Coat Closet Makeover

Our coat closet is in a teeny tiny foyer.  The front door, when open, blocks it completely, and the closet door was designed to open only about 80 degrees.  Nice, huh?  The lack of color made the space kind of sad.  Add in the cracks in the corner, and this closet was downright depressing.

BEFORE

Our teeny tiny foyer.

I needed some more function and heckuva lot more beauty, so I went to Pinterest for inspiration.  I know, weird for me.  I dig around every now and then, but the site is not a time suck for me, mainly because I know my attempts to replicate the cute crafts and recipes would show up on one of those Pin-Fail sites.

Source (Posted here with permission)

But look what I found!  Above you'll see a major closet makeover on House of Smiths that I really liked.  I didn't have the budget or wherewithal to demolish and then build such a complex project, but I loved the idea of taking the door off and making the closet more functional with some hooks and a couple of baskets.

Of course, I would also need plenty of color.

So here's my own renovated coat closet*:

AFTER

 I decided to use the Cayman Bay paint from the living room.  And then just plain white above the shelf.  The trim around the door opening, though, I wanted to keep wood-toned along with the shelf.

We put in some large hooks for the kids to use.  (Be sure to use strong anchors for hooks. Otherwise, they'll rip right out of the walls once you start hanging stuff up)

I now have the chevron pattern in my house.  I'm not enamored by the two-toned look I usually see, but I love this multi-colored option.  The baskets are from Lowes and are perfect for holding hats and gloves.

I needed coat storage, especially for the bigger jackets, so I thought a small rod in the side nook would do the trick.  

And the basket on the floor is perfect for shoes.

We'll do some tweaking as new needs arise, but overall, I'm very pleased.  Such a nice cheery entrance to the house.

I originally tackled this "Pinterest Challenge" for the Winter linkup at Young House Love. We finished a few days too late, so I'm up at the Spring party instead.

*Taking photos of the closet was very challenging.  If only we could have demolished the wall behind us so we could back it up a bit. Or purchased a nice lens.  But the money tree harvest was kind of weak this year, so this'll have to do.

Shared at Savvy Southern Style.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie {Snow Day}

For the second time in a week, we're holed in because of snow.  We got about 9 inches on top of what was left over from last Thursday--in some parts of the yard, it comes up to my knees!

Anyway, since I just happened to have peanut butter, chocolate, heavy cream, and a pie crust lying around (all essentials during a winter storm, bread and milk be damned), I decided I needed to make a pie. Yes, it was a need. Don't question it.  Shoveling snow is hard work, and since I've done plenty of it lately, I need sustenance in the form of decadent dessert.  I might waste away otherwise.

EAT ME!

I was inspired by a recent diddle in Saveur Magazine that highlighted a pie made in Topeka, KS.  I made some changes, though, based on what I had on hand.  This is not a one step pie, but the labor was worth it to me.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

adapted  from Saveur Magazine

1 frozen pie crust

2 cups heavy cream

Sugar to taste (start with 2 T)

4 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup peanut butter*

8 oz chocolate, chopped finely**

1 cup brown sugar***

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

4 egg yolks

2 cups milk or cream

2 T butter, cubed

1. Bake pie crust as directed on package.  Let it cool.

2. Whip together 2 cups heavy cream, sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

3. Put peanut butter and chocolate into separate large bowls.

4. Bring sugar, cornstarch, salt, eggs, and milk to a simmer in a saucepan (whisking).  Cook until it's thickened into a custard.  Take off the heat and add the butter and remaining vanilla. Stir until the butter is melted.

5. Run the custard through a sieve and divide it equally between peanut butter and chocolate bowls.  Stir each mixture until smooth.  Add half the whipped cream to the peanut butter and fold in.  

6. Put the peanut butter mousse into the pie crust.  Chill for half an hour.  Spread the chocolate mixture over the peanut butter, and chill an hour.  Top with whipped cream.  Eat the whole thing in one sitting.

*The recipe calls for creamy PB.  I used crunchy that was unsweetened, so I did add a little sugar to mine.

**Semisweet would be best, but I used about half semisweet and half white chocolate because that's what I had.

***I didn't have quite enough brown sugar, so I added some white sugar.  Don't fuss too much about perfection.

Dig in.

A Little Boy's Bedroom {Before}

My little Drew baby is growing up.

He loves his crib, but he's starting to climb out of it, so it's time to upgrade to a larger bed.

His sweet crib has served him well.  And now it will be passed on to another baby.

You might notice that the walls are bare, and that everything's pretty plain.  I'm not keen on too much baby decoration--it's often expensive, and not to my taste.  Also, I didn't want to go hog wild only to have to redo it all once he was out of the baby stage (FTR, he says he's a "big baby" and not a "big boy".  I told him that big babies usually don't speak so clearly.  He told me that I'm silly and have stinky butt).

But I think this bed (pictured below) is tad too bare, no?

The sheet is on merely to protect the mattress until I've made a purchase of new sheets.

We have a matching footboard we're hoping to get on there.  It'll take some improvisation, though.

The headboard was my grandmother's, and I'm so happy to pass it along to Drew.  We already had a bed frame, so our only major purchase was the mattress (purchased at Macy's on close-out.  It's the nicest mattress in the house, but cost the least).

This beautiful blanket will be the base of departure for the room.  My mother and I bought it in Portugal when I was in high school, and I love the bold colors.  It's very heavy--I'm not sure how we even got it home on the plane--made of a thick and strong material.

I'm not sure, though, what else we'll do in here. I know I won't be adding lots of "neutral" since the walls are already a gray blue.  If I added anything too light, it would be lost in the sea of pale.  And anyway, I have one light room in the house. That's enough for me.

Any ideas?  I need some sheets, a bed skirt, and something else to pack some punch, just not sure what.

Egg Salad and Weight Loss: An Unlikely Pair

I've eaten egg salad every day this week because I had leftovers from the Mardi Gras party.

That means I've probably been kind of stinky.  And perhaps burned out from so much ovum consumption.

But let me share a new sandwich I developed.  First, though, I'll tell you that eating this every day, I've dropped two pounds.  And I credit this combination of gooey white bread, mayo, and boiled eggs (even if it doesn't deserve it).

I had leftover chili-powder roasted pecans (soak in sugar water for 10 minutes, then add chili powder, toss to coat, and roast for 10-20 minutes at 350 degrees).  These things are so delicious on their own, but I figured they could jazz up a sandwich. And man was I right (per usual).

 So I plopped some egg salad onto some good old fashioned white bread.

And then placed pecans on top and finished it off with another slice of bread.

I took a lot of photos, and honestly, egg salad ain't that pretty.  This doesn't do the sandwich justice.

You might have a religious experience with these.  Enjoy.

Egg Salad and Pecan Sandwiches

adapted from Southern Living Magazine

8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and grated*

2/3 c mayonnaise

1 rib celery, chopped (optional)

green onion, chopped (as much as your heart desires)

lots of fresh tarragon, chopped

1/2 tsp seasoned salt**

pepper to taste

roasted pecans

gooey white bread

1. Mix up the first 7 ingredients.

2. Plop some (quarter cup maybe?  you decide) onto the gooey white bread and layer pecans on top. Add other slice of bread.

3. Enjoy as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Marvel at its greatness.

*Grating eggs is kind of hard.  Maybe you could try the food processor, but I just used a hand grater until the egg fell apart too much and crushed the rest with a fork.  I love the texture.

**Paul Prudhomme's line of seasonings has a No-MSG version of seasoned salt. It's very tasty.

The Greatest Gift of All

Guys and Gals, prepare to be amazed. You will be Pinning this romantic Valentine's Day gift because it is *that* good.

Can you see it?

Let me give you a hint.

The stump remains as a symbol of our love. Or maybe because the grinder couldn't get through our fence gate.

Yeah, for Valentine's Day, Ryan and I gave each other a powerful gift.  We cut down a tree.

 Here it was before.  Too close to the house.

Frightening young children.

The one on the left.

Looming high over us, limbs cracked and split in too many places to count, having already dropped a huge limb last summer.

So we saved ourselves from danger.

If that isn't romantic, I don't know what is.