Inspiration and Ideas

We all know I adore Sarah Richardson. I believe my husband would call it something more like "sick obsession" - but I like to think I'm not that weird. Back in 2010 when she was doing Sarah's House 3 (her farmhouse) I decided she was the best designer on the planet. She was doing everything I liked style wise, pulling it together beautifully, and opening my eyes to new ideas. I could live in her farmhouse quite happily forever! But there were a few things that struck me more than others, and the chandelier she used in the dining room was one of those things. I HAD to have one of those suckers!!!

It was wooden and completely perfect. Here in West Texas though I couldn't find one. Looked everywhere and nothing. Started looking online and found some in the $1000+ range and knew I should probably set myself a new goal. I would always pine for it, but I needed to find something else.

Then walking through our local Parade of Homes that summer what did I see? Beautiful wood chandeliers everywhere!!!

Horrible pictures taken very quickly with my phone...sorry. But, I had to have one. 

Come to find out those cost just as much. So, I went back to my other plan of trying to find a vintage one that was more in my budget. Did I mention this was in 2010?

Then in 2011 I started following an awesome blog Little Green Notebook by Jenny Komenda. She's completely awesome. She has more contemporary design style than I do, but everything about her blog and work makes me happy.

She did this to a bargain find chandelier

...yeah, pretty awesome. I love the little round bulbs and the simplicity of this in her contemporary space. It's perfection. For my space I was thinking to "fancify" things a bit. So I hit google up and typed in chandelier makeovers and came up with a bunch of great inspiration.

Lots of fun ideas! All I needed now was a chandelier.

Then a friend called and wanted to go to a couple of estate sales together. 

We found this:

So I snatched that baby up fast! Can't wait to show it off soon - here's to many more inspirations and ideas.

Dylan's Bed

This was a project that happened because I did other projects for Dylan's room and it just popped into my head. Luckily this project only cost me the price of some construction adhesive, some brad nails, and some finials...all in all it was about $30 and I had a gift card so really it cost ME nothing. I had the v-groove paneling left over from the kids bathroom renovation and thought, why not?

This is the best picture I could find of his bed before. The design was mine and my father built it for Dylan when he was 2. It's a nice bed, but I wanted something a little bit more.

Enter furniture finials. This just makes me smile, the idea that even something out of solid wood that is so masculine has "accessories". That's how I see all wood trim - it's jewelry for the wood.

I found these super cheap at Home Depot and purchased them with my gift card (thank you Brooke) and then it was time to get to work. Measuring and drilling and then adding the finials.

I had to take all of my paneling to my fathers shop to cut it down to fit. (There was enough left over to do another whole project, and it's already planned) Then I put the boards on one by one.

It was cold that day and I had to leave the door to the garage open for my air compressor cord. That meant I looked ridiculous...pajama pants and Uggs baby! I'm classy like that.

After everything was installed it was time to paint. I broke out the Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Old White and got right to it. 

I love the knots and imperfections. They make my heart happy.

I think it looks great! It's exactly what I had in mind and it also made this guy smile. He was even happy enough to let me take his picture. 

More to come as always. Hope you have a fantastic week.

My Grandmothers Chair

I LOVE this chair. This chair was in the middle bedroom of my Grandmothers house during my childhood. That bedroom was my favorite. I loved the log cabin quilt that she had made that covered the bed. I loved all of the beautiful wood furniture that was in that room. I loved that the room always had a specific smell from the eucalyptus she had in a wash basin pitcher. But, when it came time for my grandmother to move into assisted living, I was still young and didn't realize I could ask for things like furniture. I asked for all of her clocks instead...and milk glass. I love those things for sure - especially the milk glass, but I'm so super jealous that my sister got the front bedroom furniture and the chair from the middle bedroom.

This chair was first reupholstered by my grandmother. Then when my sister got it she put a mauve fabric on it. I couldn't find a picture of that phase. Then she decided to recover it again. 

Umm...it really just didn't turn out so good.

In her defense, she hadn't ever had to replace webbing and foam before. The webbing had been shot for a while and she didn't replace it. Then instead of using foam she tried to make the cushion out of batting. The wood is crazy old and somewhat brittle so she also had trouble with the nail head trim. This really isn't a chair you should start learning how to do upholstery on. It takes a little knowledge. I had not seen the chair in this condition until Thanksgiving when she brought it down for me to redo.

Shot webbing for sure.

My grandmother had used old tweed fabric cut into strips to make the webbing. She was a genius at using what she could and getting the most out of everything. She had to because they really didn't have much. But, it was time to replace all of that now. Time to get to work!

Yes, I usually work in full jewelry while wearing suede loafers...it's either that or pajamas. One extreme to the other, but that's how I am.

Re-webbed seat. Oh so much better! 

Now this is where my sister and I differ quite a bit. I probably would have painted this in some beautiful creamy milk paint like Miss Mustard Seed's Ironstone and then covered it in a grain sack. But, that's my style not hers and it is her chair...yep still jealous! 

Her fabric choice matches other things in her bedroom in Colorado so it looks beautiful where it is. 

Don't you love all the Christmas mess in the background?

The finished chair.

I even had difficulty with the nail heads. The wood kept breaking loose. I'm so sad, this is the last time this chair can be reupholstered. It's done. When it craters this time it will be time to bid it farewell. It is now super comfortable and looks so much more appealing than before. I love that you can see the lines of the chair now. The lines are fabulous.

My sister adores it and was so impressed by the difference in comfort. I'm glad she loves her Christmas present - that makes me happy.

Now, it's on to the next project!

Something I Adore

Headboards are the statement piece of any bedroom, but most especially in the master bedroom. Ours isn't bad really, it's a good quality metal headboard. My issue is, that it's the headboard I bought for my first apartment when I was in college and it's a tad "modern" looking for my taste. 

When Brandon and I were first together we both really loved the clean lines, metal and glass, open storage look so it fit right in! It didn't take us long to realize that look wasn't for us at all. When I realized that I was the one that was going to be picking up after the entire household, open shelving-clean line-modern looking stuff started giving me hives. 

Suddenly I wanted more traditional pieces of furniture and I wanted EVERYTHING to close. I didn't want to see anything anymore. I went that direction everywhere, including the master bedroom. First it was adding built-in storage...which I still have not blogged about, then it was buying mirrored nightstands with closed storage, and next came the desk. With all of these pieces so traditional, the headboard looks really out of place and well, kind of dinky!

Not bad...just a little blah

At first I was thinking upholstered headboards because I LOVE them! But, I change my mind a lot and I would hate to have to reupholster an entire headboard every time. Even if it was neutral there would be a chance it wouldn't go with a new scheme I picked. Enter Pinterest. I wanted wood so I was going to research my options. I found these lovelies 

Probably one of my favorite things ever! 

I never could find a link that took me to the source for this photo - if anyone knows give me a shout out so we can give credit where it is due!

So pretty - love the detail

I'm a girl that loves some good architectural salvage.

I also found several websites that show you how to make a headboard out of old and new doors or from scratch. I was thinking from scratch. Then I went shopping for something else one day and saw this...

It's a window fragment and it folds! It has hinges in the middle and when it is straightened out it would be the perfect queen headboard. It's a tad pricey for my budget, but I dream of it. I'm hoping I can convince my husband that it would be worth it. But for now it's just something I adore...and wish for ;)

A Little Bit Lost

There are things in life that are constant.

You sleep, you wake

you breathe

you eat

you laugh

you cry

you love

you play

you work

...you live.

The expectations of doing it all over again from one day to the next never really enter your mind. At least it never really entered mine all that much. So, on January 4th I was up running errands, disciplining my children for yelling in my car, going from paint store to hardware store, then to a friends house, and finally to my own home to start working on more projects...my day was normal, my plans for the weekend clear.

I packed my children's overnight bags, and loaded some v-groove panelling into my car to take to Mom and Dad's house for the evening. I had two stops to make on my way there. I had to stop by JoAnn's Fabric and get some muslin because Mama and I were going to make some ruffles for a lampshade, and I was dropping off our old pack and play at a friends house. I never could have imagined that I would be standing in the fabric store with my arms loaded down with craft supplies and fabric when I got one of the worst calls of my life. I answered the phone knowing it was my father and smiled at my son standing next to me as I said hello.

As I listened to my father, I fell to my knees and screamed "no!" in the middle of the fabric store.

My father had come in from work and a few of his own errands and found my mother dead...

My sweet, precious mother was gone. 

Even now things are a bit blurry - a bit unreal.

I saw it, I know it happened, I experienced it all, yet it still seems impossible.

This beautiful, loving, talented woman was gone. She was the best mother in the world, the best grandmother I've ever seen, and she was my friend as well. One of my best friends. What would I ever do without her?

Painting Jade Reese's nails

She bought two bubble mowers so both of my children could tag along after her while she mowed the lawn...

She let me be goofy with her and she loved it

She planted flowers with my baby girl

She taught me how to love and be kind and that family was the most important thing next to God

She went to my children's school parties and loved them both to distraction!

She let my 7 year old daughter play with her camera and take pictures like this one (from this Christmas), even though she despised being in pictures.

I feel so lost, how will I ever live without her? 

I will pick myself up and move forward, always doing things the way Mama would have. She was strong, she worked hard, she laughed full and loud, she was selfless, she was the kindest person I've ever known. If I am even a quarter of the woman she was I will consider myself lucky. I will keep going for my sweet father, for my amazing husband, for my precious babies, and for my siblings and their families - because that's what Mama would have done, and that's what she would have wanted.

At the funeral there was a little booklet passed out that had a poem I wrote her in it. I wrote the poem when I was 18, and it is all the more precious to me now because my father requested it be used for this.

I will miss her so much. Her voice, because I heard it almost every single day. Her hugs, because there are no hugs like the ones from your mother. Her care, because she cared for me so much. Her laugh, because it was awesome. Her smile, because it was beautiful and made her gorgeous green eyes sparkle. I will miss seeing her interact with and love my children. I will miss her teaching me how to do things...all things. But, most of all I will miss her heart. No one has ever had a heart like my mama.

I will be back to projects and blogging soon, but like everything lately, it will take me some time. Thank you all for your prayers and support of my family, we are so grateful and appreciative. 

Accessories for A Boy's Room

I've been working to make my kids rooms nice for what feels like forever now. It's like it always is with any space, you get almost to the finish point and either have a new idea or you start tweaking things. At least that's what I do, I don't think my spaces will ever be FINISHED. They are all ongoing, changing as I find flaws with functionality or anything else.

I will say that I LOVE my son's room. I think he probably has my favorite room in the house. I often feel that I was born patriotic and I now realize I passed that on to my son. He's crazy proud of the country we live in and even more proud to be a Texan ;)

That's my boy!!!

So when I asked him what colors he wanted in his room it was a very fast answer: "Red, White, and Blue please mama."

So I got busy. You've seen his chair, his chest, and his cabinet and there will be more furniture to reveal soon, but now it's time to show off some accessories.

A pin board

I got a large cork board from Hobby Lobby and some antique brass upholstery nail heads. I covered the cork in batting and an old grain sack with a faint red graphic. I stapled it tight to the back side and then added the nail heads around the edge on the front for a decorative detail. I then added some hangers on the back so I could hang this over his desk. This literally took 10 minutes. So fast and easy.

Of course he put his angry birds drawings on it immediately.

Next we have a lampshade to deal with. Well, first we had a lamp to deal with!

The lamp was a tad under-scaled. It was his nursery lamp. Bless the boy he had been living with this lamp for 8 years before it dawned on me it was too small. I'm dense sometimes. In with the new lamp

With the most boring lampshade ever! So I busted out the painters tape and paint that I used in his room and got busy.

Step one was red...then letting it dry, which I hate. I get antsy and just want things finished, but this required patience.

Next came blue

And last was a thin chocolate stripe. Now he has a custom lampshade and he loves it. His room is almost at the finish line now. There is some fun stuff coming up for him this Spring and I can't wait to reveal all!