Closet of Shame

What is it about the new year that makes me want to purge, organize, refresh and start in a new direction? Or maybe its just the realization that I've lived one more whole year with a nagging problem that makes me say "That's it! No more. Time to do something about this!".

Let me introduce you to my closet of shame:

Uhm, yeah. I admit it, I've been keeping this dirty little secret from you all. This is one part of the front entry makeover you never saw, right? But we all have a few secrets, don't we?

Its not like I haven't tried to keep this mess under control. I've just had a few things working against me.

The layout of this closet renders it almost impossible to keep it neat and tidy. It has an angled door and its too small to put a shoe rack in their properly. Instead of a rod, there are hooks around the perimeter. Now you can see why we end up with piles of coats on hooks and piles of shoes on the floor!

I think seeing all that winter gear stuffed in there helped me reach my boiling point. So one day while the babe was down for a nap, HandyMan and I tore everything out and turned this closet into something more functional and neat.

We started with a good cleaning, some patching, and new quarter round to hide the cable. A few coats of white paint freshened everything up. Then we took the existing Ikea shoerack and cut it down to fit. Now we have a space for those tall winter boots.

We removed all the hooks and added a hanging rod. Coats hang on the right and umbrellas hang on the little area in front of the bumpout to the left. We kept the existing shelf overhead but I added baskets for hats and gloves. Now with the coats hanging properly, I can actually reach the shelf!

On the door, I put this pretty hanger-thingy from HomeSense. Its the perfect spot to put Chloe's little coats.

The kiddo woke from her nap before we were able to finish everything so we'll have to leave installing a wall-mounted shoe rack and some hooks for my bags on the left wall for another day. But for now, its good enough... and I don't have to worry about an avalanche of coats toppling on me anymore!

Do tell, do you have any shameful secrets hiding in your home?

How To Make A Panelled Wall

I've had a few folks ask how we made the panelled wall in our master bedroom so here's a video tutorial for you all! This is one project I highly recommend... it was fairly easy to do, required only a few tools, and really made a huge impact.

We learned a few things while doing this project:

Show your space who's boss!

Before we started, we had a bit of an obstacleto deal with. The bump-out on the wall limited placement of the bed. The easy solution would have been to put the bed on the opposite wall but I really wanted to see the bed when you came in the room; it just visually would look better. So we decided to frame out the wall and make it flat. To avoid having to deal with matching the seams of the existing wall and the new walls to either side, we built the new wall in front of the old bump-out. That meant we lost 4 inches from the room but it was a much easier way to go about it. Lesson learned: don't be limited by the layout. Think creatively and find a way around it!

Sleep on it.

Just like we did when we were deciding on the size of the new laundry room, we wanted to visualize the design before we committed to it. So we drew our pattern on the wall and 'lived with it' for a few days. This gave us a chance to see if we liked the pattern, if we wanted to make it more of a regular grid pattern, if we wanted more or fewer strips. We did make some changes (like adding the platforms on which the bedside swing arm lamps sit) so sleeping on it for a bit helped us come up with a better design.

If any of you decide to make a panelled wall of your own, do send me pics. I'd love to see your handiwork!

Happy New Year!

As 2010 draws to a close, I naturally took a look back at old posts to see what we accomplished this year... and from a reno & design standpoint, we didn't do too much!

Sure, we finally redesigned the master bedroom and got a good night's sleep. And we did make some fun things for the kiddo like built her a play kitchen and gave her mini-chair a makeover.

But other than that, mostly little projects got done. I made some art out of milk bottle caps and cleaned up the office. HandyMan built some rad rad covers for the bedroom and entry. We got the bathroom door installed to add a hint of Paris to our petite salle de bain and put in a runner to enhance the entry.

But mostly, we spent our time hitting antique fair after antique fair after antique fair. We started to get comfortable in our roles as parents, revelling in the mundane moments and the big birthday celebrations but getting a little melancholy too when our realized babies become toddlers in the blink of an eye. I also spent some time with blogger friends, in groups big and small and got to hang out with some pretty famous people here and there.

It was a good year, a full year - and I've enjoyed having you along for the ride. But I'm ready to turn the page and start with a brand new slate. Come with me, won't you? But first - we must celebrate!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Basement Plan...For Now

We're getting ready to start on the basement soon. I know, its been a while since I first mentioned the basement reno... but these things take time... not to mention it takes a really long time for me and HandyMan to decide on a layout... and we're still tweaking it.


So here is where we're at. Its a bit different from the last layout options I showed you. The upper part of the plan hasn't changed much from what we have existing. The bathroom footprint stays the same but we will be redoing all the finishes - tile, flooring, fixtures, paint. The large laundry room will now essentially be made into two rooms - (1) an unfinished storage area, and (2) a smaller but more functional laundry room with wall to wall cabinetry and lots of counterspace.

The lower part of the plan is where all the fun stuff happens. We're taking out the wall that separates the craft area and the entertainment area to create one big space. In the craft area, I'm envisioning a few floor to ceiling pantries and a long countertop. One of the "tweaks" we still have to decide is where to put the workstation. We may put it in the bottom left corner, have the countertop drop to desk height, wrap the corner, and then drop again down to banquette height.

The banquette across the whole southern wall is my new favourite feature of the room. I really wanted a craft table, but with four chairs, plus the workstation plus Chloe's play area all in the same vicinity, space was getting really tight. So, we've incorporated a long banquette - the banquette adds storage, does double duty providing seating around the craft table, and gives Chloe a great place to lie down and read a book. The craft table will also be on casters so it can be moved out of the way as needed, further opening up the space.

I think space planning is the hardest thing to get right. The basement isn't a huge space so to fit in all of our "must haves" was a challenge. I wish Chloe's play area could be larger, but then that would leave no dedicated space for crafts. And I'm thinking as she gets older, we'll want more room for painting and craftmaking and sewing, right? Tell me the truth moms. More room for dress up and play kitchen and toys - or more room for drawing and creating?

So this is the "dream plan". We still have to price out all that cabinetry for the craft area... and it doesn't help that I fell in love all over again with the Martha Stewart cabinets when I saw them at my local Home Depot... so who knows, my plans for 10 long narrow stacked drawers to store fabrics and paint pots and wrapping paper and a 10' long banquette may turn to dust when we realize all we can afford is a 2' long bench and a pot drawer!

Master Bedroom: The Reveal

Would you like to see the master bedroom... finally? I am really embarrassed to say this is what the room looked like when we started tearing it apart in December (December!!). *shudder* We barely touched the room for the last three years, choosing instead to live with the previous owner's choice of floral border and bland curtains. Its a wonder we ever got a good night's sleep.



But now that's what we get. Blissful nights of sleep.


We started out by building out the wall around the bump out. The bump out really limited placement of the bed so we flushed out the wall and created some interest by panelling it in MDF strips and trim.

We had some potlights installed to highlight the shadows and texture of the wall. Other sources of light include the fab Pottery Barn sconces and my vintage chandelier. At night, the chandelier is like a glowing moon. Chloe loves to look up at it.



The floral motif is repeated throughout the room...on the bedding, the drapery, and the wallpaper top on my vanity. Small touches but they really bring the room together!



Because the little one runs around the room, we've had to keep the rest of the decor fairly sparse and child-friendly. Accessories are mostly functional and there aren't too many things she can get into (unless you count the cordless phone and the iPhone charger... what is it with kids and electronics??)



This is the first white room we've ever had and I must admit we love it. But not as much as we love having the room actually done, finito, finished, decorated. Done!

******

I'm linking this post to Design Refuge's October challenge!

The Entry Way

After having lived with an ugly, yellowed radiator, chopped up baseboards, and a severe lack of storage for the last three years, I can tell you that my day has become 1000x more enjoyable now that I have a clean, organized entryway to come home to.



The entry was one of those neglected areas of our home. When we moved in 3 years ago, we tore out the nasty pink carpet and old radiator cover right away, vowing to quickly turn the entry into a bright and welcoming space. But of course, other things got in the way and we learned to live with the non-functional triangular closet and piled our keys on the windowsill. Isn't it amazing how you can just become immune to certain problem areas in your home?

We did make improvements to the space like installing new lighting, getting a yummy striped stair runner, and replacing the front door and storm door. But without a new radiator cover, the space never felt quite right. And now it does.

HandyMan did a great job building the rad cover. The fresh white paint on the cover and repainted baseboards really brightens up the area. The slim design, which HandyMan fitted around the existing door trim, is functional yet visually doesn't take up much space.

Chloe loves the little built-in cubbies. Everyday we find something new stuffed in there... shoes, socks, animal finger puppets! She's now taken to pulling out her shoes and telling us exactly which ones she wants to wear that day.

And I've finally been able to put up my limited edition Catherine Ledner armadillo photograph in the entryway. I bought the photo years ago with the intention to specifically hang it here. Its been in Chloe's room up till now.

I love how the yellow & grey wallpaper background in the photo picks up on the yellow in the dining room walls and in the kitchen.

HandyMan also took some time to repaint the closet door and baseboards and spraypaint the closet door hardware black to go with the hardware in the rest of the house. Now the entryway looks clean, fresh, organized. I literally walk inside the house now and take a deep relaxing breath when I step inside.

Then...

and now!

Enhancing the Entry

HandyMan has slowly been making covers for each of the radiators in our house. He's been wanting to make the one for the front entry for a long time - we need somewhere handy to throw down some keys or shopping bags!

Using MDF and the Octoperf wood mesh screen that we used for all the other covers, HandyMan built the cover to suit the surroundings. I'm not sure if you noticed, but all the covers have been customized to fit in with the rooms... the one in Chloe's room is a shaker-style to go with the shaker closet doors. The one in the master bedroom is more decorative and has feet and fancy trim. And the one in the dining room has styling similar to the wainscotting.

For the entry, we embellished the design a bit and came up with not only a radiator cover, but also a place to store mail, keys, and little mittens and boots in the winter time. Our entry is small and severely lacking in storage. We have a tiny triangular-shaped front closet and keep our keys in a box on the window ledge so taking a bit of extra space and adding cubbies to the rad cover was one way to make the entry seem more functional and welcoming.


HandyMan trimmed out the cubbies to give them a more finished look. He's still deciding whether to build small pull out boxes to house keys and gloves, or if we can find some premade baskets or trays to fit. We might also drill little holes on the inside of the cubbies to allow hot air from the rad to circulate. It will be a special treat to pull out warm mittens on a cold winter's day!



The top has to be notched out to fit around the existing door trim but other than that, the cover is patched and ready for paint and install! Now if I can just resist the urge to dump stuff and allow things to pile up on the rad cover.