Painted Upholstery on Vintage Shell Chairs: A Basement Update!

This chair makeover marks an important turning point in my life: between the completion of this project and a few drop offs at the thrift store, I no longer have a stash of chairs in my garage waiting to be painted/reupholstered/etc. and moved into the house! I feel relieved and a little empty. I bought these chairs off of Craigslist … Continue reading

Abe’s Very Busy Spider Party

post contains affiliate links Abe has long been a fan of Eric Carle’s “The Very Busy Spider.” And of spiders (or “pie pies” as he calls them) in general. So I’ve been planning on this party theme for a few months now. In my ambitious, pre-holiday burnout days, this party was going to involve a larger guest list and perhaps … Continue reading

Abraham Barry is TWO! (at the ZOO)

Abe turned two on Saturday. I’d say some stuff here about how sad it is that I don’t have any babies anymore, except he is TOTALLY STILL A BABY AND ALWAYS WILL BE. I thought maybe I could get away with one Abe is two now post, but then, predictably, there were a lot of pictures. So I’m dumping all … Continue reading

Whale Print from Artollo and the Toddler Nursery One Year Later

Thanks to Artollo for sending this whale print for me to review. I wasn’t otherwise compensated for this post, and all opinions are mine. Abe’s been in his new room for nearly a year now, so I thought it’d be a good time to check back in on the room and talk about how it’s working out and what’s changed … Continue reading

Our New Ikea Karlstad Sectional: A Love Story

Here’s what I wrote nearly two years ago about wanting a Karlstad sectional: Yes, I know….EVERYONE has a Karlstad sofa from Ikea. But you know what? Sometimes everyone is right. Because where else am I going to find an attractive sectional, with a cover that I can replace if/when the evil cats destroy the first one, for $900? Since then, … Continue reading

Thrift Score Thursday

Woot! I’m guest hosting Thrift Score Thursday again this week! It’s my very favorite thing in the whole world to guest host, and I’m not just saying that because it’s the only thing I’ve ever guest hosted. The way it works is you share your thrifty finds (from garage sales, Craigslist, flea markets, thrift stores…..wherever!) all week long on Instagram … Continue reading

Build, Organize, and Party!

I have three quick things today, as suggested by that title. 1. I continue to be obsessed with things one can build out of plywood, especially out of one sheet of plywood. I came across this book (affiliate link), from way back in 1987, called From One Sheet of Plywood, apparently written by a guy who had the same obsession. … Continue reading

DIY Modern Birch Table from One Sheet of Plywood

post contains affiliate links Update, 11/1/2015: A couple of people have contacted me to let me know that the link to Popular Mechanics isn’t working anymore (at least as I’m writing this). Someone was able to find the plans at this site, though, luckily! If the PM link doesn’t work, check it out here: http://www.woodworkcity.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/plywood-table-plans.pdf ….we’re hoping to eventually draw … Continue reading

2015 Goals and Plans (of the House-related Variety)

Wow. 2015. That didn’t take very long to happen. Here is where there is supposed to be some navel-gazing type stuff about the past year and the passage of time and all that, but I can’t really think of anything much to say about it. Things were crazy and loud and busy and pretty fabulous around here in 2014. I … Continue reading

Fourteen Goals for 2014: The Final Analysis

Round about a year ago, I was feeling really ambitious and made a list of fourteen house-related goals to accomplish in 2014. And now it’s time to revisit the list and how see how we did. I don’t take the goal list particularly seriously; I like making plans, and I like making lists, but if we get sidetracked and don’t … Continue reading