tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39913846061914603372024-02-19T21:52:46.281-05:00The Diligent OneWelcome to The Diligent One: a blog about life as a mother of a teenager, a homeowner and DIYer, and a lover of all things dog.Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-44167778690687639022014-10-14T22:03:00.000-04:002014-10-14T22:10:11.010-04:00Thoughts From a 1-Month NewlywedWow, guys. Wow. I'm here, and I'm looking around at this blog. This place where I so loved to come, and I'm seeing that I have not been here regularly in over a year. It's interesting how life changes, isn't it?<br />
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So, I have to tell you all something. This happened:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pVbbJx3crWUr0KoxTdOEKqQzfmeM3OkAWUicTbE51l4FbVwebU77V_rSURsCxJo4FfwYqGzMCuNzuPI2RJJdyVw78I7QcMAlWdxVFjXaztPLDPGzSJx0oIep6_NSZZscTwuRJbamJnPE/s1600/forehead+kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pVbbJx3crWUr0KoxTdOEKqQzfmeM3OkAWUicTbE51l4FbVwebU77V_rSURsCxJo4FfwYqGzMCuNzuPI2RJJdyVw78I7QcMAlWdxVFjXaztPLDPGzSJx0oIep6_NSZZscTwuRJbamJnPE/s1600/forehead+kiss.jpg" height="400" width="273" /></a></div>
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Yep! I got married!! Since this has always been my place to share crafty and thrifty stuff, I hope to one day share all the ways we made our special day...well...special. And how we did it on a pretty meager budget. But, that's not why I'm here today. Today I'd like to share some of my thoughts as a 1-month newlywed. Take it for what it's worth. I am certainly not an expert. </div>
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And so, I present to you: <b>What Love Does.</b></div>
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Love puts his partner first. Always. In everything.</div>
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Love hangs his shower sponge under his wife's so hers is accessible when she needs it.</div>
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Love engages in musical cars when necessary so that his wife's car is always ready for her.</div>
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Love gets gas so she doesn't have to.</div>
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Love always reaches the tall stuff, carries the heavy stuff.</div>
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Love embraces the to-do list.</div>
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Love makes egg sandwiches for his stepson. Every single morning.</div>
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Love works hard, long hours to provide for his family.</div>
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Love teaches with words but also with actions.</div>
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Love does so sacrificially.</div>
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How do I know so much about Love? Because I married him.</div>
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Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-64302436935680549022013-12-16T21:30:00.001-05:002013-12-16T21:30:33.991-05:00An uncomplified ChristmasIt was <a href="http://www.thenester.com/" target="_blank">The Nester</a> who originally came up with the term uncomplified, and it is exactly what I've striven for this Christmas season.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_90p-CE-7Fzpj0l2sxaDoA9qCU98E46UIdOq5VeTarXysxefROEcVTG_TvqWzBKdjuU2lMFBvvRLq9lIlQpZaW2QBDbxaPkaOkdi6MA47hLWT-Q7m-C4aTG0zaNS9GLNaubyH7oxeioOP/s1600/uncomplified.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_90p-CE-7Fzpj0l2sxaDoA9qCU98E46UIdOq5VeTarXysxefROEcVTG_TvqWzBKdjuU2lMFBvvRLq9lIlQpZaW2QBDbxaPkaOkdi6MA47hLWT-Q7m-C4aTG0zaNS9GLNaubyH7oxeioOP/s320/uncomplified.png" width="301" /></a></div>
Sometimes it seems things are unnecessarily complicated. Uncomplifying things makes so much more sense.<br />
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One of our favorite traditions is to cut down our own tree. We went to <a href="http://gaverfarm.com/" target="_blank">Garver Farm</a> in Mt. Airy this year and found the most perfect Fraser Fir. Blakey was lucky enough to join us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mvwQMnpQmVBEc5jFxI36DIp_FdHtW08mxcaE4JshVX532gXdSNsQyvmnI_2NdWvmNerskujqp1S3Ru9qsPqPsRa5mtTSuCnRiOmgMHcVL8Omx4qT91TECy9vLhFhy5YIv8RjC3Zr9_sk/s1600/CAM01615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mvwQMnpQmVBEc5jFxI36DIp_FdHtW08mxcaE4JshVX532gXdSNsQyvmnI_2NdWvmNerskujqp1S3Ru9qsPqPsRa5mtTSuCnRiOmgMHcVL8Omx4qT91TECy9vLhFhy5YIv8RjC3Zr9_sk/s400/CAM01615.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjn5sWyfCvNulUyBC3TqeHZW6zxveyhhhkxE5cvYoDOKkM6ipDIIR5YNflMQ0ISGqwlLWe1VC2IbZvkA0jboApruLi6Z323ZrY4asr6WyB0zFrm3HnjrmJDMiR2IlAanWrQq8EXCT86Bz4/s1600/CAM01616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjn5sWyfCvNulUyBC3TqeHZW6zxveyhhhkxE5cvYoDOKkM6ipDIIR5YNflMQ0ISGqwlLWe1VC2IbZvkA0jboApruLi6Z323ZrY4asr6WyB0zFrm3HnjrmJDMiR2IlAanWrQq8EXCT86Bz4/s400/CAM01616.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOyB4j6mN8_Yrf7qXuSJs9KRp89GRHo5cVCMdXvPR90QOaXjcmLcPRKZKSg_VIKvtGUk2ZhKSPzG69yQpN07pPc3Vjhfmjba-OyLiwZJJE3hBtw24ZzhCUjetxiE0sVIJ5CrEfA2K5xDA/s1600/CAM01617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOyB4j6mN8_Yrf7qXuSJs9KRp89GRHo5cVCMdXvPR90QOaXjcmLcPRKZKSg_VIKvtGUk2ZhKSPzG69yQpN07pPc3Vjhfmjba-OyLiwZJJE3hBtw24ZzhCUjetxiE0sVIJ5CrEfA2K5xDA/s400/CAM01617.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
I had planned to put out only the Christmas decorations that I absolutely love this year, and Colin even surprised me by requesting that we put only our favorite ornaments on the tree. It may be more bare than some would like, but - really - what does that matter?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclpRDyIkkGPL0LeG2mXpGFuzQHLIfzeBysT0sPUgmk22Fpncc60AAvLx8Nm8eZxyoHpXcJ3JfNeGRaHAepp9KFCoIjYItcyK6irBjMZDecHRwmwH7l2ThBGzV0rMH1MnRWvRMj6PVlG7K/s1600/CAM01673.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclpRDyIkkGPL0LeG2mXpGFuzQHLIfzeBysT0sPUgmk22Fpncc60AAvLx8Nm8eZxyoHpXcJ3JfNeGRaHAepp9KFCoIjYItcyK6irBjMZDecHRwmwH7l2ThBGzV0rMH1MnRWvRMj6PVlG7K/s400/CAM01673.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I pulled out the P-E-A-C-E banner from Sharon at <a href="http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Elizabeth & Co</a>. again this year for the mantle. Sharon was kind enough to make this for me last Christmastime, and I treasure it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJQ9zRMbGaRkGNu9zFlu86e9NXtuqOrqgjsdX9SG2U5I6eZFUcJasxig9gZ7aa7Ngy3dcK8LcoehTv8jSaO6bQCJGyYF5GijuhJt-wHh6UjF_wiH9VBvqBBFxvmmkyqLGl_Mj5NuqGWY5/s1600/CAM01620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJQ9zRMbGaRkGNu9zFlu86e9NXtuqOrqgjsdX9SG2U5I6eZFUcJasxig9gZ7aa7Ngy3dcK8LcoehTv8jSaO6bQCJGyYF5GijuhJt-wHh6UjF_wiH9VBvqBBFxvmmkyqLGl_Mj5NuqGWY5/s400/CAM01620.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
And, this cute little red deer is the inside (cut-out part) from a free printable cut out that Amanda at <a href="http://ourhumbleabodeblog.com/" target="_blank">Our Humbe Abode</a> had up on her blog several weeks ago. My sister had printed and cut it out and had it on display at her house one day when I was over to visit. I immediately fell in love with it and told her how cute it was. So, she fished the cut out part from the trashcan, and all of the sudden we both had new Christmas art!<br />
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Here are a few more shots that I took from around the house this weekend after I had cleaned in preparation for a family get-together yesterday.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUI5rkEj-dwbMuThNed9SMuzJCR4WWijSnnMGPuKub2ZDkxOgtfDoGpIQuX2HZcOdl7gGcmMekgkm7ByvRygQO3jDDM0QUA4E2vCDXz4XvVS6EteLuC-z0IN-zY0Xpkw2sS_qAl8wm2MLZ/s1600/CAM01645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUI5rkEj-dwbMuThNed9SMuzJCR4WWijSnnMGPuKub2ZDkxOgtfDoGpIQuX2HZcOdl7gGcmMekgkm7ByvRygQO3jDDM0QUA4E2vCDXz4XvVS6EteLuC-z0IN-zY0Xpkw2sS_qAl8wm2MLZ/s400/CAM01645.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5U1Y0dE9nJPXTFl1yy7zMj3Qc3o00jSBfV673_NmOvrfVwiQCsiFYZynySJKAwZFWg3BekJ3rg0WJTgyjZ9o1YoEC8Rpm9_uaKwzYd636YqakcbrScGRp-hYvGSmjV2kFjq06VDBe7YLE/s1600/CAM01653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5U1Y0dE9nJPXTFl1yy7zMj3Qc3o00jSBfV673_NmOvrfVwiQCsiFYZynySJKAwZFWg3BekJ3rg0WJTgyjZ9o1YoEC8Rpm9_uaKwzYd636YqakcbrScGRp-hYvGSmjV2kFjq06VDBe7YLE/s400/CAM01653.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I hope this Christmas season you, too, will take the path of least complification. Simple is beautiful, and it leaves a lot more room for things like love. And family. And friends. And all those things that really matter.<br />
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Merry Christmas, friends. And, if you're local- stop by, would you? The door is always open. And, I really mean it.<br />
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EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-10373591617711487412013-10-26T21:25:00.000-04:002013-10-26T21:40:13.509-04:00Our EktorpI believe the last time we talked about our living room it looked something like this:<br />
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Well, several things have changed in this room, and I'd love to tell you about them. I think I've mentioned that we're preparing for some renovations in our basement. One of the preparations that we have made has been to completely empty the basement family room of all furniture so that the construction can begin over the winter. Since that is where our main TV has always lived, we had to do some room reallocation and musical furniture, and the living room was up first. It didn't take long to decide that if we were going to be watching TV upstairs, I wanted a more comfortable couch for that, and our old sectional from the basement was much too large for our...um...cozy living room. You see, we did love the leather couch that has been in the living room for 5 or 6 years, but it was never really a couch that you could snuggle into or nap on. It was partially the material (leather is cold in the winter and hot in the summer) and partially the design. The seat cushions seemed to be tilted outwards, which made it a great sitting-couch but a lousy lying/snuggling-couch. And, when I'm watching TV, I want to be super comfy! So, I began searching for its replacement. It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted the Ikea Ektorp couch with a chaise on one side. I have always loved the classic styling of this couch, and there were enough good reviews out there to help me not freak out about the bad ones.<br />
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So, on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, I posted our leather sofa up on Craig's List for $350. By 11am the next day, the couch had been picked up, and I had 350 big ones burning a hole in my pocket. Before I knew it, my dad and I were heading to Ikea- me from my house, and him from his- to get me a new couch. We fit the two HUGE boxes in his van and headed back to my house. I don't have much to say about the assembly process except that it was super quick and easy. We had the couch unpacked and fully set up in about an hour. And now, our living room looks like this: <br />
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As you can see, we had to change the orientation (And, we got a different rug- Target. Light tan and creamish white is not a good mix for 2 dogs. The other rug now lives quite happily in the lesser-used guest room.)<br />
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So, onto the actual couch review: we love it. Love, LOVE, LOVE it! It is very cushy and comfortable but still easy to get into and out of. The seat cushion are not as deep as some other couches, and that might be a con for some. But, for us it works. And, there's this thing you can do where you take off the back cushions and turn the couch into a couch-bed with tons of room for stretching out and snuggling with dogs (or whatever). It's really, really good. And, with the chaise lounge part, more than one person can be stretched out at the same time. No fighting for one single best sofa spot!<br />
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This corner right here actually happens to mostly be my favorite spot. I'm sitting here right now, as a matter of fact with my legs outstretched on the chaise part with Blake to my left and a cup of hot tea with honey on the table to my right. <br />
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I keep this Ikea sheep skin here most of the time, because Blake loves to rest his chin on it. What can I say? He only likes the softest of surfaces.<br />
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The quality of the couch and of the slipcover (which, by the way, is machine washable) is superb. I ask: does this look like Ikea to you?<br />
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If I must find something to nitpick, I will admit that I dislike the way the chaise cushion hangs over the frame. It didn't scoot out to get like this- this is the way it is. It's almost like it is made too long. But, I put a basket for pillows and blankets there, and that helps to make it less noticeable. Or at least, that's what I tell myself.<br />
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Overall, we are loving our new living room set up, including the new Ektorp couch. If you're couch shopping and the Ektorp is on your list, I say you should head straight to your nearest Ikea without delay. With the slipcover I chose, the total price came to $699 for a classic couch upholstered in a durable medium tan twill. With the $350 I made selling my old couch, that was only $350 out of pocket. To get this look at Pottery Barn, I would have paid over $2000 for the least expensive upholstery, which was simply way out of my price range.<br />
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And, we humans aren't the only ones. The canines are liking the new furniture as well.<br />
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Told you Blakey prefers to rest his head on Very Soft Things. And, it turns out Piper has learned to as well.<br />
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Oh, and because Instagram is so good at catching real life, this is what the living room looks like most of the time around here. Note the ottoman on the other side for extreme multi-person comfort. This is life. Unedited.<br />
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xo,<br />
<br />
EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-51451734989518258352013-10-14T21:32:00.001-04:002013-10-14T21:32:43.084-04:00Initial artWow! Look at this! I go months without posting, and now I'm whipping together two posts in as many days. All I can say is don't get used to it. :)<br />
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According to Pinterest, it was over a year ago that I pinned this image. (I am unable to link to the original site, as the Etsy link is now broken. If this image belongs to you, please let me know so that I may give credit where credit is due!)<br />
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Apparently, my taste was as good a year ago as it is now, because I still love the idea of framing a piece of craft paper or fabric and topping it with a chunky letter. I finally made the time this past weekend to get on it. I already had the wooden letter, a sheet of craft paper and the simple Ikea frame. All I needed was the 5 minutes it took to put them all together. And, the new creation got a place of honor in our growing wall of art.<br />
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This is my view from the kitchen sink. Perfect if you ask me.<br />
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xo,<br />
<br />
EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-11765456335766339162013-08-30T20:11:00.001-04:002013-08-30T20:11:07.110-04:00Old door turned new deskWhen I first spied the Craig's List ad for a chippy, old, solid wood, raised panel door for 10 bucks, I knew I wanted to give her a new life, and I knew exactly what her new job would be. She was destined to become my new work surface. I paired her with two $15 trestles from Ikea, and bam: a new desk.<br />
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We are smack in the middle of a huge, house-wide round of musical furniture as we prepare to hopefully do some renovations in our basement. All of the rearranging has left me without a desk or any real work surface on which to blog, craft, pay bills or work from home as necessary, because Colin now has his desk in his bedroom instead of in the common area of the basement. And so, for now, our former breakfast room is a breakfast room no longer. Meals are served in the dining room, and the sunny, cheerful breakfast room is home to my new, equally sunny and cheerful old door turned desk.<br />
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Of course, the door needs some work. I need to fill in the areas that were chiseled out for the hinges, and there is still some old hardware on the door, too. And, then there is the paint job. On the one hand, I love the chippy old goodness, but on the other hand, I feel like I could clean it up a little. And, I will eventually top the desk with a sheet of plexiglass. But, that will all get done in time. For now I've been using it as is- bumpy, old, uneven top, chippy paint and all. <br />
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xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-45717469045721590562013-08-29T12:50:00.000-04:002013-08-29T12:54:44.798-04:00Looking back on a month of de-owningAfter some major success with No Buy July, I boldly declared the next month De-own August! A month of de-owning unnecessary things that were perfectly good but sitting unused in the dark recesses of my closets and robbing me of my precious space: what could be better than that?!<br />
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In anticipation of a major home space re-allotment (more on that later), I figured it'd be nice to go through as many items in my home as possible to honestly and ruthlessly answer the question: do I *really*need this? Not only did the timing make sense for me, I also had several other willing <strike>victims</strike> parties. Colin is saving up for a new computer which provided him with motivation to pass on some of his old toys. A friend Jen is attempting to downsize some of her possessions and was game to de-clutter. My mom and dad have recently moved which really helped them evaluate the importance of their stuff, and my sister is also at a point where less is more. So, we decided to do what any, reasonable group of hoarders would do. We scheduled a yard sale. We picked the date about a month or 6 weeks ahead of time to give us plenty of time to sort through our <strike>junk </strike>treasures.<br />
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We all worked very hard over the weeks leading up to the yard sale. Signs were made, Craig's List posts were crafted, flyers were hung at local establishments, and Facebook was blasted. On yard sale eve, my spare bedroom looked like this:<br />
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And, my living room looked like this:<br />
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Jen posted this picture to Facebook of her dining room:<br />
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And, if I had photos from my parents or sister, I'm sure they would have been just as bad. Needless to say we did not have a shortage of stuff to sell! When it was all said and done, our entire driveway (large enough for probably 5 vehicles) was full of stuff and so was half of our front lawn!<br />
<br />
The yard sale was wildly successful with everyone getting rid of a ton of stuff. There were times that we had probably 25 or 30 shoppers milling around. At times, parked cars lined both sides of the street with a narrow driving lane down the middle. The sale went strong from about 7:30 am until 12:30 pm, at which time there were still shoppers, but we were so tired and hungry that we just wanted to be done! We could have kept going, but- for me- the return on my time investment had dipped past the threshold. <br />
<br />
In light of our success, I'd like to share some of my thoughts on what made the day fun and successful:<br />
<ul>
<li>Online marketing: We took an informal poll of our buyers as they paid for their goods. Many, many folks (the majority?) found us through our Craig's List ad. Jen wrote the ad brilliantly including keywords for many of the items we had for sale. The idea is that you want your ad to come up on as many searches as possible. If you have it for sale, list it! There are also several yard sale websites that pull feed from CL and link to them on their site. Jen also listed the yard sale in our local Pennysaver. Cost of online marketing: free!</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Apps: For the i-phone and android users who are looking for sales while they're out and about, apps are key. Jen used the most popular app for each, and further marketed our sale that way. Posting to these apps was also free.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Paper marketing: Signs, signs and more signs! We made 16 large, fluorescent, easy to read signs to post around our neighborhood and surrounding area to lure drivers to our street. I didn't bother listing the actual date or full address, because I didn't want to clutter up the sign with unnecessary information (plus, now I can reuse the signs for future sales!). In addition to the large signs we posted on Thursday under the cover of darkness (so they'd be visible all day on Friday), I made 10 flyers to post at local businesses. We had to get permission to tape our flyer on business doors/windows, but the owners we spoke to were very accommodating. Total spent on paper marketing: $21 (but, again- the signs can be reused).</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li> The other fun thing we did was all wear matching colored shirts. The color we chose for the day was hot pink, which made it really easy to direct a buyer with questions to the correct person ("I'm not sure, but my mom over there in the hot pink shirt can answer that.")</li>
</ul>
Overall, the day was very fun. I think I can speak for us all when I say that it felt good to watch some of our under-used stuff go to a new home, and make some moolah in the meantime. I won't go into details about profits made, but let's just say that there were lots of smiles on lots of faces at the end of the day when we counted our proceeds.<br />
<br />
I think all the hard work paid off for sure!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-83201464280374684202013-07-29T15:18:00.001-04:002013-07-29T15:18:43.870-04:00No Buy JulyNear the end of June, I declared publicly on Facebook that I was embarking on a No Buy July. What exactly is a No Buy July? It was my attempt at getting through an entire month without bringing any unnecessary items into my home. It wasn't a spending freeze- we were free to go out to dinner, catch a movie, or spend money on fun, non-tangible things. Rather, it was an attempt to totally eliminate purchasing non-essential items for 31 days. Aside from consumables, like food or necessary toiletries, I attempted to not buy any **things**.<br />
<br />
So, how did I do? Pretty good, I think! I was not perfect, though. The exercise taught me several very important lessons:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I want a lot of things! Perhaps I wanted more this past month, because I knew I wouldn't be buying anything. But, honestly I suspect this is my normal. I was surprised at how many times "I want that!" crossed my mind.</li>
<li>Once some time passes, I realize that I don't really need most of the things I want. Yowza. That lesson right there was worth the whole month of delayed gratification.</li>
<li>Waiting on something and planning for the purchase makes it all that much sweeter. So, I guess there really is something to this whole delayed gratification thing. There is a purchase that I have been waiting to make since the beginning of the month. When August 1st finally get here, the purchase will be all that more rewarding- not because of the purchase itself, but because I had to wait so long for it.</li>
</ol>
<br />
So, where do I go from here? I mean, this was a good exercise in self control and all, but I don't want to go back to my old ways. I have decided to make a wish list. In the back of my calendar (yes, I still use a paper pocket calendar to keep track of my schedule), there are several lined pages with the header Notes. I plan to record my wish list here, dating each entry. My goal is to wait one week after adding something to the list before purchasing it. Often, the "need" wears off within a week, and I can't wait to see how many things I am able to cross off after deciding not to purchase them.<br />
<br />
So, how did you all do? I know there were several who joined me in a No Buy July. Learn anything through the month?<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-43502369503226324912013-04-05T19:31:00.002-04:002013-04-05T19:31:11.201-04:00Fresh spring banner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the mounting demands of school and work and all of my usual duties plus my teenager breaking his arm (yes, that's right- Colin broke his arm at lacrosse practice 3 weeks ago), I was in serious need of a quick, simple, fun, and rewarding crafting project to lift my spirits. My mantel has felt a little blah, and I knew just what would gussy it up. After a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, I had all of my supplies: 3 sheets of craft paper, 1 page of card stock, scissors, twine, and a hole punch.<br />
<br />
I made a template with the card stock, totally guessing on the dimensions until I landed on something that pleased my eye. Using the template, I cut 3 shapes (what the heck are they called? flags?) in each color. I punched 2 holes in each and strung them on a piece of twine, and I was done-zo. Boom.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgAv29gADAqV1De-1HIcFGXe6gtxGUiD96eGt-TKdor_Rw2UUTDaL0XQa0QeWc2lb9dAE3IFCFwTbBO3p4u-iBgQH7k7FYBq73ZOIxi7BV9pkIjSuyGGByPTTFWASX5L6kqh4Vlazxqqz/s1600/DSCN5102.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgAv29gADAqV1De-1HIcFGXe6gtxGUiD96eGt-TKdor_Rw2UUTDaL0XQa0QeWc2lb9dAE3IFCFwTbBO3p4u-iBgQH7k7FYBq73ZOIxi7BV9pkIjSuyGGByPTTFWASX5L6kqh4Vlazxqqz/s640/DSCN5102.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
Since the craft paper was on 50% at Hobby Lobby and I already had all of the other supplies, this beauty set me back $0.94. Picture me patting myself on the back.<br />
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Anyone else out there get their craft on lately? Can you beat my cute-and-new-for-only-94-cents price tag?<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
<br />Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-69472130760632025632013-04-03T22:28:00.003-04:002013-04-03T22:36:48.179-04:00Señor OmbreClass is still in session, and my sister is still holding down the blog-fort. And, look: here she is with another project that has me drooling all over my keyboard. Take it away, Amy!!<br />
<br />
<i>I'm back again, this time with my latest <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/" target="_blank">YHL</a>-inspired project!
(Remember the <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2013/03/glogger-yhl-inspiration.html" target="_blank">others</a>? The Custom State Art, the Fun Geometric Art, and
the Venn Diagram, which was additionally inspired by <a href="http://ourhumbleabodeblog.com/" target="_blank">Our Humble Abode</a>?)
Well, this time the project involved more than an X-acto knife,
Mod-Podge, some canvases, and an hour of my time. I took inspiration
from Idea #230 of YHL's book, "Paint a Gradient." </i><br />
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<i>This was one of the
items from the book I had mentally put in the "must do" category, and I
already had the perfect victim, er, piece of furniture, sitting in my
basement. The dresser my husband brought into our marriage was
something his family had inherited at some point from some relative (I
asked my mother-in-law, but she wasn't sure when or from whom). I loved
the dresser, and especially the hardware, but it had seen better days. </i><br />
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<i> Structurally, it was in great shape, though. I decided a makeover was
definitely in order.</i><br />
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<i> </i><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMycCALD3xmoty0jc_pueLFRf-1sD0w-fF-NVncL4HDJjSEMBvOMXFOjYEOBTZtiXBq60ZYA7RfcZOYGGBlLx1Eh382RF_UuCw10TfQXOHRn6lN8eyMJ7JksyW3yx_aAwZ6JWuY7aUEIm/s1600/DSCN3892.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMycCALD3xmoty0jc_pueLFRf-1sD0w-fF-NVncL4HDJjSEMBvOMXFOjYEOBTZtiXBq60ZYA7RfcZOYGGBlLx1Eh382RF_UuCw10TfQXOHRn6lN8eyMJ7JksyW3yx_aAwZ6JWuY7aUEIm/s640/DSCN3892.JPG" width="478" /></a></i></div>
<i>The first task was deciding on color. I set out for Home Depot (which,
incidentally, is a half-hour away and I took three of my kids with me!)
to consider colors and grab some paint chips. I immediately gravitated
toward the greys -- I love the dresser in the book and I have a habit of
imitating what I like since I'm fairly sure I don't really have any
natural design or decorating talent of my own. But my daughter Naomi,
whose favorite color these days is turquoise, convinced me to take home
some of the turquoise/teal paint chips. Long story short, once I got
home, I settled on four shades of teal, all from the same Behr paint
chip. (Shallow Sea, Tropical Tide, Lagoon, and Mosac Tile, by the
way.) I went back to Home Depot and got a quart of the darkest color in
satin, and Behr tester pots of the lighter three shades. </i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisG8Vlxui8c14yR5cJVdemNbBqdJLtztIEb5nzoNIWUv3LfKWPRZYRCi8TAfEWGA_ihlcDtfDd407ZsqytHFveCAnJrtEiY2C1H01cf-r-ydu5QBPTPE4c_MfWicHrkmbn7G1phDLJf0c7/s1600/DSCN4038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4UGsREH0cgr2NjvdbprHrN3qTRfTkX6j-cJS-I4d0JKJzxvRcWIbvKSlAmckRlFoGrSWgnnPGh9L1pXVywzq2PtUBM0S-ucBz4_QGlINR2m_bTVmmNTH14CR_RCpj0UK4ZJtrgdJ8ExS/s640/DSCN4039.JPG" width="640" /></a><i>Something I
learned: the tester pots only come in a flat finish, so if you want a
wipeable finish, you'll need to put a clear coat of something over top.
I also picked up a quart of grey-tinted Glidden Gripper water-based
primer. Love the stuff. I'll get to that part later.<br />
</i><i> </i><br />
<i>I started by taking the drawers out, removing the hardware, and giving
everything a light sanding and wipe-down. Then I used a foam roller to
apply one coat of the Gripper primer to the fronts of the four drawers
and the top, front and sides of the dresser. </i><br />
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<i>It went on great, covered
well, and provided a nice undercoat for the paint. By the way, this
stuff is advertised to stick to almost anything -- Tile? Check.
Wallpaper? Check. Plastic and wood laminates? Check. Even glass,
according to the person at the paint counter. I can tell you that I did
drip some on my tile floor (apparently my cereal-box dropcloth wasn't
sufficient) and I had a pretty hard time scraping it off a few days
later. So I'm pretty confident that it won't chip or peel easily from
the dresser, even with five kids opening and closing the drawers on a
regular basis.<br />
<br />
Then, I rolled a different color of teal paint onto each of the drawer
fronts, and I also rolled the darkest color onto the rest of the
dresser. </i><br />
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<i>I think I used three coats of paint. Unfortunately, I only
had one foam roller, so for the first coat, I had to wash out the roller
in between painting each of the drawer fronts. It then occurred to me
that I should buy more rollers and store them in a sandwich bag in
between coats. Honestly, it took me more time to wash out the roller
than it did to paint each drawer front! I had also picked up a can of Krylon ORB spray paint to freshen up the hardware. A few thin and even coats did the trick.</i><br />
<img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yrrXthETfHUw3fsbmaCdCqwERvPrOB3Fzffpr5yZTebwbLu4t_4FJ1jYHN4oQMqA8ZRgxpNOEFmiWg_ezV_XB1wUGqhB5fFm9U8ts0XOBQbSgM_fwWF5KpaWlZMNkAOFLv9OE6wWBaTv/s640/DSCN3901.JPG" width="640" /><br />
<i>
The girl at the paint counter at Home Depot had recommended purchasing a
quart of untinted Behr Deep Base Self-Priming Interior Satin Enamel to
use for the top coat. She showed me that the paint looks milky-white
while it's wet, but said that it dries clear. I ended up buying it and
using it on the four drawer fronts, and wasn't happy with the results.
She cautioned me against making my coats too thick, but said I could do
as many coats as I wanted, as long as they were thin. So I rolled on
two super thin coats and should've only used one. It may not be clear
from the pictures, but there's a milky haze on the drawers. It was more
apparent in the darker colors, so I repainted the bottom drawer with
the dark teal paint to get rid of the haze. (Since it was a satin
finish anyway, it didn't really need a top coat for wipeability's
sake.) And thankfully, it's in our guest room, which is in our
basement, which is dark, so the haze isn't too obvious.<br />
<br />
Once everything had a couple of days to completely dry and harden up, I
reattached the hardware, put the drawers back in, and moved the dresser
to its new home, (which happens to be the basement wall adjacent to the
wall that used to be its old home). The bottom two drawers hold the
kids' DVDs, and the top two remain empty for guests.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSctVoEhrK06bKm8CzIjL1jwiSskIa_u7NmGuv6QG5Fik4z5vPig2ZDYMiBcoUE1MM_Q0gdL10gINwTikmuUnjWExqcSQqjWpEJIWo5Fw21n2aU757s8crfWEPvaaiVRxHLuvvDGhOLX7/s1600/DSCN3167.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSctVoEhrK06bKm8CzIjL1jwiSskIa_u7NmGuv6QG5Fik4z5vPig2ZDYMiBcoUE1MM_Q0gdL10gINwTikmuUnjWExqcSQqjWpEJIWo5Fw21n2aU757s8crfWEPvaaiVRxHLuvvDGhOLX7/s640/DSCN3167.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<i> </i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgYr5d5SWOOEsoNjJZSl5OmDBl5uXYYibrp6VaPsN4fvXCGvazW15DLye_GDsHy5nYbAIlfjAcYY_sacvQZPENs7rWz6RUV8Kq_1xPGPCTP54R4pcbCuDSWGWrca3v4sw5Aqw7xKjDF2T/s1600/DSCN3174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgYr5d5SWOOEsoNjJZSl5OmDBl5uXYYibrp6VaPsN4fvXCGvazW15DLye_GDsHy5nYbAIlfjAcYY_sacvQZPENs7rWz6RUV8Kq_1xPGPCTP54R4pcbCuDSWGWrca3v4sw5Aqw7xKjDF2T/s640/DSCN3174.JPG" width="480" /></a>
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<i>Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out. We've been using it for several weeks now and it still looks flawless,
so that's a good sign! I have several more projects on the agenda (can
you say Board and Batten a la YHL?), so if I have the opportunity, maybe
I'll be back!</i><br />
<br />
Okay, by show of hands, who loves this dresser makeover?! **wildly waves hand**<br />
<i> </i><br />
It think it was a great way to give the old, tired piece a new lease on life, and I think Naomi deserves a big hug for convincing my sister to choose these fresh, happy colors. Don't you just love it all?! Oh, and I, personally, am super excited to see Amy and Jim's board and batten project! I've been wanting to do this treatment to my hallway, so hopefully they're learning all the tricks that they can pass on to me once I get back on the DIY horse!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-18876976951124650312013-03-07T20:55:00.001-05:002013-03-07T20:55:03.343-05:00Glogger: YHL inspirationSince I started taking a statistics class at the local community college, I have had little time for any DIY projects or even little crafty things. And, without those, I've got nothing to blog about! But, thankfully, I've got a glogger today (guest blogger=glogger) who is here to share a couple of her most recent DIY projects. That is, of course, aside from her best (and most involved) project to date of being a wife and mother and homeschooler of 5 young'uns. Take it away, Amy!<br />
<br />
<i>Some of you may know that Emily's birthday is in
November. Some of you may also know that both Emily and I are devoted
<a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/" target="_blank">Young House Love</a> followers. So this past November, when Emily's
birthday and the release date of John and Sherry's book nearly collided,
I saw a great gift opportunity! In the late summer/early fall of 2012,
when the book became available for pre-order, I purchased one to be
sent directly to Emily, (specially birthday-wrapped with a card, of
course!), hoping that it would arrive just before her birthday. And it
did!! She was delighted, and of course, I was DYING to get my hands on a
copy. She had never gotten me a gift for my most recent birthday (way
back in May!), and she had been waiting for "just the right thing".... I
bet you know what I'm going to say next -- yes, she bought the book
for me as a 6-month-belated birthday gift. So after reading through the
entire book, (which didn't take too long since I read it at every
opportunity!), I mentally broke their ideas into categories: "must
do," "might do," and "hmmmm, that's interesting...." </i><br />
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1agkiQBwy14nBZoqDrZ1jHuyXpm2jnHvRodvUxe80f-jwhLxBLWbMKYFpouKxwYUU3osLL_sOn_mIYsv4zhqntaD0t5TBPHbpbuOBZnMBox5C2b9DWELv7IRtxu91yM8YCXfbzUkhalb4/s1600/DSCN4790.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1agkiQBwy14nBZoqDrZ1jHuyXpm2jnHvRodvUxe80f-jwhLxBLWbMKYFpouKxwYUU3osLL_sOn_mIYsv4zhqntaD0t5TBPHbpbuOBZnMBox5C2b9DWELv7IRtxu91yM8YCXfbzUkhalb4/s640/DSCN4790.JPG" width="640" /></a></i></div>
<i>I've been
plugging along with the "must do" items here and there, and Emily asked
me to share what I've done so far. So here goes:<br /><br />We have a
frame wall in our upper stairway (by the way, poorly lit stairwell +
awful photographer + inexpensive camera = BAAAAD pictures, so I'll only
force you to look at one picture of these projects hanging on the
stairway wall -- I then attempted to stage them in better-lit areas).
The original idea for our frame wall came from John and Sherry's awesome
hallway frame gallery. When we originally hung all of the frames, we
used some things that were just meant to be placeholders until something
more permanent was found/made. So after a year of staring at
magazine/catalog pages, I made some custom state art!! (And for those
of you who own the book, it's Idea #124: Whip Up Custom State Art.)</i><br /><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-wF1HJw2PZ6a52ziMyeLm62aZwbLdnwROSuunxRvjAe3s6YqWgsnc6JJaE_hFNBSTESeA0nPT7FxrPuBLGnabV2hfDfC_ihvjkZ2OkbavyVWJVsAepDV3q1v441SoT2TjmbRQKxuROlO/s1600/DSCN5099.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-wF1HJw2PZ6a52ziMyeLm62aZwbLdnwROSuunxRvjAe3s6YqWgsnc6JJaE_hFNBSTESeA0nPT7FxrPuBLGnabV2hfDfC_ihvjkZ2OkbavyVWJVsAepDV3q1v441SoT2TjmbRQKxuROlO/s640/DSCN5099.JPG" width="640" /></a>Until
we moved to Pennsylvania in 2007, both of us had lived in Maryland all
of our lives. So I decided to do both Maryland and Pennsylvania. I
searched online for maps that were about the size I was looking for -- I
was using a 5X7 frame (although you could just print out any size map
and enlarge or shrink it to fit -- I didn't do that because our copier
wasn't working at the time). I also read a tip recently about printing
maps: if you just want the outline and not all the stuff inside, google
"[your state's name] coloring page" and state outlines should pop up.<br /><br />So
after I printed out the two maps, I used my X-Acto knife to carefully
cut out the outline of each state. (That cursed Chesapeake Bay!)
States with lots of right angles and straight lines = a cinch. States
with lots of little pieces of land jutting out into water = not a
cinch. But remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. The unfortunate
part of this project was that I didn't just have to cut around the
outline of each state once -- I had to do it twice! I used the first
cutout as a template and traced around it onto decorative paper, then
had to cut around that outline. Let me just say that this experience
brought back some not-so-fond memories of the X-Acto knife project I did
in middle school art class. But once that was all done, I taped it
onto a cut-to-size piece of contrasting decorative paper, popped it in
the frame, and it was done! And little by little, one step at a time,
my frame gallery is becoming more personalized!</i>
<br />
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<div dir="ltr">
<i>For my next project, (which, thankfully, involved
scissors rather than an X-Acto knife!), I decided to try Idea #147:
Make Fun Geometric Art. (It involved cutting and Mod-Podging tissue
paper shapes onto canvas.) </i></div>
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<div dir="ltr">
<i>This was one of those projects I started
without intending to start anything, so I didn't exactly take inventory
and purchase any supplies first. In fact, it was New Year's Eve, and
the kids were in bed and Jim was running a race. (Yes, he was running
into the new year!) I felt that little spark of creativity, had a
couple of hours of quiet, and figured I should seize the opportunity to
get something done! So I gathered tissue paper, scissors, a pencil,
round objects, Mod Podge, a sponge brush and canvas, and I set to work.
I love the combination of blues and greens Sherry chose for her piece,
but since my tissue paper selection was a little bit sparse, I settled
for yellow, and went back and forth on the shapes/placement and whether
to use other colors. I eventualy added some black construction paper to
the mix. I don't absolutely love the final result, but it's not
completely awful for a first attempt. Who knows -- I may buy a bigger
canvas, more tissue paper, and have another go at it...
</i></div>
<i>
</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-glSpcDL6noAHpD98gKwmhYoGMEyKKiBA7hMmc0fKNwTx9rFjLz8YOXJHoKHIl24OVKa438xtEaUQB5cF-O0HVkZZrDfES2WClCTPP1ogLpyMMLIQOS1CwjS6hO2_kWTQuitBTdGzUig/s1600/DSCN3912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-glSpcDL6noAHpD98gKwmhYoGMEyKKiBA7hMmc0fKNwTx9rFjLz8YOXJHoKHIl24OVKa438xtEaUQB5cF-O0HVkZZrDfES2WClCTPP1ogLpyMMLIQOS1CwjS6hO2_kWTQuitBTdGzUig/s640/DSCN3912.JPG" width="640" /></a></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i> The next thing I decided to tackle was actually inspired
by something I saw on Amanda Bowe's (of <a href="http://www.ourhumbleabodeblog.com/" target="_blank">Our Humble Abode</a>) Etsy
shop. Check out her custom <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/119812508/venn-diagram-valentines-day-art?" target="_blank">Venn Diagrams</a> -- cute idea, huh? (She's
even got one on her own mantel with her and her husband's initials.) I
figured I'd throw in a twist, though: I decided to combine the
mod-podged-tissue-paper-</i><wbr></wbr><i>shapes-on-canvas idea (Young House Love) with the husband/wife-initial-venn-</i><wbr></wbr><i>diagram idea (Our Humble Abode) and ended up with a mod-podged-tissue-paper-</i><wbr></wbr><i>family-venn-diagram-on-canvas
(Our Young Humble House? Hmmmm, not too catchy...) Anyway, after
playing around with different colors of tissue paper circles, I settled
for pink and yellow since the other color combinations didn't blend well
in the overlapping part. I printed out the first initial of each
person in our family (seven, all together) on plain white paper, in the
same font each person had chosen last year when I printed our initials
as part of our frame wall. (That was a fun and simple project -- my
kids loved picking a font for their letter! And I got to pick out Jim's
font -- I chose pirate writing since he's the captain of our crew!)
For this project, I printed mine and Jim's in a larger font than the
kids'. After I cut around each letter semi-carefully, (they show
through a little, so if I did it again, I'd be more careful), I figured
the correct placment of each of the initials and the tissue paper
circles. I mod-podged each of the letters to the canvas first, then
mod-podged the tissue paper over that, then put a coat of mod-podge over
the entire thing. The letters were still not as clear as I wanted so I
ended up going over them with a black Sharpie after everything was
dry. Overall, I'm really pleased with the result. Just seeing how it
represents our very own family makes me smile each time I go up or down
the stairs! (Although if we have any more kids, I'll have to make
another one since the five kids' initials take up most of the
overlapping space!)</i></div>
<i>
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<div dir="ltr">
<i>So that's about it for now. I'm currently working on
another project from the book, though: #230, Paint a Gradient. </i>
</div>
<i></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div dir="ltr">
<i><i>My
daughter helped me to break out of my comfort zone and go with some fun
colors for an old dresser that Jim brought into our marriage. I'm
liking what I see so far. Hopefully I'll be back with details.</i></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><i> </i> </i></div>
<i>
</i><div dir="ltr">
<i>Thanks, Emily, for allowing me to glog! All afternoon
and evening the kids kept walking by me at the computer saying,
"You're STILL writing?!", so I know that full-time blogging isn't for
me! But I appreciate being able to share a few projects here and there!</i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i> </i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Um, how awesome are all of Amy's projects?! How in the world does she find time to do these crafty things- that's what I want to know! You know what I love so much about my sister and the way she dresses her home? She takes time to personalize the beautiful things around her. I feel like anyone can have beautiful things, but Amy has beautiful things in her home that have meaning behind them. And, that is so special in my opinion. Stay tuned- maybe she'll share with us that ombre dresser she's working on!</div>
<div dir="ltr">
</div>
<div dir="ltr">
xo,</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Emily<i><br /></i></div>
Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-76882677453552000952013-01-29T21:06:00.003-05:002013-02-06T15:26:48.341-05:00Going Dutch<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Wgb-nJ-_3SOJJadNzkvJ6UidsFu-kIGs0RYFJb2fF9vH_VB9TytjilbeH78fpdsZViKcW9xdS99j_LK2OM_0vRvVSmYyjGWuTjdWPY-PwaXx-tRwsJWGG38JQgJLMFr8ews5CyNkw2P3/s1600/DSCN5060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Wgb-nJ-_3SOJJadNzkvJ6UidsFu-kIGs0RYFJb2fF9vH_VB9TytjilbeH78fpdsZViKcW9xdS99j_LK2OM_0vRvVSmYyjGWuTjdWPY-PwaXx-tRwsJWGG38JQgJLMFr8ews5CyNkw2P3/s640/DSCN5060.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
Well, lookie, lookie what we did. We converted the door at the top of the stairs from the kitchen to the basement from a regular old door to a dutch door!<br />
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You can see the door here on the left side of the photo in all of its natural wood glory.<br />
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And, this is what it looks like now:<br />
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Oh yeah, and I might have forgotten to mention that I PAINTED IT BLACK!! Which might be the coolest part of the whole project, but back to the door itself.<br />
<br />
Why do I want a dutch door, you might be wondering. Well, I'm glad you asked. Our kitchen is sort of the doggy isolation area when we get back from our daily river walks. You see, my dogs love to swim in the river that we walk along, so most days I return home with two dirty, wet, happy swamp monsters for dogs. See exhibit A:<br />
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And, exhibit B:<br />
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So, to keep the entire house from becoming a nasty pit of dirt and filth, I often keep them in the kitchen until they are slightly less dirty. Which means I need to be able to close off the exits. And, having a door that can be open on the top and closed on the bottom means heat from the basement stove can travel up and light from upstairs can travel down while the dogs stay put. <br />
<br />
Of course, turning a door into a dutch door was not as easy as I had hoped it would be. (Is anything?) Making the actual cut was simple: a friend came over and did that for me with a circular saw. After cutting the door in two, I was left with a top half, which already had 2 hinges, and a bottom half with only 1 hinge. The top could be rehung right away, but I needed to install a second hinge on the bottom before it would be functional.<br />
<br />
I won't go into the gory details of installing hinges, but let's just say that it's not one of my talents. If you ever decide to give it a try, I have one word for you: precision. Be precise! The hinge placement- both on the door and on the door frame- can't be just "good enough". It has to be exactly, precisely correct. Or else you get a wonky door. Which won't go back on its hinge. Ask me how I know that. Go ahead- ask.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after some trial and error, I was able to successfully add a hinge to the bottom half. So, I had a door, cut in two, which now had two hinges on the top and two hinges on the bottom.<br />
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Time for paint! The painting process was simple: one coat of primer, three coats of paint. While I was at it, I also painted the molding around the door, which also required three coats of paint. All of the waiting between coats of paint (and that darned full-time job) made this project drag out to nearly 3 weeks.<br />
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Once all the paint was finally dry, I was super excited to rehang the door and finally get to see all of my hard work pay off. Picture me springing out of bed last Saturday morning (this alone is noteworthy, as I am not a morning person) ready to *finally* pop the door back onto its hinges and fall in love. Now picture my disappointment as I discovered that 7 coats of primer/paint can really affect how a door fits into its opening. It wouldn't fit. Not even close. Cue the violins, and give me some cheese for my whine. 'Cause I was super disappointed. Back to the drawing board.<br />
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But, you know what they say: where there's a will, there's a way! And, will has never been something I've been short on. I pulled out my palm sander, and showed that door who's boss! I sanded down the edge of the door (on the door knob side, not the hinge side) until it closed without hitting. And, I also ended up needing to recess the strike plate on the door jam a touch further. But, once it was all said and done, I was left with a fabulous and wonderful dutch door.<br />
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It's totally functional for us, and frankly I love it for its looks alone.<br />
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It's unexpected, and the black paint really sets it off with the white molding and bead board nearby.<br />
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At this point, this project is about 90% done. You can't tell from the pictures, but when both halves of the door are closed, they rub each other just the slightest bit. I'm sure this is because of my questionable hinge installation skills, because when the halves are open, they don't touch at all. At any rate, this can be easily corrected by taking a blade width off the top half, which I plan to do this weekend. Other than that, I just need to decide how/if to top off the bottom half. Right now, the cut edge is just painted, but I could top it off with some wood or laminate or something to make it feel a bit more polished. I'm still researching what to do there, so stay tuned.<br />
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I love catching a glimpse of the black door from across the room. See how it ties into the black curtain rods and shelf supports?<br />
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And, when its all closed, it looks like a normal door!<br />
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But, of course, I prefer to show off all of its dutch-ness!<br />
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So, what do you think? Do you like dutch doors? Do you like doors that have been painted black? I hope so, because I foresee some more in my not-too-distant future!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
** linking to<br />
<a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Elizabeth & Co</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/" target="_blank">Shabby Creek Cottage</a>
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="TDC Before and After"><img alt="TDC Before and After" src="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb1.gif" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-85624765426942742462013-01-22T15:06:00.001-05:002013-01-22T15:06:50.576-05:00Thrifting SistersA bit of trivia for you today.<br />
<br />
Q: What do you get when you take two sisters and give them a day full of shopping including stops at 3 thrift stores, Ikea, Home Goods, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Target and Old Navy?! <br />
<br />
A: A trunk full of goodies and very little moolah spent!!<br />
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Thanks, Amy, for spending the day with me! It's not often that you are able to have a day to yourself, so thank you for sharing it with me. I love you!!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-24995503091047739432013-01-12T17:36:00.001-05:002013-02-06T15:34:08.029-05:00Do you see what I see?Something is different in our living room, and I'll give you 3 guesses, but you probably won't need them.<br />
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Anyone?!!<br />
<br />
We got an awesome, soft and fuzzy, correctly sized, wool, trellis patterned rug, and I am IN LOVE!<br />
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I have known our living room rug was on the small size, but rugs are expensive, people! And, I had been passively searching for a replacement, but I hadn't found anything I couldn't live without. And, if I'm going to shell over that kind of moolah for a rug, I have to LOVE it.<br />
<br />
Enter: online rug retailers, namely <a href="http://rugsusa.com/">RugsUSA.com</a> and <a href="http://overstock.com/">Overstock.com</a>. If you cannot find a rug that you love on one of these sites, then you cannot love a rug. Serious. They have EVERYTHING.<br />
<br />
When I saw this <a href="http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Hand-hooked-Alexa-Moroccan-Trellis-Wool-Rug-76-x-96/5777733/product.html" target="_blank">beaut</a>, I knew she was destined to be mine. And, the fact that she was 20% off made the deal even sweeter.<br />
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I labored over what color to get, and I originally was going to go with the gray. But reading the reviews revealed that the gray was very much a blue-gray, and I was worried that it would be too blue. So, I went with my second choice: khaki. <br />
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And, now that I have it, I love the color and think it's perfect with what I have going on in the room. It's a nice neutral, and I think it will prove to be quite versatile, as this room continues to evolve. The khaki section is looped and slightly lower than the tufted cream trellis pattern. Overall, the rug is very soft and fluffy, and it's 100% wool, which was a requirement for this purchase.<br />
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I feel like this addition just pulled the whole room together. Oh, and don't mind the tv on the hearth. It's football playoffs season, people, and this Ravens Fan needs to see her team play. Even if game time is during dinner-making time. M'kay?!<br />
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Some reviewers complained about the rug shedding too much, but I haven't had any issues. I suspect the worse offenders are probably the darker rugs, because the light pattern and the dark background make the shedding so much more obvious. I have no complaints. There has been some shedding, but compared to what I was expecting? Nada.<br />
<br />
Ah, home sweet home.<br />
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xo,<br />
<br />
EmilyEmily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-65999897395172411392013-01-10T18:02:00.001-05:002013-01-15T12:38:11.021-05:00Feelin' blueA couple days ago, I snapped this photo, uploaded to Instagram and shared on Facebook.<br />
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Wanna see what I painted?<br />
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The mirror was originally a thrift store find. $8 is still marked on the back. I painted her white right away after getting her. But, with the white fireplace, she was blending in too much when she really deserved to be the star of the show.<br />
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So, I grabbed a couple containers of paint that I had on hand. Please don't ask me the color, because there was a little mixology going on this night. A little bit of this and that, and I had a custom color.<br />
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And, of course a "new" mirror deserves a whole new look. I pulled this together relatively easily. The vintage fan from the kitchen got relocated, and I picked up the tall wood and glass hurricane and the painting from the <a href="http://www.ruggedwearhouse.com/" target="_blank">Rugged Wearhouse</a> for about $20 total. And, then I felt the need to<a href="http://www.putabirdonit.com/" target="_blank"> put a bird on it</a>.<br />
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Ahh, a simple winter mantle.<br />
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And all of the sudden, I'm not blue anymore.<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily
<a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a>Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-80975307538456199742013-01-03T20:17:00.000-05:002013-01-24T15:34:42.054-05:00DIY fridge coastersGo ahead and file this one under "The Jury's Still Out", because I'm not sure it'll end up being functional. But, it was a 5 minute project (it will take me longer to write this short post) and it's certainly fun even if it proves to not be functional. I made some DIY fridge coasters.<br />
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Have you guys seen <a href="https://www.fridgecoaster.com/default.asp" target="_blank">them</a>? They're liners for high traffic areas of your fridge. I've thought they look cool and seemed pretty functional. If an area of your fridge gets nasty, you just pull out the fridge coaster and give it a good wipe down. So much easier than manhandling that huge veggie crisper into the kitchen sink, no? But, the price tag kept me from taking the plunge. Until I figured out how to craft some myself. *insert evil grin*<br />
<br />
I whipped out a couple plastic place mats, originally from Target, a tape measure, straight edge and scissors. After some measuring, line drawing and cutting, I have liners for both of my crispers and the milk shelf in the door.<br />
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Oh, and sorta related: do you see all of that lovely produce? It's from my weekly <a href="http://www.friendsandfarms.com/" target="_blank">Friends & Farms</a> food basket. I should tell you all about it some other time.<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
*linking to <a href="http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Eliz & Co.</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/" target="_blank">Shabby Creek Cottage</a> Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-17385001560110133092012-12-27T19:49:00.005-05:002013-02-06T15:36:10.437-05:00Mini-mudroom RevealI am so excited to show you the finished mini-mudroom! You can read about phase one <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/11/coat-closet-to-mini-mudroom-phase-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>, phase two <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/12/coat-closet-to-mini-mudroom-phase-ii.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and about how I made some storage crates for the mudroom <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/12/custom-wooden-crates.html" target="_blank">here</a>. But, without further ado, I present to you our new, finished mini-mudroom:<br />
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I love this space way more than I thought I would. It is so functional for our family, and I find myself lingering in front of it staring at it adoringly. Haha, I can't help it! So, let's take a trip down memory lane. Shall we?<br />
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We started with your builder basic closet: one bar, two shelves, and a whole lot of wasted space.<br />
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From there, I took it down to a blank slate with a nice fresh coat of white paint, and my dad installed a couple shelves and hooks in the top half of the closet.<br />
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After that, we got busy on the bottom of the closet. My dad built a platform and a bench.<br />
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From there, I added molding to the platform and to the bench. I had to play around with different molding heights, which was a bit of a
challenge, but in the end it all turned out just right.<br />
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I made all of the molding cuts with a hand saw and miter box, and I even
surprised myself by successfully notching out the corner piece for the molding that frames the opening inside the closet.<br />
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After that, I constructed two wooden storage crates for under the bench. </div>
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Then, I turned my focus to the top of the bench. I made three equal sized cushions for the bench by topping pieces of 1/2" plywood with foam, wrapping them in batting, and then covering the whole thing with fabric.<br />
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And, then it was just a matter of slapping up some paint. I had a half gallon of leftover gray paint (Anonymous by Behr) that I used as a jumping off point. After adding some white, I settled on a nice, medium gray. (And somewhere along the line, I swapped out those dark baskets up top for some lighter ones.)<br />
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I also stuck up some fun little battery powered lights for a nice nighttime effect.<br />
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And, because I know there are people out there wondering: no, the mini-mudroom does not always look like this. Of course, it was staged for these photos. But here's a snapshot of the space on Christmas morning with my vest, Colin's coat and a bag of goodies that was going to my sister's.<br />
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Even with the added stuff, I still think the space looks lovely. Actually, I think it looks better with all of the signs that it is used, and that a real family really does live here. <br />
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I totally get that having your coat closet out in the open like this might not work for everyone. But, for our family, it just works! We have an extra <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/11/musical-closets.html" target="_blank">entire closet </a>dedicated to our coats, so this space can be for our favorite(s), plus my purse, Colin's book bag and anything else that is coming in from or going out to the car. Plus, with the concealed storage below for shoes and the pretty baskets above for miscellaneous items, we are storing all of the same non-coat items as we were before but in a much more organized way!<br />
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And, before I forget, I'd like to give a major shout-out to Shelley and Cason of <a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/" target="_blank">The House of Smiths</a>. Their <a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2012/02/project-entryway-closet-makeover-reveal.html" target="_blank">coat closet to mini-mudroom</a> was my inspiration for this whole transformation, and while I did execute the project, all of the inspiration came from the Smiths. From the idea of the platform below the bench, to the wooden storage crates, to the color scheme, I found much of their design too good to change. And, while some might find my project a little too copy-cat, I like to think this is just one of the many reasons we DIY bloggers blog in the first place: to provide inspiration and encouragement and ideas on how to better use and customize the place where you spend much of your day. Your home sweet home.<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
PS- I nearly forgot my signature before and after!<br />
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**Linking to:<br />
<a href="http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2012/12/one-project-at-a-time-121812.html" target="_blank">A Bowl Full of Lemons' One Project at a Time</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2012/12/transformation-thursday-no-184.html" target="_blank">Shabby Creek Cottage's Transformation Thursday</a>
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/" title="A Bowl Full of Lemons"><img alt="A Bowl Full of Lemons" src="http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/logo200.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<a href="http://diyshowoff.com/" target="_blank" title="DIY Show Off "><img alt="DIY Show Off " src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac195/Roeshel/nest2.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
<a href="http://tatertotsandjello.com/" target="_blank">
<img alt="" src="http://tatertotsandjello.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/978446890_7b2ZN-O2.png" /></a>
<a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="TDC Before and After"><img alt="TDC Before and After" src="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb1.gif" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-20044135190261103902012-12-18T22:25:00.001-05:002012-12-18T22:49:40.992-05:00Custom wooden cratesAlternate title: Oh my gosh, I successfully made something! Like built it from scratch with my own two hands, and it works and doesn't fall apart!!<br />
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If you follow me on Instragram (emilysteplowski), you might have seen this picture pop up on your feed a week or so ago.<br />
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And, if you're smart you probably figured the plywood was for the second <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/12/coat-closet-to-mini-mudroom-phase-ii.html" target="_blank">installment </a>of the closet to mudroom transformation, but what about all those wood slats? 32 of them, to be exact. Well, now you know they were for a couple wooden crates I built. Okay, here goes with another attempt at a tutorial. Regular disclaimers apply.<br />
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Since I was making these crates specifically for under the bench that my Dad and I had just built in the closet, I had exact dimensions that I needed to use for my crates. But, the beauty of this project is that you can build these to any size you want. I needed my finished product to be 22 1/2" wide, 22 1/2" deep, and about 12" tall. Here's a shot of the lumber I used for each crate.<br />
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This consists of 16 slats (1/2" x 2 1/2" pine boards), 4 corner pieces (2x2), and a sheet of 1/2" birch plywood. The slats were cut to two different dimensions: the 4 front and the 4 back slats were cut to 22 1/2" long. The side 8 slats were cut to 21 1/2" long. The corner pieces are approximately 11 1/2" long, and the plywood is 22 1/2" square. Turning this pile of wood into a crate was pretty simple and only required a nail gun, which I borrowed from a friend.<br />
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I started by building the sides of the crates. I laid out the corner pieces flat on the floor and spanned a slat from one side to the other. Since the height of our already-built bench dictated the height of these crates, I left some space between the slats to get to the required finished height.<br />
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Once I had the two sides built, I started building the front by standing the sides up on end.<br />
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One by one, I added the front slats, and then the back ones. Pretty soon, I had a box!<br />
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Here you can see the way I constructed the box, and this should explain why the side slats were cut shorter than the front and back ones. <br />
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From there, I attached the plywood bottom, slapped on a coat of Minwax stain in Ebony, and added some rope handles. I went back and forth about adding any sort of protective finish but eventually decided against it, as I don't really mind if these crates become more distressed looking over time. After a couple days outside to air out, I brought my sturdy crates back in and slid them into place. And, well, it was pretty much love all over again.<br />
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I love the way they fit the space perfectly. I love the dark finish against the crisp white of the molding. I love that they are super relaxed looking and feeling. We are keeping our shoes in them already, which is super convenient right here by the front door. Colin uses one bin, and I use the other.<br />
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I want to show you the million other pictures I've snapped, but I must resist or else I won't have anything left for a final reveal of the coat closet to mudroom! So, here are a couple other shots of the bins being used for storage.<br />
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I could totally imagine using these crates throughout my house for various things. How cute would one of these be in a kids room or a playroom?!<br />
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Now, I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to 2 people with regards to the construction of these wooden crates. Because while I did build them all by myself, I did have help with the project. You see, I don't own a miter saw. All I have is a handsaw and a miter box. And, while I do make that work for cutting molding and such, I cannot imagine if I had to cut all 32 of these slats by hand. I'd have carpel tunnel for sure. So, my dad cut half of the slats for me and a friend's husband cut the other half for me. And, they each also cut a piece of plywood down for me- one with a circular saw, and one with a table saw. So, to Dad and Nate: thank you! I couldn't have done this without your help!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
**sharing with the girls at <a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a>Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-37176070752145780962012-12-11T21:34:00.002-05:002012-12-11T21:46:46.756-05:00Coat closet to mini-mudroom: phase IIUpon starting this little "Coat closet to mini-mudroom" series, I was thinking there would be two phases. I can now see that is not the case. Oh well- who knows how many phases there will be at this point, but fingers crossed there aren't too many more!<br />
<br />
So, let's see. When we last spoke, the closet looked something like this, right?<br />
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The construction of the top half of the closet was done, and I had rolled the cedar chest in to get an idea of what it might look like with a bench. Well just last week, Dad and I had some time to get back to work on making that bench a reality. Since we had already had several planning sessions about how the bottom would be constructed and what the finished product would look like, he was able to get started at his house. So, when he showed up last Monday, he had this grid already made.<br />
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Which, he could just set into place.<br />
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Now, I suppose this grid and the resulting platform is really not necessary to the construction of the bench, or anything really, but as I scoured the internet for inspiration for this project I was really struck by the fact that the closet-turned-mudrooms with these platforms really looked much more custom and finished then those without it. So, that is why <strike>we</strike> my dad went to the trouble of making it. Once we topped the platform off with a piece of luan, my dad built an almost identical grid out of 2x4s to act as the bench.<br />
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Lots of support all the way across means this thing is sturdy.<br />
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My dad has rated it to 500 lbs, which means Colin, me and both dogs can all sit up there at the same time.<br />
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The bench was topped with 1/2" plywood.<br />
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Colin had the honor of nailing down the plywood after a quick pointer from my Dad.<br />
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And, before we knew it, this thing was really starting to take shape!<br />
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And, because I do love staging even my incomplete projects, here it is staged and white balanced.<br />
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Oh, and stay tuned, because I've just finished constructing the storage crates for under the bench, and they are totally cute!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
**linking to the girls at <a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a>Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-43263621890501110132012-11-30T21:00:00.002-05:002012-12-05T10:07:06.636-05:00Coat closet to mini-mudroom: phase IOnce we took care of some prep work (<a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/11/musical-closets.html" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/11/musical-closets-verse-2.html" target="_blank">here</a>), I was able to turn my focus to the reason for the game of musical closets in the first place: turning our humdrum coat closet into a mini-mudroom. I'm sure you remember my inspiration photo from <a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2012/02/project-entryway-closet-makeover-reveal.html" target="_blank">House of Smiths</a>, right? Behold the mini-mudroom of my dreams:<br />
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First step: creating a blank slate. So, I emptied the pathetic, poorly utilized coat closet, pulled down the hanging rod, removed the doors, and slapped on several coats of paint. In no time, our closet had gone from this:<br />
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to this:<br />
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Now, this is where I must offer a disclaimer. I am not good with tutorials. I also do not know official construction terminology. So, I may call something the wrong name, etc. I am going to *try* to explain how we built the upper half of the mini-mudroom, but I may just end up confusing you. So, I apologize in advance! I also want to mention that my main partner in crime for this project and the source of both the brains AND the brawn was none other than my Handy Dad. I can't remember how I originally broached the topic with him, but I am sure he thought I was crazy for wanting to mess with my perfectly functioning coat closet, but he heard me out and was willing to help me turn my dream into a reality. To say that I could not have done ANY of this without his help would be a gross understatement. Thanks, Dad!!<br />
<br />
So, back to the closet. You may notice that the closet originally had 2 shelves. Some quick measuring, and we determined that the lower of the two shelves would stay but that my second shelf needed to be lower than that. So, I removed the upper shelf and the ledger board. The ledger for the lower shelf stayed and just received some fresh paint. <br />
<br />
From here, I had to wait until my foreman (aka Dad) came back into town. Of course, he had a punch list to take care of before construction day, too. The shelves I had previously were only about 12" deep, and we determined that deeper shelves would be more functional and closer to the inspiration photo. So, prior to construction day, my dad used his spiffy biscuit cutter to join a 1x12 with a 1x3
and another 1x12 with a 1x6 to make 2 shelves roughly 14 and 17 inches
deep. So, on Thanksgiving Eve, we embarked on building out the upper half. We placed the new, deeper upper shelf in place and then added the lower shelf.<br />
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Next up were the dividers. We cut these out of a 1x4, and used the corbels I had purchased to support the lower shelf as a template to cut the curved front profile. <br />
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Next, we attached the stock corbels from Home Depot (which I had already primed and painted) to our 1x12 that we were using as a ledger board for the lower shelves and then attached that to the wall. This board was actually made up of the old shelves. Let's hear it for saving some moolah!<br />
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We were so excited about how things were turning out, we staged the closet with baskets, etc pretty much at every stage. I was over the moon with each addition. (And, secretly I think my dad was enjoying how it was turning out, too!)<br />
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Here you can see some details of the construction, though you may notice that we had not yet continued the wide ledger board for the lower shelf along the sides. But, ultimately we did do that. My dad is known for building things to last. If our house ever goes down, the chimney and this closet will be the only things standing.<br />
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Then, we decided on the placement and added 6 coat hooks in oil rubbed bronze.<br />
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And, from there it was really just a staging-fest. I had already brought up some baskets from the basement, and we had the mail trays that I had gotten from Staples. But, we also shimmied over the cedar chest to give us and idea of what the closet might look like with the bench. In a word: love!<br />
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This detail shot shows all of the construction.<br />
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I am loving the combination of open and closed storage options. I envision using the mail trays for mail, paper, magazines and/or paper items that are waiting to go to the car (Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons, anyone?) and the baskets for winter gear like hats and gloves.<br />
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And, of course having a home base for the purse is key!<br />
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I absolutely could not possibly be any happier with the way this is turning out. It's all I had hoped for! Thank you so much, Dad!!<br />
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And, another benefit to having more of a mudroom than a closet with doors is that it really opens up the entire front door area, which is awesome in our little home.<br />
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Of course, there is still a lot to be done. I have lots of screw holes to fill and paint, and some touch up work from construction. But, here's the list of what else we plan to do:<br />
<ul>
<li>build platform and sitting bench</li>
<li>upholster bench </li>
<li>build custom wooden crates for under bench storage</li>
<li>add bead board to exposed wall between hooks and bench</li>
<li>add lighting (?)</li>
</ul>
I'm not sure of our next construction day, but in the meantime you can find me patching and painting. And, maybe trying my hand at building those crates!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily <br />
<br />
*linking to <a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a>Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-62943719394377083672012-11-12T20:21:00.002-05:002012-11-13T12:13:07.950-05:00Musical Closets: verse 2As I mentioned last week, we're in the process of turning our coat closet into a <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/11/musical-closets.html" target="_blank">mini-mud room</a>. And, in the process of doing that, a game of musical closets began. I showed you how I turned our unused office/craft room closet into a fab new storage area for our coats.<br />
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And, now I'm going to show you how our medicine closet got a facelift. This little closet is in the hallway that leads to the bathroom and bedrooms. It's a small closet with a big job. It's where we keep all of our medicine, first aid supplies, and extra toiletries, and it's also where we keep our vacuum. A while back I tried to get some organization going in there by purchasing some plastic bins, and I even labeled them with my mom's label maker. But, let's be honest: some of the bins were too small for what they were supposed to be holding, there weren't enough containers, and the closet, overall, left a lot to be desired.<br />
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And then there was the issue of the shelves. They are nice, wooden shelves, but sometime back in the 70s or 80s, the boards had been covered with some awful contact paper. It had definitely seen better days, and it was not the look I was going for. <br />
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So, I emptied the closet, peeled the paper off the shelves and got to working on giving myself a clean slate. The closet got 2 coats of white paint in wipe-able semigloss, and the shelves did, too. I knew from the beginning I wanted the closet to have a little surprise when you opened the door, so I decided to give it stripes. I've never painted stripes on the wall before, but it turned out to be super easy. I decided where I wanted my stripes, measured, and used a level to draw lines for where my tape would go. Once I got the tape up, I made sure to go over it several times to make sure it was pressed into the wall as well as possible to- hopefully- prevent paint from bleeding underneath.<br />
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That was a piece of cake, and in no time the closet was ready for its stripes. I rolled the stripes on with a small 4" foam roller, and they required only one coat (yay!). I am a bad blogger, so I don't have a picture of this step. I also painted the shelves in the same gray color, but they took 2 coats of paint on each side. That is what made this project drag out over a week. Each coat took only 5 minutes to roll on, so it wasn't time intensive, there was just lots of drying time in between.<br />
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Now for the fun part! I decided to line the tops of the shelves with some colorful wrapping paper that I picked up at Target. I traced the shelves onto the paper and cut the paper small leaving about 1/2" on all sides. Then, I used spray adhesive to affix the paper to the shelves.<br />
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And, here they are in the freshly striped closet.<br />
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How fun and unexpected! <br />
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Meanwhile back at the ranch, I took the time to go through all of our medicine, toiletries, etc. I found a bunch of expired stuff that got pitched, and I came up with an improved organization system for what was left. Then, I got to put back all of my green plastic bins as well as some new, larger baskets that I also picked up at Target. <br />
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Every container is labeled using a sharpie and white printer paper that I "laminated" using packing tape. I attached each label with ribbon that I had already.<br />
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And, the result is fun and functional. It's clean and fresh and totally useable.<br />
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Just yesterday, I instructed Colin to retrieve something from the "first aid" bin in the closet. Easy peasy. One point for well organized closets.<br />
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I even picked up a command hook (my first!) for our beach bag. Just getting things up off the floor does wonders for helping a space look and feel organized.<br />
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So, there you go. And, I welcome any of you who I know in real life to keep me accountable. Next time you're over, go ahead! Open that closet and see if it's still tidy and well organized. :)<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
** linking to the girls at <a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a> Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-83524545027133540282012-11-06T22:23:00.000-05:002012-11-06T22:23:26.982-05:00Musical ClosetsCue the music, 'cause there's a game of musical closets going on up in here!<br />
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As soon as I saw this photo from the <a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2012/02/project-entryway-closet-makeover-reveal.html" target="_blank">House of Smiths</a>, I knew I would totally love something like this in our entryway. <br />
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I mean, what's not to love here?! I adore everything from the hooks for coats and bags and the bench for removing shoes to the bins for hiding winter weather gear and the baskets for staying organized. And the opportunity for some fun paint and fabrics is just icing on the cake!<br />
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And, since we already have an appropriately sized coat closet right next to our front door, that means that the demo would be minimal, and the job would mainly consist of building out a bench and some shelves.<br />
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Now, being the realist that I am, I knew from the beginning that we could not both 1- use such a space as storage for all of our winter paraphernalia AND 2- keep it as lovely as it looks in the picture above. So, I started brainstorming about how to store most of our bulky coats and gear elsewhere, and use the entryway as a place to hang our most commonly used jacket, my purse and Colin's bookbag.<br />
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Enter the office/craft room:<br />
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This is the smallest of our 3 upstairs bedrooms and is just around the corner from the front door. This is where I do my sewing, some crafting and office-y tasks. I use much of this room often, but there was one part of the room that I've been avoiding for quite some time. In fact, this room holds a deep, dark secret. I wouldn't share this secret with just anyone, but I do feel like I can trust you guys. This is what was lurking behind those nicely painted, crisp closet doors:<br />
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An ill-fitted, all-wrong-for-my-needs closet. Is it just me, or does anyone else think the basic single bar with high shelf basic builder way of finishing out a closet is totally dumb? I don't understand why this is the standard, because really it leaves so much wasted space. So, from the beginning, the set-up was never going to meet my needs. I tried to fix the situation with a too small bookcase, but that hardly helped. I had way too much junk and too few containers.<br />
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I didn't even have a place for my printer, which I had to sit on the floor to use. And, then there was the pillow hoarding problem. Seriously, how many pillows does one homeowner need?!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPyz3frwFuzTNJOc4uvJ67BmEfSoJ5aaMWsJhh1Yksb4Ybzv_VAPt9xjFRHgYKdWZJYGMRuu3uiTFQJ6cJcoyI7ZDZDOtj19OfE5GhVIUtmDRKCQ4YGYstAU5tL9SeOl1n4oGjDKY0lcm/s1600/DSCN4625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPyz3frwFuzTNJOc4uvJ67BmEfSoJ5aaMWsJhh1Yksb4Ybzv_VAPt9xjFRHgYKdWZJYGMRuu3uiTFQJ6cJcoyI7ZDZDOtj19OfE5GhVIUtmDRKCQ4YGYstAU5tL9SeOl1n4oGjDKY0lcm/s400/DSCN4625.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
It was bad. Really bad.<br />
<br />
But, after reassessing what I wanted to use this closet for and declaring that it would become our major coat storage, I had a plan. I needed both shelving for my office supplies AND hanging space for our winter gear.<br />
<br />
So, I picked up a <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/Storage-Organization-Closet-Storage-Closet-Organizers/ClosetMaid/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc1wdZd4/R-100597849/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UJsdpWf4JdI" target="_blank">Closetmaid </a>organizer from my local home improvement store, which my dad expertly installed for me. (After finishing out my 2 master bedroom closets, Colin's extra-wide closet, and several of my sister's closets all with these super cost effective organization systems, he really and truly is an expert at it!) The result is a well organized and fully functioning closet of which we are using every square inch!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoEmJk_QIMeHp8t_1Z2CubC-0irkUld2r8cNGzNkh1g8rGXBFnYnBgY7aCvri-KvYCpngqQ4tPAQhrGPw6gwmvjBE6y-Irm0DeAYPEvFhlCmQYEj2TnCDwsVPed1bUkrJ5O6dVQh32tUe/s1600/DSCN4779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoEmJk_QIMeHp8t_1Z2CubC-0irkUld2r8cNGzNkh1g8rGXBFnYnBgY7aCvri-KvYCpngqQ4tPAQhrGPw6gwmvjBE6y-Irm0DeAYPEvFhlCmQYEj2TnCDwsVPed1bUkrJ5O6dVQh32tUe/s400/DSCN4779.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Let's have a closer look, shall we?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJERvjPXrRJcu-6FVuprXj_rLO1bV4BkBZx6-mvtaZHOm51suRi2aWRoFAxnNVMNNxC_W5g7qIe09X_-snG_sEg4pLbccQl48R5-WTr4ZPqFB_gfC1sflLkEclGHX8AgHE8VIhvDazdpu/s1600/DSCN4788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJERvjPXrRJcu-6FVuprXj_rLO1bV4BkBZx6-mvtaZHOm51suRi2aWRoFAxnNVMNNxC_W5g7qIe09X_-snG_sEg4pLbccQl48R5-WTr4ZPqFB_gfC1sflLkEclGHX8AgHE8VIhvDazdpu/s320/DSCN4788.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The right hand side is devoted to winter gear. The top rod holds all of my vests, jackets and coats. And, the bottom rod is for Colin's.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsmBJRdheyt-HSvs2mbu02UWrZuU_5MyPnOigUzuReOAHGi5RayW7qGNqReo2Oh1kQk5bSebcE7WCFfHQnCDacyP7LYow9iSh6tTKgVH3PdEF3M0pkQ3P_9e5zhekj36SpqLPzCYE7UoW/s1600/DSCN4789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsmBJRdheyt-HSvs2mbu02UWrZuU_5MyPnOigUzuReOAHGi5RayW7qGNqReo2Oh1kQk5bSebcE7WCFfHQnCDacyP7LYow9iSh6tTKgVH3PdEF3M0pkQ3P_9e5zhekj36SpqLPzCYE7UoW/s400/DSCN4789.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
And, the left hand side is full of hidden storage for office supplies.<br />
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And, my printer has a nice, new home up off the floor, which makes printing much easier!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69cF02lRx0LK6zQot1SXGiR1hl_Itxoo9vCc-2MEUml58RlX3RRr8y3kTYBzGe5FANI3sRlM6WRwDe5tDx-fhb2tzjDAjKHec8X48vCZQaWCbQlPE9asWf34mppgdXEOuGqRKZqYcQunR/s1600/DSCN4795.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69cF02lRx0LK6zQot1SXGiR1hl_Itxoo9vCc-2MEUml58RlX3RRr8y3kTYBzGe5FANI3sRlM6WRwDe5tDx-fhb2tzjDAjKHec8X48vCZQaWCbQlPE9asWf34mppgdXEOuGqRKZqYcQunR/s400/DSCN4795.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
And, after looking at the number of pillow forms that I owned and the number of pillows that I would ever use at any given time, I realized that I had way, way too many extra pillows. I kept all of my pillow covers and only the number of forms to outfit each of the pieces of furniture that would ever have pillows. After assessing my needs, I kept only 2 extra forms. The others went to my sister and/or Goodwill. How liberating!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsizMgwwMK6rIJFUTiq7rxSHUc6PL_AIAgD2tHbDOATkTZUaBMq7TSZ2h1y5Y5FcUfBzglY-1gLF-LUGiFG61wLJVsCk0mpcHoxPm-xd7FFweWvkH8e3iFGF7f8Bj71Qs2OG1p-cUbOX5/s1600/DSCN4792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsizMgwwMK6rIJFUTiq7rxSHUc6PL_AIAgD2tHbDOATkTZUaBMq7TSZ2h1y5Y5FcUfBzglY-1gLF-LUGiFG61wLJVsCk0mpcHoxPm-xd7FFweWvkH8e3iFGF7f8Bj71Qs2OG1p-cUbOX5/s400/DSCN4792.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
And, because I love them so much, here's a side by side:<br />
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It's really not right how much I love our revamped and functional closet. I've even been leaving the doors open sometimes so I can glance into the office on my way down the hall and admire the organization. Call me crazy.<br />
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But, the most exciting part is that moving our coat storage into the office closet means that we're one step closer to a transformation like this this being a reality in our house.<br />
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And, that- my dear readers- is what [my] dreams are made of!<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
<br />Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-39380914323330527792012-11-02T22:22:00.001-04:002012-11-06T12:08:00.571-05:00Making Your House a HomeThis past weekend, I had the honor of participating in a fun day of workshops at our church. There were 4 1 hour long workshops- 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon- with lunch in the middle. The workshop topics ranged from Frugal Living to Parenting Teens, and each lady chose ahead of time what workshops she wanted to attend. It was my extreme honor to be asked to prepare a workshop on one of my very favorite topics! My workshop was entitled Making Your House a Home: DIY tips and tricks on a budget. Once I got over my anxiety of talking to a roomful of ladies, I had a lot of fun preparing for the workshop. My office looked like this the week before as I decided what projects to highlight. (And, yes I did cart a car full of pillows, furniture and art projects up to the church for an hour long talk. I simply couldn't help myself, and I thought having the items there to hold up and talk about was more effective than simply showing pictures.)<br />
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I will admit, a lot of the workshop content is already on the blog, but since neither of my followers were at the workshop, I considered the redundancy okay.<br />
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I covered 5 main ways to make your house a home, and I figured why not share them with you all. So, here goes!<br />
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<u><b>Personalizing common items </b></u><br />
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Personalizing common items is a way to deal with those things in your house that get an A+ for function but a C for form. It's also a way to feel a sense of pride when you look around your home and realize that much of what you see has been personalized in a way that makes it even more special for your family. I'm a big fan of personalizing with stencils, which I did with this plain, white planter. Also shown in the picture is a basic <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/01/boring-tray-gets-facelift.html" target="_blank">Ikea tray</a> that I covered with craft paper.<br />
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We also talked about framing craft paper and/or fabric for affordable art (and how easy it is to <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/01/118-art-swaperoo.html" target="_blank">swap out</a>!),<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktzYDvRiHxcfCBOHPFG3lFBWwl0tC5PXOwLVuJlOmjFICv4IgUCgoRPmwuVF6MwKL_f9wqAq-gt_9sTLsdPXG5g5hagRpOQPwAmAB-yDnyLfiFwIcRxcMz-tkIhL_1DS_Uh7Th4zFFSLE/s1600/DSCN3003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktzYDvRiHxcfCBOHPFG3lFBWwl0tC5PXOwLVuJlOmjFICv4IgUCgoRPmwuVF6MwKL_f9wqAq-gt_9sTLsdPXG5g5hagRpOQPwAmAB-yDnyLfiFwIcRxcMz-tkIhL_1DS_Uh7Th4zFFSLE/s400/DSCN3003.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
this super fun (and easy!) and personalized profile <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/02/perfect-puppy-profile.html" target="_blank">art project,</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8sTGpG9zO7ex2DYHAkZZEGCp45AxxyLvMf7drym-j1mdh4T5k1vLfix7NHUhg4aQSVtTMIWAcMqNxx458YBWnaqOhXmWjhQvr0AcI-lS2sv-EQhg9d10Tna0RE-SobzQVn2SgNCVDRF-/s1600/DSCN4208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8sTGpG9zO7ex2DYHAkZZEGCp45AxxyLvMf7drym-j1mdh4T5k1vLfix7NHUhg4aQSVtTMIWAcMqNxx458YBWnaqOhXmWjhQvr0AcI-lS2sv-EQhg9d10Tna0RE-SobzQVn2SgNCVDRF-/s400/DSCN4208.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
about adding some fabric to your plain <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/03/winter-pinterest-challenge.html" target="_blank">dishtowels</a>, <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgHNfiyfyqr8gTKtTZowZb0869qDJjAyCRXEXcn8TGtkqaTEHrsWN5kLXpXzAH3sS_9Xxi0-F5hFq40Z1x-KXHABqmGlyxlE31Tm8688vempBuAgJmGuspMM2m1OG8gpSoATsWkD5QKH3/s1600/DSCN3551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgHNfiyfyqr8gTKtTZowZb0869qDJjAyCRXEXcn8TGtkqaTEHrsWN5kLXpXzAH3sS_9Xxi0-F5hFq40Z1x-KXHABqmGlyxlE31Tm8688vempBuAgJmGuspMM2m1OG8gpSoATsWkD5QKH3/s400/DSCN3551.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
and about making yourself a pretty swell <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2011/11/custom-coasters.html" target="_blank">coaster</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNjiZufrK75NKWz54NXhkv7M-xFswQIBKkj_kERyx6ckhhZ8UowJKJrcLM8_4PMI4-APgR-j57U6z5Dohf517WtfIn9dakzrtyC86ZI0miGrSipU8WUQMv67vcA3uwzOijQAypEyHv72n/s1600/DSCN2736.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNjiZufrK75NKWz54NXhkv7M-xFswQIBKkj_kERyx6ckhhZ8UowJKJrcLM8_4PMI4-APgR-j57U6z5Dohf517WtfIn9dakzrtyC86ZI0miGrSipU8WUQMv67vcA3uwzOijQAypEyHv72n/s400/DSCN2736.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNjiZufrK75NKWz54NXhkv7M-xFswQIBKkj_kERyx6ckhhZ8UowJKJrcLM8_4PMI4-APgR-j57U6z5Dohf517WtfIn9dakzrtyC86ZI0miGrSipU8WUQMv67vcA3uwzOijQAypEyHv72n/s1600/DSCN2736.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<u><b>Repurposing</b></u></div>
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The next topic I covered was repurposing items. I absolutely love repurposing items, because I get a thrill from giving purpose to something that previously had none or using something for a purpose totally different from what it was intended. I talked about the time I repurposed this <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/01/broken-armoire-door-gets-second-life.html" target="_blank">broken armoire door</a> and turned it into a chalkboard, which I now have hanging in my dining room and use as a menu board.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWjkH7bzlI_3rY8kfWM-j1rImEddL-_huKPWPpxpO5Q1f1ru1waPUDPmMdYSW2YGSAs3cUYaImvAB8y6rZd-ehyphenhyphenbCTzEiHi-0QpGVGSFrpo93jpX-moZMYy3FtG_Xiu1Nn7LzaWyE9vHd/s1600/DSCN3081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWjkH7bzlI_3rY8kfWM-j1rImEddL-_huKPWPpxpO5Q1f1ru1waPUDPmMdYSW2YGSAs3cUYaImvAB8y6rZd-ehyphenhyphenbCTzEiHi-0QpGVGSFrpo93jpX-moZMYy3FtG_Xiu1Nn7LzaWyE9vHd/s400/DSCN3081.JPG" width="300" /> </a> </div>
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I also showed off this chalkboard which used to be an awfully ugly thrift store painting. I loved the frame but hated the painting, so I slapped on a couple layers of black chalkboard paint right over the original painting. It now hangs in my office, and I usually have some sort of inspiration or reminder posted on it.</div>
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And, of course, I might have gotten a little carried away talking about the million and one uses for a <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2011/11/behold-mighty-drop-cloth.html" target="_blank">painter's drop cloth</a>.</div>
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<u><b>Fabric!</b></u></div>
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Next up is possibly my favorite way to make your house a home: with fabric! I read somewhere (and vaguely remember the topic coming up on <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/" target="_blank">YHL</a> once) that a fully dressed room has 10-14 different fabric textiles. I know that sounds intimidating at first, but I challenge you to count the number of different fabrics in one of your rooms. The catch, I guess, is that you need to use a room that you consider to be "fully dressed". As I sit in my living room, I count the following: a fuzzy green throw, 3 accent pillows, a leather couch & chair, a fabric ottoman with a faux sheep skin on top, drop cloth curtains, a burlap bunting hanging from the mantle, a linen lined basket, and a quilt with countless fabrics. So, that gives me 10 without the quilt. Getting close to the 10-14 range is actually easier than I thought, and I don't feel like my room is full of competing patterns, which I what I initially thought would happen in a room with 10 different fabrics.</div>
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A couple ways to add fabrics to your house are by sewing a <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/07/pillows-anonymous.html" target="_blank">simple envelope style pillow case</a> (also fun for <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2011/11/birthday-pillow.html" target="_blank">gifts</a>!),</div>
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or by making a <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-pennant-flag-strikes-again.html" target="_blank">pennant flag</a> of your own. I actually begged my sister to bring the one I made for her <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2011/11/fabric-bunting-project.html" target="_blank">here </a>so I could have an example. (She came to the workshop with me which made the day even more special!) Because of all these lovely fabric pennant flags I've made, and the only one I have in my house is put together with <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2011/11/thankful.html" target="_blank">burlap, twine, and hot glue</a>! Haha!</div>
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<u><b>Shopping Thrift Stores & Craig's List</b></u></div>
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I also eagerly revealed one of my biggest secrets for making your house a home <b>on a budget</b>, which is to shop for used pieces. As I sit here on my floor model couch and look into the dining room, I see a Pottery Barn dining table that I got used off CL paired with new Pier One chairs and a garage sale buffet. Here in the living room, 2 free bookcases flank the fireplace, a antique dresser found on CL sits by the front door, and to my left is another floor model: an ottoman that I got at the Room Store close out sale. I never blogged about it, but it was a purchase I was particularly proud of- I think it was 75% off the original price. I stalked that baby for weeks before pulling the trigger.</div>
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I featured 3 of my all time favorite used furniture purchases.</div>
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1) a sweet wooden thrift store chair that I got on sale and recovered with a burlap coffee sack for a total investment of $8.50,</div>
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2) the FREE Craig's List <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/09/they-had-me-at-free.html" target="_blank">craft table</a>, </div>
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3) and the <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/01/25-goodwill-table-redo.html" target="_blank">antique pedestal table</a> I scored for 25 bucks at Goodwill, stripped down, and refinished for our breakfast room.</div>
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<u><b>The power of paint</b></u> </div>
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And, the final way to make your house a home that I covered at the workshop last weekend was through harnessing the <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2011/11/living-room-changes.html" target="_blank">power of paint</a>. I let the pictures do the talking on this one, and showed a series of photos featuring our living room. I showed the painful "before":</div>
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The respectable "in progress":</div>
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And, the jaw dropping "after":</div>
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I left the ladies with this before and after as inspiration. And, if this side-by-side doesn't inspire you to pull out the paintbrush to attack that dark, dated piece of furniture that you hate, I don't know what will!</div>
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So, there you have it: a 1 hour workshop smashed into one blog post.</div>
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I have so many more thoughts on budget friendly ways to make your house a home, but a girl can only cover so much at once. Who knows- maybe we'll do this again next year, and I'll get to cover 5 new ways! But, one thing's for sure: preparing for this talk and subsequently writing this blog post has really made me realize how many projects- large and small- I have accomplished over the past year.</div>
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And, as luck would have it- I just looked back and my very first post was published exactly one year ago today. Happy blog-iversary to me! And a huge thanks to you guys. I don't have a big following- that much I know- but I do sometimes check my stats, and I get a huge rush to see how many hits my posts get. I truly value every single person who spends their precious time reading this humble little blog.</div>
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You guys rock.</div>
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xo,</div>
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Emily</div>
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**linking to the girls at <a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a> </div>
Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-59715432538904654872012-10-22T21:56:00.002-04:002012-10-22T22:18:14.597-04:00Our weekend in the woodsI'm going to take a break from your regular programming (which has been, um, quite irregular lately) to write about our weekend. It's not about a home project or about a DIY project, but it's about a weekend I want to remember. And, this blog sure is a good way to keep memories around...<br />
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So, this past weekend, Colin, Piper and I and Kirk (who you may remember from our <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/06/great-roadtrip-of-2012-day-one.html" target="_blank">trek across country </a>over the summer and from my one and only <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/06/sioux-falls.html" target="_blank">post </a>with a guest blogger (glogger)) headed deep into the woods of Virginia to the <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gwj/home/?cid=stelprdb5313325" target="_blank">George Washington & Jefferson National Forests</a>. These two national forests contain nearly 2 million acres of public land, almost 500 miles of hiking trails, and endless opportunities for camping. So, on Friday afternoon we piled into the car and headed south. The drive wasn't too bad, and in about 3 1/2 hours we were pulling into the Reed's Gap parking area just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was just about dusk, so we strapped on our head lamps and set off on the 1.8 mile walk to camp.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUgFX5SILqiNfL1yuJ08HCGzEN04DDlB04OxOYGRDSGh8q9TDiDK5pSoYd-58JZk4nEgbqe3wCyST2uuRP4T70D-V4Hw-X94QhfSLG3rWE_5mm1p_GWQVnUphj0UPP74J6mJqM-OWWo-V/s1600/DSCN4938.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUgFX5SILqiNfL1yuJ08HCGzEN04DDlB04OxOYGRDSGh8q9TDiDK5pSoYd-58JZk4nEgbqe3wCyST2uuRP4T70D-V4Hw-X94QhfSLG3rWE_5mm1p_GWQVnUphj0UPP74J6mJqM-OWWo-V/s400/DSCN4938.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
We hiked to the Maupin Field area where there was a shelter, water source, and a privy, as well as numerous camp sites. After a quick survey of the area (and a chat with the two thru hikers who were already in their bags in the shelter), we picked our campsite and set up camp. At that point, there were two or three other campsites taken, and things were pretty quiet with people either milling around for firewood or already in their tents for the evening. I think we were about half way through our amazingly delicious rehydrated dinners when the boy scouts arrived. They rolled in maybe 15 deep and loud doesn't accurately describe their volume. They were hollering and carrying on and generally ruined the mood around camp until they finally set up camp and went to sleep. That was a major downer, but at least they went to bed early. Or so I thought. You know the old government saying, "First in, first out"? Well, apparently that also applies to backpacking boy scouts, because they were up and loud very early. If there are any scouting families reading this, can we add a little section to the scouting handbook about backpacking etiquette? 'Cause this troop was sorely lacking.<br />
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Despite our early wake-up, we didn't break camp until nearly 11 on Saturday morning. Which meant I had plenty of time to snap some pics of the area. Here is our campsite- large and flat.<br />
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And here is Piper on Saturday morning thrilled to be out in the woods with her people. She was happy like this all weekend.<br />
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So, after the noisy scouts cleared out and we had our fill of instant oatmeal and grits, we packed up and headed out ready for our day's adventure.<br />
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Our goal for the day was to take the Appalachian Trial from the Maupin Field area south bound up and over the 3 Ridges and down to Campbell Creek. This was a roughly 6 mile walk full of exhilarating climbs and amazing views. The first half of the hike was predominantly uphill, but the views at the top were so worth it.<br />
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To say that we did not rush would be an understatement. We took lots of breaks, and allowed ourselves to soak in the beauty and vastness of all that was around us.<br />
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After the hike to the top and the thrill that accompanied the climb and the views, we continued walking and began the descent to Campbell Creek, where we had planned to spend the night. The descent proved to be more challenging for me than the climb. It wasn't too long before knee pain started nagging at me, and before we were half way down, the pain had escalated to pretty severe. Both Kirk and Colin were kind enough to allow me to use their hiking poles off and on, and we (I) hobbled into camp in time to scope things out, set up camp and enjoy dinner before dusk.<br />
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Given the day's challenging hike, my earlier visions of late campfire conversation dissolved into an 8 o'clock bedtime. But, that added up to about 12 hours of good sleep which made us bright eyed and bushy tailed come morning.<br />
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Sunday's agenda was to continue south bound along the AT for about another mile until reaching the intersection with the Mau-Har trail. The Mau-Har trail is a 3 mile stretch that connects from this point on the AT back northbound to the Maupin Field shelter (where we spent our first night). This little connector trail was going to allow us to complete a loop over the 3 days and not have to double back.<br />
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Of course, as you can imagine, the AT still continues south from the intersection with the Mau-Har trail, and in 1.7 miles it brings you to VA Route 56.<br />
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And so, given my bum knee from the day before and given the fact that some have described the 3 mile Mau-Har trail to be more strenuous than the entire 6 mile section of the AT that we had done the day before, talk moved to potentially splitting up sending me and Colin south on the AT to VA Route 56 and sending Kirk north on the Mau-Har trail and eventually back to the car. I had to warm up to the idea, but once I heard about the Tye River waiting for me (and Piper) at VA Route 56, I was sold. Unfortunately, Colin was sold on the idea of tackling the challenge of the Mau-Har trail. Not wanting to be the one to make the decision, I suggested a round of Odds or Evens to settle things once and for all. I could describe our conversation, but why do that when I captured the whole thing on <a href="http://youtu.be/l4VRPFWQxGw" target="_blank">video</a>?<br />
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So, we said our goodbyes-for-now and went our separate ways. In less than an hour, Colin and I were greeted by the glorious Tye River.<br />
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Since our walk was quite a bit shorter than Kirk's we had plenty of time to rock hop, enjoy lunch, sunbathe on some rocks and throw sticks for Piper.<br />
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Once we were sufficiently water logged, we moved up away from the river and to a shady area next to where Kirk was supposed to be picking us up, and this was the scene there. I think it's fair to say we were exhausted.<br />
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Once we were reunited with the Mighty Hiking Kirk, we hopped into the car and headed just up the road to check out <a href="http://www.gilescounty.org/cascades.html" target="_blank">Cascade Falls</a>. We opted against the 2 mile each way trip to the upper falls, deciding that the lower falls were falls enough for us.<br />
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So, there you have it: our weekend in the woods.<br />
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And, you know maybe this entry <b>is </b>about a DIY project after all- my biggest and best project of all times.<br />
<br />
xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-62507201648948386692012-09-30T08:27:00.002-04:002012-09-30T08:27:26.659-04:00A New Washer of DishesMama got a new toy!<br />
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Several months ago I started wondering if a new dishwasher might be in my immediate future. Our old one was still working, but I would describe its performance as mediocre. I don't think it was a top of the line dishwasher when it was brand new, and at 7 years old, it only did an okay job. It would run through a cycle with no problems, and it seem to get nice and hot. But, it was very loud and required pretty thorough pre-washing if you wanted your dishes clean at the end of the cycle. So, I started the process of researching dishwashers. For a purchase of this size, I am usually pretty thorough with my research. I started browsing the websites of the two main home improvement stores to see what the popular features were (and how much they would set me back), and then I moved on to Consumer Reports. First impression from my dishwasher shopping: these things are expensive!<br />
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From almost the very beginning, I knew I would go with a Whirlpool dishwasher for one main reason: the silverware tray is in the door. I mean, come on. How is it that no other manufacturer does this?! Having the silverware tray in the door means that I can use the entire lower rack for plates and bowls without loosing any space to the tray. So, once I determined that Whirlpool was the only manufacturer that has the tray in the door, it was really just a matter of deciding on <i>which </i>Whirlpool washer.<br />
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Ultimately, I decided on this beauty:<br />
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It's a Whirlpool Gold. I felt really good about my decision and about all of the features like a stainless steel interior, hidden control panel, adjustable upper shelf, and energy star rating. What I didn't feel good about was the price. $750 was a hard pill to swallow. But, since I still had a working dishwasher, I knew time was on my side and that I had the luxury of waiting until the appliance went on sale. So, fast forward from mid-August until Labor Day weekend. As I had been hoping would happen, Lowe's was offering 15% off of all appliances over $399, so that took the price of the dishwasher down to just over $600. And, when I combined that offer with the 5% off Lowe's offers for using their credit card, the price of the dishwasher came to just under $600. Still, that was a lot of moolah, but it was an investment I was willing to make. So, I bit the bullet and brought it home. So, at that point there was only one thing standing between me and my beautiful, new, quiet and efficient dishwasher: installation.<br />
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Lowe's offers installation, but at $165 a pop, I really wanted to see if this was something Colin and I could accomplish. And, we were ready to try, but thankfully he and I didn't end up having to attempt dishwasher installation on our own. Instead, a dear friend's husband and their 4 year old son came over to give us a hand. Here the men are assessing the project. (Note the handyman uniform!)<br />
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And, here they are a couple hours later with the new dishwasher all installed! They're looking mighty proud of themselves (as they should be!), aren't they?<br />
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I didn't ask for too many details, but from what I could tell, the installation went pretty well. There were no late night trips to the home improvement store (I had already purchased several add-ons like a new water supply line and some hardware- just in case!), so that's a good sign. And, the dishwasher has been installed and functional for nearly a month now, and our basement is still dry!<br />
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Since we already had a stainless steel dishwasher, the change doesn't make a huge aesthetic difference, but it is miles ahead of the old one in functionality. I put the dishes in dirty and they actually come out clean!<br />
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So, I'm wondering: did either of my readers actually already notice the new dishwasher in these pictures from the <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/09/fun-with-chalkboard-paint.html" target="_blank">chalkboard post</a>?<br />
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Oh, and I almost forgot: after we got the dishwasher installed and I made sure I liked it and it wasn't a lemon, I posted my old one up on Craig's List. I was honest about its age and limitations and was able to sell it to a man with a couple rental properties for $50. So, that thrifty little moment brought the total cost of the brand new top of the line Whirlpool to $550 down from an original price of $750. Me likey savey money.<br />
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My parents were visiting this weekend, and I managed to keep my dad very busy with my Daddy Do List. Stay tuned to find out what he tackled. I will give you one picture clue, though, because it's fun and because I know that some people who know me in real life think my house is blog-picture-clean at all times. So, without further ado, I present to you Evidence A:<br />
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xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991384606191460337.post-1798152209397145372012-09-13T22:47:00.001-04:002012-09-18T09:14:03.684-04:00Fun with chalkboard paintRemember back when we removed the top half of the wall between the kitchen and dining room? In doing that, we exposed the side of one cabinet. See it there just past the sink? (Yes, it's the one with the missing crown molding.)<br />
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In the height of the remodel, a friend commented how fun it would be if I painted the side of that cabinet with chalkboard paint and used it for a menu board. I immediately loved the idea and vowed to do it. But, as I thought more and more about it, a nagging voice kept reminding me that I should be considering any future owners of this house with every change I make. And, what if a future prospective buyer hated that I had permanently altered a cabinet? So, I brainstormed ways to use the side of the cabinet as a menu board without permanently painting it. I got the idea to cover the cabinet with some thin plywood, which I could then paint. So, that's just what I did.<br />
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I picked up a sheet of the thinnest plywood I could find, cut it to size using my jig saw, painted it, and used several small finishing nails to attach it to the side of the cabinet. I know I will be leaving nail holes behind if I ever decide to remove the board, but I figured that is better than the alternative. The tiny holes can be patched and stained/painted to match the rest of the cabinet pretty easily. Once I had mounted the board, I trimmed it out with some molding. I used a simple miter box and hand saw to cut the trim. I left space at the top for the crown that needs to be cut and re-installed in case the molding fairy ever shows up.<br />
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But, as I worked on the new chalkboard with visions of my weekly menu posted there, I reluctantly admitted that I didn't actually need a spot for a menu board. Because, you see, this is the view from my kitchen sink.<br />
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See that there menu board right across in the dining room?! You can read how I invented that chalkboard from an old broken door <a href="http://thediligentone.blogspot.com/2012/01/broken-armoire-door-gets-second-life.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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After I admitted that our menu board needs were pretty much already met, it didn't take me long to figure out another use for a chalkboard in the heart of our home. Considering the amount of time I spend in the kitchen every day, I decided it was a perfect location to post a weekly Bible verse. My goal is to memorize the verse each week, but even if I don't it's great to have an encouraging scripture (or a humbling one!) posted in such a visible location.<br />
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This week's verse is from James, and I have been both encouraged and humbled as I have meditated on it. <br />
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So, there you have it: the simple and temporary addition of a chalkboard in our kitchen. I love it because not only does it provide me a spot for an uplifting message, it's also a fun and interesting design element!<br />
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xo,<br />
<br />
Emily<br />
**linking to <a href="http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k616/meb263/150whitebutton.jpg" /></a>Emily @ The Diligent Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609394832312178785noreply@blogger.com4