ROH: Phase 1 Complete

So it turns out all this “free time” I thought I would have between semesters evaporated once the semester ended! LOL! This is not to say that I haven’t had free time because I certainly have, it has just been taken up with new things! Every weekend in May has been jam packed!

When last I left you I was on a mission to reorganize our home and purge the clutter/junk!!! Here’s the deal, our house is only a little over 1300 sq ft, so this makes weeding out the junk crucial. After living here 10 years, having a cute #littlecaveboy and just acquiring the normal junk that goes along with living – we have reach critical mass.

Two weekends ago the beginnings of a major house purge happened when my neighbor and I had our semi-annual yard sale! I sold tons of baby boy clothes, household items we no longer used and some of our clothes! What didn’t sell we hauled off to Goodwill! Our closets are so much lighter now.

That was Phase 1, Phase 2 is going through the house, ruthlessly purging things we haven’t use or touched in years – i.e. throwing out the junk. So after the initial haul to Goodwill, Caveman and I naturally came straight back inside and went through our closet again! There is another bag waiting for Goodwill in the garage, with more being added every few days! We don’t have that much, but our clothing situation has really gotten to the over flow point.

While we are on the topic, let’s call out my real problem – I am a pack-rat! I keep things that the average person would never think twice about tossing out! I get crazy about hoarding papers, any papers really; school papers, college papers, old receipts, old paid bills from almost 10 years ago, etc. This drives Caveman crazy, and me too if I’m honest with myself. I have slowly been letting go….Frozen anyone? Moving on…

I have been attempting, at times more successfully than others, to purge one or two small areas each night. This week my main focus has been two tall bookcases (that I hope to better utilize soon) in our Master Bedroom. If you follow me on Pinterest you know I’ve been pinning loads of Master Bedroom ideas for a little over a year now in the hopes of making our Master Bedroom into a retreat instead of a dumping ground. So Tuesday night I attacked one of the shelves in the bookcase. It held two large 3-ring binders full of old college papers. We have the college degree, so seriously it’s time to throw it out. Thursday night it tackled another shelf that held a large stack of random papers that no longer mean anything to anyone. Tonight there will be a few ahem accordion files that I plan to tackle in a nearby closet.

Think baby steps here people! I’m not becoming overwhelmed like I have tended to do in the past and I already feel so much better. Caveman is happy the “piles” are leaving and so am I! I’m expecting Phase 2 to take a bit longer, maybe even the entire summer, but I’m committed to letting go of the junk and allowing our home to breathe!

The yard-sale weekend was also Mother’s Day! We didn’t do anything super special just hung out and spent some quality time with each other. Here are a few “faces” of my #littlecaveboy as I attempted to get a true smile. I think I like these better!

More of our May adventures next week!!

I Won a Copy of The Nesting Place!

You may have heard recently, but the Nester just released her new book last weekend! In the weeks leading up to the book’s release date the Nester has been giving away copies on various blogs around the blogosphere. I’ve entered a few of the giveaways in hopes of scoring a copy. One such blog is The Inspired Room, a blog I have enjoyed following immensely over the past few years.

I WON!!! Can you believe it?! I can’t wait to read the Nester’s book and have Caveman read it too!!

Last night I told him about winning the book, Nester’s journey in writing the book, their family’s story of moving so many times, where they are now and her vision for their new place. I’m so happy he’s interested to reading it too, even with me. I told him about her principle, It Doesn’t have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful (#idhtbptbb) and how I want to incorporate this principle, together with him, in our home. Caveman agrees and is completely on board.

After a little over 10 years together, we’ve gotten better at communicating in general lol, but also communicating our dreams and desires for our home and lives together. Or maybe it’s that we’ve gotten better at actually listening to each other, either way I’m embracing it. I thank God every day for our family, our lives together and for the growing up I’ve certainly done in those years.

While we haven’t moved since we bought our home 10 years ago this May, we have remodeled it in different phases throughout that time. Our poor hall bath has been repainted twice so far and needs another paint job now. As Caveman said just this morning you can only pause for so long on home improvement projects before something else needs to be done or redone! My style and tastes in design have evolved and changed to such a degree that I would love to repaint the entire house now, but especially our master bedroom. Maybe this year? I hope so, but if not that’s ok too. Right now while Caveboy is little I’m trying to stay focused on this phase of our lives because he’s already 4 1/2! How does this happen? It seems like just a few months ago I was bringing him home from the hospital!

ETA: Today’s Joy Dare prompt is 3 gifts about your home for which you are thankful! How fitting!!

1.) Our home offers us protection and shelter from the elements.

2.) Our home has come a long way from the day we moved in, but I know it’s not as good as I hope we can make it!

3.) It’s small, so that just means we have to make conscious decisions about what we put in it and purge often!

What are 3 gifts about your home you are thankful?

Once I receive my copy, I’ll be sure to post a full review of the book here. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome though, I mean I’ve read her blog for years and completely love it so this book is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit too!

Happy Good Friday!

Happy Good Friday to you!!

This is been one crazy week, no make that week & a half around these parts! So let me just break down a few details for you! Last weekend Caveboy came down with a stomach bug on Saturday morning. I, thankfully, have only had one other experience with Caveboy and vomit. I would like to state here and now that neither of these experiences do I ever want to repeat again, but I also know that inevitably they will in fact repeat at some point in the future! We made it through the weekend and the week began.

Monday…Caveman came down with a milder, albeit still draining version of the stomach bug.

Then on Tuesday…I took Caveboy down to school for Kindergarten Registration!!!! My baby is going to school next year – officially! And although he’s not really a baby anymore, I’ll always…

He also went on to his preschool that Tuesday and dyed Easter Eggs, that Nana hard boiled eggs the night before (thanks Mom)!

Wednesday…was relatively quiet, thankfully!

Thursday – Caveboy had his Easter egg hunting party and had way too many sugary treats, which he kindly shared with Caveman and I!

Here we are at Friday! Good Friday to be exact! I am so very thankful for my savior who died for me! And you too!

I hope you all have a happy & safe Easter Weekend!

 

Thoughts on Redesigning Our Home

I saved the best find from my thrifting trip the other day for one last post in March! WooHoo for me!

I have always loved architecture and interior design. In fact I went to college for a while to be an architect, decided that although I really enjoyed it, architecture just wasn’t for me. Then I almost went into Interior Design but chickened out by telling myself I couldn’t do it. Oh how I have regretted that decision, especially when only 5 short years later HGTV exploded! ALWAYS just go for it!! But I digress…

Now I read a ton of DIY/Home Design blogs instead and love a variety of styles, just check out my Pinterest boards to prove it! Our current home’s style is more on the traditional side with a bit of a cabin vibe going on too. Oh who am I kidding? Despite my interest in home design it’s actually its a mix of everything hand-me-down, but I really want to change that.

I’ve always been a fan of the mid-century modern designs, but lately I’m leaning even more towards them. I like the clean lines and minimalist styling, so when I spotted a pair of these at the Thrift Store the other day they were hard to pass up!

These were really dirty and definitely needed refinishing, but they would have looked so great with our sectional! Only I have zero room in our house for any more furniture so they stayed put. 😦 Maybe someday!

Our other problem is the lack of storage/closet space! This has frustrated me since we moved in and one of the spare rooms always ended up housing the junk. We have condensed it over the years but still there are some major problem areas & I may or may not be a pack-rat of sorts. One specific problem areas is our shoe situation! Caveman & I personally have 2 (ok 1.5) shoe racks each, and little Caveboy is coming very close to own 1 by himself (yet we always say he doesn’t have enough shoes!).

I looked into getting this beauty!

Actually I wanted two and had a couple of different spots in our home as to where I would like it installed BUT… there are no Ikea’s near us! The closest one is in Atlanta, next Charlotte or Cincinnati, each being a 3/4/5 hour drive away. If I wanted it shipped here then that’s another $129, so it’d be like basically buying 3 cabinets and only getting 2.

After a little Googling I found these plans on Ana-White.com! Caveman said we could attempt or else have one built!!!! This one from Ana’s Brag Posts is my absolute favorite! I mean it’s gorgeous, as are most any pottery barn inspired knockoffs.

You can read all about how she built it right here! I really like the feet on this one, makes it look more like a piece of furniture but I think I would add simplier/sleeker pulls and maybe go with a walnut stain instead of black paint.

After we get the shoe problem addressed I’d like to find a great rug for Caveboy’s room. We are in there playing almost every night. We love having hardwood floors throughout our home but in there I’d really like to find a great rug. I have considered a Southwestern style, a plain colored shag or something vintage. I got an email earlier today from West Elm showcasing their new designs for Spring. I immediately fell in love with this rug!

I think it would go perfectly but we’ll see what my Cavemen think about it first! 🙂

Goodbye March?

It seems all I’m able to come up with lately is one, maybe two posts a month! Thank you for you comments on my last post. I’m looking into web-hosting, new designs, etc. I really appreciate all the advice.

So life lately has been…busy! When is it ever not though really. Last week was Spring Break for Caveboy and I, so I was able to take off Friday and have a date with my little guy! We had some maintence done on my Kia, visited Daddy at work, went to a few Thrift Stores and finally made it to our local library for the first time! Whew, what a day!

Here are a few finds from our thrifting adventures!

Golfbag for Caveman!

Always looking for anything nautical! These nautical prints were beautiful!

No, I didn’t purchase either of these, just some spring/summer clothes for Caveboy!

Actually I’ve been on a purge of our house lately. It seems that we are bursting at the seams in our little 1300 sq ft rancher. I’ve been waiting to have a yard sale for a few years. I even attempted it a few times last year only to have something come up each time. Well this is my yard-sale year, no matter what! I will be off school (between semesters) during the month of May so I’m hoping to pick a weekend and clear the place out! Either that or it’s all getting hauled off to a Thrift Store near you for someone else’s enjoyment!

In addition to housewares, I have a ton of Caveboy’s clothes waiting for me to sell in the yard-sale, although…

Grace over at CampPatton.com recently posted about a new company called Kidizen that I would love to try out but alas I haven’t made the jump to an iPhone yet. *sigh* (Although they are working on an Android app to be released soon!) But here’s what Grace said about the new company!

“Their inventory truly runs the gamut of legitimate vintage and brands I would never dream of buying firsthand and one of my favorite things about Kidizen is that the prices INCLUDE SHIPPING. Genius. So genius.

It’s super easy to snap photos on your phone, upload them on the app, and list them to sell as well. I have a really hard time getting rid of the kids clothing but the nesting bug is getting antsy and I’ll be all over this one of these pre due date weeks.”

I’ve already used Once Upon a Child a few times too. They are usually pretty great to buy back clothes from me and a great resource to find clothes for Caveboy.

I’ll be back again soon with a few more posts about our Springtime adventures and more thoughts on redesigning our home to better work for us.