Suzy Homemaker

I am a busy body.  I know it's easy for everyone to call it nesting, but trust me, it's been a long term condition for me.  I am lucky to make it through a movie without starting a project and being up and down 16 times.  Easter was no exception.  I have a list a mile long I'd still like to get done before baby and while I still feel like doing anything.  My big project this weekend was cleaning cabinets.  

You may or may not remember this post.  What I didn't know at the time was that this was just the beginning of my bug problem.  My neighbor gave my husband and I roaches and it was disgusting.  I have NO tolerance for such things.  I had my house professionally sprayed.  I bug bombed.  I cussed.  And eventually we saw no more bugs.  That didn't stop me from spreading poison and traps in my cabinets to prevent ANY insect from stepping foot on my counter.  

The more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to get rid of it.  The last thing I want is insecticide anywhere near a baby bottle and I didn't want little hands on poison.  De-bug bombing my place has been pain, but I am making progress.  I started with windows, curtains and blinds and that was a success.  I have cleaned out closets, reorganized under sinks in all the bathrooms and kitchen and then started on the cabinets.  

I had to sweep out the powdered poison and wipe them all out with soapy water.  After they were dry I ran some Raid around the edges and then contact papered the shelves (Which was going surprisingly well until I was pulling the sticky paper from it's backing and managed to paper cut my lip.  That's right.  My lip.  These things only happen to me).
All that was left was washing EVERYTHING and putting it back in all neat and tidy.  It wouldn't have been so bad except I have no dishwasher and washing every dish you own is a slow, slow process.  

But, doesn't everything look so tidy now?

The fridge even got in on the action!  Full cleaned out, drawers washed and condiments organized.  

Aren't you proud of me?!  I was too...until I remembered that my baby's room looks like this...

*Sob.  I will get it all done.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.  I definitely have big plans for getting it all done.  I have been letting the baby's room be a disaster because we go THURSDAY for our ULTRASOUND to find out if we are having a boy or girl!  After that I have a feeling I will want to kick it into high gear and I have decor in mind for either a little miss or a little mister so I just need the go ahead to get my color scheme in order.  

I gotta get my walls wiped down and baseboards cleaned and repainted and touch up paint on my walls.  The projects abound!  Let me know if you wanna help :)

My Little Home, Part 4

This is a grand shot of the living room.  If you were looking into the room like this, you would be standing in kitchen.  The little metal table beside the recliner I've recently replaced, but didn't feel like taking new pictures since my Christmas stuff is down now.  This gives you an idea of the lay out.

After I graduate from SIU I finally got a new couch and chair, which I still think are great.  The recliner sits beside this great vintage cabinet that I got for $50.  On top are a spotlight from a flea market, my glitter reindeer (oh how I heart that reindeer) and one of my many sets of trees.  Close up..

Now you get to see just a few of my books, and my glitter JESUS!!!  The bottom two shelves hold my first paint palette, a few art books and giant chess piece.  Random art/sculpture is of my favorite.  I have a collection of sculpted noses too.  Great stuff!

This is a shot of the beautiful little table my Mom got me off of one of her friends.  I adore the chippy green two-tone paint and the stamped tin front.  I don't think I will ever get tired of this little table.  Underneath it is a basket that stores books and magazines and is generally packed full.  The painting is by me... Maggie makes fun of the blue chair, for obvious reasons, but I've never gotten around to changing its profile with black paint.  It makes me happy, regardless.  I also love my silver winter pillows and the multicolored, wool, patchwork quilt I got at Third Sunday Market in Bloomington that act as their backdrop.

The next two pics are ugly.  The first is our giant TV.  Did I ever mention that Zac is a home theater installer?  Oh, and his addiction is movies.  It's absurd I know.  He was really annoyed that I put decorations on his stand.  He kept moving the nativity like it was blocking the surround sound.  He's ridiculous.  I know the decor is a little random, but I love that the Santa and the Snowman are center stage in the room.  They are faboo!  All scratched and pale from all their years on glistening snow. They make my heart smile.

The last picture is of my two small scale chairs.  Both were picked up at thrift stores.  The white one is from Catholic Charities, the green was originally peach.  Each cost me $35, and then the cost of fabric for recovering.  I know I've mentioned that I like clean lines and little legs and that's what makes these two chairs perfect!

This is the inside of the cabinet.  Of course, there are more books, travel and design.  I also dig my glassware.  I like that a glass lamp provides plenty of task lighting without any visual bulk.  The glass head is filled with vintage ornaments.

So that's the living room.  I will show the tree and the kitchen soon. There were just too many pictures to put it all on together!

My Little Home, Part 5

So you've seen my bedroom, bathroom, and office.  I was going to do the living room today, but instead am doing both the living room and dining room/kitchen.  I have to put them as two separate posts because I'm writing them at two different times and...well, I decided to get my house pictures done today :)  When you walk into my front (side actually) door you are standing right in the middle of the largest front room with the kitchen on your left and living room on your right.  The tree is right ahead of you, but this picture gives you an idea of the layout.

Shocking that I have a white glittery tree right.  It's a little sparse this year, but don't worry.  I went the day after Christmas to Walmart and bought half-priced ornaments to make sure it's dripping with bulbs next year.   The cabinet on the left is extra kitchen storage.  I didn't take a picture of all my cabinets because, well, they aren't that great to look at.

This is how things look standing in the kitchen. You get to see the jewelry tree that I made one year as my Christmas craft (this year was a felt tree skirt covered in sequins and last year was a wreath) and a hideously wonderful poinsettia painting.  Both are hung next to my giant paintbrush which gets shifted around at random.   The first close up of the cabinet..

I filled up my first aid box with vinage bulbs and set up another collection of Christmas trees.  I think I had 4 out this year.  They are really stiff bottle brush trees and I LOVE them.  I especially like the colors of these.  You also see a picture from a couple Christmases ago when Mag got a faboo deer bust.  We were rubbing noses with him.  I'm pretty sure he liked it.    Then, of course, Aubrie Grace, all set for a good cooking session in Annie's kitchen.

Oh, I take it back, 5 sets of trees.  These pictures are of Nolan, my nephew, Me and Grandpa Howard, Me and Annie.  (By the way Annie, thanks so much again for using the name Everett.  You could have had a Howard Reid and it would be cute.  I can't name a baby Howard Ballard.  You bastard.)  I adore these little foil trees.  The best part is that even though they are a little fragile, you can easily bend them back into shape so there's no real concern with packing them up each year.  Also, more books!   The little wire basket is nice for hauling them around though.  I have another wire basket just like it in my bathroom.  One weird thing you should know about me....I HATE toilet paper holders.  Just hate refilling, it's a pain.  So both Maggie and I say no to them.  Instead, mine stays all piled up in a cute wire basket.

I really love this table cloth.  It was my grandmas and is so funky and ugly.  It is super long and wide, but because it's always folded has those funny white crease lines fabrics get over the years and it therefore stays folded.  In the middle is a ridiculous candle stick holder that's a combo of garland, metal leaves, ornaments, and pine cones.  All are sprayed white, and all are covered in glitter.  Bet you could've guessed that.  It all sets on top of a green and yellow table that has just the perfect amount of chippy old paint.  Around it are two barrel chairs, which are shockingly comfortable, especially with a pillow in the seat.

This is the only decent looking counter space I have.  Yet another collection of bottle brush trees.  This time gold and sparkly.  You may have noticed that I have quite a few lamps.  Mom ruined me.  I'm not much for overhead lighting.  I prefer task lighting, even when it's on top of my microwave.  There's also the much loved picture of the last supper.  It's too cool.

This is a picture of my most prized Christmas posession.  A vintage Santa face that lights up.  His eyes border on creepy but I still love him!

So that's my house.  What little there is of it.  Hope you all enjoyed it.  I will post new pictures of the replacement dresser and other things soon!

My Little Home, Part 3

After Zac and I moved into the trailer park I realized how awesome it would be to have a big bathroom.  As of yet, we've had no such luck.  When we moved from #47 to #18, we really down graded in the bathroom department.  Our last place had been destroyed by the renter to the point where we literally had to rip out everything.  It was a pain for sure, but I did get a new tub and surround, new wood laminate floors, new vanity and sink and a new toilet (complete with a new toilet seat.  Necessary as the last woman to live there stole not only the appliances, but the light bulbs and toilet seat as well.)  This is a picture from the hallway.  

We've repainted the bad old cabinets which really does clean them up.  The countertop are still very yellow, but the sinks are new and there are TWO!  I don't know if Zac and I will ever be able to go back to just one.  It's so much more convenient.  Zac would always get pissy when I crowded him in the bathroom trying to brush our teeth at the same time :)

This is Zac's sink.  (Unfortunately the picture is close enough that you can see where I need to touch up the cabinet paint.)  He likes mouthwash so I always keep it stocked in the vintage decanter labeled scotch on a little gold plate on the front.  I figure its fitting considering all the alcohol in mouthwash.  I also love my two hands.  I've had the peach glass hand for years and years.  I think Mom gave it to me in junior high.  Perhaps having a place for my rings is what fed my passion for them.....anyway.  The porcelain hand is actually a glove form.  It says Latex, XL on the bottom in blue print.  I dig it.  The only problem is that the fingers are too large so my rings just teeter precariously on the tips, threatening always to bounce down the sink. (ps...i just realized when I viewed my blog that you can't really even see the hands unless you click on the picture to make it big.  I guess making the picture large wasn't the best option.  thanks blogger.)

This cabinet around the toilet provides lots of storage for me.  It's better than underneath the sink, which has absolutely no shelves.  I like for a house to be clean and organized, but also lived in.  I don't mind having out the things I use everyday.  For that reason, I display my pretty perfume bottles and think that my makeup brushes in a glittery votive holder are kind of glamorous.  I also keep my soap unwrapped and in a glass jar.  I usually keep a few different types of  Dove (which I love) and Zac's favorite, pull every drop of natural oils and moisture off your skin soap, Irish Spring.  I always hated when I would get in the shower and realize I was out of soap, so this solution keeps me squeaky clean without having to get out of a warm shower and leave drippy footprints across the floor.  I also love my shower curtain.  I got it at Old World Pottery for $8.  It's a cute pattern and full of wonderful color.

Now these beauties are oil paintings I picked up at a flea market.  One cost $11 and the other $6.  I couldn't believe it, frames and all! I love their saturated colors and the contrast of the all gold with the almost all blue.  Can't get enough of that serious expression on that little girls face, or her brother's socks.  I also like that they are unexpected in a bathroom.  In my previous homes they've lived in the dining room.  I thought they were fun and was a play on the idea of a "formal" dining room in a one bedroom apartment.

That's all for today. Tomorrow, the living room, complete with an all glitter Santa, reindeer, AND nativity!

My Little Home, Part 2

As you may have guessed...trailers are no the biggest, most spacious homes in the world.  They are generally for efficiency and not really they eye candy I hope for my home to be.  None the less...I love my little bedroom.  There is literally just enough room for the bed, a couple small tables and the dresser.  I love my bedding.  I picked it out at World Market and my aunt bought it for me as a wedding present.  I love the colors, orange, red, blues and brown.  I could paint my walls so many colors....if it weren't a trailer that we will eventually have to rent to someone else.  I also dig my vintage side table.  the one on the right just rocks my socks off.  There's plenty of space for all my books and easy access to them all the time.  The one on the left, I bought off of a stranger in St. Louis.  

This is a close up of the table on the left.  It has peely layers and underneath the top you can see someone's scrawly handwriting.  Its not peeled back enough to see what they were writing, but I love that kind of used, worn feeling I get from knowing that someone else owned this once.  That it had a story before it became mine.  I think that is really why I love thrift shops, Catholic Charities, junk stores and flea markets.  You just know you are gonna find something loved, but outgrown.

This is a view of the west side of the bedroom.  I did finally put up some wedding pictures....6 months later.  I love the one that I got printed.  My sisters and I are lucky that our county has really pretty, fancy wedding certificates, so that's what you see framed along with the pictures.  Some day I will post pictures of my wedding... in a one room chapel, in the country, surrounded by trees.  It was beautiful...but anyway, that's for a different post.  You also get to see a piece of abstract art.  For me, that picture has no soul.  I painted it to match the colors of some old bedding I have.  People seem to like it though, so I guess that's why I haven't changed it.  (It was supposed to be the 4 grandpa's with funny long necks for Maggie, but instead, abstract circles...sorry Gig)

The one thing that makes me love my little trailer bedroom is the closets.   That's right, plural, closetS!  Zac and I each get one.  There is a sort of funny little cubby in between.  Just wide enough to fit a storage ottoman that desperately need recovered and is therefore hidden by a throw (another must when you live in a drafty trailer).  Above that is my jewelry box, which has recently been turned into storage for my nail polishes as Zac bought me a fantastic new one for christmas.  Beside that is my jewelry tree, the monogramed candle I bought for my wedding ceremony and a mirror that will soon be replaced with, well, probably a different mirror I like better.

We Fox girls are nothing if not creative and that's how my jewelry tree was born.  Below is a close up.  This used to be a tree-topper and I bought it on sale at Walmart for $7.  I cut a chunk of wood, spray painted it, depressed the coiled spring thing that formed the base of the topper and screwed it flat to the wood.  The wood made it heavy so it stopped falling over and voila!

Last but not least, well probably least, is my dresser.  I hate it, and it is soon to be replaced by a piece of furniture I'm in the process of refinishing.  Its just not me.  I like vintage, mid-century modern.  Furniture with clean lines up on funny little legs, not this brown boxy thing.  Anyway, there are a couple more pictures from the wedding and a hideous old tv because Zac insists he can't fall asleep without the noise. (Which, by the way, is complete BS.  If Zac gets anywhere close to horizontal, regardless of he time of day, he's got max 5 minutes before he's snoring like the big man that he is.)

That's my little bedroom, in a very tan colored nutshell.  Tomorrow, I'm thinking bathroom, then we will get into the good stuff....the living room complete with my Christmas decorations.  I've taken them down already, but still love their look!

My Little Home, Part 1

Our trailer only has 4 rooms, the bedroom, the bathroom, the office and the kitchen/living room that are open to each other.  I figured since my sisters have both blogged pictures of their houses, and we have the shop (Ethel Edith), a few might be interested to know what my humble abode looks like.  I took quite a few pictures, so I will break this up into different parts.

This is the office.  It's quite small, but adequate for what we need.

  

I really like all kinds of art. Cubism, impressionism, still life, Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt, love it. You will see in the next few blogs all kinds of art.  Most of it I've painted myself, like the two in this picture.  I really don't care for the two girls anymore, but I've not decided what to paint over it with.
Beside that is a little shelf Zac built for me.  It holds our records, my design, and his home theater magazines.  Under that are old marquis letters that I bough on ebay.  I also bought a & sign that I love.  I l like them together, A & Z, but there just wasn't room.  That rather unattractive piece of furniture is an adjusting table.  It is really all I need to treat patients (and plenty of family) at home.  I try to ignore it as best I can.  (Please feel free to do the same)

This is the opposite side of the room.  That bookcase is absolutely packed.  So much so that we stack books in all our other rooms and the tops of about any flat surface.  I really love this bust of Abe Lincoln..and the painting next to it I like to call Gabe Lincoln.  And of course, no adjusting room is complete without a couple of spines, one adult and one child.

Just a little sneak peak into the trailer. Nothing too shocking or out of the ordinary, but also no the most beautiful space in my home.  Hope you liked it!