Our, Hopefully, Soon-to-Be New Place

Yesterday, Jason and I went to see an apartment that we have been interested in for a while.  It is in a complex called Madison Manor and has the reputation of being cheap, quiet, and safe.  This complex in by no means a luxurious place to live.  From the outside, the apartments look like nothing special but they also do not look run down or neglected.  We saw a unit that will be available in mid-July.  It is a second floor apartment with a balcony *perk number 1, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms *perk number 2, a fireplace *perk number 3 (or so I thought), and it has a washer and dryer in the unit *perk number 4.  It is about 850 sq feet which is a major decrease in size from what we are in at the moment.  On the website, you can find a floor plan for the unit so I grabbed it to help explain the downfalls on here.  Skip to the bottom for a list of plans to fix up the place!

As you can see, the entrance to the apartment brings you into the living room.  The floor plan does not show you were the fireplace is.  Instead they show a couch.  The fireplace is along the same wall as the entrance and we have a few problems with it:

1.  We can't use it
2.  It takes up a lot of space
3.  It is dirty as sin and looks horrible
4.  There is no screen or anything on the front of it and the brickwork makes it look like there is just a giant hole in a brick wall.

The balcony is awesome...no complaints there!  It is on the second floor so the third floor balcony actually problems a cover for ours.  This way we can sit outside and enjoy conversation even if it is windy or drizzling!  This is a major plus for Jason in particular.  His idea of a perfect summer day is sitting outside on a balcony or deck eating watermelon and talking politics with me!

The living room is going to be a challenge.  Our living room furniture is a bit too big for this room and while it would fit, it would make the room feel smaller and cluttered.  This is an easy fix though.  We plan on selling the over sized entertainment center, the chaise lounge, and two of these cubicle shelving units that we have. We intend on buying a smaller console for the Xbox and dvds and getting a wall mount for the TV to make the room feel more spacious and open.  We also plan on changing the color scheme, currently black with red and white accents, to something lighter like shades of light green.  Hopefully this will help balance the dark brick on the fireplace and keep it from weighing the room down like it currently does.

Our kitchen table is massive and we rarely use it so we are selling that bad-boy and replacing it with a smaller table.  I really want something that is taller like a bar top style.  There is the little dining nook off of the galley kitchen and a smaller table would open up the walking path or even allow enough room to put the desk there too instead of leaving it in the guest room.  The only thing we need to do to the dining room is swap out the over head light fixture.  The current one is a milky white glass that really dulls the amount of light coming out.  As there is no light in the living room we really want to improve this one.

The kitchen is by far the worst part of the entire unit.  The size is fine.  I would like more cabinets and counter space but we get a pantry/closet in the kitchen for storage so I can work with what I get.  Also there is a wall between the closet and the fridge that is the perfect size for a peg board to be hung to store pots, pans, lids, etc!  The problem with the kitchen is that the cabinet and drawer doors are all extremely warped, broken, and just not functional.  I am being serious when I say that 80% of the cabinets can not be closed because the doors are messed up.  The kitchen floor also needs to be replaced.  It is an old linoleum floor that is at least 6 years old and has an 8 inch gash in it.  The landlord said the whole place was getting new carpet and a paint job but that the kitchen floor and cabinets would probably not be fixed.  Well, that's the deal breaker.  If they won't fix it, we won't sign a lease.

The bathrooms are small and doing laundry will be awkward but we can manage!  Two people can definitely not be in there getting ready at the same time that's for sure!  The bedrooms are small too but our furniture will fit and we can make those work too.

So today I have been thinking non-stop about what I want to do to breathe new life into this place.  Here's what the hubby has agreed to so far:

1.  Painting the living room wall opposite of the fire place light green to draw the focus there.  We will also add some wall art and shelving to keep the focus away from the fireplace.
2.  If the landlord refuses to fix the kitchen floor, we are willing to put down some inexpensive laminate flooring to fix it up.  The cabinets remain a deal breaker.
3.  Adding a painted peg board to the kitchen for vertical storage to help free up cabinet space.
4.  Swapping out the dim light fixture in the dining area for a nicer and brighter one
5.  Hanging a mirror over the fireplace to help make it more attractive
6.  Painting accent walls in each of the bedrooms to make them less sterile.
7.  Adding a little table and chairs on the balcony for outside dining.
8.  Adding plants to the balcony for some color and decoration.
9.  Adding shelving units to the outdoor storage room to organize it and make more space for storage.

I'm sure we will come up with more to do before we move in but this is our plan to start.  I really hope the owner makes the changes that are deal-breakers so we can move forward.  I can't wait to do before and after shots of the process!

Getting Out and Moving On

The Background
June 24, 2010...I sign the dotted line on the lease for my very first apartment and my life as an independent adult begins.  At first everything is great.  My roommate and I are welcomed into the community by many of our neighbors.  We enjoy laying by the pool and soaking up the sun on our days off.  On the weekends we have some friends over and the 90 year old lady from downstairs does shots with us on my 21st birthday.  We were living the life.  Fast forward a few weeks.  At 2 am we are pulled out of bed in a panic to the sounds of banging on our door.  We collide in the hallway on the way to the door terrified that there is an emergency.  As we get to the door in the living room we hear wild giggling in the hallway.  We open the door and find two kids from downstairs laying on the floor kicking our door and finding it hilarious.  I go down to their apartment, knock on the door, and get told by their father that its 2 in the morning and I need to leave him alone.  He never gets his kids to come inside and my roommate and I spend the rest of the night awake.  Fast forward a few more weeks.  It's mid-fall and my roommates, we added a third over the summer, and I are moving from the apartment to a townhouse in the complex to escape the door banging bandits.  While attempting to move the extremely heavy sleeper sofa across the lawn we notice two girls sitting on the hood of my car.  I ask them to get off and they flip me the bird.  I tell them to get off and they climb onto the roof of the car.  I call the landlord and they run...and he does nothing.  The list of events is miles long but I will save you the boredom.  Fast forward to the present time.  My hubbling and I live in an apartment across the complex.  It is a massive apartment weighing in at a little over 1200 sq. feet.  We are in no way dying for more room here.  We love our layout and are displeased with very few things in the actual unit...we'd like a washer and dryer in there and sturdier doors for the two entrances to the apartment but that's it.  The neighborhood, however, has gone way way way downhill lately.  A kid across the complex was jumping from one hood of a car to another and went through the windshield when they miscalculated...their mom went off on the owner and the landlord supported her.  We have only one child in our building, the most beautiful two year old girl in the world, and yet there are usually about 9 kids running up and down our stairs yelling and screaming and banging on the doors.  The landlord just told me to call the cops...I don't know about you but I don't believe in wasting the time of our police on something so small.  My car took damage from being shot by an air soft gun operated by an 11 year old without any kind of adult supervising him.  My neighbors frequently leave trash in the hallways along with other large items that are easily tripped over.  My landlord tells us that we are in the wrong for asking them to remove said trash and items. 

The Plan
Needless to say, the hubbling and I have had enough and do not plan on extended our lease with this complex.  We have been looking and looking for a new place since January.  The problem with where we are is the lack of available rentals that fit our needs.  We do not want roommates or to live in a student complex with the JMU kids.  We like to be social and hang out with friends but living in a party complex simply won't work for us.  Most of the available rentals are geared toward students and are way over priced for what they are...but when Mommy and Daddy are paying the bill and you have to have a place to live to stay in school here, who cares.  Our plan was to find a cheap, little apartment, pay off some bills and start really building some savings so we can buy a home of our own here in the next few years.  Like I said, most apartments around here are wayyyy too expensive for what they are.  Our current place is a steal for its size but now we know why...who wants to pay good money to put up with that kind of drama?  So we found this little complex that we are really interested in and the next post will be all about it's downfalls, potential, and more!

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Do April Snow Storms Bring?

Right now, I am sitting at my desk looking out of one of my windows at SNOW FLURRIES.  Seriously!  I waited all winter for snow and now that I have broken out the flip-flops and packed away the snow boots here it comes again.  Personally, I am going to stay here in denial and pretend it is just ash from the not-so-far away forest fire that currently has George Washington National Park ablaze.  I have been incredibly lazy the last two weekends and have done absolutely no crafts.  If life would stop getting in the way I would probably have half of my to-make list done by now...oh well, c'est la vie.  So for now all I have is a promise that I have managed to stay on top of work, I am still doing well in school, and life has not yet managed to defeat me!  Hopefully I will find some time this weekend to have some fun in my craft corner!  However, I will have to spend some time doing a deep cleaning on the table since my wonderful cat decided to break open a bottle of Mod Podge and roll in it.  Let me tell you, that was some kind of fun trying to wash all of that out of her fur.  It took about an hour and half a bottle of kitty shampoo to get her un-gunked.  She was a trooper though!  So for now I am still stuck at work...why oh why did I volunteer for the long shift.  Since this week is spring break for me I plan on spending the weekend doing some fun projects.  I was finally able to track down some freezer paper so I plan on attempting to make freezer paper stencils and seeing how that goes! 

Nightstand Revamp

When they kicked me out on my own, okay I willingly went and there was no kicking out, my parents gave my roommate and I these old shaker tables that they had bought back when dinosaurs roamed freely.  They sat in my Harry Potter closet for a couple of months until my roommates decided to get Sugar Gliders and needed an end table to put the cage on.  So we broke these out and put them together.  When Jason and I got our first apartment together, I realized that I really wanted two matching nightstands for our room instead of the short bookshelf and one mushroom table I had been using.  With money being tight, I decided to use these instead of buying new ones.  The unfinished wood look was far from coordinating with our bedroom so I decided to give them a makeover.  A few cans of spray paint and a quick stencil later, I had two much prettier nightstands.  Too bad they are about to be re-done.  The blue wound up being too bright for the rest of the decor we picked out...and by we I mean my girlfriends and I because there was no way in heck I could actually get Jason to plan our bedroom with me! 

Here are some things that I learned the hard way with these bad boys:

1.  ALWAYS PRIME FIRST
2.  Spray paint is quick and fun but also kind of a pain sometimes...INSERT LINK
3.  Wear gloves because spray paint is a *&#@% to get off your hands
4.  Be patient...adequate dry time is not optional

Family Initial Wall Collage

I can't lie, ever since the wedding, I have been obsessed with projects involving our initials!  I have wanted to do something like this for a while, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to mount the letters on.  I found these great plaques at Michaels for about $3 each.  I sanded them, painted them, mounted my letters and added some decoupaged wooded birds to complete the look!  I can't wait for the paint to finish curing so I can mount them on my living room wall.  We are looking at moving to a new apartment complex soon and our new place would have a fire place.  I think these would look awesome over the mantle!

Organizing my Craft Corner

It has only taken three months, but I finally got around to really organizing my craft corner...ok, well now it is more like my craft half of our living room!  Previously, my corner consisted of a long table, a chair, an ironing board, and a mess of stuff piled up up the table.  This weekend I stole two of our cubical shelving units from one side of the living room and put them to work holding organized containers of supplies.  I grabbed a couple of woven baskets that I bought from Ikea when I got my first apartment and used them to store scrap fabric and newspapers for surface protection.  Once I had all of the large stuff organized and stored away, I started working on the items that were oddly shaped, easily damaged, etc. that I didn't want to throw onto shelves with everything else.  For these items, I found careful spots under my table or on my wall!  My final touches included a hanging basket on the end of the table for scraps of scrapbook paper, a cutting station on the end of the shelves to prevent burying my paper cutter under clutter, elevated wire racks for drying items, and hanging craft towels from a embroidery hoop on the wall for quick and easy access.

These cheap wire racks (kitchen org. at Wal-Mart) keep drying items out of dangers way

All of my stencils are safe from getting bent or turn when they are up on the wall.

Hey look I can actually find stuff now!

All of my scraps of paper are safely tossed in here to be used later!

Terracotta Notta Fan

I have seen a lot of really cute flower pot photos floating around Pinterest and various blogs lately and I wanted to make one so I did....and I doubt I ever will again!  I am not a good free hand painter so I rely on stencils for the most part.  Have you ever tried to wrap a stencil around a pot and get it to stay long enough to do the painting?  If so, you know what a pain it can be.  If not, please attempt this immediately and have someone video tape it...a good laugh would be much appreciated!  I found that this craft simply wasn't worth the hassle! 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Jar

Back in March, I had to say goodbye to my sister, brother in-law, and 7 month old nephew as they jetted off to Hawaii for 3 years.  This is an amazing opportunity for my brother in-law, Josh, as it puts him working on a submarine...his dream!  As happy as I am for him, not to mention proud, it absolutely killed me to say goodbye to Jessica and Finnlee (aka Boogie).  I am the kind of person that finds something small and stupid to fixate on when I am upset or stressed out and this mega-move was no exception.  I spent some time researching Hawaii and I found out that they supposedly have no lightning bugs there.  How can you not have lightning bugs?  What do those poor kids do for fun?  I mean, it is a staple of childhood as I know it to capture helpless lightning bugs in a jar and then let them free when mom says its bedtime...unless you are my husband who, as a child, smeared dead lightning bugs on his skin so he could glow too.  So I got completely fixated on the idea of Boogie not having lightning bugs to catch and decided I had to bring them to him.  Well, the decent person buried deep down inside of me said that attempting to ship a jar full of lightning bugs to Hawaii was not only gross but also murder in the first degree.  As usual, I was on Pinterest one day--really its amazing that I still have a job--and I saw this post for glow in the dark jars.  I decided to try it out and I thought the results were awesome.  I love seeing my jars still glowing in the dark corner of my living room known as the craft corner as I am leaving for work in the wee hours of the morning.  I found some awesome neon colored glow in the dark paint online and am impatiently awaiting its arrival so that I can make my jars glow as brightly as the ones in the pictures on Pinterest.  As you can tell by my picture, a not so great camera does not do justice to the glow my jar has!  

Chalkboard Wall Decals

After work on Friday I spent an hour or two browsing my local Michaels and I found an awesomely cheap and versatile material...sheets of chalkboard paper that are ready to be stuck to your wall, fridge, canvas, you name it!  I picked up two packs, each containing three 8.5 x 11" sheets for $1.92 a piece!  As someone who has little to no drawing skills, I decided to pick up some cheap wooden shapes while I was at it to use as stencils for the project I was already seeing in my mind!

These are so easy to make and they are really affordable...especially compared to the cost of purchasing vinyl decals.  These were small because I didn't want to waste all of the paper if I didn't like the concept made into reality.  However, now that I have made them and played around with them, I am definitely going to make larger cutouts that you can draw more on!

Coasters and Trivets

Coaster are incredibly easy, quick, and fun to make.  I spent a few hours of the weekend playing with ceramic tiles, Mod Podge, acrylic paints, scrapbook paper, card stock, and stencils and here is what I came up with:

Top Row Left to Right--Decoupaged and Stenciled, Decoupaged, Decoupaged, Stenciled
Second Row Left to Right--Decoupaged, Decoupaged and Stenciled, Acrylic Paint, Painter's Tape Stripes
Bottom Row--Layered Sponge Paint

I wanted to play with doilies but surprisingly I couldn't find any while I was out on Saturday.  So I played with what I had and could easily find.  All of the coasters had multiple layers of Mod Podge done on top to seal and protect them!  I am pretty sure the guys at Home Depot thought I was smoking something when I got excited that the tiles were on sale for 9 cents a piece!  They had larger 8 x 10 tiles that I decided to make some cute trivets out of them.  The only difference in the process between doing coasters and trivets is the need to use an acrylic spray finish on the trivets.  Mod Podge is NOT heat resistant so you need to finish it off with a coat or two of acrylic.  I can only imagine the mess it would make to put a hot dish on top of Mod Podge.

My Favorite

A Close Second for Favorite

Acrylic easily peels off of ceramic...I brushed a little too hard over the blue shell