For Your Eyes Only

For over three hours on Saturday, Reginia at The Not So Modern Family and I wove up and down the aisles of Scott Antique Market in South Atlanta.  We are armed with a little cash and our cameras.  We walked away with a few things and tons of inspiration.  Let your eyes enjoy:

Shutters.  Shutters.  And.  More.  Shutters!

Wanted this for my dining room ... so bad!

Letter Graveyard.  They started at $20.

What's up with me a nude women?!  This thing was about 7' tall.
I love it...I could do without the crack, though.

Creative storage.

Storage or future light fixtures.

I bought a similar fixture as the top one at a thrift store last week for $2.99.
Notice the PB looking fixture on the bottom?  It had a $650 price tag!

Ladders were everywhere.  I am dying to find one in my price range.

What did I buy?

I picked up these old numbers and skeleton keys for under $15.00.  I plan to shadow box them.  The 2003 represents when our two hearts became one...dude, and it's not even Valentine's Day!  

What about you guys?  Do you like to shop to buy or shop for inspiration or both?  Would you have been able to walk away from all of this eye candy and only spend 15 bones?

Ikea Pilgrimage, February 2011

I made the pilgrimage.  The one to Ikea.  I took a virgin with me, too.  We paid our respects, ate some Swedish meatballs and bought a $.59 shopping bag to trek our purchases back to The Promise Land.  It was a divinely inspiring experience.

Reginia and I stopped in for an hour or so before we headed over to the Breman Holocaust Museum to hear a wonderful survivor speak.  We had no list of items we needed, and we were armed with a camera.  We went for inspiration.  We left fulfilled (and full - those meatballs were good!)

Here are some things I just had to remember for inspiration.  Let's face it.  I don't need a reason to take a picture of something.  I just love looking at pretty things!

I love the texture of this basket as well as this size; however, I really love the $3.99 price of the drop wiring kit that I can use to change out my dining room lighting with a nice, big drum shade!

I just couldn't resist getting this picture of an awesome frame collage.  All of those white frames and mats make me swoon.

I had a moment when I saw this piece.  I was loving the size and all of the little open faced nooks for baskets and other storage.  This brown wash is everywhere around Ikea right now.  Oh, and the price....made me yell...$149.00

Here, I am inspired to hang double rod curtains.  My living room and dining room already have the white, Vivan curtains.  I love the idea of building visual interest for them by hanging another bar slightly above it and hanging a print or color fabric.  How fun!

After a few hours of seeing these prints, I have an itch to stencil some white sheets to make me a patterned curtain.  I am thinking a white, king, flat sheet, a stencil and some of the current wall color in my bedroom, Grey Matters by Sherwin Williams.  The print would blend perfectly and I could hang an accent curtain on the outside.  My new favorite color to pair with grey and white...yellow!  I'm about to break bad with some yellow in the master.

I am loving the print on this pillow.  Notice the birdies!

I seriously should have grabbed one of these.  It is a 4'x6' rug for...$19.00!  It was a beautiful grey with a print that would work anywhere.  Such a good deal!

I love this sketch so much.  Not for $15.99, though.  I am thinking a piece of card stock and a sharpie or dry brush with some black paint.  This will be much better for my guests.  They won't be embarrassed to use my bathroom as I was considering doing a little self portrait until I saw this!


With all of this inspiration, I am dying to get to work on starting up some projects around here.  I am seriously thinking some stenciled curtains with a tutorial like this.

Where do you go for inspiration?  Out of all of the projects floating around in your noggin, what is the one you are itching to tackle first?

What Is My Style?

After participating in the blog hop over at Beauty in the Attempt, I received an abundance of feedback from all of the wonderful bloggers who participated.  In the blog hop, I was invited to check out many other blogs and leave feedback.  In doing that, I realized many things.  I realized that I am starting to move past (slightly past) being a newborn blogger into being a can-hold-my-own-head-up blogger.  This means that I am familiar enough with the basic Blogger tools and need to venture out into the html code world and snag my blog a new look.  To do this, I have invited my friend, and ultimate expert of all things under the sun, Reginia from The Not So Modern Family to come over on Friday for a blog overhaul.  We are talking a big overhaul.  Think "What Not To Wear", "Extreme Home Makeover" and "Clean House".


I am so excited!


Ok - it wasn't just seeing what else is out there on others' blogs.  It was also the comments I received.  I heard that my background could be distracting with the bleed-through background.  I was told my blog didn't feel like my "home" and needed to be more personal.  I need a picture of me.  An about me blurb up top.  My side bars were a little too text heavy and could use some more pictures.


However, I also learned that some think I have a great voice as a writer (gasp!  my students would be so proud!).  I have a good eye for photography and angles (swooning!).  My projects are lovely (cheeks are blushing).  And, for those who were rooting for the peacocks, my background shows so much of my personality.


Until I read this: "I'm trying to figure out your style because the decor on your mantel is so different from your blog background."

This played in my mind day after day.  I called Reginia.  I said, "My blog doesn't represent my style."  She agreed!  I embraced it.  I put no thought into that background.  I was the first one I came across that wasn't a preloaded Blogger font that I thought was pretty.


Great.  So I will make my blog match my style.


...


What is my style? 
How often can I change my background?
Do the aesthetics of my blog have to be deep and meaningful?
Am I normal?


So......I have a to do list for the weekend that sounds a little like this:

• Design a new background
• Design a new banner (maybe with some photos from my home/projects)
• Make a post "cloud" (my tagging is ridiculous)
• Add some images in my sidebar (maybe a photo of each of my rooms in my home)
• Play around with new fonts (Blogger's are b.o.r.i.n.g.)
• Start making my posts open in a new window
• Have a blog with a wider width that will allow for the extra large setting for pictures

My final thoughts:  I love my new followers.  I love the new blogs I am following.  Feedback and comments are so precious to me.  I can't wait for my makeover.  


In other news...my free Craigslist table is hanging out in the garage for another day to dry.  It is a beautiful, fresh white.  I can't wait to stain the top and get it in the breakfast nook under my new PB knock off light fixture!


What did you get out of the blog hop?  Any changes coming to your blog?

Pottery Barn Hundi Lantern Knock-Off

Remember my Home Goals 2011 post a few weeks back?  Well, this weekend, I knocked out one of the items of the list.  Well "ish".  My goal was to take down all of the contractor grade light fixtures and buy/make custom ones.  I have three that I really want out of my sight.  Forever.  The one that is really bugging me right now is the one in the breakfast nook.  With the new table and wainscotting looking so good, I chose that fixture to come down first.


Here are two inspiration pictures I have been drooling over for the breakfast nook.  I just think the black detail will really tie in to the black granite counter tops and be dainty enough to hang over the 48" round table.

After viewing The Hand Me Down House and getting some inspiration, I started a weekend project that saved me roughly $245.00!!!


I started off by buying this beautiful {read: well, there are no words} brass light fixture at a local thrift store for $9.99.  It was labeled $12.99, but by my asking at the register if she knew it worked, she got nervous, didn't answer and told me she "could do $9.99".  I said sure because I was going to buy it anyway.  Lesson learned:  keep your mouth shut and let people get nervous when responding to questions about products!

After disassembling the light, you can set aside the glass globe because you won't be needing that!  You will end up with the brass items below:

I feel like I owe you two additional pieces of information.  1.  what are the "non" brass items?  Answer: they are other items you will need to buy at Home Depot that I will list for you in a moment.  2.  Why is your fixture mount hanging from your tree?  Answer:  Because it was an awesome idea from Reginia at The NOT So Modern Family as a way to easily set it up for optimal spray paint coverage!

{Let's face it...you are basically witnessing the product of a Saturday DIY Date Night}

Now for spray painting.  I used what I had, which happened to be a can of high gloss black.  It honestly covered it like glass and looked beautifully (even if I did forget to wipe all of the dust off of it...oops).

Don't forget about the mounting piece hanging in your tree...spray that, too!  Even spray the cord black, just tape over the exposed copper wires.  (To keep any paint from going into the 4 light bulb holes, tuck some cotton balls in there and just remove them once the fixture is dry).

After letting everything dry for about 30 minutes, take them all in and place them on a towel on a flat working surface.  Now is a good time to talk about the additional products you will need.  You will need:

• (3) S Hooks, size 2 1/8" (preferably closed, but you can man handle some open ones until they are closed)
• (3) pieces of #16 chain cut in 1' pieces (this will already come in black)
• (1) package of Coil Steel Hanger Strap, size 3/4" (this will be copper in color and will come in a package of 10')
• Gorilla Glue
• Black Ribbon that is wider than 3/4"
• Hurricane Light
• This is the most important piece.  You will want to take the "chandelier" piece with you from store to store.  Before you buy anything, you must make sure that there is a flute shape at the top and that you can set the chandelier completely through that smaller section.  I went to four stores before finally finding mine at Michael's.  It was $16.99, and I had a 40% off coupon I printed off of their website.  Google coupons!!!

For assembly, you will need to cut the piece of hanger strap to an inch longer than the waist of the flute in the hurricane.  You will need to place it around the skinniest part of the flute and tighten it while marking where it overlaps.  Remove the strap from the hurricane and place on the table.  With Gorilla Glue, glue where the edges overlap and insert your 3 S hooks

.The next step is to slide the tension ring, with the S hooks already attached, to the top of the hurricane in the curve.  Here, you will want to measure (or count out how many circles are between each hook) to make sure that the hooks are the same distance apart.

Now - this process will more than likely cause some of your spray paint to scrape off.  Do not fret!  You can remove them and spray again OR just touch them up with some black paint and a brush (or a sharpie) that you probably already have in your craft drawer.


You will need to cover the hanger strap with some pretty ribbon.  I used some heavy, velvet ribbon that was 7/8".  For this, begin gluing where the seal in the hanger strap is.  Put dots of hot glue on the strap every inch or so and press the ribbon down.  When you get to an S hook, you will need to make a small cut exactly where the S hook is.  Then just continue gluing down until you make it to where you started.

You will also want to go ahead and connect the 3 chains.  You will leave the ends that you attach to the S hook CLOSED, but you will have to pry open the other end of the chain to attach towards the ceiling.


Now we are ready to go get the fixture mounting piece hanging from the tree and reassemble everything.

Now you may begin assembly:

*note that these picture make the paint job look shoddy.  This is just the way brass reacts to light or flash.  Trust me, these babies are midnight black!


You are ready to place the chandelier piece in the hurricane and stretch the 3 chains up to link onto the lip of the piece you flipped earlier.

I actually had to trim my chains a little because using the entire 1' that I had cut left my chandelier barely sitting in the hurricane.  I wanted it to sit a little deeper, so I just counted off the same amount on all three chains and adjusted accordingly.


Now you are ready to have your man wire it up.  Play around with it to get it balanced and flip the switch to see her beauty.  Here are some afters taken at about 9:00 p.m.  I will have to wait until I see my house in the daylight again (maybe Saturday) to take some better photos, but I promise to update.  Enjoy!

In about 2 hours and $25.00, I ended up with a great knock off!  You must check back this weekend for some much better after photos!


Don't you just love a great Pottery Barn Knock-Off!


*All photography compliments of Reginia at The NOT So Modern Family (except the nasty after shot!)


I am linked to Making The World Cuter, I Heart Nap Time, Skip To My Lou, Crafts Keep Me Sane, All Thingz Related, Giggles, Glitz and Glam, Seven Thirty Three, Thrifty Decor Chick, These Creative Juices, Funky Junk Interiors

Guilt Free Office

It's no secret.  There is no bun in my oven.  My oven is not even on pre-heat.  Let's get real.  Not only have Rusty and I not even been to the store, we haven't even made the shopping list!


The good news?  Our 3rd bedroom is a GUILT FREE office.


Back in June, Rusty and I commissioned Black Mountain Furniture to design our custom built-ins.  We desperately needed them.  Between the two of us, we had enough books to fill up the bed of Toyota Tacoma.  It quickly became an issue when we got them all in one room.

http://www.davidrobertbooks.com/books.jpg

Since Black Mountain Furniture is local, they came out to our house to measure and draw out plans.  After asking us a few questions, they had a complete vision and got to work.  After about three weeks, they were calling to set up an installation date.  Thankfully, Rusty and I had gone through our books and pared them down.  We forced ourselves to only keep one or two copies of Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm and Atlas Shrugged, and I finally talked Rusty into only keeping his favorite Dean Koontz books instead of every one he ever read.


Here are some pictures of the built-in bookshelves and free standing desk:

Since the owners of BMF just happen to be our good friends, Craig and Reginia, they stayed over for dinner and Reginia staged them really quickly to get some pictures for her website. 


*Note - these would be about 1/4th of the books we kept.  What did we do with the rest of them?  Well, we boxed up the manuals, textbooks and other resources and stored them in the basement.  We donated about 2 boxes to a book drive at our school.  The BEST thing we did was list them on Paperback Swap and earned credits for new books we were dying to read.

We absolutely love the built-ins.  The detached desk is a great feature because it allows us to be flexible where we want the piece to go, and it allows for us to open the room up as a make-shift guest bedroom.


Do you have a space that you think would benefit from built-ins or special storage? What ideas do you have in mind for them?  

Patiently Waiting

For once in my life I waited.  I had an itch to go out and buy a new pedestal table and chairs, but I refused to scratch it.  Well, I was virtually scratching it and trying to find one cheap.  You have no idea how happy I was when my Blackberry went off and Reginia over at The NOT So Modern Family forwarded me a Craigslist link to a FREE table.  That's right...FREE.  Well, by the time I gave her to go ahead, someone else had already claimed it.

No big deal.  I just kept looking.  Reginia kept looking.  Then we get the e-mail that the 1st bidder never came and picked up the table.  So, I snatched it up.  Thankfully she lived about 3.5 minutes from my lovely mom and dad, so my dad picked it up from me and will be bringing it up on January 22nd.  

Here are the Craigslist pictures of the table right now:

After researching and writing this blog, Rusty and I have decided to paint the pedestal and chairs white and strip and stain the table top a dark walnut stain like this:

I am not sure if this table will even work out for me.  There are no chairs.  It is 48".  I might not even be able to open my pantry door if this table is in there.  But do I care?  NO!  Because if it doesn't work, I will just pass it along to someone else or sell it to parlay into my dream table.  

There is no one like my friend over at The NOT So Modern Family.  I spoke with her today, and she is writing a blog all about her strategies on finding these hidden treasures.  After I post this, I think I will send her over my wish list and see what she can find me!

What secrets do you have when trying to find deals?  What is the best FREE thing you ever ended up scoring?

Table Talk

http://www.katjarimmi.com

Today was a very exciting day.  Rusty and I did our first home project outside of painting a room or hanging a shelf.  We tackled wainscoting.  In the breakfast nook.  Doesn't that sound elegant?  It is much less elegant after hearing why we jumped on making it our first project.  There is a very practical reason behind it.  Two reasons actually.  Those reasons are Hank and Dagny, my hounds.  More than once this winter, our temps in the mountains have stayed in the teens for several days in a row.  That means our little ones come inside for the night and sleep in the kitchen.  It also means that they hound up the drywall in the breakfast nook.


While I can't wait to write my post on the wainscoting and show you some before and after shots, this post is about getting some much needed advice. I need to buy a breakfast table, so I can move my dining room table out of my kitchen and into my dining room.  I know I want a round pedestal table with 4 chairs, and I don't care if the table comes with a leaf.  After we paint the kitchen, it will be a light neutral color with lots of natural lighting.  Our dining room table will be in the room beside it, and it is a dark walnut stain.


Look at some of these beautiful pictures I found out there for inspiration:


To add the most amount of light to the kitchen, I could go for an all white look to tie in with the trim:

I could go with a black table and chairs to tie into my black granite counter tops:

diningsets.guidestobuy.com

This brown table is just a shade lighter than my dining room table and will tie in nicely with my cabinets:

thefurniture.com

My eyes are also loving some two toned looks:

furniturefromhome.com (with 4 matching all white chairs)

http://www.thefurniture.com

No matter what I choose, I will try to snag a deal on Craigslist and paint it after one of my inspiration photos!  (I'm kind of bummed because Reginia over at The Not So Modern Family found me a FREE table today on Craiglist, but it was claimed moments before I called).


So what do you guys think?  I'm torn.  Should I go for a solid table/chair?  If so, which one?  What do you think of the two toned look?  They are pretty hot right now....