Nauseating aqua quick cover up

With spring on the horizon, I have really been wanting to brighten things up in my house.  I started by painting the entryway and living room gray, but now I really want to start in on my son's room. 

When we moved in, the walls were painted a very nauseating aqua color.  After nine months, I gave it the 'ol roller treatment.  I was not super particular when I chose the new color, as anything would have been a vast improvement.  I chose a tan color that looks almost identical to a mocha frappucino. Better than the gut wrenching aqua, but not bright and cheery for my sweet boy.

I found this quilt in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.  It is fun and bright, but is dark and patterned enough that it won't show spots.  This is key since I cannot handle when things get stained or look filthy.  I am not the most deep cleaning person you will ever know, but I do not like for things like couches and bedding to get ruined.

I want to see it and feel it before I actually buy it, so a trip to Washington Square is in order.  I am thinking a light blue would go great on the walls, I just need to get the right shade.  I do not want it to read baby blue or sky blue.  I will be on the hunt for the perfect shade if and when I get the quilt.

I will also be keeping my eyes peeled for some worthy accessories, on the cheap of course.  I love the idea of a chalkboard wall, but I think it would be a tad too much for my cleanliness (or lack thereof) to handle.  So there you have it, another one of my insane projects.  Geesh I have a lot to cram into two short weeks!

Reese's room rearrange

I am happy to share the latest organizing/rearranging project at my house because it features the only "finished" room in my house, Reese's bedroom.  It must have been my nesting instincts kicking in, or the fact that everyone felt sorry for my ginormous-eight-month-pregnant self, but either way, this sweet girl was brought home to a precious and very importantly, finished room.

Again, I wish that I had the before pictures handy, but this bedroom might take the cake for the most hideous befores EV.ER

Buried beneath that pretty wainscotting is some mighty etrocious wallpaper.  It was country blue plaid with teddy bear border.  It HAD to go buh bye.

Since it was first decorated, her room has probably changed less than any of the other rooms in my house, but I still always get sick of the furniture layout.  I like to change it up a bit, hence the pictures of the messy in transition furnishings.

 I really do love the crib on the wall that you see when you first walk in but it has been there for a year and a half, and by my definition, that is about a year and four months too long, so I finally moved it.

 Ahh, order was eventually restored.  And since my favorite part of before and afters are the sources, I will share those.  The vintage changing table I purchased from one of our shop pickers for $40.  I brought the pink window frame home from the shop.  The curtains were a garage sale find by my mama, score, from PB Kids. 

 The PBK anywhere chair is on loan from a friend.  I was really wanting to buy one for Reese, so when she told me to take it home for a while I was over the moon!  The net and table and chairs are from IKEA.  I think the little table is one of the cutest things IKEA has to offer.  The set all together was $60.  Can't beat that.

The crib was a gift from one of my sisters.  We found it at a resale shop here in town for $70.

Oh and the sweet chandy...it was the first thing I found to put in the nursery.  And when I say found, I literally mean I found it, in my mom's garage!  Just sitting there waiting to be rediscovered by ME!  I painted it white and hung crystals that I my mom already had on it.  I think it turned out pretty cute for not costing me a dime.

I have been keeping my eye open for some little chandelier shades for it but haven't really seen any that have knocked my socks off so for now, naked light bulbs.

I picked this dresser out at the antique mall and my mother-in-law bought it as a shower gift.  No, I am not afraid to tell my MIL what I would like as a gift.

I failed to mention that there were no closet doors on any of the bedroom closets when we bought our house.  Until we someday get to that project, curtains will have to do the trick.

I am not sure who these were a gift from, either mom or MIL, but I picked them out at Tarjay.

This is one of my favotite things in her room.  My MIL bought this dress form for me years ago.  I really never knew what to do with it until I was decorating Reese's bedroom.  I like that everything in there is not a pastel color.  You know me, gotta throw black in where I can! 

We just got the news that my husband has to go to Cleveland for two meeks next month for work.  That means I will have all sorts of projects in the works to share.  I have been thinking about putting wainscotting in my dining room to kind of mix it up a bit. I would only need three sheets, so that project would be less than $50 (plus the cost of the top molding and blood sweat and tears).  I think it would look really nice in there.  What do you think?  Too much wainscotting for one small house, or can never have too much?  Or better yet, do you think he would divorce me upon returning?  So much to ponder!  Have a great weekend.

You have my whole heart

Good day my freinds.  I hope your Valentine's Day was full to the brim with lovliness.  At my house, we made our first batch of sugar cookies (ok that was a lie, I did make a batch a few years ago but that doesn't count since it was not much of a success).  I found a recipe that is delish and is oh so similar to the fluffy sugar cookies with the pink frosting from the grocery store. 

After these beauties were frosted we wrapped them up in cellophane and tied them with ribbon to give away as Vday treats (though it was painful to see them go)

I saw this sign one night while perusing the web and just loved it.  I love the message and the simple typographic look.  And the fact that it was black and white didn't hurt at all. But guess how much it is? $300  Just over my budget by about, oh, well $300.  So guess what I did? 

Oh yes I tried my luck at making it.

I used scrap wood out of my sis in law's garage (she has a sign business so there is always an abundance of fun wood there).  I made sure to take scrap pieces that she couldn't use for anything else so I felt a little less guilty for taking them for free.  Other than that, I bought 2" letter stencils and used paint and sealer that I already had so the grand total for this beaut is $7.99.  Not too bad eh?  And just like all of my other pics, this sign really does look better in person.

Ok now that I am comparing it to the original I must admit I don't love it quite as much.  I might re-stencil it using a font more similar to the other one and change up the letter spacing but for now, I will leave it as is.

I have been seeing a lot of this subway inspired art all over bloggy world.  It is pretty popular and is super simple to make.  I thought it might be a fun class to do one afternoon down at the shop as soon as we get our classroom/junk swap room all done. 

Exciting projects to look for in upcoming weeks

1.Garage organization (yeah right!!!)

2. Making my "laundry room" a little more well, laundry roomish instead of junk pile ish.

3. Dining room ceiling fan swap out (I really hope my husband does not read my blog)

4.Farmhousing up my current table or possibly trading it out?

Ok it looks like I won't be sleeping anytime soon with a list that ambitious.  Until next time-B

Chippy paint and a pink step stool

I should have been cleaning and organizing today at the shop but my day was consumed by computer malfunctions.  I swear if computers weren't so necessary convenient I wouldn't use one at all.  I spent hours trying to make flyers for a ladies night out event we are involved in downtown tomorrow evening (without success might I add).  The silver lining is that I got to snap a few pictures for these #@&* flyers so I thought I would at least share those.

I thought the crystals on this amber chandy looked pretty and sparkly.

Lavender can make anything look sweet can't it?

In case you are unaware, chippy paint is on my top ten list of wonderful things, so naturally this cabinet had to be photographed.

Ok, now on to my house.  The pictures aren't quite as cute but if I waited for perfect pictures, I would probably never do another blog post again.

Here is a buffet that I am working on for the shop, and as you can see, it is another unsuspecting home decor piece that has taken a pit stop in my house.  The frenchy chair is my proudest craig's list find, and is just waiting patiently for me to get inspiration a wild hair and refinish/upholster it.

And just as we suspected, my V-day decor got a little sprucing.  I remembered that I had this little pink step stool in Reese's closet so I got inventive and hung it on one of my entryway hooks (that is a post for another day).  Then I stuck my coffee filter wreath on and voila!  Funky but I love it.

Here is a better view of the ladder/hook/wreath mechanism.  I guess I should go snuggle my boys now.  Happy weekend!

A whole lotta hapiness for $8

I have three exciting finds to share today.  My day began with a trip to the grocery store at about 10 am.  Thank goodness for the cookie handouts at Safeway.  They are my saving grace most days.  Today, said cookies bought me a few precious minutes to browse a cleaning product section that until recently, I did not know existed.

Find #1

A few weeks back I read about Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products on Dreamy Whites, and came across this picture after blog hopping a bit.  Mrs. Meyer's products come in a lavender scent which happens to be my fave.  After reading about them, I decided I would try them out.  Today, I opted not to splurge on the twenty dollar laundry soap, but instead chose the more modestly priced $5.79 spray cleaner (in the lavender scent of course).

I can honestly say I was excited to clean the kitchen after dinner tonight.  And drumroll please....I actually love the smell!  Moral of this ridiculously long saga about cleaning products-add a little excitement to everyday chores by trying something new.  You just might love it.  Now, if only there was some way to make picking up countless monster trucks and wooden play food exciting...

Finds #2 & 3

I made my first trip to the best place EVER for finding treasures, and came home with not only some fun things for the shop, but also two awesome things for me.  For a whopping $1 I got a Jadeite plate.  It is really for my mom, but anyone who knows me will tell you that anything cool always makes a pit stop at my pad.  Awesome find # 3 is the little Ironstone pitcher.  It is so sweet and will find itself right at home next to the rest of my collection. 

For a small investment of $8, I became a very happy gal.  It is amazing how even the simplest of things can really brighten a day.  When was the last time something so simple (and inexpensive) made your day?

Valentining, not just for Cupid

Finally another post!  I have had these pictures on my camera for over a week now so you can bet it has all been changed by now.  I found this old shoebox of mini pink vintage ornaments in the back room at the shop (score!) and they inspired me to do a little Valentining at my house.  I hung them on my curly willow along with some sheet music heart cut outs. 

 I also added some in with my home made faux finish bird eggs.  I think the combination of blue and pink is just delightful.

 Here is a little sneak peek at my enttryway after the gray paint and trim were finished.  I LOVE it!  I wish so badly that I had before pictures to share of the house before we moved in but let's just say it is 110% improved.  I will dig those out sometime.

 And you guessed it-I added those pink cuties to my fave wreath.  Once again, lovliness!

This is my first attempt ever at decorating for V-day but I think it might be my favorite new holiday to decorate for.  When else could I have a license to decorate with pink?  Now what to do once the day of love passes?  I am sure I will come up with something, I always do...B