Tricky Tricky

H and I went from renting rooms with friends to renting a small home with each other to buying an even bigger home. We have slowly been accumulating furniture throughout the years but, once in our new house we had some empty space that needed to be filled. 

We purchased a beautiful new couch from Crate and Barrel. It is an über comfortable, linen blend which means that I had a new challenge; a need to keep a certain someone off of it. Occasionally, Miss Maui likes to play Goldilocks. She bounces from dog bed to dog bed and recently she has been testing the waters with the furniture. 

Her bed just isn't cozy enough for some reason.

Want to know my trick? 

It costs next to nothing and you chances are already have it in your home.

Tin foil! 

I have actually found that I do not need nearly as much as shown. We can fold it up quickly and throw it in a drawer when needed. 

So, if you've ever tried to keep your dog off of your furniture, I'd recommend giving this a try. Although, fair warning: Maui is a nearly perfect pooch who listens and trains easily. 

Come On Knock On Our Door

Upon the suggestion of our UPS guy, H and I decided to add a peep hole to the front door. Apparently, he thought it was funny how I wouldn't open the door until I looked through the window first. Not sure why that's so funny on account that we live in one of the most dangerous cities in America. But, that's neither here nor there. 

So, off to Home Depot we went. 

This lil guy came in oil rubbed bronze ( to match our existing hardware) and appeared to be simple enough to install. 

 

Out of the packaging it came. 

Pretty simple, yes?

I asked my (not so handy) husband for a little assistance. Cue his "shocked" face. 

And off he went, power tool in hand. 

 

A few minutes hours later, (and another trip to HD) H turned this:

& this

Into this:

& this

Now, we can see you when you come to visit! (hint, hint, wink, wink)

Or... if you send gifts we will also open the door for the UPS man. (hint, hint, wink, wink)

 Come on knock on our door! We've been waiting for you.

May you have this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You're welcome!

Grocery list

Pantry's may be abundant in country homes but, in a city dwelling, they are about as common as finding a kid at school in summer. The fact that we have a pantry in our home is just another sweet bonus to this city home. It's just lovely.

One night, I had a brain storm and decided to jazz up these pantry doors. Well, maybe not jazz up so much as give them a dual purpose. This white door was just screaming for a little something chalky. Hmmmm, doesn't "chalky" mean 'white'? Wait for it... 

For a while now, I have been trying to find some fun uses for this can of chalk board paint I bought at one of the home improvement stores.

 

I taped off the upper, inside panels of the door.

And got to painting.

Believe me, I am well aware that this is not some huge transformation but, the usefulness of a little back side grocery list is pretty handy. 

What ever we realize we are out of, or if our little stomachs are craving something special, we write down on the new "chalk board". 

We then, can close the door to keep all of our dirty little secrets hidden from the rest of the world. 

The best thing is, before heading out to the market,  I will take a picture with my iphone and vwala our grocery list is in my hot little hand.

Off to stalk up now! Whole Foods or Harris Teeter? H doesn't use "hippie" soap so, guess it's the Teeter tonight. 

Pin Up

Since our move, I've been trying to get and stay organized. Even though I think our place has a spectacular amount of storage, especially for being a city home, sometimes we need things to be organized in order to be functional.

This is an example on how said organization occasionally requires a little creativity. My hair pins and clips have been jumbled in a box for the last few years. I decided it was time for them to breathe a little. 

The inside of the cabinet in our bathroom vanity looked like this.

After a spending a couple dollars on magnetic strip tape at good ol'  Home Depot and about 45 seconds, the inside of that same cabinet door now looks like this. 

This little project was easy, simple, cheap, convenient, and even beautiful. Go me. 

Adirondack Love

As soon as I knew we were going to get our RTD I had been dreaming of a pair (or more) of pretty adirondack chairs to sit up there. Alas, most of the adirondack chairs that I've ever seen were in the $100-250 range, per chair. (Boo!)

Then the tides turned this spring while I was picking up some essentials in Home Depot. I found a pair unassembled and unfinished adirondack chairs on sale for $25 bucks! So, I grabbed two, paid, and ran like hell outa there thinking they had to be miss marked.

The chairs patiently waited in their boxes for some love until we moved. Once we cleared out our garage we finally had the space to tackle this project. I was hoping to paint THEN assemble but, H had another idea. He snuck into the garage claiming he was going to put them together on his own. I think he was just anxious to use his drill, boys and power tools. <insert eye roll here>

So, without protesting I just let him be. Pretty soon he emerged and claimed 'they were good to go'. Translation: 'You can do the rest.' 

After a little sanding and cleaning, the chairs were ready for some paint. Although they are kind of pretty in their au naturale state.

At first I had grand dreams of spray painting these suckers. The idea of spray paint just seems so lovely; quick and easy. But, after a few spray painting test runs I decided I loved these chairs too much to mess up with my amature technique so, I went back to the home improvement store and found a regular old can o paint. 

From day one I knew these babies had to be painted happiest color of them all, yellow! Plus I'm a Steelers girl living in Baltimore so, what else was I to do?!

This was a blessing because the Rust-oleum Sun Yellow if far superior to the other, at least in my opinion. Valspar products are great but, this particular yellow is the perfect bright and cheery color I was looking for.

Hand painting these chairs was also the way to go. Next time however, I will race H to the garage and paint them BEFORE assembly. It is just more efficient in the long run, getting into all of those nooks and crannies can be tough.

Here is the finished product.

 

These lovelies are now perched on the RTD and they make our little bit of outdoor space even better, especially with a warm cup of coffee or a frosty beverage.