"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol. 9 (on Thursday)

I forgot my ugly picture for the week and I know you are all really broken up about it so here's two pictures for you. It may not be Wednesday, but these are pretty fabulous. 

Pictures from: UglyHousePhotos.com

I am so thankful for the Ugly House Photos website. How much do you love those pink chairs? And the blanket on the sofa...amazing. And who doesn't dream of living in a room with hot pink carpet?

Until next time...

Inspired: Design*Sponge Blog

It may be Wednesday, but before I post a "That's so Wrong" image I HAD to show you an inspiring room I found on my new favorite blog.

Now it may be my love for grey paint or my new found appreciation of making wood paneling look amazing, but I am in love with the "after" in this featured Before&After image.

OMG. I want to live in this room. Just look at those floors! I'm so in love with this shabby/chic room transformation. The best part is that it was done over a weekend for the grand total of $6.95. That's what I'm talking about. 

This room was created by Lucianna Samu who's blog I will now be checking in with to see what other mad-skills she has to show off. I'm ready to be impressed, Lucianna. Ready to be impressed.

Do you guys dig the shabby/worn-in look?

Until next time...

My Closet, Maeby's Room?

I didn't really love the idea of having my closet in our guest room, (I mean, that requires walking...geez) but now I'm pretty pumped about it. It's like having a huge walk-in closet. Not to mention, I'm in love with the paint color and I'm glad I get to visit it on a daily basis.  

Overall, the system is working fairly well. (Although I do need to add some window coverings before the neighbors get to know me a little too well.) I have a closet to myself, a bed to hide shoes under, and a whole dresser dedicated to me. In the future I'd like to add a mirror or two (or three) over the dresser, a cuter light beside the bed, a rug and a fabulous headboard, but it's working for now. Well, all except for the fact that my dog is trying to take it over. This is what I came across the other night when we were heading to bed...

She was not pleased when I made her get down off that new guest bed (Thanks, Mom & Dad!) and come to our bedroom. She moped enough that I started to feel a little guilty. I'm in charge. She's just a dog. I'm in charge...


Here are a few pictures of the guest room as it is currently. I'm pretty much in love with it. I can't wait till the funds are available to start adding to it...she'll be a beauty for sure.

At some point there will be a headboard includedin this picture...a DIY creation by yours truly. 

The beautiful orchid was a house warming gift
from one of my besties, Megan. Love!

The bucket chair my sweet hubby bought me
on Valentines day fills up this lonely corner.

Until next time...

Changes in the LR

I have bad news. 

After spotting the adorable yellow World Market curtains, I went to order them online just to find out that they do NOT carry them in the 96" length that I needed, even though the sales person told me they did.  It was very upsetting. I was left with the big decision of whether to use the yellow curtains by adding extra of fabric to the bottom of the panels or to move on to another set of curtains. It was a big decision. Huge.

So Saturday afternoon the choice was made. 

I dig them. You?


Until next time...

There's a Snake in my Boot

OK, not really, but Brent did see a snake in our yard when he mowed the lawn for the first time. Hilarious. This is what I imagined he looked like. (Yes, I totally made him reenact it when I got home from work.)

He did admit that he basically danced around trying to keep away from the snake all while holding on to the lawn mower. I'm so upset that I missed it. ("It" = Brent's reaction, not the snake.)

Although shopping for a lawn mower and weed-eater is not my idea of a fun way to spend the weekend, it is pretty exciting (for now) to get started on our lawn. Brent, being the manly man that he is, will be in charge of the lawn mowing and weed-eating, but I will be out there helping control the chaos that is our flower beds. We aren't quite ready to fully dive in to our front yard efforts, but we've definitely got a Game Plan: Get Heather and Kelly McGugan to come in town and put them to work. 


Good plan, right? I thought so.

Here's what we are starting with:

We'd like to repaint the shutters and front door, tame the flower bed, add some path lights and add tons and tons of plants. And of course, Brent would like to power-wash the steps and pathway. It's the manly thing to do. 


Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol. 8

Happy Hump Day, Readers!


Ugh. This may be fake, but it's still worthy of a "that's so wrong" post.

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/06/09/26-pictures-of-crazy-cat-furniture/

Honestly, I really, really hope it's fake. Check out that rug...it's my favorite part.

Until next time...

Living Room Progress

The hubby, furbabies and I have been in our new home for one week now and although there are still a couple "off limits" areas, we have settled in quite a bit. Today we were able to make some more home progress by buying purchasing our first washer, dryer, lawn mower, and weed-eater. It was tons of fun as you can image. (I'll talk more about that later.) Luckily, we were also able to pick out a couple more exciting items (well exciting for me, probably not that exciting for Brent) that are moving us one step closer to pulling our living room together.

Basically, I've already made a detour from my original living room design plan. Shocking? Not really. It's what I do. A girl like me can't walk through any home decor store or flip through any design magazine without coming up with a totally new idea of the "perfect room". This time the design deviation came from spotting this pretty lady at World Market.

I never even knew I liked yellow (in home decor) until I found this curtain. I never really considered it as a main color option, but I'm really pumped about it now. All of a sudden, grey and yellow are the bomb and I'm going with it. 

So I haven't purchased these curtains yet, (waiting to use my coupon, girl) but it is now the jumping off point for our living room design. What we did get to buy today, thanks to my sweet in-laws, is this new jute rug.

Looking good right? Our other new edition is the yellow pillow. I love the combination of the natural woven rug and casual yellow pillow with the more elegant grey pillows. The most interesting design usually stems from unexpected combinations and these pillows do just that for me. I just can't wait to get the curtains in place. Bring on the grey and yellow!

Yeah, that last picture has nothing to do with the new living room scheme, but they are just too darn cute not to include. If only were that well behaved all the time.

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol.7

I almost forgot that today was Wednesday.  Good thing my hubby is around. 

How weird is this?

I found this image from creativehouseidea.com.

How would Build-A-Bear feel about this? It creeps me out.

Until next time...

I'm Surrounded By Pregnant People

I have apparently missed the memo that now is the time to have babies. We are surrounded by people growing things in their bellies. They're all spawning and it's a little strange. Of course, I am happy for them all since I'm assuming they each wanted their bellies to start expanding and although it isn't quite our time to jump on this bandwagon, I am enjoying the opportunity to expand my crafting skills. 

This past Saturday I helped host a co-ed baby shower for these two adorable ladies (and their husbands.) 

Emily Miller & Julianne Feenstra

The "Pea in a Pod" themed gathering was held at our friend Ashley's house. (Check out her and her hubbie's blog here.) She provided all the yummy snacks and I worked on the shower decorations. It was my first attempt at baby shower decor, but I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot more of it so let's see what you think...

My first diaper wreath. It only seemed right since I've been on
such a wreath making kick these days.

I also made these "Wish Trees" for each of the ladies
along with the cute little note tags. Such a sweet way to bless the mommas.

I had a few of these cute green pots with flowers around the house.
They were in the Dollar Spot at Target so the mommas each
got to take one home with them.

One of two homemade banners.

The "Congrats" banner with a view of the yummy snacks.

Ashley placed the invitation in a frame on the buffet table...a
very sweet touch.

Ashley put together these fruit sticks which I just had to have
at this shower once I spotted them on Grey Grey Designs.

Along with the party decorations, I also made part of the baby shower gifts for each couple. These are "Door Hanger Baby Announcements." It can be used to hang on the hospital door, the nursery door or just in the nursery as a adorable picture frame. There's space to fill out all the important details of the special day. I really dig it and hopefully they did too. 

There's my first attempt. I would have loved to do more decorations, but since we were in the middle of painting everything in sight and moving, I had to keep it under control. It was a great shower with some really wonderful people. Love it!

Until next time...

Do Bookcases Scare You Too?

Bookcases terrify me. Is that weird? 

Our new home has a large built in bookcase that sits directly across from our back door (which is also our main entrance.) Although the room is still filled with unopened boxes, I couldn't stand the idea of having everyone walk in and stare at empty shelves. I mean, even when the boxes are gone, we'll still have to distract from the fact that we have basically no furniture in the room. 

Before our small group arrives tomorrow night, (holy crap, tomorrow night?) I decided to tackle those scary shelves. I know they probably won't stay the same and I'll more than likely start hating them by this weekend, but at least the bookcase is no longer empty. I scrimped and scrapped for items to throw up on the shelves. Any thoughts?

Hey. Stop looking at those boxes.

Not too terrible, right?

Well, those are our shelves for now. It has at least a little bit of personality. There's even a gas can on the bottom left that my father-in-law Doug found in one of our storage sheds. How fun it that?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by organizing displays on your bookcases or shelves? What do your shelves say about you? (I think mine says...hmm...well, maybe I don't want to know.)

Until next time...

March Moving Madness

We survived the move and are finally both sitting on the sofa for the first time this weekend. The house may still be a hot mess, but look how happy the pups look...

I think they like the new place, as they should. 

So not only did we move this weekend, but I also helped host a baby shower for two of our favorite couples today. I created all the decorations for the shower while our dear friend Ashley hosted and provided the most yummy snacks. It was a ton of fun. Check out the adorable parents-to-be...

It was a big weekend for us. I'll post plenty of pictures for you all soon. (Sorry guys, I've got to keep people interested. Can't give it all away at once.)

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong Wednesday" Vol. 6

Hey Hey, KeeCreatives! 

The 70's seem to be great at providing us with wonderfully bad design images which I am very thankful for. This week I bring to you a very patriotic room design from the 70's.

This image I snagged from
http://designblocks.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/retro-fun/
and it originally came from Ugly Rooms for Beautiful People by James Lileks

I'm all for a pro USA design, but I have to question how the zebra fits into that theme. It's almost like a "Where's Waldo".  Maybe "Spot the Zebra"? That could be fun.

I will say I would take those chairs in a heart beat. LOVE...just maybe not in red. 

What do you guys think? Are you patriotic enough for this room?

Until next time...

The Wonders of Paint

With the help of many wonderful friends and family, we have been able to paint an absurd amount over the past nine days. Although we love this new home, the paint choices of the previous owner were a little out there. I just don't think a pink hallway fits everyone. 

My husband/editor has told me that I must (as if I wouldn't) post before and after pictures of all the finished rooms. I'll be doing that room by room so I can share more of the details, but for now here are some in progress photos for your viewing pleasure. 

Note: For best effect please view the original photos by clicking here. 

The paint cans we started with. We ended up with tons more.

Living Room paint going grey.

Living/Dining Room

Working on the Living Room trim.

Our very happy helper, Dwayne.

Living Room - Looking pretty good, huh?

Th happy Homeowners.
(This is still early in the day. Not sure how long the smiles lasted.)

Check out that sweet dining room.

I have no excuse.

Taping out is the worst, but it's super helpful in the long run.

The newly painted grey hallway.
I just love that our step stool matched the old hallway paint.

The green tiled toned down a bit with the Wood Smoke paint.
It looks much nicer with our new shower curtain. 

New floating shelves above our toilet. Thanks, Doug!

Mom and Dad our amazing.
They tackled our dreaded wallpapered guest room.

Go, Momma, Go!

Doesn't that look like fun?
I vote no.

After the wallpaper had been fully demolished. 

The AWESOME new guest room color.
LOVE!

Another look at the guest room walls.

Strangely enough, the doors have taken the longest to complete.
Such a pain.

Getting started on the master bedroom.
That paneling had to go.

Paneling be gone.

Looking much better.

I love how much brighter this room became with the
white trim and painted paneling.

Super Mom

The start of painting in the "den".

Lauren, another wonderful helper.

The bookcase needed to brighten up a bit.

The bookcase looks SO much better with a coat
(or many coats) of white paint.

We opted for a two-toned look in our den.
It is looking fabulous.

So there's the start. I can't wait to show you all more. We'll be moving in next Saturday so we'll finally have some furniture in our newly painted rooms. How exciting. 

Until next time...