The Pink Bathroom

Oh yeah, that's our pink bathroom. And if I remember correctly, the first words I said about it were, 

"Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to rip all of this out and start fresh!" and Justin's first words were, "Oh my 

gosh, this is so awesome! We HAVE to keep it!" ----are you kidding me?! So, since I had already won 

the battle to paint the entire interior white, (apparently Justin thought it was going to look 

"asylum like"--roll my eyes.) I figured, you know, it would be a lot of money to redo. I love him, and I

have gotten my way about a lot of house things so far. And its not like we're going to be here forever. I

guess I can work with it.

So after researching some pink bathroom inspiration, I came across a site called "Save the Pink

Bathrooms", apparently in the 1950's when Dwight D. Eisenhower was the president, his wife Mamie

was so in love with the color pink that she had completely redone their side of The White House in wall

to wall pink! Including their bathroom. After a feature done of it, every housewife in

America simply had to have one. Within 8 years, almost 5-8million pink bathrooms had been

installed, and now only a fraction remain. So there you have it, now I have to keep it. I mean it's a

part of America's design heritage to have one, and they should be salvaged.

(I sent this picture to my friends on closing day, Sheesh look how full of optimism…)

Well, here we are 6 months later..not a thing has been done. I mean, we have a shower curtain now, 

that absolutely doesn't match. And my mom decided to patch some nail holes with some white putty, so 

we've got some nice white splotches around in there. But at least there is a plant in the window! And 

let's not forget about the very disproportionate rug I placed in there…ugh. But don't just take my word 

for it, see for yourself. 

Isn't that just plain embarrassing?! I find myself praying no one will want to use the bathroom while

visiting.

Anyhow, the reason for this post, here are some of my plans for this bathroom!

 

 So, my thought process is to keep in tone with the rest of the house, so that every room can seem

cohesive. As well as keep the integrity of this retro inspired Mamie Pink bathroom. So I am going to

keep with the bohemian style by adding a funky rug, and artwork. And add in some updates to bring it

into the 21st century. Which means I can't quite figure out what my words will be yet. Maybe

Modern/Bohemian with a splash of Retro. I've been really debating this bathroom for months,

and believe me I'm kind of questioning it myself. But what better place to experiment than on the

internet?

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Housewifery tips Pt. 1

"SAYING NO TO NETFLIX"




Don't worry, I looked it up, Housewifery is a real word.

(Housewifery (house-whif-ery)- The functions or duties of a housewife; housekeeping.)

How ever you would say it. I know it sounds like a fake job.

Most people imagine homemakers to be playing perpetual hooky (which can I just say, is a very easy

trap to fall into). But I'm not here to say what is the right way or wrong way to be a housewife. I'm just

here to tell you the realities of my experience.

So obviously I'm still fairly new to being a housewife. I have been doing it full time now for 6 months,

and i'm going to share my first faux pas of staying home.

T.V.

Ok, so when I first set out to do this, I had already made my mind up that this would be a "job", and

that I would work really hard at it. And that everyday when Justin got home, there would be dinner on

the table, a clean home, and things would be taken care of. And it was! Everyday, he would ask me

what I did, and the answer was pretty much the same, "I did some chores around the house, and

cooked, 3 meals."And he accepted that, because how much more vague could I be?!

 What he didn't know was, I would wake up, do my chores, and then watch Netflix. About until the

time I knew he would be heading home for lunch, then I would turn it off, make lunch, and then, yep!

You guessed it, cleaned up the kitchen and plopped my lazy butt back down until I either needed a

bathroom break, or it was time to prep for dinner.

Now, I always had good intentions, of course. But that really means squat when all your doing is

yelling at Rory Gilmore to not quit Yale (Gilmore Girls). Or watch so much 'Call the Midwife' that you

think you are one. Not kidding. (When you are considering naming your firstborn child after a TV

Show character. It's time to ask for help.)


So here it is, the terrible time I was caught with TV. 

About 4 months ago, I was doing my usual thing, and Justin comes home for lunch, pretty typical. Well

when he left I was pulling out a load of laundry from the dryer, and lying it out on the couch, you

know, "to separate" (ahem, to be closer to the TV). Justin came over, gave me a kiss, and left. Well…I

got about 1/4 of it done and then... next thing I know, "click, click" Confessions of a

Shopaholic is on! Well, it would be rude not to watch it..

*2 hours later*

Guess who comes home early?

 Yep, the ol' Husband. And where am I? SAME. EXACT. SPOT!!

Well, suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty. I pretty much went into major defensive mode about how I work

so hard keeping house, that I was taking a "break", or "day off" of sorts, same as I would do if I were at

an office job. He, of course being the most understanding person in the world, apologized for getting

mad. And dropped it. (Yeah, you can judge me, I kinda judge me too…)

Well, Praise the Lord, a couple of days later, I was laying in bed reading my bible study, and

immediately was overcome with conviction. There it was, the reason projects weren't getting done

around the house, why I wasn't making any Etsy sales, and why everyday I did not have any feeling of

accomplishment.

T.V.

 I mean, for Pete's sake all I was doing was watching fake characters lead great and exciting lives, while

I sat on my couch! Come on Kaylan! So, I sat down with Justin and had a very real "marriage talk", I

told him that I knew was not doing my best work, and that I was sorry for not taking things as seriously

as I should. And I wanted to fast from T.V. for a whole week. So embarrassing as it was, Justin took

the remotes with him to work everyday, and wouldn't bring them home until the evening. Which meant,

if anyone came over and wanted to watch something, I had to be held accountable, and admit that I was

trying to not watch as much TV. It was embarrassing for sure, but oh my gosh, the things I got done

that week! It was amazing!! And you know what, I am so glad I did it, now most of the time I can go

days on end without ever turning it on, and I don't even know the difference. And I can actually say

that I feel so much better about my performance as a housewife!


Thinking of going Cold Turkey on T.V.?
Here are some of my tips! 

- Be honest with yourself. (It may not be TV, maybe it's food, or social media, do you just sit there for hours looking at a screen while everything around you sits undone?)

- I know we all think we can manage with Netflix on "in the background." but come on, who are we really fooling? Every episode of any show has moments where you need to "sit down for just a second" to enjoy!

- Take some time away from it, try just be quiet with yourself. We are never quiet with ourselves anymore! You may be surprised, think of all of the ideas, and creativity just sitting dormant in your brain!

- If it's too tempting for you, try having someone hide the remotes from you, or tell someone close to you about it, so they can keep you accountable.


Look, I know this seems silly, but this is the world we live in.


Now, believe me, it was not easy to put these raw facts about myself out into the world of the internet. But if you have any desire to be a stay-at-home anything. Then my only hope is that maybe this helps you unlock some of that potential you aren't using. And save you some time and embarrassment from someone having "The TV Talk" with you.

Come back again if you like embarrassing anecdotes. Because believe me, I got plenty.

Etsy | Instagram | Facebook

My Style tips

So, before I style any room, I try and think of these things:

What are my 1 to 2 centerpieces?

So typically when I am picking out a "centerpiece" for a room, it tends to be something I feel would 

draw instant attraction. For example, in my living room, it was my West Elm Chandelier. I knew that 

since we had vaulted ceilings, and white walls, we could really do something big for our light fixture. 

The next centerpiece that I decided on was our rug. So I knew that I wanted to go with the persian 

style, (but not the persian price...) So I found this bad boy on eSalerugs.com, and it was worth every 

penny! 

What are my style words?

Modern (because of the light fixture) & Traditional/Bohemian (because of the rug)

So now, everything that I buy has to fit into those words. 

Coffee Table- Modern

Ottoman- Bohemian

Pillows- Bohemian

Basket-Bohemian

Blue Chair- Modern  (old ORU chair from Goodwill $25)

Seagull Painting- Modern  (Retro Den Painting $60)

Nature Painting- Traditional  (Vintage ---stolen from my mother's house..)

Plants- Bohemian  (Southwood Nursery $25 each)

CP70 Piano- Modern  (Craigslist $500)

Grey Sectional- Traditional (Craigslist $750)

Juke Box- Mid-Century (Craigslist $150---I kid you not!)

Double Decker Side Table/ Desk Lamp on Piano- Mid-Century (Retro Den $25 each)

Wicker Bull Head- Bohemian(otherwise known as "Beau, the bull")  (Jo & June $--traded)

(also, we have also incorporated a touch of Mid-Century pieces to help merge some of the harsh

modern lines, with the more traditional style. keep that in mind for your two words. There may be some

wiggle room in purchases as long as it connects the two!)


And just some last little tid-bits

-Never pay full price for anything! Wait for things to go on clearance if possible.

- If you are an Etsy seller, it never hurts to see if a fellow local maker is interested in a trade.

- Try and buy plants when they are babies, they're cheaper! And its fun to watch them grow! (Kirk the fiddle leaf is a year old! He looked like a little cabbage when we met!)

- ALWAYS Be checking your local Craigslist adds, and local thrift shops, odds are one of them will have something you are looking for.

- At Retro Den, if you take a picture at their store and post it with their hashtag, you get a discount.

- No joke!

-West Elm does 20% off their lighting section 2 or 3 times a year.

- Become a subscriber online  to stores that you like, and start saving things to a wish list, most places will email you when things go on sale.

I hope these tips help you style your rooms. Let me know if you have any questions, or are wanting to

inquire about any other decor in my home that I didn't already share!

Etsy | Instagram | Facebook

Living room Before & After

As a fun introduction to this blog, I figured since my whole brand of "Our Own Little Hive"

revolves around, well..our hive, I thought we could start with the first impressions of our home! 

Here is what it looked like on the Zillow listing when we found it! 

We will be starting with the living room renovation! --since that's basically the only room in the house 

even remotely close to being "done"

Those windows, right?! So we knew early on that we had some "definitely's" on our list. As in, we 

HAVE to have these things before purchasing!

- windows, windows, windows

- open floor plan (or the ability to make an open floor plan.)

- indoor laundry room

- kitchen open to the living room

I can still remember walking into this house, it was the third one that we saw. And we knew 

immediately, this is the one! I walked in, and I could see it.. All of it, I could see the beautiful white 

walls, the new light fixtures, the open kitchen, oh the instagram-able possibilities! (And how about that 

load bearing pole in the middle of the room? So eclectic..)

 (Below are the during photos. Definitely not instagram-able…. But, lets be real.)

First things first, time to rip up the carpet! Within 12hours of owning the house, my mom, dad, brother, 

and Justin and I had all of the carpet pulled!

Rolling up all of the padding underneath. 

And of course the tack strip. That is what took the longest.

And just to "keep it real", i'm here to tell you, that was the fastest any of the projects went from there

on out. For the next 2 weeks, we were then living in our shoes, from the time we woke up, until we 

went to bed, till the. Otherwise we were dealing with black feet, and the possibility of stepping on 

nails, or staples. Yikes!

So here is a little glimpse of living life in a renovation. 

Yep, totally drying our clothes on our work ladder..classy, right?

After a couple weeks of living like this, we finally were able to move in our couch! Glory, Glory!

We also finally changed out that bland ceiling fan with an AMAZING light fixture from West Elm. 

(October 18th.)

Hooray! Check out Kirk the tree, making his debut!

Then slowly but surely we made it from there to here. 

(October 28th)

And then to here, where we are today. 

(Today, April 6th)

Thanks, for reading! I'm so excited to share this journey with you! 

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