The New Living Room

As most of you know, hubby went off to the "academy where you learn to fold your clothes in ridiculously small ways."

(Actually he is at the Kentucky State Police Academy. As of October 30, he will be a Kentucky State Trooper.)

He has been gone (during the week) since the end of May.

I had big, big plans while he was gone; some have been accomplished, some have not.

This is one of those that WAS accomplished.

You all also know that I have painted and repainted at least 5 rooms in our house since we moved in almost 2 years ago. I picked the paint for all the upstairs rooms prior to moving in and let's just say that I regretted the decisions within the first 6 months. That led to the dining room redo last winter.

This summer I finally chose the wall color and proceeded to repaint the living room and kitchen (as well as rearrange the living room) at approximately 1am. Seriously, I did. go check my facebook statuses if you don't believe me.

Anyway, here are the befores.

It is so strange to me how different things look IRL that they do in pictures. The living room never really bothered me until I saw how it played out on "film." It was then that I realized the yellow was not working for me (along with the brick with black grout). Here is the same wall after paint and rearranging.

Now I must tell you that is the spot that "Cindy" was supposed to go.

Who's Cindy?

Go read this and this and see for yourself.

I was so excited about putting a dresser there that I had to find a replacement for Cindy. I found this little sweetie at an auction-big surprise huh? She was much more expensive than Cindy's $15 price tag, but I guess you have to be willing to pay more for furniture WITHOUT powder post beetles!

This was one of those shots that made me say-yuck, I need to do something about that brick! Here is a similar shot after the new paint.

This is the view as you walk in from the foyer.

Finally, here is a tour of the living room. I realized that you all really haven't seen my living room from all angles.

So here goes.


Now you are walking around the couch...
(and yes that lamp shade is wompy-jawed. I cannot get it to stay straight!)

This is the view from the fireplace looking back towards the foyer.

View from the hearth looking towards the hallway.

This is the view from the hallway looking towards the kitchen.

View from the kitchen.

And an overall view of the living room.

Now, I will give you some close-ups of some of my favorite areas.

I showed you all part of this wall in me "Q is for Quaint" post.

I tweaked it by adding pictures of hubby and I when we were three.

And no room of my is complete without adding some transferware.

The color is from Benjamin Moore's "Wythe Blue" swatch.

It is the lightest color tinted at 3/4 strength. The backs of the bookshelves are painted the darkest color on the swatch-I think it is Paladian Blue. So far I'm loving the blue.

I want to add some more throw pillows and possibly hang some more plates, but for the most part I'm content with the room!

I'm on fall break this week. I'm hoping to get a post on my outside decorations and maybe my kitchen. Oh and I have more changes to my laundry closet. Maybe I did get some things accomplished while hubby was away folding his clothes and shining his boots!

The Clock Strikes Twelve...

I introduced you all to Cinderella a l-o-o-o-o-nn-n-ng time ago.

The last time you saw her she was in her "mouse dress."

It took me another l-o-o-o-o-o-o-on-n-g time to decide on a color. I thought about red, but a house can only handle one Scarlett. She doesn't share the limelight with anyone.

I wanted to do something bold and blue, but I wanted the flexibility to put Cindy whereever my mood strikes and blue felt a little limiting.

I thought about white or black but, as my oldest daughter says, I paint everything black or white. No, Cindy needed something less predictable.

I finally decided on a shade of black. (Way to go out on a limb Mols). It is a Benjamin Moore color called "Wrought Iron." It is almost navy and it going to look fab against my new living room color.

It hasn't been polyurethaned yet...

BONG!!!

BONG!!! Did you hear something?

BONG!!! There it is again...

BONG!!! Seriously that is getting annoying. Do you hear it?

I already have the spot all picked out in the house for it. It is going to look so amazing.

BONG!! Wait. What is that?

See those holes? What character it adds to Cindy.

BONG!!! Hold it. How did this get so dirty?

BONG!!! What is this?


Well, after several google searches, phone calls to local bug people, and emails to some people who I consider to be furniture experts I diagnosed Cindy to have "powderpost beetles."

BONG!!!


Yep folks. The clock has struck twelve and my poor Cindy is sitting all alone with nothing but the beetles to keep her company.

My research tells me that it is going to cost me three figures to get her clean. Granted I only paid $15 for her, but that price just isn't worth it.

I seriously thought about just throwing caution to the wind and putting her in the house anyway, but according to pest experts those little creatures can spread to other furniture and are impossible to kill without major fumigationm and expensive pesticides.

I thought maybe the paint would seal them in. I thought the hot summer heat would kill them. Nope. The sawdust says it all. Those little piles just appeared yesterday. So even if I do love her and I already have the space for her, she is going to the curb. It is going to kill me. I guess I am the wicked step-mother afterall.

WAHHHHH!!! (That's me crying.)

A Cinderella Story

Welcome visitors from Miss Mustard Seed! I sure need y'alls help today! Keep reading and see where I need your input!!

I introduced you all to this "lovely" lady last week:

and I issued a challenge to guess the name.

Only 3 of you took me up on it. Nana Diana guessed Veronica. Nope, sorry Nana D.

Robin went with "Swan." Nice try and a good guess but still nope!

The winner was Andrea with Cinderella!

Complete disclosure makes me tell you all that I know Andrea IRL. We actually go to church together, but she has never laid eyes on the future Cinderella, nor did I talk to her about her. She is just super smart and figured out my clues! (Happily Ever After, the shoes??)

Anyway, due to a REALLY bad storm last night resulting in much of the town being without power and no school for anyone (even the university) I was able to get started acting as Cinderella's fairy godmother.

Because she is in such bad shape, I decided to prime her and opt out of the "distressed" look.

The primer is done and I think Cinderella resembles more of herself in her "mouse dress."

You know, better but really not all that great.

Actually, she looks more like Cinderella in the mouse dress AFTER the step-sisters got hold of her.

You know, better but in pieces all over the floor.

"Cindy" is going to have to stay in her primer/mouse dress for a little bit longer, because I'm just not sure what color dress to make her.

White seems the obvious choice, but I want to think about some other options too.

Ya'll have any ideas?

Nana D? Robin? Andrea? Anyone else?

I linked up with Miss Mustard Seed and her Furniture Friday and hopefully some of the talent there can give me some ideas.

(I did have an interesting thought from a reader to try a bold blue-I'm considering it, just a little skeered!!)

As soon as I work some magic of my own, I'll show you her happily ever after!
By the way, Andrea, I'm getting together some goodies for you. If you have any preferences of colors let me know!!

Impatiently Working Towards Happily Ever After

I'm impatient.

I'm quite sure I have revealed that before though.

Because of that fact, this little diamond in the rough is kind of making me cranky.

Before you read any further you probably also know that I personify a lot of my furniture. Meaning that I name them.

Scarlett? Bluebell?? Well in true psycho-decorator fashion I already have name for this little beast. But I'm not going to tell you yet.

In fact, I am going to make it a competition. Read on... She has lots of issues. Chipped veneer. Moldy drawers. Missing details.

But I see so much potential! Plus she was $15.

Surely for that price I can afford to invest some sweat equity. I started by trying to glue the veneer back on. Epic fail. So I just started chipping it off where it was lose.

I am hoping that paint will cover a multitude of sins. Next step was cleaning it. I started by cleaning it with TSP. Then I pulled the drawers out--YUCK!!!

I'm not a germ-a-phobe but man they were kind of disgusting. I broke out the bleach and cleaned the drawers and the innerds of the dresser. But as I was grossing out, gagging and bleaching the fire out of my hands

(all while wearing heels-no joke. I staying in my church clothes while I did this)

I saw what drew me to dear ____________(ha! you thought I would slip and reveal the name) in the first place.

I'm a sucker for some cute shoes and she is wearing some cute shoes. Now, for the competition part.

Comment me what you think I am naming this dresser (1 guess per person).

I am putting together a little treat bag for the correct response. I don't have it together yet, but I am thinking about a painted dishtowel, a spring button design, and maybe a few other goodies. If more than one person gets it right, I will put your names in a hat and draw the winner.

I'll leave this little contest open until Sunday at 9pm and announce the winner Monday morning.

Let the guessing begin!

Quick B & A

I have a booth space-did I ever tell you guys that?

You all know I love auctions and shopping. But there is only so much room in my house.

Plus I love redoing furniture and accessories with paint and paper. By having a booth space it gives me the opportunity to craft to my heart's content and then possibly sell it and make some money.

Now I must be honest, by Dave Ramsey's definition my booth space is just a hobby (i.e. I don't make any money on it). But some months are better than others and it is just fun to redo stuff.

Anyway, here are two little somethings that I whipped out over my spring break.

First up, gold glamour girls:

I taped off the picture portion: Then spray painted a super girly pink: I also decided to tone down the pink with some glaze-plus I wanted to age it a little more like the pictures (or whatever you would call those things). The picture on the left is sans glaze, the one on the right is glazed. Once again before: And the after: Here is the other before and after (it is a little quicker because I don't have as many pictures!)

I had some old pictures in my booth and I thought I would just paint the frames to freshen them up. I thought they were black and white, but there was a light coloring on them and I couldn't decide what color to paint the frames. Plus I didn't really like the pictures anyway. When I took them out to paint the frames it hit me to whip out the frosted glass spray paint. Remember that? No? Well, go read this and this. I threw the pictures away before I could take a picture (that sounded kind of strange) but maybe you get the idea:

I used my Cricut and cut out the letters "home" and then a bird and branch (shocked aren't you). I used contact paper to cut the stencils then stuck them on the glass.

I shook up the spray paint and then went to town (not literally. I always said I never want to live in a place where I have to use the phrase "go to town". Maybe that's just a southern phrase and you guys have no clue what I'm talking about)

ANYWAY... before I digress any farther here is the after:

And a few more shots because it is cute:

This may be one of those things that I will kind of hope won't sell!!

Let Them Eat Cake!!

And maybe cupcakes...and cookies...and brownies.

I saw this in my local flea market:

and visions of polka dots started dancing in my head.

So I took it home (for $6) and then it sat in my decorating closet for months.
I got inspired and took it to the garage and there it sat...

for a few more weeks.

I still had visions of covering that 1950's metal and cream and orangey flowered mess with lovely blue polka dots. But I wasn't quite sure how to do it.

Until...
Hubby surprised me with #1 a decorating closet makeover (which I will share later).

#2 a Cricut Expression!! Whooo HOO!!!

So after Christmas I finally got inspired enough to get to work. First I spray painted the entire thing blue. (no picture of that, sorry). Then I cut three different sizes of circles (2", 1", and 1/2") out of contact paper and placed them as randomly as possible. (Yes, I use contact paper more often than vinyl.) Then I painted the whole thing red.

Then it sat for a few more days because, well because I was just plain skeered of pulling the circles off. I was afraid it would pull part of the red paint off.

I finally got my nerve up and pulled them off....love it!

Now I just need the cake...or cupcakes...or cookies...or brownies.

This was one of my favorite projects of 2011. I'm linking up with the CSI Challenge. Go visit and see all the great ideas!