DIY: Potting Succulents

I have an affection for succulents. They come in so many varieties and are super easy to care for - I just throw a handful of ice cubes in the planter once a week. In fact, we love them so much we used them as place cards/favors at our wedding and I love hearing from our family and friends that they are still going strong in their homes.

We kept a few from the wedding as a reminder and I'm just now getting around to potting them. Since I had such success with the succulents I scooped up from Home Depot last year (literally they grew at least 5 times in size) I thought I would show you step-by-step how I pot them.

I picked up three ceramic pots from Ikea (for 1.99 each!). I thought the glossy white finish would look great in our kitchen once we install the white subway tile back splash. Make sure you buy pots that have enough room for your succulents to grow (for every space a succulent takes up, there should be an extra space from them to multiply/expand).

If your pots don't have holes in the bottom for drainage it is important to place rocks in the bottom - at least an inch deep. This allows for drainage and prevents over-water. Over watering your plants = dead plants. The plants will "drown" and mold will form in the soil.

I add potting soil on top of the rocks and insert my 1 inch by 1 inch succulents (these are actually tops from my original succulents that grew to be humungous). Just like planting regular plants, pat down the soil around the succulents. I like to water the plant at this point - it helps the plants feel at home.

I like to add another thin layer of rocks on top of the soil to finish it off. Now sit back and watch your succulents grow! I've found that my succulents do really well in a sunny spot - so I recommend keeping them on a window sill or sunny spot for at least a few days (if not permanently).

Weekend Recap

This weekend's weather made me crave Spring...badly. Does anyone else feel that way? I'm tired of it being dark when I wake up and dark when I get off work. I always feel more productive when the sun is shining!

Friday night Chris and I stayed in and watched Loopers. I threw the ingredients for enchilada chili in the crock pot before going to work so dinner was served when we got home.

 

I persuaded Chris into helping me attach the glass to two cabinet doors we transformed into glass front with the help from my boss. I read a few blogs that recommended using silicone caulk to apply the glass and that worked well for us too!

After letting it rest a full 24 hours we re-hung the cabinet door to the box. I'm waiting a few days for the paint to fully cure inside before placing our glasses in there. Better safe than sorry! We also have to do touch up caulking/painting to a few spots.

I also finished up painting the upper cabinet frames and boxes (3 coats) this weekend. Painting your cabinets + working a full time job = a project like this lasts a few weeks. But, it's totally worth it. The kitchen already seems brighter and more open with only the top cabinets done. I can picture the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been following YHL's direction of sanding, deglossing, priming and then painting which seems a bit much, but I want the paint to be durable and last the long haul. I'm adding a subway back splash after our new counters are installed so I'm not too worried about the paint on the wall.

Instead of watching paint dry, I dragged Chris with me to World Market where I had put our side table on hold.

We tested out dining chairs for my friend Nikki. These were approved by Chris!

I really loved this bright curtain panel and thought it would be fun in a dining room for an added pop. 

I love wicker chairs! I would love these for our kitchen table or as bar stools for an island. They are actually a lot more comfortable than imagined.

World Market ended up disappointing and didn't actually hold our side table for us (thanks for the 50 minute drive each way), so we drove back home with me pouting the entire way - yes, I still pout and yes, I see a future with pouty kids. I ended up purchasing the side table online and found a 10% off coupon which evened out the shipping costs.

Sunday involved pancakes (peanut butter chocolate chip) for breakfast and being lazy while watching the movie Brave. Which is the best kind of Sunday to have in my book.

Side Table Look Alike

If you're anything like me, you keep your eyes open to sales at all of your favorite home stores. I love browsing West Elm, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and more (many more), but I always wait for my must have items to go on sale before buying. Why? We really are in no hurry of replacing the hand-me-down furniture we have and it's worth it to us to wait for the things we love. Plus the wait usually gives me time to process if this item is really going to fit in with our space or not.

These stores always rotate their sales, so it's beneficial to wait it out.

I've been crazy for the West Elm carved wood side table for awhile - wanting one for our back family room. I thought it would look great with a cream sofa and dark walls. This side table could work in so many spaces, I can picture it moving from room to room in our house. The bummer - it sells for $199 at West Elm. Crazy!

We recently purchased our dining room buffet at World Market, and I love the way it looks! It fits in with our Crate and Barrel purchases and you can't tell we got it for a fraction of the price. Right now World Market has up to 50% off their furniture and guess what...

Their look alike tribal carved wood accent table is selling for 50% off for only $75. I couldn't believe it. The dimensions are identical to West Elm's side table... actually, the entire table is practically identical. I'm making a trip to the store this weekend to check it out in person. If you are grabbing it from a store, I always find it beneficial to call ahead to make sure it's in stock and to put one on hold.

How cute does this look in the hubble chronicles living room? I love their high back sofa too!

And here is Making it Lovely's living room with the West Elm version. I like searching for how other people use furniture pieces in their homes when looking.

Find any good steals lately?

Favorite White Paint

I'm currently in the process of painting our kitchen cabinets. After months of planning (I mean pinning) ideas for our kitchen makeover, I decided on Benjamin Moore's white dove. It's not a bright white and has a slight taupe hint to it that is perfect for our space. I love it so much, I am contemplating on one day updating our bedroom furniture with this white (right now they are more of a white-white). 

Here's a look at a few kitchens that use this color:

via caitlin creer interiors

via decorpad

via houzz

via For the Love of a House

Next up, picking hardware for the cabinets. I'm back and forth between a nickel finish and oil rubbed bronze. Any favorites?

Adding Nail Trim to Our Couch

My first project of 2013 is 3/4 completed and it was a little terrifying at first to be honest. I've been thinking of adding nail trim to our couch for a couple of months, but was afraid that I would completely mess it up and be left with a million tiny holes and Chris shooting me dirty looks lol

This was actually the photo that inspired me to add nail trim to our couch (source). See how the chair fabric and color are similar to ours? I loved the way it added a little glam to an ordinary piece.

 

During our Christmas break, Chris and I headed to our local ACE hardware to get glass cut for our kitchen cabinets, and I had remembered my mom mentioning that they had upholstery nails there. I was actually surprised by the selection they had. I ended up choosing a larger round head with a nickel finish. We have a lot of bronze elements in the room, but I think mixing finishes are okay as long as there is another item in the room that has the same finish - and our  side table lamps help tie the nickel to the room. 

At first, I put 3 nail heads in for a few days before committing to do the entire arm just to make sure I liked the look. I read a few tutorials (here and here) that mentioned measuring the nail head placement, but I ran out of patience and ended up eye balling all of ours - which ended up fine. You get the hang of the placement after a few are in. 

The process went along pretty quickly. I know people hammer them in all the way to the wood base for a tufted look, but I decided against that for us since the tufts didn't look completely even and made everything look funky. these are securely into our couch, just not hammered in all of the way. 

Our couch legs go in slightly at the bottom which scared me at first, because I felt as though the nail trim wouldn't appear to be in a consistent, pretty line. It turned out well, but next time I add nail trim, I may stick to furniture pieces that have that have a straight line characteristic. 

So what do you think? I was a little worried at first, but so many people reached out on Facebook and Instagram calling it a win (Thank you! You reassured me!)

Materials needed - my couch took approx. 4 boxes of 25 nail heads for this larger arm and 2 boxes for the smaller arm (since it has a chaise lounge), tape measure (for those who are OCD) and a hammer. I wouldn't drink any wine while doing this...

Hello, 2013!

Yesterday I asked Chris what his New Year's resolution was. He told me he was going to eat healthy and work out 3-4 times a week... Well, that's not predictable or anything.


In 2012 Chris and I bought our first home, completed several house projects (installing a fence, building a retaining wall/bench/fire pit, painting the entire house, updating our shutters and front door + more), went to Maine with family and the beach with friends, got hitched (check it out) and honeymooned in Cabo. We got to decorate the house for Christmas and ring in the New Year with our best friends - who are our soon-to-be neighbors. We really couldn't have asked for a better year!

I like to start off each year with goals... it's fun to look back and see if they were achieved!

HOME:
1. Finish my first project of 2013 (eek! sneak peak above)
2. Keep in mind finishing the house is not a race. I want to take our time scoping and planning out bigger projects like our kitchen/family room combo and basement. These projects definitely don't need to be done this year, but I'd like to finalize a firm plan.
3. Spend time working on the backyard landscaping.
4. Renovate our downstairs 1/2 bath and kitchen (paint cabinets, new counter tops, new hardware and back splash).
5. Throw a summer BBQ with friends and family.

ME:
1. Focus on my relationships. I want to continue to strive to be a better friend, a better daughter/sister/wife/etc. and to continually treat others the way I wish to be treated. I want to focus on the positive and less on the negative.
2. Donate my hair. It took me 3 years to grow my hair from my chin to my elbows (roughly), but I'd really like to get the guts to cut it at some point in 2013 and give it to someone who needs it more than I do.
3. Cut back on eating meat. I really loved the way being a pescatarian made me feel, but making two separate meals for me and Chris became way too hard while buying a house and planning a wedding.
4. Get into a gym routine that is manageable - which may mean paying twice as much for a membership that is closer to home.

MARRIAGE:
1. Plan a getaway for Chris and I - maybe another trip to Cabo or our favorite city (Boston) for our 1 year anniversary.
2. Maybe start working on a baby bucket list. I know we have a few years before we want to start a family, but we probably should start making a list of all of things we would like to accomplish/do before becoming parents (weird!)
3. Plan a fun date activity at least twice a month.
4. Officially become Mrs. Lucas - meaning, change my name! (Thanks for the reminder, Alyssa!) Someone can't remember where they put our marriage license so I should probably start looking in every closet/box/drawer of the house so I can get a jump start before we have to do our taxes!

I think these are all manageable to accomplish in 2013! Here's to an even better year than last...I'm up for the challenge.

Christmas 2012 Wrap Up

Christmas has come and gone - {insert sad face}. It was our first Christmas in our home and I had so much fun decorating for the holidays. I actually de-Christmastized our house today, but wanted to share a quick wrap up for all of you!

Santa brought us a white Christmas! It started snowing on Christmas Eve after wondering all winter if it would ever truly feel like Christmas with the warmer weather we were getting in Maryland. It was extra special seeing our house with snow - there's nothing like your first year in your first home.



Trader Joe's has the best flowers at such reasonable prices! I picked up some gorgeous orange roses and eucalyptus for me and my mom. Who doesn't love getting surprise flowers? It was her first Christmas in her new house too - so I knew she would love to wake up on Christmas with these in her kitchen :-)




Santa said everyone was extra good in our house! I wanted to go with a gold and silver wrapping theme - but we had so many extra random rolls of wrapping paper in the basement, I thought it would be fun to see them all under the tree.

I picked up some new Christmas stockings this year and made that mirrored sun burst. Next year I am definitely whipping up a few more and hanging them from the mantel or bay window in the kitchen. It was definitely time consuming - but nothing a real housewives show and bottle of wine can't handle ;-)



Chance looking like the most adorable pup on Christmas morning.

Chris loves personalized ornaments. We always pick up an ornament when we are on vacation - so I knew he would appreciate having a wedding ornament. I found this gem at Target and loved that the year was etched on it! Perfect for a happy wedding photo to live :-)

I love looking out our kitchen window at the snowy woods. It's so pretty!

 

Lots of cookies were made in my new KitchenAid. My grandma was right, I definitely have been getting a lot of use with this! 

I loved searching Pinterest for unique ways to decorate for the holiday. I hung pine cones in our windows from twine and tied gold ribbons in the top.

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was my Young House Love autographed book from hubby. I really wanted to go to their book signing - but didn't want to go solo, so Chris surprised me with an autographed book of my own! Looks like it's going to be a DIY year for 2013 :-)

I made reindeer cork ornaments this year and they turned out so cute!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. I feel really blessed for all this year has brought and I'm looking forward to having a more "normal" routine this coming year now that buying a house and the wedding is over. I'm ready to get back to incorporating more "healthy" posts in this blog - including working out regularly and easing my way back into the pescatarian lifestyle. Have a great New Years Eve!