Supermarket Flowers

Supermarket flowers have come a long way, dontcha think?  The prices have gone down and the quality up, at least in the store I usually frequent.  I just love how fresh flowers make a room feel, but I don't have a lot of money to spend, so I always limit myself to under $10.  Here's this week's arrangement ($6.99), arranged in a couple of mason jars in a basket that I picked up at Homegoods.  The yellow in these just make me happy.

And, a look at one final flower.  This one I grew myself.  Our peonies are just starting to bloom and this  pink one sitting on my desk smells even better than it looks.

Happy Friday!  I am off to make some centerpieces for a luncheon we are attending tomorrow to celebrate my mom's recent marriage.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend as well.  I will be posting another one of our "Ikea hacks" on Monday.  This one is in our kitchen.  I hope you'll come back to check it out!

Keeping a White Bathroom Clean

I had NO idea how many all white bathroom haters there are on the internet.  Yesterday, a pic of my bathroom made it to Hometalk's Facebook page and although it was mostly well received, there were also a few many people out there with a deep prejudice against all white bathrooms and they all had something to say in the comments (and nothing better to do, I guess?).  Putting energy into trolls like that isn't my style, but what I did realize was that many people out there might be wondering how I possibly plan to keep that bathroom clean.  With 3 boys.  Am I crazy??  Well, let's not answer that ;)

First off, it is a Master Bath.  My kids are older and don't spend a lot of time in there.  They are not prohibited from going in there, but they have their own bathroom to share.  I put a lot of thought and research into creating a space I could easily maintain.  We took out 2 linen closets to make room for the tub, so I was concerned about losing that storage.  I love reading any and all blogs and magazines about home storage and organization.  Fact is, life can be crazy with kids, so I have found if you plan an organized space, it can make all the difference.  The first step to keeping any space clean is organized storage.

1.  Organized Storage-Our vanity has 2 small drawers.  I bought small baskets at Target to hold my makeup and our toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Under each of our sinks, we have a plastic turntable where we keep our personal items.  All other personal items (tp, etc) are in the larger baskets on the shelf beneath the vanity.

Makeup stored in a divided tray.

These turntables under each sink are great for keeping personal items accessible and neat.  The green storage containers were purchased at Target and I printed the labels from here.

Hair products stored in large basket on shelf beneath sink.

The built-in houses pretty containers that hold the stuff we used everyday-cotton balls, bath salts, soap, etc.

The smaller built-in is the perfect size for towels.  I purposely did not "stage" these photos.  Everything isn't perfectly folded, but it's in its place.

2.  Washable Surfaces- The carrera marble top gets wiped down with a vinegar cleaner almost every day.  I also use the vinegar cleaner to clean the mirrors and fixtures because harsh chemicals would damage the marble.  I fully expect the marble to etch a bit in time and I am ok with that.  We chose the white porcelain floor over the marble hex we loved because it is easier to maintain.  Urine etches marble floors terribly.  We have 3 boys.  So no marble flooring for us.  Keeping the tub clean is easy thanks to the hand shower.

3.  Shower Glass- We use a squeegee after every shower.  It takes under a minute.  We have hard water so we know that if we don't take this step, we will have a big problem on our hands.  We knew when we chose a glass shower that we were committing to a long relationship with the squeegee :)  The hand shower is great for rinsing the tile after washing.

Our lovely squeegee

4. Bleach!-  Here's a secret I learned soon after I had my first boy.  White can actually be EASIER to maintain than other colors because of bleach.  All of the linens from the bathroom go in a hamper next to the vanity and they all get bleached.  I don't buy expensive towels.  Every towel in the bathroom is from Target.  When they need to be replaced, it won't break the bank.

These are my tips for keeping an all white bathroom organized and clean.  Let's face it, no one enjoys cleaning bathrooms.  But there are steps you can take to make it easier no matter what your color preference is.

Repurposed Wall Unit

Today I am writing about a project we completed last summer.  Do you remember the Broyhill Fontana wall units that were so popular in the 1990s?   After we bought our first house, this was one of our first purchases and I just loved it.  Fast forward ten years and I was stuck with this HUGE furniture that so many other people also had.  It felt like every other house I walked into had a piece from the Fontana collection.  We moved it into our family room when we first moved into our current house.  When we renovated the family room, we gave away the tv armoire.  I thought there had to be something I could do with the side pieces because despite the orange-y hued pine, they were very solid pieces.  Enter Pinterest.  I kept seeing pins of eating nooks people were creating and I really loved the look of them.  I also loved the look of open shelving in kitchens and I desperately needed some more storage.  Thus, my plan to use the bookcases from the wall unit was hatched.  Here is what the original wall unit looked like.  :

We bought 2 30"upper cabinets from Home Depot and used them to create the bench. Next we sanded, primed, and painted everything outside using Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint.  Then we added a piece of pine for the seat and secured it.  Some new hardware and we added a ton of storage to our kitchen utilizing mostly things we already had.  I still plan to add a cushion, but it is nice to be able to wipe down the bench when needed (3 boys...need I say more?).

Finally, here's a shot of our bench at Christmas time.  It's been fun changing the pillows with the seasons.  We also repurposed that round pedestal table using some stain and more heirloom white spray paint (love that stuff!).   I liked to play musical furniture so that table isn't currently in that spot ;)  I will be posting more pictures of the kitchen in the next few days so that will show where we are at (for now anyway).

Fifteen

Fifteen years ago I became a mom for the first time when this boy young man was born.  

Here he is as a toddler "fixing" one of the snowmobiles...

And from this winter...the more things change, the more they stay the same :)

Watching him (and his brothers) grow is the greatest joy in my life, so it feels appropriate to spend this mother's day celebrating his birthday.  Happy Birthday Mike!!

and 

Happy Mother's Day!

Peony's Envy

I turned 39 this week.  Almost 40, but not quite there yet.  It was a low key day (my favorite kind!).  Billy was supposed to have to work, but found out the evening before that he didn't have to go in so we got to spend the day together.  We had breakfast with the boys before school and I got some great accessories to use in my new bathtub (bath salts and sponges).  Those boys sure know their way to their mom's heart.

I love peonies.  I got my first plant several years ago and I have been hooked ever since.  I love how they smell and that they are an heirloom plant that has been around forever.  And it doesn't hurt that they aren't difficult to grow. I don't do a lot of gardening but every Spring I get excited to plant a few things.  So each year around my birthday we plant a peony.  While I was researching care of peonies online, I found a place called Peony's Envy in Bernardsville, NJ.  They are a large distributor of peonies across the country, but every spring they allow visitors the chance to walk through their gardens.  We decided to visit on the morning of my bday.  What a beautiful place!

The peonies were gorgeous and the smell was amazing.  But the best part to me, was wandering the paths surrounding this beautiful old white colonial.  I felt like we were in someone's private garden (which actually we were).   They open their property on the peony farm for the blooming season, which lasts a month or so.  

Some peonies weren't blooming yet.  But the trees were so pretty, too.

My peonies at home aren't blooming yet but they are getting ready.  Do you have any peonies?   And if you have any tips about growing them, please let me know!

Mudroom {repurposed Ikea Hemnes bookshelves}

When we designed our family room, we debated whether or not to take square footage away from the open part of the room to create a mudroom.  Ultimately, the mudroom was added and it was definitely, without a doubt, the right choice. It is right off the family room and leads to our back patio.  We used an Ikea bookshelf (Hemnes) as shelving to hold our baskets.  The bench is an Ikea entertainment center repurposed as a bench.

A different mudroom view.  This small space takes a beating from our 3 boys but I can't imagine not having it.  It is everyone's drop off zone.  We chose this tile to mask the dirt that inevitably comes through that door and it has been a good choice.

A shelf for the dogs includes dog treats. Another shelf holds a few small wood organizing bins from Ikea to corral cell phones, keys, etc.

There is a small, but adequate powder room off the mud room.  Especially useful in pool season so wet feet aren't getting into the rest of the house.

The paint color is Labrador Blue by Benjamin Moore.  It's the infamous paint color used on the set of the sitcom "Modern Family".

Linked up to:

Frugal Friday on Shabby Nest

Tater Tots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up

Go Jump in the Pool

....or maybe you shouldn't.  Not just yet anyway.  Our pool looked like this last year.  So refreshing.  See that dog, he is about to jump in.  He just loves swimming in his pool.

Then, last week we peeked under the winter cover to find that our liner had a huge tear on it.  A big non-patchable tear.  A new pool liner WAS NOT in our budget although it probably should have been considering we've lived here 6 years and the liner wasn't exactly new when we bought the house.  Here is what our pool looks like now...

A big mess. That dog is very upset about this.  And so is our budget.  Pool liners are not really DIY projects and it turns out the pool needs some structural work as well.  Personally, I wouldn't mind filling the pool in but my kids, husband, and dogs think otherwise.  So we wait on an estimate.  Ain't home ownership fun??