June 21, 2011

Sewing Cabinet Re-Do

June 21, 2011/ Michelle Scheibe

This past week-end while I was ~~cursing at my sewing machine~~ sewing a baby quilt, I realized that I haven’t shared my sewing cabinet re-do with you all.

I found this chair for $3 at the Salvation Army Outlet (which reminds that I need to stop by and risk my life for some more bargains like this)…

I love a good chair seat covered in cat fur…

I found this sewing cabinet at a local garage sale. It was marked at $15. Nate’s mom haggled them down to $10. Nate and I are bad hagglers…glad we had the pro with us!

I was previously sewing on a our kitchen table so the thought of having my very own sewing table was very exciting. I followed my trusty painting steps (read them here) and ended up with this….

My sewing machine doesn’t fit inside the table (the top folds out) and I haven’t gotten around to finding a solution for that but I don’t mind the sewing machine on top…it really doesn’t have much effect on my spectacular sewing skills. You may also notice my sewing machine manual on the stand…I don’t sew without it near.

My sewing machine is a cheap-o Singer Target special. It works fine except the bobbin randomly decides to randomly jam. At first I thought it was just me…and then I read the reviews on-line…lots of good sewers with bobbin issues…still doesn’t make me scream at it less when it jams but I do feel slightly better…

I have to watch what I say because I usually have this pretty face nearby helping me with my projects. He’s also kind of a chair thief. He thinks my chair re-do is pretty comfy! (You can read how I refinish chairs here.) I think all of your nice comments about him on yesterday’s post are going to his fuzzy head…

There you have it. A sewing table and chair set for under $15!

Where do you sew? Or do you? Are you one of those with a pretty sewing room? Or is yours hidden in your maybe-someday baby room like mine? Or do you sew old school on your kitchen table? Don’t worry..I’ve been there!

Linking up to: Primitive and Proper, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Type A, Someday Crafts, http://simple%20home%20life/

June 20, 2011

Summer To-Do List: House Edition

June 20, 2011/ Michelle Scheibe

Are you a list maker? I am in every aspect of my life…except for house projects. That’s about to change today!

Our week-ends during the summer are packed!! Packed full of fun with family and friends but that leaves little time for house projects (as you may have noticed in my lack of substantial house related posts). We spend our week nights doing laundry, mowing, cleaning, etc. which leaves little time for projects (and no one wants to read a post about me cleaning dirty underwear). When we do have time for projects we seem to forget what we were going to tackle and end up doing nothing. It’s time for a change.

We have some free week-ends coming up and here are the plans…slightly lofty plans but still manageable. We built a house in 8 months…I think we can tackle a few decor projects in 3 months.

What do we hope to accomplish?

Mudroom:

Remember our big mudroom plans?? Yeah, the mudroom still looks like the before picture. This room will probably be first up on our to-do list.

Kitchen Shelf?:

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed a slight new obsession with shelves over windows or doors. I think a shelf holding vintage kitchen items would look pretty over our patio door? I’m not completely sold but I think it may work. What are your thoughts?

Girly Laundry Room:

Our laundry room is a hot MESS. I can’t even believe I am posting these photos. I am hoping to shame myself into motivation. The rest of our house was shot as is…I’m a slight neat freak but I do have my dark secrets…and this is one of them…the shame!

I have big plans for this room. I’m thinking lighter walls and girly. I think Nate has been in the laundry room 3 times since we have moved in so he won’t even notice if I have a little pink in here…

Bed Frame:

Our bed needs a bed frame to go with our DIY’ed headboard copy cat. I can’t find a bedskirt that I like and I think a bed frame would give the room a cleaner look. I’m thinking another West Elm knock-off is in store. Ike flew off the bed in excitement when he heard about this plan…

Guest Bathroom:

Our guest bathroom needs a coat of Valspar’s Gravity…to coordinate with our guest bedroom.

Now I need your opinions on the shower curtain situation (why do I think of Jersey Shore every time I type that word?…focus).

Should I go with a white shower curtain for a spa-like feel or something more bold? I’m afraid a white shower curtain may be too much white in the room but I also feel that it would look clean and crisp against the grey walls. I’m open to all opinions…

Guest Bedroom Gallery Wall:

Our guest bedroom is getting a gallery wall. I have ideas in my head. I just need to get to work on making the prints/printing them out. I think I also need to paint some frames. Again, I will take opinions. Black frames, white frames, yellow frames, a mix? Glad I went with a white comforter in this room…that dog was on a roll during this photo session…

Outdoor Patio:

I recently showed you our deck but we also have another backyard space….and it needs a little TLC. Neither of us has a good vision for this space but we know that it needs cleaned up (hello power washer) and at least some hanging baskets. We are also going to look for some clearanced furniture to replace our 5 year old Wal-Mart special…which is still holding strong…

Kitchen Backsplash:

If we get really ambitious, we will tackle our kitchen backsplash…but this may need to wait until fall…or later because we are the most indecisive people on the ~~planet~~ solar system…