Emme's playroom

So here's the thing about ignoring your blog for nearly two years...you discover posts that sat dormant & never saw the light of day. It seems I never got around to sharing pictures from Emme's playroom at the old house! Sigh. This brings a little tear to my eye, it was one of my favorite rooms. Everything was contained, pretty, and toys were at a minimum (vs. our current situation...a finished basement that houses an explosion of toys, princess figurines, and puzzle pieces that multiply by the second #icanteven)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the exception of the cube shelving from Target, pretty much everything in this room was thrifted, passed down or flea market/antique finds. Things have found themselves moved about the new house, serving new purposes...

The bulletin board (formerly a canvas painting), holds pre-school artwork in the kitchen.

The bronze horsehead bookends are sitting amongst the décor of our living room built in's.

The WWII shipping crate (that I added casters to) holds a slew of board games in the basement/family room.

 

The table & chairs currently reside in our living room (a great place for little people to eat lunch while watching a show). 

 

The wooden tool box is still holding books, but happily living in Emme's bedroom.

And I couldn't get enough of the pale blush color we painted this room (Pink Sea Salt by Martha Stewart), so we used it in Emme's bedroom at the new house.  

 

I can confidently say that our current playroom situation looks nothing like this (even on a good day), but that's the brilliant thing about basements. Out of sight, out of mind, right? It'll probably be a long time before it looks anything close to this...it's really one room at a time around here.

 

I'll be back this week to share some before pictures of the first floor of the new house! Get ready for lots of green, yellow, and honey oak wood tones....mmmmm, it's going to be good.

 

  

Seeing green

We've been super busy this week getting ready for Sunday's house tour. Who knew getting your house ready to show was so. much. work? I'm fairly certain this is the most clean & organized our place is ever going to be. Or at least until we sell it one day!

At any rate, I wanted to take a quick break to share an update to the entryway....a little change that's made this space complete! When this picture showed up on Janice's blog, I was super embarrassed. Sure, the focus was on the floors, but would you get a load of that cabinet?

 

It was my $35 faux painted, missing a back & has no shelves find. A beaut, right? This thing has been hanging out in our front entryway for the better half of 5 months and really needed a paint job. Unfortunately, I was too busy sleeping during my first trimester. And when I woke up I wasn't able to work with oil based paint. So I enlisted the help of my mom who painstakingly primed for me.

The original plan was to strip the paint....but that just sounded too exhausting and time consuming. So we went the oil based adhering primer & a whole lot of sanding route instead. It didn't produce the most professional of results (what do you want...this cabinet was a $35 dinged up mess), but I must say I'm super happy with the end results!



I styled and re-styled the top of this chest over & over, but nothing was clicking with me. I worked with what I had on hand, but ultimately it was these peonies from Michael's that did the trick. I'm not normally a fake flower person, but these I liked. I paired them with an old vase that we were using to collect wine corks. Voila--styling complete! 



 

The color is Lime Twist by Valspar--thanks to the green March issue of House Beautiful for that suggestion! But oh my god, this thing was a huge pain in the ass to paint. It required 1 coat of primer & 3 coats of paint. I think it speaks to the quality of the paint (I'm not a huge Valspar fan, unless it comes in the form of spray paint), and the fact that this chest is way more detailed than it looks! All the nooks, crannies, twists and turns...this baby has me longing for a quality spray painter. One of these days...

Anyway, there's no rest for the weary...I'm back to getting this house into shape! Hope to see some of you on Sunday!

Give me an "R"!

Our home has seen it's fair share of letter K's come waltzing through the door, so I'm guessing the husband was super confused when I brought home these babies...

You see, a good friend and I have a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch your's" policy. Except neither of us is scratching each other's backs, we're just looking out for one another (duh). So when I spied these letters (her item of request) I snatched them up, shot her a text, and carefully guarded my items within an inch of my life. Although, looking back I don't think the older gentleman with the 8 year-old child (who had come to chat with the sales clerk) was going to fight me for two letter R's. But you never know. It's always best to play it safe.  

After getting the go-ahead to purchase them (and spray them black) we were officially in business. I took the liberty of  leaving the smaller letter as-is, since the silver texture was very cool & vintage-y. But the gold letter got the usual...primer and 2 coats of paint...

I'm happy to report that I had a very pleased client...um, er...friend. She's hosting a gathering at their place this weekend & I can't wait to see where these letters will call home! Hey, maybe that will be an update for next week! Hmmmm, yeah...now I'm thinking. 

I'll be back tomorrow to share details of our master bedroom makeover! I'm still in the very beginning stages of hunting & gathering some goods, but I'm excited to share what I'm working on!

I resolve...

While February was busy sneaking up on me, I was still thinking about January. What can I say, I'm a day late & a dollar short around here. But did I make nice on those resolutions? I'm happy to report that...

We're consistently eating cleaner

I'm flossing more than before

I'm fairly certain I've narrowed my choices for a new blog design

I've finally navigated Pinterest (check me out with my one pin...go me!)

I'm finally tackling that master bedroom makeover

Okay, so I'm lying...the flossing isn't going so well. But I felt the need to say it, in the off-chance that my dentist might happen to be reading this (although, if we're getting technical here 'flossing more than before' is actually true, considering it's something that I rarely did before). So eh, 4 out of 5 ain't too bad.  

The last time you joined me, I complained mentioned that I couldn't find a small console table for the real, real entryway to save.my.life. And then like magic, this appeared...

Okay, so it didn't magically appear. But the day I wrote my last post, I found this little gem for $35 at a local antique store. The piece itself was missing the back of the unit, which is why it was such a deal. But that didn't phase me since this is really more of a decorative piece. The doors stick, the inside is covered in awful contact paper, and the painted faux wood finish isn't so hot either. So to sum things up, this is definitely not what I'd envisioned for the space. But it works. Sometimes thinking outside the box isn't such a bad thing. Which is why going into a space with a well laid out plan isn't always the best idea. You never know when the unexpected will fit the bill!

Obviously I have plans to paint it. I was originally thinking that whatever found it's way into this space would be painted green, ala this great piece from Emily Clark...



via



But now I can't help but wonder if something this large would be like the big green elephant in the room. I'm all for adding an unexpected color to a space, but I may have to mull this one over.

And again, that's what we like to call deviating from the original plan, my friends. TGIF!

Belly up to the bar...cart.

Happy Halloween! Or is it? I'm not a huge fan (in fact, I think you either are or you're not), and I feel like a bit of a scrooge saying this, but...I'm not handing out candy this year. In fact, I didn't even decorate because I just didn't have it in me. My halloween decor consists of one glittery skull and a fake pumpkin...so that just makes me lazy, right? Ah well, maybe next year. My sister will be holding down the fort & handing out candy to all the kids that insist on pushing each other on our stairs for that god forsaken Twix bar. Note to self: remove my precious mums from the danger zone.

Okay, moving along! Something that's not halloween related? I just finished working for my first client! Okay, so that client would be my sister, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?! We found this retro tea cart with the intention of turning it into a bar cart. Tea, booze. Tomato, tomatoe.

The four removeable trays were rather scrufty (yes, it's a word), so I needed to figure out a way to cover the existing surface which was half faux wood, half laminate. Yummy. Lucky for me, my sister is pretty laid back, and with the exception of the color of the cart (she chose black), I was given free reign to figure out the rest.

First, I thought about decopage. But then I realized I have ZERO experience in that arena. So my genius ways led me to a local hardware store, where the helpful sales guy cut me 4 pieces of double pane glass. I made sure to bring ALL four trays with me, just to make sure they were all the same size--which they were. Whew! Can you imagine having to go back for MORE glass in the event that they weren't?! I did opt to forgo the finished edging, as it would have been more expensive. Which, I'm sure I'll regret that decision the next time I try to ch-ch-change things up & cut a huge hole in my hand.

Then the cart got 3 coats of paint, and the trays got 2. As you can see, I wasn't particular about spraying the trays, since my plan was to line them with paper or fabric...

And in the spririt of using what you've got, I lined the trays with some leftover wallpaper from the real, real entryway. My sister was totally cool with the look...so bonus points to me for saving us some cash along the way.

Woot, woot! Looks good, right? Let's get this party started!

The amazing glassware is courtesy of our mom....she scored those silver polka dot babies for $20 at a local thrift/junk shop, and they're in amazing condition! The vintage cocktail shaker is also a gift from my mom...a nod to my sister's old riding days.

We've since added new booze & accessories to the cart and I'm happy to report the end result is 100% sister approved! Pumpkin martinis anyone? Now that's the halloween spirit!

E-A-T!

Um, so how did a whole week go by without me knowing? It's as if I blinked and wooosh (which, yes is a technical term) it's Friday! Which is a good thing. A really, really good thing.

Okay, onward and upward! So I'm back and ready to share some before & after photos of the letters I scored at the Country Living Magazine fair last month. Need a reminder of what they looked like before? Of course you don't, you saw them last week. But what's a before & after post without seeing the before pics again, right?

These plastic letters were $12 each. I wish I could recall the name of the booth where they came from, but I was too busy sweating & fighting off fair folk to pay any attention. I can tell you, however, the man running the booth was wearing really tight cowboy jeans. How that's relevant to this story, I'll never know. But I thought it was worth mentioning. Now there's a visual for you!

Anyhoo! After rummaging through a few baskets I was able to find the letters I was looking for. They were all pretty scuffed & scratched but I wasn't worried about that since the intention was to paint them anyway (you know me, right?). Aside from a small hairline crack--not to mention the warped, wonky nature--in the "a", the letters were looking pretty good. So after a quick wipe down & 2 coats of Valspar Cherry Red....we were in business! The letters looked amazing, if I should say so myself.

Then I got down to business removing the existing pictures from the wall, hanging the letters & rearranging the pictures into a modified gallery around said letters. Okay, that sentence made no sense, but you'll understand that nonsense when you see the after pictures. Here's the before...

About 2 hours, a whole lotta breaks for wine & the latest episode of Teen Mom later, I was finished! And then I made the single worst mistake of the entire process. Tooting my own horn. After turning out the lights & heading to bed, I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. Make no mistake what that was. The wonky letter "a" came crashing down, taking 3 pictures with it. Remember that "small hairline crack"? Well, the "a" had officially split into 3 pieces.

I was devastated. And I know that sounds really dramatic, but after 2 glasses of wine & all that work, you'd be devastated too, right? I figured the best thing to do was to walk away and figure things out in the morning. But I just couldn't. So I spent the better part of 45 minutes (and a little Chelsea Lately to lighten the mood) super gluing and taping the thing together. Here's the classy outcome...

The following day I went over things with another coat of spray paint (not my best effort, but eh...it will do). Things still weren't back to the way they originally looked, but I feared that doing too much beyond that point would only make things worse. So I gave up...for now.

After all of the drama was said and done, I give to you the final (I think?) results!

Given everything that happened to get to this point (my emotions are somewhat settled by now), I'm quite pleased with the outcome (as is the husband...bonus points)! The pictures are crappy, I get that. But after living with things for the last couple of weeks now, I'm loving the totally unexpected look of this wall. Betcha didn't see that coming when you round the corner into our tiny kitchen! I think I'll add a few more frames to the montage at some point, but for now things are staying just as they are. I wouldn't want something else crashing down on me!

Happy Friday my friends!

This is country livin'...

Nothing like a post-weekend recap with another weekend right around the corner, right? Right.
So did anyone guess what I was up to this past weekend? That's right, I'm speaking to all 4 of you. And sorry folks...if you're family or friends, you don't get to play along. Because you already know that I was in Columbus for the Country Living Magazine fair!

Ooh boy, let me tell you, it was good times. The weather was perfect & the vendors were a plenty. In fact, I don't think either my mom or I were prepared for the sheer madness (albeit fun) of this event! We were first time newbies, but even the folks who had attended before said the Saturday attendence was IN-sane! So instead of carrying on about how amzing this event was, I'll get right to it with some photos. Man, there was a lot to capture...this is just a fraction of what we saw while we were there!

Cari Cucksey of HGTV's Cash & Cari was also at the fair! I spotted the Re-Purpose booth, but figured she had sent staff to the event to hold down the fort. So I was surprised when I saw her roaming about, visiting with folks, etc. I attempted to say hello & get a picture with her, but she was chit chatting with some women, so sigh...I moved on. And don't even bother looking for her in this pic 'cause you won't find her...the booth was madness!

We took a post lunch break for some Jenni's Splendid Ice Creams. YUM! If you are in the Columbus area, or have a store near you that sells this goodness, you are in for a treat! I'm actually quite happy we don't, as I'd be frequenting this place often. I went for a trio of brown butter almond brittle (to die!), salted caramel, and brambleberry crisp. Did. Not. Disappoint. That's all I'm saying folks.

The Fabulous Beekman Boys, Josh & Brent, were there for a book signing! Okay, so this was one event I was not planning to miss (along with hundreds of others apparently). There was a lot of hoopla surrounding this book signing--think competition with others for a prime spot in line, standing in line to buy their latest cookbook only to find that a second freakin line was simultaneously forming for the actual signing, a lot of sweating, standing around for 1.5 hours (!), and general chaos & confusion--but then it happened...



I had no clue what I was going to say to them, but they were so, so nice. I think we were chatting about my necklace in the above photo (Josh was a fan). And apparently whatever Brent was saying in the photo below was so exciting, that clearly I was about to burst.



And lastly, the family portrait...we are SO tired in this pic, it's actually quite comical. Brent and Josh? Not so much. Get a load of them, aren't they the best?

I heard a nasty rumor that their show might not be coming back to Planet Green. And I'm hoping that's all that was...a nasty rumor. The husband & I can not get enough of their show!

Okay, so you're probably wondering what I purchased while we were there. Truth be told it wasn't much. Which is kind of crazy, considering there were an insane amount of vendors. There was so much great stuff to be had, but honestly...if I can't figure out where I'll put it when I get home, then I'm not gonna buy it. I guess I'm practical like that. Also, I'm not a fan of hoarding (although, some might say otherwise at the sight of our attic). Some of the antique vendors were pretty pricey, so that pretty much solved my "to purchase or not to purchase" dilemna right then and there.

These large plastic letters were $12 each, and I'm sure you'd never guess they're going in our kitchen, right?

I'm loving this K made out of old scrap metal. Because one can never have too many initials in the house.

And yes, I did manage to purchase some other things (other than large letters) during our trip, but these were the most notable house related purchaes that I made all weekend.

I can't wait to share what I'm up to with those large letters! I'm loving the way things are turning out (minus one large minor mishap) & I'll be back to share pictures soon!