The top ten of ‘10

Well, the end is near. The end of the year that is. :)

I had a great time recapping my top ten posts last year, and this year my friend Rhoda is having a whole linky party dedicated to the biggest and best projects of 2010.

So, without further adieu, here’s my top ten of this year, based on your comments! FUN!

First up was the start of our master bedroom redo. It was all about the bedding and I splurged big time on it. Cause we really like to sleep. Like, a lot.

The previous $25 Ebay bedding:

Was replaced with new duds from Pottery Barn and Target:

We did like the old set just fine – it just didn’t fit the bed. Huh. To say we love the change is a HUGE understatement. We quite literally melt into bed every night.

There’s been quite a few more changes to the room since that post, like new lighting, drapes and accessories. You can see all of that here.

And if you want to see how I used to make our bed, click here. (It still makes me giggle to read that. And want to cry just a little bit.)

Next up was our mini family room redo:

A new HomeGoods rug made ALL the difference in the world in there! LURVE.

Next up, a project that was FREE and made such a huge difference in our dining room. I showed you how I removed this hutch:

And found the beautiful buffet underneath:

I framed out the mirror myself, and because everything else was so cheap, I splurged on those GORG lamps. (From HomeGoods. Shock.)

You and I both loved my incredible Craigslist find in the family room – it completely updated a wall from this:

To this:

My new-to-me Drexel dresser was only $100, and it is one of my very favorite pieces in our house now. And it holds a bunch of toys. All the more reason to love it. :)

I finished a long, long, LONG process of taking our builder-grade kitchen island:

To a beadboard-wrapped, cabinet-painted, Ikea butcher-blocked one:

You can see the details of the transformation here, and the updates I’ve made to our kitchen this year here.

Speaking of the kitchen, you all loved when I took our basic, white pantry door and replaced it with a glass-paneled beauty:

The (awful) night shot above shows it with the contact paper installed for privacy, and the light inside (which we wired up and I’ll show you soon!)

We have an unfinished basement that we treat as if it’s finished. We USE it. A lot. I showed you how my craft “room” looked before:

And then with some organization, fabric, and more lighting:

LOVE it! :) You can see more here.

The next one really isn’t a particular project, but it resonated with many of you (and me!). It was a post about STUFF:

My father-in-law’s passing (and the week’s after) changed me. I’ve learned a lot about the STUFF and my emotional responses to it since then, and I’ll tell you more about that soon too.

The final two projects of the year were the ones you loved the most! First, the transformation of the Bub’s nursery to a big boy (airplane) room:

 

It is so clean and classic and crisp – I fall in love with it again every day. You can see the process to redo that room here.

And finally, my biggest DIY project to date, that was also my cheapest. :) I love when that happens!! I took our stairs from this before:

To this, with just about $30:

Well, the stairs were $30 – the molding on the wall was a bit more later, but the whole project was still under $60. It helped that I had the paint, stain, and beautiful curved treads under that carpet. ;)

BUT…all the hard work kind of evened out the money saved. :) It took some major sweat and TIME.

I’d do it all over again though – it’s still my very favorite project I’ve tackled in our home. SO WORTH IT. You can see the whole slew of posts about the stairs here.

Well, there. you. go. The top ten projects here at TDC, determined by your comments. It’s been a GREAT year! Did you have a favorite? What did you tackle that made the biggest impact in your home/life?

Check out Rhoda’s party for inspiration for NEXT year! :) If I don’t talk to you before then, have a very, very happy, fun and SAFE New Year!!

 

Thank you to my sponsor!:

Office update and the plan

Well hello! I’m back with another update on my office redo. I’ve mentioned before that I had only one goal in mind when redecorating this space – making it BRIGHT.

And whooowee, it’s working! :) I’m SO thrilled with the direction it’s going.

Last time I updated, I showed you the difference a coat of primer and a couple coats of white did to the space:

OH my. Night and day. Get it? Dark room = night. Light room = day. Har.

Anyway, next up was to paint the ceiling and the upper third section of the walls. After visiting the paint section at True Value, I found what I just what I was looking for. It took a while though:

Yowza – HUGE selection.

I used my inspiration fabric and found two colors that matched perfectly! The first was the ceiling:

I have to tell you – I hadn’t used Dutch Boy paints till I started this redo. But I am in love. I am SO impressed with how well it covers.

The kind I got had a primer in it, but I still thought I’d have to use two coats. I had only used one coat of white primer over the (red) ceiling, (yes, red), and didn’t think there was any way one coat of blue would completely cover the red/primer:

(YES. The ceiling was red.)

But it covered in in one coat, easy peasy. I painted it at night, (hence the bad night picture) and was sure when daylight came I’d have to do another coat.

NOPE! Love love LOVE!

I chose a beautiful light blue called Purify. Here’s the formula if you’d like to try it out:

(By the way, remember to always use a flat paint on your ceiling!)

I gotta give more props to “my” True Value – every time I get a paint mixed there, they keep record of it under my name. No more looking through the blog to figure out what the color of my walls are!  ;)

Then it was onto the upper part of the walls. I picked a sand color that matched the brown in the fabric exactly. Again, I started painting at night, and right away I knew it was way too dark:

It was a true sand color. I mean, like the beach was on my walls, sand. I stopped at one wall that night so I could see it the next morning. But when I saw it in the light, I was still sure it was too dark.

We had the Bub’s birthday party a couple of days later, and I was completely outvoted – everyone loved the darker tone. :) I tried living with it, but it just wasn’t what I was going for.

A friend suggested maybe I should try the color of our family room:

It’s called Sisal and I big fat puffy fluffy heart love it. It’s my favorite neutral. So I had it color matched, but lightened 25 percent.

Helloooo! It was perfect!

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but the new, lighter color is on the left, the darker version is on the right:

I know the colors don’t look that different in the picture, but trust me. Or it could be just me – very possible. :)

Here it is against the lovely blue ceiling:

Sigh. It’s so PRETTY. (Don’t worry, crown molding will cover that red.)

I love the colors with my DIY pendant light:

Giddy. :) :)

So, here’s the low down on the changes to come in this space…as you’ve seen, I moved my farmhouse desk to this side of the room:

Before it was squished into the other corner. I love this set up -- I can be on the computer or working and still see what’s going on in the family room and kitchen.

This is the plan for the bottom two thirds of the wall:

(source)

Be still. my heart. :)

The window corner will get the following:

I’ve tried moving my rattan chair over there, but then I can’t get to the windows to open the shades and let the light in. :) So my dream plan would be to build a set of window seats in that spot.

Not sure how that’s gonna happen.

Dad? Hello?? ;)

Of course, the windows will get treated with this beautiful fabric:

I can’t remember if I got enough of the stripe or the paisley for the windows. It will be a surprise for all of us. :) (By the way, I got the fabric at Joann’s.)

My Pier 1 chair sits where the desk used to sit:

When I bought that chair years and years ago, I wanted the ottoman but didn’t have the money. Guess what I found a year ago at Goodwill? Awww yeah – the matching ottoman! For $10!

Once I get those cushions covered, I think that rattan texture will be perfect in the space.

Finally, the Bub’s old dresser now serves as storage:

And now that it’s up against the white, I know I want some contrast. Just not sure what color it will be.

I did find a gorgeous, stunning dresser on Craigslist, but it’s much wider. If I get it, the chair would have to move to the window corner. It’s a sacrifice I may just have to make, cause it is GORGEOUS. Ack!

That is, if it’s not sold already. Crossing fingers and toes! For now I’m planning on not having it, just in case.

So that’s the plan for the rest of this redo! I put off the painting for eight months, and now I know why. :) It took one coat of primer on four walls and the ceiling, two coats white, and a coat on the ceiling and upper walls. Yikes. That’s a lot for me, who usually does one coat and done. :)

But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a trillion times – paint absolutely transforms a room! The before:

And now:

Fear not color lovers – there’s plenty coming. I plan on adding punches in the art -- I’m so stinking excited about that part! And I’m thinking about one more accent color…haven’t decided on that yet.

And I am SO looking forward to having such a serene space!

I need it. This is what I look at as I type tonight:

Ummm. Wow. Just…wow.

(Think we have enough remote controls??)

A Christmas/toy store/trash bin BOMB went off in my family room. Actually, my whole house. Glad I’m done painting the office – I’ve got plenty to do. ;)

 

*I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.*

 

Thank you to my sponsor!:

Didn’t.

I didn’t take my comfy pants off for days till last night. (Not the same pair all that time, mind you. Eww.)

I didn’t put bows on the presents. Wrapped and done.

I didn’t even use many tags. (Just coded them by wrapping.)

We didn’t have a beautiful family picture for our Christmas cards – I ended up making a collage so all four of us would be represented.

I didn’t get out of bed before 9 a.m., ever (even on Christmas morning – our children ROCK.)

I didn’t make “real” cookies with cut outs or beautiful icing (and Santa still liked them just fine…he told me so.)

The Bub didn’t change out of his Christmas jammies for more than 24 hours, and that was just to change into new ones.

I didn’t cook anything on Christmas eve. (Pizza. Thank you.)

I didn’t take enough pictures – I was too busy being in the moment. (But I’ll probably regret it.)

I didn’t pick up the millions of itty bitty legos that have been underfoot for days. (Still haven’t. I kind of surrender.)

I didn’t make the bed once, even with tons of family here.

I didn’t take one piece of Christmas decor down. (But I’m feeling the itch.)

I didn’t mind one single bit when the whole family sat down and watched Despicable Me during Christmas dinner. I loved it – it was easy and fun and relaxed and US. (We love that movie!)

I didn’t break out into hives when the house was trashed for 36 hours straight.

And then I still didn’t clean it after 36 hours – I just left and went shopping. :)

My husband and I didn’t exchange gifts – because being debt free is going to be our gift to each other and our family. (SOON.)

 

Every year, I have all of these visions of what our holidays will be in my head -- usually there’s a soft glow around everyone, birds are singing (somewhere) and I look 15 pounds thinner…it’s a great vision. In my head. :)

And those visions pretty much never happen. It’s never perfect. I never accomplish all that want to. Every year I say, I’ll make a list of those things I want to get done and make sure to do them. And every year life gets in the way.

A whole lot of “didn’t” happens.

And every year I realize how very OK with that I am. Our holidays don’t end up our like my visions -- they always turn out so much better. So sweet. So close. So much family. So much big, fat, LOVE.

I hope your holiday was all you (didn’t) envision and so, so, so much more. :)

 

I’ll be back tomorrow with an update on my office redo!

Merry Christmas to you and yours…

Hello all! We are prepping for the big day around here, and there’s SO much to do, but I LOVE IT.

I wanted to take a minute to thank you all so very, very much for your support and love this year. I have the BEST readers out there. (I really do.)

To wrap up the holiday posts, I thought I’d do a recap in pictures. A few shots I haven’t shown you yet, and some are of my favorites from this year’s Christmas posts.

Enjoy the lights, glitter and cheer. :)

(Click pics to get to posts.)

Merry Christmas from my family to yours…

I hope you have lovely, magical holiday!