Design Inspirations

love the colors in this painting

I love the color combination in this room.  I actually took this picture for a friend that loves the beachy motif and laugh now because I just painted our living room a similar shade.

My Aunt and Uncle had a sunburst mirror when I was little and I loved it.  Now they're super trendy and I still want one for myself.

Can't wait until our kitchen makeover is done!  Our countertop should be in in a week or so.  Love the radius of the counter and the bold print on the chairs.

I love the idea of built-in seating.  I love how casual and cozy this eating area feels.

What can I say?  I have a thing for mirrors!  I would love to replicate this look in our home.

Be still my soul!  I am obsessed with the Lucite table and chrome back chairs.

Love the light fixture in this room and the pops of color.

I love the eclectic feel of this room and love the painting.

Color coordinated bookshelves...need I say more?

I like the traditional pattern mixed with a more modern color palette.  I almost bought this fabric and then realized I couldn't think of a place to put it.  I may or may not regret that choice!

I think this fabric would be great for an upholstered headboard which is on my list of things to do.

This fabric would look so great in our sunroom.

What don't I love in this picture?  I want to do an upholstered panel like this in our dining area to help with acoustics.  Love the yellow, gray and teal.  Love the cute little owl.

What's Cookin'

Check out some of what got whipped up in our kitchen today over at http://www.delprioredish.blogspot.com/

Waterproofing

It poured rain Thursday all through the night.  We went to Hubby's manager's wedding at an adorable Victorian home here in Horse Country.  We all got seated and it started storming again!  We came home once again to a leaking skylight...not a settling feeling.  We saw from the weather reports that it would clear up by Saturday morning.  Hubby got on the roof Saturday morning and assessed the situation.  Evidently someone tried to fix it before and used untreated wood, the rotting wood seemed to be the source of the problem so we were off to Lowe's to get supplies.  By late afternoon all was well in the world because our home was waterproof again and Hubby was off the roof.  A word to the wise, tar does not come off easily.  His clothes were trashed from this project and I had to scrub and clip and nip to get most of the tar off of his hands/nails.  I am so thankful to have a husband that is so handy.  He really is amazing!

Necessity is the mother of all invention- while he was on the roof we used a rope and shopping bag to get tools and other supplies up and down. 

It's amazing how things work out- the rope that we used was purchased and never used before this day...who knows why we bought it!  While at Lowe's we couldn't find the right type of screws for the project, I looked down and there was a box of the exact screws we had been looking for completely out of place and just for us.  Our neighbors told us when we moved in that if we ever needed a ladder that we could borrow one, we were able to get just what we needed from them Saturday morning.  Not to mention the fact that we came home Thursday night, that was not the plan.  Had we not come home, I'm sure that we would have had some type of water damage on our kitchen floors.  Too many blessings to count!

On Thursday

We went to the Capital City to pick up Hubby's new glasses and contacts.  He hasn't worn glasses since right after we got married (about 7 years) so it was a fun change.

 He was really happy with his new look but thought something seemed a little off.

 We went to my favorite little deli and got some greek turkey...oh how I love TOS.  While there he realized he had the wrong prescription so we headed back to the doctor's office to drop them back off.  And now we wait for the special order lens to come in.  We headed to my sister, Babs, house.

 We witnessed Munchie learn to ride a bike without training wheels, thanks to her Papa.

 She was very proud of herself, and so were we!

 Gigi cruised around while Munchie practiced and...

Uncly Hubby tried to give E a pep talk before trying to teach him how to ride a bike without training wheels.  We thought that we would get through to him better than his parents, how foolish are we?!?  We ran up and down the road while steadying him on his bike with no success.  His Papa did get him on his own for a little while but he'll need a little more practice.  Hubby says that E is too smart for his own good he kept telling Hubby "the gravity is pulling me down" and "why do I have to learn to ride a bike?"...it's just part of conquering childhood buddy.  Better luck next time!

We were going to spend the night so we went to dinner with my Dad and brother, Bubs.  We got back to my parents and I said, "Why are we spending the night?".  So, we got up and left.  Thank goodness we did because we got home to a leaking skylight.

San Fran

The Golden Gate Bridge

Right now my Mom is in San Fransisco shopping in Chinatown...jealous!

Just Hangin' Out

I love looking out the sunroom windows and watching what the squirrels are up to...it's always something crazy.  Check this guy out from over the weekend-

Awww Nuts!



Badwill

The Hubs and I ventured out to Goodwill over the weekend.  The thing about Goodwill is that it doesn't make me think good thought or say good words.  Sure, it makes for great people watching but I always leave feeling angry.  We found a hideous ceramic piece that we will present to my Dad for Father's Day and he will love it to pieces because it is hilarious...more on that later.  We also found a cheap smelly, funk nasty chair that we snatched up for our office space.  More importantly, we saw the Horse Country version of the Duggar family and the mother of the bunch was about to catch the wrath of yours truly.  Behold the disgusting chair-

cheapo chair BEFORE

cheapo chair AFTER

I wish that you could tell in the after photo that we painted it "LaFonda" orange.  I swear, the color really is called LaFonda...I can't make this stuff up!  For those of you who don't find the word "LaFonda" funny, I urge you to find a copy of Napolean Dynamite and watch it promptly. 

The chair was a steal at 6 bucks, I got a yard long fabric remnant from Hobby Lobby for 10 bucks (that I used maybe 1/4 of) and the spray paint was just over 3 bucks...not too shabby!  As we all know, I have a mild obsession with complimentary colors so I am dying over the orange and blue combo.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I was sitting, chatting with my visiting teachers Wednesday morning when a light bulb went off in my head...it was time to re-paint.  I decided to move bedroom furniture into the old office room to try and pacify my need for change but by Thursday afternoon I was painting.  You ladies know how it is, sometimes you've just gotta "switch it up"!  Well, I think we can say "mission accomplished".

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Foyer BEFORE

Foyer AFTER

And a random shot of the re-painted hallway!

When we painted our home the first time it was fall and I think our choice in paint colors reflected that.  I loved how our living room went from boring off-white to a rich chocolate brown and the foyer went from hideous wallpaper to a goldish shade.  Hubby was staying in Horse Country by himself for most of the week while I was back in the Capital City working at my old job and the warm colors made him feel more at home.  Now we are LOVING the light colors.  It's amazing how open and airy this place feels.  For those of you wondering about paint colors the foyer and hallways are in Sherwin Williams Gray Cloud and the living room is in Behr Zen.  I would highly recommend Behr, it's the first time I've used that brand and I was very impressed.  Since we were covering such a dark color I opted for the paint and primer combo that they offer and it work fabulously.  Plus, Behr paint is low VOC so what's not to love?  When we painted the brown on we used the entire gallon and maybe a little more of the second gallon and with the new color we used just over half a gallon...and it's a large room!