Garage Reveal {One Room Challenge}

I am so excited to share our newly reorganized and repurposed garage with you all today. We are now welcomed home by a calm and orderly space, which in turn influences the lives of each one of us living on the other side of that door. It is a testament to the power of one's surroundings. If you are on the fence about reworking a space in your home to better suit you and your family's needs I can not encourage you enough to start TODAY! 

Ok, I'll climb down off my soapbox and get on with the reveal. Rather than repeat myself recaps of the past weeks layout the goals and challenges of this project. If you have any specific questions please leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to address them. And of course be sure to check out all the other ORC linking participants. We began with a dirty, cluttered 19'x19' two stall garage. With some paint, reorganizing, and DIY carpentry we now have a purposeful and tidy extension of our home. Come a take a peek!

Newly built "Sports Center"

So there you have the new and improved garage. Before I go, I would like to point out a few special touches. The door knocker was a gift from my brother and sister in law. Our front door is glass so I have been waiting on just the right spot to place it. In addition, the door color is a nod to the paint of our first home. Every time I walk through this door the color reminds me of where we began and how much Hubby & I have built together over the past 13 years. Even in the most utilitarian of spaces, you can still have your home reflect your story. 

Most of all, I have to thank my husband and father for all their patience and talents. None of this would have been possible without them and I am forever blessed to always have them by my side. 

XO-Amelia

 Sources:

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Classic Grey (OC23)
Door Color: Duron Charleston Green
Wall Hooks: Menards
Woven Mesh Baskets: Target Room Essentials Basket
Shoe Baskets: Target Threshold Global Folio Bin
Large Ball Totes: Target
Floor Mats: G-Floor Garage Mats (purchased at Costco-instore only)
Wall Storage: Ikea Trones
Ceiling Racks: SafeRack 4'x8'
Sports Center: Custom built for around $190

One Room Challenge {Week 5}

Hard to believe it is already week 5! One more week to go and there are lots of loose ends to tie up in the garage. Thankfully last week was a productive one and we now have the sports center built and all the safe rack storage units hung. 

Last night Hubby and I primed the new built in and I am crossing my fingers it gets painted today. I'm still trying to decide between white or the wall color. 

Costco ran a sale on our floor mats last week so we have them ready and waiting for the install as soon as we wrap up all the painting. 

As for the lighting fixture, the original plan was to swap it out, but now I am rethinking this idea.  There is very little space between the light and garage door motor, plus it is a jumbled mess of wires. Perhaps it is better to leave the fluorescent lighting there and not draw your eye upwards with a different fixture. 

So that is just a quick recap of where we stand. I'll save lots more pics and the nitty gritty for the big reveal. Now I'm off to put a second coat of paint on the mudroom service door. I'm loving my choice of color, but I'm saving pictures for the reveal. Only one more week!!! 

ORC Week 3 {Best Laid Plans}

ORC week #3  is already here and sadly I don't have much to report except for the fact that the plan I posted last week is now on the cutting room floor.

Apparently there is a standard way 99% of all garages are framed out...we fall into the 1% category that does not have adequate joist reinforcement/ stud placement. As a result, our overhead storage system had to be hung in a way that dramatically reduced the hanging storage capacity. ***insert sighs***

So where does this leave us?
As I type, Hubby is patching the garage walls. His hope is to sand and paint tomorrow.
Afterwards, we will just "wing it"; reloading the garage and making organization designs on the spot. What is it they say about best laid plans?



Since I don't want this post to be all negatives, on the positive side I have held firm to my dream of the "Sports Center".  Here are a couple of my favorite inspirational images all via google image search "garage built-in".

Cross your fingers for us & hope that we have progress to report next week!!! 

ORC Week 2 {We've Got A Plan}

It is already time for Week 2 of the ORC. Last week's post was drafted on my iphone while we were on Spring Break and I was a bit vague on the details of our plans for the space. Today's post is chalked full of the ins and outs of how we are going to make our less than ideal garage work for our needs.

Hubby and I put pen to paper on the way home from vacation and the plan we drafted appeared a winner.....that was until we came home and realized that the dimensions we planned for and what we had to work with didn't match up. So not even one week into the project, we had to already alter the initial plan. Over this past week, I have spent hours standing in and staring at the walls of my garage just trying to figure out how best to configure the space so we gain both the storage and functionality we need. Below, I've broken out the plan by wall space/zones and I'll apologize from the get for the subpar, iphone pics, They aren't the prettiest, but they get the job done.

Back wall

This is the wall we see when the garage door is opened, you pull in or walk by. If there was ever a wall to "decorate", this is the one. If you are facing the wall, to the left is the service door to our mudroom and directly across from that door is the service door to our side yard where the trash cans are stored. There is no room to keep them and 2 cars in our undersized 2 car garage (first world problems I know, but a royal PITA nonetheless).  In my dream plan, the floor space between these two doors would remain free of any impediment so we could easily carry the trash outside via the garage service door.

As you can see above, that request was scratched and replaced with some version of what I've deemed "The Sports Center" (locker/beadboard/cubbie storage) along with one of two Saferack 4x8 shelving units.  Taking out the trash will still require us to walk outside and around the house since several large items will be hanging from the saferack in front of the service door. The trade off is well worth it though as the new "Sports Center" will alleviate the overflow of bags that currently hamper our mudroom setup.  

Right Bay

The side of the garage with the outside service door is the right bay wall. Here the second saferack system will be mounted and below it will hang the littles' bikes and double stroller (pictured cabinets do not stay). Initially I wanted to hang this rack closer to the front of the garage for easier access. Unfortunately the depth between the wall and garage door track is under 2' and the shelving system is 4' wide. The plan is now to relocate our current tool rack from the back wall (see above) to the front of the right bay wall. Once we have a better feel for the space, we may add Ikea Trones cubbies  to hold items like work shoes, sidewalk chalk/bubbles, extension cords, and birdseed.

Left Bay

The left bay is where my SUV is parked and will remain largely unchanged. I would like to continue with the beadboard on the bottom half of the wall to help prevent door dings in the drywall (the current foam cushion is at a level too low for my doors). This wall will not have any storage because it functions as the main walkway in and out of the house. The only addition I will make is two tall recycling bins located at each end of the wall. Currently we have a small recycling can in the mudroom and it is constantly overflowing with boxes piling up in the mudroom sink or the garage floor right outside the mudroom service door. My hope is that these 13 gal. bins will eliminate that problem. Plus they can easily be carried to our larger bin outside and emptied on trash day. 

The Pretties

Now that the nitty gritty is out of the way, we can get to the fun stuff better known as "the pretties" (yes, you can still have them in a garage). To round out the space we have a) flooring, b) wall color, c) lighting and d) or e) or f) mudroom door color with this fabulous door knocker. I'm still pulling from my initial inspiration picture and loving the feel of layered neutrals with perhaps a pop of color. We'll just have to see where we end up. 

Crossing my fingers painting will begin next week! And be sure to check out all the linking partners today as they share their ORC week 2 progress.

One Room Challenge {Buh Bye Ugly Garage}

I am so excited to announce that this year I will be joining in the One Room Challenge. If you are new to the series you can read all about it over at Calling It Home. The main gist is that over the course of 6 weeks you challenge yourself to makeover one space in your home and share the progress or set backs every week.

Since the 6 weeks puts us at the beginning of May and just before Belle and Peanut are on summer vacation, the garage is the perfect room to make over. I posted a awhile back my hopes for the space and the vision hasn't change all that much. I am still dreaming of this space; dreamy with the white woodwork, dark floors and chandelier.  

Now to stop daydreaming and bring things back to reality. Our biggest goal is to get everything OFF THE FLOOR!  I will admit that I have run over a bike and scooter while pulling into the garage because they were left laying on the floor. My family can attest to my common rant, "There is a place for everything; everything ought to be in its place." Now it is time to put that into action in the garage. 

Doing so means:

Deep Cleaning 

Painting entire space: walls, ceiling, floors

Transferring gardening supplies to new potting bench

Possible built in cubbies

Hanging ceiling storage

Organizing, Organizing, Organizing

If all goes as planned, we will have the space compete before summer vacation providing a designated spot for all the swim team, golf, tennis, biking, and baseball gear!!! 

I'll leave you all with a few before shots so you can truly appreciate the hot mess that is our current garage. 

Family Friday {Where We've Been}

I can hardly believe I haven't blogged since the middle of January and now it is March 5th! Already this year is flying....here is what we've been up to.

Jack Frost 

For starters it has been downright frigid! We've spent way too many days curled up in front of the fire and snuggling. This poor pup has turned into lil Bear's living cuddle. I've had to teach him to leave Finley alone when he is sleeping so instead Bear just lays down next to him waiting for Finley to wake up.

Snow Ice cream
Back in January we were hit with some decent snowfall so the littles were on snow day 2 & we decided to break up the board game/movie watching marathon with a little snow ice cream. They loved it and asked to make it several times afterwards.

100 Day
Peanut's 100 day celebration at school was rescheduled 3 times due to snow/cold days. Last minute (read: 11 pm the night before) I decided to make him a special shirt for the occasion. Thank you felt & fabric glue. The grey creature is my futile attempt at a whale, the school mascot.

More Flames
We hosted some friends for a dinner party and dined by candle light. It is something we've gotten out of the habit of doing and I was reminded of how much I do love the flicker of a flame. It soothes the dining experience, which is often quite chaotic with 3 tiny diners.

BE MINE
We celebrated St. Valentine and all the trinkets and semi-permanent tattoos one could dream of....next year I am finally going to make good on my promise not to wait until last minute and get something other than Lisa Frank valentine cards (yes, the same Lisa Frank cards I handed out and obsessed over as an 8 year old).

Chi-Town Eats
Despite the nasty weather, we made into the city twice this month. Theo N & Thea L were visiting from Toronto & we opted for Sunday dinner in the city, rather than at YiaYia & Bopi's.  And this past weekend,  Hubby & I made it back downtown to dine with Bestie J & her Beau just squeezing in our new year's resolution to do dinner together monthly.

FROZEN 
Over the record breaking cold spell we experienced in early February I decided to participate in a 3 day shake cleanse....never so badly have I look forwarded to a cup of hot vegetable broth. Note to self: this is summer time thing. Nobody wants to drink a smoothie (or four) when it is -5 out.



Bullwinkle 
My kids are always bringing things home from their grandparents' houses, but this takes the cake. This potato came from YiaYia & Bopi and oddly resembles a giraffe or Bullwinkle the mouse. Either way it is creepy, but seriously awesome to a kid.

911 

The past few weeks have been a bit bumpy for the youngest members of the family. Bear fell and hit his eyebrow on our granite island resulting in a trip to the ER and 3 stitches. Thankfully the cut is healing perfectly and I've been applying mederma like a crazy woman.  

The second patient of the month was Finley. The poor puppy became violently ill in the middle of the night and would only sleep if I cradled him in my arms. After much exploration all we can decipher is that he must have gotten into the peel of an avocado from the trash. He lounged on the bed most of the day and was back to himself by the following night thank goodness. 

To Everything There Is a Season
This week we traded in our trusty van of nearly 8 years for a new car. I had always viewed driving it as an "occupational hazard", but when it came time to see it off I shed more than a few tears.
Before Hubby & I headed out to the dealership, I piled all 4 babies into the car for a quick photo shoot.

Warm Hugs 

While we are on the subject of cars. One of the littles spotted this vanity plate while we were out car shopping over the weekend. They were all convinced it was "his" car. 

Packing Our Bags

Spring break is around the corner and we will soon be headed for the warm Florida sun. I've been working slowly on planning outfits and packing. I am loving the hot pink Jack Rogers I picked up for Belle, but couldn't believe how big they were when I placed them next to mine. Planning for her first trip to Disney is still fresh in my mind....wish I could keep them little. 

Birthday Marathon

The B Family Birthday Marathon kicked off last week with lil Bear's 3rd birthday. This photo is one of my favorite outtakes from the day. A full post is to come next week. For now though  I'll wrap up this marathon of a post with a story about M. 

If you've read the blog for any period of time my 3rd born started off as "Bear" due to his fondness for teddy bears. As he grew horses and trains took over that coveted spot and the name no longer fit. 

I began to refer to him as "M or lil M". 

In December I began reading "Little Bear" to him and he was hooked. In fact he requested that I call him "my little bear "& he call me, "mother bear". So just like that the original title "Bear" seemed fitting yet again.

And with that I am putting an end to this rambling, run on post. 

Want it Wednesday {Lights I'm Loving}

Part of the master bedroom makeover includes unifying some of the decor in the adjoining master bath. We currently have two brushed nickel chandeliers in there that are much better suited for a dinette and have to go. Here are a few of my favorites so far. 

The gold pagoda would fit the space perfectly but at $1,000 a piece the price point is too high for a temporary fix. 

I am in love with this Mercury glass chandelier from Restorayion Hardware Baby & Child. It doesn't quite go with the feel of the space....perhaps my walk-in closet need a little bling. 

Both the bottom lanterns are from Shades of Light and I'm leaning towards the white bamboo fixture.

Work on the actually space won't start for awhile, but I hope to have an inspiration board to share soon. Now I better get lunches packed and some breakfast on the table.