Thrifty Times

I stopped by a neighborhood yard sale on Saturday.  While I was there, I found out the woman having the sale had recently closed her vintage clothing store and is looking to reduce inventory before she re-opens at a new location.  Yay!  This means a few more yard sale weekends and maybe more $2 dresses.  Woot!

The before and after of one of my yard sale items.

I am absolutely not happy with the big "stamp" this app puts on the photo, but I needed a side by side image.  Anyway, first up is this 1970's rosy-red dress.  I am $2 content.  More to come.

xoxo, 

b

Easter!

This was the first time in 11 years that I didn't dye eggs and travel to my grandmother's for Easter.  The Lady Bean is in Disney World.  I got a text from her and she Instagrammed a picture from Epcot (not for me really, but for her 1500 followers).  So, Mr. Husband and I spent our first married Easter at home playing with our doggy house guest and working on projects.  He finished the garage organization, puppy chased a tennis ball, and I painted the kitchen cabinets... sort of a moment of spontaneous decorating (an outburst?).

Minty chalkboardy goodness!

and here is the bottom section

I decided the white on the cabinets was dirty and then I discovered that it wasn't just dirty, it was stained.  I thought it was probably time to paint, but the kitchen has been white for 2 years and the decor has been the same since I moved in.  The knife block on the counter was my cabinet inspiration.  I painted the block (and the brooms) a few months ago.  This is almost done, but of course all this green means that other things in the room have to change (the curtains, the red tins, the picture frames,etc.).  I'll be sewing and painting for at least a couple more weekends, but it's really nice and bright now.

Old kitchen remnants.

Once I got the cabinets going, I emptied the walls.  I had a red kitchen for a very long time.  Since moving into the house though, my kitchen has been transitioning and moving away from red.  Tonight I'm hoping to finish spraying the hardware and then I'll attack this pile to figure out what to do.  I hope to have the attention span to finish this before I start yet another thing.

xoxo,

b

Saturday

A lot of this today.  It's very raspberry now.

One Small Victory

I'll take it!  Little bits of home makeover victory make me happy.  Today I thought I was going to tackle the dresser painting since I went out and got paint last night, but instead today turned out to be "organize the new dishes day".  It's pretty great.  I have one super fabulously organized kitchen cabinet.  I was going to say after this the kitchen is complete, but then I remembered that I need proper spice storage (so close!).

Cup hooks = Fancy.  I promise.

The card in my camera wasn't working with me so I Instagrammed a photo for now (Will the cup hook people some day use it to sell their wares?).  Once I resolve my card issue, I'll work on documenting the changes that have been made to the kitchen.  I guess tomorrow will be a better day to paint furniture.

 

xoxo,

home makeover b

Newlywed Nesting

Hola, so I was a wedding planner, then a wedding panic-er, then a bride, then I had post nuptial depression, then I was an adventurer, and now...  It's almost time to be mom again.  School starts Monday and I seem to always tell my daughter that I'll have her room together before the summer ends.  It has yet to happen.  I've actually destroyed it and now I should put it back together.

A little over a year ago.

This was a great start and I had the best intentions, but the wallpaper didn't go any farther than this until yesterday.

Ha ha!  2 complete walls of pattern!

Now there are 2 finished walls and if 2 is not enough, I'm going to need more paper.  I've decided to counter all of my self indulgent behavior over the last 9 months or so (with the wedding and all-- Kids don't like it when you splurge on yourself and leave them to vacation.) by finishing/updating her room.  Of course, I've waited until the last week of summer and she'll be home soon.  So it's a sort of mad-dash makeover, but I've had it planned for so long that at least I don't have to plan it.  I just have to do it.

New side table to replace the one that was never there.

New shams to indulge her love of mustachios.

Tonight I will be off to buy new bedding and curtains.  Then it will be time for more cleaning and organization.  I think I'm saving some of that for her though.

xoxo.

b

Evolution of a Closet

Okay, I have a secret...  My house is mostly cute, but my bedroom is a mess.  I have a weird basement bedroom with a hole for a closet.  When I first moved in the closet reminded me of a fireplace.  Why would I ever put my clothes in a fireplace (other than to burn them)?  So, my clothes were rarely ever put away.

Bad photo, but you can see how it might be unpleasant.

It was hunter green.  Nothing else in the house is hunter green (happy about that).  It's also made of cinder blocks and drywall.  I forgot to take a photo before I started painting.

After some paint; not great, but definitely better.

A coat of white paint did wonders for the pit-like closet, but can you see that fabulous hanging system?  It's a wooden dowel rod on what appears to be a couple of large curtain rod holders.  It does not run the length of the closet (probably 1 foot or more of unused space) and it starts to bow when all of my clothes are hung.  I went with this system for a while...  Okay, I left it for a year, but now  I'm sharing this closet and I'm over it.  Earlier this week I realized that I don't have to "work around" this I can just tear it out and start over!  Woo hoo!  Why did that take so long to realize?

A proper closet rod.  Aaaaahhhhh...

This is at night and it's dark in there so most of these photos are not great, BUT dang look at all that space!  The clothes actually fit in there now!  I even think Mr. Husband will be able to hang his clothes.

Adding shelving too!

I even bought a shelving system to contain my shoes.  I couldn't finish hanging it though because the drill died and I can't find the charger, however, I think this is the proper solution for my less than ideal space.  I also think I'll put in a floor shelf, but I'm sure if I'll be able to use something we have or if it makes more sense to buy one for this space.  I'm still organizing and trying to utilize as much as I can.

 Not done , but so much better.

B