Exciting News!!

Hey everyone!  I have been hiding from you, waiting to share our good news.  I have been thinking of decorating a new room a lot lately. 

A nursery!  That’s right we are expecting a baby this Summer!  We just found out this week it is a baby girl and we are thrilled.  Although, I am feeling like my intuition needs a check up, I have been convinced it was a boy,  All the while, most of our family thought it was a girl.  So, needless to say I was surprised!  We feel so blessed and we could not be more excited.  Now I just have to start planning a girl’s nursery, a boy nursery was fully complete in my mind, lol!.
I will open up those secret Pinterest boards so you guys can see what I am thinking.  I can’t wait to start decorating the nursery and sharing it with you guys.  I have learned a lot about babies and baby needs in the last few months but one thing I know is the decorating.   
I am 18 weeks along and just starting to see a little bump.  Now that we know the gender I already feel more connected. 
I hope you will enjoy the journey with me.

April

80th Birthday Celebration

My Grandma, or as I call her, my Mema celebrates her 80th Birthday today!

This past weekend we celebrated her with a big family party.  We decorated with owl’s because she is a wise old owl!  But really how can this lady be 80!?!  She has a lot of energy for 80, always busy with something. 
She is truly an amazing woman and she has helped shape my life in so many wonderful ways.  She has taught me many things in my life,  most importantly to my husband she taught me to cook!  We share many things in common, our love for cooking, cleaning, and decorating! 
Her party was so fun!  She had many of her family and friends there to celebrate her and she enjoyed the company. 

Trick or Treat

I hope you all have a great Halloween!  We had a great time at our party last weekend.

Bet all my friends didn’t know I’d put them on my blog, LOL.  For several years in a row we have hosted a Dead Celebrity party for Halloween.  With all the moving we did a few years ago we stopped for a while but this year was great time to host again.  It is always fun to see what everyone comes dressed as.  We had several repeats this year which was funny!

A Kitchen Transformed

I’m so excited to show you all an actual decorating post today!  It’s one I am very proud of!!

My Mom and Dad had a little problem back in August that turned into a pretty big redo.  The refrigerator they had broke and needed  to be replaced immediately.  The problem was that the fridge was inset in the wall surrounded by cabinets on both sides and when the house was built in the early 80’s refrigerators were a lot smaller! Once I stopped by to look at the options I suggested a few more cabinet tear outs that turned into a pretty big deal! Sorry Dad!! I know it was pricey. Your welcome Mom!!

The kitchen was stuck in a bit of an 80’s time warp. Here are some of the before pictures.

You can in the top two photos how the fridge was sandwiched between cabinets on the right and a wall & desk area on the left.  The easiest solution was to bump out the wall and loose the desk and cabinets on the left side and since there would demo work I suggested that the upper cabinets over the bar area be taken down to open the kitchen up.  It meant losing some cabinet space, but it would make the room feel bigger.  My Mom wanted to paint the cabinets anyway so now was the time.

Once they bought that I really got going and suggested that since the bar cabinets would come down pendant lights were necessary, and if you are going to add lights you should replace that fluorescent light and add a light over the sink as well.  And then of course since the ceiling was a popcorn ceiling we all thought that should be scraped and repainted.  Of course with all these changes new wall paint would be in order and maybe just maybe new countertops, which lead to a tile backsplash, and a new sink.  It was all worth it! Check out the after photos! 

Wow! What a difference!  Lighter, brighter and bigger.  I love it, the colors, the tile and I really LOVE the granite.  Oh and that new refrigerator is HUGE! It is truly a transformed kitchen. 

My Mom and Dad did most of the painting themselves and they had some help with the cabinetry work and installation of the lighting.  It was a long process but worth it, they got it all finished just before Christmas.

Take a closer look at the changes.

Over the sink the cut out at the top of the window was removed and replaced with a more modern look.

Obviously they bought a new fridge in stainless steel and added an over the stove microwave since the last one sat on the countertop, freeing more space.

New lighting to replace the fluorescent light as well as adding pendant lights over the bar and sink.

And notice that beautifully scraped ceiling…Why on earth was sprayed popcorn ceiling ever popular? Why?!?

My Mom was 100% sure about two things throughout this process.  She wanted blue/aqua colored cabinets on the bottom and she loved the glass tile as soon as she saw it.  Everything else took some convincing ;)

New cabinet hardware was added to match the finish on the new lights.

For the new tile backsplash this area is where they now use the coffee maker.  It is a good space for a bar area, buffet, or coffee station for everyday and we wanted to do something special with the tile and show more of the glass here. 

For the majority of the backsplash we used a white 3x6 with glass as the accent.

Check out that granite!  It is called Vintage and it is gorgeous!

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We also painted some furniture for the new space.  They have a bakers rack and we thought it would look better to update it with a new coat of spray paint and some chalk paint.

The contractor made some wood shelves to replace the glass shelves they had and we stained these a dark walnut.  The paint used was ASCP in Duck Egg.

We also painted a table my Mom found at a thrift store that had been used as a work table we think, it was pretty beat up but after she applied Bondo it was ready to paint.

We used ASCP in Old White for the base and Graphite (with dark wax) for the top.

Just this past weekend she scored a deal at Marshalls on some chairs and so now the set is complete.

I didn’t really take a good picture on the before and after of the breakfast nook but it looks a lot different too.  They added bead board wallpaper and chair rail molding in the whole kitchen and you can really see a big chunk in this space.

It was really fun to see my childhood kitchen change.  It looks so great and I can’t wait to see all the final touches my Mom puts into it.  She has some pictures to hang and is planning on new bar stools eventually but it really has come a long way!  Bravo!!

 

Material Sources:

Lighting: Lowes Home Improvement, Allen & Roth

Cabinet Paint: Top, Behr Swiss Coffee  Bottom, Benjamin Moore Gossamer Blue

Cabinet Hardware: Lowes Home Improvement, Allen & Roth

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Bleeker Beige

Trim Paint: Behr Swiss Coffee

Bead Board Wallpaper: Lowes Home Improvement, Allen & Roth

Granite: Cosmos Granite, color Vintage

Backsplash Tile: Best Tile, 3x6 white crackle subway & Martini Glass in Matte Finish

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How do you like these lighter colors?  What have you done to update your kitchens?

 

April

Welcoming a New Year!

I love the New Year! It always feels like a great fresh start and it is invigorating to think about the changes that I want to make in the new year and the hopes of what it will bring. 

2012 has been a really great year but an interesting one none the less.  In 2011 I started this blog and a new job and we put our first house on the market.  We also built the first house in the neighborhood we are developing. 

Last year for New Year’s in THIS POST I stated that in 2012 I wanted to live more simply and my two big resolutions goals were to become more physically and financially fit.   Well a lot happened this year!!! 

January I started off with a lot of furniture painting and completed many projects.

Side Table

Twin Bed

I took you on a tour of the house we built to sell in the neighborhood.

Home Tour

In February this blog turned 1!

Vintage Sign

Mirror

In March, I turned a year older and we got an offer on our house.

I welcomed Spring.

I posted one of my most popular posts to date.  I made these great bird nest for my apothecary jars and it was a hit.  P.S. they still look exactly the same!

Spring Apothecary Jars

In April the blog started to suffer.  I had a yard sale to get rid of all those things we didn’t want to move and in May we really started to pack. 

In June we went to the Bahamas.

As soon as we got home, we moved, as in the day after we returned!! Crazy!   We moved into the new home we built since it was still on the market.  Just in time for me to decorate a Summer Mantle.

In July we started to settle into the new home and I decided the green front door had to go, so I painted that a calmer blue.

Front Door

I received a free kitchen island and I gave it a face lift.  This post gained a lot of attention, since I was featured over at Southern Hospitality!! 

Kitchen Island Makeover

Then we received an offer to purchase this house!  One month later!!

So on August 10th (exactly 2 months from when we moved in), we moved again…this time we moved in with family and we have been with them since. 

I caught you up on a furniture project I did just before the move.

Dresser

And I showed you a small makeover.

Yellow Table

In September we stayed really busy and went to Atlanta, GA where I finally got to go to a Pottery Barn Outlet and then we went to Charleston, SC where I found some pretty neat stores and dream homes too.

 

In October I shared with you our simple living quarters and we started construction on another house in the neighborhood.

I also painted a little jewelry box.

Jewelry Box

I attended the first annual Southern Bloggers conference and met some really great ladies and found some really cool blogs!

In November I helped my friend paint her dining room hutch and table.

The house building continued.

In December I was super busy with Christmas festivities and I did not get a lot accomplished that was blog worthy except this table décor.

Christmas Table

Whew! That was a busy 2012!

As for my 2012 resolutions goals, we did wake up and start paying attention to our spending habits more.  We were forced to pay more attention with two houses on the market over the 1st half of the year and we realized we needed to cut back.  We still have a long way to go in being billionaires, but we are going to make it :)  Sadly I failed miserably on the physically fit goal.  I pretty much stopped exercising after we went to the Bahamas and through the two moves.  Living with my family has wrecked my eating routine.  Great excuses, I know…I’ve practiced saying those a lot and I put on weight by using them as excuses :(

The blog definitely suffered this year, my post count was chopped in half.  I am really sad about that but there was no way I could continue to rehab a lot of furniture projects during packing and moving and now not having a work space. 

Selling two houses in 2012 was a huge blessing and we are so very grateful for that!

Looking forward to 2013,  we are excited about what the year will bring.  First up will be moving again.  We can’t live with Family forever…even though they are great helpers in our busy life!! We have completed a new home build in the neighborhood and have it on the market to sale as well.  We having a closing date set and will move into the home if it does not sell first, when it sells we will most likely rent for a while.  I do look forward to having my furniture back and a space we can call our own. 

As for those New Year’s Resolutions for 2013…..well, I am very serious about losing the weight I have gained! I am going to join the thousands of others that know they need to be better.  I bought a juicer today and I am very excited about adding in more fruits and vegetables into my busy lifestyle.  Meal planning will become a habit I hope and I am slowly going to add in the excersing again too. 

My other resolutions will be to continue down a good financial path and spend less.  I still follow some of Dave Ramsey's Principles.  Read more of the bible daily and lastly,  stop playing so many games on my phone!!

What are your resolutions for the New Year??

 

April

Lazy Sunday

I love Sunday’s, it’s my favorite day of the week.  I especially love them when I have to work my monthly Saturday.  I like to stay in and piddle around the house all day. 
I woke up and made Blueberry Pancakes and they were delicious.  Nothing like pulling the frozen blueberries out from the Summer.

Then I made a venison stew in the Crockpot for supper (I know everyone is not a fan of deer meat).  Will loves to hunt and as long as he plays butcher I will cook it.  It’s good and leaner than hamburger. 

I had leftover Lasagna from last night for lunch.  I love leftover Italian food, it soaks up more flavor overnight. Good hearty comfort food on a very chilly day!

In between all the cooking and eating, I caught up on some MadMen episodes and cleaned. Then I put together this table all by myself!!! :)



Not sure if you remember but this was from my estate sale loot and it was in pieces.  The legs had to be attached and the bottom shelf had to be glued together and attached to the legs as well.  I cleaned it and filled in the holes and cracks with wood filler.
This is the before before picture of it in parts. 
 
I also started the painting process, you’ll have to wait and see that later.
These guys were no help today, they were just….
Very

Very

Lazy!

What did you guys do this weekend??  Hope you made the most of it!
April