Welcome!

Let's pick up where we left off, no? We were sneakin' and peekin':

For such a small room (maaaybe 5'x5'? maaaybe), this has been one expensive, laborious process. When I moved in, there was wood paneling on the bottom half and particle board on the top. That's right, this sucker was not even dry-walled. To take the ugly up a notch, the former owners had half-heartedly applied pastel wall paper on the top half of the walls and the ceiling. I say 'half-heartedly' because I was able to pull the wall paper off with two fingers. It was an eyesore, and it also so happened to be the first thing people saw when they walked in. Excellent.

But as part of my Christmas present, my dad and brother (to the rescue again!) put tongue and groove cedar on the walls and trim. My dad also hooked up some wiring (you know, things dads do) and I got a new light fixture, as well as one with a motion detector for driveway.

Then in a steroid-fueled burst of energy (I guess I have something to thank my sports med guy for), I applied stain for the first time in my life. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! The one take-away I have from this is that Pandora is useless when you are doing a project that is this messy. It will shut off and "ask" you if you are listening every so often... and every time, you will need to get off your ladder, clean your hands, click yes and grit your teeth while muttering curse words at modern technology. I don't really recommend this technique.

I then painted the trim white to match the adjacent door. Then I picked out a bright pink (I used the leftovers for the desk...) to paint the inside of the door. It's such a small room and I wanted a good pop of color.

(I should add, for accuracy, that I was going to have it dry-walled and paint the whole room white, until my dad and brother, ever so cautiously, suggested that tongue and groove would look good. I conceded, but was adamant that I would just paint it white to look like paneling. They cringed but knew not to argue. And then I stained it like they recommended and I love it and I hate when I am wrong especially about my own house so let's just move on already, okay? Gees. :)

I decided I wanted a lot of hooks. As you know, I am an out-of-sight, out-of-mind kind of girl. I like my things in front of me where it isn't possible to lose them or forget about them. So I picked out some nice big metal hooks and after some serious Nease-kid planning (me with the big crazy ideas and Jakey saying, "Well, Bobbi... let's think about this" while trying not to let on how incredibly bonkers I sound), my brother hung them with the precision of a brain surgeon. I love that kid. And I now owe him 741 beers.

I went with baskets because I saw it on Pinterest. No joke. I just like the way they look. I put Henley's leash and harness in them, as well as things I need to remember to bring to work, or my sunglasses, or just about anything really. They are handy!

Hey, guess what? I spent an entire afternoon scouring the antique stores in Ishpeming and Negaunee looking for the perfect bench. Thanks go out to Allison who was patient with my pickiness and then did not feign disgust when I picked out this beauty:

Before I painted it blue, it was a gross poopy-green color. (I just said 'poopy'. It was the only word to describe it.) I then used studded nails to secure the fabric over the top. I found the fabric at Ben Frankin's. It is a peachy-orangy squiggle pattern that looks nice next to the pink door.

The pillow is from my Front Street apartment. I probably will never use stud nails again. I wasted about as many as I used because I was so innacurate with the spacing.



I found the two orange frames at Big Lots for $4 each. They are a fun, texture-y raffeta. Inside, there are two pages from a book called Haiku for the Single Girl:

I smile to myself

Because I have a secret.

My time is my own.

Sadly, the only

Guy I'm going steady with

Is my bartender.