Good morning! How are you doing today? Iām all hopped up on caffeine because I had a free drink coupon to redeem at Starbucks this morning, so I obviously wanted to get the most bang for my buck and ordered a large cinnamon dolce cappuccino.
Caffeine always makes me chatty but it can also make me focus and feel more productive, so Iām hoping to ride the productivity train through the morning.
DIY Fever Sets In
Last night Ryan and I went to Loweās, also known as our home away from home. Iām pretty sure the folks there are going to know us by name soon. We walked away with a new washer and dryer because our washing machine broke down two weeks ago. Weāve already been through one washing machine and one dryer that we got on craigslist (the dryer actually caught on fire), so we decided to actually replace our latest craigslist machines with a nice set that will hopefully last for years and years and not just put a band aid over our crappy washer/dryer situation.
My main criteria was a high-efficiency top-loading washing machine so the machine would use less water and be more energy efficient. I was pumped when we found one on sale that got great reviews, so it was a win all around.
It will be delivered on Wednesday! Clean clothes, here we come!
While we were there, I picked up some paint and other supplies so I can get started on our laundry room makeover and wrap up some projects in my home office. Iāll be sure to take you guys along for the ride since Iām definitely a DIY novice and have a lot to learn. Iām actually looking forward to tackling some projects around the house! (Feel free to remind me that I said this when I am sick of painting.)
I spent a solid 30 minutes choosing a color for the laundry room last night and Ryan just laughed when I presented him with three paint samples that he assured me were āidenticalā shades of mint green. I ended up going with the Valspar Pantone Universe Bay color and left with a sample to try in our laundry room soon. I hope it works out!
Workout + Breakfast
My workout this morning took me to Pure Barre for the 6 a.m. class. My local studio has a challenge going on this month: 20 Pure Barre classes in 31 days. If you complete the challenge you save 65 percent off the following monthās membership. Iām all in!
After barre, I swung by Starbucks for my free drink before heading home to grab a quick breakfast (a carrot cake muffin and a handful of mixed nuts) before taking Sadie on a short morning walk.
And now weāre all caught up!
Hope youāre having a wonderful Tuesday so far!
Questions of the Morning
- Do you have any DIY projects on the horizon?
- What is one DIY project youāve tackled that turned out well?
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You can’t go wrong with mint, that is going to be so cute! I’m really excited to see your finished laundry room!
I’m totally living in DIY world right now! I’ve worked out an exchange of work in my rental in lieu of rent for the next few months and am in the middle of sheetrocking over the horrid 70s wood paneling in the whole place! They actually know me by name at the pro desk at Home Depot…. (And if all goes according to plan, it won’t be long after I finish here that ground will be broken on my house! Yikes.)
I also used my free birthday Starbucks reward on a giant pumpkin spice latte. No reason to go small on the free drink!!!
Happy birthday, Beth!!! <3
Doing the same Pure Barre Challenge!! Let’s motivate each other! š My Pure Barre buddy hasn’t been easy to motivate lately! But – I did get her to buy a Cinnamon Dolce Cappuccino this morning – of course she’s in love and I think you need to become the new Starbucks spokeswoman for this drink since I’m sure you’ve converted 58 million of us to drink this!
Definitely take us along your DIY ride! š That color sounds PERFECT!!
I have such a hard time picking paint colors – I always second guess myself. Just remember you can always paint over it!
Also, are you going to do a home tour of your new house? I’m sure we’d all love to see what made you decide to pick the place!
Yes!!! I definitely hope to! Still getting things organized right now though, but hopefully soon!
Oh man I want to like DIY projects but I am usually horrible at them! Thankfully I live in an apartment right now so I can’t do too much damage. ;p
Josh actually installed three photo shelves for a photo wall like a month ago and it’s still empty. I need to pick photos and buy some frames!
We had the same thing happen with our washer and dryer. Now we have a new top loader and it’s amazing! I love doing laundry! Haha
Yay for new washer and dryers! I am really missing American dryers since moving to Europe, makes my laundry chore that much more irritating.
I wish I was a diyer but I just never get around to it. Can’t wait to see your finished laundry room!
I’m doing the PB challenge too!! Ours in TX is 20 classes in 25 days – first winner gets a YEAR of free classes – woo hoo!!!
Good luck! š
Kelly
Oh my gosh, that is AMAZING!!!!
Can’t say enough good things about the build-your-own closet from Ikea and the Elfa customizable pantry/spice cabinet system from The Container store (http://www.containerstore.com/elfa/index.htm).
The Elfa cabinet system looks amazing. Organizational heaven!
I have not been DIY in a long time! I used to be all creative, but I haven’t had the opportunity yet– cant wait until I have a place I can do that! Sounds like a lovely morning-coffee makes me all chatty and hyped up too!
Hi, Julie. We moved to our first house back in July and bought a new dishwasher from the same store you got the washer/dryer. Unfortunately, we had a negative experience, they brought damaged item twice. We ended up returning it and got it from somewhere else. I think there’s something wrong with the warehouse in Houston area – the staff also agreed with us. I just want to give you a heads up. Hope you will have a better experience. Enjoy the new house!
If you got the washer/dryer in the picture, I believe they play a song when they are done!
We did!! And this cracked me up — I wonder what little tune I can expect to hear!?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVOJ13sFeu4
Here it is! I don’t notice it because they are in the basement of my home, but apparently some people find it annoying as shown in the video! I hope you like it though!
That coffee sounds so yummy! Any idea how many calories it has? I would love to treat myself. My birthday is coming up soon.
I’m not sure, but Starbucks has all of their nutrition facts on their website so I think you can customize it to see what they would be. š
Do you feel like you’ve lost muscle since you’ve only been doing pure barre lately? I’ve recently started taking pure barre classes and I love them but don’t feel like going to gym later if I’ve already gone to the class. Thanks!
Truthfully, no. I kind of expected to but I really haven’t noticed muscle loss.
Since we moved into our first home 2 years ago, my mom is convinced that my husband goes to Home Depot too often and it must be his code word for his mistress :)! He has at least learned one helpful tip for girls taking too long with paint color selection… Have a glass of wine (or two or three) first! I become a confident color choosing expert!
LOL!!!
I totally go in DIY crazy phases. I do a ton of stuff for a few weeks and then get burned out and nothing happens for several months. Haha. Right now, nothing is happening… I have a few things on the horizon though. Just need to get some motivation to make it happen! I really do enjoy it once I get going on it, especially if it’s something Cody and I can do together. Have fun with the laundry room! I’m excited to see how it turns out. š
See, the thing is, I always TRY to DIY and then it’s such a major fail I just go buy it.
Story of my life LOL
I haven’t done any DIY house projects lately as our apartment is extremely small. I am kinda holding out hope we will move into a bigger place/ buy our own house within a year so I can so more of those house projects. Most of my DIY projects have been beauty and bath projects as of late. I’m enjoying these homemade varieties. 65% off? That’s a deal that surely can’t be missed!!
Hi Julie!! Congrats on the new washer and dryer….I have a question I have been meaning to ask you…I see you doing Pure Barre a lot lately. I have one by me that I use to go to about 5 days a week, but I stopped because I noticed I was gaining weight. I think it was from the less amount of cardio I was doing…has that happened to you? Or do you still have cardio days mixed in? I am lost because I love barre classes, but think I need to mix in cardio to keep weight stable. Thanks :):)
I’ve done VERY little DIY projects in the past, but that’s mostly because of my living situation in a little rented city apartment. However, I would LOVE to paint an old dresser and make some gorgeous framed prints for a home one day. Enjoy owning your own little spot and making it yours. And BTW, that’s too bad about the washer and dryer. š
I always try DIY projects and end up failing miserably haha one day I’ll make some great!
BE CAREFUL WITH MINT!!! I hope you got a sample! It tends to look WAY different on walls. I found out the hard way, after an expensive gallon of paint too. But at least it’s just the laundry room!
Lowe’s and Home Depot are like Target…you go in for 1 thing and come out with a basket full of stuff with no idea how it happened!! I love home projects. It feels so good to accomplish something yourself! I can’t wait to see your new laundry room!
Ever since moving into our new to us home last February, I’ve been in a crazy DIY mode! I swear I’m getting more and more addicted to the Pinterest DIY/Home sections. I’m definitely a DIY novice as well–right now I’m trying to find the perfect fabric to make a padded seat for our window bench.
I hope all your project turn out beautifully! Can’t wait to see them!
I’m all about DIY. My husband and I just recently moved to our first home in April and the projects haven’t stopped. And I’m with you with the whole Lowes being your second home. We practically live there, especially the first few months.
We getting into painting now and it;s a bunch of different colors. I may or may not have got him addicted to color… oops!
Hope you have fun making your place your own, I know I have!
I’m so inspired by DIY but I always wind up being awful at it, I’m just not very crafty! Which is why I love places like HomeGoods where I can get great stuff for a good price!
PS – I FINALLY tried your signature cinnamon dulce cappuccino a few days ago and OMG, you were so right! š
We painted our bathroom a mint green color; it is very relaxing!
We are putting in a new vanity and tiling our bathroom this fall, and I’d like to scrape the walls in our living room. The people that lived there before us put this horrible, rough texturing on the walls (it will snag clothes). I can’t wait to get that done and have it repainted!
We did scrape the popcorn ceilings in our house, it was a HUGE mess, but so much better now! Good luck with your projects! š
Men are funny, they just don’t get the nuances of shades of mint green. HA! About a month ago, I finally finished my summer long DIY projects of repainting/staining our old dining room and side table plus two armoires. This was probably my most labor intensive with the biggest payoff project: http://successalongtheweigh.blogspot.com/2014/08/an-armoire-gets-new-lease-on-life.html
If you have good furniture that you’re just tired of or is maybe a little damaged but easily fixed, I’ve got to say chalk paint is very forgiving with no prep work involved! I can’t wait to see all of your projects!
Are you spraypainting your walls? Or did you just include that photo to show the color options?
No– haha! The spray paint is for a different project!
We just got that exact same dryer last week! Great minds think alike. It rocks!
Working on my last DYI project now. We gutted the kitchen and had it refinished 2yrs ago. We had gorgeous new real wood dark chocolate cabinets put it. Our budget really took a hit so we couldn’t afford to reface the cabinets throughout the rest of the house. Did some Pinterest searches and found an amazing gel stain product that requires little sanding and a couple coats of stain to match the kitchen. I turned construction grade honey oak into a deep rich chocolate. Last set of cabinets in the master bath followed by new granite tops and sinks. Can’t wait!
Good luck with painting. I grew to love it as soon as I figured how to properly cut lines. I actually went a little crazy and painted most of the walls in the house. Congrats on your new w/d. What a difference HE make!
How fun! I’ve been seeing a lot of fun DIY house projects on Pinterest lately with shelves/picture frames/couch pillows. I just need to get motivated enough to actually do it š
Hi Julie! I can wait to see pics of your new home.
Would you say that you’re dependant on coffee to get you through the day?
I want to order that cinnamon dulce cappuccino but I am worried it’ll be too sweet! Do you only do a certain number of pumps of syrup or go full monty?!
I need to catch that DIY fever sometime during my life! š
Mint green sounds like a fun color for a laundry room. Can’t wait to see it!
Oh man, we are currently on the hunt for a new washer and dryer. Scott has searched all over Craigslist and we almost got one last weekend. It didn’t work out… but after hearing your fire story maybe we should just invest in a new set. Ha. Have fun with all of the DIYing! š
i do the same thing when i have a coupon! š go big or go home!
Woah! That barre promotion is something I could totally get behind.
I love DIY projects! There arent many opportunities for them in my current rental apt, but i’m excited to live through yours !! š
65% off sounds like a great deal. I’d try to get it too.
Glad you got the washer/dryer situation sorted – it’s always such a pain to do laundry until you actually CAN’T. (And if you work out often, things get a little scary, haha…not speaking from experience or anything… š )
I work at Starbucks part time and I’ve yet to try a CD cap…might have to give it a whirl when I’m there next!
DIY? Yup! We’re doing lots of painting and up until a few weeks ago, I had never even lifted a paint brush. I know more DIY is in my future š
I’ve been reading about your love for the cinnamon dolce cappuccino for a while but I just finally ordered myself one when I had an extra few minutes during my lunch break – oh. my. gawsh. WHY DIDN’T I GET THIS SOONER? The entire walk back to my office, all I could smell was the cinnamon. I’m hooked.
I’ve been renting forever so I haven’t done a ton of DIY but the one that did turn out pretty well is our coffee table. When my dog was a wee pup, she chewed an entire corner off of my brand new wood coffee table. Pissed and hopeless, I gave the table to my boyfriend since he doesn’t care what his furniture looks like. We finally got around to fixing it now that our spaces have combined, and it turned out great! We used this putty that mimics real wood (you can sand it and give it texture and stain it) and like 100 coats of stain and it looks phenom! As long as my apartment complex doesn’t notice the giant dark spot where we spilled the stain all over the patio, we’ll be good to go!
Im so jealous you’ll be able to paint your laundry room! I was too lazy to paint mine after finding out it took 3 men just to squeeze our washer and dryer into the space! Gah! So, white it remains, but new shelves and pretty boxes helped! I can’t wait to see how you did yours!
Julie, do you like barre? I’m thinking of trying a class in DC but am a little nervous. I”m used to body pump and cycle. What does a barre beginner need to know?
Julie, you will be SO happy with that washing machine! My mother has one and just loves it. It’s so efficient!
I can’t wait to see all of your DIY projects!
My one painting tip – good brushes. It is worth spending money on the good brushes. Good luck!