New Paneled Dining Room!

I think I say this everytime, but THIS is my favorite project so far!! It was a lot crammed in to three days but I was a determined to get it done. Now I do have to say that it isn't 100% polished, I have to add a frame type ledge to the top, but I just had to show you!!

Taking that old chair rail down was a great feeling!

I brought the white up to about 6 1/2 feet and then bought 3 1/2" by 1/2" wood. We nailed a strip up every 10 1/2 inches. I caulked all the nail areas and all the gaps between the wood and the wall ( a lot!) and then painted one coat of primer, and two coats of Creamy White Bear paint.

I also updated the light fixture. Good story: The pendant drum shade is from West Elm, I was going to order it for about $130 but we found it at the Pottery Barn Outlet for $75! Very happy moment for me.

Y'all, I have become slightly obsessed with horses lately! I don't know what it is, but I love them. This painting/drawing is just another example of the infatuation.

(I also sale my art, so if you ever need a custom piece, I'd love to help)

Oh yeah, and I have to paint the trim on that door. Oops!

 A cute little vintage Kraft box I found at an antique store..perfect for the silver!

View from the living room. It's been a project I've wanted to do for about two years.

Ladies tell me how badly the room needs a rug, so I can get my husband to read your comments. It's not complete without one, am I right?!

Let me also mention that I never would have thought of this idea for my dining room if it weren't for Julie Holloway over at Milk and Honey Home. She created a great living room that inspired this dining room!

House update!

I know, I know it's been way too long, but I do have new projects rolling out! Right now I'm FINALLY in the middle of working on my dining room.

See, it's a mess...

We had that traditional chair railing and I took that down, hallelujah! I've got some great plans, I just hope that it looks as good in reality as it does in my head!

Here's a few dining rooms that keep me motivated.

Source

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Let me get back to work!



A Little Bathroom Update

A small change of a shower curtain turned into a bathroom redo. I have really wanted to make an update since this change we made a few years ago. It just didn't make me happy, so I lived with it for a while.

I wanted to make a shower curtain that was longer than the average 72 inches. I found this Dwell fabric online, ordered 2 1/2 yards, and found out I was about 2 yards short. So I ordered gray fabric to add stripes, but the gray was too green/gray. Not to worry, there's always a solution! I bought black fabric dye from a local craft store and washed the dye and fabric together. The grays matched perfectly!

(If you have questions about fabric dye, just email me, and I will be glad to help!)

Here's the new look...

The curtain turned out to be 86 inches long, which I love!

About the ceiling....I have never painted a ceiling other that white, and I felt like this was such a BOLD move. After I was done painting, I stepped back to take it all in and thought "It's not thaaatt drastic"

It just fits in with the space.

 

 

 

A little watacola' I made..is it creepy? I just love owls.

Painted Ceilings

Do you remember that simple shower curtain project I was talking about

 earlier this week? Well, it has expanded. I repainted the walls in the bathroom and now I'm seriously considering painting the ceiling.

Here's my inspiration....

Apartment Therapy

What do you think? It's a small bathroom, so I think it will add a great impact to the space! Have you ever painted ceilings in your home?

Things I Love about a Holiday

I love to see the morning light pour in through the windows. I don't get to see this often, because I am always at work.

(Sorry about the crazy angle!)

Flowers are starting to pop up down here in the south, so I'm bringing them in, of course!

I bought these vintage coffee decanters (?) from a local antique store. They work perfect as a vase!

This is my new mushroom. Will hates it. I don't know, I saw it and just thought it would be perfect here. Maybe I am crazy, but I really like it. (Let me clarify, he doesn't "hate" it, he just doesn't understand why I would want it.)

Well, it is a holiday, which means I will be completing a home project (shower curtain)!

Do you have today off? What are your holiday plans?

Striped Walls!!

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on my tv wall. I knew that it needed something like this, but it's nice to know that you think the same thing too!
My wall is a very very light blue, so it was hard to find a lighter blue color to go tone-on-tone. So I bought a blue that was close to the wall color and added white to lighten it.

I really love it, it adds the perfect I affect, because I really didn't want to overwhelm the wall with pictures.

(One day I'm going to go to a lake and throw my camera into it, it never ever gives clear pictures)

Those little star bursts were a DIY project as well, I saw a how-to somewhere but can't seem to remember. I bought wooden skewers, Styrofoam balls, and gold spray paint.

I cut the ball in half and stuck the skewers in, going around the ball. I hot-glued any skewers that were loose, and then spray painted the entire star burst.

I hammered a nail into the wall and stuck the back of the star burst onto the nail. So simple.

DIY Headboards

Happy Monday!! Yayyyy (can you hear the sarcasm?)

Blogosphere-pinterest

Ever since my post about my amazing mattress in the guest bedroom, I've been secretly scheming ways to switch out those beds. My problem with my guest bed is that I think the head board is a little outdated, and of course I want to make my own headboard!! I've never done one..an upholstered headboard that is, and I'm thinking it needs to be done!

Here's some great inspiration....

Redmond Aldrich

Shelter Pop

House of Turquoise

An amazing DIY upholstered headboard tutorial by Grace from Design*Sponge

This tutorial really sold me on the whole project..love Grace.

Casasugar

Possibly some nail head trim?

Ever made your own headboard? I would love to hear what you think!!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your thoughts on my tv wall...and I am happy to annouce that the stripes are up in all their glory!! I am so happy, they look great! I can't wait to show you tommorrow!

Stripes: Yay or Nay?

Hey friends!

I usually go straight to Will if I can't decide on something, but we have agreed that this decision is a little bit more tricky. It's hard to admit that I need help, maybe it's my decorator's ego!

My TV wall has become quite a conundrum....

A wall with similar sized white framed art?

or stripes?!

Here's the thing holding me back, I don't know if the stripes would be too much with the checkered floor...

hmmm...

what do you think?



New Dresser Makeover

Good morning! Well, I have great news, the big brown beast from our living room is gone! You can see a little peak of it here. I thought I had more pictures of it, but why take pictures of something so big and  hideous. ("Hideous" is my niece's new favorite word, as Will was driving her back to our house over the weekend, she was looking out the window at a field of pine trees, and he asked what she thought, and she said "it's hideous!"....she's four by the way!) 

Okay, back to the dresser. I bought a dresser a while back to put in our future nursery, but I decided to use it in the living room in the mean time.
It was in pretty bad shape.

I know this is a fairly simple makeover, I wanted so badly to add color, I tried it several different ways, but in the end, all white took the vote. 

It's a little small... but it will work for now! It's a whole heck of a lot better than what was there before.

I used the original dresser pulls on the four bottom drawers and added pearl knobs on the top.

It was a fun little makeover. The wall behind the TV is my next project. I'll show you more pictures of that later in the week. 

Have you done any makeovers lately, I would love to hear about it, or share your links!

Using the unused spaces and My Wingback Chairs

Good morning! I've been trying to do my posts in the morning when I wake up, which is about 5..so please excuse my typos or wondering rants, I might not be aware of what I'm saying yet..I can barely open my eyes!

A few weeks ago I told you about my chairs that I sold on craigslist from my kitchenette table in order to get new chairs from a local antique store. Well, when I went back those chairs were gone, so I moved my wing back chairs to the table.

Now we use this space SO much more, and when we have guests over they always sit there, where as before no one ever did.  I love that. I think it's important to find ways to make every space in the house completely usable, whether that be adding comfortable chairs, adding a work space, or adding extra lighting. I've pretty much found ways to do that everywhere, except for the "study". That's a room that has been completely untouched since we moved in, but that makeover is quickly approaching.

So, now about those slipcovers. They're pretty awful, so baggy, and they constantly have to be retucked. What do you suggest? Where should I go to get more custom fitted slipcovers?

Bring on the suggestions!!

This is an antique bowl I got for Christmas, it matched so well with the plate wall. Really love it.

New additions

I finally found a bench to add to the end of my bed, and the best part is that it was free! It was an old green bench that was sitting on my mom's front porch, and she FINALLY gave it to me! Every time I went home I'd think about how good it would look at the end of my bed.

I painted it aqua to match the accent colors in my room, but I think it might be too bright.

I'm thinking a little sanding and staining might be the trick.

What do you think?



My Christmas table, full of DIY treats!

Hello friends, it's Friday! Christmas is on it's way! I'm pretty much finished with all my decorating, and I want to show you my dining table first.

Lets look first, then I'll tell you all about my DIY projects on the table.

Okay, the paper wreath was inspired by this project from Ruche. I think that it was pretty easy, just a little time consuming, but it can definitely be done! It was supposed to be a wreath but it looks more like a flower...oops.

Over the summer I bought some amazing striped candles from a boutique in Greenville. They were a little on the expensive side, but I bought them anyway because I couldn't find them anywhere else. Well, "someone" broke one, and after a little brainstorming, I came up with a cheaper solution. I bought two tapered candles from Hobby Lobby, used frog tape and taped stripes around it. I spray painted the areas that didn't have tape. It worked perfectly!  Love a good successful DIY project!

This "wood" vase was brown for a long time. I loved the texture but the color was just too dark. Spray painted it gold, and now it pops out so much more! I love the gold against the wood texture of the vase.

I saved my favorite DIY for last. My chevron table runner. I hated making it, but it was so worth it in the end. I searched and searched for the perfect table runner, but just couldn't find the right colors. Solution? Make my own, of course! I bought some white canvas type fabric, cut it into two long strips. I DO NOT sew, so I used iron on hemming. You can find that in just about any home fabric, Hobby Lobby type store. Made a stencil (see below) and painted it with gold printmaking fabric paint. Also easy to find.  A week later (yeah I procrastinated) it was done. 

So there you have it, the story of my Christmas table, my favorite yet. 

Hope you found some good ideas.

Other suggestions, shop Goodwill's, and antiques stores, that's where I found my plates,  deer candle holders, and white vase.

Have a great weekend!!!