Oh, Hello!

Welcome to my journal and thanks for visiting!

I’m Keely – mother to an awesome little human and a super tolerant hound dog, and the wife of a pretty lucky guy (if I do say so myself!) who is also pretty tolerant, most days.

I am an organizer of chaos, a solver of problems, a designer of strategy, a creator of positivity, and a master of patience.

I am a DIY and Pinterest addict constantly looking at things and thinking…”how’d they do that? Could I do that? How would I do that? I’m going to do that, and do it my own way!”

A year after selling or donating most of my furniture to fit into the studio apartment, in 2009, I purchased a three bedroom row home with a finished basement. I had a lot of empty rooms. I was pretty broke after buying the house so most of the furniture I got for the new place was used Ikea stuff I found on CraigsList. Ikea furniture can be great, but when its been moved a few times, its not as sturdy and it looks a bit like college furniture. Now that I was in my 30s, I wanted a more refined, mature look for the house.

I love any sort of DIY project and have recently started buying old furniture from CraigsList and thrift shops to refinish for my house. About 10 years ago, my job took me from a large apartment in New England that fit lots of furniture, to Philadelphia where I had one day to find a place to live so I rented the first apartment I could find with a washer dryer hook up and parking. It was $1600 a month and about 500 sq. ft. Yikes! I had to get rid of most of my stuff and give up eating to live there.

At first I tried some nice bookcases displaying things like wine glasses and the shiny bar accessories we received as wedding gifts. Mature people have nice barware, right? Or does that just make me look like an alcoholic? I got the bookcase from Target because I was impulsive and thought it would work on the end of my refrigerator. I’ll post a picture of it sometime soon, it’s pretty nice for an assembly-required piece.

Then I discovered Pinterest and all its DIY glory. I’ve pinned way more projects than I will ever attempt – I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually looked at anything I pinned to my Fitness and Health board, but it makes me feel good that I’ve at least pinned them. Someday when I seriously consider giving up the good things in life (mac and cheese, pizza, ice cream), I’ll have a collection of sites to start reviewing. Maybe the mashed cauliflower grilled cheese will be life changing, I’m just not prepared for that type of life change today.

My love of cheese aside, I began attempting the more physical projects – reupholstering the dining room chairs and making no-sew valances. Although I can’t give Pinterest all the credit for my love of rehabbing and redecorating, its in my genes. I have some pretty awesome parents. Check out their site here: Malone Studio. My mom has her masters in woodworking. A few months ago, the closest I thought I would come to woodworking was mastering the use of chopsticks. And while I’m still terrified of using a saw or a raw block of wood, my need for additional storage has lead me to buy tools from Lowes I didn’t know existed.

I love living in the city, but one problem I have with these skinny South Philly row homes – not many closets. I tend to buy some items in bulk (toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc.) when its on sale and I have the right coupon. And I have stuff I just don’t want to keep in a bedroom closet like linens and towels. This led me to look at china cabinets and similar pieces that would provide some storage space.

Wrist surgery — Mom in the background between me and the kitchen, just in case I decide to try to take the cabinets down.

This summer (2014) I had surgery on my right (dominant hand) wrist and I was home on the couch for two weeks watching HGTV like my life depended on it. I was inspired by Property Brothers, Rehab Addict, and List, and my new favorite, Fixer Upper. I was also heavily medicated and envisioned all the changes I wanted to make to my house. Fortunately, my mom was staying with me for a few weeks and was able to talk me out of attempting to repaint my kitchen cabinets with my left hand. I haven’t done much refinishing since the surgery, my arm still isn’t great, but I have bought a few pieces to refinish once the weather gets a little nicer and I can use spray paint outdoors again.

A little more about me… I’m from Rhode Island originally but have lived in Philadelphia since 2007. I got married in 2013 to a man named Ryan and had an amazing wedding that I will probably describe in great detail on here some day.