Wordless Wednesday

For Elijah

All of these great photos are from a sweet blog I found called Don't Forget to Fly. These, today, are dedicated to my biggest boy as he starts his first day of school. I love you, Elijah, and I will be praying for you all morning.

Lighting Update

Since I never updated on the lighting replacements in my house, here they are. I looked at some unique ideas, but in the end, I guess you have to go with what you have time for and what comes available to you. I am pleased.

1. My dining room light was a hot glam mess. Crystals, crystals everywhere, but clad in flimzy, shiny brass. A good coat of brown spray paint can work wonders. And dimmer switches are awesome, by the way. Our recess lighting fills every corner with brightness when we need it as well.

2. This fixture was in my breakfast nook and was doing nothing for the space. I moved it over into my kitchen for a special touch, and stole some crystals from my other chandelier, and it's just right. This kitchen is minus a dingy old florescent box and also now has recessed lighting for added function.

3. I am most thrilled with this $40 thrift buy for my breakfast nook. It needed nothing but a little wiring and one of those white candle things (the proper name escapes me), and it's ready to go. It's big and bright and exciting for it there and I look forward to doing lots of homework with my 7 year old thanks to its light.

Promises Promises

It's so strange. Lately, there have been a number of deaths. And plenty of rainbows. I'm not surprised. God is so cool like that. He is very near. This one, my hubby took the other day. Saturday, after hosting the yard sale for my brother, we all went to my mother's for a sort of going away/send off party. We ate food from Superior Grill and gathered in a circle to pray blessings for Matthew's long trip. My Nana and Papa even came out to for it and got to see the new puppies. Unfortunately, Mother was having a rough go of it. Not only was she about to say a long goodbye to her youngest, sending him off into situations that will definitely be dangerous, rough, unpredictable, compromising, etc., she had just gotten a call from the vet that her precious pup of 11 years, Tristan, had just passed away after fighting a horrible liver cancer. This rainbow was definitely for her. As 4 generations (my Nana, Mother, me, and Elijah) gathered in a cramped water room and cried, Blake brought us this picture on my camera. Thanks, Blake, and most of all, thanks God!

Mother's rainbow

Nana and Papa

Mother and the boys

Elijah, Daddy and Paula say goodbye to Matt

Tristans last playdate. Have fun playing at the raidbow bridge.

Prayer for Matt.

Inspired Wednesday

“ the power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely
louisa may alcott

Atlanta Home Tour

The Nest TV/NN_AtlantaHomeTour-500x375

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San Francisco Home Tour

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My house Monday...Show me your Drawers!

Welcome to my very special 'My House Monday' where I am bearing all!! Allow me to show you whats behind my refridge doors and in my pantry, and if you are brave, show me yours...

I have kids, so my snack cabinet is second to none! I am a big fan of Costco, Publix, and anything that saves me from cooking. I'm just a regular mom, right?

My Sunroom's Good-looking Cousin

Okay, so there not really alike, but there is some similarities there. Could be cousins. Maybe. Anyway, I took some layout inspiration from this cool house on the Patomac.

Flashback Photo Friday

Flashback Photo Friday is of me and my brother Matt. We are holding a yard sale tommorow morning to raise funding for his 11 month mission trip! He leaves next week, and I am so proud of him for doing this amazing thing through the World Race Organization. He will be living in some crazy situations, and puttin himself at risk for the sake of philanthropy. I am proud of his strength, boldness, and character, and pray that he comes back a new man. We will miss you terribly, bro!!!

World Race Promo from The World Race on Vimeo.

Dresser Makeover

Welcome to my dresser makeover...

I purchased this deco dresser from an antique store's backroom garage. It had great size, lines and curves, but was missing pulls, had only been primed, and the drawers were hanging out everywhere. But, they were willing to sell it to me for only $120, which was what they had spent on it. I said YES, and brought it home. The time came, this last weekend, to give it the makeover it had been needing, and I decided to pull a bit of my kitchen into my sunroom by giving it the same distressed paint treatment I had given my kitchen cabinets. Although, I had many inspirations, I ultimately took my inspirations from these cabinets in my kitchen:

I had the dresser staged a bit to get an idea of its purpose in the room, here it is:

sitting in my sunroom waiting for its crowning moment:

Thankfully, my piece was already sanded and primed, so the next step for me was to paint:
color used: Ancient Scroll by American Tradition

The next step was to sand the dresser and give it as much distress as my muscles could handle:

The third step was to stain the dresser. I used Minwax Walnut

Wood Finish, painted it on, then rubbed it off straight away.

and...um...next time I will use gloves.

Next, because I have not yet found the perfect pulls, I sprayed some burlap

twine, and tied them on so that I can functionally open it until I do.

And, for an added bonus, and because I was loving it so much, I painted

an inexpensive bench that I love to use as a coffee table.

Here's how it works in my space:

And, here's the dresser.

Paint Inspiration

\I was looking for a little inspiration for my dresser make-over and found some rather interesting paint ideas. Check this out for now, and tommorow stay tuned for the dresser reveal...

My House Monday

I wanted to pay homage to my scrapbook display today for 2 reason. 1...Because I haven't scrapbooked in forever. I now blog. So, in a way, I feel a tad bit sad about that. And 2...Because this display no longer exists. It has been taken down and replaced by a great family photo in an excellent tin frame.

By the way, about out weekend checklist...I must say I was a LOT optomistic. I was able to check off #1 and #2. Blake checked off #1 and #11. Oh well. Theres always next weekend (or atleast thats what we keep on saying. :)