::one small step

I actually did it, ladies (and possibly gentlemen). I found some kitchen lighting. *Cue music from Chariots of Fire* I never thought the day would come. I actually found it at Lowes. And wouldn't you know it, it was on the end of the aisle, and I must have walked passed it 100 times without noticing it. Oh well. For a whopping $84, this baby was mine!


Before (bye bye random ceiling fan in my kitchen):

After (you'll have to excuse the low lighting. If I turned on the light, all that would photograph was a glowing ball of light...I also feel the need to apologize for the mess on the table. I had just got groceries):

Here it is lit up. The shade is actually light beige. It looks more white in the above picture. It's Super bright too. It has to very small fluorescent light bulbs so we've definitely not lost any light in that room. High Five!

I had been out all day running errands and when I had gotten home, Aaron already had it hung up in the kitchen. Of course when I walk into the den, he's asks"Do you like it?" And I respond, "Well...what do you think?" acting really hesistant about it. You could just see him thinking (No way...I'm not taking it back down...she'll have to live with this mess...) Haha...but I Love it. He was sweet to get it put up all by himself. Yay husband!

::oh the places you'll go!

Kitty has been finding some really interesting sleeping spots lately. Walked out of the shower the other day to find he'd been waiting for me.




I'll blame myself. I basically had "bedding" there for him...

::it's the small things

Here's the OCD. Ready for it? I slightly redecorated after Christmas (best time to) and ending up changing out my entry 'table'. Now that I've walked past it several times, I'm starting to second guess myself. (Apologies for the 'vintage' setting on the camera. I was playing around.)

And here's my hesitation (which is harder to tell in the picture...should've done an up close. Again, sorry. I'm no photographer.)

The 2 candles I've placed beside the blue, glass piece (thanks Melinda! :D) are both muted silver, sparkle candles. They look Really similar to the wall sconces I've got on either side of that mirror. Too much symmetry? Just too much in general? It doesn't honestly matter...just thought an opinion might help. :)

::that's a wrap

What a cute gift wrapping idea. Don't be alarmed if you get a present from me that looks like this sometime this year ;)

::unexpected inspiration

So, I've been watching Pretty Little Liars. I have to say, it's a very enticing show. A classic, "who done it?" with the added mystery of "what have they actually done?" Anyway, I'm not necessarily trying to plug the show...I'm posting because I've found home and dress inspiration more from this show that most(any?) others I'm currently watching.

I'm not a huge make up person or anything, but Every time I watch this show, I can't help but think..."Wow, their makeup just looks really fresh and pretty." Granted, they wear alot, but the bright lips, flushed cheeks and almost-over-the-top "doneness" about it seems somewhat of a through back to earlier times.

The scenes in the show and the costumes are all so dark and rich...just so inspiring. Especially Aria's house. More of the craftsman style...somewhat typical in design and decor, but her room has a real "Gilmore girls" quality to it. Very eclectic and inviting.

Have you found any inspiration from a unlikely source lately?

::score!

I found this:

at a local store's outlet in Midtown this past weekend. Now, if it just wasn't 20 degrees outside...maybe we'd get it hung up. : ) I'll be sure to post pictures when it's on display in it's full glory. Oh, and bragging rights...the cheapest I could find this online for was around $70. I got this for $35 because of a moving sale!

Found any deals lately?

::an exerpt

When a newspaper posed the question, "What's Wrong with the World?" the Catholic thinker G.K. Chesterton reputedly wrote a brief letter in response:

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Sincerely Yours,
G. K. Chesterton

That is the attitude of someone who has grasped the message of Jesus.

--The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller

::i want. i love. i have.

I want: This kitchen. How interesting is that back splash. I've never seen one that didn't cover the entire wall between the cabinets and counter tops. Love it!





I love: My new watch. Thanks for the Christmas money, family ;)

I have: Had the Best month so far! I don't know what's going on and certainly don't want to jinx it...but yay for January so far. :)

::the office, take 3

As much time as I've spent talking about the guest room, seems like I make more strides in the office. Probably because I'm not trying to. (You know how that is...you go out shoe shopping when you're in a wedding and you need silver and no one has anything...but then you go in 6 months when you don't need them and that's all they have...) Well, such is this story.


I was out shopping last weekend and stumble upon a picture at the West Elm outlet. Before I get the collective sigh of "not another West Elm piece in the office" hear me out. This was originally $100, weighs more than I do, is HUGE and only cost me $15. That's right! Did I search through every picture they had left, only to pull the one out of the very back only to almost kill myself for the least scratched frame? Absolutely. I had originally thought about putting it in the dining room over my "buffet" (as I'm on the hunt for something there and I've got a good idea...I'll keep you posted). However, when my mom saw it, she's like, of yah...that would look great in your office. And you know what...mother knows best :D It does!! Check it out. Oh, and welcome to my new pillows as well.


Office before:

Office after: This is still majorly a work in progress. Let's turn to the left, shall we?

Aww to my little peacock painting, but eww to the bookshelf. However, that might be changing sometime...*wink* We'll see.

And now a turn to the right:

Oh, sad little corner. You used to have things up there but they've all been stolen for other rooms. I have a clock (the one from my kitchen..the half clock...) Well, I love this clock...but it's black with orange hands. The black on these walls in this room = not too awesome. I'm going to spray paint it yellow, and stick it back above that dresser. Once/If we get a new bookcase, that peacock painting will live over here as well, I think.

I didn't take a picture of the desk. Partly because I'm messy and well...really, that's the only reason. The bulletin board is covered in a solid beige fabric...zzzZZZ. That will hopefully get fixed soon as well as the calendar that has yet to be made. *Shame* Yah, I'll get right on that.

::creativity at it's worst

So you remember the frame I just painted and put up in my kitchen...

Well, I wanted to do something else with it so it wasn't just empty. So far I've got this:

Not horrible...but kinda meh. I love the P and the pom pom string...but I'm kinda stuck. Thoughts?

::have a clampet winter

You know you live in the south when...




Courtesy of my neighbor. Oh, and just in case you were wondering...yes...the duck's "wings" do in fact move. *cue the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies*

I won't lie...I'm impressed. :D

::getting busy

After admitting all the projects I had, the guilt and shame began to set in. So Sunday I set about getting some things checked off the list. Project one- replace blinds in the kitchen. We went to Lowes and they unfortunately didn't have the size we needed. Boo. So we had to drive to Home Depot and score! We were in luck. The lady who cut our blinds even said they'd only started carrying our size in stock maybe about 2 months ago. So, here's to laziness :D

Anyways, we started with the ugly aluminum (?) blinds...(which were really dirty...eww)

And got the lovely faux wood (yes...we didn't bust out for real wood. Sue me.)


So much nicer. Apparently to the hubs, they look the same. Umm..that would be no. :) Kitty decided to try and help speed along the process. There was white saw dust all in the box from where they had cut the blinds and kitty was covered in it within a minute of opening the box. *sigh Gotta love pets.


Also finished the laundry room hardware and organized 2 closets. *high five

What about you? Did you take it easy this weekend or get some chores done? :D

::hunting on

I'm still on the hunt for bedding...but now we have some really strong contenders. I'd liked everything I'd seen up til now...but I hadn't Loved anything. I'm Loving these new duvets from West Elm. Now I just have to decide what I want. The walls are a muted/slightly more green-Tiffany blue and all the furniture (aside from the nightstand) is white. What do you think?

There really is something I love about each of these. This will be hard. *_*

I'm also debating lighting. I think I've found the light for above my sink (should look familiar):

And the light for my entryway (outside):

The problem now is...the lighting above my kitchen table. I am head over heels in LOVE with this:

But I'm wondering if I should spend the money on that, or if I was...if I should put it in the dining room and just suck up having a fan in the kitchen for a while longer. But seriously, I would consider selling an organ for this fixture. Just beautiful.

::up and running

Sorry for the extended absence here. Been battling it out with an awesome sinus infection since Christmas so everything has been put on hold. I finally got out and shopping this weekend. The sales were amazing! I've got a couple projects on the horizon so stay tuned. I'll be coming around slowly but surely. :)

1- You know how I mentioned I wanted to buy a letterpress calendar this year. Well, I decided to make my own. We'll see how this works out. I've gotten everything made, I just have to see how feasible it is to get it printed correctly. I hope Kinkos is ready!

2- Got some Adirondack chairs from my grandparents for Christmas. Oh yes, they are hand made. We're a family of DIYers, what can I say. They're just beautiful. I'm thinking about staining them a medium to dark toned wood and then going over that with a gray paint to make it look aged. Haven't fully decided.

3- Still looking for bedding for the guest room. This might become the "yah..I'll get around to it...once the kids are graduated...." situation here.

4- Want to get a new lamp for the guest room as well. I'm narrowing the search down to mercury glass lamps.

5- Finish the yellow frame project in the kitchen. I've started and it's looking very sad right now. I need to get on it. :)

6- All ceilings lights in the kitchen must go...as well as the blinds. Apparently this was a surprise to the husband. Well, I just figure if I keep talking about everything I'm going to change, the only thing he'll see is dollar signs and my vision will get lost!

7- Finish using the rub n buff in the laundry room. It honestly will take maybe 15 minutes, I just haven't gotten the urge to finish it. Maybe I should've started in this room. It would bother me alot more if it was a bathroom. Ah, live and learn.

I'll just blame however long it takes me to do these on being sick!

What about you? Do you have any projects in the near future to tackle?