Suzanne McGrath Photography

Thrifty Thursday...How to Make Your Own Umbrella Holder

Hi there!  I have been trying to blog a little more consistently, but MAN, it's hard!  I have been trying to generate one than one post at a time and schedule them but it really requires dedication and organization.  It seems I'm generally lacking one or the other.  But I'm here tonight so here goes...

When we had new hardwood floors installed, we carried the intallation into our small coat closet that is right off our garage.  That is where I kept our umbrellas - just smashed in the corner.  My "system" worked just fine because the carpet kept the umbrellas upright and in the corner of the closet.  Fast forward to wood floors.  Wood is slippery.  And I had umbrellas laying all over the floor.  It was messy and the Type A part of my personality didn't like it!

I decided I needed to find an alternative.  I googled Umbrella stands and I shopped TONS and TONS of websites but either they were ugly or crazy expensive.  Seriously, who wants to spend $399 on an umbrella holder?!  Not me, that's for sure.  So I got creative.

I spotted this at my favorite store ever - Target!

Only $34.99 and not $349?  Yes, please.  (It's actually a large vase.)  

I knew it needed just a little bling.  And then I remembered Jenny over at Little Green Notebook had posted about oil-based markers.  I found one at JoAnn's but here it is over at Amazon:

Gold oil-based marker:

 

Seriously - this thing was SO MUCH FUN to use!

I just taped off my lines on the vase and started coloring.  (I did the bottom line first and waited a day before painting the top line.)  The taping took about three times as long as the coloring.  

And I ended up with this:

It looks uneven but you have to be this close to notice.

How cute is this?

I really like how the gold details in the umbrella holder pick up the gold accents I have elsewhere around the foyer!

And there you have it.  Now I just need to get myself some really cute umbrellas!  Wait...isn't Mother's Day coming up?

 

Six on Sunday

I don't know why - but I think I am more tired tonight than I was last Sunday night.  But yet I don't think I was as busy?  Hmmm...that said, I only have six for you this Sunday:

1.  We had a birthday this week.  #4 turned four years old on Monday!  It's bittersweet.  It's the first time since 2001 that we haven't had a kid under the age of three in our house.  We are growing up as a family.  Yet at the same time it was so nice to ditch the carseat in favor of a booster.  Which did promptly on Monday morning.

Here is the birthday girl opening one of her presents:

We gave her a ginormous cardboard rocket ship.  It's so big both of the litle girls can fit inside.  And it has been so awesome to watch their imaginations this week.  We also gave her a bowling set.  I think it will be fun to use outside this summer!

Here is our baby blowing out her candles:

To officially celebrate her birthday with her friends, we headed to Chuck E Cheese today.  She only wanted three friends and lucky for her, all three were able to make it!  (#3 ran into an old friend from school last year and they were best buds for the day.  Such a lucky coincident for her!)

2.  We had six soccer games this weekend!  One Friday, two Saturday, and three today.  That's a lot of soccer.  And I have to say, I am SO READY FOR SPRING!  Seriously.  I am tired of sitting at those games and absolutely freezing my a$$ off.  For real.  Do you hear that Mother Nature?!?!

3.  #1 and I attended her swim banquet tonight.  So if you'll allow me to indulge a little more...she won an award!  It was so cool and totally unexpected.  She was given the "Blazer award".  (She swims for the Blazers, hence the name.)  Anyway, it was really cool that her coaches recognized her hard work because she is one busy kid.  During soccer season she swims three nights a week and has soccer practice the other two nights.  She literally doesn't get one night off a week.  I think the award will help keep the motivation coming!  

4.  Sneak peek for the night:

5.  I am reading Gone Girl.  Have you read it?  I think I only have like 20 pages left so you can guess what I'm going to do when I sign off the computer.  It's really twisted.  

I just bought The Great Gatsby.  Can you believe I haven't read it?  Well, since I've been seeing all the movie previews I thought I should read the book first.  I can't believe how short it is!  I'm excited to sink my teeth into it.  I should be finished by next Sunday.

Do you have any suggestions?  Books I should read?  I pretty much like anything except Sci Fi.

6.  I took #1 shopping yesterday.  We hit Target, Victoria's Secret (I hate that place), The Limited, the Gap, and Barnes 'n' Noble.  After that I needed a drink.  Preferably one with alcohol.  That was a lot of shopping for me.  The cool thing is we can shop at the same stores now.  Of course she is XS and I'm M, but whatever.  It's more fun for me than going to Gap Kids or Children's Place, you know?!

OK.  And that's all I've got for tonight.  I'm ready to crash in bed with my book.  Have a great week! 

A Product Review: Morningstar Bamboo Click Floors

We began the process of installing new hardwood floors last October.  Actually, if I want to get really precise, we began researching hardwood floor options months prior to October!  I really, really wanted to share what a fabulous experience we have had.  Unfortunately, the opposite is true.  So if you don't want to read any further, I won't feel bad.  If you are curious, read on...

In our research, we decided to purchase our floors from Lumber Liquidators - BIG MISTAKE.  We discussed our options with an associate ad nauseum.  Our original (honey oak - yuck) hardwood floors had an unsightly gap due to an i-beam running under the floors.  When we walked into the store we wanted a dark, nail-down floor.  That was as much as we knew.  When we left, we had selected a dark, bamboo, floating floor.  We were told the ONLY way to guarantee the new floors not splitting was to install a floating floor. 

The installation was finished just prior to Thanksgiving and I was thrilled since I hosted the big meal.  The hubby began to install the baseboards and life was good.

I knew keeping the floors looking clean would be a challenge.  And it is.  A BIG challenge.  But I accept that.  I knew it and it does drive me a little nutty.  But I think a lot of that is simply the by-product of having a large family with lots of friends.  And that is not a bad thing.  So that is acceptable.

There are ridges between the rows of boards.  I was a little nervous at first.  I thought food and dirt might end up smushed in the cracks but it really hasn't been a problem, thank goodness.  The only way to not have those ridges is if you have a hardwood floor installed and then sanded, stained, and poly'd on sight.  And honestly, I didn't want to have to deal with that.  (Hindsight being 50-50, we should have gone that route.)

Lastly, and a big pet peeve of mine, is how easily these floors scratch.  I mean seriously, the vacuum scratches the floor if I use the wrong attachment.  I don't really have anything to compare to so I don't know if it's just the dark color?  Or is it because it's bamboo?  Or is because it's not solid?  I have no idea.  But there are scratches all over.  I'm not sure anyone else would notice, but I notice!

Fast forward to January.  The floorboards had begun to separate.  See?  Not good:

And another view:

After calling the store in a panic we were informed we needed a T-molding. Say what?! 

U.G.L.Y.  You ain't got no alibi - you UGLY!  Hey, you ugly!

A T-molding looks like this.  Obviously it is fine right here where it is separating the carpet from the hardwoods:

BUT...we are supposed to stick the T-molding smack in the middle of the floor.  Check this view out.  The molding should go right in front of the door to the basement.  Can you say weird?  Ugly?  Awkward?  Yeah, me, too.

So?  We are stuck installing the T-molding.  We have no choice.  It's either that or the gap.  Honestly, it's almost a tie as to which is worse! 

In the end, I am very frustrated with Lumber Liquidators.  They had numerous opportunities to educate us about the need for the molding.  They knew we were installing the hardwoods throughout nearly our entire first floor AND I HAD A DETAILED DRAWING WITH MEASUREMENTS and they never mentioned the requirement for the molding.  Nor did their installer mention this requirement when he put together a DETAILED PROJECT LIST for us.  Did I mention we discussed our floor options ad nauseum?  Because we did.  If I had known I needed to install that piece I would NEVER picked these floors.  Ever.  Never ever.  "And don't you ever think it."  (Name that movie.) 

And that, my friends, is the tale of my hardwood floors.  The hubby and I briefly toyed with the idea of taking a match and some kerosene to the house but decided we'd end up in prison and neither of us looks good in stripes.  Plus, we'd miss beer.  And our kids.  But not in that order.  So we're going to stick an ugly piece of molding in our floor and curse Lumber Liquidators every time we step over it - so only a million bajillion times a day!  

And there you have it.  The tale of our hardwood floor debacle.  Not to be confused with our ceiling debacle!  Do you have any sad stories to tell?       

Thrifty Thursday..Chalkboard Paint

Well, hello there.  I thought it was about time I shared my experience with chalkboard paint!  After all, I completed this project before Thanksgiving.

So we have this wall in the basement that was originally painted an accent blue.  (Of course I forgot to take before pictures.  Oops.)  Anyway, when we had the chinchilla, he peed all over it so then we had to cover it up with a tarp.  When we got rid of the chinchilla (Oh, happy day!), I knew I needed to fix the wall.  We took the tarp down regularly, but of course at some point the tape holding up the tarp took down the paint with it.  So I had crappy looking walls.

Well then, one day last fall I was at one of #2's friend's houses and saw a wall they had done in chalkboard paint.  I knew immediately I wanted to do the same thing in our house.  So I did!  It did it end up taking me 3 coats of paint, but each coat was super quick to apply.  I think the can of Rustoleum paint itself was around $10?  

And here you go:

Seriously, all four of my kids get a kick out of using this wall.  And that's hard when you have kids that are 11 all the way down to 3!

And one more for good measure...

Isn't that fun?  And I have to say, I like that it's in the basement.  While some houses look awesome with chalkboard walls in their kitchen or kid's rooms, I like that this is hidden a little bit.

Have you tried any fun paints lately?

Six on Sunday...the Ceiling Debacle

It is a stretch for me to be here tonight.  Blogging.  I'm tired.  My hands are dry and cracked.  And my ceiling has holes in it.  Lots of holes...

1.  I ran 8 miles this morning.  We ran at a decent clip and stopped at Starbucks on the way home.  I really needed that run!  And that coffee!  

2.  I painted #2's room today.  Twice.  After my mom and I wallpapered an accent wall in there yesterday.  The worst part?  It needs a THIRD coat!!!  And I even used paint with primer built in.  I seriously want to gag myself with a spoon at the thought of that third coat.  Yuck!

Here's a sneak peek:

The paint is seriously bright and it changes color.  Sometimes it's green.  Sometimes it's yellow.  But it's seriously 100% #2!  And she loves it.

3.  I wasn't all work and no fun today.  #4 went on a playdate this morning.  #3 had a playdate this afternoon.  I picked up #1 from a sleepover this morning.  And #2 helped me (for reals - helped a lot) paint.  And loved it!  And we all went for a walk to enjoy the weather in between coats one and two.  It was a gorgeous day!

4.  Our staircase is nearly done.  I have one rogue step left to stain and poly.  But the rest is complete.  Now I have to remove all that awful painters tape.  Oh my!  For the love of God, it sucks.

Sneak Peek #2 of the night:

5.  My in-laws stopped at our house for a night on their way home to Omaha from Dallas.  It's always fun to have them and the girls love it.  Plus, my parents and sister's family came over for dinner Friday night so we had a really full house of fun.  It was a great night!

And...the best part of the in-laws stop?  They dropped off my two Ikea Rast dressers.  I have assembled the dressers and they are awaiting a couple coats of paint.  They are going to look AWESOME in my foyer!  But alas, I had no time to paint them this weekend.  But that's OK.  It makes the wait for my foyer completion that much better! 

6.  I made you wait for the big story of the weekend.  Well, if you read through 1 - 5, here goes...We had a pipe break in our ceiling yesterday.  I'm not sure if I'm thankful we were home or not?  Sometimes I think I'd like to take a match to our house and start over.  Regardless, we were home. 

Let me back up a little and try to give you a little perspective.  My parents were in town this weekend.  They helped my sister paint her kids' rooms on Friday and they were over at our house yesterday.  My mom and I wallpapered #2's room while the hubby and my dad installed a new outlet in my foyer and attempted to install a new doorbell.  (We've been without one for YEARS.  I sort of felt like, What's the hurry?)  Anyway, as I was attempting to vacuum our freshly cleaned floors that were already filthy, my dad came RUNNING up the basement steps frantically waving his hands back and forth and yelling something unintelligible.  I seriously thought he was excited because he had figured out that damn doorbell.  I wish.

I looked up and there was water GUSHING out of a pot light right at the door to the basement.  My dad, the hubby, and I all raced upstairs and into each of the three bathrooms.  Nothing.  Dry.  Nada.  We checked each bathroom a couple times before we even thought to run downstairs and turn off the main water supply.  Meanwhile, the smoke detector shorted and started going off.  That thing was LOUD!  By this time the kids were all freaking out crying (the littles ones) and the hubby and I were screaming at each other and the kids to turn it off and/or stop crying.  (I never said I was flawless under pressure!)  The circuit breaker didn't make it turn off so the hubby finally had to remove the battery.  

We started out putting towels down but the water was coming out so hard I could have stood under that light and taken a shower!  Finally, my dad grabbed a couple buckets and we started collecting water from the various leaks.  Then, we noticed the water spreading ALL OVER the ceiling.  All over.  In the end, we poked two holes in the ceiling to prevent the whole thing from falling down.  My new hardwood floors are probably damaged (water damage takes a day or two to show up), the carpet to the basement is soaked, and my ceiling is a lost cause.  

We finally found the cause of the leak, called our insurance company, called a plumber, and got it fixed.  I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say it took the plumber longer to write up the invoice than it did to fix the leak.  Meanwhile, my parents took the kids over to my sister's house and fed them dinner while the hubby and I stayed behind to clean up the mess.  It was awful.  

And so, that was our Saturday night.  Can you beat that?

So on that note, have a great week!  I don't think ours can get any worse.  In fact, I think I'm going to play the lottery.  Maybe the Universe owes me one?!

Thrifty Thursday...#1's Room Reveal

Howdy!  Last week I showed you the little girls' room so this week I thought I'd show you #1's room.  I'm sure I've shown it before, but over the course of last fall we added some (easy) updates:

• new, cherry red, mid century nightstand
• recovered red benches (from Target)
• pinch pleated curtains for the window and closet
• upholstered headboard
• new bedskirt with gross-grain ribbon
• DIY pillows

Without further ado...

 

Yes, the curtain rod does look a little wonky.  I missed it when I was shooting in there.  Oops.

And there you have it.  It's a real, lived-in room.  Is it perfect?  Nope.  But she likes it and it's really functional.  My favorite part?  The headboard!

That's it, folks.  Have a great weekend! 

 

Thrifty Thursday...the Evolution of a Bedroom and a Mid Century Ombre Dresser

Phew!  That was a long title.  It's been much too long since I've posted any fun projects so I thought I would rectify the situation tonight.  

Back when school started #3 moved out of #2's bedroom and in with #4.  It just made sense.  The two little girls go to bed before the big girls.  We needed to get #2 to bed earlier and the only way to do it was to have her move in with her little sister.  They resisted slightly at first but the protesting didn't last more than a week.  

This move necessitated more storage in their now-shared bedroom.  Therefore, we moved #4's adorable dresser (3 down) into the closet (which made me sad to have to hide it), moved a desk in at the foot of the bed to corral all the junk that comes along with a 6 year old, and removed the bedside tables and replaced them with a dresser for #3.  

Here is the before shot of the dresser.  $40 off Craigslist.  A steal.  

 

And here is the after: 

Isn't she cute?  After painting all kinds of things I have to say, dressers are my favorite.  They're super easy to sand and paint and the impact is always HUGE!  I painted the white using those pre-mixed cans of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch.  Love that paint!  I can't remember if I used oil-based or not?  But if not, I used semi-gloss and it's perfect.  Super smooth and shiny.  For the drawer fronts I just bought 3 samples of Behr.  Each green is two colors different from the next.  I've learned from experience that if you only vary one shade you won't see enough of a gradient.    

To make this post even more fun, I thought I'd take you on a journey of how this room started.  First, there was a crib!

 

Although you can't see it, there was a rocking chair on the other side of the window.  We removed that and put in a twin bed.  

 

With that switcheroo we added a different night stand and removed the round table.  I also painted the back of the bookshelves:

 

#4 finally decided she was ready to give up the crib so we added in the second twin bed and I made upholstered headboards for another punch of color:

 

I added a little pizzazz by sewing rick rack to the bedskirts:

 

 

It stayed like that for just over a year until we moved #3 in here.  Now it looks like this:

 

One final shot:

 

Cute, huh?  Anyway, we love it.  But then again, I do so love color!  Have you been painting anything lately?  Any big plans for the weekend?  

 

Six on Sunday...Making Progress

Howdy!  I'm here for the second week in a row.  As I was working on my Project Life scrapbook yesterday I realized I wasn't very good about blogging on Sundays.  Hopefully I will get better this year.

1.  We are making progress on my list of house goals.  Sweet.  Last night I put the second coat of poly on our stairs.  Only two more coats to go before I do the rest of the stairs.  (I have to do every other stair so we can actually get upstairs!)  They look much better after the second coat so I'm feeling good.  

Today I painted the half bath downstairs.  I loved the existing color in there but it didn't match our vanity which we got on sale at Home Decorators last month.  So I went with a lighter shade - Dolphin Fin by Behr.  So far, so good.  Once the paint is dry we can install our vanity and faucet which I picked up today while buying paint.  

Two projects in one weekend?  Outstanding!

2.  Last night #2 and #3 and I went to the Mother-Daughter Skate Night for their elementary school.  I know #2 had a little more fun at the skate rink because she could skate by herself.  #3 never really got the hang of it and after she fell pretty hard, she was done.  We redeemed ourselves, though, with a stop for pizza with a gang of girls afterwards.  They both had a lot of fun at Pizza Shoppe!

#4 was royally pissed when we left her at home.  Poor baby.

3.  I managed to fit in 9 miles this morning despite the cold.  The wind chill was 3*!  It was definitely cold but manageable.  Mostly, I was just glad to run it and then be done with it.

4.  I took a 20 minute shower when I got home.  Duh.

5.  #1 started soccer again this week.  I missed the game last night since I was skating so I'm excited to watch her play again.

6.  The hubby is at Costco right now buying food for the week.  What are we having?  Here you go!

Sunday:  cheeseburgers, corn on the cob, and fruit

Monday:  Mmmm saucewith lots of stuff for dipping like cucumbers, carrots, pretzels.  We'll supplement with fruit.

Tuesday:  homemade spaghetti with zucchini and yellow squash

Wednesday:  chicken enchiladas and fruit

Thursday:  potato soup and broccoli

Friday:  pizza from Costco or Papa Murphy's

Saturday:  Quinoa and black beans + veggies/fruit

Have a great week! 

2013 Design Goals

Happy New Year!  We celebrated but were still home in bed by 10:30.  I know.  We're crazy like that.  Anyway, I absolutely love January.  The year just feels fresh and like anything is possible.  Ahhhh....

Since I really wish I had written down my design goals for 2012 (I didn't), I'm going to write them down for 2013.  I hope to achieve these by the end of the year, but you never know what will pop up along the way!  So here goes.  Room by room...

1.  Foyer.  This is a priority for me since it sets the stage for the whole house.  And after spending all that time and money on the stairs it would be a shame to just leave it as is.  For reals.

• Finish painting/staining our staircase.  Duh.  This WILL get done.  Before January is over. 
• I need a campaign dresser painted in Emerald green.  (I swear I had that color picked out BEFORE Pantone named it color of the year.  Cross my heart.) 
• I'd like a cool, gold/brass mirror to hang over the dresser.  Any suggestions on sources??? 
• I want to either make or re-purpose a round table for the nook in our curved stairs.  Topped with a cool lamp. 
• Of course a new rug for the front door would complete the look.
• Paint all the floor trim boards.  Gross. 
• Paint the front door black.  Boom.

2.  Music room:

• Paint my piano white.  There are simply too many different wood tones in the music room (doesn't that sound fancy?!  ha!).  I think toning down the piano with a soft white would actually look really nice.  Plus, it's not like it's a collectible, so painting it should be just fine.
• Paint the trim around the window.  (It's only needed it for a year and a half.  Just keepin' it real!)
• Paint the floor trimboards, courtesy of the Hubs handywork.

3.  Family room:

• I'd love, love, love a new couch.  It's been held up by a scrap of 2x4 for years.  But I have to wait until #4 stops using it as her own, personal coloring book.
• Replace the cabinet tops with stained 2x6s.  That will be so easy but gooooorgeous!

4.  Deck.  Last year we spent some serious time and elbow grease re-purposing a Craigslist table.  It actually turned out better than we had hoped.  So now it's time to spend a little elbow grease on our deck.  In all actuality, I'd love to rip it off and replace it, but that isn't in the cards this year.  So I'll settle for a new stain, instead.  And maybe some cool flower pots! 

5.  Kitchen.  This is big.  I have to get the hubby on board.  That means I'm going to have to work on him!

• Fill all the hinge holes with Bondo.  Replace hinges with European (hidden!) hinges.  Currently, half of our cabinet doors don't close correctly so this would be huge.  (something like 50 hinges.  yikes) 
• Repaint cabinets.  We painted our cabinets about 9 years ago and I've really loved them for 9 years.  But they are seriously starting to show some wear and tear.  Now I'd like to go with a two-tone scheme (well, again) but use a dark gray and white this time. 
• If I get wild and crazy, sew new curtains or valances in there. 
• Paint the french doors black.  Bam.  Again.
• Repaint all the floor trimboards since getting the bamboo floors installed.  Yuck.  Barf. 

6.  Dining Room:

• Get some chairs for my awesome, homemade table.
• Paint those d*mn floor trimboards. 

7.  Power Room (Doesn't that sound fancy?!):

• Install the vanity and hardware so we actually have a sink in there again.  I know.  I know.  I'm aiming high, here!  (Yes, we have it just sitting in our garage.)
• Install the mirror.  (Yes, we already have it.  It's sitting behind the couch.)
• Paint floor trimboards.  Gag.

8.  Master Bedroom:

• Paint my bed a dark gray.  Right now it's 90s pine.  Yuck.
• Re-cover the cushion on the MCM bench at the foot of my bed.  (Yes, I even have the fabric just sitting here next to me as I type!)
• Re-upholster the awesome chair I bought a year and a half ago.  I know.  A year.  And a half.
• Install my cool, painted chevron bedskirt.  Again, just sitting in the chair from above. 

9.  Master Bathroom.  This is beyond anything other than a gut job.  So I'm going to ignore it for the next year.  Pretend it doesn't exist.  Go to my happy place. 

10.  #2's Bedroom:

• I promised her a redo since it's been years.  We've picked out an AWESOME new duvet from PBTeen.  We'll design her color scheme around this.
• Paint her MCM desk - probably another ombre effect. 
• Get her a cool bean bag or other tween chair. 
• Sew some curtains - we already have the rod installed so this will be as easy as finding the fabric.

11.  Basement:

• Trim out the windows that have been sitting there, unfinished, since right before #4 was born - oh, almost 4 years ago. 
• Cover the circuit-breaker box (or whatever it's called)
• I'd love to install the bar, but I don't think that's in the cards for 2013.  Someday.  Sigh.

And there you have it!  If the hubby saw this list, he would die.  Seriously.  But in my head it's really very do-able.  Honest!  Do you have any design goals for the new year?

Thrifty Thursday...a Refinished Wooden Chair

Fun title, huh?  It's all I could come up with tonight.  I've got one heck of a cold and can't go five minutes - no, five seconds - without blowing my nose.  Ugh.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you my chair tonight.  I bought this for $10 two years ago.  At first I thought it would go under my desk in the kitchen but the arms were too high.  Then, because it was so darned heavy, we put #4's booster seat in it and she was able to sit at the table with the rest of us rather than in her high chair.  Well, she's done with that and so it was time to address the chair.  Because it was UGLY!

This is the only before picture I could find.  It doesn't look bad at all.  But trust me, it was BAD.

I was originally going to paint it a really fun color with an off-set stripe down the front.  But then I started sanding.  And sanding.  And sanding.  It seriously had layer after layer of paint.  By the time I was done, I was down to bare wood.  And my neighbor happened to stop by while I was sanding and he commented that it was beautiful maple.  I don't know wood.  I don't even know if maple is good or not?  But I had spent so much time sanding it that I didn't want to cover it up with paint anymore.  And the hubby expressed his opinion which he usually does NOT do - he wanted stain.  So I figured, why not?

I stained this in Jacobean (my go-to stain) and two coats of polycrylic.  It isn't perfect but I love how it turned out!

I have to say, staining a chair is not for the faint of heart.  It's a pain in the you-know-what!

For now it's sitting in the living room.  

I'm not sure what we'll do with it once we get hardwood floors.  But it's not like that is coming next week so I've got awhile to figure it out!

And one last shot...

I feel like I'm a pro now that I've done so many projects using stain.

• We topped the window seat off with a wooden top, which you can see in a few of these images.
• I refinished a beautiful mid-century dresser turned sofa table.
• We refinished an ugly-duckling turned gorgeous wood veneer kitchen table.
• My first project - a dresser for #4's room.

 If you have any question, give me a shout!