Three Small Projects in the Dining Room - Done and Done

 

{Before we start, let's pretend the wall colour in the above photo doesn't look lilac. Lilac is b-a-d.}

 

So. I really and truly can't believe the title of this post. Three projects done?!?!? It's pretty much a miracle.

 

First, I finally got around to framing one of my Etsy prints. Second, I finally got around to buying some orchid bark so that I could repot my orchid in a cute, white pot. And third, I finally got around to painting and changing the hardware on that little cabinet thingie.

 

I'll share some more details and pictures of both the print and the cabinet in a later post. Little Coopster is due to wake up from his nap any minute now and he is very demanding about wanting to play with his farm animals as soon as he wakes up. ;)

A New (Not Quite Finished) Garden Shed

Our old garden shed was literally falling apart. The entire roof was leaking, the floor boards were completely rotten through, the door wouldn't shut, and I'm pretty sure it was full of you-know-what from a family of mice last winter.

When it came time to pack away our patio furniture a few weeks ago we had a difficult decision to make. Did we want to store the patio furniture in the rotten, leaky shed or did we want to store it all in the garage? FYI - our garage roof is also leaking like crazy. :S

On a whim, Alex decided to build a new shed. He and his dad worked out a rough sketch and materials list on a Friday night and were building the very next day. Because it was a bit of a rush job I didn't get to be as particular and bossy-like as usual. Although while they were working I did manage to stick my head out the window a few times and scream, "Make it cute! Make it cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!" I also had time to flash him a picture of a cute shed from Pinterest. He scoffed at the scalloped trim (boooooooooo) but decided to use the same basic design (yaaaaaaaaaay).

Image: Pinterest

Because they had such a small timeframe (one weekend) to get the majority of the work done, Alex ended up choosing stock shingles, stock windows, and a stock door. I have to say that his choices still ended up looking pretty cute.

I see some window boxes, a cute door colour, and a pretty garden in this shed's future. But for now, I'm just happy that we have a dry, mouse-free place to store all of our patio furniture and garden schtuff. :)

My First Ever Target Shopping Experience

If you hadn't heard, Target stores have been opening up locations all across Canada. Awhile back I heard a rumour that they might be opening up a location in my city. Not gonna lie, I was pretty skeptical. There aren't a lot of good stores here ifyouknowwhatI'msaying.

 

I was skeptical until yesterday. Target opened and I went. I bought stuff and it was magical.

 

To be completely honest - the store was super busy and a lot of the stock was cleared out. But I did score some cute finds: a set of robot dishes and a little dinosaur backpack for the Coopster, a bed skirt for our newish king-sized bed, and the cutest polka dot kraft paper ever.

 

 

The store had some really nice house-ware type stuff. I am really excited to go back minus the cranky toddler trying to climb out of my shopping cart.

 

I know it's kind of awful to admit but I really, really, really, really, really like shopping. :)

Three Things That I Never Followed Up On

1. Old, Chippy Corbels
 

 

Oh, yes. I still have those beautiful, chippy corbels. Except now they are beautiful, chippy, and extremely dusty from sitting on top of my dining room hutch for months. Or years. Yup, I think it's been years now. My plan was, and still is, to hang them in the doorway that leads from the living room into the sunroom. There are three reasons why I haven't done this yet: 

 

a) Some friends and family have hinted that they think corbels in the doorway will look.... how did they put it.... dumb. Okay, so my feelings might have been a little hurt.

 

b) My dearest husband doesn't want to screw into the nice, solid, freshly painted door trim.

 

c) I read a recent blog post over at The Lettered Cottage where they stripped a pair of old, chippy corbels. And they looked real good. 

 

So, that's that. Dusty corbels because I still can't decide what to do.

P.S. You can see a picture of how the corbels would sort of look here. Warning: there is a very unflattering picture of me without any makeup on. Shudder.

 

 

2. Master Bedroom Light Fixture
 

A very long time ago we started doing some fix-ups in our Master Bedroom. We painted, installed crown molding, refinished the floors, added some curtains and curtain rods, and purchased a new light fixture. We ended up choosing an inexpensive schoolhouse-type light fixture from Lowes. After we installed it we decided that it was a little on the flimsy side and a little on the small side.

 

And then we left it.

 

A few weeks ago my dearest husband decided to make the bed. Obviously he doesn't do it very often because somehow he managed to smash the shade into a billion little pieces all over our bed. Awesome. I love cuddling with glass shards after a long, hard day.

 

;)

 

So. We had a small, flimsy light. Now we have no light.

P.S. You can see the light fixture installed in our totally unfinished bedroom here.

 

3. Ikea Duvet Cover
 

 

A few months ago I bought a giant, king-sized duvet for our bed. (This is after my dearest husband and I had been fighting over the small queen-sized duvet for months.) I bought a Ralph Lauren duvet from Homesense thinking it was the best thing of life. Except I didn't realize at the time that it had little squares sewn all over it - making big poofy puffs in the middle of each square. Together with the new duvet cover over it - our bed looks like a giant, lumpy mess.

 

I am annoyed that I bought a lumpy duvet. I am annoyed that it looks extra lumpy inside it's awesome new cover. I am pretty much just annoyed.
 

 

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In other news:

 

• This post might be the first of a series. There are just so many things that I've never followed through on. Yay, me.
• I have two little Christmas craft ideas in the works. I'm excited. I'm a nerd.
• It snowed last night. When Cooper looked out the window in the morning he said, "Woah, woah, woooooah" in his deep drill-sergeant voice. It was adorable.