Bower Power

March flew by and before I realized it, we were in April.  And now it’s May.  Did you know that?   I had to ask someone the other day what month it was.  That was after I wrote 2010 on a check.  Yeah.  That happened.  For reals.

So basically March was like the best month ever.  And just in case you are new to the show, March brought me two big surprises.  One – a gift from all of you was the Best Home Design award from Apartment Therapy.  Whoa to the whoody who.  And the second was a gift from God (and Jeremy)…the second little line on the pregnancy test.  Consider me an official fan of March.

     

INSIDE PROJECTS:

• A fabric wall is the new black.
• This cabinet gets my first impression rose.
• Reading room rad rug relocation
• Getting my watercolor on…
• Shaggy is awesome.
• Bump in the night no more Will Bower.
• I like and I wanna put a ring on it.  Capiz that is.

  

OUTSIDE PROJECTS:

• The great entrance makeover begins
• A whole lotta dirt and planting fun
• Pavers of gold.  Not really.  but almost.
• The great entrance makeover ends.

      

FAMILY & FRIENDS & PERSONAL POSTS:

• We saved a bundle each month by refinancing
• WE’RE PREGNANT!!!
• Tracking a pregnancy – almost as fun as tracking antelope.
• Uterus FAQ
• A long weekend in Heaven
• Twins make the beach funner.
• Could this month get better?  I think not.

 

SPONSORS:

Did you know that along with having the best readers in the world, I also have the best sponsors?  I do.  It’s a fact.  And I can not tell you how happy I am to share them with you.  It’s like introducing peanut butter and chocolate.  peanut butter and jelly.  peanut butter and bacon.  bacon and anything else.  The point is – you will get a long just dandy.  Happy clicking

An awesome photographer named Patti Brown created this line of tutorials and tools for hobbyist and professional photographers.  Have you learned how to do overlays or textures on your photos yet?  It’s addicting.  And Patti’s line can help you find your niche in ‘style’ – just check out how they work here.

here’s the original:

and here are two versions of the same with her Kaleidescope products:

So so cool, huh!?  It’s like instant art

Have you seen these pillows? You are totally missing out.

    

That first one is the sauce in awesomesauce.  And they provide all sorts of custom work – so if you have a dream pillow – they can make it happen.  Check out Tootledoo by clicking here.

Evgie Nev is one amazing decal shop.  I know I’ve said it before but decals are awesome for renters, churchs, even nurserys that you don’t want to commit to painting over.  Just slap a decal on and call it done.  Plus, you can custom choose colors to make it match your vision perfectly!  And you get 10% off with the code ‘bpblog’ so all the more reason to shop

I have fixation with my Scentsy burners and bricks.  And just in case you need an instruction guide – here’s how it works, you buy a full size burner and a pack of bricks.  Two weeks later you realize you are addicted and buy more bricks.  It doesn’t matter what scent – they are all amazing.  REPEAT.  Right now I am sniffing Lush Gardenia.  And it. is. thrilling.

My own brother – yup, he’s a master plumber in the dirty south. And yes, he definitely sees his fair share of the ‘dirty’. This link is to his facebook page which has his number and if you are in the greater Birmingham area, he’s honest, affordable and hilarious. So that bathroom issue?  He can tackle the plumbing part of it

So that’s it folks – March as it was.  Thanks to all of you who made it spectacular.

We have a second little sink that I haven’t seen the bottom of since the first week we moved in.

That’s because it always looks like this:

Filled the the brim (and often overflowing) with our recycling stuff.  It’s been Will’s chore for a long time to take this stuff from the sink to the bin in the garage…but since we don’t drink that many bottled beverages or use that many canned goods or jars - it doesn’t get taken out but maybe twice a week.  So there she blows.  And she does.  She really does.  She blows a big one in the midst of my clean kitchen island.

So I decided that for Mother’s Day I wanted a recycling bin.  Romantic, huh?!  Yup…right up there with a pair of noise cancelling headphones.  Which by the way, Jeremy – I also want those.  I want those like a nerd wants a graphing calculator (with optional periodic chart hardcase – SCORE!)

ANYHOO… we have a trash can that is built into our end cabinet.  And after a little brainstorming, we came up with a plan to squeeze another can into this little pull-out…making it…yes….here comes the post title….a TWOFER.

Excuse the nasty.  Just keeping it real.

So we popped out the existing can and saw that the board supporting the one can was simply slipped into a grove cut into all four sides.

Then we set out to find a matching trash can.  No such luck.  The closest thing we could find was a smaller (not as tall) and slightly more rounded can at the local home improvement store.  The size of the ‘mouth’ was a close enough match – and that was what was most important.

We prepped for our five minute cabinet makeover by just plopping down a drop cloth and getting out the necessary tools.

Jer used his drill with a large drill bit to make holes in the corners.  We wanted the support wood to break up and fall out of the sides…so we figured that attacking the corners first would weaken it for future cuts.

Then Jer used the sawzall.  Honestly, he probably could have used the jigsaw but I think he just really misses the feel of the sawzall in his hands.  I must admit…sometimes I just go down and hold it myself.  Its awesome.

So after the cuts were made – no real plan for the cuts – just do it till the skinnier weak pieces broke and fell outta the groove…

We were able to slide this big piece out and break it into two.

Then we were left with a square hole.

A perfect hole for two

It works out pretty nifty, huh?

And now I have a space for trash and recycling.

You can thank me later for this beauty of a shot

So I feel better knowing that we have a spot for our recycling and it’s not on the island collecting dust.

Did you have a weird mother’s day request?  Any other folks out there trying to be just a smidge more green by installing a permanent recycling bin?  Or perhaps you just wanna guess how many hands and feet are in the photos above…seriously…it’s more appendages than my average post.  See how generous I am

Any time I see a wicker chair at the thrift store for less than eight bucks, I snatch it up.  I don’t know why I choose 8 dollars as my limit and not 7 or 9…it just seems like an awfully nice number.  Like the Blake Shelton of numbers.  I would get along with an 8.

Anyhoo…I found these two wicker chairs at different thrift stores at different times and they have been sitting in my garage waiting for a makeover.

 

The white one was really really dry.  It had obviously been outside and the paint cracked and was flaking off.

I want to use these outside – so the first thing I did was whip out my wire brush.  It’s a great tool for cleaning in crevices like these.  It did the job pretty well with the dandruff.

Then I used our new Amplifi to spray the entire thing down.  What is an Amplifi?  Well I am so glad you asked   It’s like a hose holder and a pressure washer washer had a baby.  And the thing came out all dark gray and hairless.  The fine folks at Briggs & Stratton sent us one and we’ve been playing with it every.single.day since.

I think the technical term is hose powering and storage system.  It takes a regular ole hose and turns it into a high powered cleaning and watering tool…and a wicker-chair makeover tool.  I wish I had a picture of me in action with this bad boy (but I didn’t want to risk ‘cleaning’ my Mark II).  Anyhoo…it’s awesome…you want it.  I did.  I just didn’t know I did.

So after I got done spraying the entire chair, it was looking clean and ready for paint.

Now let’s take a look at the black one.

It’s finish wasn’t quite as bad…just a few flakes and a bit of Amplifi-ing got it ready.

 

Now are you ready?  Here’s the finished product – a couple newly spraypainted chairs.  I used the Rustoleum’s Oil-Rubbed Bronze and love it so much.

Since the black chair wasn’t as dramatic – I decided to show ya just the white to black transformation.  Doesn’t it look so much newer and cleaner?  I love the sheen that comes with the spraypaint (although black would look good too – I just wanted that extra ORB glimmer).  Oh and the cushion is from Walmart.  Much better, huh?

 

Plus – it’s great that we have a his & hers chair out front…you know…so that we can greet those girls knocking on the door for Will.  And yes, we are holding weaponry.  A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do

A little over one year ago I launched Katie Bower Photography and took the plunge from “I-take-photos-of-my-kid-and-people-I-know’s-kids” to “I-will-take-photos-of-you-and-your-kids-for-the-coinage-you-pull-from-your-couch-cushions”.  It was one of the scariest things I have ever done.  Let’s be honest…it’s tearfully frightful to have someone pay you for photos.  For one there are a lot of variables…weather, location, moods, momentary brain drains (when your brain completely forgets what it’s doing) and you may have taken great photos…but they just aren’t that person’s style….there are a million things that could go south.  So consider me completely flattered that I have gotten the chance to perform over 75 client sessions in the short period that I’ve been doing this photog thing.  And because I get emails about this every single day – I thought I would share some background info for you (and give ya a sneak peek into a session I’ve been working on because let’s be honest – a post without photos is kinda boring)…

• HOW DID I LEARN TO USE THE CAMERA?

I am truly self-taught.  It must have been the homeschooler in me that told me that with a little practice and a whole lotta reading, I could learn how to use my camera without a trained professional.  It took me a long time…and I still feel like I am learning.  I read and reread my manual.  I read lots of photography blogs and would look at their photos next to mine to see how their editing took their pictures to the next level.  I would watch loads of videos on random tutorials.  In the end, I found another love of my life.

Not everyone learns that way though.  So it is definitely not a waste of time or money to recognize when you need help mastering the wheel of the ship…whether that boat be post-processing, picture taking or even things like posing or props.  There are tons of photographers out there that run great programs to help you learn and take your skills to the next level.   But dedication is really important…it takes a lot of practice and time to get even just a tiny bit improved (I should know) and in the end, you will be glad you stuck with it.

• HOW DID I GET CLIENTS?

If you are a newbie and are looking to start a photography business, I have no idea how to get clients.  err….I have no idea how normal people do it.  I do it through this blog and word of mouth.  That’s it.  No other advertising.  I do know that you need a portfolio.  So it might be a good idea to offer up freebie sessions to friends and family.  That’s what I did.  And get used to running a session – because that in of itself is a beast to handle.  Treat those friends and family members as you would a normal client.   Work on interacting with your target audience.  Give yourself editing deadlines.  Ask those friends and family what you could improve upon.  Get feedback.

Already have a business going and want to expand your client base?  Perhaps offer up a groupon for mini sessions…put an ad on Craigslist…offer a local blogger a free session in exchange for a shoutout on their blog…run a cutest kid contest at a local resturaunt of your clients…contact clothing boutiques to see if they need any imagery for a discounted price…ask a bunch of different successful photographers how they did it.

• WHAT GEAR DO YOU NEED TO GET STARTED?

I recommend a DSLR and a 50mm lens.  Both things can run about $600 new…but definitely cheaper used.  And believe me, this is the cheap cheap cheap route.  You can still capture great images with a beginner-level camera body and a cheap prime lens…but you still will need to learn how to use them.  After you manage to learn the controls, you can translate those skills to a more advanced camera no problem…and the images are still amazing.  Some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken were with a Canon Rebel and a 50mm ‘nifty fifty’ lens.  After that – get your hands on a copy of Photoshop or Lightroom.

• WHAT DID I LEARN IN THIS FIRST YEAR?

I learned a lot.  I learned my style.  I like to take clean, happy and bright photos.  Sure, those three things can be filtered many different ways…but in the end, if the pictures are clean, happy and bright – I feel like they are something to be proud of.  Everyone has a different style – a different eye - so finding my style was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.  I also learned that you can over-extend yourself.  That editing time has to be scheduled.  I learned to say no…which is excruciatingly hard when it comes to a paying customer.  BUT I also learned that business’ need boundaries to be successful.  And sometimes that means saying no.  I learned the value in me.  Am I the best photographer?  Not in a long shot. (pun intended)  But am I and the photos I produce and the product I give to customers worth what I charge?  Absolutely.  If I thought I wasn’t worth it – the price would go down.  I learned that continued education can be invaluable.  I learned that having flexible childcare is amazing.  And I learned that if you put a diaperless newborn baby on seven different blankets – it will always pee or poop on the white one

Those are the basics of most of the starting a business questions.  If you have other questions – put em right there in the comments and I might do a part two.

Not a photographer or a mom-who-hates-their-desk-job-and-dreams-of-being-a-shutterbug?  Let’s talk about how the girl in the pictures looks like a brunette Reese Witherspoon.  and how cute is her dress?!  Like cuter than a bag full of kittens, right?!

All over town we had signs.  There was one in front of the discount mattress store, one where they sell barrels and steel drums,  and one near the fruit stand…and about thirteen more….all announcing the same thing - Bull Riding and Barrel Racing were coming to our little town.  Consider us officially in.

The event was held at a local farm.  It’s usually a farm during most of the year…but then in the fall, they convert a big open area to host their Corn Dawgs fall festival (we’ve enjoyed it the last two years!) and in the winter, they host ice skating.

The clown/MC/dancer said that there was nothing more redneck than bull riding in a corn field.  I beg to differ.  But a true redneck doesn’t like to brag…unless a hunting dog’s reputation is on the line.

Will was really excited to see Cole.  He is obsessed.

I love the hand on the shoulder…Will held his hand there for a solid twenty minutes just to be touching his cousin.

After a bit of waiting, the show finally began.  Check out the young cowboy with the colors flying…

And yes, that is not a college co-ed wearing a camo hat with that t-shirt.  And yes, that is his wife with the buck shirt on.  And yes, that is totally fashionable out here.  I tried to count the camo hats present – I lost count when I hit the middle thirties.

The bull riding finally began.  It was seriously impressive.  Jeremy is thoroughly convinced that with a little training, he could be a professional bull rider.  I wish I was joking.

Have you seen these monsters!?  They are HUGE!  I fully believe that the conversation surrounding the invention of bull riding was probably hilarious.  It was a couple of guys…for sure…and they were probably in some kind of testosterone driven man-fest about what could make a bull really mad.  And then spawned the idea that strapping the bull bits would really make that cow mad.  And then came a dare.

Boots dared me to show this one on the blog.  I told him that it probably would need a censor sticker.  But then I realized that’s just bull

Will loved it.  He sat with us on the narrow wooden plank bleachers staring intently.

Oh and this is Boot’s mom & dad…they came down to visit and got the pleasure of sitting right in front of Dogg the Bounty hunter’s old brother (that was a borrowed joke!) and he was hilarious.  He was trying to win visitor of the night award…and yes, most of the yelling was unintelligible.

We missed the barrel racing because we had our own little horse back rider to watch.

Let me just say – this was worth every cent of the $5 that the pony rider operator assaulted us for.

He held on that horn so tight, smiled and giggled, and loved every single bit of it.   I used to ride when I was little (english not western but I love love love horses) so to see Will smile that big and do so well, well, it made me and my hormones swell in a big way.

And then came the end…

followed by a full blown meltdown.  Alligator tears, wailing for the horsie, and overall pitifulness.  It was so cute…

We remedied it with a snowcone.  I sometimes give him food and tell him “Go ahead honey – drown those sorrows with food.  Eat those emotions away.”  Mom of the year.

After that was more bull riding, more MC jokes and dancing (which I will gladly reinact for you if you ever ask) and more overall fun.

A fun family photo to commemorate the night of redneckery.

One of Norn & Boots & Cole – and yes, that’s Doggs Brother in the background putting out the vibe.

One with the little bump…although I must admit – most of that bump was burrito dinner

p.s.  I wrote a little guest post about our outdoor play spaces wishlist (click here to read it).  I’d love to hear what’s on your wish list too!

Welcome to the Late Show with Katie Bower.  Tonight we are talking about a little room makeover I’ve been working on.  Originally it was an office space…and now….it is still an office space.  just a much prettier one.  Let’s sit down and fill you in on some of the how-we-made-it-happen-details.

This house was a foreclosure. When we moved in, we fully expected to take it slow and steady with room renovations.  To be perfectly honest – it’s because a bigger house = bigger spaces = bigger budget needs.  And this house needs renovating in every single room.  So when Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine approached us to do a room makeover, we were all like take-your-pick.  And they were like no-it’s-your-pick and we were all like then-we-pick-the-office.  So with a $300 giftcard in hand and a room selected, we came up with a plan…

(you can read all about the plan here)

And then I came to realize, oh-yeah-I’m-not-good-with-plans….so I came up with a new idea.  Since this space would be mine-all-mine, I wanted it to be fun and preppy and girly with splashes of color.  I wanted it to be like KateSpade.com threw up in my office.  Graphic…yes…but you get the point.  Oh and then we came up with another idea…since we renovate/makeover/redo so much stuff all the time, why don’t we take a portion of the money and invest it in a tool?!  I know.  We are practically genius’ over here.  We could totally solve the energy crisis…and that silly thing called world hunger.  So we budgeted for a paint sprayer.  And it was like the Easter bunny & Santa Claus’ lovechild visited the Bower house in April…we were that excited.

After a bunch of prep work, my darling boyfriend took on the task of painting the poo colored trim and ceiling.  It was like the heavens opened and God said let there be light….and it was good.

A little blueish green paint rolled onto the top half of the walls, we had ourselves a pretty clean slate to decorate.  I was salivating at the thought of the Kate Spade vomit.  You know what I mean.

Next came lighting…

and then picking what furniture would be in here (as well as starting the painting process on those)…

Which leads us to the final reveal… (are you firmly gripping your underpants because these before and afters can blow panties off fully sober men and women…consider yourself warned)….before the office was dreary and depressing….

The walls were what I like to call Poo & Eww (a dark brown and a fleshy pink).

Not only did it lack personality – it sucked yours away.

Dirty was it’s middle name.

And the floors and available natural light were overwhelmed with the bad paint job.

and now it is light bright and inspiring for me to work in…

I had big goals for this space.  It had to store most of my craft & sewing stuff…it also had to be a place for my photography editing to take place…and the spot where I could put all my blog work.

First the desk.  I absolutely love the desk now that it is fresh and white with the new paint job.  Apparently you can buy these desks already white at Ikea but five years ago when we purchased this bad boy, it came only in wood tone.  Now, it doesn’t pop out as much – which is good with a floating desk because it makes the space look larger.

Since it has a glass top, I don’t have to worry much about protecting it either.

I tend to be a clutter-er when it comes to my desk top, so I decided that in order to corral the chaos, I would simply have two areas….one for my ‘stuff’ that ends up outta my pockets…

And the other a small tray for papers, notebooks, pens & papers.

The real star of the show is the chair makeover.  It started out black & gold, and now she shines with a new coat of bright red paint and a fun fabric cushion.

I love how the green in the fabric nods to my nearby bookcase with a ‘hey there- how you doin!?”

The green bookcase was probably my most daring makeover.  I bought two sampler cans of Valspar’s Lime Green and it looks so much more youthful now.  Stacked over head are two shelves that used to live in Will’s old nursery – and now they hold my boxes (they have lenses and other equipment inside), a few albums, and my books.

The bookcase does so major storage for me.  The two banana leaf baskets (both from Lowe’s) hold an amazing amount of fabric.  And the box on top is a charging station for my phone, Flip camera, etc.

Gotta love it when you can fold tons of pretties into one space, right?!

I love that picture of Cole too…he used to do this squinty eye thing for photos….it’s very him.

And yes, that is an old photo of Jeremy (he used to do a Katie Appreciation Week when we dated – he’s the cutest)…and I got to place him right next to my stack of House Beautifuls.

I think I am most proud of this bookshelf because it is actually functional and has photos of people…something hard about combining those two.

On top, I moved in my Bowers Mints tin.  Gotta love it when your last name is the same as a vintage candy company!  And the art is just some crazy blue squares I painted during one of our art sessions.

Next to the bookcase is this little topiary.  Since the bookcase is actually not as wide as the shelves above it, I faked it being wider by adding this next door…

Just beyond the book shelf is a little area that I deemed ‘the sewing nook’…

Here’s the wide open shot again -

The sewing nook is really great because I was able to squeeze in more craft stuff (stored in the bottom of the bookshelf), sewing stuff (in the baskets and desk drawers), and another desk and chair (which will be great for when I need a quiet moment & Will can color).

The big bolts of fabric in the corner are also great reminders of projects I have planned.

And yes, I didn’t have the rolls for all my fabric, so I just used yardsticks for easy storage.

More magazines, more paint, more glorious storage…

Now if you turn around in the sewing nook – here’s the view…

To the left is the sitting area…

I love how the homemade watercolor art looks like the jellyfish is sniffing the flowers.

I was able to reuse all the furniture and mix n match some pillows and accessories to make the art tie everything together.

Oh and that basket by the chair is filled to the brim with my ‘to-do’ projects…I figured corraling them in one spot and covering them so they aren’t an eyesore will be great for someone like me who often goes looking for something to do and ends up starting something completely new.

Confession – I faked this pillow cover.  It’s actually just fabric wrapped around a pillow form.  I will get around to sewing it though – now that I have a nook

And the last bit of the room has the giant $22 white board.  I have future plans to trim out around the edge but for now, it looks and works just fine.  It’s already halfway full of notes and reminders.

 

Plus, since you have to enter the room to see it, my messy handwriting won’t be the first thing you see when you come into the space.

Lots more still to do (coughcurtainscough) but for now, I am going to officially call this room done.  for now.

More random shots…

Now – and I know this is like the never-ending makeover post…are you ready for the side-by-side before&afters?

 

Special thanks again to Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine.  They were the ones that provided the motivation and some of the moolah for this makeover.  And special thanks to you guys too.  You all have been so encouraging lately and just to get one little room done is huge for me…so thanks for being patient as we slowly work on this beast of a house.  You rock.

****************UPDATE:  I forgot to post the budget info – so here goes:

Sprayer $250

BUDGET:

• Hardware for hanging shelves, art & white board  $8
• Rollers  $13
• Paint pan  $3.50
• Spraypaint & Spray Primer  $31.50
• Electrical plates, switches and outlets  $26.50
• Paper & tape $15
• White Primer $42
• White Paint $56
• Blue Paint $24
• Pot & Soil $17
• Green Paint $6
• 4 woven Baskets $52
• Deadbolt $18

TOTAL :  $312.50 (plus tax) – and this doesn’t count the paint sprayer but like I said before, we put some of our own money towards that because it was going to be ours forever and because we like new tools

ADDITIONAL MONEY SPENT IN THIS SPACE (we did spend a small amount of moolah in this space over the course of decorating it – so I want to be upfront about that as well!)

• Homegoods woven wall mail holder  $14
• 2 teal vases from Target $12
• Homegoods coral decor $9
• Homegoods white frame $3
• Fabric for chair $2
• Fabric for pilllows $2
• White board $22

TOTAL ADDT:  $64 (plus tax)

NEW OFFICE COST: $376.50 (plus tax without sprayer)   $626.50 (plus tax with sprayer) 

 

Just so you know – you are gonna be disappointed.

I just wanna forewarn you.  There aren’t a whole lotta furniture makeover ‘afters’ that you will see in this post.  Take a pill, eat some chocolate, pour you a pitcher of wine, do whatever you do.  You will have to wait.

BUT I PROMISED THAT I WAS GONNA GET THESE POSTS OUT TODAY AND I AM WORKING ON IT!  So hold onto your house slippers because the ride ain’t over.  This post is to mainly explain what we are putting back in this office.  And to show you some pretty paper-less floors.  First up – the sitting chairs.

I love me an office with sitting chairs.  I can’t help it.  Whenever I go into an office, I wanna sit.  Even if it’s not my office.  So I figured that my guests needed a little relaxing area too.  So I brought back in these old caned chairs that I have had forever.  I got em at Goodwill ages ago and reupholstered the cushions to white.  They were actually in the original old office – way back before it was Will’s nursery.

BLING!  FLOOORS!

Anyhoo.  I also brought the desk (duh) and a bookcase.

I really needed some extra storage and this black bookcase fit the wall perfectly.

Me and this bookcase go way back.  Like all the way back to college back.  That was over ten years ago.  whoa…that was back in the day when I bought Jock Rock cds and slipped them right there next to Big Willy Style.  You know you did that too.

So after college days, I was able to bring this piece into our last home, top it with a mirror and use it in the kitchen as dish storage.  Yet another thrift store find scores a goal for team Bower.

This was the only piece in the whole lot that I hand painted…and that is why you get to see the makeover.  A little spray primer -

And a very crazy iphone photo of a lime green bookcase.  I promise it’s not that crazy.  If it were, I’d name it Charlie Sheen…err…Charlie Green

Moving right along, we have the much contemplated office chair.  I debated the pros and cons of the office chair conundrum on a guest post here – and at first I thought I landed my tush into a plush blue wingback I have in storage.  But the color was more muted and I wanted my chair to be a punch right in the face…err…rear end.  So out with the wingback and in with a less comfy but more personality girl I like to call – Goodwill Chair number seven.  She lived at our old house for a while in the upstairs hall…until she got the boot and went into our basement storage area.  I think she needs a resurrection with bright red and fun fabric.

 

Speaking of fabric, we used her in the upstairs bathroom for a while and it looks like wet feet were not a friend of this fabric.  And yes, I am very aware that it looks like someone had an incontinence problem while seated here.

Still with me?!

Okay – so in the corner we had this little bookshelf stashed.  Yes, it’s just a cheap laminate version.  But it’s free because we already own it and all it needs is a little love and a whole lotta paint.

It used to live in our old living room.  Aww.  There she blows…behind my green chairs

Last bits of reused furniture – this little desk and chair from my old dressing room.  I need a little sewing area and this desk is perfect for a tight space.

Now comes the fun part – the new stuff.  I only bought one new large item for this room.  I thankfully was able to use all the furniture we had on hand and make it work…but when I saw this giant white board in the thrift store for $22 I told Jeremy that I really wanted it.  I have no idea how much white boards normally cost…if I had to guess new, one this size would probably run around $100…but putting a pricetag on being able to look at all my blog/photography/giveaway/reminder info really has no pricetag…so I coerced my boyfriend into loading it into the car and bringing it home.

So there you have it folks.  You ready now to see the final product?  Me too.

Let me go so I can edit/upload/download/write….see you later tonight!  (hey that rhymed!  Awesome rhyming award for me!)

Ever look at a room and think, my goodness, an animal could be living in here and I would never see it…yes…it’s that dark.

I felt that way about the office.

But after we sprayed it, it seemed that the true culprit wasn’t necessarily the deficiency in lighting…

although that definitely plays a role during the nighttime…

the menace in this space was the paint colors.

You see, after we sprayed it white, it was literally the brightest room in the house.  The light poured in from the two windows and reflected back with the white wainscoting.  All that to say – I told Jeremy that I didn’t need a whole lotta lighting in here…maybe a small girly overhead light and a couple task lights.

He got to work removing the uber-classy and probably really expensive old single bulb lightfixture.

Enter my use-it-or-lose-it attitude.

I hate buying new things….don’t get me wrong – I LOVE BUYING NEW THINGS…but I also hate it, especially when I have perfectly good and lovely items in our house waiting to be used.  like, this capiz light fixture from my old dressing room…

Even though it doesn’t put off much light, I am convinced that this office is the perfect spot for it and Jer got to installing it for me faster than I can say – Capiz PLEASE!

Now it hangs proudly overhead….

I love that it looks dark because every space needs little depth, right?  correct answer – yes.

And I also love that it was FREE!

and it’s feminine – I mean, I probably would have never been able to convince my boytoy to hang this up if this were his space, but since it’s mine, he didn’t hesitate.

Lighting DONE!

Next up = FURNITURE!

We are just moving right along, aren’t we?!

The office makeover continues!   (insert crowd goes wild here – or just really bored moms with Cheerios stuck to the bottom of their fuzzy slippers saying ‘umm…okay’)

If you are new to this game, let me tell you what we’ve been up to…first we started with a very ugly & messy office.   It was painted the very breathtaking colors of Poo & Eww.

Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine offered us $300 to makeover a room and this space topped the list.  So we started out with a plan,

contemplated chair options here, got a new toy to spray the walls and ceiling…

and then pulled the trigger after some major prep work.

After two coats of sprayer-painting was complete, we were left with one heck of a brighter lighter space.  (you can see the before and afters in the link above).

 

Now comes the part in this story when I tell you about picking colors for the upper part of the wall.

You probably would guess that it would entail some sort of emotional breakdown on my part where I end up on the floor telling Jeremy to just pick a color because (and I quote) “I CAN’T HANDLE ANY MORE DECISIONS!  I AM ONE GIANT SMELLY BRAIN FART AND I AM GOING TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST IF I HAVE TO CHOOSE…AND YOU DON’T WANNA LIGHT THIS FART ON FIRE!”  And if you guessed that…you probably would be right.  It’s kindof amazing that I ever got pregnant.  or got him to marry me…or date me…or speak to me in general.  I’ll be the first to admit that.

In the end, we ended up going with Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue.  It’s a great muted but still slightly vibrant greenish blue that looked good with the adjoining office bathroom and was pretty enough to fulfill my dreams of a Kate-Spade-ish office space.  Did I mention that?  I totally want this space to be girly and happy with pops of color and inspiring just like the feeling I get when I peruse KateSpade.com.

For all you folks wondering – here’s what we used for the paint agenda – 2 coats of Olympic’s Zero VOC premium in Eggshell colormatched to Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue for the upper part of the walls, 1 coat of Kilz Premium waterbased primer & 1-2 coats of Valspar’s Premium Bright White Base in eggshell (no color or tint added) on the lower part of the walls and the ceiling.

(note – I normally use semi-gloss on trim – and flat on ceilings – but since we were spraying them all, I split the difference with Eggshell)

It also helped soothe my hyper-emotionalism when I saw how lovely my pots looked with the new wall color.  The front one is from the discount shelf at Target and the back one is from Lowe’s (love love love the color and the drippy bits).

I was able to help with the painting….as in I did all the rest of the painting all by myself (which to a toddler mom, two hours of silence is like a vacation).  I must admit, it felt really good to get something done.  And God bless the inventors of the zero VOC paint.  I mean, this baby would probably be born with three arms otherwise…although that could be kind of awesome when it comes to sports  – like wrestling or swimming.

And now through the magic of the internet – here is the finished walls!

Hello Palladian!

It looks crazy weird at this angle – but it’s actually much bluer…

and yes, once the paper comes up off the floor, it actually looks different (I’m such a tease!)

Next up – new lighting (err…old lighting in a new home)…and some furniture makeovers.

Oh and for the sake of keeping it real – yes, whenever I am making over a space, I move everything into a different room.  It looks like a bomb went off.  In this case, the office exploded into the dining room and the foyer.  I call it my ever-migrating mess.  It just moves from one place to another.  I would call it my diminishing migrating mess…but that would be a lie.  It never gets smaller

Okay – now here’s where it gets even more real.  Like unzip those harem pants and hold onto your underroos kinda real.  I am  going to attempt to post the furniture makeovers, the lighting redo and the big office reveal….

all of em…

today.

Still got your panties?  Me too.  Which is good…because I might pee a little I am so excited.  Hope you stick around for the ride!

Our office makeover is officially underway!

Color me extremely happy.  Like really weirdly giddy happy.  Sortof like The Joker but on a sugar high…and less scare-the-poops-outta-small-children-freaky.  I just nailed that description, didn’t I? 

So anyway – you can imagine my uber-excitement knowing that this space would soon be not like this at all.

As you can see, it’s sortof depressing in there.  Brown trim, fleshy walls….clutter and mess.  It’s hard to be creative and organized and efficient working in a space that is anything but creative, organized or efficient…so when Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine offered up a $300 gift card for a room makeover we jumped.  as in up and down.  We immediately accepted the challenge and knew that this room would be the perfect jumping off point (we are doing a lot of jumping here aren’t we?! hello bathing suit calves?).

Why did we pick this room?  Well for one, its mess is sortof flowing into other rooms.  I need this space for photography editing (so it needs to be bright and happy since I spend a chunk of time editing photos and don’t wanna leave depressed), as well as sewing and craft storage (my fabric stash has taken over the Jack room which we will need for the Little Baby eventually), and general blog work (you would be surprised by how much I need to keep straight to keep Bower Power even remotely functional).  So basically I need it to be inspiring…bright and happy….and organized with lots of storage.

If you are an old friend, you may remember that I recently painted the office bathroom…which also had dark brown trim….and it took at least four coats to look decent but really it probably deserved closer to six coats for perfection.  Keep that in mind.

Now multiply the amount of trim in the bathroom by 8.  Now multiply that number by 5 coats.  That’s how much painting I would need to do to get decent coverage on the office brownness.  That’s a lot of math.  and a lot of painting.  Neither of which is fun.

So I was happy to fork over a bit of our makeover budget and my own debit card to score a decent paint sprayer.  I consider it an investment in my sanity.  We ended up going with the Graco TrueCoat Plus – because of online reviews and the fact that it’s more manageable for a gal like me for future furniture projects.

Okay – so after a lot of emotional and financial investment in this space, I took the plunge and moved everything out.  It took me all afternoon.  And when Jeremy got home, he helped me carry out the brown desk (which is gonna get a paint job too)…and a bookcase (both need a coat of white STAT!).

The empty room is still so gross.  I have to admit that I never mopped in there.  I think I vaccumed once.  I told Jer that I was surprised that he didn’t get sick when he worked in there because of the dust.  It was just dark and disgusting.

Then came time for sprayer-prep.  We definitely didn’t want to damage the hardwood floors so we decided that the best way to protect them would be with painters tape and paper.  It took about an hour to lay everything.

Oh and yes, it was definitely needed to cover everything that wasn’t getting sprayed.  These sprayers are no joke.  They spray big or go home.  And we knew that the over-spray and the white film would cover everything…especially since we planned on spraying all the wainscoting and the entire ceiling.

We also blocked off the windows with some plastic and tape.

Freaky deaky.

Oh and just so everyone knows….yes, our quarterround matches the floor…but we want it to match the trim…so we planned on painting it white too.

Then came time for Jer to crank out the new sprayer.  It’s pretty much crucial to your lungs to wear a mask and your eyes will definitely need googles…not protective glasses that little airborne paint particles can get behind…GOGGLES.

I took these photos and them ran for my life.

Two hours later, Jeremy was completely done with priming.

Yes…it was lots faster than us doing it by hand.  And yes, the coat of primer was LOTS thicker than I could have evenly done with a paintbrush.

Immediately I noticed two things.  First – this sprayer ate paint like it was Keilbasa at a Steelers tailgating party.  It went through two cans of Kilz primer.  TWO CANS!

And secondly – HOLY BRIGHTNESS BATMAN!  This room was instantly changed from a dungeon to a shining ray of happiness.  Even down the hall, the open door was gleaming with how marvelously bright the room was.

Two days later, Jeremy did the second coat.  He used Valspar’s Bright White paint base in Eggshell….and Great Scotsbrite!  It is so clean and bright.

It was amazing how fast we got it done.  Part of me wishes that I could have done it (new toys are always fun) but I knew that going up on a ladder with a paint sprayer wasn’t exactly Pregnancy Safety Wise.  And Jeremy said that besides cleanup he really didn’t mind (he HATES brushing and rolling is almost as bad).

It took two full buckets of paint for the second coat as well.

The ceiling wasn’t absolutely perfect when it came to the drywall parts…so we decided that it would be deserving of one more coat there…and some of the trim needed a little touch up but other than that – the white bits of the room were done.

Oh and just for reference sake – check out the three colors present in this photo.  The dark brown that was in the door way is the old dark brown office trim color.  The door is still the current house trim color (it’s like a soft tan color) and the white white is the newest trim color that we plan to carry throughout the house.  crazy how different they all are, huh!?

So that’s that.  Phase one complete in our office makeover.  Next up – wall color…and some painted furniture