Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today I’m sharing a couple of my Pinterest-inspired Valentine decorations.  I don’t think I ever felt the need to even decorate for Valentine’s Day in the pre-Pinterest era, but all that has changed now!

Valentine bunting inspired by this pin.

And I dressed up my chalkboard, inspired by this pin. 

Tonight the Rooster is taking me to dinner…he made reservations at a restaurant with no prodding from me!  There may be hope for him yet  ;-)

Hope your Valentine’s Day is a wonderful one!

Office: Making Decisions

Some decision were easy, some were hard.

The decision to add a board-and-batten treatment?

Easy!

The decision of how high to hang it?

Not so easy.

And it involved a LOT of masking tape!

I snapped a million pictures with my phone and sent them off to my Utah friends for their opinions.  I don’t have in Washington friends to drag into my decision-making process yet!

Mid-wall was ruled out really quick.  I had a real soft spot for the high molding, but my daughter didn’t like it—plus it complicated the whole “picture hanging” scenario, so we went with the traditional “low.”

Then there was the whole thin vs. fat issue…

   

That one was easier.

I like it fat.

Nevermind that I had to take all the thin molding back that I’d already purchased!

Deciding on a palette…that took forever!

I went a little bolder and brighter than is my norm, and probably that’s because I am a little tired of the dark and the gray here in my new home!

Decisions made, now on to the painting!

Two-tone Dresser

I know, I know…it’s  not a house project.  But this is probably the last furniture project I finished in 2012, and it hasn’t been shown off!

As you know, deciding we were moving to Seattle last October threw a real loop in our lives.  I still had half a garage (my half) full of projects that I planned to finish for a fall boutique.  Cooler heads prevailed, and I backed out of the boutique in order to concentrate on moving, and I sold most of my projects in whatever state they were in.

This little dresser was an exception.  You see…it was on casters.  I am such a sucker for casters. 

It was a little (OK, a lot) beat up, and it was missing one of it’s original carved wood handles, but I love those wheels!

I wasn’t really sure what I had in mind for this piece, but after I sanded it down, I decided the beautiful inlaid wood pattern on the drawers was too  pretty to cover up with paint.

My biggest problem then was that I was missing a handle, I couldn’t find anything that I remotely liked that could replace it and cover the original holes.  So…I didn’t.  I filled in the holes as best as I could and called it “good enough.”

Sitting here, right now, I’m thinking, “Why didn’t I make new pulls out of ribbon or something??”  They say hindsight’s 20/20, don’t you agree?

  

I didn’t have time for fancy staging for this one…just pulled it outside of my beautiful workshop (which finally got a concrete pad just a few weeks before we moved) and snapped some pictures on a cold November day.

I sold this piece the day before the movers arrived!  Honestly, I wouldn’t have cared if it had had to come with me, though!

*********************

This project has been featured at My Repurposed Life.

*********************

 

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Stone Gable
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up! Thrifty Décor Chick	{aka} design Coastal Charm

The Embarrassment & the Inspiration

 

We have been lucky in that we haven’t had to move much in our married life.  Before December, our last move was 9 years and 3 children ago!  And although the house we moved from and the house we moved to are of similar sizes, nothing ever fits in just right.  You know what I’m talking about, right??

 

So there is one room (OK, maybe there are two…) that became the “catch-all” room…you know, the one where you put everything that doesn’t have a home yet. 

 

For us, it’s the “formal living” room, which is just to the left of the front door as you come in the house.

 

 

We do have a plan for the room…it’s to become our NEW “front-room-turned-home-office.”

 

The last one ended up like this:

 

 

You can see my other office projects here:

**  Wooden Folding Chairs **  Plank Wall ** Map Wall ** The Desk

*****************************

What happened to my beautiful desk, you ask?  Well, the buyers of our Utah home wanted it—who can blame them?  And we let them.  I regret that now sometimes!

 

Because…if you need a reminder…this is what the room looks like now…

Snow White loves the camera!

 

 

So I’m sure you can see why fixing up the office space is our highest priority in our new home.  My husband is not enjoying on a card table!

 

He would have been happy with IKEA furniture, and we even looked at some a couple of weeks ago.  But I’m not “eclectic” enough to match this:

 

with this:

 

…which is what my husband wanted.  A big empty table to spread out on, and room for more than one computer.  But I told him that the thought of all those exposed CORDS and WIRES gave me HIVES!  Really.

 

So in case by now you’re wondering what the point is to all this, I’m going to tell you.  We’re compromising.  I’m getting built-ins, and he’s getting a big desk space.

 

This is my inspiration photo this time around:

 

 

Houzz Real Life Offices

The biggest difference will be that our desk space will be 6 feet wide and have a wood surface (not painted).

I’m super excited to have found a local carpenter to build this for me, and it should be done in two to three weeks!  Because until now, I have spent FAR too much time drooling over office spaces on Houzz and Pinterest, and laying awake fretting over it all.

Although there are still LOTS of decision to make in putting the room together! 

Hope you’re up for the journey with me!

Still breathing

A few of my sweet virtual friends have wondered what happened to me  ;-)

Well, I’m still around!

But the Red Hen Home has officially changed locations…from Utah to Washington!  When did all this happen?  In December, right before Christmas!  So it has been a very busy time for my family, and the blog kind of fell by the wayside.

So here’s a little update for those who are interested.

We moved in on the 17th of December, and the NEXT DAY was my baby’s 5th birthday. It was a scramble to get the kitchen in some kind of order so she could have a birthday dinner!  Thankfully she allowed herself to be convinced that ice cream sundaes would be a grand birthday dessert, and I didn’t have to try to bake a cake!

The next several days there was MORE scrambling to get unpacked, as I HATE living in limbo…and I couldn’t imagine trying to feel Christmas-y while living out of boxes!

I would say we were probably 90% unpacked (inside the house) within the first week.

After Christmas, I started tackling the garage!  It was not an easy task to fit everything from a garage, a garden shed, and my beautiful workshop into one two-car space!  But I am exceedingly proud of myself that on the 4-week anniversary of moving in…we were able to park ONE car in the garage!

Inside the house we are very snug and comfortable, and my mind is starting to spin with projects I’d like to do.  First on the list—a home office again!  Our beautiful office furniture was included in the sale of our Utah home, so we’re working off a card table…and not enjoying it!

Then we also have an empty dining room.  Well, it’s not completely empty….

…it’s the new home of the suitcase wall!  ;-)

It feels more like home just to have it up again!