Simple Memory Art

I love sneaky educational tools. I love them even more when they're pretty, like these kitchen towels with herb and spice tips from Simple Memory Art...



And also these periodic table magnets...



I'll admit the magnets aren't really "pretty", but what a great way to teach your kids the periodic table! My daughter learned all of her letters and their sounds using magnets so maybe I should up the ante and get her to learn the elements?

The bathroom of paneling...doomed!

This is what our bathroom looked like when we bought the house.



Ohhh how I love being surrounded by wood paneling... especially when it has nicks and scratches and old drill holes where the previous owner must have had at least three separate toilet paper holders. It looks so wonderful paired with the cheap flooring and the ceiling tiles... oh! the ceiling tiles....



When we moved in there was actually a cover over that shop light, but if you closed the door just right it would fall down on your head.

For our first project, my father and I put in some lovely new ceiling tiles. Still... I just couldn't take that paneling... so I ripped it out... without a design plan... without a second thought....



Ahhhhh. Much better already.

I've made a bit more progress than that though. I painted the walls a nice green. Got some nice new cabinets and a mirror from IKEA...



...and that's where I've been stuck for three months now. I'd like to put something on the wall above the towel bar. I was considering one of the floating towel shelves like this one from Umbra.



My other thought was to put up something decorative that's dark, maybe black or dark brown. The room feels a little too light right now, but I guess that could change depending on what I do with the floor. How about this?

Staircase drawers

I know I'm a little late in discovering these, but whoever thought of this is a genius! A set of stairs that doubles as storage drawers? I'm putting this on my list of future dream projects!

Via Inhabitat via Unclutterer via Desire to Inspire :D

Slackers Rule?

My wonderful husband stained our new shelves for the breezeway (without even being asked!) Later, when I looked at the top shelf from a stool, this is what I found.




Haha Jim, very funny.

Shopping!

Went shopping at the big antique shop here in town. Why is it that I either find absolutely nothing or a ton of things I can't afford and/or carry out of there?

I'm not sure what I'll do with the few items I bought yet, but they, ummmm, "spoke to me"?

This lamp needs to be rewired and I'll probably get rid of the red glass. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions. :)




I'm liking little metal thingies lately. I'm thinking these might be good for the breezeway. I'll probably paint them something bright and summery.



I also bought a decorated window, but I'm having trouble getting a good picture. I'll try again after lunch.

Oh! And I found two of these in the IKEA dollar bin....

Unexpected Inspiration

While driving around after a conference in Bloomington, we found this wonderful Tibetan Buddhist Monastery...















I wish I had mustered up enough guts to take a closer look.

More Early Shots

Things we liked -

A big backyard















Wood floors




















Things we didn't like -

Raw, unfinished closets (oh my!)




















Lots of paneling














Even in the bathroom (ick)

Blank Slate

This is our house.




It was originally purchased by a real estate agent and from what I hear it was in pretty bad shape. The agent fixed it up and gave it the painted white walls and cheap cabinet treatment. We figured it was a good blank slate that we could live with for awhile.

We especially liked the big window in the front...




and the wood floors and arched doorways...




We've spent a good amount of the last two years fixing problems we've found along the way (which we half expected since the house is over 60 years old). I think we're finally in a place where we can start to decorate and have some fun.

Kinks & Style

I'm still working out the kinks here. I'll probably make my own template when I get a chance, but in the meantime I'll be testing out a few free templates. Please pardon my dust while under construction here!