freshening the foyer - part 2

Previously, on Freshening the Foyer...

We were left with a blank space

and a can of this.

Specifically, Lucky Shamrock by Benjamin Moore. I have a lot of blue in my house and I really do love blue. But I didn't want to become one big blue house. So what goes with blue? What's welcoming and cheery? What would I want to see when I walk in the house everyday? 

Green.

And you all know how I like a good lookin' ceiling (like here and here) so I took that paint up north. Happy green ceiling - complete. Now for the walls.

My ultimate dream would be some Anna Spiro wallpaper but for now that isn't in the budget. So I went with this stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils thanks to a Sadie + Stella discount code a while back. (Thanks Lindsay)

And here is where this little spruce up went off the tracks a bit. I got the stencil, I was excited to use it and the walls were painted and ready. The hubs and I skimmed thru the directions (first mistake) and got to work.

And ended up with this. Ruh roh.

How's this for real life DIY? They don't always go so smoothly, am I right? I blame the little dots in the stencil. They threw us off some how. To be honest, I don't know what happened. The whole process went so fast (which I was rather surprised about) we didn't realize it until we stepped back to admire our finished work.

Major let down.

This all happened right before the party, of course, so it was a good lesson in letting things go. There was no time to fix it and I just didn't have the mental fortitude to make it happen.

So this is how it looked for a few weeks. And it drove me bonkers. The stencil is on crack, the mirror doesn't play well with the bench and its hung too high. And the trim still needs to be painted. Calgon, take me away.

Finally I psyched myself up to try this again. I repainted the whole space (thank god it is small) and after playing with the stencil BEFORE painting, revolutionary I know, I figured out what I needed to do.

So learn from my mistakes.

This is not something you can rush thru, even if it may seem straightforward. You will need to do one sheet and step back to check your work. Then place the sheet in the next spot and step back and check your work. Then roll the next sheet and, you guessed it, step back and check your work.

You will want to go over the stencil several times with your roller. Don't. It just makes a mess. And always roll in the one direction. Never back and forth or you will just end up with a big smeared blob.

Play with the amount of paint on your roller a bit before starting. The key is to find the perfect combo of the right amount of paint and the right amount of pressure so you can get the stencil on in one roll.

Much better.

Now all that is left is some styling, finding some sconces and figuring out a solution for the mirror. The round one that was there originally just didn't work.

This mirror is from the family room and I like it's size but I don't like the pine with the bench. But this mirror is from my parents and it is certainly a 'paint it and die' piece.

So my best girl Linda is helping me to scour Craigslist and I've already got a few options. With her mad skills, I bet I'll find something in no time. What kind of mirror would you add?

Look forward to the next installment of Freshening the Foyer to find out how this all ends. Will I get the trim painted? Will I find a mirror? Will I ever clean that floor properly? Too much excitement, I know.

And don't forget Google Reader is donezo on July 1. Have no fear though, you can continue to follow my sparkling personality and quick wit on Bloglovin. Find out how to import your list from Google Reader here.

Happy Day!

the deck a year later - restore armor review

We've been spending a lot of time outside this week. One of the benefits to potty training in the summer  is enjoying the privacy of your own backyard in your underwear. We get a lot of fresh air and accidents are a lot easier to take on the grass than on my rug. Too much information first thing? Moving on.

So with all of this outside time, we've been using the deck like crazy. In fact, we've used the deck more this spring/summer than we have the whole time we've lived here. And since I still get questions weekly about our deck makeover (read about it here), I thought I would give a progress report.

This is how the deck looked when we finished it exactly one year ago this week.

And this is how the deck looked yesterday. I took my flower boxes down during the last storm and haven't put them back up, and we have an umbrella now, but otherwise these shots are just like the Olsen twins - identical...and a bit boho.

Oh, and one side note - I failed to sweep sufficiently before I took these pictures so enjoy the real life shots. And if you are disgusted by my lack of sweeping, the public flogging is tomorrow at noon.

I am happy to report that we are thrilled with our decision to use Restore Deck Liquid Armor Resurfacer.  (I see that this is a Rustoleum product which might explain why it is so awesome. Rustoleum, I'm happy to become your spokeswoman and I'm not above wearing a spray paint costume on the streets to sing your praises.)

Our deck is pummeled on an hourly basis by several 100+ year old oak trees, a small sanctuary full of birds (thanks to my neighbor and his damn bird feeder) and at least a pound of sidewalk chalk. And it is as if we just painted yesterday.

The color is gray for the many that have asked. And yes, it is just 'gray'. I even double checked the box to make sure. I guess I have gotten used to Benjamin Moore and their snazzy paint names, I'm not used to such a straight forward paint color.

Many have also asked how the texture feels on bare feet. I will tell you that initially there was a bit of a pebbly feel to the floor but quickly that hard texture softened and over time it has just gotten more and more comfortable. As someone who is barefoot as much as the law allows from March to October, I would never allow something that I walk on several times a day to be scratchy or uncomfortable. And Eve has spent a fair amount of time with her bare bum on that floor this week (again, potty training) and has been nothing but smiles. How's that for a ringing endorsement.

That texture is also a help in the rain and ice as it gives you just enough traction to prevent slipping. And it also stays nice and cool to the touch. A very big deal in a place where we have 90+ temps for months on end.

That hard candy shell also does a great job of protecting the finish. Over the past year we've had a few hard storms that have sent pretty big branches straight onto our deck and there is not one mark to show for it. We also kept our table on it throughout the winter and when we picked it up to move it for the party there was not one mark on the deck. Super durable is an understatement. There has been no chipping, peeling, bubbling or any other 'ing'.

The only negative I can come up with is that it does seem to trap dirt a bit in high traffic areas. But it is nothing that a strong hose can't handle. We've power washed it twice and both times the dirt came up with no problems. In fact, when I was at Home Depot the other day I noticed Restore now has a cleaning solution. Fancy. I haven't tried that out yet but I have plans to over the holiday. Do I know how to celebrate America or what?

Oh, and for all of those that were crazed over the fact that we didn't put the stair railings back up...

happy now?

We got that up right before the hospital stay/party. The other side of the railing will come, someday.

So to recap - Restore Liquid Deck Armor is aces. I give it two thumbs up and I would recommend it to any and all of you.

Have you tried any new products lately? Any plans to update your deck? Any ideas on how to hide my neighbors bird feeder?

party like its 1963 - 50th wedding anniversary

Happy Monday to all! Anything exciting to report? We had rain, with a side of rain and large helping of humidity. Summer in St. Louis y'all.

So I blabbed long enough about this anniversary party I thought I should at least share a few pictures with you. My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage and in my book, 50 years of anything deserves a party. And party we did.

Now a (long) side note - I have had lists upon lists over the past few months to keep things organized for this shindig and we were on schedule. The hubs was on board and the weekend before the party he and I sat down and made a list of what we needed to get done each day that week to be ready for the party on Saturday. Teamwork is our middle name.

Then Monday night the hubs got sick. Tuesday morning I had to take him to the ER and by Tuesday night he had an emergency appendectomy. Which was kind of weird because I didn't remember 'surgery' anywhere on our to-do list.

Que increased stress level.

And to add to the fun, surgery was followed by an infection which kept him in the hospital until late Friday. Coupled with a mystery plumbing leak, a surprise tree removal and a daily increased threat of rain, my stress level runneth over.

I will save all of the gory details for cocktail hour, but needless to say by the time Saturday arrived I was just happy to have showered and brushed my hair. I didn't get as many pictures taken as I would have liked, and some are with my iPhone so they aren't the best quality but you'll get the idea. And we were lucky enough to have the talented Jeremy Keltner there during the party and he got some great shots as well.

Lesson learned. As my great-grandfather always said - don't bother worrying because you will always be worrying about the wrong thing.

So with all of that said, a great time was had by all and the party was a success. We did end up with a downpour shortly after the cake was cut but the fun just moved inside and we didn't skip a beat.

Now enough talk, let's look at some pictures.

Almost ready to go.

The welcome wreath that greeted everyone at the gate as they entered.

Would have been awesome if I had gotten a picture of these things filled out with the drink labels filled in but this will have to do.

I made the menu using the same monogram that appeared on the invitation and the cake.

Each table was decked out in ribbons in my mom's colors, blue, green and yellow, and pictures of the happy couple through the years. The frames were a DIY project I'll share at some point.

They were a pain to hang, but the lanterns were great. All the lanterns were battery operated and worked off of one universal remote which was heaven. Thanks Pier 1.

Inside was a table full of wedding pictures and albums.

And the yummy cake.

Which we cut just in time to move inside before the monsoon hit.

It was a late night but a great time.

Happy Anniversary mom and dad!

Have you thrown any parties lately? Any great outdoor celebrations on your calendar? Wanna come over for a drink? The house is clean.

freshening the foyer - part 1

Thanks everyone for your great potty training tips and ideas. Today the fun begins, so I'll keep y'all posted.

A few years into our marriage, I gave my husband a valuable little nugget of truth that has helped him to accept deal with my never ending project list - "by the time I mention something to you, know that I've already been debating the idea in my head for quite some time." I know, poetry right?

So when I told him a few weeks back that I had plans to overhall the foyer, his response was music to my ears -"Cool". He's a good egg.

Now I may get some slack for this because this little image is pinned quite a bit, but I'm tired of it. That wallpaper was one of the first projects we (aka the hubs and my dad) tackled in the house. Seven years ago. It is faded, scratched and is starting to come off on the corners.

Also, as much as I like the yellow table on its own, I was never in love with it with the wallpaper. It was all a bit too ketchup and mustard for me.

And the third strike, as great as this layout is in theory it isn't real life. We don't come in the door and put our mail and keys down. We come inside and take off our shoes. And 50% of the residents of this little cottage need to sit down and take several minutes to get those little shoes on and off. So its time to pull a Dr. Phil and 'get real' - we need a spot for all of this action.

Enter my new favorite. You may remember I was fortunate to snag my beauty of a bench a while back and it fits perfectly in the foyer. But the wallpaper isn't doing it any favors. This bench deserves a snazzy space.

So the wallpaper came down.

No one in this house is exempt from a good DIY.

Thanks to plaster walls, I was able to remove all of that wallpaper, all of it, with just my hands. No tools needed. See, I told you it was ready to come down. An important tip in removing wallpaper though, once the paper is off the wall, don't think you are finished. You still need to give the wall a good scrub with a wet sponge to get off all of the glue that remains on the wall. That sponge also helped to loosen up those pesky little pieces that hung on.

After about an hour before bed and then an hour or so the next morning I had a blank palette. I'm already in love with how much brighter and bigger the space feels. And let's face it, anything I can do to make this tiny space feel bigger is a thumbs up. So I painted the entry the same color as the living room (Arrowroot by Pratt & Lambert) to help with that bigger space feeling trick.

But fear not, I didn't just leave it that way. You know I can't go without a good dose of color. Next week we'll see where that color went and what to do when DIY goes wrong. (how's that for a tease?)

What are your plans for the weekend? Any DIY projects planned? Any plans to fix a DIY project?

potty time

We interrupt our regular scheduled design post for a bit of mother-related talk and baby pictures. We've got some big news in this house. The moment all parents look forward to with excitement and dread.

Eve is ready for potty training.

All the signs are there and I'm more than ready to be done with diapers. And while Eve is my sweet and always-happy-to-cuddle daughter, she is also rather...willful. Rules and directions hold no interest for her which, of course, is the exact opposite of Amelia.

With Amelia, I explained what we were going to do, took off the diapers and we hunkered down in the house for three or four days and went cold turkey. No pull ups, just lots of clean ups. But she got it pretty quickly in that classic first child over-achiever kind of way. It was smooth sailing.

Eve, I think, is going to require a different tactic however. So I'm looking for ideas. I've read them all - M&M's, charts, gifts, etc. but I want to know, what worked for you...or your kids rather. How did you potty train your kids?

i survived

Have you ever been so tired that you have trouble forming a full sentence? That would be me.

I told y'all about the 50th anniversary party we were set to have at our house on Saturday but while I got ready for that last week I also had a surprise 4-day hospital stay (the hubs and he's OK now), an unexpected tree removal, out-of-the-blue plumbing problems and a sudden downpour.

But the Sister Sledge in me held on and I survived. And more importantly, 60 people had a great time. If you follow me on Instagram you got a few sneak peaks, but I'll do a proper party post after I sort thru the tornado that is my house and see if I got any good pictures.

Until then here is the welcome wreath that greeted guests at the front gate.

So what did I miss last week? Anything exciting happen? Share, share!

friday party

Today is the last installment of the Simply Baby blog party and Elisa of Fancy Me Free is taking us out with a bang! Check it out!

Any big plans for this weekend? Feel free to come over and help me if your bored. Follow along on Instagram and see if I can get it all done. I've got a lot of work to do before this rain hits.

Happy weekend friends!!!

check this out

I told you that weekend was going to be a killer! Sorry for my MIA-ness on Monday but mamma was beat.

The good news is the weekend was a success. I had three great new client meetings and finished up a rather large article for St. Louis At Home Magazine that the hubs called 'the term paper'.

The bad news is now I've got another list of looming deadlines. You know when you've been working on something for a long time and you feel like you're in good shape, but then that thing that seemed like it was weeks away is suddenly around the corner and you feel totally unprepared? That would be me.

We are hosting my parent's 50th wedding anniversary party at my house next weekend (which is going to be awesome) and I suddenly feel very behind.

So please bear with me over the next few days as I might be a bit patchy with my posts. I promise tons of good DIYs and pretty pictures post party though, so it will be worth it. Cross my heart.

In the meantime, I've got two great deals you should check out.

My friend Mary Ann at classic. casual. home. is having a one of a kind giveaway and shopping opportunity for a great cause. Please go check it out - you will be able to help the widowed women of Uganda and find great jewelry all at the same time.

Also, my girls at Indie Mats are having a week full of great deals. Today its a buy one get one free that you don't want to miss. Check it out.

Now I'm off to do some more weeding and a little power washing. If only I could power wash the weeds, I'd kill two birds with one stone. Hmmm.

Have a great day!