Waiting For Paint To Dry...

I started at the top... I decided to paint the ceiling a very, very soft turquoise blue. Just for kicks. We love our blue porch ceiling and I'm so ready for Spring and blue skies that I was willing to see how it looked. It is so soft - you can barely tell in this photo that it is even blue. I saw a HD Thoreau quote the other day,
"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.” 
 I think that is what I'm trying to do!

You can see the old dingy buttercream wall color. I didn't do a bunch of before shots because this is a nice, rated G blog and the before was scary, like slasher movie scary. A little glimpse is bad enough. The hula girl meets window treatment is outta here, too. I'm telling you this was a much needed update. As much as I've gone on about this bathroom redo you would think it was a high budget overhaul in a million dollar mansion but, no, it is a no budget redo. It was just so needed that I have become a little obsessed with it. I am painting and purging and scrubbing like crazy.

How do you feel about the bare bulb? Maybe taking that clean, spare look too far? I'm going for a very clean, spa-ish look with a little beachy vibe. Like a nice spa in the Turks and Caicos or somewhere fabulous like that. I am inspired by all the great decorating blogs from down under. And it's nice because Australia has Summer while we have Winter so I can read Summer entries in January. Disclaimer, though: This is not a decorating blog for a couple of reasons... I am not a decorator, I do not have a decorator's budget , and I can't get my pictures to look like they should.
But this is what I'm painting so this is what I have to show :)

Many coats of white paint later. And the caulk??? Oh my gosh! I have filled like crazy. When you have white on white on white you can see every little crack that didn't get caulked before!

Adding to the skill set - patching the ceiling when drill goes crazy backing screws out of old window valances. It happens. Touch up on tomorrow's to do list.

This poor plant. I had to bring him in off the porch when we left town for Thanksgiving. He has to hang out inside for a little longer and I have shuffled him all over this room while painting. There just isn't anywhere else for him to reside. There's a frond in almost every picture I've taken of this bathroom redo. 
I have black and white tile floors in this bathroom. I love black and white tiles like these. I have loved them forever. I have pictures I took in France when I was in high school of black and white tile floors. They are elegant and beautiful and classy for about 15 seconds after they are scrubbed - on hands and knees. Otherwise a bit of a maintenance pain.
I would choose them again in a heart beat. If I win the lottery. If I have a maid.

A little spot that is starting to come together. The fabulous mirror leaning on the counter is an amazing coral color called Rejuvenate by Sherwin Williams. I had the paint left from College Girl's last room decorating project. This is a zero budget re do as I mentionned before, not the real deal gut it and reno like on a fav blog, My Old Country House. I've done those old house re do projects and they are serious!
Anyway, I'm using what I have and "shopping" the house for this little update. My husband brought home the little cabinet years ago and stuck it on the wall by his sink because that's where he wanted it  and there you have it. I gave it a little update with fresh paint and a couple of cute turquoise knobs from IKEA.

And this dresser fits perfectly in the alcove between the tub and the corner of the wall. She was left in a rental property ( the stuff that gets left behind ?!?) and my husband hauled it home. We could have looked for years for something to go in that space and never found a better fit. Nice and sturdy just needs freshening up.
 

So here she is primed and getting a coat of "Rejuvenate". I was thinking of doing the drawers in ombre but I just don't know. They look awesome on Pinterest but I'll have to see. I bought the other colors in sample size from Sherwin Willims. On sale for about $5.00. Cannot beat that.
(BTW, the lovely coral color, Rejuvenate, that I am using really isn't the traffic safety orange that it appears here.)

 

The vanity cabinets are getting a coat of soft gray, SW Network Gray, to tie in with the Master Bedroom and to change it up from the white cabinets we have had forever. It's hard to tell much in this picture.  The screws on the cabinet doors still need a touch up and I changed out the white porcelain knobs for these clear lucite knobs from IKEA. They are clean and crisp and fit the budget. Hardware is outrageous but these are $1.99 for 6 - yep! -crazy how IKEA does that. I used the turquoise version on the medecine cabinet above and green ones on a little dresser in a guest bedroom. It had been knobless for a long time because who wants to pay a fortune for knobs that get seen once or twice a year!
Other than the SW paint samples that's been the big purchase so far!


Linking Up:

$1.00 Plants,Sneak Peek, IKEA, Junkin' and Other Random Thoughts...

Dear Wal Mart, Do not mark plants or bulbs down to $1.00 and expect me to walk by!!!
Potting these up today. Maybe they will bloom for Valentine's Day!

It's cold today in Atlanta but these are still blooming away!
 

A little "before" photo of the bathroom that is getting a shot of "welcome to this decade" love. It was not good, let me tell you. It is coming along nicely  (more pics soon) and there's a little sneak peek of something I tried. It's a little swatch of color on the ceiling above the window. It's not the weird black squiggle that is now in all of my iphone pictures since I shattered my screen. Please hurry upgrade day!!

 
Had to run to IKEA last week. They had lots of lovely, spring-y colors!! Yellow is College Girls fav color. And we will need new bedding when she makes yet another move (out of Chi O House at the end of the Semester) because the next bed will be a different size from this one!! OY.

We like this one best. I love a good ticking stripe in any color.

 

They had a big fleece throw with a flamingo on it. I resisted but so perfect for my porch!
 

 
Uh Oh! Biscuit is recuperating and not happy about the "cone" he has to wear. I'm not happy the "cone" cost $40.00 :)

Saw this quote in a shop in Buckhead. I'd like to do something with that quote...

... and look at all the goodies in this place!!
 

This is one of my favorite places to browse - you never know what will turn up. I would like to go to the one Meg goes to on Craft Weekend but, Toto, it's in Kansas!!! However, it's on my to do list if I ever make it to Kansas!!

Check out all that chippy goodness!!

And I have a bad case of wanting this wicker table. The condition is amazing!!

 

They have amazing doors...

And a section where old lamps go to wait for someone to rescue them. That lime green one has possibilities. The shape looks like something that's at Jonathan Adler right now!

And it has rained non-stop but that did not keep the delivery guy ( I will not name the carrier out of kindness, but seriously?) from leaving it on my front porch in this condition. Nice. But everything inside was OK and the sun will come out tomorrow!

 Happy Friday !

This Blog Brought To You By...

... Chloe !


I have seen several posts lately where bloggers have been interviewed about "how and where" they blog. Well this is how I ("we") blog. I sit in my comfy chair with my feet propped up and rub Chloe's chin or ears with one hand and blog with the other.

It's a miracle more typos don't occur because the more I rub her ears or chin, the more relaxed she gets.

Her eyes get droopy and she starts to lean on the keyboard but she won't go take a nap - not when there are posts to write and ears to be scratched. So I hold her droopy, sleepy head in one hand and blog with the other.
And that's how we blog around here!

New Year - New Paint!

I tend to do my "Spring Cleaning" now - so Winter Cleaning, I guess. I want to be in the yard when it warms up and I always want to paint in January.

This year it is more than want to paint - I reallllly need to paint quite a few rooms. It's been a while and the white trim in the house is past due! There are no more miracles with a "miracle sponge" left for my kitchen cabinets either.  I have two big hairy dogs and red Georgia clay - 'nuff said.
And if I'm being honest - I've had some of this paint since last Fall but it just didn't happen. Then putting out Christmas decorations and cleaning for the holidays and then taking them down made me know that it must be done!

I always have my Sherwin Williams fan deck floating around and I've got paint samples in my purse or the notebook I carry but they get lost and rumpled. I make paint swatches on index cards and they get dirty and rumpled in my purse or I forget the color name.... you get the idea.
Well, I am determined to paint my way through the house and be organized about it.



Blurry, I know. Sorry. It has rained for a week and the lighting is awful but I'm determined to post this today because I love it! I pulled out a random notebook ring I had, some jumbo craft sticks ( like popsicle sticks on steroids) a Sharpie and my Crop-a-Dile ( I've told you repeatedly to get one of these!!)

I punched a hole in the end of each craft stick with the Crop-a-dile. Amazing. I know. Remember the octopus?  Then I painted the sticks with the colors I have already started painting with.

Then when they were dry I flipped the craft sticks over and used the Sharpie to write the name of the color, the Sherwin Williams number and what room the color is in! Very organized, if I do say so myself!

 
I went ahead and pre-punched several sticks so I am ready to paint my swatches
any time I paint.

 

 Slide the craft sticks on the ring, close it up and drop it in your purse or tote bag when you head out to buy fabric, towels, accessories, etc. It doesn't weigh a thing and your whole decorating color scheme is right there on a ring all together.
I was just thinking that if you wanted to add fabric swatches to the ring that those little clear badge holders or bag tag holders from the office supply would work beautifully on the ring as well. Just slide a couple of those on the ring and put a sample of the fabric in it.
Very handy!

 Linking up:

Quick and Colorful ...

... but a lot of fun and a big impact when it was finished! We did these waaaaayyy back in September but I just found the images on my phone. So, here you go!



We used toilet paper rolls as our stamps. And very bright, neon-y acrylic craft paint because we were stamping on black.

 

Easy, peasy. Just dip and stamp. As many colors and circles as you like. A very relaxing project. We just chatted and stamped...

... and stamped.
We stamped our circles on mirrors framed in black from IKEA. They are $1.99. Yep, frame and mirror all put together ready to hang and painted black. Can't ask for more than that!

We did this on a Wednesday Night at church.
 The white stickers says, " I am a child of God."

 

They could not wait to get them home and hang them up. And look in them!
And the moms loved them when they came at pick up time.
A win-win project for a $1.99 !

Nine Days In... Already???

... Seriously, I cannot believe that we are already nine days in to 2013 !

Happy Belated New Year!

A few images of our Christmas Season...
It was so much fun to have College Girl and friends around the house!
But now it is quiet again!

We were so busy and the time just flew. I got all of my painting orders out the door in time and then we just had fun cooking, buying a real tree, watching movies, reading, going out to eat, seeing friends and more. The time flew and then it was the new year.

And it was time to earn my stripes...
 

College Girl decided to rearrange and purge while she was home this break. She has sorted and purged before but she got a part time campus job and it will mean being on campus all Summer. so she decided to get organized now for her move out of the Chi O House this Summer and then into an apartment with her bestie. Crazy as it sounds, this will be her longest break for a year. So she got organized and then went back to campus for New Year's Eve celebrations. I had a quick celebration with friends and then I started to paint!

We have bought for and decorated a dorm room, an apartment, a house she shared with a couple of her sisters and a room extrordinaire in the Chi O House . I didn't really want to invest much in a redo at home but I did want it to be nice for those quick visits
and to freshen things up.
The most cost effective decorating tool around??? Yep, paint. And yellow is her favorite color and we have 2 yellow comforters that we have accumualted in all the moves and bed size changes from place to place. Perfect - 1 comforter for home and one for the move this Summer. So I bought 2 cans of yellow paint. I had the deeper yellow mixed full strength and then had it mixed at 50%. I marked off wide stripes with painters tape and rolled on that cheery yellow paint.

 

I love. love stripes. I love to paint them, too. :) It's fun and there is a simple trick to getting those perfect, clean edges.

After you mark off the width of your stripe and tape off the edge you simply paint the edge of your painters tape with the wall color. Then whatever bleeds under the tape matches the wall. After it dries you simply paint your stripe color. The tape edge is sealed with the base color and the stripe color doesn't bleed under. It is one extra step, you have to wait for it to dry but there are zero touch ups with a brush while you try to steady your hand and wipe up wobbly brush marks. The stripes come out clean every. single. time. I striped my downstairs powder room and it was a breeze. I could paint stripes everywhere.
 I have to control myself or my house will look like the children's book,
" A Bad Case of Stripes"!!

 

Clean. Fresh. Cheery. (and economical)

A great way to start 2013.
It was all finished by the time College Girl came home on New Year's day!!

 

Are You Ready??...

... to party with The Grinch??

Just a couple of shots of the Grinch Party we had last night.

We watched the movie, ate from the popcorn buffet ( a popped bag of popcorn per person and you top with whatever you want!!) and drank Grinch Punch (Sprite and lime sherbert) from Grinch cups that we got to take home!!

 I just gathered up anything green - napkins, plates, plastic serving containers, trees, etc and added the awesome Grinch cups I found at Wal Mart. I bought swirly candy cane straws at The Dollar Tree. A super easy party to prep for!

I painted the classic Grinch quote on a pre-cut smooth paneling board from Home Depot. It is about 30 x 40 and is less than $6.00. It has a great surface to paint on - a coat of primer and off you go- and is easy to transport because it's so much sturdier than foam core. Since it costs about the same thing as foam core I prefer to go with the board. It is thin and lightweight, too. You can paint over it if the prop isn't something you want to save.

 

 The Grinch in the box of Christmas wrapping trash is straight off Pinterest* ( I saw this project on Pinterest but it has been brought to my attention that it was not linked back to the originator's website. Please see the comments below to link back to the original website. I created mine from the picture on Pinterest and did not take credit for it but I'm sure the original instructions are very helpful) as was the idea for Grinch Punch.
 The Grinch from a milk jug - right up my alley!!! Wish I had thought of it :)

So, Merry Christmas to all you Whos in Whoville!!!

*Dear Mollie's Mom. I commented on the Milk Jug Grinch Craft you have up on your blog, http://madebymolliesmom.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html but you didn't acknowledge my comment. The Milk Jug Grinch Craft was created by me and is up on my web site on this page: http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/christmas_page3.html#grinch
I designed the craft and am the copyright owner. You state that you got the idea from Pinterest, but Pinterest is not the source, my web site is the source and you must follow my copyright regulations which state that you must link back to my web site for the complete directions and give my site credit. Please correct this entry and give my site credit. While many of my crafts are free they are still valuable to me. I spend a lot of time developing them and when people copy them and post them on blogs and don't give me credit I lose customers. Thanks
By the way, it came out great!