We're doing a lot of bits and pieces of our home renovation DIY but all in all we are hiring a lot of it out as well. Our one main DIY room is our 2nd bathroom. I always thought of it as my bathroom and would spend hours reading while sitting on the floor in there just to get away from the constant chatter (I come from a family of talkers, and while I am also a talker...I value quiet more than most in my family I think.)

This bathroom is currently very cute. Its angels themed as picked by my grandma but honestly I have no idea if she actually wanted it that way. I'm sure she loved angels but it just so happens angels and clouds go well with sky blue. LOTS AND LOTS of sky blue. I'm not quite sure why people in the 50's and 60's...heck ANY era for that matter prior to this whole "fixing your house to suit other people" came about in the past decade (not that I really like that movement either! individuality and personal signatures are very intincing to me when looking at homes). So yes, this bathroom is almost floor to ceiling sky blue 4x4 tile, blue toilet, blue tub and blue sink. They oddly opted for the white formica countertop?

I think the reason my grandma was so afraid to ever change this blue room is because like many of the aspects of this house: its custom. The countertop was made custom to fit a custom blue sink. The tiles butt up right against the built in vanity with custom countertop. You can't minorly tweak this room without needing to do a larger overhaul and my grandma is not into that. She doesn't like to be amongst mess. Maybe thats why I err on the side of messy now to her disdain bc I never had to clean up after myself because I never "did it right". No one could "do it right" besides her...and I mean that endearingly bc it certainly wasn't a fault. You knew something had to really bother my grandma for her to want strangers in her house causing any kind of disturbance in her space. What I'm trying to say is the angels kept the blue from being a nuisance and the blue kept sweaty guys with steel toed boots and penchant for creating dust out of my grandma's house.

Jump to now. Armed with the world wide web (yes that novel concept) I have decided to take on this custom bathroom with a tiny budget: $1200. Yes, there may be tinier but I doubt there will be many as spectacular for the budget and heres why: tile stickers.

Yes, two little words such as tile stickers can take you from 1960's blue heaven to modern but eclectic world traveled chic! You can find them at Sticviews. They are simply super-sticking, wipeable, and easily removable veneer stickers for any size tile!! Seriously any size or shape of tile is available and you can use any image you want (although as much as you love your wedding pictures I dont recommend covering your tiles with them). For us, I opted to use a hi-res picture of a gorgeous mexican tile I liked. I thought it would go perfectly with the cowboy theme.

You see, Jeff and I have a cowboy bathroom. It came to be when we first moved in together and because of its great reception we're not willing or ready to let it go (and it seems cowboys may be the next zombies or vampires trend wise! ehhh!?) so we wanted to make this second bathroom our "cowboy bathroom 3.0...err...maybe that 4.0? I dunno, we move too much.

The other upside to this tile design is if we tire of the cowboy theme its still a gorgeous look and very versatile.

Pairing this with a new budget end Kohler toilet, some $1.50 new pewter drawer pulls, a steal of a new mirror (<$65!!), and a crisp white (squee!) vessel sink and we're on our way to a brand new shiny bathroom with minimal mess and/or assistance and a small budget!  The only thing we'll need help with will be our new black granite counter top (didnt want to scrimp here) and our new snap over shower/tub unit.

Here is a quick paint render I did of the bathroom (Jeff incessantly teases me for using paint!)

Yea I have no idea as to the strength of Bill Cosby's ability to "hold his liquor"

Anyways...I was in a little store I LOVE in the Northgate Mall the other day and I stumbled upon two entertaining books that caught my eye: Hot Shots and Jelly Shot Test Kitchen . There was a HUGE clearance sticker on Hot Shots so I snatched it up without cracking either of them open but now I wish I would've bought them both! (For the record Hot Shots is about flaming alcholic beverages to serve at parties!)

Tonight I came across the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen again and I must say- Jello shots are tres chic!! Ok, maybe not that far but these little tasters are really versitile and a lot tastier than I've ever imagined. I thought I left my Jello shot making days back in college but now I can't wait for an excuse to concoct something awesome!!

Oh boy! Oh girl girl girl girl!!

Our puppies Boo & Gaga finally got to work and created this perfect litter of puppies! Our vet told us that there was only two in Gaga's pudgy belly but they just kept coming!!!

Our (I'll lump Jeff in there too since we tend to have extremely similar taste) can only be described at truly eclectic. Its been this way most of my life but at times jaunted off in the direction of some other loves (gothic and edwardian aesthetic! squee!) but time and time again, I find that a truly varied yet powerful eclectic interior design equates the most comfortable living situation. To me this is because we, like most people, are not simply one type of 2 dimensional person.

We have layers; like ogres, onions, and parfaits. To blend into our habitat we dont want to become anything...we want our habitat to become us. Again, layered.

This is a main reason why I love industrial edge in interior design. This raw edge was a part of my life and creative expression that was, until this point, never honed in on. It has a steampunk feel (remember my love of Edwardian aesthetic!? squee!) but it also has a "Golden Area" feel....which somehow translates into Americana and Patriotism (who knew?).

Maybe I'm really overthinking this here but when I see an aviation inspired piece of furniture I can't help but think about the Great Generation who truly rooted our nation through their humbleness and heroism. I'm totally not kidding. I swear. I have a lot of estrogen.

It also has a very "bringing me back to my roots" feel. Stories about farm life from my Mamaw combined with 30 hard years in an American unionized factory by my beloved Gramps really makes me have a twinge of borrowed nostalgia for tractor seat stools and factory cart tables.

I look forward to the increase of this industrial edge in interior design not because I want it to become cliche or oversaturated but because currently most of these pieces are tiptoeing on ridiculously priced (although I got a great deal on my coffee table!). Its amazing to me how hostile many people are towards this trend in design...which is why I leave you with this quote posted by fellow blog Real Industrial Edge Furniture:

Ok, PHEW! To say the first 6 months of our marriage have been crazy is an EPIC understatement! We have lived in a whirlwind of travel and chaos...a lot of which I'm sure appeared very glamorous, but I insist it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Oddly enough I had a lot of time to blog but for some reason I didn't feel like complaining all the time (hahaha). Which I'm pretty sure thats what I did for 4 months living in a foreign country :).
So I'm restarting this blog. The Geek & The Chic lives!!  This time there is a lot of excitement but the kind that makes you giddy...not the kind that gives you heart palpitations ;)

We're moving into our first (and potentially only and last) house. My grandmother more than graciously living willed us her home, the home I was raised in. Not only does this house have IMMENSE sentimental value to me (my grandfather took so much pride in it), it is an absolutely GORGEOUS house. It's a 60's minimal ranch, that sits on 10 acres of mown land with 10 acres of gorgeous woods, that at build time was considered an executive home. As much as I appreciate vintage homes, Jeff and I have decided to switch it- take it a little bit away from the starkness it had in its originality. I act like we're just going to paint it.

We are about to embark on a complete overhaul of our dream home. Some projects include:

-whitewashing the red/pink brick
-exchanging the grey asphalt roof for a forest green spanish tile metal mold roof (can you say longevity!?)
-putting in a pool with indoor/outdoor sunroom
-vaulting the ceiling over the living room/kitchen/dining room
-updating 2nd bath fixtures and paint
-installing a fence and putting in a new circular driveway
-complete remodel of master suite (we're taking out the closets, knocking down the wall in the bathroom separating the sink from the shower, and then using my old bedroom for the most gorgous Carrie Bradshaw worthy closet and laundry area imaginable)
-installing a 3rd bathroom in the already finished basement
-converting the EXTRA LARGE home gym (it was an aerobics studio business) into a movie theatre and as-authentic-as-we-can-get Irish pub (do you see where our priorities are? haha)

Thats just to name a few. And to top it all off- we're trying to get it done in under 6 months!! I know that sounds crazy but I think we can do it. Financially its very possible for us because we were looking at purchasing our own home so being willed this priceless family heirloom frees up those funds to upgrade (cue Beyonce).

Oh and on top of all this- we're TTC. Wish us luck!

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I'm terrible at maintaining this blog. It could be because I'm spinning 100,000 plates at once right now. I definitely can't say that I don't have anything to write about!

Last night we finished and finally sent out our wedding invitations!!! My fingers are so sore from putting together these DIY jimmies. Isn't it funny how at the end of trying to save a buck ends up with you offering copious amounts of money for it to JUST BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!?????

We just got our moving van lines set up (I know...pretty late right??) and that is going to be a nicer experience than any other move we've had. The only downside is we'll only have a bed, couch, and some clothes until New Years. I had no idea it took so long but I guess its much better than packing and moving it ourselves.

I'm currently working on getting us set up with new patient appts for our new dentist, family doctor, specialist, vet, accupuncturist, massage therapist, waxer, hair colorist, etc. Its amazing how we can find the BEST of everything literally 5 blocks away on Fremont Ave. Convienance is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Anyways...I'm trying to get a smidge more relaxing in before we have to go back into hyperspeed. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be able to start posting some more valuable reads.

Merry Christmas!!!

Everything is set for our new home! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!! I'm still a bit unsure as to how Christmas is going to unfold, but I know that it will be a great one. I've probably said this before but its going to be nice to have a home. A place that we're going to stay for long term (meaning over a year!!). Since we're doing a rent-to-own option, its basically ours and it has luxury condo finishes which also makes it feel more like a home.

I wish I could type more because I have a ton to say but I'm unfortnately suffering from Effexor withdrawls. BLAH. More on that here:

Thank you, Advantage Insurance!