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  • The Right Kind of Help

    One of our bathroom sinks has been running slow – the legacy of older plumbing that hasn’t been maintained well. I cleaned it out (yet again) the other day. The Boy noted, while washing his hands, that the sink still ran slow. Me: That’s because the stopper is broken. We need to do a minor […]

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  • Fixing a Shameful Secret

    When we moved into the Hayley House over a year ago, we acquired a master bathroom without any fixtures for hanging our towels. No problem. We’re cheap creative people: That’s right – we hung our towels in the bathroom closet. It worked. And, more importantly, it was free. But I didn’t want closet rod/pseudo-towel rod […]

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  • I Spy With My Little Eye…

    Did you spot something new in my story about the Hayley Party? Here’s a hint: That’s right! I finally finished my breakfast table rehab. Sure, we put it together the night before the party, but it was finished. The table was another great Craigslist score. Cheap, fun color (plus the former owner gave me extra paint) and just the size […]

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  • Waste Not Want Not

    So what to do about with all the extra material from my chic-ifying table project? Recover a chair! I had a chair that I’d picked up from a friend to use in our new mini-office. It was fine, but the material felt a little heavy. {Can material be “heavy”? Does that even make sense? Anyway…} Before […]

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  • From Eeeck to Chic

    While we were working on the antique desk, The Boy mentioned that he’d like to move the accent table that we used to hold our laptop into the library to free up space in the family room. Great idea! Then I had what I thought (at the time) was an even better idea: I’d paint it Antique […]

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  • Finished? Really? YES!

    I have an announcement to make. {Ahem.} The desk rehab project that I started two and a half months ago is done. That’s right, I’ve finally stopped stripping, priming and painting. I’ve even moved the desk from its temporary home in the breakfast room back into the library where it belongs. Finally, eh? When we […]

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  • My Favorite Part

    I am a list maker. And a sub-list maker. And a sub-sub-list maker. It’s a bit of an obsession, I know. But while making lists may only give me an illusion of control over my crazy life, there is one very tangible benefit of having a list: crossing things off. And this weekend was a […]

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  • A Moment of Honesty

    I can’t tell you how often people tell me that they’re jealous of how put together I am. Oh, Shannah – you’re just so organized. I don’t know how you do it! Your life is pulled together. You just stay on top of everything – blogging, marketing, teaching, volunteering, crafting and cooking from scratch. Here’s […]

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  • A Quick Swap

    The annual Hayley House party is rapidly approaching and the poor guest restroom was is still in desperate need of a fixture upgrade. I mean, really, isn’t this awful? Off to the closest big box store I headed for an oil-rubbed bronze towel ring that better fit the decor. I made sure that it said […]