Friends

...are friends' forever, if the Lord's the Lord of....OK, I'll stop now. But, You know, you know the rest of that glorious M.W.Smith song!!

One of My very best friend's and I have these stair stepped chitlens. We had this window of opportunity to get this picture done. We waited until the last minute, but by golly, it's so fun! I would love to do this every year with them and watch how they grow up together! 

 gENTRY 

HARLOW 

JETTA

 RUTLEDGE 

Do you have a piece in your house that you walk by every day and just want to gag?!  Dramatic, you ask?! Yes. But, really, we have had this old antique sewing machine table in our house for like seven years. And the poor thing has never been in the right spot. I move it to a different room thinking, "it will look better here" or "be more functional here." It never works out...

The said sewing machine table.

A couple of weekends ago I decided it was out of here. I even offered it to a friend for $20! Just get it out of here. Then, the other day whilst perusing pinterest, 

I saw a post about a "coffee bar".  

That old sewing machine popped into my head 

and was saved from exile!

I sanded it a bit, just to get the glossy finish off. Then I "primed" it.

Riddle me this: I bought some RED paint a few years back. It lost it's "red" and It's now 80's mauve madness?! I didn't know that could happen!  Hence, I used it as a primer! That's what you see above.

Since I didn't have "red" paint at this point, I literally put on the first pair of shoes I saw and drove like a mad woman to the craft store with eleven minutes "'til closing time..." and picked out the first "cherry red" I could find! Here's the before and after....

 I walk by this now and LOVE it! Lesson learned. Don't throw anything away. Be a pack rat if you must; 

almost anything can be re-purposed!!

 SO... who's coming over for coffee?!?!!

Lovely Loft

We had this teeny tiny room at the top of our stairs. It was perfect for a nursery for our babies. Fitting a normal bed and dresser in it, may have been a joke. I looked at it one day, and thought, "if we only knocked out this closet, we could open up the whole room into a loft. Which would open up our entire upstairs, provide more natural light and a common space for homework, and computers, etc..."

Well, "just knocking out the closet" turned into moving tons of pipes and fans and switches. Laying new floors and refinishing the old floor to match. Patching ceilings. You get the point! Some neighbor even thought it necessary to call the city on us. When the city came, I was 7 months pregnant, had three girls running around crazy-like. The man took a peek, lectured me on not getting a permit, yadda yadda... He was focused only on getting out my house and fast as possible. The chaos was too much to bare. He said, "I'll get this taken care of for you. We won't bother you again" Anyway....

After MONTHS of deciding what would go where, it's finished. I REALLY hate half-AS$ projects, and this has felt like one for awhile now!

Here is my very technical description of how it used to look.

We "just knocked out the closet wall" but look at this FUNCTIONAL, OPEN space!

I love that my kids can work on projects or homework while I surf pinterest. "Sorry, child, I can't help you with that math problem right now, I'm busy."

Alex's parents gave us this adorable, old map awhile ago. I wanted to use it as a headboard or something. It's BIG, so it needed a big space. Fits perfectly above the "love seat". 

Always, always find a way to showcase your family! Don't you LOVE Rutledge's picture?! I mean, come on, I've only had six months to get a picture of him printed.
And that amazing chair?! Didn't use to be so amazing. But I have a friend who is amazing at recovering furniture. Thanks Janet Harsh!   

The "office space". Tons of space for projects, homework, writing an old fashioned letter to a friend. Oh, and that printer?! Yep, someday I'll take it to a field and do this. (I don't endorse the language in the song. Turn your volume down if needed, you'll still get the point!).  
We've displayed our kids artwork here and built in tons of storage.  

Here's a view from the loft. You can tell how much more open this had made our upstairs! I love sitting in that "amazing" chair next to the window; staring out, pondering life, sipping my latte, with my Bible on my lap...Have you caught on to the dripping sarcasm here?! 

Harlow started school too!

Harlow started pre-school a couple of weeks ago. She goes two mornings a week and one morning includes a gymnastics class! She loves it.

She can be a bit of a nervous nelly if she doesn't know what she's getting into. She was a bit nervous her first day. When I picked her up that first day, she acted as if she'd been at it for a couple of years. 

 Gentry "coaching" her on her first day of pre-school

 Jetta assumes she is staying too! Soon enough child. 

 I have two mornings a week that it's just me, Jetta, and Rutledge. It's pretty quiet, but Jetta gets some much needed mommy time. I am hoping this will curb a bit of her naughty-ness. The poor girl has to make a name for herself, and she's chosen the route of outright hellion to do it at times!! Does this face explain anything at all?!

Home Decorating...

A) Doesn't have to be stressful

B) Doesn't have to be done ALL at once.

C) Doesn't need to cost thousands of dollars!

I visited a friend a couple months back. They bought their HUD home knowing it needed tons of work.They did an awesome job on re-flooring, painting, and re-kitchening. 

However, I noticed it was lacking, shall we call it. the "homey" feel. 

There wasn't much to show for their cute little home besides some new hardwood and paint. 

I ever so gently, said, "Please let me decorate your home!" FYI, I am not a professional home decorator by any educational means, nor claim to be one by any standards at all. But, I do think that every home should be "pretty" and think it's SO fun to start with a blank slate and make it "yours".

And so it went...

I told them to paint. They painted.

I told them to build a mantel. The ROCKED it out....DIY style.

I told them to get a pallet from his dad's farm and hang it on the wall. 

It most likely had cow manure on it. It's hung! 

This is the aforementioned A).

 Let someone else or pinterest do the brain work for you. 

Pick your friend's brains. Go blind staring at your computer screen browsing endless ideas on pinterest. You may actually get overwhelmed on pinterest and end up with a yarn-wrapped, bear-skin rug hung by a piece of burlap nailed to your chevron painted wall. Just use discretion or something!

We only tackled a couple areas. FOR NOW (this the aforementioned B)!! I'm hoping they have me back some day when they're ready to do their master! 

Just look at ONE or TWO areas or even walls in your home. Start small. 

Or you will get frustrated and overwhelmed. And most likely give up or start a project and never finish. My sister is "the Master" on this. Read some of her home decor posts. Be sure you've used the bathroom recently. She'll make you laugh. 

So here's what we started with. Mind you, this pic was taken before they bought the home. But it does showcase the two main areas we worked on. 

Here's the color scheme we went with.

Here's the finished projects.

Wall with two windows

• Most of their family pics displayed here versus scattered throughout the house on bookshelves and walls. 
• We added some "figurine" pieces, i.e. the plates, the bird, etc...to spruce it up a bit.

Mantle and Living area. 

• I Love how the white lurches out at you against the dark navy! Don't be scared of color: light or dark!! 

• We moved the couch in front of the fire place to create a cozy sitting area. The room is much more divided this way, with the dining room (behind you in this pic) and living room all one huge room in this home. 
• The green chest stores shoes and is a convenient place for keys and a purse when you walk in the door. 

• Look at the routed detail on the mantle. Props to B for the DIY mantle!!
• And the little pop of red! 
• The painting is a little piece of family history, proudly displayed! 

                  

               My favorite part: nook at the top of the stairs!

It's now a cute little reading  nook. It was nothing before. You may not snuggle up here and read a novella or the such, but a quick magazine, yes. A parenting book as you're "watching" your kids over the railing play in the fire place ash below. Of course! 

As for the aforementioned C). The "B" word. Budget.

You may have $50 to spend and you may have $500 to spend. 

Work with what you've got!

• We re-used and re-positioned so many things they already had. That's when another set of eyes comes in handy! You don't necessarily need ALL new stuff.  Just re-purpose what you have!
• Look for free or cheap! That chair was $2. I spent about $7 painting it and recovering the pad. Nine dollars, people! The motor crate (that's storing the quilts-which are also re-positioned to use as decor) I got for free from a friend.
• DIY. DIY. DIY. Paint and hot glue are your new best friends!!!
• Buy a few new things that can add something new or special: we bought the red canisters, the fun bird pillow for the reading nook, and a little yellow flower. 

SO.....WHO'S NEXT?!?!?!?!

I turned 32!

Woo.hoo. Not really an exciting birthday. 

I mean, are any of them really exciting anymore?! 

But, the actual outing was fun! Men tend to have Ah.mazing. planning skills, ya know, like inviting people to an adult-only outing the day before or OF the party! 

A few of my peeps made it out. 

Next year, guys, next year. 

Saki-bomb.s. No I didn't do one. If you know me, I'd much rather spend calories on a coffee or anything red velvet than a glass of throat- burning liquid, i.e. alcohol!

Sushi. Yes, I ate A TON of it! 

I even stepped out of my comfort zone and ate some in the RAW! 

It was also pointed out to me half way through the meal that I was using my chop sticks still stuck together! 

Robin and Katie...someday you will be eating this...

me and lover-boy 

 And, a totally mature photo session. Absolutely. Not real sure how this whole thing got started and I can't even explain what is going on in these pics. You thought it's hard to get little kids to cooperate! How about 6 adults?!

Please VOTE!!

My sis lives in an adobe style home...

Their family room needs HELP!!! 

Vote for her to win a room makeover by clicking on the link below. 

She is #41 "adobe living room"

http://www.vintagerevivals.com/2012/08/epic-room-makeover-giveaway-contest-2012.html