First projects

In my last post I mentioned that we had started on some [minor] projects. I have a long to do list for this house but we have nothing but time to get it done so we've been working on the little things to make some changed and get this place feeling more like home. First things first, the kitchen. I don't like unused space, or wasted space and I felt that the cabinet next to the window was just that: wasted space. We didn't need another cabinet, actually a few of our cabinets are empty because we just don't have that much stuff.... I mean, we eat out a lot so we don't need a lot. So, the point is, from the moment we stepped foot in this house I knew I was going to take down that cabinet [don't worry its going to good use some where else] and put up floating shelves. I love the look of rustic floating shelves and I thought this spot would be perfect.

It was really easy to remove, just 6 screws inside the cabinet and we popped it off the wall. We got extremely lucky that our contractor left us paint but also that they painted BEFORE hanging the cabinets so we didn't need to repaint the entire wall just the patched holes spots.

Once it was removed we made 2 shelves following this tutorial, same as we did in the bathroom of the rental house, and attached them with heavy duty [75lb limit] anchors into the wall.

I couldn't wait to decorate them and we finished them somewhere around midnight so please forgive the terrible Iphone photos [I finally made the switch from android and I do not like it at all, tell me Im not the only one?], I'll get some good shots sometime this week.

We also added some of the same faux floating shelves in the laundry room to fill up that empty wall and now I love it so much I want to add shelves everywhere! Its a problem. Truly. Here's the before

and the after.

Stay tuned for some updates that include a makeover on these bad boys.....

--Jackie

So far, So good

I've been working on the house round the clock trying to get it just right. Its hard to place furniture from one house into another when the pieces were purchased specifically for certain spaces in the rental, but its coming along. I'm sure things will get changed over time but for now this is how its looking.

nook in the loft

hallway leading to the 2 guest bedrooms

upstairs guest bath

guest room, still a work in progress

master bedroom

downstairs half bath

xoxo,
Jackie

Final Walk Through The Rental

Leaving our little rental home was bittersweet. We are so excited that we now own a home but the rental was the first actual home we lived in and we made a lot of memories there. It was for sure sad to see it empty but I thought you might enjoy seeing the REAL after photos.

*You might notice that the lighting in the kitchen and dining room has changed, thats because Zack and I changed all the lighting in the new house and wanted to bring some of the fixtures that we put in this rental, so we replaced the rental lights with the lights that were in our new home when we bought it. *

Updates from the new house are coming soon! 

xoxo,

Jackie

DIY faux olive leaf wreath

I found this wreath from Pottery Barn and I was so in love with it, but as usual, it was way out of my budget. I mean, $80 for a wreath is a bit excessive. I did a lot of googling to try to find a comparable option but I couldn't, so I decided to DIY one. Its not perfect, and its not exactly like the Pottery Barn one but for a fraction of the cost I'd say it turned out pretty well. Lets get started.

First, I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up an olive leaf garland [$24.99 but was 50% off so $12.50] and a grapevine wreath [$3.99 but I had a 40% off so $2.40]. The only other things I used were some jewelry wire I had on hand and some scissors.

In order to get the rustic look the inspiration wreath had I needed to remove some branches. This part has no real method. Just start pulling the branches apart and breaking some off until you get the desired effect.

Next, the olive leaf garland I got was also too full so I started pulling the leaves off until it looked a lot more bare, save the leaves though, you can add more fullness in spots later.

you can see the front part is thinned out and the back is still full

Then, I attached the garland around the wreath using jewelry wire tied tightly around the branches of the wreath

cut the wire really short so you can see it and tuck it under the leaves

Now, you just want to add in some leaves where the wreath shows through too much, you can do this by popping them back onto the little spines you pulled them off of.

way too bare

I am happy with how my wreath turned out although I wish I could have had some faux olives to add in but overall I think I accomplished what I was hoping to.

much better

To see where this little project is going you'll just have to keep reading!

xoxo,
Jackie