Moving Days 1 & 2

I am not a fan of moving or packing. It is exhausting and not really all that fun. I've had two days of moving so far and if I'm being honest I am over it. Haha. I still have all my big furniture left; the bed, desk, dresser and book shelf. But I have moved all of my bathroom stuff, clothes and all of my little knick knacks/ decor items.

The two tips I have to share when it comes to moving are... have patience with the process and if you aren't moving too far away move one room at a time. That way you can unpack each room as you go and you will feel less overwhelmed at the end. For me, it helps me feel like I've accomplished something when I see a room come together.

I am ready to just be done, but alas I won't be moving the rest until next Monday and Wednesday. 

For now I will just be happy with what I've accomplished.

We Didn't Need a Stud or Stud Finder

Hanging curtains isn't easy. At least it wasn't for me and my friend Carrie. We spent a good portion of our day learning, through trial and error, some tips that we could share with you. But first I am going to break down my Ikea haul... just in case any of you are wondering what I got.

1// Lucite Chrome Plated Chair   2// Shower Shelf   3// Towels and Washcloths   4// Floor Lamp   5// Curtain Rods   6// Toothbrush Hand Towel   7// Shower Squeegee   8// Bath Mat   9// Light Bulbs   10// Finials   11// Extra Curtain Rod Holders   12// Brackets   

13// White Blanket   14// White Sheers   15// White Curtains

As I mentioned in my post on Wednesday, I went to Ikea with a budget of $300. I was able to get all of this for $307. I was pretty happy with my haul. The most expensive item was the lucite chair for $80. The other pricey item was the floor lamp at $60. Aside from those two pieces I was able to find everything else for under $20 a piece. There obviously were more expensive (probably better quality) options but these are the ones that worked best for me.

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Now... on to the curtain hanging party. Aka my friend Carrie schooling me on how to properly hang a curtain. Wednesday my dear friend Carrie came over to the new house on her day off with the intentions of helping me hang my curtains. What came after was 2hrs of laughter and lessons. Everything we did on the curtains over the doors, we modified for our attempt with the curtains over the windows and cut down our time dramatically. We both learned some time saving tips as well as gained confidence in knowing we could do it on our own. Being a single woman, I've got to say it is nice to feel like you can handle a home improvement project on your own without a guy to help. (I know this wasn't an insanely hard project but you've got to start somewhere.) Don't get me wrong, had I had a significant other... I would have totally put him to work. Haha. But because I don't, this whole experience was quite empowering. 

So without further ado here are my 4 simple tips on hanging curtains.

Tip # One// Pre drill your holes. This made hanging the brackets much easier. It was quite difficult for us to hold the bracket, screw and the drill all at once... pre drilling cut the time we spent on each bracket in half.

Tip # Two// Use your level as a measuring guide. Mark your distance down from the ceiling on your level with painters tape. That way each time you need to put in a bracket you can just press the level all the way up to the ceiling and make your mark by the bottom line of the painter tape. It makes the process of getting everything lined up and straight so much quicker.



Tip # Three// Use wide head screws. They hold better and offer more support. There were a few brackets that we had to add a couple extra screws to help support the weight of the double curtain rods.

Tip # Four// Recruit a friend that knows more than you. I've never hung curtains. Honestly, I went into the morning thinking it was going to be an easy in and out ordeal. Had Carrie not been there with me, I probably would still be there trying to figure it all out. (Ok, maybe it's not that hard but you get what I'm saying. haha) If you are starting out in a new city and have yet to build a social group, YouTube can be your best friend. There are a number of tutorials (I discovered these after) that could help you.

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I know the bathroom needs a little more love... but I am excited for the few pieces I've purchased for it so far. I am thinking about getting a stand for over the toilet. I don't want to block all the natural light though so I am going to try and figure out another solution for storage first. I'll keep you updated.



Our official day we can move-in is October 15th, next Tuesday. I plan on making a day of it and just filling my car and transferring as much as I can. October 23rd we are getting a truck and will be moving all the big furniture. I'm excited to just get everything started. I am definitely going to miss our current house, we've been here 2yrs and I love it, but I am excited to create a new space for myself and to share the journey with you.

Happy Friday Friends!!

And so it begins...

We are moving house this month. In preparation for this, we've already had a garage sale to downsize before the move. And... we had a painting party, our new space needed a little love. A few of our amazing friends came over for the day and helped us bust out the whole house. It was awesome. (Thanks again friends! You all blessed our socks off!)

My bedroom area was an oceany blue. The color itself wasn't bad, but it just wasn't fitting my vision of how I wanted my personal oasis to be. I decided to go with a white shade that has a hint of grey in it. My current bedroom is quite dark and one of the things I love so much about this new room is all the natural light. The lighter color just reflects and bounces the light even more, which makes me happy :)

The day of the painting party, I had one gallon of Behrs All-In-One paint to cover my entire room. When Nate, Carrie, Jan and I started painting the walls we quickly realized that it was going to need at least two coats. Not wanting to buy another can, I crossed all my fingers and toes and prayed that it would be enough. Waiting the 2hrs suggested to paint the second coat (warning: I'm going to be a bit dramatic) definitely felt like a form of slow torture. I kept myself busy by helping paint the other rooms in the house, but I was counting down the minutes in the back of my mind the entire time. I just wanted to know if it was all going to work out. I wanted to see the finished project. But like a lot of things in life, it's a process and if you rush it... you tend to mess it up more than help it along. So, I waited. As soon as my clock reached the two hour mark, I grabbed my roller and went to town. A little later, Nate came in to help me which I was very thankful for. Looking at the amount of paint we had and the walls definitely kept me nervous. We both knew it was going to be a stretch. We got down to literally a 3ft x 4ft square and we were all out... my heart sank. I really didn't want to buy more paint. So, I headed out into the living room to see if there was any of the white left out there. There wasn't much but Chris said I could use some. Nate dipped his roller in once and then I took it back out to them. I didn't want to use all their paint since they were running low as well. When I came back in the room, it wasn't looking good. Then I got an idea, I sat on the floor with all the rollers and brushes we had been using and I squeegeed out all the excess paint. It was like I just found gold, the excitement I had come over me was pretty ridiculous. But we had enough to finish off the wall we had left, plus go around the entire top, plus fix some of the places that we went a little thin on.... plus I took the rest out to the living room and it helped put a second coat on the wall out there. You can bet that I considered that a major WIN!

So, my first tip (it may not be new, but it was something I recently discovered) is to squeegee the heck out of your paint tools before you purchase more paint. When on a budget, every dollar counts and that saved me quite a few dollars.

One of the things I am having to wrap my head around is the 11x11ft I have to fit all of my stuff in. So my solution was to measure all of my current furniture and then head over to my new room and figure out a way it can all fit by taping out their measurements on the floor. Honestly it has helped me visualize and get some fun ideas on how to make it even better than my current space.

So, my tip number two (this also is probably not new, but it was to me) is to literally tape out where you see your pieces fitting into the room. If you are a visual person like me, it helps to see the space laid out before you, so you know what you need to keep and what you may need to let go.

Stay tuned over the next month... there will be packing posts, unpacking posts, decor posts and then the final reveal. So much goodness to come :)