2013 Year in Review

Happy 2014! I loved 2013 but am really looking forward to 2014 – my self-proclaimed “Year of Fun!” It’s always great to look back at the previous year and this blog helps keep some of those fun memories for me. Based upon your views and clicks, it is safe to say this year was the year of our master bedroom. We finally finished all of the big projects I wanted to complete and you all loved them with me! Below are the top five posts from 2013.

Conner’s favorite makeover in our house is this bar area, especially the stained wine cabinet from our 5th anniversary. When we moved in, we knew right away that the desk would have to come out (can you say junk collector?). New floors, new paint, an updated cabinet as well as two new beverage centers really make this spot more us!

I love that we finally have grown-up nightstands! Conner’s nightstand was tricky with that stupid floor vent but we worked it out and I love it.

Every girl’s dream – a full-length mirror to see her shoes! This DIY floor mirror took some time (mainly for drying, but really for silver-leafing) but it was so worth it for the end result and the space it takes up on this empty wall.

The second most favorite post/project of the year is our tufted headboard, inspired by West Elm and featured on BuzzFeed! (What a thrill and lesson learned…don’t read comments you can’t delete!) Mom and I worked all day on a Sunday to get this over-sized beauty finished and I love it so much.

And finally, your favorite project and mine…the DIY mirrored nightstand on my side of the bed. I had been dreaming of doing this for two years and am kicking myself for not doing it sooner. It is so easy and not as expensive as I feared!

Thanks for reading in 2013! I will be back soon with new projects. For more in between posts, follow me on Instagram and like the Facebook page!

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2013 Christmas Home

I’m a little…well, a lot…behind this year but I finally got my act together and am showing you our house all fancy and decorated for Christmas. The link-up parties have come and gone but its always fun to post this so I can remember what I did the year before! There are a lot of pictures and just a few comments so if you have a question, please leave a comment below or send me an email.

My favorite part of the whole house…a lot of wine and champagne was drank in here this season!

Wrapping paper from Ballard Designs, burlap ribbon from Hobby Lobby and tree skirt from Pottery Barn…I prefer modern in my home design but traditional at Christmas is my favorite.

I copied Wisteria’s holiday catalog, using red instead of blue. I love the many functions of this giant clam shell.

The coffee filter wreath from 2010 has held up so well – who would have thought?

The dogs favorite spot – by the OSU tree, looking out the front window.

Santa Max and his little elf, Carl, hope you all had a fantastic holiday season! See you in 2014.

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Stained Wine Cabinet

When we first moved in to this house, there was a nook next to the kitchen that had a built-in desk. This wasn’t something we were interested in having at all – it screamed junk collector to me. Several months later, we ripped out the desk and put in a kegerator. Fast forward another two years and we added a wine cabinet. After a nice coat of stain on the wine cabinet and a new coat of paint on the walls, our bar area is finally complete and it looks great!

Way back when, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stain or paint the wine cabinet. I received a ton of feedback and I loved the advice I heard several times – you can always paint over stain but you can’t stain over paint. So the decision was made – stain it first!

After one coat of Minwax Provincial stain, this bad boy was ready to go. It was a pretty simple process of staining – brush on, wipe off – and we only did one coat as the stain took really well and we didn’t want it any darker. We also forwent using a wax or poly to seal it. I didn’t think it was necessary for this piece of furniture since most of it would be hidden by walls and the kegerator.

For the top of the cabinet, I painted two coats of chalkboard paint to give the appearance of a tray. (You know I love a good tray!) We debated putting another piece of wood on top (but how could we make it look seamless from the rest of the piece) or putting a piece of mirror on top (but it seemed too glitzy for this area) so a faux tray seemed like the easiest and most practical solution. A jar of corks, a John Derian tray and a typical Italalian cheers – perfect!

This part of our house is finally complete and I love it. I’m glad we stained the cabinet so it blends into the keg and doesn’t try to stand out from it. Our blue bar cart does a great job as a fun bar piece so I’m glad we didn’t spray paint the wine cabinet as well. The lights from our glass cabinet also do a great job of lighting up this space as does our DIY gallery wall with bright white picture frames.

The best part about our bar area? The comments from any male that walks through this house, which definitely includes the guys who measured for new kitchen appliances and lovingly stared at the tap while they worked. Yes, boys. It does hold a full-sized keg and yes, we do use it. A lot.

Just three short years ago, our house looked like the picture on the left. New floors, new paint and countless DIY hours make the picture on the right so perfect!

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