Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Baby Shower #2: Family

Three Saturdays ago I had my second baby shower! This one was all family and it was so much fun!  There were about 50 ladies there and it was so nice to see everyone!  Sorry I am posting it so late, I was hoping to acquire more pictures but haven't yet so here is what I have.  :)

All the Grandmas helped in hosting it and it was held at my mom's house.
 The colors they chose were blue, green, brown and white.  Such sweet colors for a baby boy!

 
Part of the decor was a gift from my Mom and Stepdad.  They got a bunch of cute outfits and hung them from the mantle on the fire place, I can't wait to put a little body in those!

 
My cousin who is taking baking courses right now made the cute cake and cupcakes!  They were some of the yummiest I have ever had!


I surrounded by lots of people I love and it was such a laid back and fun shower!
 

 
 
  
 
I received so many wonderful gifts and am excited to get everything unpacked and set up in the little guys room (nope, I still haven't done it!).  Cru is already so loved and Justin and I feel so blessed to have the love and support of our family and friends!
 
I believe I am getting more photos this weekend and it will be fun to look through those! I know there is one with all the grandmas to be and great grandma to be that I want to see! I will share those when I get them :)

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Meeting the Petersiks.... Check!

Last weekend my Friend Macey and I made our way to the Tacoma Home show so we could meet our blogger role models John and Sherry Petersik from Young House Love.

I have been a follower of their blog for years and have enjoyed seeing the progress through their first house, purchasing their second house, writing a book, having a baby and all that happened in between.

I bought their book a while back and it's loaded with fun and easy DIY fixes for your home. Fast forward to January and this puppy is autographed and I can check meeting the Petersiks off my list. =]
 
 
We arrived downtown early, had lunch at Freighthouse Square and then went into the Tacoma Dome to check out what we're working with.  We wanted to be sure we got a seat for the YHL presentation and Q and A series.

The presentation was "7 Lessons we learned while showing our home some love."  They broke down the mistakes they made, how sometimes you have to bring in the professionals and how you need to decorate for you, not anyone else.

 

They were great! Sherry wants to confirm she's not pregnant.
 

 
We had a few brief moments with them as they signed our books and took pictures with us.  They were very nice and seemed so fun!  Sherry guessed I was having a girl and I felt so bad bursting her bubble telling her it was a boy.  I said "hey, nothing is for sure until this thing comes out." =]
 
I also presented her with a cowl scarf I knitted since I can't paint or do much when it comes to house projects.  I hope she likes it!
 
 
Macey and I had a lot of fun meeting them!  They were down to earth, nice and have been such and inspiration to us!

Macey and I decided to hit up Happy Hour at Katie Downs on the waterfront.  It had turned out to be such a gorgeous day!  Don't worry, I had a root beer :)

 
I have lots more posts coming atcha.  We've got decorating going on, more baby shower recaps and little projects! I just need to get my arse in gear and post them!


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Master Look

I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do with our Master Bedroom...

I want it to be a comfortable space for Justin and I and something we both love.  I don't want it too masculine or too feminine but a space we both enjoy  I am very into the globalist look right now.  I love white walled rooms with punches of colors, textures and am especially in love with the southwestern/aztec like patterns that are out there.  Luckily the white walls give such a neutral base that all that is really needed to give the room some flava is some throw pillows, wood/natural accents and some green.

Pinterest has made my love for the globalist look grow and grow.  Here are some examples I specifically love.

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We purchased our curtain rod from Lowes.  It has a good masculine feel with the dark wrought iron look but has a hint of femininity with the crystal finials.  I also like these because they will allow me to bring in black accents throughout the space. 
 
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I found these fun pillows on Etsy and other sites but there is no way I will pay more than $15 for a pillow.  So I will be going fabric shopping very soon! These will add the global feel we want for the space.
 
Kente Home Style Lumbar pillow cover - 12 x 22 inches - Green Blue 
 
Cushion Cover Vintage Green and Turquiose Aztec Limited Edition  Fabric 
                                                     Etsy                                               Source
 

 
We also purchased this light from Lowes.
 
Portfolio 6-Light New Century Black Chandelier
 
To change up the look I am going to use these light bulbs from Lowes as well.  I thought it would add a unique look to the light fixture.  Here's hoping I'm right!!
I also need to get a couple of lamps for our night stands.  I am deciding between a few different looks; an antique studious look like this red one is one of them.  Not sure about the color I'm thinking I need something in a dark finish to tie in the curtain rod and chandy...  Justin specifically mentioned this style so it would be nice to incorporate something he wants. =] 
Another option I'm into are these wall sconces... I would definitely spray the base black though and the third option I'm thinking is this lamp. I think it would be a subtle addition to the room where we already have some crazy patterns and bold colors.
 
JONSBO BÄRBY Table lamp IKEA Dimmer function allows the light intensity to be adjusted.BAROMETER Work lamp IKEA Adjustable arm and head makes it easy to direct the light. ÅRSTID Wall lamp IKEA Adjustable head makes it easy to direct the light. Fabric shade gives a diffused and decorative light.
 
 
I really don't know what the best option would be...  I may have to purchase one of each and just try them out!
 
I am obsessed with the Fiddle Leaf Fig and would absolutely LOVE one in our room!  They look like they can get pretty big and I will need to research how to take care of them but aren't they the coolest!
 
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I also want to have a little photo wall (shocker!) and will of course add some fun accessories.  The same theme will run into the bathroom so that there is a cohesive feel between the spaces. I am so ready to have our room done so we can focus on the nursery! 
 
 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Master Bath Update

Here is a little recap and update of our master bath.  Since it's been so long, I am recapping the whole process!  You can check out previous post here, here, here and here if you want to look back or just stay tuned because I'm about to give you the whole rundown.
 
When we purchased our house back in 2010, the upstairs "master bath" looked like this...
 
 
There's not a lot of "master" about it. The previous owner shoved a toilet and sink in an area that 5 ft tall and used the rest of the space for closet storage.
 
This obviously wasn't going to work for us so we did what we do best and gutted it.

 
We tried to be neat about ripping everything out and proceeded to make piles in the Master Bedroom.  We didn't want to make trips down the stairs so we got our garbage organized and chucked it out the window when we were ready for the dump run.

 

Here is the bathroom all demo'd and ready to be made beautiful!
 
 
After this part of the demo, we decided we wanted to add insulation to keep it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. 

 
So all the sheetrock and old insulation was ripped out and we started from scratch.  We also took this opportunity to have the bathroom replumbed and rewired to fit the style we wanted for the space.
 
You can see how we framed over the space in back that previously had the toilet and sink.  We really wanted to try an utilize the space but it just wasn't going to work.  We needed the wall space and the area back there was really too small for anyone besides me to fit so we closed her up.


 
 
After all the insulation, plumbing and electrical were done, up went the green board.  Green board is a moisture resistant drywall.  It's best to use in bathrooms and behind areas of possible moisture like a kitchen sink or laundry area.  It helps prevent mold and other gross things that can thrive in wetter environments.


 
After all that was installed, we (Justin and Roger) mudded and taped everything to fill in the seams so they become invisible when it's time to texture and paint.  Like always, our doggie boys were a huge help!


 
After we were done mudding and taping, we textured the space.  We purchased a large tub of joint compound and added water to create the consistency we wanted for the texture.  Once we got it just right, we poured some compound into a texture sprayer a friend let us borrow.  We hooked the sprayer up to our air compressor hose and chose size we wanted the texture to blow out by adjusting a lever near the spray hole. 
 
 
Once that was complete we just pointed and shot!  As you can see it the picture below, we taped off the bottom half of the room because I had something fun I wanted to try....
 
 
This was our first time texturing and we realized after the fact that we would have thinned out the joint compound a little more.  Some areas are thicker than others and we did have to sand a little after the whole process but after the paint went on, we could barely notice.
 
Then we painted it all white! I wanted the room to feel big and clean and airy so I decided to just go with the white in the master bed and bath.  I can always slap on some paint later if I change my mind.  =]
 
 
After this step we laid our tile.  I failed to take photos but we screwed down hardy backer boards, purchased our tile and laid it out!  In an end of the summer recap post, I showed a quick pic of the tiling process...
 
 
We chose a honeycomb vintage tile to keep true to the time of our home.  I love it so much! We tiled it with an Oyster Gray sanded grout.  We had a little issue with this step.  At first I purchased a non-sanded grout that was a gray color but ran out.  My uncle saw our progress and mentioned that we should be using a sanded grout.  We finished the project in a grout that was the same color but sanded instead of the un-sanded we originally used and it looked like we were going for an ombre grout look... not good.  So I went and bought a third kind of grout and Justin regrouted the whole space in it.  It looks muuuch better.  The moral of the story is to figure it out first...  It would have saved us time!
 
Once all the tile was in we were able to start on the moulding!  You'll notice a cameo of my Cyber Monday vanities in these photos.  We needed to place them for moulding spacing and such.
 

I found a moulding technique on Pinterest that I really wanted to try in this space.  It called for placing the moulding horizontally near the floor and curve of the ceiling, then add vertical strips in between to create a faux wainscoting look. 
 

 

We had to figure how far apart we needed to place the vertical pieces to make sure everything looked even.  Each wall is a little different but it looks perfect to the eye.  On the right hand wall we started by placing a piece of moulding on each end then measured the space between.  It worked out that every 20 inches we would place another vertical board.  On the wall behind the vanities we used the same tactic and it measured every 19 inches.
 

This method made sure that each wall looked even, if we just measured every 20 inches we would have had boards 1 or 2 inches from the corners and that would look ridiculous!
 

So here is where we're at as of last night.  I spent the evening caulking all the gaps and filling the nail holes with putty.  Today or tomorrow Justin is going to paint, then we will install the vanities and clean out the tub.  We still need to buy the clawfoot shower kit but at least for the time being we will have a working toilet and sinks! The vanities should be installed this weekend and then I am going shopping for accessories!  I need to find mirrors also! Can't wait to have our OWN bathroom in our home!
 

 
I will be posting more about this room but at least I've gotten all of you caught up!  Thanks so much for checking in!