Our Home | Bunches of Joy

Kitchen Floor Update

January 12, 2015 1 Comment

Now that I’m trying to figure out a plan for Bambino #2’s nursery, it’s got me thinking about the longevity of things. And since I’ve been focusing on picking out a rug for the nursery, I’ve been trying to see how rugs hold up. Now, that could be a whole ‘nother post, so I’ll try to stick to the title of this one.

And with that, it’s been just about three years, and I have to say that I’m still in love with our kitchen floor. Remember when we had it installed (see here)?

Well, through multiple winters, parties, and Idiot Nation assaults, our floor still looks brand new:

It actually makes me regret that we didn’t just install it in our whole house instead of having our wood floors refinished. Sigh. Those haven’t held up so well, but that’s a story for another day.

Oh, and I realized that I never gave any details about what type of flooring it is, so here goes:

It’s the Exalt Luxury Vinyl Tile in Woodland Gray (unfortunately they have since discontinued this color, but they’ve replaced it with Grey Pine which I actually might like even better). It’s a click-together, no-glue floating floor, which is why it was so easy to install and only took our contractors one day. The best thing about it is that it is completely impervious to all types of kitchen spills–water has no effect on it, food and spills wipe right up with water, and even salt from Buffalo winters cleans easily. It’s a commercial grade flooring which I think is also the reason it’s held up so well–it was more expensive than the cheap-o luxury vinyl tile you can find in home improvement stores, but there’s a reason for that price. It’s so much thicker and more cushiony than the thinner stuff.

So now my mission is to find a rug with equal staying power. Any suggestions?

And along the lines of updates, here’s a recent picture of Mini Bunches–this was her first glimpse of what Santa brought her on Christmas morning.

Filed under Our Home Tagged with Flooring, kitchen renovation, Our Home

Nursery Ideas for Number Two

January 9, 2015 Leave a comment

It’s been a long time since I actually wrote a blog post. Maybe it’s because I have a two-and-a-half year-old, maybe it’s because the demise of the blog world has me feeling a little foolish, or maybe it’s because I’m growing another human inside me; I guess it doesn’t really matter what the reason for the hiatus has been, because what really matters is I’m back. At least for a little bit. I think I’m nesting, which might be a little early, but considering that last time I was pregnant we remodeled our kitchen and bathroom, it’s probably about time.

As with Mini Bunches, we’ve elected to wait to find out the sex of baby #2. But of course we have our predictions–I’m officially predicting boy while Mr. Bunches and Mini Bunches are officially on the girl train. My in-laws (almost all of them anyways) predict boy as does much of my family. So we’ll see who’s right in a few more months. Either way, we need another nursery. And that means I’m back into mood boards. But I have to admit, I’m struggling here.

I’ve decided on a magical woodland theme (loosely of course–I still want the room to be modern and be able to grow with the kid), but I’m a little stuck. I’ve found some great inspiration online, so I just need to start getting some things into the room and then we’ll see where we end up. Right now, the only items that I’m definitely going to get from the mood board are the Restoration Hardware faux taxidermy heads and the Ikea Hemnes dresser. Oh, and since the baby will be taking over our guest room, the paint color is going to stay (Benjamin Moore’s Ocean Air that we used on the ceiling in Mini B’s Nursery).

Anyways, here are some rooms I’m digging:

Delia Hauser’s Nursery

DIY on the Cheap’s Gray and Gold Nursery

A Modern Woodland Nursery from San Diego

Keane’s Modern Woodland Nursery (love this graphic crib sheet)

So any thoughts? Suggestions always welcome . . .

Filed under Design, Our Home Tagged with Baby, Our Home

Step It Up

August 10, 2014 Leave a comment

I haven’t blogged in about 10 million years. Okay, so maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you get the idea. So here’s a quickie–a little update I did that took two naps to complete, so about 4 hours for a regular person (that’s just for the vinyl sticker application; the rest of the steps were slowly completed over the past three years). First, where we started when we bought the house:

And where we are today, after stripping the carpet, painting the doors and trim, painting the stairwell and upstairs landing, and adding some chevron-tastic details:

Big difference, huh? The chevrons aren’t painted on (I don’t have that kind of patience or time these days, and I also didn’t want something that would take a lot of effort to remove if I didn’t like it); instead, they’re vinyl stickers from here. Yep, Pot & Kettle Studios made them custom to fit my risers, and they were super easy to install. And when I’m sick of them, they’ll be super easy to peel off.

Here’s a shot of them in black from their etsy shop:

So there you have it–proof that we’re still alive and still making some changes around here . . .

Filed under DIY, Our Home Tagged with DIY, Flooring, Our Home

Ruby Slippers

March 14, 2014 Leave a comment

Everyone keeps asking when we’re going to get her a dog.

And no one ever likes the answer, which is usually some form of “Never!” but in a much more polite way. It’s not that we don’t love dogs (because we do), it’s just that it isn’t right for our family right now. See how politely I did that? But with the occasional doggie visitor, and all our neighbors, she seems to be managing just fine without one of her own.

Although I have to admit that this is pretty cute.

Or is it just the footwear that’s pulling on my heart strings?

Thanks for visiting Ruby!

Filed under Personal Tagged with Our Home

UPDATED: 2013 Goals

March 11, 2014 1 Comment

So I made the bold move to put my 2013 goals in writing, so now it’s time to face the music. This could be really depressing, but let’s dive in . . .

Paint the fireplace. STILL NOT DONE. I need courage folks–tell me to do it. Tell me it will look amazing. I’ve been trying to muster my courage by scouring Pinterest for similar makeovers, but I haven’t found anything. However, I did determine that it’s a lannon stone fireplace, which led me to this beautiful image (from here):

So what do you think? Any suggestions to somehow handle this beast?

~~Hang new lights in the kitchen.~~ DONE. You can just barely see the new ceiling light in the reflection below.

~~Create better organization in our entryway.~~ DONE and detailed here and here. Update: this has still been working out pretty great, especially with the cart as a catch-all.

Hang artwork/pictures. Partly done, but still a long way off.

Get a vintage sideboard for the dining room. NOT DONE, and I’ve changed my mind slightly. I need a piece that’s less than 12″ deep so that it doesn’t crowd that side of our dining room table, so I’m thinking of having something custom made. Need to get on that already.
~~Get new dining room chairs.~~ DONE. Mini Bunches is a big fan, and so are we. These aren’t as tip-prone as our old ones.

~~Style the family room built-ins.~~ DONE. SORT OF. I THINK. MAYBE. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

~~Paint the master bathroom.~~ DONE. No pictures yet, but once I get some new lights, then I’ll share.
Get window treatments for the ~~master bath~~, ~~guest bath~~, ~~guest room~~, and Mr. B’s office. Three out of four ain’t bad, right?

Finish painting all the trim in the house. NOT DONE. I don’t know if this will ever be done. There’s just. so. much. trim. But I made some progress. So that’s something right. Plus, I decided to paint all the doors in the house, and I’ve gotten through about 60% of them. Now to just knock out the remaining 40%. And then change all the hinges and doorknobs. Oy vey. Eventually, each door will look like this:

Unpack our remaining boxes in the basement. NOT DONE. But progress has been made. Once we have a garage sale this spring, I think we’ll be in better shape.
Paint our master bedroom. NOT DONE.
Paint the upstairs hallway. NOT DONE.
~~Paint the guest room.~~ Partially DONE. I forgot to paint under the desk, and I’ve also decided that I need to paint the soffit.
Paint Mr. B’s office. NOT DONE.
Paint the guest bath. NOT DONE, but I did get all the trim painted in there, so that’s something, right?
Take more pictures. Especially ones with a little twist. And get them edited/posted in a somewhat timely basis. We all knew this was going to be a fail, right? I had less than 15 posts in 2013. But I had so much fun with Mini B, that I’m going to forgive myself.

Well, the report card’s in, and I’m going to score it a C+. And I’m going to refrain from doing a 2014 goals post I think, especially since there are so many 2013 goals that still need to be completed. So I shall carry on, and maybe my 2013 goals will be finished sometime in this decade. Fingers crossed!

Filed under Our Home Tagged with Our Home

Pack it up Pachysandra!

October 4, 2013 2 Comments

Remember when our house looked like this?

And then how it looked like this:

Well, while all that sunken concrete and overgrown Pachysandra may do it for some of you, it didn’t really hit the mark for us. So we finally hired us some landscapers and got our curb appeal on!

It was amazing how much they accomplished in only three days (we had a different contractor replace the limestone steps and take out the iron scrollwork a few weeks earlier–since that post is pressure-treated wood, we were told it has to stay uncovered for a season, but then we plan to paint it or vinyl wrap it) . . .

And to really see the difference, here are some side-by-side comparisons:

Of course, now that it’s been a few weeks and our grass has grown back in, things are really looking better. I wanted a lot of color, and next spring we should be able to see it (we’ve got hydrangeas, lilies, peonies, dogwood, cherry trees, etc. so there should be lots of blooms). It’s not perfect, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.

Mini B gives it her stamp of approval. What do you think?

Filed under Our Home Tagged with landscaping, Our Home

Mini Bunches: 1 Year

September 13, 2013 Leave a comment

It’s three months overdue, but finally here it is: a celebration of Mini Bunches’ first birthday!!

Don’t expect any Pinterest-worthy pictures here. We didn’t go overboard for the party, nor was there any super cohesive theme. The most cohesive thing would have to be the flag bunting. Remember how I made her invitations?

Well, I tried to carry the flag theme through as best I could. I bought a bunch of vintage sheets and made some fabric bunting (I used this free tutorial). I wanted something really girly for Mini B, and I think this fit the bill. Plus, it’s something that she could possibly decorate her big girl room with some day.

I made a bunch of different sizes, and put them up all over the house.

Besides that, the decorations were minimal. Some balloons strewn all over, and some new picture additions to the house.

Those are all printed Instagrams (I used MPix to print them–great quality and they have an app, so you can upload files right from your phone), and I used a hot glue gun to stick them to the door (just a tip–be generous with the glue or else they’ll come down after a couple weeks). I put them up in chronological order. My plan is to completely cover the door.

And then I did a little artwork on the chalkboard pantry doors, and put up all of Mini B’s monthly pictures.

Now that we’ve covered the decorations/theme (or lack thereof), let’s get to what really matters about such occasions–the family and friends that really make it special. Mini B lucked out on her first birthday–so many close family and friends made the trip to celebrate with her. Just look who she got to wake up with . . .

That’s right–it’s Mr. Squishy!!! He came out for Mini B’s big day. So not only did she get to wake up to that smiling face, but she also was rocking some awesome birthday hair.

All of Mini B’s grandparents made the trip. I don’t know what they liked more–playing with B or comparing who had the cutest pictures of B.

She had a great time at her party, even though the weather didn’t exactly cooperate. Our outdoor cookout turned into an indoor feast thanks to some drizzly rain.

But we did sneak outside for a quick family photo shoot.

Mini B loved that everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. So much so that we ended up doing it twice.

And then it was time for the moment we’d been waiting for–the SMASH cake! I wanted to make her cake myself, so I used a low-sugar recipe for the cake (from here), and then just made regular cream cheese frosting (since she loves cream cheese). I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t notice that ragged edge without icing–it’s in all the pictures. Ugh. When I made Mr. Squishy’s smash cake a few weeks ago, it came out much better. Oh well.

We had high hopes for what might happen when the entire thing was placed in front of her.

That might have been her only taste. After that she was more interested in feeding it to Mama and Dada.

Things progressed pretty slowly. I felt badly for our guests. Can you tell which ones of these are family? I’ll give you a hint . . . ahem-iPhones-ahem.

We tried helping her along with a fork, but she just wasn’t digging how the icing felt on her hands (she was having a diva moment).

In the end I think more ended up on her chair than on her.

All in all, it was a great day. Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you to all the friends and family who couldn’t make it but sent along lots of well-wishes. B’s favorite part, besides the singing, was seeing so many new, fun people. And also opening their gifts, haha.