{Summer} Summary

Oh Summer, where did you go?!? 

My plans did not all get done. They were a little long and optimistic. 

However, three big things did get done, and three more got started. So let's focus on those, ok?

The bathroom. Wow did it change!!! If you're new here, you'll have to look back on all the bathroom posts. I started with inspiration and plans and went through many of our days from demo and rebuilding. Now it's nearly finished, completely working, and ready for some decorations! 



If the bathroom wasn't on this list, the backyard flower garden would be my favorite thing this summer by far. It was once an overgrown pile of weeds, grass and home to the dog house that was never used. Although the dog house still isn't used, it's got a great little front "porch" (or "curb appeal"??).

Almost all of this was done for free, with the exception of the mulch and a few flowers. I need to do an updated posts now that the flowers are filling in nicely and the gutter run off (aka dry creek bed) is finished. 


And the first project that I kicked off summer with was painting the front door's trim black


It was just a primed white and I love how the black frames the door that I stripped (see the original here) and the screen door that my dad made us (isn't it great??!) I'm not sold on the teal mailbox. It's better than the bright yellow it was prior to this paint change but I'm thinking it needs a new color. Navy or black are the two choices I'm going between. 


And projects we started, but haven't completed, yet, are:

1. The backyard play place for the kids. Three words as to why it's not completed: It. Got. Hot. As in hit you in the face, sweat from the front door to your car, type of hot. And the bathroom remodel took over. 

2. The shed. I primed the walls after removing some of the rust. It's been a big improvement but the roof needs major TLC. One problem - getting up to the roof to paint. It'll involve ladders, scaffolding, and patience. And maybe getting over a fear of falling off said ladders.

3. Herb Spiral. In the garden photo above, on the far back right corner is a flat tree stump. We had to cut down a tree years ago and we will continue the line of stones with creek rocks and make an herb spiral garden. Doug got started but ran out of rocks. We would get more but we're getting them from my parents' farm and there's no way to mess with the plants this type of year. So in the fall, we will get the tractor and go find more rocks in their creek bed. 

Honorable Mention: Gardening - we haven't had the best luck, but our tomatoes are slowly coming on. We're working on some plans for next year that'll hopefully see a giant increase in what we grow, so more on that later. We did have success with raspberries (three brand new plants), cucumbers, and now my chocolate cherry tomatoes. Hoping for more luck next year with our blueberries, strawberries, and whatever we decided to grow more of. 

Other projects don't finished (or even started):

Painting our front and back porch floors (and possibly ceilings). BUT… my dad bought a power washer, so this will help us when we get around to it. And the front porch provided great cover for tools and a workspace for the bathroom remodel. 

Organizing the office… yep, didn't happen at all. Halfway through the summer I decided that I should makeover our basement to a craft room/art studio/my office and although that hasn't happened yet, it gave me a good reason to not focus on my upstairs office. My office will eventually turn into Doug's office when he goes back to school for his master's. 


{Bathroom} Catch Up

Let's play some catch-up, ok? 

I've been a bad blogger lately. It's a good thing that this isn't my job (or will it ever be, in all honesty). But that's life. Last week we took a trip to Kansas City to see Doug's parents, watch a Royals game (a win!), go shopping (hello World Market!), and then go to World's of Fun with Lily. Talk about busy!

Then reality came back to us in the form of work, meetings, classroom set up, lesson plans, etc. 

Needless to say, the posts are lacking. So maybe I can make it up to you? 

Here are my beautiful new floors. I'm in love. Insert big smiling face and hearts shooting from my eyes. 


The door casing, before we puttied the holes and started painting. Notice how I said started? Yeah… the trim's not done. There's this thing called work. And kids. And life. Yep. But really, isn't it going to look so great once it's done? The bright white craftsman style trim next to the paint color? Swoon! 


This is in Instagram photo (follow me @thebrickbungalow). The window is frosted (from the manufacturer) to add privacy. This is the bathroom, after all! And our neighbor's side deck is just outside the window. 


And then here's the beast. I lovingly call it that. My dad and Doug may have other names for it. It's one solid piece, weighing in at about 250 lbs. True story. Black granite countertop, under mount sinks, soft close drawers and cabinets. This is missing the backsplash piece. 


I bought a double bar, hard mounted shower curtain rod. We decided to push it back in towards the tub just enough to make it still feel huge on the inside but not take up too much floor space. The directions wanted the black holder to line up with the edge of the shower. It just seemed weird. Maybe we're the weird ones? 


And the toilet is in! This was during the installation as we had to go back for a different size hose hook up.

So those are the only pictures I have right now. My big camera's battery died, so it'll charge and I'll update with new photos soon. I'd like to get the trim painted this weekend. There's some minor touch ups on the walls too that need dealt with. My dad is working on the medicine cabinets and we need to hang up one more light. 

Although there's stuff still to do, it's minor in comparison to what has happened. I absolutely love this bathroom. The color combination, how we enlarged it, changing the layout, and everything new is just so nice. 

Want to see what it used to look like?!




Now, let's remember this was when we bought the house - I soon removed the wallpaper (white dots on ceiling, border, and decorative piece under lights), painted everything, and replaced the shower curtain. 

{Shopping} Thrift Store

While out by myself with nothing but shopping to do (on Doug's orders too!), I decided to squeeze in a trip to one of our local antique malls. I had only been there a couple of times and hadn't seen their expanded area yet. Let me tell you, the place was huge!!! So many things… many not worth a second look, but there were a few things worthy of my time and even a couple that came home with me! 

If you follow me on Instagram (@thebrickbungalow) you will have seen the green light I posted. I'm slightly obsessing over it so I may have to go back and see if it's still there. Maybe it'll be an early birthday present to myself. 

At first I wasn't sure where it would go and I didn't really think it would go with anything. While those are still true, I'm leaning towards it going on our back porch. And no, it doesn't match, but that's part of the beauty in it. Plus I kinda hate the yellow chairs on the porch anyway (just the color really). 


In the same area of the green light was this amber one too. I'm not trilled with the clear one. And the little Buddha on the bottom is great too, although I didn't really focus on him at the time. 


Although I wouldn't buy it, this antique baby scale was in great shape and not that much money. I think it would look great on a kitchen counter or in a bathroom - both of which for me, at least, are tight on space and this was big! Too bad I didn't have this when my own kids were babies or that would have made for some great pictures. 


I've seen the sign, below, before but never for sale. I think it would look fun on a back porch (maybe I'm starting a theme of random items on our porch to add character…it's so boring!). I think I actually took a photo of this sign when I saw it a few years ago.  


I didn't take a photo of what I actually bought - two hippos for Doug to add to his collection and two Jonny Angel kewpies for me because I think they are funny and I smile at them every time I see them. 

Speaking of Doug's hippo collection, we seriously need to make a way to show them all off. I've been hunting for them for years now and we have one from almost every type of material out there - wood, ceramic, resin, and so on - and all different sizes, colors, and shapes.

{Lily's Room} Hair Accessories

Hello friends! 

I'm breaking away from the bathroom until there's decent progress to show (mainly trim that's happening this week). I'll be back later this week with some updates. 

I wanted to share Lily's new hair accessories holder. It is finally something big enough to hold the majority of her bows and headbands and it has worked for us for a couple of months now.

Over the past few years, I've tried various ways to organize and display her accessories. None of them have worked as much as this and this one is the cutest by far! Plus, it was free! 




I started with the crib spring we already had on hand that wasn't currently being used. It used to be in Lily's old room but never felt right. When Lily moved into her big girl room, it was removed and I gave thought to using it in my office but I didn't like it there. A few months back, I saw someone online with a similar display and I realized I could make it with the supplies I already had. 

Obviously, I started with the crib spring. Then, I grabbed some bright pink spray paint and went to town. It took more than I thought only because of all the nooks and crannies. 

I've included the second photo only to show you what it looked like before being filled up. Due to the amount of spaces, I organized her bows and headbands in rainbow order. Lily loves color and rainbows (check out the rest of her room if you haven't already) and so I liked the idea of it being color coordinated. Plus, it helps with placement. 

The first photo doesn't even show all of her accessories but it shows the majority. She keeps her most used ones out in her room, normally on her dresser or bedside table (as shown in the room tour). 

If you want to know the order, it's pink, then rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) then black, silver and multi-colored and white. She doesn't have many white items, so it got grouped with multi-colored. The large cheerleading bow hangs on the hook but the rest of them clip on to the vertical lines. The sunglasses and headbands are tucked in. 

I love how it shows everything plus adds a great amount of color in her room. Lily recently told me that she doesn't have enough color in her room. I'm not sure if that's what she meant or if she really thinks she needs color. I think she meant rainbows, so this has helped with that. I have a few smaller projects that I hope to add too that she likes. 



{Shopping} Michael's and Hobby Lobby

When our bathroom had reached a stopping point (or drying point really), I was left with a free day. Doug said "why not go to town and go shopping by yourself?" and so I took his advice and enjoyed some quiet time. It's not very often that I get a whole day to myself (the kids were at daycare) with absolutely nothing to do. Sure, there were things I could do, but nothing that I had to do. 

So first stop - Michaels. 

I love Michael's art selection so I headed there for some inspiration for future art projects (both for us at home and for my students). I easily got distracted at all the possibilities for home projects when I should of been thinking of new school projects. Like this for instance - marquee letters that are DIY with all of the materials available at both Hobby Lobby and Michael's. How smart!!! 

I love Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls (and teach a lesson to my students with it) but these little wooden cut outs are just great. I'm not ready for Fall yet and am definitely not ready for decorating anything while our house is still in remodeling chaos, but aren't these great?! The two smaller ones were less than $2 each and you can see the larger versions and there were around $5 each. I may just have to buy one… or four.


And Miss Lily wants more rainbow colors in her room (as if it's not colorful enough) but I thought of doing a cool ceiling design using tulle. Michael's has a great selection of all different colors and styles. This may be a plan for next year, if she still wants it. 


Next up - Hobby Lobby. 

Oh, Hobby Lobby. Your decor is off the charts some times and this time around is no exception!

I'm crushing hard on the black, white and gold combo. The large black and gold canvas, the hexagon mirror, the black and gold lamps (kind of pictured) and the cool, smaller mirrors had me at hello. 


Here's the lighter side… the canvas with the quote had a great sparkle to it and the black and white dots are so fun! Even the light switch covers are fun… and maybe worth a DIY version in the future. 


I really want to do white, black and gold in our basement craft room when that happens. I'll add a few touches of color (Lily loves hot pink with it so it may happen).

And this exit sign… it would be great for a man cave or Nate's room. We don't have a man cave but I'd like to create one for Doug if I take the basement for the craft studio. It would free up my current office and he could have it. 


This wooden sign would be a great way to use up the pallets I have. I may just make it or a similar version. I've been looking into pallet art (you can follow me on Pinterest @thebrickbungalow) for some decor ideas. 


What have you been shopping for??? 

This post is not sponsored in any way. I'm not that lucky! But I honestly love both stores and what I showed here. I did not buy anything I posted about though but may go back another time! 



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