Starting the Pallet Process

Ok I'll admit I didn't get as much done with the pallet as I was hoping to this weekend. 

Honestly, I only did one little step to prepare it for painting. But I'm so excited about this project that I'm going to share every detail with you all, no matter how small. 

Before I can start painting the pallet, there was some prep work that needed to be done.

There were a number of cracks or splits in the wood as well as nail holes and other gaps.

To take care of this, I bought some wood glue and used that to reattach the pieces that were split.

The wood glue only worked to reattach the two pieces, but the crack still remained. I relied on spackle for the rest of the cracks along with other flaws in the wood.

After debating a little I decided to fill in the nail holes with the spackle. I considered leaving them but I knew they would look like awkward holes that were painted white. While I like the rustic look, in this case I want the pallet to be as smooth as possible when painted. 

It's not much progress, but here is how the pallet stands today with all the holes and cracks filled.

As you can see, there are still some rough spots on the pallet that I need to lightly sand down. 

Once I take care of these spots I will be ready to paint.

I'm hoping to get some more done on the pallet during the week. I am off work on Wednesday to be on baby duty and I'm hoping I can maybe tackle at least one coat of paint on the pallet. I also need Jordan to remove the 5 wood panels on the back of the pallet so it will hang flush against the wall.

Oh, and if you have no clue what I'm talking about with this pallet project, here is what I'm working towards for our guest room:

I've already bought the hooks and I just need to prime, paint and hang!

I'll be back later today to share pictures of my new pillow covers that arrived last week.

Don't forget about the 25% discount for the month of March!

More Spray Painted Madness

Another gorgeous Sunday last weekend meant another day on the deck with my can of spray paint. I had some leftover gold spray paint from my wall leaf project and decided to use it up and revamp a few more things to use in the guest room.

The victims this time?

This small old mirror was a thrift find from years ago. I haven't had a place to put it and it's been sitting in my closet forever waiting for a home. 

This is an old frame that I just stopped using. The picture in the frame is one of my favorite pictures of my grandparents at a New Years party.

This little owl piece was either a thrift find or given to me by my grandparents. I honestly can't remember. I had stashed it with a collection of other various owls in the guest room dresser.

This owl was bought from Pier One a few years ago. It has a mini twin about half the size, but that one is sitting on my desk at work being used as a paper weight.

Lastly, I have this old frame. I'm not even sure where it came from. It's been in the basement with my collection of frames that I keep in case I need one for something. I used to have picture frames in all shapes and sizes and colors all over my house, but I've swapped those out for other decorative pieces. 

Once I gathered my goodies and prepped the mirror for painting, I set up camp out on the deck and got to work.

I lucked out with another non-windy day and it only took me about two minutes to do each coat of spray paint on all the items.

It took 4 even coats of spray paint to get everything covered. The mirror and the owls took a little extra time and effort because of the detail in their design. Some of the items took the paint easier than others. The green owl, for example, needed a little extra TLC since it has a glossy painted finish. I was actually surprised how well it took the spray paint, it just needed to be applied a little more carefully than the rest.

After enough coats and once everything dried they looked like new.

I've built a decent collection of goodies to use in the guest room. 

I found this great little leaf dish at my grandparents' house last weekend.

It needs a little cleaning, but I thought it would add a nice touch to one of the nightstands.

And I am STILL on the hunt for some great vintage frames. I have these old wedding photos from our parents and grandparents that I want to display on the guest room wall in a frame collage. I may resort to painting other old frames with gold spray paint as I'm not having much luck so far with finding any.

This weekend is dedicated to working with my pallets! I'm honestly not sure how much work I have ahead of me and I'm prepared for this project to possibly take a few weekends to complete, but I'm anxious to dive in and get started.

Have a great weekend!

Photo Challenge - February: FAIL, March: Let's GO

I tried, I really did, but I was unsuccessful in completing the February Photo Challenge. I really wanted to complete this and made it past the halfway point, but lost it around the 19th. I couldn't figure out something I hated to do, so I pushed it off for the next day. And then the next, and then, well, you know....

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you probably already have seen these.

Here are the pictures I did take in the order of the daily topics:

Now, that being said, I'm even more motivated to complete the March photo challenge!

Here are the topics for this month:

Anyone joining in this month?

Mini Closet Makeover

I recently went through Lucy's clothes to remove the items that she has outgrown (anything under 6 months) and to reorganize and add her 6-12 month pieces. Our little weed has been growing so much that I had to completely buy her all new pajamas this past weekend. The 6 month Carter's PJs are too short for our tall Lucybug.

I get giddy just looking at her organized closet. We also have all four draws in the dresser filled with clothes, although the bottom two drawers are dedicated to clothes that are for 9 months up to 18 months and even a few toddler items we have. The top two drawers are for 6-9 month pants, pajamas, sweaters and onesies.

Seriously, now.. how many 7 month olds do you know that need 30 pairs of pants?

In my defense I will say that these should last her until she's a year old. But I also can't stop buying her clothes every time we go to the mall. What's cuter than a little baby in skinny jeans? I'm weird about Lucy's wardrobe in that I don't like 'baby' clothes. I know, I know, she's a baby, but I'd rather dress her like a mini me. I buy lots of stripes and polka dots and patterns that I would wear myself along with a fair amount of neutral colors. I was very anti-pink in the beginning, but I've caved in a bit as there are some cute pink clothes that aren't over-the top frilly and 'baby-ish'. Some of the clothes I've bought her I wish they had in my size, like her seersucker dress, striped leggings, her denim dress and gingham grey and white romper.

Back to the point of the post.

I love how neat and organized Lucy's closet looks with the matching set of fabric hangers, so much that I was a little jealous that my closet didn't look so organized.

Here's another quirk of mine: I hate plastic hangers. Those big, chunky plastic hangers that come in all sorts of awful colors. I've been using all metal hangers (saved from monthly trips to the dry cleaners) and have been using them instead since they're slimmer. But as you can see in the below photos of my closet, they still look rather junky and cluttered.

I went to Marshalls and purchased 7 packs of these great neutral colored fabric hangers. I love the clean look and color of these hangers. By choosing a neutral fabric, it doesn't clash with the colors and patterns that are already in my closet. It also helps things look more streamlined and organized, even if I don't necessarily change anything about the organization of the clothes.

I started with 4 packs (72 hangers) and quickly learned that was just enough to do one side of my closet and just a few dresses. While I did take this opportunity to weed through some of my clothes and put together a donation pile, I still needed to purchase a more hangers. They were 18 to a pack and cost $9.99 each. Luckily I had a $50 Visa giftcard leftover from Christmas that I received from work so I only had to pay $20.00 of my own money for 126 hangers. Still pricey, but worth it to me. 

I had ordered some clothes online and waited until they arrived to start the closet redo. Once I replaced all the hangers, my closet instantly looked 10 times better. Just having one uniform color and type of hanger made a world of difference.

(The pictures are a bit blurry, but we dont' get much sunlight in the closet and I hate the yellow glow from using the flash.)

I've tried a few different ways to organize my closet. For a while I tried color-coding everything. I've found that it's easiest for me to navigate when I group similar types of things: skirts, sweaters, long sleeved, tank tops, dresses, etc. rather than by color.

Here's my little helper trying to 'organize' my shoes.

It was the smallest change, but I'm so glad with how much neater the closet looks. I actually enjoy going into the closet and seeing how nice everything looks. That and I'm a little bit of a perfectionist in that I try to perfectly space each hanger. We'll see how long that lasts!

I'm dying to repaint my closet. It's currently a denim blue color as I was channeling my inner Carrie Bradshaw when I painted it a few years ago. Now I want a nice neutral palate (like I'm turning the rest of the house) that doesn't clash with the colors and patterns of my clothes and looks a little more 'grown-up'. 

Pre-baby I would have taken this opportunity of cleaning out my closet to just bite the bullet and paint the closet last weekend just to get it over with. I still have a good amount of Sharkey Gray leftover from the nursery. I wish I could have, but now that I have Lucy, I need to better plan my paint escapades. Hopefully soon though!

Oh and here is just a fraction of the hangers that were tossed.

What a mess.

Sidenote: For those of you wondering, Jordan has his own closet. I didn't kick him out. He was a good hubby and sacrified the walk-in and let me have it. He owns the large closet in the upstairs hallway for all his clothes. I think he likes having his own closet, anyway.