:: Home Decorating - the girl's room

It's taken a few years to change the girls room up.

From a baby nursery to a little girls room.

And it's still not even how I want it to be.

But it will, someday soon.

Right now they're sharing a queen bed.

Reese loves it.  Ava . . . not so much.

(they will eventually have their own twin beds)

We made their walk-in closet into a little play area/library

and their clothes are in the armoire (that we received for free, I might add).

It's definitely a work in progress, but we love it.

:: Home Decor - great deal on canvas

I recently bought two 16x20 canvases from Canvas People

and absolutely love them!

I catch myself quite often walking in the living room and just starting at them.

Right now there's a great deal going on at Canvas People.

Click here to get your canvas!

I eventually want to get the family picture in this size too, to put in between the pics.

refurbishing: coffee table

A little over a year ago, I was looking on Craigslist for a coffee table that I could transform. And I found this one. I posted it here. It was about $25-$30. And I knew it would look amazing when finished.

So, here we are . . . one year later. Hey. At least it's finished. The main reason it took so long was that we had issues with the wood stripper I was using. So we decided to go out and buy a sander instead. It did the job wonderfully and now we have a beautiful coffee table! But there were months and months that we didn't even touch it. It just sat in the garage.

Before:

So, here is the awaited finished product. {I'm sure you've all been in total suspense.}

What project are you still in the middle of? {don't worry, I'll be the first to admit that I'm in the middle of many!}

I'll be linking to these parties here.

Decorating Obsession: hanging the wreath

I love to decorate my home for the holidays. I was disappointed that last year I couldn't do much because we were in the middle of putting the hardwood floor in our home AND still unpacking.

So, I'm really excited. Last year I bought this wreath on clearance at Target. It's not super fancy, but it does just say "fall" to me. I love this time of year.

Since we have a very tall front door, I needed a way to make it so it didn't look like it was too high on the door. (I'm weird about things like that.) All I did was get out my stash of muslin fabric and I ripped it (you choose the length and width). Then I tied a knot in it right above the top of the wreath. With a flat head tack, just push or nail it in at the top of the door (the part you don't see). You're done! Now I just have to decorate the rest of the house.

Thrift Store/Home Decor Obsession: empty frames

So, how do you feel about empty frames?

{easy living magazine/country living}

{apartment therapy}

{lund photo/mimi charmante}

I absolutely love them!

I had this same idea when I found some frames at the thrift store. I don't think I payed more than $3 for each of them.

1. I first painted them white. (the hubby is getting a little sick of everything being white, I think)

2. I then measured them and layed them out on the floor to see how I liked them.

3. With either newspaper, wrapping paper, or with whatever you have on hand, trace the frames and cut them out. Make sure once you cut them, you place the paper on the back of the frame to figure out where the nail hole is and once you do, with your pen, just poke a hole.


4. Then tape them to your wall. (using a level and the correct measurements of the wall)


5. You're almost done. Since you already know where the nails are going, nail them through the paper and then you can rip the paper down. Just have to hang the frames now.

I do plan on eventually putting up pictures in them (but not the exact size of the frame). And maybe a bench underneath it. This wall has been bare for way too long!

Some other ideas: (found on apartmenttherapy.com)

•Use an empty frame to highlight a mantelpiece display.
•Elevate a photo tacked to wall by surrounding it with a larger, empty frame.
•Use a cluster of empty frames to draw attention to a wallpapered area.
•A tall, leaning frame can bring height to a low furniture arrangement.
•Use empty frames to offset sculptural objects on the wall.
•Paint frames to bring color to an arrangement.
•String wire between the edges of an empty frame to hang jewelry or other objects.

Thrift Store / Home Decor Obsession: frames

Come back tomorrow to see what I ended up doing with these frames I found at the thrift store. It's really easy and looks very classy and modern (well, I think so anyway).

Home Decor Obsession: nursery curtains

So, remember the curtains in Ava's nursery? I found them on clearance a few years ago at Walmart and grabbed all that they had. I knew they'd be perfect in a baby nursery.

Fast forward two years and we're in our new house. While getting everything ready to hang, we realized that the curtains were too short for the windows. Ugghhhh. I was very disappointed but knew that I needed to still use them. There was no way I was going to go out and spend more money when I had beautiful curtains right in front of me.

So this is our little secret. Shhhh. Don't tell.

Who said they had to go all the way to the top of the window anyway? Plus, we don't open her blinds too often, so I don't think the neighbors will be complaining about this "eye sore"(and I think we might have the nicest neighbors anyway).

Home Decor Obsession: Master Bedroom Drapes

Had a wonderful Easter. Hope you did too.

We finally put some drapes up in our master bedroom. For some reason, it took almost 8 months to do it. This is what it looked like before:

And this is what it looks like now:

It's made a huge difference. I'm sure our neighbors behind us are now doing the happy dance. They're probably now hoping that we'll actually do our yard.

Still in the middle of doing our MBedroom. We're going to put the rest of the hardwood floors in when my husband gets out of school. Hopefully will have pics within the next 6 months.

Nursery Room Reveal

We finally have our daughter's nursery almost finished (just waiting to put in baseboards and putting up a chandelier). Although, she just turned 2 so we'll soon be transitioning to a toddler room soon. We painted the walls a light pink and then had brown and cream accents throughout the room.

Here's the before:

And the after:

This was before my thrift store obsession. If I had to do it over again, I'd find a cute little crib and refinish it and I'd sew my daughters bed set.

I did: cross stitch the piece on the top shelf, was given the vintage Madame Alexander Doll (I know you're jealous), bought cheap fabric bins and tied ribbons around them (that I use to put her clothes, shoes, misc. items in), bought her curtains on clearance, found the bed set on ebay, made the bow holder out of an old frame, bought her book shelf from a thrift store, bought the rug on sale, made her hanging name on the wall, put in the hardwood flooring ourselves, and bought the frames on sale.

I love walking in this room, but most of all love seeing my beautiful, little girl in it.

linking to: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter Monday, Make your Monday, Just Something I whipped up Monday, Skip To My Lou, The Persimmon Perch, Metamorphosis Monday, The DIY Showoff, It's So Very Cheri, Today's Creative Blog, Toot your Horn Tuesday, Talented Tuesday, The Boardwalk Bragfest, Tea Rose Home, Life in the Pitts, Show and Share @ Just a Girl, Blue Criket Design, Fingerprints on the Fridge, A Soft Place to Land, Strut Your Stuff Thursday, Get Your Craft on Thursday, Transformation Thursday, Remodelholic, Romantique Home, Tatertots and Jello, Creative Cats, Fun to Craft, The Shabby Nest, Kojo Designs, Funky Junk Interiors, A Few of my Favorite Things, Check me out Saturday