Laundry Room Before and After

Our laundry room serves two purposes - laundry and storage (of cleaning supplies, paper products, and CostCo extras). I'm blessed to be able to dry clean most of our "dress-up" clothes so I don't end up doing a ton of ironing... yay!! Read on for more about how we made this room more organized and functional.

BEFORE: If money were no object I would make a pretty laundry room/butler's pantry that looked like this (or this or this). However, reality is that is not at all necessary and I could totally work with what we had. My mom and I got creative and thanks to her, we were able to see the potential. We did a fair amount of work in here the last few months including... reconfiguring the shelving, taking the cabinet off the wall and repurposing it under the counter, painting, decorating and more. Read on in the sources section for all the DIY projects!

AFTER: Since I was working with what I had in here, I stuck again with neutral walls, brought in some neutral textured accents and used some colorful artwork to make a collage on the now empty wall. As in the other rooms, I was going for clean, bright, airy and simple!

SOURCES:
Paint Color - Behr White Truffle
Shelving - Home Depot
Canvas Totes - Home Decorator's Collection (here and here)
Chrome Double Folding Hamper - The Container Store
Tabletop Ironing Board - Ikea Jall
Broom Organizer - Home Depot
Fabric - I used a large tablecloth from Target as fabric for the pelmet box, utility sink skirt and to cover the pipes for the laundry machines (often sheets, tablecloths or shower curtains are less expensive than fabric)
Utility Sink Skirt - DIY using tablecloth fabric, super velcro and Heat n' Bond (iron hem tape)
Pelmet Box - DIY (instructions from me here)
Laundry Machine Wood Cover - DIY painted MDF board white and used non slip drawer liner so board didn't move
Basket - Hobby Lobby
Large Wall Clock - Target
Frames - Walmart
Artwork - Free printables from Jones Design Company

Mudroom Before and After

And we're back at it with before and afters! Here we go. Our new house has a large mudroom and closet off our garage which I love. Especially with our harsh Wisconsin winters, it's great for keeping the salty wet mess contained. Its also been a fun place to display Nina's daycare projects, our trusty calendar, invitations, photos and more.

BEFORE: The previous owners left us that enormous cork board, which we have certainly put to good use! See below for the after.

AFTER: My colors for the mudroom were black and white, because I wanted to paint the door leading to the garage black, but had to tie in the large white cork board. The rug, pillows and light fixture help it come together.

SOURCES: 
Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Analytical Gray
Door Paint: Black paint leftover from Home Depot
Chandelier: Serendipitously purchased on clearance at Menard's
Sunbrella Fabric Pillows: Ballard Designs
Quatrafoil Indoor/Outdoor Rug: Ballard Designs
Bench: Marshall's
Calendar: 1canoe2 Letterpress
Dry Erase Planning Board: DIY project a few years back
Large cork board: Custom made, came with home

Lately...

For those of you wondering... have you have that baby yet? Click here. :)

I thought I'd do a quick post on some random iPhone photos from lately. First, I recently tried a cronut (a croissant-doughnut hybrid). I think I'm late to the party, but YUM!!

Here's a silly photo of Nina and Evelyn on Easter. My grandpa has this cow in the yard and the girls thought it was real I think!

Mr. Evans and Nina have been biking now that the weather is finally a bit nicer! Cute! (p.s. we adjusted her helmet after this photo... don't worry)

Nina is taking her big sister prep very seriously. :) We got her this book and she wants to read it every night!

I mean, seriously, how does this photo not make you smile?! Neither of them are looking at the camera, but who cares? Pure joy, I tell you!

Recently, Nina, my mom and I went shopping to get Nina some new shoes from the Stride Rite. Well, of course, we ended up with a few other special things for her... which she insisted on carrying throughout the mall and parking lot. :) My mom took this photo because she thought it was hilarious.

Easter Recap

I hope you all had a great Easter! We had a fun weekend with family, enjoyed the warmer weather and kept busy as usual.

Below are photos from our Country Club's Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. We had a blast and Nina even won the Grand Prize for her age group! :)

We also had Easter celebrations at both sides of the family - one Saturday and one Sunday after church. The Evans party included the traditional egg hunt put on by my mother-in-law. There were also balloons at her house, which someone prompted Nina to insert into her tummy like her mama (haha)... see photo below! On Easter morning, Nina was excited to find her hidden basket. Sweet little girl! After church, we went to my Grandpa/Aunt's house and had a great time... but... I sadly didn't take any photos (my good camera is packed in my hospital bag). Bummer! Nonetheless, it was fun to have the little second cousins together - Evelyn, Nina, Clara, Elly and William Thomas. :)

Bump Update 38+ weeks

I'm posting what will (hopefully) be my last bump update! I'm over 38 weeks now and all signs point to the fact that baby girl #2 could arrive any day ... or not. It's undoubtedly a fun surprise as to when she'll arrive. Mr. Evans's money is on tomorrow morning because his parent's fly out for a vacation on Tuesday morning, and when Nina was born they were flying to Italy ... and it was a Tuesday morning. Haha... we'll see!

Ok, so in order to understand the significance of the silly photo below click here. Look familiar? We took that picture right before we went to dinner at Lake Park Bistro... which is exactly what we were doing below last Friday night. Same restaurant, same point in pregnancy... you get the gist. Sometimes it's best not to mess with tradition.

I love how Nina wanted to get in on the fun this time around. :)

DIY Cleaning Tricks

As a follow up to yesterday's post on spring cleaning, here are a few of my favorite DIY tricks and cleaning solutions! I'd love to hear yours!

• Drains - baking soda + vinegar
• Water Calcification - soak with vinegar 
• Spot Remover - hydrogen peroxide + liquid dish soap 
• Paste Scrub - ¼ c. baking soda + enough hydrogen peroxide
• Dishwasher - run sanitary cycle with a bowl full of vinegar inside, then use vinegar/water spray and sponge to clean nooks and wipe down inside
• Microwave - bowl with half water/half vinegar and microwave for 5 minutes, wipe down with rag
• Oven - heat to 200, turn off, put in small bowl of ammonia, shut door overnight, in AM use hot water and dish soap to wipe out
• Wood trim/doors - 1 c. water + 1 T. castile soap
• Sponges - microwave on high for 2 minutes or run through dishwasher cycle
• Degreaser for stovetops/cabinets - 4 parts water + 1 part ammonia
• All-purpose cleaner - ¼ c. castile soap + 1 qt water in spray bottle
• DIY foaming hand wash - 1 c. water + 1 T castile soap

I'm looking for advice on cleaning stainless steel. I've tried Windex, those Wegman's Stainless Steel wipes, polishing with olive oil... nothing that I love though?! Can anyone recommend any good products or ideas for stainless steel??

Lately, I've been making my own cleaners using Dr. Bronner's Lemon Castile Soap (I'm obsessed) and my Young Living Lemon Essential Oil. I also purchased a big batch of microfiber towels which make cleaning super quick and easy!

Spring Cleaning

It's that time of year - spring cleaning. So, I thought I'd take a break from the "home tour" and post about cleaning... yay! Lol. While some people might say I'm "nesting" since I'm 38+ weeks pregnant... I beg to differ. :) It's been a year since we moved into our new home and it's spring which means this house is due for a good scrubbing.

I do a good cleaning every week, but I was inspired by this to do a more detailed cleaning of the details this spring. Also, if you're interested my cleaning routine resembles this posting from Clover Lane (I love the idea of the rotation).

Here is some additional inspiration:

I made up that pretty little sign using PicMonkey. Love it and it is so true!

Tomorrow, I'll post some of my favorite DIY cleaning tricks. I'd love to know yours!

Girl's Bathroom Before and After

So you've seen Nina's room and our new nursery, so today I thought I'd share the bathroom they'll be sharing. It's between their two rooms and has a pocket door between the shower/toilet area and the sink area. Perfect for siblings (especially girls) who will no doubt spend lots of time in the bathroom! It's just inevitable, right girls? :)

BEFORE: The bones of this bathroom were great and perfectly thought through by the previous owners (who planned this to be a kids bathroom). All we needed to do was add paint and decorations to make it our own!

AFTER: I went with a navy, yellow and white theme. I didn't want anything overtly girly and pink, but rather wanted something that felt light and fresh. There is a giant skylight above the shower, so the bathroom always feels sunny and airy even though it's in the middle of the house.

SOURCES:
Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Divine White
Ombre Floral Yellow Shower Curtain: Target
Navy Towels: Target
Towel Hooks: Home Depot
White Step Stool: Ikea Bekvam
Frames: Goodwill, spray painted white and navy
"You are my Sunshine" artwork: DIY by me, designed on PicMonkey, printed at OfficeMax
"Say your prayers" artwork: DIY by me, designed on PicMonkey, printed at OfficeMax
"Mama loves you" artwork: DIY by me, designed on PicMonkey, printed at OfficeMax

Nina's Room Before and After

The next room I'm sharing is Nina's "big girl" room. When we moved into our new home, I knew I wanted this room to feel different than her nursery at our old house. It was fun to decorate this room for her and I know she love loves her spunky bedroom! Here we are again with before and after's and the sources at the bottom of the post. As usual, ask questions in the comments! :)

BEFORE: Before we moved in, Nina's room was home to a sweet tween girl who loved clothes and color. I knew I wanted to neutralize it a bit, but the energy was all there! Also, ironically the past owners took the Pottery Barn chandelier with them, but months later I bought the exact same one unknowingly to put back in here. Great minds think alike!

AFTER: Nina's new toddler room is neutral, but full of classic and spunky details. I went with a gray, pink and yellow theme!

SOURCES:
Paint Color - Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
Chandelier - Pottery Barn Teen (same as in the nursery as I wanted something to tie the two girl's rooms together)
Four Poster Bed - Vintage find at St. Vincent de Paul
Bunting - DIY using twine and paper
White Wood Monogram - Expressive Monograms on Etsy
Gold Foil "Twirl" Print - Jones Design Company
Plant - Ikea
Bookshelf - Was mine as a little girl, painted white
Tent - Land of Nod
Cushion - Land of Nod
Circle Mirror - DIY using purchase mirror from Walmart and yellow spray paint
Nightstand - Ikea Hemnes
Clock/Nightlight - Onaroo Ok to Wake
Dolly Crib - Was mine as a little girl (made by my godmother Mary), painted white with new fabric "mattress"
Gray Chevron Rug - Urban Outfitters
Silver Cross - Was mine as a little girl
Light Plate Cover - Hobby Lobby

Nursery Before and After

Today I'm sharing our new nursery! Why not? I love a good before and after! And, I love to share the details of sweet baby girl #2's nursery! It's full of DIY projects and new purchases. At the end of the post I share sources, details and how I accomplished the projects. But, feel free to comment with any questions! Also, a reminder... I am not an expert photographer so the color, lighting and more I'm sure is all off!!

BEFORE: When we bought our new home this room housed two boys! I knew it would be a fun project to transform it into a girl's nursery.

AFTER: My theme for the nursery was clean and crisp with touches of light lavender, white and gold.

SOURCES:

Paint Color - Martha Stewart Seed Pearl

Wall Stencil - Casablanca pattern from OMG Stencils on Etsy (we used white paint on top of the Seed Pearl color which gave a very subtle pattern)
Blackout Cordless Roman Shade - Pottery Barn
Crib - Jenny Lind style (Amazon)
Changing Table - Jenny Lind style (vintage via CraigsList and painted white)
Rocking Chair - White linen chair was a gift from my in-laws
Ottoman Pouf - Target
Sheet and Skirt - Buy Buy Baby
Flower Mobile - my mom and I DIY'd using this tutorial via Jones Design Company
"Grace not Perfection" Gold Foil print - Emily Ley
Chandelier - Pottery Barn Teen
Gold Sunburst Mirror - Martha Stewart Living at Home Depot
White Garden Stool - Marshall's
Cross stitch and Frame - DIY just like Nina's, frame was purchased at Hobby Lobby and I added gold rub n buff for some dimension
Gold Mirrored Tray - Marshall's
Lavender Velvet Pillow - Target
Floating Shelf - Hobby Lobby (painted white)
Bird - Hobby Lobby
Flower arrangement - Target
Clock - Hobby Lobby (the clock was teal when I bought it, but I used gold rub n buff to change the color)
Abstract Canvas - DIY by me using a blank canvas from Hobby Lobby and some acrylic paint