Good morning! Happy Thursday!
I made it home from New York City without any issues last night. Thank goodness! The snow storm didn’t end up being as bad as expected, and I managed to finagle my way onto an earlier train to Boston, so I was home by 6:00 PM or so. Easy-peasy.
This morning, I woke up bright and early and ready to eat. I was craving a French Toast Breakfast Scramble, but we were out of eggs, so I used 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites, which worked just as well. I also added chia seeds, sliced almonds, orange marmalade, and almond butter to the mix. It was delicious. I was also craving green juice in a major way, so I made a batch with romaine, cucumber, apple, lemon, and mint. Also delish.
Last night, Mal and I got all into organizing the house and getting it ready for Baby Haupert. (I guess we’re nesting already?)
It all started with the dish brush in our kitchen sink. When it’s not being used, it usually sits on the side of our sink, which means it leaks water (and gunk) onto the counter top and generally isn’t very hygienic. I started to complain to Mal about how gross it was, so he suggested that we get a holder for it. Genius. I didn’t even realize such a thing existed.
So, we went on Amazon and purchased this brush holder. Problem solved.
After that, we started looking at curtains for our bedroom. We’ve had naked windows for months now, so we figured it was finally time to get some up.
Once we started looking at curtains, things just spiraled from there. We made a list of projects we wanted to complete before Baby Haupert arrives, which doesn’t even include his nursery. Mal and I agreed we’d hop on these projects ASAP, so we can finish them and get started on nursery preparations in the next few weeks. And our baby registry.
That said, here are just some of the things on our current house project list:
New curtains for the bedroom
We actually bought some new curtains at Target back in the spring. We even spent a crapload of money getting them hemmed at a local tailor, but then we decided that we didn’t like them. Uh, yea, it was a huge waste of money. Anyway, we just bought these curtains online from Bed Bath & Beyond last night. Hopefully, they’re what we’re looking for!
Replace doors in master bedroom, nursery, and office
We have three Louvered doors in our house. They’re basically doors with slats/shutters on them, so all sorts of noise passes through them. The one in the bedroom is super annoying with the living room and TV being right outside of it. I usually go to bed before Mal, so I’m constantly asking him to turn down the volume on the TV. He listens to it on the second lowest level, and IĀ stillĀ can hear it. Most nights, I fall asleep to referee whistles or people killing zombies. We also have one of these doors in the soon-to-be nursery, so we definitely need to swap it out, so Baby Haupert can sleep without interruption (or hearing people kill zombies).
Long story short, we’re not a fan of these doors, and we’re replacing them with 5-panel, solid doors like the one below. They’ll definitely make a difference with the noise levels inside the bedrooms.
Buy a large basket for winter gear
The other day, I saw the basket below in a Crate & Barrel catalog and immediately loved the idea. Right now, our hats, gloves, and scarves end up all over the houseāāon the dining room table, side tables, the back of the couchāāso I thought a big basket in the entryway would help contain the clutter. With a small house and a baby on the way, I am all about organization solutions!
I found this one online at Crate & Barrel, but I’m going to check out Homegoods and Marshalls to see what they have first. Maybe I can find a cheaper one?
Replace heating thermostat with a digital one
Our heating thermostat is from the 1970s (maybe even the 1960s?), and it definitely needs replacing. It works fine, but, man, it’s ugly. It’s a total eyesore in our living room.
We’ve been looking at updated thermostats like the one below to replace it, so, hopefully, it’s an easy swap.
And finallyāĀ¦
Organize the basement
Our poor basement has become the catch-all for all sorts of random crap stuff in our house. Anything that doesn’t have a place upstairs ends up piled on a random chair or other surface downstairs for future use. It’s a mess, and it desperately needs some TLC.
[Photo above is not our basement. I am too embarrassed to show you ours! Haha!]
CNC Birthday Giveaway
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered by 6-year blog birthday giveaway! I loved reading all of your comments. You guys are the best! Here are your 6 winners:
Jenn@ Mark My Miles!
I’m so excited for you! You better believe that I will be following your Instagram today to āgeek outāĀ with you!!! Hope you see tons of celebrities and have a wonderful day. Baby Haupert is a lucky guy to be doing all these things with you ; )
Beth (marciebeth)
love hearing about Murphy
Brittani
I love any and all of your crossfit posts!
Wendi J.
I loved your Creamy, No-Cook Chocolate Chip Balls recipe!!!
Ginna
I think my favorite post was your big pregnancy announcement!
Laura (coffeeandhope)
I liked Carrot’s N Cake as well as Stitch Fix on facebook!
Congrats!!! Please email me at tina@carrotsncake.com with your full name and the email address that you used to sign up for Stitch Fix.
Questions of the Day
What’s the next home project on your list?
Moms (and dads): any funny/interesting ānestingāĀ stories to share?
96 Comments
If you need to hem any curtain in the future, you can DIY using Stitch Witchery! In fact, I “made” our bedroom curtains by taking a shower curtain I really liked, cutting it in half, and using the Stitch Witchery to hem it. You can’t even tell unless you inspect it closely!
In terms of the thermostat–you can get a free one through the Massachusetts free energy audit. They’re offered by a bunch of different companies that just need to verify your electric and gas/oil company. They also give you free CFLs and a list of ways you can improve the energy of your house (in addition to a pretty good discount, I think). So don’t buy one!
I don’t know if you have a TJ Maxx near you, but the baskets there are about 80% less than at other stores. I just bought 3 and only spent $25. Big baskets too!
Target has a basket very similar to the one you picture above – I saw it online and I believe, it comes in a few sizes and also has handles.
Haa, I was going to say, if you think that pic of your basement is a mess, you would die if you saw our basement. Organized chaos!
Good luck with all the updates!
I want to Rearrange my room I love redecorating!
My husband and I have a few house projects in the works. We are making our living room into more of a library/office and clearing out the office to be used in the (hopefully) near future as a nursery.
I’m renting so can’t do any big projects… I can’t wait to have my own place where I can do exciting projects like painting and replacing stuff!
Wow!! Lots of cool projects going on!!
That’s quite the list, you better get busy! š
If you have a Hobby Lobby in your neighborhood, check out them for baskets. They usually go half off every other week! I purchased so many baskets from HL for my house; however, I do love that one from Crate and Barrel! : )
We just replaced our antiquated thermostat with a Nest thermostat, which is a really cool little piece of technology! It’s a bit of an investment (but they are doing a $100 instant rebate on it right now), and it’s supposed to significantly cut heating expenses throughout the year. I am in no way associated with the company, but can relate to eye-sore-thermostats (and big heating bills!), so just thought I’d pass along the idea. Good luck with the reno’s!
@ Totally agree with Taryn: get the Nest. They make a thermostat as well as smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and they all talk to each other. More expensive but worth the extra cost!
As far as nesting goes, I got more done right before the babies came than ever before. It’s like something crazy catches hold of you towards the end and you want everything perfect. I think Home Depot secretly thrives off of nesters. š With this last baby we had just redone our livingroom/kitchen and we bought new sliding glass doors which I love. Our little Jack Russel is a freak about putting her paws up on the glass. I was a crazy lady pregnant! Angry, pregnant lady alert. At 41 weeks to the day I was cramping/hurting and Daisy (our dog) put her paws on the door and I quietly and freakishly said, “If she puts her paws on that door one more time I will kick her head off…” (I’m gentle and LOVE my dog!). My husband quietly left the house and came back from Home Depot and stayed out way past dark putting up a little fence around our back porch. Problem solved! (baby came a few hours later). I think that’s nesting.. That’s “crazy” nesting….!
I don’t have a house, but I just moved to a new apartment and my windows need some curtains… all the windows. The blinds are all bland (say that out loud!) And my bedroom window faces east so sleeping in isn’t happening these days!
Also: slight off note, you’re really selling the almond butter and marmalade combo. I’m just not a fan of orange marmalade… I might try another jam or preserve that’s the same color so I can at least sort of get the concept š
Another vote for The Nest thermostat. Definitely more of an investment than the one(s) you guys are looking at, but the automated features of The Nest will be so nice to have when the baby arrives. If you really don’t want to spend the $ on it, I think they have the Honeywell one you linked to at Costco for pretty inexpensive. The swap is super easy-just connect the correct wires and you are ready to go.
Check out Pier 1 imports for baskets – not sure if they have them by you, but I just got a bunch of organizing baskets on sale there!
Tina..this is not a nesting story but do you read the blog bev cooks? She recently had twins and for a really good belly laugh I highly recommend her post…so I had some babies…give you and Mal some insight to what awaits! :o) My “baby” is a freshman in college but I sure do remember those early days.
Honestly I have no home projects right now except throw stuff out. We will be moving later this year so right now I am slowly starting to think about throwing things away and getting rid of some of the clutter!
We have a big blank wall that really needs some decorating!!
look into having a mass save energy audit done, they give you a digital thermostat and install it, swap out bulbs to energy efficient ones, tell you where you have opportunities to insulate, etc.. for free . we had it done and while we didnt do some of their recommendations, the bulbs, and thermostat are great http://www.masssave.com/
Hi Tina! My boyfriend owns a plumbing & heating company – we just installed an ecobee thermostat and it rocks! There is an app for your phone, you check on the temp and control it while you are away. Here’s the link: https://www.ecobee.com/
Way to go on your house projects – always feels so good to get them done!
Thank you! š
Make sure you buy the right digital thermostat!! I did that in my apartment and completed burned out the mother board since I bought one that was for AC/heat and I only have a heat option. Ended up costing me almost $900 to fix!!! So, make sure you ask your electrician/plumber for advice on which one you should buy!
My husband just bought The Nest thermostat and it’s awesome! Def worth checking out.
The old thermostat is adorable. I guess some ppl like white plastic? Sigh… I don’t get it.