The Office: Update

Hi Guys! Sorry Its been a couple of weeks since I've posted but I've been working hard "Tidying up" my house because yes...Marie Kondo got to me. Don't judge me because I know you too have been a victim of that dainty, vertically challenged Japanese woman. She just gets deep into your soul and makes you want to reorganize all of the things. 

Anyways..moving on. 

Just in case you forgot my main goal for the first part of this year was to makeover my downstairs living space into a craft room/ office that was bright, light, and comfortable. I originally had planned to demo our brick fireplace surround but have decided to forgo that project and instead paint my brick  white (Its currently whitewashed ). Our fireplace also has three shelves but I don't really like the way they look so I'm going to DIY some wood chunky shelves over them...but not today...not anytime soon because my miter saw is in the garage and it is -2 degrees here in western PA so basically not today Satan. 

Without further ado..Here's some pictures of the office as of today. 

 I bought these Ikea cabinets from someone on Let go for 50$ and its basically been my best purchase on a "for sell" app ever. They are in perfect shape and originally retail for hundreds of dollars so I couldn't believe I got them for so cheap.

My list of to dos for the office is still long but at least its usable space now!  

Still to do:

1. Paint fireplace white

2. Build chunky wood shelves

3. Paint brass surround

4. Office chair

5. Sew slipcover for couch

Lastly here are some inspiration pictures for my fireplace

Swoon, enter heart eye emoji here. 

Thanks for checking in, 

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Mini Project : Picture ledge

Hey guys welcome to 2019..thus far its been a super productive year (ermm...day). I woke my husband up super early and was like " Hey babe...lets put some picture ledges in the hallway!!!!" He mumbled something about college football and then unhappily obliged me because Happy Wife, Happy Life and also because he knew I was going to do it regardless and he gets all paranoid about me drilling into our walls (What? Like its hard or something.. #namethatmovie ) 

My house is a split level and in typical split level homes the upstairs has the main living quarters including a long hallway that ends with bedrooms. When we moved in I wasn't sure how to decorate it because the bedroom door on the left side of the hall was flush with the end of the hallway. This made it impossible to put a piece of furniture or really anything there because then you wouldn't be able to access the bedroom. So I put a body mirror and a floor vase and called it a day...well technically I called it three years... tomato, tomatoe whatever.

So thanks to the inspiration from these two lovely blogging ladies ( Jennifer at https://www.thecraftpatchblog.com/ and  Christina at https://christinasadventures.com/) I set out to measure and modify their plans to fit my space. 

Here's a list of used materials:

(2) 2x2x8 's

(2) 1x3x8 's

10# 2 1/2 inch wood screws

finishing nails

level

measuring tape

hammer

Drill

saw

Stain of your choice

First things first, I measured the depth and the width of my hallway. Since the door trim is flush with the wall I didn't want the picture ledges to come out further than the door jam. I don't want anyone to get caught on it as they are going in/out.

This factor limited my depth of ledge. I chose to use a 2x2. Something to note about this depth of ledge is that you cant stack picture frames unless you use very thin frames. So my picture ledge wont be the typical picture ledge, not ideal but I'm working with what I have. After measuring, I cut my wood down to size and then stained the parts of the wood that would be seen. I used my miter saw (a Christmas present from my Dad cause he is the best!) to cut my 2x2 and 1x3 to 35 1/2 inches. The typical hallway is 3 feet wide and ours is too. I already had on hand Minwax wood finish in Dark Walnut so I chose to use that. I am really fond of that stain on pine and have used it throughout my house on different projects so I already knew Id like the look.

After that the project went pretty quick. We measured the location of the studs and then pre-drilled holes into our ledge and then using a level we screwed our ledges to the wall/studs. The second step was to place the 1x3 flush with the bottom of the 2x2 and nail them in to create the "lip". I used finishing nails that you can barely see unless close up. You could always cover them with wood filler and stain them to match but I just don't care enough. 

I loved how they turned out and I cant wait to order some prints from our recent photoshoot to place on the ledge! Ill be on the lookout for thin frames first so leave some recommendations in the comments below if you know of a retailer to check out. 

Here's a wide shot of the finished project. Turned out pretty nice for a quick and easy mini project!

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I'm pretty sure I'm just like every other person in the world and I love to decorate my house for the holidays! Its so pretty and festive; all the lights, garland, and shiny things make me so happy. I cant help but feel lighter and merrier during this season. I come home and instantly want to cuddle in my comfy clothes and drink hot cocoa. We listen to holiday music and watch holiday movies, then we go to sleep in our holiday PJ's.

Then the holidays are over and suddenly my house feels crowded and heavy and I know I have to take my decor down and I really really hate that part. I know its necessary but man its a pain in the butt. I also have two small children who literally doubled their toy count this Christmas and this OCD mama is struggling (STRUGGLING) to keep her cool with the added mess and clutter.

 It probably doesn't help that we spent the Christmas holiday at my sister in laws house. Her house is so open and clean and clutter free and she has 3 kids. I was just completely shocked. How did she manage to not have so much stuff? Is it just me or does stuff just triple overnight? I'm a minimalist living with a hoarder who attaches precious memory to every piece of stuff he owns. This is why I need more storage...we can keep the stuff, but we have to keep it stored and not crammed into every corner of every room of our very tiny house. I'm sure the majority of you can relate, am I right?

Anyways...

   I hope this finds you in good spirits and a clutter free home. Merry Christmas and Happy New year from my family to yours! Cheers to 2019, the year of the Sanchez house renovation (and maybe a little less stuff)

(photo by Melissa Lucci Photography)

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The Office: Vision Board

If you are like me you stalk  follow A LOT of bloggers on bloglovin, Instagram, and Pinterest. Nothing makes me happier than curling up with a hot cup of coffee (or cocoa dependent on the time of day and season) and my computer and read/catch up on all my favorites. Reading other peoples home projects and design ideas really lights my fire and gets my creative juices flowing. 

That being said, I'm also a mom, wife, and full time nurse so my mom brain is LEGIT. Thus the vision board is a necessity. I can design a room in my brain and then within weeks forget what my original plan was going to be. My brain gets bogged with work duties, home responsibilities like meal planning, and kids stuff like preschool parties. 

I see some vision boards on pinterest and they are stunning. Ill get there someday, I hope...but for now I just use plain ol' Picmonkey and saved images of things that inspire me/my room. 

For the office I'm planning to go with a light, airy, clean feel with white, grey, blue, and wood tones all over the space. The room is currently painted a dark-ish blue (forgive me but I have no idea what the name of the color is). I've had it painted that color for nearly two years and I don't hate it but I also don't love it. It makes the room so gloomy. I'm going to wait until the fireplace is painted white and the floor is redone before I make my final choice about re painting it. 

I already own the craft desk (from IKEA ) but pretty much everything else for the room will need to be built by yours truly or purchased. 

As for the floors, they are currently a ceramic beige tile. very boring. very ugly. They also used a dark brown grout (WHY?) and so they have to go. This area is not a high traffic area to be honest and we have original wood floors in the upstairs so my goal to is to find a cheaper floor product that semi matches the wood tone/grain that is upstairs. I've ordered some vinyl plank flooring samples from Home Depot to compare with the upstairs wood. They look like a great match on the website but we shall see. 

I really cant wait until the holiday madness is over so that I can get to work on the first project, demoing the fireplace excess! Hope you come back to check on my progress!

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The Office: Before

It was hard for me to decide which room I wanted to do first but when it came down to it I needed a place where I felt motivated to work and to write. That being said I'm choosing to makeover my office aka downstairs open area/craft room/storage/junk room first! 

Here is a nice picture of it empty. I repeat it does not look like this now.
Its a mess, I'm a mess but who cares amirighttttt?

It currently hosts my craft table/desk where I sew/quilt/use my cricut and is a place where my husband kindly piles things on top of that he has no idea where they go. In the back corner is our old couch that was generously donated to us by my mother in law when we first moved in and didn't have any furniture. (She is a live saver 100% because we were legit sitting on pillows against a wall for a month...just in case you forgot I was nearly 8 months pregnant at the time).

There are also lots of random furniture pieces, baby toys, the dogs bed and my husbands make shift office as well. His side of the room is going to get a overhaul as well but not today folks, not today. 

But the main project downstairs is the fireplace ya'll. It was this ugly red/grey/white brick combo and expands half of the room and has three useless shelves and no mantel. 

I've got BIG plans for this guy. 

So I will leave you with this vision board I created so that you could get the gist of my design ideas and aesthetic. 

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Bloglovin

I've always loved blogs. I read fashion, DIY, home decor, business, and humor blogs on the regular and one of the best ways I have found to keep track of my blogs (besides subscribing to them HINT HINT) is to follow them on Bloglovin. It lets me know when a blog I follow updates with new posts and keeps them in a nice, neat timeline for my viewing pleasure. If you are a huge blog reader like me, I highly recommend using this awesome app! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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Why I started this blog

First you might need a little background about me so lets just cut to the chase. I got married in February of 2015 and by November of that year I was very pregnant with my first born and we were signing the paperwork to our very first home! Its a small, 1970's split level house that had already been "flipped". I say it like that because my husband and I got cinderella'd. Whats that you say? Oh that's where the dress (house), the carriage (electrical work) and the horses ( everything else) turned back to rags, pumpkins, and mice as soon as the house was ours. Sigh...

(This is our house the day we bought it...so dark, so not my style)

It was so pretty at first but then around every corner there was another random thing that was not done properly or broken, or just paint on a pig if I'm being honest. We were house virgins and it struck midnight really fast folks. 

(The entrance...Big plans for this coming up)

So being the dreamer, DIY'er, Pinterest and HGTV addict I was; I created my master plan for a overhaul to make our first home beautiful, functional, and easier to resell. That was 3 years ago. I've done nothing. Well except work full time, have two kids, and survive my husbands deployment but other than those minor things..I've done nothing. 

So here we are December of 2018 and we have serious plans to move in three years and also expand our family in a year so its do or die. I choose to DO! 

I'm excited, I hope you are too! Thanks for accidentally stumbling onto my blog when you were actually looking for "How to shiplap my entire house" or is that just what my last google search shows...

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