The Office

Here's the office, the smallest bedroom. 

I pulled the desk away from the wall so I could face the door while I work or surf. The monitor is probably too large, and the other computer stuff too ugly for my petite leggy desk but since it's not making me crazy it stays. I spent a week with the desk pushed against the wall and it was only OK...

Anyways, I stole my ZiZi plant from the foyer, but the plan is to get a larger fluffy wild messy plant for the marble top table in front of the window. I feel like it will help distract from the big bad computer box.

I didn't put much thought into the art placement. I hung whatever on existing nails. I am going to ask our contractor to build a picture rail around the entire room. I am hoping for a whole lot of WOW from that picture rail!

And now? I don't think the room needs accessories (CLUTTER!)...a jumbo happy plant, new light fixture (the old one from the upstairs bathroom is waiting to be installed) and picture rail should be enough!

Toy room

A few weeks ago, we moved the boys' beds into the same bedroom. We turned the small room, formerly the nursery, into a toy room!

I can't say that the boys (ages 2 & 4 1/2) are sleeping better at night (they both wake 2-3 times a night, but somehow, they aren't waking each other up!). What I can say is, the move helped simplify the bedtime routine. They are finally learning to fall asleep by themselves without any parental contact (no rocking to sleep, no snuggling to sleep). We stay in the room until they are quiet and settled and tip toe out. Some nights, we are out the door before their eyes are closed, without any protest. Getting there.

There are no toys in the bedroom. All toys can be found in the toy room, or the basement. I love this. It makes it twice as easy to clean up the mess when it is contained.  Or, like today, just leave it...so they can pick up exactly where they left off - and add to it!

I want to point out another new piece of new art ...it's one of the four we bought from Kijiji (along with the oil paintings). This one is a collage. I put it on top of the IKEA expedit shelves.  You see it there, on the right? The seller had listed it for $35, but ended up throwing it in free to sweeten the deal. Let me take a close up...

There...

Great, no?

If you have any advice about siblings sharing a room, please share! 

New light fixture from kijiji and new haircut

You guys know about the Listings List Tumbler, right? It's a round up of Toronto area Kijiji and Craigslist items. I know I wouldn't have bought this vintage bronze beauty if the Listing List didn't exist. I can't help myself when it comes to lighting! 

I love this fixture!

I was thinking the nursery. We bought the existing pendant at a nothing-special lighting store.  We settled. It was impossible to find decent affordable lighting.  Our necks were getting sore, and I recall getting headaches, because we spent so much time walking around every lighting store in the city, looking up at the wares. The white honey bee hive pendant was an upgrade over a boob light, but I always thought we could do better.

Anyways, I also cut my hair into a bob. I am VERY happy with this cut. Why didn't I do it sooner?* 

*Ok, I know why...about 1.5 years ago I was a little obsessed with top knots...because all the cool cats were doing it. So I needed the length. Except I couldn't pull off the length and wear my hair down...a bob is much much better for me! It's funny how I was influenced by other bloggers for a while. Why then? Why not now? I think being locked in the house with babies was part of it. Also being a weight I wasn't comfortable with (insecure)...and, well, sometimes they make stuff look so damn good.  I don't think I am as easily influenced now, but it is hard to say.  It is much easier to look back than to be aware of what is going on right now!     

ps. went to the same salon I have been complaining about. Paid WAY too much for a cut...but since I am happy with my hair, I don't mind!

A cheery new print for the nursery

I found this print at Goodwill today. The price was $25.05 but the glass was broken. I asked if I could take it without the frame, and for how much. They gave me 50% off.

I will look for a white IKEA RIBBA frame, something a lot smaller, and get rid of the blue mat. The blue mat is too dark.

I love it in the nursery - it is quite a cheery little town!

ps. I wasn't able to google up anything about the artist.
pps. I am not looking for more art, it keeps finding me!

UPDATE: Cut it down to 18x24 (with exacto knife and ruler) and used a standard size frame from Deserres ($44.99)

 

Styling the baby's dresser: Found a place for my book ends!

I bought these chunky wooden tree book ends two years ago, and they have been sitting on the shelves in the storage room ever since! I wanted to style up and organize the top of the dresser in the nursery and I was glad to have them on hand*!

You see, yesterday, I was walking down the same block as Goodwill and I didn't go in. I mean, if you spot me in a thrift store, you won't see me hesitate- I like it, I buy it! Except, I am pretty sure that the definition of thrift is not: spend-cash-on-things-you-don't-need-and-hoard-them-in-your-basement.

But then this one little bit of staging gives me the go ahead to keep on thrifting!

Hey - I like that! Keep on Thrifting...this is my new slogan!

Or perhaps, Exercise caution while Thrifting should be my motto.

I'm on fire! Quick - someone make a poster and pin that sh*t!

ps. I want to show you some tiny changes I've made in the kitchen, the office, and other rooms. I just need to snap some photos! (Oh and let's face it, by the time I make one part of a room look tidy, the rest of it has been toy bombed and plastered with crumbs!!)
pps. we are hitting up the big box stores or a nursery this weekend to shop for more house plants. I need more green in my life!  Maybe this is my way of welcoming (beckoning) spring!
ppps. the pictures should come back from the frame shop next week and I will show you them as soon as I get them up on the walls!
pppps. I feel like I have said all this before...ok, not the catchy new phrases, but the sentiment towards thrifting is definitely not new...

*Almost listed them on ETSY

Standing in the Crib

My one-year old has developed the habit of standing in his crib when he should be sleeping. I end up staying in the room until he settles down, and falls asleep on his own.  It is not my favorite thing to do, I get bored standing around doing nothing. (I pass the time with leg lifts and mule kicks and sun salutations.)

On the wall above his crib, hangs a stick mobile I made when my three and a half year old was only one.  I remember that day clearly.  We had a blanket spread out on the front lawn (when the lawn was still grass and weeds, before we seeded it with clover). We were waiting for Baba to come home. It was sunny and warm. I was picking up sticks and making circles out of them. I guess I was bored.

There are a lot of boring moments when you are a stay-at-home mom. I try to accept them as part of the day. I am not exactly sure how to enjoy them. I want to race about DOING.

I guess the mobile reminds me that it is very likely I will look back fondly on these quiet times. Maybe one day, I will wish I could stand beside the crib, just one more time, to watch my little one raise a blanket over his face and fall gently to sleep*, knowing mommy is in the room watching over him. 



*Falling gently to sleep is a rarity...It takes quite a bit of consoling to get my son to go to bed.  It's a phase that is really, really, killing me.

ps. The mobile is hung on a plaster hand print of mine from Kindergarten, beside a dinosaur print from salvation army.

I want to clean EVERYTHING

I am in the process of cleaning the entire house - top to bottom (or bottom to top) to donate, sell, gift, or toss anything that we aren't using....and organize what is left.

We are pretty organized around here already.  I am going deeper.  Getting rid of stuff I keep 'just in case', things that were gifted to us, or things I bought and paid for, but didn't quite work out the way I had intended.  I have no reason to be attached to these things, yet here they are, filling up my house.* 

Some of the hardest things to let go of are Goodwill purchases I made, but I am just not into anymore.  Only 50% of what I buy is used or put onto display.  About 25% is in storage, but I adore it...so these items are fulfilling a purpose!  The final 25% is kicking around the house and has lost its luster. It feels like a complete waste of time and money to simply dump these items back at Goodwill**.  I feel embarrassed just thinking about it. 

So here I am, tackling every closet and drawer in the house.  My keep or ditch test is simply:

- Would I bring it with me if we moved? (we aren't moving.)

Then it is on to organizing.  The drawers in the nursery make me happy every.single.time I open them.   Diaper cream, diapers, hats, bibs, socks, all in second-hand baskets and repurposed cartons and boxes.

Is it possible to make the entire contents of my house fit into pretty baskets and boxes?



*Whenever we travel I realize just how little we actually need to be happy
**I don't buy as much at the thrift stores as I once did. 

Spicy New Rug

 

 

 

We picked up this 4x6 rug from Urban Outfitters over the weekend.  I wanted something to spice up the nursery! 

A fun rug, for a fun room! 

BEFORE:

Anyone want some free winnie-the-pooh Flor carpet tiles? They are hair and fluff magnets...just warning you!

To do

Pick up toys,
Make beds,
Fold socks,
and wash the kid's laundry...

and this is just upstairs!

What messes will you tackle today?

(I am trying out the 50mm prime lens)

***UPDATE***

It's 10:13am and no more mess! When I brought the clothes to the laundry room I nearly flipped out!  I forgot we had all the little cousins here on Monday night and the basement was TOY BOMBED...with my preschooler's help, we cleaned up that disaster too!

New Basket from Antique Mall!

 

The new yellow basket went in baby's room.  I love the colour! (and I love that I didn't have to spray it myself)

And check out the pom-pom blankie my mom made! (draped on the crib)...Thanks mom!

Closet Upgrade

The baby clothes are organized! (I am 37 weeks and a few days, our due date is November 9)

My parents came by last weekend and Dad installed plywood shelves in the nursery closet.  He also put up a second clothing bar underneath the original bar.  Hanging the clothes is phase one of the closet upgrade. Phase two will involve matching bins and organized shelves, and maybe some hooks or towel bars on the back of the closet door.  Here is a brief tour: 

Bottom bar holds blankets and bunting.

Top bar holds 0-3m onesies & sleepers and 3-6m onesies.  I washed them all and put them up together because you never actually know what will fit him first.  I find Carter's shrink A LOT...the Ralph Lauren are a bit more generous...so I need to be able to grab whatever will fit, regardless of what the tag says. 

A billion 3-6m sleepers in the bottom drawer.  I could have hung these up in the closet, and left the blankets in the drawer....except, that required a billion additional baby hangers vs 10 or so adult size hangers.  Not to mention it is much easier to toss sleepers into a drawer when they come through the wash! (I wish I had the drawer space for onesies too!  How did I manage to fit everything in here last time?)

One top drawer holds socks, hats and bibs, the other (not pictured) contains diapers and diaper changing supplies.

Most of the swaddles and burp blankets are in the middle drawer.  I packed a stack in the hospital bag too!

Yes, we are finally packed!  Three bags - the big duffle is full of mommy stuff and snacks, small gym bag is for my toddler (he is off to my inlaws) and the diaper bag has stuff for baby. 

I am pretty much ready.  I ordered some bassinet sheets and other supplies from well.ca.  The sheets were on clearance! with a $10 off $40 coupon from Janice too! (We didn't use a bassinet last time, we have one from my brother and I will try it out).

We are going on a Walmart run this weekend and get a few last minute things.  A white noise machine (the same one as my toddler's), a PujTub, a laundry hamper, and some diaper genie II refills. 

There is one question nagging me - what did you ladies wear home from the hospital?  I know I shouldn't be worried about such a trivial thing.  Last time we had a planned Cesarean birth because my son was breech.  I wore lululemon pants, t-shirt and sneakers in, and the same thing out.  This time, I dunno what I need.  How loose is necessary?  If everything goes to plan, I will be walking out of the hospital about three hours after delivery.  Will mat jeans work? Are lululemons fine?

Ok, full disclosure...I packed my husband's navy sweat pants to wear home.  Maybe I will find something in the ladies section at Walmart this weekend?  I want to be comfy - but I don't want to shop (or spend)! 

Getting ready for Baby

I am not sure I mentioned this on the blog yet: we are having a boy! Yeah!  We are starting to get things ready for him - which means sorting through three bins of blankets, bibs, clothes and shoes.

Three bins of teeny tiny baby things!  Hand-me-downs from his big brother, and from his cousin.   I need to sort everything by size, not necessarily by what the tag says.  It feels like a monumental task.  Maybe I will start with blankets.  I think we have enough to fill the dresser.

 I also did a bit of shopping...(only a bit)

Here's the deal...we have all kinds of stuff, but his closet is NOT FUNCTIONAL.  I need a second bar up front (lower), and REAL SHELVES in the back...

Sounds like it is time for a little home improvement project! 

We need

- 1x4's

- a new drill

- some plywood (cut down to size) 

I am certain I can accomplish this myself (which means it will actually get done before my due date).  I built the shelves in the utility room earlier this year.  Not to mention there is already a second bar in the closet, behind the first.  I can steal this and move it below.  The plaster walls don't scare me...I figure if there are studs in there, I will find them!

I am not sure if this project qualifies as nesting...or procrastinating.  Since I really don't want to start washing the baby clothes until I have a place to put it all.  

Have you ever tackled a mountain of hand-me-down clothing? Where did you start? What do you think is better for baby stuff - hanging up, or folded? 

ps...I need to find a new place for the extra throw pillow inserts, currently hanging out in the crib. The Halloween costumes can go into one of the empty bins and sit on the new shelves...the exersaucer, uppa stroller bassinet, activity mat, and other bulky baby items will be shoved into the shelves as neatly as possible. I wish there was a tidy, Martha Stewart worthy way of storing baby things.  Why can't it all collapse down into a shoe box?    

hmmm....maybe I will make (or buy) cute throw pillow covers that can stay in the nursery...then just toss them on the floor when not in use.  Perfect to prop baby up when he starts to sit (and fall over)....hmmm...maybe? 

UPDATE:
I went through things last night and this morning.  Now we are down to three manageable piles...first pile: 0-3 months, second pile: 3-6m onesies, third pile: 3-6m sleepers (also a fourth pile of newborn stuff sitting on the rocking chair - sooo tiny!)...the larger things went back into a tote.  I also found an additional bin of burp cloths and other blankets.  I have my first of two loads of blankets in the washing machine!