11.10.14 - Once again, it's Fall!

For some reason, it feels like this past year flew by in unusual swiftness.  It seems like we barely had summer.  I'm not normally a big fan of summer, but this year it left too quickly even for me.  I think it's because last winter was unusually cold and LONG for Texas.

But here we are, fall again, and I DO love fall. :)

I've been cooking chili, baking all kinds of goodies, lighting candles, wearing my fuzzy socks.  Because that's what fall is all about. :)

I needed new fall wreaths this year, so I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and grabbed a few things (either 50% off, or with the 40% coupon of course!) and whipped up a couple.

This one is my favorite:

 

I got a cheap straw wreath, a roll of printed burlap ribbon, and found an awesome fall stem of flowers.  Wrapped the wreath in the burlap, tied the stem of flowers on with yarn, and I was done.  Couldn't have been simpler, but I love how it turned out.  

That was my first welcome to fall.  Now I'm busy trying to make fall feel very much at home so it will stay around for a long, long time this year. ;)

Have a happy, blessed fall, full of cozy, yummy goodness! :)  

6.20.13 - Above Bed Wall Display

When you walk into my bedroom, the wall above the bed is the first thing you see.  I wanted to create a fun display - something that would have more visual impact than a mirror or picture. 

I'd always loved picture frame displays, so I decided to go with that.  I went to the dollar store and bought several frames in different sizes and shapes.  I have eleven frames, so that cost $11.  Removed the glass and backing and sprayed them all with white spray paint.

I spread them out on my bed and rearranged them until I found an arrangement that pleased me.  Starting with the middle frames I nailed them onto the wall, maintaining the correct spaces between them.

The frames alone on the wall looked too flat and one-dimensional, so I looked around my house for things to fill the frames. The initial 'N', a coat hook, an old key, a peacock corsage that I had worn at my son's wedding.  I picked up a couple more things at Hobby Lobby to finish out the look I wanted.

I kept a few of the frames empty so that it didn't look too cluttered.

Here is the final result.  I am very happy with how it turned out. It adds a touch of whimsy to the room which I love.

Some close-ups:

This was a lot of fun to create, and very inexpensive.  I'm working on another corner in my room, and hope to share that with you soon. :)




(Linked up at http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/2013/06/20/thrifty-thursday-week-16/)

6.18.13 - Daughter's Room Almost Finished

So when big brother moved out of the room, this is what we were left with:

He's not exactly a neat freak. ;)

So we have gone from that - to this:

Quite a difference I think.

We still have a few touches to add here and there.  I still want to do the striped wall.  I'm thinking of painting the back walls on the bookshelf hot pink to make them pop.  She wants the tops of the desk and dresser painted light pink.  And I know I'll be tweaking other things here and there. 

Here are a few other shots from around the room.  I decided not to 'stage' them, to let them have the already-lived in look it's acquiring. :)

A close-up of the rug.  The carpet had stains we couldn't get out - stains from long nights of XBox playing, and Big Red drinking - with the mishaps that go along with that.  ;)

I bought the rug from Overstock.com for a great price.  I bought some double-sided carpet tape from Amazon.com to keep it from scooting around, and the edges from curling up.  So far it is working quite well.  I thought the black chevron added a nice touch that would keep you from drowning in all of the pink and blue. 

Her bed comforter is hot pink, but always looks red in pictures for some reason.  We got it on Ebay.  I didn't add a closer picture of it because I couldn't get it to not look red.

This is her working, crafting, designing, music corner.  Her happy place.  She loves having this corner for all of her projects.  It's one of the main things she requested when she was planning out the room.

The bookshelf that we made-over.

She bought these glittery initials a while back at Hobby Lobby.  The blue wasn't going to show up against the blue paint, so I painted the edges with hot pink paint.

An old towel rack from Goodwill.  Painted in our lovely hot pink.  Will become the home for many beloved stuffed animals.

The mirror that came with the desk/dresser set.  It was yellow, we painted it of course. ;)

The dresser, which was also yellow.  We gave it a quick coat of whitewash.

There was a white wire shelf already hanging in the room, so instead of taking it down, we utilized it for doll and animal display.  Took a couple of boas and wound them around the edge.  Now the entourage doesn't have to be piled up on the bed. :)

The closet door was pretty banged up, so I painted it with chalkboard paint.  Covered up the dings, and makes a fun place for her and her friends to demonstrate their art skills.

Turn off the overhead light, and the lamp makes a cozy glow.

So that's where we are so far.  She's loving her new nest.  And we had such fun designing it!

(We got the paint at Lowe's.  The hot pink is Pantone's 'Cabaret'.  The blue is 'Well Water' by Valspar.)

5.28.13 Make Over a Cheap Old Bookshelf

I started to throw this bookshelf out because it looked so cheap and ugly, but then I thought I might be able to make it over.  For the record, the 'shoe' box is covering a big hole. ;)

I needed it to be white to match the decor of the room, so I painted it white.  I first tried spray paint, but that didn't cover it well at all.  So I used regular latex paint and put it on with a roller brush.  It was kind of cool - the roller gave it some texture that ended up looking like this:

After painting it completely, I added some iron "gingerbread" that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  I wanted black, and they had black - but only one left.  Well, that wouldn't work.  I needed two.  They also had them in brown, so I bought two of those.  I could paint them black.

I was out of black spray paint, but I had some chalkboard paint so I just used that.  Worked perfectly.

Screwed these onto the bookshelf, and it was finished!

Here is the final result (although the lighting is yuck - I couldn't seem to get a good picture for some reason):

So we took it from this - to - this. 

I thought it turned out pretty cute.  And once again, cost very little.  That's always a plus. :)

Oh, and I didn't bother to fix that big hole. Lol.  I figured it would always have something sitting in front of it to cover it up. ;)


 

5.25.13 Garage sale chair makeover

This chair was picked up at a garage sale for a few dollars:

It's a sturdy little chair, well built.

We slapped a coat of hot pink paint on it, and now it's one of the highlights of the room, as shown in the previous post.

We bought a sample can of paint from Lowes for less than $3.  It was enough to paint this chair, and several other things.

VERY inexpensive update, but what a difference!  Proving once again that beautiful doesn't have to = $$$$.

5.24.13 Girl's Room in Turquoise and Hot Pink

Work is progressing on my daughter's room, and we're getting close to done.  Just waiting on the rug and comforter we ordered to come in.  We're mostly through painting - just a few touch ups here and there. 

She chose the color scheme - turquoise with hot pink and touches of light pink. 

This is her favorite corner of the room so far.  She loves to play on her computer, write songs, draw pictures, seated at her desk.  The desk was the number one thing she insisted she needed in her new room.  :)

Will post all of the details, along with paint colors, once we're all finished.  I'm loving the colors, they're so cheerful.  Make me feel happy. :)

5.21.13 Work on Daughter's Room Continues

We've been working our little backsides off the past few days, and have accomplished quite a lot on my daughter's room. We've painted, moved furniture, scrubbed carpet, hung pictures.

And I'm TIRED.

We decided to go with the lighter color of paint.  Here it is in progress:

And completed:

As you can see, in spite of our careful taping, some blue got on the white trim.  Ugh!  I hate that!!  But we didn't have too many incidents like that fortunately.

My next project involves this quite ugly shelf.  I'm going to paint it white, and add some gingerbread trim on the top.  She'll put her tv on the top shelf, then she can use the bottom shelves to store dvds, books, etc.

 

I also bought a dresser and desk that need to be painted, so several more days of work ahead.

I'm looking forward to it. :)  I so enjoy creating a beautiful space.  

I will have many more details to share in the near future.  Stay tuned!

5.3.13 Daughter's Bedroom Transformation Begins

Older Brother moved out of his room, so Youngest Daughter finally gets a room of her own!  She is beyond excited.

She is my little decorator.  She has given me a step-by-step, extremely detailed plan for exactly what she wants.  I pretty much sat there with my mouth hanging open as she explained to me the most minute details.  I was completely impressed at the way she had thought out every inch of the room.  Not bad for a nine-year old. ;)

Blue is her favorite color, so she decided on turquoise as her wall color.  She wants to accent with shades of pink and pops of black-and-white.

We went to Lowes and got a couple of samples of paint. 

She loved the darker shade, but we decided that it might be a little much for the entire room.  So we decided on the lighter shade on three walls, and then on one wall we're going to do wide stripes in both colors.  I'm excited about this!  I think it's going to be a really, really fun room.

She asked me - 'What if the room doesn't turn out as pretty as what I have pictured in my mind?' I told her - 'We'll keep working on it until it does!'  :)

I'm so looking forward to working on this new project.  I'll share the step-by-step process with you as we go along.

4.29.13 Creating a SenseSational Home

This is one of my very, very favorite "home" books.  I've read it through numerous times, and have bought several copies to give as gifts:

 

This book explores making your home pleasing to all five senses.  Instead of covering rules of decorating, it shows you how to make your home a welcoming place, a place that appeals to YOU. 

Often when decorating, we focus solely on the visual.  How does it look?  But our entire body experiences our home.  So if you want your home to be a truly welcoming, comforting place, embrace your other four senses also.  

Touch - do you love to run your hand over the fabric on your sofa, or does the texture bother you? Do your feet hit an icy floor when you step out of the shower, or a deep cushy rug?

Smell - smell is so important. One of my favorite childhood memories is coming home from school and smelling the dinner my mom had cooking on the stove.  Nothing says 'welcome home' like that!  

Sound - stop for a moment and listen to the sounds of your home.  I changed several things when I realized how important this aspect was.  No more yelling from room to room - if you want me, come to where I am.  (or text me - ha!)  No more running the vacuum, washer and dishwasher all at the same time while my family was trying to relax. I don't want the noise level in my home to give my family a headache.  

Taste - of course.  We all know how much 'taste' can say 'home'.  They even named a magazine after that concept - "Taste of Home". :)

The book covers all of these aspects in much greater detail of course.  

The book is out of print and has been for some time, but you can still find used copies all around the internet.  Clicking the picture of the book above will take you to Amazon where they have several used, very inexpensive copies.

I hope you love it as much as I have!