My New Hutch!

Found this hutch at Katy Christian Ministries for $45 and it was terrible - a bit of paint and some quick antiquing, and viola! I have the hutch that I really wanted to place all my knick-knacks on.

Sitting Room

This is mainly a decor project but the space - like so many others in the house had become a catch all, most noticeably for the furniture that we didn't want in other rooms. Lately it started looking like a flea market and I was almost at the point of offering up anything that could be carried out to the highest bidder. Luckily the couch/loveseat/chair set I so loved went to the right home - and we were able to get a sleeper sofa for a great deal at the outlet section of rooms to go, so I now have the front room I wanted - which also serves as a guest place. Plus I was able to redo a new piece of furniture which will be featured in the next posting!

Master Bedroom Update

So as I think I have previously mentioned the house was built tin the 70s and is in desperate need of an overhaul - however without breaking the bank - there's only so much people can do. Thant's why I love paint. In all it's many forms (who doesn't love a good crackle finish) there is so much that just some inexpensive decor and a fresh coat of paint can do. For the master I re-purposed some things I had previously had hanging in other rooms, and got a couple of new things from Garden Ridge.
Has everyone been to Garden Ridge lately - it's like Hobby Lobby on LSD, with a discount. When I pull into the parking lot of the newest one in Willowbrook - my palms get sweaty and my heart starts racing and I just know I'm leaving there with at least 6 things I never knew I always needed. Anyway a couple of before and afters - and all told I did it cheaper than any of those HGTV shows - wahoo!

Fall Festivals - WAHOO

Well today is the first Saturday of the Fall Festivals - I took out my Chronicle a few weeks ago and mapped out the festivals I wanted to attend around the city - and the state, and I am super excited the time has arrived. I even found myself humming "Tis the season" while pouring coffee this morning. Far less embarrassing than my full on rendition of "Santa Clause is coming to Town" complete with stage show and jazz hands in Hobby Lobby last week - I'll give you a moment to compose yourself. I hope you all have a wonderfully productive weekend - enjoy your family and your free time - and my daughter and I will be shopping 'til we drop today. As a matter of fact this is face when I told her of our impending outing..

Happy Shopping - and God Bless!!!

Confessions of an Organized Mess...

First I feel like I should send my blog flowers and a note - I feel like I have really let it down in this relationship. I don't call, I don't write....huuuuuhhh - Hopefully it will forgive my lapse but the last two weeks have been crazy. However, drum roll (budhbudhbudhbudhbudbbbbbb) I have finished my craft room!!!! (aaahhhh ahhhhh auuuahh - that's the crowd going wild in my head). Our room is multi-purpose and now MAJORLY gorgeous. My confession is this I am hype-vigilant about organization - just ask my poor Hubby, but I will be the first to admit this room had been let go. After a nutty year and a hectic summer, my long suffering room was due a makeover - see for yourself:

This was the room where neatness came to die and I was fed up. My closets are organized even the kids are in size, color, and seasonal categories (not necessarily in that order) and the glasses in my cabinet are in height order - Don't judge! But this had become too much. I've known for a while what I wanted to do. And now I've made it a space that functions as a craft-room, an office, and a blogging sanctuary - hear that girl, "I'm back!" I hope you all like what I've done, I sure do. Suddenly I don't mind anymore that I can't sleep, it's all I can do to leave this room at night. I wish you all a sanctuary as lovely as I find mine!

AFTER :)

"Behr" Hugs

I absolutely love what a little paint can do. I was given to great pieces by my in-laws. A mirror when we moved in here - that really never found it's "niche"; And just this past weekend an old cabinet that belonged to my husband's grandparents. When I decided to redo the office/craft room I knew exactly where I wanted to use both pieces, but neither fit just right. Taking a couple of color queues from some unusual places I came up with a scheme that I think fits them just right.
Usually I lament the fact that these photos don't capture the color accurately - yeeeaaaaa - this one did.

BEFORE

AFTER :)

More quick projects and cheap ideas

I wanted chalkboards for my wall - but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for - so I bought inexpensive ($5) white frames and chalkboard paint at Home Depot and 3 coats later I got exactly what I wanted.

I also collected frames on clearance and in dollar sections then painted them the colors I wanted and inserted my own images. (I went with a bird theme and all of the pictures came from the fronts of Behr paint sample fold-outs - FREE!!

Quickies :)

There are a few things I did during the course of this update that folks have pointed out as neat - but were just on-the-fly ideas I had. Feel free to snag :)
First - I don't sew. True I have made a quilt - but my mother supervised EVERY stitch. I can sew a mean button though - "DON'T TEST ME!" Actually I got new curtains and added the old ones into another room to give that window more coverage. What I was left with was exactly what I wanted except my curtains came with no tie-backs. The old windows didn't need them any longer so I whip-stitched (which is code for stitching in a random pattern much like what I believe a drunken sailor would have done to his own leg where he drinking rum on the back of a 90-ft schooner in 15 foot swells during a storm in 1846) fabric over it to cover it. Now I have tie-backs that compliment the room (thankfully - white to hide the heinous sewing) and I didn't have to do anything TOO major.

I hate cords - especially ones that stick out like a sore thumb against my shiny new table. So I snagged an old shoebox from my daughter's closet and covered it in scrapbooking paper - cut a hole and voila!

Statement Piece

When I began the craft room redo the first thing that I knew must be changed was the table. Though everyone around me was skeptical I had a vision of what changing the table could mean for the room - and I was right. Now a center piece instead of an eye-sore, my first furniture revamp is complete and I must admit - That bug bit hard! Thanks so much to Aunt Patty for all her guidance and support throughout the process. Make sure to check out her blog and all her amazing stuff at Patricia Ann's (you can find her in my blogs on the right) - and I hope you like my new table.

What's Old is New

I didn't want to buy a piece of furniture to set my printer on - I really like it out of the way, so I figured the old foot locker I took to college was fine, it just needed to be "spruced up" a bit. I forgot how absolutely addicting decoupage can be - anything can be covered and made beautiful. And now in my house anything that is still too long is fair game - Watch out kiddos!
Quick easy redo - What do you think?

Four Ewe - DIYers

Seriously I'll stop sorry! I <3 Homonyms! OK this is for my Houston folks. I always scan the Zest section of the Chronicle, this weeks was especially awesome because it was the fall festival guide - if you didn't get it - dumpster dive it's amazing and actually gives a fairly accurate accounting of the festivals going on around most of Texas. I got so excited I couldn't decide whether to break into a rousing rendition of "Deep into the heart of Texas" or "Margaritaville" (Do you have ANY idea how many Texas fests revolve around drinking) - sidetracked, sorry. Anyway while flipping through the Zest section I found an add for the most fun shop I've been into in a long time. I should preface this with a couple of things. If you like to buy your decorations and you are not into DIY projects - the artists of the world thank you VERY much, but you're likely to be bored outta your gourd so I hope you have a lovely evening.....
OK still here - It's called Texas Art Asylum  http://www.texasartasylum.com/ and it ROCKS! Anything and I literally mean just about anything you could possibly want or need is there. I'll be posting in the next couple of days the art project that I saw there that I will be duplicating. If you need anything - keys, doorknobs, doll pieces, hand mixers, buttons, jars, crayons, old records - ANYTHING they have great stuff for reuse! I have seen so many great art projects and so many of you have made some truly amazing things that I hope you find some of this helpful - and if or when you're in the city check them out. Organized chaos - they didn't once look at me like I was nuts, and when I walked in - saw all the stuff - I think I must have looked like a crazy person, I think I might have actually bounced and clapped like I had been bit by a rabid circus monkey. Seriously - check 'em out - great stuff - thanks ladies!

Scents Yore Hear - The Haul Bath!

Forgive the cheesy lead - sometimes I can't resist word play much to the distaste of those around me! :) This was a very fruitful weekend: I finished my hall bathroom update - yea! There was a bit of a fixture fiasco - which when things went down I got the old look (you know the sideways pity glance and shoulder tap) and "Awww it's OK you're just a perfectionist."
There is no real sweet connotation with that word when it's spoken, it's always completely laden with sarcasm. You get a look like they're watching someone who is in danger of eating their young and yet the line is delivered with such respect  you would think you we're accepting an award. Is it because they fear us just a bit? Good :)
I should also not stay up 40 hours in a row to finish a room again - that's when you have dreams in which light bulbs mock you and the screwdrivers dance around in circles around you chanting "Tight Tight, Yup Yup, Tight to the Right - HA!" (The 5 hour energy in the home stretch - also probably NOT a good idea and not to be repeated; completely unrelated - all tools will be replaced tomorrow - Jerks.

Late Night Rendezvous

I'm having a relationship with my computer - seeing as my husband knows I don't think it can be considered illicit any longer... Poo my first chance at being exciting, oh well?  A super huge thanks to Aunt Patty for perpetuating the madness. At least now I have an excuse for staying up way past my bedtime - still trying to explain to a preschooler that PB&M&C (Peanut Butter & Mayo & Cheese) is ALL the rage because I'm drifting through the day is a bit nuts. I really wish she'd be a bit more understanding...geez! The 20 new blogs I ran across last night we chocked full of valuable info - and it's not like I didn't let her wear a tutu practically everywhere last week if she didn't tell the neighbors I was mainlining RC cola! Everybody is a critic! Biggest news though Patty has helped me through my design dilemma and I can't wait to get finished with this weekends project so I can begin the next one. Speaking of said project, anybody have comments or advice or info on chalk paint - weighing that against another paint option for a table - I'm vaclempt - discuss...

Boxed Wine Wishes & Coupon Dreams...

While I'll give it to my husband - "Hear that Honey, you're right!" - that nobody needs a 2 gallon jar of mayonnaise, I have totally jumped on the coupon bandwagon and I'm riding it into the sunset with unabashed abandon. I don't care that the pre-pubescent  CVS clerk looks at me like I have a third breast; I'll be laughing all the way through the apocalypse with my fresh smelling hair thanks to my 32 containers of 4 cent shampoo and 15 body washes - take that! (Not to mention had he not treated me like a freak I would have gladly shared my pile of Noxzema coupons with him, and his future may have taken a decidedly different turn) - that's the power I wield within my HUGE, HEAVY, magical coupon binder - you have all been warned. The thing that is the most frustrating is that I can no longer go to the grocery store looking like a hobo. I spend more time prepping for a 20 minute outing to Target than I would for a Broadway musical, because they are never 20 minutes anymore. The moment the automatic doors part I know I will be besieged by a multitude of women, who flock to me asking the same thing, "Are you one of those crazy couponers?" I'm seriously considering adding a twitch and a limp - with a dose of schizophrenic behavior added for good measure when I reply, "You betcha!"

Schoolhouse

This is the schoolhouse I put together in the room attched to our garage. I'll be homeschooling our daughter this fall - she's a genius - and now we have a space that is specific to our needs. Plus an air conditioning unit - which is mandatory for Houston - ALWAYS!!!

Old Project - Kids rooms

These were the kids rooms I did - complete with bedding. What fun - and to think in just a couple of years they'll probably want me to paint something completely different over them. C'est la vie!

Laundry Room

So on the advice of Patty I've inserted page breaks to make my posts more manageable!

Long winded - nuh-uh! Here are some photos from my weekend Laundry room overhaul.

Blogger Newbie

I was the last kid in elementary to catch onto the mismatched sock trend - something quite frankly that was not only a gross misrepresentation of the "coolness" that was the 80s - but something which should remain a distant memory and not be placed upon the mannequins at the entryway to Nordstroms. We were the last family on the block to get a microwave, and since we're being honest, I have destroyed more than my fair share of them - it's crazy what you CAN'T put in those suckers. It's also a touch embarrassing to be in the checkout line at Target and the attendant looks at you quizzically because you just bought one of those LAST month. So it probably wouldn't shock you to hear that my social secretary is a 4 1/2 year old, and no it's not to due economic constraints, but rather she is far more adept at answering/using and overall controlling my iPhone.