Dining Stenciling.

As I mentioned before, the condo I moved into with my boyfriend was a mess (no offense, Bill). This area in the picture, for example, consisted of random boxes, bikes, a dining table (I'll give him that), an air mattress with a hole in it, golf clubs, and a Yankees poster on the wall. Needless to say, I didn't find that conducive for a female's dwelling. So, here are some pictures of what resulted after a thorough cleaning:

The stencil used. My first Martha Stewart purchase (uh-oh).

In the process. The trickiest part was finding a spot to set my drink.

I'm forever grateful to my mom and brother for the table they made me years ago. It's a coffee table put on higher legs with antique chairs.

Another view.

Overall, this probably cost about $40. I used brown paint we had around the place; these are frames from Goodwill I emptied and painted; the one, I simply hung from a ribbon to add height; the vases on the shelves are also from a thrift store, as is the big turquoise one; my mom got me the great lighted branches for Christmas, and I just added some real sticks from outside (I made Bill get them on his run, hopefully they don't have bugs in them).

Daylight view.

Coloring the Bathroom

As we know, once you complete one project, others seem to pop up everywhere. As a result of my boredom, I decided to paint and redecorate our bathroom (I know, I'm lame). Because I'm cheap, I mixed together four different paint colors we had from past projects. I know all real painters would advise against doing this (and I might now, too), but there's a thrill that comes with seeing if you can make it work. For the stripes, I used two different sample colors mixed together from the paint store ( I couldn't find the exact color I wanted). So, with the paint and the materials needed for the wall hangings, this cost about $30. However, I had to have these cabinet knobs at Anthropologie, so those were $40. That being said, and I should have mentioned in the kitchen post, the Natural Light needed to complete these projects is not included in the budgets. If drinks were included, we would exceed all budgets by a long shot. This may not have been ideal for the measuring and execution of stripes on the wall, but I think it turned out ok.

Before.

After. Wall sconce from Goodwill I spray painted.

Before: Sterile white.

After: fabric over canvases; scrapbook paper over switchplate.

Before. I had already taken off some of the drawers before I remembered to take the picture, but you get the idea. Our cat had to be part of the action.

After: I painted the doors an off white color, added some brown in spots, and sanded to give it an antique look.

Baby Greylon's Gift

I already had this posted, but figured I'd also post the picture with the crib. A fun and easy baby gift for the nursery. At a local craft store, I bought frames on sale, scrapbook paper that matches the nursery for the matte, and an owl stamp. Of course, I needed to incorporate books, so I picked up a copy of Charlottes's Web at Goodwill to put in the frame. I chose to stencil a word that was actually printed on that page, although this can obviously be altered. Hope this sparks your creativity!

"Explore." "Wonder." "Love."

Above the crib.

The Year of Changes.

It was only a short time ago that the most important thing in my life was going out, seeing who my roommates were going to start dating, dating different guys at the same time, waking up with a headache (still happens), oh, and getting my teaching license. The reason for my rapid maturity (although, I'd argue this wavers) could, in part, be attributed to a number of my friends having babies, being in a committed relationship (!!!), seeing beyond Friday night, or the sobering realization that I'm 28 years old. I spent 2 + years of my life going back to graduate school to become a high school English teacher. While I cannot undermine what the experience and 2+ years of teaching awarded me, I know that teaching in a public school (or perhaps any school) is not for me. Without delving into my cynicism about the state of public education and the never-ending, but always under-appreciated devotion of teachers, I can no longer give my life to that career. Thus, although finishing the last bit of my masters is on the agenda, I now find myself a little uncertain about the future, but excited that I feel like I can do some of the things I think have always been buried inside me. OK, so on a lighter note, the following is a chronicle of my becoming a quasi-adult (I painted a room!) and the projects that have help me to realize that 28 is still two whole years from 30, and that the future isn't as abstract as it had seemed.

Now that my boyfriend Bill and I live together in a condo, I got the idea of re-doing our kitchen after my incessant viewing of HGTV (which I had always thought was for "old people"). I should note that prior to my moving into the condo, it was the very portrait of a bachelor pad, with a hoarder's design idea. After removing bike tires from the dining table and an array of beer bottles lining the book shelves (he did have two books), I was able to see the potential.
So, just to make things interesting, I set a strict $500 budget for the kitchen "re-vitalization." Obviously, this only allowed for minor changes, and caused us to prioritize what needed done, and what would produce the biggest change. Here is a rough breakdown of costs:

$80.73 for Backsplash
$50 for a stainless steel faucet I found on craigslist in original packaging (note: it has yet to be installed in the pictures)
$122 for lighting (two separate lights)
$130.13 for three colors of paint and backsplash supplies
$18.73 in decor
$16.62 various hardware

TOTAL: $418.21
That leaves the rest of the budget for the flooring, which we haven't purchased because we weren't counting on having room in the budget! Because it is a small kitchen, that should be enough money.

Here are before/after pictures:

Note sure who decided off white was a good color for cabinets.

Recovered stools; painted cabinets; spray-painted knobs; painted counter base

Gross.

Less gross. Remember, faucet has yet to be installed. Under the cabinet light; backsplash; shelf over the sink; vases either made or from Goodwill.

I am still grappling with the fact that someone thought this looked good. It's enough to launch me into a dark depression.

Thanks to Bill's boss for assisting with the lighting to ensure Bill didn't get electricuted, which I'm fairly certain would've been the outcome.

Q-tip floral arrangement (thanks to Pinterest); various plates found at Goodwill (on half-off day, of course). We gained about 2 feet from removing that drop ceiling. Ugh!

These are various other pictures from the kitchen area.
A thing my mom gave me that I couldn't figure out what to do with. Just paint and scrapbook paper.

Chalkboard paint for our many lists.

The stained glass window right outside the kitchen: painted wall and trim.

Next: the bathroom