Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Bubbling with excitement

Happy Wednesday!
Today I'm excited to share that I am now a monthly contributor to My Daily Bubble, a blog covering everything from DIY projects to fashion and beauty.


You can check out my first post here on housewarming basket ideas including the one I put together for my brother and sister-in-law when they moved into their new house:

My Daily Bubble

Have a great day :)
- Caitlin

Monday, April 28, 2014

Waiting on tables

We have been wanting a kitchen table for some time now in an effort to have an additional eating/sitting area in the kitchen aside from the nook and high-top table and stools.
The original plan was that Chris would build a table with a zinc top but the furthest we got with that one was pinning some ideas on Pinterest:

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With busy weekends and other projects taking priority, I unfortunately didn't see this one coming to fruition for a while.
So when I spotted this island below on a random trip to West Elm marked down nearly 50% 
(because it was the floor model), I scooped it right up.

It had the zinc-like top we wanted and was the perfect size for our kitchen.
The only issue was that it was island height and we wanted something that was table height.


Not a problem though.
We just unscrewed the lower shelf (which I plan to re-purpose as a tray of some sort)...


...as well as the legs. 
Then, Chris just took off a few inches of each leg with his table saw.


All that was left to do was re-attaching the shortened legs and adding some furniture pads to keep the floor from getting scratched.


Here it is now as a table:


I've temporarily put our dining room chairs here while I wait for these chairs that I recently ordered to arrive. This will mean both the table and chairs will not have come from a garage sale. I know, so rare in this house!






Thanks for reading :)
- Caitlin

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Airing our dirty laundry (and DIY hamper)

I really love an easy DIY project and this one that I'm sharing today took under 30 minutes to do (minus waiting for the stain to dry).
Inspired by this post on Apartment Therapy, we were able to replace our old mismatching hampers that scratch our hardwood floors every time we drag them out of the laundry closet and create these matching ones on wheels below:


First, we stained two of these wood rounds from Home Depot


Then using welded wire also purchased from Home Depot, we wrapped it around the edge of the wood rounds and trimmed it.



We then secured the wire by wrapping the excess around the other side.



Next, we turned the hamper on its side and clipped the wire into squares that we bent over the bottom of the wood round. Using a staple gun, we attached each square.


Then, we added some wheels (also purchased from Home Depot).


I found two of these laundry bags at Home Goods for under $15, which fit the wire hamper perfectly.








I told you it was easy!

By the way, I'm happy to announce the winner of the Rewined mimosa candle giveaway
is Barbara C.!
Please look for an e-mail from me so that we can get your candle on its way!

Have a great weekend :)
- Caitlin

Thursday, April 24, 2014

I'm goin' (back) to Jackson...

This past weekend I was able to visit my brother's and sister-in-law's house that I posted about here.
Even though it had only been a month since my last visit, it was incredible to see how much has changed since I was there!

Naturally, there are still some things that need to be finished but they were able to recently move in and begin making this house feel like home (and even host Easter dinner)! 

Check out the progress:


The outside of the front door is Benjamin Moore's Hale Navy and the foyer is Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.



Let's take a peek upstairs...


Here's one of the bedrooms, which is painted the same color as our nursery: Behr's Silver Dust.


Does this bed look familiar? 
We have the same one in our guest bedroom and my parents have it as well. 
It's a family favorite and Meryl was actually the one that originally spotted it!



Here's a look at the master bedroom that boasts the best views of the water
(which I did not do a very good job capturing, sorry).


This room is painted in Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl.





Below is a tiny glimpse of the master bath (still being completed but already looking awesome):


The upstairs has another bedroom and bathroom which are still in the works but I will share on my next visit.

Let's go back downstairs...


The main floor is painted in Benjamin Moore's Pale Oak.






And for my favorite part of the house...the kitchen!






They were able to incorporate a lot of touches that make this new house feel unique and full of character such as using vintage glass cabinet fronts, planked walls, and a vintage copper sink (which I will share on my next visit).
Also, in a wall shared by the downstairs bathroom and office, they installed this stained glass that my grandfather actually made.
Here's what it looks like on the office-side of the wall:


And here it is from the bathroom-side of the wall.
It's cool how the natural light makes the colors of the glass really pop.


What's a house on the water without some outdoor living?
This house has decks for days!




It was a little chilly out that day but I had to head out to the dock to get a full look at the house:


As far as the outside goes, they have plans to landscape, re-tread the dock, and turn the underneath of the house into a garage.

And here's a shot of some of the family on Easter in that magazine-worthy kitchen of theirs
(mom was behind the camera):


Congrats Sean & Meryl on a beautiful new home!

- Caitlin

P.S. 
Only a few more hours left in the Rewined mimosa candle giveaway.
Winner will be announced on Saturday!