Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Heat registers…my nemesis

Since we saw the house these heat registers that are in every room have been bothering Stefano. It's so funny to me how different people see different things that bother them. To me it was the lighting, the wall colors and the floor (in my mind, BIG things). For Stefano it was the light switches and the heat registers…weird? I looked into replacing the registers but it was going to cost roughly $150-$250 per register! Considering we have 7 of them this was not an option. 

Last weekend we were enjoying an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day outside after we put Lucca down for his nap. I had visions of some yard work, Stefano had envisions of me cleaning and paining these grates…apparently, because before I knew it they were in front of me with gloves, scrub brushes and spray paint (insert PAINFUL sigh!)

Here is a before picture of some of them



I scrubbed them with a small brush for brass, which is what i believe they are. The grates had paint, rust, hair, food and tons of grime packed into them. It was NOT a fun job at all and essentially took me all of nap time to complete. I was irritated and wanted to quit. I told Stefano that this project definitely called for a beer to finish the job! It was just what I needed. At this point my sweet little neighbor Aiden came over and asked "Whatcha doin Ms. Kari?" Ahhhhh his little 3 year old voice is too cute for words! I should write a post just about how lucky we are to have such awesome neighbors :)

This is one of the brushes I used 
Similar to these found at Home Depot

This is the spray paint that Stefano chose and it looks awesome! I was hesitant to use it at first because I thought something matte would look better but this looked great!



And here is the final product, just like new! It really makes a big difference in their appearance. Once I finished I gave myself a little pat on the back…and had another beer :)




Monday, April 28, 2014

Settling In

Ayyyyyy, I have totally fallen off the blogging bandwagon. I was doing so good…but I'm back! We moved in, correction…my husband moved us in the first weekend in April while Lucca and I were in Madison. Since then we have slowly been unpacking. It proves to be quite difficult with a busy toddler at your feet most of the day. Our basement is still being finished, which is where a majority of our storage and Lucca's playroom will be so we have lots of stuff in the garage and attic still. 
My parents and brother came over Easter and we have a great weekend together. The weather was beautiful and we got lots of stuff done while my mom entertained Lucca, they're two peas in a pod those two. 

While my parents were here I also had some special fabric deliveries courtesy of my Mom. They are BEAUTIES!!! So I have to share :)
My mom made the bench cushion, roman shade and navy links pillow. Isn't she awesome?!?! Fabric is from Tonic Living
The "L" pillow is from Serena and Lily. I ordered the hardware for the drawers off of Etsy. We are hoping to get some shelving in on the right (there's a little nook back in there) for a bunch of books :)

The living room is coming together too! There have been a few updates since this picture…a new light has replaced the ceiling fan! Hello LIGHT! I've changed the pillows around some, etc. The fabric for the drapery is also from Tonic Living (SUCH an awesome site!) 

2 of these gorgeous green chairs arrive to make their home in my living room tomorrow and I cannot wait to see how they look. My favorite color is green, but these are quite outside the box for me as far as furniture purchasing goes. I tend to go with neutrals and stick to things that are more "safe." I thought long and hard about these two and decided to go for it, hopefully I won't regret my decision!



I also found this beauty at Target to go between the two chairs and it was exactly what I was looking for. It's somewhat similar in structure to the coffee table and I LOVE the look of it. Not to mention I got it for $50! 

Thanks for taking some time to look at our progress. Tomorrow I'll share a DIY project I tackled over the weekend.