Pinterest is my Friend...

Well, Pinterset is my friend only when it comes to gleaning great ideas (otherwise I think it is the perfect forum for causing depression and thoughts of inadequacy).

A few weeks ago my sister Michelle had the best idea to get us sisters together (and Angie, our adopted sister) and have a Pinterest party. We all go on and pin things but usually don't actually do them. I am always cooking recipes I find there, but I seldom do other ideas I see there. I thought this was a great idea and I was pretty excited about it. 

I decided to make homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. It is something I probably would never have tried on my own, so I was happy to have the encouragement!

The results were great! I LOVE the laundry detergent - I may never buy detergent again. And it is much cheaper. The dishwasher detergent is only ok. I probably won't make it again. But it does work alright (It works best with Lemi Shine - but Lemi Shine isn't cheap, so I am not sure it is really all that cost-effective). Despite the dishwasher detergent I am pretty excited! 

After the party I was inspired. So this last week I made a couple of other things I found on Pinterest. The menu board is one I saw and copied. I like it so much. Then I came up the "Notes" board to match because I knew I would use it. 

 

 The Menu and Notes boards are just made of frames that I already had and wasn't using. I went through all my scrapbook paper (which I have in abundance) and picked a paper that was cute and low-key. Then I cut out the letter on the Cricut with vinyl and stuck them on the glass. That way I can switch out the paper when I get tired of it and I won't have to re-do the letters. Clever huh?! I use a wet erase marker instead of dry-erase. It comes off easier and has a better tip to write with. Oh, how I am loving these babies! Plus they are cute and they make me happy when I look at them. 

Are you on Pinterest? If you are, I hope you are making some of the great ideas you find...it is super fun!!!

My next project is homemade soap....we'll see how it goes!

Living Room

We finished the living room a while ago, I just haven't gotten around to posting pictures. So the wall that the piano is against used to be the open archway. It looks so much better now that it is closed. It makes the room so nice and cozy and the other side feels so much cleaner. I love it. 

I painted the room this awesome blue/green. In the morning light it looks kind of green and in the evening it looks more blue. It is really pretty and mellow. 

We are planning on putting crown molding in as well...but that will be a while down the road. I left the ceiling tan with plans to paint it later. I actually think once the crown molding is in I will like that it is tan. We will see. 

Here is the other side of the wall. The paint that was left in the basement clearly doesn't match anymore which is no big deal because I am planning on painting this summer. It looks really good though and Scott did a great job. It was a much needed improvement!

Laundry at Tiffany's

I always choose mellow colors for my walls. But I am a colorful, outgoing person and once in a while I like a little color in my life. So I decided that my tiny laundry room (it half the size of my old laundry room) needed a makeover with some good color. I have always loved Tiffany Blue. So that is what I chose for my laundry room. When I first started painting I was a little nervous. It was really bright and I was afraid it would look tacky. The laundry room is a pain to paint so I knew I wouldn't be repainting it anytime soon. Luckily when it was all put together I thought it looked great!

To add to the awesomeness, Scott built me a basket storage tower. It fits perfectly in that little spot and helps so much in keeping things clean.

In the pictures the color looks a lot lighter than in real life. But you kind of get the picture.....

 Awesome right!

As a sidenote: I found this idea on Pinterest. They always had it with the baskets going in on the long side. Since I had a narrow space for the baskets we (meaning Scott) modified the design for the baskets to slide in on the short side. It is perfect. 

I still need to hang a shelf and hook for the ironing board. And I need to hang a picture or two. When I get it all complete I will get another picture posted!

change #2

The Second Change (see previous post if you want to know what I am talking about):
February is "No T.V. Month"
What?! Well....let me explain...
So we are not really huge T.V. watchers. Neither Scott nor I grew up watching a lot of television, so luckily this was something that was easy to agree on when we got married. Well, as children have come we (meaning I) have found it to be pretty easy to use the T.V. as a babysitter. Occasionally I don't really see this as a problem...the problem is that my children were constantly begging to watch something; especially Davie and that bothered me. No two-year-old should know so much about Dora, Diego, and Dinosaurs (he loves Dinosaur Train, which incidentally I do too...I think it is a pretty interesting show).

Just to give a little more background, we already had a rule in the house that Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays were "No T.V. days"...there is a reason for each of those days; Saturdays are supposed to be a fun day off...days off shouldn't be spent sitting on the couch, they should be spent running and playing. Sunday is the Sabbath and we feel like unless it is "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" (a personal favorite) then the T.V. should stay off. Tues and Thurs were just a nice way to get a break from the noise mid-week. So, already the television wasn't on four of the seven days a week, which was awesome, except that on those other three days there were nothing but begging, and then fighting all.the.time! It was driving me nuts. So couple that with the aforementioned problem with Davie the T.V.-junkie and I decided a change needed to occur.

Introducing the experiment....Early in January the thought struck me about taking a month off from the television. I wondered if we could do. I wondered if I would go crazy. I wondered how it would affect our home. There were lots of things I wondered. So I mentioned the idea to Scott...he liked it. I mentioned it to the kids...they maybe weren't as jubilant as Scott. Then I mentioned that there would be a reward if were successful. There spirits were lifted. Sometimes I feel bad for kids...here, they are born to two crazy people, who decide to do crazy things, and whether they like it or not we do them and make them do them with us. I think that would have frustrated me as a child, but I don't really remember, so clearly I got over it. I digress. Anyway, we (again, I) decided we would do it in February. How hard would it be? At least I picked the shortest month. Also, this only meant the T.V. in our house - Lily was worried that if her teacher showed a program in school then she would get in trouble if she wasn't allowed to watch it. I thought that was funny. No, it just meant in our house.

The first couple days were the hardest (and not even that hard to be honest with you). Seriously within four days there was no complaining or whining about it. When the kids asked to watch something all I'd say is, "It is a no-T.V. day, remember." and that was that! Even Davie. Amazing! So let me tell you about the results: I may never turn the T.V. on again! My home has been so much more peaceful. The kids don't fight as much...seriously. They look at books more. They listen to music with me and ask questions about it (I love that and didn't expect that). They play with the toys and imagine things more. Grace and Davie interact in such a positive way; they have become such buddies. They color and paint more. We talk more and I really like it. It has been WONDERFUL! The only downside...my house is a lot messier; after all, I don't have the T.V. on to distract them, so they are busy making messes. I am okay with it though because they are good messes. They are messes that show me that little brains have been working and creating and I like it. Plus I have tried to mellow out about the house looking perfect at all times.

Our month is coming to an end here tomorrow and Scott and I have talked a lot about what our next move is regarding the T.V. We don't want to ruin a good thing. We have decided that we will just have one T.V. day a week and that will be Friday. It seems to make the most sense. So that is the big change around here. I have been so proud of the kids because of what champs they have been this month.

The sign on the television.

What do you think? Is this something you would do?

Transforming in all areas....

When we started this new year Scott and I decided this was going to be a great year. We decided that our family was due for some good changes. Personally I feel like I have been in a slump the last couple years and this year there has been a new fire lit within me to become a better mother, homemaker, wife, member of the Church, and all-around person. It has felt good to make a commitment to become better.

Because this blog is dedicated to change I have decided that this might be a good spot to chronicle the changes not just in our home but in our family and lives as well! Doesn't that sound like lots of fun?!

The first change....
This year the bishop in our ward challenged every family to read to Book of Mormon together EVERY day....not to miss! This seemed a little daunting to me. We have always tried to read as a family but not with a whole lot of success. I could tell you all the lame excuses, but they are just that...lame and they are just excuses. There are really very few valid excuses for not reading together as a family! When he challenged us I really took it heart and could see this was a needed change in our family. Scott felt the same way. So we have been doing it. I will admit we have a missed a couple of days here and there (after all going to from rarely doing it to everyday is a big jump) but for the most part we have been faithful. I will tell you that it has completely transformed our home! Seriously! There is an added measure of peace here, I kid you not. I have been so grateful for a good bishop who in earnest issued this challenge! If you are not doing this with your family, then start today! I have little kids, so that isn't an awesome excuse. I promise they won't listen...mine sure don't. But my big kids listen (kind of) and Scott and I listen and it has just been nice to have something that we are all trying to do together! Do it...it is worth the hassle!

The second change....
I will share more on this later! It is a good one.....I promise!
Right now I need to make a run to Costco; we are so low on many many things!!!

So, I hope you won't mind that I will be invading my "home" blog with personal things as well...

the plan

Click this link to see my floor plan for the family room...http://urbanbarn.icovia.com/icovia.aspx?projGuid=89719A62-BCE2-4A8D-8B5A-FA65A5F2D588

I really don't like corner fireplaces. I really wish mine was centered on the wall. But it's not and we aren't going to be moving it, so I have to design around it. We plan on mounting the TV above it. Right now the TV is on a cabinet next to the fireplace and it just doesn't look the way I want. So it will go above the fireplace. That way the fireplace will be the focal point.

The couches I have in the plan are from Pottery Barn. See here. I don't neccessarily have to have those, but that is the basic style I am going for. Something to note is that everyone keeps telling me that if I am going to get new furniture then I should get leather couches b/c I have children. I don't really love leather couches, so I am torn. I prefer soft, inviting cloth. Leather is cold, dark, and I slide off it when I sit down. But it does seem to withstand the test of children. What do you think?

Now I am trying to devise a creative storage system for the toys. Ahhhh, toys, how they seem to clutter my life so quickly!

sneak peak

Remember how I said that I have big plans for my house? Well they are staring to sort of take shape.

I found this awesome website that lets you design and decorate a room so that you can get an idea of how things will fits. The site is www.urbanbarn.com/the-make-room. It is the coolest site and I have lots of fun on it.

The front room of our home needed help. I think it was originally intended to be a formal dining room, but I didn't want to use it as such. Because of its original intended use there were two large archways; one from the entry and one coming from the informal dining room (the one we actually use). That meant that when you walked in the front door you had a lovely view through the living room of my dining room table and the kitchen. That is where we live the most and thus usually the most cluttered area. It wasn't awesome! Plus with both openings it made the front room way too accessible to the kids, who had adopted it as there unofficial playroom. I need at least one room in my house to remain tidy and that was to be the room!

So over the holiday weekend Scott was much obliging and started in on building a wall. It is already a vast improvement and I am so excited. Here is the work in progress. Now I just need to buy the paint and then I can start on the front room (the other side of the wall will have to wait; I haven't made up the plans on my cool new website yet).

the view from the kitchen/dining room side

the view from the front entry...see what I mean about seeing the kitchen through the opening. LAME!

Progress!!!

The next fun thing is my pseudo-mudroom in progress. We have a long hallway of unused space that leads to the laundry room and half bathroom. It is right as you walk in from the garage. This will be a mudroom someday with built-in lockers and such. But for now Scott has built this great six hook hookboard. Isn't it cute? And it is functional; we each get a hook (which as you can see, mine and Scott's are already being put to good use). It has been the best. The next step is a little shelf for the shoes...Then next year maybe we will get to actual built-ins. We will see!