Category Archives: Our House

01.09.13

Kid-Friendly Dining Room Chairs.

Last Summer I posted about some new upholstery items that were delivered to the house.  In that delivery where our dining room chairs.  With all of the holiday entertaining we did, I was able to really put these chairs to the test, and couldn’t be more pleased.
 We inherited my parent’s dining room set a few years ago.  I loved the table and tried for so long to make the chairs work, but they were just SO not me.  I needed something on the cheap.  Enter Home Decorator’s Collection.
I bought 3 sets of these
Covered the fronts in this inexpensive faux ostrich leather.  So great with kids!
and of course, added brass nailheads.
Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?  I got the fabric that I love and a kid-friendly dining chair all in one!
By the way, the ostrich fabric holds up fantastically.  I was able to wipe off multiple DRIED red wine stains off of these chairs over the holidays.  Not a trace of wine now!

01.03.13

Gettin’ Shit Done.

The winter break gave me some time to ramp up on some projects that have been sitting on the bench for a while.  What frustrates me most is that I want instant gratification.  Unfortunately, some of these projects have now been started but are now on hiatus.  Like our living room for example.  I finally got my light fixtures installed, then I needed to have the drywall repair done on the ceiling to make way for the grasscloth wallpaper install.
 (That’s little Lou carefully watching our contractor Andy cut holes in our ceiling.)

 I couldn’t wait to get the picture light hung to highlight my butterfly collection.  I love it even more now.

I had a nervous breakdown when I realized that the raffia paper that I ordered is way to irregular and will show lines on the ceiling, no matter how well it is hung, so back to the drawing board to find the perfect paper.  Grrrrr…
As you know, my quest for Turtle Shells ended at Target, with Nate’s porcelain shells.  However, I was not psyched about the color selection.  
 So I amped them up with some gold spray paint.

We also finally got E’s Juju hat hung in her room.  (I accidentally broke the strings in the back and we had to restring the entire thing.)  Oye.

Just a few more things to do in her room and we will be ready for the big reveal!

I also bribed my Pops to hang the chandelier in the Guest Bedroom.

As you can see we need to do some paint touch-up around the base.
All-in-all, things are coming together.  Now that it is back to the daily grind, progress will be sporadic, but bit by bit, we’ll get there.

11.29.12

A Little Touch Of Pink Goes A Long Way.

This week I pulled the trigger on E’s new homework desk.  This kid is so excited to have her own desk– now I hope she’ll actually do her homework.
It’s funny.  This picture actually has lilac walls similar to hers and I plan on a lot of pink accents.  Just like these.
Now there should be no more excuses! 😉

11.27.12

A Little R & R.

Last week we headed down to Florida to hang out with Grandpa and Helen.  It was a much needed break for all of us.

Every Sunday, Siesta Key has a drum circle that brings out all walks of life.  (See picture below.)  
Lou is definitely my little free spirt. Just check out her tribal dance.
We spent a lot of time with marine life.  There were the Mermaids at Weeki Wachee.

 Fishing with Gramps.

Meeting Winter from a Dolphin Tale.
 And lots of exploring.

I spent a lot of time cooking, which always make me happy.  A crowd favorite was this.
Which led me to this when we got home.

On Sunday, the girls and I watched Annie by the fire.  It was perfect.
Now it’s time to get back to the grind.

11.15.12

E’s Room… Coming Along.

As most of you know, we are in the midst of redesigning E’s room.  She wanted purple and pink… her two favorite colors.  That was all I needed to get started.  When designing a room, I start with one thing, whether it be a piece of art, rug or piece of furniture- and build on it.  For E’s room- It all started with these pillows.  I fell in love.  
We painted the walls months ago.. but due to life and health issues, had a major hault.  Slowly but surely we are piecing it together. 

You saw her new ottoman

I am so in love.  And totally jealous.

 We added some really beautiful polished nailheads and added a skirt because I was not in love with the legs.

The reason that I chose it is because of the great storage space.

She’s got her reading chair.

and her new lamp.

And fully dressed windows.

Next up– I need to hang her Juju Hat that is sitting in the corner… More on that debacle later.

11.14.12

A Little Bit of Lilac Never Hurt Nobody.

What should have taken me 3 hours total, ended up being a project that sat in my garage for weeks.  It all started with this lamp.
I was wanting a lamp similar to this one, but there were many reasons why it wouldn’t work:  1.) The price.  2.) The size.  3.) The color was a little but more grey than I was looking for.

So, after finding this lamp at Target, I figured I’d make it work.  First, I primed it with STIX, painted it with leftover paint (we used that as the base color on E’s walls) and lacquered it.

 I topped it off with a $12.99 shade from HomeGoods and here she is now.  A perfect match!
Check in tomorrow to see more previews of E’s Room.