Sunday, September 30, 2012

About a Rug


I need help!

I can't decide on the rug for our library! Here are my choices so far, take note, none of them are wool , size-wise 7x9 -8x10 and mostly are OUTDOOR rugs, I just think it's more practical since it will be a fairly high-traffic area with mess from school work complicating things...

1) Hand woven Sea Grass rug


2) Chevron Flat rug

3) Outdoor Navy Chevron Rug
First 3 are from OVERSTOCK.COM.



4) Kilim Diamond Rug from Rugsusa.com
Also comes in green.

5) Diamond indoor/outdoor rug in Denim

6) White color

7) Also lov it in this sprout color

8) Sidebar Rug
All of these are from Dash and Albert. All indoor/outdoor rugs. I've always wanted to have one of their rugs, and I am loving all these so far.
9) Blue striped Cotton Rug from Land of Nod




There you have it. Do you have any suggestions as to which one I should use for this space? Or another rug all together that you saw somewhere else? Please let me know and a big thanks for your help!



Have a nice day!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Library/Office Before and After



Now that you've seen the "finished product" a.k.a. Library/office, I wanted to share to you what it looked like before...


Not bad really, just a bit messy I think - hubby had a itty-bitty desk

But compared to this one, sigh.. :-)


Reading area before


Study/reading area Now



Part of the office before


Office now

Like any project this is still a work in progress. We still need to do the following:

1) Add Bookcase lighting 
2) Build a Library Ladder
3) Get more storage for unsightly clutter to be placed at the bottom shelves
4) Upgrade ( meaning spruce it up) the old office bookcase
5) Find the right rug
6) Find the right table/floor lamp for the desk area

Again, if you want to know how we got here, click here, here and here.


Have a Marvelous Weekend!

Linking back to Thrifty Decor Chick & Betterafter blogs!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fall Living room 2012

Just wanted to share our Living room this fall...


Changed up my pillows - inlove with IKAT and knew this colors would be perfect for fall

Got the rug from Rugsusa.com but it's the wrong color and I returned this already :-(

switched out my mustart pillows for this orange velvet ones from WorldMarket


Here's the rug up close - I wanted it in black, not Ivory like this one is


There you have it, hope your all ready for this gorgeous, cool season!!


Have a nice Fall day everyone!

Linking back to Carolyn's Homework & My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Our Library/Office Done - for now :-)


Finally, here is our project in all it's library glory!!!

Tada!!!!!

The book shelves turned out to be amazing don't you think?! Too good that I actually told my hubby, "Hon, did you really build this?!" Ha! He smiled. I did the finishing touches of course, but in the end I have to give full credit to my one and only for this great project. If you wanna see how we did this click here and here.

Office part is on the right

We moved our old  table (from CB2) from the breakfast area to the library for a bigger desk everyone can use. We also moved two of our chairs from the same room here.



Here are some closer shots of the bookshelves...


My shelf on the far left

As you can see, a lot of my milk glass collection, and other decorative objects are out on display YEY! I also opened a book and placed some of the books facing front for display.

Books and Knick-knacks all together

Still need to buy some baskets to hide unsightly stuff

All set for our family to hopefully, happily, do work and homework together

Office chair ready for a turn around when needed

The rug is temporary, it's a utility rug that cost me $9 from Menards! I am still deciding on the proper color of rug for this space, I may need your help on that to decide. For now, this will do so our hardwood floors are protected.

Office Area
I placed the office supplies and shredder and printer into one of the old bookcases we have in this room. Mail sorter is on the right.

Certificates of Achievement

Call us old-fashioned, but we feel that our achievements in education should be up for display since we want our kids to be inspired and know that such achievements are of great importance in our family. :-)

I also have a bookcase for the kids stuff, that's a whole other post all together though.

Hope you enjoyed our Library, I know that this will be a regular hang-out spot for everyone in our house, not just for school work, but for enjoying books and reading in general. :-)


Have a Beautiful Week!







Saturday, September 22, 2012

A library in the making - PART 2



Ok, with the shelves built, here is how we assembled them in the room.

First we painted the wall behind the shelves since it was gonna be attached to the wall. It had to be since they were all in all 9 feet tall.

We chose this color from BEHR in eggshell finish. Sorry but I forgot the name, and hubby threw out the can. :-(


Fresh Blue

Then my hubby built this strong base. He realized the floors were not that even and so the base made up for the un-eveness and also made a strong foundation for the shelves.

Solid wood cut to size

Base almost done

One shelf up, 4 more to go :-)
All five up and ready! Yipee!
Then, we added this plain wood trim, painted it the same color as the shelves


Here is me - too excited - totally unfinished shelves with some of the books already in! :-)

We have this room  almost finished, just a little bit of finishing touches here and there,  but I am ready to reveal it soon! I am just giddy with excitement! :-)


Have a Nice day!!

Friday, September 21, 2012

A library in the making - PART 1


Remember this?



Well, a lot of you guessed it right, although 2 people actually thought they were planters for a huge vegetable garden ;-), it is indeed a book shelf.

Here they are, all five, raw and ready...

Sorry for the messy garage

Yes, I am proud to say, my hubby built this by his lonesome. He used 3/4 inch plywood and they are 8 feet high, 33 inches wide, 12 inched deep each!


I was a bit skeptical that he could pull it off, but he totally blew me away with this project. Initially, I wanted to buy these...

Augustus Library Shelf from World Market
But they were way too expensive -$800++ each with shipping and taxes x 4! Plus it won't fit the space we want it in since we wanted a built in look.



I also thought of doing what Kate Riley did over at Centsational Girl when she made her Billy bookcases into built-ins!

Isn't this awesome??!

The only thing was, we have a lot of very heavy books, medical books that weigh as much as 7 lbs each! We were worried that the Billy might not hold it's shape and might sag in the middle eventually, so my husband said he really had to make the shelves thick and inserted on to the side walls itself.

We then painted the shelves in Eggshell finish,  BEHR  "Snow Fall"

Yup, that's me Painting away.. :-)

This shelves are now dry and ready for installation, watch out for it here soon!


Have a Wonderful Day!

Happy 1ST Anniversary to me!!!!!

I can't believe it's been a year already!!!!

source



I still remember my very FIRST POST, welcoming myself to the blogging world, not knowing if anyone will ever be interested in reading my blog other than my mother and hubby. :-)

 But here I am, with my page views from less than a hundred to some of my most popular posts being viewed 1700x!!!!

After 146 posts, this being the 147th, I never thought I would and could last this long! Yehey!!!! I feel so BLESSED and HAPPY!

So to all my family and friends who have been ever so supportive in looking and reading my mundane thoughts about my life and all my decorating adventures and ideas...



source

A BIG THANK YOU and may this relationship LAST FOR MORE YEARS TO COME!!! 


Monday, September 17, 2012

Hanger Hang-ups


Around 3 weeks ago, TARGET put their huggable hangers  on sale.

I remember a friend of mine (Hi Ann!), who's comment when she saw my closet was that I should change to these hangers ( I guess she saw how much of a pack rat I was and our closet is bursting at the seams with clothes). She warned me not to get the ones from TJ MAxx or Marshall's saying they were more flimsy.

So when the hangers went on sale - I said this was a "Sign" for me to upgrade!

And so we went from this...

Messy and tight



To this...





Hubby's side

My side

VERDICT : Before, I was not able to hang my skirts up here because the dresses took all the space. I had to put them at the bottom rack and usually, the hems would get dirty. After I switched, very true, more space in my closet! Yehey!


My skirts now in full view and with clean hems/edges

My tops arragned by color


Pants still need the new hangers :-(

Hubbys suits and office shirts now fit on one rod


Only one drawback from this huggable hangers - they truly do HUG your clothes quite well - and adjusting them once you put the hangers inside is a little difficult.

But overall, I am glad I made the switch. It is double the price the regular plastic ones come in, but I think, it's a worthwhile investment, since I have more space! Now, I just have to wait for the next sale to buy more hangers for the rest of our clothes!

Hope you have a Hang-up-Free day!