DIY Rustic Pipe Shelving

The decor for our farmhouse is constantly on my mind. I am always looking for new and innovative ways to to add charm and character into our house. Our downstairs bathroom had every element I felt necessary for a guest bathroom with the exception of a linen closet. I knew I didn't want to take a ton of square footage from the space in order to built a small linen closet so I decided to build shelves that could house the needed things such as towels and washcloths in a cute new way! I used galvanized pipe out of the plumbing department in Home Depot. Innovated ideas using pipe right now are a big thing so I decided to jump aboard the idea knowing it would go perfectly with the rest of our farmhouse decor! 

Supplies:

3- 1X12X4 ft rough cut boards

1- Can of black spray paint

1- Can of Minwax Ebony Wood Stain

6- 12 inch galvanized pipe (threaded)

6- 1/2 Galvanized flanges

6- 1/2 pipe end caps

18- 3 inch screws

We started out by cleaning and spray painting all the piping, caps, and flanges. 

(Notes: 

The oiled pipe pieces are cheaper at Home Depot than the cleaned, I decided to go for the oiled and clean them myself with acetone to save $$!

The spray paint will not leave a matte finish unless you clean the pipe first!)

Once everything was dry we decided on placement and my husband and his handy tools hung the flanges using his lazar level. 

Once the flanges were up, we screwed in the pipe and finished off with the end cap.

Then placed the boards to be sure everything fit perfect before staining.

Once everything was perfect we stained the boards.

And the end result! Easy, Cheap, and Trendy! Just the way we like it!

Hope you all have a fabulous day!

Xoxo-

Ashley

Week 26!

Hello 3rd Trimester! The weeks are passing faster and I'm growing bigger and bigger! Chasing my first little is getting more exhausting by the day! And everyday I am finding myself more and more thankful for my Husband and all his help! Our house is continuing to come together as we prepare for little miss to enter this world! This past month I have been beyond thrilled that two of my best friends have brought their own sweet and precious babies into this world! So for the next 14 weeks I will cuddle them until I can cuddle my own! Makes the anticipation that much more and is perfect for my first little get some practice with Mommy holding another baby. It's so easy to forget just how little babies are when they are first born. My first little was tiny but I must have forgotten just how tiny! 

FEELINGS: Having a lot of lower abdominal pain throughout the day, which I suppose is just ligament pain. Still having the dull hip pain that the doctors says is from a nerve in my back...the anxiety of getting everything ready for our little princess is setting in and I am on a mission every time I go to the store to pick up at least one needed item! 

CRAVINGS: All the good stuff! Pizza...pizza..and more pizza, which isn't much different than my every day non prego life!

EXCITEMENT FOR THE WEEK: My double stroller has shipped and should be here sometime this week! What a decision that was! Wow hopefully I made the right one! The debate was between the City Mini and the Britax double...the britax made the cut when I saw how it folds up smaller PLUS I was able to get 20% off this one vs the other! No brainer!...hopfully anyways!!

Little miss' crib quilt came in the mail last week and I'm in LOVE! Now to get started on the rest of her room!

And last but not least...the belly pic!😉

Have a wonderful week!!

Xoxo- Ashley

It's PLAY TIME!

It's no secret that from the beginning of this farmhouse remodel the design and ideas for the play/family room have been my favorite and most exciting! Unfortunately it wasn't a room that was first on the ever long "to do" list so we are just now getting to it! The room spent the entire day yesterday transforming into what is now our favorite room of the whole house!! 

Being our favorite room in the house I believe it deserves an entire blog post all to itself! I have had tons of comments and questions on this room from where did you buy that to I love this or that! I decided to share with all of you where I purchased or found all the decor for this room! Without further ado let me introduce you to our new play/family room where memories and messes will be made!! I hope you like it as much as we do!😉 

The "PLAY" lettering came from hobby lobby. I waited until the letters went 50% off and got them for half price! The tent and rug came from Land of Nod. I ordered both online before even starting the room!

 

This dresser I got from my Grandma and turned it into the tv stand by taking out the middle drawer  which happen to be broken anyways for the satellite box! I put a fresh coat of light blue chalk paint on it and ta-da!

I have had my eye on this sofa bed for a while now and once I was ready to make the purchase I discovered that this particular sofa had been discontinued by IKEA!!! Such a let down however, after walking around IKEA looking for an alternative I saw this beauty sitting lonesome in the corner! I couldn't believe my eyes, they had not sold the display! After speaking with the manager on the arrangement to take her home with me, my lovely mother agreed to pull it thru the entire store on a large cart after they refused to hold it for us until we were done with our shopping! Needless to say we got a lot of stares lol! I didn't mind, I had the sofa I had dreamed of! It's perfect size being only 5 ft long and folds out to a bed for guest or movie night!! Sawyer's little chair is from pottery barn kids. I purchased this chair for him for Christmas this past year, it goes perfectly.

This chalkboard wall has been a HUGE hit so far! My little plays on it constantly! The mini table and chairs and hanging chalk buckets also came from

Ikea. 

How we got here:

The room when we started!😳 Yikes!! Demo on the farmhouse hd just started when I took this picture and as you can see it was quite the sight!

New drywall was hung.

The drywall was ready for paint!

Painted with flooring at last!

My inspiration for the room was this amazing rug I found online here. I decided to pull the colors from it to create the room! The rug along with the bright colors make it very fun and cheerful!

Week 24: Baby is growing!

Time is speeding by and my emotions aren't sure how to deal at this point! I feel relieved, excited, and saddened all that the same time! Relieved to think that it won't be much longer, excited to see her precious little face, and of course sadden to think this may and is more than liky my last time growing a precious miracle inside my womb! The anxiety is killing all of us! 

FEELINGS: The bloated gassy feeling is apparently here to stay lol! My sleeping habits are HORRIBLE...more than likely due to the fact that I have a 1 year old sleeping sideways in our bed every night! Yes I know eventually I will wish I had him out and bla bla bla I hear it all the time but guess what, it works for us! I'll do me and you do you! For now that little stinker will continue sleeping sideways in my bed until I decide otherwise or can't take the prego discomfort of sleep any longer lol! 

CRAVINGS: Pretty much the same! Big Red mainly and anything sweet!!

 

OTHER NOTABLES: I had been feeling good about not gaining any weight so far (let's face it, I had plenty to move around from other parts of my body!) That is until I went back for my last check up and have gained 13 pounds!! Holy momma! 13 pounds in 4 weeks! Yikes! If I keep that up until delivery...it could be a rough situation haha! 

Ellie's room is no closer now than it was weeks ago on getting finished! Perhaps I should get on that! 

And last but not least...the updated belly pic. Look closely and you will see my little Momma's boy couldn't even let me take a picture without hanging off my leg! Sure do love that boy and his baby sister!

Week 22: Wild Child

We are on week 22 of pregnancy and counting down the days till meeting miss Eleanor! She had become quite the wild child in the recent weeks with her constant kicking at all times of the day and night! All that kicking and Daddy still hasn't been able to feel her move. She must not only be a wild child but also a little stubborn too! 

Luckily for Mommy the Zantac has been working tremendously so far and I have not experienced any more gallbladder attacks since taking it! Ahh what a relief it is! And just in the knick of time considering the cravings are still out of control and no they are not craving for salads or fruits and veggies but yet only junk food and things of that nature! Oops! 

CRAVINGS: Anything sweet!! Lots of chocolate and Yoo-Hoos! Ahh those Yoo-Hoos, just can't get them in my belly fast enough!

FEELINGS: Sleep has been horrible! I wake up every hour pretty much because I feel like someone is sticking a steel rod in my hip...I definitely do not remember feeling this way this early on with my first little! I may just have to break down and buy one of those expensive prego pillows for sleep! This is for the birds! And just think I still have 17 weeks left of feeling that way! Yikes!!

Flying with a toddler: Helpful Tips

A spur of the moment Tuesday decision to fly 4 states away on Wednesday morning with our 16 month old was one that didn't quite hit me and my type A personality until about 6 pm when I rushed home after work to pack for our family of 3 plus 1! I had to think quickly on what to pack on the plane and what to pack for the visit, that may not have all been a bad thing considering I would typically dwell on the idea for months prior to going! This time on the other hand dewelling was not an option since we had a plane leaving the next morning at 6:00am! My little had never flown before so I was not sure how he would do so I went with the assumption that he would not be happy and his ears would bother him the entire flight however, we were pleasantly surprised that on the first flight he fell asleep just before take off and slept virtually the entire time. Oh the second connecting flight however, was another story! He was ready to get out of that tight space and burn off all that energy! This is where what I packed for the flight came in handy! Here are some helpful tips I used to keep him occupied and happy as best as I could...

1. PACK PLENTY OF SNACKS: We found on our connecting flight that food was what made him happy, I thought if we had him chewing it would help with his ears to pop on the way up and the way down! Plus a plan to get breakfast between connecting flights may be changed if or when your first flight gets delayed like ours did!

2. BRING THE COMFORT: Ours is a pacifier! My little LOVES his paci! This is kind of a given that you pack the one thing that you find calms your little but just in case, don't forget it in the bags you check!

3. GATE CHECK A SMALL STROLLER: In addition to carrying all your luggage you will also be lugging your toddler if you are not prepared with a small stroller. The airline makes it easy to hand off your stroller to the attendant right at the time of boarding that way it's waiting on you as soon as you get off the plane and head to baggage claim! 

4. DRESS COMFY: This goes for all parties involved! Your toddler will be much happier in comfortable clothing and so will you! After all, being "wallered" by a toddler on a small plane is NOT fun especially if you are having clothing malfunctions at the same time! Let's face it, you will be bending down to grab the dropped popcorn puffs and toy car that was just launched and having New York Wall Street guy in the row behind having to look at your undies as you do so would not be the ideal situation!

5. TAKE A BLANKET: I packed one of his softest comfy blankets. I am notorious for being cold while flying and I assume so children are also! While he was sleeping it was nice for him to be extra comfortable with his blanket! 

6. USE A BACKPACK: My diaper bag happens to be a backpack, if yours is not, I would suggest using a backpack instead! The backpack made getting to and from gates much easier! Plus once you go to pick up the checked luggage you will need all the free hands you can get!

Here are a few pics from our flight! I will warn you...you will see no pictures from the second flight due to the close quarters and nature of attitude lol! All of these tips were in few swing leaving no time for pictures!

Hope these tips help you like they did me! Good luck on your flight! 

Week 20: 1/2 Way There!

We have made it to the half way point! Only 20 weeks to go! Our littleist love is growing wonderfully and by the looks of things is going to be our little wild one! She loves to kick during the entire day including when I'm trying to sleep! 

My goal for the next 20 weeks is to write a weekly post on this pregnancy! Fingers crossed I can keep with it!😁 Always easier said than done!

CRAVINGS: 

Anything sweet! I <3 chewy sweet tarts! Still eating several bowls of froot loops a week! Stearing away from drinking big red fountain pops may be the death of me! And anything nice and greasy sounds delish!

FEELINGS: 

This is where all the above means major TROUBLE! I am feeling terrible a lot of the time! Boy did that little Sawyer spoil me! The past few weeks have been anything but nice! We have concluded that I am having gallbladder attacks! Ugh yes I know NOT fun at all! The doctor has advised me to take a Zantac everyday and watch my diet closely to see what triggers the attacks! So far the past two days have been much better, I have been watching what I eat and taking the Zantac. Praying that continues to work! The next step would be cutting out any dairy and greasy fatty foods! Aka all the major craving I want! Bummer! 

PREPARING FOR BABY:

Big brother Sawyer loves giving the baby kisses and "trying" to jump on mommys belly! He also has had a slight confusion in just who carries the baby sister. He was loving on Daddy the other day while playing in his bedroom floor and started kissing his belly saying baby! As you can imagine we found a lot of humor in that and he seemed very confused as to what was so funny! Trying to explain that the baby is in Momma's belly to a 16 month old is vertually impossible!😂

Here is an updated belly pic for the week!

Enjoy your week!!

XoXo- Ashley