Tackle It Tuesday: Movin’ stuff around…

So last week I was complaining that I felt like my brown sofa sucked all the light out of my downstairs. I was really on the verge of trying to talk my husband into letting me sell it and buy a (new to me) one, but luckily, you all offered me great suggestions that saved the day! I spent time this past weekend shopping for fabric to make pillows and moving stuff around. The pillows aren’t made yet, but I can’t tell you how much of a difference moving things around made!

I’ve seen Courtney’s Before and Afters, so I should have known what a dramatic difference rearranging the furniture could make… but really, WOW!

Old conversation/television watching arrangement:

New conversation/television watching arrangement:

I still need something better to put the television on, but hubby has vetoed buying a new tv stand until he buys his dream flat screen. But I think the new placement helps to balance that issue out for now.

Old reading nook:

New quiet conversation area:

What I love about this new arrangement is that the chinese cabinet that my mother gave me from her home is now in a position where people can see and appreciate it. Plus this arrangement gives hubby and I a little place to sit together and relax at the end of the day. I think I need to add an ottoman and maybe a side table to round it out but once again, just rearranging things opened that space up and made it feel so much lighter.

Finally, there’s a new reading nook.

Nook before:

Nook after:

This is the only area I’m not satisfied with. Probably because this area was the only “finished” feeling area for so long, it’s hard to get used to thinking of it as a work-in-progress. Hubby says he doesn’t like the big chair there because it feels too big. I kind of like the way the weight of it balance out the weight of the sofa on the opposite wall. I already had plans to make a slipcover for the chair and when I do, I’m going to get rid of the “overstuffed” back pillow and make a couple of more modern looking ones to replace it… what do ya’ll think? Should I sell the chair and get a small more modern little loveseat to go in that area instead? (It wouldn’t be a big loss, I bought it for $40 so I’m pretty sure I could sell it for the same amount).

That’s my Tackle for this Tuesday. Don’t forget to check out what everyone else is up to… I love how motivating this is!

Tackle It Tuesday: Paint, Staples, and Goodies, oh my!

This is a late post and really, I’m exhausted from everything I’ve tried to get accomplished before the day was over. Nothing like guilt to motivate you to get moving, right?

So, instead of a long post, you’re going to get a short pictorial. Just imagine this is a decorating task list board book, okay?

Here we go!

I’ve had a fabulous $12 shower curtain just waiting to be chopped up and used to reupholster my dining room chairs. That finally happened:

Before (as presented by my precocious cat, Chloe)

The shower curtain replaces the $4 orange table cloth I used previously. Chloe will be sad to see that fabric go, since she was especially fond of clawing it.

After versus Before

It’s a toned down look, but more elegant. I promise you’ll see the full set once I get the final missing element for my center piece.

I’m also sooooo close to unveiling the final makeover of the children’s bedroom. My friend Sarah says I’ve been building the tension… sorry, it was unintentional. The truth is sickness and bad mojo has made it slow going. But the painting is finally done and here’s a little peek:

I’ve also finished the sewing for their room, painted their desks, and mounted their wall bookshelves. Fingers crossed that their desks will be mounted and window treatments hung this weekend. Then you’ll get to enjoy the big reveal on Tuesday… hopefully!

Finally, and most importantly, I actually got Running in Chico’s goody bag off to the post office today. So, with her permission, I’m giving you a shot of what she can expect:

Hopefully the journal, picture frame, and book will be worth the extra week of extreme patience she showed… oh, and Michelle, the flower on the wrapping paper is actually a leather pin that you can use to decorate a pillow or a purse or even your hair! I hope you enjoy them (or at least find them worth regifting!). I loved the picture frame so much, I bought one for my bedroom!

So that’s my update today. Don’t forget to go check out what else is being tackled:

Tackle It Tuesday: Sew it continues…

Note to self: next time you want to make pillows, spring for the pillow forms.

I swear I’ve spent most of this day stuffing pillows. It was relaxing for about the first thirty minutes. Now I can only do it in five minute increments. After that I suddenly remember that I have belly lint that needs to be picked… or something.

But the good news is that I’m progressing on the sewing list:

• curtains
• fabric blinds (one of two completed)
• multi-color dotted pillows
• yellow pillows (3/4 finished with stuffing the final one)
• bedskirts

I think I should be finished tomorrow. Emphasis on the “should.”

That’s the big update for me. Don’t forget to check out what everyone else is accomplishing today:

And make sure you check back in tomorrow to see the newest “In the Trenches” feature.  This home is an organizational inspiration that you shouldn’t miss!

Tackle It Tuesday: Sewing a straight line

I bet ya’ll thought I missed this week’s Tackle It Tuesday, huh? Nope. I’ve just been a busy little bee, sewing away at my tasks for the day. I started off this morning with this pile:

A pile consisting of 5 yards red cotton twill, 6 yards white cotton, 4 yards of multi-colored striped cotton, and a half yard each of a multi-colored dotted cotton and a plain yellow cotton. Oh, and let’s not forget the 4 rolls of black and white coordinating ribbon.

The goal was to complete the following for the on-going redesign of my youngest children’s room:

• red curtains with black ribbon
• white fabric blinds with black ribbon
• multi-colored striped bed skirts
• two yellow pillows
• two multi-colored dotted pillows

I swear it didn’t seem too ambitious when I started. In fact, a storm had knocked out our internet, so it appeared to be the perfect way to spend a web-free day.

HAH!

Somehow I forgot that I am by no means a professional seamstress. All I can say is that at 9:00 pm (eastern), I’ve just about finished the curtains. Just. About.

Yeah, that’s right. ONLY. THE. CURTAINS.

sigh.

One day I’ll learn how to make realistic goals.

Don’t forget to visit the Tackle It Tuesday page to see what everyone else is tackling:

Tackle It Tuesday: Laundry and Soup

Cough, cough. Sniff. Cough. Sniff. Sniff.

ACHOO!!!

Excuse me. I’m still sick. And I really want to curl up in my bed with a pretty magazine and my mommy. (Hear that mom?!?! Almost 34 years old and I still need you to rub my head when I’m sick.)

Unfortunately, children and my laundry pile are calling me. Oh, there’s actually a HUGE list of other things I should be doing today, but I’ve wised up finally and realized that if Momma doesn’t take care of herself, she can’t take care of anyone else. So although I really need to:

• sew curtains for Ian and Catie’s room
• make fabric blinds for I and C’s room (via the great tutorial from two straight lines)
• line their new (to them) dresser drawers (via the great tutorial from Design*Sponge)
• finish the decorative paint details on their walls
• hang pictures
• buy desk
• solve book storage
• clean the rest of the house!!!
• laundry

Umm… yeah. The only thing that is going to happen is laundry. (Repeat with me “Momma has to take care of herself to take care of anyone else. Momma has to take care of herself to take care of anyone else…” Surely I’ll stop feeling guilty about it after a little while?!?)

Don’t forget to check out how everyone else is progressing (just click):

Tackle It Tuesday

Today I officially decided to join in on the meme, “Tackle It Tuesday.” The plan is for me to finish the projects that I started last week: painting my hallway and redecorating my youngest son and daughter’s bedroom.

The hallway project started when I got a wild hair to paint. There was left over green paint from when we originally painted our living area and I thought it would be a wise idea to carry that color into the hallway. For laughs and giggles, I decided halfway through the project to introduce a second color and some horizontal stripes… I figured it would be practice for the stripes I want to put in Catie and Ian’s room.

Several curse words and days later, I found myself finishing the hallway project this morning at 7am. There’s a big story involving bad paint, multiple coats of bad paint, leading to a midnight run to Walmart for good paint… but I won’t bore you with that. Suffix to say, I’m waiting anxiously for the final stripe to dry so I can count that project as (mostly) completed.

The major project for today is completing Catie and Ian’s room. I started painting yesterday. It took ALL day to put on three coats of primer and the only coat of their base blue. (Trust me, save money on everything you can except for paint. The primer that took THREE coats was a 50% off $2 gallon of primer from our local discount store… bad, bad, bad idea… did I say BAD idea? Even with three coats, it never fully covered the mural I had on the wall originally. Amazingly enough, the $10 Walmart paint did a great job in exactly ONE coat.)

This mess is one of many piles littering my home while waiting to be moved back in to their room. The project list looks like this:

• Paint inside of closets
• Add yellow, green, red, and white stripes to walls
• Add new organizers to closets
• Organize toys in closets
• Paint new side table either yellow or red
• Kids make art to hang on walls
• Hubby put together new headboards and place beds
• Purchase new chest of drawers and new desk
• Make curtains
• Make stools for new desk
• Purchase rug
• Fall out from exhaustion!

Originally the goal was to get this all accomplished by baby boy’s birthday TOMORROW!!!! Um… can we say not going to happen? Just writing that list made me tired. Realistically, I’ll be lucky if I can get the closets and stripes painted today around watching the three year old I babysit, Ian, and my poor sick Catie.

Perseverance, right? Ah well… tune in next Tuesday (hopefully) for the big reveal! And don’t forget to check out what else is being tackled today by clicking below: