tiny love

Once upon a time, I lived in a teeny tiny, overpriced apartment in LA with my husband and 2 kids. All I wanted was a little home of my own. And somehow I had convinced myself that we should buy land and put a tiny house on it until we could afford to build a real house. It was a good idea in theory. This little house could serve as a guest house on our property someday. 

This could have been our floor plan.

Totally doable right!? It was a good idea in theory. At the time, tumbleweed made all the homes and shipped them to you for $2 a mile. Now it looks like they sell more home plans than houses. I was trying to say how this wouldn't have worked for my little family...but part of me is still bummed we didn't do it. My husband couldn't be convinced and was also worried about earthquake safety. Always a thinker that one. 

Today more than ever I wish I could have made this tiny house our own. Because this picture makes tiny houses look like a million bucks.

source

There is definately something to be said for simple living. Which I am learning more and more as I am reorganizing all my storage upstairs. I still love this idea but man am I grateful for my home and the chance to host a party or two inside of it. We could have had the biggest yard in California with that tiny house on it though :)

thrift stalking

When the door opens to my favorite thrift store today I will be there. And with any luck so will these lovers.

Cross your fingers for me :)

boards

When planning the playroom at the end of May I thought it would be an awesome and easy to make some bulletin boards. It was. But it also came with a lot of stress and hard work. They had so many components that had to come together. In the end they worked out so well.

Well except that when I measured the short attic walls I had no idea one side of the room would be 3 inches taller than the other side. No biggie. 

After getting cancelled on for installation of a few things. I tried to figure out a way for me to install a few things without messing them up. Realizing how much money we would need to spend on tools or renting tools. And knowing I might do a second rate job. I had to let go. And that is a realllllllllllly short version of how it went and how I actually felt. I was devastated. But, I knew after explaining it to new contractor man that he was fully capable to finish even if I wasn't there.

So these are not hung on the wall, but they should be by the end of the day today. Not that I can guarantee pictures for you {me either!} or anything. 

We have a magnetic chalkboard

Bulletin board

Peg board

 And magnet board

Sorry the color looks different in every picture. I'm ashamed of my camera skills.

I got the frames locally in Boise at a discount frame shop for $36 each. The inside measures 24 by 30 inches. And the frame is clearly big and chunky. I love the color! It is Sherwin William's Gray's Harbor in their ProClassic semi-gloss paint.

I backed the metals with wood and adhered everything with fabri-tac and glazier points. And reinforced the bulletin with some wood stirring sticks in the corners. I'm nothing if not resourceful.

And while I am already talking too much I am about to blow your mind. Fabri-tac and Magna-tac are the exact same thing. I said it. I was blown away when I called the company to ask where I could find Magna-tac in my area. And the nice lady on the phone said that it is commonly sold as Fabri-tac on the west coast and Magna-tac on the east. But the product was exactly the same. Whoa. Isn't that crazy? Maybe you already knew that and I am just crazy.

10 points if you are still reading :)

Anyway! We couldn't see out the back window on our drive down. And maybe this was the second paint color. And no, they are not on the wall yet. But here they are and I still love them.

shelving after

Well, my little Ikea VITTSJO didn't get the makeover I was expecting. The big plan was to replace the glass with wood {glass in a playroom not too safe} and paint it a fun color. But once we put it together we all really loved the dark color against the light walls. But, we still needed to replace the glass with wood and paint it. What's a girl to do? Oil rubbed bronze spray paint of course! Worked like a charm.

I love it in the space and it really is doing it's job here with storage. Some the kids can reach and some out of the way so it can all be rotated to keep the toys exciting. 

Before

After

 It seriously worked so perfect in the room. The toys were all in random bins tucked under the short walls in the room. Now we took the one tall wall and maxed it out. And for $110! Well, a little more than that after we replaced the glass with wood. Thank you Home Depot for being so patient with me and cutting all that wood for me!

In the end, we all loved it even more than we were expecting we would. And maybe I want one for my bedroom now. Oh Ikea, why are you so far away?

heading south

Well today we are heading south. I have so many projects and DIYs coming up!

 When I was down a few weeks ago we bought this and I will be giving it quite the makeover to make it playroom safe and ready.

I thought I was quite the genius and very original until everybody started posting about it this week. But that's alright. Mine will be unique. It was priced right {$110!!} and fits the space PERFECTLY. I am so excited to see it all come together. We might use it in another space down there too. They have so many great deals in the Vittsjo series, check them out!

But, with all the projects and watching my kiddos down there I am going to sign off for a week. I will come back with a lot of pictures and projects for you. Curtains, puppet shows, chalkboards and all kinds of goodies.

Have a great week

xx

painted baskets

I'm sure many of you have seen these spray painted baskets floating around Pinterest lately. I really love them! I am guessing the spray paint will make the baskets super durable. That would all be my own theory though. 

I'm pretty sure I am going to try this out with gold spray paint. And I am really excited about it! I will get three to corral the toy situation I have going up in our loft. Because...it's killing me! It's pretty much that big boring brown couch and toys. I'm sick of the laundry basket holding them currently. Very impressive I know. And these will be much cheaper and faster than that wall of built ins in my head. Winning! {huh, I don't think I've ever said that before!}

I really loved her dipped baskets as well. But let's face it, the spray paint will be so much easier! And I think fancier too.

I wish that I was doing this tomorrow but it will be all garden, all weekend long in my neck of the woods. What are your plans this weekend? I hope it's something awesome!

obsess much?

I will be the first to admit that I have a bit of an obsessive personality. There are many things I have been obsessed with in the past. Most are good things, others aren't bad but might be a tad embarrassing. Lately I've noticed a few obsessions creeping into my home that I wasn't really aware I had. 

Like I clearly have a new obsession with blue and white trays. Especially ikat ones.

I've wanted serving ware for years and since we didn't get any of the ones we registered for and also lived in tiny apartments for years I never did. So this obsession crept up on me slowly with sales and ikea. The most expensive was the seven dollar striped ikea tray. The rest were target or home good finds and less than four dollars each. But now all my parties will have to go along with this color scheme until I can start obsessing over more neutral pieces. Or let's face it when I find ones on sale :)

So there is the first of many obsessions I have. Maybe I'm a bit crazy! Oh well.

 What do you obsess about?

awesome pouf deal

This space is coming along swimmingly {even though the install is in a different state} So far everything is working out pretty well, with just a few minor changes. And I am having a blast too! Shopping for it has been so much fun!

The space calls for a pink pouf. You know I love a good Moroccan pouf.

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{via}

And I was thinking a pink pouf would cost me a pretty penny. I was so happy to have found an amazing deal on eBay. First ever eBay purchase too, can you believe it!?

The quality of the pouf that came was remarkable. I was seriously so impressed. And for $89 and free shipping {plus it came in 2 or 3 days!} it was the deal of a lifetime. They come without the stuffing for cheaper shipping, so now I just have to get my filling on. I cannot wait to buy another one for my house. I highly recommend this deal!

overstock pillows

I would never have guessed that overstock had such great pillows until I stumbled across them one day. Here are my favorites.

deco grey

moments

morrocan orange

zigzag, featured in yesterday's plan

tiger stripes

The prices are great and most pillows come in sets of two. I want the first set the most. My plan is to change out the polyester pillow fill for a down insert. Even the man of my house noticed how much better our down pillows look. It makes such a difference. I get mine at Ikea but I can't find them online.

Speaking of pillows, my world market ones come today! Woot!