Laundry Re-Vamp

Hey Everyone!

If you haven't noticed already I added a new page to the blog up at the top "Home Tour".

While it is currently under construction, I will be posting pictures && adding links up to my posts about our DIY Renovations// Rooms to that area!

For one of the first posts I thought I would link up our Laundry Room//Closet that I recently fixed up.

It cost me seriously nothing. Less than $80.

Ever since I got a Pinterest last year, {seriously addicting! add me here if you aren't already following me!}

I've been dreaming of redoing this little closet.

It sits right off of the kitchen & is in the hall way by our bathroom downstairs.

It was such an eye sore if the doors were open & I just hated looking at it so I felt it was time to make it less hideous & more functional and pretty.

Before:

It was just boring, an eye sore, & that wire shelf was slowly coming out of the wall.

I would just shut the door & forget about it.

After:

In my opinion, I think its 120% better.

It just looks so crisp & clean to me.

Perfect for a little laundry closet.

Instead of trying to fix that wire shelf I just took it out & replaced it with a piece of pine wood that I stained & sealed. I screwed some brackets to it that I bought & spray painted in Oil Rubbed Bronze by Rustoleum.

Which all together cost me about $20, most expensive part were the brackets, I already had the stain & sealer on hand.

When using the shelf I wanted to put a few things that were functional but also decorative since this part is visible throughout the whole downstairs I didn't want it to be such an eye sore when the doors were open.

Up on the top shelves I bought these two wire bins from Marshalls to store Laundry Goodies.

Extra dryer sheets, spot cleaner, woolite, ect.

Along with that we store our extra toilet paper & bleach up there as well.

I added a trash can so that I could throw the lint from the dryer away right there,

along with the trash can I bought a dish to put all the change & things that I find in our pockets as I do laundry.

Remember the D.I.Y. Laundry Soap Recipe I shared awhile back?

Ever since I made it I have never gone back to store bought, I LOVE it!

If you haven't already check it out here & try it!

and of course the cutest tea light holder ever! I love burning a small "fresh linen" tea light in there, it makes it smell so good :)

& this little beauty I just had to put somewhere,

I had a big space left on the shelf so I thought this would be perfect for here.

My husband actually painted this for me, I had a picture of something similar to this as my background and we had a spare piece of canvas that he decided to surprise me with.

this is the view of the space from our dining room, this little part is right off of the kitchen and dining room and is right next to the guest bathroom.

Best part about it? I can just close it up once I'm all done using it if I don't feel like keeping it visible throughout the whole downstairs!

Not too shabby for a closet laundry room eh?

Sources:

Rug - Marshalls {bought this forever ago but they always get these kind of rugs}

Wire baskets - Marshalls $12.99 each

Wall color - White Dove by Valspar in Satin

Shelf; Wood, Brackets, Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint, Dark Walnut Stain & Polycrilic Clear Coat - Lowes {I had everything on hand except the wood & brackets which were about 25ish dollars.}

Tea Light Holder - Micheal's Craft Store $3.99

White box for dryer lints - Marshalls {it is actually the package a candle came in haha!}

Antique Dish - Marhsalls $9.99

Trash Can - Ross $6.99

xoxo

Jordyn Luise

2013 ~ New Beginnings

I feel like it's time I come clean.

I am horrible at keeping up with this blog.

{but you guys already knew that}

I'm not here to have a pitty-party or anything but to be fair we have had A LOT going on this year.

Everything has just been one hit after the next.

We've experienced two deaths of fellow friends that has hit us hard, along with that,

my husband has been dealing with medical issues.

In his right hand two of his fingers just decided to go completely numb and he has lost a majority of his strength in them.

So add that all into the mix of the every day highs and low of marine corp life, work, school, ya know, the whole shebang  && you get a very very tired Jordyn haha.

{p.s. I have been sick non stop, this weather needs to make up its mind!!}

Blogging has just been low on my priorities lately.

SO, There is my long over due apology, I'm sorry!

But I promise, things have calmed down {I hope at least} 

Sooooo, I'm back.

Because I'm determined that 2013 will be a way better year!

&& with that being said.

I have a project to show you!

A few months ago I picked up this amazingly old antique dresser.

It was in pretty bad shape,

even though the girl before me had put a lot of time into stripping the old paint down, it had a lot more of work to go.

After days of sanding {seriously} a bottle of mineral spirit, this baby was ready to paint.

I have NEVER experienced paint like that before, it just would.not.come.off.

layers upon layers upon layers of bubbling paint.

it was a nightmare.

BEFORE:

I love love love this style of dressers.

they are my absolute favorite.

You have no idea how long it took to get all these layers off.

But with an antique like this, it REALLY needed it.

The paint had bubbled and cracked all over.

And not a "pretty" bubble crack either.

As you can see, there was lots and lots of paint, it would not budge.

I let mineral spirit sit on this for a few hours,

then I sanded, and sanded, and sanded,

&& gave up when it felt smooth haha.

 AFTER:

I have a lot of white & grey furniture in my house downstairs,

so for this piece I really wanted to bring everything together.

I thought the white & dark walnut would make the dresser match better against my dining room table

{to see pictures of that check out the link here}

Both this dresser//buffet && my table are antiques.
Making them the same color made it feel like these were apart of a set.

As you can see, I have yet to find the perfect hardware for this baby.

It is a lot harder then it seems to find something that looks just right,

& 8 of them in fact haha.

I am SO in love with how this turned out {surprise surprise, ;)}
It feels like it just belonged here.

Plus I love the contrast of the dark wood with the bright white.

{paint color is white dove by valspar}

The bright white looks so good next to my vintage silver accents, so it's a win win.

and it's not complete without a little chippy owl in the mix! 

Remember that bottle candle holder I found while thrifting??

{link here}

Well it's mate didn't last through my plane ride back home,

ever since I have been moving him around until it found the perfect home, right there on my buffet :)

I love the old key wholes on this piece, the gold also tied in the eclectic mix of finishes I have downstairs in my house; oil rub bronze, silver & gold.

And what's a buffet without fresh greenery && a yummy candle??
{calvin klein bitter sweet vine. he seriously makes the best candles ever}


So what do you think? I'm completely smitten with this old beauty.
By the way, did you see that my blog got a little re vamp?
I thought it was fitting, new fresh start to 2013 for my blog.
Also don't forget to check out my Facebook as well! I will be updating a few things around here on both the blog & Facebook page. Tutorials, Home Tour, Projects. ect. So keep your eye out!

Facebook link Here!


xoxox
Jordyn luise

September BirchBox

I am Falling in Love all over again!

Birchbox style ;)

Every month I love this beauty subscription more & more.

I have found some amazing products in the past year from Birchbox.

If you don't already know what Birchbox is  I talk about what Birchbox is, how to sign up && the whole nitty gritty in this post HERE.

This months Birch Box was just as amazing as the rest.

I was currently wearing one of my new Birchbox finds when I took this so my new twist band hair tie isn't pictured.

I loved that they sent a fall "look book" that listed all the fall beauty essentials. 

It was a great way to show the new products and it made me conscious of what products I need to restock on ;)

This month I got a ton of great fall staples:

Twist Band - Lace up for Fall : I got the cute salmon colored lace band.

BVLGARI Mon Jasmine Perfume : This stuff smells amazing!

The past two times I have gotten a perfume sample of BVLGARI's perfumes I have used them rather than my normal perfume. I'll probably be purchasing either of them in the near future.

WEI to go Sleep Over Kit: This had me smitten after one use.

This cleanser is perfect for washing your face at night or in the mornings, & the perfect finish is so neat.

Its a  "lightweight formula part of a new breed of products called CC Creams, or Color Control Creams" Birchbox says it best. But it works so well! I usually wear it as is without any foundation over it. I will definitely be purchasing this too!

Vasanti Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Reguvenator: I was actually more partial to this face cleanser than the WEI to go one, I loved the smell of this stuff & it worked really good!

The first week I used it I actually broke out {which if you know me, that is very rare, I'm one of those freak of nature people who rarely get a zit} but I noticed a HUGE change in my skin once it started clearing back up. It was glowing more & it just looked a lot more healthy. I highly recommend this stuff. It is the beez knees.

BirchBox and Color Club - Custom Collection:  Pictured Above to show a better picture of the color ^

As I'm typing this post I'm currently wearing this nail polish.

This color is such a gem! It is the perfect metallic shade with a hint of neutral color.

Another great fall staple.

Brush Guard Variety Pack: Each month BirchBox gives out what I like to call a "box prize".

One time it was headphones, another time it was tea, & this time it is brush guards.

Not much to say here haha.

Overall this was a great Fall Staple Beauty Box.

You got everything really, nail polish, perfume, foundation/concealer, && face cleaner.

I really have no complaints, and once again, Birch Box has gotten me hooked on some new products.

Have you tried Birch Box yet? If not Sign up Here.

Do you have any great beauty products that you are smitten over?! I would love to hear about it if you do!

If you have any questions feel free to email me!

I love hearing from you all!

Happy Fall Everyone!

xoxox

Jordynluise

P.S. Don't forget about the give away at 200 likes on my facebook page!!

You all are SO amazing && I can't thank you enough for spreading the word about my lovely blog.

I am already at  165 likes! Only 35 more to go.

If you haven't already head on over and click "like" on my facebook page HERE.

Progress

I can finally say that I have made a lot of progress in our master bedroom.

Why is the bedroom always the last place to be done?

There are still a few things missing that I can't wait to share with you all eventually,

but I thought it would be fun to show what we've been up too lately.

If you don't remember, here is a glimpse of what our room looked like when we initially moved in,

Pretty brutal huh? This was pre paint, pre furniture shopping, and basically pre everything.

This was my "I'm sick of un-packing, this will just have to do" phase.

But it didn't stay that way for long.

we painted it light grey,

then my husband had a great idea to putty all the "nail holes" through out our house && went putty crazy in our room.

& of course it was the only room I didn't remember what color, what brand or remotely anything in terms of knowing the paint color.

So I decided hey, lets try something new!

Insert Valspar's Spring Line.

I tried to paint it a light blue,

but once it was on the walls I wanted to crawl back into my grey cave.

Our tan carpet + light blue, = beach.

I'm all for the beach, But I don't want to live in it.

So I went back to my most favorite paint color ever {thanks Brittney}

City Smoke Stack by Color Place.

&& I am so glad I took the plunge.

Our room gets a TON of natural light so painting it such a dark color wasn't a concern for us.

AFTER:

So I'm going to try & make this as easy as possible to visualize,

I don't have a wide angle lens yet so It was hard to take pictures of our room without it looking weird so bare with me here haha! I feel it would be easier to share by highlighting the different "spaces" in the room.

You might remember this dresser from when I first refinished it awhile back.

{click here for the link to that post}

It was an oak wood, But Im not a big fan of the orange look of oak.
So I decided to paint it white.
But then I was in a stage of "white over kill" sooo I painted it a light shade of grey to mix things up.

I always think its fun to see how people "accessorize" or "decorate" their nightstands/side tables & dressers in spaces.

When it came to our dresser I needed storage for my jewelry but I also wanted to add a few picture frames. { I seriously have a picture frame hoarding habit..}

I have a ton of jewelry {what you are seeing isnt even close to how much I have}

So I wanted to keep them in an easy access place but not make it an eye sore.

So I took a dish that we got from our wedding that was actually in our bathroom collection from Target to display my bracelets & earings.

As for my earrings, I came across this awesome antique horderve tray.
I loved that it was white & silver & for $3 at the Salvation Army, this baby was mine.
I thought it would be neat to use it as a jewlery display, i'm able to hide my head bands ect, yet have a place to separate my dangly earrings from my post earrings.
I love this little gem!

Another one of my favorite finds is this old milk bottle from the good will.

I use it as a flower vase.

I actually talked about it in this post here, where I showed some of my finds from when I was back home in WA.

So this side of the room has our closet, dresser & seating area in it.

We lucked out with this house, we have a HUGE master bedroom.

& it looks out onto the bay.

 Its perfect for those crazy southern thunderstorms we get all the time here, 

we can watch it right from the comfort of our bed :)

I love this little nook we made,

it is perfect for curling up with a book & reading away the rainy days that we keep getting!

Notice the mirror? It's from the entry way storage unit that we just recently converted into a dog food station. {that post can be found here}

The color scheme for our bedroom is white, navy, charcoal grey, light grey, mint green & little hints/ accents of red from time to time.

Our room before was grey white & mint green but I am a total sucker for navy blue.

I was surprised when I put the two colors together,

they compliment one another so well!

Next up is the other side of the room,
where our massive King Size bed dominates that part of the room.
Now this side is still the "in progress" part.
We still need a headboard, we have two different looks in mind but haven't decided on one for sure yet.

I am a huge sucker for TJ Maxx & Marshalls.

I've been piecing my bedding together little by little because I wanted a more electric look.

But as it turns out, I keep getting it from the same brand without even noticing haha!

I bought all of our bedding from those two stores, but everything is the Ralph Lauren Brand.

I'm still keeping my eyes out for either a navy blue throw from the end of our bed or a white & blue duvet color.

As for our nightstands, I got these for a steal of $10!

They were in pretty rough shape {as everything I usually get}

I decided to paint them the same light grey color as my dresser & stain the tops a dark wood color to give the room some warmth.

To match with most of the hardware in the room I opted to keep them black {the original hardware}

I love the simple look of these, & having the baskets underneath helps with more storage.

Right when you walk into our room the first thing you see is our huge sliding glass door that looks our onto our porch upstairs.
Its not all that exciting & I couldn't get a good picture because I don't have a wide angle lens.
But As for the opposite side of our room.
It's nothing spectacular but I thought I would still share.

Later on this week I will share my tips on organizing a small closet {likes ours}
& some do's&donts.
But until then,this is where our closet is haha.

Because of my massive clothes addiction.
No really, It was bad having to downsize when I moved out of my parents house.
I had an entire room as a closet..
I've taken over our entire closet,
& part of the guest room & downstairs coat closet,
I store some of my most used purses on a hook on the back of our door.

And as for more jewelry storage I made this cute little earring hook/display with some twine & a wood picture frame.
Its perfect because it makes it easy to see all of your jewelry at once when your getting ready and it acts as wall decor all at the same time :)


So that's about all we've done in our room for now,
We still have some more plans for the space but its about 85% done.
{but once its done ill probably change my mind again haha}
Stay tuned for some more posts this week about organizing/storage && some other fun things I have planned for you all!

We are getting back into the rhythm of things around here,
our normal schedules have been thrown off a bit.
I recently got a new job, & am still searching for another job, my husband started psychical therapy for his hand && classes are picking back up.

So more posts will be coming your way soon!
I just have to set more time aside for blogging all our fun things we've been up too ;)

xoxo
Jordynluise