She Endeavors

Making the time...

2011-10-09T21:06:00.001-04:00

This past week Brian and I decided to break up the work grind with a dose of nature and a hike. There is a mountain with a beautiful trail very close to our house. So, off we went...

This is the bridge that greets you at the beginning.

It really is a very scenic trail.

Now, I didn't get any pictures of all the rocks we tripped over or the trees that I had to hang on to to keep from sliding down the side of the mountain when I was gasping for air trying to keep up with Brian. Apparently, we chose the shorter but steeper trail and the switchbacks were a killer. It was a challenge but in the end it was totally worth it.

Look at the view!

You can see Atlanta from the top and a nearby lake.

It was so peaceful & quiet with perfect weather. We really enjoyed it because rarely do things go this right for us when we try to do something outdoors.

We sat on this bench a good while and talked about everything & nothing.

Sweaty, happy people.

We left our mark..

God is good.

We slept well that night. I hope you take time to enjoy something simple this week.

Backyard Baby Steps

2011-10-07T12:26:00.004-04:00

I've moaned and groaned about my backyard and it's craptastic state for a long time now. I got tired of listening to myself and took two little baby steps in making it somewhere that I would like to spend time.

I have to start by telling you that my mom and I SKIN the plant clearance racks at Lowe's on a regular basis. They always have great plants that just need to be watered (most of the time) for like $1.00 to $1.25 and the same plants were going for $7-$10 a week ago. So with that in mind, I decided it was time to beautify the backyard.

So I took these..

And some of this:

And we turned this dirt patch (with a lovely stump) ...

Into this..

I can see this flower bed from my kitchen window and it makes me happy...worth every minute I had manure compost on me (note to self, next time don't wear flip flops).

The pinkish-red bell flowers attract hummingbirds & butterflies. I also have Veronica Lavender and Autumn Joy Sedum in this bed.

And the stump is being very helpful in keeping my lovely pot upright.

And look who is still around!! Here is one of the little black kittens from earlier this summer. Unfortunately, only 2 of the 5 are still here - we named them Kevin & Pickles. I don't know what happened to the others. They're scaredy cats and it has taken weeks & weeks for them to trust us. They eat by the back door instead of the very back of the yard and I can pet them now. I'm taking them to the vet next week..we're just winging it from there. I'd love to rehome them but 2 skiddish kittens are a hard sell. Although, Kevin is turning into a love bug..so I think they will be wonderful little kitties once I can really get my hands on them.

Ok, moving on...here's the second bed...

I already had some of these plants here but it needed to be cleaned up. A little bit of hump-busting work on a Saturday and we're done! It looks a little weinee-ish now but these plants will fill out and be gorgeous next year.

I'm going to have some fun in the back with color.

And check out these great pallets!! I am thinking we'll work these into some kind of outdoor furniture around the fire pit (that doesn't exist yet, but we're working on it).

And one little nod to the garden that we've enjoyed all summer...

They were delicious!

Thai Basil - yummm! We made flavored oil, added it to salads and gave quite a bit away, too. The flavor is amazing and it smells just as good!

So bye to summer fun...until next year...

(Two posts in 2 days...are you amazed?)

Smell ya later,

Furniture-O-Rama

2011-10-06T18:09:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be cramming a lot into this post, so get ready for some picture overload. By the way, hi! It's me...Jennifer. Remember? If you don't, non taken...

One of the up sides of not blogging for a while is your project pipeline backs WAY up! I have a nice backlog of posts now. One of my goals was to clear out the garage and I managed to put a nice dent in our storehouse of furniture. And let me just say, Brian is so happy! It looks like he may actually get to park in the garage this winter...dreams DO come true!

First up is this cute little vanity/desk that I keep in my closet for storage.

Before:

The wood on this desk was extremely orange. It doesn't show bad in this picture but I never liked the stain. I was already in the process when I remembered to get a picture.

After:

This is a couple of layers of paint. First coat was too light blue, second coat was too green, so I mixed the two, added a little black and got what I wanted.

You can see the layers of color in this pic. I actually kept the original knobs; that was a new one for me.

Ahhh...solid wood top (without the orange tint).

So, here it is in my closet, along with my tub-o-purses and pile of clothes that need to be Dryel'd. I have an older home with skinny closets...gotta be creative with storage.

Another project that I scratched off my list was this chest..

Before:

Cute little Goodwill find. Love the casters but the stickers across the top?..not so much

After:

This went home with my sister. She is as bad a furniture collector as I am..in fact, me, my mom & sister (and it looks like my nieces now, too) are constantly changing furniture out & moving it around.

I painted it a light gray & white and changed out the knobs.

Another was this simple but very cute dresser..

I don't have a before picture. I hate it when I forget to take the pictures! It's already delivered and full of stuff, I'm sure.

And one more thing..

I've been working on our den for a while now. We've been doing things here and there, a little at a time. Well, I finally refinished my built-in desktop. I decided to decoupage it in old book pages and I couldn't be happier with it. My only regret is waiting so long to do it. We're adding the crown molding in the next couple of days and I'm finally going to show the whole thing finished. It's amazing what beadboard, old books, paint & some glue can do!!

I'm linking to: All Things Furniture at Perfectly Imperfect, TDC's Before & After Party

For a while I have wondered how to sign off on these posts. In an effort to be faithful to my true self, I'm going to tell you like I tell my friends and family all the time...

Smell ya later,

Hallway & Some Befores

2011-08-20T00:01:00.007-04:00

For pete's sake! It's been a MONTH since I've been on here! I feel like the page creaked when it loaded just now. When I have to choose between family, work, my sanity or blogging...blogging gets kicked to the curb.

While my job can be demanding at times, I work with some pretty awesome people. In fact, my hilarious friend & coworker, Leslie, sent me this card. I got it in the mail today and LAUGHED my head off....

The inside reads, "A bad day is all about perspective."

Classic. She's the best & I don't know what I would do without her!

So let me show you the hallway. We finished it a few weeks ago and I'm pretty happy with the new look.

Before:

I had already taken down pictures and started patching the walls.

After:

Ta-da!!! Yes, it's a white hallway. Seriously, though this was A LOT of work. Brian installed all new trim, added crown molding and then I caulked & painted everything. The devil is in the details and he whipped me on this one, but it was totally worth it!

Here it is at night with the light dimmed.....looooove it!

Here's a view from the back of the hall. I have some blank frames hanging while I work out which pictures go where. This will also motivate me to get enlargements finally made of vacation pictures. I'm the worst about getting that kind of stuff done.

What I really like is that I can easily add more pictures and go bananas with frames from ceiling to floor, and it will totally work with my look here.

Other side.

We used the slip-on corner pieces and I love how easy they are to install (or I should say Brian loved how easy they were to install.)

I flipped the attic cover and found this grooved wood. Love it!

And yet, another angle. It feels more open and brighter now.

Before I run, let me show you really quick what I have going on for the next few days (and next couple of years)...

I have this chest painted and will be putting the finishing touches on it sometime this weekend. This one is going up for sale.

I'm sanding the top of this coffee table and will stain it, then paint the legs. It's a nice solid piece.

This is what's going to take a few years...my backyard rehab...

We had 2 Bradford Pear trees removed last week. It's always hard for me to pull the trigger on trees but it had to be done. (Bradford Pears are brittle and will split in half and make a mess.) We have a lot of work to do but this was a good start. Now that we're getting some good sun back here, we're going to relocate and expand our garden for next year.

And I'm working on this..

When the guys cut the trees down, they trashed my trumpet vine. Not a big deal - it needed to be pruned anyway. A little TLC and some paint and this will be ready to enjoy when the weather cools down some.

Mom says that as long as you own a home you will never be finished. And you know what? She's right! Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you soon!

I'm linking to The Before & After Party at TDC, Anything Goes at Type A.

Hugs-

A Feature at Type A!!

2011-07-18T10:46:00.000-04:00

Super sweet Tammy from Type A featured me today!!! Hop on over to see my guest post AND there's a peek at the hallway.

Hugs and a good day to you!

Happy Day!

2011-07-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

Today is a special anniversary for me and my husband. We met exactly 6 years ago..so every July 14 we try to do something just a little special..nothing major, but something nice. Usually we go to the restaurant where we had our 1st date. It's a very charming place off a very cute square in a nearby town.

Well, this year I pulled out ALL the stops for Brian. Do you want to see what I gave him for our special day??

A destroyed hallway that needs to be put back together!!! JUST what he wanted...

While he's doing the trim & molding...I'll be painting these frames (all for $25 at ReStore)..

and finish taping then paint the hall door..

So.....

He's VERY understanding of my wonky ways...one of the many, many reasons I adore him!

I'll leave you with some Norah Jones and one of our favorite songs.....

Lamp, Finds & a Few Changes!.

2011-07-11T23:56:00.003-04:00

Hey kids! I'm having movie night with Brian and it's a sobering one..The Company Men on Netflix. Pretty good but it's a huge dose of reality. I prefer to live in lala-land, personally!

I'm making some changes to my blog by adding new pages and getting a little more organized. It's going to be slipshod for a while, so bear with me.

My sister and her family came to town this past weekend for a visit and we did some junking (woo-hoo). Here's what I snagged:

Picked up another globe for my son's room from an antique shop. I'm going to paint the stand red. He really likes his collection!

Now this one, I love! I found this fixture at Habitat..it was $8.00 and 50% off..yep, $4.00! I have already spruced it up and I can't wait to show you how it turned out. We're going to hang it in the hallway that I'm working on now. I have the walls patched, sanded, trim off..basically, it's a flipping mess! Now I have to put it all back together - the fun part.

Moving on...remember this?

I'm using it in the den for a little pop of color.

Here is what I did with it...

I used spray glue and covered the shade with the silk floral print and trimmed the rough edges with a cream ribbon. This lamp looked like this not too long ago, but I didn't think the blue was working in this space, so I changed it up. I think the orange is MUCH better!

Another little shot of color. I'm tickled with how the den is turning out. We still have to put up crown molding. I added my own special touch to the carpet by knocking over my paint tray. Brian says it looks like a flower...it happened in slow motion and it totally sucked eggs to clean up. I'll include a shot of it in the "big reveal".

Here are a few of the pillows I made with the other fabric. (I didn't have the heart to knock Olive out of her comfy spot.)

And you'll never, ever guess what else I'm doing....can you tell what this is?

It's a family of kitties that showed up in my backyard a few days ago! Apparently, they got the tweet with my address and headed on over. It's a mommy with her 4 babies. This picture is taken from far away because they are super skiddish. I'm not sure if they're totally feral but it's going to take some time to win them over. We are making arrangements to get mommy fixed before she finds herself in a 'family way' again, then the babies. After all of that, they are going to need to be relocated.

I'm finding a lot of great resources as I take in all these little guys and I'm going to be sharing them from now on on my Pet Rescue page. Some of the groups I'm working with have chapters all over, so hopefully it will be useful for others that are stray magnets, like myself. Please check it for updates.

I was watching the movie while writing this, so if part of this post makes no sense, you know why.

Talk to ya later! Hugs-

Stargazers, Catch Up & Hallway!

2011-07-06T23:27:00.001-04:00

If you were here, I would tell you that you MUST smell this beauty....

Stargazers are my favorite flower.

I have a few that come back every year and this year they were huge!

I didn't have to edit these pics. They had just bloomed & were perfect.

Ok, now on to this last week.. I'm not going to bore you with all the details, so here's the Reader's Digest version.

First of all..do you guys know what this is?

That's Goliath. It's an INSANE roller coaster at Six Flags.

Rule #1, don't ride roller coasters when you're stopping for Pepto on the WAY TO Six Flags because you feel queasy. Rule #2, LOOK at the roller coaster BEFORE you get on it. I didn't do that. I just got in line behind my husband and hopped on...like an idiot.

Sure, it was a thrill to feel my face smearing off as we zoomed along the track and down a 175 ft. drop at 70 mph, but was it worth it? You tell me, I got off the ride, went straight to the ladies' room & barfed. I was a trooper though..we were at the park another 7 hours (SEVEN HOURS) after that, spending the last 2 hours soaking wet from all the water rides. My conclusion, I think I'm getting too old for some of this.

The next highlight was a fierce storm that blew through July 4th. Lightning knocked on my front door, came in and cooked my modem, seriously..it was FRIED. So after many, many phone calls to AT&T and a delivery from UPS, we have a new modem and are up & running. Being offline was strange, to say the least. I didn't realize how much I rely on the internet; the upside is, I got a stupid amount of projects either finished or nearly finished (applause, applause). The newest one started is my hallway...

Kinda before:

I took all of our pictures down, then remembered to take a picture.

After I have worked my magic with spackle. Since this is a small space, I'm going to do something that packs a punch.

I'm inspired by this:

Coco&Kelley

I'm not quite sure exactly how I'm going to paint the hall or the frames yet but I love LOVE this picture. This is beadboard all over but I think white paint will have a similar impact, as long as the details are done well.

I finally have stuff to share on the den but since I didn't want to do megapost, I thought I'd wait until tomorrow. I'll talk to you later & it's good to be back online!!

Hugs,

I Am a Patriot

2011-07-04T13:21:00.001-04:00

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

- Thomas Paine, The Father of the American Revolution

It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.

- J. Horace McFarland

God bless our country and our people on our nation's 235th year of independence!

How to age over night..and an armoire...

2011-06-24T22:06:00.005-04:00

Intrigued on how to feel like you are 80 years old in the blink of an eye? Well, I won't leave you hanging in suspense...throw your back out. That'll do it! You can go from being an optimistic, active "go-getter" to being a flat out mess (not even a hot mess) unable to sit, stand or lay down without feeling like there's a hot axe in your back put there by the devil himself. That has been me off and on for the past week.

After carefully retracing my steps, I believe I figured out where I went wrong. It has something to do with this thing...

and thinking that I can move mountains (and monster furniture) by myself just because I own one.

I am on the mend now and I've learned my lesson. I've said this over and again, but I have to give Brian props for being the best husband. I know, without a doubt, that he'll be there to wipe the drool off my chin when we're old and he won't even think I'm gross. *sigh*

Enough about my shenanigans, I finished the armoire that I mentioned in this post .

Before:

Here it is newly painted and at home in the den.

I used some leftover chalk paint I had. Since it dries out kinda fast, I didn't want to waste any of that precious gold. I used the ceiling paint color (a light gray) to add some details.

Ceramic knobs from Hobby Lobby.

This piece was simple but it also had a few very pretty little details.

It tiered up on the top and I took advantage of all of those lines.

I don't rush trying to put together a vignette. I kinda let it evolve; they just seem to turn out better for me that way. The picture on the left was given to me by my Mom from her trip to Spain, she also gave me that fabulous old typewriter. It's the sentimental stuff I love most of all. I drew the flowers on the right myself.

Here's a little closer look. I drew this at work one day. I doodle a lot and I guess it pays off sometimes. Instant art! Guess what my inspiration was? My mousepad...it's a souvenir that my brother gave me with beautiful flowers on it. I think I've stared at that mousepad for so long those flowers are burned in my psyche (I work some long hours at times).

Lastly, I added more of my accent color with old books.

One more thing, I want to thank Stephanie Lynn at Under The Table & Dreaming for featuring my armoire! She graciously hosts a fabulous linky party every Sunday.

Ok, well, since my glass of wine isn't going to drink itself on this rainy Friday night, I'm going to take off now. I hope you all enjoy the weekend and thank you so much for coming by.

Hugs to you -

I'm linking to: Funky Junk's SNS, Miss Mustard Seed's FFF

Desk For An End Table

2011-06-13T09:53:00.009-04:00

Two posts in two days...I know it's a shocker!

In my long journey to turn my dumpy den into a fabulous family room, I have moved around quite a bit of furniture. I'm really big on storage...I need it - have to have it. One recent change that has really helped was the addition of this desk between the chair & sofa.

(As you can tell by the trash bags, I run a professional operation here.) It had been by the front door but when I added the armoire, I had to move it. It looked good just like this but I thought it would be too dark in the den and wanted to lighten it up a bit.

I saw this on the Sundance website and fell in love with their whole line painted like it:

I like how it's painted but still plenty of the beautiful wood is showing

With that as inspiration, I did this:

I used latex paint that I already had. Dover White & Ashley Gray (at 50% strength). I drybrushed then sanded.

I like how the paint really brings out the details like the planked sides.

I left the hardware alone.

The end result reminded me of chalk paint. This was really old wood so it took the paint really well.

There's a lot of wood showing on the top. Very lightly dry brushed.

It's so hard for me to get a good lighting shot in this den. I'm going to have to figure something out.

Maybe I'll take a page from Doo's book and use a bedspread and pot lid.

I'm linking to these parties: Type A's Anything Goes Party, Met Monday @ BNOTP

Thanks for coming by!

Reworked it til I LOVED it!!

2011-06-11T11:55:00.007-04:00

Part of the upside of not posting is that your projects pile up and there's plenty to talk about! Before I get into the furniture part let me just tell you that I have one hour to color my hair, dress and be ready to walk out the door. We're going to my sister's in AL where we are celebrating my brother-in-law's retirement from the Army. So, of course after spotty blogging for over a month, I feel the need to get this post up under a time crunch. I should put my color on THEN do this...brb. Now I'm sitting here looking like I have a massive head wound with my wet burgundy colored head. Lovely.

So in this post I talked about the armoire..and how I was going to use it and how I painted this design on it. Like some other projects I've done, I didn't like this and the more I looked at it the more I wanted to change it. I mean if you don't LOVE it then why have it? SO, I got out my ever faithful Mod Podge and my favorite postcards and sheet music covers and went.to.town!

Now I'm like this:

Stick a fork in it..I'm done!

Here's the new look. It's very graphic and perfect for this room.

It reminds of an old suitcase with stickers all over it.

Here's a little breakdown..

These are the little Dutch postcards I picked up at an estate sale last year. I still have plenty left and I will appreciate them a lot more now that I will see them every time I come in or go out the front door.

I've said this before, using chalk paint is a messy business if you can't do it outside but it distresses beautifully.

I love all the different fonts, colors and pictures!

Little pink house on Shady Lane.

Time to wash this crud outta my hair, so I gotta go but let me show you two more things really quick.

This is the new accent color for the den. I totally changed my mind from the blue. It didn't give enough of a punch. I covered a lampshade and made pillows with it. I'll show you guys that when I get back.

The other thing...

I bought this off Craigslist a couple of weeks ago. It's repainted and in place with stuff crammed in it already. I'll show that too when I get back.

Hugs to y'all and have a good weekend!

Linking to these parties: Type A's Anything Goes Party, SNS @ Funky Junk, Under The Table And Dreaming,

Let me dust this thing off....

2011-05-31T21:33:00.009-04:00

Haven't touched my blog in weeks! I feel out of touch for real this time...haven't done much computer wise outside of work in a while. I tell ya what I have done though...I've seen a lot of movies, read a book, spent a lot of time with my peeps, ruined a slipcover, sewed a lot of pillows, covered a lampshade, acquired another cat, started 530am workouts again and I painted this....

Here's the before to this big old girl. I used chalk paint in Old White & sealed it with Fiddes & Sons clear wax. The sanding part was messy but it's a smooth as silk finish and it's so easy to get an authentic distressed look with chalk paint. It was super expensive though - $89 for 2 quarts (with shipping)! I will say that not having to prime or prep at all was worth it!

I found this design on the internet from the Paperchase Folk Tree collection and loved it. It has a Scandinavian feel to me which is what I wanted for this piece.

I posted this and then messed with it some more..I think I'm finished now, so here's the after, after:

I used my overhead to keep scale and acrylic paint, then sanded and added a stain to dull the colors a bit. I wanted it to look worn & faded.

I outlined the flower tree so it would stand out. I like how it looks a little haphazard & folksy.

The extra storage is AWESOME!

I love this part - little bird hooks for our keys!

I love all the muddled colors

Still can't believe I got this armoire for $40.

Pretty details.

Here's a back view. We have an open floor plan and this helps separate the front door from the living/dining rooms. So you can hide if someone comes to the door and you're not decent (and by you, I mean me)!

Now on to my newest little wanderer...

This one just showed up last week. Scraggly little guy with an eye infection, ear mites, hungry...all kinds of beat up...will you just look at that poor little face. I think he was working me.

So we fed him, loved on him, took him to the vet, got him neutered & named him Scooter.

I tried to make him an inside only kitty but I can't tame his wild heart. He's happiest skipping around the yard.

He follows me to the mailbox every day.

Here he is after dinner...big old tummy and ready to nap!

So there ya go...more furniture & another kitty! Another bit of good news, we're now sponsoring a little boy from the Philippines. His name is Fritz and he's 9 (the same age as my son). I'll share more info on the program as I learn it myself. I got started here. We're really excited to get to know this little boy.

Now that I finally posted something I hope someone is still around to read it!!

Hugs to you - until next time,

Whatchadoin?

2011-05-15T23:05:00.003-04:00

I've been up to my eyeballs in alligators!

Work, work, work..

I work from home which is awesome and I'm totally blessed to have such a good job, so I don't complain. But when it gets busy at my office, I just settle in because I know that I'm not going anywhere or doing anything except meeting deadlines (the joke around my office is we'll all have company issued catheters, so we won't ever have to leave our computer!)

That means..no blogging, no painting, no new cool finds...

seriously, it's sad.

But, wait..what's this?

It's daylight!! I'm coming out of the dark tunnel of deadlines, conference calls & late nights and into the light!

And I'm thrilled!!!

But I have to tell you this, you know I LOVE my cats but I swear they are going to put us in the poorhouse! Three of them came down with a terrible case of the kitty flu/strep. They are all ok now, thank goodness (after several trips to the vet and swipes on my debit card)! Giving one cat meds is bad enough, but THREE was miserable and they all have devil claws to boot!

That was at the beginning of the week THEN I was cleaning out a desk drawer and moved the garage door opener - didn't think a thing about it. So I'm just piddling around the house, doing my own thing and then I wondered where all the cats where..no one was around. Well, I accidentally OPENED the garage door when I moved the opener and let all my cats out and didn't realize it until about 1.5 hours later. So we had to round them up at 10pm with flashlights and that took hours..one came back the next morning like the conquering hero..bunch of dummies.

On the upside, we actually started putting the finishing touches on the den this weekend. My goal is to get everything finished (except the flooring) this week. We're painting the ceiling now and it's NOT white! Woohoo!

Well, I just wanted to say hi! Talk to ya soon -

Aliens & Tables & Mom!

2011-05-09T22:26:00.007-04:00

That pretty much sums up my Mother's Day! Before anything else, I want to thank my mother, Betty Jane. My brother, sister & I have been blessed, truly blessed, with a generous, strong, kind, light-hearted, sincere, faith-walking, praying, spanked you when you needed it, unconditional-loving mother. I spent Saturday (Sunday too!) with her...

If this picture disappears you'll know she didn't like it and made me take it down.

We had a nice lunch & bought beautiful fabric! How awesome is that? Here are a few of the things I gave Mom..

I just love the whole look of this one. It's perfect in her living room! It was part of the furniture pile I brought home a week or two ago.

Here's the before:

I had already sanded the top down.

Next, lamps....

I also gave her set of brass lamps a lift. She loves them - mission accomplished! (But let me just say this, you'd have to pay me $1000 to make another lampshade like this...no how, no way..nuh-uh. Burlap is miserable to work with..I know it's dearly loved by many, but it sure can mess up your contacts with all that lint flying around. Not to mention when you have hot glue stuck to your fingers and burlap lint stuck to the hot glue..MIS-ER-yyyy.) But if you are up for a challenge, then click here to see how I made this shade.

Here's the lamp before:

We had these when I was a kid..time for a change. Oil Rubbed Bronze & the shade update brought them back to life!

One more table..

Looking a little tired & very, very brown.

Again, it's perfect for her living room. I just love the lines of these tables..SO pretty! A little paint & elbow grease go a long way..and a really good sander.

And seriously, how could you not appreciate that beauty?

As for my Mother's Day...

Hey...what's this? For moi?

(BTW, delivery person - don't mind the plants, just drop it anywhere!)

On top of living with two funny guys who keep my life interesting & full of love, they gave me a spray painter for my special day! No more aching hands or wrists from holding a brush for hours!

My two sweetheart aliens take good care of me!

Before I go..

Little Birdie here is hoping you all had a wonderful time celebrating Moms!

and Betty left you some flowers....

Talk to you soon!

P.S. I'm linking to the side bar parties!

Lady Luck Smiled At Me (& I hope it's not haunted....)

2011-05-01T19:45:00.001-04:00

Lady Luck did give me a nod and here's my story...

I've been pining for an armoire/wardrobe for a while. We really, really need a coat closet and I thought that would be a great solution while adding a little foyer area when you walk in the front door.

So, I found a few armoires that I liked on Craigslist and sent emails to see if they were still available..in the meantime, we had new garage doors installed. I got carriage doors and love them! Not real carriage just stamped, but in my book, they weren't cheap. I decided to hold off on an armoire b/c I felt a little queasy spending so much money in ONE week. So I emailed the lady back telling her I would have to pass - she wrote me right back and told me I could have it for free just please come get it!! She said I was the only person who was interested and she wanted to get rid of it. Of course, I was beyond tickled.

We picked it up yesterday..

It's a HUGE, very old wardrobe and the finish is pretty banged up, but it has locks that work, dovetailed drawers (my fav), plenty of storage & aged mirrors. It's all around awesome! I'm going to paint it, but I'm going to live with it for a while first. (hard to get a good pic but you get the idea)

I couldn't just take it. I insisted the lady take something for it, so in the end I got it for $40. She was a widow and this was her late husband's and it seemed she really wanted it out of the house. So here's the part that kind of creeped me out, I was watching "My Ghost Story" last night (because I'm a giant chicken & regularly scare the tar out of myself with shows like this).. anyway, they were talking about haunted houses and haunted FURNITURE...hello! I was watching some haunted chair terrorize a woman and turned around and looked at this wardrobe wondering if I really DID get a good deal....dun, dun, dunnnnnnn. Crossing my fingers all I brought home was furniture!

Adding to that, this is what my living room looks like now..

Doesn't this look warm & inviting? The two white tables are sold and one was delivered this morning. I'm going to get that wooden desk on the left ready for sale this week.

Today we went to a festival and it was so nice to get out of the house. We're all dirty & tired..all in all, a pretty good weekend.

Talk to you soon & take care -

Tables Up To My EYEBALLS!

2011-04-30T14:53:00.001-04:00

I'm dead serious when I say I have tables all over the house and into the garage. I don't know what the deal is but lately that's all I'm finding! The good thing is they are pretty awesome tables, both in quality and shape. Dibbs have already been called on 3 of them and I'm painting those.

Here's my haul..

On top of Tables R Us in the truck bed, I had the back seat stuffed too!

This is one of the tables that's been sold - chairs sold too...working on getting them finished & moving them out!

We might end up keeping this one (at least for a while) because Brian loves the storage. I have sanded the top down, restained it and waxed it. I'm painting the base to go with the den.

I can't tell if this was handmade or what. It's made with old fashioned nails & wood planks - it's very cool.

So this is what I'm working on right now. I've been distracted lately and haven't finished alot of my furniture. You all probably know about the terrible, terrible storms we had tear through the South. Our town was hit and I'm amazed at how quickly my little community has pulled together to help the ones who literally lost everything they own. We were in duck & cover mode for hours; it was pretty scary at times. I count my blessings that my sister and her family are okay too. She lives in Harvest, AL and it was devastated by one tornado after another. Subdivisions all around her were destroyed..it's amazing how some homes are left standing and others have disappeared.

I count each day a blessing and hope you all are enjoying yours!

In love with my loveseat!

2011-04-25T22:16:00.003-04:00

First of all, I hope you all had a nice Easter! We did..just relaxed and took it all in. I appreciate everyone one who prayed for my friend (previous post). I talked to her today and she's doing as well as can be expected. She's a tough cookie but keep those positive thoughts & prayers for her!

Ok, so I keep thinking I'm finished with the living room but then I see something and want to switch it all up! My latest move was changing out loveseats. I had a Cushman wood sofa in this spot but it just wasn't very comfortable for "crapping out," as we call it around here. So when Brian and I saw this cushy sofa at GW, we brought it home.

It was in pristine condition. Love the shape of it but the stripes in the upholstery were a bear to cover. I had to double layer the slipcover (that was a new one). It was a lot of extra work and UNfun!

Here it is all finished. I think the piping really accentuates the shape of the arms. Plus, Olive likes it..so..that's important. I would hate to not have cat hair all over it.

I really like the curvy legs.

I woke her up..I don't think she cares about my blog.

Look at her pretty green eyes..they match the pillow.

Before, before:

This is the living room with the wooden loveseat..we're moving that to the patio.

After:

I think this looks better and it's SO comfortable!

So I picked up a truckload of furniture last week, literally. The garage is crammed, CRAMMED full. I have to get busy painting..can we add more hours to a day? Let me know if you've figured that out! I'm linking to all the cool parties in the sidebar.

I have a pile of dishes to take care of, so we'll talk soon -

Prayer Request

2011-04-19T15:12:00.000-04:00

Hi sweet friends,

I had this whole post ready to go on a slipcover and then I received devastating news about one of my dearest, most precious friends.

Jane is a strong woman with an amazing love for Christ and I credit her with literally saving my life. She suffered a tremendous loss this week and out of respect and love, I'm focusing on lifting her in prayer. So I would really appreciate it if anyone who reads this would say a prayer for peace for Jane. I love her so much and I wish I could take away her pain.

I read somewhere that none of us escapes this life without tragedy, unfortunately, it's true. Hug your family and make sure everyone knows how much you love them.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

Wishing you all a peaceful Easter...

love,

Everything BUT blog

2011-04-16T21:39:00.007-04:00

I know you guys can relate..between working my day job, taking care of the fam, the house and furniture rehab I am wiped out at night! So by the time I could blog, I was just too tired. All of that changed today and we had a fun & relaxing day.

So this past week I finished a table that has been sitting in my dining room for weeks.

It's a pine table with great storage.

It's one of those 70's pieces. I don't have a before pic of it but it was stained that orangey color with black flecks - blech. I painted it Dover white and lightly distressed it. I used Fiddes & Sons clear wax - that stuff is awesome. It was so easy to buff.

It was nice to sand that top down & appreciate the pretty wood..so satisfying. If you want more details on this piece, it's for sale at SpringHouse Furniture.

Do you want to see a happy man?

We have a good sized yard and it can take hours to mow both front & back with a push mower. With this baby, it took Brian 35 min to mow both today! It's weird what you find exciting as you get older...mowers, garage doors, paint chips...life has definitely changed.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and we'll talk soon -

Peacock Blue Table

2011-04-11T10:43:00.000-04:00

Geez what a weekend! I worked my hiney off getting furniture ready to sell and it's taking me SO long to get it all posted. I hope I get faster with practice. I have this table posted here ready to go to a new home!

I had alot of fun painting this one...here is what the poor thing looked like when I brought it home..

Gorgeous oak table in need of a makeover!

After:

I am really loving this color!

Here's the breakdown:

First a coat of Wipeout by Behr. I didn't want full coverage, so only one coat.

Then I dry brushed Dover White (remixed from Benjamin Moore) over it.

I drybrushed horizontally & vertically.

Before drybrushing...

After drybrushing.

Then I used my sanding block to distress it. I glazed with Ebony by Minwax. I've tried a lot of different glazes and I always go back to using Minwax stain. I really like how you can manipulate it and get the exact look you want and IMHO you can't beat the colors.

Last step was to protect the finish with a coat of wax. I wish I could keep this one but I can't, so it's up for sale!

I'm linking to the parties listed in my sidebar.

Talk to you soon!

It's Official!!

2011-04-09T19:28:00.001-04:00

We've officially started our business..SpringHouse Furniture Design & Finds!

The site is ready and I will keep a button linking to it on the side bar from now on. I have been painting all day and will have a few things up for sale by tomorrow. It's a lot of work but I have to say I LOVE IT!! In addition to selling furniture, I'm going to offer slipcovers but I have to figure out the logistics of it. So if you're local and interested, then please let me know and we can work something out.

Until we talk again..shine on!

Peacock Blue Lamp

2011-04-07T17:21:00.001-04:00

My brother lives in California and while I deal with stray cats and squirrels here in Georgia, he has peacocks strolling around his neighborhood! We visited him last summer and had a wonderful time (duh, it's California!) and I totally fell in love with those peacocks and their beautiful colors.

I was looking for an accent color to add to the den and thought a toned down version of the peacock blue would be perfect. Here is a lamp that I painted and set up today...

I love the shape of this lamp. I couldn't find a before picture of it but it's just a plain old brass lamp. I know most of you guys are the same way but I don't pay any attention to the color, fabric or anything like that when I'm out on the hunt. I look for shape..if I like the shape, then I can work with it.

The color is called Wipeout by Behr & I glazed it with jacobean stain.

So this blue will be the pop of color in my otherwise neutral den.

I'm keeping it short today! We're working some more on our garden this evening and I finally decided to put some flowers out. It's officially feeling like spring to me!!

I'm linking to parties in the sidebar...click away!

Talk to you later -

Curtains, A Pillow & Fabric Heaven

2011-04-06T20:50:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned Fabric & Fringe a few times here lately. I'm going to give you the low down on it today but first, I would like to show you what I've made from their fab-u-lous fabrics...

Dining room curtains..

I used swing rods over this window, so I didn't need full panels on both sides - they're just for show.

This fabric was $15 a yard. I used 3 yards, cut it in half and lined each piece with a $5 flat sheet from Walmart that was also cut in half.

I don't remember how much this was but I LOVED the peacock blue. (I'm painting a table right now inspired by this blue.) I made 2 pillows and trimmed them with brown pom-poms.

I've shown these curtains before. They're in the den (and it's still a work in progress). I lined them with drop cloths that I had left over from making slipcovers.

This is why I think Fabric & Fringe has an awesomeness problem...

First..it's a pretty store from the outside..

And it has a nice room to drop off uninterested parties that you brought with you....(the lighting in the store was terrible for pictures).

They sell jewelry reworked from vintage pieces.

And it has all of this:

Tassels & tiebacks

All kinds of fabric in all colors...

Racks & racks of trim...

Cowhide anyone?

Loooooong aisles of fabric bolts

I have tons more pictures but like I said, the lighting was really bad and they don't do the store justice. If you are in North Georgia then go, go, GO! It's a great resource and it's really inspiring to see all the colors and combinations that you may not have considered.

I'm off to finish painting my table & I have to bring chairs in from outside. Did I tell you we've started a vegetable garden? My first one! If you have any tips on growing your own food, I'd love to hear it!

Talk to you soon -

The Green Hornet aka My Buffet

2011-04-04T17:04:00.016-04:00

I love this buffet. It was a steal but needed some work. I knew right away that I wanted to paint it - Brian fought it. He was leaning more towards a full restoration of the mahogany. Since it didn't look that bad, we just put it in the dining room and used it. We left it in it's "before" state for years...

Before:

We snagged this for $40. It was really dark and I REALLY wanted to paint it. This is actually a good picture of it - the veneer was damaged & it was pretty beat up. I was hoping Brian would change his mind about painting it and he did!!.....

After:

Yeah..BIG change. The heavy distressing brought out the details.

It took a lot of sanding to get through that hard finish.
(I don't have man hands, btw. That's Brian sanding)

The top was polished with 2 coats of wax.

It's a bold look but it really works in this room especially with the curtains. The walls look bright on my monitor but they aren't scary green.

Token busted drawer.

Gorilla glue took care of it.

Dovetailed drawers are a beautiful thing.

I know this look isn't for everyone but I looooove it.

Just another view .

Like I said, it really works in my dining room and painting this piece means that the whole room is FINALLY finished!! Now, I'm making some pillows and painting furniture like crazy (we're supposed to have a storm move in tonight and I gotta move quick). Hope you all had a good Monday!

Talk to you soon -

I'm linking to Thrifty Decor Chick's Before & After & all the parties in my side bar. Check them out and see a ton of other cool projects!!