Kitchen Inspiration.

Now the time has come to move on to the next room in the house.

THE KITCHEN!!!

I have been wanting to work on this room since we looked at the home almost 2 years ago!!!

Here is a picture of the main source of inspiration.

We have a single window in the dining area and I have already purchased the fabric for the cafe curtains. 

This is it. 

For the bench it will be white and the fabric for the cushion will be a flax linen.

we will add a heavy coat of scotch guard to ward off little bit's messes.

For the wall most of the bench seating we will do a tufted headboard in a subtle houndstooth.

Now on to some technical aspects....

The light over our table has had an electrical short and desipite our efforts to reconstruct the wiring and rework it about 4 times we have come to the conclusion there is too much voltage being drawn and we need a lower voltage light. 

Here we have decided to use a Ballard pendant light. 

I really like the "French Script" on this shade and we haven't decided yet if it will remain solid linen or possess this script. 

Our countertops are the faux granite in the darker coloring and since its impractical for us to replace countertops; (due to the short amnt of time we actually plan on living here) they will remain. 

The cabinets are already white and will remain so, for the hardware I am wanting either of these

For the backsplash we know we want the white ceramic subway tiles hung borizontally. 

I like this picture for showcasing it with a trim and this is being considered for around the outline of the cooktop to add some visual interest.

For upper cabinets, we are wanting to replace just these (leave the bottom) and put in window cabinets.

Here are several images showcasing this look with the darker countertops.

This image below reminds me most of my kitchen and hopefully with lighter walls and white trim and cabinets we can maintain and light and airy feel.

And for the fridge.....

It's my parents old fridge, we painted it black before we moved in and now i want it to look stainless.

This product looks very promising.... 

I will let you know how it goes. 

And for the artwork over the dining area we are leaning towards a collection of very basic botanical prints.

Okay that is all we have for now. We are toying with some other ideas and would love your feedback and comments. 

i.love.my.job

howdy folks....

how's the week treated ya??

hopefully not to shabby.....

Have a funny story to share....

It's about one of my kids... 

See back in June i prayed a very very scary prayer with my husband one thursday night. 

I prayed the lord would tell me if i needed to quit my job the next day and where to head to next??

well... the lord answered in a big way, by 4:15 that afternoon i had been laid off (with several others) and little did i know how much of an answered prayer/blessing it would be. 

you see, while i worked there i enjoyed my co-workers, but i LONGED for craft time.

I often went to work exhausted and sleepy because i stayed up late trying to do something.... anything to feed my desire to create.

Well within 2 short weeks of being laid-off, the lord cracked open a creeky small window behind my closed door and began to whisper ever.so.softly his plan for me.

Current plan that is....

{sidenote: I have ALWAYS been a babysitter, my brother and i are 7 yrs. apart and who needed dolls when you had your own baby?? then in highschool i was given the rare and wonderful opportunity to nanny for a family in the summers and almost every weekend. To this day these children have molded me into the person i now am. Those precious brown eyes of 3 little boys and one little girl always full of adventure and memories i now daily reflect on. The oldest, one of the smartest most curious children you will ever meet, with a heart of gold (like his mommy) always wanting to read and absorb as much as he could; and the twins, oh the twins, how they loved their Dora, and turkey and apples baby food. Spending time with them over those years in high school and even college, (when baby sister was born).... i knew i could handle childcare. You see the lord had been preparing me for this, slowly but surely over time. I was being "trained" so to speak to teach preschoolers.}

I went to the school where lil' bit goes to and asked if they needed anyone to sub?? Well they did, AND that 4 of the teachers (who had been there for about 5 yrs.) were all leaving at once. 

Well WHOLY GUACAMOLE!! sounds like the good ole lordy to me....

Here i am now, teaching 3 yr olds..... going into our second month of school I have learned alot.

For example.... did you know if you give ten 3 yr olds too much free time they get unbelievably out of control roudy??

And, if you pull out playdoh they all go into precious little cheribs learning mode and will melt your heart in an instant??

well it happens....

this leads me to wednesday....

it was a normal day, everyone did well, even our non-english speaking vietnemiese child didn't cry and was happy. teacher (me) was happy, teacher anna(other teacher) was happy, we were tired but happy. 

Well 2:15 came around and we were making sure everyone was clean, pottied, etc. before mommies arrived. Our sweet little soft spoken double named child's mommy came, we were talking the usual, "how was she, did she eat lunch, yada yada" Mom opens the half-door for double named cutie to leave and our very precocious full-of-life blonde-headed bowl cut (the cute know it all type) stepped up to the door and said "bye double name" she said good bye as well and began to leave classroom.

boy grabs girl by arm and gives a heart-felt hug, she smiles says good bye again... then boy passionately grabs girl smacks a big ole kiss on her cheek. Teacher (me) gasps, mom gasps, girl blushes and runs out of room... boy starts making the awww shucks face and looks up at me and says....

"what??" in the most innocent honest face you have ever seen.....

That my friends, is why i love teaching three year olds. 

And tomorrow, we will talk about loving our friends.... with boundaries of course...

Then we will make homemade playdough!!

Any pointers?? this is make on the oven kind.. Is there a no bake kind?

Nurseries

okay okay... don't freak....

NO WE AREN'T EXPECTING.

However, a sweet friend of mine is, and with her in mind i have found some pretty stinkin' cute rooms that have me wanting to decorate for another little one.

in a couple of years that is....

this cross collection is adoreable...

I believe i found these images at decorista, and pink wallpaper. it's been about a month or so that i found these and forgot to list where from. soo sorry

PS. Have you noticed our new look?? I am trying to FINALLY come up with a almost year round cohesive look. Hope you enjoy, and check back i should be adding more new elements in the days to come. 

Detergent

Here is the link as promised to my previous post on detergent. 

Enjoy!!

And if  you have any questions please feel free to ask!

Laundry Detergent

22 months.

No one told me how once your child hits 18 months old they start changing 

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY

Lil' bit is now talking up a storm... consisting of but not limited to...

• i want that
• uppie ousi (puppy outside?)
• weeezzzz (please)
• i need to potty!!( yippee, that happened this weekend, so far so good)
• calling people by name; jaxsie, gangy (grammy) poppy, dad, nick, still nothing for ainslie yet and haven't heard her say mimi or papaw but we are getting there... oh.. and mommy is a 5,000 an hour word.
• i can do it
• where's my baby?
• watch arnie? (watch barney)
• gullah gullah (gullah gullah on nick jr)
• hey there
• oh dear...
• lordy
• buh bye

Here are a few pictures of her this past weekend.

the infamous "oh my" face

cheese!!!

could anything more describe a 22 month old??

this is her questioning face. 

cracks. me. up!!

notice the sneak peek of the screened in porch...

as you can see we have begun painting, filled in hot tub and sanded everything else.

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day.

Laundry Room Facelift.

Okay I am sure most of you have seen The House of Smith's Pantry facelift. 

I must say i was beyond inspired and my wheels immediately began spinning!

You see Mrs. Smith owns a vinyl business, Wonderfully Wordy, therefore she had the means to use a nice amount of vinyl to create this quatrefoil design you see and paint to her hearts desire and create the most "perfect" looking pantry in America. 

Well, being the absolutely Martha/ i-can-do-anything-if-i-set-my-mind-to-it me i went ah-pludering.{if that isn't a word it is now;) } I knew my husband would laugh hysterically at me if i told him i wanted to order this large amount of vinyl and actually spend $ on this project so i had to think harder....

I needed to spend less than $10.00 and create the same look. 

Well if you know me at all, you know I like to have things that other people don't have, I really love different. 

Well, how many people do you know that have used their favorite wedding wrapping paper from Hallmark and turned it into their absolute favorite wallpapered room in their house??

 I DID!!

Have no fear my friends, Spray Adhesive came to the rescue. 

Whenever I am ready to "change the look" all I need is my handy-dandy Magic Eraser and a slight amount of elbow grease and all the tackiness is gone. 

Like in an hour.....

Here is a closeup of the pattern, has a slight sheen to it with a pretty small repeat, i.e. makes it easier to match the pattern.

Here is the whole project. 

I tried my very best to eliminate as much unnecessary junk as possible.

I think the top right corner is a lost cause though. haha

Took two of my Arthur Court canisters and added them in here. The are filled with sweetnlow and soup mixes, not something i use all the time. 

My sweet friend Anna wrote me a thank you note, and i just love the way she wrote our address so much i had to add it to the "decor."

Needed to add some hang tags to everything so we would know where our items were hiding. haha.
{all fonts are compliments of the incredible Amanda from www.kevinandamanda.com}

More or less, this project was really good to weed out the clutter and send everything we don't use on a daily basis out to the "satellite kitchen" in the guest house. 

Speaking of the guest house: I hope to one day make it out there and begin working on projects but as i am continually learning.... slow and steady wins the race. 

Also for those of you still wondering, we are going strong with the homemade detergent. Only good things to say and my pocketbook is loving the slight relief!!

Happy early Friday/ first football weekend for most of us!!

ROLL TIDE!!!

ps. did i mention i only spent 6 bucks and some change on this project??


I am linking up to Serenity Now for Amanda's weekend bloggy reading!! 
 


and Remodelaholic's Anonymous!!

{i just love these linky parties}

Den Redocorated

My style has definitely changed since we purchased this home.

I was into deep dark colors but with a home barely at 1400 sq. feet; I have learned white, cream, and natural light can give the illusion of a much larger space.

I am not entirely sure why i never took a "before" picture of this room and saved it, this is all i could find.
this is the picture from our 2 yr. anniversary, unmatched plaid curtains drove me nuts!!!!

Welcome into the new space!!

These lamps are one of my favorite touches in the room. 

adds a bit of elegance, yet stays true to the colors and style.

This is the rug in the entry area of the den.  

(one of my favorite purchase, Allen and Roth from Lowe's)

Nice subdued tone with a hint of brown to pick up on the hardwood floors. 

There is a halfwall here that my sweet FIL helped us add some molding to. 

This is my painting underneath our massive sectional sofa. 

I really like how it ties all the colors in together. 

Our ceiling fan has been a HUGE addition to the room. 

Again, my sweet FIL put his stellar electrician skills to use and installed this for us!!

I am OBSESSED with these crewel fabric pillows.

 I have wanted crewel fabric for as long as I can remember and upon a recent trip to my local 

Calico Corner Fabrics i found this for $19.00 a yard. (i know right its usually like $56 a yard, much too  rich for my blood)

Anyway, called hubby once i located this and he agreed I could get enough to "complete" our den, and I am so pleased with how well this fabric ties the other elements together. 

These pictures are so special to me. 

One of my very good friends, Hayley took these for me when Little Bit was 9 weeks old.

I am so glad we captured all the adorable features of my little baby!!

This cabinet has a really funny story. Not only is it my favorite thing in my home, but for quite a while this cabinet called my parent's attic home. That is, until a garage sale in fall 08 when my mom wanted to donate it and i offered it to my friend Hayley,(yeah, same girl that took the pics). 

She gladly accepted it and he went to live in her attic.... For a few months, until i had a dream about the cabinet and how great it would look in my kitchen, and she graciously brought it to me. 

This little lonely cabinet, who was used to being cast-out to the various storage facility of others, finally he found a safe home with me!!

 

not a great angle here, but the watercolor above the other corner of the couch is a portrait of our precious beagle, Luke. 

The way the artist painted his eyes looking up reminds me so much of his expression when you catch him doing something he isn't supposed to.

And last but not least, the dresser converted to tv stand.

Hope each of you had a wonderful tuesday!!

Thanks for letting me share this remodel, more or less redecor with each of you!

New Obsession... Typography

After watching a recent Dear Genevieve episode I started looking at how she used Typography and incorporated the print into a wood relief coffee table for a family room/playroom.

now i am seeing this stuff EVERYWHERE. and loving it might i add....

Funky...

Still cool...

And Can remain sophisticated!!

Before and After First Edition

Before

missing a piece of wood...

After

This dresser is a Pottery Barn Teen piece. One of my neighbors had placed it on the curb due to a banged corner and a missing piece of wood.

Well honey lemme tell ya.. wood filler and some paint can cover a multitude of sins.

This is also a little sneak peek of our new decor in the den. I was so inspired by Layla's reading room, I just had to stripe something.

closeup of the finish

After a little elbow grease and some paint I think the faux finish and stripes really ties in the look of the den.


**stay tuned to see the look of the whole room. 

Preparing a Place

John 13:1-17 NIV

 ¹It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.^[a] 2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
 ¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. ¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

I know this was alot of a verse to read but last sunday our sweet new pastor preached on these words. 

Jesus went to Judas {knowing he would betray him only a few short hours later} knelt before him and graciously cleaned his feet. 

When was the last time you went to someone and even though they betrayed you, you knelt before them and continued to willing serve. Knowing they would still deny you. 

Many people in blogland have spoken about losing friends and the hurt it brings. 

Trust me, it has happened over and over and when i think its done it happens again. 

People I thought the world of, loved despite their faults, they just blatantly ignored my knocks at their door, my calls, and emails.

The lord says continue to wash their feet, continue to love, even if like Peter, they deny you three times. 

Wash their feet, and love them anyway.

You see no matter what the circumstance the Lord is Preparing a Place.

Whether it be a place in your heart, or your home, he is preparing.

What comforting words, to remind me when I want to be quick to anger.

That is not for me to do. The lord will handle that on judgement day, but continue to love and serve, and think kind thoughts, and pray for whatever place he is preparing. 

May it be a child.....

a rekindled friendship...

a job..

a loved one....

He has prepared that place for you, but it is our job to walk as he did and serve others.

Hope these words bring some encouragement to your day. 

So many times i want to throw my hands in the air and say " I am threw being the nice guy!!" The the soft whispers of the lord say, not yet, I am not done working on you, and through you. 

He is Preparing a Place.