the details

Friends.  I have been busy.  We all have, right?  This time of year is a bit of a rush, but the week before Christmas, I feel a crush of busy.  It's not the best feeling.  I want to sit back and enjoy the season.  But there is so. much. to. be. done.  I finished my shopping yesterday.  I actually had everyone finished EXCEPT Brian.  I finally got around to getting his presents.  Thank goodness for Amazon.  Amen.  I baked 4 batches of cookies with my mom today.  I cleaned and tidied like a maniac yesterday.  I made handmade presents for Fletcher and Rowan's teachers (along with gift cards, don't worry!).  I got all the cards mailed.  I still have Christmas meal shopping to do.  I haven't wrapped one present.  My hair is in desperate need of, ahem, a refresh.  And this space is very very close to just going radio silent until after the holidays.  But here I am, at midnight, catching up here, too.

I thought I'd share just a few of the Christmas details around my house right now.  I'll share more later (maybe).  But for now, you can see that Christmas is pretty much in every nook and cranny here.

I hope you are all much more relaxed than I am right now.  I think I'll go take a long bath and head to bed.  The wrapping can wait until tomorrow.

home tour: rental kitchen mini-makeover

We are renting a very charming, rambling slightly older house (1960's, not 1860's like our last house).  And we are lucky that the owners updated all the bathrooms and the kitchen, too.  Kind of updated.  New appliances.  New floors.  But the cabinets?  Not so much.  The light fixtures?  No.  So the kitchen still has dark oak cabinets and very little light.  The big window provides some morning light, but even that can't reach the dark recesses of some of the counters.  Dark cabinets + bad lighting + dark flooring = DARK KITCHEN. 

This was becoming a problem, because I knew that as the summer light waned, and the short days of winter appeared, this kitchen was going to be even darker.  So I did 3 very cheap, and easy projects to make the kitchen a little bit happier. 

The first one I shared with you already.  The little hankie curtain. 

And you can see I also added black contact paper to the cabinets to change them up a bit.  I used this contact paper, which is cheaper than actual chalkboard paper, but still works like chalkboard paper.  It comes in a huge roll, but I have been using it up in other places, too!  You might think that making the cabinets even darker would in turn make the kitchen darker, but once you start writing little pictures and messages on them, they actually brighten up the kitchen!  And to add a bit more light, Brian pinned up a string of big bulb lights over the cabinet.  They add a lot of extra light, especially in those dark corners!  I was hoping for more of a cafe vibe, and not college dorm vibe, so hopefully that at least was achieved.  Here are some of the after pictures.  Sorry, I did not clear the counters before taking these pictures.  I, uh, wanted you to see how we REALLY live, ha!

Rowan especially loves having the chalkboards down on her level.  She wakes up and demands chalk, first thing. 

And then she gets to work! 

Overall, these little touches made me much happier to be in the kitchen.  If I could, I would replace the cabinets or paint them a bright color, but you do what you can when you rent.  I also wanted to replace all the pulls, but Brian (being oh so level-headed) said it wouldn't be a great investment since we'd only be here a couple years. 

What has been your favorite mini-makeover to your dwelling?

home tour: Rowan's room

The only room in the house that I feel is pretty much "finished" is Rowan's room.  I would not share any other room on here yet.  I may share more as I progress, but I'm just not there yet.  I recently painted her rug (I've been on a rug painting kick, I guess!) and that was the last thing on my list for her room.  Rowan likes her room.  She spends happy time in there looking at books and tucking her animals into her little toy cradle.  And I like it, too.  It's a mix of new and old, and there are a lot of touches from my own childhood that make me happy to see every day.

bedding: pottery barn; curtains: fuzzymama; rug: target (painted)
For example, the Mary and Child lithograph hung over my crib as a babe.

My mom made the quilt and pillow that are on the rocker.  And I talked about making the doily hanging with the artwork here. 

My good friend, Kelly, made the pennant banners for Rowan.  I love that they each tie together so that I can mix it up.  They've been hung a different way in each of the 3 bedrooms Rowan has had in her short little life.  They're a bit high, but I don't want Rowan yanking them down.  She's a yanker.  And a Yankee. 

I made the birdy mobile back when I was pregnant with Fletcher and on modified bed rest.  I actually made 2 others for pregnant friends, too.  I was boooored.  And nesting in the only way I was allowed!  So it is technically Fletcher's mobile, but he's letting Rowan borrow it.  Indefinitely, I imagine.

The little cradle and the bench with the play clock and phone sitting on it were both made by my dad for me.  So Rowan's room is really filled with lots of little treasures that were made with love.  I love that about her room.