Lesson 9: The Multiple Uses of a Rubbermaid Bin!

My house is slowly but surely coming together. I had my housewarming party a couple Saturday's ago and it was a big success! It was so nice to have so many people out to celebrate! Throwing a party is so much fun and I like to think that I'm a natural hostess, but I think if you were to ask Emerson I basically run around my house like a crazy person till people arrive and try to pull it together last minute. This post was inspired by a moment I had when I was cleaning and setting up for my party.

For a long time my basement had no furniture. Well, that's not exactly true... I had my 50" tv, a tv stand, and a rubbermaid bin. That's it. I know you're probably thinking, "Why didn't you go buy couches?" Good question. Most normal people would solve my problem in a second, BUT the issue at hand was finding ones that I actually liked and didn't mind sharing with roommates, etc. See, now that I have been spending lots of gold bars on things for my house (my collection of gold is depleting by the way... quickly) I thought about my couch situation and realized I'm way too much of a control freak to buy brand new couches and then let others ruin them by mistake. Not going to happen. I'm going to end up being like most of our grandma's out there who cover all their furniture in that plastic stuff so that if someone does drop diet coke or coffee I can just act all cool, grab a cloth, and say, "don't worry about it!"

Back to my story though... so I had a large Rubbermaid bin down there because I was going to store it in the back room. It is full of books, odds and ends, cords, whatever! Well, when I had no furniture down there and was DYING to watch the new Bethanny Getting Married on Bravo, I decided that this bin was the perfect size for me to lean up against. So that's how it started and it continued like this:

Day 1: Leaned up against the bin while I watched tv.
Day 2: Put a pillow between my back and the bin to make it a bit more comfy.
Day 3: Draped a blanket over the bin and pillow so it held the pillow in place (slowly starting to look like a couch).
Day 4: Put a large book on the top of the bin to hold the blanket steady and to act as a flat spot to put my drinks (now the bin is working as a coffee table and couch).
Day 5: Moved the bin to the direct centre of the room to showcase it as the most important fixture in that room.

My favourite bin ever!

As you have noticed, this bin became a huge part of my life. It made me not feel the rush to get couches until I wanted to have the girls over to watch a movie... then I realized my bin wasn't big enough for more than one person to lean up against it. I also couldn't risk the situation of having two people lean against my bin and it slowly sliding backwards as we try to watch tv... it would upset me. So, I cancelled tv night and decided to dedicate my time to couch finding.

My luck, my dear friend Laura was moving and asked me to take her couches.. so I did. You'll notice though in the picture below that I've become quite attached to my Rubbermaid Bin furniture as it still sits next to the couch acting as a side table. I didn't want it to feel left out.

My current couches (notice the bin still peeking in there).

Things I learned from Lesson 9: 
1. Rubbermaid bins aren't just good for storing crap, it's a way to justify keeping that crap in big bins because it makes it heavy enough for a person to lean against.
2. Next time you have party and need extra seating, take out some bins and drape them in blankets...it'll be trendy, I promise.
3. When people ask you constantly why you haven't bought houses and why you're using that awful bin, just tell them you hate having people over, so having no furniture will keep people away. It'll create an awkward situation and hopefully no one will ask you again.
4. Couches are MUCH comfier than the Rubbermaid bin, I know its obvious, but I feel like I almost forgot how comfy couches actually are and how necessary they are when watching tv!

Lesson 8: Beware of Charlie... He's a Creep!

There is definitely a theme of yard and garden lately but when you own a house it's such a big part of it all! The lawn is looking pretty sad in general. The only person who seems to care and help me with it is Emerson! He's been doing a lot of work for me such as cutting the grass and weeding and I am very appreciative of it! A couple weeks back we were looking at my back yard and trying to draw up a plan for making it much better. Honestly, there is so much that can be done.. it's like a blank canvass.. the only problem is I'm too lazy of an artist to paint a beautiful picture if you know what I mean!

While Emer and I were looking at my back yard I pointed out this clover type weed that seemed to slowly be eating up my lawn. I mean it's kind of pretty if you like clovers. It's really green and.. well... it looks like clovers which are supposed to be lucky, so LUCKY ME! Not quite. Emer decided to investigate and found out that it's something called Creeping Charlie and it is not cute nor lucky. It made me start to think... who names plants? Why would they look at this clover type weed and name it Charlie? I mean, I get the whole creeping gig because it's literally creeping around my backyard making a home for itself. But why Charlie? Does the plant-namer just have a thing for alliteration? I'm going to google this. Sorry, I digress.

 Creeping Charlie creeping in my wood chip area... 

More of Charlie creeping up my nice tree!

It's pretty easy to rip out with your hands because it's all connected. It's arms are long and lanky and it wraps around everything on your lawn. The more I think about Creeping Charlie, the more it makes me think of it in a personified manner. I can't help it, I'm imaginative. I think of myself standing at my kitchen window looking out into my backyard and here's this sketchy man laying on my grass, rolling around, and covering my grass. I picture myself yelling at him through the glass, "Hey! Who are you??" and he looks at me still rolling around on my grass and calls back, "My name is charlie" and then he gives out a creepy laugh. Creeping Charlie scares the crap out of me.

There is a way to get rid of him or it. Emer discovered from my neighbour that you can spray it and it will die. Back to my imaginative world, I picture myself walking outside and standing at Creeping Charlie's feet and spray his face with a Windex bottle full of whatever it is I'm supposed to spray Creeping Charlie with. He then gives out a scary scream and disappears.... I don't think getting rid of the real Creeping Charlie is going to be that dramatic although it'd be way more entertaining.

Things I learned from Lesson #8:
- Once again, lawn and garden are the neediest parts of owning a home.
- Take time to identify if you have Creeping Charlie. Don't assume, like me, that my back yard is slowly becoming the luckiest place on earth!
- Look into getting a job as a plant-namer... it could be a LOT of fun.

Lesson 7: The Death of My Potted Plants

I know I already wrote below on lawn and garden care, but this honestly is a never ending topic! I'm not kidding. As you all know I was out of town all of the last week for work and I'm going to blame that one week away on the horrendous condition my potted plants are. In all honesty though, my potted plants were doomed from the start. The day I brought home my very first two potted plants I feel like 10 minutes after I hung them they started dying. They rebelled against my potted plant regimen and to show me, they began acting up in a very ugly way!

The pictures below show you the current condition of my three potted plants:

Plant #1: I honestly did not plant that stick there... it was there when I took the picture!

Plant #2: Well, it speaks for itself. 

Plant #3: This is how I found it this morning, NOT kidding!

Okay, so those pictures are a tad horrifying! I know! Plant #1 has never been a friend as the day I brought it home it refused to bloom right away and then it started growing it's arms and legs in every which way. I like to tell people when they come over that Plant #1 is very reminiscent of Einstein's hair.
Plant #2 bloomed so beautifully when I first brought it home. I even liked this plant so I would feed it miracle grow from time to time (it was my favourite so I gave her a special tonic to show her) but lately all it wants to do is die and shrivel up and turn brown. It's like she's turned into an ugly person who can't live without the special tonic. I haven't given it to her in days so maybe she's in with drawl??
Plant #3... well, as you can see it committed suicide yesterday or last night. I don't blame it. It was mint and it started to look pretty funky. I felt like it was trying to grow out of the pot so it could run away and re-plant itself in my neighbours gardens (which are so nice). Instead, she just decided it wasn't worth continuing and plunged off of the ledge of my gazebo tent.

People keep telling me the following: 
1. You can't over water.
2. You have to make sure it's getting the right sunlight.
3. Make sure you're giving them plant food.
4. Make sure the soil is damp but not too damp.
5. You may have to prune them (hair cut).

Honestly, potted plants are like having children except they don't talk back to you and ask you to buy them pretty things! I did not sign up for this. You're probably wondering what I'm going to do right? Well, I think that Plant #1 and #2 are going to survive and since I refuse to give in to their neediness they will hopefully bloom for a bit longer till the fall hits. Plant #3 I'm going to let lay on the ground for a bit as it's way too hot for me to go outside and clean it up (it's over 90 degrees here today), but when I do clean it up I'm going to tell it that it should have been grateful for what it had.

Things I learned from Lesson #7:
1. If you don't want the responsibility of children, don't get potted plants. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment.
2. Cactus and fern type plants apparently are impossible to kill. I recommend those.
3. Don't spend a lot of money on pretty pots because your plants just may rebel and not only ruin themselves but shatter the nice home I gave them. I could have reused that pot for something else!

Lesson 6: Don't Fly Off the Handle!

To all my readers out there, sorry I have taken some days off! There are so many disappointed people (I'm sure) that have been awaiting my next blog post, but my most recent trip to India had me a little tired and I had to get my life back in order! Don't worry though because today I'm going to try to catch up on some blog posts I've been meaning to do for awhile.

When I bought the house my parents had very nicely offered to give me my grandparents old bedroom furniture for my master bedroom. I was excited because my mom refinished it so it was a beautiful black*. Tip for all of you readers out there; all he did was sand and spray paint it black! You'd never think spray paint was something you could use to refinish furniture (and wood furniture) but it looks fantastic! My parents came down to help me move and brought the "new" furniture with them for me. The only issue was that the old handles didn't match the face lift that the furniture had underwent so my one task was to find new handles for both my large dresser and two night stands. In total I had to get 13 handles.

My large refinished black dresser

I had decided that I would put it off for a few days because I was so busy doing other things like facebooking. Then one morning as I went to open my new dresser with the screwdriver I had been using for the past week to open all of the drawers I realized that I was really tired of using a stupid screwdriver, so I went to Home Depot. I grabbed one of the old handles to take with me so I would get the right size... see, I was being proactive! A little more domestic everyday!

I went to Home Depot with my handle in hand and found a really nice pewter coloured handle that would match perfectly. Another tip for all you people out there... handles are NOT cheap! Wow! Each handle was $8 which meant I was going to spend... (sorry I had to open my calculator and do the math)... $104 on stupid handles! Ugh. I was happy though that I now had handles and I was going to install them all on my own!

As I worked to install all of the handles I started with the night stands and then began on the dresser. I started to get a little upset though when I realized 6 of the 9 drawers on my larger dresser were NOT the same size handle as the others. Who builds a dresser and decides that the handles on more than half of the drawers should have different size fittings than the rest? It makes no sense! Instantly I picked up my receipt and the handles that didn't fit and went back to Home Depot to return them. I took a handle from the different size drawer to hopefully find the same handle in the different size.

Well, long story short Home Depot, Menards, Walmart, Target, and Ikea did not have ANY handles that matched the size of these remaining 6 drawers. Then it hit me.... I was going to make my own handles! I went to the nearest Fabric Store (which I had to google and map out directions because I've never been inside a fabric store here before) and bought yards of black laced ribbon, little crystal beads, black thread, and a needle. In my head, I envisioned these beautiful handles that would look very elegant and graceful like that in a Country Home magazine. I could hear my phone ringing and Martha Stewart asking me where this brilliant idea came from and I'd reply, "Oh Martha, sometimes you just have to use your creative side" and I'd chuckle and ask her if she's read my blog. I got home and got to work right away. I turned on Bravo and began working on my handles.


Steps to Making My Own Handles: 
1. Cut ribbon into lengths that look about the right length to thread through the drawers.
2. Thread ribbon through the drawer holes and tie a knot on the inside of the drawer.
3. Use the black thread to attach a bead or two to the end of he ribbon (on the outside of the drawer)
4. Take a moment to admire your amazing work!

Now, my dresser is complete. I have 6 drawers with self-proclaimed pretty ribbon handles and 3 drawers with the handles I bought from Home Depot. Should I probably remove the other handles and do ribbon everywhere? Yes. Will I? Maybe... I'm busy facebooking.

My ribbon handles!

A close up shot of my beads.. barely hanging on!

Things I learned from Lesson #6: 
1. A screwdriver works well to open a dresser with no handles. It may even be a great idea to create some sort of modern design dresser with screwdriver handles built in.
2. When looking for an odd size handle, it won't get you anywhere when you ask the people that work at these stores (that sell handles) who their handle vendor is and how you get in contact with them. They don't know nor do they care.
3. Also, don't threaten to write a letter to the handle vendors because again, it won't get you anywhere.
4. When deciding to put beading on your ribbon handles, ensure you actually sew the beads on tight. You'll notice in my pictures some of these ribbon handles only have one bead as a lot of them fell off after the first day.
5. Be prepared to take criticism and back up your creative approach to handles... it seems many people think it's a silly idea. Ugh.

*After I published this post, my mom reminded me that not only did she refinish (and do a fabulous job) my bedroom furniture but she did it while in a cast and had to move around using a wheely computer chair. Thank You Mom!