Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. -Albert Camus

Have I mentioned how much I love fall? I love it so much that I celebrate it through decor. See for yourself.

 The green glass jar needs un-popped popcorn. I need to put it on my grocery list.

My mums in front of my house are fake.

:j

Mud Room Episode 5

I always have good intentions. Doesn't everyone? I always intend to go work out, but then the wind is blowing too hard or my baby toe looks funny or I accidentally forget. I intend to clean out my fridge, but the day is too pretty, or my magnets don't match, so I get distracted and begin organizing the front of the fridge instead. Or I intend to update you all about my mud room renovation, but instead I post random ramblings. Enough with the intentions and procrastination. 

The sad thing is, my mud room looks quite different than this by now, but you'll have to find out about those in the next episode. For those of you who need a recap, here is the last episode. 

Since then, we've striped. Here is how it looked in the midst of the striping process.

The key is to remove the tape ASAP.

Below, you can see how the inventive idea my dad came up with. I read multiple blogs to learn how to stripe before setting out to do it on my own. They all said to measure, draw a few lines, connect with tape. It took me 45 minutes to do the little bit of wall you see above, so I wasn't looking forward to finishing the whole room. Dad found a scrap peice of trim in the garage, and made a guide from it. He marked every 14 inches (the width of my stripes) so then I could just use it instead of the tape measure!

Here it is in action.

It's come a long way. And here are the stripes!  Ignore the poor quality of the photos, and how the flash bounces in the mirror of the bench. :)

The next episode will include the transformation of my garage-sale-mud-room-bench!

:j

I like to think one step ahead. Like a carpenter who builds stairs. -Dwight Shrute

Okay, I know that isn't a quote about an office, it's from the TV show The Office. I can't resist that show. It's hilarious! It's the only show I watch regularly. Now onto the point of the post.

Kelly is touring offices today. I love my home office and my school office. Although I don't spend much time in my home office.

Here is 2 photos of my school office. You only get one photo because my desk looks similar to a play room after a group of 3 year olds have attacked it. It's embarrassing.

My dad & I made me the chicken coup frame. It's really simple, just grab an old frame and some chicken coup wire, staple them together. I try to change the quote every week or so.

This is behind my desk.My friend just gave me the little hanging sign for my birthday, so that's why the tag is still there!

Okay, now for my home office. When I bought my house it looked like this.

Now it looks like this!

If you've read my blog before, you know I love a bargain. I got the desk at a garage sale for $30. The chairs were from Cargo Largo for $8 each. The rug was $15 from a garage sale. I don't know where anything else came from. Probably random sales or Hobby Lobby.

Thanks for stopping by!

:j

Happiness is the soundtrack of my life. -Grey Livingston

My Current Happy List

1. The multiple pumpkins around my house and on my porch.
2. The crisp fall air
3. My new jeggings
4. Knitting with friends at coffee shops on Monday nights - technically I was editing photos last night.
5. Birthday Celebrations
6. New songs on my ipod (specifically the new Jars of Clay album)
7. Lots of photo shoots
8. Reading a classic book - currently Jane Eyre
9. The color orange
10. Cereal every morning - I'm on a cereal kick right now. Yum!
11. Boots
12. Autumn storms
13. Autumn decorations
14. Finding new episodes of The Office on my DVR
15. "Talking" to my nephew on the phone
16. The new young adult group at my church a.k.a. The Vine

What's on your happy list?

:j

It doesn't matter how expensive your kitchen is if you're a bad cook. -Loesje

Some of you followed my progress through the kitchen remodel. If you missed it, you can catch the re-runs here. This week, Kelly's Korner is hosting a tour of kitchens, and I just had to link up.

*Edit* I'm linking up to Layla's Room Re-Do over at The Lettered Cottage, too!

I love my kitchen. If it wouldn't be weird, I would carry photos of it in my wallet to show everyone I run into how adorable it is. I guess I kind of do that now by having pictures on my phone, but trust me, Internet, it's not weird. A lot of people carry photos of their house on their phone. (Please don't think that I attack random strangers, so I can show off my kitchen.)

The main reason I love my kitchen is that it started out looking like this.

But after getting cabinets, laying new flooring, painting cabinets, putting up a ceiling, making new counters and a plethora of other activities, it ended up looking like this. (Technically it is decorated a bit different than this right now. I'll try to switch out an updated photo later.)

I remember last August when I walked through my house for the first time. I saw the listing early that morning, called my agent, and got to see it that evening. I loved it the moment I saw it. I loved that it had a bell on the top like a little school house. I loved that it was around the corner from my brother and sister-in-law. (And now my adorable nephew!) But most of all I loved how much potential it had.

As I walked from room to room, I imagined everything the house could become. One of the things I knew needed to happen was opening up the kitchen. My brother, Justin, tried very hard to convince me to get rid of the wall between the dining room and kitchen and put in an island. Some people thought I just needed to widen the doorway between the two. (The door on the left in the photo below used to just be a single 30 inch door, but now it is 4 feet across.) Regardless, I thought it would be years before I'd be able to do any major remodels. Thankfully though, the goverenment saw fit to give me $8,000, so I was able to remodel the entire house.

Dad told me to figure out what I wanted to do in the kitchen. It was a tough decision. Then I came across a kitchen that I fell in love with. When I saw it, I knew that was the solution. I literally just stole her ideas.

Here's what it looked like while we were installing the arch. (By we, I mean dad.)

My bowling alley counter tops are my favorite thing. I coveted butcher block counters, but when they priced out to be $40 per square foot, I knew I couldn't afford them. Then Dad had the idea of using bowling lanes as counter tops. Mom and I both told him he was crazy, but he was persistant. He found bowling lanes for $10 per linear foot on Craigslist, brought them home, and made them work. So what would have cost me $4,500 ended up costing me $380.

Another thing I love are my recipe doors. I stole this idea from some blog. I saw it, grabbed a sharpie and did it. I figured my cabinets only cost me $100 off Craigslist, and dad and I painted them once, so if it didn't work out, I could just re-paint that door.

It's all about the details, so here are a few detail shots for you. :)

My sewing machine does not normally reside in the kitchen, but this is the only shot I could find of my menu board and green door.

A source list...
Floors - Construction Auction - Pre-finished Honey Oak - $1.80/sq. foot
Cabinets - Craigslist - They were dark brown, but we painted them - $100 for all
Pulls - Came with cabinets - 3 relacement pulls - $2.50 each
Lower Cabinet Paint - Home Depot - Color: Sherwin William's Camel Back
Dish Washer - Habitat ReStore - $30
Fridge - Came with the house
Menu Board - Potter Barn - I've had it since high school, so it's about 8 years old
Door Paint - Home Depot - Color: Behr Salted Ash
Countertops - Craigslist - Old Bowling Alley - $10/linear foot
Stove - Craigslist - $50 (I wanted to save the original, but it wouldn't even fit a cookie sheet.)
Microwave - Craigslist - $30
Upper Cabinet Paint - Home Depot - Color: Behr Cotton Whisper
Wall Paint - Home Depot - Color: Sherwin Williams Believeable Beige
Ceiling - Construction Auction - Color: Cotton Whisper - $160
Hanging Light - Home Depot - $35
Other Lights - Patriot Sales in KC - $16 for 2
Sink - Craigslist - $10
Faucet - Home Depot - $60
All Accessories - Random garage sales

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to see all the pretty kitchens on the tour.

:j

Every child begins the world again. -Henry

Cash wanted to play with the grass. (Anything he plays with goes in his mouth at this age.)

His mom told him not to play with the grass.

So we gave him a pumpkin to help ease the temptation.

He realized he was still able to get to the grass.

Once again, Dani told him not to put grass in his mouth.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

So he played with the grass anyway.

:j

You are never to old to set a new goal or dream a new dream. -C.S. Lewis

It's monthly goal time! It's my new thing as of this month. I'm a couple of days late, but better late than never! (That's pretty much my life motto.)

Every month I'm going to try to come up with 3 simple goals to improve my life. If 21 days makes a habit, then surely 30 will make something!

October Goals....

1. Drink only water. From hence forth October will be Aqua-tober. No, I'm not the clever one that came up with that, regardless, I'm only drinking water. No pop, no sweet-tea, no juice. The only thing I'm allowing is milk and coffee. And apple cider, I mean come on, Internet, it's Aqua-tober October. To be quite honest, this one is kind of already a constant in my life; I just wanted to use Aqua-tober. I don't drink soda as it is, but I do love sweet tea, so that will be difficult. I'm going to try not to think about it.

2. Do my laundry. I hate laundry. With a passion. My goal is to stay on top of it and not let my hamper be stuffed full of 5 loads of laundry. A single girl should not have 5 loads of laundry at one time. Instead when I have enough for 1 load, I'm going to do it.

3. Organize my office closet. My poor office closet has become a dumping ground during the mud room remodel, and it needs some TLC! Any organization tips for me?

We need a photo because I bought my nephew some adorable booties from Etsy.

And here he is wearing his monster outfit. :)

So what are your goals for the month?

:j

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. -Aldos Huxley