I told you a few weeks ago that the black dining table in our previous home stayed with the sale of the house per the agreed upon sales contract.

{the dining area in our previous home}

That means I’ve been on the hunt for a new one for the Underdog.  Well, I guess, technically I’ve been searching for an old one.  I’d like to incorporate more antiques and thrift finds into this house than I did in our last one.  I figured a dining table would be a good place to start. As a main multifunctional piece in our future mudroom/dining room, it’s sure to receive tons of abuse in the form of spilled food/drink, toy-banging, kid crafting, laundry folding, machine sewing and family game playing.  I thought a scratch-and-dent find would fit the bill.

{our future mudroom/dining room}

From the get-to, I was set on a round table.  The shape would suit the modest space well and still allow for easy traffic flow around it. {The room will receive traffic from the adjoining garage, laundry nook, backyard and great room.}  As a bonus, I wanted to find a round table that could be extended into an oval with an optional leaf to allow for extra dining space when necessary.  As a result of downsizing by over 1,000 sq ft, I’m having to contemplate the size, scale and function of each furniture piece that we’ll use.  Everything needs a purpose…preferably several purposes…and the dining table is no exception.

After months of hitting up all the local thrift and antique stores nearby, I found a few round tables with extending leaves but they were either 1) too expensive or 2) too ornate or 3) too badly damaged.  Taking a breather from the task at hand, I decided to let up a bit on finding the table. Oddly enough, it was during this ‘break’ that I stumbled upon our future dining table.

The boys and I were visiting my dad and stepmom {I hate that word because it carries such a negative connotation.  I assure you my dad’s wife, Karen, is not your typical stepmom…I love her and am so thankful my dad found her!} when Layne asked me to retrieve one of his dump trucks from Grandpa’s barn where we’ve been storing the kids’ outdoor toys.  It’s also the same barn I lived in as a child for a decade. {I promise.  I’m gonna write about that someday.}

Layne and I walked down to the barn in search of a dump truck.  Imagine my surprise when, lo and behold, there next to our pile o’ boy toys was the exact dining table that had been floating around in my head for months!  It was an older wooden pedestal table in need of some TLC but had warm tones and simple lines.

I quickly found Layne’s dump truck then all but ran back to the house to ask about the table.  I had an inkling it was Karen’s since it was unfamiliar to me.  I was right.  Karen had bought the table when her first son was born almost 30 years ago.  The table had lived in her home then her brother-in-law’s office building then her sister’s home.  Her sister had recently moved and returned the table to Karen. Karen immediately asked if we would be able to use the table in our fixer-upper. I excitedly nodded yes.  I told her I’d buy it from her but she refused to talk money.  She was happy to know we could use it {she and my dad didn’t need it} and happily said it was ours – free of charge.  I was elated!  Even more so when she told me that she had a leaf for it.

That’s right.  The round table with an optional extending leaf that I’d been searching for pretty much fell into my lap.  The table is still in my dad’s barn for now.  I had planned on stripping, sanding and staining {nope, I’m NOT painting it!} it in the barn…I still do.  But Karen beat me to the beginning stages.  On a more recent trip to my dad’s, I found the table cleaned up and stripped of its thirty-year-old polyurethane topcoat.  {All the images shown in this post are from after the table was stripped.}

Karen is the best!

I haven’t decided on a stain yet but I don’t want to venture too far from the table’s original wood tone.  I’d also like to use a food safe topcoat.

I have visions of slipcovering the petite sofa from our previous living room and using it settee style with the pedestal table and simple side chairs in the mudroom/dining room.  Something along the lines of this…

I’ve had the image of that dainty dining space in my inspiration folder for a while now.  I love the mix of the traditional settee + warm mid century table + Bertoia wire chairs.  It feels fresh, modern, casual and homey all at the same time.  That’s what I’m aiming for.

{future mudroom/dining room looking towards the laundry nook}

Since we already have the sofa on hand and the table was free, that leaves me with a little money for a light fixture, textiles, a window treatment, storage options {remember…our dining room has to double as a mudroom} and a clever yet stylish way to disguise the laundry nook.  So much to consider!  But it’s definitely fun thinking about all the possibilities.

So what about you?  Have you ever discovered the perfect piece just sitting in your parent’s attic/garage/basement/barn?  Have you ever given up on finding that certain something – only to have it fall into place all on its own?  Share!

images:  1-6 & 8 ) all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking  7) Erin McLaughlin’s dining space via Style at Home found on DecorPad

*WARNING: Crazy good before-and-afters ahead!*

A few weeks ago, Julia contacted me wanting a little advice concerning her dining room.

{Julia’s dining room BEFORE}

 {Julia’s dining room BEFORE}

She wanted to introduce some contrast with a navy and white color scheme.  Julia mentioned painting the ceiling. She asked that the dining table, bench seating, curtains and mirror stay. She was ‘iffy’ on the pendant light and dining chairs.  Julia felt the hand-me-down rug was too small for the space as well.

I suggested that Julia first declutter the room by removing the bookshelf, wall art and kid’s table. You know I like some high contrast, so I suggested Julia paint the walls above the chair rail navy and the walls below the chair rail white.  If she really wanted to paint the ceiling, I thought a nice light gray would look nice.  While the dark velvet curtains were of high quality, I asked Julia if she would be able to relocate them to another room in her home.  The visual weight of the dark curtains would have felt heavy against navy walls.  Instead, I suggested Julia hang lighter, subtly patterned panels to pop against the navy walls and give the room a touch of pattern.  I am fond of natural seagrass or sisal in dining spaces – especially when kids are involved – as they hold up nicely against crumbs and spills. I relayed this to Julia as well.  Julia was wanting new dining chairs to contrast with her warm wood table but I told her I didn’t think new chairs were necessary since the current ones had a nice simple shape to them. If anything, she could paint them white for more contrast if she so desired.  I recommended painting the wall mirror gloss white to pop against the navy walls.  Finally, I asked Julia to DIY a nature-inspired table centerpiece by gathering a bunch of leafy branches from outside and plopping them into a vase.

Julia did exactly what I love to see people do when I offer them advice.  She took all my suggestions, interpreted them to fit her time frame and budget, and RAN with them!

Check out Julia’s warm and inviting dining room now…

The navy walls are Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy which Julia chose herself and had color-matched in Olympic’s no VOC paint.  She painted the chair rail and walls below white to match the existing trim.  The white chair rail keeps the navy from feeling oppressive.  Julia decided against painting the ceiling gray once she saw the result of the navy walls and white chair rail together.  Julia also chose to remove the heavy velvet curtains to reveal white sheers beneath.

The chunky table and bench stayed and, to save time and money, Julia borrowed a larger 8′x10′ cream and gray rug from her living room. For now, Julia has chosen to keep her dining chairs as is. Personally, I hope they continue to grow on her.  I love ‘em just the way they are, contrasting warmly with the white and navy.

Julia did a great job of decluttering and emptying the room of unnecessary furniture pieces.  She opted to keep a petite console beneath the wall mirror to ground the mirror.

The newly painted white mirror really pops against and brightens the moody navy walls.

And check out those amazing, blazing branches on display in the center of the table!  Julia clipped them from outside and brought them indoors, adding just the right amount of accent color to the room.  Gorgeous.

Even though the adjoining kitchen and sunroom are lighter in color, the new navy walls tie in nicely with Julia’s tiled kitchen backsplash and patterned throw on the back of the sofa in the sunroom. Making an effort to repeat colors – even in small doses – in each room of a home is a great way to keep things feeling cohesive.

And now for a side-by-side, before-and-after comparison because…well, because everyone likes a good before-and-after.

That’s one amazing transformation, isn’t it?!  The navy walls work well in Julia’s dining room because there are a lot of ‘breaks’ in the walls: doorways to adjoining rooms, a large window, a light-bouncing mirror and the white chair rail.

Who would have guessed that this jaw-dropping makeover only cost Julia the small price of paint and painting supplies for the navy walls?  {She used leftover white paint in her basement for the chair rail.} Yet another great example of how decluttering + a little paint can transform a ho-hum room.  Ah, the power of paint.  Not every great ‘after’ has to happen with demolition and renovation!

Thanks, Julia, for sharing your new dining room.  You did an awesome job!  I’m inspired.  And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.

What’s your favorite part of Julia’s dining room makeover?  I’m totally diggin’ the deep navy walls and that Mother Nature-inspired centerpiece.

FYI – To read and see more about Julia’s dining room makeover, including a few in-progress shots, click over to her Happy Happy Home blog.

images:  all courtesy of Julia from Happy Happy Home

“…reindeer pause…out jumps good ol’ Santa Claus…”

There are only 87 days until Christmas.  This makes me a little nauseous.  But that’s not what this post is about.  This post is about the Underdog’s roof.  Prepare to learn more than you ever wanted to know about it.

The backside of the Underdog is riddled with all kinds of venting paraphernalia on the roof. {Disregard the horrid landscaping and dirty brick.  We’ll get to those…someday.}  Several features were present when we bought the house but others have been added to meet code requirements and to make the house safer and healthier.

Three surface vents near the ridge of the roof came with the house.  Typically, they are thought to create adequate air flow beneath the roof so that condensation problems are avoided.  These vents will disappear with a new roof install and new foam insulation.

Along with the surface vents, there is a gas furnace vent and the chimney both of which are original to the house.  These will remain intact although the wood burning fireplace will be converted to gas.

Two plumbing vents {they look like small black pipes sticking up through the roof} were in place already and will remain as well.  The one on the left is for the bathrooms and the one on the right is above the laundry area.  Are you starting to get a feel for the house’s layout and {modest!} size just by knowing what’s what on the roof?  Kinda cool, right?

The old kitchen hood vent is located near the laundry area.  Previously, the stove was placed on the wall that separates the laundry closet from the kitchen.  We’re moving the range to the exterior wall of the kitchen at the back of the house.  It will be placed between the two kitchen windows to serve as a focal point and to make room for the refrigerator which was previously located along an interior wall that we knocked down.  Remember the wall between the living room and kitchen? Yep, that’s where the fridge used to be.  The new kitchen layout puts the fridge where the stove used to be.  Soooo…that old kitchen hood vent is going bye-bye.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, this bad boy is the new kitchen hood vent.  Handy Hubby installed it himself.

That’s the interior view.  Notice how the range and hood will be centered – albeit not perfectly due to space restrictions – between the two windows.  We also have plans to convert the window on the right side to french doors.  We like the idea of having direct access from the kitchen to a future backyard patio since we prefer to eat outside as much as possible.  But enough of that.  Back to the roof…

Also new to the roof is a vent for the radon mitigation system that we had installed.  {The house failed radon testing upon inspection.}  If you’ll remember, HH had the grand idea to locate it within the laundry nook’s walls to save precious space. The roof vent was part of the hired out install.

When we bought the Underdog, our inspector discovered that the dryer vented directly into the attic.  There was 50 years worth of lint in that attic!  Gross and not so great for preventing moisture in the attic.  HH installed a new dryer vent which vents to the outside through the roof now.  No more attic lint!

From the inside, you can see where the new dryer vent and radon mitigation system exit through the roof.

HH also installed fans for proper ventilation in each of the two bathrooms.  When we purchased the house, there were no bathroom fans.  Even before we uncovered a major mold and mildew problem in one the bathrooms, we were set on having proper bathroom ventilation.  I can barely stand to shower in a bathroom with no fan!  Like in hotels.  You know that can’t be good.  Nothing dries out.  Towels are still damp when you go to use them the next day.  Ew.  Me no likey.  So, two new bathroom fans it is.

This should also give you a better idea of the bathrooms’ size and location.  Even though we’re designating one as the ‘kid/guest bathroom’ and the other as the ‘master bathroom’, there’s really no difference between them.  They are mirror images of each other and exactly the same size. And there’s definitely nothing master-ish about the master bathroom – other than in being located off a bedroom.

In summary, several original roof vents are coming out and we’ve added a few new ones. Specifically, three surface vents and one old hood vent are no longer needed.  Instead, proper ventilation for the radon mitigation system, dryer, new kitchen hood and two bathroom fans has been added.

Why am I sharing all of this?  There’s a good reason.  If all goes as planned {which could likely NOT happen because we’re talking real life renovation here} the Underdog is getting a new roof this weekend.  All of that stuff I just bored you with beat to death had to be completed before the new roof could go on.  And since we were wanting to DIY most of those little projects {dryer vent, hood vent, bathroom vents} to save some money, it’s taken us a while to get around to it.  But they’re finished now and the roofing material has been ordered.  We’re just hoping we stay on the schedule for this weekend.  Fingers crossed!

In case you’re wondering, we did in fact decide to go with a metal roof which I mentioned a while back here.  It won’t be a standing seam style as seen here…

The quote on that style came back way over our budget.  Instead, it will be an Everlast charcoal gray roofing metal that contains more ribbing {i.e. humps}.  It’s not exactly what we would have chosen style wise if money wasn’t a concern BUT money is a concern.  The metal roof will look more like this…

Notice how there are large ribs every 9″ or so with lower rising ribs in between.  As far as color goes, we’ve pretty much been set on a dark gray or black since we began contemplating a metal roof.  We want something that looks great with the original brick color as is {i.e. the way it is right now} and that would look great with lime washed brick too since we’re thinking that may be in the Underdog’s future…far future…not anything we’d do right away.  We settled on a charcoal gray color just because we felt the black would too much contrast.  And you know I like gray!

Price wise, yes, a metal roof is more expensive than an asphalt roof.  But we really want something maintenance free that will last a long, long time and we’re trying to go as green as we can afford on some items whose aesthetic appeals to us.  We have money from an insurance claim that we filed back in June after a severe hail storm damaged the already weak and leaky roof.  The money the insurance company gave us was based on a new asphalt roof. After all is said in done, we’ll be paying $1,500 – $2,000 for a new metal roof.  This includes new gutters to accommodate the runoff from the metal roof and the installation of four skylights over the kitchen area which I briefly discussed here.

That’s the latest on progress at the Underdog.  Things have been sort of at a standstill for the last week or so.  For one, HH finally took a weekend off {the first I can remember in a long time!} to take Layne camping.  They had a blast.  Also, we’re awaiting the arrival of new doors and windows.  We were told they would be in this week but, lo and behold, now we’re being told it will be next week before they arrive.  HH has just about had it with contractors and their broken promises.  Luckily, nothing major has happened but HH is tired of getting the run around. Especially since he thinks he could do most everything himself if he had the time.  The new windows and doors arriving a week late pushes everything back…insulation, drywall, flooring, kitchen install, etc.

Oh well.  It’s nothing we didn’t expect or weren’t warned of when we initially told everyone our renovation plans.  We’re grateful that we have a roof over our heads and don’t have a pressing deadline.  Still, we’d like to get everything done and move in soon.  We try to remind ourselves daily that it’s all just stuff in the end and we’ll get there eventually.  Plus, we really do enjoy seeing our drab Underdog come to life – even if it is in gradual little spurts.

images:  1-12) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking  13) LGC Roofing  14) North Carolina Metal Roofing

I mentioned wanting to add a few houseplants in our apartment to help get rid of the inevitable ‘apartment smell.’  I decided to go with a few snake plants since they’re one of the top 15 NASA recommended house plants for improving air quality.

I picked up 2 snake plants {one large one and one small one}, 2 bags of sheet moss and one bag of potting soil at Home Depot for about $40.  I already had two large planters on hand.

The white textured one is from HomeGoods.  I bought it over a year ago and planted a bamboo palm in it at our previous house but it didn’t fare so well.  {i.e. my black thumb killed it}  The smaller black and white floral motif planter was an estate sale purchase.  I paid less than $50 total for them both.

I filled each planter with potting soil then added a snake plant.  I really needed a tad more soil in the smaller pot but ran out and didn’t want to buy more so I made do with what I had.

I’m so glad I did this outside on the balcony of our apartment as I made quite the mess!  Dragging a small trowel and gardening gloves out of storage just seemed like too much of a hassle at the time. So, yeah, I did it all with my bare hands.

I cut and placed a layer of sheet moss on top of the soil.  I’d never used moss on top of soil in a planter before but I wanted to give it a try since it gives the planter a more organic feel and hides the dirt.  I ended up needing only one of the two bags of moss.  I even had a little leftover from the first bag after covering the soil in each planter.

I love the extra green and added texture of the moss.  Makes me want to zap myself with a shrinking laser and traipse through the pot à la Lord of the Rings style.

Luckily, Handy Hubby was around to carry the {heavy!} potted planters inside from the balcony.  I had him place the larger one in the living room next to the sofa.

Snake plants can survive with little light and in this position, the planter receives north light so I think it will do okay here.  I just have to remember not to overwater it!  Snake plants can survive with little water, too.

I placed a cork circle beneath the planter to catch any run off and avoid carpet stains.  {The planter has a drain hole in the bottom.}

I placed the smaller snake plant on a wooden trunk in our bedroom beneath a north-facing window. Again, this one could use some more soil to bring the plant up a bit.  Maybe I’ll get around to that…

I love the oversized scale of it in the bedroom.  The patterned planter is one of my new favorite pieces.  So happy I broke down and bought it at an estate sale last spring.  {It belonged to the Underdog’s previous owner.}  I wasn’t sure what to do with it at the time but I think the clean lines of the snake plant are a great contrast to the swirly floral motif.  Plus, the upward reaching snake plant leaves give a clear view of the planter’s pattern.  I wouldn’t want to cover it up.

There’s even subtle pattern on the rim of the planter.  So charming.

With two snake plants in our houseplant mix, we now have 5 NASA recommended houseplants {along with a few succulents not on the NASA list} in the apartment.  While it’s a far cry from the 15 that NASA recommends {yikes!  That’s triple what we have!}, I still feel good about our plant arsenal. More than likely, I’ll continue to add to it when we move into the Underdog.  Plus, I don’t think HH would be too happy about carrying 15 large planters down the 3 flights of stairs that lead to our apartment when the time comes to move {which we’re thinking will be November} into the Underdog.

While I can’t say that the apartment smell no longer exists {I still get a whiff of stale air and old carpet every now and then}, the good news is that I spent less than $40 on this apartment project but it will completely carry over to the Underdog.  No money wasted!  The pop of living greenery really brings a fresh look to the apartment too.

What plants do you have in your houseplant arsenal?  Which is your favorite?  Are you closer to the NASA recommended #15 than me?

FYI – Snake plants are toxic even though they’ve been used in some herbal remedies.  Always use caution when handling them and use supervision when kids/pets are around!

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

If you’ll remember from our apartment tour, this is the kitchen…

Looks like an apartment kitchen, doesn’t it?  It’s teeny but fine for what we need right now – which is just somewhere to store and cook food while the Underdog undergoes some major surgery.

Right away {even before we moved into the apartment} I noticed something about the kitchen that caught my eye.  The countertops appear to have been painted.  Not by us.

That’s the breakfast bar countertop above.  {Yes, I ordered the new Design*Sponge at Home book last week.  No, I haven’t even cracked it yet.  It’s just been sitting on the bar ever since it arrived. I’m waiting for a rainy day…}

The main background color is creamy with flecks of tan and gray on top to give it a little more dimension.  For an apartment countertop, it’s not bad.  Not bad at all.  It’s light, clean, stain-free and wipes down easily.

On the other side of the breakfast bar is the sink with a little bit of counter space on either side of it. This is where I prepare meals/snacks and where dirty dishes sit before they’re washed.  {I’m hand washing everything because, ironically, the dishwasher does NOT wash dishes.  It just squirts some water around and makes a bunch of noise, leaving our plates and silverware looking like they did right after we finished eating with them.}

I’ll be honest.  I don’t necessarily try to be nice to the countertops.  Sometimes, I put hotter-than-recommended pots and pans on them, cut directly on them and clumsily drop pointy/heavy dishware on them.  But the counters have held up very well so far.  No dents, scratches, blemishes or anything.  Of course, I have no idea how long the countertops have been painted. We very well could be the first to use the painted surface.  Still, it seems quite durable.

Even the edges are holding up.  I told Handy Hubby that I thought the countertops had been painted and he didn’t agree at first.  But we got to looking around and there is telling evidence that they have been painted.  Some of the countertop paint is on top of the caulk around the 4″ backsplash against the wall.  There’s no other explanation for it.  Must have been due to a shoddy tape job.  HH believes me now.

The surface is what I would call a satin finish.  It has some shine to it but it’s definitely not glossy. It’s textured too.  I’ve tried my darndest to figure out what the original countertop may have looked like because I’m weird/curious like that.  But the original surface is covered really well and I can’t find a single painting ‘miss’ that would give me a clue as to what it was. Because it’s an apartment, I’m guessing faux butcher block.  Oh, how happy I am it’s painted if that really was the original look.

I must say I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the durability and appearance of our painted countertops.  Although it’s not something I would ever want permanently, I think it’d be a great temporary holdover project for someone saving money for natural stone {or the like} who can’t bear to live with, say, faux butcher block anymore.  Needless to say, it’d be a DIY project for a rental too {as long as the landlord gives you the go ahead}.  And maybe even a good investment for someone trying to sell a home that has cringe-worthy, dark, hunter green countertops.  Taking a peek at some prices, it looks like you could achieve a transformation like this for less than $300 with one of the countertop transformation kits available at home improvement stores.

Have you seen painted countertops before?  Ever tried ‘em yourself?

images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

We were in dire need of a place to hang school papers/pending bills/kids’ artwork, jot down grocery items and daily reminders. I decided the back of our apartment front door would work well.  It’s in a convenient location where we’ll see important items on the way out in the mornings.  It’s metal, so papers and artwork can be hung with magnets.  It doesn’t take up any precious wall space in our small apartment.  Most importantly, it can be painted and easily primed back over when it comes time to move in a few short months.

Last week, our front door became our message center for less than $20.  All it took was a can of chalkboard paint, a few handmade magnets and a store bought magnetic notepad basket.

First, I taped off the door into 3 sections.

My goal was to make the flat facade look like it had more character {since metal apartment doors lack that sort of thing}…without actually adding molding or trim.

Everett pretend painted with a dry roller before I opened the can of black chalkboard paint.

Then I went to work with my foam roller.  It took 2 full coats of chalkboard paint…

…and another touch up coat in select spots.

I skipped priming the door prior to painting because the door was painted out in matte paint to begin with.  If the door had been slick or shiny, I would have added primer first to give the paint something to stick to.

As for the peep hole, I stuck a wad of rolled up toilet paper into the hole before painting then removed it with tweezers once the door was dry.

I hot glued a few magnets that I bought at JoAnn’s {for less than $4} to the back of two wooden toy blocks.  Don’t tell Layne and Everett I sacrificed two of their blocks for the message door!

One magnet holds Layne’s school calendar/papers and the other magnet holds Everett’s preschool calendar/papers.

I bought this magnetic wire basket at Target for less than $4 too.  It came with a little notepad and pen.  I tossed a few sticks of chalk into the basket as well.

It didn’t take Everett long to add his own artwork to the door.  Layne was at school or I assume he would have gotten in on the chalk action too.

Four days later, our message door is coming in pretty handy.  We’ve added a few grocery items, more kid artwork and a pending bill to the little metal basket.

Feel free to laugh at Everett’s very first preschool craft.  I did.  ”I like balls.”  I laughed until I cried. Then laughed some more. Then couldn’t breathe properly.  I’m that mature.  ”I like sports” just wouldn’t have had the same effect.

Sorry, E, that one’s making it to your high school graduation party.

It feels great to have an outta-the-way space dedicated to important notes, daily reminders and funny kid crafts.  It feels even better to know that when we move out in a short while, all I have to do is remove the magnets, wipe the door down and prime. Easy.

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

We are settling into apartment living nicely.  The boys really seem to like it.  I think they see it as a big playhouse.  It’s a welcome change for them from the ‘showhouse’ {i.e. previous house we sold by owner..more on that next week} conditions we were living in for nearly five months.  The words “No!  Don’t touch that!” haven’t slipped through my lips once in the past two weeks. The kids happily litter their toys around the apartment and make tents out of furniture, blankets and pillows. Sometimes I don’t even make them put it all away at night because, well, it doesn’t matter.  No one’s coming to visit and we aren’t hanging by a thread waiting for a call from potential buyers who want to come see the place.  We’re just living here.

Still, after living in the apartment a few weeks, I’ve decided there are some things that need to be addressed to make our new space function well and feel a little more like home…albeit an interim one.  Not all of the things I want to do deal with are major design dilemmas – by god, there are plenty! – because we’re only going to be living here temporarily.  Most of the projects I want to take on will affect the way we use the apartment and how it works for us.  Don’t worry, though, I don’t think I can completely steer clear of all design-related ideas!  I’ve gotten a bunch of different feedback concerning interim housing and possible projects.  Some people advise not to touch a thing and focus all energies on the Underdog while, at the opposite end of the spectrum, I have others saying to go all out on the apartment and make it ours.  I appreciate all the input and I can see the pros/cons of both sides.  Maybe you’ll be happy to know that I’m taking the middle ground on this one. Not really to appease any one side but simply because that’s how I feel about the matter.  I could not live in a place for longer than a month without changing something.  That’s just not me. Tweaking is what I do.  And it usually improves our everyday living.  On the other hand, I will have a lot of ideas that don’t make the cut due to time, money and energy constraints.  I can’t see putting in tons of work and money into a space that we’ll only be living in short-term.  So, my to-do list will focus only on those projects that will enhance our apartment living experience without cutting into our wallets, renovation time {at the Underdog} and everyday life.  With me?  Okay, here are my top priorities as of today.  Maybe once I check them off, I’ll move onto other like minded ideas.

1 – Hang stuff.  I purposefully selected a few wall decor items to make the move to the apartment versus storage.  I chose items knowing exactly where I wanted to put them so I didn’t end up with a bunch of unnecessary stuff in our small apartment.  Plus, as long as I don’t make any holes in the walls larger than the size of a dime, we’re not responsible for patching them when our lease is up.  No skin off my back!  Still, the few paintings, frames and mirrors I brought to the apartment haven’t made it off the floor.  I’ve left them propped against the walls out of harms way just waiting to be hung. I’m ready to put some {small} holes in the walls!  The bare white walls are starting to feel a tad asylum-like.

2 – Organize the utility closet.  For an apartment, I think ours has ample closet space.  I’m just not really using it to it’s fullest potential.  This utility closet just off the dining area is a case in point. While it’s plenty large enough to house the things we need it to house {safe, printer, steam mop, broom, important files, etc.} it’s not functional.  It’s one big pile o’ stuff. I think adding some freestanding shelving and wall hooks would improve this storage space tremendously!

3 – Remove cumbersome folding doors.  There are a LOT of folding doors in the apartment.  4 to be exact:  one near the front door {shown above}, one off the kitchen that hides the washer/dryer, and two in the boys’ bedroom that act as closet doors.  I’ve already decided that the one right near the entrance to the apartment needs to go.  It doesn’t open or close properly and when it is open, no one can open the front door or else the two doors just bang into each other. The folding door in the kitchen doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem {just hideous to look at} since I’m the only who uses it for doing laundry.  I think it may stay.  The closet doors in the boys’ bedroom are a safety hazard.  Everett has already pinched his finger in them once and I’m betting it’ll happen again.  They’ll be coming down as well.  I plan on hanging fabric panels in place of the folding doors I remove.  Oh!  And I’ll have to reinstall the doors I remove when our lease is up.

4 – Add to our house plant arsenal.  If you’ve ever lived in an apartment you can attest to what I like to call the apartment smell.  It smells like a hot mix of old water and musty carpet.  It doesn’t go away no matter how often you clean or open your windows.  While it has definitely improved since the first day, our apartment still has a faint, distinct odor that doesn’t quite smell like home.  I’m using my Scentsy burner and it helps some, but I think adding in more air purifying house plants would help too.  Plus, greenery in a home is always pretty and lively.

5 – Do something about the dining chandelier.  The light above the dining area is too small, too high and not anywhere near our style.  I’d love to tweak it somehow so that we have a larger, more stylish, lower hanging light above our dining table.  With the ceilings being 15′ high, I can’t remove the light myself but I’ve been conjuring up ideas for disguising the light and making it seem bigger than it actually is.  I think it could really become the focal point of the open living space if I play my cards right.

6 – Transform the front door into a message center.  In our last home I painted a sliver of wall in the kitchen with chalkboard paint to act as a message board.  I miss it!  I didn’t realize how useful it was until now.  We would jot down needed grocery items, daily notes, reminders and even inspirational quotes to keep us on our toes.  We definitely need something like it in the apartment and I think the back of our front door will be a great spot for it.

So, those are my current projects for the apartment.  I plan on tackling some of them this weekend and brainstorming the rest.  That light is gonna be a doozy!  But I like challenges and some of my most creative work comes from the most awful ‘before’ setups.  Keep in mind that all projects need to be budget-friendly and reversible, so as not to sink money into a space that is only temporary. The jury is still out on painting any walls….hmmm.

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Not sure why, but some people are anxiously awaiting pics of our apartment.  In case you missed it, here’s the floor plan…

With tons of help from some family and friends {thank you!}, this past weekend we were able to move almost all of our stuff that is making the move to the apartment.  I’m so lucky to have ties to a few strong men!  After moving a laundry washer and dryer {not to mention a bunch of other stuff} up THREE flights of stairs, those men can bring me their dirty laundry any time and I’ll wash it up for free.  We were also able to unload a bunch of furniture that’s not making the apartment/Underdog cut via Craigslist.  I had every intention of linking to our items for sale here on House*Tweaking but nearly 90% of it was gone in less than 24 hours!  I am relieved to have this whole moving process underway and am starting to see the light {although it may be fluorescent thanks to our interim housing} at the end of this whole for-sale-by-owner/moving-to-an-apartment-for-a-few-months escapade.  I’m living day to day for the next couple of weeks then hopefully we’ll have settled into a new place and new routine.

And here’s the new place where the new routine will be happening…

This is the view into the living room from the front door.  As you can see, it has vaulted ceilings and sliders leading to a balcony.  I’ve got to find some way of making those sliders childproof because I wouldn’t trust my kiddos out there for one second.  If anyone has an idea please share!

Here’s a view of the dining area and breakfast bar looking in from a corner of the living room.  We moved a pair of counter stools from our current home to the apartment just for that breakfast bar HOWEVER I should have measured first.  The stools are waaaay too low for the bar.  Oh well.  At least they weren’t heavy.  And we’ll have adequate dining space for special visitors with extremely long torsos!  Hehe.  I’m already trying to figure out an inexpensive way to improve the look of the gold dining chandy {that is hung too high} without permanently changing it.

That, my folks, is the kitchen.  The folding doors lead to the laundry room.  It may look like those floors are wood but in actuality they’re vinyl.  They look worse in real life.  I like the globe lights.

The hall leads back to the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Layne says it’s the perfect hall to run his monster truck down.  Shall I dare tell him I donated said monster truck that he hadn’t played with for months to Goodwill just last week?

Here is one of the two full bathrooms.  Again, vinyl wood lookalike flooring.  I only took a picture of one of the bathrooms because 1) they are twins and 2) the aforementioned strong guys were waiting to start carrying stuff in while I was snapping away.  Handy Hubby is pretty happy we were able to find an affordable apartment with 2 full baths.  He doesn’t want to share with the kids.  I could care less.  Guess who cleans the bathrooms in our family!

This is where Layne and Everett will either become close and loving brothers OR fight to the death. I appreciate everyone’s comments about their children whose bedroom sharing experiences brought them closer together.  There is hope!

And this is where you’ll find Handy Hubby and me passing out at the end of long renovation days.  There is a full bathroom en suite and a walk-in closet for plenty of storage.

So ends our apartment tour.  It’s nothing over the top but it will definitely work.  The finishes are dated but the place is clean and has good natural light.  I would like to try my hand at a few budget-friendly, temporary cosmetic improvements while we’re living in the apartment.  I mentioned something to HH about painting a few walls and he said I’m crazy.  I didn’t disagree.  I just don’t see the harm in making the place you’re living in feel a little happier with a few cheap tricks.  I also surprisingly discovered that we won’t be responsible for patching any holes smaller than a dime; we only have to prime over any walls we {I} may paint.  Hanging stuff on the walls?!  Game on.

Have you ever used budget-friendly decor or DIY to freshen up a living space even if it was temporary?  Anyone guilty of the ol’ toothpaste spackling trick to disguise holes in the walls of dorm rooms?  Me…guilty as charged.

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

The Underdog needs some major electrical upgrades.  When Handy Hubby discovered that fishing new wiring between the cinder block and plaster of the exterior walls was nearly impossible, the plaster came down to allow for easier access.  Since then, HH has been busy framing up all those naked block walls with 2″x2″ treated lumber.  Well, actually they are ripped 2″x4″s.  HH was appalled by the realization that 2″x2″s cost over $3 each while 2″x4″s were priced less than $2 each.  To save money {which usually means ‘to make more work and add time to the project’}, HH bought the 2″x4″s at the lesser cost and decided to rip them in half into 2″x2″s with his table saw. Essentially, he got two 2″x2″s from each 2″x4″ {after cutting them in half longways} bringing the cost of each 2″x2″ to 95¢ – well below the $3 off-the-shelf price tag.  Gotta love Handy Hubby.

So, he’s been putting in long hours measuring, cutting and framing the past few weeks.  Here’s his progress…

With a heat index over 100°F most days, HH was sweating his you-know-what’s off working in the unair-conditioned Underdog.  That is, until someone with a little more common sense {ahem, me} mentioned cranking up the A/C unit in the window left by the previous owner.

HH defended his decision not to turn the window unit by saying he was afraid of what nasty stuff might blow out of it.  But after talking to a neighbor, he learned that the unit hadn’t been run at all in the last few years.  Sure enough, when HH checked the filter it looked brand new.  And that’s pretty much the only ‘brand new’ thing we’ve found in the Underdog. Handy Hubby finally gave in and turned on the A/C.  Although it’s not powerful enough to really cool the entire house, HH was feeling more comfortable.  It was one of those, “See, I told you so” moments for me.

Anyhow, with framing underway, our cousin-in-law/electrician has started running new electric and cutting holes for overhead lighting…inside and outside.

In other news, the contractor we hired to manufacture and install the ridge beam that will support the roof above the vaulted ceilings in the great room started work this week.  Contractor?!  I know. That sounds professional.  I do feel a little hoity toity just typing it.  But creating and installing a major support beam is beyond our DIY skills and it would be very stupid and irresponsible of us to think otherwise.  That means HH has been home in the evenings this week for the first time in a long time.  The boys and I have really enjoyed eating dinner with him.

So, that’s the latest and greatest on the Underdog.  HH and I have been trying to nail down flooring {metaphorically speaking, not literally} for the house.  There are so many options that it’s difficult to choose just one or two!  But we’re having fun looking at all the different tiles, engineered wood, and concrete stains.  I’ll let you know what we decide!

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

The Inside Source is eBay’s digital style magazine.  It’s a curated collection of what’s hot in fashion, home and garden, and pop culture based on proprietary data provided by eBay.  In other words, they take all that stuff on eBay and show you how to use and enjoy it.

Imagine my surprise when one of the online magazine’s contributors asked me to participate in an article featuring items recycled and incorporated into interior design!  The article, Recycling: Not just for Empties, compiles a variety of reused items – from pallets to fish nets – and shows how they were reinterpreted as home decor.

{Love that pallet daybed!}

My church pew turned porch bench is featured in the article if you want to check it out…along with a bunch of other great ideas.  Words can’t describe how honored I am to be included in the round-up.  It has me itching to get back to DIY design after several months of focusing on the marketing and sale of our home by owner.  Handy Hubby and I just discussed a future DIY project that we have in store for the Underdog and I am super excited about it!  I’ll give you a hint…it involves the placement of our flatscreen TV.

Thanks for the mention, Marni!

images:  1-3) The Inside Source  4)  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking