NSFJ: Head(board) of the Class

Remember in my Christmas post I gave you a sneak peak into what the Boarman family does on weekends my FAVORITE present?  I hope that you have not keeled over from the suspense.  You know I have to do things in chronological order and the present did not make it's homecoming debut until January 19th.

So, a little background story to get you up to speed.  Ryan & I purchased our house in late 2010.  (Please try to discard this fact from your memory when you come over.)  At that time I came up with several fantastic decorating ideas and projects.  I was sure that everything I would accomplish would basically make the Property Brothers want to add me as an honorary cast member.  In my mind at 3 years post purchase to be kicking back and sipping cocktails in various rooms of our completely finished house.  Luckily our house isn't finished because I'd be spilling a lot of booze chasing Emery from room-to-room.  If you're sensing my lack of progress as imagined to be a theme here on the ol' blog, you are very astute.

As you may have gathered from context clues, one such fantastical project I dreamed up was an upholstered headboard.  I felt like the bedroom had enough different wood going on and I wanted to break it up with some texture via an upholstered headboard.  Armed with the ability to hunt out DIY blogs with the best of them, I was amped up and ready to get 'er done.  Then somehow weekends just kept passing by and my enthusiasm waned in a major way.

For the most part the un-finished state of our abode only bothers me.  There is a couch, TV and fridge and that is all Ryan really needs in life.... with one exception.  The only thing Ryan ever complained about was not having a headboard.  Apparently the pillows kept falling between the mattress and the wall and that was a real thorn in his highness' side.  He mentioned this in subtle ways (oh man, this pillow is way down the wall) and in not-so-subtle ways (hey... do you think you'll make a headboard before we die).  Finally post-baby I decided that making a headboard seemed like a perfect Christmas present for him.

I asked my parents if I could sneak up there one weekend with Em and enlist some LIGHT assistance from them to help work on it.  My Dad took this as a cue to become a master carpenter.  As Jimmy James is apt to do, he took the idea and ran with it.  It somehow morphed from me stapling some fabric on a board to him using Autocad and turning his garage into Santa's workshop.  Thanks to us throwing a wrench in his plan by throwing a surprise party, he wasn't able to finish it before Christmas, but that wound up working out perfectly because it meant that Ryan got to spend some QT learning the art of woodworking from my Daddio.

As with all Boarman family projects, it came together with lots of laughter, love and a few four letter words.  The two of them worked tirelessly for about 4 days straight and weren't able to quite wrap it up.  So my sweet parents were kind enough to work on it themselves after we had left and hand deliver it to our doorstep.  (I TOLD you it was the best Christmas present!)  It not only looks incredible, but it now has a lot of sentimental value.  I really can't thank everyone enough for their help, blood, sweat & tears!  I love you all mucho.

Tell me this picture doesn't scream "seasoned professionals".

Not only were my parents kind enough to continue progress without us- they sent us regular visual updates.  Service with a smile, guys!

Clearly if this whole engineering thing does not work out, my Dad has a future in the packing/moving industry.  Also if you ever wondered what happened to Julie & I's childhood bedspreads- wonder no more, friend.

Ta-da!  Home, sweet home.

So much more awesome than my piddly vision.  Thank heavens for my Dad!

NSFJ: Backyard... Agains?

January 11th was a big day in the Martin world.  Why?  Because it was 1/11/14 and I'm really weird about numbers/dates (4 1's and a 4)?  Well yes, but also, our backyard was FINALLY finished.  Mostly.  Until I start trying to work on furniture, at least.

As you may recall from here, this saga started nearly 3 years ago.  We moved into our house and pretty immediately undertook the task of de-jungling the backyard.  We thought- we are young, childless and have PLENTY of time & energy to get this whipped into shape.  Over time this poor space fell fast on our priority list.  Fast forward 2.5 years and we are with child, without energy and willing to admit we were shamefully wrong.  So what's the best way to fix this?  Hire someone.  As Ryan can attest, this is my go-to method of solving problems in the first place.

After a couple estimates and a few months of waiting, on January 6th Steven's Landscaping showed up and got to work.  They managed to clear some mange-y brush, demo the existing patio, lay sod, make new beds, build a pergola, lay a flagstone patio, build a path to the utility area behind the house, re-level the back yard and re-position sprinkler heads in a matter of about 5.5 days.  I am very impressed and I highly recommend them.  Most weeks I can't manage to get 4 loads of laundry done over 5.5 days, so two thumbs up from yours truly.

So that's that.  What is the moral of the story here?  Hire people.  Write that one down folks.  I am about to show you some before/afters, but I do so with the disclaimer that Ryan & I decided to re-do the backyard in the dead of winter.  So keep in mind the grass is dormant.  I considered spray painting it green for after photos to impress you, but Ryan talked me out of it.  So just imagine it's greener.  Some day, maybe, just maybe, when I get my act together and have the new backyard staged I'll post some updated pictures.  Because you know as well as I do that is unlikely to happen, I'm posting these now while it's fresh in my mind.  

This is what the backyard looked like when we bought the house.  Those palms were so big that we could have lost Lola in them.  She also frequently used to trip over that monkey grass.  Which was indeed hilarious but screamed "here come's a vet bill," to me.

More backyard before.  WAY before.  Did I mention thanks to a lack of leveling when it rained the backyard became a swimming pool before?  It did.  Princess Paws was not a fan of that.

After they tore out the existing patio and prepped the space for the new patio.  Sorry about that Saturday morning wake up call, neighbors!  We love you!

View from the corner of the yard of the future patio space.  Also a rake, wouldn't want you to miss that.

Purdee flagstone.

Pergola.  It's hard to tell but this patio is about 2.5x bigger than the previously existing patio.

View from behind the backyard's main tenant.  

Why I no longer have to keep the shutters closed in the back of the house.

Excuse the poor lighting.  The whole week the crew was working we never got to see the backyard in the light.  I was too excited to wait this night, obviously.

The lady of the backyard got a little sprucing up.

NSFJ: Going Halfsies

Like, as in half bath.  Did you think we forgot about getting our house presentable?  Not quite.  We actually have been busy, busy around here.  I'll try to do a few catch-up posts to give mad props to the folks who are helping make this house a home.  With any luck Emery & Julie won't be totally embarrassed when we host events for them here in March.  First item on the list?  Our half bath.

If you have ever been over to our house you are likely aware that I had an extreme distaste for our little bath which I semi-affectionately refer to as the smallest bathroom known to man.  I think that everything in it was probably original to our house, which was built in 1989 and has been home to at LEAST 3 different families and 3 different children that we are aware of.  These facts equated to a toilet that would never get clean and a pedestal sink which offered no storage but did offer a bruised hip if you didn't turn in sharply enough.

Sometime in October, hubs and I devoted the better part of a weekend to hunting down a new sink, new toilet and a cabinet to hang on the wall.  Finally on December 21st, my Dad and Ryan made my little half bath dreams come true.  They gutted the existing stuff and replaced it with our new purchases.  Oh, did I mention this is the day the mama got a stomach bug?  So sweet Nonnie came over under the impression she, Em & I would be making Christmas cookies.  Instead she made Christmas cookies while parenting my child as I lay in bed in the fetal position sweating bullets and feeling like the end was imminent.

When the stomach bug passed, I woke up to a kitchen smelling of my favorite Christmas cookies and a half bathroom with a CLEAN toilet and as much room to maneuver as phsyics will allow.  It was like a double dose of triumph!  I am so, so very blessed to have family and a husband that will pour their blood, swear, tears and a healthy dose of caulk into making our house function.  Thank you to Mom, Dad & Ryan for keeping our house (and Emery) a float- we LOVE you!

Let's go back in time, shall we?  The walls in this bathroom used to be brown, the fixtures gold and the accents black.  I think this picture was taken the first night we moved in.

Hey, old toilet!

In March of 2011 we had the bathroom painted mint green when we had a lot of the house re-painted, but somehow I neglected to take pictures right away.  Probably because this bathroom really has been the red-headed step child.

I asked Ryan to take some befores.  Apparently he focused on what he deemed the most important part.

Ripped the mirror down pre-before, obviously.

I could not tell you why the wall color looks so lime-y here.  It's still minty, never fear.

Also, forgive me for the lack of staging.  I'll get things together better in here.  Some day.

NSFJ: A Jungle Book

This post is grossly, grossly out of order but I've saved the best of the NSFJ updates for last.  This blog post is attributable 110% to Ryan.  During his time off in June he put a ton of blood, sweat and tears into working in our front yard.  You read that correctly - JUNE.  In Houston.  Definitely a hero in my book.

Let's back up the landscaping train for a moment, shall we?  Ryan and I have disliked a variety of things about our outdoor spaces from day 1.  If you come over, this is why we keep you out of these areas.  And keep those shudders tightly in the locked position.  You may recall the great de-treeing of the backyard in March 2011.  We finally saved up the funds and Ryan found the time to tackle the same type of project in the front yard.  Our main points of contention with the front were as follows:

1) The beds were ENTIRELY too large.  We don't need 5 rows of shrubbery.  This is not a children's chorus.

2)  Complete lack of symmetry between the oak tree on the right and the oak tree on the left.  The oak tree on the right got some kind of ground cover blanket action whereas the one one on the left was left out in the cold (haaaa).

3) I really wanted to add pavers around the beds to give the whole yard a more finished look.

4) Due to the drought the year we bought the house, a few patches of grass were in pretty bad shape.

5)  We are not fans of the types of plants in our beds.  Which is why we mainly ignore them and let them get a little too friendly with the weeds sometimes.

In one fell, sweaty swoop Ryan tackled items 1 through 4.  We had good intentions of taking care of item 5 at the same time but it always seemed to monsoon when Ryan had time off which was not conducive to planting.  Allow me to take you on this journey with us via photo.  Pretend this is narrated by James Earl Jones like an IMAX.

Here are a variety of befores from all angles.  For some reason I did a far better job documenting the befores.

What balls o' shrub look like from the driveway.

See how the tree on the right got a blanket and the one on the left got nothing?  Tree favoritism is still alive and well in H-town.

Please do not mistake the scene on the far right for overgrown weeds.  I believe they are real plants. 

First, Ryan ripped out the excessive plants standing in the way between the XXL beds and our more conservative desired bed size.  This alone took him a full day and a half of work.  Again, I remind you- he did this in June.

A view of the enormous amount of progress from the side.

Au revoir balls of shrub!

Ripped that band-aid blanket off.

Then he procured the pavers.  He laid down dirt to level the area where the pavers were going to go.  This required using a hatchet to cut out some roots.  It also required him to buy a hatchet.  Then one by one he laid out the pavers.  Two rows of them because he married a loon.

A picture after the first few had been laid.  Please note how large that pallet is in the background.

Check out those beautiful pavers!

Next, he purchased some sod and filled in the areas where he shortened the beds and the patches where a combination of tree root selfishness and 2010-2011 drought left some brown spots.  And voila- brand new front yard!

I seem to have fallen off the picture train at this stage in the process.  So, I just went outside and took some pictures from the same angles of the finished product.  Please excuse the remnants of Christmas decor.  As well as the multiple fallen leaves and twigs that will get tended to this coming week when husband dearest is off of work.

Mmm... pave-y. 

Looking significantly less jungle-y. 

Mad props to Ryan.  (Please note that the green will come back in the spring.  My bad for not taking afters RIGHT when the project was complete and waiting until January.  WHOOPSIES.)

I am sure that I made this all sound much more simple than it really was and that I forgot some crucial steps- namely about one trip to Lowe's/Home Depot/Both per day.  Overall though, I am so proud of Ryan for all of his hard work.  You know when two separate lawn men drop off their cards with you while completing such a task that you are working hard.  So THANK YOU, Mr. Martin.  Now rest up those gardening muscles for Spring 2013 when we tackle re-landscaping.  ;c)

NSFJ: Come & Knock on our Door

Ryan & I have hated our front door from the day we moved in.  Lest you think I'm putting my foot in my world wide web mouth, let me clarify that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a black front door.  In fact on many a house I'm sure it would absolutely be the right decision.  However, it did not go with our shades of brown brick home at all.  Not in our opinion, anyway.

We threw multiple colors around and finally settled on some shade of red.  If Ryan had his way it would have been maroon, but I think we can all see through that ulterior motive.  We bought a couple of paint samples at some point over the summer and never got around to this project.  Sometime in early October we found ourselves with a three day weekend and some beautiful weather- so we decided it was the heavens' way of telling us that it was time.

This post will be short and sweet because there's nothing more boring or self explanatory than my telling you how to paint a door.  So instead I'll just let you look at the pictures.  To our neighbors, you are welcome for this cheery revamp.  You are also welcome for the pop serenading you heard from Ryan for the duration of the project.  I'm sure you mistook him for One Direction actually being IN our neighborhood, didn't you?

The before.

Primed & paint sampled up.

Ta-da!  Try to look past the front walk in dire need of power washing, the rock-strewn beds on either side and the lack of wreath at the moment.  THAT ASIDE, it's so inviting you're on your way to come visit right now, aren't you?!

Here's the Christmas version.  Please note the missing flowers.  The mums did not survive very long under my watchful eye.  Apparently that sunlight is not an optional thing.

NSFJ: Furniture Finds

I would venture to guess this might be the most boring in my NSFJ catch-up posts.  So only read through here if you have something pressing you should be doing that you are desperately trying to procrastinate and/or if you are eating lunch at your desk (translation: you are an auditor or accountant).  You are welcome in advance for this warning.  :c)

For either the 4th of July or Labor Day (who can remember any more), I braved the holiday furniture sales in search of a couch and loveseat combo burrito for one of the two front rooms that was sitting empty.  This particular front room will one day grow up to be a "media" (read: man) room.  In case you aren't a female, the translation of that is a place where Ryan can play his video games and host loud game-watching parties without hindering my daily life.  Too much at least.

The walls in this room are pretty darkish to begin with so I was in search of a lighter couch.  I do in fact recognize this as a brave choice when considering the room's primary clientele, but I am quite the trailblazer, apparently.  I also wanted to be sure to find a sleeper sofa so that any game watching parties where jaeger is the guest of honor result in safe passing out rather than attempts at driving.  Am I the girl that thinks of everything or what?

I procured the two pieces below from Star Furniture.  Some day when I'm feeling more ambitious I am going to replace these pillows that came with it with a few that are more suitable for a room full of grunting men.  I'm also considering trying my hand at accessorizing these bad boys with some nailhead trim.  Stay tuned.

That green rug isn't a permanent fixture, don't worry.  It's just so Lolers has somewhere to sit/lay down when we come in here.  I have a rug picked out- just waiting for the correct budgetary opening.  :c) 

There's a hint of our cool bar inherited from Ryan's grandparents. 

Now all we're missing is a rug, side tables, a coffee table, throw pillows, wall decor and a TV.  NBD, right?

Another recent-ish furniture purchase is our console table.  I've been searching for a console table for probably as long as we have lived here.  Our hallway is super narrow and my husband is not a fan of non-functional furniture so the pre-reqs were something that didn't take up much space physically or fiscally.  That seems like an easy enough bill to fit except that when you add in that the floors are dark and the walls are light, it rules out a lot of different materials.

During one of my weekly perusals of my usual furniture hunt sites, I happened to find something on Etsy that I thought I could probably sell Ryan on.  I liked the bones of it, the measurements worked with our tiny space and the price was right.  So, after a fateful meeting with the sellers in an HEB parking lot, home with us it came.  I'm still not totally sure this color is working for me, but that's a project for some other time.  When Ryan is working a weekend, of course (good thing he doesn't read this, right?).  :c)

As always, all decor is subject to change.  Daily.  And the wall behind this will eventually become a gallery wall.  I think.

That is, in fact, my baby book below in case you are over and interested in some riveting reading.

Last but not least, we bought some lamps.  Now, this doesn't sound like a very exciting purchase.  And perhaps to 99.99999% of society it is not.  However, if you know me you know that I have an odd obsession with lighting and light bulbs in particular.  When we moved in this house, task 1 was to replace all old bulbs with the GE reveal bulbs.  I kid you not that Ryan suggested a light bulb line item in the first budget he put together for us.  He not kidding.

Ironically, for someone who adores lighting, the living room in our dear house is severely lacking.  Some day when I save up the funds we'll get an electrician in here and do some recessed lighting trickery, but in the mean time, I have invested in a floor lamp and one to sit on top of the entertainment stand.  This is probably Ryan's favorite of purchases because it means no glare on his TV.  Win for all!

Action shot!

At ease, soldier.  Will I end up changing this lamp shade out?  Only time will tell.

His shorter friend.

I believe that's all I have, dear friends.  This is not the end of our 2012 NSFJ moments of reflection though, don't you fret.  I still have 2 more in the works.  You only THOUGHT Christmas was over, didn't you?

NSFJ: Decking the walls (and maybe a table or two)

So, believe it or not, I have not COMPLETELY neglected our house the past 6 months.  Only about 85% neglected.  What can I say - sitting on the couch growing a child > manual labor.  With the other 15% of the time though, we shockingly have managed to knock out a few things.  Due to the fact that I'm so grossly behind in my documentation, I'm going to break what we've accomplished into a couple of different posts.  I haven't decided how many yet.  Hopefully you'll still be able to sleep despite that level of suspense.

Today's topic, which is very seasonally appropriate, is things that have eventually found their way onto our walls and/or other assorted items that I'm not sure how to classify.  In the latter half of the year Ryan and I decided that since it's been 2 years (whoa), we may as well start hanging things on the wall like we plan to stay for a while. 

Ryan & I hanging things on the wall somehow always winds up being a perfect storm of flying levels, pencils, 4 letter words and most of the time laughter.  We never, ever, ever get it right the first time.  I hole-heartedly (I'm so punny) apologize to anyone who might live in this house after us.  We're young and dumb.

Project 1:  Tweet Nothings
Pseudo-inspired by a painting I saw at Star Furniture that I did not want to pay for, I decided to try to make one myself.  If you've been following bump watch posts, you've likely seen these tweeters in the background.  Painters tape = a girl's next best friend.

Ingredients:  Painters tape, acryllic paint, acryllic paint sealer and 3 canvases

 Canvas empty nests.

Tweedley deedley deet...

Oh, hello there!  These inviting birds totally make me more comfortable trying to use the commode in the world's smallest half bath.

Note that in order to capture all 3 of them in one shot, I had to stand outside the door and take a picture into the mirror.  Please extrapolate this fact to 2 large humans squeezing in to try to level and hang these guys.

Project 2:  Mirror, mirror on the wall, how many times can I repaint you before my husband starts to bawl
I originally bought these sconces for the entry way to our house on sale from Crate & Barrel many, many moons ago.  I convinced Ryan they were perfect**, particularly with leftover wedding gift cards, and to casa Martin they went. 

So you can imagine his surprise when he found me spray painting them cream one day.  He hung them on the wall and as I stood back to admire his handiwork, I had that familiar pit in my stomach which alerts me to the fact that I've made a terrible decorating decision.  That pit is immediately followed by me doing mental math to determine when the next time Ryan works a weekend is so that I can fix said issue without him knowing.

I spent a couple of weeks mulling over how I wanted to re-transform my sconces.  After much googling, I decided that a solid coat of chocolate brown paint and some antiquing of the actual mirrors themselves were just what the doctor ordered.  During a weekend when Ryan was hard at work keeping southern California adequately powered, I was hard at work muriatic acid-ing and spray painting these bad boys.  I was basically Xena, Home Decorating Princess.

I could have totally gotten away with all my HGTV ninja-ing except that I could not figure out how to re-hang my little masterpieces.  Thankfully Ryan is a patient man.  Who loves to use his power tools.

Ingredients: Sconces, patient husband, spray paint, muriatic acid, gloves, paint scraper

The before.  Well, more like the middle because they were originally black.  :c)

Action shot of the sconces and mirrors sunbathing post transformation.

Tad-da!  Don't mind the couches we no longer own, the West Elm wildebeest head that hasn't found a home yet or that blanket.  Let's focus on the brown mirrors, hmm?

It's very hard to capture the antiquing effect in photos.  This is about as close as I could get.  The gold flecks you see are where the antiquing came through.

In its final hanging position.

** I negelcted to finish my thought entirely... "they were perfect, provided that they were no longer black."  I'm getting old and can't be blamed for my lack of complete thoughts, can I?  That's agism, isn't it?

Project 3:  Cat in the Hat - so hot this season. 
After much persuing of the finest that my local home furnishing stores had to offer to no avail, inspiration struck in terms of what needed to grace the little side tables in our entry way.  I really couldn't tell you where or how I came up with this idea.  I purchased 2 clear glass trifle bowls from Target and rekindled my torrid love affair with spray paint and painters tape.  Although I beg you not to closely audit the straightness of the lines, I'm still happy with the result.

Ingredients: Trifle bowls, spray paint, glass paint and painters tape

Humble beginnings.  Why did I put this in this chair for its close up?  Your guess is as good as mine.  I did one (okay maybe five) full coats of white spray paint between this picture and the next.

Tape 'er up, Scotty.

Donning a little green number.

Voila - cat in the hat vase.

Project 4: Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady Mirror.
The day before Ryan hosted his Heismanziel party, he sent yours truly out to get some beer and return an item at Target.  He will probably never do that again because I returned with a mirror and pillows.  I think I also got beer, but it's very hard to say as I was prettttty excited about my mirror.  I've been looking for a mirror for above our console table for a while but can never find one that quite strikes my fancy.  As Ryan sweetly held it up over the console table, I realized that I loved the mirror so much that I thought it should go above our couch instead.  And bring friends. 

A couple of Targets, one trip to Lowes and a wrapping paper fiasco later (don't use wrapping paper as a medium to test the position of mirrors on your wall unless you enjoy it continuously rolling back up and falling on the floor), our wall was adorned with these beauts. 

Ingredients:  3 mirrors, a solid amount of time lapsed since the last hanging project & a beer to reward patient husband

From the right, from the right. 

From the left, from the left. 

From my standard position - laid out on the couch.  Please note football on TV in the background.  Realism is my specialty.

As I've put this post together I've realized a few things.  First, I should have bought Ryan a way cooler Christmas gift for the heartache my quest to decorate our house must be causing him.  Second, I have a love affair with stripes.  Third, I may very well never ever finish this house at this rate!  Le sigh - stay tuned for the next installment.  I think it will be about what furniture elements we've added.