Entries from January 10th, 2012

Bathroom Cabinet Again – Before and After

So, do you all know Jules? If not, you should grab a cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair and read through her website! It’s fantastic, as I imagine she is too, and seriously, her writing is among the best you will find out in blog-land!

Anyway, she is doing a series called the William Morris Project so I thought I would join every week and show you a new before and after with everyone else! I have so many projects I want to work on throughout my house, but I’m going to use this project as a way to get me to finish projects. Somehow I always get 95% there and then…I never finish. It can be as mundane as finally cleaning out the darn cabinets on my side of the master bathroom, or as “big” as hanging something on a wall that was painted two years ago, but whatever it is, I hope you’ll enjoy and that you are inspired to join us too!

Remember here when I re-organized the bottom of my husband’s cabinet in the master bedroom? Yeah well I was hiding the other side of the bathroom that was truly atrocious. I blame it on the fact I hadn’t cleaned out anything for at least a year, plus I bought a bunch of new stuff, so somehow everything just kept piling up and making me crazy (but apparently not crazy enough to tackle it sooner)!

First, the embarrassing before:

My Bathroom Cabinet Before

My Bathroom Cabinet Before 02

And the triumphant after:

My Bathroom Cabinet After

My Bathroom Cabinet After 02All images by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

You can see by the clock how long this project took me – about an hour and a half. Of course, I procrastinated for weeks about it! You’ll see that I didn’t show a “before” picture of the open medicine cabinet and that’s because every time I opened it everything fell out! Clearly not one of my finest moments in design.

In any case, now everything is neatly put away (the face potions in the medicine cabinet are grouped by how/when they are used) and a large garbage bag has been filled to the brim with who knows what. And now I have of course vowed to not buy another beauty product until an existing one is removed. I vowed! We’ll see how long that lasts.

Keel’s Simple Diary Fridays, #10

So today is Sunday, and this post should have been up on Friday! But it wasn’t, so today will have to be close enough!

As mentioned here, every Friday night I am writing my seemingly random answers to seemingly random diary pages:

  1. My day was “so-so” because we just had a fantastic 3-day weekend and I have my usual case of the Sundays, but on Monday instead!
  2. In dealing with anger, I “never repress”, don’t “when hungry”, and when “not too angry”.
  3. A minor on-going problem is “what to do about our television! It’s seven years old, slightly failing, but most of all doesn’t work with Boxee Box”. So disappointed.
  4. A beautiful sky is a “beautiful sky”.
  5. “Yes” you are the best.

Days 14-16 (365 Days in Pictures)

So as I mentioned here, I will be posting a new picture every day!

Well so I took pictures every day but didn’t post them (again)! Ack! So tonight is a little bit of a re-cap of the last three days.

I’m actually thinking of posting these pictures maybe once a week (but for the whole week) instead of every day. It’s a little too time-consuming and I have so many other topics I want to write about too! What do you think?

Day 14 (365 Days in Pictures)

See all those little scraps of paper with writing on them? Those are all my blog ideas that I would like to write about someday!

Day 15 (365 Days in Pictures)

I know I said the other day that it is really hard to find them together and I swear it is! So when they sat together again I just had to get another picture. Clearly Pixie is not pleased about all the camera noise!

Day 16 (365 Days in Pictures)All images by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

The awesome books (the bottom four) that my Carl bought me for Christmas. Time to get reading already!

Day 13 (365 Days in Pictures)

So as I mentioned here, I will be posting a new picture every day!

But first, a caption! This is a picture of how we look after a long week – sitting in a dim-lit, warm and cozy room, watching a DVD, stunned at the fact it is finally Friday!

Day 13 (365 Days in Pictures)Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

Okay fine, it’s not actually us, ha. But! This IS what we look like, as perfectly played by Pixie and Dixie!

Oh and you might have noticed they are black cats. And today is Friday the 13th. Did you know that the US is one of the only country where black cats are considered bad luck? And did you know that black cats and dogs are much less likely to be adopted than lighter-colored animals? So our black cats = good luck (and love)!

Day 12 (365 Days in Pictures)

So as I mentioned here, I will be posting a new picture every day!

Day 12 (365 Days in Pictures)

 Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

So this is our Boxee Box (in front of our TV that has lasted 7 years but we now sadly have to replace so that this little frog can help us to cancel our monthly cable bill already – plus the TV is slowly dying at this point anyway)! Am I the only who doesn’t see “frog”? I thought it was a monkey, but either way, this little guy should save us about $100 a month plus reduce our need to want to throw our TV receiver at the wall every time we turn it on)!

Tiffany & Co.

So have you guys checked out Tiffany & Co. lately? Yeah, I know, probably not! Even though I think they are more or less the gold standard for ah-mazing jewelry, who could afford anything they sell, right?! Well maybe you and me!

We started getting their catalogs in the mail when my Carl surprised me with this unbelievably beautiful pink (!) enamel key on a silver chain that I wear all the time!

Anyway, I didn’t expect to find anything I could remotely afford, but in fact I found quite a lot. And on their website you can even search by price (not an original idea) but the fact that you can search for a price point of $100-$250?! Yes please!

So I thought I would shop a little and spend a mythical $200 and these are a few pieces I would definitely consider!

Tiffany JewelryImages courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

I always seem to pick out the most expensive things ever, but even with an imaginary budget of $200, I still managed to pick four pieces of jewelry that are all under that price point!

(Clockwise from the left):

  • Bow earrings ($150) – Aren’t these the cutest? I like to wear simple earrings almost every single day (I only switch them when I am creating a look that needs dangling earrings) and these would be the perfect option instead of just alternating between the same two pairs of small hoops and diamond studs.
  • Tiffany Notes I Love You Necklace ($125) – I love this necklace so much! I like that the shape of the pendant is round and modern but the script is very vintage. It’s a cute sentiment to wear around your neck that’s presented in a way that’s not too sweet and teenage-girl.
  • Tiffany Beads earrings ($125) – These earrings are so beautiful in their simplicity and I love that they are as subtle as pearls but that they’re not pearls! So modern and unique! Plus they could easily be added to my earring rotation because they are so understated.
  • Round link bracelet ($175) – And then there’s this bracelet – the most expensive item I chose and also the least subtle! Even though I normally like smaller jewelry touches, sometimes a larger, shiny bracelet is required. It’s a slightly more masculine look and would look great with a three-quarter length sleeve and short nails with bright polish.
So, what about you all? Have you checked out Tiffany & Co.’s site lately? What would you buy?

 

The Laundry Room

So since I’m sharing corners of my home in a lot of my 365 (Days in Pictures) posts, I thought I would talk a little bit about each room we’ve worked on so far. And like Jules, I’ll be posting little projects on Thursdays (eek, that’s tomorrow!), so also like her I will be compiling my massive lists that I have for each room for things I still need to do (of course she’s already done; I’ll be working on that over the long weekend).

Of course I say all this and I can bet you won’t even notice most of the things that I consider “undone”. Ha, the life of someone obsessed with design and working on their house all the time!

Laundry Room 01

Laundry Room 02Both images by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

I wish I could give you a before and after, but right now all my photos are backed up on CD and my other computer died, so we need to get an external CD drive already! Basically, the room was a boring builder-beige with only a wire shelf way too high above the appliance hook-ups and a sink with an ugly faucet.

We painted, added cabinets and shelves, changed the faucet, added a tin backsplash, a drying rack, and other decorations!

The laundry list (haha) of where everything is from:

    • Paint color – Whitehall Brown in Eggshell from Benjamin Moore
    • Cabinets – Estate cabinets from Lowe’s (I would not recommend these as they were impossible to install and didn’t come with cleats (a necessity when installing a cabinet that needs to hold a lot of weight for detergent and whatnot).
    • Cabinet pulls – We switched out whatever came with the cabinet with these from Home Depot.
    • Cabinet lights – Lowe’s
    • Shelves – Home Depot (I think?) and these are only decorative. They are actually installed to block Dixie from jumping behind the washer and dryer and hiding all the time (and also ripping the dryer exhaust hose to shreds). I would say we have a 70% success rate on that one.
    • Various picture frames, baskets, decorative items – Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, Pottery Barn Michael’s, the thrift store. Oh and the picture in the circular frame is actually a goose cross-stitch that I made for my Mom when I was in high school and she had it professionally framed (I have no idea why!) It kind of matched the room and also makes me smile.
    • Vacuum – Target
    • Laundry baskets and rugs – Lowe’s and IKEA
    • Sink backsplash and faucet – Lowe’s
    • Soap dispenser – Bed, Bath & Beyond
    • Laundry sign – I absolutely can’t remember! I bought it in 2007 and oddly have no idea where! Somewhere online though.
    • Drying Rack – Pottery Barn. This is one of the only drying racks I ever found that collapses flat, pulls out horizontally and can hold almost two load worth of wet clothes!
    • Litter Box – yes in the bottom right corner of the first picture that is indeed a litter box. Exciting, I know. But! The reason I wanted to point it out is because it’s our brand-new, white, bought-with-a-coupon ModKat that we love, love, love! Seriously, it’s just the best! We have two little but finicky cats (okay, Dixie is really the one who had litter box issues) and we’ve had it almost 3 weeks and no issues at all! Truly amazing. And it has reduced the litter tracking (we use wheat) about 95%. Can you tell I’m excited?!

So, where was I? Oh yes, well I hope you enjoyed the tour of our laundry room! Did I miss anything?

What about you? Where do you wash your laundry? Are you like me and covet those front-loading fancy machines in all the cool colors?

Day 11 (365 Days in Pictures)

So as I mentioned here, I will be posting a new picture every day!

Day 11 (365 Days in Pictures)Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

Today was a hard day. I had a meeting at work I tossed and turned and stressed about all last night. Ultimately everything worked out fine.

My Carl told me a long ago that when the going gets tough, remember that I have him and the kids and the fuzzies all behind me. Even though that sounds so obvious, it helps to actually picture them all there with me. And seriously, how could anything bad happen when I have this sort of adorable nonsense waiting for me at home?! This little girl Dixie just reminded me of all this when I walked by and saw her sleeping “nose to toes” as we like to say. It also reminded me that after the day I have had I need a nap, pronto!

Tuesdays, #7

As I mentioned here, my Carl will be giving me a word of the day every Tuesday to write about.

So today’s word is marble.

Since this is a site about design, I immediately thought of two things – 1) what kind of cool art projects you could do with glass marbles and 2) Carrara marble.

I have always, always wanted white Carrara marble as a kitchen counter-top. We are actually getting ready to re-do our kitchen (all cosmetic changes since we don’t want to spend too much and we don’t plan to live in this house forever anyway), but I can guarantee this marble is not in our budget! Maybe if we win the lottery when we get to New York!

Anyway, I did a little research and I had no idea that Carrara marble is actually named after the town (with the same name) in Italy where it is quarried. So I guess that partly explains the price! Maybe someday I can at least have a kitchen cart with this marble as the surface. It’s supposed to be great for rolling dough, etc. Now I just have to learn how to make some dessert!

Oh and as far as my marble art project…others have had the same idea! Just search around the Internet for some really cool ideas!

Day 10 (365 Days in Pictures)

So as I mentioned here, I will be posting a new picture every day!

Day 10 (365 Days in Pictures)Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design.

It’s funny how spots in your house look the same every day, but you never really notice until you take a picture. Looking at this picture, all I can think is woa, now that’s a lot of jackets! Who needs that many, anyway? (Although I know in reality that we do wear most of the regularly). But still! We do have a hall closet after all. Maybe I should clean it out this weekend so we can actually use it as a place to hang our jackets already!

Anywho, I took this picture because on the left is the jacket, backpack, and sneakers of our oldest, one very special girl who is an Archaeologist (!) and is spending one last night with us before her holiday break is over!

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