn't look so bad in those photos...and now when I look back, all I can think is, "WOW, has a lot changed!!"  I loved decorating for the holidays this year, so I thought now might be a perfect time to share some updated living room photos.  Things are far from perfect, but there is hope on the horizon!   

Looking at the built-ins, we have way more "stuff" filling them up. I'm a lover of stuff!  All of my globes have been purchased off of Craigslist, and I keep accumulating more vintage music books.  I love when people find them and buy them for me! I even had a friend send me some after she saw my collection on Instagram!

The curtains are from West Elm. I love chevron, but I hate when it's overdone (like,  you won't be finding a chevron chair or couch in my house), but I think these curtains are just the perfect amount of pattern and I love their color oh so much!!  

I think I get more comments on the mitten garland on the piano than any other holiday decoration!  I bought those from Hallmark probably 15 years ago when I was in college.  They have a hang on on the piano every year!

I LOVE the artwork of Katie Daisy, and this print was perfect for the piano!  The little pedestal candle holder thingy (a technical term) was from an estate sale. We spray painted it yellow because, well, I love yellow. ;)

I HAD to have the star marquee light from Target.  It will stay on the piano permanently.  

The Advent calendar is from The Land of Nod.  The kids were up at the crack of dawn each morning in December to see what was in each pocket!

I posted about my vintage map last year.  I paired it with some totally adorable felt garland from my new favorite store Hello, Maypole.  I now want to put felt ball garland all over my house. Somehow, I don't think my husband is going to be on board with that plan!

The next couple of photos are pretty bad. I love all the windows in my living room, but they make it hard to photograph!   Here is where you will spy the big downfalls of the room!  1) The loveseat.  Our old house was so small we didn't have room for a full-size couch, and instead we got this loveseat. It basically began to disintegrate last year and now is in shambles.  The good news? We are currently shopping for a new couch! I will be sure to post about it if and when we finally purchase one!  2) The coffee table.  This is a $10 table from Craigslist. It was listed as a "solid wood" table - and I had envisioned painting the bottom yellow and having my husband refinish the top. However, the top is actually laminate, which threw a wrench in my plans. Right now the plan is to still paint it yellow, and hopefully at some point he can construct a brand new tabletop.

The old set of drawers was gifted to me by my stepdad, who had them in his workshop. I am pretty sure he (and everyone else in my family) thinks I am nuts for just putting them in the corner of my living room, but I have gotten SO many comments and compliments about them!!  Right now they are holding school work. I had hoped for lockers in that corner, but these are just as good...maybe better!  The chair was purchased from a local antique store. And, of course we have another globe...and more music books...you can never have too many!

If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I have a to-do list for every room in the house. This list makes me happy, because it's actually got a lot crossed off!

• Repaint/Touch up Paint
• Paint Ceiling
• Sheer Panels for front windows
• Curtains for side windows
• Refinish floors
• New light fixture - get rid of fan!
• Outlet covers
• Pictures/Art on walls
• Bins for bench storage
• New Couch (hopefully soon!)
• Painted Tables
• Coffee Table
• New Lamps
  
• Lockers (drawers instead)
• Pillows
• Redo piano bench cover
• Rug
• Repaint Radiator

Here are links to my previous Living Room posts:
Built-ins, 2.2014
Room Tour, 3.2014
Vintage Map, 4.2014
Blue Tables, 9.2014

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week! :)

#workspacewednesday

Hello, hello! Two weekends ago I finally found some time to get my scrap space organized. I've shared photos of it over time, but this is the first time it has ever been truly clean and organized. I still have a few boxes to unpack, but for the most part, it all came together like I'd been envisioning for the last year!  I wish I would have taken more photos, but the light was not great. Perhaps another day I will take some detailed shots of my shelves and my drawers, but for now...here is the one and only photo of my CLEAN space:

I realize it's not as fancy or cool or vintag-y or organized as some. ;)  But, I'm loving it.  Sadly, the desk is already a mess...I've got tons of assignments coming up in the next week and a half.  Now that I've had it clean, though, I'm really vowing to try to keep it that way!  Have a great day! 

Five for Friday:

1. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I've been sneaking a few images for Cocoa Daisy...because I'm the guest for October, hooray!  I'm sure nobody remembers but a long, long, LONG time ago. In fact, it was my first "big name" design team!  It's great to be back. Here's a sneak of one of my projects featuring the cut files and exclusive papers for October:

2. I decorated the front stoop for fall.  This is our first fall in our new house, and it's been fun decorating!  I love having a nice big front stoop - though I'd like to get new steps at some point...they look a little rough. 90 years of Wisconsin weather will do that, I suppose. 

 

3. I am loving the smells of fall. I have been diffusing clove + orange essential oil around my house, and it smells sooooo good.

4. My husband and I are not big gift givers, so I was super excited and surprised when he got me this for my birthday. I am in love. I know he got a little help picking it out, but that's cool.  It's perfect. :)

5. Our school district has the day off today for a teacher institute day. It's great having my oldest home again. she and her brother have been playing nonstop this morning.  It makes me realize how much he must miss her while she's gone!!!  Not sure what our plans are for the rest of the day, but I hope YOU have a great Friday and a fun weekend!

Five for Friday:

1. I must say, this week flew by.  Wednesday was a little dicey, but other than that, it's been a fast, fun week! This weekend we are tailgating with friends, attending our first Badger home football game of the season, and having a grill-out with friends on Sunday.  Next week is also my birthday...yikes.  How did I get so old? 

2. I realize I am probably the last person on earth to read the book Eleanor & Park, but I finally read it last week...and I read it in less than 24 hours.  I loved it. LOVED it.  It was the first book I've read this year that just made me feel good. I realize it's a young adult book, but honestly, the writing was better than the Orphan Train book I talked about last week.  That book was mediocre in comparison.  The author, Rainbow Rowell, was basically spot-on in her descriptions of young love. There were so many perfect parts that I highlighted (thank you, Kindle app!) just because they made me smile or made my heart go pitter-patter nostalgically.  I seriously might buy a physical copy of the book to keep it for Mirielle when she's old enough to read it...with all the best parts highlighted in good old fashioned yellow highlighter of course. ;)

3. Do you like meatballs?  I don't.  I don't like meatballs, because I don't eat meatballs or any meat, for that matter.  However, I did make a meatball recipe at the first birthday party last weekend that was, according to those in the meatball-know, supposedly far superior to other more common meatball recipes out there.  I felt that perhaps it was my duty to share this exceptional meatball recipe with my meat-eating, meatball-making readers. ;) And honestly, wasn't it kind of fun seeing how many times I could say meatballs in a single paragraph.  Meatballs.

4. Guess what happens next week? Parenthood - Final Season.  YES. (And by yes, I really mean noooooo. I only watch two shows.  Whatever will I do without the Bravermans??)

5. I shared this photo on Instagram, but I've been doing a little bit of painting.  I bought an older "step table" a couple months ago that I intended on painting, but I never got around to it. When another similar table popped up on Craigslist, I picked it up, and I finally painted them both!  I'm not exactly the world's greatest chalk painter, and there is definitely a learning curve when it comes to the waxing process...but honestly...I LOVE how they turned out.  I also just bought a 10 dollar Craigslist coffee table that I want to paint, too! ;) Once I get it finished, I will share some updated photos of the living room, which already looks quite different from this post from earlier this year! And, as I mentioned on Instagram - someday that ugly loveseat will be replaced with a fantastic sofa. Maybe this one.  A girl can dream, right?

 

Our New Old WI Home: The Nursery

Today I have a few photos of our (totally in-progress) nursery!  It's kind of a joke around our house because we actually co-sleep, so the baby is pretty much never in this room.  We have literally done NOTHING in this room, save trying (unsuccessfully) to rip down the wallpaper boarder and tossing a few pictures on the wall.  I have big plans for this room...someday... ;)  

This room is a little odd because one of the windows actually looks out onto the sun porch rather than outside.  Here is the listing photo of this bedroom:

And here are a few photos of it now...first looking into the room from the door.  This is the furniture we've used with both of the big kids and used to be in their bedroom at the old house. It is all from IKEA (no longer available) with the exception of the rocking chair, which is an antique that I got from my dad, who got it from his mom who got it from an auction. She has some sort of connection to it, but I can't remember what it is at this moment.  The green IKEA rug is also recycled from the kids' old bedroom.  (Disclaimer: crappy iPhone photos ahead...)

The monogram print is from one of my favorite Etsy shops - Almost Sunday Designs, and the elephant canvas is from The Land of Nod.

The O pillow is from The Land of Nod, and the raccoon was from Santa, but a little elf told me that he got it from blabla kids.  All three Spahn children have a blabla doll or two. ;)

Full Disclosure: I totally filled that shelf with toys to make it look better for this photo. ;)  It had been empty!  Notice the wallpaper still on that secton of wall, boo!!

Shelf highlights: Sandra Magsamen sign, Sara Midda Baby Book, Lori Mitchell Cow Jumping Over the Moon, You Are Awesome Co. print, wool elephant from ouistitine, Green Toys school bus , Plan Toys xylophone and alligator , Target bookends and green cloth basket, The Land of Nod letter O and strapping baskets, Alex Toys Bop And Roll

 The quilt is the same on that was used for both other kids and it  is a Denyse Schmidt quilt that came from The Land of Nod over five years ago. I loved it then...and I love it now! The crib sheet is from Target, and the two bins (one for dirty cloth diapers and one for garbage) are both from IKEA. You can't see it, but we also have a green pail liner from Planet Wise, whom I feel compelled to endorse because they are a WI company!

 My "vision" for this room includes some gray paint, new shades, some curtains (of course, I'm obsessed with curtains!), a different fan or light fixture, and a few more "over the crib" decorations - safe ones, I promise!  In the last house we had white paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling in the kids' room. I'd love to do that again if I can convince my husband! ;) Someday when it's perfect (oh, who am I kidding, it will never be perfect!!) I will share some more photos! For now, here's the official to-do list for this room. We have one for every space in the house, which is a bit daunting when you look at it all!! Not much has been crossed off this one!

• Paint walls
• Paint white above picture rail/fix wallpaper
• Paint ceiling
• Repaint all trim/door
• Paint inside of closet
• New Light Fixture/fan
• Window Treatments
  • Curtains
  • Black out shades
• Paint windows (the windows in our house are new, but were never stained/painted)
• Pictures on Wall above changing table
• Pictures above crib
• Paper Lanterns from ceiling
• Change outlet covers/light switches
• Refinish floors
• Magnetic doorstop

Have a great night, and thanks for stopping by! 

Reality...

I posted this photo on Instagram earlier this morning:

If you follow me, you know that every once in awhile I post little peeks into our house. This particular shot of the top fo the piano was sharing my new Katie Daisy print, and the $2 estate sale find pedestal that I plan to spray paint yellow. An acquaintance of mine commented on the photo, "Your house must be the cutest place in the universe!!!" And, while I would like to think she was making a genuine statement about the house photos I have posted, I have a feeling that her comment was actually written with a bit more sarcasm than the average person might realize.  I don't know that for sure...just speculating. ;)

And so, like any self-respecting internet junkie...I felt compelled to write a blog post about it.  Why is it that I only share little bits and pieces of my home? You might notice that I rarely post an entire room. Just select scenes. Well, because the rest of it looks like a bomb went off - not a joke - imagine a grenade that spewed forth toys as it exploded - or laundry - or crumbs...that would be my house. (Seriously, how many times can one sweep the floor in a day!!!) I don't mean to say it's dirty and nasty. Well sometimes it is...it's just a far cry from perfection.  This morning when I posted the photo of the little vignette (Is that even the right word? I am so not hip to the home decor terminology), my kitchen looked something like this. Okay not something...it looked exactly like this:

Yup. That's last night's dinner dishes + this morning's breakfast dishes all waiting to be put into the dishwasher, which I hadn't unloaded yet.  And what you can't see is that on the floor there was a sock, a muddy shoe, a pair of sunglasses, a stack of legos, and a Weinermobile Christmas ornament. What that? You don't believe me?? Proof... ;)

Yesterday I posted a photo of my laundry for the Madison Mom's Blog photo challenge. It looked this:

Cute, right? Look at all that perfectly folded laundry and that adorable chunky baby! Well, the rest of the room, the part that is next to and behind me??? Not nearly as adorable...

And finally, that photo I posted this morning...I totally moved all the junk from one side of the piano out of the way to take the photo. The other side looked something like this:

Yes that's a Viking helmet in a basket of egg decorations that I still haven't put away from Easter.  So.  what is the point of this all? Well, did you like looking at the photos of my messy house? I know I didn't.  In fact, I'm willing to bet a lot of money (like 5 whole dollars) ;) that if I took a poll, every single person reading this would choose the first photo as their favorite...or maybe the one with the baby, because who doesn't like babies. But it's not reality. It's a snippet of reality. I don't live in a perfectly decorated always clean home.  I don't make gourmet dinners ever night. My kids aren't always clean and perfectly dressed.  And sometimes I like to look up from the mass chaos that is my everyday life and see the little bits of beauty here and there...like my Katie Daisy wildflowers or my yellow chevron curtains or my newest fun Craigslist find, which is why I choose to share those things on Instagram. I really, really hope I am not propagating an unrealistic image of myself out there...because dudes...I am like the realest real person you are ever going to meet.  And like all real people - I like to hide the crap and focus on the good.  My house is definitely not "the cutest place in the universe" - it's probably not even the cutest house on the block. But it's filled with a lot of love and a lot of happiness, which on most days makes up entirely for the mess. ;)

Found: Garden Chair

I'm totally making up the name "garden chair." It just sounds so much better than "crappy little chair I bought from a garage sale."  ;)  Last my town held city-wide garage sales, and a friend and I headed out Friday morningto see what we could find.  I ended up with a vintage metal milk crate, a blue mason jar (one can never have too many!), an old US map puzzle, and this gross little chair. ;)

I slapped a coat of paint on it...totally NOT outdoor paint, but whatever - it's going to sit outside and get destroyed anyway - and it looks so much cuter! I felt a little bad painting over the hand-scribbled name of the child who used to own (and clearly love) this chair...but it was worth it. ;)

I put it on my porch with a few flower pots and it's perfect - exactly what I was looking for.  

I envision our stoop being filled with all kinds colorful pots and flowers - unfortunately most of our planters were left behind in IL. Friday night, my husband and I went on a date night and when he asked me where I wanted to go, I chose Home Depot - the site of all hot dates. ;)  I got a few more pots, but I want more, more more!!! Here is what it looks like now:

Our front stoop clearly needs  a lot of work.  It's OLD and cracked and pretty ugly, but hopefully I can at least make it look cute during the different seasons! I will share a photo once we get the rest of our pots.  Hope everyone has a great Monday - it's storming here right now and supposed to storm all day. Yay. ;)  I am thankful for the rain, but it makes the day go by soooo much slower!! Hope it's sunny where you are!

Our New Old WI Home: Kids' Bedroom

If I had to choose the one room in our new house that I was the least happy with at this point, it would be the kids' bedroom.  First, I want to explain why our kids room together - a lot of people have been quick to point out that we have three kids and four bedrooms - they shouldn't have to share! Our old house was tiny, so they had always shared, and we wanted to keep that consistent when we moved to the new house.  My daughter actually gets very upset when I talk about someday moving her brother to his own room - in spite of my assurance that someday she will want her privacy!  So, for now they share.  Because of this, it's a bit hard to create a lovely, cohesive room - it's a mismatch of furniture and I haven't yet done much in the area of decor, since it has to work for both of them. Once this is HER room, I have great visions... ;)  Here it is now...

The only thing we have really done so far is paint the lower half of the room. I plan on painting over the stenciling at some point...hopefully some point soon!

My daughter's bed was purchased for  $35 dollars at a ReStore - my mom was so kind as to paint it white for us, as we were busy with other things...like a newborn and moving. ;) The fan in this room is hideous...it will be changed someday! The name prints are from The Penny Paper Co.

The quilt is from The Land of Nod a few years ago and is no longer available.   I need to get a bed skirt for her, I think! This old school desk is actually now on the other side of the room - I took these photo about a month ago.

My son's side is pretty boring. ;) He's still in a toddler bed. His bedding was an el-cheapo toddler set from Target - I liked that it came with both a fitted sheet AND a top sheet, which for a long time was difficult to find for toddler beds. The alphabet pillows are also from The Land of Nod.

Someday I would like to a new dresser and a bookcase for my daughter, but for now they are using my childhood dresser.

That's it! Small and sweet. :)  As with all the rooms in our house, I have a long to-do list of things I'd like to change and accomplish.  We have a long way to go on this room, and it will probably not be a "perfect" room until it's just a girl's room in a couple of years.  Here is the list:

• Paint walls
• Paint white above picture rail
• Repaint all trim/door
• Paint inside of closet
• New Light Fixture - get rid of fan??
• Window Treatments
  • Curtains
  • Black out shades
• Paint windows (the windows in our house are new, but were never stained/painted)
• New Dresser
• Bookcase
• Pictures on Wall
• Closet organizer
• Rug??
• Change outlet covers/light switches
• Refinish floors
• Magnetic doorstop

Five for Friday:

1. Have you tried Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl Butter??  I'd tried the plain old cookie butter before. It was just okay.  Add chocolate, however, and it's like little bits of heaven in your mouth. Yes. It's that good. I may or may not have been just scooping it out of the jar and eating it plain.  You know, I'm still nursing a baby...so I definitely need those extra calories, right...right? ;)

2. I am obsessed with yellow dresses right now.  These three are all from Boden. I have zero need for a yellow dress, but I really, really love them.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I would not even look good in a yellow dress...but that doesn't make me want one any less!

3. This evening the baby, my daughter, and I are driving to my hometown in Northern Wisconsin for a few family events. Last time I went (driving by myself + 3 kids) we got stuck in a snowstorm, Henry had 3 epic tantrums, it took us almost twice as long to get there (it's normally a 4 hour drive), AND I forgot my entire bag of clothes and toiletries sitting on the couch at home. I'm feeling like this trip is guaranteed to be better than the last! It better be, or I may never go back...sorry, Mom. ;)

4. I love, love, love Ingrid Michaelson. I've been to a few of her concerts, and her songs are some of my all-time favorites.  She has a new album out, and this is kind of like a throwback to the old Ingrid - simple, slow, meaningful. :)

5. I took this photo recently.  I love it - because it shows my life as it really is. It's chaotic. It's creative. It's bright. It's far from perfect...but it's good. Happy Friday, and have a great weekend! - Check back tomorrow for a fun National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop!