A Living Room Plan…Maybe

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This week’s frugal Friday has been pre-empted by the need to finalize a room plan before the electrician comes next week!

I need to commit to a design so I know where to place the lights, and I’m hoping you’ll look at this and help me see the flaws before it is too late.

Here’s a 36 second video showing the changes.

For those who don’t like video, here’s the before photo again.  You’ll notice there are vents and electrical to work with. I plan to use this tutorial.

Living Room Before 3 compressed

and here’s what it would look like with the flooring paint, coffered ceiling and built ins:

Living Room after

For those who prefer video, I made a little longer one with verbal explanations. The piece behind the sofa is our little piano .  It’s about 3 feet in front of the window seat to soak up all the light from the window and make a little sitting area on that side of the room. That should center the larger seating area across from the wide entrance into the room from the foyer.  The few here is as if we were standing in the dining room/kitchen looking in.

Darren said if I go with the built ins, I need to make them so they will be removeable with minimal damage and be useful as furniture in another area.  My research told me to place recessed lights 3 feet from the corners and then 4-5 feet apart after that…..so would that be from the room corner so if I remove the built ins it still looks ok, or from the corner of the built ins after they are finished?  What would you do with the lights?

Living Room Ideas

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My electrician is coming early next week to install recessed lighting in the room.  Before he comes I need to make some decisions about the direction the room will go, so I know where to put the lights.  Currently this is our music room/formal living room.  It’s where I take grown up company when we want to be able to hear each other over the noise of the children.  It’s also where my children practice the violin and piano, and where I teach voice lessons.   I could see it turned into a formal dining room at some point.

The room is approximately 20 x 15 with 8 foot ceilings and 2 small windows.  The smallest window looks out onto the covered front porch and never gets direct sunlight.

Valentine Entry

The only architechtural interest in the house is a beautiful curved staircase. There isn’t any crown molding, or interesting wood in the rest of the house.  I’d like to fix that.

Here’s what I’m starting with. It looks nice and bright because I used a tripod and a really slow shutter speed to grab as much light as possible.Living Room Before 3 compressed

I’m definitely putting crown modling in the room, but am wondering if I should add a little more interest with a faux coffered ceiling?  I can use 1x4s to add texture without lowering the ceiling very far.  I’ve seen tutorials that just use the 1x4s but I like how This Old House adds small molding to the inside edges for a really finished look.

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http://photos.hgtv.com/photos/viewer/coffered-ceiling-/coffered-ceiling-in-airy-white-kitchen 

Coffered Ceiling

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/step/0,,20745179,00.html 

I’m thinking about building in bookcases on either side of the larger window with a window seat between them.  They would be floor to ceiling in white.

built in book cases

http://sandandsisal.com/2014/11/playroom-storage-ideas.html

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http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2014/12/gift-ideas-guys-guy.html

But with a deeper bench seat like this:

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http://www.homedit.com/62-home-library-inspiring-design-ideas/

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http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/remodeling/before-and-after/ranch-house-remodel/#page=9

Like this but white.

Here are my 2 delimmas with the built ins….I have ducting and electrical on the wall (but I think I could pop those out to the front of the built ins pretty easily with a solid platform) AND they would limit my tall and wide dramatic curtain options.  I think I would have to go with a simple bamboo shade hung just under the crown molding….I’m ok with that right now.  But will I be ok with it long term?  Built ins are not a temporary whim.

So why even consider the built ins?  Here’s my reasons for them:

1. Storage (most of our books are still in the attic from when we moved 4 years ago)

2. Architectural interest

3. Cozy up the room (it’s really big and I think this would make it seem more welcome) It would also give me a reason to pull the sofa away from that wall to bring the conversation area closer together.

What do you think?  Would you do the faux coffered ceiling?  Would you put in built ins?

 

It’s Living Room Demo Day!

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Hello!  April and May have been some crazy months at the Coffman house.  Today is the official last day of school for the public school Coffmans. Homeschooled Coffman will be done in another week, and private school Coffman has 1 1/2 more weeks. The next day I will lead my choir one last time for Graduation, and then I’ll be a FULL TIME blogger.  It’s hard to wrap my mind around.  I swing between being ecstatic about the possibilities for the future and crying about the loss in the transition.

Garage sale

Last week, we had a garage sale which raised almost $400 towards our living room project. We have so many projects on the list that I didn’t know which one to do first.  Then the grand piano we were babysitting found a forever home, and it the living room it used to live in looked possible!  We already have the flooring for that space, so the cost of doing the room will be less than any other space we could tackle.  It was an easy choice.

Living Room before

This room is attached to our kitchen/dining area through a short hallway.

6 Living_Room_3803

This was the original plan for the room 4 years ago, made on the Nebraska Furniture Mart website.

Living Room

Then filled in with color via powerpoint.  I was able to buy the rug and furniture back then and live in the space along with the 1971 avocado green sculpted carpet.

Living Room before 2

Before that the room was our bedroom!  We had no doors for privacy and the front door opened up right beside us. There are no light fixtures in the space.  That plus tiny windows and a low ceiling, made it feel very cave like.

I’m making a brand new plan for the space and I hope you’ll share your opinions.  Our rug is now in my office and our furniture has scentsy wax on it and is full of nicks and dings.  Even the “new” stuff needs some sprucing.

For now it’s demo day!

Demo Day living room 4

Our missionary friends came over and helped us remove the popcorn texture.  It was REALLY messy!  I took photos and texted them to their Moms.  They don’t get to call home whenever they want, and I wanted their moms to know what hard workers they are.

Living Room Demo Day 5

Then I fed them a really big lunch.  By using the slow cooker to make the southwest chicken, the rice cooker for the brown rice, and the pressure cooker to make the dry beans, I could work beside them the entire time and still give them a home cooked meal for lunch.  We had burrito stacks with chips, rice, beans, chicken, lettuce, cheese and condiments. After lunch, they helped me remove the carpet.

Living Room Demo Day 2

Living Room Demo Day Living Room Demo Day 3

Living Room Demo Day 6

The trash service will take the carpet if it’s bagged. So we cut it into small enough pieces that it would fit in trash bags and stacked it in the garage to wait for trash day.  I don’t know about them, but I’m exhausted. It’s a good thing I can make design plans from bed :).

Homemade Funnel Cake

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I just got back from taking my High School choir to Silver Dollar City for a music festival. It was such a great trip!  The kids behaved really well, and the parents that went along were a huge support.   After singing in Silver Dollar City (and earning top honors…cough cough) we got to experience the ShowBoat Branson Belle dinner cruise. They had a magician comedian, tap dancers/cloggers, and a men’s vocal group that made the evening a delight.

Rachel and Me

I shared a hotel room with Read more…

Slow Cooker Greek Yogurt

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Homemade Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt is a great source of protein and probiotics.  It’s thick and creamy even when made with skim milk.  The only problem is it can get expensive! A 48 ounce container from Costco is around $6, but I can make 64 ounces at home for the price of a gallon of milk.  This week Aldi has milk on sale for $1.65 a gallon!  It’s yogurt making time :).

I like to do a whole gallon at once, because I use yogurt for a lot of things–eating with fruit, pancake topping, sour cream substitute, to make dip and salad dressing, as a base for cream sauces etc.  It’s a fabulous high protein snack for everyone in the family. If you use less, you can cut everything in half and do just a half gallon if you use less yogurt. So here’s how I make it:

Greek Yogurt and Blackberries

Pour 1 gallon of milk in a 5 quart slow cooker.  Place on low for 2-3 hours or until it is 180 degrees. Do not let the milk boil! If you have a digital thermometer with an alarm, you can walk away and forget about it. You can use any kind of milk–skim to whole.  I prefer skim for the lower calories and we are used to it.  Whole milk yogurt is delightfully creamy  though.

Turn off the slow cooker and let the milk sit until it has cooled to 110-120 degrees. (2-3 hours)  I know heating the milk feels like an extra step if you are just going to cool it down, but it’s necessary to unravel the proteins and allows the yogurt to thicken.  I’ve made raw milk yogurt before and it doesn’t get as thick.

Take 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (reserved from your last batch or purchased) and mix it with 1 cup of the warm milk from your slow cooker.  Then stir this mixture into the rest of the warm milk.  It would seem like adding more yogurt starter would just make yogurt faster and thicker–but it doesn’t work that way.  More is not better. 1/2 cup per gallon is perfection.

Cover with the lid and wrap the whole thing in bath towels to insulate.  Keep the slow cooker turned off and allow it to sit overnight.  In the morning it will look like this:

Slow Cooker Greek yogurtYou can see the whey separated and floating on the top with the yogurt solids underneath.  If you stir all this together, you will have regular plain yogurt.

To make Greek Yogurt:  Layer a large bowl with a large colander and line with 3 layers of cheese cloth.  Pour your yogurt  into this and allow to drain without stirring until half of the volume is reduced.  Save the nutritous clear whey for baking and use it like buttermilk in pancakes, biscuits, bread etc.

Take the strained yogurt and put it in your electric mixture with the wisk attachment and whip.  If it’s too dry add a little fresh milk (or cream) until it has the moistness and consistency you like.

It should be very thick and creamy when you are done.  This recipe yields 1 gallon of plain yogurt or 1/2 gallon of Greek Yogurt for around $3.  This is roughly 1/4 the cost of buying the same amounts at Costco and requires very little hands on time.

If your yogurt doesn’t set up, you can leave it another day.  I’ve forgotten about it before and left it for 24 hours.  The yogurt was perfect and the cultures kept the milk from spoiling.  If it doesn’t work at all, it is possible the yogurt cultures weren’t alive.  This happens if the milk is too hot when they are added (high heat will kill them.)  Or if the starter was too old.  It works best if you can make yogurt once a week or every other week and use 1/2 cup from the previous batch to keep the cultures alive and happy.

 

The Breakfast Cookie Formula

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Thursday I showed you a yummy strawberry breakfast cookie recipe.  I’m the kind of girl who loves to experiment with new flavors and combinations. I use recipe formulas to do that.   I’m aware that there are people out there who are petrified of cooking without a specific recipe.  I’m married to one of them.  He needs the recipe to tell him every little detail or he’s paralyzed in the kitchen.  If this is you, and the idea of a recipe formula freaks you out, it’s ok, skip it and come back tomorrow :).

Here’s how it works, read down the list of suggestions and start pulling together combinations.  Maybe you’ll have a Maple Apple Pecan Breakfast Cookie.  Or a Ginger Peach Macadamia one.  It’s as limitless as your imagination.

Breakfast cookies 8

Breakfast Cookie Formula

1/4 cup fat (such as melted butter, melted coconut oil, or avocado oil)

1/4 cup thick liquid (such as buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, applesauce, baby food, pureed spinach or more oil)

1/2 cup sticky sweetner (honey, agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, fiber yum or any combo.)

1/2 cup thin liquid (such as juice, milk, or tea)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup flax meal

3/4 cup flour (whole wheat, almond meal, more flax, oat flour, buckwheat, amaranth)

1 tsp flavoring extract (such as vanilla, butterscotch, almond, orange, lemon, rum)

1/4 cup chopped nuts (sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, macadamia, cashews, peanuts, walnuts)

1/2 cup dried fruit or baking chips (craisins, raisins, blueberries, snipped cherries, snipped apricots, chocolate chips etc)

1/2 cup fresh chopped firm fruit (such as blueberries, mulberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, banannas, peaches, pears)

1/4-1/2 each of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mace, allspice, etc)

1 tsp salt (if your nuts are salted leave this out)

MIx your wet, then your dry ingredients.  Scoop 1/4 cup fulls onto lined baking sheets and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden.

Have you thought of a flavor combination to try?  Leave a suggestion in the comments.

Frugal Friday #11

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rgIf you are new here, this is the day I share some of the frugal things I’ve done recently and then you share yours in the comments. the idea is to encourage and inspire each other.Frugal Friday

Happy Friday!  I’m so excited! Darren made arrangements for me to have a whole 24 hours to myself this weekend.  The kids pitched in to clean up the kitchen and main living areas, so my 24 hours wouldn’t be spent on chores.  I’m going to read a book, spend time outside, stretch and exercise, soak in the bath and eat super healthy food.   I’ve been struggling the past couple of months with feeling exhausted, dizzy, & foggy in the brain.  I have a few good hours in the mornings and by noon, I’m working flat on my back with the computer propped on my knees.  Sometimes I’m in bed for the night by dinner time and miss out on all the family time.

Yesterday afternoon I started to feel a bit better after several weeks of going back to the food choices and supplements that have been proven to work for me.  Darren came home around 6pm last night and I was not only out of bed cooking dinner, I was dancing a little jig in the kitchen—just because a good song came on. He walked in and said, “Wow!” It was a big change.

If I know what works, why would I ever quit doing it?  It’s crazy, but as I start to feel better I think, “I’m healed–finally!  The nightmare is behind me!” and I skip a dose of supplements, I accept an additional responsibility, I allow myself some junk food.  I don’t feel the affects right away, so I think, “See, you just ate a couple of Oreos and feel great.  You’ve finally beat this!”  Then after a while of bad behavior I start to notice, “Hey, my hair is my hair falling out!  Were those lines on my face this deep yesterday?  Ouch! my nails sure are brittle.  My arms feel heavy. Yikes! The room is spinning! Sob, I’m crying and I’m not even sad.”

Having adrenal insufficiency messes with my ability to do DIY frugal things.  We’ve been talking  about making more memories as a family.  Darren said, “Honey, there was a free kite festival last weekend. The kids would have loved it,” and we both knew that I wouldn’t have made it physically.  I’ve learned to take advantage of my good hours by preparing evening meals in the morning when I have the most energy.  For a time I stopped making as much from scratch (like our breads) to conserve my energy. It’s a vicious cycle, because scratch stuff not only saves money, but it’s healthier too.

The affects of making bad choices aren’t instant and good choices don’t bring instant results either, so it’s hard to stay motivated.  I’m writing it down today, so I can look back and remind myself that my choices matter.  Since I’ve felt better, I did a little more scratch cooking this week.

cereal dreg muffins

  1. I made breakfast.  The first time, I made breakfast cookies. And the second day I made muffins from cereal crumbs.  We only buy bran flakes and toasted o’s from Aldi.  Which averages $.10 a serving (plus milk.)  It’s not coated in sugar, but it’s still more processed than I’d like.  The kids can fix it for themselves after I’ve left for work, so for this season in life we have cereal.  The crumbs collect in the bottom of the bag and I save them for adding to muffins and cookies. This time we had banana muffins and I used up some really old frozen bananas I found in the bottom of the freezer.

avocado dressing

  1. I saved my homemade mayo.  On instagram a few weeks ago I showed a photo of my lovely but very bitter creamy 100% EVOO homemade mayo.  It was so bitter even my real food loving mother-in-law coughed when she tasted it. I added some stevia, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika which made it tolerable.  Then I made a homemade dressing with it, cutting it with buttermilk and cilantro.  It was delicious.  The mayo is keeping a long time in the fridge. It’s almost gone now, but I might try it again with a different blend of oils.

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Contemporary Ruffle Maxi Dress

3. I didn’t buy dresses.  I filled my cart at Forever21.com and had a 20% off coupon to use.  It didn’t feel right buying the clothes right then with all of the other goals we had for our family, so I waited 24 hours.  When I checked back in they had sold out of my size in several of the things in the cart, so I skipped the whole thing.  It felt really good to let it go, even though they were such pretty things.

 It’s your turn. Inspire us with some of your frugal activities this week.

Strawberry Breakfast Cookies

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Strawberry Breakfast Cookies

If you ever have a busy morning and wish there were somthing nutritious to grab and eat in the car on your way to wherever….these are for you.  They are mildly sweet and have a good amount of fiber and healthy fat to keep you satisfied.  These hold together well, even when made with gluten free ingredients and are a nice non-crumbly breakfast to go.

Breakfast Cookies 6 Breakfast cookies 9

Strawberry Breakfast Cookies

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup milk (almond milk works fine)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup whole grain flour (almond meal also works)

1/4 cup flax meal

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup diced strawberries

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together melted coconut oil and honey.  Beat in eggs, vanilla, applesauce and milk.

Stir in remaining ingredients

Use a 1/4 cup to scoop dough onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets. Use a spatula to smooth them into round cookie shapes. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Breakfast cookies 11

The next morning I drizzled them with a little melted chocolate hoping the kids would eat them better.  They were pretty excited about it, but I liked them better plain.

 

Frugal Friday #10

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Frugal Friday

Happy Friday!!! If you are new here, this is the day I share some of the frugal things I’ve done recently and then you share yours in the comments. the idea is to encourage and inspire each other—not to make anyone feel guilty.

I’ve been having a hard time thinking of things to share on Frugal Friday.  It’s been almost a month since I last post.  Most of our fugal things have been relating to not doing something instead of getting a better deal on something.  They are kind of every day kind of things and didn’t seem too note worty to talk about.  Then it occurred to me that those simple every day things are JUST THE THINGS we should talk about.

  1. We didn’t go to the movies.  We had planned to see the new (can I still call it new?) Star Wars movie as a family, at a matinee where it would be cheaper. It was still going to be expensive when you think about buying a ticket x8, but we’ve only taken the kids to the movies one other time in their entire lives that I can think of–and it was going to be really special.  Kind of like our Disney World—bww ha ha ha! BUT FIRST, Darren thought we should watch the first 6 movies.  I hadn’t seen any of them and neither had several of our kids.  So we borrowed them from the library and netflix and watched them in order.  By the time we found enough family time to get that done, The Force Awakens was available on DVD.  It should arrive today.  We rarely buy movies, but in this case it was $18 for the DVD instead of $48-$80 for movie tickets.  I could have saved the $18 and waited for it to come at the library….that would have been a little more thrifty.  I’m still looking forward to seeing the kids’ faces when the mail comes today.

Brown Bag Lunch

2. We pack our lunches.  School lunches cost between $1.75 and $2.50, which is really cheap for eating out.  BUT we can pack a lunch at home for less than $1.  When you multiply that times 5 school age children, we save $240 a month just packing lunches.

3. We try to remove stains from clothes.  This one sounds silly, but I have heard people tell me they had to throw clothes away because of stains.  They wouldn’t dream of donating or selling a stained item in a garage sale.  While I admire their integrity, there are a LOT of ways to remove stains from clothes.  I’ll buy stained clothes if they are low priced, since it’s likely I’ll (and by me, I mean my mom) will be able to get the stains out.  I should get her to show us how, yes?

Basement family room before and after

Here’s not really a thrifty thing, but it relates.  We have so many house projects to do that it would take every dime we could squeeze from our budget for the next 10-15 years to do them.  I’ve been thinking lately about living in my house unfinished instead, except for the really cheap things I can do to make it liveable (like paint.)  Then we could use the money to make memories with the kids while they are still dependent on us.  We’ve dreamed of taking them snow skiing, and to see other parts of the nation and can’t do both.  I’ve decided I’m ok with looking at 2×4 studs and pipes and bare insulation if that means I can do better for them.

 It’s your turn. Inspire us with some of your frugal activities this week.

Peach Mint Iced Tea

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We save a lot of money by drinking water instead of juice, milk, or soda.  I keep a pitcher of water full in the fridge so it’s cold and inviting.  Even then, sometimes, it’s nice to have something flavorful to drink. Even better if it’s inexpensive and healthy too.  Peppermint tea is my favorite summer beverage to add variety to the every day. I save even more by using 1 tea bag for 2 cups of water and letting it steep a little longer so it’s just as strong.

iced tea

 

Peach Peppermint Tea is a fancier version of my favorite. I first tasted this tea at a wedding shower for my close friend.  The shower was held in a victorian style cottage in a wooded area and everything about it was quaint, delicate and beautiful.  They had tea sandwiches and petit fours with fresh berries. Everything was served on floral vintage china with mismatched pieces.  Serving serfaces were softened with lace and cabbage rose printed table clothes. Dreamy….

peaches

The cold refreshing tea was sweetened with honey, but it’s also yummy with stevia. Here’s the simple recipe:

  • 8 cups  boiling water
  • 4 peppermint tea bags
  • 4 tablespoons honey (or 8 packets of truvia)
  • 2 fresh peaches

Steep tea bags in boiling water for 5 minutes.  Discard bags, pressing moisture from them back into the tea.  Dissolve honey into the hot beverage and add sliced peaches.  Cool until room temperature and then chill until ready to serve.  Serves 8.