A Little Color in the Living Room and Kitchen

Before Thanksgiving, we hired painters to paint several rooms in the house.  We mainly needed the double volume entry and family room painted, but ended up adding the laundry room, breakfast room, kitchen, dining room, upstairs hallway and gameroom to the list.  What would have been a never-ending job for us only took them 4 days!  I also used the holiday break to sew window treatments, and I'm so happy with how everything turned out!







Paint colors:
     Family Room:  Camelback by Sherwin Williams
             accent wall around fireplace:  Hopsack by Sherwin Williams
     Kitchen/Breakfast Area:  Meadow Trail by Sherwin Williams

Window Treatments:
     Pattern:  McCall's M5286 Scallop Pleat Valance
     Fabric:   Finess Ashbury Paisley Fawn

Sewing Room

It had been a while since I'd painted a room, so I decided to tackle my sewing room.  I discovered this tranquil blue/grey/green color (Zen by Behr) and immediately fell in love.  I usually gravitate toward warmer tones, but there was something so soothing about this color.  I need all the soothing vibes I can get when I sew, too!


I bought the furniture soon after we moved in.  The desk and shelving unit are part of the EXPEDIT series from Ikea.  The black bins and chair are from Ikea as well (although I used the Ikea slipcover as a pattern to sew my own to match the window treatments).  I store all my sewing supplies and keep my fabric neatly stashed in the bins.  The small drop leaf table came from Target, and is the perfect size and height to use as a cutting table.


I love to sew and create things, but I almost always need a reminder to remain calm during a project.


Next to the sewing table, is my quilt planning wall.  The flannel fabric stretched over lightweight insulation panels is just nailed into the wall in a few places.  Quilt squares stick easily to the flannel and allow for convenient moving and planning of my quilting projects.


I've been wanting to try my hand at sewing window treatments, and decided this was the perfect room to give it a try.  I found the pattern and material at Hobby Lobby, and I'm really happy with the fun pattern and pops of color.


And the last addition to the room was this trunk I stole brought home from my Grandmother's farmhouse.  (It also happens to be full of beautiful antique quilts.)  My mom painted it for my grandparent's anniversary gift over 35 years ago.

Sydney's Bedroom

Sydney's bedroom is complete!  She opened her quilt Christmas morning and napped under it that afternoon!


Her room was definitely a labor of love.  Not only did I sew her quilt, but I painted and distressed her furniture as well.  I brought the bed home from my Grandmother's attic- it's a family heirloom that my dad slept on as a kid.  If family lore is correct, my ancestors from Germany brought this bed with them when they sailed to America in the 1860s! The miniature roll top desk was also an attic treasure, and had belonged to my aunt in the 1950s.  The bedside table is also an antique that I remember from my house growing up.  All three pieces were different wood tones and all needed some TLC.  They got a good sanding and 2 coats of paint before they were distressed and sealed with a polyurethane top coat.  I found the cute bird lamp at Kirkland's.



The dresser was also painted to match the other furniture, but I ran out of energy (and paint) so the bookshelf is from Target!  I sewed a slipcover for the chair so it would match the room and added glass knobs to the dresser.

I love how everything turned out, but I hope she realizes she is NEVER, EVER allowed to redecorate her room!

Pinterest Links:
-  Name sign above bed: http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2011/11/letter-photo-art-for-christmas.html#comment-28729
-  How to recover kid's foam chair:  http://www.honeybeevintage.com/2010/10/foam-chair-slipcover.html

Paint color:  Behr Hawaiian Shell

Master Bedroom, Stage 1

For Christmas, we treated ourselves to a bedroom upgrade.  I ordered new bedding and we painted the walls dark greenish-brown color.  There is still so much to do for this room, but this is a step in the right direction.  We will eventually furnish the seating area by the windows, but the kids  currently enjoy using this space as their dance floor.  Maybe my next sewing project will be drapes...

New Paint:  Behr Butternut Wood in flat enamel
New Bedding: Pottery Barn Sienna Paisley  http://www.potterybarn.com/products/sienna-paisley-duvet-cover-shams/  

Sydney's Quilt

Sydney's quilt is finally done, and that means her room is one step closer to being finished as well!  

The quilt was nearly a year in the making...I ordered the fabric and pattern in January!

The fabric is Urban Cowgirl by Urban Chiks for Moda Fabrics.  It's inspired by vintage western shirts, and I thought it would go great with the antique distressed furniture.

The pattern I used was Tumbling Nine Patch by Sweet Jane's Quilting and Design.


I finished this little bird appliqué pillow yesterday.  I was inspired to do the birds after buying some pictures to hang in her room.  (I can't wait to finish the whole room so I can show off my finds...I'm so happy with how everything is coming together!)

P is for Purple Powder Room

So, let me start this post by saying that stenciling is a pain in the butt.  I think it looks gorgeous and I love it, but it will be a long, long time before I stencil another wall.  I stenciled the powder room in the last house, but that was before kids and I don't remember it being this time consuming.  I guess I had 17 hours to waste before kids (Yes, I logged 17 hours on the stenciling alone).  I should quit whining, because the room is just how I envisioned it and that's all that matters.

When I decided to paint the powder room, I knew I wanted a bold color.  I think you can get away with being bold in a powder room.  I was leaning towards a gray-almost black until I saw this deep plum color.  I used Sherwin Williams paint, and this color is Expressive Plum.  The stencil color is called Jogging Path, with silver acrylic paint layered on top.




(Right before I started prepping to paint, I remembered to take a 'before' shot.  It's not great, and I somehow managed to get a child and myself in the shot!  Oh well, it just makes the 'after' shot look that much better!)

A Sneak Peek at Sydney's Room

Sydney's room is not complete, mainly because she's still sleeping in her crib which takes up a large corner of the room. I have finished painting all the furniture and couldn't resist posting a sneak peek!

The Pool

The pool was technically finished February 26, but I didn't want to post pictures until the landscaping was in place. It is now not only finished, but it's officially in use as well. 

Here is the BEFORE shot. This big backyard was just begging for a pool, so who were we to argue?!

The fun begins...The digging started January 27, 2012.


No turning back now...The hole looked REALLY big.


The next step was rebar and plumbing...



They did the gunite January 31, 2012.  This was a really interesting process to watch, and the pool was finally starting to look like a pool.


By February 9, the gunite had cured, flagstone coping was in place and the patio was formed.  Oh, and we'd had about a week of rain...


After many more days of rain delays, it was finally time for the plaster.  We chose to go with a darker blue Quartzscape and couldn't be happier.  This was another fun day to watch, as this was also blown in with hoses, then smoothed in place, like the gunite.


While the plaster cured, they pored the pea gravel decking around the pool.  All done (minus some much-needed landscaping) on February 26, 2012.


And here are some pictures I took today.  We added beds and lots of palm trees.  Our favorite palm varieties are the Canary Palms, and Robelini Palms.  We also added a couple lounge chairs and new umbrellas to the patio area.


Here is a shot of the equipment area.  We added a second gate for security.  The rocks around the equipment have been great, but the BEST addition has been the sidewalk that runs from patio to the driveway. There are so many great things about the pool so it's almost silly that the sidewalk is one of our favorite things (but it is!).


This is the view coming through the gate into the yard.


And the view from the lounge area. 

Built-Ins

BEFORE

AFTER

The built-ins were finished just after the new year, but I've been busy trying to accessorize. Thanks to the 80% off aisle at Hobby Lobby and a few things from the old house, I guess I've got the shelves full enough to share pictures!

We think it makes such a huge difference in the living room, but visitors don't seem to immediatly notice the new built-ins. We think they are beautifully done, and can only assume the lack of attention they recieve is because they look like they should have always been there!

The Office

We finished another room a while back, but it's taken me a while to take pictures and post them. Why? Well, it's not exactly a room I regularly use and the door stays locked most of the time. It's Daniel's office and it's where he sips coffee in the morning and prepares for trips. It's also where the S key gets pried off the laptop keyboard if he forgets to lock the door!

Night and Day

We've continued to work on the front yard... Dan worked nearly 3 days straight adding rocks around the flower beds...

...and lighting!

Big Boy Room

I decided it was time for my 4 year old to have his 'Big Boy Room'. When asked for his opinion, he requested green and black walls (his two favorite colors). Thinking that might be a little extreme, I decided to honor his wishes with green and black racing stripes!



I have been planning his big boy room pretty much since I finished his nursery, and knew I wanted a world map mural on the wall. It's gorgeous and I love it, but I learned one thing the hard way- 'pre-pasted' doesn't mean much. If I'm ever crazy enough to try to wallpaper something again, I will buy my own paste thank-you-very-much.



The bedding and curtain panels are also new, but making appearances from the nursery are the animal photographs and 5ft tall stuffed giraffe. Both Walter and I were too nostalgic to part with either. Dan travels to Africa occasionally for work and took pictures of the baby animals while on safari one year.



I also have to point out the furniture was Dan's when he was a little boy as well!

Some Decorating Dilemmas Solved

When we moved in, I wondered how I was going to decorate the dining room and entry. Both spaces were beautiful, but large and daunting. I love decorating, but needed some help getting started, and www.houzz.com was the answer! This is my current favorite website, and has proven even more addictive than pinterest!



We moved into the house with plenty of stuff for the dining room, but the scale just seemed off. I knew right away a larger rug was needed, and there's only one place to go when one needs a rug...The Dump! It's a really fun store to visit, and their rug selection is MASSIVE and beautiful.
Most everything in the dining room has been passed down to me from someone. It's the 'Where's Waldo' room of family heirlooms! The table, chairs, hutch were all my grandmother's. The silver came from Dan's grandparents and the oil painting on the wall was my great-grandmother's in Vienna, Austria.
I'm also excited about the drapes. When we moved from the old house, we took all our custom drapes with us. We weren't sure we would be able to re-use them, but couldn't bear to leave them behind. I'm so thankful we did, because they look beautiful in the dining room! Originally, they had been on a narrow window and closed completely, but I think they look amazing this way too! I'm so glad we're so cheap sometimes!



We were starting from scratch in the entry, and this is where houzz.com really came in handy. I scrolled through enough pictures to know we needed a long console table and storage ottomans positioned underneath. After hours online, and visits to no less than 6 furniture stores, we found the perfect table at Pottery Barn. The storage cubes (or extra seating) and lamps are from Target, and the bowl and decorative balls are from Pier 1. The rug is from The Dump, of course! My favorite part of the room? We have the lamps on a timer, and it's always a welcome surprise to walk in the room and see the warm glow from the lamps when evening arrives.

Large Chalkboard in Playroom

I've always wanted to put a large chalkboard in the kids' playroom. It just so happens the large blank wall in the walkway to the playroom was the perfect spot!



I decided that we should build it ourselves so I could add the magnet board on either side. I love how it turned out!



It was surprisingly easy, and Walter wanted to help, of course!



The chalkboard paint needs a few days to 'cure' so we haven't been able to test that out yet, but Sydney is already using the magnet board!

Like I said, this project ended up being easier than I thought. If you're interested, here is a quick tutorial and materials list:

Tile Board - 4 ft x 8 ft sheet
Rust-Oleum Specialty 30 fl oz Black Flat Chalkboard Paint
20 in x 10 ft roll galvenized steel flashing
Ultralite MDF Casing-
-2 pieces of 3-3/8in x 89 in -2 pieces of 3-3/8in x 41 in
Fiberboard Rosette Blocks (3-1/2 in x 3-1/2 in)
MDF moulding
- 2 pieces 1 in x 41-1/4 in

(The MDF moulding, rosettes and casings are already white, but we sprayed them with a light coat of white gloss paint before starting the project.)
1. Scuff the surface of the tile board with fine sandpaper to help chalkboard paint adhere. Clean surface and paint tile board according to directions on chalkboard paint. I ended up doing 3 coats of the chalkboard paint.
2. After paint has dried, measure and cut steel flashing pieces 20 in x 4 ft. Attach these on either end of the chalkboard. We used liquid nails to glue flashing to tile board. (It didn't stick as well as I would have liked, but by the time everything is mounted on the wall, the glue isn't critical.)
3. Next we mounted the board to the wall. We placed it where we wanted it on the wall placed screws into studs on the top and bottom of chalkboard.
4. Once it's secure on wall, add casing and rosettes. Dan did this using a borrowed Porter Cable 18 gauge brad nailer with 1-3/8 in nails. (We definitely NEED one of these!)
5. Attach moulding strips to hide where flashing meets chalkboard. We used a Porter-Cable 18 ga. Finish Crown Stapler with 1/2 in staples.
6. Fill nail holes with white caulk and you're done!

Laundry Room

I knew we were going to buy this house the second I saw the laundry room. It was HUGE and although I couldn't let on that I was too excited, it came with a RED front loading washer/dryer set! It wasn't until we saw the house a second time that we noticed the stub out to install a sink. Yep, this was definitely the house for me! The huge potential for awesomeness made the laundry room make-over number one on my priority list, so the first vacation Dan got I put him straight to work.



He did an amazing job! After countless hours on pinterest and houzz.com perusing laundry rooms, I knew just what I wanted. Thanks to a handy hubby (and no less than 6 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot) here is the new and improved laundry room!



We added a counter top over the washer and dryer to give me a folding area. The sink base and counter tops came from Lowe's. The stainless sink and faucet are from Home Depot. The glass canister and rug are from Target. (I have plans for a row of pictures over the sink cabinet, but I'm just looking for the right ones.)

The Big Reveal

We closed October 17, and immediately started moving and unpacking. Nearly 3 weeks later, the house is finally ready to be seen! (Well, a few rooms anyway!)


We spent yesterday working in the yard. When we moved in there were quite a few dead bushes and some crepe myrtles that needed to come out. We planted some burford hollys by the house and left the row of boxwoods in front. We also added two italian cypress trees, two japanese blueberry shrubs and a sago palm. I plan to add some flowers around the sago palm soon!


The entry way...one of my favorite spaces. Just wished I knew how to decorate it.


Our new living room furniture looks beautiful in here with the rug. We are planning on adding built-ins on either side of the fireplace.


The dining room is furnished, but needs help. It's much larger than our previous dining room, and even with the table fully extended it still needs more (like a larger rug, for sure).


The kitchen! We are loving the wild granite and island!



Our favorite room happens to be the playroom/TV room upstairs. Hopefully, I'll have some more pictures soon!