{Need Some Free Design Advice?}

Well the extraordinary Emily A. Clark is having a FREE live Q&A Session tonight at 9:00 p.m. EST on her blog.  She is an amazing interior designer in Charlotte, NC and is offering up some free advice tonight. 

{Pantry Reveal}

So it's done.  Finally. And I love it.  I'm going to point out two things that are obvious.  I didn't paint the very back wall that sits behind the water heater.  And the other is I didn't paint the quatrefoil stencil.   It was so overwhelming and I decided against it. 

I love how it turned out.  It looks so much brighter in there. 

I did paint the floor white.  There was some kind of stain on the floor that keep bleeding through and it was driving me crazy but I'm over it now.  We put several coats of white on and it just kept coming through.  

I've stored all the snacks in this old crate I purchased off of Etsy.  I put it low so our nieces and nephews wouldn't have a problem pulling it out.



I purchased all of these glass containers at Wal-Mart.  The brilliant labels are from Shelley at Wonderfully Wordy. 

I bought this beauty at TJ Maxx for $9.99.  I love that my apron from Funktion has a place to hang.

I'm going to purchase some labels for these two jars soon.  I really am proud of how organized our space is.  My husband has gone in there 3 times now without asking me where something was.  Mission accomplished!

{Airing My Dirty Laundry}

Our laundry room was added on several years after our home was built.  I would have designed it completely differently if I had my choice.   We plan on expanding our kitchen and dining room one day.  When we do it'll be out the back of the house which means the laundry room will be demolished and built to my standards.  Until then I have to work with what I have.  I've seen other people's laundry rooms and I'm blessed to have the space we have. 

Our laundry room also houses our three big dogs and their three big houses.  They take up the majority of the floor space.  I thought about taking a picture to show you the space but I'm afraid someone might turn me in to Hoarders.  It's probably not that bad but it's become the catch all room.   It's a room that when I walk into it I try to hurry and get out.  I don't know how we've I've accumulated so much stuff but it's time it goes.  I'm getting stuff together for a yard sale.  If it hasn't been used or worn in 6 months it's free game.  I think this thought process will free up tons of space in our home. 

So back to the laundry room.  I want to make this space pretty.   Three years ago we ripped out two large windows to have french doors put in.  We had always planned on adding a deck and never did.  We'll we are this winter.  And that means that people will have to walk through this room to get outside to our deck.  It secretly makes me smile to know this room will be pretty.  I painted the room a gorgeous blue called Madras Blue by Behr.  I never really knew what direction I was going with the room when I picked the color and then I started seeing these blue and red rooms and fell in love! 

I found this fabric

 and this trim

 as inspiration for this room.  I ordered samples of both from LS Fabrics and these pictures do them no justice.  They are both more gorgeous in person. 

I'd love to do the floors like this

{image courtesy of Frugal Farmhouse Design}

Lori used 1/4" plywood to make these gorgeous expensive looking floors!  We have some other plans for this room including this love seat we purchased at our favorite second hand store.



This post was kind of all over the place but that's how my mind works best.  I am hoping to show our pantry remodel this week.  I've ordered a few pieces that should be in either tomorrow or Tuesday so we can finish it up and show it off. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

I'm off to enjoy the cooler weather and rain!

{Day One = What Was I Thinking?}

So the majority of the stuff is out of the pantry. 

 I'm sitting here waiting for the Dap to dry in the million holes so I can sand it which leaves me to wonder "What was I thinking?" when I decided this was a good idea. 

{These are just a few of the many holes}

I know it will be worth the countless hours of labor but holy cow it's going to be a lot of work.  My goal today is to get the walls painted.  I'd love to start on the stencil but I'll be happy with just getting all the holes covered and a coat of paint on the wall. 

I don't know what to do with the floors.  They are the original hardwoods but were once painted gray by the previous owners.  We'd love to finish all the hardwoods in the house but that's a big project and not sure if it'll happen.  We did finish the ones in our office and guest bedroom.  They turned out gorgeous!  So back to the pantry floors.  I was thinking of painting them.  I'm open to any suggestions. 

And I didn't realize how much expired stuff was in our pantry!  I was quite surprised at how much money we've wasted.  That's a positive about having an organized pantry.  No more wasted food!



Well I'm off to sand.......  And then paint.

{Pantry Remodel}

I'm excited about getting started on our pantry remodel.  Tonight we begin taking everything out so I can start painting.  It's not a huge pantry but it's a good size.  It measures 8 ft x 2.5 ft.  It also stores our hot water heater.  That thing is a monster and we are looking into the tankless water heater but that's another story for another post. 

We are painting the pantry Oatmeal by RL.  We had the color mixed in the Behr Premium Plus paint because in our opinion it's the best paint out there.  We are going to stencil on the Quatrefoil stencil we purchased from I don't remember.  I do remember it was pricey but it's a good size stencil.  We'll paint it in black.  Our kitchen is cream, white and black.  I love the simplicity of our kitchen.  It's a small galley style kitchen but plenty of space for two. 

All of our inspiration comes from Shelley at House of Smiths.  Her pantry rocks!  I know it's going to be awesome when we get it done and I know that it's going to be a process too.  We don't have any built in shelves in our pantry so we purchased a black book shelf from Wal-Mart and intend to go back and get another one once we are done painting.  Eventually we'd like to have a walk in pantry but for now we'll work with what we have or don't have. 

I purchased these beauties today on Etsy for our pantry.  I love Etsy. 

I am thinking of buying two of these for the pantry too. 



I love how Shelley has everything so organized.  Our pantry is not organized.  At all.  Our goal is to organize it so when I ask my husband to get something out he won't say "we don't have it" because he doesn't look past the front of the middle shelf. 

Hopefully by the end of the week our pantry will look something like House of Smiths. 

{Farmer's Market}

I came across Susie Harris months ago and fell in love with her blog!  I love her style and her family is to die for!  She paints these incredible signs and I am the proud owner of two. 

I heart them both!  One is in our bathroom and the other in our master bedroom.  Susie has this talent for making a piece of wood look like a masterpiece.  I could spend hundreds of dollars on her signs but my money tree died.  I was looking at her signs and thinking why couldn't I do this?  I gave it a shot last night and I'm actually pretty surprised with the success of my sign.  Susie did this one and I knew I wanted one like it.  This is my version of Susie's and although it still needs some distressing and antiquing it's done.  I'm pretty excited by it. 

Once I'm done and it's hung I'll take a better picture.  I am so thankful that there are so many women who are willing to share their talents and secrets with the people in blogland.   I've learned more about myself through them that I ever thought imaginable. 

{Picking Paint Colors}

Paint is the easiest and cheapest way to change a room.  When we purchased our home 4 years ago we hadn't planned on staying in it permanently.  We've since fallen in love with our home and have decided she's a keeper.  It's the place where we started putting our lives back together after our daughter's death. 

We painted neutral colors in the beginning for resale purpose.  They were still beautiful colors just simple.  We've since repainted every single room in the house except our master bedroom.  Why is it that the master always seems to be the last room any couple works on?  I recently purchased some paint samples from Home Depot courtesy of the Martha Stewart paint collection that are contenders for our master bedroom. 

{From left to right: Faded Ink, Waterfall & Ice Rink}

These are our color  choices for our walls.  My favorite is Ice Rink and my husband's favorite is Faded Ink.  I want something light but with enough color you can tell we painted it.  You can see our duvet and the colors in it and that's what we are planning this room off of. 

{From left to right: Cornucopia & Burlap}

These are our color choices for our ceiling.  I love the Burlap but think we need something a bit lighter.  I think I'm going to grab at least two more options before we narrow it down.  I am excited about our room transformation and once we get the walls and ceiling painted it will start to come together more and more.   I have a few ideas up my sleeve for our space and I can't wait to share them with all of you! 

I'm working on our project list and trying to get stuff organized for our yard sale.  I'm ready for our projects to get done and our house clutter free.  I think the way to do that is to prioritize so I'm off to do so!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

{The Perfectly Imperfect Perfect Shaunna}

I wanted to share an amazing friend with y'all.  She's so spectacular that I'd really like to keep her to myself but I realize what a disservice that would be to so many.   She recently did a post about little ole me and the foundation we run in memory of our daughter.  I wanted to share it because her words are so beautiful.  I find myself often in awe of the people God brings into my life and am so humbled by the life He has chosen for me.  It hasn't always been easy but it's my journey and I learn to love it a little more each day.   Shaunna is one of those friends you thank God for each and every day.  The amazing thing is that I've never met her in person but I will one day and I hope it's soon.  Thank you, Shaunna, for being who you are.  Now, if you've never visited Shaunna's blog Perfectly Imperfect please go do so now.  I suggest getting a snack and a drink because you'll be there for a while drooling like I do several times a day!

{Guest Room Tour}

Our guest bedroom has been a work in progress.  It's not completely done but done enough to finally share some pictures with all of you in blogland.  It started out a brown color and it just  felt so dark.  We had  dark cherry wood furniture, dark walls and it was just plain dark.  I wanted something light and so this is what I came up with. 

I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.  Like I said before there are a few things I'd like to change.  I want a print curtain versus the white ones I purchased at Target on the cheap.  And I'm looking for the perfect quilt for the end of the bed.  I will most likely switch out the pillows too at some point. 

I found this chair at a second hand store for $29.  I loved the lines and the tufting.  It's very comfortable too. Once I find the perfect fabric we'll have it recovered.  The old flag I'm going to have framed and hung in the empty space above the television.  I'd love to find a new neutral rug too.  I purchased the yellow one from Pottery Barn a year ago for our kitchen but I didn't love it there so it went into storage until I started designing this room.  It works for now.  I'm going to see if I can persuade my grandmother to let go of some of her and my great grandmother's oil paintings for the room too.  I'm super happy with the way the room turned out.  It's a comfy space for our guests and it looks pretty too. 

All that's left is finding a headboard.  I'm brainstorming so hopefully I'll come up with something soon.  Thanks for stopping by!  Hope y'all have a great weekend! 

{Painting Our Doors... Something Other Than White}

I've always thought that interior doors were supposed to be white.  I've never known anything else so when I came across Kim at The Twice Remembered Cottage I was in awe!  She painted her doors blue.  Yes, I said blue.  Actually it's called Tranquility by Valspar.  I was in love.  I knew immediately that I wanted to paint our doors too.  And add the embellishment she added.  The doors are gorgeous. 

We have the same 6 panel door with the ORB door handles and when I look down the hall I can see these blue doors and it makes me smile.  Or so I thought.  Until Kim totally confused me.   She repainted the blue doors an espresso color. 

Now I'm totally confused.  My husband loves the blue color.  I was surprised because it is a pastel and most men don't like pastels.  He loved the idea of painting the doors another color besides white which too surprised me.  I don't know what to do now.  I think I'm going to buy a quart of the  Tranquility and see how I like it first and then go from there.  Any thoughts?

{Monogrammed Chair}

A few years ago I managed to get 2 amazing dining chairs for free.  I didn't know what I was going to do with them until recently.  I tend to work on several projects at once which keeps my house in constant chaos but last night I finally finished one of the chairs.  It turned out more beautiful than I ever could have imagined in my mind.  I am super proud of this project and anxious to finish the other chair now along with restaining our dining table {see last post}.   I hope y'all enjoy the chair facelift as much as I do!