Suzannah Hamlin Stanley's Blog, page 59

Exterior cleanup and "landscaping" at the Stanley 90's Reno

Until I shared our exterior painting update last week, I'd shared almost no photos of the exterior of our fixer upper cause everything about it was so depressing. The paint colors, the abandoned garden in one corner, the damaged fence, the thistles and scrubby, muddy patches of grass here and there among the moss... a yard was one of the main things we wanted when we bought this house, but ours was not quite usable and enjoyable to be in for quite a while!

So, with a little over $100 of ma...

Reveal, budget, and sources: $1,482 master bathroom reno

I checked back on my calendar--we began demo in our master bath on May 12. We finished it last week. That's 15 weeks exactly. For a good amount of that time the room was almost completely demoed so we didn't have a toilet or sinks, and all our stuff was in boxes on the floor of our bedroom! This was probably our biggest, most intensive room redo at the Stanley 90's Reno and it took... 6-15x longer than most of our other big projects!! But it's done and we are so grateful!

In co...

Exterior painting update at the #Stanley90sreno

Because of all the work we had to do in the interior of our fixer upper home, getting to the outside work has been a little on the back burner. But, we had an opportunity to get the painting done for a great price earlier this summer and took it.

I haven't shared hardly any photos of the exterior of our home because it was so ugly when we bought it!! But I'm sharing them here, with the painting and minor landscape updates we've done to dramatically improve its curb appeal (and make...

New fave off-the-shoulder dress pattern + bias pleated bell sleeve

My first bell sleeve dress, and I found a new off-the-shoulder dress pattern that's much easier to wear! I was inspired by a dress I saw on Instagram last summer, and I love how mine turned out! Plus, I used a very cool double-layer organic cotton gauze and it is sooo soft and comfy!


Here's my inspiration! I thought this dress was so cute and different. 
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I actually wasn't looking for a...

Finally, a simple, sleek ceiling mount curtain rod

We have a pop-out in the front of our living room with a big window that fills the whole wall. It's very visible from the street and I puzzled for a while over what to cover the window with! We did add bamboo blinds on the lower portion, but I'm a blinds + curtains kind of girl. But it turns out it's really, really hard to find easy-to-install-and-use-with regular-curtains rods that mount on the ceiling rather than the wall or window molding.

Also, it's shocking when I can'...

Removable wallpaper in the downstairs powder room - and Walls Need Love removable wallpaper tutorial! & DISCOUNT!

I am so excited to be sharing this tutorial with you finally and I know some of you have been wondering about it!

Aaaaages ago, I picked out a fun wallpaper pattern for our powder room which we totally made over but had yet to really dress up/decorate. It took me a while to get it up and get the chair rail installed around it, but it's up now and it's so perfect!

The even more perfect thing is I used removable wallpaper (sent to me by Walls Need Love) which was super easy to install and...

2017 Street of Dreams inspirations, trends, and lessons

One of my favorite events of the summer is Portland's Street of Dreams!! The past few years Jason and I have gone as a date night and each year/set of homes we've had different experiences and gained something unique from it.

Here are my posts from 2015 and 2016. In 2015 there were 8 or 9 homes and one really special one that was a remodel, one or two really modern ones, and the rest sort of standard over-the-top mansions. In 2016, I noticed quite a few common elements in almost all of...

Trend that's not going anywhere: black & white check (+ ruffles)! How to Wear DIY or buy one on sale!

Last summer I made this black/white checkered simple dress with a ruffle I added. I couldn't get enough of the buffalo check look, so I also made this top with the extra fabric, and I made this cute full-skirted dress with a smaller black/white check.

Well, I am happy to report that the black/white checkered trend (with some fun accents like ruffles) is not going anywhere anytime soon! I've seen this pattern around this summer as well and when I wore that first dress last night I got s...

Three ways to shop for vintage rugs on a budget

I've been on the hunt for months for large and small vintage wool rugs, on a budget. I've seen some gorgeous ones on eBay and some small rug shops but haven't been able to pull the trigger. We now have four gorgeous antique Turkish (I think) wool rugs--my hunt is not over, since I would like them in more rooms!--and I've had some success with some serious budget shopping.

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Our house has window screens now, you know, like a normal HOUSE! Replacing all our window screens

As you may remember from the before pictures at the #Stanley90sreno, this place was a complete mess inside and out, from carpet to drywall to doorknobs, and it won't surprise you that almost all of the window screens were missing, broken, or torn.

We've been knee deep in reno projects since we moved in in October, so replacing the screens has not been on the priority list for most of that time. But, when I got a tour of the Orchard Supply Hardware that opened up in Portland's Centr...