summer heat, late nights, and some pretty light

Oh man, am I ever ready for the weekend. This past week has felt particularly long and much too hot. We had temperatures near 100, and they completely wiped me out. I am hoping for a cooling trend. Even if it's just to the upper 80s. I'll take it!

Mabel is planning a late night with some friends tonight. Do you do late nights? We have a no-sleepover rule, along with everyone else around here, it seems, so late nights are a thing. One of her friends has never seen Studio C (and I am pretty sure her parents are even BYU alum, so it is extra shocking!). Obviously a Studio C marathon is on the agenda. My kids love that show.

I sort of never have a reason to go down to the basement while the kids are at school, so when I popped down there to put clean sheets on the girls' beds the other afternoon, the pretty light in their room stopped me in my tracks. I am a sucker for pretty light. I'll admit that once the sheets were back on the beds, I laid down for a minute and soaked it up.

Have a nice weekend!

our minimal toy closet

Our toy closet (located in the boys' room) has changed quite a bit over the past 8 years that we've lived in this house. As my children have grown, and their interests have changed, so have the contents of the closet.

Right now, we are down to these basics: legos, dolls and army guys, trains, cars, animal figurines, potato heads, little people, lincoln logs, wood blocks, and weapons. Each toy type is contained in a bin or basket. We also have a trunk full of stuffed animals (unfortunately). In our first minimalism sweep, I donated or trashed anything that was broken, or that they hadn't played with during the past year (like the box of baby toys I didn't think I could part with), and anything that prevented the lid of the bin from closing. Next time, I think I will try to reduce the amount in each bin by half. I'm pretty sure we don't really need a million plastic animal figurines, even if they all fit in the box.

To help keep our toy situation under control, we only purchase toys for Christmas and birthdays. We don't even step foot in the toy department at Target. Actually, since we've started on this minimalism kick, and for the past year or so, I've rarely stepped foot in Target at all. And you know what? I don't miss it. The whole idea behind this is to be content with the things you have, and then to be really deliberate about the things you buy. I don't think I've ever made a deliberate purchase at Target in my life.

I need to be better at this, but I've found that when I take the time to set up a toy (like the train set or the little people town), then my kids will happily play with that one toy for a day or two. Then we'll put it away and get something else out.

to my Valentine

Mike and I like to say that we don't believe in soul mates. Except when it comes to the two of us. That no other couple is meant for each other the way that we are meant for each other. So I stitched up this little Les Mis quote to hang above our bed. I could say it was a Valentine's gift for Mike, but let's be real, it was really for me.

He doesn't read my blog, so he'll probably never see this, but Honey, I love you. This life that we share is something else. Happy Valentine's Day!

my minimal sewing room

I realize that the idea of having a whole room just for sewing is slightly ridiculous in the world of minimalism, but I am grateful to have mine. The truth is, our family would be perfectly happy in a smaller house, but I refuse to move, so we might as well use one of our spare rooms for sewing, right? I like to keep the space as simple and tidy as I can. My creativity is stalled when I'm surrounded by clutter.

I recently tackled the closet, and more specifically, my fabric stash. I used to think that I had to keep all of my scraps, no matter how small they were. Then I got smart and realized that most of what I had kept was completely useless. I am much better at throwing the leftover pieces away when I complete a project now (unless they are a reasonable size).

Something that helps me keep my fabric under control: I only buy fabric for a specific project. I don't buy fabric because I think I might need it someday, or just because it is pretty. It has to have a purpose, otherwise it doesn't come home with me.

I keep all of my thread and pins and scissors in that cute little sewing box. I like that it is portable and small. It fits the essentials, and that's really all I need.

Something I really love about minimalism is that it forces me to use things that I have been saving for a rainy day. If I am not currently using it, then I can't rationalize keeping it anymore. So if it is something I love, I better figure out a way to incorporate it into my life. For example: I had a little bit of wallpaper left over from the girls' room. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, so I tacked it up in the closet instead. It made such a difference!


Oh, and p.s., my nice hangers are from Ikea. And you can find my wallpaper here.

my minimal kitchen

Ha! Ok, so this one is sort of a joke. When we were going room by room, cleaning things out, Mike asked me if we really needed 15 white cake plates and a million teeny pitchers. And my answer was yes! Yes, we do, actually. Because my goal with this minimalism isn't to live in a sterile, blank space. It is to be content with the things we have, and to lose the things we don't need. I love looking at my white dishes. I think they are beautiful. They make my kitchen feel cozy. So I will keep them, and continue to collect them. But you see, the space I have to display them is quite limited. That will help keep my collection in check.

The kitchen seems to be the place where all of the household papers pile up (mail, school papers, Mike's work stuff, etc.). It makes me crazy. To keep it clean, I try to toss or file the papers as soon as I get them. There is almost always still a pile somewhere, but I know it will eventually get taken care of, so I try not to let it bother me too much.

One of my favorite parts of our big clean out was going through my kitchen drawers. It felt so great to get rid of utensils and dishes and small appliances that we never used. I mean, why did we have two waffle makers for goodness sake? Ridiculous. We are down to the basics, things we use almost daily, and it feels really wonderful.

Christmas house

We've been scaling things back here at home this year. We are trying hard to have less. (I think I need to write more about this another time.) When I got the Christmas decorations out a couple of weeks ago, I put up our favorites and immediately donated the rest. I'm not sure why I had been hanging onto some of those things, anyway. Getting rid of them felt so good. Keeping just our favorites makes for a simple, cozy Christmas, and that is my favorite kind.

I've been thinking about this virtual world we live in, and all of the blogging and pinning and comparing that comes with it. Here's what I think: No one really cares what you wear, or what you do, or how you decorate your house. So just be yourself. And wear what you like best. And do what feels right for you. And decorate your home so that you want to be there. Post pictures of it all somewhere if you want to. Or not.

Right?

Anyway, here is a cheery wreath, complete with mistletoe and our homey tree full of sentimental ornaments. Plus some presents! The kids have been so good about the presents. They rearrange them every once in a while, but so far no peeking. They are much more mature about it than I ever was at their age.

Some Christmas-related notes: 

Mike still does all of the Christmas shopping around here and it is probably the best gift he could ever give me. He is thoughtful and generous, all while staying within the confines of our budget. I'm not sure how he does it, but I am ever so grateful. I would be a total stress case if I was in charge. 

Every year I let my children pick out a new ornament. We label it with their name and the date, so someday when they leave our home for their own, they will have a box of ornaments to take with them. I always put up the lights and the red and gold strings that I inherited from my grandmother, but I let the kids do the rest. Uneven placement only lends the tree character, I think.

You can see my felt nativity advent there in the stairway. It is still my kids' favorite decoration, and opening each little box and putting up a new piece is the first thing that happens every morning. A nice reader, Jessica, made a template of my nativity a few years ago. You can find it and make your own here. 

I am gathering recipes for the treat plates we give to our neighbors, and I think these peppermint chocolate crackles just made the cut. I'm also thinking about including pumpkin bread (because, duh) and caramel layer cocoa squares. (I don't believe I've ever shared this recipe and that needs to be remedied asap.) Maybe gingerbread men, too? Sure!

for a tidy home

My best days don't start until all of the beds are made. Once I shoo the kids off to school, I clean up the breakfast dishes and then I make the beds. All of them. Even when I know that Elliot is going to crawl right back into mine to watch a show on my phone. It sets my day on the right course. If I start with a tidy house, then I can better handle whatever other business the day will bring. Is this true for you, too? I talked a little bit about my house cleaning schedule back here. A cleaning schedule is one of the smartest things I ever did for myself, as it completely takes the stress out of maintaining my home.

I am thankful for a house to tidy, and for the peace that tidiness brings.

Bonus gratitude: In the wee hours of this morning, I found myself stripping Elliot's bed and throwing his sheets in the wash. I was sort of put out by it all as I crawled back into my own bed. But then I realized how lucky I am to have a washer and dryer. In my house, even! Just think if I had lived 100 years ago. Oh, that would have been such a pain. Instead, I was able to toss the sheets in the washer, and when I woke up this morning, they were magically clean. What a blessing!

the bathrooms

As promised, some extremely poorly-lit bathroom photos for your perusal.

Now that all of the kids sleep downstairs, the old downstairs guest bathroom has become the kids' bathroom. So it needed something a little more durable than an 80 year old dresser turned sink. I like the one we chose from the Home Decorator's Collection via the Home Depot.

Moving on. . .

The upstairs hall bathroom has become the new guest bathroom, so we brought the old dresser upstairs. Hopefully this is the last time we have to replumb it, although if we ever move, it is coming with us. I love it so.

I'm afraid we ripped out everything that was practical in this bathroom (like the peeling, dingy lineoleum floor that somehow in its dinginess never showed a speck of dirt and the very water-proof faux-marble countertop). But it is so much prettier now!

All we need are some guests.

renovations

Every summer, I make a big list of things I want to fix up around the house. Then the 110 degree days hit and I realize that what I really want to do is lay on the couch with a good book instead. So my list gets pushed to the fall. Every single year.

But I am happy to report that we actually crossed something off that list this summer, even in the midst of this blasted heat. We tiled our main floor hall bathroom! Anything would have been better than the peeling, 35 year old linoleum that was there before, but we chose a clean, white octagonal tile with cream grout. Tiling is hard, but I think I could grout all day long. It is so much fun.

We still have a few other things to complete (like fixing water damaged dry wall, installing baseboards, and moving my antique sink up from the basement), but we are on our way. Hooray!

the office

We have a little room off of the kitchen that serves as our office. It gets the prettiest morning light. I was in there this morning and couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. In it's previous life, this room held the washer and dryer and a really old upright freezer. We ditched the freezer and moved the laundry to the Arizona room years ago. Since then, it has housed our computer and my sewing things and was mostly always a disaster. Now that the big desk is in my sewing room, I feel like I can breathe in here again!

My favorite home transformations are ones that use what I already have. The hooks came from Mike's parents. I painted an old black bench Mike had made white. I gathered all of our extra frames and hung some of my favorite art.

The door leads to our large pantry. To the right of the black chair is a little built in desk for our computer. The bright light is coming from the door to the Arizona room. The floors are painted concrete, and are probably my favorite in the house. They are cool and smooth and easy.

my big black thumb

On precisely one day a year, I am in the mood to garden. Yesterday was that magical day. I got my hands good and dirty and replanted the pots on our front porch. We'll see how long they last. Did I tell you that I managed to kill a cactus last year. A cactus! Seriously, I'm the worst.

Also, a few weeks ago our front porch furniture was stolen. Little did the dummies who took it know that we had the exact same set on our back patio. So I moved it out front. And chained it to our water main. Take that, robbers!

the sewing room

One of my favorite things about reading blogs is seeing how other people live, and how they decorate their homes. I hope you enjoy that, too, because I am sharing photos of my new sewing room today. I never in a million years thought I'd have a whole room like this to myself! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

This room used to be Stella's and it was very very pink. I can't do anything about the pink carpet yet, but I did paint the walls. I used the leftover paint from my floors (Martha Stewart Flagstone), and I love the way it contrasts with the white bead board.

This desk (inherited from my parents, from Ballard Designs) used to crowd the tiny office off the kitchen. Now I have plenty of room to spread out my projects, and keep an eye on the neighborhood while I work. The red lamp is from my favorite part of Ikea - the as-is room.

Here's a round-the-room tour for you. First, the view from the door. My sister-in-law gifted me her old cutting table and it is the best. No more kneeling on the floor to cut out pattern pieces! It's a life saver.

My dress form is out of our closet, and can finally stop creeping up on us. Hooray! This little cabinet used to be our changing table, but now it holds all of my fabric, yarn, and ribbon. I donated most of my stash, and threw away almost all of the rest of it. Now I am down to bare bones and it feels excellent. This cabinet also holds my serger. If you consider yourself even slightly a seamstress, get a serger. Please. They make everything better. Mike found my Babylock Evolve on Craigslist a few years ago and I use it on almost all of my projects.

For my fifteenth birthday, I picked out this rocker. I know, I am a nerd. But I still love it, and I am so glad to have a nice sunny room to put it in. My fittings usually involve mothers, so this will be a nice spot for them to sit and visit. And hello from the fitting mirror!

This room is a dream. I kept it very spare on purpose. I need a clean slate to have a creative mind, and every time I walk into it my mind is quiet and I am ready to work. Just in time for Prom season, too.

the girls' room

I shared a room with my sister, Leslie, until she left for college. It was the best thing about my childhood, and I think we are such good friends to this day because of it. I wanted that for my girls, too. For the past few years, Mabel and Oliver had been sharing a room in the basement. Now that Elliot is old enough to move downstairs with Oliver, it was time to put the girls together.

This same antique, marble-topped, cupboard sat between mine and Leslie's beds. It is my favorite piece of furniture, and I am so glad my girls get to use it.

The reading lights and bedding (except for the big white pillow cases that I made out of some old sheets) are from Ikea. The headboards are old crib parts, and the dream catchers are from pit stops between here and just about everywhere else.

This room is tiny, and it's in the basement (next door to the boys). Once we cleared out the old guest bed, I was starting to worry that two beds wouldn't fit!  But they did, and somehow, magically, the wall paper and trim make the ceiling feel about 10 feet tall.

Mabel and Stella have only slept in their new room for a few nights, but I can already see a difference in their relationship - a closeness that wasn't there before. There are five years between them, and hopefully those years won't matter much anymore.

The Great Bedroom Switch of '13, step one

I moved Elliot into the basement with Oliver today. He's been so lonely by himself upstairs, and hasn't been sleeping well (so most nights he ends up in bed with us, which means none of us are getting any sleep). I think it was time for him to have a roommate. But does this mean I can't call him my baby anymore?!

progress: wallpaper

The first thing we did when we got the keys to our house seven years ago was to start ripping off the wallpaper. If you had told me then, that one day I'd be hanging wallpaper on those very same walls, I would have thought you were crazy! But here we are.

I ordered my wallpaper from American Blinds and watched this entire series of how-to videos. It was hard, and took forever, but I think it was worth it. I love the results. Would I wallpaper again, though? Probably not.

I still need to put up the trim and install some lights, but then the girls can move in - hopefully this weekend. I've been dreaming about this room for years, so I am excited for it to finally be a reality.

the floors

It is difficult to photograph these floors. The color changes with the light and the time of day. It is a warm, stone-ish color (Flagstone, by Martha Stewart), but the clear polyurethane (which is actually amber colored) changes it a bit. I don't mind. I used a regular flat paint with a satin poly specifically made for floors. The finished product is thick and glossy, but not shiny. It feels good under my feet, and makes for excellent ice skating if wearing socks. So far clean up has been a breeze.

Once I finished the floors, we realized that the wall color was a little off. All of a sudden it was too bright and too green, so I used Martha Stewart's Garden Shed to tone things down. It sort of looks the same as the floor in these pictures, but it's actually quite a bit lighter. And now my kitchen perfectly matches my blog design (not on purpose, I guess these just happen to be my favorite colors?).

You can see our kitchen's transformation starting with the major before photos here, after I painted the cabinets here, and then once I put up the backsplash here.

painted floors

I painted our floors this weekend, a pretty grayish-stone color called flagstone by Martha Stewart. I live by the motto "If you can't afford to replace it, paint it." Almost our entire main floor is covered by 35 year old parquet, which is a wonderful, durable, non-dish breaking floor covering, but ours had seen better days. In my dreams we have pretty wide planked wood, or reclaimed brick, or antique terra cotta, but not all dreams are meant to be realized. At least not yet. And so. . . paint.

Here is my word of advice: If you are planning on painting (and polyurethaning) the floors of almost your entire living space, send your four children and your hair-shedding cat away for a bit. Otherwise, it can be sort of tricky. The painting wasn't so bad, but to put down two coats of polyurethane required two late nights with my children banished to their bedrooms for the duration. Try telling that to a two year old who likes midnight snuggles and a cat who has a mind of her own.

We'll see how well it holds up, but I figured the paint would give us at least a few more years.

a zoo, or maybe more like a farm

We seem to be collecting pets. I don't even know how it happened, but here we are with 9 chickens, 2 birds, and 1 cat. Shoot. We are those crazy people in the neighborhood with a million animals. Ack! I never wanted to be that person. (At least we don't have Champ anymore. See our adventures with our old dog Champ here, here, and here. He has a much happier life across the street with a family who actually lets him into their house.)

Mabel got two parakeets for her birthday last summer and I finally got around to pretty-ing up their cage this morning. The hem of our utility sink skirt was the exact size I needed to make a little cage shield. I couldn't believe my luck, since my stash search proved unsuccessful. I am hoping that it keeps their mess from spilling all over the floor. The little bird house table was originally covered in flowers and vines, but I painted it to match our cabinets instead. Already that little corner is so much brighter and cheerier.

I am not an animal lover, but I don't mind these birds one bit. They chirp and make sweet little noises, and they keep me company when I'm working in the kitchen. Don't ask me about the chickens today, though. They are not on my good list.

Now we just need a mini cow or a goat or something and we'll be all set. (Just kidding! Don't give Mike any ideas. :)

p.s. Remember when we got our cat? I am happy to report that after three months of constant sinus infection-like symptoms, my cat allergy pretty much disappeared! Phew, because everyone has sort of fallen in love with that Inez.

decorated

Lately I've been feeling like there is just too much stuff in this world, and I don't want any of it in my house. So I scaled back our Christmas decorations this year. Not that I ever really go overboard, but I put up even fewer than usual, and I'm ok with that. These little trees and houses mixed with my cake stands are my favorite.

I gave the kids free reign over the tree. Once they lost interest, I packed up the rest of the ornaments and put them away. And you know what? It looks totally great with just their favorites. Stella put out the Nativity sets for me, arranging all of the little pieces just how she wanted them.

I still haven't figured out where to hang our stockings, but I'll get to it, hopefully sometime before Christmas Eve.

Am I the only one who feels behind?

open windows and the late afternoon light

Now that the weather is finally cooling off, we can open our windows and doors and let the cool breeze blow through the house. It feels just like heaven. I was especially grateful for the pretty light yesterday afternoon. Sometimes a few minutes of good light is all it takes to brighten my mood.

And maybe some Pandora 60s Folk Radio, too.