Christmas Decorations... like day and night

The plan of attack is complete! The home front is decorated and all glitzed out for Christmas!

and here are some bigger versions...

Merry Christmas! :D

Laundry!

It's certainly nothing fancy, but I'm really loving our little laundry makeover. We moved the utility sink, re-arranged the bi-folding doors, installed some Ikea grundtal shelves, and of course- got the new machines! So far we love them- thank goodness for pre-black friday sales! They're also our anniversary present to ourselves (even though it isn't 'till Dec 22). 2nd anniversary is 'cotton,' so it seems appropriate to have a washer/dryer for this one lol...

How To... Fix Up a Critter Cage!

So, many of you probably know of our high-maintenance, adorable chinchilla Skitch. "The Boo" as we like to call him, is a very social fellow, and so he has a smaller cage in our gameroom/studio- that way he can hang out with us if we're down there. Remember the basement/studio? Where I just did all that painting and zig zagging? Well guess how great a cheesy plastic rodent cage looks amid my thought-out design....

Blerg. See? Even the boo is perturbed by it.

SO- here's a nifty trick to fix up any unsightly pet abodes you might have lying around. We call it "the boo box." Basically, we (and by we I mean my wonderful husband Jesse) built a simple wood box for the cage to sit in- covering the plastic base. Then, simply nail or tack down a cute fabric (you could just as easily paint a neat design- but I was too tired after those zig zags). Super simple- but a big visual improvement IMHO. :) Here's the after...

And here's the "noble fur" himself enjoying his stylish new quarters...

The Basement...

The basement houses both the family room and my studio- it works out well because I usually have old movies on when I paint & if the studio gets messy it's not in the center of things. I'm really happy with what I've done with it so far- although, this room more than others is more of a work in progress. I already have some little projects in mind for the future down here, but for now, it's done & I'm a happy camper!

One more room to go! But for now, I'm enjoying the fun, colorful basement! :D

Studio: Zig Zag Wall Treatment...

I love it!! The studio is done! The wall treatment took quite a while & was not for the impatient, but it was so worth it! I didn't want wallpaper, so I measured and taped out the zig zags with painters tape. Having an uneven floor/ceiling/wall combo made it more forgiving- I had to fudge the angles here & there to make it work without looking totally off. It feels so much more cheerful! The dehumidifier is a necessary eyesore- the chinchilla cage is as well (not pictured here), but I have an idea in the works to fix that! More pictures of the basement to come.... :D

Guest Bedroom...

The guest bedroom is done! The room was designed around my grandfather's wedding gift to us- a beautiful, colorful quilt made my grandmother who passed away when I was a baby. I wish she was still alive today- she was an amazing quilter, weaver, and crafter, and I have no doubt she could have taught me quite a lot. I mainly worked with what I already had (as you can see, the bed is still an air bed lol), but I did replace the brown duvet cover with something a little more bright & fun that I found at Ikea, and I also grabbed a couple of new frames there as well. Wall color was a beige, which I of course replaced with Behr Frost.

 My Grandma! 2nd from the left!