New Living Room

Over the last few weeks, I've been on a redecorating (aka... finally getting to my decorating-to-do-list) binge.  

Over Christmas Break, with the kiddos and my guy home, I didn't do a lot... I read Hunger Games.  The whole series.  Which is saying something for the books.  Considering the fact that I've been plugging along one chapter at a time in "The Help" for about 4 months now, it seriously means that the series is GOOD if I can finish a book in a few days.  If it's meant for preteens/teens and is a popular series, I'd probably like it.  LOL... that says something about me, huh?  The only other time I've read this much is plowing through Harry Potter and the Twilight series.  :)

But, in January, our schools have two consecutive Mondays off due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Teacher-Workday for the nine-week-grading-period end.  The first three-day weekend I painted our master bedroom and bathroom.  I'll post those pics later.  I've been stalling because, in general, the room is not "done".  Rather just cozier with paint.  But as it seems our budget has stalled, and it's going to look like this for awhile.... might as well post the photos.  :)

Over New Year's Eve weekend, we decided to go looking for some new living room furniture.  We used to have this when we first moved in:

These sofas were so comfortable... no denying that.  Plus we'd had them for over five years with hardly any wear-and-tear, despite four kids and two dogs.  (Shout out to La-Z-Boy non-reclining furniture!!)  My problem was that I was just *done* with olive green.  Our whole downstairs is neutral with tans, browns, blacks, off-whites, and a tinge of light green.  The red/olive look in this room was too different.

Back in the summer, I changed out the coffee table for a $10 find that I painted black.  But still... we had the green sofas.

It was a tough thing to replace, but we found the most perfect substitution for the size of our family and family room.  It arrived last week, and we LOOOOOOVE it!

A brown leather sectional from Haverty's... the Radford, if you are interested.

In the store, we had a slight concern of it appearing too red, and this photo shows that slight red-tendency.  But I believe that was the flash... we never see the red in reality.

Here's the view from my fireplace into the kitchen.  See the LARGE GAPING NOTHINGNESS in the middle?  Yeah, that's the breakfast room that isn't.  :)  

One day we'll get a table and chairs.... maybe next New's Year's Eve Weekend during the sales?  For now, it's the "dog crate room".

I bought new end tables too.  We only had one before, and it was a Pottery Barn game board table where you can lift the lid and play chess on the other side.  Cute idea, but that table just couldn't stand up to the wear and tear of the family.  Peeling laminate, stains, wobbling, and literally the top could lift off the bottom if you tried to move it.  So, I found these two tables at World Market.  It's *mostly* solid wood in a mahogany finish, and they are nice and big to hold lots of stuff, whenever I figure out what stuff to put there.  FYI... World Market has great furniture deals at the beginning of January.  We bought our desk there last January and love it.  

Once our old floor lamps have reached the end of their lives (one has already been chewed by our dog and is surviving due to electrical tape... yikes!), I want to move toward table lamps instead.  That should fill up the space.  

Anyway, the room is not complete.  We have two small chairs on order through Overstock, and they should arrive on Monday.  They aren't big and impactful... but they'll give us the extra seating we often need when visitors come.  Our family uses the entire sectional ourselves... :)  We also still have an old Ikea Poang chair (tried to crop that out), which suffices, but still rings of "just graduated from college"... and it's been nearly 18 years since I graduated!!

I still want a rug... we used to have one.  Then we got her:

No, no, no...not the girl.  She doesn't pee all over rugs.  The dog!!

Dear ol' Lucy... love that big crazy dog... but if you put carpeting/rugs in a room with her, she will pee all over them still.  Ugh.  It was quite a disappointing day when I trashed our 8x10 new rug this summer.  (It. Was. Gross.)

We also plan to get some sort of a nice hi-leg recliner at some point... but that may be awhile, too.

At least for now, we have a comfy, cozy, awesome new sectional.  

{sigh}

Flavored Fruity Water!

After Christmas, my cousin posted a picture of this snazzy little pitcher she got for Christmas.  It had a middle holey tube that held fruit chunks.  Then you filled the pitcher with water to get fruit-infused water. 

Seeing as though I got a new Twist-n-Sparkle (by iSi) for Christmas, it seemed like the perfect accompaniment.  

I looked and found it on Amazon:

So now I use it to infuse water, and then sparkle that water with my new iSi.  

Raspberries!

Another way I use my Twist-n-Sparkle is my light Grapefruit juice.  I use the Light Grapefruit Juice and mix it about 40% to 60% water.  Then I fizz it up.  Yummy... and less than 25 calories for a glass.

How do you use your carbonating devices?

"The Next Big Thing" Board

I cannot believe I've been away from blogging for a month.  Yikes!

Here's a fun little project I just completed.  And, as cool as the idea is, I cannot claim that it is mine.  My husband came up with it!

He said to me... we need a big chalkboard RIGHT HERE (kitchen wall) that reads, "The Next Big Thing".  

I didn't want to spend a fortune, so I kept my eyes open for a cheap big chalkboard that had a pretty frame. Alas, after months of looking for one, I didn't find it.  I thought of buying a framed print or a new frame and painting the frame (and a chalkboard-painted base)... but then I saw this neat little guy at Home Goods.

It was a rustic gray framed chalkboard with a metal basket.  I sprayed the frame off-white (since we plan to paint our kitchen walls a color much-too-similar to the gray already there).  And added a Cricut phrase....

I tied a cute harlequin bow to the basket to be a bit black/white-ish for an upcoming BIG birthday.  However, I plan to find a pink ribbon for Valentine's Day, a green one for St. Patrick's Day, etc.  The basket will hold things, like cards or balloons, or decorations (foam hearts, felt shamrocks, plastic Easter eggs, etc.)

Once the wall is painted... someday... I hope it'll stand out a little better, too.  :)

I linked up to:

Another Pinterest Craft... a Ruffled Tree Skirt

The No-Sew Ruffled Tree Skirt circulated all over Pinterest this month.  So beautiful!!  And so darn easy!!!

I knew I needed it.  Here's the original from HGTV

I don't sew.  

So, if I can do this, you can do this!

First you take a painter's cloth.  I think I used 4x5'.  I folded it half, then in half, then in half to make a triangle/wedge.   At that point, I used a length of string to draw an arc and cut the tarp to make a circle.  I cut a small hole in the middle and a slash down one radius.  Then I found cheap muslin at Hobby Lobby.

I cut the muslin into 2-3" strips.  Then the tedious, but easy, part came. 

You gather the muslin and secure with hot glue till you have all the cloth covered with ruffles.  

So beautiful!

Under the tree.

Under the tree.

Our new tree skirt.  It took about 2 hours to fully complete, but it was SO worth it!!!

My Pinterest Project... Pinecone "Wreath"

I found this on Pinterest awhile back and swore I needed to make it. 

{It was originally posted here.}

 I did... and before Thanksgiving, but it seemed appropriate to wait till December to talk about it. 

I made long ribbons with a bow tied at the end.  

Then I glued the bow to the flat end of the pinecones.  The pinecones were purchased at Joann's and were cinnamon scented.  I then collected all of the ribbons at the top and cinched them into a knot.  I tied a ribbon to the top to finish it up.

The final result:

It currently hangs on our powder room door (which is in the butler's pantry area).  It's great when you swing the door, you catch a strong scent of cinnamon.  Not a bad thing near the bathroom, I suppose.  :)

Laundry Room Finished!

We've been in the new house for a little over a year now, and we still have about half of the rooms to paint.  Somehow, though, the big rooms seem daunting... too expensive.  :)

So, I'm sticking with small rooms for now.  

Like... the laundry room.  It was a simple room with a washer/dryer and a wire-shelf over both.  I wanted to make the most of the space, so we did a little altering.

Last month, we painted the walls a pretty aqua color and hung a ReStore-find cabinet over the washing machine.  (Word to the wise... don't try to hang a heavy cabinet OVER a positioned washing machine without removing shelves/doors to make it lighter.  We eventually figured that out.)

I tried to be self-sufficient and have Home Depot cut MDF shelves for me.  However, this was the perfect example of why we MEASURE twice, CUT once.  :)  I messed up the measurements by about 1/4".  Just enough that my sawing skills at home weren't good enough to fix the problem.

Enter...  my Daddy!  He came down at Thanksgiving and helped get the shelves up in the laundry room.  :)

The shelves were painted white to match the cabinet.  

Then came time to DECORATE!

I found three brown baskets for the shelves, but they needed labels.  

I used these 6" rulers, which were on sale at Michael's.  

I simply turned them over, and added some Cricut words.  

I then found some empty plastic jars in my "recycle stash".  

I removed the lid, wrapped the jar in fancy paper, and hot-glued twine to the top to dress it up.  

I made two of these:  one for lint/trash and one for "found items" in the machines (coins, etc.)  They won't be heavily used and bounced around, so the paper should hold up quite awhile.

I repainted my mini crate a brown color to go well with the brown sign, wood table, and brown baskets.  (It was a dark silver to match the machines.)

 The Shaklee bottles fit perfectly in the crate, and they are perfectly reach-able for any young'uns who complain that their favorite tee/jeans are dirty!  :)  Love that!!!

I dressed up the shelves a little with some vinyl lace edging (bought on Amazon).  Despite being sticky, it just didn't want to stick to the wood, so I finally got fed up and stapled them on!  LOL

The top basket is for miscellaneous things as time goes on (cleaners?  special towels?)  Thus, why I simply labeled it "miscellaneous", so I can use it for whatever I want in the future!  I originally though the top shelf would be perfect for the dryer shelf (the plastic shelf for shoes), but it was WAY too deep.  So, I simply tossed it behind the machines for now.  I almost never use it.

The bottom two baskets have the plastic jars in them... one on the left holds cut-up dryer sheets and a spray bottle with doTerra lemon essential oil and water.  That's my "hmmm, this load isn't smelling fresh enough magic-scenter for the dryer sheets".  The one on the right holds the trash jar and and the miscellaneous jar. 

Here's the completed room.  The little table to the right used to be a nightstand in the guest room.  It now holds things like extra tissue boxes and cleaners for the upstairs rooms.  The two wreaths are secured on the inside of the doors.  They were leftovers from the last house.  So I put them to use.

I found the Laundry sign at Hobby Lobby for 40% off.  The colors seemed to work well.

I am not a fancy "washer".  I simply throw the clothes in and hope for the best most of the time.  We don't wear hand-wash clothes and super delicates, so this laundry room holds most everything we need.  :)

Hope you enjoyed it!  Now... I need a new project... hmmmmm

Maybe I've exhausted the small rooms.  Time for the Master Bedroom?

Magnetic Picture Frames (EASY GIFTS!!)

Ever want to change photos easily without having to remove the back of a frame?  Here's a quick little project that would make for a great gift!

You'll need these things:

Galvanized flashing (I got the 10' roll, so I can make MANY magnetic projects now!)

Frames (any size, mine were 50% off at Hobby Lobby)

Fabric remnants

Spray Adhesive

Here's the flashing label, in case you are curious....

You'll need to cut the flashing.  It's do-able with sharp scissors, but needs care.  The metal edges can be sharp!

I ended up with two of these.  Ouch!

After cutting the size of the flashing to fit the frame (8"x10" here), cut a piece of fabric to fit the steel and an extra inch to wrap around the edges.

Spray adhesive on one side of the flashing, wrap the fabric around the edges (spray that area, too).

Fit into the frame.  

I actually put the glass behind the metal in case I ever wished to use the frame as a normal frame in the future.

 I then found some pretty rocks (found in bags in the floral section) to create a magnet.  I super-glued a strong button magnet to the back.  Any sort of magnet should work though.

Wah-Lah!  Small magnetic boards!

 Great for displaying this year's Christmas photo!

They should make some pretty gifts!  You can even tailor the fabric and type of frame to fit your decor.  I was aiming for "pretty yet classy"

Submitted to:

Addicted To Decorating