Built-Ins - Fake It 'Til You Make It

 Hey!  I wish I was sitting here typing up a big kitchen update but alas, I'm not.  I'll blame it on fully enjoying our summer and I'm not mad about it in the least.  Actually, the drier fall air and milder temps will serve us better anyway when it comes to painting cabinet doors outside so you could even say that our lack of kitchen progress this summer is a blessing in disguise, paving the road for efficiency later.  Orrrr maybe that's just wishful thinking...  ;)

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about what we haven't done but something we did do.  It was a little project that only took a few hours one lazy Saturday afternoon.  Not only was it quick but it also itched that scratch that not doing anything creative for a few weeks can create.

It all happened in the reading room (music room?  library?  study?  We're not sure what to call it.)  We've known for at least a year that we want to line the back wall with bookshelves atop cabinets but that's a back burner project as we focus on other things.  For awhile, we improvised with a built-in we moved in from the living room (when we removed the wall between that and the kitchen, this built-in had to be moved) and an old secondhand shelf but that left a bare corner that we just used to store stuff like the vent hood that had to go up in the kitchen.

Not very aesthetically pleasing.  But then time marched on and I found chairs, the vent hood went out and up, supplies were relocated, I moved  in a small bookshelf from the kids' room, and topped it all off with some DIY art in a thrifted frame (tutorial here).

(More) Kitchen Plans

Putting this post together makes me SO excited to get this kitchen started...errr, finished!  We're zooming in on it next!  It won't be a super quick slide into the finish line since we're doing everything ourselves but we're hoping we can get it all in by summer's end, hopefully sooner.  I went into a little bit of detail about how we planned to open it up in the past but that's done and now it's onto the finer details of cabinet colors, counter tops, and a new backsplash.  Here's a peak of what we've nailed down so far:

What I Didn't Get To In the Master Bedroom

I always make myself some pretty hefty to-do lists when it comes to making over a room, even if it's just a quick makeover.  I always try to put more on my list than what I can usually tackle, not so I can make myself feel like a failure when I don't get it all done (because I usually never do when it comes to a dedicated timeline with a deadline), but so I can at least plan with everything in my scope.  It's OK not to get it all done.  I'm ok with it.  Really.  I can't put my life on hold right now to stamp a room complete and it's ok.  But it's sure fun trying to get to that finish line.  Eventually, we'll get there, right?  Just give me a few years.  ;)

Anyway, one of those things on my to-do list for the master bedroom that I didn't quite get to is getting something on the big wall above our dresser.

(I would have also loved to get those windows out of the corner too.  They are replacements for various windows in the house that we are slowly working on swapping out.)

A Four-Legged Nightstand Makeover

These past couple of weeks it's been really great to focus solely on our master bedroom.  It wasn't looking too bad before but, like everything, a freshening up is a good thing.  Last week, with my gas tank almost empty forcing me to stay home because of the whole gas panic-buying craze, I got to cross several things off my "Master Bedroom" list.  Silver linings.  👍

One of those things was finally getting some legs onto our nightstands to raise them up to the same level as the bed, something we've been wanting to happen for years.

I bought two sets of these legs* months and months ago with this intention, started one day, felt like I had gotten in over my head with complications, and never went back...well, until last week.  A big splash of courage and determination came over me and I got 'er done.  Phew!

This project flowed directly from this project - when I added legs to an old dresser.  These nightstands were handed down to me by a friend in college who didn't want them anymore and I've always liked the look of them.  They're nice and simple so they've stood the test of time and trend.  I've had lots of plans floating around my noggin for them over the years including paint (which may still happen), adding mirrors to the insets of the drawers, adding texture to the insets of the drawers, new hardware (happened!), and dun, dun, dun...LEGS! 

It seems like an easy thing to do, right?  At least I thought so.  Turn them over and screw the legs in.  Flip 'em back and done.  

Nope.

New Bedroom Curtains!

It seems I've caught a sort of spring decorating bug.  First it was the living room and now it's followed me into the master bedroom and I just can't stop.  

The master bedroom also happens to be the current "Let's Room Together!" challenge so there's lots in the way of motivation to change some things up.  I spent most of my free moments last week deep cleaning our bedroom - under the bed, baseboards, dressers, mirrors, etc...  All the while looking forward to the most fun part of the challenge for me - hanging new curtains.

It's not that our current ones were bad, on the contrary, I love them.  Love them so much I've stowed them away for another change of wind (usually if I'm not going to use something decor-wise, it gets sold).  I found them on Facebook marketplace last year and paid a whopping $20 for all four panels.  They're velvet and oh-so-luxe.  (Pssst, they're these curtains* but the dark taupey color of ours don't seem to be sold anymore.)