Florida House Tour Video

I'm taking a break from packing (5 days til we move!) to post a quick update on our progress.

First order of business: the house is rented! We got a call from a nice couple right after we listed it, they came to see it the next day and made an offer that night. Big sigh of relief. After the papers were signed a few days later, we got straight to packing and prepping the house.

When we were touching up the paint, this started to happen:

Unfortunately, none of our paint colors match anymore (maybe from sitting out in the humid garage?) so we had to repaint 90% of the house which has sucked up a lot of our time. 

I'm still working in the studio so we haven't touched that room yet, but we're still on schedule for the movers to come Friday so it's been relatively stress free.

Here's a shot I just took of the living room:

So weird to see empty walls again!

Before we moved a thing, we decided to go ahead and shoot a house tour video as a way to preserve the memories. It's also a chance to clear up any confusion on the layout if you guys ever wondered how the rooms flowed together. And it's the first time anything has ever been on video so we thought it would be a fun little time capsule.

Disclaimer: Some of the shots were out of focus and I had to reshoot them, so you'll see a few funky edits/sound changes. Don't mind my blabbing, this wasn't rehearsed at all so some commentary may be redundant.

And with that out of the way, I'm trying to soak up as much of Florida as I can before we say goodbye. I took some time off work this afternoon to enjoy one last beach trip...

I'm really gonna miss this place.


I'll be back with an update once we arrive in California!

New Master Reveal: Before & After!

This reveal isn't quite as finished as I had anticipated it would be (I still had plans to add swing arm style library lamps and hang some wall accessories), but since we decided to move last week, this is as done as it will be!

Here's what we first started with three years ago:

And how the room looked for 2+ years as my office:

The transition to master bedroom...

And here it is today, all ready to be packed up...

I really love our cozy little bedroom and am sad to leave it so soon, but I hope to create a similar look in our new master once we're settled in. Our furniture is coming with us so we'll just have to see how everything works out in the next house.

If you missed any of the transformation posts, here's a recap:

Renovating the closet
More renovating the closet
Adding recessed lighting
New paint & plank wall
Moving in
Salt dough wall decor
Salt dough wall decor, part 2
$50 Gallery Wall
DIY linen & lace curtains
DIY blackout liner

Here's the source list breakdown:

Wall color: Valspar's Urban Sunrise

Closet color: Valspar's Mark Twain House Ombra Gray

Curtains: DIY

Artwork: Ikea/DIY

Headboard: DIY

Mirror: Craigslist/DIY

Bedding: Target sheets/pillow/bedskirt, Ikea comforter

Rug: Ikea

Dresser & End tables: Ikea/DIY

Bamboo shades: Amazon

Lamps: Ikea

Fan: Amazon

Accessories: Antique stores, Target

Nautical wall accessories: DIY

 

And as always, you can also head over to my house tour page for a source list for every room in the house.


That's it guys—the last and final "After" in this house *sniffle*. It has been a great run and I've learned so much over the past three years. I feel a lot more confident going into the next house with some DIY skills under my belt and ready for bigger and better projects. Bring it on!

An Announcement

Some Sunday morning news...

Yep... it's official. We're moving back to California on October 5th (13 days—ahhh!)

Why? 

Well, Brad got a job offer and has been in negotiations for a while. They finally gave him the official green light on Friday. That's not the reason we decided to move but we wouldn't have just packed up and left without him having a job at all.

It has been eight years since I've lived near family and I think we're all just at a point where we need each other. Brad and I have lived in Florida three years and it has been the best experience I could ask for... this state has truly stolen my heart. I'll be back someday.

But right now I'm ready for something new. You know those times in your life where you just need a big change? Maybe it's just me, but I can't do routine for very long. Every now and then I've gotta switch things up in a big way. I just hope that transitioning from city to country life is the answer. I guess that remains to be seen...

Where will we be living? 

My grandpa passed away earlier this year, at which point my grandma moved into a rest home. My parents took control of their house and have been slowly preparing it to become a rental. Lucky for us, the timing worked out perfectly so that it will be ready just in time for us to move right in. And it's just down the street from my parents. It's a 3 bedroom house that's just a bit larger than our current home and will be perfect for us—for now.

Once I file my taxes next year (Feb/March), we can start house shopping. Because I'm self employed, I have to provide two full years of taxes to count my income towards a new mortgage, so that's why we'll need to wait a bit longer. In the meantime we'll just save as much as we can because I have big plans for our new home :)

What are we doing with our house?

Easy answer—renting it out. Rental rates are so high here compared to housing prices, we'd be crazy to sell. We've hired a property management company to find a renter and she believes it will go fast. Fingers crossed!

What's going to happen to the blog in the meantime?

I'm not sure, to be honest. My grandpa's house could use some updating, that's for sure... I'm just not sure if we'll decide to tackle those projects since we'll be living there for such a short time. We really just have to wait and see how everything pans out. At the very least I'll periodically drop in to share some updates on our new life.

Biggest concern?

This one:

Poor thing has no idea what's coming her way. I'm sure she'll eventually learn to settle in to her new surroundings, but Brad and I are both dreading the full day of travel. She can't even stand to be in a room with new people, let alone stuck in a crate for 3+ hours of driving, 2 hours of airport time and 7 hours of flying in one day. Poor thing is going to be scarred for life.

I've been doing my research on how to make this as easy for her as possible, and I'm making an appointment with the vet next week to get her some medication, but I'm afraid it won't be enough. Anyone have any good tips for traveling with super anxious scaredy cats?


Now comes the fun part of packing.... we've already started:

We have a showing in a few hours so I'd better start cleaning. I hope you all continue to follow along through this next chapter in our lives. I have so many exciting ideas swirling around in my head for our next home... now I'll have six months or so to save up and plan.

Country life, here we come...

Simple fabric stretched canvas

I don't know about you guys, but it still feels like summer is in full swing here. I took the last couple weeks to enjoy the weather, first with a trip with my sister to visit my cousin in NYC...

We stayed at his studio in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood, which is such a neat area:

I was in awe of all the brownstones. In my next life I'll live here.

This weekend was all about enjoying the perfect weather—yesterday with a cookout and football game by the pool, and today at one of my favorite beaches ever.

I'm still on a bit of a natural high from the sunshine and calm bathtub waters... it was glorious. Might have to make this a Sunday ritual (this place is like church with its' healing powers).

Yesterday I tried something I've wanted to do for a while: fabric reupholstering. Although it wasn't for furniture—it was for art.

Let's go back in time to see the transformation of the living room canvas art...

February 2011:

June 2011:

And for over two years it stayed that way. I liked the art, but it was time to switch things up. It actually didn't even occur to me until I found myself with some extra fabric (picked up at Joann's a while back:)

I love this old foreign handwriting design. So farmhouse chic.

This was originally purchased the line the shelves in our new closet, but I realized that'd be a waste of time considering you can't even see the tops of the shelves.

I measured the canvases and it worked our perfectly...

Just the right width.

I cut it into four squares, leaving a couple inches on each side which was plenty to staple to the back:

Then it was time to put my fabric stapling skills to the test.

I headed into the garage to check out the air compressor, and realized that the staples that came with the nail gun were all wrong. They were long and thin, not short and wide like traditional staples. I needed an actual staple gun—not a nail gun. Womp womp.

I did a little research online and found a few good/cheap pneumatic staple guns at Home Depot, but once I got there I realized they were Online Only items and not available in the store. Double womp womp.

I didn't want to deal with the potential headache of a manual stapler, so I splurged a little and bought this electric staple gun for around $60:

Along with 5/16" staples, which you can see compared to the staples in my nail gun:

I didn't look up any tutorials on the best approach, but I've scanned over enough fabric reupholster photos to get the gist of things. Seemed pretty straightforward.

I made my first staple at the bottom center, flipped it around and secured it at the top center, then did the centers of the sides so all four sides were secured.

The stapler was super duper easy to use. I made my way around the frame, securing a staple every few inches or so and pulling taut as I went.

The corners were the most exciting part. You just fold and overlap them like a present:

In no time at all, the first canvas was complete:

Here's my biggest piece of advice: don't pull too tight! You'll have to be especially careful if there's a pattern, because the fabric will stretch and warp. It took me a few attempts to get the hang of it, but by the fourth canvas I felt pretty confident with my method. There were some areas where the fabric is too tight, but luckily the aged/imperfect style of the fabric makes them pretty unnoticeable.

And here they are:

It's a great alternative to switch up your canvas art without having to spend a lot of time or money. The fabric possibilities are endless too!

And with that—it's time to go rinse the sand off and get cozy in bed. There's a couple exciting things going on with the shop right now—make sure to stay up to date on Facebook with the first bit of news tomorrow!

Happy Sunday friends :)