Layla's Nursery

I've been a little busy lately but I wanted to share Layla's nursery.  It was a project that took up the better half of my 2013!  I had a fun time planning a little girls room and I hope that this will be a room she can enjoy for a couple years and we can transition it into a "big" girl room in the future. I think she likes it so far from what she has seen of it!

I hope that I have the same dedication to room planning for a 2nd child down the road!  :)

Enjoy the tour.

For more nursery pics, check out A Family Affair Photography!

Bathroom Vanities

As I sit here and try to figure out a project to share with you from the past years reno (a.k.a stall while I work on new projects in the background to share), I decided to highlight our bathroom vanities.  They were by far MY biggest project, and a big cost savings too.  Going into all of this I had no idea how much new bathroom vanities cost.  I quickly discovered that they are insanely expensive when you need two of them, one of which is for a master bathroom (i.e. bigger space).  And there I went into a tailspin.....wrecking my brain with how I could get the look I wanted without breaking the bank.  I discovered the following post from HGTV (probably on Pinterest or something) which sent me to Craig's List multiple times a day in search of the perfect dresser.  So if you find yourself in my shoes, here are a few things to consider:

STEP ONE:  Find your inspiration and what you like.  For me it was these awesome (and oh so pricey) vanities from Pottery Barn

STEP TWO:  Peruse Craig's List, Goodwill Stores, Garage Sales, and Flea Markets for a dresser that looks similar to your inspiration.  This can take time, so be sure to check out all possible options.  Here's what I found for our master bath (kinda similar to the dresser style look from Pottery Barn):

And here's what I found at a garage sale for our upstairs bathroom:

STEP THREE:  Prime your dresser.  Lightly sand first (using a hand sander) and then apply a gripper primer before painting.  On both of these I used Glidden Grey Gripper Primer from Home Depot.  Apply with a roller, and use a brush to get into grooves/crevices.

STEP FOUR:  Remove the top of your dresser. Each of these were pretty easy, one had screws and one had nails....so a screwdriver and hammer were all that we needed.

STEP FIVE:  Start painting. For both of these I used Valspar Ultra Interior Soft Gloss Kitchen and Bath Tintable Base Paint and Primer in One and applied with a small foam roller.  Each of these took 2 coats.

STEP SIX:   Choose your knobs and pulls.  For the upstairs vanity I used some of the same hardware but then found these cute little bird knobs from World Market.  For the master bath, I discovered a cute shop on Etsy which sells vintage inspired cabinet knobs and pulls.

STEP SEVEN:  Set your vanities in place and determine where you will need to make cuts for the plumbing.  Make your cuts.  Choose your granite supplier and have them come and measure.  This part was a wee bit scary as ours was measured and there was some concern regarding whether it would be too narrow to hold the sink, but the pros at Midwest Tile and Granite worked their magic for us!  The only thing we did not have room for was the granite backsplash portion...that's a project for another day as we will be choosing a short tile backsplash in the near future. 

STEP EIGHT: Stand back and admire your hardwork!

Welcome

Well hello there!  Thanks for stopping by!  My name is Emily (a.k.a. "Em" to those that know me the best).  Hence the name of my blog (clever play on words, right)?  I can't take all the credit though and must give a shout out to a good friends mom for coming up with the quirky title, but I must admit, it's fitting so I think it will stick.

I'm a first timer to the blogosphere (on the contributing side), and to be honest, I'm a little skeptical about the whole thing.  But in the last year, I've had the chance to learn about a whole new side of me that has had the chance to come out through sledge hammers, paint brushes, nail guns, and an array of other "tools" that I really didn't know a whole lot about until June 2012 - the year we bought our messy, smelly, hot pink graffiti covered walls house...HOME.  And ever since that time, this unknown creative side of mine is busting at the seams each day to get out as I sit in my "pod" M-F at my office job.  So here I am, trying to let these creative vibes out into the cyberworld and see where they go.

I hope you'll bookmark me and follow along as I highlight some of the DIY projects I (with a little help along the way from the hubs and family) have had the opportunity to create, build, paint, you get the picture, throughout the last year.  And for all the future projects I have in mind (cough, cough, first and foremost our future little lady's nursery).  I hope it inspires someone out there to "re-emagine" new uses for old things, or maybe just a side of you that you didn't know you had.  Ok that's enough corniness for one Saturday morning...

Enjoy!
Emily