Around the Watts House: July 2014

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

HOME TOUR-LIVING ROOM DECOR-SUMMER 2014

Hello! Thanks for stopping by! I had some time today to take a few pictures of the living room in its current state. I want to preserve the memory of what it looked like this summer, because who am I kidding, I'll have it completely changed up by fall. Haha! I've worked really hard this year to decorate this room, and take it from boring to what it is today, which I hope is somewhat eye catching. Here are a few of my favorite pictures, and spaces in the room. I hope you enjoy them!

Pre-baby we were lucky enough to travel a lot. I like to use images from the places we visited as wall décor. I'm not sure when we will be visiting those places again, so it's nice to walk into a room and sort of transport back to those times. In the living room we used pictures from our trip to Cabo.

I was really attracted to blues this summer, so you will see varying blues throughout the room. Also, I have this unexplainable need for gray walls. You will eventually see, as I share more pictures from around the house, that most of the house has been painted in some shade of gray. I hope to have the rest of this room painted before the end of the year, but I haven't decided if I'd like to keep the current gray, or try a new color. Also, I'm dreading having to paint around the windows on the back wall. Maybe I'll just paint the fireplace wall, and chair wall. We will see!

I found this mirror at Home Goods. The moment I saw it, I knew I needed to get it. It's so unique, like most of the mirrors I have found there.

I'm proud to say that I made this little pillowcase. It was my first try at making one too. I used the envelope method, which is pretty easy, so if you have a desire to try your hand at making one, I highly recommend it. I found the fabric at JoAnn's on sale, so I figured if it didn't turn out well, I didn't lose too much. Luckily it worked out, as you can see.

Can you tell I like this table? Haha!

Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without Home Goods, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's, because most of the décor was found at those three stores. I can't express enough, how bad I feel for people that don't get to take advantage of those stores. I'm sure I've saved hundreds of dollars by shopping at them. The variety of options in each store can be used in many styles. Well that's enough blabbing from me. I hope you enjoyed the pictures of the room! Until next time!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Calming the Chaos-A Quick Way to Fool the Eyes

See the mess in the bookcases? Books and toys everywhere? This is how my living room usually looked, up until this morning that is. Since we have the entertainment center up in the entertainment room, as well as starting to work on the playroom upstairs, I have been toying with the idea replacing these white bookcases. They cause me a lot of aggravation because of the mess that is inside of them. I have a couple of problems with that plan though. One, we just bought these in January, and two, I actually like the storage, although I hope to have less need for it down here once the playroom is done. Seriously though, with a toddler, I doubt that will happen. Well last night my mind was racing with ideas for the house, as usual, and for some reason, as if it slapped me in the face, the idea came to me! Duh! I should move as much of the kiddy stuff to the left bookcase, and leave my baskets in the right. That should clean it up a bit! I was pretty sleepy, so instead of jumping out of bed to do it, I actually waited till this morning. John, I know what you're thinking. "Crazy!" Crazy because I waited I mean. All I did was move the books to the left bookcase, and bring over the baskets that were in their place to the right bookcase. Easy shmeezy! So without further ado, here it is.

Looks much better, right? It's not a huge difference, but it's amazing how much better it feels to me. With all of the toys being strewn around the room most of the day, that extra clutter to the eyes just drove me crazy. I feel a bit of peace, and calm now that it's done. My next plan is to move the DIY Shelves over to sit in the middle of the wall. Come to think of it, I should do a tutorial on how to make them one day. They were really easy and they turned out better than I expected. Really, they are another reason I'm hesitant to change over to a taller bookcase. I just like them so much, and I'm very proud that I made them myself. Okay back to the plan. I also want to flank the shelves with a picture on each side. I think that will bring a sense of calm to the wall as well. I plan to do that with the change of season, so you'll see that here then. Thanks for stoping by!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

21 Months!

I posted this on Facebook, but I feel that since I'm doing my best to keep a good journal of what's going on, "around the watts house", I should share this here as well.

Rordan turned 21 months old yesterday. I say it all the time, but seriously, when did this baby turn into a toddler? He's started talking a lot more. Mostly babble, but he loves to say, "Momma", Dada", "Hi!", "Bye-Bye", "Uh-oh!", "Belly"..., and his first sentence is, "Hi Squid!". Should have known it was going to be about the cat. LOL! He's great with puzzles, and finding objects in pictures. That's helping with his vocabulary as well. Just today he said, "Sun", "Square", and "Star". I was amazed since we just went over them. Good for him! Also, he's so active! He is all over the house, and the backyard. He loves to throw the ball into the bushes, for John to fish out. It's sort of his "goal". He loves keys, and iPhones, and would rather have Oreo cookies than dinner. Of course, he doesn't win that battle. John and I are so excited to be his parents. It's been the best experience ever."

In that post I forgot to add a few words. John reminded me of "hot", which up until a day ago was his go to word for, "I don't want this.", actual hot things, and cold things, as well as the sun rays shining through the windows. He also loves to look for clocks when we are out and about, and even here at home. He will run up and point to it and say, "Clock!". He's so good! He's good about saying, "Momo", which is the nickname John's Mom chose to be called by Rordan. We are working on other names, but he hasn't picked up on them just yet. Momo is a great help to us, and regularly visits to help take care of Rordan, so I can see why he has picked up her name so quickly. Amazingly, today Rordan held up one finger when I asked him to show me how many one was. What? How in the world does my 21 month old know 1? Maybe it's normal? Maybe he should know more, but I don't care. I'm amazed at his little brain, and I will cherish any advancement he makes, no mater how timely. As for another fun loving thing he does, he is so happy to give us kisses. They are the best kisses I've ever gotten. He loves to hug as well. So all around, I guess he's just a love bug. I'm going to take advantage of that, because soon, as in probably 10 years, he will most likely not even want to be around me. Such a sad though! I'm sure some kids don't actually do this, right? I can hope! So that's my little update, to my update. I'm sure we will have much more to share in the next month. Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

POWDER ROOM-MINI MAKEOVER

Hello! Thanks for stopping in today! I'd like to share pictures of my mini update of our downstairs Powder Room. It's the only bathroom on the first floor, so it gets plenty of use by the family, and visitors. I've been struggling to figure out exactly how to decorate this room. It's fairly small, but it has tall ceilings that leave me with a lot of wall to work with. It has no built in storage. All it has is a toilet and pedestal sink installed. Luckily my wonderful in-laws gifted me with the funds to purchase our current bath cabinet, for my birthday. Okay, they didn't know that's what I was going to get with the money, but it was nice of them to give it anyhow. I had seen the cabinet at Home Goods the week before, and really fell in love with it. It was $100, so it wasn't a consideration for me. I have too many other things to use that money on, but like I said, the birthday gift saved the day, and I was able to go back to the store and pick it up. I'm pretty sure the ladies in the aisle thought I was nuts, having actually picked it up and set it in my basket. It's not really small, and the countertop makes it pretty heavy. I think it's marble. My newest love! Actually, I almost dropped the beauty while trying to put it in the basket, so I'm lucky that I'm able to talk about it today. Silly me.

Recently I had the room decorated with coastal décor, but something was off. It just hasn't ever felt right to me. This was actually the second attempt at decorating the room. Although I liked it, I just wasn't satisfied. It didn't really give me that sense of calm that I get when I actually "complete" a room. I haven't really been planning on doing anything to this room, but here we are today. Sometimes inspiration sneaks up on ya!
I was browsing the mirror aisle at Target the other day, and saw a mirror that I considered using for the Entertainment Room, but passed on it because of its size. For some reason, last night it occurred to me just how perfect it would be for the Powder Room wall. Because the room has no windows it can feel like a closet if we don't attempt to open it up using mirrors.
Rordan and I made a quick trip this morning, back to Target to see if they had the mirror in stock still. They only had two the other day. Just our luck, they still had one. I picked it up and put it in the basket before anyone could steal it from me. Oh yes, someone was going to do that, I'm sure. Mmmhmm. Can you tell I'm an aggressive buyer? LOL! Once the mirror was safely secured in MY basket, I rounded the corner of the aisle, and at the end of the aisle across from us was a display of small accent rugs. I have to admit, I had seen them before, and loved the turquoise version, but it wasn't on sale, and I didn't really need it, so I passed on it. Well, today, I knew I wanted it, and just my luck, it was not only on sale, but I got 20% off using the Cartwheel App. That thing is awesome by the way. We've saved quite a bit of money using it. Oh, did I mention that the mirror was on sale too? It was our lucky day!

Such a refreshing sight! I love the pop of color the rug brings to the room.

My beautiful cabinet. Oh how I love thee!

We painted the room almost a year ago. We had leftover paint from the nursery, so that's what we used. It's Sherwin Williams Light French Gray. Depending on it's surroundings it can have a bit of a blue hue. It's pretty, but I plan on finding a truer gray in the future. Actually I have all kinds of dreams for that room, but for now, it's going to stay as it is. Maybe I'll share a post on prospective designs. That could be fun!
When we got back from the store, I went ahead and hung the mirror and rolled the rug out to see how it looked. At that point I knew I had to switch out the pictures that were already hung. I pulled up "free printables" on Pinterest, and luckily I came across the perfect images to use.

Check out this bloggers site. She has some awesome printables!

Fern Images

I had a few extra white frames that I found at various stores this year, and thought they would be perfect to use with these images.

Again, the color is so refreshing.

We found our vanity mirror at Home Goods as well. We actually purchased a swivel mirror but the placement of the mirror was such that we couldn't hang it without hitting water pipes, so sadly it had to go back to where it came from. We were lucky, not too many weeks later we came across this beauty. It's such an interesting mirror. It's wood, painted with a silver metallic, and stained. It really blends with this new décor. Gives it that extra "earthy" feeling.

Overall, I'm pleased with the outcome. I think it's modern, and bright, but not too bright, which I prefer for this room. I think I've found a nice medium to stay in for while. Below I have supplied the links to the rug and the mirror. I see that the rug isn't marked down online, but I can tell you that I only paid $23 for it, so if you like it you might try visiting the nearest location to you. Thanks for stopping by!

Threshold Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug-Turquoise

Threshold Mirror-Pewter

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Hello! Today I'm sharing a little project I finished this morning. Since the entertainment center is almost done, I have been attempting to style to shelves, and at one point thought I'd like to have a magazine holder on one of them. Since I was going to Target to purchase other things for the house I figured I'd stop by the office supplies and see what they have to offer. I was planning on purchasing the Threshold Rustic Wire Magazine Holder, seen below, but once I was walking down the aisle I saw the clear plastic magazine holder, and quickly chose those over the Threshold holder. It was an easy choice for two reasons. One, it was half the price of the Threshold holder, and two, I knew I could figure something out to glam them up a bit.

Threshold Rustic Wire Magazine Holder

I ended up purchasing two of the clear plastic holders. I figured I'd probably need two, and I've found that if I don't get what I need originally, I'm probably not going to get the chance to get another one. I assume stock moves fast in this area.

While shopping around I came up with a plan. I have this tube of Run-N-Buff in Antique Gold that I have been using for other projects around the house. I liked the idea of just adding the gold to the outer rim of the holder. I've had success using a cotton swab to apply the Rub-N-Buff on other items, so I planned to do that for this one to save my fingers from being painted. Well, that worked but I didn't get the coverage I was looking for, so I started to use my finger. So for this, I guess it is all up to what you prefer.

I completed both in about 10 min. I was careful to wipe off any excess, and smudges that I caused using my fingers. A simple paper towel, and some elbow grease did the trick, and I had a cleaned up look. So here is the final outcome.

I attempted to find the holders online, so that I could share the link with you, but I wasn't able to. I say, if this interests you, run to your local Target, or office supply store and see if they have some. It's a fun project, and the result looks much more expensive than it actually is. Since the office is going to be getting a bit of a face lift soon, these may end up in the office as opposed to the original plan of having them on the entertainment center. We will see. I'm just excited with how nice they look, and how easy it was. I just might have to glam up some other existing office supplies in the near future!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, July 21, 2014

It's almost done!-DIY Entertainment Center

Okay, I am so happy to be writing this. My DIY entertainment center is ALMOST DONE! Oh my gosh! Seriously, I can't believe that I did it. It's been a long road to get to this point, and all I have left to do is to order the doors. Oh yeah, I'm not even going to attempt to make doors. I'm sure I could, but it would require another tool purchase, and in all seriousness, I'd rather just pay a professional company to do it for me. We have chosen Barker Door to purchase from. They have great reviews, and reasonable prices. I'm planning to purchase the following doors for the bottom cabinets.

Wood Shaker Door

They come unfinished so you can paint or stain them accordingly. I think this is going to catapult this project to another level. I am seriously giddy about it. The only nerve wracking thing about it, is that I have to measure for each door. Obviously that leaves room for error, but I'm going to have John double check each measurement just to make sure. Two minds are better than one. At least in this case. So soon, I'll be sharing the "finished" product. I've already got things on the shelves, but I'm taking my time with styling them. It's such a tricky thing. I think I've moved things around at least seven times so far. Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, July 18, 2014

Day Dreaming About My Dream Home-Kitchen Hutches (Built-in)

Hello again! I hope everyone is doing well today. Rordan and I are typing up this little post together. He managed to wake up earlier from his nap than usual. It seems like he might be phasing out his long 2-3 hour naps, and opting for a nice 1-1.5 hour nap. It's actually rare that I'm able to leave him during his naps, so maybe that was also a cause of his early waking. I guess only time will tell. The never ending schedule changing with a baby is something I'm constantly trying to get used to. I like structure, so it kind of throws me off a bit when it happens. Oh well, it's just another joy of Motherhood, that I will not ever regret.
So what was I going to write about again? Oh yeah! I have a dream. A dream of a beautiful, huge kitchen, with a built-in kitchen hutch. We currently have a beautiful hutch that my lovely, wonderful, husband agreed to purchase this year. I seriously love it. It's filled with all kinds of white kitchen ware, and it takes my breath away. It took almost two years to figure out what should go in our breakfast room. We actually use it as the dining room, because we opted to have our builder change the dining room to an office instead. Best decision ever! Okay, back to the hutches. Our breakfast room is quite large, so we had a full wall that just needed to be filled. I tried so many things. Mirrors, pictures, you name it, but I knew what it really needed. It needed a hutch. Built-in's weren't in the budget, so like I said, we purchased one, but my dream is to one day have them built-in. It all depends on whether or not we strike it rich. Hey! I can dream right?

Here are some of my favorite finds via Pinterest.

via

One day my friends, one day, this will be mine. (Continues to dream.....)

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Projects, Projects, Projects!

Hello all! Do you ever find your mind racing with ideas, and no time to actually execute them in your daily life? Ugh! I've got about four home projects either in the process of being done, or being designed, and with all the inspiration out on the net my mind is whirling with even more ideas! Hopefully I'll find the time to complete a few and share them here. Priorities are always important, so family first, but wouldn't you know it, in addition to that, the procrastination bug has infected me, and I seem to be going at a slower and slower pace. Boo!

The entertainment room built-ins are alllllmost done. Okay if you don't count the fact that I haven't even ordered the doors yet, it's almost done. LOL! I think ordering the doors makes it so final. Eep! Could I have actually accomplished this? Well we will see! So look forward to some posts regarding DIY projects, and fun decor. Hope y'all have a nice day! Thanks for stopping by!