Fridge Fix-up

All summer, we've been using some sad calendar printouts to keep our lives and activities on track.  And, because we are really very classy, we've kept it taped to the front of the fridge. Obviously, we needed a change.

While I love paper, as plans changed, it got messy really quickly.  Fortunately, I had a spare dry erase calendar laying around.  Now, I just had to figure out how to attach it.

Despite its "stainless steel" finish, the front of our fridge is curiously non-magnetic; otherwise, I would have just slapped some magnets on the back and called it a day.  3m strips to the rescue, again.

We never use the water filter on the door because we have a reverse osmosis filter at the sink, and I've always wanted to cover up the ugly dispenser.

Now we have an easy way to keep everyone's schedule up to date and in sight.

Backyard Biology

Turns out, our little pop-up backyard pool is good for more than just splashing around.

Apparently, our local frogs thought it was a pretty nice spot.  To lay their eggs.

I came out this weekend to a few dozen coaster-sized clumps of little round black dots floating on the surface.  After fishing them out as best as possible into some buckets, we've been observing their progress.  So far, we've got a lot of little apostrophe shapes, and a couple of wiggly teeny tiny tadpoles.

The marine-biology focused Kiddo is OVER THE MOON.  I'm just really hoping we were right in our species identification, and trying to make sure they don't die in their buckets.

So, with all the chemicals, any of these little guys that survive will definitely have super powers, right?

Front Door Fancy (Updated...Again)

I've had my eye on a cute plant holder/object de art at my local craft store for a month or two; ultimately, my patience was rewarded and I snagged it at 70% off.  

Despite its initial high price tag, the wire it came with was objectionably wimpy.  It could not stay.

I snipped the existing wire, and replaced it with this sturdy stuff from a previous project. 

My early Summer Coneflowers flanking the door burned out over the hot 4th of July weekend, so I needed to get some more living things out there, and this gave me the perfect opportunity.

I lined the wire basket with Sphagnum Moss instead of trying to find a planter that would fit perfectly.

Nothing special about getting this stuff set up, I just shoved it in and hoped it would stay.  I added my little plants and shoved more moss in around them.

I also need to paint my front door (as soon as ONE of the million paint chips I've taken from Lowe's is even close to its existing color - I would love to change it, but hey, HOA...), and I don't want this cute guy to damage the new paint when it goes up.  So I added some felt pads I had laying around.  They aren't outdoor/waterproof rated, so we'll see how well they hold up.

I used an outdoor/waterproof 3M hook to hold it on the door - we'll see if it's strong enough, or if I'll walk out one day to find a splintery mess...

I even had a couple plants left over to pop into the planters flanking the door, and a little moss to help keep the soil wet in the hot sun.  I think they'll look cute and cohesive as they go into full bloom!

**UPDATE**

Turns out, that moss doesn't stay in very well.  And that our door doesn't get the benefit of any rain, and plants in a door-attached planter need a lot of extra watering.  So, off to the compost pile their remains went.

I grabbed a long cocoa fiber basket liner, and cut it to relative shape.

In retrospect, I wish I had left the sides a little taller.

Then, I added some plants that won't protest too much without a lot of water.

I like the way the moss/flowers looked better, but got really tired of sweeping moss in our foyer, and never remembered to water.  Here's hoping these guys last a while.

Aaaand, the great crash just happened.  Apparently, one big thunderstorm was too much, and weakened the seal of the supposedly waterproof 3M strip - it just fell right off the door... time to find something a little lighter...

Wear Sunscreen

Sorry, your daily SPF isn't enough.  Even your windows need some sunscreen.  

I recently switched out a sad (once cute) comforter in our guest room, and it was faded terribly.  But, only on the side that faced the window.  And I'd noticed serious fading on the dark curtains we'd hung elsewhere.  I really didn't want that to happen to my fancy new bed, or anything else in our house.

Aesthetic concerns aside, without any big trees to shade us, our house roasts in the Summer sunshine.  Especially the dining room.  I LOVE this window bay, but it gets too hot to enjoy, even in the winter.

Wandering around Lowe's, we found these Gila window films.  DIY window tinting?  How hard could it be?

Luckily, it's pretty easy, after a little learning curve.  Even more luckily, you get to benefit from my learning curve.

Some tips:

• You will definitely need a buddy for this project.  I mean, I'm sure you could figure out a way to peel everything smoothly without the film sticking to itself, but I couldn't.

• The full instructions are wrapped up inside the roll of film.  The first window I installed it on did not benefit from my thinking the full instructions were on the side of the package (and yet, it looks just as good as the second one I did, so that should tell you how seriously easy this is).

• Trim to a slightly bigger than glass pane size before you peel off the clear backing.

• If the clear backing is too hard to get off, use a piece of Scotch tape to separate the layers.

Let's get started.

Step 1:  Gather Materials

Window (clean first with Windex or your preferred window cleaner)

Window Film

Installation Kit

Scissors

Paper Towel

Step 2: Find and Read Instructions

Step 3:  Trim Window Film

Make it a little bigger than the window pane.  Too much overhang is wasteful and makes the final trimming more difficult.

Step 4: Grab a Buddy

Have your helper hold the cut panel while you peel the backing off.

Step 5:  Spray

Spray the window and the sticky side of the window film with the application solution.  Don't be stingy.

Step 6:  Stick the Film On

Wet sides together.

Step 7:  Smooth 

Get the big bubbles out with the squeegee.

Step 8:  Final Trim

Use the cutter to trim the film to the exact size of the window pane.

I found it easiest to trim and remove one edge at a time (as opposed to trimming the entire way around before removal).

Step 8:  Final Smooth

Wrap your squeegee in paper towel to do a final smoothing.  The paper towel will soak up excess application solution.

If you get something trapped between the film and the window pane (errant fly, perhaps), just peel up a corner, get it out, and repeat from Step 5.  It takes a few days for full cure, so there's time to play with it.  

Here's the difference - the window on the right is filmed, the middle and left are au naturale.

These guys aren't perfect, of course.  The window film is so thin that, if it does bend, it can leave a little crack that's visible on the window.  Also, the Platinum finish turns a little two-way-mirror reflective at night.  They do have a less reflective model, but I worried that it wouldn't reflect UV rays as well.  Neither of these are huge problems.

I still have a few windows to go, and then we'll be able to compare our electric usage from year to year.     It feels cooler, the instant the film gets installed, though.  And for now, that works for me.  

Complete!

Note: Not a sponsored post - this brand was just what we found at our go-to hardware store.

Hanging out by the Pool

Summers in Virginia are too hot to go pool-less, and since our neighborhood is still working on selling enough houses to support the neighborhood pool we were promised would be up within a year of us moving in (so bitter), it was up to us to squeeze a little pool into our backyard.

After relocating some plants, we laid out our soon-to-be pool.  I was pretty sure the 12' model would be too big, but it looks like we have a little more room.  We'll upgrade from this 10' next year, and gain a whole extra 6" of depth.

Usually, cheap stuff is harder to set up.  Not this guy.  All we had to do was inflate the upper ring...

Attach the filter hoses, and fill... 

Smooth out as many wrinkles as possible, and fill some more...

And fill...

It sets up pretty much all by itself, which was pretty neat to watch.  It took a few hours to fill up completely, and we have a little bit of a "deep end" because our lot slopes gently and I wasn't about to get a truck full of dirt to level it out.

It's one step up from a teeny sit-and-soak pool.  Not big enough for the grownups to swim, but plenty large for the Kiddo to practice in between swim lessons and splash around.  

But, it is totally big enough for my floatie.  The cupholders are a nice perk.

All that was left was a place to hang wet towels.  There are a LOT of cute hook options - whale tails, mermaids, other various body parts of marine creatures.  Ultimately, I decided on something a little less theme-y.  It didn't have anyyything to do with me happening upon 3 perfectly serviceable hooks at Marshall's for $4 each.  

I just screwed directly into the deck post, and hung these guys on the 3 sides closest to the pool.  I made sure to hang them low enough to have some hope of the Kiddo hanging his towel up.

Pro tip: Make sure the head of your screws actually fit inside the hangers BEFORE you screw them into the post.

Anybody else having a backyard Summer?  Any words of wisdom/experience with little above ground pools?

Bed of my dreams

When the then-soon-to-be-Mr. and I moved in to our first apartment together, I started pulling dream house/decor ideas out of magazines, and saved my favorites in a cute binder.  This started a little more than 10 years ago, and way before Pinterest, but I've saved and added to that binder since then.

One of my first pulls was this bed. When I figured out where this bed came from, and its price tag, I was pretty sure it would stay in dreamland for me.

Pulled from Martha Stewart Magazine

But, oh, I loved this bed.  I have never loved another bed like I loved this bed.  All other beds paled in my mental comparison of them to this bed.

And then there was a sale, and a just-big-enough hole in my budget.  So off to Ethan Allen we went.

We met with the nicest Design Consultant ever (locals - Megan Vogel in Fredericksburg, VA)  Which, yes, it's part of her job to be nice to people splashing out nearly $2,000 for a bed; but, when we told her we were there just for the Quincy bed, there was zero pressure to add or even look at anything else.  It was really refreshing.

I didn't need help picking the style, but I had to get a little advice about the multiple beautiful finish options.  While the black finish had been in my mind for years, our bedroom is pretty small, and I was pretty sure that would be overwhelming in the space we've got, given the size and scale of the bed.

After I showed her pictures of our existing room, our Consultant agreed we'd need something a little softer.  The Mr. and I had thought grey would be a better alternative, neutral but a little more interesting than plain white.

Do you know how many greys there are in the world?  So many different greys.  OK, 5.  Still.

Our Consultant patiently let us pore over the samples, and then suggested one of the shades we hadn't even considered based on its online swatch.  She didn't have a sample of it, but there were a few finished pieces in the showroom we could look at.  It was really nice to be able to see how the finish looked in different light, and over a larger surface, as well.

So we wound up ordering it in Dove Gray (which looks NOTHING like its almost tan swatch online), and I love it so, so, so much.

After the order went in, we got a lovely, personal, hand written note from our Consultant thanking us for our purchase and complimenting our Kiddo.  I can say I have spent way more (cumulatively) at Ikea, and nobody ever wrote me a note to say thank you.  It was a very nice touch, coupled with the status updates she emailed us regularly.  Undeniably, these are the keys to my heart and loyalty forever.  

The delivery guys came early this morning.  They had it all set up and beautiful in less than an hour.

I've never had someone else put together a piece of furniture for me, or carry pieces up 2 sets of stairs (Mr. and Dad excluded, of course).  It feels fancy.

Now I finally have a good place for these shams - which looked too big on our smaller metal bed.  They were part of my great-grandmother's trousseau, hand stitched and full of love.

But I have a new first world problem - nearly everything else in the bedroom looks sad and cheap (because it is!)  The bedside lamps are too small.  I think the rest of the bedding could have a little more interesting texture, and probably needs a little decorative pillow in the middle there.  The drapes hang strangely.  My cyclist print needs a new frame and a relocation at least a few inches higher (or to another wall).  

It's going to be a slow process - I'm not letting ANYTHING into that room unless I love it as much as that bed.  Which is a tall (and probably expensive) order, but I'm going to do my best to make sure everything else in that room is so perfect I feel like I can't breathe.

What's been your biggest splurge, or item you've pined for longest (this was definitely mine, on both counts!)?