Our Little Girl's Nursery

It's a small space, but we managed to most fit everything we had from L plus a few extras.  The closet is devoted mostly to non baby stuff (most of our closets are not for the clothing of the person/people in that room, we have a teeny tiny linen closet and THATS IT, so all closets are filled to the brim with all sorts of stuff).  Don't under estimate going from 1700 sq. ft. to 1100 sq. ft. and adding a new baby....

Big Boy Room

L's big boy room is done- well as done as a room can be to me.

Rental Rescue: Mini House Tour

We have done quite a bit to our little rental house- and the reality is it will never be 100% what we love, but it's getting more and more comfortable.  Here are a few shots of our home- being used and lived in- having a toddler means never really having a tour quality looking home.

 

Rental: Kitchen Rescue

Yep- the kitchen is still being rescued.  Actually a lot of the house is being rescued- very slowly though.  Having a toddler, a husband that works out of town/long days (like he leaves at 4am and comes home after 10pm), and our owned home to ready for renters means we are slowly- oh so slowly- getting it together here.

But the kitchen is getting less golden/yellow/wood like.  It has a ways to go but I am giddy about the small rental appropriate changes we have been able to make.  If you look at the previous post about the kitchen you will notice the upper cabinet has doors- adding to the monochromatic butcher block/base cabinet mess.

So we can't paint the cabinets (well we could but it's not worth the headache or the possible loss of rental deposit) but something needed to change.  We decided to remove the doors and have more of an open shelving look.

But the cabinets are wood all around so even though dishes would be in front and distract a bit- we wanted to make more of a change.  I toyed with painting the inside- but again hassle and possible landlord issues.  Then I remembered something from pinterest- starching fabric to walls/backs of cabinets etc.  A perfect temporary fix.

I found some retro black and white fabric in town and followed this simple tutorial.

Here is the cabinet with the fabric pinned up just to see how it would look...

Here's the finished product...

Renting versus Owning: Kitchen Rescue!

It's such a difference renting after owning- D and I notice all these little projects to spruce up the place- but is it worth the time and money?  So far we have made small changes- replacing some window coverings, changing the shower heads, running a water line to our fridge (the landlords fridge is safe in the garage), having a plumber had another gas connector so we can use our dryer (fortunately the water heater was right there so it was a simple job).  I have to say I don't think I will be painting any rooms- I can live with the white and I am all painted out with the touch ups to our old home.  We are finalizing a project that turned out amazing!

Our kitchen, which is exactly like my grandmothers kitchen- same green tile, same wood cabinets, and brassy pulls- had a funky open space- not suitable for a table, but strangely placed and needing something.  To us it just made sense at get a cabinet or island to add more space- we are downsizing after all and boy do we need more space.

So not only was this kitchen exactly like my grandmothers- it was also 90% the same as our original kitchen in our last home- the one we gutted and renovated (I really miss that kitchen!).  We tossed most everything after the renovation but randomly I kept two wall cabinets- why, I am not really such.  I had some idea about using them in the garage, but never did and they just hung out until the move.  When we were packing up I noticed them and wondered if I could incorporate them in the new place- after all they looked the same as our rental kitchen (gotta love that 1950's consistency).  I did some measurements and realized they would fit PERFECTLY in that strange open space.  All I needed was a countertop (ikea butcher block of course) and legs- oh and a way to secure it without damaging the house- it is a rental after all.

So off to ikea for the butcher block- that was the perfect size and required to no cutting.  We also picked up some 4" capita legs and an adjustable leg.  In a matter of hours- we created a usable kitchen countertop bar and added a lot of storage.

So here she is- our project that rescued the kitchen- still to add are the pulls and stools (I found the most perfect vintage stools for $20 on craigslist- the seller has yet to get back to me though), and obviously some styling to break up all that golden wood tone.

I had initially thought about white toe kicks, but rather like the exposed capita legs- plus it is much less work this way!  We did add a few screws into the original kitchen cabinet to secure the countertop and make the cabinet unable to move.  But these can be puttied up when it comes time to move- and it wasn't such a no no since the whole kitchen is littered with random screw/nail holes.  We do need to finish the backing because one of the cabinets was not fully covered in poly and has a hole in it...but I adore how this turned out.