New Living Room Update {The Reveal}

Finally.... On a rainy Sunday, our new living room is almost complete.

This whole entire process took months. Literally. It all started with a Pinterest inspiration board and some blog searching. When I came across Jill Hinson's blog Forever Cottage, I knew that I needed help getting started and I loved her home and her decor style so I contacted her and this is what she came up with and I fell in love....

 

Jill Hinson Interiors

 

I truly believe that without Jill guiding me along the way this room could never have turned out the way it did!

Thank you so much Jill!

If you would like Jill to design a room for you go here!

 

I am really embarrassed to even post these before pics, but you need to see the disaster that was "before".

Here is goes.....

 

BEFORE:

 

.... Yes I know. What was I thinking??? How I lived five years like this I will never know!

 

AFTER:

 

                                      

                                         

I LOVE this room!! I get up in the middle of the night just to peak at it!

All I have left to do is install the lanterns!! The ones I had my heart set on are on back order so it's another waiting game until I can find something I adore!

This living room "update" if you will did NOT happen over night and it literally took months to come together. I changed my mind 1,001 times but in the end it all came together. The only way an update like this will work is if you have three things. Patience, a reasonable budget and inspiration and mine came from hours of exploring Pinterest and blogs.  

This room is functional, pretty, cozy and is complete reflection of me and my style and I could have not have done it without Jill Hinson!

Thank you so much Jill! I hope you love it as much as I do!!

...... And last but not least a great big thank you to my hubby for trusting me and for letting me do whatever my heart desired and for spending an entire Sunday putting up frames. Not once, but two times!

Stay tuned.... our new dining room update coming soon!!!



~Happy Mothers Day!!~

Just a quick hello to wish all the mommy's out there a very

Happy Mother's Day!!

My day could not have been more perfect....beautiful weather and a nice family outing to the Mystic Aquarium with my three favorite people in the world.... I hope yours was a great one too!!!

 

 

Have a great week!!!

Psst... New living room re-do reveal coming soon!!!



IKEA STOOL ~ {DIY}

Happy Wednesday all!

I have a quick post about a DIY project I attempted over this past weekend and it actually came out pretty good! I didn't take many pictures because honestly it was way too easy!

I picked up one of those small unfinished stools at IKEA for my kitchen a few weeks ago and the other day I came along this post on Pinterest (I mean really where else?!!) and I thought what an adorable idea, so I took a go at it and I am really very happy with how it turned out! I used some extra paint I had on hand from when we re-painted the bathroom (much more on that later!). I was going to spray paint the stool at first, but I was in a rush of course and I just decided to paint it. The base white color is white dove by Benjamin Moore and the for the words I used my favorite color right now, Moonshine by Benjamin Moore. It's a great, gray/green color that isn't to harsh. More honesty here, I didn't even bother sanding or priming the stool. It was very smooth when we purchased it and I just did two coats of the white dove....I did wipe it down first because after sitting in my office for two weeks it did collect some dust!

The next step was pretty simple too. I pick two fonts I loved and used carbon paper to trace it on the stool. There was some carbon marks left around the letters, but I just painted over it with the white paint. Then I filled in the letters......Pretty simple. Took me all of 45min. I was very careful when filling in the letters and I used three different sized brushes.

The final step was just to spray paint over the words with clear coat. You will want to make sure you don't skip that step if you plan on actually putting the stool to use!

And here it is!

 

.... Have I told you I LOVE IKEA.... & Pinterest???



Gracie's Big Girl Room {Update}

Happy Sunday!!

I have been very busy trying to pull together a living room, dining room and office/mud room for the last several months and some how I always make a u-turn back to my daughters bedroom.... And rightfully so! She has been in desperate need of a night stand and window treatments and now she finally has both!

The window treatment is by far my favorite! I picked the fabric and had the shade made by Windows by Melissa on Etsy. She did an excellent job!!! Thank you Melissa!!

The nightstand I snagged up from Joss & Main. It was from the collection that was collaborated by Melanie from my favorite blog My Sweet Savannah!!

I think all the room really needs now is a cozy throw rug and maybe Gracie will start sleeping in her big girl room through the night!

 

 

.... Not Too Shabby!!!!



Wall Art for the Kitchen {Scrabble Board DIY}

Everyday I go on Pinterest and find new DIY projects I'm just dying to do. A while back I came across this DIY scrabble board and printed it out and put it on my very long "Must Do" list....  I had an old and quite expensive cork board from Ballard Designs that hung in the kitchen and I wanted to have something fun & unique to hang in the kitchen/living room wall and a scrabble board seemed liked the most perfect idea, especially with my little one starting kindergarten.... It looked so easy and fun especially since I already had a perfectly good cork board to use.... Well. lets just say this was a 5 day project and one of the harder DIY's I have found so far on Pinterest. Thank the lord I had the cork board already or I may not have even pursued this, but hence I did and I'm LOVING the end result!

 

 

Again.... NOT an easy project. The steps are fairly simple, but its just getting it all together and letting things dry that takes up the most time. I didn't take pictures during the whole process because it was a "process" and my hands were either full of glue or trying to pry a part tiny magnets!

Here is exactly what I used and the order that I did this.

 

1. Cork board or frame with card board backing.

 

2. Sheet metal cut to size (I cut mine myself with electrical spears).

 

3. Liquid Nail Glue (I got mine at my local Home Depot).

 

4. An old dictionary or book.

 

5. Mod Podge

 

6. 200 or more scrabble pieces (I found mine here).

 

7. 200 or more good quality magnets (I found mine here).

 

8. Clear coat spray paint (I found mine here).

 

9. A whole lot of patience!

 

STEP 1. Glue your sheet metal to your board with the liquid nail. Make sure you use enough glue and press very hard and let dry completely (at least 24 hours)

STEP 2. While the board with sheet metal dries rip out all your pages that you will Mod Podge to the sheet metal and glue all your magnets to the scrabble pieces. I used a tacky glue but I would highly recommend Gorilla Glue! WARRNING: Once magnets are applied to the scrabble pieces LET THEM DRY!!! FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS!!

 

STEP 3. Once your sheet metal board is ready, start to Mod Podge the dictionary or book pages to the sheet metal as desired. I did three coats!

 

STEP 4. Once you have covered the sheet metal entirely spray book pages with a clear coat spray paint. This step is very important in order for paper to hold up to the magnets! I did three coats and let each dry for at least 24 hours in between coats.

 

And there you have it!! A very special piece in our home for sure!

Thank you to The Twice Remembered Cottage for this idea!!

 

 

Have a great week!

~Lisa

 

 

 

 





Charles Emerson Designs giveaway {from My Sweet Savannah}

What a great way to wake up! Just found out about this great giveaway from Charles Emerson Designs via My Sweet Savannah. Not only is this stuff gorgeous, but you can get 20% right now!! For the all the details go here!! And be sure to browse My Sweet Savannah!! This blog was the very first blog I discovered over four years ago and I've been hooked ever since! Melaine is awesome and her blog is full of excellent decor ideas, DIY projects and so much more!! Don't forget to enter to win a $50 gift card to Charles Emerson Designs!  My favorite design... The "Lena" earrings... shown below...

Happy Tuesday!!
 

source 

 

Kitchen Update {New Chandelier}

Happy Sunday!!

I am so excited I can't even contain myself. We have been in our home for just about five years now and I've had to look at an ugly black ceiling fan in my kitchen, doing nothing but collecting and spinning dust everywhere!! Seems like when we did our original renovations we put a fan in every single room in the house! So NOT a fan! So after months of trying to find the perfect chandelier that would fit in our small kitchen over a high kitchen island, I finally found one on...wait for it.... eBay!!!

So without further adieu...

My new chandelier...

It is just perfect....