Making the Sectional Switch

For the last three years we have had these brown leather couches that Matt has hated for pretty much the whole three years. They weren't long enough for him to lay down, there was no good arrangement for watching tv, and he thought they were too "slouchy" (if you want to call that a word). 

Living in rural North Dakota there aren't too many options for couch shopping, so the majority of our couch shopping was online. 

The requirements for our couch search were: 

• A sectional (so we could get back that valuable corner space in our small living room)
• Not too tall to block the window
• Easy to Clean/Wipe
• Clean modern lines
• Must seat the ENTIRE family for a movie
• Would fit in our little living room
• Had to pass Matt's comfort test (and be long enough for a 6'5" man to lay on)

These were the couches it came down to (get to external links by clicking on pictures): 

In the end we went with the SofaMart couch. It's still leather and brown (like our last 2 sets of couches were... what can I say, we're creatures of habit!). Here's why we picked it: we could see it in person to give it the comfort test (although it was a 90 mile drive), we like how easy leather is to clean, and the price couldn't be beat. After selling the gift card and end tables that came with it, and selling our prior couches our total investment will only be $850 for a major upgrade!

By choosing a couch with a chaise we sacrificed some space, but we also gained a lot more seating and a happy husband! I would have been even happier if I could have gotten something with mid-century legs, but sometimes the price trumps all.

Although I like the new couch, I don't like how big and dark it seems. I decided it was time to make some necessary changes to the room to lighten the room up and de-emphasize the large dark couch.

1. Find or make a large bright piece of art to fill this wall.
2. Raise the curtains to ceiling height, extend the rods further to the sides of the windows, add some bamboo shades, and switch out the curtains for something bright.
3. Find or make big bright throw pillows to brighten up the couch.
4. Buy a bright colored throw to drape over this side of the couch to break up the brown.
5. Find a tiny entry table for keys/drinks/etc.
6. Buy a large tray or basket to stage on the chaise. Possibly white? I need to stay away from brown baskets that I am always drawn to!
7. Switch out the brown basket for a colorful bright garden stool.
8. Stage the fireplace with something kid friendly and unique.
9. Update the mantel with chunky barnwood to play off the brown in the couch.

Hopfully I can figure out how to do all these things with our minuscule budget... I think some thrifting and sewing are going to be in store for me!

Midwest Tour 2013

Jack had his last day of school on May 14th, and the next day we took off for our "Midwest Tour"! 

Our first stop was a quick night at my sister's house in Prior Lake to help break up the long drive. We rolled in at 2AM, and only had breakfast and a quick tractor ride before rolling along. I loved getting to see Harry even though he wanted nothing to do with me!

Then we were on our way to Crystal Lake, IL to see Matt's family. We were there for 4 days and we packed a LOT into those 4 days: A day at the pool, a visit with Grandma Jane, Grandpa Frank and Aunt Peggy, a trip to the Discovery Center in Rockford, a barbecue with the MacCrindle's, lots of garage saleing, a hibachi and sushi dinner, a visit with Kari at Andy's, sewing Ana's first quilt, a night out with Ian, Erin, and Paul, a rib cookout, haircuts, grandpa's famous blueberry pancakes, a walk around the neighborhood (to see the BEAUTIFUL flowers and trees in bloom), shopping, and of course a trip to, "The Freeze"!

Although our trip was short, it was so much fun and it was so good to spend time with family. On Sunday Matt picked up a car in Minnesota and headed back to Dickinson for work and the boys and I headed up to Nisswa for the second leg of our midwest tour!

How To Garage Sale for Stylish and Name Brand Kid's Clothes.

Mase and Jack are 3 and 4.5 and I can safely say that I have bought at least 90% of their clothes from Garage Sales and they are almost always wearing "name brands". No... I am not a "name brand" snob, but they sure are cute and most of the times I think name brands hold up best! So today I am sharing my tips for buying kids clothes!

1. Shop in the nicest "family" neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that are young enough to still have kids, but fancy enough that they are paying for name brands!
2. When you arrive at a sale, ask if they have the gender and sizes you are looking for. I have saved myself from digging through bins of the wrong size many times.
3. Bring a list of what you have and what you need. You will save yourself from buying duplicates. Or ending up with 20 t-shirts and no sweatshirts.Yep...learned that one last year.
4. Don't forget about shoes!
5. Buy up to 2 sizes too big and build a stockpile. By shopping ahead I am able to be picky and only choose the best. I'm rarely in "need" of an item forcing me to pay more or pay retail *gasp*.
6. Inspect your items well and skip anything that's faded, stained, or torn. It's already been worn by at least one kid and in my case has to make it through two more. If I'm starting with faded clothing it will only get worse. It also keeps their wardrobe from looking, "second-hand"... even though I'm telling you now. (cat was never really in the bag anyways).
7. Don't pay more than $1.50 per item. Ever. The only things even worth $1.50 are sweatshirts, coats, and jeans. I'd say $1 or less on everything else.
8. If items are priced high politely ask, "typically I pay $X for Y, would you be willing to go down to that?" Otherwise if you have a stack of clothes offer a set price for the stack... "would you take $10 for these??? (for approximately 10ish items)"
9. If you find a jackpot sale (right sizes, brands, and price) ask if they would e-mail, text, or call you next time they have some stuff to get rid of or when they have their next sale. Definitely remember that sale during the next year's sales!
10. Go often, check out lots of sales. You've got to kiss a lot of frogs... or go to a lot of bad sales. I've probably been to 40+ sales this year and have only bought clothes at 4 of them.

I'm calling this week the "Vacation Edition". Yep... even on vacation I went garage saleing, and it was even MORE fun than going at home! I was in Crystal Lake, IL where Matt is from and a really nice neighborhood was holding their neighborhood sale. I definitely broke the budget spending $78.75. I know that sounds INSANE, but you won't think that after you hear what I bought! I could even consider it "vacation entertainment" since my mother-in-law and I had so much fun together. For Matt's sake let's just consider that it came out of that budget!

Last week I almost bought a new $50 faucet for our basement sink, but held out and found one for $8! Also with Jack starting tennis June 3rd I was happy to pay $8 for a Jr. Racquet versus $30-$40 the day before tennis starts (and this one is supposedly a $100 racquet!). Matt also had JUST said that he'd like a new duffel bag and I found a brand new Eddie Bauer bag for $10! My other big purchase was $25 on TONS of like new Gap clothes for the boys. Of course there were some "fun" purchases in there too like a vintage stool for the kitchen, a cool old suitcase, and more.

This week my favorite find is my $6 Vintage Suitcase that I'm linking up to the "Go Get Your Garage Sale On" Linky Party! You've still got 9 days to link up this month!

More White Paint & A Refreshed Pirate Gallery Wall

Remember when I painted all the hallway trim and doors? Well on that same Blizzarding day I also did all of the boys trim, closet doors, window, and door! It took all day but nothing about it was difficult. I just scrubbed everything with deglosser, primed two coats of BIN, and then used 1 coat of high gloss cabinet paint. I am SO happy with the transformation, it feels SO much brighter and cleaner. I also love that the whole transformation cost barely anything because it was all stuff that we had on hand!

Along with repainting everything, I also switched up the Pirate Gallery Wall. Because we built the loft bed, there wasn't room to have a mirror between their beds anymore. My Pinspiration was still this adorable girls gallery wall. 

Source

I just shifted around a few things and moved my thrifted spray painted mirror to the middle of the wall.

I like the new arrangement SO much more than my original set-up and just love how much character the mirror brings to the wall! 

Linking up to the Pinterest Challege with Katie, Emily, Renee, and Sherry.

Siesta Verse 10 James 1:19-20

For Free Printable Click on Image

  

  

  

For free Printables of each verse click on the above images.

DIY Ana White Jr. Loft Bed

Since moving into our house I haven’t been happy with the boys bunk beds. I didn’t like how awkward it was to crawl up and snuggle with Jack and I was always scared of someone falling off the ladder. So we split the beds into two twins which left them no room to play. 

When we got new bedroom carpet a few weeks ago, we had to disassemble the beds to move them out. That’s when I came up with the idea to build the boys the perfect bed. After years swooning over all the plans on Ana White’s blog and reading her book “The Handbuilt Home” this was the perfect opportunity to try our hand at some furniture building. Thankfully when I cautiously presented the plans for the Jr. Loft Bed to Matt he was even on board! So we sold the old beds and prepared for our biggest project to date (maybe not the hardest, but the biggest in size!)

Although nothing about it was difficult, it was time consuming, and consumed the greater part of two weekends. We followed the plans on Ana White’s blog pretty close, other than narrowing up the stairs by a few inches due to a furnace vent that would have been in the way. We bought all of our boards at Menards which came in just under $100 including the large piece of plywood. I spent chunks of time throughout the week getting all of the boards sanded. Then we spent a Saturday getting all the boards cut to the proper size. Then it was a week full of giving all the wood 2 coats of Bulls Eye primer and a top coat of high gloss cabinet paint.

The boys were SO excited the whole time we were building it and love it. Masey calls the whole bed his “top bunk”, even though he sleeps on the bottom. They also have dubbed the area under the platform the “hideout” and think they are invisible when they are hiding in there.

I installed Ikea Kramare lights next to each of their beds to use as booklamps. (Thanks Dana @ *HouseTweaking*).

I also installed the Ikea Kvartal track system around the inside of the bottom bunk. I used these clips from Ace to hang these Ikea curtains that I altered.

One convenient coincidence was that the boys lego play tray fits perfectly under their stairs!

I think I may revive the gutter bookshelves and put one next to each of their beds, but I’m still contemplating that one! For now I’m just happy that they are safe, they have room to play, and there’s room for Matt and I to snuggle them both every night.

Linking up to: Give me the Goods, House of Hepworths, Inspire Me, Furniture Feature Friday, Pinworthy Projects