That was the view from the master bedroom to the master bathroom several months ago. Our bed now lives where this photo was taken from. Besides a few renovation changes – completing the bathroom, adding baseboards, installing interior doors – this half of our bedroom looks much the same as it did then. Empty.

There’s actually a decent chunk of floor space between the end of our bed and the door to the bathroom. Which is great for all the bathroom traffic. {We’re still living with only one full bathroom until we tackle the kid/guest bathroom later this winter.} I’ve been looking for something for the wall just to the right of the bathroom doorway for a while. At first, I thought a tall wardrobe like the ones we have in the mudroom would fit the wall well. But we really don’t need extra storage and once I started visualizing a floor-to-ceiling cabinet in the room, I feared it would be too heavy and tall for the room. Everything else in the room has a low profile.

I then began hunting for a low dresser. Preferably midcentury style. But most of the ones I found were too wide for the narrow wall. Until two weeks ago.

This handsome dresser is the newest addition to our home-loving family. I found him via craigslist. An elderly woman was selling him for $225. I offered $175 and he was mine. HH was out of town and the elderly woman selling him was recovering from a double hip replacement so Layne and his muscles helped me load him up and bring him home. {Looks like Layne’s gymnastics training is finally paying off!}

It’s a vintage Willett {you can read more about Willett furniture here} and I have no idea what it’s worth but I was willing to pay $175 for the quality whether it was vintage or not. It’s a sturdy, heavy piece made of solid cherry in good condition.

The brass handles are my favorite detail. I thought about polishing them up but I’m actually liking the natural patina so I think I’ll leave them as is for now.

I cleaned up the wood with Bona – the same wood cleaner I use on my floors. It brought the dresser back to life.

The petite size is perfect for the little corner across from our bed.

It hides the plumbing access to the shower/bath but can be easily moved if necessary. You know me. I’m always leery of water leaks in the house. It’s my recurring nightmare.

I love how the wood tones pick up on the mirror in the bathroom. I’m such a sucker for room-to-room views and this one does not disappoint.

I’ve yet to figure out what the function of the dresser will be since all of our clothes are in the closet. I want to line the drawers but not sure what else will make it into them. When HH works from home and has conference calls, he retreats to our bedroom to avoid screaming kids. He mentioned it would be nice to have somewhere to sit other than the bed. So maybe I’ll add a table lamp to the top and a side chair to the perpendicular wall so the dresser can be used as a makeshift desk. Obviously, the wall could use some artwork or open shelving. Look at me! Ever since we installed open shelves in the kitchen, I want to put them everywhere.

I’m still considering repainting the bedroom and bathroom. The walls don’t look too bad in these pictures but it was late morning on a sunny day when the northeastern room’s light is at its best. I’ve decided to tackle this room from a new angle. I’ve been surprised to learn that many of my favorite designers choose paint colors last when decorating a room. Up until now, wall color has been one of the first things I consider when decorating a room. I think I’ll try finding an area rug, bedding and ceiling light then go from there. I’ll let you know how it goes.

And you know how everyone says to ‘finish’ your bedroom first so you have an inviting space to crawl to at the end of each day? Well. I’ve totally broken that rule. There is crawling involved at the end of each day but not so much ‘inviting.’

Click here to see who won this week’s Cutting Edge Stencils giveaway!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Speed blogging. It’s not unlike speed dating and it’s what I’m doing today. It’s something that I think every mommy blogger out there has done at least once. {If you’re a mommy blogger or a daddy blogger or a non-parenting blogger, please tell me you’ve done it.} It’s a post that’s quickly typed out when one realizes that it’s almost the end of the blogging week with only one post {and a giveaway at that!} published earlier in the week. And every professional blogger out there advises to post at least 3-4 times weekly to keep your audience entertained so I MUST GET OUT ANOTHER POST! I’m tap dancing for you people. I’ve got a sequined leotard, coat tails, a top hat, cane and everything!

Why the quiet blog lately? As you might already know, HH has been out of town for work over the last ~3 weeks and I’ve been held hostage by the kids. When the blog is quiet that usually means my house is pretty loud and chaotic. And when the blog is cruising with posts, well, my house is still pretty loud and chaotic. But missing that extra pair of adult hands has left me with no hands to type up posts. Which begs the question: at what age is it okay to start dictating blog posts to your baby? I hope you say seven months. Please say seven months.

Guess what. Mabrey just scored her first job. You go, babygirl.

I’ve also been plugging away at non-bloggy projects {mood boards, my writings elsewhere, planning ahead for some pretty amazing collaborations coming up – all of which I’m stoked about!} one of which included getting the mudroom – or at least a corner of it – in ship shape. See above.

Me to myself: Okay, so that’s one image and three paragraphs. Is that enough for a post? No. More tap dancing.

So, back to the kids. Because that’s where my mind is these days. I should probably throw in some random kid convo as well to keep things real. Yes, let’s do that.

Layne: Really, mom. Eggs? Eggs for breakfast? I don’t want eggs.

Everett: I have to pee.

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Layne was voted onto student council earlier in the school year. As a former student council president, I’m so proud of him. This week they are busy organizing a food drive for a local food pantry so we’ve been working on a poster and lines for a video they’re filming today that show other students what to do with the food they bring into school. He likes it when I say “Lights. Camera. Action!” before we practice then “…and scene” at the end. Seriously. I could totally go in and make that entire video myself knowing each kid’s lines and ROCK IT.

Layne: Ugh. I wanted the ketchup next to my eggs not on top of them.

Everett: I have to poop.

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Everett has been busy being Everett. That kid is strange. He scares me sometimes. He studies people and their mannerisms, gestures, clothing, accessories, etc. like he’s an actor prepping for a biographical film about that person. He takes it all in then chooses his role for the day and totally commits to it. This morning before preschool he was playing Grandpa. He couldn’t see without his glasses {a.k.a. bright blue sunglasses with puppy stickers on them – hey, he does what he can with his limited props} so had to wear them while he got dressed, ate breakfast and went to school. He is asking Santa for straps {known as ‘suspenders’ to the rest of the world}, black dress pants {just because they have the word ‘dress’ in them doesn’t mean they’re for girls. Let’s make that perfectly clear.}, a tie and golfer’s cap to play Uncle Ray next.

Layne: Hey, those eggs weren’t that bad. Can I have some more?

Everett: Mabrey pooped.

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

All of a sudden Mabrey has decided to take a bottle. I pretty much follow her lead on everything. It’s easier that way. So when she decided earlier this week that bottles were her preferred method of calorie intake versus nursing, I went with it. I haven’t nursed or pumped for two days so I think we’re done. Just like that. I’m sad and happy at the same time. I think I’m feeling the effects of the hormone changes that go along with weaning. Hormone changes + single parenting = cray cray mommy. While HH has been away, Mabrey has learned to sit on her own, clap, hold her bottle and feed herself solid foods. Oh, and type. HH won’t know what to think when he sees her again!

Layne: You know my lunch you made me yesterday? It was good but can you not give me so many carrots next time. The thing is I love carrots but I want to eat them all and they just don’t give me enough time at school to eat that many.

Everett: Can I see Mabrey’s poop?

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

HH comes home tomorrow. It’s also our 10th wedding anniversary. I’m giving him the gift of daddy time. Quality one-on-three time with the kids. It’s all he’s ever wanted. And more.

…and scene.

FYI – Mabrey didn’t type this post. Really. Do you think a baby could spell ‘accessories’? C’mon. Even I have to look at that one twice. Two c’s? One c? Two s’s? One s? Two r’s? One r? So. Many. Consonants.

image: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking