2018 Christmas Home Tour!

Season's Greetings Friends!  It's good to be back here on the blog.  I think of you often, and I miss hanging out here, but of course there isn't time for all the wonderful things I want to do. Hopefully I'll be around some more in the New Year, but for now, here is a little tour of my Christmas decor. :)  Enjoy!

I finally got the vintage sled I've been looking for.  And instead of putting it on the porch, where I'd never see it, I put it in the corner of the living room to enjoy every day!

My tree is decorated with lots of pom poms and unbreakables, since Georgia's favorite thing is to redecorate it.

My little snow sign is in the window this year and behind it you can see our first snowfall!  Over a foot of snow fell last weekend, it was a sight to behold!! We're still digging out from the blizzard! :)

Georgia's room has all the bottle brush trees and all the Nutcrackers! :)

I even added a bit of Christmas fun in our master bedroom.  It makes me happy every time I see it.

The playroom has some fun tinsel and colorful ornaments and a little flocked tree for Georgia!

The chalkboard got a Christmas phrase and some snowflakes.  I love it so much!

I made a little arrangement on the side table in the den with this cute galvanized tray I got at Walmart and some cinnamon pine cones. They smell amazing!

I spruced up my cotton wreath with some berry garland and a bow!

The mantel is a woodland theme this year with my straw deer and bottle brush animal ornaments.

Georgia helped me set up the camera for these night shots. They are my favorite.  Hope you are finding lots of time to spend with your loved ones, cuddling up and watching a Christmas movie or wrapping gifts together and drinking hot cocoa. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas to all!

To see all our past Christmas decor, just click on the Christmas link!

A Playroom for Georgia

Hi  readers! It's time for my quarterly blog post. Hahahaha!  I have not totally given up blogging, I just can't seem to find time for it lately! :)  I promised you back in May that I would update you on the new playroom for Georgia.  Here I am to keep my promise.

Michael and I decided earlier this year to move our office to the den so that we would have a space farther from Georgia's bedroom where we could hang out after she went to bed.  It was so hard creeping around upstairs in the office when she was sleeping right next door!  Michael also wanted a bigger area for his VR gaming setup.  So after much discussion, we finally decided to move the office to the interior wall of the den.  We had to rearrange a little bit and I lost half of my sewing room, but gained a "roommate" downstairs!  We have been loving the new arrangement.  It's great to have us both in one space for his gaming and my projects.  Plus, we have the den side with the couches and TV so we can watch Netflix at night without worrying about how loud the volume is!  We call it "our studio apartment" like it's our adult hang out space.

Meanwhile, we converted the old office into a playroom for Georgia.  Hopefully in the not-to-distant future we can get rid of some of the toys and make the room into a guest room/reading room with the addition of a daybed.  But for now, it's host to Georgia's wonderland of toys.  Here's a look at the new space.

The back wall of the room features a chalkboard wall that I painted.  Everyone has such fun drawing when they come to visit.  Georgia enjoys the freedom to scribble and draw big circles (with supervision).  Michael and I doodle occasionally, too!

Under the window is Georgia's little kitchen.  You may recognize it from way back when Papa and I designed it for my niece, Abby.  Six years later, it's still a big hit!  The addition of a kid-size table and chairs from Pottery Barn Kids (the pink one was on clearance right after Christmas and I got a great deal!!) allows Georgia and friends to sample their culinary creations.  It also serves as baby doll doctor's office and art center, periodically. :)

And hark!  The return of the denim chair!  We needed an adult-sized place to sit in here and since the gray velvet chair had gone to live with my mom already, I asked for the denim chair back!  It's perfect for the playroom.  And the little cloud pillow came from Hobby Lobby.

Next to the kitchen is a toy organizer filled with all the kitchen essentials, plus random playsets and puzzles.  The wall art is from a chalkboard calendar that I had been saving for years.  Finally, the perfect spot to display!

On the short wall is Georgia's dollhouse.  This was built by my mom for me and my sister when we were kids.  It has been well-loved and has held up astonishingly well.  I just hope it survives the abuse of a toddler!  Georgia and I have had lots of fun playing with my old Barbie dolls.  I've been working on redecorating the dollhouse for this decade with spray paint, new furniture and accessories.  I can't wait to share all the updates with you once I'm finished.  (You know-- next quarter!)

Next to the closet of requirement (currently filled with office paraphernalia, board games, and miscellaneous extra toys) is the bookcase which is hosting toys and books of every genre.  And in the middle shelf, a supermarket! haha! 

As you can see, Georgia loves her new playroom.  We do, too, since we can just shut the door and all the toys magically disappear!  :)

Check back for more updates from the Horvath House.  I still have the big den/sewing room/office reveal.  Plus holiday season is approaching so hopefully I'll have time to share some seasonal updates with you,too! 

Happy Almost Fall Y'all!

Laundry Co.

Hi readers!  I know it's been a looooong time since you heard from me on the blog.   I've been busy working behind the scenes on lots of things I just haven't had time to share.  Toddler mom problems.  :) You understand.  

So, to kick off my long-awaited return, I am featuring a laundry room refresh today!  After Christmas I decided I had just had enough of the acoustic tile drop ceiling in our laundry room.  I couldn't take it anymore, so I asked my dad if we could replace it with something nicer.  He promptly arrived with tool belt and began taking down the old tiles and framing system.  

Before: (blech)

You're welcome for that visual.  Go now and rip out your acoustic tiles.  I'll wait.  :)

After the ceiling was out we were left with decisions.  Ultimately we decided we had to put another dropped ceiling in here since there is tons of plumbing and what not running under the ceiling joists as well as a huge air duct at the front.  So, Papa and I (mostly Papa) devised a plan to hang a support system of 2x4s from the ceiling joists to attach a pine beadboard ceiling to.  We used a thin beadboard that is intended to go on a wall or existing drywall ceiling, but we managed to make it work with nothing but supports behind it every couple of feet.  Here's what it looked like:

We left the exisiting "crown molding" at the edge of the wall to support the end of each piece and to cover up the seam where it meets the wall.  Papa did all the hard parts, but he made me stand in the corner on top of the washing machine and cram myself into a tiny little hole in the ceiling to fasten the pieces to the molding from above at the end of the room. 

 Obligatory Papa photo. :)

When we finally wrapped up with the ceiling installation, I was so happy with the look that I decided not to paint the beadboard white or stain it or anything.  Originally I figured I would want it to be white, but honestly I don't have time to paint it right now anyway!  We considered painting it in advance before installing it, but once again I didn't have the time (or babysitters?) so we just went ahead and put it up unfinished.  Maybe in a couple years if it starts looking weird from moisture issues or stains or something I will get around to painting it.  I kind of love the light wood look!  It's like nothing else in our house, but it complements the neutral decor. 

Speaking of decor, of course after I installed a new ceiling, I had to repaint the room.  And the cabinets.  Haha!  I ended up going with a pale cream/yellow color (ironic since it was yellow before) on the walls and a gray cabinet paint.

So fresh!  I really like the new paint color, it brightens up the room.  Michael was really sad to see the stripes go.  It was one of his favorite projects of mine.  But, after ten years the paint was worn out and needed updating anyway.

I had this little white shelf in the kitchen for some years.  I had kept it because it was too cute to get rid of and now I'm glad I did because I converted it into a towel rack to go on the wall!  I just added a dowel on the inside to hang the towels across.  Isn't it cute?  The old towel rack was just a thin metal rod.  So ugly.  This is much nicer!  The art I used to have in our master bath and the new towels are from Kohl's!

The formerly black cabinet looks really updated and nice painted gray.  I painted the mirror frame to match.  It complements the rug we already had, too!

Oh and we got a new light fixture on Amazon.  It's nice and bright and modern.

Gosh, we also got a new faucet but for some reason I never took pictures after that.  Papa installed it for me last month (and the corresponding new drain just last week!) Thanks Papa!

And of course, the finishing touch, a new sign to replace my laundry letters.  I was so proud of those letters spelling out LAUNDRY when I made them ten years ago.  Gosh, what a sophisticated decor choice! Hahaha!  Anyway, maybe this sign is just as sophisticatedless.  I don't know.  But I saw it on Pinterest, and thought it was cute and rustic so I had to copy it.  :)  Papa built it (seeing a theme here?) and I painted it.  You know you want one, too!

Naturally, since I took these photos way back in April, the laundry room has changed a bit.  We are in the process of moving the office to the den, so there's been some reshuffling of the furniture.  But this is the "after" picture that you're getting!  I hope to come back soon and update you on the new office/den situation as well as the new "playroom" where the office used to be! :)  Hooray blog!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you back here real soon!