How to: Disguise Your Ugly A/C

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When you walk into my house, you see this (only, you’re a little farther away):

ShelfStartBOOM: A/C.  Sure, the shelf looks prettier now(especially with the cute new skirt I made):

beforeandafterskirtBut that a/c was still ugly.  So I came up with a solution.  Since removing the a/c or swamp cooler wasn’t an option (it’s nice to have some sort of air conditioning in our house), I thought some sort of crafty cover-up was in order.

I saw this pin on Pinterest, so that was my jumping off point:

grille afterHere are some in-progress photos: ACCoverProcess2 I used 1 x 2s to create a frame and repurposed trim to cover up raw edges, from our bedroom – salvaged from when I ripped out the chair rail – to frame out the sheet metal (you can get perforated sheet metal at Home Depot if you’re wondering where to find it).

ACCoverProcess1A staple gun and wood glue fame in handy for fastening everything together and voila!  A framed out a/c cover.

ACCoverProcess3

ACCoverSideJust hang the frame on the wall and you’re set!  I backed it with felt for extra insulation – just set inside the frame, not adhered at all, and it seems to be keeping the cold air out really well.ACCoverFrontI’m much happier with this first impression.

The shape seems odd with the items surrounding it now, but it suits the long-term plan I have for the space.  The goal is to eventually add a tall and skinny pantry cabinet to the right of it and booth seating underneath and to the left, like this (super accurate) sketch:

diningroomsketchThat’s it for the a/c cover for now.  More than you ever thought you ever wanted to know!

Rachel May

Try This 2 Ingredient Cookie Recipe!

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Who doesn’t love cookies?  And who doesn’t love a cookie that you can eat for BREAKFAST?  In my world, any cookie is a cookie that can be consumed for breakfast, but sometimes people look at me funny when I do so.  Not anymore!  I found the recipe for these awesome cookies here, although it’s hardly a recipe considering there’s only two ingredients (spoiler alert: bananas and oatmeal) and it’s super easy.  Mash bananas, add oatmeal, mix-in and toppings you’d like (I added walnuts, but you could add raisins or chocolate chips or cinnamon or whatever craziness your heart desires) and bake for 15 minutes.  Instant Martha.

Even if you can’t cook, you can cook these (probably).breakfastcookiesI know – it’s awesome!  A missing cookie may have been cropped from the image above.  No patience.  Happy (late) Monday:)

Rachel May

Painted Reading Nook Shelves

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Progress has been made on the reading nook space.  If you’re catching up, start here.

I primed and painted the shelves and paneling closest to the built-in.  Here’s how it looked before…

Reading Nook Shelf Beforeand after removing the books and painting the shelves (and spray painting the knobs)!:

ReadingNookPaintedIt took a little bit of convincing, but Boyfriend gave up a lot of books.  We were able to sell a few (which put money back into the redo budget – yay!) and donate the leftovers.

ReadingNookKnobsPainted

I spray-painted the existing knobs black, but I would like to switch them out for bin pulls and add some labels to each shelf.  It’s nice to see some progress, though.

shelfcloseupI’ve been contemplating trimming out the shelf edges – both to make them look thicker and to hide the extra supports.  They may get painted a fun color, too…by popular demand.

The more I look at these pictures, the more the scallop edge at the top of the built-in bugs me.  Not sure how that’s going to get remedied just yet.

There’s still a bit of work to do – I need to put all of the books away and style the shelves, make a slipcover for the chair and figure out the knob situation.  But this space is coming along nicely.

Rachel May

Weekend Motivation

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I need motivation to get some projects done this weekend.  I’m hoping to make some progress on the Reading Nook Redo, as well as a few different projects in the living room.

I really need to finish the curtains in the living room.  I finished two panels, but the other two are still needing that pink edging.  I have the fabric cut and ironed, it just needs to be sewed on…I really have no excuse not to do that already.

The post and rail of that little handrail MAY get painted black…(with the spindles staying white), but I’m still on the fence about that.  What do you think?

Living Room Projects To DoI love the end tables (scored them off Craigslist – $30 for all three), but they definitely need some work.  A friend gave me the idea to paint the tops of the square end tables black and brighten up the knobs a bit with gold paint.  I think that’s just what they need, so that’s on the list!

End Table BeforeI can’t wait to see more progress on this space!  I’m already impressed with how much of an improvement it is from this:

living room on move into this:

living room progressI’ve conveniently cropped-out the kitchen…it’s on the long-term list.

I must say I’m just so excited…it’s actually starting to feel like I own this place!  I can’t believe how long it took for that to really sink in.

How about you? Are you working on any interesting projects to make your space awesome this weekend?  Did it take awhile before your house started feeling like your home?

Rachel May

Reading Nook

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Now that the hall bathroom is finished (sorta), I need to move on to another room.  Since the hall bathroom took FOREVER, I figured the best thing to do would be to work on a room needing the fewest amount of improvements.  That’s where the reading nook comes in.  It’s really the landing at the bottom of the stairs, but there’s just enough space for a loungy spot.  This is what we’re starting with:

Cherokee 013It hasn’t changed much since we moved in, except for the removal of the curtain and cabinet and the addition of shelves and a TON of books.  We moved a chair into the space to create the reading hangout spot, but we haven’t really spent any time on making the space much of anything.

Reading Nook Before1 Reading Nook Before 3 Now to the nitty-gritty.  What drives me crazy about this space is the fact that the bookshelf is CRAMMED with books and it’s the first thing you notice when you walk downstairs.  It stresses me out to say the least.  That and the fact that we built the bookshelf and haven’t painted it.Reading Nook Shelf BeforeSo here’s the list – the idea is to complete the redo on-the-super-cheap.

Reading Nook Redo Super List!

  • Paint knobs on built-in
  • Prime and paint shelves
  • Pare down books (donate or sell)
  • Sew new slipcover for chair and ottoman
  • Add door hardware to closet
  • Add task lighting for reading

Can’t wait to make some progress!  What rooms are you working on in your house?

Rachel May

Botanical Prints

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I’ve been thinking a lot about art for my house – mainly because for a house with three art graduates living here, we’re actually lacking in the wall art department – go figure

Art is a lot like design or decorating, you need to find your style with it.  I tend to lean more casual and natural, so I think the art hanging on the walls should reflect that.
 
 Botanical - Flower - Salsify A good friend of mine had the idea of hanging a bunch of botanical prints in my dining room.  I can’t get the idea out of my head now, so after a little research I found Vintage Printables.

These are available under Creative Commons Licensing, so you can print them out on your home computer without violating copyright laws.  How cool is that?  Botanical - Flower - Some kind of German flower

I’m thinking of hanging six or nine of them gallery-style to create an interesting focal point in the dining room.  Now I just need to score a bunch of frames for super cheap.

Rachel May

Inspiration & Links For Your Weekend

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A beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived at work for me yesterday from my big sister-how lovely!  I took a few pictures before moving the vase from surface to surface, trying to determine where it would be seen the most so I could enjoy it to the fullest (it ended up coming home with me).flowers2 copy

Happy Friday to you!  Do you have anything exciting planned for your weekend? I’ll be working on both home projects and crafty projects.  That’s the goal, anyway.  I rounded up a few links in case you need some ideas for things to do this weekend:

Try making Four Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.  I’m sure you could rustle up these ingredients from your pantry.

If you like drinking wine AND supporting a cause, you could purchase wine from this site.  Benefit Wines partners with charities to help with their fundraising efforts.

You could beat the winter blues by crafting up some cute flower magnets for your fridge (I might have to do this, just to add something fun to the kitchen and spread the flower joy).

If none of those ideas appeal to you, you could always try adding some open shelving to your kitchen or get started on the world’s longest-running bathroom redesign.  That’s up to you!

Happy weekend, see you Monday!

Rachel May