The Story of Why I Started Blogging

I woke up this morning thinking that I should share this story, so here goes. 

Well over a year ago I started reading home decorating blogs.  It all started with The Pioneer Woman and through that blog I found Layla at The Lettered Cottage.  Quickly I was completely consumed by reading blogs and my daily internet visits to news sites, hotmail, and facebook quickly turned to daily blog reads.  Now I have a huge list that I follow and read daily.  All of these women inspire me and I feel as if I’ve found new friends since they share interest in the same things I enjoy.    

My family long ago started calling me Martha, they joke, but I am a perfectionist like Martha Stewart.  They think it’s funny, but I take it as a high compliment, I only dream of being as successful as her!  I love decorating, hosting parties, cleaning (Yes Cleaning!), and gardening.  Most people I know are not as fussy over any of this stuff but I am completely Type A about it….I like for everything to be in perfect order and I like doing things myself.  Once I found blogs I realized there is this whole world of women out there like me in so many ways and through blogging it is easy to connect with them and offer or receive feedback on projects.  Later I also found furniture blogs and then I was really sucked in, I have learned so many great tips and I’ve been working on a lot more furniture painting/refinishing since. 

The light bulb went off….

In June of last year I was sitting on a plane on my way back from Nashville, TN from a work trip and I thought to myself, I should blog.  I knew Blogging would be a great opportunity for me to share all of my thoughts and ideas on decorating, gardening, cooking.  I also knew it would be a great way for me to improve my writing skills. 

The name of the blog came to mind quick, A Heart’s Desire.  I could not get this name out of my head and ultimately I think this was the driving force behind starting the blog.  My heart desires to do the things I love everyday and I love sharing those things.  I’ve always liked to share with other my secrets in cooking, my “do it yourself” projects, cleaning secrets, etc.

I also have a degree in interior design but do not always have the opportunity to be as creative as I’d like to be in my career in tile sales.  I knew a blog would be a great journal for my decorating projects and other related homemaking activities.

In these short 5 months of starting this blog it has proved a great outlet for my creative side.  I only wish I had more time to complete more projects, but for now I must work,  the bills keep coming! 

So the thought to start the blog was in June, that thought continued to nag at me…I really just felt like I did not have time to write.  In November I finally signed up on Blogger and learned a little bit about blogging.  Overall it’s been a pretty easy process but at first I was very frustrated because I had trouble learning how get my page set up like I wanted it and I felt overwhelmed and went back to thinking that I just didn’t have time to do this.  Only the name kept haunting me.  My husband finally said if you want it bad enough you’ll make time to do it.  So in January I paid someone to set up all the html coding and make my page look pretty and I started writing in February.    

So that’s the story folks, I hope you are enjoying this blog!  I am grateful to all of you followers and readers out there, Thank You!  I hope that you find the content here inspiring and you keep reading and tell your friends to read.  I am really enjoying the ride, I’m learning  a lot and loving your thoughtful comments.  I hope to grow this blog and continue to add many more projects and ideas.   :) 

April 

Thrifting

I bought something Saturday!  Finally, I found a buffet for the dining room.  It is not exactly what I wanted but the price was right and it is similar.  I think it will have the perfect amount of storage and it will look a lot better when I’m done...anything would be better than the current state!

The final price after some negotiating was $57.80.  I’ve already purchased my new chalk paint color and you will have to wait to see! 

I also picked up two side chairs for $27 each.  They need to be recovered badly, but it is rare to find a pair and I have a place for them in the future.  These will hang out in the garage a while.  No rush to fix these up. 

I am considering learning how to re-upholster furniture, I’ve been encouraged by lots of other bloggers and I am wondering if I can do it myself.  I guess it depends on the fabric I find, if I go with something patterned I will probably leave it to a professional. 

 

Not much to share today, I’ve been so busy with summer time and soaking up my favorite time of year that I am lacking blog worthy subjects. 

In other news our house officially went on the market a week ago, still no showings which is disappointing to me, but we are keeping everything super clean around here!

April

Desk & Chair

I am just as crazy over chalk paint as everyone else here in blog land and I have finally completed my latest project.  This desk is actually the piece that came to mind first when I heard about chalk paint and I wanted it to be a test piece.  I have had this since I was a little girl and the original has that 80’s vibe.  I found the perfect chair for $8 at a thrift store a while back, it had the same lines and look of the desk and I knew they would be the perfect pair.  I am very happy with the results. 

 
Here is the before photo, don’t mind the dog, Abbie loves a photo opportunity. The chair was in good shape other than the spline that held the webbing in place.  I found a great tutorial on  Miss Mustard Seed's blog that taught me how to replaced that.  Some of the drawers on the desk were out of whack but I was able to fix those with a little help from Will and Gorilla Glue. 

To achieve the blue distressed look, I first painted on Louis Blue where I wanted to bring the blue out.  I had to take this picture just to remember where I painted blue :)

I painted two coats of Old White over the whole piece.

Same technique with the chair.  The webbing was chipping all over but still in solid shape.
Last I went back over with medium grit sandpaper to distress only enough to bring the blue paint through.  Then waxed everything with clear wax.  The fabric for the seat came from Hobby Lobby. 

There is still a bit of tan popping through from the previous gold but it gives it a nice soft look. 

On this piece I learned that painting with chalk paint in 95 degree heat is not the best idea.  The paint dries really quick and thickened while painting because it was so hot.  I did have to do a little sanding between the two coats of Old White because of that.  I brought the chair inside to paint and had no issues. 
I know this piece isn't for everyone, but whatda think?
April


Linking this post to:
Very Merry Vintage Style
Perfectly Imperfect Blog
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday
Primitive & Proper

Flea Market Shopping

This past weekend we headed out to the flea market to see what we I could find.  I really want some light blue glass jugs…similar to these seen here, so that is what I was on the hunt for but you never know what other treasures you may find.

We I saw a lot of neat things…

  

My heart skipped a beat when I saw these at one booth…

Perfect shapes and sizes, but since they were all green or clear so I left them behind.

Will thinks everything at the flea market is junk!  He was ready to go about 10 minutes in.  I loved watching him stop every now and then when something caught his eye :)

This is also on my flea market wish list, not for $80 bucks though! I’ve seen it there twice within 2 months, guess no one else wants to pay that either.

What did you find this weekend on your outings?

April

Inspiring Interiors on Thursday

You thought I’d missed it didn’t you….

Let’s take a look at bathrooms tonight.  I tend to like really clean and organized baths, wish mine was!

 

Loving the tile in this bath and the ladder as a towel rack, great idea.

 google.co.uk

 

This looks so nice it looks like a vacation spot.  Love the white with darker floors.

 elmueble.com

 

Really like the wood paneling and the white again.  Especially with the floor being the pop of color.

 houseandhome.com

Last, leave it to Martha to come up with a great idea like over the door storage!

marthastewart.com

 

It’s been a busy week here at our house.  Looking forward to the weekend!

April

Outdoor Furniture Redo

My patio set was looking a little worn and beat up…


I sprayed a dusting of Rustoleum Primer on the flat surfaces because of some stains and rust spots.

I wanted a little more of a metal look but still wanted to keep it dark so that it didn’t really stand out on our deck because it’s so small.  I used Krylon Outdoor Spaces in Charcoal Metallic.

What a difference a little spray paint makes!  It looks brand new!

The cushions came from HomeGoods and the buoy was one of my beach finds seen in this post. I loved the colors of both and how well they went together and also how they matched my bonfire begonia. 

What have you spray painted lately?  I just love the way it will transform something so quickly, especially in 96 degree heat!
April 


Linked to
DIY by Design & Very Merry Vintage Style & My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia &Miss Mustard Seed & Ten June Blog

Inspiring Interiors on Thursday

Whew!  It’s been a busy and HOT week here….I keep thinking about the weekend and then remember I have to work this Saturday :(  Oh well, it’s only once a month so I will suck it up and relax Saturday night!!

I thought I’d share kitchens with you this week.  Enjoy!

 http://www.westerbroek.nl/exclusive_paint_wallpaper/index.php?page=paints&paint=farrow_and_ball

 From inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com

 thingsthatinspire.net

  bhg.com

Can you tell I really like white subway tile and farmhouse sinks ?? What is your must have decorative element to your kitchen or dream kitchen?

April

Beach Shopping

While at the beach this past weekend I wanted to check out the antique/junk shops I stop at every year in Swansboro, NC.  The first seemed to be low on normal inventory, usually they have lots of neat iron or metal pieces for the yard and lots of dishes but things looked a little different.  Walked away empty handed but here are a few pictures of the neat things I saw here.

Starting from the top left…loved these old Dr. Pepper bottles! The cloche in the top right was super cool, I’ve never seen a green one before.  I seriously thought about buying this but for $45 with a broken top it was easy to leave.  The bottom two pictures show architectural features the one on the left looked like some type of decorative wall material made out of thin sheet metal, I imagined them as an interesting headboard combined together to make a big piece and painted.  On the right is a stack of shutters, really considered these because I have a little project in mind and I’ve been looking for wood ones but the tall ones were the ones I liked the shape of best and they were too tall. 

Next stop was right next door and  it had changed from previous years, for the better :) They had tons of painted furniture which gave me lots of ideas.

Don’t let the bright orange building fool you…

The owner paints all the furniture herself, she was not in, but I went on and on to the lady there about chalk paint and how the owner had to try it :)

Her furniture is lovely and well priced.

 

This was a book shelf of sorts, but I LOVED it.  I would use it as a buffet and show off dishes in the cubbies.  Pretty unique piece, I have my eye out for something similar now. 

This inspired me to make one of those chalk boards!  On the lookout for a frame now. 

 

The only other shopping I did while at the coast was in Beaufort NC.  This is what I did bring home, it did not come from and antique store and it was only $15.  This is going on my revamped deck, stay tuned for the reveal next week :)

 

On another note, we ate at a great place in Beaufort.  The Beaufort Grocery Company and the food was incredible, the service top notch!  We had our dog with us and they set us up a special dining area outside on the patio.  It started raining so they moved us to the special dining room :)  We felt so bad for them having to shuffle us but they were so nice!  Here are some pictures of the special dining spaces! 

 

Our private dining on the patio had a very cool fence.  Also loved the garden door.  Saving these for future idea. 

 

 

Abbie getting the royal treatment…she was so good!  I think she knew she was being treated well, she didn’t even beg for food!

Pretty stained glass in the window inside our second dining spot. 

 

And of course the food! 

On the left, a crab omelet with grits and bakery items.  On the right, my half eaten crab cake sandwich and sweet potato chips. 

I will leave you with a picture of me, chowing down :)

Hope ya’ll enjoyed that….have you eaten anywhere that was amazing lately?  Or found any great antique spots?

April

Linked Up to:

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/fun-finds-for-the-week/