Mini-Mud Room

The Mini Mud Room is a reality!  It came together quickly, too!  It was just earlier this week that I posted my idea, and then yesterday Mom helped me shop for the pieces (seen in the last post) and get them home (no easy task with my small car!).

The pieces together,  ready to be finalized.

Then today, I decided to try to attach the hooks to the wall on my own - que scary music!  So I cautiously gathered my tools...

Tools of decorating destruction!

I (yes, I - I finally attached something to the wall on my own!) successfully put up the coat rack and set the ottoman & pillow back in place!

I love it already!  I'm sure I'll end up with another pillow or two on the ottoman, but it's exactly what I was wanting (and needing!) in that space!  Now on to the "mini entryway"! 

Discount Shopping!

I headed out today to shop for the items I'll need for my "mini mudroom" and "entry way" - and found almost all of them (on sale even)!

For the Mini-Mud room:
I ended up with almost exactly the same pieces in the Young House Love picture in the last post.  At Target I picked up the same storage ottoman - but in black (on sale!) and a coat hook rack in white.  I also picked up a small pillow at Ikea for $3!  Here are the store pictures of my pieces:

For the Mini Entryway:
I ended up finding the a mini version of the original console table I wanted at Meijer (also on sale!).  At target I picked up a larger basket for yarn & crochet materials (on sale!) and a smaller black cloth basket for mail.  Here are online pictures of what I picked up:

 

Elsewhere:

I picked up two Lack side tables from Ikea (on sale!) - one in black for the living room and one in white for my bedroom.  At Meijer I got some monograph coasters for the living room.  Lastly, I (finally!!) found some curtains I like for the living room.  

I can't wait to get everything in place, so stay tuned for pictures of all my pieces put together & finalized with my own little details!

"Entry Way/Mud Room" In the Making

My mail, keys, phone and bag seem to end up on the kitchen table constantly because my hands are full when I get home and there is really no designated spot for them.  So I decided I needed to make an "entry way".  There were two looks that I kept seeing (and liking).  One was like a mini-mud room consisting of a storage ottoman under a wall-mounted coat hook.

Check out my favorite example from Young House Love:

The second idea was a more traditional entry way with a console table and mirror. Something like this from decor pad.

With the layout of this house, though, I don't have the space for much of either.  So I decided to do both, but split them up.  Here's the plan.

I hope to create the mini-mud room (basically the same as seen from Young House Love) down stairs in the library by the door leading to the garage. This will collect my coats, scarfs, bag and give me a little bit of storage.  Then I will use some free wall space (since I moved the kitchen table up against the wall instead of centered on the floor) in the kitchen area for a console table.  Now, the trick is to find a console table that will actually fit in this smaller space!

What I originally had in mind was a more traditional console table with drawer(s) and a shelf, like this:

The problem is that most of these types of console tables are a little to long for the area I plan to use it for.  So, I may end up using either a more basic small table or desk or more of a small shelving unit
like one of these:




Also, I hope to get a new larger rectangular mirror to hang above the table.  Something like this:

Right now, I have a make shift version of what I want...

I used a spare chair from my kitchen set as a make-shift table.  This was enough to hold a tray for my keys, my phone & bag plus my "reading list" for 2011!  And in place of my future mirror is the yard-sale one I updated recently!  This will do for now, but keep an eye out for posts about my future min-mud room and entry way!

Goals for 2011

Inspired after reading Kate's blog & her race to 101 goals, I decided to give it a try also - but on a much smaller scale.  I have four goals for the upcoming year.

Goal 1:  Get my "new" house updated, decorated, and organized for
              an end-of-summer party!
              (Keep track of updates and DIY decorating projects on this blog!)

Goal 2:  Read 25 books...at least.
              (See my book blog for my To-Read list and to track my progress!)

Goal 3:  Donate several time/money/items to charity.  This includes my hope
              to make at least 4 scarfs to donate next year (inspired by a friend).

Goal 4:  Become healthier - eat well, exercise, avoid/decrease stress.

Wish me luck on meeting my goals!  Hope to be able to check all of these off by next year at this time!

DIY #6 - Shutter Memory Board

I had seen many creative uses for shutters in home decorating - hung as shutters on wall, converted into headboards in bedrooms, and turned sideways to make a sort of memory board.  I decided I wanted to try the memory board idea, and I started with an old wooden shutter that my mom found unique little shop on a day-trip.

Next, I grabbed some white paint and set up a little painting station in the basement.  Every time I headed down the the basement for something for about week I painted on a thin layer over the dark maroon color.

Finally, after what seems like twenty coats, I added some think cork material to the back to keep things from falling through and to prevent it from rubbing on the freshly painted bedroom wall.  Then it was ready to be hung up!

I only put a picture and an old ticket in to "try it out", but didn't fill it up because I need to switch out the screws to make it a little more secure.  Keep your eyes peeled for a more "memorable" shutter in future bedroom updates!

Total Cost:  $4       (free shutter -thanks Mom!, already had paint & brush, cork $4)

DIY #5 - Mirror Update

I picked up a mirror (among other things) at the St. Rt. 127 Yard sales a few months back.

 

I bought the mirror for $7 outside of an older farm house.  The woman at the sale said the mirror was over 40 years old, and though it was in great condition for its age, it needed a makeover.  So, after it sitting downstairs untouched for a few months, I finally decided what I was going to do after seeing a picture of something similar in a decorating magazine!

I took the back off and pulled the mirror out, then painted the frame the same silver spray paint I used for the lamp (see the last post).  While the frame dried in the garage, I headed to a craft store for clear marbles and a glue gun. 

 When I got home, I started gluing, working my way through two bags of marbles and countless glue sticks.

 When I had about half of the marbles glued down, I realized I should have attached the mirror and backing before adding the marbles, but the gluing was done.

 

Next, I scrubbed the old mirror surface with cleaner and used a razor edge to scrap off some old paint, then nailed it back into place.  As I expected, the use of the hammer knocked off some of the marbles, but I broke the glue gun back out and had it all fixed up in under five minutes.  Lesson Learned: Attach the back before you glue anything to the front! No matter, I'm thrilled with the final product and I can't wait to get it hung up!

  
Total cost:  $25         ($7 for Mirror, $4 paint, $8 for glue materials, $6 for marbles)

DIY #4 - Lamp Update

A week or so ago, I bought a plain candlestick lamp with plain
white shade at a friends indoor yardsale for $5.  Even though
I've been meaning to since I got it,I forgot to take a "before"
picture before I broke out the paint today.
It looked a lot like this though.------------------------------>

I tried to decide what color to paint this lamp - I'd seen several pictures online of painted lamps and fell in love - and finally went with silver, knowing it could paint it again in the future if the color gets old or begins to clash with the room.  So I headed out for some spray paint and ended up picking up some blue ribbon for the shade.

 Here is a picture of the lamp after a few layers of paint.













And below are two pictures of the lamp with the ribboned-out lamp shade.

Total cost:  $15      ($5 for lamp, $4 for paint, $3 for ribbon, $3 for light bulb.)

I'm planning to use this lamp in my "new" bedroom (see last post).
Look for it in the next bedroom update! :)

Bedroom Update #2

Inspired by the new paint & some "extra" money, I headed to Ikea!  I brought home the Kivik one-seat sectional in white and the Malm 6 drawer chest in white to add to my sparse bedroom.  The new pieces also lead me to move the furniture a bit.  Here's what it looks like now:

   

    More updates to come as I continue to decorate - - Stay tuned!

Bedroom Update #1

When I first looked at my house about a year ago, I fell in love right away. I did not, however, love the colors that the previous owners had on the walls.

Exhibit A: The original bedroom.

This color was horrible! Immediately after buying the house, we put up some primer to get rid of this horrible color. I moved in before I got a chance to pick out a new color though.



And finally, almost a year after I first looked at the house, the bedroom is painted! I went with a color from the Seaside Retreat collection from Valspar. The color is called Lily Creek.

DIY #3 - Broken Pin to Magnent

I bought a pretty purple and silver pin...

Me wearing the pin

...at Loch Katrine in Scotland a few summers ago,

One of my pictures of Loch Katrine

...but it broke before I even made it home from Europe. I didn't want to get rid of it, so it ended up in the bottom of a drawer. I found it again a few days ago and got an idea...




I glued on two small magnets, and now I have a cute, unique refrigerator magnet with a great memory attached!

DIY #2 - New Nightstand

I found this cute little table in the middle of an aisle in my favorite local thrift store and I had to have it.


After an insane trip to get the table home in monsoon-like weather, it eventually made it safely back to my garage. Next, I headed out to Lowe's for some sanding and painting materials. After quite a bit of sanding, two coats of paint, and some touching up with left over spray paint, my new table was finally coming together. With a freshly cleaned glass top, I replaced my old nightstand with my good-as-new table!


Total out-of-[my]-pocket cost: $35

Cooking #1

I found a cute recipe for Bacon, Egg & Cheese McMuffin Cups via the Picky Palate website. (Link: http://picky-palate.com/2010/05/06/bacon-and-cheese-egg-mcmuffin-cups/)
I think they turned out well, but I used a regular muffin pan instead of the Texas sized cups and found it a little challenging... but they tasted great and were fairly easy to make!
Here is there's:


And here is mine:



I also love the Hungry Girl cookbooks - if you haven't heard of these you need to (Check out the website at http://www.hungry-girl.com/)!! One of the recipes I tried recently was for the Chicken Fajita Pitas. I decided to use regular tortilla's instead of pitas, but they turned out amazing. The recipe is very simple: chicken, onions, and green peppers with fajita flavoring with lettuce and sour cream, wrapped up in a tortilla! Yum! Here's what it looked like while it was cookin'...