Many of my childhood memories are of going to the park with my mom. We would travel to parks in other towns and have a picnic lunch, bring our bikes and make a parade there, get ice cream, or go to a park near a pond and feed the fish. We’d drive across town and visit “the train park”, or to the “pirate ship park”, or even just a short walk to our neighborhood park with the really, really big slide. She found a way to get us out of the house and make a simple thing so much more … [Read more...]
Spring is here and all over Pinterest, blogs, and Facebook you're probably seeing lots of gorgeous spring and garden inspiration: bright colors, luscious florals, greenery, burlap, and lots of life! But when I look outside my window, all I see is this: dead sticks, dead grass, and a whole lot of mud. I wanted to make some "garden inspired" artwork that was a bit more realistic. Materials Needed: blank canvas or art board hands a gross … [Read more...]
Round 2 of Creating with the Stars just let out and wah, wah wah. I didn’t make it through. I know, right?! I’m BUMMED. But holy cow, I am thrilled to have been chosen to compete in the first place! And to make it to Round 2! Here’s a pic of my project, a Puffy Painted Anthropologie Duvet Knock-off (tutorial to come shortly): But I did learn a big lesson. I like fun things and bright colors and creative ideas. But I often get nervous and stick with things that are safe. … [Read more...]
Right now I’m competing in a competition called Creating with the Stars and this breakfast bar was our entry for Round 1. It is one of my favorite projects to date and has transformed this space – it’s practical and completely changes the way we use this room. (check out the history of our foyer and before / afters of our hard wood floors!) Lily and Ben love it because they can eat, color, paint, or play here without Adam getting into their stuff. I love it because it is right between … [Read more...]
I don’t do a lot of seasonal decorating, but there is just something about spring. Spring brings bright colors, whimiscal patterns, and a little bit of life into your home while the weather outside is still crummy. And you’re still getting snow. In mid-March. I’ll stop right there. ;) Come on, spring! I’ve been wanting to do a table setting for brunch and our dishes were looking shabby. Target always has the happiest stuff so I headed there for new plates. I wanted something to add a … [Read more...]
Recently, we painted our the beat-up, thick wood trim in our 77 year old home in hopes that it would brighten and update the space. And boy did it ever! I’ve already shared the huge difference painting the trim made in our living room turned mom cave. I couldn’t believe the transformation the paint made in our dining room and wanted to share it, but I needed a little something in the wall art department. And yay, I finally figured it out this week, so here it is. I was struggling to find … [Read more...]
I didn’t know how quite how to say this, but I’ve been thinking about it about lately and I need to get it off my chest. I’ve decided I’m going to boycott spray paint. Yep, you heard that right. I’ve loved using spray paint here or there for the last few years. It’s quick, simple, cheap, they have great colors, and I get an excuse to go outside in order to do it. One might say that I was addicted to it. Not the paint fumes, but the instant satisfaction of grabbing an … [Read more...]
Are you ready for my mom cave reveal? You are not going to believe this after. Does that even look like it could be a room in my house?! When I first talked about creating my mom cave, I thought it would be fun to have its own little corner in my family room. But as I tried to work amongst the chaos, it just wasn’t happening. I decided to take over and transform our rarely-used living room into my own little space. It is away from the TV, the kitchen, the toys, but is still only a few … [Read more...]
Recently we tackled a huge painting project around here that took two weeks and involved almost half of our house. We have three kids (3.5, 2.5, and 1) but try not to let that stop us from tackling home projects. I’ve been asked by several people how we can did it with them around. It’s tricky and not how I would want to live life on a normal basis! But if you space your projects out and don’t head from one thing to the next, knocking a project out in a weekend or three, or in a month, … [Read more...]
There’s a project I’ve been wanting to tackle for the three years that we’ve lived here, and it’s finally done. Well, almost. Two weeks ago we dove into the project and didn’t look back. We primed all of the trim in the living room, dining room, and hallway (here’s a house tour with the rooms). It took a whole week. This past weekend we gave the trim the first coat of paint (Valspar Bistro White), the second, painted the living room walls (Valspar Stillness), and took off all of … [Read more...]
