DIY - closet shelves (aka, project # 5-ish)

It's officially Spring in Alabama but it's still 39 degrees outside. Okay, okay...to be honest we've had some really lovely Spring days so far....all 4 of them have been perfectly enjoyable. (wah-wah)

SO...until it gets warm and stays warm, the hubs and I are stuck working on indoor projects. A couple weeks ago we decided to tackle our custom closet shelves that we've been planning to build in order to take advantage of our large walk-in closet (yeah, that definitely tipped the scales in favor of our house for me!). Our closet previously consisted of a long wall of wire closet shelving where all of our clothes hang (oh yeah, there's definitely a future DIY closet system in our future), 2 short side walls - one with a window and the other with a small wire rack for hanging clothes and a laundry chute that previously did not have a door on it (it was just an open hole that went down to our laundry room...our kitty was quite intrigued by this) - and the front wall which had the doorway into the closet on it, but nothing else. We decided to build floor to ceiling shelves on each side of this doorway, which yielded us one 4 ft wide shelf and one 3 ft wide shelf.  Mark took all of our measurements then we divided it all up to determine our number of shelves. I wanted the majority of it to be spaces for shoes and the rest to be larger shelves suitable for sweaters and clothes storage (which will be housed in canvas bins). We also left some taller spaces at the bottom of the larger shelf for boots.

After doing a little research online, we determined that BC grade plywood in pine would do the job just fine for our shelves, so off to the neighborhood Lowe's we went. We selected 3 sheets of 15/32 4' x 8' pine plywood. Luckily, Mark had determined beforehand how many sheets we would need in order to get all of the cuts we needed and he also determined all of the measurements for those cuts so that we could have Lowe's make all of the cuts for us. That's right...Lowe's will cut your wood for FREE! We learned this little trick after doing the beadboard in our downstairs half bath makeover. We picked up a few more things like trim, brackets and wood screws and about $100 later we were on our way back home to start our work. 

All of the wood piled into the back our SUV.

The next few work days consisted of sanding and painting the wood. As a last step before we put it together we took the advice of the older gentleman at Lowe's that was cutting our wood...he told us that we should put a coat of polyurethane on it after we finished painting it. Well, after two coats of white paint we put a coat of poly on it...clear semi-gloss. 

Here's the larger 4 ft shelf after it was assembled and put into it's place in the closet

And here's the smaller 3 ft shelf in it's place in the closet. You can see that i was trying it out with some shoes ;) 

After the poly dried we noticed that the white paint now seemed to have a splotchy yellow-ish tint to it. The poly directions said we should sand and then put another coat of poly on it after sanding. Well, too bad we read those directions AFTER Mark had started putting the shelves together. Trial and Error, right?! So, Mark finished assembling the shelves and then we mounted them to the wall using L-brackets that I had painted white. Unfortunately the yellow tint was just as visible in our closet as it was before, so after painting the trim and nailing it to the shelves we proceeded to paint yet ANOTHER coat of white paint over the entire units. (the above pictures were taken before the trim was added and before the additional coat of white painted was applied. you can see the yellow-ish tint in it - no?)

Painting these shelves after they were attached to the wall was no easy feat, but Mark suggested putting a sheet of paper between the wall and the shelf and it made the painting MUCH easier! Smart boy!

Here's the smaller shelf after the last coat of white paint with the trim attached. You can kinda see in this picture how we angled the shelves that the shoes would be on. I wanted to do this so that you could get a better view of the shoes even as the shelves increased in height. In order to keep the shoes from falling off we just picked a larger piece of trim that would leave a "lip" on top for those shelves. 

Here's the finished picture of the larger shelf:

This shelf is mainly for shoes, but it does have 2 cubbies that will have canvas bins in them that will probably be for socks, tights, leggings and possibly one for belts. The lower portion is obviously for boots.

And here's a close up view of the slanted shoe shelves:

So....there ya have it! Project # 5-ish (or it could be #4, depending on whether you count us hiring someone to refinish our floors as a "project" or not, since we really didn't do much on that one). I can't wait till we can get out and start on our backyard makeover project...stay tuned for that one...I'm sure it's gonna be a doozy!

Bring on the Warmth!

This has been a COLD winter. Cold and long. So cold in fact that there was even some of this:

And this:

Beautiful Snowy Wonderland, right? Well guess what? These pictures were taken in....My Backyard!! In Birmingham, AL!!! Uh, yeah! Trust me, this normally does NOT happen. Not to say that Birmingham doesn't *ever* get snow, cause yeah, we do...sometimes. Sometimes we get a flurry or two! It's seriously rarely ever enough to coat the ground....much less completely bury it in about 2 1/2 inches! So what do you do when it snows in Birmingham? You take the day off work and play in it, of course! 

This was taken as I was pulling up to my house after getting off work about 1pm:

BIG flakes of snow were falling and covering our front yard very quickly! There was even enough snow to build a snowman:

We weren't really going for it, but i thought our snowman turned out kinda like a Tim Burton character. What do ya think??

Okay, so, it might not look like it here, but I hate the winter!! I mean, if it's gonna be cold then I'd like for it to snow. Wouldn't everyone?!? Unfortunately that's not typically the case here in Alabama. And man, this winter has been much worse than our usual winters....and it seems much longer too! ...Which makes me long for warm-weather even more than normal! I've always been a warm-weather person. I love summers....the heat really doesn't even bother me. I guess that can be attributed to my years spent in swim lessons, then swim team, then diving team and then lifeguarding. Did I mention that I love the water too? Cause I do. Yeah, I spent pretty much the entire part of my youth in or around the pool and although we did have an indoor pool in the small town I grew up in (yeah, that's right "an" indoor pool...singular. one. and that wasn't built until I was in about 8th grade), I still associate the pool with summertime. I love the warm weather, the sunshine, the summer sun dresses, the flip flops, the warm breezy summer nights...everything about summer and warm weather........And this winter is KILLING me!!! Okay, maybe not killing me literally, but killing my spirit! Seriously! Winters are depressing! They make me want to hibernate. I lack nearly all motivation. I keep waking up each day hoping that it's going to be warm. I mean seriously, at this point, I just wake up hoping for 50/60 degree weather! I just want to be outside!!

...which brings me to this.....

We booked a trip for our 1st marriage anniversary coming up in May!!!!!! AAHHH! I can't wait!! We'll be here...in this picture...in about 13 weeks! (geez, that seems too long!) It's the Valentin Imperial Maya in Playa del Secreto, Mexico (in the Riviera Maya right outside of Playa del Carmen) and we'll be spending 8 days and 7 wonderful, warm, ocean-side, all-inclusive nights here! (can you tell I'm excited??)

THIS is getting me through the winter....although I'm still praying each day that I wake up to 60/70 degree weather (I know,  I know, I said 50/60 would suffice...but 60/70 would be more like it!). 

stay warm,

The Indecisive Wife

xoxo

I Feel Like Writing a Blog Update

...you know, MONTHS after my last post. ;) Sorry I've been MIA. I feel like I've had trouble getting back into the swing of things....We moved, the Holidays rolled around, then the new year and new resolutions and finally things are beginning to settle down. Honestly, I like being busy...I know I probably gripe about it during the process...but when I'm busy it keeps my mind from wandering, which is a good thing. When things are the same 'ole, same 'ole I get bored....I want something different, I want to go on vacation, I feel impatient for things to happen (like, oh, I don't know...Spring for example?!? I'm so TIRED of Winter!!). Anyway, how bout I take you on a quick trip through the last 4 months or so?? 

October - We bought our first house! :)

We closed on the 19th, took possession of it on the 21st and moved in the 24th. We looked at probably 20 -30 houses before we found and settled on this one. Also, if you don't know the backstory....About 2 weeks after returning from our Honeymoon we found out that the owners of the house we had been renting had decided to put the house up for sale. To our surprise (cause there were are a TON of houses on the market), it sold within 30 days. We then had 60 days from the day it sold to find a new place to live. It was a whirlwind!! 

If you noticed from the dates above, there were 3 days between when we took possession of the house and when we moved in...this is because we decided to refinish the hardwood floors before we moved in. The floors were the standard yellow-brown color that you see in lot of homes, but they were scratched pretty bad in some places because the previous owners had 3 dogs. We figured that if we were EVER going to refinish these floors then we absolutely had to do it before we moved all our stuff in....so, we hired a crew and they refinished them in our 3 day time restriction (THANK GOD!) cause we had to be out of our old house by the morning of the 26th. 

Here's the floors after they were sanded down:

And here's a picture of them after they were refinished: 

We picked a red mahogany stain.

Our next projects were painting the dining room and totally redoing the downstairs half bath (you'll see why in a minute!). The dining room was already a nice color, but it didn't really match all of our Dining Room decor, so we decided to paint it. Below the chair rail is a deep, dark purple...It's a Valspar color called Sweet Currant. Above the chair rail is a soft creamy color by Valspar called Clay Angel (btw, we have a Lowe's literally right down the street from us...that's why we ended up using the Valspar paints...convenience won!). 

Work in progress: 

And here's an "AFTER" shot:

By the way, we scored this antique buffet for a mere $125 at a local antique auction!! It looks to be Walnut and is beautiful (and heavy!).  I'm planning to replace the wooden shelves with glass and i've since added mirrors to the back so you can see a reflection through the wire doors. Speaking of the wire, I'm planning to put gold foil on those to bring them back to their original beauty and gold foil on those circular pulls for the doors.  I'll post more on that later!

Now here's the big one....The Half Bath. dum, dum, duummmmm..... Yeah. We thought this tiny half bath would be quick project...just take down the wallpaper, paint, replace the fixtures (faucet, light, mirror, tp holder, towel rack) and we'd be done. Easy right?! Um, no. That wallpaper was the DEVIL!!! It literally took us like 3 weeks (given it was only weekends and about 3-4 nights during the week) to take down ALL the wallpaper and it's remnants, and then smooth the drywall back out from all the gashes the fight with the wallpaper had left. We found out very quickly that the wallpaper had been put up DIRECTLY on the sheetrock without any sealant in between...which means, that stuff was STUCK and never wanted to come down. Let me go on record right now and say that I will NEVER, EVER wallpaper any room. If I even so much as think about it, please smack me. Okay, now that that's out of the way, here's the before:

And here's the AFTER:

Looks a million times better right?? Well I hope so, cause it was quite the project! After we smoothed out the walls, we actually decided to put beadboard wainscotting all along the bottom. We could have taken the easy way out and just smoothed out the top of the walls and left the bottom a total mess....but we're not those people. My motto has always been that if you're going to do something, then do it right. 

Next up, December: (yeah, I don't know where November went either...I think it got lost in that sea of projects)

So this year we decided to host half of my family's Christmas. My mom, step-dad, sister, brother-in-law and their kids all came over to our house to celebrate Christmas (about a week before Christmas day). We cooked lasagna and had a great time. Everyone stayed the night since they had all driven up from Montgomery. Here's a picture of the table before dinner:

And here's a picture of the tree before we all opened presents:

Next, we have New Years!!! Mark and I took a quick mini-vacation to Atlanta on the 29th/30th (we got an amazing deal at the Intercontinental Buckhead from Hotwire last minute) and then we booked it back to Birmingham to ring in the new year at Old Car Heaven....they had a big New Year's party with a Beatles tribute band.

Then the fun and festivities were over and it was back to work. Our next project....the Office (slash laundry room). Sounds kinda odd, right? Well, off of our foyer to the left is a small office that has double doors on the back wall which houses our washing machine and dryer. It's really not as odd as it sounds though. There's plenty of room for the units and there's plenty of room for shelving above and on the sides of it. There's even a laundry chute that comes down from our master closet! Anyway, this room was a really ugly orange-tan color.....

See? Ugly right?? The ugly orange color made the room look even smaller than it was. I decided that this would be the perfect room to do the subtle horizontal stripes that I was dying to try out! So, we meticuously  measured and taped off all the stripes (this took a good two days out of a weekend) and then we went to painting. Like all of the rooms we've done so far, I primed the walls. I then painted the whole room in Clay Angel (the color I used on the top half of the Dining Room) and then painted the stripe in a soft beige that was slightly darker than the cream. I can't remember the name of this color, but if you'd like to know then just ask....I kept it on file, plus we have a LOT leftover. Here's the result:

We were SOOOOO happy with how this turned out. It really does make the room look bigger and the soft subtle shades are just what i wanted. After all that taping we were so nervous that the paint might bleed or the lines might not look straight, but it really turned out better than we had hoped. Also, here's a couple tips if you are going to attempt this: 1 - use Frog tape...it's the green stuff and you can get it at Home Depot or Lowe's in the same area as the blue painter's tape. That stuff truly is amazing. 2 - as soon as you're done with the 2nd coat on the stripes, start back at the bottom and start taking the tape off. The paint shouldn't be extremely wet, but it shouldn't be quite dry either. If you take it off at this stage then it's less likely that you'll accidentally peel paint off with the tape. 3 - make sure to choose subtle colors. They might look a little *too* subtle when you're looking at the paint swatches (like you might not be able to even tell much difference?!?), but trust me...once you get them on the wall it'll give you exactly the effect you were looking for. 

Okay, so that's all of the projects we've done for now! I think next up we're going to build some custom shelves for our closet. We want to make them look like built-ins for our shoes and then just some extra storage. I'm also going to be painting our guest room soon-ish. I'm getting tired of looking at the ugly pea-green (you'll see what i'm talking about soon enough!). And eventually, if it EVER turns warm here again, we're planning to do some work to our back yard ( I can't WAIT!). The previous owners put up a fence, but they only fenced about 3/4 of the back yard. Basically, they fenced the area directly behind the house for their dogs to play in. The rest of the yard off to the side of the house is unfenced and that part is landscaped (it has two fairly large trees with flower beds around each). Unfortunately, the fenced-in part has ZERO landscaping and a bit of a drainage problem. It also has a bit of a slope so we're hoping to build a retaining wall and we also want to extend to the patio into the yard a bit, which will not only give us a place to lounge in the sun, but it will also help correct our drainage problem! So...can't wait to see how that goes! ;)

For now though, I'll leave you guys with our last event to date....Mark's 27th Birthday. Here's a pic of us celebrating at 26 (a yummy hip restaurant here in Birmingham):

Till Next Time....xoxo,

The Indecisive Wife :)

Close to the Heart - Part II

Another very, VERY important aspect of our wedding for Mark and I was our ceremony. We both knew that we wanted our ceremony to be very personal....we didn't want the standard ceremony where the officiant just fills your names in the blanks. We found a minister that we connected with and then went from there. We did do the whole pre-marital counseling thing with him, which we both really enjoyed. It wasn't necessarily discovering new things about each other, because we had been together a while and already had all of those conversations. But sometimes it's just good to hear your fiance tell someone else, in front of you, why they love you....what they admire about you...what they see for you future, etc. We also really liked that it gave our minister a chance to get to know us and our relationship.

Together with our minister we crafted our ceremony....I took his basic standard methodist ceremony and then found a few resources online (which i WISH i still had the links to) then i went to work writing our ceremony. Mark and I then sat down, edited things out, changed the wording in some areas and once we were happy with it we took it to our minister. Our minister then reviewed it, edited some things out (it ended up being longer than we wanted it to be in it's original form), changed some wording (to make it easier for him to say), shortened some of the wordiness, and then we gave him free reign in some areas...like prayers and a reading section we devoted to him where he used some bible verses.

photo credit: McLellan Style

I want to share our full written ceremony with you guys because I know that when I was trying to write our ceremony, it really helped me to see examples of other people's ceremonies. Here's the final copy of what we came up with:

Greeting: Dear family and friends, we are gathered here, in the beauty of nature, and in the presence of God, to unite Mark and Liz in marriage. Marriage can be one of the most wonderful of human experiences. Love in its many manifestations is what life is all about. To share their lives, to encourage creativity, inspire each other to reach beyond the limits of the ordinary . . . not at the expense of each partner's individuality, but rather, by the strength of the common bond, this is the hope in which Mark and Liz come to be married.

The Giving In Marriage:
Who Supports this Woman in Her Marriage to this Man?
Answer: Her family and I do.

Opening Prayer and Reading:
Prayer: Rev. John D. Richardson

From Union by Robert Fulghum:
You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “ You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.

Homily/Marriage Address: Given by Rev. John D. Richardson

Acknowledgement of Family and Friends:
Today represents not only the joining of Mark and Liz, but also the joining of their families and friends. Mark and Liz would like to recognize their parents on this occasion – Joe and Martina, Chris and Susan, Steve and Jan. They offer their profound gratitude to you for all the love and care you have showed in raising them. Parents, the unconditional gifts of love and support that you have continually offered have inspired them to become who they are today and they thank you, from the bottom of their hearts. Without you, this day would not be possible.

They are blessed to share their wedding day with you, their family and friends, and they thank each of you for making the journey here.

Remembrances:
Mark and Liz have also asked that we take a moment to honor those loved ones who are not with us today, especially their grandparents. (a moment of silence)

Declaration of Support:
I invite you all to stand in support of Mark and Liz. As family and friends, you form a community of support that surrounds Mark and Liz. Each of you, by your presence here today, confirms your commitment to uphold and care for these two people in their marriage. Always stand beside them, never between them. Offer them your love and your support. Encourage them when encouragement is needed and listen to them when they ask for advice. In these ways, you can honor this marriage into which they have come to be joined today. Do you offer your love and support to strengthen their marriage and bless this family created by their union?
Please answer by saying: “We Do”
Thank you, you may be seated.

Declaration of Intent:
Mark and Liz, before God and your family and friends, I ask you to affirm your willingness to enter this covenant of marriage and to share all the joys and sorrows of this new relationship, whatever the future may hold.
Liz, will you have Mark to be your husband, and will you love him faithfully as long as you both shall live?
“I Will”
Mark, will you have Liz to be your wife, and will you love her faithfully as long as you both shall live?
“I Will”
Then please turn to each other and share the vows you have written.


Exchange of Marriage Vows:
Mark and Liz write their own vows….

Blessing and Exchange of Rings:
These rings are the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all the uniting of Mark and Liz in a holy union. By your blessing, O God, may these rings be symbols of unending love and faithfulness to Mark and Liz, reminding them of the covenant they make this day.
Liz, I give you this ring as a sign of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you; in the name of God.

Mark, I give you this ring as a sign of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you; in the name of God.

Blessing of Hands:
Mark and Liz, please gaze now into each others hands, so you may see the gift that they are to you.
“These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.”
God, bless these hands that you see before you this day. May they always be held by one another. Give them the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. Help these hands to continue building a relationship founded in your grace, rich in caring, and devoted in reaching for your perfection. May Mark and Liz see their four hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide. We ask this in your name Lord, Amen.

Benediction:
May the love that has brought you together continue to grow and enrich your lives. May you meet with courage the problems that arise to challenge you and may your relationship always be one of love and trust. May the happiness you share today be with you always and may every word you have pledged here be a living truth in your lives.

Closing Prayer: Let us pray for Mark and Liz in their life together.
All: Faithful God, source of love, pour down your grace upon them, that they may fulfill the vows they have made this day, and reflect your steadfast love in their life-long faithfulness to each other. As members with them of the body of Christ, use us to support their life together; and from your great store of strength give them power and patience, affection and understanding, courage and love toward you, toward each other, and toward the world, that they may continue together in mutual growth according to your will in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Declaration of Marriage/ The Kiss:
Mark and Liz, in the presence of God and of your family and friends who have joined you to share this moment of joy in your lives, you have declared your deep love and affection for each other. You have stated your wish to always be open to a deeper, richer friendship and partnership. You have formed your union, based on respect and honor. May God confirm your covenant and fill you both with grace.
Now that Mark and Liz have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands, and the giving and receiving of rings, I announce to you that they are married; in the name of God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.
You may seal your marriage with a kiss.

Presentation of Couple:
Friends and Family, it is my pleasure to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Elizabeth Boger!


This whole ceremony lasted about 20 minutes. Also, as you can see from the text, Mark and I decided to write our own vows as well. I'll share those at a later date :) I hope this helps those of you that have made the decision to write your own ceremony! Good Luck and Happy Planning!

Close to the Heart

Hi guys. I haven't blogged in forever, I know. I'm sorry! Of course I have excuses (the house we've been renting for the past 2 years being sold and us having to move, buying a new car before the Cash for Clunkers program ended, and oh yeah....buying our first house!!! I guess you could say we've taken advantage of some of the economic incentives that our President has been enacting!) but I also felt like I needed a bit of a break. I lost some inspiration for a while. BUT, I'm back now....and I'm excited to share with you more details from our wedding as well as what's going on in our lives now (um, hello....decorating a new house! oh, and us trying to learn how to actually do maintenance and updating around our house ourselves!)

So, looking back on my last post I shared with you guys music that we're using in our wedding video....but I haven't yet shared with you the music we used in our ceremony. Music is VERY important to us. I actually work in the business and Mark is a musician (slash structural engineer). We also met through music....I was booking bands at a bar and his friend/old bandmate's band was playing. Music has played a pretty big role in our entire relationship and I feel that songs are one of the biggest ways to trigger memories and bring about those emotions you have connected to that song. So obviously, we chose our ceremony music wisely....and it definitely was NOT the traditional wedding music! ;) The music we chose was ALL listed in our program...even the Prelude and Postlude songs. And here they are:

Prelude:

Green Arrow by Yo La Tengo

I Found A Reason by The Velvet Underground

Major Label Debut - Broken Social Scene

New Slang - The Shins

Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine

I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie

Love and Some Verses - Iron & Wine

Our Way to Fall - Yo La Tengo

....we wanted these songs to set the mood. Calm, Warm, Loving, Slow & Steady...but with an Upbeat tone and tempo. We didn't want anything that would be too overpowering here or draw TOO much attention because we knew it'd just mostly be background music for everyone entering and finding their seats. We did, although, want to foreshadow that this would not be your typical wedding and your typical wedding music. 

photo credit: McLellan Style

The next set of songs were even more carefully chosen because they would each play a part in the wedding ceremony:

Seating of Family: Pitter Patter Goes My Heart by Broken Social Scene

Processional (for the girls and the guys who walked separately): Sea of Love by Cat Power

Bridal March: Lover's Spit (beginning instrumental part looped) by Broken Social Scene

Recessional: All You Need is Love by The Beatles

Postlude:

I'm A Believer by The Monkees

God Only Knows by The Beach Boys

She's A Rainbow by The Rolling Stones

And there ya have it! I'm so, SO happy that we chose music that really fit and really represented us and our relationship. I knew some people would think that it was odd, but it was seriously one of my favorite parts of our wedding. We actually had a lot of people (both young and old) complement us on our choice for music...so it turned out quite well. And one of the best parts....whenever we hear one of these songs now, it takes us back to that day and that moment in time :)