Northwoods and Barnwood

Yes, I am still here.  I made it to the north-woods in one piece; kids, cats, and all.

I am in the process of settling in, which includes visiting and setting up the computer.  I have also been busy surveying my parents house to figure out what projects I can tackle.

There are a few that I have my eye on.  One includes this find...

 

It is some of the old barn wood off my grandparents barn.  They are looking a little worse for wear, and I am hoping I am able to salvage enough for a wall treatment.  But more on that later.

-Laurie

Making a personal road trip map

Yesterday, I talked about the Box-o-Goodies I packed each kid for our road trip, which included a "Personal Road Trip Map".  Today, I want to take the time to show you what it is and how I made it.

What the Personal Road trip map is, is simply a map outlining our trip.

I have chosen to keep it very simple, mainly because of the age of my kids.  It shows them where we are going and which states we are going through.

**Disclaimer- This map is not to scale**

Now how did I make this?

I should start by saying, I am guessing there is a simpler way, but I didn't have the time to research more or to figure out a program. But this is what I did...

I first started by mapping our route on Google Maps.  Once I was comfortable with the route I went over to 50 States.com and printed a state map for each state we were going to go through.

From there I started to cut and pieced the the states together.  Here is where I noticed the scale of each state was slightly off.  I had to make some adjustments, but it is close enough for the purpose of this project.

I kept them in two segments.  I then took each segment and ran it through the copy machine.  scaling them to fit a full page.

Now I had an outline of each segment to work with.  I wanted the sate outlines to be a tad thicker, so I took out the sharpie and traced the state borders. I also drew in our route.

Then through the copier it went again.

I pasted two larger sheets of paper together to get a good base for the road trip map.

The back sides of these sheets are white, and the perfect location to attach the state outlines.

Here is where I added a few landmarks along the way. 

Next I folded and titled the map...

And called it done.

I have left plenty of space on the map for stickers and pictures they may want to add.  I have also printed up some interesting state fact for each of the states we will be going through.  I found these factoids on 50 states.com as well.

Yes, there is a lot of cutting and pasting and running through the copier, but in the end it was a project I was able to complete in one evening.

-Laurie

Hitting the road

Officially we are on the road.

The "we" I speak of include: me, my 2 kids and our 2 cats.  All packed up in the Honda for an extended summer vaca.

Yep we are packed in pretty tight.

Since I decided I couldn't leave the kitties home, I had to really limit what we were able to have with us in the car.  This is my solution.  Each kid gets a blanket, a neck pillow, their pillow pet and their individual box-o-goodies.

My hope is, having a small box pre-packed will help keep things organized.  I have also tried to balance out what each kids have so I am not having to hear how "unfair" things are.

Lets take a closer look at what each box has.

 

I have 2 kids, a 5 year old boy and a 7 year old girl, I packed...

• A magnet doodle activity book for my son and a color activity book with washable markers for my daughter
• Age appropriate books.  
• A Personalized Road Trip Map (more on this tomorrow)
• A Small Toy they enjoy playing with ( Buzz Light Year and Princess the pink poodle)
• DS Video Games with a selection of games
• A Water Bottle

This is the first time I have used such a box, so I'm not sure how well it is going to work out, but I will let you know when we reach our destination.

Here's to hoping organization wins out in the end.

-Laurie

Summertime

Summer is officially here.  The kids are out of schools and I am packing up and heading out of dodge, for an extended vacation.

My plans are to continue my blog.  I am taking my computer with me, and I know my parents have access to the internet, so I don't see any reason why I should not be able to continue.  The only question is, how often I will be posting.

I have been trying hard, and I think, succeeding in posting a minimum of 3 times a week and most times hitting 4-5 posts weekly.  I am guessing I will be dropping my frequency.

I hope everyone will still continue to stop in and see what is going on.  I know I have some work I will be doing for my parents.  Namely, I have been dying to "do" their guest bath for years and I have been given the go ahead already for that project.  I also know my Dad had many projects he can use my help with, so I am sure I will have projects to share.

I am also looking forward to the fall, when both of my lovelies are in school full time- Yay! plenty of time for projects.

What are your plans for the summer and do you keep at your blog full time in the summer, or do you cut back?

 -Laurie

Light Quest

I have been thinking it is time to seriously consider changing out the "chandelier" in our dining room.

When we purchased the house we inherited -what I am assuming-  is the original, builders chandelier from 1984.

To make it more bearable, I use some spray to tone down the 80's brass and changed out the shades, but I have always known I would need to get something new.

The reality is, I don't completely hate the look, but I need to add a longer chain, and I am having a dickens of a time finding frosted bulbs that are not bent, which is what I really need to finish this off.

Any how, I have been loving the look of the Anthropologie Coco bead Chandelier, which by the way is no longer available, so my secret hopes of it showing up over my table is moot.

Anthropologie

But in my heart, I know it is not the right look for what I want, which is why I have not been serious with replacing the current lighting.

So, I have been waiting for the inspiration to come, which is how I like to do things around our house.  If an idea isn't feeling right, I will just let it rattle around in my head and see what comes.  And finally, something sparked my interest, and got me inspired and motivated to take another look at our dining room lighting.

I absolutely have been swooning over these hand blown pendant lights.

source -Make it or Break it

Now, I know they are completely wrong for our dining room, but I can't get them out of my head.  They are from Cisco Brothers and run, from what I can tell, around $400 per pendant.  Yep, a bit rich for my budget, but the motivation and inspiration are free.

It was just the kick in the pants I needed to get serious about looking at lighting.  At least on-line dreaming.  Here are some things that I found.

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This particular chandelier keeps catching my eye.  I love it, but wonder if it too delicate.  I also wonder if I would be able to handle the bare bulbs.  I mean, after all, that is what is driving me a little nuts about our current light.

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I do like the idea of a simple pendant lamp.  I think this one could be strong enough on its own.  Also, it would work well with the pendant light over the sink, and it's a move away from a traditional chandelier.

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This is probably my least favorite, but it makes the cut.  I really like the detail over the shade and the over all simplicity could be the counterpoint the rooms busy art wall.

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 I adore this fixture.  But I am sure I will never get it.  I would love for someone to use it though.  If any one has, please let me know.

-Laurie

The ABC's of LBC- photo series part 9

Y. Yellow Accents

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Z. Zany

artist-Artist  Horst Gläsker

I hope you have enjoyed my visual tour of thing I love. Thank you for stopping in.

-Laurie

House Tour- Master Bedroom

Time for more of the House Tour.  Today it is the Master Bedroom.

And here is our humble Master.

I have gotten the master to a place where we are able to go to sleep and wake up with out hating it, but it is not to a place where I am ready to stop tweaking.  When we moved in the walls were a horrible, soul sucking gray-green that look depressing.  The master has only one small window and I am constantly wishing we had more light.

I painted the walls in a brighter aqua to help liven the space.

I am waiting to get my headboard.  We have been using the crib ends as a makeshift headboard for about a year, and as it is OK in a pinch, what I really crave is a true bed, one with both a head and foot board.  I have my eye on this one from Ikea.

Which is simple and in my price range.  I am just waiting to get back from vacation, before I make the plunge.

Above the bed I have installed my $.04 art solution, you can read all about it in my Cheap and Creative Solution post.

I have been wanting to do more in this room, and with my husband gone it would have been the perfect time to get some work done, but I started to notice little spots on the ceiling...

and some water damage around the window.

We ended up needing to replace the roof.  I am concerned there may be some water damage in the walls, so until I can look into it, I have this project on hold.  I am not even willing to change up the color until I know what I am dealing with.


Since our bedroom is in a less then finished state, I have plenty of time and dreaming of what I want to do to make it our perfect sanctuary.

Thanks for stopping in.
-Laurie

Yes, yes, yes!

I got sucked into the internet and stumbled across an Q & A with Tommy Smythe- you know Sarah Richardson's Tommy.

I love Sarah, but you knew that already.  I also kind of love Tommy- I wouldn't mind being his assistant, but that's another story.

What I wanted to share was this quote by Tommy...

Q: What do you think is the best renovation you can do to your home?
TS: Whatever renovation suits your lifestyle! I'm a bit fed up of hearing about homeowners who feel that their reno simply has to be appropriate for resale. Life's too short to be designing one’s home to suit the next person who lives there -- do what’s right for you.

Hallelujah!!!!

I believe this whole-heartedly- my only exception to this is when you are planning on selling in the next 2-3 years.  Other than that, decorate for you and your family.  You bought the space to enjoy, so decorate it for your enjoyment.

Read more of Tommy's interview-  Style at Home -20 Questions with Tommy Smythe

-Laurie

Looks familiar

During my weekly blog reading I came across a post written by Kristi over at Addicted to Decorating- One of my must reads-

She was highlighting the work of Designer Tobi Fairley, who does beautiful work.

It was this image that made me stop.

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I thought the floors looked familiar..

 

Of Course Tobi can afford professional photographers with proper lighting, but the color is strikingly similar.

-Laurie

The ABC's of LBC- photo series part 8

V. Vintage Barware

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W. White flowers

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X. The "X" factor 

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-Laurie

14 Days and Counting

Time to check in and see how my 40 day challenge is going.  Today I am on day 27, with only 2 weeks left. Lets see where I am at...


I already crossed off:
Painting stairwell wall & upstairs hallway-
Re-paint stairs and rails-

This time I can add:
Installing gallery wall on stairwell wall- Done

You can read more about it -Stairwell Gallery Wall.  I am really excited on how it turned out.

Touch up trim paint in Living room- Done
This is not a big reveal, but one of those things that needs to get done.

 

Sand and poly 5 chairs- Done

I am sad to say that I am throwing in the towel on the rest of my list.  Sometimes you just need to now when to say when.  And I am saying when.  These projects are going to have to wait until after our family vacation. 

Make curtains for Living room and Dining room- No Progress
Make curtains for sons room- No Progress
Fix hole & create shelves-(Upstairs Bath)-
Patch and paint walls- (Upstairs Bath)-No Progress
Make curtains- (Upstairs Bath)- No Progress

So I guess the question of can I do it in 40 days is...

-Laurie