Decorative DIY Door Knocker - Home Decor

We moved to a new house and my in-laws kindly gifted us this beautiful door knocker. One of the many blessings of this new house is that it came with new windows and new doors. I called the company and asked if we installed the door knocker on our door would that impact our warranty? Sure enough, it would, actually it would completely cancel our warranty. I am so glad that I asked! A friend suggested that we attach it to the outside of the house, near the door, but we didn't want to possibly ruin the siding as replacing that is not in the budget right now.

During Christmas vacation together we all talked about doing the 23andMe DNA test. On a whim, we all purchased them and did it and were surprised when my results came back to show that I am 32% Irish. My family has NEVER talked about being Irish so this was a big surprise. After many hours of research on Ancestry.com, I discovered where my Irish heritage came from and I love that my in-laws thought of incorporating this into our housewarming gift. I was determined to find a way to incorporate this door knocker into our home.

I purchased a piece of thin wood at Michael's craft store and first painted it a teal color that is used in our living room decor. I wanted it to have a bit more depth so once the teal color was dry, I then painted a darker blue on top by tapping the paint brush up and down on the board rather than coating the paint on the board. This simple technique pulls the color up and shows the teal through the blue ever so slightly.

Using my Cricut Maker I cut out the word Fáilte (which means Welcome in Irish) and a clover in vinyl and attached it to the board. I chose to superglue the knocker to the board using Gorilla Glue and then attached the board to the wall using 3M strips. I love how it has turned out and every day we think of my mother and father-in-law as we leave the house.

DIY Crate Bookshelf

I received many requests wanting to know more about the bookshelf in the picture that I shared on an Instagram post of my office area in the new house. I’ve recreated this bookshelf many times over in many different houses in which we have lived. It's a collection of many things, most are actual crates but there is also an old wooden drawer in there as well. It took a while to gather all these things which meant that it started out small. 

Here is a picture of what it looked like back in 2012.

And in 2010 I used the wooden drawer as a side table. 

Right now I feel it's exactly the size that it needs to be, it doesn't need to get any bigger, for the space that it's in. You could create your own crate bookshelf by purchasing crates at a craft store and painting them or staining them. I personally wanted crates that were painted or stained in various shades and of various sizes so I allowed myself the patience in creating what the end result would look like. It also gave me something to always search for at yard sales and antique stores over the years. As it grew and a new crate was added I was able to recreate the shape by putting it together like a puzzle. 

In the mix is, as I mentioned, an old wooden drawer, several authentic milk crates, a vintage Pepsi crate that I found at an antique store, a wine crate from the first time I ordered wine through the mail many, many years ago. The books on the shelves are all mine and ones in which I gravitate to picking up and rereading. In terms of decor because this is in my home office I've chosen items that speak to me personally. A vintage Nikon camera that use to be my father's and when he gave it to me it sparked my love of photography, a wooden dancer figurine which was a gift from a college dance teacher, a glass canister marked "Joy Jar" where anyone is welcome to put their joy on a piece of paper and drop it in, a block with a Buddha quote: "What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create." And a picture from our amazing vacation in South Dakota where we got to go to the top of Crazy Horse! Sitting atop it all is a beautiful stained glass that my mom made for me when I was in college.

I encourage you to find patience in the creating of your home. Allow it to be a reflection of who you are rather than perfectly matched and color coordinated. You aren't living in a showroom, this is your home. Allow it to look like you!

Before & After Pictures of the Old House

We recently moved from a townhouse to a single-family home in a nearby neighborhood, click on this link to read that post. We put a lot of work into the old house and it deserves its time in the spotlight. The before pictures are from the actual listing when it was for sale and the after pictures are from when we almost moved out, I had already started packing up things and then remembered to do this so it's not truly how we lived on a day to day basis but it gives you a general idea of our decor and color choices.

Before:

After: updated storm door and front and back doors. 

Before: Front hallway, orange shag carpeting was everywhere! Including closets!
the door directly ahead goes to the basement.


After: Added custom Closet America closet organizing system. Hardwood floors were under all that shag carpeting that my wife and I ripped up ourselves and refinished the floors.


We took down the door that led to the basement.


Before: The kitchen. The oven door couldn't even open all the way because of where it was placed.




After: The layout of the kitchen was an eat-in kitchen and dining room combo. But we found this to be too small for the number of people that we like to host for dinner parties so we decided to put the dining room table in what would normally be the living room and had the eat-in area where the kids' desks were. I was then able to cook dinner and help with homework at the same time. 




The countertops were our favorite feature, quartz with glitter!


Before: Livingroom.






After: Living room area which we used as a dining room.








Before: Each bedroom had wallpaper borders that my mother painstakingly removed for us while we ripped up more orange shag carpeting.


After:


Before: 4th bedroom


After: 4th bedroom. After the disruption of our adoption, we turned the 4th bedroom which was M's bedroom into the living room. We needed this room to have a different purpose. So the TV and sofa lived in this room for family movie nights.


Before: Basement




After:
I forgot to take a picture of the basement before we left. But many of you know that I use to teach yoga classes in our basement. We installed dense foam flooring, new ceiling tiles and LED lighting.
Here are some photos from that time and then after I opened the yoga studio in Roosevelt Center, which is where it is currently, the basement became a kid hangout area.






After the yoga studio moved: Kid craziness!


I truly hope the next family enjoys their time there and fills the walls with laughter and fun!

Moving On: Leaving Behind the Sadness

We recently moved. Ironically we weren't intending on moving but some folks put a flyer in our mailbox and the mailboxes of our neighbors advertising that they would like to purchase the style townhouse that we owned, which there are a limited number of in the community. My wife and I thought it over for a weekend and then said: "why not let them just see the house and then see what happens." And so we did.

The couple came and saw our house on Friday, April 20th and put an offer in of our asking price to purchase it the following Monday. Ten days later we put an offer on a house in a nearby neighborhood. A neighborhood that we didn't really know that well but it had a lot of things we were looking for; single-family house, close to shopping and restaurants, only 15 minutes for me to commute to my yoga studio, 15 minutes to water for kayaking, on a bike trail and had a big backyard with the option for gardening. We moved into our new house on June 10th.

It's been a whirlwind of a time, to say the least. But we are finally settled into the new house and enjoying all the things that it has to offer. Most importantly the fresh start to create new memories. Our old house held a lot of sadness for us. Don't get me wrong we had some wonderful times in the four years that we lived there and made friendships with some great neighbors but there have been some major blows to our family. We waded through the sadness of a miscarriage in that house and then the disruption of our adoption of a boy from foster care. Those walls held that pain and every time we entered we were reminded of the reason why we purchased that house in the first place, the intention to expand our family. It felt like a constant disappointment and we needed a change.

I believe that God puts people in our lives for a reason. The family that arrived on our doorstep wanting to buy our house was a gift from the Universe that we didn't know that we needed. Each step in the process of selling our old house and buying the new house has been flawless, there have been no hiccups. A sure sign that this was meant to be our new journey.

Stay tuned for a Before and After picture post of the old house, we did a lot of work in creating that home, I truly hope the next family enjoys their time there and fills the walls with laughter and fun!

Makeover your Bathroom Tile Without Breaking the Bank!

I have tried everything to clean this floor. We inherited the look of this tile when we bought the house, the tile is original to the house actually. I have purchased so many products that claim they will renew grout back to its original glory and they have all failed miserably. I have even been on my hands and knees with a toothbrush and straight bleach trying to clean this floor. Nothing worked.

It left us thinking that we needed to redo the bathroom and had contractors out to give us a price estimate on flooring, tile in the tub area, light fixtures and all the other little things that you need but don't think of costing money like installing a towel bar. Both contractors put us in the 5-7 thousand dollar range to do everything! On a yoga teacher's salary, that is not in the budget!

So I spent several hours watching youtube videos and reading up on how to regrout your floor. And determined that it was too messy and involved purchasing tools I didn't already own which resulted in a bigger expense. Then thanks to the Pinterest-algorithm Gods this product, Grout Renew, came up in my feed. I was immediately interested, painting grout? I can totally do that! I read several other blog reviews that showed amazing before and after pictures and I was willing to give it a go.

When I told people I was doing this they gave me a look that clearly said they thought I had completely lost my mind. For $14, I was willing to try it. I set up my Ipad and would watch/listen to a show while on my hands and knees perched on a pillow with my little paintbrush painting the grout around each square and rectangle. I took my time, I didn't consistently do it for hours on end. I'd do about 45 minutes and then be done for the day. I wouldn't get to it every day but several times a week I'd be perched on my pillow in a meditative state painting the floor. It was rather quite pleasant. 

Our floor was in really bad shape and it took two coats to cover the aging dark grout. It was faster the second time around as I had gained confidence in painting. After the painting was done I cleaned the floor and then put an additional sealant on top. All of the products I purchased at Home Depot because that is what is closest to my house. In the midst of painting the floor, I decided to paint the whole bathroom which really brightened up the room. I am loving how it turned out. And the entire project cost a little less than $100!   

Snapshot of Our Lives- Growth

On the wall in our kitchen hangs one of the most important pieces of paper in our family. It's not a birth certificate or a marriage license or a degree of any kind. It's hung by duct tape in a haphazard way. Completely out of place in our organized, tidy, everything matches or coordinates (in the same color palette) decorating scheme. It's physical form is two lined sheets of notebook paper taped together with scotch tape and then hung on the wall using duct tape. It's been there almost a year in that same spot where it was originally hung. It documents the boys' heights. Their physical growth. But there is so much symbolism in those two sheets of paper taped to the wall.

Life happens fast.
Not everything can be controlled.   
Love is sometimes ugly.

I love those two sheets of paper and if the house was on fire it would be one of the things I grab as I run out. It documents growth, physically, of course but it also documents where our family has been over the course of this very trying year. It has M's height, the child we were intending to adopt on the day he arrived and the week that he left. It has my height, 5 foot 3inches, and I can remember the smile on L's face as he celebrated being taller than me. It has my wife Lauren's height and you can currently see that L is about to pass her as well. I can still hear the "yes!" uttered from the back of Z's throat when we discovered he was tall enough to finally ride in the front seat.

Once the children are finished growing I'm going to frame it and hang it on the wall in a place of honor. It's a snapshot of our lives and I adore it more than the matching pillows and the perfectly aligned books. It's our life and it's messy and slightly off-balance, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Creating a Personal Oasis

When we told our friends who have kids that we were going to adopt an older child from foster care several thought we were crazy. Not because they thought that we shouldn't actually adopt a child but because they were envious of our current custody schedule for our two biological kids, L and Z. Having an entire week alone, just the two of us, without kids seemed like a dream to our friends with kids. By adopting, all of that would change. 

We share custody of L and Z and have a schedule of one week with us and one week with their other parent, we divide the month equally in half between the two houses. Although it's been years since their father and I divorced I still feel sad in my heart on the transfer day when the children leave. I would much rather have them all the time than be without them for a week. But like most things the more you do it, the more use to it you become and it morphs into your new "normal". During the weeks when it was just my wife and I our schedules didn't change all that much; I still teach yoga in the evenings, we still have dinner at home and walk the dogs. Not really all that much changes in our day to day life except that it would just be the two of us. 

Right now in the midst of our adoption from foster care journey we now have a kid with us all the time...I miss my wife. I miss the time that we had just the two of us, totally uninterrupted. The freedom to have conversations without having to sensor ourselves because another set of ears are nearby. I miss reaching out to hold her hand and not having to share her with anyone else. I am mourning the loss of our time together that we once had but I'm also extremely grateful that we had so many years in the beginning of our marriage to have that time together to form our relationship. I know that we will always truly cherish that period of time.

Like many parents bedrooms ours has become the "catch all" room. It is the place where stuff just ends up; the kid shirt that needs a button sewn on, the laundry in the basket that needs folding. With the dog crate in the corner and the ironing board propped against the wall behind the door the room is not the romantic setting seen in movies. And what my wife and I need right now is a personal oasis, just for us, to retreat to without kids to interrupt. 

We've lived in this house for three years and it's the last room to be decorated. I need it to become our sanctuary. Our retreat. The space that is only ours. We put a bright, cheery yellow paint on the accent wall to remind us to live a happy life. Quilt and accent pillows were purchased and then I saw a dear friend posted these frames on Freecycle stating the color and that they did not come with glass or backings- perfect! Exactly what I had in mind to create an artistic piece over our headboard without having to spend any more money. My wife had the "you and me" made by an artist from Etsy years ago, it is the title of a song that we love by P!nk. 

Now I love walking into the room and seeing the turquoise frames on the bright yellow wall. It simply makes me happy and I need happy right now.

Review: Benjamin Moore Chalkboard Paint

We recently bought a house and converted the basement into a yoga studio. Previously I traveled to various locations to teach yoga and now I just have to walk down a few steps in my home. It's glorious! I wanted the studio to be light and bright and a place where both kids and adults enjoyed coming to and taking yoga classes.

The Yoga Studio Website: http://www.beeyogafusion.com

Using the colors from the website and the Bee Yoga Fusion logo, I painted the far wall of the studio a dark pink with Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint. I anticipated it to take a lot of paint and over purchased but it's always best to have too much than not enough right? FYI: the paint only comes in quart size and this wall (roughly 8 feet x 6 feet) took two quarts.

Following the advice that I read from other bloggers I first applied the Benjamin Moore primer that was tinted to match the pink color that I chose. The chalkboard paint can be any color that you would like but darker colors work best in allowing the actual chalk to show up. After the primer I applied 5 coats of chalkboard paint. Allowing each coat to dry for several hours before reapplying. When the final coat was dry I allowed the paint to "cure", as per the directions on the can for three days. Before the initial use I took a piece of sidewalk chalk on the long side and rubbed it over the entire wall which several bloggers recommended to do as well.

The yoga kids are loving it! And the adults enjoy the quotes and words of inspiration that are posted before class. The wall is easy to clean with just a wet rag and looks great even when it is left blank. I think a chalkboard wall would be a wonderful addition to any kitchen or mudroom to write messages to various family members or to post to-do lists and grocery lists. The possibilities are endless!
  

Corner of my Home- My Favorite Spot

My favorite spot on a nice day is tucked away in my hammock with my two favorite guys. You don't need a stand, just two trees and it is the most glorious experience to sway from side to side as you look up at the clouds and talk about dreams with your children.

ENO DoubleNest Hammock sold at REI.
If you still need a gift for someone on your holiday list, consider creating a favorite spot for them.

Corner of my Home

I previously have talked about Rebecca's flickr stream in a Corner of my Home post.
I want to continue capturing my house as it is right now.  I love how Rebecca captures simple corners of her home.  I want to do more of that so my kids and I can look back and see how things change over the years. And I tend to change things pretty often.


This is a corner of my home right now.

• I adore the look of crates. Here I stacked a wine crate and a crate I picked up at a yard sale and I filled them with books. Some I've read, some are favorites and some are to-be-read.
• The pictures of the boys were taken by a friend, Ryan Benyi. This spot is right outside the bathroom and on the weeks when the boys are with their dad I love walking by numerous times a day and seeing their faces.
• The wooden baby block letters I picked up at an antique store and wrote about them here. The word "be" was my word of the year to mediate on in 2009. I still enjoy seeing it as a reminder every day.
• The wooden carving was given to me by a dear friend on a trip in Costa Rica.
• And the "nothing is a mistake" hoop sits casually on top reminding everyone who walks by to stop being so competitive and just follow your bliss.

Capture a corner of your home and create a scrapbook layout around it.  What do you love about the items in the picture? Where did it come from?  What is special to you right now?    

One Yard Valance Continued....

After making the valance in the dining room I was inspired to create something for my bedroom.  And once again I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something temporary.  I found these sheer curtains at Lowe's for 10 bucks and used a tension rod to hang it in the window frame.  I pulled fabric from my stash that matched my quilt perfectly and doing the same technique as the dining room valance, I sewed the sides and added a casing at the top to use these inexpensive curtain rods.
This time I had to use a little over 2 yards and as you can tell I didn't have quite enough of the striped fabric so I improvised and added a bit of blue on the ends.
Try this technique next time you want to change the decor in your house without breaking the bank.

Easy One Yard Valance

The window in my dining room needed a little something.  I know that I won't be living here forever so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a temporary fix.  I shopped Target and Walmart looking for some sort of valance but refused to pay 20 bucks on something that I wasn't in love with, that is my new "thing" I have to be in love with it to buy it otherwise I don't need it.  And then I remembered this post from CloverLane's blog.  I bought one yard of fabric from Joann's, it's from the fancy have to pre-order section because it was 60% off!  So worth the wait since I was in love with it!  I quickly sewed up the sides, made a casing at the top and mounted it on one of those cheapo curtain rods that you can get at any hardware store for under 5 bucks.  I love how it turned out.  And the whole thing cost me 15 bucks.
The frames I picked up years ago at Ikea in their as-is section.  And recently I scored these vintage maps from a fellow neighbor on freecycle.  The colors match the fabric beautifully and are quite interesting to look at.

Corner of my Home

I previously talked about Rebecca's flickr stream in a post about Simplicity, and I was thinking of her the other day when I was working on my Project Life book and wanting to capture my house as it is right now.  I love how Rebecca captures simple corners of her home.  I want to do more of that so my kids and I can look back and see how things change over the years.
This is a corner of my home right now.

• This is my favorite chair, I love the color and I love the lines.  I picked it up at a thrift store and kept it's color and imperfections in place.  
• The drawer I use as book storage and I picked that up from the Community Forklift. 
• A picture of my dearest girlfriends, The Jitterbugs, in a picture frame that Wendi made as my going away gift.  
• Nesting dolls that were sadly a short lived item at Ikea.
• A vintage globe.
• a vintage Nikon 35mm camera that kids are allowed to pick up and play with.
• a basket filled with knitting and crochet projects that are still in progress. 
• And a stack of kids' games ready to be pulled out and played.

Capture a corner of your home and create a scrapbook layout around it.  What do you love about the items in the picture? Where did it come from?  What is special to you right now?