Happy Monday my homemaking friends!  It's all dreary and drizzly here in Texas, which is not good painting weather.  I'm still working on those dining room chairs and can't wait to show you the finished product!  I just can't finish today because it's all yuck outside and the paint is taking for.  ev.   er.  to dry.  I'm hoping to have them all done soon. 

I was able to finish a few smaller projects today.  Do you remember me telling you that I was able to get some thrifting in over the weekend?  I found two very cool items for my kitchen:

I think I paid 5 bucks for the pair.  Score!  The only problem was they were the totally wrong color.  So I went to Wal-mart to pick up my BFF:

Just a few minutes later, I was adoring them:

Aren't they so pretty?  I've been wanting some color in my kitchen, and this was a great start!  These things are made of some heavy duty metal and I've seen them in department stores at ridiculous prices - I'm completely satisfied with my thrift store knock-offs!

Another thing I'm super excited to tell you about is that the hubs took the time to teach me how to use a few tools this weekend!  Jump up and down and clap, ok?  Cause that's what I did after I made my first project in all of 5 minutes.

First, I asked him to show me how to use the miter saw.  I already knew how to use it to make straight cuts, I had just never attempted to miter or join any corners before.

(Ignore the junk in the background people.  This is a working garage!)

Then I asked him to show me how to use the brad nailer ( I think that's what it is called?)

Heck yes, people, I am in LOVE with these tools!

So, after hubby's demonstration, I used the miter saw and the brad nailer and I made a

few cuts and put in a few staples.  It took all of 5 minutes to produce this:

What is it, you ask?  It looks just like a plain old picture frame, right?

Well, it is!  I made it out of some scrap wood hubby had laying around in the garage.  But the point of the lesson was not to learn how to make a picture frame, it was to learn how to miter corners.  I plan to use those skills to do something like this:

Do you see the character that molding adds to the room?  Ugh.  Love it!  I have been totally inspired by this woman and know that if she can do it, I can do it!  After completing the picture frame, I have every confidence something like this is possible for me.  I can't wait to put my new skills to work!

Have you learned any new skills recently that will help you make your house more of a home?  I'd love to hear about them!

Well peeps, baby boy is sick with an ear infection and his blood sugars have been all crazy this week!  We're doing everything we can to keep him under control but he just has not been feeling well.  At least I know the antibiotic is working because he's not waking up in the middle of the night screaming anymore.  That is always a good thing.  I hate it when my babies are sick!  Besides the ear infection, the hubs and my oldest have had some sort of tummy bug.  Needless to say, most of my work the past few days has not had much to do with home decor.  On top of the illnesses, the dryer went out on Wednesday.  Thank God it was only the heating element and it was a very quick (and inexpensive!) fix.  I'm also very thankful it went out and got repaired before hubby came down with the bug.

Now for some good news - my chairs came in!  Yippee!!!  Here they are, dum duh duh dum:

Oh lov-er-ly!  They are so squishy comfy and the kids love them just as much as I do.  (Hubby also approved.)  I think we're going to spend lots of time in here.  Just a few finishing touches and I will be overjoyed to have at least one room in our house complete!  I've got to figure something out with that table.  Hmmmm . . .

In between stops to the pharmacy and grocery store, (while everyone was still sleeping this morning) I was able to get in a little thrifting.  I picked up some pieces that I can't wait to show you.  I just haven't taken pics yet.  I found an item that I am going to spray paint and when I am finished it will look similar to this:



Instead of the $99 Pottery Barn wants, I paid $3.  Skip.  Jump.  Scream and shout! 

 I looooove a good bargain!



For less than half the price of that one little vase at Pottery Barn, I found the one I plan to re-do, two settings of the antique dishware I plan to use at my sister's shower, a large pillow that will be recovered and  used as a throw on the sofa, a metal napkin holder, metal cook book stand, sugar and creamer dishes, a large picture frame, and a few other items that I can't remember right now but will be showing you soon!

I sincerely hope you're having a blessed weekend and that all your loved ones are well.  I hope to have everyone well around here just as soon as possible so I can get back to all those projects I can't wait to show you!

Happy Homemaking!



Before and After

When we first moved into our house almost 7 years ago, we only planned on living in our "starter home" for five years.  Our children were still quite young at that time, and we knew it would only be enough space for a little while.  Since then, I'm sure all of our friends and neighbors have grown tired of us talking about moving, listening to me go on and on about model homes (I LOVE to visit model homes), and dealing with our wishy-washy attitudes about our home.  We change our minds quite often about what our plans are.  Of course, part of our wishy-washy-ness (I am aware this is not a word!) is due to the fact that our home is old. 

While we love our neighbors and the community we live in, we don't love the pains that go along with owning an older home.  When you drive through an older community, you see the grandparents who raised their kids in the homes they now entertain their grandchildren in, the cracked sidewalks that have held countless bike-riders, the kids playing street hockey under the sprawling oak trees.  What you don't see are the pipes below the ground made of crumbling concrete instead of pvc, the wiring in the walls that now doesn't stand up to housing codes, the teeny-tiny little closets or the floor plans that don't make much sense.  

In the 7 years we've lived here, we have had more headaches than we could count.  Despite all that, I've come to love this little place we call home.  We dream about a bigger place, one with a private bathroom for our daughter and a piece of property with enough room for a pool or a shop or a little pond in back.  Who knows if we'll ever venture out and really go for that dream?  Right now, I'm just so happy making this place our home.  A place full of love and memories and laughter.  A place where friends and family feel welcome and loved.  Hopefully, a place my children will fondly remember when they grow up to tell their own children the stories of their childhood.

I thought I would share with you some before and after pictures.  Some inspiration to get you motivated (if you need it) to make some changes of your own.  We've put a lot of blood (yes, blood), sweat and tears into this house and when I walk around and see what we've accomplished, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for our many blessings.

 When we moved in, the flooring in the dining room, entryway and kitchen looked like this:

BLAH!  All that white was just glaring! 

  Here's where the blood, sweat and tears came in 

(yes, I did some crying, this was hard work!)

 Man, what a mess!  I think it took us 3 days 

to get all that white tile pulled and scraped. 

 Ok, you have to ignore the chair (and the un-painted trim!)

in this pic.  My camera batteries are dead right now, so I'm

using a pic I took last week.  This is what the flooring looks like today.  

I just love the warmth.  Not to mention it is oh.  so.  easy.  to 

keep clean!  I think next time we'll hire someone to pull the tile

and we'll lay the flooring!  They made their job look so easy!

 When we bought the house, the people who sold it to us

were using what we now call the "dining room" as their dog / coat /

whatever-the-heck-else-they could stuff in it room.  

Are you kidding me? We had to look past a LOT to see

the vision in this place!

  The after pic isn't of the entire space, but that's because I'm working

on those chairs!  Here's what one wall looks like now.

No dog beds or water coolers in this space!

 

 

The seller's had the living room looking like this:

See the plexi-glass windows that won't open?

Plus it was so cave-like!  There was no light in here!

We turned it into this:

It's hard to get a good pic of the entire wall, but I

just love our new windows.  I can open them on spring

days and feel the breeze and hear the kids playing outside.

(There are those warm floors again - luuuuuv! - this room had carpet before).

I still want to add some recessed lighting, but for now, a lamp here 

and there does the trick quite nicely.

I know these pics aren't great, but with dead camera batteries I'm going with what I already have saved on my hard drive.  I just wanted to share some of the progress we've made here.  This old house has slowly grown on me, and after all the work we've put into it, I don't know if I'll ever want to upgrade.  There are so many beautiful new floor plans, gated communities, and other amenities we may be missing out on.  There is just no way to replace a labor of love.  That's what this home has been for me.

Do you love your home?  Or do you find yourself wishing for a bigger bathroom, a better yard, a fancier neighborhood?  It's taken some time for me to really embrace and fall in love with this place, but suddenly I am bursting with gratitude for it.  I think it's because I've made up my mind to make it the best home I can, to put my heart and soul into making it a place my husband and children want to come home to.  I am absolutely loving the process and hope you'll stay with me as I share more of what's to come.  I'd love to see what you're working on this spring to make your house feel more like home!

Happy Homemaking my friends!