Friday, February 27, 2015

Five on Friday

1.) We've been snowed in again this week. I'm itching to get out of the house! But, I'm thankful we had a good snow for the kids to play in. Plus, doesn't our crepe myrtle look really cool?
2.) Picky Palate's recipe for Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole is amazing! To make it faster (you know, since I have children tugging at me while I'm cooking), I use rotisserie chicken, some pre-chopped veggies, and 90 second rice pouches. Yum!

3.) The whole white and gold dress debate is out of control. Just sayin'. The picture screams, "Adjust my white balance!" to me. There's no way I see black and blue.

4.) I decided that since I'm done with my dining room gallery wall, I might as well start a new gallery wall on another wall in my house. It's a sickness, I tell ya. I posted a sneak peek over on my Instagram.

5.) Did you notice I added social media buttons on the upper right? You can now find me easier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Happy Weekend!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Repurposed Train Table

When Little Man was nearly two, my husband's boss graciously gifted us a set of trains and tracks that his kids had outgrown. They immediately became my Little Man's favorite toy and thus, the train obsession was born.

For Little Man's second birthday, my husband and I scoured Craigslist and found him a train table. I can't tell you how many hours Little Man has spent at that train table over the past couple of years. He has played with it daily! Every penny spent on the trains, tracks, and table was totally worth it. I dug through old photos and found a picture of the train table all set up to surprise him on his birthday!
The train table has been living in our playroom. It has never quite fit perfectly and is really too large for the room, but it was worth it because of how much and how frequently Little Man enjoyed it. However, as Little Girl has grown and we've added her toys as well, the room quickly become overly cramped.

Our first idea to give us more space in the playroom was to move the train table to Little Man's room. His room is just too small, though. We had been planning on building a slide out Lego table for under Little Man's bed, but it hit me that we could repurpose the train table to function as a train/Lego/activity table instead! We were so excited to find a way to keep his train table for him to enjoy, while still gaining much needed space in the playroom!

The process was really straightforward. Jeremy removed the top boards and center supports (they just lift out), then removed the legs from the table. Then, he reassembled the side boards. The side pieces were originally screwed into the legs, so he replaced the legs with wood blocks he cut to size.
Pro Tip: Use similar types of wood. We used wood scraps and screws we had on hand already, but because the scrap wood was harder wood than the train table was made out of, the nail gun wouldn't work properly. We knew that, but decided to just screw the wood block in from the outside and have visible screws. If this was going to be out in the open all the time, we would have bought a new piece of softer wood for this project so we could use the nail gun and avoid visible screws on the outside. But, honestly, because the train table was going to be stored under the table, the visible screws just weren't a big enough deal to warrant buying a new piece of wood.

He attached casters to the scrap wood block so that the table could roll in and out easily.
Jeremy was super sweet and remembered to take pictures along the way. I secretly think he left sawdust on the caster to add a manly touch. Haha!
Then, I painted the table to match the bed and attached a handle (found at Lowe's) for easy maneuvering. We put the top boards back in place and ta-da, done!
I feel like I should stop right here and add that Little Man's bed never ever ever looks this neat. It's ridiculously hard to make a bed with bed rails! Plus, there are usually 28,495,187 stuffed animals and blankets in his bed. Ha! 
Honestly, this was a very easy project! I'm so happy to have given the train table a new way to continue to function beautifully for Little Man! He absolutely loves it and uses it for trains, Legos, cars, puzzles, etc! Shh, don't tell him, but for his next birthday, we are going to get him some large Lego boards to use on the table. So fun!
I realize that not all train tables are built the same way, so this project may not work for them all. But, if you look, the basic frame would actually be very easy to build if you wanted to make one from scratch!

Click to see how we made the bed rails and for details on the painting!


Linking up to Savvy Southern Style and Cedar Hill Farmhouse! Check the "Link Party" button at the top for more places I link up each week and tons of inspiration!

Monday, February 23, 2015

Inspire Me Monday- 10 Classic Spring Wreaths

After being trapped inside for most of last week, I'm starting to look forward to spring. Bring on warmer temperatures, flowers, and more sunshine! I'm itching to add some color to my front door, so I rounded up 10 spring wreaths for inspiration. I may just have to pull my coral and ivory wreath out of the attic and hang it up, despite the snow in the weather forecast this week! ;) Happy Monday!

Click the pictures below for the source!

This is, hands down, my favorite Easter wreath! Just remove the bunny and boom, it's an anytime wreath!
 Can't go wrong with a boxwood wreath. Just sayin'.
This wreath would transition well from spring through summer. 
 I love that the next three are fresh, but neutral.
This floral letter wreath is so fun and vibrant!
 Tulips are one of my favorite parts of spring!
I made this wreath two years ago and it's still going strong! I may add a monogram or bow to it this year, just to change it up. We'll see!

Friday, February 20, 2015

Five on Friday

Five things I'm loving from this week:

1.) This article. Yes! 

2.) Jen over at I Heart Organizing is renovating her kitchen and the progress is FABULOUS! The ceiling beams and planking?! Be still my heart! Here's her latest progress post.
Image Credit: I Heart Organizing    Please pin from original source, not here.

3.) Do you watch The Bachelor? I haven't caught a season in a while, but I most definitely keep up with it via Sheaffer at Pinterest Told Me To. Her recaps are hysterical! Here's the latest recap. You're welcome. Ha! Sheaffer has fabulous style, too! I love all of her clothing ideas!
This screen shot Sheaffer captured kills me! 

4.) Snow Days--This should really be a love/hate thing. I love the snow and the kids have really enjoyed it. But, after a couple days at home, this mama is majorly stir crazy! I see a trip to Target and Krispy Kreme in the very near future. ;)

5.) This video pretty much sums up our current phase of life right now. Hahaha! But, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it for the world! It's killing me how fast my kids are growing. Didn't I just bring Little Girlie home from the hospital yesterday?! But, if you ever stop by unannounced and my house looks like a tornado went through, this video sums up the reason why. Ha!
Happy Weekend, Everyone!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

A Tweaked Layout and a New Gallery Wall

As I mentioned last week, I just finished a gallery wall in our dining room. This has been coming on for about a year. Yes, you read that correctly...a year. Life, I tell ya. We should win some kind of slowest home decorator award or something. ;)
Last year, on a whim, we rotated our dining room table to give us more space in the walkways. It really helped, but I had to scoot the teal cabinet down to accommodate the new layout. Of course, that made the painting on the wall feel off centered from the cabinet, but centering the painting above the cabinet in the new location made the painting feel off centered on the wall. Ugg. If you give a mouse a cookie...

Here's an old picture to give you an idea of the previous layout. 
I love the painting that was in our dining room. Growing up, I traveled with my grandparents a lot. When I was 14, we went on a cruise together. My grandma is a painter and loved looking at the different art shops on the islands. We found the watercolor print in St.Thomas and Grandpa had it framed for Grandma. It hung in our hallway at home for years, then a couple years ago, Grandma gifted it to me. I really cherish that painting and all of the memories attached to it! I am sad that it doesn't work in our dining room anymore, but love its new location at the top of our stairs.

I was pretty stumped about what to do in the dining room, though. Jeremy really liked the new layout. It's not my favorite, but it's his one request for the room. He doesn't care about the paint color, artwork, linens, curtains, nada. He only requested that we keep the table in the new spot, so I felt like the poor guy should get what he wanted! I stared at the empty spot on the wall for months trying to decide what to put up.
I finally decided that a gallery wall was the way to go because it could stretch from the edge of the window to the corner, allowing the artwork to be centered on the wall while also allowing the teal cabinet to look natural although it wasn't centered under the artwork.
We picked up most of the frames at Ikea and Target. I loathe the Ikea frames. I like the shape, but the mats were off white, so I ended up having to spray paint them white to match the frame and not look dingy. And don't even get me started on the horrible hardware that comes with the smaller frames! The one positive aspect about the Ikea frames, though, is that they are dirt cheap. But, you get what you pay for. :/
I had a bunch of pictures and artwork picked out for the frames, but when I hung them all up, they didn't jive well together. I ended up switching out the pictures and artwork to things that had a similar base color pallet or complimentary colors. It really helped give the whole gallery a cohesive look!
If you missed the how-to for the Truly Madly Deeply painting, you can check it out here!
I'm really happy with how the dining room is coming together! The wall paint is getting old and starting to look dingy, so we will be painting it a similar color this year. We would still love to put up wainscoting and replace the lighting fixture, but those projects probably won't be making the 2015 priority list. One day, though! It's all a process! 



Monday, February 16, 2015

Inspire Me Monday

Got a bad case of the Mondays? Yeah, me too. ;) I thought it'd be fun to start a new series called Inspire Me Monday where I feature an inspirational project or space to get our gears going for the week. Sound fun?

This week, I'm featuring these adorable confetti curtains from Remodlholic. I was planning to do these for our playroom, but ended up finding ready made curtains, so won't be making these after all. I have to admit, I'm a little sad, because these look easy and I love that you can customize the colors to match your space!
Image Credit: Remodelaholic.com

The curtains are made by simply painting circles on plain, white Ikea curtain panels. Isn't that such a genius idea? Curtains are SO expensive, so I loved this budget friendly idea! Find the full tutorial here!

Happy Monday!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Truly Madly Deeply

Recently, I've been working on finishing up a gallery wall in our dining room. I had artwork already picked out, but once I hung it up, it just didn't excite me. The colors looked too washed out and light. I wanted to add a punch of color. Unfortunately, I didn't have any more money to spend on artwork.

I was browsing around the internet and saw a colorful, abstract piece on Minted.com that I was immediately drawn to. It was done by just making simple brush strokes in various colors. It was a lightbulb moment for me and I knew I could use that method to create my own painting. 

I really wanted my painting to say "Truly Madly Deepy". That song has been Jeremy and I's "song", if you will. For years, we will randomly put that song on and dance to it. It's so sweet!
Want to know what's even sweeter, though? Jeremy, who has never taken a single piano lessen in his life or learned to read music, worked for weeks to learn how to play that song on the piano for me. I had no clue he was even working on it! The piano is in his office above our detached garage, so he was going to work 30 minutes early and staying 30 minutes late every single day for an entire month to practice the song. He watched videos of people playing the song, downloaded the music, studied chords, and came up with his own piano version of the song. 

When it was perfected, he surprised me by bringing me over to the office and playing and singing it to me. I totally cried. It really blows me away. What gets me is how much time he invested in it for me, how much sleep he gave up on, how bad his wrists hurt from the carpal tunnel, and how he even had to endure me complain one day that he had to work such long hours at his new job. I can't get over it!
Jeremy often sees me at my worst and still chooses to lavish his love and thoughtfulness on me. It was such a sweet picture of how God sees my every flaw and still freely pours grace on me through His Son. It's nothing that do. It's all grace. Needless to say, this painting has an extra special meaning to me. ;) 
Ready for the how to? I simply cut out a paper oval and laid it in the center of my paper, taping it down with washi/painters tape, to leave a white spot for my writing. Then, using various shades of blue and turquoise watercolors (I used these inexpensive ones from Target that I had on hand), I made brush strokes in a circular pattern around the paper. I just kept layering on more colors until I liked how it looked. Then, I added the lettering to the middle. I simply sketched the lettering out with a pencil, then when I was satisfied with my writing, I went over it with a blue marker. But, you could also create the lettering on the computer and have it printed on cardstock, then do the painting part. Whatever floats your boat! Easy, right?!

It's far from perfect (I stink at lettering!), but I like the way it turned out and how it looks in the gallery wall. I'll share the gallery wall with you next week!

Linking up with The Turquoise Home, The Thrifty Home, Tatertots and Jello, Shabby Nest, and Savvy Southern Style!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Unexpected Style Find

Note: This is NOT a sponsored post. Lowe's has no idea who I am! 

I ran into Lowe's this morning to grab a couple things and was immediately pulled over to their patio displays. There are so many cute products out right now! I was pleasantly surprised at their selection and style!

I wish I had thought to take pictures in the store. But, I went online and rounded up a few pictures of my favorite things they had out today. Of course, I picked all blue and green items (Ha!), but there was a nice selection of other colors, too.
Image Sources: Lowes.com

A lot of the items could be used indoors and were reasonably priced. Note to self... don't forget to check out Lowe's for home decorating supplies!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Living Room Makeover: Couch Redo

OH MY WORD, FRIENDS! I know I'm totally internet shouting, but have you heard that the Patriots won the Super Bowl? Because if not, let me tell you, WE WON!!!!! I'm really, REALLY, really excited! Can you tell? ;) And, gotta love that Brady gave Butler his MVP truck!
Image Credit: Cnbc.com

Ok, moving on (Just know I'm still thinking about our big win. Ha!) to discuss our living room couch saga. Remember way back in May when I showed you our new sectional? Perfect fit? Yes. Perfect couch? No...
After only a month, we noticed that the fabric was piling in a couple spots. We kept an eye on it, and before long, the fabric was piling all over the place. It was really strange! It started as a really soft microfiber and ended up rough and bumpy. I've never seen or heard of microfiber doing that before.

We went back to Haverty's and they let us exchange the couch. I'll spare you all the details, but our exchange didn't go as planned and last fall we ended up starting from scratch. Our sales associate was super helpful and kind through the entire process. The manager profusely apologized for our troubles and gave us a significant discount toward whatever replacement couch we wanted.
Haverty's had just come out with the Corey sectional and we loved it! It is a higher quality, slightly larger version of the Amalfi couch we originally purchased. I love that it's the same style, just better fabric and more stuffed. It's super comfy! We decided to go with the Corey sectional in the Pearl color. Because of the discount, we got it for the same sale price we had paid for the Amalfi. Yay!
It was delivered last week and so far it is wonderful! There is such a marked difference in the quality! We are incredibly thankful that Haverty's worked with us so well and really strived to correct the problem. We love the new sectional and think it's going to work out wonderfully!
(The colors are weird in this picture because it's from my phone, but it's the only way I could get the entire couch into the picture. I really need a wide angle lens!)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...