How cool is this? Our home renovations were included in the March double issue of Whirl / Whirl @Home - Western Pennsylvania’s “premier lifestyle magazine.” Our kitchen, lounge and stairway made the lead feature story. And to think I was sitting in our basement, this time last year, crying on my lunch break and wondering what the hell we had gotten ourselves into!  I’m still astonished that we were able to just FINISH the remodel; being showcased in a glossy mag is just beyond anything we could have imagined!

I’ve already reached out to two amazingly talented DIYers in the Pittsburgh area who were a part of the article too. Hi to Brenda at Cottage 4C and Liz at Delightful Dwellings!

Edited to add: the digital version of this article was just released!

A few weeks ago, I turned 33 years young, and officially entered the age of bliss. According to studies, 33 is the magic number when people are their happiest; I have to agree with those findings. I’ve experienced a personal awakening over the past six months; it’s part of the reason I’ve been laying low and not posting as much here.

I’ve always been happy-go-lucky, go-big-or-go-home, a go-getter, go, go, go. Well, after over three decades of going, I’m content to finally sit. To breathe. To take it all in stride.

My life to date has been one frantic sprint to get to the finish line. Sometimes I honestly have no idea how I got to where I am. I’m tired just thinking about it all. There was college where I was beyond poor and overworked, a long-distance relationship, a move to a new city, the post-graduate career meltdown, grad school while working two jobs and doing an internship, my first “real job” in my chosen career, an engagement, a hastily planned wedding with lots of family drama, my husband getting promoted and traveling out of town a ton, my own work promotion that carried tremendous responsibility, my husband’s eventual job loss followed by a new position, six years dedicated to paying off debt with a vengeance (we did it once and are doing it again), two moves, five or so real estate fails and one home purchase, a top-to-bottom house renovation, two cat adoptions and the list goes on…

The other day, I was reflecting on the month of May 2012. In that one month, I trained for and ran a relay in the marathon, landscaped the entire front and back yard, got ditched by a contractor, spent hours each day phoning and emailing about renovation logistics, interviewed and hired another contractor, finished remodeling the bathroom, had a yard sale, found out all our appliances didn’t fit and bought new ones, hired a catsitter and packed for an ill-timed vacation, planned three months worth the library events and helped launch a pilot reading program, dealt with some stressful personnel issues at work, mentored a child and packed up and moved our household on one of the hottest days of the year. Seriously. I get so stressed thinking about my former stress.

And now? I feel like it’s all over. Dunzo. I am finally settled into a peaceful, stable life. The fight is over. As my mom says, “You are where you’re suppose to be.”

My perspective changed around August or September of last year. One day I realized, I AM HOME. A home was what I had spent my whole life working towards. Now I had one: a safe haven, a permanent place, a shelter for my most beloved person, pets and possessions. My home is a reflection of love, of security, of all our hopes and dreams under one roof. (Truth be told, when we first finished the renovations, I went through a brief slump where I wasn’t sure what to do with myself; after all, the project had consumed my life for the better part of a year.)

As you might imagine, we’ve spent a lot of time happily holed up in our little abode. I am no longer trying to do ALL THE THINGS.  We don’t need seven vacations in a year anymore. I don’t have to sign up for every committee, attend every happy hour, partake in every hobby, or fill up my calendar with social activities. I’m even beginning to think that my 2013 goals were far too ambitious for my current state of mind, so I’m axing them and starting afresh.

I now have a new goal for 2013: to be. To slow down. To relax. To enjoy the simple pleasures of life. To engage in meaningful, deliberate activities. To embrace my true introverted self. To surround myself with love. To avoid excessive measuring, planning, analyzing.

Along those same lines, have you heard about the psychology of flow?

From Wikipedia (nevermind that I’m a librarian):

Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.

I am on a quest to achieve flow on a daily basis. (Weirdly enough, the lady we bought the house off of was named Flo). For example, on Saturday evening, I got the urge to cook massive quantities of comfort food. I found a bunch of recipes, went shopping, then returned home to whip up a vegetable pot pie, potato leek soup and roasted butternut squash. I couldn’t believe when I looked up at the clock and it was almost midnight. I was having such a good time dancing to music and chopping vegetables! Many of my “flow” activities involve domestic pursuits: fixing, organizing, decorating, cleaning, reading design blogs, shopping for household goods. Who knew I was a hardcore nester?

We’ve been in such a chill mood lately that we may have gone off the deep end. As a surprise, Chris ordered us matching royal blue Forever Lazies. And you know what? At 33 years old, there is nothing I want more than to be at home wearing an adult onesie. I worked my whole life to get there.

I’m still in denial that we are in 2013. Where did last year go? Those twelve months were a whirlwind for sure. I’ve never experienced such a wide range of emotions in all my life nor have I ever had such a period of immense personal growth. It wasn’t my best year in the traditional sense, but certainly the most rewarding.

For 2013, I have many goals I want to accomplish. In no particular order, they are:

* Train for and run a 15K this summer and {possibly} a half marathon this fall.

* Travel to at least two new places.

* Organize twelve key areas of my house.

* Stick to my mint.com budget every month.

* Make professional strides. 

* Figure out once and for all if we want to have kids, and if so when.

* Make an impact (behavior and academic) on the little dude we mentor.

* Meet up with friends once a week.

* Read 50 books.

* Blog at least once a week.

I’m ready for you, 2013!

One of my biggest goals for 2013 is to get more organized - the kind of organized that will have me transferring cereal into pourable plastic containers. I LOVE nothing more than having a decluttered, user-friendly, efficient home. With our house being only a hair over 1,000 square feet, we need to maximize every inch of available space.

I recently read that Americans spend anywhere between 15 to 55 minutes a day looking for lost items. And frankly, with the way I’ve been throwing stuff around all willy nilly, I too have fallen into this trap. I was super organized in my last place, but then when we moved here I was just too tired from the renovations to really care what went where. Now, I am ready to change all that. Yesterday, I made a list of a dozen organizational projects that I’d like to tackle this winter, three of which I crossed off my list today: tidying up the kitchen junk drawer, disposing of our three old desktops and the big daddy, which I’ll share here: overhauling our basement workshop.

We are lucky to have inherited the last owners’ built in shelving and tool cabinet. Unfortunately, up until about three hours ago, we weren’t taking full advantage of these storage solutions. Our tool cabinet, in particular, was a hot mess. The cats’ eating quarters is stationed right under the cabinet and, sadly, the other day I noticed a drywall screw in Vernie’s dish when I went to scoop in some Friskies. That was the impetus I needed to get this trainwreck fixed once and for all.

I knew that revamping the cabinet would be time-consuming, but easy in terms of storage solutions. There are so many “sexy” pegboard accessories available at home improvement stores. This morning, I went to Home Depot and spent about $75 on the stuff you see below. (I’ll be returning several itesms, as I didn’t end up using it all. I’d rather overbuy than have to make several return trips during the project.)

Next, I cleared out EVERYTHING in that cabinet and spread the contents on my kitchen table. Holy moly, we amassed a lot of home improvement gizmos during the remodel! (This stash doesn’t show off our hardcore power tools like the jigsaw and power sander, which for safety and space reasons are kept on a nearby shelf.) You can tell by all the coatings of gunk and paint splatters that our tools are heavily used.

There were a lot of stray nails and screws hanging around. Luckily I had purchased a plastic device with little drawers. I spent the next hour or so corralling all the stray hardware into their new cubicles. Pro tip: removing items from their original packages often saves on space and creates a more streamlined look.

And here is the finished masterpiece resting in its home on the workbench counter. I am now thinking about going back and labeling the drawers. Usually when a container is clear, I don’t worry about identifying what’s inside, but because there are so many small, specialized items, adding labels might be helpful.

Once I cleared everything from the tool cabinet, I noticed that the wood on the outside was looking a little grimy, so I went ahead and spruced up the trim using some leftover white paint. Then, I launched right into hanging up all the pegboard doodads: baskets and bins, hooks and holders. I was steady rollin’ on this project - I tend to become single-minded that way - and didn’t snap a photo of the process. Sorry about that. I did remember to take some stellar after shots though.

Are you ready? Drum roll, please…

Huge improvement, isn’t it? All in all, the project took about six hours of work (including shopping time) and an estimated $65 (factoring in the items I will return).

I cannot wait until the next time I need to pull out some tools. I used to dread having to find the power drill, the bits, and the screws whenever I wanted to hang a picture. Now it will be easy peasy!

Are you itching to get your hands on some pegboard now?!?

I know, I know. We just renovated. But I really couldn’t stand the way our living room turned out. I was never really on board with the baby blue color; my husband LOVED it so much and allowed me to pick out every other room’s paint color, that I gave in. I tried to decorate in keeping with the bright, happy hue. No matter how much tweaking I did, the space never felt quite right and never quite “us.” It lacked a focal point and looked like a random afterthought (which in many ways it was because the room got a lot of the leftover stuff that wouldn’t fit into other rooms.)

On Friday morning, knowing that we had a long stretch of staycation in front of us, I got the urge to redo the living room. I texted Chris my idea. (I just reread the text and it says “We have a 4 day break. Let’s paint the living room tmrw!!!”) To my surprise, he not only said yes, but he also agreed to meet up for an after work date to Home Depot - just like old times - to select a new paint color. 

On Friday night, we did all our taping. The room is a bear with its six trimmed out doors, one window, crown molding and baseboards. On Saturday, we painted two coats, then went out to buy a couple pieces of furniture and a few tchotchkes. Late into the night, I was putting the finishing touches on the space. For around $400 and a day’s worth the work, we took this space from looking like the interior of a children’s hospital:

to a proper grownup space:

My eyes can actually relax when I walk into this room now. We picked a neutral shade called Tawny Birch. It’s made by Glidden, but I sweet talked the Home Depot paint guy into mixing the pigment into a Behr paint and primer base, as we have some serious brand loyalty to Behr. This new toned-down shade allows our fun pillows, artwork, accessories and that bad ass blue chair to steal the show. Also, with the addition of another bookcase, we now have a focal point wall with interest and balance.

While out and about shopping last night, we came across this blue piece of furniture and fell in love. Since our house does not have a proper foyer, I figured this could serve as a sort of “landing zone” for us. I plan to keep our hats, mittens and scarves in those drawers, along with other odds and ends.

We ended up removing the slipcovers from our couch and loveseat. Though they lent a cheerful, cottage vibe, the fabric was a PAIN to keep in place, and they often ended up looking wrinkly. There’s really nothing wrong with our couches - they are less than two years old - so I’m actually glad to see them in their birthday suits :) I also took away all of our orange accents in this room, including the chevron pillows, because it was color overkill.

With our new color scheme in place, I thought it was time to bring back our fancy blue silk window treatments, which we had hanging up in our former home. I love these curtains!

When I was artfully arranging “my pretties” onto the shelves, Chris said to me, “You are having so much fun doing that. Is decorating for you like how I feel about college football?” ha ha.