Wednesday, May 11, 2011

A Bed for Papa Bear

Nothing like an upcoming visit from my parents to get us in gear and figure out a guest bedroom situation. Greg conveniently uses one of our open rooms as his "guitar studio" so the missing bed and furniture are fine by him, but not by me. As for our other bedroom, in addition to missing furniture, its missing carpet and closet doors at the time being.



With a lot on the agenda this summer we've got a tight budget and timeline to get this guest bedroom in shape. I was scoping out bed options to see what it will run us and came across this 10 inch memory foam mattress at Amazon.
It has great reviews, free shipping and at $345 for a queen the price is right. How funny is it that it comes squished into a little tiny box? I was originally looking at the 12 inch version--thicker is better right?-- wrong! Thanks to the reviews a number of people called out that not only is the 10 inch model cheaper, it also has an extra half inch of memory foam. We've never had a memory foam bed, but love our memory foam pillows from Costco. What do you think, anyone out there have a memory foam mattress?

My one concern is that it looks like you would either need a box spring or a platform bed, both of which would run that price tag right up. I've been watching Craigslist but haven't seen anything I'm crazy about, and I'm now at the point where getting a bed at Ikea doesn't do it for me.

Surfing around today I wound up looking over Ana White's bed making plans. Isn't this bed goregous? Very simple with classic lines. I can't take my mind off it!! The plans seem pretty simple, and I'm wondering if it a challenge the suburbanista can handle. I showed Greg and he of course said "no way." How's that for a challenge?


We don't have a kreg jig- I'm hoping its not a deal-breaker. I think we can work around that thought... just a bit more pre-drilling.  I did a rough cost check with Greg and he thought we could get all the materials for $60-$70- not to bad for a fabulous queen sized bed.

Hmmmmm.....

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

DIY Floral Arranging

Have you ever arranged your own flowers? During my morning surf of the net I came across this article posted in the Home and Garden section of the Times.



I love fresh flowers, and I love a bargain so I guess its a given that I am all about diy floral arranging. I'm an amateur but got some serious practice during my wedding. I knew I wanted all white flowers for our big day, but had no idea how expensive florists were. On top of normal expenses, getting married in Port Ludlow added even more for delivery.

After doing some research, I decided I was going to do the flowers myself. I watched countless YouTube videos like this and this, researched floral arranging books on Amazon (then checked them out through the library), and bought a few bouquets of flowers at the grocery store to practice.



It actually wasn't that hard. Over the months leading up to my wedding I collected clippers, wire, tape and vases- mostly purchased at Ikea ($1.99 each), then the day before my bridesmaids and I spent a few hours putting everything together. Oh yes, we ordered most of the flowers from Costco for about $500-white roses, white hydrangeas, and calla lillies. We had them delivered right to Port Ludlow and then we picked up a few dozen Dahlia's at the Dahlia Barn in North Bend and drove them over.



All-in-all it took about 3 hours to put together 12 center pieces and 5 bouquets. I was really happy with how they turned out and the major cost savings. The bouquets are a little tricky until you get the hang of holding all the flowers in one hand. For the centerpieces, we used clear tape to make a grid on the top to hold the flowers in place. We were using clear glass vases so foam wasn't an option.



I'm going to host a baby-shower this summer... Do you have any cute and cheap diy centerpiece ideas?

Stop One: The Laundry Room

Today we have been in our house for four months exactly!! Some days it seems like we've always been here and others it seems like we signed our lives (and paychecks) away just yesterday. In true Seattle fashion, we signed all of our mortgage papers with Shaky hands at a Starbucks on fourth avenue. Ahh, such an exciting day.
We've definitely had our tastes of the joys of home-ownership including cold water, no heat, rodents, pop-corn ceilings and even old-faithful in our garage. More to come on these adventures. In the meantime, lets kick off a mini, in-progress tour in the laundry room.
Our laundry room is between our kitchen and our garage, so it gets a lot of traffic. When we moved in the washer and dryer were side by side.




In order to accommodate a Kitty-litter box, I started researching stacking kits. I searched the Internet, but could not find anything for our Kenmore model. Finally, I pulled out all the old manuals out that the owner left to see if there was any information included there on where we could order the hardware. Voiiii-laa! Included in the Manila envelope he left, were the stacking instructions and kit!

That night Greg and I flipped the dryer over, put on the vibrations strips and screwed those babies together. Since then, Zippy and Shishy have been right at home in their private facilities. Yes, I am a cat lady.

Originally there was a door to the kitchen. We realized very quickly that two doors and two laundry doors in such a tiny space wasn't working for us. Add onto that a cat that likes to open and close doors, and the door to the kitchen was a thing of the past.


We use the cabinet next to the washer and dryer for storage. Our house is a small one, so we have to maximize every inch of storage space. These are the original cabinets to the house (1970's) and are pretty small. But the laundry room (or doing laundry for that matter) is definitely not on top of my to-do list, a coat of white paint and they'll do for right now.


Currently we are using an ikea table that I bought as a desk in college as our counter. It serves it's purpose. Nothing fancy, but cheap. I love me a bargain. Usually the kitty facilities are hidden behind a cute DIY curtain and a spring-loaded curtain rod. But, Greg stepped on it last week and bent the rod in half. No privacy for the kitties this week.

Fulfilling his manly duties, Greg whipped out his stud finder when I decided we need a coat rack in here as well. Watching him locate the studs and hang the rack was like a light bulb going off. So that's how adults hang things so that they stay. I've had many picture-hanging adventures that involve powdered dry wall and falling screws. Anyhow, we use the coat racks all the time. Greg's coats, my bags, grocery bags. I'm by no means a clean-person, so I try with all my might to hang my junk here to keep it from cluttering up our living areas. 


 As for whats in the cabinet up above, a little bit of everything. Its primary purpose is storing laundry and cleaning supplies. But it also doubles as storage for mail and coupons in a file folder, as well as artwork made my nieces and nephews, and other household goodies.

Of course, I couldn't take pictures of a door without Zip getting excited and giving it a try for old time sake. Gotta love that crazy kitty.


Monday, May 9, 2011

My Suburban Family

Since I am a bit obsessed with my little family, I think its only fair that I tell you why they are so great. They make me smile, giggle, and feel complete each and every day.



Greg is the super good-looking athlete I fell in love with at college. He's younger than me (Get 'em young and train 'em) and a catch in every sense of the word. He is dashingly handsome and extremely witty. He comes from a huge family (think the Brady bunch), including four older sisters that have played a huge role in his life. He is sensitive, caring, and my best friend.

In addition to being such a great person, he is an amateur guitar player, a retired baseball catcher, an up-and-coming handyman, and quite the outdoorsman. His perfect day would be spent hiking, hunting, fishing and camping. Good thing he married a galfrom Alaska.

Around our house, Greg is definitely a Danny Tanner-type. He's Mr. Organized, clean and on top of everything.

Zippy and Shishy are our angel-faced furry babies. Although they are litter-mates and brothers, the two don't have much besides their orange color in common. Zip is the short-haired crazy kitty. Have you seen "the cat is trying to kill you?" That is Zip to a "T". In his own defense, Zip is a genius. I mean it- my little kitty genius. Does your cat know how to open doors? Seriously, to the extent that you have to replace 7 door knobs when you move into a new house? That's Zip. He is a total Mama's boy with a mild case of separation anxiety. He talks (in cat languages of moans and meows) all day long, and loves to cuddle up next to me on the couch.

Shishy (aka Milo) is unlike any other cat I've ever known. He is straight-up hilarious- a 21st century Garfield on my couch everyday. Shishy spends his days in true cat fashion moving between the food dish and his basket. I guess his favorite activity is a given when you see his svelte 19 pound figure. None the less, he is a happy kitty that loves having his belly and ears rubbed. He has mastered the art of sneaking into the cat food bin and has his dad wrapped around his finger.

Finally, me...the Seattle Suburbanista. I'm a 20 something who is trying to figure out the balance of love, time, travel and life. I'm bound and determined to fix up our home, knock things off our pre-baby bucket list, and savor every second of life. I'm a vegetarian, a semi-work-aholic, a coug, and a dreamer. I try to keep life simple and focus on what matters most.

Welcome Back

After a bit of a vacation, I'm back with lots to share. The last few months have been filled with long hours at work, lots of projects around the house, and plenty of time with family & friends.

We are desperately waiting for summer (or even spring) to arrive in Seattle. Until then, we'll spend our days planning adventures, and our nights working on the house. So much to do, so little time.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A Week Later...

Its been a busy week to say the least. 7 days after getting the keys we are happily moved in, kitties and all to our house on the hill.

A quick recap of what we've accomplished in week 1 of home ownership...
-Removed popcorn ceilings in two rooms
-Stacked our front load washer and dryer (to make room for the kitty litter box)
-Changed the locks on the front door/garage door
-Switched the door knobs on all bedrooms/bathrooms to cat proof round schlages (we have smart kitties!)
-Replaced 90% of the light bulbs with compact fluorescent
-Taken down 6 built in book cases and moved to the garage
-Moved 90% of our belongings...unpacked 60% of our belongings
-Made 5 trips to home depot

I'm going to try to snap some pictures tonight to finally share with all of our friends/family.
Xoxox

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1/11/11

We're going to pick up the keys...