Jenna Lou Loves You

Curb Appeal

When we were hit this summer with 3 hail storms in about 1 week, we sustained damage to the roof, gutters, and some windows of our home. Lucky for us our homeowners insurance will be replacing those things. So we've been spending a good deal of time researching contractors, materials, and colors... and I've been thinking a lot about curb apeal. When we bought our house back in 2007 the front was very neglected and an over grown bush was hiding the front steps. See what I mean....lots of potential though.

Since then we've removed that bush, added lots of perenials, painted the front door, hung a number plate and wreaths to warm up the appearance. It's a lot better looking today, but still lacking some essentials. Here is what it looks like now. Charming, but needs some color and the front steps are in need of a major facelift.

In the spring we will be replacing the roof and I'm thinking darker shingles would look nice. I made up a little before/after photo with photoshop to give John and I an idea of what it could look like with some upgrades. Now I'm totally sold on darker shingles, some nice shutters, and a new front door. What a difference right?!

And If we replaced the front steps I'm thinking a stone would look great.... but the decision is still out on that one because we also would like to stay original to the house which would mean brick again.

What do you think... does it do the house justice to add stone around the steps (like in my mock up photo) rather than brick?? Got any other ideas to add curb appeal?

 

 

Fresh Fabric Stacks

As I was opening up the box from a recent fabric purchase the other day and neatly folding each piece, I realized that I didn't really have anywhere to put my new acquisitions. You see my shelves were sorely unorganized and the fabric was unhappily leaping over the edges. The problem: too many bit and pieces.

Along with being an avid fabric shopper (a.k.a fabraholic) I have the tendency to save every last bit of fabric I possibly can. No matter how small, it has a place in my home.

 

So instead of cutting back on my bad habits I found a new storage solution... and one that can hide the messes. This lovely and very inexpensive cabinet now holds a dear place in my heart. It holds all the pieces that are too small to be folded neatly on the shelves, but are still too big for the bottomless scrap bin which tends to be reserved for pieces too small for even a mini-zippy. I don't think I want to analyze why I hold onto such things, but if there if every a crisis which can only be solved by small bits of fabric you'll know who to call! 

And the best part of all..... there is space left on my shelves again for more fabric!! And while I know I really don't need MORE fabric, what is a girl to do?

Hello Self

This morning when I woke up I wanted to take a self portrait. I don't really know why... I just needed to capture me in this day. 

 

So I went to the room in our house I try to hide. It is full of storage boxes, dusty workout equipment, and my treasured vintage couch that I'm planning to get recovered. This is the room I tell guest not to go in. I barricade the door and say "oh that room? ... nothing to see there!". I have high hopes for this room one day. It needs a new ceiling , hardware, light fixtures and paint... it really needs paint! But there is something about this room that tells me great things will happen here. I cannot wait to see what they are.

The Reveal

Wow... What a process. The room was our first official home improvement project and I'm happy to say we did about 99% of the work ourselves.

I think that in size my new studio is quite comparable to my old one. It's small and that's that. But this room has a closet and WALLS! Before I was surrounded on 3 sides by huge windows. It was so great for sunlight and I can hardly remember ever having to turn a lamp on during day hours... but it was lacking in wall space for things that are tall like shelving and it just really wasn't very great for storage.

So here is my new room. It's still missing the wall shelving that will be above the Bernina... and if you look closely you may even notice a couple small pieces of base trim missing from where we decided to install the cube shelving... and I know there needs to be a couple touch ups on the paint... and the fabric for window treatments is on order, but really it's done in the sense of I'm in and it's working and today I sewed for 6 hours on my new Juki (more on this little girl tomorrow). And I can't tell you how relieved I am! After months of pushing a honey-do list on my honey and feeling like a jerk about it, and tears over paint colors and carpet men who wouldn't show up I'm just so darn happy it's done.

 

Ps. Remember what it used to look like??

Studio Inspirations

We had a really great weekend and spent hours in the new room. The paint is on, new light fixtures are up and the outlets are once again covered. Pretty much the only thing holding me back from an all out moving/reorganizing day is the carpet. We are still waiting on that, but once it's done I'll be sharing some photos. I'm really excited guys.... really excited for this!!

So today I bring you more inspiration I found around the web. Thanks to flickr I've been able to waste away many hours in a dreamy state over the past couple weeks drooling over these really fabulous craft studios.

 

credits patty young

credit pink loves brown

 

credit holdjaneshand

 

credits Lovely Design
 

Craft Room Inspiration

We are finally moving forward to the fun steps of my craft room makeover. The new ceiling is up and the textures are done. Things have taken much longer than I expected or hoped for, but we are doing all the work ourselves so it gets done when there is time and ambition (two things that are hard to come together).

But as I get closer to seeing a final product I've been spending time searching for inspiration and mostly ideas for storage. I think most crafters would all agree that they need more more more storage in their life. It seems that the bits and bobbles are never ending and the search to find the perfect place to put them all is eternal too.

So today I just thought I would share some of my favorite craft rooms from the web. They are all  SO drool worthy!!

Via paulamw

via Mania de ideias

via happysongs3

 

via saidos da concha

 

via pink loves brown

 

via contentedsparrow

 

DIY art under for under $50

Cheap art is hard to come by. I've been wanting to add a large piece in our dinning room, but I: 1. Can't afford much and 2. Couldn't find just the right thing, so when I came across these digital scrapbook stamps my mind got to work.

As a self employed, home owning, scooter-payment-making girl, thriftiness is a game I enjoy playing. 

{thrifted frames}

My first mission was to find the frames. I knew that I could save money and especially time by buying the frames from second hand shops and then fitting the digital art to the size of the frame. I didn't want to be stuck with a print size that I couldn't find a cheap frame for after all.

I got lucky by finding all my frames in 1 shop. They had a good selection that day of different sizes in similar looking all-wood frames. Tip: be sure  they are sturdy and all made of the same material for a coherent look.

{Painting process}

Next I removed all the glass and backings: a pretty easy job with a screwdriver in hand. And out the door they went for 3 coats of paint. Because I was going from wood of all different shades to black I did 1 coat of a black primer and 2 coats black semi-gloss. Tip: The key to a good spray job is several light coats rather than 1 or 2 thick gloppy ones.

Once they were dry (only about 20 minutes because it was a nice day with a slight breeze), I headed up to our local art supply store and picked up some mat board. To save more money I went with pre-cut sizes on all but one. I ended up paying $6 to have a custom mat made for the rectangle frame and $6 more for custom cut glass. Tip: It's a good idea to double check that all your frames have glass in them if buying second hand. I made the mistake of buying my rectangle frame without, so the project cost an unnecessary $6 extra for that. 

{mats and layout}

Before designing your art I'd suggest laying out your frames. This step will help you determine how to layout the digital stamps. Then go ahead and play with your art. I ended up putting the foliage on digital paper backgrounds to add some color and depth. Because of the size of these guys I used a digital scrapbook printing service. They arrived at my door in no time flat.

{nail map}

Lastly I used this nifty trick to hang the set. Take a large piece of paper and place your frames on top. Trace the boarders and then measure and mark the placement of each hanger. Place on the wall where you like it, being sure to level it. Then simply put a nail in the wall at each marking, remove the paper, and brag to your fiance about how you had perfect placement of each nail and didn't even once have to pull nails out and damage the walls with misplaced holes. Ok that last part might be just for me, but even I was impressed with how well this technique works!

{done!!}

Cost Breakdown

Frames: $3.50 for 9 (1/2 off day!!)

Spray paint: Free... found in garage from previous projects

Digital Stamps and Paper: $16

Glass and Mats: $19.05 (thanks to some great coupons)

Printing of art: $10.97

Total cost for some one of a kind art: $49.52!!

Movin' On Up

Many months ago I posted a disaster zone picture of my workspace. It was my intention to clean and declutter the space and share the progress with you. I'm happy to say that some cleaning and decluttering did in fact happen, but not enough to even see a noticeable difference and I'm embarrassed to say that the room looks pretty much the same now as it did then. I'll continue to blame it on the small space rather than my dislike of cleaning this room.... because it really was too small anyway.

Time has passed and that room I mentioned before is finally mine (does a little dance). All mine to renovate and create a dream space and find organization and a breath of fresh air in. I'm planning a complete redo from ceiling to floors... it's going to be a new beginning. So today I just wanted to share the before photos. I know they are bad, but isn't that the point of before shots... so when you see my shiny new room you can remember how horrible it was before and how perfect and beautiful it is. (cross your fingers!)

A tour. Click photos to view larger.

This is the right side of the room. There are two windows so lighting is good. Everything is blue in more ways than one. As you can see the floors are covered with dusty blue carpet. What you can't see are the impressed walkways from years and years of people walking around the bed. It's pretty sad. The ceiling is dropped pannels (Yippy!)... don't know why yet, but I'm sure there will be a lovely surprise when we take it down. Don't know if you can see in the photo or not, but the trim is a lovly cut of plywood. Thanks previous owners... we love your dedication to quality.

Here is the left side. To the left is the exit (can't see in photo). Then we have the bath. It's a full bath, but needs a complete renovation. That will be a future project. For now I plan to cover up the half-a** paint job our house guest decided to do. It's litteraly half white and half blue.... not too happy about that one, but life goes on. To the right is a walk in closet which I'm super excited about. In the photo it's pretty cluttered yet, but after we get the rest moved out it's actually quite large and I'm hoping to have John build custom shelves for my piles of stuff. It's going to be great... I promise.

And that about sums it up. My before shots. Can't wait to show you improvements! I have really high hopes for this room.

DIY Wreath

I love having a wreath on my front door. They add so much warmth and a feeling of welcome. When I go on walks through the neighborhood I like to pick out my favorite houses and one thing they almost always have in common is a wreath on the front door. I guess it just says " come on in!".

The problem I've found is that they can be a bit overpriced for what you are getting. And it can be hard to find one with the color and size that you want. So this weekend I went to my local craft shop and picked up a couple items to whip up my own.

There were a few choices for the base. I choose wood... or vines... or whatever that stuff is. It was already woven into the shape. My store had several sizes to choose from and different shapes too. I think I'm going to make a square one for fall... the possibilities are endless. Depending on what you prefer and what you are going to cover it with there was also foam and straw wreaths to choose from.

Then I had a look around the floral department. I would have LOVED to have a live wreath... but when it comes down to it those things just aren't very practical. I choose some berry-looking things that were in one long strand about 12' long. You could also buy your floral choice in stems for a greater variety, but I wanted simplicity and it was more cost effective to buy the strand.

And that's all it took. When I got home I started cutting with a wire cutter. I cut the 12' strand into lots of segments... each around 10-12" long. This is no time to be precise.... different lengths look more natural. Then I weaved them in and use a touch of hot glue to secure those that needed it. When it was all in place I stepped back to gauge the overall look. A few where a bit too long so I just clipped them back a bit.

The whole thing took about 30 minutes to make. And best of all it only cost me $12.49! Here is the break down:

Woven wreath: $3.99
Floral berry strand: $8.50 (I got this 50% off)
Hot glue: already had on hand

Dressing Up the Outdoors

When we bought this house a year and a half ago the yard had quite a lot going on. There were LOTS of overgrown hollyhocks... they seem to pop up everywhere. The front yard had one very large bush/tree right next to the house and just about nothing else. And all the gardens where haphazard and in need of splitting. Last summer we started cleaning up by removing that tree/bush, adding lots of perennials to the front beds, removing those pesky hollyhocks (they never seem to go away), and just trying to keep up on all the weeding.

This summer I feel like we have a much better handle on things. The front beds are doing very well. Almost all of last years plantings came back with vigor... some could even be split in the fall. We are still trying to keep the hollyhocks in control, but I've finally gotten to move on to some of the finer things.

I picked up a bird feeder for the two families nesting in our backyard... and of course any visitors. They took a liking to it right away. Then I got around to planting a hydrangea bush. I can't wait to pick blooms for my tabletop.

The most dramatic change happened in our front yard where I added two planters with boxwood at the base of our stairs to distract from the hideous painted brick steps which will someday be replaced. I also placed a planter with an evergreen next to the door to add some color up there too. And lastly I made a wreath for the door (more on that in a post to follow). I'm really happy with the changes so far and look forward to further improvements indoors and out. Taking pride in ownership and making affordable changes can really make a large impact.

Have you made any little changes that yielded BIG results? I'd love to see so feel free to share.