whatever

Sometimes I........

Sometimes I.......

Wish my children were still babies and I could hold and cuddle them like that.

Wish I had a personal chef.

Daydream about singing with Josh Groban.  =)

Want to run off to a private island with my husband.

Wish I could find a way to have all my grandchildren together more.

Wish the language fairy would touch me with her fairy wand....so I could speak Spanish & French.

Daydream about being a famous architect and being asked to design Temples for the Church.

Want to do something awesome....like see the northern lights.

Wish there was a way to hug my kids each day.

Want to slow dance with Dan in the soft warm rain.

Daydream about being in a C. S. Lewis Novel.

Want to go on a long journey and treasure hunt the whole way.

 

 

**********************************************************************

Now it's your turn.

Sometimes I...............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pantry makeover- one roll of wallpaper & a quart of paint.

My pantry was one scary hot mess.....just couldn't take it anymore.....so yesterday around noon I riped into it. {Picture taken at 11:29am}

  {Picture taken at 12:54pm}
 Took everything out...washed down all the shelves....I can't believe all the stuff I got out of there....filled up the island, table, counter-tops and there was a stack of boxes I set in the laundry room...Holy Cow, why did I let it get like this? {I'm a little embarrassed to say that yes; 6 big bags of old, "why did I keep it" stuff will be in the dumpster today.}
So, now I have it cleaned out....Oh, I have a little secret to share about cleaning the shelf stains- windex  combined with Bar Keepers Friend...will take out just about anything.

  What can you do with a pantry, one roll of wallpaper, and a quart of paint.......

 
{Picture taken at 4:37 pm}

The shadows in the pantry make the wallpaper look  light in some places and darker in others.....But in real life they look the same =)

 
Finished at 7:10pm

 
Shopped my home for a few items....but pretty much everything that was in there before came back  {well,except for the 6 big bags of crazy stuff.  =)

Before-

 

After-

 

 

 
The Pantry is clean once again...hope it stays that way for awhile.  The Pantry is... "what it is"..... In my dream world,  I would love for all the containers to match, cute handwritten labels would be nice and a cute little framed blackboard would be sweet.  All in all I'm pretty okay with how it turned out.

 
Next project...clean out the spice cabinets...scary!  {just ask Sam....wait, maybe not. =) 

 Click on button below...to see what others are doing.

Both sides of me-

I love light airy colors- furniture that is time wore and comfortable....I like fun patterns and industrial flair....but I also like.....

 
 
Warm red and gold tones. French country style , antiques and great art.... and I also like....

Shabby chic all white kitchen with open shelving, junk market  use it,  re-use and reinvent it.......but I also like.

 
 
 When asked what style I like best....I don't have one....I just like what I like... I think my style should be called "mash up" of everything. {like from Glee}

Do you have more than one style that you like?

$60 Ottoman-

 
A Custom ottoman for $60 dollars....can't beat that.  A few weeks ago I went to a friends home to help her make an ottoman....fun & fairly easy.

I had a bunch of step by step instructions....but my computer crashed and I lost the step by step pictures. =(

But this is basically what we did-

 

• She found a piece of round plywood out in the barn that we cut down to size- {3/4 inch plywood.}
• drilled holes through the plywood for buttons.
• cut two inch foam for top
• stapled fabric to the plywood round {layers; plywood, foam, fabric}
• hand covered buttons with fabric
• pulled string through holes to attach button's.... secured the string to the bottom of the plywood using a metal washer and a dowel.
• attached hardware for legs
• pleated and then attached skirt to plywood with staples and hot glue
• Added decorative trim around center with hot glue.

 

 
Love, love how it turned out....

On another note- I finally found a little black phone to add to this space at the cottage-

 

 

 

 

I attached an old school house slate board to the back using Velcro strips-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step One-

 

Step two-

 
In the linen cabinet to the right...we have a bowl of chalk & an eraser, just so we can change up the message once in awhile.

Happy day

I've linked this post up with thirty hand made days  lots of fun ideas-

Spring Project-

Heidi and I got together for a little spring project day- found the idea here, click on Souvenir for free instructions.  

Using what we had on hand along with some ribbon and biodegrade able pots....I think they turned out great.

 
Had a couple little helpers.

We decided to add a few sea shells around the top....just for fun.

 

Perfect little activity for a spring day.

 

 Happy Spring-

A little Sanding-

 

 

Remember this $10 chair?

  I've been working on it off and on for the last couple of days.

 

I've finished the cleaning, painting and sanding.

 

 The fabric is ready to put on the seat, just need the time to do it.....that will happen this weekend.

 

But, I wanted to show you the chair so far......and, I have to tell you, I love what "Sanding" can do to a chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Paint, but before sanding-

After Sanding-

I think most things are more interesting when they are a little ruff around the edges..... including people.  =)

 
I'm hoping to finish these little chairs today. {I love how they look in the kitchen}

After I had painted & sanded these two chairs.... I decided to go back to the thrift store and pick up the other two remaining chairs.  =)

Happy Day

 

One more thing, I could just kick myself- About a week ago I saw a pair of chairs at this same store, that I was thinking about buying $24 a piece that looked something like this, only they were caned on the back and sides.

 

 

 Yes, I was so stupid and didn't pick them up at that time.....came back a few days later and they were gone.  =(  ....  lesson learned. 

Caned like this-

 

 

 

 







 

 

 

 

One more thing....I found this adorable little chair last week......  its on its way to my home.... {happy Dance}  I have a happy little spot waiting for it in the cottage living room.  =) 

I was thinking a little sunshine & sand were needed in my cottage of sea colors. 

 

Good Morning Sunshine-

Wake up sleepy head, the sun is up and ready to play.  =)

It's been so nice the last couple of days to see the sun....{sorry to all my friends in the valley}

When the sun is out, makes me want to do more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danny and I spent yesterday...pruning and spraying dormant spray on the fruit trees also did some weed spraying......

All In the Beautiful Sun.

 

 

 
Spent most of the day....going through my house and editing out ....I find I need to do this about every year.....is it just me?

As I was "editing"  I thought, you know it's about time I did a little something different in the kitchen.....especially the curtains.....they have been there for going on 8 years.

Have any ideas?

 
 
More Sunshine-

 

Back to the kitchen... I think it is these curtains over the sink....I most want to change....any ideas?

 
 
Thinking I may want to move this chair back to the family room.....not sure.

Today will be a day of moving things around.....and sunshine, there's no escaping it....even through the smallest openings it finds its way in.

 

Smile-

Why do we love the things we love?  The question might seem simple at first, but try answering it- not so simple.

While decorating the cottage I haven't really been focusing on a specific style....I just buy what I love and use what I have  and hope it works out in the end.  Sometimes I feel I get it right and other times, it's a do over.  =)

I wanted to lighten the space as much as possible....so that why I used a lot of white.....I wanted the house to kind of pay tribute to the beach and nature; and so that's where my thoughts go when I'm thinking about how to do the room.  Lots of light "beachy" colors and nature inspired art.

  

 

 

I had each of my grandchildren paint a "beach" scene on a 8x10 canvas; to be used as art in the laundry room.

 

Every-time I walk in that room I just smile; brings back memories of them, plus on a foggy day its just the right amount of sunshine to lighten up the day.

 

 

 

 

In the Kitchen, these open shelves make me smile, a little bit new and a lot of the old.  I think the kitchen will be forever changing....that makes me smile.  I painted it all white so I could change quickly & easily on a dime.  { I love change =)

We are busy working on the yard....it has been nothing but dirt for the last 8 months {sorry neighbors} The plan is in place and Danny is working it out.   We have decided to turn the back yard into a city/french/kitchen garden  =)   Happy Day

I will be sharing on that real soon.

Have a wonderful day.....What makes you smile ?

 

Some people buy houses;

others buy potential-

When we bought the cottage we saw its great potential-

I would rather buy the worst house on the street [with good potential] and make it my own than buy the best house that someone else has already done.

Sure it was going to be a lot of work....but we like the challenge.

Working nights and weekends over the last 8 months we have started to see  this place come together.....still lots  and lots to do ...but we are getting there.

Here is the dinning room before we started.... not too bad....I liked the color on the wall....but felt it needed to  be just a little bit lighter....did not like the yellow in the corner hutches.  That was changed to a gray color.

I knew right away it was going to be how I "dressed" this room that would make all the differences.

 

 

The room has great "bones"

Things I liked about the room-

• plaster walls- with a curved ceiling {dome like}
• hardwood floors with a walnut inlay
• great trim work
• curved french doors. 

I had a plan of how things would be, but I have found a huge part of success in this renovation is being flexible.   I didn't want to be so married to my plans that I missed out on last-minute inspiration.

I'm about 3/4 of the way done.....so I thought I would share where I'm so far.....and if you know me I gain so much joy if I can get the look I want on a budget- =)

So come on in and see what we have done so far-

 

I like to decorate my home like you would a garden.....it's always fun to have just a little peek of what is to come next (just a little mystery} by doing this, it keeps me from changing out the design too often. =)
 

I wanted to use comfortable colors- so the color pallet is soft blues and greens and a touch of gray.

 

Changing out the lamp shades is a cheap and easy way to give this area a whole new look- {Target is having a sale on lamp shades this month}

•  I bought this buffet at a consignment store for $75, painted it and glued sea shells to the knobs just for fun.
• The mirror above the buffet was an old mirror that I had at the CV house, it was black....painted it white and covered the frame with sea shells....I saw one on line just like this  for $650  I made mine for around $30

 

The art on the wall....has a story all it's own.  The frames were from Danny's office, I painted them white and added the botanical prints- my cost $7.50 {for those of you in the Turlock area....the main street antique store has tons of really good prints}

 

This room has been a blast to do- Here's the run down so far-

• Table free- given to me from a friend, just added paint and covered the chairs using fabric from a painters drop cloth.
• Buffet $75
• art $7.50
• Mirror $30
• Rug IKEA- $75
• Accessories from shopping my house ...... greenery from pottery-barn for $24

 

Like I said....I'm about 3/4 of the way finished with this room....the next step is to finish this side of the room.  I have some ideas...but I would love to hear what you think I should do....

Thanks

Happy Day

Off the subject...just for fun.  Kent our Middle son is an IT guy and for fun lately he has been writing apps for your phone.....check out his lastest. Just go to google type in Car finder Android Application .... or on your phone go to "Market place" then type in car finder and look for the one with his name....check it out =)

I'm also linking this post to

 

Curtains and a little Spring-

 I plan to work a little on the dinning room this weekend.

• Hanging curtains-
• adding a touch of spring
• hanging the art

 

I had several "black" frames laying around...I decided it was time they were re-used, so I spray painted them white.  I have some large botanical prints that will be getting framed this weekend.

 

I have a bunch of bulbs that are waiting to be forced out.....read about it here.

 

I thought since I'm finally finishing up the dinning room...why not finish up the kitchen too...here are the drapes waiting to be hung.....

I'm hoping to finish up everything this weekend....if  I get it all done....I will share on Monday.

Happy Day-

What are you up to this weekend?