Hallway Progress

It's been a few weeks since we posted about the Pinterest projects we've completed lately.  One of those was a sneak peak of our downstairs hallway update.

In the spirit of getting things done on the cheap we tackled the hallway knowing that: 
A) it was a project that could be done in a day
B) it would be affordable - some trim wood and a can of paint

The goal was to try and use this space as a place to add personal touch that doesn't need a commitment - like a piece of art.  And it could not included frames that need to be taken apart and put back together, that didn't fall into our definition of easy.  

The first order of business was paint.  We took home three samples and Matt ended up winning with his choice of Benjamin Moore Lacey Pearl.  An off white with a light gray tint. 

This is where we started: 

And here is where we ended up:

A huge difference!  I've been hesitant to use cool colors next to our natural wood trim in the Bungalow, but to my surprise, they are all working.  We also switched up type of paint we bought.  We've been purchasing Behr Premium Plus for $35 a gallon.  This time we bought regular Behr paint for $27 a gallon and it's no VOC.  I was extremely happy with the quality and will use it again.  It also only took one coat!  I'm sure that's due to such a light original color, but overall the coverage on the first coat was fantastic. 

Back to the art:

This project was very easy thanks to the router table we inherited from my Dad - thanks Dad!  We purchased high grade pine 1x4 and Matt used the router to add a detail the the bottom and the low profile photo ledge. Then we sanded and stained the wood gray.  For the most part the photos stay up unless you run by quickly.  Yes we're adults, and yes we run around the house sometimes...But it's nothing a little scotch tape can't handle.  Currently the wall is filled with favorite photos, cards, and postcards from friends.  Someday I see this becoming the aspiring child artist gallery wall as well!

The rug is from Target and I love the modern take on plaid.  Our master bedroom is just off this hallway and it has a rustic design element going on. I think the stained wood ledges and plaid are a perfect transition from an eco kitchen to a rustic retreat of a bedroom.  

The only item left on the hallway list to make it complete is a new light fixture. 

Do you treat your hallway as a "room" and have a decor theme for it?  Or what about your fav photos and cards, do you have them on display anywhere?

Time to make dinner - stay tuned for another 18 Preston original recipe soon!

18 Preston To-Do List

Last week I mentioned that I had put together a Google Doc for our home to-do list. I planned on writing about it last weekend too, but that didn't happen. So what better thing to do while I'm waiting to get a haircut. 

Between the two of us, Meg and I probably have half a dozen different places we keep our to-do lists for the house. We have notebooks, binders, iPhone notes and of course, Pinterest. (Meg, Matt)

I was finally able to combine all of the lists into one place. Google Drive offers the best place for a wired family to share a collaborative document. We can share it between the two of us and access it from all of our devices. Google Drive has fairly recently come out with new apps for the iPhone and iPad that give you almost all of the same editing capabilities as on a full computer. 

The list needed to have a few pieces of critical information. We needed the name of the task, the estimated cost, priority, timeframe and time commitment and difficulty.  Once we actually start doing the projects, we'll probably have a completed check box and actual cost. That will help show us all of the awesome things we've done around the house.

So far we've got a pretty good start to the list. Now we just need to start banging them out. Especially the ones with the low cost and time commitment. I think that's going to be the best use of this list, a quick glance to see what can be done right now.
Let us know what you think. We're always looking to make things better, so what should we add? A little bit of color would probably be nice, and I'm sure we'll get there, but the important thing was to get it started.

A Dude's Pinterest

What's that over there? A rabbit hole? And's what's down there in the rabbit hole? thisiswhyimbroke.com? Well let's look down this rabbit hole and see what we can find.

Three hours later, I find myself writing a blog post.

So it turn's out, Pinterest is a great way to store stuff that you find on the interweb. I mean, world wide net. I mean... you get the idea.I personally think I'm really good at using the internet, but not with the social aspects. There isn't a single person I would ask a question to instead of the internet. And I mean real questions, like "Why does my super computer crash when I'm trying rebuild my corridor with custom subassemblies and multiple offset and profile targets in AutoCAD Civil 3D?" not real questions like "What do you think our babies are going to look like?" I save those for my deepest, well-thought-out, depths of ...a pint glass.
But while I was exploring thisiswhyimbroke.com, I found a lot of thing that would be fun to look at again. Usually in this case, I would leave 15 pages open on my Google chrome so I could refer to them on my computer, iPad, or iPhone. (Sync Tabs Across Devices - Google Chrome Help) After everything I've heard Meg brag about, and notice myself quite a bit, it turns out Pinterest is really good for this. So I hope you check out my page, pinterest.com/mkearney028, and let me know what you think.

I've created 8 boards so far and I'm pretty sure there's more to be made. I've tried to cover For The Home, Wish List, Inspiration, Food, I Can't Believe This Exists, Kiddos, For The Wifey, Outdoorsyish.

It's been an interesting experience saving everything that I've looked at and keeping it ready for the occasion it's been assigned. I even figured out how to create a secret board to save things I want to buy for Meg (shhh....don't tell her, she's pretty stubborn about technology, so she'll never figure out how to get to my secret boards, even on our home computer.)

I can really look at this as a to-do list because there are so many ideas. This kind of segues into my next blog.

I started a Google Doc so Meg and I can share our house projects with a cloud based format. I want to shoot out the details so we can get some suggestions to make it better. I've got a few ideas already, but there's always room for improvement. Hopefully I can get that out tomorrow so I can incorporate any suggestions quickly.