Fifteen lessons I learned in 2014.

In the past year, we have found a house, put an offer on a house, closed on a house, started tearing apart a house, filled that house with wedding decorations, emptied the house of wedding decorations, painted walls, fixed more leaky pipes than we can count, and tried day after day to turn that house into a home.

If you had told me last year, on January 8 that we would have a house that we not only got a great deal on, but a house we can afford, a house we can afford to fix, and a house that really does feel like home, I would've assumed this house was in the worst part of town. But God had the perfect house for us in the perfect place for us at the perfect time for us. And in the last (almost) year of this house adventure, I've learned a few things...

1. If this is the house God wants for us, the inspector and appraiser will give the go-ahead, no matter what issues come up.

2. It's okay to have a house that isn't finished. There's a reason it's a "fixer-upper."

3. Fixing things the right way by yourself takes time, and that's okay.

4. Sometimes the budget doesn't allow for the prettiest option.

5. Temporary solutions are just fine. And they are just that, temporary.

6. Even unfinished homes can feel cozy. When people walk into our house, I don't know what they think about our flooring issues (that melted carpet padding that looks like mold), or the rooms that aren't finished (or even started). But when they come into the living room, I know they can feel comfortable in the warmth of the space and the hospitality we offer.

7. It's okay to "undo" the finished things that were waiting for us in the house, like the basement. The house just becomes more "us" every time we do.

8. Painting isn't as easy as it looks. And it is ALWAYS more time consuming that you plan.

9. When house issues come up, sometimes you have to prioritize. Not everything can be fixed every time.

10. Always look around at the store. You might be surprised to find a $400 10x12 rug that's in the $80 bin because it has a tear. Or a $20 coffee table because it's "out of season" (whatever that means).

11. The sooner you quit being a perfectionist, the easier it will be to finish a project.

12. Kids are messy. Let go of how "nice" things should look now. That will make sharing life with children so much more enjoyable. Besides, kids spill milk and vomit on couches sometimes, that's just life.

13. DIY blogs often have big budgets. DIY doesn't necessarily mean "inexpensive."

14. Sunlight can make any dull space spectacular. Just open the blinds already!

15. Don't compare your house or your stuff to others'. Comparing yourself to others only leads to arrogance or shame, but never happiness.

I'm sure 2015 will bring LOTS of lessons. Here's to hoping that I will add to the lessons learned instead of starting over at square one.

Reach for the sky!

When Isaiah and I bought our house, the kitchen looked like it had a TON of storage space! Since the cabinets were all a plain oak color, it felt like there was wood grain everywhere, but once we really thought about it, there wasn't much space to store all the kitchen gadgets I collect things. Our kitchen cabinets go all the way to the ceiling, which is fantastic, but since the cabinets are all on the wall with the windows, where there could be cabinets, there are windows and then small cabinets above the windows. So while it looked like a ton of space, we really only had one full set of above-the-counter cabinets (and I can't reach half of it because it's so tall). Our other above-the-counter cabinet set is above the stove and it contains the vent for our range hood, so it's not full storage either.

Our kitchen is an eat-in kitchen with a wide open space as soon as you enter the kitchen from the dining room (which will hopefully someday turn into a half wall/counter something that ties the rooms all together.) But until then, this empty space wasn't conducive to storage, and we had considered buying a huge cabinet/pantry unit, we couldn't find one sturdy enough and cheap enough and we didn't want to build one, because there are so many other things we'd like to build that it didn't seem that urgent.

[Here's the part of the post where we solve that problem.]

Isaiah and I had a date night at IKEA about a month ago, and we I fell in love with these almost floating shelves that would look PERFECT along the wall across from the cabinets, leading to our sunroom. The only downfalls were that the kitchen still hadn't been painted and the shelves were out of stock. So Isaiah took care of painting the kitchen, and I took care of the shelves (by stopping by IKEA once every week or so until they were in stock on Saturday). We purchased four of these with a connecting bracket to put two long shelves end to end. (At IKEA they sell the shelves and brackets separately.)

From my other post on shelving you might have learned that measuring is not top priority in buying shelving. But this time I measured first and promptly forgot how long the wall was. So I got home and realized that the shelves are each 47 inches long, so they are 94 inches end to end, plus we needed just enough space for the brackets, and the wall I had picked was 93 inches long. Which led us to plan B...

We decided rather than doing really short shelves, or returning them, to just move the shelves to the open eat-in area of the kitchen. Isaiah spent sometime Sunday afternoon putting these gorgeous shelves on the wall with some heavy-duty, 300-some pound rated screw attatcher things (because I don't remember the technical term, go figure). This mostly completed the look of the kitchen and give me a place to put my fun dishes! While it looks very similar to my favorite relaxing hangout in Kansas City, T. Loft, it makes our kitchen look SO good!

More on that paint job soon! 

Friendsgiving 2014

My friend Emily has wanted to do a Friendsgiving feast for a few years, and since our small group/community group gives us an automatic group of friends, and we have a space that is bigger than 700 square feet (like Emily and my old apartment), we decided to just do it this year!

We joined up with another small group from our church to have our feast, and we piled (if I counted right) 31 people into our quaint house. We asked our friends to bring a dish to share, and between the 30 of us, we had two turkeys, two hams, three dishes of mashed potatoes, three dishes of green bean casserole, two vegetable dishes, corn, two bowls of stuffing, three bowls of gravy, seven pies, forty mini pies, at least eight bottles of sparkling juice, two jugs of eggnog, two jugs of apple cider, and tons of other stuff I can't even remember!

The evening filled our house with laughter, football on TV, ping pong competitions, telling stories, sharing lessons learned over the years, and getting to know lots of new people!

So here's another lesson on hospitality: just do it. Don't worry about what might get spilled, where people will sit, whether or not there will be enough food, whether or not your sewer system can handle that many people, what temperature the house should be, which window sills didn't get dusted... Just. Do. It.

 It doesn't require an elaborate plan to be hospitable. It just requires love and action.

Artwork that's inexpensive and eclectic.

Artwork in homes has always intimidated me and confused me. I've never really understood what makes art "art" but having bare walls isn't something I'm necessarily a fan of. I shy away from the sentimental art pieces that proclaim things like "family is what makes a house a home" and "live, laugh, love" assuming that anyone who doesn't advertise that way obviously doesn't value family, know what love is, or enjoy laughter.

I enjoy graphic prints and I enjoy changing things up, so when I ran across this idea on one of my favorite home improvement blogs, I thought that this would be a perfect way to add some fun art without spending a ton and committing to a piece that I'm not in love with.

I had been itching to do this, and I took the opportunity to get started while I was out at Home Depot buying a fire pit for our house. Since I was already at the store when I decided to buy the materials, I skipped the first rule of a project, which is measure twice. I figured since I didn't measure, I should just be extra generous on the amount of materials I buy. So for what ended up being roughly a three-foot-wide portion of wall in our hallway, I bought 32 feet worth of shelving. I knew that I wanted four shelves, and I didn't know how long they needed to be, so I bought four eight-foot pieces of lumber. Because, math.

The lumber I got was 1x2 primed pine boards that were eight feet long. It ended up being PERFECT (after I cut them down a LOT). Other than buying boards that were too long, everything else was straight from John and Sherry's supply list.

Maneuvering around the store with these in my cart was a joke, and loading them in my Camry was an even bigger joke. Apparently, the problem-solver in me was not along for that shopping trip.

Since Isaiah and I didn't have a Dremel to use for this project, we improvised and used a circular saw. If newlyweds can do this stuff with the wrong tools, you can do this with almost anything! We (Isaiah) cut a ridge down each board about two-thirds of the way across.

We measured 11 inches between each shelf to allow room for 8x10 prints/pictures if we decided to use those someday. We used drywall screws (from what I remember) and 2.5 inch screws to make it through the pine boards and into the wall. Each of the boards went into the wall fairly easily and they are really sturdy, which isn't super necessary, but nice.

After about a half hour of measuring, cutting, and screwing attaching, the shelves took their place gracefully on our hallway wall. After about two months, we finally filled in the holes left by the hardware (with wood-filler, so it wouldn't shrink up like caulk does) and painted with our favorite classic Lilac Muse from Valspar.

I've been collecting artwork (postcards, greeting cards, and a few other things from some of my favorite places) and I have enough that I can switch things out as seasons change, or as I find new things. This is how I've always wanted to decorate my house anyway. Now I can very easily and very subtly change the art in my home and I don't have to occupy too much storage space.

My birthday card from my bestie, Emily!

My mom read this quote at my bridal shower, and it's been one of my favorites ever since!

I found this at a shop that was closing in the Crossroads Art District of Kansas City about a month after our wedding.

Some of my favorite pieces on the wall are from Raygun, Hammerpress, Paper Source, my best friend, and the green Portuguese coasters are from Porch Light Antiques.

Yellow walls, dying flowers, and hospitality.

I've always wanted to have a fixer-upper. I've always loved having a project to work on and goal to work towards. But now that I have those, I find myself avoiding the projects. At first, it was just thrilling to make our house look like a home, but lately, we've hit a plateau. Several rooms look as finished as they will for years. Some rooms have been touched with nothing more than a crappy art paintbrush and various bright paint samples by me.

One of the reasons I have been so excited about having a house/home was using it for hospitality. And that's where the biggest blessing and biggest rebuke has been for me. Since I was old enough to notice what I was wiping my spaghetti-face on, I've wanted cloth napkins. Call me crazy, but I love them. I love fresh flowers. I love the idea of just chatting in the living room with friends over coffee. I love the thought of having friends in my home to share what I have.

While there is nothing wrong with sharing things, I'm learning that hospitality is not about sharing what I have, but sharing who Jesus is and what He offers.

Hospitality is not offering the best food.

Hospitality is not using cloth napkins.

Hospitality is not having every room painted.

Hospitality is not having enough seats for your guests.

Hospitality is not trying to impress others.

Hospitality is not apologizing for the mess.

Hospitality is not hurrying to wash the dirty dishes.

Hospitality is not feeling uncomfortable about the unfinished projects.

Hospitality is not entertainment.

Hospitality is not about offering a good experience, it's about offering Jesus. 

So when you see my house, I hope you see my heart too. I'm still learning. Learning to love because He loved; learning to welcome because He welcomed; and learning to invite because He invited.

One Pinterest headboard, coming right up!

We had been wanting a headboard for our bed for a while since our bed is up against a window. We had checked craigslist quite a few times and we had looked at a few thrift stores, but the idea of sanding something down that's that large didn't seem too appealing. (After all the trim sanding we've done, we're avoiding sanding blocks for a little while longer.) 

The other obvious place to look when you want something new is pinterest, so that's where I headed. I had inspiration from a facebook friend who had just built their own headboard, and I found exactly what I wanted!

Isaiah and I jotted down a few measurements and headed to Lowes. :)

The boards ew ended up getting were pine because it's not too expensive, and it holds up well (at least I think that's why we picked it). 

Since we have a queen size bed, we needed something that was at least 60" wide. As per the suggestion of the pinterest people, we added an extra inch on each side for fluff of the comforter. :)

The boards we ended up getting were 

3 - 1x4" that were 6' long. (We needed 62" of those 72")

3 - 1x6" that were 6' long.

2 - 2x4 that were 8' long (because that's how they sell them??)

Approx. 30  - 1 1/2"  wood screws

At Lowes (and almost any hardware store) they will cut lumber for you if you ask. Isaiah took the shopping list and left me to look like a helpless girl who needed help with her pinterest project over by the wood cutting station. He called it "dividing and conquering." ;)

I had the pine boards cut to 62" and then the 2x4s were cut to 50". That was the recommended height up from the floor to the top of the headboard and it worked out perfectly for us!

We staggered the boards every other since three of them were 4" wide, and three of them were 6" long. Our top board was a 6" board that hung over the top edge (stuck up over the 2x4s) about three inches. We lined up the edges on each end and staggered the screws (so the wood wouldn't split, which I didn't know before this project) to attach all the pieces. We don't have a clamp to keep the pieces together, so I sat on the floor and used my feet while Isaiah pushed up against the other side. 

After everything was attached, including an extra, shorter piece in the middle for stabilization, we sanded it down. 

Then we measured the legs for holes that we would use to attach it to our bed frame.

The next step was to stain it so it would "match" our espresso-colored dresser. :) We picked Minwax "Dark Walnut" and I used three coats to get the desired color. We were nervous about waiting the full 15 minutes per coat, so we waited less than five minutes for each of the first two coats, then I waited 12 minutes for the last coat because I knew I wanted a dark color. We opted for no "final finish" because it's not in a high traffic area and won't be bothered by much. :)

Then Isaiah attached it with a couple bolts (that I don't remember the specs on) and we were good to go! The recommended dry time was longer than we waited because we were so excited about it, but we made sure the room was well ventilated while we slept. :)

Our finished project! Probably the quickest DIY project to date. :)

If you're wondering why there are only pictures of Isaiah working, it's because our priority of "pictures taken during projects" is different. ;) I promise I do work!!!

http://www.echoesoflaughter.ca/2013/10/diy-headboard-for-under-40.html#sthash.XOi81gAi.dpbs

Slow and steady wins the race to not have things finished first.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen a couple fun things here and there from our house! Isaiah and I got married four weeks ago tomorrow and time is flying! But we still haven't managed to do a TON. It's been a struggle to figure out how exactly to make our house feel like a home and still be able to remodel things. I don't want to be completely trapped in a construction zone, so things will be slow for a while. :)

Since I last posted, we got married, we all but completely finished painting our main bathroom, we basically finished the bathroom floor, we had my inlaws over for dinner, we acquired some couches from Craigslist, we opened and unpacked wedding gifts, we hung a wreath, we rearranged some bookshelves, and we're finally starting to hang things on the walls. :) Here are some progress pictures from the house! 

Our lovely wreath on our lovely door!

"Hunter's White" by Valspar. This is the color that we used for the upper half of the bathroom walls, and the lower half is "Lilac Muse" by Valspar, which is our go-to white paint for house projects. :)

Isaiah working hard on our floating floor! Obviously not much could be worse than the yellow and pink "before," but I absolutely LOVE the Franklin Hickory floating floor we found at Lowes. :)

Progress!

Almost finished! All that's left is the closet, threshold, and quarter-round around the walls!

A better angle of the color. :)

Isaiah moving in the new couches by himself. ;)

All tuckered out after working so hard. :)

A better look at the progress of the living room. :) That rug??? 75% off at Lowes because of a tear in the bottom. For the win! If you have plans to come over, don't expect it to look like this. ;) I already have new plans to rearrange!

And a peek at our new "playroom." :) 

I've realized that these pictures are already a little outdated. But what good is having a house if you can't change things whenever you want!? :) 

We have a couple fun shelving projects up our sleeve, but the short term goal is to have things cleaned for a birthday brunch on Saturday and having some of our besties over on Tuesday! :) But seriously, I can't wait to show off the newest projects!

P.S. Thank the Lord for long lines at the social security office that has given me WAY longer than an hour to write this post. ;)