Wasted space

There’s something wrong with this picture. Can you guess what it is?

 

Normally, people park their car INSIDE the garage, but not me. My little Honda has been parked OUTSIDE of the garage since the day we moved in. (Please note Jay’s car is conveniently parked in the adjoining carport. Wouldn't want him to get his hair wet.)  So one may ask, “Lindsay, why don’t you park your car where it belongs?”  My answer – I can’t! The garage is chock full of stuff – boxes, furniture, sports equipment, tools, etc that were thrown there in all of the moving chaos. Despite all of the changes we've made inside, we have yet to make it to the garage. After nearly two months of not utilizing this wonderfully amazing space, I knew it was time to clean this baby out. It’s the perfect weekend project - it provides instant results, it’s a form of exercise and best of all, it’s FREE!

So, last Saturday Jay and I set off to tackle the mess. And boyyyy, do I mean mess. Don’t believe me? Check it out yourself. (Note: We are entering a judgment free zone. This is not my finest moment. By no means am I proud of all the stuff we’ve accumulated and left in that space, but with an active 11 year old, a crazy lacrosse schedule, full-time jobs and school…it is what it is.)

Before:

Making some progress:

Five hours later (Ok so it didn’t take five straight hours. I stopped for some chalk fun and a slip n slide adventure), I had space to park my car!

Ta-da!

 

That’s a job well done if I do say so myself. Future plans for this space include a workbench, better defined spaces for our items (aka 5Sing for all of my UTC people), and added storage racks. However, for now, I will simply bask in the joy of my new parking space.

50 shades of gray

No, I’m not talking about the salacious new book that everyone is reading; I’m talking about Chateau Marut, of course! Fifty shades of gray is the perfect way to describe our home.

Recently, we took on the daunting  exciting task of painting our 26x13 dining room, window frames and all! A 40% paint sale at Sherwin-Williams recently inspired and propelled us to complete this project sooner than we had originally plan.  Actually, we were supposed to get the paint and start the next weekend; however, before I knew it, I was sanding and priming the wood trim. I meannn…when will I learn??

Don't remember what our wood-stained window trim looked like? Let me refresh your memory. 

Hours later, with tears in my eyes, I turned to Jay to complete the second coat on the frames. He did a good job, don’t you think? 

Although painting the trim made a huge impact, we didn’t stop there! Onto the walls! (Note: we decided not to paint the actual window because we were afraid of ruining the functionality of it. There is nothing worse than a window sticking when you are trying to open it!)

The color we chose for the walls is called passive (mistakenly referred to as passion by my husband). Categorized in the cool neutral family, this gorgeous shade of gray is perfect for our dining space.

I couldn’t muster up the strength to take pictures while we painted, so check out the before and after pictures!

Before:

After (The color is a bit hard to read in the photos, but I assure you it's the a perfect shade of gray!):

Best of all, we finished this project just in time for Josh's 11th birthday. Happy birthday, Josh!

(Special shout-out to my amazing husband who despite a terrible cold, helped his crazy wife paint a room in record time!)

Movin' on up!

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the Maruts have their first ever dining room table! Sure, it’s a hand-me-down from someone we've never met, but it sure beats the plastic folding table and less than desirable blue chairs we were using when we first moved in.

My lovely friend, Elisabeth, hooked us up with the owners of a very large and very FREE table. Though the table was a bit more ornate than we wanted, how could we turn down a FREE (did I already mention, FREE) 8 ft table?!? We couldn’t! So we set off with Jay’s dad’s truck to pick up the table, two leaves, 6 chairs and a table pad. Score! Check it out.

(Comfortable, Chloe?)

So what are my plans to make this table more in style with our taste? Well, I was sort of all over the place with it! My initial idea was to paint the table yellow, raincoat yellow that is. Yup, you heard that right! Actually, everyone I told had a look of shock and disbelief on their face. Now before you think I've gone off the deep end, let me give you a visual. Maybe something like this?

Ok, I thought…maybe they just don’t get my vision. However, after pondering the idea of a bright yellow table for a few days, I started to realize I don't have the guts to do it! So, my next idea was to paint everything white. Of course I’m thinking outsource and Jason is thinking DIY. I don’t think DIY would give us the results we wanted. We would certainly run the risk of chipping paint and an uneven finish. On the other hand, I highly doubt I would spend the money to get the table professionally finished, so the idea of a white table was soon lost.

The funniest thing happened though as I let go of all of my crazy ideas. The table actually grew on me. Sure the ornate design kinda conflicts with the modern(ish) feel we were going for, but it is interesting and it serves its purpose. Therefore, I chose to embrace; to take it for who it was – a FREE, ornate table, with character. Eventually (aka when I regain my sanity), I would like to change the fabric on the seats as it is a bit boring. Maybe an interesting, funky fabric will help bring cheer to our dining room.

All the small things

Lately, it seems as though all of our money has gone to practical items like electronic thermostats (more on that later), tools, paint, putty, etc.; however, unbeknownst to my husband (love you, Jason!), I have managed to snag a few decorating items that I absolutely love!  Besides, who says pretty things aren’t practical! 

First, check out this sleek table that I purchased from Joss and Main (an online members-only site that offers limited-time sales on items for your home and life; jossandmain.com).  You may remember from previous pictures this spot temporarily housed a bulky Ikea storage unit. Well not anymore! I love the way this space looks now. (Might I add how practical it is! I occasionally store keys and sunglasses on it, thank you very much.) 

On the top of this very practical table are a few new items such as this funky lamp from Target, Bob the ceramic koi fish from Home Goods (yes, Josh named him), a milk glass candy dish from a second-hand store and a cheery red bartender tray from Joss and Main. 

I purchased this AMAZING sunburst mirror. I have always dreamed of owning a mirror like this for years (I know, what an aspiration!). I happened to spot this beautiful baby while procrastinating from doing homework browsing the Joss and Main website one evening.  What a great find!

These two bright beauties came from Home Goods. While on a shopping spree with my dear mother, the bright yellow urns caught our eye. After staring at them for a full 10 minutes, we knew I had to get them. Though I’m not quite sure where to put them (currently they are shining brightly on the bar), I know they will add a nice pop of color to any room.

As I’m sure you’ve seen from our previous house tour, there is not a rug, carpet or patch of softness in the entire main living area. So naturally, I’ve been keeping my eye out for a rug for at least the living room to start.  I thought something cheery and light would be nice.  Joss and Main was having a rug sale one evening and I found yellow and white patterned rug for a great deal. I figured this would be the perfect addition to our living room, but unfortunately, I was WRONG! I really tried to like it, I really really did. But in the end, it just wasn’t what I thought it would be, so off to the spare bedroom it went! The hunt for a living room carpet continues.

Here I am trying:

Really trying:

See ya later, yellow carpet:

I picked up another carpet (yes, another Joss and Main find), but this time it was a runner. Originally, I thought it would look nice in the entry hall, but the gray and white pattern competed with the slate stone. So off it went to the upstairs hall. It certainly looks great there, if I do say so myself.

Geez, I’m glad I wrote this post! Going back and reading everything that I’ve bought in the past month has made me realize that I may have a bit of a shopping addiction! No more Joss and Main…for at least a week ;)