Sometimes I plan ahead.
But sometimes, my planning ahead isn’t thorough.
All posts in Product Review
NEST Obsessed
Nest. The Learning Thermostat.
**I swear this is not a sponsored post. I just get really passionate over thermostats.**
Happy NEW YEAR! It’s 2013! Hot dannnnnnng.
For Christmas, Santa Mom & Dad Crowder surprised me and A with a Nest Thermostat. I was completely surprised. Like the time Publisher’s Clearinghouse showed up on my doorstep. Okay, that never happened. But I’d say the levels of excitement would be the same.
We didn’t ask for one. But we have been eye-balling the Nest for the past year or so. Aaron’s parents have had one for about a year and it’s saved them a considerable amount on their energy bill.
If being overly excited about a thermostat is wrong, I don’t want to know what right is.
Got Milk {Paint}?
Yesterday I was being all whiny about Milk Paint. It’s a hard life.
I am no stranger at painting furniture. I’ve even BS-ed mastered the art of no-sand painting. But I needed to test this much-talked-about heavy-hailed Milk Paint. Let’s take this Milk Paint for a drive. This post is my unsponsored, uncensored, untarnished review of said product.
First of all, what is milk paint? According to Miss Mustard Seed:
Milk Paint is an ancient all-natural paint containing basic ingredients including milk protein (casein), limestone, clay and natural pigments. It is environmentally friendly, non-toxic and contains no VOCs.
Milk Paint can either provide a solid coat of paint, or an authentic chippy look. If you want a solid coat, you will need to use the bonding agent. For the chippy look, you are good to go. No priming or sanding is needed.
Milk Paint comes in a powder form. I joked that my bag of snow came in the mail. No one thought that was funny. Apparently mail-order drugs are no laughing matter.
My Milk Paint Brings All The Boys To The Yard
The past two days have been a hurricane of love! Young House Love, more like. In case you missed it, my painted headboard was featured over on the Celestial Kingdom of blogs. To all my new visitors & readers: Word up. I like you, and I want to be friends. So drop a line, keep it real, and tell me the latest gossip.
I’ve been dabbling in Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint through the night. (Remember grandfa-fazza from Thrifty Thursday a skip ago?)
Master Bedroom Update Reveal
Happy Friday to you all! Thanks for being patient with me. I piled my husband, adult children, and two dogs (fed them Benadryl first) into the car for a four hour trip to see Matt’s first baby niece. It was glorious! What a beautiful baby. But… I’m really tired today. Zombie status. I’d be the first one Michonne would slice to pieces.
Just a quick recap for all our new friends: I had a really ugly mismatched master bedroom. I had a budget the size of Danny DeVito.
Knock Off Restoration Hardware Paint: SLATE
If there’s anything you know about me so far, it’s that I have a deep and passionate (and highly inappropriate) love for Restoration Hardware. Remember my map and my chair? Is it a disease? Some kind of “itis?” Probably. There’s no cure for people like me. But there are support groups!
Last time we were at Restoration Hardware, I took a paint sample and put it in my wallet. I took it to Sherwin-Williams, and together we came up with a dead on match. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, so I decided to get a few other samples:
- analytical gray
- cotswald (Benjamin Moore knock off)
- mushroom
I am a FIRM BELIEVER in paint samples. It might cost a little more up front, but SO WORTH IT. Would you buy a car without test driving it? If you answered yes… you’re rich and bored. I’m neither of those.
What the Faux {Moulding}?!
Tutorial: How To Paint Faux Moulding
On Monday I showed you my fabulous painted headboard. It was part of my master bedroom makeover. Ever since Indy ate the wall, the master bedroom has been crying out for some fixin up. Awhile ago I fell in love with faux moulidng, and nothing else would satisfy my craving.
Karl always said our room was Argentina-Flag-Themed. No offense to any Argentinians who read my blog, but I wasn’t thrilled about my master bedroom resembling a flag.
Cuz She’s So Hiiiiiiiiiiiigh!
There are times in my life where common sense does not prevail. It’s in-explainable. In retrospect I’m always like, “Kenz. You didn’t think that through. How could using a car GPS in a plane ever be a good idea? How could a bag of ice be used as an anchor?” This weekend, I had another “moment.”
It began with my desire to put up the Christmas tree. However, this is not a tale of decking-the-halls. ”Before I put up the decorations, I should really paint the mantle. The stockings would look so jolly on a fresh piece of mantle.” (If you give a Kenz a cookie…)
Art Y’all Ready For This?
One day when I was storming the “as-is” section at IKEA I found this great print of The Golden Gate Bridge for $5. As some of you know, San Francisco is my favorite city in the United States. Aaron and I went on our honeymoon to The Golden Gate City. It was brilliant.
But- you know IKEA. Always having “their own” measurements. I had 2 24″X36″ frames to balance the fireplace. But of course, this print wasn’t a normal size. It was hanging out on the large side. So I thought, yeah, I’ll trim it down a little to fit in the frame. But you know what? That was as successful as playing patty-cake with a dead mouse. The white border around the image was so uneven. *insert cliché lopsided-boob-job joke*
Thanks for stopping by IBK! Our motto 'round these parts is: DIY BRAVERY! Extreme humiliation shouldn't keep us from creating beautiful things. 
