Modern boho farmhouse bathroom before and after!

August 3, 2020 by Leave a Comment

We’ve been in our house for just over two years now. There are so many more things to do, but I get so excited each time we accomplish one more of our house goals!

To fully appreciate the after we have to show you the before. The bathroom was functional but not a pretty spot in the house to say the least.

It was really dark, and having no natural light was not helping.

It all started with the shower curtain from Target, its Opalhouse and I love everything from this line.

Then I thought I would paint the wood accents and wallpaper. The wallpaper was a beast so Troy suggested a a stucco effect. Best idea ever.

These are peel and stick tiles which have come a looooong way. They are super easy to clear (four kids use this space on the regular) which is a must.

I painted the oak-tastic vanity, we put in new lights and a huge mirror. The mirror was a Homegoods score from Habitat!

The sink would have been about $1200 but we had to keep it as it had a manufacturer defect (on the part that faces the wall) off of a job Troy was doing.

New glossy tile and coordinating grout for the counter, lots of pretty baskets (how many baskets does she own you may be asking yourself lol)

And a little round white rug from Amazon.

I love how our refresh turned out! It didn’t break the bank and boy what a difference. I was worried so much white would feel sterile but it’s so pretty clean and warm. The grey painted stucco and little touches make it cozy.

We still have a long ways to go but I sure am happy with our latest redo 🙂

Thank you so much for reading friends, I hope this finds you well and enjoying a little time to create in your own space this week 🙂

Xo, Tanya

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A little grey church pew before and after

July 19, 2020 by 10 Comments

My mother law Candis recently passed on this deacon’s bench (little church pew) she found at a local thrift store.

I loved it immediately and while she had not had it forever I knew it had a story to tell.

The part that means the most is not the little wooden pew but the person that gave it to me. Candis has dedicated her life to being on the mission field and traveled the globe. Even after “retirement” she’s as active as ever seeing a meeting the needs of young mom’s in her town. So she’s pretty amazing, and I’m very blessed to have her as my MIL 🙂

The hard part was figuring out what color to paint this little pew and I landed on this saft, pale grey. I’ve never used this chalk paint by Kilz and I’m super impressed.

I did two good coats and the coverage was perfect. It’s very smooth and easy to apply, I’ll use it again for sure.

A little distressing, and since there will not be food or cups set on her I didn’t use a sealer.

I like the mix of the light grey with warm old wood popping thru. We are always moving things around to make room for the next find but I have a feeling this little bench will be here for a while. It fits perfect here!

A little spot to pull on boots and head outside, or flip-flops, we do get sun here sometimes in the PNW 🙂

I figured it must have turned out ok when Candis came over and announced that she now wanted it back ha!

She was kidding of course, but it meant a lot to me. And now each time I come home or walk by our little entry she makes me smile.

And because no wall in my home feels complete without 50 baskets on each wall lol, I added the obligatory baskets.

And a plant, are you addicted to plants by chance too? I love them, especially pothos, jade trees, snake plants and all those other hard-to-kill varieties!

I’m super excited about my blog makeover too, coming soon a much needed boho-farmhousey refresh for this little corner of the web. Cant wait to reveal it!

I hope this finds you well, at peace, and eeking out even a bit of time to create. I seem to be short on that creativity time too but it’s so important for our spirit!

Hugs & blessings from casa twelveoeight,

Xoxo, Tanya

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Simple DIY corbels

June 10, 2020 by 2 Comments

You know how you see something for sale and you think to yourself, I could pay $24.95 a piece for those.

I could.

It would be easier.

And then something kind of clicks and you realize that you don’t have to.

You could make those for a few bucks.

Maybe even with scrap wood from other projects and paint you already have.

Welcome the simple diy corbel.

I kind of have a thing for corbels right now, they are my jam.

I have this spot where the long dining room flows into the front living room. The front living room is my fave space to be. It is the only room with super high ceilings in our 1970’s mid-century modern home.

We have added a lot of our own style while still trying to keep much of our home’s original vibe.

Lots of paint, wood floors, white-washed shiplap fireplace surround, and a wood wrapped beam at the peak with exposed electrical.

Add a whole bunch of baskets, swivel chairs, and a mix of vintage and modern and this is our home.

I saw corbels very similar to these online and thought I might just order them.

But Troy likes to make stuff (yes this is very convenient and I try to not make the hey can you make/fix/build this list too long) 🙂 and he gave them a go.

These are actually leftover bed rails from a dismantled bunk bed. He ripped the pieces down to 2″ x 5″ size for the top and back. For each corbel the top piece was 14.5″ long and the vertical piece 16″ long. The angled piece we cut to 17″ end at 40 degrees and the other at 50 degrees as we wanted the bottom of the corbel a bit longer.

The ends we rounded off a bit and used a wire wheel on our drill to create some lines and texture.

I painted them with an off-white paint and sanded them until I felt like they could of come off an old porch.

They just just the perfect amount of architectural interest in this spot, I just love them!

They were very quick to make, the longest part being the time for the paint to dry!

I don’t know about you but when the world is crazy and there is so much uncertainty around us home is where I like to be. I always want this little spot of the web to be uplifting and encouraging, and that wont change. But for all of us I wish for some peace. That we would look at our own hearts and choose grace and kindness to be our creed. That we would help a stranger, hold a door, pay for someone’s coffee, smile when we don’t have to. The power of being kind and doing the right thing costs us nothing but the difference it makes cannot be measured.

Thank you friends for reading and as always, you are appreciated more than you know!

xo, tanya

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The to-do and the DONE list

May 24, 2020 by 4 Comments

Hello friends!

I woke up today and buzzed around getting my coffee, turning off outdoor lights and opening curtains.

Glancing down at my to-do list and thinking of the glorious day ahead I could feel the excitement this thinking of all I can accomplish.

We are mid-way thru adding on the the existing chicken coop so we can get our long-awaited for chickens into their new home.

Our hallway/main bathroom is a mish-mash of every bad design decision from the 70’s and 80’s. Planning that bright, fresh makeover has been fun. I cannot wait to show you the before and after.

Somewhere between excitement and planning however I got lost in my to-do’s and forgot completely how far we have come.

My mind quickly shifted to the long list of things that still need to be done.

Those are long lists aren’t they?

I found myself feeling immediately defeated and was kind of surprised how quickly I went from elated to overwhelmed.

As I drank my coffee and looked around I saw something.

Something to be proud of and remind me that this is a journey of lots of steps and projects not an epic weekend remodel with 74 volunteers and someone screaming MOVE THAT BUS.

It’s big.

A DONE list.

So many things have been completed, so many projects I am proud of that bring me joy each day.

To think that the list of projects that I look forward to turned into a daunting task ahead made me realize that it was me that had to change.

I have to change how I see the things around me, and be willing to extend the same grace I have with others to myself too.

To slow down a bit, yes that means choosing NOT to do something and be “busy” all the time to stop and enjoy how far we have come.

Iv’e worn busy like a badge of honor at times in my life and yeah I got a lot done. But that is a season not to stay in forever. We need our down time too.

I finished my coffee, ok, two cups back to back really strong lol that is how I wake up 🙂 and I looked around this little house of mine.

And you know what? We have come a long way!

Sure that does not shorten the to-do list but you know what? It gives me such a sense of peace and accomplishment to go back over my DONE list.

We are doing great, and you know what? You are too, we all are doing the best we can and trying to eek out a little time for us and our creative minds. So what if the dishes don’t get done and everyone had cereal for dinner.

I guess I just needed a bit of a reality check and a shift in focus this morning to see how truly amazing we humans are.

We have such a capacity to create, and love, and give. And when we can make the home around us a place we love to be one little project at a time we gotta step back every so often and remind ourselves that we are doing great.

Here is to an amazing weekend with a few things to work on and some time to enjoy the things that make us happy.

And the people we love, that love us back.

Thank you as always for reading friend, love you so!

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Little vintage table before and after

May 19, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Hey there!!

How’s your week been? We were talking the other day about the creative surge that both Troy and I have felt since stay at home orders went into place. I have realized how much I missed this little corner of the internet to share and create, and I am SO HAPPY to be writing again. This time has been so good to evaluate how I spend those spare moments and made me love my little home even more than I did before. But boy do I miss Goodwill, and I am going to run out of paint at some point 🙂 so a healthy balance of the freedom to come and go or stay at home and chill is something I am really looking forward to.

In the meantime, this table. And renovating a 70’s house…

Our house is a 1970’s mid-century modern that we’ve been in for almost two years now and I’m slowly turning it into my version of a modern city farmhouse.

Open concept spaces and large inviting kitchens seem to be something that were not a priority in 70’s design. But by tearing out cabinets, and white-washing dark dreary wood we’ve made great strides. We have a ways to go, you haven’t seen the main hallway bathroom!

Right after we moved in there was a yard sale down the road. I would love to say that I used self control after moving TONS of stuff but I saw this little vintage table for five bucks. I knew it would look cool any color so into my car she went.

I used white chalky spray paint and distressed all over with my palm sander. Next to give the table a little age and patina I watered down some brown acrylic paint. Using just a bit of the watery paint and a small damp cloth I applied it to the table here and there then blended as I went. This table won’t have any liquids on it so I decided not to use and sealer on it. here it is after one coat.

When I see the half-way mark I always wonder if this was a good idea!

It’s in the entry way now but I like to move stuff around once in a while so I’m sure she could be just about anywhere next week 🙂

I’ve found a balance that I like between vintage, modern and a little bohemian. I love to have things in our home that I poured my heart into and make me smile when I walk by them.

And if something gets broken during an epic nerf gun battle or “tag in the dark” (yep they actually do that lol) oh well. Most of it was found anyways on the fly and I’d much rather see my tribe having fun than have a perfect house.

I’ve kind of always thought perfect isn’t much fun anyways 🙂

Thank you as always for reading, I hope you have an amazing day!!

xo, Tanya

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How to start composting

May 15, 2020 by 4 Comments

First of all let me say that these long stretches without blogging have made me miss this part of my life so much.

Like SO MUCH.

So a little back story on why life is like composting, stay with me here.

When I began this blog 8 years ago my kiddos were little and we were at home a lot. Life has changed a lot and in the most brief cliff notes ever:

I love my home, career, family, and have taken some huge risks to create the life that I have now. But that meant some sacrifice, and for a time setting aside most of my creative time to work on my career.

2014 was the one very hard year.  In one year I was a single mom with four children and one grandbaby depending on me. I lost my Mom and walked my older son thru the darkness of losing his Father to brain cancer.  But thank God that is not the end of the story. With some wonderful opportunity, and hard work life is very different now. 

I have remarried, and while none of us are perfect, Troy is one amazing guy.  Between us we have six kids and five grandkids.  All this by 49 years of age.  And I have to say I would not change one single thing.

So back to the compost, I know you are probably wondering when we are going to get back to that.  I grew up with a small farm that had a huge organic garden.  And now we are using our city farm to do the same, while we don’t have horses and cattle we do have a garden.

And the chickens are coming soon. Above is compost in the making.

You can live just about anywhere and compost.  It does not have cost anything to get started and even with a small flower bed or container garden on a city balcony you can reap the benefits of composting.

What foods are compostable? The list is much longer than this as many people use sawdust, ashes from their wood stove, and wood chippings.  But this is the basic list of everyday items you are probably sending to a landfill instead of sending much of what first came from the earth back to it once again.

My rule to not have the compost “smell” and not attract rodents is:  Egg shells, moldy bread, old rice or oats (with no butter or dairy in them) banana peels, fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds, paper towels (no chemicals or food on them) and the list goes on and on!

We don’t compost meat, cheese, eggs, any dairy products, or that type of food waste.  We have found that this keeps the critters away and by periodically turning your growing compost it is naturally breaking down into beautiful dirt.  Rich in nutrients and ready to add to your potting soil or garden 3-way mix to grow more amazing stuff.

They are a lot of elaborate set ups out there and expensive rolling bins but we have found that a small area in your yard (think three pallets to build the the walls of the bin) with a gated front or little piece of fencing you can move is all you need.  Once in a while you move the front piece and turn your soil.

When it looks like dirt, it’s ready.

One warning however, you will see kitchen waste and discarded things in a whole new way once you start composting.

The things that no one cared about anymore that were discarded were gathered up and made new again.  All those eggshells and wilting lettuce got a second chance to start over and be amazing.

So I guess we are kind of the same if given the chance to break down, rebuild and be free to be made new again.

And the best part, we just like that compost have the chance to help something else (or someone else) around us do the same.

Many cities have robust composting programs as that are available in many areas. And, you may find like we have that our garbage bill is down as well too!

Thank you for reading, I would love to hear your ideas and feedback.  Lots of love-

Tanya

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DIY yarn + succulent wall hanging

August 13, 2019 by 2 Comments

Our summer has been short and a bit unpredictable here in the PNW this year. And while I long for summer to last forever, my summer annuals are showing signs of nearing their time and I made a fruit crisp already.The crisp was kind of my white flag of surrender, acknowledging the subtle changes happening around us.

I begin to think about things that will transition our vibe from summer to autumn, and admittedly, casseroles and crock pot recipes are high on the list! Tell me I’m not alone here…then there’s the pillows and candles but that’s a whole other blog post in and of itself.I have always loved fiber arts and yarn, but have not crossed over and learned how to crochet or knit yet.I gave myself permission to be ok with not liking every craft known to man. Enter the great quiting fail of 1996.We were snowed in and I decided it was time to try my hand at quilting.A queen size quilt.Yeah…So needless to say I have realized my attention span and amount of patience if not well suited to projects like that.

But something 30 minutes or less? Keep talking, I’m listening…These colors really spoke to me recently and I fell in love with the contrast between the orange and blue together.It was like a modern version of Three’s Company right there in my shopping basket.Flip flopping between doing something round or something straight across I opted for round.

Yarn for 50% off, clearance faux succulents, I’m in!I am loving these colors together, bright but still bringing a early-fall vibe that I’m kind of ready for.Long strings of yarn, looped around each ring, it doesn’t get much easier than that!

The rings secured all in one spot with yarn and a dab of hot glue to keep the tied ends in place.

And the fun part? You could hang it on the side if a chicken coop just for a change of pace.

Sometimes the light in this spot (the side if our chicken coop) is just right. It needs a makeover before we can have chickens, but for now the cat loves to nap in there.

While I have not dug out the “fall” boxes from the attic I have to say this whole late summer thing is quite wonderful.

There are more days to grill and swim, run and play in the sun. And maybe figure out what to do with this leftover yarn.

Thank you so much for reading friend, and supporting this little spot in the blogspere.

Hugs,

Tanya

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Modern master bath remodel on a budget

August 5, 2019 by 9 Comments

I cannot tell you how excited I am to share phase one of our master bathroom remodel!

It started with a little redo and well then we lost our minds a bit but are soooo happy with the results. You gotta see the before to know how far this oak-tastic cave has come in the past few weeks. I bring you, one massively outdated cave-like depressing space:

Yep this is the before, granted we had more cabinets than we knew what to do with. It was less than inspiring.

Inspiration began with a paint chip, left over subway tile from the kitchen, and some Habitat scored hardware.

The color is Little Black Dress, Behr paint from Home Depot, and its freaking gorgeous.

Just saying…

Troy suggested cutting the cabinets in half, and there was an immediate improvement.

We raised the platform that the new counter and sink would rest on, wanting to bring a way-too-low counter up a bit higher.

We used end cut fir flooring to create the butcher block on each side, and a pretty black and white tile for a little pop. The basin sink was a FREE score at Habitat, which allowed me to get the faucet I REALLY wanted, faucet from Lowe’s.

We have to find a new mirror for above our front living room fireplace as this just fit perfectly here.

This time we used white grout with the subway tile, it’s so bright and clean.

And a faux cactus, you gotta stick a faux cactus on your new bathroom counter.

The flooring is next when we redo the main bath, for now I’m one happy girl. Every day I’m so excited to walk by this space and smile with the amazing transformation. Just in case you missed the before…

And my pretty little black master vanity now…

One more…

Thank you friend for following along and sharing this journey with us, I appreciate you sharing this post and helping keep this blog space of mine going 🙂

Until next time!

Hugs,Tanya

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Progress in the laundry room

July 6, 2019 by 4 Comments

We have a few more things to complete in our laundry room but I had to share how far we’ve come!

When we bought our home a year ago, this room that goes from the garage to the inside felt cramped and awkward.

Both doors opened inward which was the first change we made. We installed a sliding vintage interior door we found at Habitat and hung it from the same barn door hardware we used for our pantry barn door. We removed the outdated cabinets, and there was instantly more breathing room.

I guess I’m kind of impatient because I had to share this even before the glass door knob was installed. I decided to not repaint the sliding door but leave the areas bare where previous hardware had been.

The interior of our home is a soft pale grey. Besides the blue-green wall in the master bedroom and the birch tree faux wallpaper in the office, this is the color throughout our home.

On the wall opposite the washer and dryer we ran a chair rail mid way up the wall and painted the upper wall with chalkboard paint. The white decorative piece was a find in Troy’s old shed, which we added vintage knobs and fabric insets after a fresh coat of paint.

We wanted a laundry folding station and by adding a top of plywood and supports of painted 1″ by 2″s it was perfect. Well, almost. I realized we had more hardwood flooring front another project which we installed on top and I white washed. It’s so pretty and clean, I love this counter top.

We have a lot of laundry going all the time and there’s always something to hang dry. We wanted to keep the industrial vibe going so we used metal piping and exposed conduit boxes for a rod just below the ceiling.

On the wall above the folding station I used a sharpie and a cardboard triangle creating a geometric pattern along the wall. There is no natural light in this space so the succulents are faux.

Thank you for taking a little tour with me today, I’m off to go work in the yard as we finish our deck and fence. There’s much more to do, but I sure do love the satisfaction and joy of seeing the finished product 🙂

Thank you for stopping by, and for following along!

xo, Tanya

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Industrial glam bar cart

June 29, 2019 by 4 Comments

I have wanted a bar cart for a while now.  Something that was my speed, a little shabby and a little glam.  A nod to the 70’s is always good too.

And I didn’t want to pay hardly anything for it, because well the thrill of the hunt is the hunt itself, the find and then the best part, the DEAL.

Do you love the deal too? Like swerve off the road when you see a yard sale sign, jump up and down in a thrift store kind of love? Oh good then we were separated at birth I am sure of it.

This find was $9.99 at our nearby Goodwill and I liked it immediately when I saw the herringbone inlay on each shelf.  It was too big and bulky to be a little bookcase but I felt like it would make a cool bar cart.

And if I ended up not liking it for that purpose, Abbie my eight year old already decided that Barbie’s would look excellent piled on top of it.  So to the checkout we headed.

We taped off the center on the top to leave the herringbone pattern on display, and painted the remainder of the cart with Chalked spray paint in Charcoal.  This is THE most beautiful dark grey on the planet, just saying…. I am pretty much in love with this paint.

Once the paint was dry, and the cart was a little distressed we added these acrylic casters.  I wanted to go with these as number one each one was less than five bucks each at Harbor Freight.  And two, they look like Lucite.  Don’t even get me started on Lucite, it makes me think of Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and everything cool and amazing about a clear piece of furniture.  I don’t have one, yet!

We found the sleek cabinet/drawer pulls at Home Depot, put them in place and voila! we were the proud owners of a “new” bar cart.  She is all styled pretty for these photos but you know she has also been the home for 30 Barbie’s this week and a cat who like to sneak inside and nap on the bottom shelf periodically.

I cannot wait to use it this summer for impromptu get-togethers, extra serving space outside, and stray doll or cat in it’s down time.

Thank you for taking a peek at our latest project, come back soon to see what I did with a ton of yarn, inspired by another thrifted find 🙂

xoxoxoxo-

Tanya

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Thank you so much for reading, and as always, may your heart and home be full of everything you love! xo, Tanya         linking up to: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/ And these awesome parties: http://www.twelveoeightblog.com/awesome-link-parties