my big girl house

Halloween time!

2011-10-17T18:19:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, I'm not that into decorating for holidays, except for Christmas, where I decorate the entire house! But this is changing, now that I have a home and a child. It makes everything so much more fun! We live close to a reservoir, so there are lots of creatures that make their home near ours. This means we can't leave out the traditional carved jack-o-lanterns because the squirrels eat them.

This year we decided to paint our pumpkins. Inspired by our recent trip to Sesame Place, we had fun transforming our pumpkins into sesame street characters! We love Elmo and Cookie Monster in our house, so these were a huge hit!

I free handed the outlines of the character faces and filled them in with poster paint, allowing time to dry in between to avoid bleeding.

We had a lot of fun making these and the neighborhood kids seem to enjoy them!

Tackling the outside...

2011-05-16T12:44:00.001-04:00

We really have our work cut out for us or shall I say my husband and father in law do. They've been doing all the heavy work when it comes to our new patio, while I've been on baby duty. The first step was to break up all the concrete and this all was done by hand. They actually balked at me when I suggested we rent a jack hammer.

Here's Paul, assessing all the work that's been done and realizing how much further we have to go! (This was taken after the concrete was ripped out)

Next up was prepping the area for the paver stones. I had no idea that the majority of work for laying down the pavers happens during this preliminary step. I won't bore you with the details, but it involves many wheel barrels, pallets of stone and stone dust, 4 sweaty men and a compressor tool.

Featured below: 2 of the 4 sweaty men!

I have to say that our new backyard is starting to take shape. I also came to the realization that having a lush, green yard is going to take more than one season (weeds don't count!). That's fine by me, as we plan on staying in this house for the long haul.

Happy Birthday to Me.

2011-01-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

This past Wednesday marked a milestone birthday for me - the big 3-0! For years, I've fantasized about getting some nice diamond studs to mark the occasion, but when my husband asked me what I wanted this year, I said, "the couch from crate and barrell." A couch for my birthday? Am I crazy? Well, I've been drooling over this couch and "visiting" it at Crate and Barell since the Fall of 2009. It's funny how now I would rather have pieces of furniture for the house as a birthday gift than jewelry or a new handbag. Don't get me wrong, I love jewelry and bags as much as the next girl, but after staring at an empty room for over a year, furniture becomes the priority!

In addition to all the lovely gifts from family and friends, I also received some money. Before I could deposit the check in the bank, it was spent on another item for the house. This time on a gorgeous headboard from West Elm... yet another item I've been drooling over since the past summer.

Paul and I spent the entire morning putting together the headboard and rearranging the room, which was also a perfect time to do some deep cleaning as well.

A while back, my friend Genevieve suggested that we move the bed in front of the window, so that it becomes a focal point in the room. I loved the idea, but without a headboard, it was impossible. And as we were putting the bed in front of the windows, we needed to find a headboard that had an airy feel. When I saw this headboard at west elm, I knew it would be the perfect match for our room. I think the white is a nice contrast against our dark floors and our antique dressers.

We still have to hang art work and photos in here to add a bit of warmth, but I am crazy about how much more open my bedroom now feels! Check out this post to see how our bedroom looked before!

http://mybiggirlhouse.blogspot.com/2010/03/4-months-and-1-week.html

Warming up the family room... part 1.

2010-12-21T20:19:00.000-05:00

Our family room is really a family area, where one room serves as the TV zone and the other room serves as our office/fireplace nook. The challenge of these 2 rooms was to make them feel as one cohesive space. While not 100% done, so far I think we are doing a good job making these rooms feel cozy as what good is a family room if you can't curl up your feet, wrap yourself up in a blanket and watch the the fire or television...

The first step in doing this was to keep the colors palettes the same. We started with Benjamin Moore, Putnam Ivory on the walls and dark walnut floors and then began layering the rooms with Cocoas, Ivory, Beige. To see what the room looked like before, check out this post:

http://mybiggirlhouse.blogspot.com/2009/12/no-more-paneling.html

This is what the room looks like today:

A close up of the fireplace, complete with our stockings... The fireplace is definetely on our"to do" list. The brick is dated and the stone mantel is small for such a large structure. And who knows what purpose the vents serve!

I'm really at a loss of what to do with it for the time being. Eventually, I'd like to redo the entire fireplace with natural stone and a nice thick wood mantle, but its not our top priority right now. Any suggestions besides painting the brick?

Our gallery wall is a work in progress... It took us 3 different frames for the middle picture to actually stay on the wall without it falling and crashing to the floor. Despite our best efforts, we had a hard time getting each frame exactly 2 inches apart as most of the DIY blogs suggest...

The stain glass as well as the piano were a gift from my Mom Mom and Pop... so it has special meaning for us. My Grandmother found this antique glass, cleaned it up and had it framed. I can't imagine this window without it! My terrible photography does not the piece justice. It looks absolutely beautiful when the sun shines through and looks pretty from the outside as well. Maggie can't get enough of it!

What I am not showing in these pictures is the corner where we have our computer... This too is a work in progress and leaves much to be desired. Maybe I'll post some pics and ask for some feedback. Stay tuned for the TV area pics!

Life happens...

2010-12-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

Despite my best intentions, I have been terrible about updating this blog, which is something that I really enjoy! Having a baby, working full time, spending time with my husband, family and friends and fixing our house take up a ton of time.

As this is the time everyone starts to talk about New Years resolutions, I thought, why not start early. For 2011, my resolutions are straight forward 1) Try to find a few times a week to work out again. This has been a struggle since I've gone back to work as most nights I just want to fall into bed after the baby is asleep 2) Update my blog! I want to commit for 2-4x a month! This should be easy to accomplish as we have a lot of projects planned for the Spring and because there's been a lot of changes in our home over the past few months and 3) Try not to get overly excited about the movie versions of my favorite books. They never live up to my expectations! (Harry Potter movies excluded!)

time flies.

2010-08-21T09:59:00.000-04:00

It's hard for me to believe that I return to work full time on Monday! Where did the summer go? How is it that I only posted 3 times while being home? More importantly, how is it that my sweet little maggie is almost 3 months old already? It seems like just when I was getting the hang of being a mommy, we have to go back to reality. I thought that we would have endless amounts of time to tackle house projects while being home, but it was way more fun spending every day getting to know our new little girl.

So, here's what we can cross off that to-do list!

1. The Ivy is gone! Hooray! However, this did leave Paul with some beyond awful poison ivy. He had it all over his body and had to take a prescription to get rid of it.

2. New pillows for my couch! DONE!

3. Paint color for the laundry picked, but not painted...

And that's about it! We did do a lot of organizing while home, but that's all. We did accomplish something that wasn't on my original list, which is a gallery wall in our family room. As it was a little disasterous, it gets a post on its own...

Additions to the nursery...

2010-07-11T17:12:00.000-04:00

We were so lucky to have our friend, Melissa Sheets, come to our home and take Maggie's birth announcement photos. While she was here, she took some beautiful shots of Maggie's nursery which have to be shared!

You may also have noticed that we added a beautiful chandelier to her nursery. This fixture was entirely revamped and was the only light fixture that we saved from our home's original owners. It now looks nothing like it did originally and that's a good thing! The fixture started out as brass colored and looked as if it hadn't been dusted in about 10 years...

Paul was unsure about reusing the fixture, but once he saw how beautiful the crystals looked after a good soaking, he was all for giving it a try. As I was pregnant at the time, Paul took the lead cleaning the metal fixture and then spray painting it a metallic black shade. Overall, it cost about $20 to fix up this fixture, which included the cost of the brass cleaner, spray paint and the dimmer switch and is a huge savings compared to a brand new chandelier. Personally, I think it looks even better than something we could have purchased new!

We are so happy with Maggie's nursery. The only thing we may have to reconsider is the fuzzy rug for her bedroom. We noticed that the wool is a bit scratchy and I don't think it will be soft enough for Maggie to play on as she grows. It also sheds A LOT, so the rug may have to be repurposed in the dining or living room..

My favorite thing about this sofa: "It was free."

2010-06-29T17:37:00.000-04:00

Hello again! Our home is a lovely bi-level house, which means the kitchen, formal living room, dining room and all of the bedrooms are on the top floor. We also have a great downstairs "family" area on the ground floor that opens up to the backyard and is where we do the majority of our lounging. This family area consists of 2 rooms, one which has our tv, couch, etc. and an additional room that houses our computer area, a piano and a big brick fireplace.

We moved from a 2 bedroom condo to a 3 bedroom home, so needless to say, we didn't have much furniture when bought the house and certainly not enough of it to furnish the entire space. So when the opportunity came up for us to have a small scale love seat from a friend, I gladly accepted.

The sofa was quite unfortunate, but nothing a slipcover couldn't fix. I hunted for a neutral slipcover that would blend with our decor. It wasn't easy, as many slip covers have that "baggy, messy look", which I really hate. After visiting Target and searching online, we headed to my most dreaded store, "Bed, Bath and Beyond." People think I'm crazy for hating this store, but I'd rather go to Walmart than to BB&B. With stuff piled to the ceiling and aisles and aisles of items, it's claustrophobe city for me. No thanks - I get a headache just driving by the place. Of course it was the only store that had a slip cover that coordinated in stock and I was able to use a 20% coupon, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Once we sat on the sofa, we realized it was the stiffest couch on the planet. Making cushions was now a top priority if anyone was actually going to sit on it. This week I finally was able to make two cushions modeled after the euro sham cushions on my bed using fabric that I already had in the house.

I'm no seamstress, so making these cushions was a "getting reacquainted time" with my sewing machine. But as this entire project cost me $0 to complete, I'm happy and we now have a useable piece of furniture!

And baby makes 3!

2010-06-17T12:36:00.000-04:00

We are so happy to announce that our beautiful baby girl Maggie was born on June 1st 2010! We are now home from the hospital and adjusting to our new life together. As Paul and I are both home on leave this summer, we are hoping to accomplish more projects around the house, when time allows. Here is my wish list of the projects I'd like to tackle:

1. Ripping out the Ivy on the side of our house;
2. Leveling out the backyard;
3. Painting, freshening up and making our laundry room more user friendly;
4. Finding and restoring a bench or chest for the front of my bed;
5. Making a headboard for my bedroom; and
6. Finishing the slip cover for the downstairs sofa and sewing throw pillows from the fabric I have!

Who knows if we'll have time to do all of these projects with a newborn, but we'll try. Right now, we are just enjoying the time with our new baby!

Countdown to baby...

2010-05-21T11:28:00.000-04:00

At 38 1/2 weeks pregnant, I am in the home stretch and ready to have this baby! About 2 weeks ago, my mom and mother in law held a lovely shower for me and the baby and we received such beautiful gifts from family and friends. All of the baby gifts ended up in the nursery! After hours of organizing and setting up, the nursery is almost ready for the baby's arrival. We have a few finishing touches such as hanging additional decoration and installing our d-i-y light fixture, but I don't think the baby will notice if she's here before those few things are accomplished.

The crib and dresser were a gift from the grandmoms and I think the little one will be very comfortable sleeping here! Paul and I researched as to which cribs were rated the safest and weren't a part of recalls, etc. We decided to purchase this crib and dresser from Munire as it is highly recommended when it comes to safety and it's made from solid wood, so it's sturdy!

Our dresser did not come with a mirror, so we were on our own in finding something that worked with the room. Initially, I wanted a big oval or round mirror, but fell in love with this hand carved rectangular mirror at home goods last week.

The detail is really pretty on the mirror and it was a steal at $80, considering most mirrors I liked were $200+. I also took the advice of my best friend, who recently had a baby, and set up a diapering station where everything is at arms length. The diapering "stuff" is being held in a cute paisley box gifted by my Aunt and the diapers, onesies etc. are being stored in the top dresser drawers. Easy access!

Our little girl already has a nice collection of accessories (like her mama) and hair bows from mygirlygirlbowtique.etsy.com. Instead of stashing them in a drawer, I thought it would be cute to display the bows as they are colorful and have the cutest patterns. The space between the closet doors was the perfect size to show off her pint sized bows!

And last but not least, we have her cute little polka dot pottery barn chair - a gift from her future best friend Aubrey. Little Aubrey has the same chair in sage green with polka dots and I can just imagine the two them pulling up their chairs next to eachother and reading or watching a Disney movie! Who knows... that might be wishful thinking, they'll more likely be running around and pulling eachother's hair. :)

my big ideas...

2010-05-03T20:32:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite blogs, younghouselove.com, recently linked to this fantastic children's boutique and design company in Charlotte, NC called Lucy & Co (www.lucyandcompany.com) They design baby and children's rooms and are known for their amazing paint techniques that look like wallpaper.

I was drooling when I first saw the pictures of the rooms they've designed and wished they were closer so that I could shop in their store. But what it really did was inspire me to put some personal touches of our own on our baby's nursery... With high hopes and big ideas, I enlisted my mom and our family friend, ann marie to bring my vision to life!

I wanted to mimic some of the pattern from the baby's bedding on one of the walls in the nursery. Initially, I thought I could enlarge the swatch of fabric and trace and design a stencil, but that was easier said then done and with all the detail was frustrating and not possible. So, after a little confidence push from my mom, we decided to free hand it. And, boy were we scared! (Paul was even more scared that he and his dad would have to fix our mistakes after the fact - haha)

I started sketching the design on the wall in pencil first and then with their help, we branched off and just went with it. As you can see, it's a tone on tone floral design, so its quite subtle...

The patten kind of lazily wraps around the wall, similar to how a real vine would grow...

Here are some close up pictures so that you can see the details...

Our beautiful crib and dresser, a gift from the grandmom's arrived today and it looks fantastic in the room. The bedding arrives later this week, so I will be posting more nursery pics then. I am extemely happy with how it is turning out so far!

Small changes... big impact.

2010-04-19T20:13:00.000-04:00

Although we've done many major projects in our new home, we had to pick and chose which projects were going to be tackled immediately and what would have to wait until there was a budget to do it right. As we decided to do the kitchen prior to moving in, the very dated bathrooms were going to have to wait for a major overhaul. We thought, HOW are we possibly going to live with the gross outdated bathroom on a daily basis and for a couple of years at that? Well, we decided we couldn't live with it as is, even with a bleach scrub down, so a mini makeover was in order! And we did it for approximately $500 and change.

Here goes the before shot... dark stained doors, off white walls, dirty dirty rusty faux marble vanity with bright yellow sinks, 60s tile and a poop brown colored toilet (not shown to save your stomachs!):

And the bathroom after its mini-makeover:

I like to call this more of a neutralizer and not necessarily a makeover, but at least its liveable now. We painted the walls to coordinate with the tile, replaced the vanity with 2 sinks, included a kitchen cart in the middle for storage, replaced the toilet and added a new shower curtain and rugs. I still have to add a window treatment, most likely a nice roman shade and some art work to the walls.

And this is what we spent and how we spent it:

2 double sink/vanity combos: On SALE for about $240 for both (Home Depot)

2 faucets: Approximately $68 or $34 each (Home Depot)

Toilet: $118 - Kohler (Home Depot)

Cart - $60 (Ikea)

Rugs - $35 for 3 (Marshall's)

Curtain - $20 (Hotel Collection curtain, valued at over $80, scored it at Marshalls)

Curtain rod - $8 (Target)

Soap Dish and Toothbrush Holder - $20 for both (Home Goods)

Total: $569

The paint is Benjamin Moore - Northhampton Beige, but I'm not sure how much we spent on that.

I am hoping we can live with it for a few years, until we save up the money for a new spa like bathroom retreat!

Perfect purple...

2010-04-12T19:59:00.001-04:00

After a lot of thought and consideration of colors, we decided on a vibrant purple for the baby's nursery. We are expecting a little girl and even though I LOVE the color pink, a natural choice for a little princess, I wanted to do something a little different and fun. I naturally gravitated towards purple as it was my FAVORITE color growing up! This is what the experts have to say about the color purple in decorating:

Purple-
•a rich uplifting color

•provides a sense of calmness (we love this!)

•promotes inner strength

•inspires creativity and artistic talents (love this even more!)

•is associated with respect and spirituality

•may calm a colicky baby and foster peaceful sleep (I hope this is true!)

•provides a soothing effect on the ears, eyes, and nervous system

I was very specific in that I didn't want the typical lavender or lilac pastel color purple. This decision actually created quite the challenge in locating crib bedding that would coordinate in the space. While I have some sewing skills, I didn't feel comfortable tackling the project of bedding for the baby's room. So, it was ETSY to the rescue! I found this fantastic artist on etsy who designs and hand sews bedding specifically for nurseries! (www.etsy.com/shop/RockyTopDesign). The bedding hasn't arrived yet, but we did receive the swatches which we used in picking our wall colors. Here is a sneak peak!

As always, my father in law did an amazing job of painting the room in Benjamin Moore's Hydrangea (I think!! My pregnant brain is getting the best of me lately.) We also have a special paint treatment that we are planning, but you'll have to wait to see that piece of the room!

I also picked out some art work for the room and believe it or not, these pieces are actually specialty greeting cards gifted to me by my friend m. that I trimmed and framed. (On a side note, she has a fabulous etsy jewelry shop as well that you should check out: (www.etsy.com/shop/PaulineInParis) The frames were purchased at AC Moore for 40% off for $8.99 a frame, so you can't beat this DIY project. They go perfectly with the purple color and the leftover cards can be used for thank yous!

Buzz the bumblebee...

Gerry the Giraffee... AND

my personal favorite, SCOOPS, the kitty (named in honor of a little bugger that I know.)

artwork and prints...

2010-04-10T20:44:00.000-04:00

I am finally at the point where I want to get some prints and art work up on the walls... the house just doesn't feel lived in with all this blank space. We've accumulated some different pieces that we like and now I have to find a new home for everything. Prints that I've used in the bedrooms are now going in the family room and vice versa - just trying to get creative and change things up a bit! Here are some ideas that I've been toying with...

Vintage Maps or the big abstract print...

After a week or so with living with the 2 different looks, I decided that the vintage map prints fit in better with the more casual function of the room.

You'll also notice that we've added some roman shades to the windows and some casual dark wicker ottomans that can be used a side tables and storage. The best part about these new ottomans is that they can be moved around as needed and offer a great place to store throw blankets and head pillows. Paul is not allowed to rest his head on the fancy sofa pillows, so he has a special set of pillows to use when relaxing on the couch. Some may call this anal, but I think its an easier way to keep the pillows smelling and looking fresh for guests! No drool and sweat covered pillows over here! hahaha

Tackling the yard, one brick at a time...

2010-04-07T20:04:00.001-04:00

So I realize that it's been quite awhile since I last posted. I'm so very sorry, but these past few weeks were very busy at work and at home- hey I had to spend some time unpacking those boxes and organizing! Anyway, I promise a bunch of posts this week as I've been taking lots of pictures!

I haven't posted any pics of our backyard and currently it's in sorry shape. I lovingly refer to it as the jungle, but its not necessarily overgrown with plants, weeds, etc. but more of a concrete jungle filled with hardscape including random patios, walkways and concrete retaining walls. And we recently discovered after the lovely continuous rain storms here in NJ, that we also own a piece of waterfront property- who knew! Luckily, none of the water that pools in our backyard seeps into the house, so we are very grateful for that and I really feel for the people who have to deal with the inches/feet of water seeping into their houses after the many storms we have had.

Here are some pics of the backyard - this was taken about 2 weeks ago and I think it's totally ready for a grill and some patio furniture!! ha. Tons of acorns, bricks, a busted concrete patio and a purple baby pool for the hell of it...

If we thought we knew nothing about remodeling a home, we know even less about landscaping. This is where we are relying on our family and friends who have green thumbs and so far their suggestions have been great.

Our first goal is to remove most of the hardscape and to level out the backyard. As you can see in the above pictures, the dirt slants towards the house. Hence the swimming pool everytime it rains! We will (eventually) bust up the patio, raise it a few inches, add sufficient drainage, even out the dirt and put a retaining wall/planter bed against the back fence. But one thing at a time...

As the weather has been gorgeous the past few weekends, Paul has been spending a few hours a day busting up the hardscape. He's making great progress, especially considering that he did it all himself with a shovel and an ax.

Look at all those bricks he dug up!

I keep thinking that I'll look out back and have this instead...

I hate boxes...

2010-03-18T20:44:00.000-04:00

Those of you who know me personally, know how I hate clutter, mess, etc. and that I can't relax when I'm surrounded by it. Well, that mentality has temporarily gone out the window with this move - we just have too much stuff to unpack and put away all in one shot! We have been in the house for 2 1/2 weeks and as of last night, we were still looking at cardboard boxes on the floor, tools and random boxes full of items - EVERYWHERE. The only room that didn't have an extra box thrown about was our bedroom.

Now, I'm not allowed to lift anything and I am under strict instructions to take it easy, but last night I looked at paul and shouted (nicely, of course), "I CAN"T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" I couldn't deal with the chaos for one more night. I am happy to report that our box and cardboard mess is now a 1/4 of what it once was and that all the items currently in boxes are waiting for their new home, which we plan to purchase this weekend. One item is a bookshelf from Ikea to match the shelf that we already own and a 2nd stainless steel shelf that will be the home for kitchen items not used on a daily basis. Since I love, love, love organizing (you should peak into my closet), I can not wait to display all my photo albums, books and memories on these shelves! I think it will make this house feel more like a home...

This was taken as we were moving:

Here we are about a week ago... the clutter has now been minimized to a fraction of this!

This is one of the stainless steel shelves that we purchased from costco and is currently storing all of my fine china and wedding gifts. We plan on upgrading our dining table eventually and I'd love to get a sleek buffet to store all these beautiful items.

We have a few items on the list for our trip to Ikea this weekend, including this shelf, which I think will look great with my photo albums, picture frames, books and baskets to hide all miscelleanous items and eventually the fig's toys... I've been getting ideas on how to arrange my shelves at realsimple.com. Great organization tips! I've also been thinking that I want to lighten up the back of this shelving unit with some interesting paper or fabric, stay tuned!

Top 10 things I love about our new house... so far...

2010-03-08T10:07:00.000-05:00

I've lived in dorms, apartments or condos for the past 10+ years, so moving into a house has been such a change especially after living in more urban areas. There's something to be said for moving to the burbs or maybe I'm just getting old! These are some of things I'm loving after just one week...

10. No noisy, smelly, nosy, creepy or annoying neighbors that you have to see as soon as you open your door!
9.   Not having to open the front door to the building because a neighbor has forgotten his/her key.
8.   Not waking up early on the weekends to the sound of a loud bus or truck outside of my bedroom window!
7.   Waking up to the sounds of kids playing OUTSIDE and enjoying every minute of it...
6.   Having closet space! A coat closet, a linen closet, a storage closet, 2 closets just for my cloths!
5.   Having an outdoor space... even if it looks like a jungle right now. I can just envision a nice grill out there!
4.   Having a pantry... this is beyond awesome.
3.   Not having to smell every smell, because you are living in close quarters with your partner, roommate, etc. You know what I mean...
2.    The whole house doesn't smell like paul's chicken, when he cooks it.
1. Washer and Dryer- Nuff said!

Oh and one more thing... I can sing as LOUD as I want! :)

4 months and 1 week...

2010-03-07T18:14:00.000-05:00

4 months and 1 week, that's the amount of time it took to fix our house before we were able to move in. Let me tell you, it was worth every moment of waiting, every fight, every trip to home depot and every frustration along the way... We officially moved in one week ago today and we are still cleaning, unpacking, settling, sneezing from the dust and cleaning some more, but enjoying every minute of it. We wish we were able to take off a whole week from work to enjoy our new house and get all of our things unpacked in one shot, but with the baby on the way, we need to save every one of our vacation days. So, we've been working all day, then picking one room or one task to accomplish at night before collapsing into bed and doing it all over again. I've been thinking that it will be good practice for parenthood.

We've accomplished many major projects before moving in, but that was just the beginning... We have a laundry list of things that we want to do in the house, including a nursery that has to be complete before June and a front and back yard in need of tremendous TLC. I hope to keep you all posted along the way...

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the move and as we are settling in...

Fireplace Room

Family Room

Family Room (We have a bit of a fish bowl situation happening right now!)

Dining Room, with a peek of the kitchen

Our bedroom, in desperate need of an area to save my cold feet!

Getting there...

2010-02-26T21:31:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I started cleaning and moving our things into the house, while Paul and his dad accomplished last minute projects... My mom and sister came up for the day and deep cleaned the bathrooms, dusted, put away the kitchen things, etc. All stuff that I really can't do in my condition... Amazing what a little elbow grease and 5 hours can do, as the bathroom is now a place where I'd shower!

My sister, Michelle and I focused on the kitchen, cleaning and dusting the cabinets, putting in the shelves, unpacking boxes and organizing the plates, appliances and all that fun stuff. We had a little joke going with Michelle, that we've never seen her work so hard doing housework! She was not amused...

Today we had an unexpected snow day here in Northern New Jersey, so late in the afternoon, Paul and I made our way over to the house to unpack yet more stuff...and surprisingly the kitchen is starting to really come together. In fact, the whole house is coming together so well that we are officially moving in this weekend! Needless to say, if I sound a little delirious in this post, it's because I am! We are exhausted and we have another long two days ahead of us...

Damn my floors look good...

2010-02-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm being a little cocky, but I can not get over how nice my newly refinished and stained hardwood floors look... It was well worth the extra dough to have them professionally done and gives the rooms a whole new look. We went with a medium walnut finish. It's still a little dusty, but that will be done soon enough!

Please be prepared to remove your shoes when you enter our home! :) Yes, I'm one of those people now, but you'll understand once you see them. haha

Living Room:

Master Bedroom:

Guest Bedroom:

Mysterious pee and poo...

2010-02-14T18:10:00.002-05:00

Ok, as everyone knows, we aren't living in our house yet. However, some of our white snow is not so white anymore and we've noticed this in close promimity to our front door and in our backyard. So, who is the anonymous crapper!?! Seriously, how rude is that!?! I can just see it now, poo being brought into the house on someones shoes. gross.

Just because we aren't living there, doesn't mean you should let your dog do his business in our yard. OH, and I hope we catch you because you'll get an earful.

Sneak peaks...

2010-02-08T18:52:00.000-05:00

There has/is A LOT of work going down this month... mostly our last few big projects as we are striving to start moving in over the next couple of weeks.

Kitchen- The kitchen is practically done! Despite the one cabinet that was ordered in the wrong size (damn you home depot) and the hardware, which I have to pick out this weekend, the kitchen is up and running! Gas, check, lights, check, running water, check, fridge, check.

Upstairs hardwood floors- Sanding, staining and poly-ing was started on Friday and will be completed this week. Here are the samples of the stains we were deciding between. You'll just have to wait until the final product is posted to see which we've decided on. Any guesses?

Splurges...

2010-02-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

Last week one of my favorite blogs, younghouselove.com asked its readers what were some of the items they've splurged on in their home renovations and decor. Well in our case, we shopped around for the best prices possible on most items as we are on a tight budget, but we did have a few items on which we splurged!

The first item was our stove, which is a beautiful, stainless steel 5 burner Kenmoore convection oven. Our stove is a true convection oven that electronically processes all conversions for you, which means no looking up the information in a book or manual!

So, why does one need a convection oven? Well, I LOVE to bake!! So spending the extra couple of hundred dollars on the convection oven was worthwhile, as convection baking leads to faster cooking and baking times as well as a more even cooked and delicious end product! For example, in a regular oven, if you want to cook 2 cookie sheets worth of cookies at the same time, you must rotate the sheets halfway through baking, with no gaurantee that the cookies will be cooked evenly. With a convection oven, the oven stays the same the temperature all over, so no rotating of sheets and all the cookies will be cooked consistently throughout. Needless to say, I CAN NOT wait to make my first batch of cookies in this oven, which my friends at work have patiently been waiting for...

Here's a pic of the beauty now:

And here's a little peak of the cookies I recently baked for my best friend's baby shower:

Windows and window treatments...

2010-01-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

One of the things that I love about our new house is the abundant amount of natural light. This means dressing many many windows (my rough count leaves me at 17 for the top floor alone), which is quite expensive when you add everything up. I'm not really a blinds kind of girl, so I've been doing a lot of searching online to find window treatments that will fit our budget and our style. To me, simple and light is always appealing.

I am trying to prioritize which rooms need window treatments immediately and I think I've narrowed it down to the following: Master Bedroom, Kitchen, Den/Family Room and Guest Bedroom. These are the rooms we will be spending the most time in as soon as we move into the space. I will try to reuse and recycle drapes, etc. that I have from the condo, but considering this space is much bigger, I'm not sure what will work for each room.

This is a look that I like for the Master Bedroom:

and this:

Both of these looks are from pottery barn, which are totally out of the budget for the bedroom. I found these lined twill drapes from JC Penney (who knew!!) on clearance that I think will be perfect in the space. I ordered them in a creamish shade.

Next on the window to do list is the Family Room/Den, which has a total of 6 windows and 1 picture window at the front of the house. I'd like to do something consistent throughout this space, so I am thinking some sort of roman or natural shade. The hunt is on!

Another weekend with great progress...

2010-01-17T12:35:00.000-05:00

I am SO excited. The day I could not have imagined has come and gone- we now have cabinets hanging in our kitchen. The past two weekends have been very busy, last weekend focused on prepping and tiling the kitchen floor with our new slate tiles and yesterday our new white maple cabinets went up! The kitchen now looks like a kitchen, a room that I can imagine cooking in! While there is still work to do, such as countertop and appliance installation, painting, trim, picking out hardware, etc., we are well on our way to actually moving in. I should also point out that one of our cabinets did not arrive, so we have to wait another 1-2 weeks for it. However, this shouldn't keep us from moving forward with other projects in the room.

Here are a couple of preview shots of the work being done. The floors are covered for protection, so that reveal will have to wait!

Furniture...

2010-01-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

While it is a bit early to be buying furniture for a house that we're not even living in at the moment, it hasn't stopped me from comprising my Need and Wish lists and from looking for steals and deals! Luckily, we have furniture from our condo that is still in good condition and those pieces will be used for our tv room, dining room and bedrooms. However, living room furniture and a dining set for the eat in kitchen is a MUST!

In the living room, I would like to have a tailored couch and two chairs... These are some of the couches that I am stalking (I even braved Crate and Barrell on December 26th at 9am to see if the pieces I liked were on sale- no such luck!!)

This couch is called, "The Nines" from Crate and Barrel. It has a sleek look, but is still extremely comfortable.

The couch below is also from Crate and Barrel and is called "Henessey". I wouldn't choose it in the tomoto red, but I like the shape and it is comfy while still maintaining a tailored look.

In our kitchen, a round dining table is a must! As my kitchen will be mostly white, I think having a black dining table will add a nice contrast. Here is a pic of one that I am eyeing up at Pier 1 Imports! I'd love to get some funky chairs to go with this look..

While it would be a fantastic dream to not have a budget, I think the fact that we have a limited amount of money to spend will help us collect pieces over time that we really love, rather than ordering everything from a catalog all in one shot!

Lighting, lighting and more lighting...

2009-12-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Lighting is the focus this week... All of the fixtures in our house have to be replaced as they date back to the 60's. Fortunately, one chandelier is salvagable, but needs to be cleaned and perhaps painted. I haven't decided where we are going to use this fixture yet.

However, we did pick out a fixture for our entry way and it looks something like this, but with a darker finish:

We think it's going to be a huge improvement from the dated brass fixture that currently occupies the entry:

I also have to pick out a light fixture for our dining area. I'm not sure I want to go with the standard chandelier for that area and I'd like to do something a little different. These are some of the options I like in magazines and online:

And then there is the bedroom situation. Unfortunately, this house has no central air conditioning and while it is something we plan on installing, we might have to go at least one summer without it. So the question is... to install or not install ceiling fans!?! I'm still thinking...

New color in the den!

2009-12-28T19:54:00.000-05:00

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that we (or I should really say paul!!) ripped out the paneling in our den area. It was a lot of work, but I think the final product looks amazing.

We also have walnut stained bamboo hardwood floors (hidden under the tarps in picture #2) that are going to be installed in the next week or two by my dad, which I think will bring the whole space together.

BEFORE:

NOW: Notice the picture of Jesus has been replaced by a beer bottle... jeez...

The color we chose for this room is called Putnam Ivory by Benjamin Moore. I wish you could see how creamy and warm this color is in person. Unfortunately, my camera did not capture the true warmth of this color. It's so cozy in person!!

My only concern with this room is the fireplace. I'd love to have a bigger mantle and I'd like to figure out a way to clean the brick... please comment any suggestions!

The most wonderful time... for some home renovations!

2009-12-28T18:56:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone had a fantastic holiday. We had a wonderful time with family and friends. Paul and I took two days off to enjoy Christmas and then it was right back to work, gutting the kitchen and working on the electrical so that we can get this show on the road. I have to be honest, the situation in the kitchen is looking a bit scary, but I know it has to get worse before it gets better. Plus, ANYTHING is better than those terrible laminate cabinets...

Here are some pics of the construction. DEMO is DUSTY!!

No more cabinets!!

BEFORE: The dining room with a solid wall (That's our new refrigerator and dishwasher hiding under the tarps!)

NOW: The dining room now has a doorway that opens up to the kitchen .

With the wall between the dining/living areas and the kitchen, it gives the whole space a more open feel, while still having the sense of seperate rooms. Like my grandmother says, "you don't want to be looking at your dirty dishes while eating at your dining table"... well said mom mom.

The most wonderful time of the year...

2009-12-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

Decisions, decisions...

2009-12-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

The living/dining room is painted and I'm crazy about the color... I think that a lot of designing and picking colors, furniture, items for your home really has to come from your gut. For example, I went with my gut when choosing this color and I'm so pleased with the results. The color I ended up with for this particular room was the first color I put on the wall(Benjamin Moore- gull wing gray). I wanted a neutral color, but one that wasn't cream, white, beige, etc. so my design guru friend, m., suggested gray and she was right!! So, we put the sample of the gull wing gray on the wall and initially I wasn't sold - I thought it might be too dark. I then picked 4 different color samples to try, all either too light or too blue. I wanted gray, but not a cement color or blue gray toned, just a nice rich gray. One that would be a sophisticated starting point for building this room. You see, this room is ALL mine, it's going to be my baby. Paul will have no say in the comfortableness or look of this room... the only thing he will be able to comment on is the price of my new "dream" couch, 2 chairs, etc. that are needed for this space.

Here are the before and after pics:

No more paneling!

2009-12-06T18:51:00.000-05:00

Paul and I went back and forth on whether to remove or to just paint over the paneling that was in our family room. Removing paneling can be an extremely messy and costly job, for example, if we were to discover that the sheet rock was damaged and had to be replaced, etc. On the other hand, the paneling that was in the family room was not real wood, just some processed "piece of crap (as my father in law would say)", so we decided to take our chances and rip it out as we figured if we didn't do it now, then we'd never ever do it. Much to our surprise and we haven't had too many good ones with this house, there was sheet rock!

I'm almost clean...

2009-11-30T19:11:00.001-05:00

The upstairs bathroom has been painted and boy it looks different. I was going for a spa feel, neutral and white to go with the psychadelic tile on the wall. We are going to do a "mini makeover" on this bathroom to make it liveable as our main priority is the downstairs bathroom- it's a powder blue paradise that doesn't even work!

So, to spruce this up this bathroom, we are going to get some white stock cabinetry and vanity top, new faucets, a shiny new white bowl, some elbow grease and a lot of imagination.

(Color is Northampton Beige - Benjamin Moore)

Before and on our way to After...

2009-11-29T15:45:00.000-05:00

Renovations have been moving right along at the house and the changes are noticeable! Here are some before and somewhat after shots...

Our bedroom is painted! I think it looks so much fresher... it's amazing what paint can do! The color is called Pismo Dunes (All colors are Benjamin Moore

Before:

In Progress:

Before - Guest Room

In progress - Color: Grasshopper

What a difference a month makes...

2009-11-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post some "before" and "not quite after" pictures of the house.

Before shots of our home sweet home

2009-10-26T13:57:00.000-04:00

I've been getting requests to post all the "before" pics of the house. Hopefully this helps, so that when I am describing the renovations, everyone can have a visual... so here goes! I'll post more as I take them!

The front isn't all too bad, needs a little curb appeal, but that will have to wait until Spring. The backyard is another story. I'm going to take pics of the backyard this weekend and try to get us on Yard Crashers or a show like that!

Upstairs bathroom- check out the "lovely" faux marble countertop.

Cocoa colored toilet... there are no words. We'll be upgrading to a white toilet.

Below is our fantastic 60's kitchen featuring spectacular laminate paneled cabinets and an avacado sink.

We are officially homeowners of a stinky house!

2009-10-24T19:13:00.000-04:00

Well we are officially owners of a house... if you can call it that. At this point it's basically just "good bones". We closed on Thursday and immediately started getting to work. We have an extensive list of things that have to be done, but first on our list was ripping out the stinky stinky carpet, which we believe was causing the terrible stench throughout the house. Not to mention, the windows hadn't been opened in years, so they were opened, which meant working in our coats!

When I tell you that this carpet was there for 30 years, I'm not exaggerating. I can not even begin to describe how much dust and dirt and random other things were found under this carpet and about a million staples that I removed by hand. My back is killing me!

The plus side to removing the carpet, besides the obvious health reasons, is that it revealed the beautiful untouched wood! In the next few weeks these floors will be sanded, stained to a walnut finish and topped with 3 coats of poly. I can not wait as I know it will be fabulous and just the being of the transformation!

BEFORE PICS: My dad and father in law discussing all the work to be done

for your perusal...

2009-10-13T14:10:00.001-04:00

I've been obsessed with decorating blogs lately, getting tons of inspiration for our new home. Here are a few that I'd like to share:

www.apartmenttherapy.com

and

http://decor8blog.com/

Great ideas that I want to steal every single day... I am especially enjoying the color series that apartment therapy is running this month.

A lot of my friends blog and I love to read them all!! As we are all in different stages of our life, various backgrounds, career paths, etc., it is a great to keep up on what everyone is doing, personally, creatively, etc. Some of my friend's sites:

http://youmehimandher.blogspot.com/ (Sarah McColgan, former roommate and fantastic fashion photographer, checking her out for the most up to date fashion info!!)

http://www.mygirlygirlbowtique.blogspot.com/ (Genevieve's blog - best friend and founder of the girly girl bowtique, check out all her inspiration and crafty ideas!)

http://adayinthelife-batman.blogspot.com/?spref=fb (Batman - my good friend, who remains anonymous and stories from her daily life. totally hysterical!)

Planning, shopping, planning, shopping oh and more planning...

2009-10-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

That's all we've be doing! We are preparing to close on the house (fingers crossed!), so we've been planning all of the renovations, shopping around for cabinets, appliances, flooring, etc. and planning some more. To say that I feel overwhelmed right now would be an understatement... Most people say that the real pressure begins when you are in the house and are remodeling, but I think it will be a relief compared to the "in limbo" stage we are in right now. At least, when we get the house, we can start to tackle our many projects.

On to the fun stuff, these are the cabinets that we've picked out... They are a beautiful solid maple cabinet and we are purchasing them in the linen glaze! These cabinets are beautiful in person and I can't wait to pair them with a slate floor, granite counter top and stainless appliances.

We still haven't decided on a granite color yet.... This is proving to be a difficult decision as I have a hard time visualizing with such a small sample. We've tried to go to the granite sellers directly, but most showrooms are only open M-F, 9-5, not so convenient as we work during the week!! At least we have a few more weeks before we need to make a decision. However, it is starting to annoy me as I've had no problems picking anything else out!!

Next project: Picking paint colors!!

OH MY GOODNESS - My album is finally online!

2009-09-29T17:13:00.000-04:00

Woo hoo - my cd is finally available for purchase on itunes, napster, rhapsody and limewire. In addition to everything that is going on with moving, buying the house, etc. I've also been finalizing the artwork and waiting for my cd to "go live" online. For those of you that know me personally, understand that this has been a long time in the making starting from my days in a girl group, to doing open mics in teeny tiny coffee houses and performing with my band in nyc at such places at the bitter end. It has been an amazing journey so far and I am so proud to have this available to everyone in cyber space. I hope that you check it out: be sure to search "gia marx- too far out".

Potential, lots of potential

2009-09-17T14:13:00.000-04:00

I was determined to update this site on a regular basis, but who knew how much work it was to pack up a whole condo and move in less that six weeks. Add that to a busy summer full of showers, weddings, vacations and house hunting and you're left with zero extra time. That being said, we found a house that we like and are currently under contract! Even though, nothing is final until we sign on the dotted line, things have been moving forward. The house is a total "fixer upper" and if we do get the house, it will be at least 2-3 months before we can move in. Our first priorities are to convert to gas, redo a kitchen and put in new floors on the first level. This list doesn't include painting and such, which also needs to be done! Basically, the house hasn't been updated since 1967, but it has good bones! Hopefully, we'll get some good news!

It's official, we're moving!

2009-06-17T09:03:00.000-04:00

Well- we are officially moving in less than a month, so that means I have to start packing immediately. I never had to pack up a whole condo, usually just a bedroom, so this should be interesting.

I'm hoping to streamline what we have, donating things we will never use and throwing out broken items etc. I'm also going to have to decide what to bring with us to my MIL's house, which is where we will be staying temporarily until we find a house! I'm thinking it's just going to be our bed, cloths and toiletries-everything else will get packed. Even Paul's precious big screen???

Also, this past Saturday as I was putting the finishing touches on my cupcake order for Kristen's party, I had the realization that it was probably the last time I would be baking in my current kitchen and have to admit, it made me a little sad.

We've had some good times here....

This was taken at our first get together right after we moved in!

The Christmas we got engaged...

My lesson in not reaching over the stove while the burner is on!! And also to always wear an apron...

And the whole planning of our wedding...

Realization...

2009-06-13T08:04:00.000-04:00

I just realized this morning that my baking session last night might be the last in my current kitchen. So many memories....

blank walls...

2009-06-11T12:13:00.001-04:00

It took me a long time to find artwork and pictures to hang in my condo. I only wanted to hang

unique pieces that I really liked or meant something to me. So it took awhile to actually have stuff on the wall besides personal photos. If it were up to Paul, we'd have pictures of fruit all over all walls (still life), but that's not really my thing...

I got these great prints from an artist overseas -found her on etsy! I

like her prints, they have a retro feel and are a little whimsical. We have

two of her prints framed in my living room, which I purchased a few months ago and everytime I look at them I smile. Best of all her prints are really affordable and I framed them myself.

sugarloop.etsy.com

And so it begins...

2009-06-10T20:15:00.000-04:00

We hope to be selling and moving out of our condo this summer/fall-not that we aren't comfortable where we are, but because it's time for some more space, a little outdoors, a grill and wanting to add a dog to our family of two!

Right now my decorating has revolved around pieces that we brought into our first shared home from our other places, such as Paul's merlot colored leather couch and my antique bedroom furniture passed down from my mother. I still love these pieces, but I don't want to have to carry the same color palette into a new place, at least not in the living room. Needless to say, I've already starting designing a home that doesn't exist-yet!!!

But I can dream right... One thing that won't change is that I like clean and uncluttered living spaces, furniture with clean lines, but touches of traditional as well. I figured I'd start by posting some pics of our current place!

Our current living room. Its comfy. My
next "ideal" living room will be shades of greys,
blues, creams and whites. AND I am really
feeling dark stained wood floors whenever I see
them in any design magazines- next time!!

The red has been fun and vibrant and everyone
seems to like it when they come over.
I'll miss that stove...

The dining room! Simple, just how I like it.

Our 2nd bedroom/office. I love this room -
especially the green, but minus the hideous
computer desk and chair-they have to go!

Our bedroom-I love this room and I love my bed.
I'd like a lighter looking window, but went with the
dark as we get the morning sun here!