MLS Tour: Madrona Seattle

Kids Shirt to Pillow Project

I admit I have a hard time parting with the super cute little shirts my boys grow out of. I had these two shirts that we used in some photos, they of course grew out of them almost before we even did the shots.

I held on the them and couldn't let them go. I decided to make something out of them instead of boxing them up.

I had a couple of plain white pillow covers from Ikea.


After cutting the front off of the shirts I trimmed them into shape and used the back side of the shirts to frame them.


I zig-zagged the front to the back rectangle.




I straight stitched the whole thing to the pillow leaving a bit of edge to curl up. I didn't want it too perfect.. after all it's for a little boys room.

Here are the pillows all finished. My oldest loves his, his brother...well he is three, so could care less. It' dosn't have "Cars" on it. LOL

Linking to

Master Bedroom Update

I wanted to put up an update on our bedroom. It's only a partial update...as if I showed you the other direction you would see the room has no closet doors. You can also see that this room, like all the others, needs bottom trim.

Here is the room when we first moved in, with the old white carpet.


We pulled up the carpet and had the wood floors refinished.


After paint, a new area rug from Lowes, Ikea bed, my chalk painted nightstands. You can see the goodwill dresser a bit. My husband put in the built in dressers..made from inexpensive Ikea dressers.


The bedding is Pottery Barn but the pillow covers (Southern Living Home via goodwill) and a vintage patchwork quilt. Lumbar pillow is from Target.


The curtains are actually Target shower curtains. I loved the print but walked away due to the price. Then one day I found one at goodwill..that allowed me to buy the second new and keep my cost down. Shower curtains hemmed work in this space because the window is lower than a normal window.




Enjoy!

Halloween at Our Cottage.

My Halloween decor this year was pretty simply outside. I threw some lights into the garden, put out the big blow up thing and decorated around the door with our pumpkins from our trip to the patch and spiders and garland we already had. My favorite is the sign that says "An old witch lives here with her little monsters"

Yay for an upstairs bath...

We have had the upstairs bath torn up from the time we moved in. It had yucky carpet...when we pulled that up it reveiled the orginal formica floor. Pink, tan,brown specks with gold glitter. Very 50's Vegas..but not what I wanted to go for. This powder rooms is very small with a sloped celing. Mike pulled up the floor, I removed wallpaper and painted it a grayish blue. I also hung blinds to allow light to flow through..but hide the fiberglass skylight. We went flooring and sink shopping at HomeDepot. We picked simple stick down tiles and the sink is Marth Stewert Brand. The color is actually a creamy gray. I like the details on the side. That it's very tall is a plus for us. We didn't buy the matching mirror and opted for a simple medicine cabinet. We also bought the coordinating Martha Stewart faucet and wall hardware. We still have to trim out the floor and replace the door..but it's so nice not to have to stumble down the stairs to the full bath in the middle of the night.

In case your wondering what the bath towels are doing in a powder room. We found that we would wear the towel up from our shower...but then have a wet towel we would forget to take back down. Now we have a place to hang them up upstairs too.

The before and after:

A bit of curb appeal.. for now

Next spring we have plans to paint the outside of the house. But for now I added just a bit of color to the faded yellow by painting the plastic shutters, door and numbers. All in a rich blue color. Though already i'm wondering if another color would look better. But at least it's better than the blotchy red door and bland shutter you couln't even see.
The flower beds came to life with stuff I planted..and suprise flowers that were in the garden asleep, to be awakened with some plant food and water.
I installed flower boxes under the windows to help with the cottage look. I have a hundred things I still would like to do. Including a full box veggie garden in the side yard..and a couple maples in front.


Our first view of the house.


The blotchy red door, old mailbox, new door mat.


After planting a few roses and watering the suprise lilies.


A bit of paint and the garden in bloom.


Paint, vinyl decor, new mailbox, matching pot and a summer wreath.

It's looking much nicer, I have gotten a lot of compliments from the neighbors...just wait until they see it after next year!

Progress on the livingroom.

I figured it may be time to post some photos of how the house is evolving. It will never be "finished" for me though...I'm always changing and tweaking, don't forget the seasons change...there for so must my decor.. LOL

So lets start off with the MLS photos for a start reference.



So pretty right... LOL

Now here is a look at the room after the floors have been done with a natural finish. I have a coat of primer on the fireplace and my new jute rug and some lovely extra boxes...don't ya love moving.



Here is where we are now.. I used the same paint as our bedroom on the fireplace..not quite gray and not quite brown. It's a color that reminds me of stone or driftwood.. a cross between the two. Our Rowe Nantucket sofa and chair fit in the space well. The entertainment center came from Craigslist..it didn't have the center part, as it was intended for the old projection flat-screen. I found a entertainment cabinet off Craigslist and painted it with chalk-paint to match. I have so much storage now..that I have empty cupboards in there.



I made a small sitting area behind the sofa.. an old thrift store dresser and one of the infamous sea grass chairs. So far I'm using simple Target curtains in white. I may go bolder later..but I like the clean and simple feel of white for warm weather.





Here is a closer view of the fireplace.



For a little evening ambiance... I have a candle holder in the fireplace as we havn't gotten the fireplace inspected yet and we choose not to take a chance (not to mention it's still in the 80's here during the day)



Enjoy!