Laundry Room Update

Holy cow, I cannot believe it has been so long since I last blogged. I fall off the blogging band wagon fairly easy as you can see! LOL!

Anyhow, I thought I would post some before & after photos of our laundry room. Its pretty much done. I want to get some white blinds for the window, as well as have a cute roman shade made for it. Hubby also has to install the new faucet for the sink sometime soon. Eventually I would like to remove the single shelving unit & have some smaller cute shelves put in its place. But I am happy with how it turned out!

Check out the cute chandy from IKEA & the gorgeous ceiling pendant too! Love it!!!

Laundry Room Board & Batten

Our laundry room has been an ongoing project for a good two months or longer now. Not sure how the smallest room in the house can take this long to finish. But I guess we are getting closer to completion.

We painted the laundry room a few months ago & then my hubby tiled the floor a few weeks after that. I begged my hubby to start the board & batten treatment & finally he gave in. After purchasing several crappy paint sprayers & finally getting one that wasn't a total P.O.S. (excuse my abbreviated french) we could finally move forward & finish painting all of the boards, etc.

The painting was the biggest ordeal & once that was done everything else seemed to fall into place within a few hours. Here's a photo of the progress. We aren't quite finished. We still need to fill in the nail holes & do some touch up painting. I ordered a ceiling medallion for the chandelier & am trying to pick out some cute photographs that I can frame for above the shelf. I am also going to add some cute little hooks in between the boards & ask my mom or aunt to sew a pretty little window treatment for me. Then everything should be complete. Stay tuned for the final before & after photos. :)


Here's the prints I am leaning towards... So beautiful! Check out Ciao Bella Photography's Etsy store for more gorgeous finds!

Oh & quick question for you all. See how I left the inner part of the window white? Should I paint that the aqua color too? Does it look strange that I didn't paint that part of the room? Thanks for your input!

Last but not least we finished that old bench that we picked up at a garage sale in the beginning of summer. Here's a before & after. I think it turned out pretty good. All I need to do now is add a few pillows & figure out a good location for it in the house! :)

Sweets...

The other night as I was opening my front door I noticed this little baby birdy perched up along the top of our front porch. Over the past week, he brought his siblings with him & we see them sitting on our porch each night. They must have just gotten their feathers in because I can see little spots of down blowing in the wind. They are just sooooo cute!

So we started the whole 'Board & Batten' process on our laundry room today. Poor Karl had lots of frustrations today so we didn't get very far. He's going out of town for a few days, so it doesn't look like we will get this done til next weekend. What a bummer! :(

In the meantime, I did happen to bake some homemade red velvet cupcakes. I topped them with a homemade almond buttercream frosting. Can we say yum?! Click here for the cupcake recipe.

Almond Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter, softened
3 tsp. almond extract
8 cups powdered sugar (get two large bags, because you will go through more than an entire bag of it)
2/3 cups heavy whipping cream

Beat butter until fluffy
Beat in extract on low
Beat powdered sugary & cream, alternating the two until frosting is smooth.

I also took a few pics of my daughter & my cousin's daughter this week. Thought I would share a few!

Isn't she pretty?

Can't get enough of painting!

It seems as though I just can't get enough of painting these days. Let's see what I have painted so far...

-Pair of metal porch chairs
-Front door
-Little piggy statue that sits on my porch
-Inside dresser drawers (photos to come)

And last but not least, my laundry room! I decided on a pretty aqua color. Its 'Sweet Rhapsody' by Behr. I love this color! I've really had to talk myself out of painting the whole house this color. Ha!

Here's my inspiration photos from Camera's & Chaos. Isn't it pretty? I will post some progress photos of my laundry room once I get the wainscoting up. :)

Here's a before photo of our laundry room...

And look at this adorable Mason jar soap dispenser I just ordered off Etsy. Check out Mason Galore & More to get one of your very own!

Tomorrow I am painting the back door (same color as the front door) & maybe this awesome candlestick holder I got for $2.50 at Goodwill this weekend!

Front Porch Progress!

I thought the best & easiest place to start making our house a home would be the front porch. As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, I found a pair of cute metal chairs for $15. We spray painted them a light aqua color. I need to add another coat of paint & a top coat before they will be complete. But at least you get the idea... I am also planning on adding cushions to them too!

I found the cutest shabby chic table (pictured below) at a local Paris Market this weekend. Scored that sweet little table for $20! I love it! Also got those gorgeous blue Mason jars there too. Filled them with white rice & a votive candle. Super cute when they are lit up in the evening.

Biggest transformation was painting our drab front door a bright aqua color. I am crossing my fingers that the HOA doesn't send me a letter. We are supposed to get approval before painting anything on the house, but I just couldn't help myself. Isn't it gorgeous?! I got the wreath at Michaels on clearance & I think it totally pulls everything together. Now I just need to get a new rug for the front porch.

What do you all think so far?

Before...

After

Busy week!

What a busy week this has been... I have been meaning to update the blog but hadn't had a free moment up until now. I have been super busy with my graphic design business & trying to keep the new house in order.

We have sanded & painted the metal porch chairs I posted about earlier in the week, so I will have photos of the final product later this week. They are turning out oh so very cute! I am having the hardest time finding some cute outdoor fabrics to make cushions out of. The chairs are going to be a bright aqua color & I want to incorporate some yellows into the cushions as well. Any suggestions on where to find cute outdoor fabric? Everything I am finding is very tropical & a little on the boring side.

I am now on the hunt for a small wooden table to put on the front porch as well. I guess I need to hit some garage sales next week! I want do something similar to this little setup but I want to use the blue tinted mason jars. Isn't this adorable? Check out 'The Shabby Nest' for more photos & inspiration!

Our new home! Photo overload...

We just purchased a new (to us) home this month & moved in a little over a week ago. I snapped these pics the day we closed on it, while it was still vacant. I apologize for the quality of the photos, as we were getting ready to leave & I snapped them in a hurry!

I have to admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed with the furnishing & decorating aspect of it. We moved from a smaller 3 bedroom 3 bath home to large 5 bed 4 bath home. We have many rooms with absolutely no furniture. I have no clue what room to even start with. Is it weird I want to decorate the laundry room first? LOL!

I won't bore you with all of the photos, but here are a few.

View of front entry & living/dining area. I have a study off to the left behind double doors.

Living/Dining area

Down the hall to the right is the garage, bathroom & hall closet...

My lovely kitchen!

Family Room right off the kitchen.

Up the stairs & to the right is the master bedroom.

Guest Bedrooms, etc.

Right side of bedroom

Left side of bedroom, into sitting area.

Master Bath

Master Bath with different view.

Fun & fabulous garage sale finds!

I love this time of year! I especially love it because it's now officially garage sale season. I've already scored some pretty great finds the past two weekends.

I found a pair of these awesome vintage chairs (see photo below) at a garage sale last weekend for $10 each. I bargained with the nice lady & she gave them both to me for $15.00! Whoohoo! I am hoping to get these sanded in a few spots tomorrow, primed & painted. Then I all will have to do is find some bright & cheery cushions. Super cute & cheap way to brighten up our new porch.

Today I found a a cute wooden bench with lots of potential. Needs some light sanding & a little glue... only $20! I am planning to paint this black & add a bright funky cushion to it. Not sure if it will eventually end up in my office or if it should go in the front living space. I will post pics of this find later!

Super cute freebie printable!

Isn't this sign adorable!? I am going to have to find a place for this in my new house! Head on over to Sprik Space to download your very own. They also have several different colors to choose from. :)