Spray Painting Day

Today was the last available day to spray paint outside. It was beautiful. Mid-seventies. Tomorrow, we return to mid to upper nineties...every day for the foreseeable future. BOO.

But at least I got it done. I have several projects to report.

When I last showed you this corner of my living room, it looked like this:

I recently swapped this armoire with the garage sale bookcase I had in my kitchen. I wanted something brighter and less bulky.

Now that I had the bookcase where I wanted it, it was time to fill the shelves. For cheap. I shopped the house and gathered up things that I've been squirreling away with "this just needs painted" in mind. I found a bunch of old shells I had from years and years ago when VBS at church was a beach theme (the one year I actually decorated). I remembered seeing this on pinterest and thought I'd give it a try.

Source

Can you believe those sell for hundreds of dollars? It was suggested to try the same thing with a can of silver spray paint. So I took these--

And gave them a coat of this--

And ended up with these--

Then I gathered up a bunch of old thrift store frames I had been accumulating with the intent to paint.

They got a coat of this--

I also had a cardboard "K" I'd gotten awhile back for a couple bucks at Hobby Lobby. It also got a couple coats of silver.

So, in a matter of a couple hours and using almost exclusively things I already had, I came up with this:

Family photos by KariMe Photography

Coral from TJ Maxx

Lanterns from Ikea. Battery Operated tea lights from Hobby Lobby.

I got that owl for 2 bucks from Hobby Lobby. It was originally $25. I love that little guy.

I can't remember where I got the vase, but there's my pop of turquoise. :)

A couple of years ago, I covered some of my books with white paper. I love how it looks. I have no idea where I got this pitcher. I've had it since days of yore. Like, newlywed days of yore.

I love how this turned out. I really wanted a blend of yellow and turquoise somewhere in here, and this arrangement really makes me happy. It's summery and fresh. And it was cheap. Yay!

More spray paint projects to come. Love me some spray paint.

Ahhh, fresh

My sister is my dealer.

It all started with a little Christmas gift, and now I'm hooked.

Every so often, I find myself running low on my addiction, and I let her know that I need more, and next time she sees me, she hands me this:

Doesn't it look scandalous?

I've had this in my car before and been kind of paranoid about getting pulled over.

Although, one whiff, and any officer would know that they have no reason to arrest me.

This is mostly baking soda, but my fabulous sister (who has been a whiz with essential oils for years now--ya know, before they were trendy) mixes up a brew for me. The blend is always different because we never write down the recipe. But I like that it's different. Usually, there's lavender in there, because that's one of my favorites. Sometimes there's some citrusy scents or woodsy scents. It's always a surprise.

I use this stuff mostly on my rugs. I spread it around, leave it for awhile, then vacuum it up. Leaves them smelling fresh and clean.

This time, I went with a different approach.

Since I was washing my sheets anyway, I spread some on my naked mattress and let it sit for a few hours.

My room smelled amazing. At least for a couple days. It made getting into the freshly bleached sheets even more compelling that night.

And, it's inspired me to make my bed. For two days in a row.

That's something.

Baking soda's great on its own for freshening up carpets and upholstery, but add a couple drops of essential oils and it takes it to a whole. 'nother. level.

P.S. A couple sprinkles of this under the seats in your stinky old van...good stuff. Especially when it's hot outside.

The Necessary Room

"Mom, why are you taking pictures of the bathroom? That's just weird."

Seven year olds just don't understand.

I can't blame him for not appreciating the huge changes that have occurred in what was my least favorite room in the house when we moved in.

He's seven. And male.

But, boy do I notice.

Remember in "Animaniacs" when Wacko is having a potty emergency and he goes into a scary gross truck stop bathroom and exclaims "I can't potty in there! It's disgusting!"

That's how I once felt about our bathroom.

When we moved in, it had peach colored walls and orangey wood everywhere. I promptly painted it (dark) purple, because I'm a genius. Then, after years of it being cramped and dark and cavernous, I decided to paint the walls a buttery cream and paint the wood vanity white. It was definitely an improvement.

But it was still ugly. The floor and the shower and the sink were all old, damaged and gross. No matter how much you scrub an ancient tile floor, it will always look like an ancient tile floor.

My rescue came in the form of a broken pipe, which flooded the bathroom (and hallway, and basement). The decision was made to tear it all up.

At this point, I was in the throes of morning sickness and didn't think I could handle a weekend of bathroom renovation, so my husband sent me to my sister's house for a few days and got to work with my brothers in law.

Things always take more than a few days, but I was quite grateful for the changes when I returned home.

Before

During Demo

We could see through that hole to the basement

After digging through layers and layers of flooring, they finally found and replaced the subfloor. Then it was tile, then toilet and sink. Seth sent me regular photos of the progress on my phone, and now I can't seem to find them anywhere. But here are some afters.

My favorite parts are the sink and the tile. The walls are a really pale blue Valspar color. I totally forget the name (hate when I do that). I also love all the white. I switched the shower curtain, rug and towels all to white, and bleach is my new best friend. Everything feels fresh and clean.

There's still lots to do. Trim, paint the medicine cabinet and door white, add some decorative touches...Oh, and totally gut the tub area. Ya know, little things.

But it's only been a year and a half since we started this project. Still got loads of time. ;)

Research

We've been recuperating from a lovely virus for a couple days, so that means I've been engaged more in the "research" side of design (aka pinterest and blogs). I love finding new blogs that inspire me and I have added a couple to my list over there. ------>

I've been thinking about color palettes since my little pillow mishap. Thanks to one of those inspiring blogs, I found myself on this site, trying to find something that I could incorporate through the whole house. I knew I'd be drawn to the sea and food colors, so those are the categories I searched the most.











I think my favorite is the ice cream one. My general idea is to use the lighter colors on the walls and the darker colors as accents. I couldn't find one with mostly grays and pops of pastel yellows and blues. So maybe I'll have to make my own.

But that sounds like work right now.

In any case, this is a fun website filled with lots of awesome color palettes. Check it out!

Keep it Simple, Stupid.

This blog is good, in that it motivates me to do things around here.

This blog is bad, in that it motivates me to do things around here. And I'm clueless.

Today was decorating fail day. Not my first. Is anyone else like me? I know exactly what I want things to look like when I'm on Pinterest or blogs. I can see things in my head. But I have the WORST time translating my mental pictures into actual design choices.

I think my problems start when I try to overthink it. Like, in the last post, I talked about adding some yellow and turquoise into my living room. I look at colors I'm currently in the mood for or that I'm attracted to when I'm clothes shopping, without considering the style I'm trying to achieve in the house.

One goal I have for the house is that all the rooms sort of flow together and make sense. I'm queen of stand alone rooms, but the goal is to get the place attractive for potential buyers, and I personally am drawn to homes where all the rooms feel like they belong together.

I have to come to terms with neutrals being my friend, and any colors I choose need to be muted. I want sort of a cottagey feel to the house, since it's small and a cape cod, albeit with a slightly modern nod since we have a brown "leather" couch. So, even though I'm drawn to jewel tones when I'm shopping, I need to look past the attraction to what will make sense in my theme.


Goal:

(Source)

Fail:

They're even more green than they are in my poorly lit photo. It's not that I don't like the jewely teal color. It's just that it doesn't fit.

So today's lesson is don't stray from the goal when shopping. Stick with the theme.

And keep your receipts.

On a related note, does anyone know Garden Ridge's return policy on throw pillows that have the tags removed?