A peek into my bedroom

Over the weekend, Phillip and I met my grandmother at a furniture consignment store she's been telling me about. We've been looking for a dresser to turn into a vanity when we remodel our hall bathroom and my grandmother had seen one she thought we'd like. 

And she was right! There was a really great sideboard at a really great price, and we bought it and promptly stuck it in the garage to wait. 

And lo and behold, just to the right of the sideboard was this beautiful headboard:

I stared at in longingly for several minutes, checked it hopelessly for a price tag, found none, and walked away. But then I mentioned it to my grandmother. Being much more assertive than me (and less afraid to know how exorbitantly expensive that piece was), she promptly asked the store owner how much the headboard cost. 

$100.

One. Hundred. Dollars.

I mean, I know. It sounds like a lot of money when you say it out. But go ahead, google this beauty. Look her up. I found two very similar headboards sold for $500 and $700 and a third being suggested to retail at $5000. This headboard was steal, I tell you!

So I talked Phillip into buying it. 

And I love it.

It also inspired me to clean my bedroom up, especially the dreaded chore of organizing my jewelry and cleaning off the tops of my dressers.

I totally should have closed my dresser drawers.

I've had this IKEA wire hanging thing for months because, like a true hoarder/shoppaholic, I just *knew* I would do something with it! IKEA normally hangs curtains or postcards and stuff, but I find it perfect for my million necklaces. Hurray! 

Ah yes. I still have to fold a huge pile of clean laundry. Keepin' it real, ya'll.

Tiny changes make me super happy. I hope your Monday is as motivated as mine!

Kitchen progress

Hey ya'll! I promised you a kitchen update, so here you go!

This is what the wall opposite the island looked like at 7:30 PM on Thursday night. Paint samples, horrible leftover shelf streaks, and gaping holes.

And here it is at 11 PM! Pretty pretty cabinets all installed and ready to go! 

I'm still working on making sure the shelf staggering is "good uneven" and not "bad uneven." And then I'll start to put everything away!! 

In other news, I marked the places where I need to drill holes to install handles, and Phillip has discovered that our island electricity has a wire crossed...UNDER the floor. Yes, indeed, he is going to tear out the island, and take up the floor, and then cut up the floor boards, to uncross one stupid wire to make the electricity work. This is how you know we're beginners. The learning curve...it's steep. 

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend!!

Monday {and another kitchen post}

Perhaps I'll be making Mondays all about kitchens. We'll see. 

Over the weekend, we tried to get up the old laminate from 1979. We failed. The new plan is to completely remove and replace the floor boards in the kitchen. That will actually make it easier to move around the gas/water lines (yay! gas stove!) and we won't have to spend the next four months scraping up the laminate centimeter by centimeter. 

In other news, the nice shelves that I was planning to use as open shelving for all my dishes and such have been ripped apart in order to get at the flooring. Plan B involves some IKEA and Target shelves I already had for books. I'll actually be moving my kitchen into the closest corner of the family room! Of course, the fridge will probably be in the garage for quite some time, so really, the kitchen fun can be spread all over!

In the meantime, here is some open shelving inspiration to keep me going.

                                                                     Source: blog.alicelanehome.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                     Source: vtinteriors.blogspot.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                         Source: realsimple.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                       Source: interiors-porn.tumblr.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                Source: scandinavianretreat.blogspot.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                               Source: flickr.com via Daniella on Pinterest

I like the last picture best, probably because it's the closest and most accurate depiction of how my shelves may actually look - a major mishmash of dishes in all colors and styles crammed together, because I seem to collect dishes (mugs especially) and can't get rid of any of them. There's pretty much no way my kitchen will ever have the uniform, all white, perfectly stacked look. The best I can hope for is slightly messy, cluttered, homey-ness. And I'm just fine with that. Because, let's face it, that's just a lot more "me."

Happy {dreamy kitchen} Monday!

There's something you should know about our new house.

It has no kitchen. 

Technically, there is a space for a kitchen, where there are a few destroyed cabinets and non-functional appliances. But for all intents and purposes, there is currently no kitchen.

See, here it is. Even the floor is destroyed. 

(slightly fuzzy, really bad kitchen)

So we'll be spending the next month (or longer, probably) remodeling our kitchen! We plan to do most of the work ourselves. It will be fun! (right?)

We've been all over IKEA, staring at their cabinets and sinks and counters until I have a fair idea of what I want. Phillip's spent a million years on some computer program designing it all with the proper measurements and such. The plans are coming along.

And I have spent hours and hours perusing and daydreaming about kitchens. Here's some of my inspiration. I've tried to limit it to "realistic" kitchens in similar shapes/sizes/styles. 

                                                                       Source: loftandcottage.blogspot.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                                  Source: tumblr.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                               Source: withtwocats.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                   Source: meohmymama.blogspot.com via Daniella on Pinterest

                                                                                Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Daniella on Pinterest

I'm fairly sure I want white cabinets, wood floors(we already have the material), possibly wood counter tops, probably white walls, and some open shelving. I wouldn't say no to a giant chalkboard, either.

What say you?

Buttercup

Since my post about Spring last week, the weather has turned balmy and warm, at least for the moment. Over the weekend we reveled in the sunshine, took a long walk with the dog, designed imaginary  rooms at IKEA, went antiquing, and had several wonderful chats with friends from church. 

I told you I wanted that "chin up, buttercup" print, but I bought this greeting card instead and framed it. Now I can look at it every time I'm in the kitchen, which is a lot. I also got another hyacinth, this time in a gorgeous deep purple. But right now the Trader Joe's hyacinth is beating this one from King Sooper's in the scent department. I also picked up these adorable little 70's flower bowls at the antique store. I absolutely love the scalloped shape and bright colors! I may take them upstairs for jewelry storage, but for now they're making my smile while I tackle the dishes. 

In other news, my grandmother is coming over this afternoon to have a craft day, so if I haven't sent you your giveaway item yet, you can expect it soon! 

Have a great week!

Happy {almost Thanksgiving} Monday!

Good morning! 

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Yesterday I put together my Thanksgiving table decor and I wanted to share it with you, mostly because I'm so stinking excited about it! 

Also, I figured it was about time I showed you my dining room, which admittedly is not very exciting on its own, but it's super awesome for Thanksgiving. 

Here's the whole dining room in all of its glory. Yep, I have one whole picture up! No curtains. They'd have to match the curtains on all four windows in the living room and so far I've had insufficient funds to purchase six or more identical panels. Instead I spend all my money at H&M. Clothes are more fun!

The rug is from IKEA, the chairs are from Overstock and Tuesday Morning, the table was a consignment buy,  the (real) sheepskins are from Sam's Club and the artwork was drawn by moi.

And here are the table settings in all their glory! I really really like them.

Blue Willow dishes from my hope chest, chargers from Tuesday Morning, napkins from World Market, vase and candle sticks from Hobby Lobby, hedgehog and runner from Target. 

I had so much fun mixing shiny gold leaves and chargers with natural weave, feathers, burlap, and twine. I also put together a little bouquet out of extra feathers, leaves, and wheat. 

Fun fun fun!

 

I had to do two different settings - there are darker and light chargers, for one thing. And half of the places have bigger leaves and wheat instead of feathers. 

I just realized that I didn't set out the silverware. That's because literally all of my silverware is in the dishwasher right now. Don't worry, it's running. Besides, I think silver would have thrown off my gold theme. So just pretend there's some snazzy gold flatware photoshopped in there ;)

I'm only showing you this one because of the adorable little owl I got at Target. I love him. Ignore the vacuum handle poking up in the background. 

That's all, folks!

Have a great Monday!

(All photographs mine, obviously)

Thursday's Child: Color Craze

                                                                          Source: havenspie.tumblr.com via Daniella on Pinterest

Pretty! I want to make those pennants so badly! I've made them before using craft paper, but I have so many scraps of fabric that I know would be perfect. And that rug is adorable! And I think the canopy is just an upgraded IKEA canopy, so that would be easy! In fact, a lot of this stuff looks like it's from IKEA. But it doesn't look IKEA, you know?! 

In other news, I had to Google for several minutes before I could remember the word "pennant," even though I've used it many times before. I Googled "triangle banner" and eventually found the right word. Don't you hate it when a word is right on the tip of your brain? This doesn't just happen to me, right?

Also, I made a crockpot pot roast for dinner because hopefully Brie and Joanna will be here by then! I actually technically made two pot roasts, because I had two very small pot roasts in my freezer that I didn't think would be enough for all of us. But now it'll probably be way too much food. And my hands smell strongly of onion and garlic. Speaking of which, how do you make pot roast? Do you put anything in to flavor it other than carrots or potatoes or onions? I used all three, and since I was kind of bored with my last few pot roasts, I poured about 1/3 cup red wine into a jar and shook it up with salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley and then poured it over the pot roast. I'll let you know if it's any good. 

I suppose I better get back to cleaning up my house. Writing blog posts is far more entertaining, but probably less productive. Have a great Thursday!