Friday, October 30

utterly impulsive

The secret is out - Kurt and I are impulsive people. {We're getting better, I promise!} Two weekends ago, we decided we really didn't like the look of our dark bed skirt that we sported at our apartment. We hadn't put it on here yet. We were really sick of looking at the box springs, frame, and wheels on the bed! We noticed that Ashley Furniture had the exact same bedroom furniture that we purchased a year ago before moving into the apartment. Kurt remembered seeing the bed with a foot board and side panels. So, we thought we'd go by and check it out. Sure enough, shortly after walking in the door, we were paying for our new stuff! Tip for those of you buying furniture for your home - opt for the pick-up. Delivery was going to cost us double the furniture!

I finally got a call on Monday night that it had arrived. We excitedly went to pick it up yesterday after work. By the time we got home, ate dinner, and cleaned up it was kinda late. But, without a second thought, we knew we needed to put together our stuff! Right after our room looked like this -



-I thought to myself, "We're nuts! Why are we doing this tonight!?!?" No turning back now! And so it begun...at...



Thankfully, it didn't take long. We were done, bed in it's place, sheets on, room cleaned up within an hour! First thing was taking off the old frame and getting it out of the room. We then had to add some hardware on to the side panels and crossbars. After that, we were ready to attach the side panels to the head and foot boards!
 

My strong man flying solo...after I tried to help and slit my finger on the bottom edge. {Imagine paper cut, but with wood. Youch!} I'm gonna live, don't you worry!

All we had to do after that was attach the crossbars, clean the stuff up a little, and put the room back together!

 

Kurt's got a little cleaning lady on his hands...not! Trying to tidy up.



You think it's gonna hold us? Kurt, you test it out! He's a little nervous about his first try!

Check it out. Having a bed with a foot board and side panels makes a HUGE difference! Worth every penny {and we got them on sale!!}.





Bye, bye rollers and box springs! We won't be seeing you anytime soon! What do you think? Makes our room look that much nicer, huh? 

Have a fabulous weekend, and Happy Halloween!! This will be our first year to have our very own trick-or-treaters! I'll be back next week with more updates and Halloween pictures!

Thursday, October 29

70 dollar facelift

Remember this?



Well, it was next to this...



Sheer. Unmovable. Rough. Not my favorite.
My least favorite was the fact that you could see though it at all times {especially night}.

While walking through Bed, Bath, and Beyond, we found some new curtains that we thought might work. We brought them home and immediately put them up. And....
  


We have windows that you can now see out of!!!

Our room looks a billion times better and bigger. We love them!



And no more creepers can try to look in at night!

Great part? They were only $70!
Best part? The old homeowner left us these --



Couldn't be more perfect if you asked me!

Wednesday, October 28

one hundred

I can't believe it...this is my 100th post! Thanks to those of you who read. I always love to hear from you as well! It's been great to share all the things going on in our crazy lives. Hopefully the next hundred posts are even better than the first hundred!

I had every intention of sharing another project we completed. But, I'm not....

When I got home {after working out and dinner with my mom}, I turned the alarm on. Kurt's not home yet and Cooper is still at Kurt's parents house {we took him there after the bug fiasco}. After putting away some things and such, I remembered I needed to get the mail. As soon as I opened the door, I saw this--



Waahooo! I was so excited! You know what it is?!? Coop's bed! I set the box inside the door and continued getting the mail out of the mailbox. All the sudden, the alarm went off! AHH! I started freaking out, then realized that I 'set if off' by opening the door! OOPS! My hearts still beating a little fast after that....

After I sprinted to the back door to turn it off, I hurried to open the box. Thanks to your help, we decided to order the 'funky circle' pattern. Here's what it looked like at first glance.



They sure didn't hesitate to smash that bed in the box! I was lovin' the pattern from the beginning. The fabric is really comfy and soft...I'm sure Cooper will approve!




The plan was to wash it really quick before Kurt and Coop get home. That way, he'd be able to enjoy his new bed right away. Once I pulled it out of the box, I realized that it's a lot smaller than I thought. I'm not too sure if Coop will even be able to fit on it!! So, no tags will be taken off just yet!

              Here's the before --         
                                                                      


And, the after --



If you look really close, you might notice something different {other than the dog bed} on the floor! That's right, we did finally find a rug. More on that another time.....

So, we'll wait until Cooper comes back home. See what he thinks or if he'll even fit. And we'll go from there. Thanks for the advice! We hope it works!!

OH, by the way...I think I've found a new way to make some money....



This is the tag from the dog bed. First of all, it says "Designer Dog Bed" on the back. Spoiled doggie... Anyways, look at that dog! I know another {CUTE} dog, that loves sleeping on his bed, and looks SO cute doing it. Could Coop have any dog modeling in the future? Ha. If you have any advice on how to go about doing this, let me know!! :)

P.S.- We FINALLY found a TV Stand. We're picking it up tomorrow. Can't wait to show you!!!

Tuesday, October 27

jazzin' up the back door

I'm {finally} back to share some fun updates we've done! As you heard last week, we switched the blah back door area into a pretty storage space. Here's what it looked like before...




You walk straight in from the back door into the living/dining room. There was no place to set anything {purse, keys, Cooper's leash, shoes, etc} down. We knew some things we wanted --
-Pictures to be hang
-Hooks
-Storage bin of some type for storing hats, gloves, and anything else we want hidden but accessible 

Shortly after we moved in, we started using some of the pictures we already had to spruce up the space. Here's what it looked like for a couple weeks...


We really liked the design we came up with, but wanted to add two more black frames to finish it off. We finally found some nice and cheap ones at Pier 1. Adding the other two frames really made it look great!


We also found a leather ottoman from Target. This sits by the door {underneath the pictures} and is where we'll be storing away our things. We bought two plastic bins to sit inside the ottoman to keep things semi-organized. Oh it's nice to set my school bag by the door so I don't forget it in the morning!



The original plan was to put hooks in between the pictures and the ottoman {right around the light switch}. But, the awesome hooks I found at Anthropologie were way too big for that space. We weren't willing to compromise the hooks, so we decided to hang them on the other side of the door....just as you walk in!



If you didn't get the significance of the K C K before, here ya go! Kurt's hook is the tallest...clearly he has nothing to hang up yet! :) Cooper's hook is in the middle....ready to go for a walk! And, my hook {Katie} is the shortest....with my hat {from Anthro} that Kurt bought for me!

So, here it is! We hope you like our new back door! We love it and we're ready for winter to be here so we can break out all the scarves, hats, and gloves. Oh, and the best part?!? It didn't cost us much at all to do this project...even better!!

Monday, October 26

slowed updating...

Fall Break was fabulous!


We spent time enjoying the season {and I was wishing I was in Bloomington!}

Unfortunately, my time that was set aside to blog today was used up with another trip to Lowe's.
This is what we had to get....


 We've been having a BAD BUG problem. And, we don't like it one bit!!!
You know it's a problem when you have to use the broom on the back door just to get inside!


 These little gnat-like bugs are all over our door, windows, and more. They jump on our clothing and Cooper's fur. Once inside, they sit on our curtains and stay on us until brushed off!!

 
{Look at all of them inside our window!!!}




{This is a close up view of our back door....}

We searched for some information online about them, and we think they are fungus gnats...YUCK!

Kurt's currently putting two types of stuff outside on the ground around the tree and house. We're hoping this does the trick. We're more than a little worried about Cooper, but didn't know of any other option. The labels say pets need to stay away from the area until it is completely dried. Looks like Coop won't get to enjoy the yard for a little while...ugh!

Hopefully, we'll be able to say 'goodbye' to these pesky little gnats soon!

And, of course, I promise to be back asap with those updates you've been waiting for.

Friday, October 23

teaser

Our rug wasn't the only purchase we made last Saturday. In fact, we had quite the productive day. I've been itching to share with you all the projects we completed!! But, this weekend is our Fall Break. During my four day weekend, I'm planning on getting many more house projects done, writing some of my reports for school, and hopefully getting some relaxing/fun time thrown in, too! So, I'm off to get things checked off the list. I can wait to share with you projects from last weekend AND ones we get completed this weekend!! Here are some pictures to keep you on the edge of your seats {ha}! Have a wonderful weekend!!

We turned this blah backdoor into a stylin' storage space!

What more could a bathroom need?
Storage, what else?!?

Hum...found these awesome accessories at Anthropologie.
Nope, they won't be staying on the beautiful hardwood floors.
Guess you'll just have to wait and see!!

Thursday, October 22

our yard

Since I've been posting a lot this week about Cooper {it's his birthday week, anyways!}, I thought I share with you a little bit about his favorite part about our house.

He. Loves. Our. Yard.

Sunday, I snuck up on Cooper in the yard to show you what he does, very often.

He has discovered squirrels.

Both the squirrels and Cooper like to play the 'Who Can Stay Still Longest' Game.
I don't know who wins, but Cooper has fun. I'm not sure what the squirrels think...

And, if you noticed, our tree hasn't changed colors yet. I'm anxious to see what color it's going to be. Hopefully, it'll be pretty!

Wednesday, October 21

Celebrations

Today is a day full of celebrations! On this day many years ago {I'll leave out the exact number}, my mom and dad got married! On this day three years ago, Patrick and Allison got married! And, on this day four years ago, Cooper was born!

Congrats Mom & Dad --


and cheers to many more years together!

Congrats Patrick and Allison --


and, I'm really ready for my next niece/nephew!! :)

Happy Birthday, Cooper --


even though you drive us nuts sometimes!

Tuesday, October 20

rug update...

Ugh, so frustrating! We {I} decided that the rug didn't work in our room. The more I looked at it, the more I disliked it. So, we decided to take it back this afternoon. I didn't hate it, but it really wasn't what I was envisioning. I knew {or felt like} it'd be really hard for us to find curtains, pillows, and accessories. I really just don't want to be unhappy with a rug two months down the road when we can't take it back but don't want to spend money on another rug.....

So, we're back on the prowl for a rug. Again, if you have any ideas, we'd love to hear. I'm starting to get discouraged and Kurt's just getting really frustrated at my indecisiveness!

pier 1, anyone?

Pier 1 quickly became our favorite store of the weekend......because they had a rug!!! The design and size are perfect. Plus, it was on a huge sale! I was a little unsure of the colors. I was envisioning something a little brighter. We decided to bring it home and see how we liked it. They told us we could always bring it back if we didn't like it in our room. Kurt loved it from the beginning, Cooper L.O.V.E.S it {see video at the bottom}, and it's definitely grown on me. Take a peek of your own and see what you think of it....

Here's what our living room looked like before...





We love our hardwood floor, but we needed a rug. We weren't able to plug in the light on our side table because we needed to run an extension cord under the rug. We also didn't want to buy pillows/curtains until we knew what our rug would look like. So, we now have more lighting and we're looking for some pillows and curtains!!

Here's the room with the new addition...



{You can see how much Cooper loves it! Kurt wouldn't move either!}
It's hard to tell, but the light is actually on!



I know it's kinda dark, but you get an idea of what it looks like.
Cooper's new dog bed will be in that open space on the left {by that basket}.
Make sure you vote!! I don't know if either will work....

So, what do ya think? We hope you like it as much as we do! I'm hoping that we'll be able to find great accessories to go along with it. That's one thing that's worrying me. If you have any ideas, we'd love to hear!

And, as promised, here's a video just to prove how much Cooper really does love the rug!!


We'll be sure to share when we update anything else with the living room.
{Hopefully, that will be sooner than later. We're waiting for our TV Stand to arrive..... You'll just have to wait and see!}

Sunday, October 18

Dog Bed Decisions

Cooper is spoiled...and, we love spoiling him! We'll admit, he's allowed on our furniture. BUT, he sleeps on his bed in our room at night {he likes to jump into bed and snuggle in the mornings sometimes!}. When we moved in, we folded up an old {and v.e.r.y. nasty blanket} from Kurt's house for him to use in the living room. Sometimes he sleeps on the couch/chair, but most of the time he'll lie on his 'bed'. He's begging us to buy him something more comfortable, and we're not disagreeing because the blanket is so ugly.

We headed on over to All Modern Pet to find a new cozy and stylish bed for our little Coop. Problem is, we like two, a lot. So, we need your help. I've put up a poll on the left side of the blog where you can vote on the one you like most. Please let us know what you think...we're dying to know. Maybe you hate both....that's fine for you to tell us, too! Here are the options:

#1: Funky Circles


{Sorry about the large picture, you wouldn't be able to see the circles if it wasn't big.} I'm bad at mixing patterns together, but I thought since this has a mixture of blues, yellows, and greens in funky circle patterns, it'd go with lots of things....

#2: Multicolored X's


 




This one has about the same color scheme, but the pattern is more distinct...if that makes sense?!? I'm just hoping that either one would look okay in our room. And, Cooper is wanting us to hurry up and make a decision so he can be more comfy!!

I hope you had a great weekend. We have LOTS of things to share that happened this weekend in our new little house!! :)

Thursday, October 15

update 2 -- master closet

I'll be the first to admit, our house lacks storage...big time. We're trying to come up with creative ways to add storage in many places throughout the house. Kurt's dad is a custom home builder, so he really understands what people want and creative ideas with how to make this happen. We all agreed {some sooner than others!} that adding storage to our closet was the first place we needed to start.

One of the first days after we'd moved in, Kurt called me on my way home from work and said, "I put all our clothes in the closet{s} today and I think you're really going to like the set-up I came up with." I can't stress enough how thankful I am for having a boyfriend who likes to help out with all the house stuff, BUT I'm a very anal person. After hearing this, I made sure to thank him for putting all the clothes away, but let him know that we'd still need some major help in the closet department. {I stressed that we should both be able to fit our clothes in the master closet so that we can use the guest closet for extra storage for lots of other things.} So, for the first two weeks, clothes were shoved in random spots, nothing was put away in drawers, and the closet floor was such a mess I could barely find clothes to wear to work! Kurt started taking everything out of the closet before I thought to get a 'before' picture, but here's what the closet storage looked like before adding anything.  

The left side -- one hanging rod and some shelves.



A view straight in from the door.
One rod on the back wall.







The right side -- one more hanging rod.



Because we already had our clothes hanging, the only place we had to put them while working in the closet was on our bed. Try to imagine all these hanging on 3 rods.



The clothes were covering our entire bed and stacked up pretty high!!

Shoes, shoes, and probably more shoes...

Cooper was bored throughout the whole process...no one to play with and not many places to go! He was being so good, and of course, CUTE!




The first thing I wanted to do was take off the door. There was absolutely no need for a door on the closet that's already inside our master bathroom. No one, but us, is going to see it! By taking the door off, we added space on one wall to add hangers for Kurt's ties and some more for our belts/scarves. It's also opened up a wall for one shoe rack to stand.



We haven't put the hooks up yet, but at least we can access the shelves and have a shoe rack!

We also raised all of the closet rods to about 80in. That allowed us to add another closet rod under each one. Basically, instead of having one rod on each wall, we now have 2 on 2 of the walls and left one in the same spot for long dresses/skirts. {This is the wall with the second shoe rack.}


 
 
Kurt's side -- two rods to use. 



Looking straight in -- 2 for Kurt on the left, 2 for me on the right.




The right side of the closet -- all my long clothing is behind Kurt's ties. 

So, we basically doubled our storage in the closet! We're both able to fit {almost} all our clothes. We've really had to put away off season things and shoe storage is still a problem. It's not the most ideal closet in the world, but it's great for now. Have any more ideas for maximizing space in small closets?