A New Technique

Ok, I need your option. I sanded down my new hutch and then dry brushed it to give it a whitewashed look. It is very distressed looking but I think it looks really different and really neat. Plus, I thought, I can always paint it solid white and distress it if I hate it.

So, before I seal it, I need to know your thoughts... Sorry about the pictures, they were taken in my lovely dungeon of a basement! HA!

And just in case you forgot, here is the before...

Bang for Your Buck

I went to one of my favorite Thrift Stores this morning and found this little beauty, only $5 and its from Pottery Barn. Uh, yes, you are coming home with me. I even took the picture in my new and improved "Hunter Room"!

It is the perfect bedside clock, such a timeless look. Don't you just love it? And the polka dot detail?

I got a picture message from my Sis who was at an Estate sale... "Corner Hutch $45". I ended up having them buy it before I saw it, because hello, they got it for a deal $35!

I found one that was identical today,  but it was painted and distressed for $120. And that is the plan....

He, (yes, he is a he... ha) is not quite as tall as I had hoped (about 6' tall) but once I am done with him, he will have many possibilities. I am even thinking about putting him in my new room! Here is what I am hoping he will look like after...

I really like the distressing of this piece.

Much better! It looks pretty similar to mine and this one was for sale online for $350! Uh... no thanks I can do it myself! ha.. I hope to get it painted soon but we will see, I still haven't decided what to do with the dresser I bought.

Here is the big reveal, even though we still have some woodwork to add. I am so happy with how it turned out even though it was not easy, it was well worth it. I have my wonderful mother to thank for helping me. It really turned out nice and I cant wait to decorate it

Lets get it started, one wall down!

 Before: no good

After: BIG difference

So much brighter!

Yuck... By the way, all the decor in this room... I do not claim! Ha!

A breathe of fresh air.

 What a mess.

 And it looks so much better in person! It really looks like the real thing. It changes the whole look of the room. It looks bigger and brighter and cleaner! Even the carpet looks better. Craziness I tell you. I definitely would like to add a chair rail or possibly even a plate rail to break it up a bit, but now I don't know if I even want to paint it. I would really love to add some molding to the top too, but with those crazy pitched ceilings, I think I will hire that out. Or, hmm... anyone wanna volunteer? Ha. It really looks great. I am so excited about it and now, I can at least keep the door open and now I enjoy going in there. So refreshing and cheery!

I have some wallpaper left over so I am trying to decide on where to use it... we were going to try to hang it on the ceiling in the Powder Bath downstairs but after we almost killed ourselves because the ladder would hardly fit... we decided against it, for now at least. But I do think it would be fabulous!

Linking up to: Thrifty Teasures...
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Apparently May is the Month!

 Its raining babies!

I got to spend a lot of it watching a friends baby, Lila. She is so cute, I just wanna squeeze her all the time. Then, we had 2 babies enter the family this week. Both boys and a day apart, Jack born on Monday and Carson born on Wednesday. So we spent a lot of time visiting the hospitals in town. I also cooked dinner for some more friends of ours that had a little girl a few weeks ago, Carter, she is adorable. I made lasagna, so lets hope it was yummy! Here is the recipe I used, very simple and very good!

 http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/simply-lasagna-69196.aspx

Guess I have a lot more meals to make. I need some good ideas. We still have another friends having a baby this month! (I knew of 6 people having babies in the month of May)

I had an interview yesterday and got a job. It s leasing agent job and although I still have some questions, it looks like I will start next week! Yay!

Then, I also took my sisters bridal portraits. They turned out better then I could have imagined. I was so excited about them that I stayed up til 2am working on them and had to get up at 7! I wish I could share them but, of course not until after the wedding, which is only 2 weeks away! YIKES... I still cant believe she is getting married. Oh and did I mention that I get to help them more tomorrow? At least they are staying in town close to family!

This is the aisle she will be walking down. Gorgeous!

Mom came over tonight and we finally finished the wallpaper project! I am so excited and although it is not done, it is progress for sure, and much better then what it was. Pictures soon... when it is light outside! ha

Here are some pictures in progress.... BIG CHANGE!

Yes... this is what I was dealing with before... I couldn't take it ANY longer!

4 hours later.... one wall done!

This is what our feet looked like... its a messy situation with all that paste! Ha, had to take a picture.

I know, I know, a southern girl and I have never actually fried chicken until this week. I have made oven fried chicken but never did the oil with the skillet and all that... well I must say I was proud of my first batch. A tad greasy but... just call me Paula Dean. Yum. That looks really good right about now. You know its time to go to bed when you start getting hungry. Ha!

We also took my chair to give it a new happy life. i cant wait to get it back. It is going to be so light and refreshing... kind of like my beadboard room! Yippee! Then we watched "Little Fockers" and it was pretty good, definetly worth a $1 at Red Box. What a smart person who invented that...

Sarahs Summer House comes on again tomorrow! So excited. It is also cleaning day at my house... not so fun but HAS to be done.

New "Springy" Decor

I always love shopping for house things and it seems like I have been finding a lot of it lately. I am loving all the Spring and Summer stuff in the stores! Everything from the colorful porch pillows, to planters, clothes, beach towels and dishes! So refreshing to think its finally my favorite time of year and the beach trips are getting closer and closer each day. I love the changing of the seasons and that here in the South we get to enjoy all 4 of them. Here are a few things I have picked up in the last few days.

I got this wreath at Joann's. It looks better in person but it seems like every time I think about taking a picture of it, its dark! That will not work. Ha! It was half off and I had a 20% off coupon so I got it for $16. Not too shabby, I have had my eye on it for a while. Of course, I had to pull out all 14 of them to pick out my favorite. I love the green and white berries.

I also fell in LOVE with this lil bird. I found him at Kirkland's and he had a chipped beak. He was the last one and, to me, it gave the little guy character. He was only $5 and they gave him to me for $4. He just had to come home with me. I love the "chipped" look and the colors. He is perched on my window sill in my kitchen for now....

Happy Mothers Day to all the  Mom's out there... mine included! I bought gorgeous hydrangeas for my Mom and MIL. They are my absolute FAVORITE flower, so I had to get me some too!  (Sorry for the dark picture, it was taken at night... dang!)They brighten my day. Nothing says summer like fresh hydrangeas!

Sarahs House

Can I just tell you what my all time favorite TV show is? Sarah's House on HGTV. I can never wait to see a new episode. And today was the beginning of a new show Sarah's Summer House. It was incredible. Her summer cottage is on its own island in the middle of who knows where. RIDICULOUS! And did I  also mention that she screwed up and ordered the wrong CUSTOM windows... no worries, just order more. Talk about a loss of some cash money! Ha.... shes pretty well off though so I am sure it was no biggie. Anyways, she added on a living room using my favorite color combos... blues... It is amazing how well she puts things together. Things that I would never think of. She is such a talented designer and the only one on TV (other than Candice Olsen), in my opinion, that knows what she is doing and everything she does looks so incredible. I mean look at this....

Not loving the blue animal print but still... somehow she makes it work

I would never think to do these ottomans... I may have to steal that idea....and she did it in another pattern.

Its a great show... shes also has the show Design Inc. She works with a separate client each time and I always am inspired. Plus she and here design side-kick Tommy are hilarious.

I love this!

 (from the website below)

http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/project/sarahs-house/office

If you ha vent seen any of here work... you must! Right away! Here is a link to a house she renovated.... on a $300,000 budget...yikes. I wonder if she is hiring?

http://www.hgtv.com/sarahs-house/show/index.html

The Farmhouse she did is also amazing. You can go to the website to see pictures and watch videos.

Can you tell I love her?

House Projects....

When we moved in our house last August our house needed some love. It sat empty for months, in the hot summer heat.... we had to live with that smell for quite a while. Ha!

Here is what we have done so far

1. Paint front door and all shutters

2. Stain both decks

3. Paint railing on both decks

4. Put in 2 flower beds

5. Fix exposed wood around basement door (I am not too thrilled with what it looks like, but its waterproof and HECK, its the basement)

6. Fix mold in basement, in other words, rip down all unfinished drywall

7. Paint ALL of interior walls (haven't done trim yet but it needs it... apparently the previous owner had a dog that likes to eat baseboards and bottom of doors)

8. Install a few new light fixtures

We still have a lot more to work on, mostly little things. Oh and the fact that we haven't used our toilet in our master bedroom for about 4 months because its leaking, and it looks like it came from a spaceship. AND our over the range micro-wave stopped working so we have one hidden. How ghetto are we? It will all get fixed in due time... HOWEVER..... I could not live with this ANY longer!

This is what we call... "The Hunter Room". Hunter, you are not my friend. At least he took the time to take a red sharpie to the outside of the door that says "Keep Out" yea, lovely. Its like the Twilight Zone... and its some sort of combination of paint, wallpaper, sticker thing. Someone kill me. It started to come off so easily, I guess because the house sat in the heat so long. Then it would only come off in little tiny pieces and the only thing that worked was heat. I finally gave up and started to think of an alternative.

I really love the idea of bead board or board and batten. Yea, who doesn't? Well with that crazy ceiling and having to cover the walls top to bottom, it wasn't an option.

Solution: Bead board Wallpaper. Yes, wallpaper that LOOKS like the real thing, a lot easier and a lot cheaper! I have seen it being used all over blog land! On kitchen cabinets, walls, ceilings, furniture... oh the possibilities are endless!

Did I EVER think that I would buy wallpaper? Uh, no. Been there, put it up, taken it done. Worked at a wallpaper store. I always said NEVER again. Well Ive done it, but with good reason. It wasn't necessarily cheap  but well worth it.

My mom and I just spent the past 4 hours putting it up.... we got ONE, yes one, wall done! Dang it, why does it have to take so dang long???

Did I mention I also love it on ceilings? Just an idea... hmm, where could I do that in my house? Maybe my Powder room? ok ok,.... that's another project.

Anyways, here's the plan. The good news it, its paintable....

No people, not a nursery yet... but I am planning on putting up a chair rail about 4' from the baseboards. A little higher then normal but I have tall ceilings in there. I am planning on painting (most likely) the bottom half, like the picture, a beige. And leave the top white. Or vice-versa but I am pretty sure I like the looks of the picture above....decisions...

Pictures to come... it might take a few weeks and sit empty for a while but at least then I can leave the door open....

I Love House...

Have you seen the movie "Life as We Know It"? Its pretty cute, a little sad.. but overall its a good movie. Its totally worth watching just to find inspiration in the house. I pretty much love everything about it! The movie takes place in Atlanta. Uh yea, here it is....

The back yard. LOVE the back porch. I had a hard time finding pictures of the house online but it has wonderful woodwork, a great fireplace and awesome kitchen!

And while I am drooling over houses... here are some more that I pretty much would not eat for a year to own!

I dont know why, but I like this one... it sort of has a French cottage feel

Beach cottage, so peaceful. Gotta have a screened in porch!

Wonderful roof and boxwood planters. Perfect entry.

One of my favorites! Just imagine decorating for every season... with pumpkins for Fall and Christmas.... Oh I can just see it! Magnolia garland and wreaths with big red ribbons on each window....

Adorable, so much character! Love the whitewash.

Theres just something so homey about a Southern home (complete with American Flag). White with black shutters, lanterns for exterior lighting and a porch with a white rocking chair! AHHHH....

And, on a side note... I will have a clawfoot tub one day....

Now I feel all nice and relaxed. Time for some shut eye.

Some New Stuff

I took some of the money I made from my Yard Sale to get some new things for the house...yay! It is always so refreshing to get rid of stuff you dont use and buy a few new pieces you love!

I found this little beauty on Thursday. I went into Bethel Thrift Store and saw it right away. Good lines... check. Good size.... check. Comfortable... check. Well made with old springs... check. Price point ($25).... check. Plus they gave it to me for $20 and I also bought a bag of Aromatique potpourri  for .25! SCORE. I called my mom to come and see it and we loaded it up.

Here is what I have in mind for the chair. I went to Hobby Lobby and got 7 yards of a natural colored denim. It is so pretty and looks a lot like linen. Obviously it is very neutral so I can add any color throw or pillows. I plan on putting it in my room and after a $20 chair, $40 fabric ($6 yard... I used a 40% off coupon) and $140 for upholstery, I will have a brand new chair for $200.... not too shabby

The chair is a little different but this is the idea. LOVE it!

I have been looking for a new rug for our living room basically since we moved this past summer. I found this one at Southeastern Salvage and kept going back to look at it. Its 7x9 and was a good price $80. It was so close to what I was looking for but not quite there. I finally bought it on Saturday and I took it home to try it. I have 3 days to return it. I am pretty sure I like it. Its a great size but I really wanted a beige border with beige natural weaving. This one has a brown border and some brown weaving in it... but for the price I am pretty happy with it. Yay! Finally!

I fell in love with this chest of drawers when I saw it on Craigslist. The woman was asking $75 but said it was in great condition and that the hardware alone was worth that. I went to go see it and really loved it, the shape, the hardware, the details. I bought it... even though it needs a little TLC for $50. Not too bad.

I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with it. The veneer on top is chipping off and the drawers do not open that well. I just loved the lines and its potential.

I am loving my new tea towel from TJ Maxx for $5. It is the perfect color, love the pattern and the ruffles. I don't know when I became a sucker for decorative towels but somewhere along the line, it happened.