Inside-Out Design

Look Who Came Home From Target With Me...

2013-05-17T09:46:00.000-04:00

This guy.

Every time I go there lately I see it, and yesterday I finally decided I was tired of going home without it.

My daughter LOVES elephants. So one reason I wanted it (besides the fact that it's just adorable) was that it reminds me of her. But there is a tiny complication....when I put the elephant in our cart she thought I was getting it for her. She kept squealing "Thank you Mommy! Baby elephant!" She got pretty angry every time I told her the elephant was for me. Now she keeps creeping into the foyer to look at it and, when she thinks I'm not looking, pet it. If it goes missing from it's table I'll know to go check her menagerie of toy elephants.

Why Lighting Is So Important

2013-05-15T11:19:00.000-04:00

Today I'm talking light fixtures over at the blog for GoldenageUSA.

Specifically, why they are my favorite part about a room's design.

Find out here.

A DIY Ottoman

2013-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Check out this gorgeous ottoman made from an old coffee table:

This fabulous re-do was done by Alaina of

Fabtastic Eats

I love her fabric choice- you know how I love zebra, and I think it might be the same fabric I have on the pillows on our couch...which, by the way, is the same one as hers!

Alaina used my coffee table-to-ottoman tutorial when she and her hubs did this one. It's so awesome to see a project that was inspired by something I did, and even better to see how great it turned out- my tutorial must not suck! haha.

Go check out Alaina's post about this project HERE.

Spruced Up Foyer

2013-05-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm so happy that our entryway doesn't look like this anymore:

After the addition of a table, and a bit of pattern from the little bowl sitting on it (both of which I already had) plus a couple new purchases, the room now looks like this:

I love that it feels like an actual room now instead of looking completely neglected. I feel like the entryway is actually the most important room in the whole house. It's the first room to welcome you home everyday, and it's also where people visiting get their first impression of your home. And up until a few days ago, our entryway had nothing good to say to us or anyone else. But it feels a lot better in there now!

I loooove that I FINALLY have a fiddle leaf fig.

I've wanted one ever since they started popping up in every single design magazine a couple years ago. At the peak of their craze I was seeing people getting fully grown ones for over a hundred dollars, which I know is pretty typical for a tree, but that's just way too much for me to spend on something that has a high probability of my killing it.

But this little one was only $8.88 at Wal-Mart, which is so affordable that I can keep replacing it if I continually fail to keep it alive. I guess you'll be tipped off that something's not right if my tree never seems to be growing.

But I'm crossing my fingers that this one thrives. It's so pretty now that I can't wait to see how much more beautiful it is at 6ft tall.

I still can't get over this table's new look. I love it so much.

The rug is from Overstock and I am really happy with it so far.

Like the plant I got for in here, this rug was super affordable- only $46 for a 4x6 ft size.

It's a natural fiber and really thin, which is what I wanted because I didn't want there to be any annoying drag with the door when it was opened over the rug.

This rug has no traction whatsoever on the floor; it slides around like crazy if you don't have a rug pad under it- which I don't. But I wanted to save us the extra $20 or so that a rug pad would have cost, especially since my entire budget for a rug was only $50 so the cost of the pad would have had to come from that. So instead I used a picture hanging command strip at each corner of the rug to hold it down to the floor and so far it's working great to keep in in place.

The rug is still in that awkward, new-rug phase where it's got fold lines everywhere and doesn't lay quite flat yet. But with how often it gets walked over it should be smoothed out pretty soon.

I would love to be able to do more with this room- painting the front door a dark gray or black, switching out the light fixture, and doing some kind of board and batten to the walls would be first on my list. But since we are renting those things aren't options. (except for the light- but even then I'd have to get the deal of a lifetime on a fixture I loved in order to make it worth the trouble.)

I would like to add some art in here eventually, despite the very limited wall space.

But I'm really happy with this little update for now. It makes the view from everywhere else in the house look a million times better.

*Rug Update*- it was going well with just using the command strips to hold the rug in place, until our yard guys showed up outside and our two dogs made a beeline for the door to bark at them. By the time the frenzy was over the rug was in a wad against the door. I've since broken down and bought a rug pad and it works amazingly.

Sharpie Design on a Salad Bowl

2013-05-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I showed you guys how in my quest to finally do something with our entryway,

I brought in a little table that I'd painted a dark gray.

In the pictures of it you'll see there's a small wooden bowl sitting on top of it:

That's a salad bowl.

Since my budget for sprucing up this room is small, I tried to use what I already had as much as I could. So when I was looking for things to fill the tabletop I just wandered around the house and grabbed whatever I thought would work. We got a set of these wooden salad bowls for our wedding, and for the first few years every time we had salad I served it in them. But now I never bother- we either plop it on our plates or grab a different set of bowls because they're closer to get to. So I knew we wouldn't miss this bowl if I used it over here on the table.

But I wanted it to look more decorative and less like a bowl to eat salad out of. Plus I wanted to add some pattern to this room.

I decided to draw a design on it using a black sharpie. The design I came up with was inspired by all the triangles that are EVERYWHERE now and that I am loving, and it was also inspired by the fact that I would have to do no measuring and no math in order to do it. It's a random design but with the exact same sized shape repeated over and over, so it's abstract AND orderly. (At least that's what I'm telling myself- you might just think it looks like I traced a bunch of Doritos around the outside of my bowl.)

So to begin, I cut the corner of a piece of thick paper to make a triangle:

Then I held the triangle to the side of the bowl and traced it in pencil.

Every time I moved the paper triangle to trace it again, I'd lay it in a different direction and let it overlap other triangles I'd already drawn, making a penciled design like this:

Once I'd gone all the way around the bowl, I went back over all my pencil marks with a sharpie marker.

It was not that easy to do. I could definitely never be a surgeon because my unsteady hands would kill more people than I'd save. And the bowl has tiny cracks and dents in the wood that made it even harder to keep my lines straight. But knowing that I had three more of these bowls if I completely screwed this one up made me less afraid of using a permanent marker on it. There's nothing like excess to make you comfortable.

Here is how the process looked partway through:

You can see that some of my lines look like I was scared of something while I was drawing them.

But despite that, I still think it turned out pretty cool- especially for being totally free.

The only thing to do after finishing up with the sharpie was to go back with an eraser and get rid of all my pencil lines. And I discovered that with some extra pressure the pencil eraser would actually completely erase the sharpie too, so I was able to clean up some areas where my marker had really gone astray or where my lines were way too thick.

And here's the bowl now, back on the foyer table:

I really am liking the design- I think the layout of the triangles looks kind of 80's and then the fact that the triangles are open and just traced with black (instead of being color-blocked) makes it look current.

I actually like it so much I'm tempted to eat a salad out of it. Or better yet some ice-cream.

But then I'd have to wash the bowl and I'm not sure how that sharpie would stand up to the dishwasher.

So I'll just keep admiring it on the table.

I plan to finish this room's little fix-up this weekend, so I should have photos early next week.

Have a great weekend!

Darkening A Table

2013-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm tired of our entryway being completely barren (except for one pitiful vase in a corner) so this week I've been working to change that.

I brought in this table that I hadn't found a spot for since moving into this house.

Because we don't have much wall space in this room I'm really limited on what I can put in here, but this little table is luckily just the right size.

I like that it gives us a spot to drop keys or change or whatever when walking in the door, but I did not like the color in here. This room is already super light, so I felt like the silver paint was looking washed out against the wall color.

Plus because I am limited on what I can put in here, I want what is in here to be really standing out and making more of a statement.

I decided this table needed to be way darker so that it would stand out in this light room even though it's so small.

I mixed up a very dark gray color by combining medium gray and black paints (both of which I already had.)

Here's the table now:

I love it so.much. It's hard to tell in pictures but the color has a very slight bluish undertone, so depending on the light it almost looks like a super dark navy.

I love how the mirrors and the silver-dipped legs now pop out so much against the dark paint.

The only thing I can't decide on is the exact placement- I don't know if I want it where it's at in these finished photos, or if I want it in that recessed area of the wall like I had it in the before picture:

I think I like the way it looks a little better when it's up against the part of the wall that sticks out, but the problem with that spot is the door. It can open all the way with the table there- all the way meaning completely straight out from the hinges, but if you push it further back than that it will hit the table. I feel like the table is safer tucked back into that little nook even though I don't like the way it looks as much when it's back there.

So I'm not sure yet...still deciding.

In the meantime I am thrilled with the new table color!

I'm still working on our foyer and I'm excited with how it's coming! My budget is tiny so I can't do a whole lot in here right now, but it's nice to not walk in the door to an empty room.

Pictures of the whole room coming soon! :)

DIY Butterfly Art

2013-05-08T08:40:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week I made some butterfly art to add to the gallery wall in the playroom.

This was so easy to make-

come to GoldenageUSA's blog for the tutorial!

Welcome Chandelier Warehouse!

2013-05-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

I want to introduce my newest sponsor

Chandelier Warehouse

They specialize in high-quality light fixtures including gorgeous crystal chandeliers.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

Green Glass Small Chandelier

Restoration 3-light Globe Chandelier

4 Lights Crystal Chandelier in Chrome

Brushed Nickel Faux Bois Light

James Moder Swarovski Spectra Mini

8-Light Contemporary Pendant Light

Crystal Pendant Polished Chrome

Thank you Chandelier Warehouse for sponsoring my blog!

Postcard Framed

2013-05-06T12:47:00.000-04:00

It FINALLY stopped raining here in Florida!! (At least where I live.) After 4 days of non-stop rain it is so nice to see the sun shining! I'm going to go enjoy it with the kids. Before I go though, here's the postcard that I've had on my mantel- it finally has a frame.

Before:

After:

I found this 4x6 silver frame at Target this weekend, and I love the texture it has with all those raised bumps on the front.

I talked in an earlier post about how this postcard is one my dad gave me when I was a kid.

It's super special to me so I feel better having it protected in a frame instead of just propped up on the mantel where it could potentially get blown off by the ceiling fan and ripped in half by a kid. (At least that's the scenario I imagined over and over.)

Plus the silver frame looks pretty with the other silver stuff up there.

Now I'm off to soak up some sun!

Framed Penny

2013-05-03T15:27:00.000-04:00

Here's what I did today-

I took this old, dusty frame...

and this old, lucky penny...

and after giving the frame a good cleanup and several coats of silver paint, put the two together and ended up with this:

I got that penny in Las Vegas when Rob and I first met. I guess it really was lucky, because we ended up getting married a year later.

I like having it out where we can see it, and it and it's spiffed up frame are looking so cute in their new spot:

I decided to use bright blue scrapbook paper as the backing for the penny. I like the little pop of color it's giving this area.

I also like how it ties in with the little bit of blue over in the next room:

Happy weekend!

Thank You to my Sponsors

2013-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the month-

the time where I thank the people who help fund the decorating and diy projects that give me something to blog about.

GoldenageUSA is a premier lighting and home decor store, and they also happen to be my fabulous sponsor. {I am also a weekly contributor to their blog, so you can find my posts there every Wednesday.}

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Their lighting selection is just to die for- you guys MUST check them out!

My Dream Kitchen

2013-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

I love imagining what I would do in my dream house, and the kitchen is my favorite room to plan! If I could have this room, I'd be in it all the time and I just know I'd be super inspired to take my cooking up a notch! (hear that Rob...incentive!!)

Here is what I want:

My dream kitchen would have cabinets in a high gloss, bright white. I want cabinets that shine.

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It would have white marble countertops.

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For the backsplash, I'd do these Ann Sacks tiles:

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They're from the Davlin collection and called white gold leaf. I'd get them in the rectangle shape and lay them in a herringbone pattern like this:

My dream kitchen has not one, but two islands- plenty of space for prepping and serving.

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Hanging above those islands would be four light fixtures similar to this (two over each):

I want a mix of solid front cabinets, glass front cabinets, and open shelving, plus a large area of wall space where there is no upper cabinetry or shelving at all, just lots of pretty tile and big windows.

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I want a mix of glass knobs and silver pulls on the cabinets and drawers, and a sink similar to this one:

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My dream kitchen has Electrolux appliances. Those people are geniuses at making commercials- I genuinely enjoy theirs. When Rob and I are watching tv and he's fast-forwarding through the commercials, I always stop him when an Electrolux commercial comes on. I love to watch Kelly Ripa doing her laundry and boiling water and popping cookies in the oven, and I imagine that if I had those same appliances I'd be just as amazing as she is.

Besides, they are just plain fab- Electrolux designs their appliances in "suites" so you can choose matching sets that compliment each other and look sleek and stylish while delivering professional results.

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I love the built-in look that's so trendy with kitchens now, so it's awesome that they have a collection of counter-depth refrigerators that make that look possible.

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The appliances would be stainless, and to warm up all the white and silver and glass in the room, the floor would be a dark wood.

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My dream kitchen must have a gorgeous ceiling too- I can't decide whether I'd want to do something like this:

or if I'd want to add some pattern up there with some metallic paper like this:

My light fixtures would have a gold finish so I think it would be really pretty to have the gold repeated on the ceiling and those two places would be the only spots in the room with gold; the rest would be silver and stainless. Come to think of it I really wouldn't have to choose- I could do both ceiling looks by papering the insides of the squares with a metallic, patterned paper. I'm swooning already.

My dream kitchen would also have a gigantic walk-in pantry. And a butler's pantry. And maybe even a library ladder like in the pic above.

I'm going to forward this post on to my husband now.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Potty Training and White Kitchens

2013-05-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

This title probably makes you instantly envision some pretty gross stuff, but I promise the two have no relation to each other in this post!

Yes, I successfully completed potty training my twins {Woo-Hoo!} and I've traded the diapers in my purse for extra pairs of underwear.

I'm sooo excited to see how much more I'll be able to save on my grocery shopping now that we won't be buying diapers.

Completely unrelated to potty training is that I'm talking about white kitchens over on GoldenageUSA's blog, and why they are so dang appealing. Check it out here.

Floral Prints

2013-04-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Over here we are still wading through the trenches of potty training.

We went through 18 pairs of underwear on Day 1. My throat hurts from endless cheering over the toilet. When I notice a wet spot on my shirt I don't know whether I've just spilled a little water on myself or if someone has peed on me. And even though I feel like I've been in the bathroom for days, I'm never the one actually getting to use it. I swear I'll have a kidney infection by the time this is over.

I can not stay out of the "going-in-the-potty" treats. I feel like I deserve them more than anyone else.

But, it's not all bad- I'm seeing light at the end of this tunnel. The kiddos are making progress so I'm hopeful they'll have this down pat pretty soon!

If you want more from me today than an update on my kids' bathroom progress, then go over to GoldenageUSA's blog- I'm there talking about floral prints.

Training Day

2013-04-22T13:51:00.000-04:00

You'll have to excuse me if my posting is sporadic this week.

We are in the throes of potty training.

Today is day 1 and so far the only person earning treats for peeing on the potty has been me.

All upholstery is covered in towels and blankets and the carpet cleaner is close at hand.

If I hear one more wail of "Ew yucky!" I'm going to lock myself in the pantry and cry.

Diapers never looked so good.

My Favorite Hubby-Inspired DIY's

2013-04-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's my 10 year wedding anniversary weekend!

Rob and I are getting out of town for the weekend and enjoying some "us" time thanks to family watching the kids.

While I'm off celebrating a decade with the guy I love, I'm leaving you guys with some of my favorite DIYs, all which have something to do with my wedding day, engagement day, or just my marriage in general.

xoxo

Wedding Veil Display

Framed Wedding Dress Remnant

Framed T-Shirt

Heart Poem Art

Broken Glass Frame

How I Save Money On Groceries

2013-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

I know this isn't a decorating post. But I figured I'd do one about my grocery shopping strategies because they really save us a lot of money. And extra money means more I can spend on the house, so indirectly this is a decorating post- most decorating costs some money and besides what I make from my blog, this is a way I help support my decorating habit.

I do the "extreme couponing". Only don't picture the people on that show "Extreme Couponers"- that's not me. Those people are AMAZING and spend dozens of hours each week prepping for their epic shopping trips where they come away with $1,000 worth of groceries that they scored for like 99 cents. It blows my mind and I'd love to be able to say I was that good, but honestly I just don't have the self-discipline to spend that much time on my shopping list. If I had to dumpster-dive for newspapers and create price charts for all my local stores, I'd never stick with this type of shopping.

I do the simplified version- the lazy-couponer's version.

Before I begin, let me tell you about my first shopping trip using coupons. It was a few years ago and I had heard about extreme couponing, and some of my friends were starting to do it, so I decided I was going to start doing it too. I made up my shopping list, found as many coupons as I could for the items I needed, plus I added items to the list that I had coupons for, then I set out to Walmart with a big list and a big stack of coupons. I ended up spending close to $300 and saving around $50 and I left wondering what the hell had happened. My friends had been talking about their shopping trips so I knew that the amount that they were saving was way bigger than what I was walking away with- it was usually at least equal to what they were spending. Plus I knew my friends weren't hyperventilating at the cash register and terrified to show their husbands their receipts because they'd spent so freaking much money.

But after reading some books and learning more about couponing, I figured out what I'd done wrong- I had made up my list according to what we wanted and the meals I was planning on making that week, and then looked for coupons to go along with those items. Instead, I should have made up my list according to what was on sale that week AND that had coupons that matched up with those sale items. Then meals and stuff could be planned around what I ended up getting.

So here is how I shop now:

Every Monday I go to the grocery store around the corner from my house and I buy 6 Sunday newspapers. (you can check with your local paper to see if you can subscribe to multiple Sunday papers- mine doesn't happen to be one that lets you do that.) The reason I get 6 is because for couponing to really be effective you have to have multiple of the same coupons. So the basic rule is get one paper for every member of your family, but make sure you get an even number of papers so that you have even numbers of coupons for Buy One Get One (BOGO) sales. So, I have 5 members in my family + 1 more to be even = 6 papers each week.

When I get the papers home I take out all the coupon inserts but I don't cut out the coupons- you don't end up using all of them, not even half, so cutting them all out is a huge waste of time. Instead I just write the date of the newspaper they came in on the front of each insert like this:

I separate the inserts by type- the main ones are Red Plum (like the one in the photo above) or Smart Source but sometimes there are others. I put each stack of like inserts for that date in a plastic sleeve and put it into a big 3 ring binder that I have for coupons.

I use dividers to separate the binder into sections for each insert type (like Red Plum, or Smart Source) and then the sleeves full of inserts are in order by date in each section.

I do not bother with the store ads that come in the newspaper. I use the internet to find out about the store sales; it's much easier. (More on that in a sec.) What I will do is quickly glance through to see if there are any store coupons and if so I'll save those in a section of my binder specifically for store coupons.

Early in the week I make my shopping list by going to a coupon matching site that tells what the week's sales are at each store, and tells what coupons match up with the sales. The site will list the coupons by newspaper date and then abbreviated insert name like RP for Red Plum and SS for Smart Source. So the way I have my coupons organized makes it super easy to find them. (I can't take credit for that organizing method by the way- I read about it in a couponing book I got.) If there are printable coupons for any of the sale items the site will list those next to the items as well and link to them.

The site I use is Southern Savers and I love it. Obviously by the name, it's for the stores that you find in the south, so if you aren't a southerner and don't have stores like Publix or Winn-Dixie than this site won't work for you. (Although it does list sales for some national chains like Target.) When we were living in Minnesota I used a site called Pocket Your Dollars. I think if you google something like "coupon matching sites for <your state> stores" then you should be able to find one that will work for you and your local chain stores.

For you gals (and guys) in the south- I've narrowed down the stores that work best for me and these are the three I hit weekly: Winn-Dixie for meat- because each week they have BOGO meat sales that make getting everything from shrimp to beef roasts much cheaper than normal, even without coupons. CVS for beauty and personal products, also cleaning supplies and the random grocery item here and there depending on their sales and coupons. Publix for everything else. For items that we just cannot live without but that aren't on sale that week at any of my normal grocery stores, my husband picks up from Sam's Club on his way home from work. If you're not shopping with coupons it's usually cheaper to get it in bulk from Sams or another store like it.

For the most part, I only buy what is on sale that I also have coupons for- that is the most important part of this whole thing!

When you shop like this, it is really different from "regular" shopping. When you go to the store normally without a planned strategy, you'll have a list of lots of different types of items and you usually only buy like 1 or 2 of the same type of item. So you come home with one of lots of different things.

With this type of shopping you'll be getting less different types of items each week, but because of your multiple coupons you'll be bringing home more of each type of item. Since I have 6 copies of each coupon, I get 6 of each item that is on sale (for the most part- some things are different depending on the type of coupon). Since I'm only buying the sale items that I have coupons for, I'm not getting a big variety of things during my weekly trip, but I'm stocking up on the things that I am buying, that way I have enough that I won't have to get more until they are on sale again.

And since each week I'm buying so much of the things that we need -even though it's spread out where one week I may be getting a ton of snack items, and the next I may be getting a ton of toiletry items- our stockpile of all this stuff starts really adding up, so the list of things we run out of each week ends up being really small. Like milk, eggs and fresh produce small. (Cause those particular items aren't ones I stock up on so those are a weekly purchase.)

Buy One Get One deals are my favorite- they are why I love Publix so much because they have BOGO sales every week, and that is pretty much all I buy from that store. Since the deals are buy one get one free, I am already only paying for half of what I buy. Then when I stack coupons on top of that the savings really adds up. I can use a coupon for each item that I have- even the free ones. So the amount that the coupon is for will come off of the price I'm paying on the other items that aren't free.

Here's an example:

Lets say fruit snacks are on sale buy on get one free at $3.00. Since it's $3.00 for 2 boxes I'm already only paying $1.50 a box. Now let's say I have 6 coupons, each for $1.00 off a box of fruit snacks. I get 6 boxes to go along with my 6 coupons. Again since it's a BOGO sale I'm already only paying for 3 of them. Then at the register I hand over my 6 coupons and an additional $6.00 get's taken off the price of those 3 boxes of fruit snacks that I do have to pay for. I walk out with $18.00 worth of fruit snacks that I just paid $3.00 for. That's .50/box.

Another deal I like is the Extra Care Bucks rewards from CVS- I only buy items each week that I will get extra bucks rewards for, and I do multiple transactions when I pay so that the CVS bucks I get back from one item will help pay for my next one. I would have to ramble on for a whole other post in order to explain the ins and outs of CVS shopping, so here is a good guide for strategic use of Extra Care Bucks via Southern Savers.

A few extra tips:

-Know your store's coupon policies. Nothing sucks more than excitedly heading to the cash register anticipating all your awesome deals, then finding out that this particular chain doesn't allow the same type of coupon use that another one does.

-You are not allowed to use two coupons for one item UNLESS one of the coupons is a store coupon and one is a manufacturer's coupon. So if you have one coupon for .50 off Yoplait yogurt from Smart Source and one coupon for .50 off Yoplait Yogurt from Publix, you can use both coupons on the same container of Yogurt. What you can't do is use two of the Smart Source coupons or two of the Publix coupons on that one item. That's a no-no.

-If you get your newspapers from the grocery store DO NOT just pick the inserts out and tuck them in your bag. Buy the newspapers. I HATE when people do that. Nothing gets my blood boiling like paying for a crap load of newspapers I'll never read then getting home and realizing that someone picked through and swiped out all the inserts and I just wasted my money on a newspaper.

-Check your newspapers before you buy them to make sure they have coupon inserts. {See above tip}

And that, my friends, is how I grocery shop. On average I save about twice the amount that I've spent. Nothing that would leave anyone picking their jaws up off the floor, but it's significant. And it really REALLY helps the monthly budget.

I think this post goes down in my blog's history as one of my wordiest.

Adding Life To Every Room

2013-04-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

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I'm getting ready for an anniversary weekend out of town, so today instead of a regular post I'm just sending you over to my weekly post on GoldenageUSA's blog.

It's about adding life to every room- and it's one of the things I make sure to do when I'm decorating my own home. Come check it out here.

Painted Kids' Bookcase

2013-04-15T12:08:00.000-04:00

Friday I showed you guys this little bookcase that I was getting started on-

I had just moved it from the twins' room to the playroom and wanted to freshen it's look up a little.

It's all finished and back in the playroom- here's it's new paint job:

I mixed up this shade of gray by combining two different whites (a bright one and a more creamy one) and a dark gray. Since they were all colors I had on hand already this paint project didn't cost me a thing.

When I first decided to paint this I'd been planning on using some of the leftover peacock blue paint from the dresser on the back of the shelves. But because of where this bookcase sits- on the same wall as the doorway where you come in the room- I decided it would look more fun if I used the blue paint on the sides of the shelves, that way when you come in you can see it peeking out at you.

Here's how the bookcase looks now that it's filled with toys and books:

The lamp is from the twins' room also. It's not my favorite thing for this room, but I do like how the bright green ties in with the knobs on the dresser that's on the other side of the room, and with some of the art in the gallery wall, so I'm keeping it in here for now.

I'm so happy with my decision to paint the sides of the shelves blue instead of the backs- I love the surprise pop of color that you see as you walk in the room.

My favorite part is how the bookcase and the tv/toy dresser now share that same awesome blue color!

What I'm Working On Now...

2013-04-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

...This little bookcase.

It's been in the twins' room but I'm bringing it in here to the playroom for additional toy and book storage. But first it needs some freshening up.

I'll reveal it's new look next week. Happy weekend!

What I'm Craving: Wallpaper

2013-04-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been feeling desperate for some wallpaper. Maybe it's the fact that we're renting and I can't have it that's making me feel like I need it so much. I guess I shouldn't say I can't have it- there's always the removable kind. (Like from Spoonflower.) But I'm really wishing I was free to pick out whatever I wanted without worrying about how to get it off the walls. I keep thinking about how much more complete some of our rooms would look with a bold pattern or color up on the walls.

via

It's on my list of things I can't wait to do when we're no longer renters and I can do what ever I want with my house.

In the meantime, something like this could be a good option:

Or this:

I'm sure if I was determined enough I could find a way to at least get a little paper up on a wall- without actually sticking it to it.

A Relocated Table

2013-04-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here's how our dining room is looking these days:

Over the weekend we dragged out the table and put it into our breakfast area.

It has a center leaf that made it too big for this nook, so we had to take it out to make the table fit.

The reason for the relocation is that, first of all, I've had a different vision for the dining room for a while now. I love the look of this table in here:

But the look I've been envisioning for this room is different. And involves glass.

I get giddy when I think about it. I'm really REALLY excited to make this vision a reality- and then show you guys!

But it's far from a reality yet- so we could have left the table where it was until we had a new one.

The reason for the early move was that I could not take one more day of this room being our main eating area.

The reason for that is the floor.

It's some kind of faux wood and it looks really pretty, but because it's so shiny (it feels almost like it's made out of plastic) it is REALLY high maintenance. It shows foot prints, dog prints, food splatters, etc. What's worse is that cleaning it makes it look gross too. I've found that the only way I can clean it without leaving disgusting looking streaks and liquid marks is to mop it with a mix of vinegar and water -anything stronger than that leaves sticky residue- and then immediately dry it so it doesn't streak so badly. Having two year old twins means that the floor under our table gets really messy during meals, and not being able to just swiffer under their seats after they eat has been driving me nuts. I don't mind eating in here once a week or so when my family comes and we need more seating, but I don't want us eating every single meal in here.

So I finally told Rob I couldn't take it anymore and we were just going to have to live with an empty dining room until we have another table for in there.

I miss having that room put together, but it has been really nice having the breakfast area filled.

I had to relocate something else too, because of this table move:

Because the table is smaller, the bench no longer fits at it. So I put it over along this empty wall in the living room. I like that it fills up some unused space, and it hides an ugly outlet that had been bugging me.

I'm really liking these changes, especially our less stressful meal cleanups!

By the way....today I'm over on Home Decor Diary talking about one of my favorite items to make easy changes to my decor with. Check it out here.

Mirror Wall With Picture Molding

2013-04-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am dying over this look. Dying.

This might be one of my favorite walls ever.

I've seen a lot of gallery walls of mirrors, but this is different because these mirrors are hung to fit within the grid of the molding. So they don't just look like mirrors hung on the wall, but more like a part of the wall. It's a gorgeous look.

If you want more mirror inspiration today, come over to GoldenageUSA's blog- I'm there talking about strategic uses for mirrors.

Doing More With A Broken Door

2013-04-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

It was so easy to rhyme with this one I couldn't resist.

I have a lidded basket in my bedroom where I keep sentimental stuff that I can't part with. Letters, pictures, random things saved from dates when Rob and I were first together, drawings from my kids...It's where the postcard came from that I put up on my mantel the other day.

And in that basket I've had this:

A bag of broken glass. It came from a door in our first house that Rob accidentally shattered. The story is here. I'm sure he hates my telling it. Especially now that he's a contractor who's business specializes in windows and doors. Sometimes life can be ironic.

I used some of it on a frame- {tutorial also here}

-but the rest of it has been sealed up in that ziplock bag for years.

Then after doing that mantel switcheroo that I showed you guys last week, I had the two glass jars of faux greenery that needed a new home.

{You can see them in this pic of the mantel before I changed things up:}

Those jars -which are suppose to resemble vintage milk jars but are really just from Target- were the perfect spot to pour all the rest of the broken glass.

For now they've swapped places with the candle holders that I moved to the mantel.

They won't stay here permanently- I think I know what spot I want them in long term. The only problem is that spot doesn't exist yet. So for now they are here.

I've loved having the frame in our dining room that I covered with this glass, and now it's nice that we have another piece of our first house out where we can see it.

I'm fighting the urge to be really cheesy and put a line of hearts under here.

Maybe just one.

A New Mantel Look

2013-04-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was in the mood for a little change up so I spent a while yesterday afternoon playing around with my mantel setup, and here's the new look I came up with.

Here's how it looked before:

After:

The left side has one of my new candle holders from Target (with a newly jewelried candle inside), a small vase and bowl, both from West Elm, and a drawing of a fountain in Paris that my great grandmother bought when she lived there.

The right side has the other new candle, a vase made for me by a friend, and something special....

It's the headband I wore when Rob and I were married. Our 10 year anniversary coming up in a couple weeks has me feeling all sentimental. I dug this out of a basket and decided it should be near it's sibling, my wedding veil.

And just to the left of this little group is this postcard.

My dad sent this to me when I was a kid and he was working out of state one week.

It's crazy that I still have it after almost 20 years.

I'm going to get a frame for it but for now I just leaned it up there to give the mantel a little hit of color. Plus seeing it makes me really happy.

And that's my new mantel look. I can't say how long it will last since I'm always messing with things. But it's a fun change for now.