Craft Room Completion!!!

Here it is.....TA DA!!!! My office/craft room has been decluttered, reorganized and repainted!!

From one of my most favorite blog/shop, I got the beautiful ombre wreath for the door to my office. {Also the beautiful clay 'tags' that hang from wreath} You REALLY should check out Linda's blog and her shop. http://burlapandblue.com/

So, we'll start the photo 'tour' off with some views of the wreath and door......

I love how this wreath looks....and it just reminds me to be happy and creative upon entering!!

I love the added tags to remind me of the importance of dreaming, loving and finding my joy!!

So, this is a shot of the computer area....I don't "decorate" too much in that area, as the hubby uses this area a lot. So, I try to keep it as clutter free as *possible*!!

This is a photo of the scrapbook & crafting area. I bought the jars and bottles to organize the "stuff" that was floating around in some of the drawers!

This is a larger view of the crafting area.....remember what it looked like in the *before*?? Here it is......

UGH!!!!!!!

I used a pants-hanger that I had in my closet to organize ribbon and tape! Easy to get to, easy to return to it's 'proper' place!

Created my own "art" to hang on the walls....favorite sayings and motivational words! Much needed with my current goals and aspirations! (Nice blue wall color, eh??)

With these homemade "prints", I can change them out and create new ones as needed! CHEAP DIY!!!

This one was fun to create....using different fonts and some clip art! I saw one *sorta-kinda* like this, but some of the words didn't apply to me, so I created my own! {You can, too!!}

The closet has been *mostly* organized....it took me forever to go through all of the scrapbook paper and "catagorize" it~~~according to color, striped, patterned, etc... {And, yes, Daisy is investigating!!}

Scrapbook "packet" projects and 'notebooks' of scrapbook papers.

Loose, but, organized scrapbook paper....if I buy ANYMORE paper, I could open up my own store. ~GEESH~

Also, note the new wall color!! A softer blue!! The chair is awaiting reupholstery....I have the fabric and now I have the *space* needed to work on it! YAY!!!

So, there is my promise to myself and ~the hubster~ that this room WOULD get done! It was just ONE of my resolutions for the New Year.

How are you doing with YOUR resolutions?? Any luck in sticking to them? This was actually one of my resolutions last year! So~~I feel pretty good about completing it!

BTW~~Here is how my crafting area looks tonight....I'm working on a wedding project~~~{for a friend}.

New Paint for Bedroom & Bathroom

I finally painted the master bathroom & bedroom! It only took me over a YEAR to choose a color. I thought, at first, of using a neutral color scheme....taupe, beige, bone, etc....

The room was painted a golden color ("Spool" by Martha Stewart) and I was so tired of it. In looking at paint swatches, I decided to move completely away from the beige and 'yellow' tones.

After months of staring at the beige paint swatches~~~taped to the walls~~~I moved onto 'greens'. Those color swatches stayed taped to the wall for a couple of months before I grew tired of them.

I then experimented with gray tones. I love that gray is the 'new' neutral. My guest bathroom is done is gray and red. I was afraid that the gray would be too dark in our small bedroom and bathroom, so those tones were also put aside.

I then started leaning towards the blue/gray family of colors. After months of indecision, I had finally whittled the swatches down to two colors. At this point, I desperately needed help choosing, so----I called in the hubby!!

His favorite ended up being "Tradewinds"~~~a paint from Lowe's. So---before I changed my mind, to Lowe's I went!!! Here are some photos of the end result....I haven't hung any artwork yet.....ugh.

More decisions....what to hang and where to hang it!!! :)

We did hang the mirror and the wallmount LED fireplace.....that's it for now!

Yes, the kitty is already snuggled up on the bed!!

This is the quilt colors.

I love how the mirror reflects the window!

I removed the big ol' mirror and like this smaller, white mirror much better! I also took the wicker baskets that I use for 'everyday' items and spray painted them with a nickel spray paint!

So, it's now onto hanging pictures and deciding what to edit. *Whew*.....so glad the hard part is over with!!!

Autumn in the Air

Are you feeling the cooler (or colder) nights? In our area, we are still in the mid '70's during the day....but much cooler at night!

Our leaves are just beginning to shed the greens of summer. They are starting to become tinged with reds and golds. By the end of the month, they will be in their full fall glory!

Do you change your home's decor to match the season? My kitchen is already awash with greens, golds, oranges and yellows.....so not much changes in there. The biggest things I change are my entryway and the outdoor decorations.

My hall table changes many times over the year.

I decorate it for spring, summer, fall, Christmas and then the longer {seeming} months of winter.

Are there spots in your home that change with weather or seasons?

What are those areas? Are you one [like my over-ambitious friends] that change out bed linens, bathroom towels and kitchen linens or accessories?

If so, kudos to you!!! My door wreaths, outside *signage* and hall table are the only things that I have the gumption to change out!!

Happy Fall, y'all!!!!

Pool Plans.....Outdoor Kitchens!

The pool has been ordered! And now, the fun begins!! We ended up with a rectangle shape vs. a kidney shape....you get more pool for your money!! :) So, aesthetics vs. the almighty dollar!! We decided that the dollar would have to win this fight!


The pool will be a 16'x36' rectangle with 4' of brushed concrete around the entire perimeter. We will then continue the concrete around 3 sides of the pool to about 8'. That additional 4' will be stamped and dyed. On the 4th side of the pool (the one that faces the house and yard), the concrete will extend out to about a total of 12'....we haven't quite decided on how far out that will come out. It will also be stamped and dyed.


The pool will be solar heated....(to be explained in a bit) and will have a salt-water system. No chlorine for this redhead!! My 'sensitive' skin (heehee) can't take the harshness of chlorine.


Our hard work will come into play for the "pavillion" we want to build. It will house the outdoor 'kitchen', fireplace and seating area. The roof of this building will provide the space needed for the solar panels.


So, folks, now the design phase begins! Any suggestions or ideas? Here are some favs that I've found....






























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Childhood Memories.......

I had a visit from one of my 'best' childhood friends yesterday. She and her husband were in the area playing 'tourists' and we met for lunch. What a fun day.....catching up on our adult lives.....reminiscing about our childhood.....and disbelieving our current ages!! We had "lost" each other, only to find ourselves on facebook....searching. Thirty-years is so much history to cover! But, we'll spend the next thirty-years being present in each others lives and 'catching up'!!

What do you remember about your childhood homes? Do you remember colors? Fabrics? Furniture style? Are there colors that invoke warmth, comfort, and good memories, therefore---you use them in your own home? Or do you avoid hues that color your memories? I think of shimmering royal blues and olive greens and see a childhood living room....drapery fabric billowing from the breeze and open windows.

What were your favorite colors when you were a child? Were you allowed to surround yourself in 'your' color? Did you have your own 'space'? I see the 'hot pink' walls of my childhood bedroom and remember how much fun it was to be allowed to choose my own paint color! Do you foster that creativity in your own children?

Just some things to think about today......how does color influence your life? Or better yet....does it influence each day?

Friends......

So, today was spent with friends. Why was it so exhausting?? Why do I feel as though I didn't speak a full sentence in 5 hours?! I'm serious! Do you ever have those kind of souls in your life? The kind that you love, you know there's a heart of gold just beating away in their chest, but they just SUCK the ever-lovin' life right out of you! Any of you have those?

WHEW!

I'm tired. It was a beautiful day that started out cloudy and looked like the sky was going to open up and pour rain down upon us and our cookout. But, it didn't! The sun pushed those clouds right out of our way and shone down upon us....with a smile! The food was typical, pedestrian 'cookout' food.....lots of mayonnaise and charred meats. The kids were running around, screamin' and yellin', getting into trouble, and even doing a bit of arguing and bickering of their own!

I'm home now.....in my living room. Which, by the way, is close to being done! The touch up paint is done now. THAT was a chore all by itself. My quart of touch up paint was in a different finish than the original paint! So.........after I had already painted a bunch of spots, I had to go buy a gallon of the color in an Eggshell finish. I pretty much had to re-paint most of the entire walls! Ugh. But----it's done. I have just a few pieces on the walls.....that is all I want. As I clear out my house, I find that I am doing the same with my life.....clearing out the clutter and only leaving the LOVE.

I have a new rug to put in the living room. It's an oval, braided rug in browns. Trying to keep the floor simple and using accents and color in the other accessories in the room. Red is the accent color of choice. I just love it with this "Blue Shamrock" color. It's a bit cottag-y and I'm in love with the comfort of that decor.

Now I have to switch gears and come up with some design ideas for my daughter's new home. I've purchased a few decor items, have the color scheme and a pretty good idea of what I want it to look like. There is one area of "concern"......the floor plan is pretty open and the living room 'flows' into the dining area of the kitchen. A chair rail starts in one corner of the dining area, but just ENDS where the "living area" starts. So, how to paint that? How to deliniate that wall? It's an interesting challenge. Do I use fabric to create a small 'divider'? Do I use molding in a vertical fashion to create a 'line'? Hmmmm.......time to do some research.

I am wondering if others notice a correlation between their life and their home?!? Does clutter bespeak of a "cluttered" life? Does an empty room echo into the empty life? Does a multi-purposed (but disaster) of a room convey the confusion that is felt in its human?? Any answers out there in this wired-together world??