Welcome Fall!

September 3, 2018September 2, 20181 Comment

Good morning! It’s September! Fall time, right?! Well, not really. But in the blogging world, we have to get our ideas out to inspire everyone. I didn’t want to pull out all the red, golds and oranges, so when I visited Michaels, I noticed all the pretty soft neutrals, like sage green, cream and blush. I decided I would focus mostly on those colors with a few spots of orange thrown in.

Come on in!

Since I tried to keep a more neutral color scheme, I added lots of texture. I added a woven basket, a burlap pumpkin, book page paper leaves, and a brass candlestick.

I did pick up this Thankful and Grateful framed print from Hobby Lobby. I figured it was perfect for fall!

Let’s head into the living room! I’m still loving having my faux fireplace in here and I love decorating it too!

I used lots of neutrals on the mantle, using books, chalkboard, cotton and even a spool of ribbon for texture.

Here’s a peek into the dining area! On my coffee table I created a simple vignette. I did add one turquoise pumpkin here along with some gourds. I just received this little ‘Grateful’ wooden block from a friend and knew it would be perfect.

I finished painting this little side table this summer and it was nice to be able to finally add it to my room and place some special pieces on top. I tied a few stems of flowers together, added a burlap pumpkin and a lantern.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour. I will be back next week with my early fall dining room. Thanks for stopping by today!

Recycled Door Beverage Station

April 23, 2018April 22, 20183 Comments

Good morning! Do you have anything special going on in your area? We are having some nicer warm weather now. I think we finally have the wind and rain behind us now. I will be heading to the zoo this week with our school. We have never gone as a whole school before, so that should be interesting. We are also inching closer to our second Disney vacation! This was our Christmas gift to the girls and we will be heading over next week. I’m excited to see everything going on with Pixar Fest! Today I have a previous post for you, so enjoy!

So, what does a ruined door and a few pieces of wood make? A Beverage Station! I saw this idea last year on the blog, Finding Home, and knew I wanted to make one!

Upcycled Outdoor Beverage Bar Station-Finding Home

Almost 2 years ago, one of the houses in my neighborhood had a fire. Nobody was in it at the time and it had a lot of damage. Later, it was gutted. I found this door in the alley after the fire. It had some slight burn marks, lots of soot, and some cracks in it from being broken down, but I took it anyways. One mans trash…right?!

Here you can see the door, sort of. We had to put a couple of braces on the areas where it was cracked and fill in places with spackle, but paint will cover that later. Here’s another view.

I used old cupboard knobs for feet. I wanted it a little above the grounds so it wouldn’t sit in any water and get rotten. The knobs are attached to the bottom shelf of the station.

I bought the spindles at a craft show last summer, just for this project. It only took a year to get to it! I took a piece of shelving and my husband screwed it into the spindle. We did this for all 4 of them. We also screwed the spindles into the bottom shelf.

Here are the two shelves and the spindles, all attached.

We added another deeper shelf above this one for large containers of drinks. I was going to add one more small shelf on top, but I had this old metal piece from a screen door, so I hung that on instead. I screwed cup hooks in the door and just hung the metal piece. I can always change it later if I so desire!

Now for the fun of painting! I borrowed a neighbor’s paint sprayer and sprayed on primer after covering the spindle legs with paper. The sprayer worked great, but when I went to try it for the paint it wouldn’t work!! Not sure what happened, but I had to brush paint the color on. I used the Barely White from Lauren’s room (trying to use what I already have).

And here it is! All freshly painted! I added the metal piece back on and I also painted the shelf with chalkboard paint. I figured I could label the drinks or food when I place it on the shelf! I also remembered I had an old doorknob and hardware. I spray painted them black and added them where the old deadbolt had been.

I added some old signs and other decorations for now.

I can’t wait to be able to use this! We plan on using it as a ‘Candy Bar’ for Haley’s upcoming graduation and drinks for other parties and get-together’s. I’m excited to see how many different ways this can be used!

Here are a few updated pictures. I now have this piece in my entryway. I painted the legs white and added a black metal box under the shelf. I love decorating it for each season!

Have you ever recycled something old into something new? I would love to hear about it! I hope you all have a great week!

Travel Theme Entryway

August 21, 2017August 20, 20171 Comment

Good morning! I’m glad to be back this week! Last week was a little tough..we dropped Haley off at college! We had 2 car loads of her things to take. Thankfully, the school had big bins on wheels that we could load up and take to the rooms. I’m not sure how many trips we would have had to take up and down stairs without that bin! Sure glad we didn’t have to find out!

I am so not ready for summer to end! I like fall too, but I just love the relaxed feeling of summer. I wish we had been able to do more traveling this summer, but instead I decorated my entryway with some California signs and other travel items. I pulled out a variety of things and then made a vignette on my door beverage table which I have placed in my entry. It’s the perfect thing to decorate for the seasons!

I cut out the CA from some maps I had, the same maps Lauren used for her Travel Sign. I used a little tape to attach them to the window. Lauren sent me the Seattle postcard when she went on her road trip.

I love these signs! I ordered them from Groupon a while back and love the vintage look they have. I placed them in some black frames I already had and hung them above my hat and California tote bag.

I cut the hole in the globe to make a hanging light, but so far I haven’t gotten around to it. Instead, I rolled up a USA map and placed it inside. When the girls were younger, I placed stars on the different states we had visited. After it’s done here in the entry, I think I have finally found another spot for it.

A bucket and some starfish remind me of the beach. Some California gardening books and a nautical book are more hints to summer.

I found this big basket at a thrift store and love the colors! It’s the perfect thing to take a picnic in at the park or the beach. A giant conch shell and a Welcome sign invite everyone in.

Hopefully this brings back lots of good summer memories! I think this is the last of the summer decorating. Bring on autumn!!

Pink Flamingos = Summertime

May 29, 2017May 28, 20172 Comments

Hello! Happy Memorial Day here in the States! I bet you all thought we fell off the face of the earth! Ha! Lauren is busy getting ready for her trip to Washington and I have been trying to get the end of the year stuff done at school. I haven’t felt very motivated either. I think I just have too much going on and the creativity just isn’t there. But I only have 4 days left (not that I am counting) and then I have my list of projects I hope to get done.

I did manage to change up my entryway a bit. I don’t know why, but I am crushing on flamingo’s! I just love them right now! So I decided to add some pink and a few of my flamingo things. Then the girls gave me more flamingos for my birthday and Mother’s Day, so I changed it a little again!

Here is the first version. I draped some pink pom-poms across the top and hung the flamingo plaque I found at the 99 Cent store.

I have had this pink bag forever and I added a white sparkly scarf inside. The Sunshine and Summertime printable I found at the Turquoise Home.

Lauren found the flamingo gift bag for me. I added some pink polka dot and some black tissue paper to it. A flowy, grassy plant and an oar finish it off.

I snagged the sand dollar candle holder off a Ross clearance rack. Love it!

A few rattan balls and starfish were added to a cloche.

Now on to the second version! I can’t believe Lauren found a turquoise tray with flamingos on it! Very unusual, but perfect for me!

I kept the rest of the vignette the same, just replaced the printable with the tray.

And Haley found the perfect throw! Blue with pink flamingos! This will go perfect in the guest room after it’s done here!

Just making these few changes has made me more than ready for summer! Are you ready too? Do you make changes around the house to reflect the summertime? I would love to hear from you! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Entryway Reveal-Before and After

April 25, 2017April 24, 201711 Comments

Happy Tuesday morning! No post yesterday, which hasn’t happened for awhile, but I was gone this weekend with Haley looking at a college. It was a great visit, but a long, very warm day, and then a long drive home. Needless to say, the blog post didn’t get finished. But it’s here now! I finally have the entryway to show you!

Here are a couple of before pictures. There was a closet right inside the door when you first walked in. I took the doors off and then Steve took off the door jambs and finished off the walls. We also removed the old linoleum floors. One thing I really like, is the cement floors underneath all the floors. I really am not sure what I want on the floor right now, so the easiest thing to do was to paint it! Really!

I found a great tutorial over at Vintage Revivals. She gives step by step instructions on how to do it. The first thing I did was buy the Porch and Floor paint. I found Gliddon paint at Walmart and it was on clearance for $11.00 #cheapskate. It was light gray, but I added little bit of darker gray from Haley’s room to darken it. I just poured it right on the floor and rolled it on! I used a brush to go around the edges. We waited to put on the baseboards until after I painted the floor so I didn’t have to be too careful. I love how it turned out. I think the kitchen is next!

I decided it was a little plain, so I found a stencil at Hobby Lobby that I liked and decided to try it out. If I didn’t like it, I could always repaint the floor. The stencil is by Designer Stencils and the design is Jaipur Damask. Oops blurry… I used chalk paint and a sponge blotter .

I chose to paint a random pattern on the floor. I laid the stencil where I wanted it. I dipped the sponge in the paint and then blotted most of it off on a paper towel. After most of the paint was off, I sponged over the design. I didn’t want the design to be too dark.

Once the paint was dry, I lightly sanded over the top. I wanted a bit of a worn look.

See, this is what I put up with! “Watcha doing, huh?” I’m lucky I ever get a picture without them in it!

After everything was done and clean, I added a black and white striped rug.

This is the area where the closet used to be. Doesn’t this look so much better?! Here is the post where we made the Old Door Table.

This is the area behind the door. I had an old piece of wood I covered with the same wall paper I used the living room. I added some hooks and hung a straw hat and a Ca. tote bag with some flowers. The sign came from Hobby Lobby. Here is a similar one.

I still want to put a coat of gloss over the floor to protect it. I will get that done when I paint the kitchen. Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you have a great week!

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