::lets go

::cozy kitchens

::for sale

I have a full/queen comforter set from Target (still currently sold in stores, but not online apparently). If you'll remember this lived in my guest room for a while, but it's on to bigger and better things. If you're interested, let me know!

::spark still flying

Onto project #2: recovering the couch pillows.

The big gray couch always seemed to lack a little personality. Now, don't get me wrong. I love him for all his greatness (makes you feel like a tiny person)...but he was a little lackluster. He needed some color. I didn't take any before pictures...but use your imagination. See all those gray pillow behind the pretty new ones? Yah...they were all like that before. Lackluster.

Here's the happy couch now.

These actually took a bit longer than anticipated, but the effort was well worth it!

::a little spark

Nothing will get you motivated on home improvement projects quite like having company. I had my first out of town guest this past weekend (thanks for coming, Ashley!). The days preceding brought to fruition a couple of things I'd been working on. I'll share the first one today. As I mentioned before, I moved this bookcase out of the den and into my guest room.

Off to new territory...

It looks fine in this room, but with everything light and airy, the bookcase seemed to weigh down that little corner a bit more than I cared for. Solution=fabric. [Can't most problems be solved this way =) ] This ended up being a LOT easier than anticipated. The fabric I had cut was almost exactly the height I needed (happy coincidence) and most all the shelves were removable which eliminated excess cutting and measuring (I'll take it!) I have very graphic yellow pillows on the bed...so, take that into consideration before you judge the fabric selection!

After:

Close up:

Much better.

::new layout, new post

Seems befitting to actually make an entry after spending the time to change around the background here. If I wasn't so ADD and indecisive I would leave well enough alone. :) I think we'll be on this one a while though. Anywho...

In a few months, we'll tackle the stairs *knocks on wood. I was looking through my house inspiration pictures a couple days ago and stumbled upon these:

Now I saved these pictures way back in the day before I had even considered doing anything to the stairs (both pictures were saved for other reasons...top = colored banister, bottom = ceiling light) Subtle foreshadowing or is this empire of consumerism slowly creeping into my brain? I didn't even know I wanted to do this until you showed me I did... :)

At any rate, it put my mind to ease seeing that someone else had painted stairs with no runner, no natural wood at all and made it look nice. There's hope yet!

::keep on marching

Here's a bright start to your week. I'm alive over here, just busy. We've been working on getting our fence torn down so we can replace it. Fun stuff, let me tell you! We planted some blueberry and raspberry bushes as well as a new tree (another new one to come) and a couple other plants. We've also started spring cleaning (somewhat by default...visitors this weekend). So, we're def keeping busy over here at the old abode...just not necessarily with blog-worthy activities ;) Should something more exciting come up, I'll let you know! Happy tax day everyone...

::well rounded

I'm finally getting to a point where my house is really starting to feel a little bit complete. It's taken a while, but it's been a fun process! This last weekend I finally finished a project I'd been working on for a while. Way back in the day (let's just say between life, lazy, and power outages work got stalled on this longer than most) my dad made me a bookshelf from this plan. I was originally planning on using it in the office (since that's where all my new furniture seems to end up) but it found it's way into my den. I could not be happier with how it looks.

Before: (I'd already gotten excited and taken all the books out!)

After:

Kitty tested, Andrea approved:

Next project, find a fabric/paper/something to line the back of that original bookshelf for the guest room. It's already living there now but it looks Way to dark and heavy. I'll keep you posted!

::let there be light

We finally got our power back on yesterday afternoon. Aaron suggested we celebrate last night by sitting at home doing nothing with the lights on. : ) I just added a couple episodes of Design on a Dime to that plan ;) We didn't have too much damage from the storm. Our tree in the front yard finally keeled over and our fence in the backyard fell down....again...but no house damage.

And now for something unrelated...I found this picture. I've never really been a fan of the natural trim but I have to say, it works really well in this space. So much so, that should I live here, I don't think I'd paint it white! What do you think? Does it look too dated? Or does it just give off an effortless, "I'm vintage and kinda cool" chic?

::the island of misfit frames

Back in the fall of last year, we took a trip to Hilton Head. We'd never been before and the beaches were just teeming with sea life. We may or may not have snuck back with a couple of sand dollars and these sand dollars may or may not have been sitting in our garage for the past however many months. They'd been hanging out on Aaron's work bench (aka:the termite infested dresser we picked up on the side of the rode). I'd been wanting to do something with them for a while, but throwing them in a vase didn't seem good enough. They're so fragile anyway, I figured they'd break.

So, I thought about a shadowbox. I went to Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago to price check and $30 was a bit steep. I figured I'd eventually go back with a 40% coupon and start this little side project. Well, Saturday was the day. I went with my coupon and low and behold the frames were already marked down 50%. Woot! Brought it home, threw some linen fabric on the back (to cover up the ugly, faux velvet (or whatever it is)) and put up the sand dollars. What do you think?

I think it turned out really well! Now they're all safe and sound and a cute little reminder of our first trip to HH. Now I just can't find a place to hang it. I think we're going to start a gallery wall in our hallway. Lol, something else added to the list. Soon as you finish one project, it starts on another.

::who doesn't love a little whimsy?

So, we were talking at work the other day about celebrities we'd like to look like (yes, very productive and not at all shallow ;) ) One of the girls mentioned she'd like to look like Rachel McAdams.

1- Good choice 2- I completely forgot about her

I hadn't seen her in anything lately, but I got to thinking...remember the time she had pink hair?

Which got me to remembering how I always said I wanted to try this. :) So...should I try it this weekend or wait til vacation so I could leave it in longer? :) Second question, for those of you who have colored your own hair...is there any brand you'd recommend more?