Barndoor Baby Gate

Well, I can't believe it but next week little Miss Lila turns 1!!  She has become extremely mobile...including walking :)  So a few weeks ago it was time to put up the baby gates.  

Our not-so-lovely-but-thankful-we-have-it military housing comes with the really steep stairs.  With really sharp edges.  

So we needed to stop little Miss from climbing them (and she IS a climber!).  I'm really not a huge fan of the plastic baby gates...they don't have a lot of character and are really expensive for what you get.  So my crafty husband searched the internet for a better solution and came across this lovely barndoor baby gate plan from Remodelaholic.  He used mostly pallet wood - so they were very inexpensive.  Like most everything else in our house we decided to add color.  In fact my daughter has been known to punish her dolls by making them wear all white or all grey...the horror!

The gate at the bottom of the stairs had to be hinged in the center - there wasn't enough room to open it all the way.  

It simply folds neatly against the wall.

(don't you love that handrail...?) 

My thanks to the Officer for his mad woodworking skills. 

I love them, and they add just a little more character to this big white box we live in...that I'm very thankful for ;)

xoxo

jessica

p.s. Be happy with what you have and you will have plenty to be happy about.

Christmas by the {Faux} Fireside...

 Well hello there.  I really hope all is well with you, and that you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday!  Ours was spent with some new but dear friends here in Japan.  It was the kind of relaxed, comfortable fun that everyone hopes for.

I love having people over, not only because I enjoy their company but because of the motivation I find to clean and decorate.  The Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Officer and I were discussing possibilities for places to hang our stockings for Christmas.  He remembered seeing plans for a faux fireplace on the Ana White's blog - and I instantly fell in love.  

I'm thankful that we are able to live on base in military housing, but these town homes are basically big white boxes.  Everything is white - floors, walls, ceiling, appliances, closets- no character whatsoever...so my challenge is to bring in color and character in unconventional ways.  

This faux fireplace accomplishes both! 

So there we were - hammering, sanding, cooking Thanksgiving dinner...at one point I running from the kitchen to the backyard - drying cornbread and painting at the same time.  Wednesday night we brought it in and the Officer installed it - anchoring it into the wall with a couple of screws. 

You can find the tutorial for this faux fireplace at Ana's blog here.

This fireplace was pretty easy to build - and the added touch of chalkboard paint provides some whimsy.  So what do you think?  Where do you hang your stockings if you don't have a fireplace?  Hope you're all having fun decorating!!

xoxo

jessica