Master Bedroom Design, Part II

The Dresser:

I went over to my favorite thrift shop in Madison. It has an abundant amount of furnishings. In the past, I would see all these amazing furnishings that I could repurpose and I never took the plunge. I missed out on some great deals. And I could kick myself in the arse for those missed opportunities.

This dresser is what I planned to use to put the TV on. I needed something big for storage and strong enough to hold an old timey bulb TV that is 34". As I examine each piece of furniture at the thrift shop, I came upon this beauty.

It cost a total of $68 and change. A great savings for someone designing on a budget. This is a really big dresser. It took 2 men to load it into the back of my minivan. And it took one determine Mama to get it out of the back of my minivan without a second pair of hands.

It has really pretty details.

The knobs and pulls look salvageable. I may just clean with Bon Ami and put back on. No replacement needed.

I love the legs. It is such a classy detail. The wheels are a bit rusty, but I wouldn't know how to replace them, so I am just going to try to get the rust off with some products.

The drawers are deep enough to put a lot of our clothing in. That brings me joy.

The Plan:

I will be stripping this first. I use an environmentally friendly goop that is spread on and allowed to lift the stain.

Then I will sand with 120 and then 220 grit to get the rings off the top of the dresser. I will fill any holes or cracks, which are minimal on this piece.

The plan is to stain with a dark color. Not sure which. I want it dark to minimize the showing of any defects that couldn't be removed so easily with sanding, but I want the grain and the details to show through. I was thinking of using an expresso or a dark walnut.

Once it is done and dry, I plan to put this in front of the bed, and put the TV in the center and flank the TV with the two lamps on my nightstand.

THE PROBLEM:

It is winter. The garage is freezing and hubby finally decided to use the garage to park his car during snow storms. This means I have no work area. However, I think I can take this to the basement and work by the utilities. There is a large sink for clean up. There are shelves for storing the paints and brushes. Since I plan to do more refinishes, I need a consistent work space. I think that would work.

I am concerned that I won't have enough ventilation, but it is a huge space. I can run a fan. And I can even open one of the two windows downstairs. I think I will try to rig something with my shop vac to suck the dust from the sanding. Planning and organization is key; especially when I plan to do this often.

This redesign is really getting my creative juices flowing and minimizing my "aching desire" to buy and renovate a house. I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Master Bedroom Design, Part I

I've been stalking design blogs for the past 6 months. I had a subscription to Apartment Therapy for years, but the design blogs out there are my thing. DIY blogs are especially my thing. I enjoy DIY projects for crafts and for home. If there is any way that I can save money, then by golly, I will do it.

Hubby and I came to a conclusion about the whole renting ordeal. We aren't moving. We can't buy a house at this time for various personal and professional reasons. And plainly, we are sick of moving. Our children are constantly on the edge about us packing up and leaving. The best thing is to stay put as much as possible. It is expensive to stay, but it is more expensive financially and emotionally to keep packing and moving.

I've been planning to redecorate my Master Bedroom. However, there are some rules: No painting, no flooring changes, no window treatments. It will be new furniture, new bedding, and accessories. We have dorm furniture. Yes. I said it. We have taken care of the kids and have placed no importance on our comfort and style in our room. We spend more time in the family room at night, and use our bedroom strictly for sleep--well, you know!

We lack for storage and practical design. This is a huge room. We need a large dresser for the TV and storage. We need night stands, but not ordinary small stands. I want them semi-large with drawers for storage. The current chest of drawers I would like to move to the walk-in closet so it isn't out of place with the rest of the simple design plan that I have in mind.

This is the Master as of this morning. Blue carpet. King Size bed with no head board or foot board, which is pretty boring and makes me feel deprived. Two small nightstands. Ikea chair for hubby. The lamps are very Modern and have very masculine lampshades. I picked these out, but they can be used someplace else.

Hubby's area is littered with little storage for all the things he likes to keep at bedside: books, magazines, cigar boxes with things. The drawer is jammed packed with stuff. This nightstand was bought at Ames before it went under--about 6.5 years ago. Hubby keeps a backpack and a large suitcase that is out of frame. I want those out of there. Even the unsightly trash can.

My nightstand. Design magazines, books, knitting in the drawer. Two alarm clocks for workout day and non-workout day. Too low, too small, and broken because the bottom wooden accent broke off during one of our moves.

View from bed. Ugly old, unfinished TV stand hubby bought to put this ginormous and heavy TV. Old dresser from when we first lived together. Clutter on top: cell phone, wallet caddy, books, lotion, asthma meds. I want these in drawers and out of site. I also need more clothing storage for me and hubby. Well, for hubby. He has an endless amount of T-shirts from work and events.

I love this aspect. If I could, I would put the bed here and night stands on either side. TV opposite. However on this wall is the cable jack and I don't want to snake anything over. Too much work. I need a better lamp for lighting reading areas, etc. Don't mind the laundry. This is constant. It is a PITA--you texters know what this stands for.

So as you can see, I have my work cut out for me. My budget is $500 and under. That means purchasing through thrift stores and Craigslist. No painting, which saves money. No window treatments, which saves money. Why no treatments. Because usually treatments are made to the dimensions and amounts of windows, which I wouldn't leave behind in a rental; and it may not be practical to use in our next place.

I love this room for the high ceilings. I love love the rounded window. The room is large, but as of yet, not cozy. I want it to be simple and tasteful. Most importantly, I want the things that I bring in to work at the next home it moves to.

Lootie Tootie (her new nickname) maintains her gray eyes. Amazon was born with steel blue eyes that changed color after about 15-18 months. They progressively got the brown flecks until they became a honey color. I wasn't as prolific in picture taking back then--film was all I had, so I don't have many pics of her eye color. Besides, Amazon had very small, almond shaped eyes. Moose's eyes were dark blue and turned brown quickly, within a couple of months.

I am still taking a "wait and see" attitude with the eyes. There is absolutely nothing I can do and have to wait to see if they change to brown. One eye has more flecks of brown. That is the squinty, left eye. She has one segment that is more triangular and brown within the blue. It led me to think she would have heterochromia.

Heterochromia is where you have one blue and one brown or green eye; like Kate Bosworth, Jane Seymour, and Dan Ackroyd. It is a very interesting effect and look. Odd, but intriguing. I fully expect them to go brown, but I have to get used to the idea that after over a year of seeing blue eyes, they are going to change.

Dairy Free Ice Cream . . .

I went dairy free a few months ago when I started connecting my stomach issues with my drinking milk or eating any type of dairy. I have asthma and am on 2 medications to keep me symptom free, but I would start wheezing when I ate milk chocolate. Once I gave up dairy, the need to know where a bathroom was located was no longer an issue. I also didn't have the painful gas.

I switched to almond milk or rice milk, whichever is on sale. It is so much better for me.

And while I don't miss dairy as part of my daily diet, I would like to have a treat every now and then . . . like ice cream.

I love smoothies too. So I figured I could make ice cream in my old, powerful blender that I've owned since I was 13 (about 22 years). No need for a Vita Mix at this point.

What I mixed:

• 1 frozen ripe banana (the ones you don't want to throw away but look too yucky to eat).
  
• 2/3 c. almond milk
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp brown sugar

Mix until smooth. This will be a thick mixture that I put in a small storage container and put in the freezer. In a couple of hours, by dinner time, it is ready to scoop for dessert. Yum, chocolatey!

It's the most wonderful time

of the year . . .

Hubby is decorating the tree with the kids. While I decorate the picture of the tree with Picnik. Check out the seasonal things Picnik has to offer your edited photos.

Settled?

Just when I thought we were settled in Madison, dh and I were shook into consciousness about our future in Madison. No, not job wise. Housing wise. This week, we were alerted by two women that an advertisement was placed on Craigslist listing our rental home for rent; significantly lower than our current rental rate. The most disturbing thing was someone created a fake Yahoo email and used my husband's full name as the contact person. It was a scam to phish for financial information of interested parties. After making a police report and investigating further, I learned that my landlady relisted the house for rent and increased the rent another $150 a month. She is testing the market to see if there will be interest to lease at the new higher rate. That is how the scammer got the information and pictures that were posted on Craigslist. She increased our rent by $100 a month when we renewed this Summer. And now she is planning to increase it again; $250 in 2 years. While I am working, it still takes money out of our finances that I could seriously use toward savings, bills, student loans, etc.

For the amount of rent being asked, we could pay a mortgage. And while it is cheaper to rent. I hate seeing money go to the equity of another person, when we could increase our own equity. The kids and I went to an open house this afternoon to see if it was worth our interest. It is in the school district. It is move in ready. It is way below market value. Cosmetic updates of new flooring and appliances are the only things needed. There are 4 bdrms for us to live comfortably in. The back yard is huge. The kids loved it. The basement can be renovated to create a family room. Suffice to say, it has a ton of potential. The neighborhood is great. Yada, yada, yada.

These are all nice things, but it is bad timing. We still have 7 months left on this rental, and she won't let us out of the lease. The only reason we found this house was because the former tenant needed to sublet because he bought a new house for his family of 9. She was not accommodating to him. And she won't be accommodating to us. Business is business, and we get that. But that is not the way we run our business with our tenants, so I am a bit miffed at the entire situation.

I am ready to move into a house that is move in ready, and that we can update/change over the months and years. But we still aren't quite sure if Madison is it. Hubby has many career/professional goals to accomplish. However, he is seriously thinking about getting his PhD here. That allows us to stay for another 18 months for sure. And while no one is pushing us out of Madison, quite the contrary, I am not quite ready to settle into another home and abruptly have to leave. It is painful. For all of us. But one bright spot: through blogging I've made a ton of friends, so no matter where I go or do, you are always in my corner cheering up the dark spots. Thank you for sticking with me.

Moments--crafting

I've declared my love for magazines before. I especially love shelter magazines because they show me homes that are completely different than my own. However, that brings on a whole range of emotions: manic perfectionism in some areas of the house and a complete shut down in others. A Commonplace Life is hosting a blog ring to show those Moments in our home lives that can show this range. Whatever is in the "moment". And because I can't seem to be capturing moments lately, I shall make more of an effort to do so.

I've shown this type of picture many times. A long dining room table filled with WIP. There is a bounty of WIP in this house: the baby's quilt, The memory quilt, The one square a day quilt, another thrifted quilt--not yet shared, a doll quilt, Moose's new quilt--not yet shared. And not one is near completion.

This sets off anxiety and I shut down. Last night, I set out to organize as best as I could. I sewed and pressed 8 more squares for the one a day. I need 19 more to start assembling with the sashing. But that means cutting more 2.5 squares. I seem to be losing steam with the combinations, and I don't want too many fabric repeats. Inevitable.

I did finish the binding on this quilt. I just finished pinning the binding over to the "wrong" side so that I can start sewing it by hand tonight while I watch a movie. I love those little projects that can be done while multitasking another.