Blogland Tour – FrouFrugal

I was asked by Lisa from Concord Cottage to participate in the Blogland Tour.  I met Lisa at Haven this summer. Even though I was sick for the entire conference, I was able to meet a few wonderful gals and Lisa was one of them. If you are new to my page from Concord Cottage, “Welcome!”

Let me give you a little background before we start on the tour. This summer has been an especially crazy one. We moved from Ohio to Utah in June. Two weeks later, I flew back to Ohio to finish up the remodel of our home there so we could get it listed. What I thought would be a 3-4 week trip, turned into 7 weeks away from home. I’ve been back in Utah for a month now but I have been busy getting two kids ready for school (one high school, one in college), getting my other son ready for a two-year mission for our church, getting the house set up and functioning so we could move in my sister-in-law, Katie, who has Down Syndrome back into our home. Throw in a family reunion and a few other adventures as well, and you can see that I’ve been doing a lot of non-blogging things lately. Life’s been crazy, but thankfully, things are settling down now.

What Are You Working On?

My first big project in our new home will be to build some bookshelves for the living room using some doors and shutters that I brought with me from Ohio. Hubs was wondering why I had to pack such things. At the time, I didn’t know. I just knew that could be used for something and since I love the shape and texture they all have, I thought putting them together might work.

Our new home is a front to back split level, which means in our living room, our walls are two stories high. Here’s a picture, but just know that this is a work-in-progress room.

The plan is to put the two shelving units on the right wall, where the musical instruments are and the big window that’s still in a box. The red chairs are getting reupholstered and I already picked out the fabric that looks like an olive green color, but also has a bit of blue that ties in with the piano. That fabric you see on the table between the chairs is the new drapes and pillow fabric.

I love this fabric because it pulls together all the crazy colors going on in the room. That’s not actually the chair fabric, although I loved it in the store and though they went together so well and was convinced it was the perfect choice for the chairs. So much so that I almost didn’t buy a sample of my second choice. My sister had to talk me into buying that sample. Turns out, big sisters know best because once we tried the two fabrics in the room, my second choice fabric was the clear winner and the fabric up above did not live up to its potential. So sad!

I have some other projects in mind for this room, so I guess it’s fair to say this living room is my first big project. I’m hoping to have the drapes, pillows and shelves done by mid-September. I will then work on the piano (needs some paint touchups and some wax) and redo the footstool. The chairs will take me a bit longer, but we will see how it goes.

How Does Your Blog Differ From Others In Its Genre?

I’m not sure I have a great answer for this question. There are a ton of people who repurpose furniture, remodel homes, sew, make crafts and do other fabulous things. I don’t think I’m all that unique. I have lived in four different homes since I started my blog, and they’ve all been very different homes. The projects that I’ve worked on have been mostly dictated by the needs in our home.

In our last home, we needed to do a lot of remodeling, so that’s where my energy went. So much so that in the two years we lived in that home, I never even unpacked most of my decorations. I’m excited to be in a home that does not need renovation and that I just instead focus on beautifying.

Why Do I Write/Create What I Do?

If you’ve been around my blog for awhile, you may remember that I like to say that being creative is cheaper than therapy. I’ve always made things. As a girl I seemed to always be making something. A lot of things I made I gave away to friends. Early in our marriage, Hubs would often get frustrated that I’d spend such a long time on a project, only to give it away.

I still like to make things for friends and family, but now I like to try to create a home of beauty for my family that reflects our values, showcases our history, is unique and personal to us and doesn’t cost a fortune to do. I also have a bit of a teacher personality and love to share what I know with others.

How Does My Writing/Creative Process Work?

Usually, if I have a project I’m itching to do, I wake up ready to move forward on it. Writing the blog has taught me to work on projects in stages, rather than focus on one thing from start to finish in a long marathon. Consequently, I usually have about 3-4 projects going on in different stages.

For example, I will build the shelves this week, but I doubt I will paint them. I need to clean the other set of closet doors and shutters, so while I am cleaning those, I may be building the other parts. If I make it to the priming stage, I will start working on my living room curtains, while the primer dries. I will also start making a pattern for the chair cushions and making the bias tape for the welt cord for the chairs.

I find when I take a big project and break it into several smaller projects, it feels more manageable to me. In the past, I have waited to post anything about a project until I have a whole reveal. That seemed to be the way things were done in Blogland. However, I plan to show more in-progress posts and less, “here’s my idea” on one post and “TaDA! Here’s the reveal!” on the next.

Finally, I have heard from some of my readers that I’ve left you hanging on some things. I do owe you all a final view of the Ohio house and a post is coming. I wasn’t happy with how my pictures turned out and Hubs is having a friend reshoot the house this week. I will get that post to you soon. In the meantime, if you have any burning questions I’ve left unanswered for you, leave me a comment and I will answer them in my next post.

I will show you the new house this week, too. It’s very different from the last house, so prepare yourself, although it has some brick, the similarities begin and end there. I have tried to keep updates on my Instagram and Facebook page. Feel free to follow me on those platforms to see what I’m working on!

If you are new to my site, be sure to check out my Projects Page to see all my different projects.

Thank you, Lisa, for inviting me to play along. Typically, bloggers have invited three other blogs to spotlight, but I couldn’t find three other bloggers who haven’t already participated. I will end the tour with me, but if you follow me on Facebook, you know I’ve been sharing some new blogs I find on there. Hopefully, you are checking out those blogs and giving them some love.

Suesan