All the pretty butterflies

Drew's parents were here this past week for a visit, and as everyone knows, having houseguests spurs you to get your house in order.  For example,

This is where they were going to sleep.

I kinda needed to do something about that.

They are kind and understanding people, but this simply will not do.

That's more like it.

At least they would be able to sleep in the guest room without feeling like they 

were on the set of Hoarders.

It was so great having the extra hands to keep an eye on the baby and to get small things done around the house.  Drew and his dad hung closet rods in the hall and guest room, as well as the towel bar in the hall bathroom.  Previously, we'd just been tossing the towels over the door or laying them across the toilet, or using other equally redneck towel-hanging methods.

Someone please insert the punchline here:  How many men does it take to hang a closet rod?  I couldn't think of a good one.

They also hung the bamboo shades in the baby's room, and LORD A'MIGHTY, do I have a post about those damn frickin bamboo shades!  I very nearly lost my will to live because of those effin things.  But the tutorial I have will make it all worth it, I promise.

But one of the most awesome things I was able to do while they were here was make Sofia's butterflies!  Let me explain...

Remember her wallflowers?

I just went back and read that post and got all teary-eyed.

My baby is going to be 18 months old in two days!

Anyway, in all the unpacking I still haven't found the wallflowers for her room and her canvas wall was looking very sad and lonely.

 Can a girl get some decorations up in this piece?!

And then, like always, the Pinterest gods bestowed upon me the most fabulous inspiration.

The most gorgeous little girl's room you ever did see.

source via my Pinterest (psst, follow me!  Please?)

I needed those butterflies.  I must have the butterflies.  The butterflies will make everything all right.  So I followed the tutorial, that consisted of printing off the template and cutting out the butterflies.  Did you follow that?  I know, it's kind of complicated.  

I got $10 worth cardstock from Michael's because I wasn't sure how many butterflies I wanted on the wall.  I ended up with way more than I put up there, so I'm not sure what to do with the rest.  But I LOVE how they turned out!

 Much like the wallflowers, there is no rhyme or reason.  I wanted a somewhat flowy shape but

I wasn't too OCD about it.  Plus, they're only up there with scotch tape so if I want to switch them, it's totally not a big deal.

Now here's my question:  Like I said, I have more butterflies.  I have quite a few orange ones, and a few more green ones and like two or three white ones.  Do I put more up there or leave it as is? 

Of course, my crappy photography skills don't do the butterflies justice, but the cardstock is iridescent and I love that little shimmer.  I adore the green butterfly and I even put one up by her other canvases.

Because he's just up there with scotch tape, he didn't stick so well to the canvas.

I had to move him to the wall and he's doing nicely, thank you for asking.

I'm in the lifeforce-draining process of making her curtains, but I'm encouraged because her room is coming along nicely.  And I'm really loving all the color in there.  I definitely didn't set out to have a theme, but it's definitely leaning towards Rainbows and Happy.  It works for me because the colors aren't primary, so they're not overly childish and smack-you-in-the-face-every-time-you-go-in-there.  I have apple greens, lemony yellows, tangerine oranges, and a nice gray-blue on the walls so it's not too overwhelming.

Now that we're really in our house and finding our routine, I have been so happy.  I didn't realize how much I missed being able to live in my home until now and let me tell you, I do NOT want to move for a very very very long time!

Okay, I better run.  Sofia's sleeping and I have to try and finish her curtain.  You know, the 95 inch wide one.

Dipped sticks

Did y'all happen to see my little stool in the kitchen?

As soon as the kitchen was usable, it was apparent we needed a place to sit.  At first I wanted a chair with a back and some nice texture.

This is the one I told Drew I wanted.

However, I'm really glad we didn't go with it.  For one thing, that dumb ol' chair was expensive!  Is it just me, or are single chairs really expensive?  Actually, chairs in general are expensive.

For another thing, a chair with a back wasn't going to work because we get in those drawers a billion times a day, and having to move a chair out of the way each time is NOT the business.  I knew the shape I wanted, so it was just a matter of finding the site with the best price.

 See, this is why you should buy stuff the second you see it.

When I bought this chair it was $28.

Now the link is saying it's $36.99. That's just garbage.

I knew I wouldn't be able to do better than $28, so I bought that sucker with a quickness!  A few days later it came, fully assembled and all ready to be customized.  Additionally, it's super close to the color of the cabinets - I seriously just love happy accidents.

As soon as I saw it on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to dip the legs of my chair.  And interestingly enough, 4 Men 1 Lady dipped one of her stools like the day after I got mine!  So yeah, I was on to something.

My inspiration, via Pinterest.

I refuse to say my Pinspiration.  Except I just did.

source

After Sofia was in bed, I gathered my tools and got started:  Frog Tape because I wasn't actually dipping the legs; Sherwin Williams Austere Gray - I had a test pot that I deemed too green for the walls, but was just right for my chair legs.

I did one line of tape just below the top stretcher, decided that was too high, and added

another line just below that one which was just right.

I said my prayers that the Frog Tape wouldn't bleed around the edges and painted two coats on the bottom.  It took me just over an hour because I went super slow and wanted some drying time between coats, but overall it was a quick project with lots of fun impact.

All done!

I let it dry overnight and now it looks so cute in the kitchen.  I haven't put any kind of poly or anything on the legs, and maybe I will down the line, but for now I just put some felt furniture feet on there and I'm sitting on my dipped sticks in my new kitchen writing this here post!

Full disclosure:  I'm doing these little projects because I have to paint the living room and the hallway and I'm dreading it.  I'm hoping that these little successes will give me the energy to take on the bigger tasks.  

I have one more up my sleeve before I have to do the big ones.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

I'm calling it

You know how in sports when games go so long, and everybody's just tired of playing but no one's won yet, but the ref just calls it so you can go home and get some sleep?  That's how I feel about our kitchen.

I'm callin it.  It's not done, but I got tired of looking at the mess on the kitchen table and I did something about it.

I also looked at the pictures of the living room from the last post and I did something about those too.  Behold! (You don't have to really behold; it just felt like I needed a 'behold' right there.  You can just look; that's fine too.)

I pulled the green chair from Sofia's nursery and put it out here for more seating.

The blue pillow is a bit big for the chair, but since I'm shopping

at the Use What You Have store, we're going with it.

It's hard to tell, but the trim on the buffet matches the mirror in the dining room.

How's that for a happy accident?

This was giving me anxiety attacks.  For real.

It looks SO much better now.  I feel like I can breathe again!

The sunflowers got a little haircut and they look so cute on the table.

We use the table for everything and having to move a centerpiece every time I want

to do something at the table annoys me, so these little guys are just right.

Also, I realized I didn't talk about our dining chairs.  You remember our dining room table from when we first moved into our old house?

It's hard to believe this was only three years ago.

In our old house, all that heavy wood was just fine and our table looked majestic.  In the new house, it was too much and I wanted to get something to lighten them up.  I'd seen these chairs at West Elm forever and just loved them, so I knew they'd be just the thing I needed to bring some softness to our dark chunky table.  I love them and they bring just enough sexy to our big ol' man table.

And the kitchen.  Lord a' mighty, the kitchen.  We still have to stain, but the damn thing is done.  It's done because I say it's done.

Thank goodness it doesn't look like this!

I wouldn't have had the energy to start from scratch.

Even though this ended up being a ton of work.

I'm glad we have pictures because I don't even remember it like this anymore.

Baby, look at me now.

I've cleaned up even more since this picture and it looks even better.

Now I actually use the desk area and it's become the bill-paying laptop spot and I love it.  I'm so happy with how things have turned out and the biggest project was the kitchen so it's all little stuff from here forward.  Just the way I like it.

So what do you think?  I know home stuff is really personal, and what I love, you may hate and I'm cool with that.  I'm just impressed with how much work this DIY stuff really is, and I didn't even do it!  All I did was stand off to the side and try not to get in the way.  I give huge props to people who get in there and do it all themselves, because I know Drew and I would have killed each other if it were up to us.  As it was, we got in a huge fight because I called him yelling because the grout for the backsplash looked pink as it was going in.  I was like, 'How in the hell could you have bought PINK grout?!  What were you thinking?!  Everything is ruined!  I'm burning the house down and we're starting over!'  

Then the grout dried and it was white.  I know nothing about home renovation.  I really should have just gone on vacation and come back when it was done.

But we all survived and I've done several little projects since then.  Little projects are more my speed - I know this now.  Perfect example:  Every time I open my drawer, I smile.

And on that note, let me show you a couple of my little projects!