Monday, December 12, 2011

Tell The Truth Tuesday - The Home Edition

I'm back! Kind of....

Right now my life is like one long episode of Trading Spaces, only instead of the ever chirpy Paige Davis annoying the shit out of me, I have three children, a job and enough publishing drama to fuel at least 10 chapters in our tell-all publishing memoir that will drop Spring 2060.

In case you're curious here's what I've been up to:


I made this chalk board wall calendar for the kitchen.



Cute, right? Also helps me keep tabs on the increasingly crazy holiday schedule.


Cute, right? Also helps me keep tabs on the increasingly crazy holiday schedule.

Sadly, there is a rather sinister truth to go along with this little DIY project. Laura brought James over to help me hang it. James was sleeping soundly in his infant seat in the dining room while I was pounding nails into the wall in the kitchen. A picture on the other side of the wall went hurtling toward the ground and missed James by at least a foot. Ok, maybe it was more like a few inches. But he slept through the whole thing, so I feel confident I haven't scarred him for life. Yet.

Next I tackled the back room. The people who lived here before us used this room as their family room. We've always used it as a play room/office/room that mostly remains empty and useless.

Here's what it looked like:


Feel free to judge this sad little room. It really was kind of awful. You can't really tell from this picture, but there was nothing hanging on the halls. No desk. Just some random toys and a couch.



Here's the after. I dragged a sofa table into the room to create a little desk and painted the entire room a bright, blue-ish green. My plan is to move the cedar chest into the family room and add some white Ikea bookshelves for toys and games, so it will look like a full wall of built-ins.



My proudest project to date are the cornices that I made myself using foam board, Waverly Modern Essentials fabric and a prayer. Honestly, I was shocked when I woke up the next morning and they were all still hanging from the windows.

True story: I had to call my dad to figure out how to get the cap off the staple gun. There was no cap. Let's just say it's a good thing they have a safety feature on those bad boys otherwise I'd have approximately 5 staples in my left cornea.


I'm in the process of recovering my dining room chairs with this fabric. It's a Dwell Studio outdoor canvas that was 50% off at Joann Fabrics. Super cute, bright and even better, stains will wipe right off.


I staged the bookshelves with color coordinated vintage books. (Thank you Laura for letting me borrow from her collection!)

You can't really tell in this picture, but I spray painted coffee beans silver and put them in bud vases to act as book ends. I also spray painted a couple of cardboard L's and threw them next to the books.


Ken gave me a framed Liar Society cover flat for my birthday, so I paired it with two of my favorite pages from the book on either side.

And now for my real truth this Tuesday....

THIS is what my couch looks like.

Yes. That is clean laundry that I've completely neglected to fold because I've been slightly distracted by my redecorating efforts.


On the plus side, at least it's clean!

Ok...now that I've completely bared my soul, you better leave me some juicy truths in the comments.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

(a) I love the framed cover flat + favorite pages! Which means:

(b) I AM SO STEALING THAT IDEA. And also:

(c) I have to ask...which two pages?

Matthew MacNish said...

C. I concur with Beth. I would love to know what your two favorite pages are (and what they say, because the pages could be different than the ones in my ARC).

Anonymous said...

Ah, stealing the idea for the chalkboard! NEED!!

Loretta Nyhan said...

I am so hiring you. My entire house looks like the sad little before photo.

Nicely done, my friend.

Lee Nichols said...

Nothing juicy from me, it just all looks so adorable. You make my house look like stodgy old people live it. I love your whimsy.

storyqueen said...

I spotted Liar Society on the yellow bookshelf!

Can I tell you how much I love that you arranged your books by color?

Shelley

Nicole Zoltack said...

Whenever I'm finally ready to sell my house (which won't be for years, probably, sob) can I hire you?

Marsha Sigman said...

I am stunned...stunned by your Martha Stewartness. My creativity begins and ends with writing. I have to buy my arts and crafts premade or it looks it came from a preschool art class.

My truth today? The other night my 3yr old fell asleep on the floor and I left him there for a little while so I could finish the book I was reading. I will not admit how long.

Yes, I feel guilty. The book? Divergent by Veronica Roth. Now you see why I had no choice.

Caroline Starr Rose said...

Are you in post-delivery nesting mode, or what?? Looks gorgeous! Hope that's a space that inspires.

My secret is my husband does the laundry. If he didn't, my boys would never have clean clothes.

Krispy said...

LOVE the chalkboard calendar and the bird print cloth for your chairs! So cute. Also, framed Liar Society is awesome, and I spy quite a few cloth-bound Penguin classics! I love those! I want them all!

Jemi Fraser said...

Love the cover & pages - they look fantastic! Good job on the redecorating!! :)

erica m. chapman said...

Love the re-decore ;o) I LOVE the space you created. Seriously. My office looks... well, we won't go there. Not enough Tell the Truth Tuesdays in the world for me to admit what mine looks like.

LOVE the framed book cover. Very cool ;o)

Dara said...

Hey that couch looks like my living room floor! Just add one ginormous Exersaucer, a Bumbo seat, a bouncer and a blanket for the baby to roll on and that's my house in a nutshell.

Elana Johnson said...

You are entirely too domestic for me. Can you come to Utah and ship my house into shape?

Meg @ Mr.C and Me said...

I gave your blog “The Versatile Blog award” - Keep it coming! :)

http://mrcandme.blog.com/2011/12/18/cue-acceptance-speech/

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

OMGoodness, I love that chalkboard! Your room looks wonderful!

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