mom, are you digging in the trash again?

It happened again. I find myself innocently driving down the street, minding my own business, when something catches my eye. That something being someone else's trash.
My car stops, and before I know it I've coerced my husband into helping me lift this into the trunk.

A great old built in. As we were trying to squeeze the odd triangle shape into our trunk a lady pulled up next to us and said, "if that doesn't fit in your car, I'll take it".
Paws off lady! Find your own trash! 

This detail is on both ends and I love it.

Even a little extra fun at the bottom.

But as you can tell, it needs A LOT of work. I already know where its going to go - in the family room. It screams toy storage to me. And the fact that its a corner cabinet, that is just the space saving cherry on top!

So now for the big question - what color(s)? White and navy? White and black? Pink and purple? Just kidding, although that was my daughter's suggestion. (she's 4 so we'll let it slide). I'm open to any and all ideas you can throw at me.

bathroom pop

I just realized after reading that title that it might sound a bit...disturbing. Eww. But I got your attention, didn't I?

The bedroom patching (and there is a lot of patching in a house with 65 year old plaster) is done and I'm ready to get my paint on. And just getting my painting supplies ready puts a bee in my bonnet to possibly paint my bathroom. I've got a whole damn hive in my bonnet these days, so what's one more bee, right?

We did the bathroom when I was 8.75 months pregnant with our first daughter and we have loved it just as it is for the past 4 1/2 years. But I'm ready for a refresh. Nothing huge, just a new paint color or something.

I love the green in Kate Spade's bathroom with all of the white tile and the black on the shower curtain. 

via Pinterest

Of course, Kate's green is a wonderful (and pricey) Scalamandre wallpaper but Benjamin Moore's Baby Fern would be close. 

Or, maybe the reverse. A graphic black and white combo with a pop of color would be fun. And really, doesn't everyone want to have fun in the bathroom?

Kate strikes again with this bathroom that was featured in House & Garden, October 2004. (no, Kate Spade is not sponsoring this post. I wish.)

via Pinterest

Something for me to think about while I paint...the bedroom. One room at a time girlfriend!

Do you ever get the urge to change a perfectly good room? Any rooms in your house that you're board with? 

Cheers to a good weekend!

guest post at first time Fancy

I'm over at first time Fancy today while Kerry is in the midst of a big move. Stop by and visit!

Happy Thursday!

take a seat part 3

As an old boss of mine used to say, "now we're cookin with steam!"

Momentum is gained and the train has left the station. (what other lameo phrases can I think of?)

A big thanks to all of you for your encouragement. I've decided to give this upholstery a try! I anticipate much frustration, lots of cussing and the occasional breakdown, but I'm ready. In the words of LL Cool J - I'm gonna knock you out!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Since my last progress report, I had my antique and furniture refinisher experts (my parents) look the couch over. And they confirmed what I had thought - this wood is not a staining kind of girl. Boo hoo. Black it is.

We took her outside and gave her a coat of primer. (Primer in background next to vintage LipSmaker found in part 2.)

God bless spray paint. Can you imagine trying to paint all that carving? Ugh. Sanding it was bad enough.

What? Your couches don't levitate over your recycle bin in your back yard?

I then got on the first coat of black before the wind picked up. And its stayed a bit too windy for my liking (which is actually rather odd for this area. Hmmm, maybe it was mother nature encouraging me to loaf instead of work!). But this weekend is supposed to be perfect, so she'll get her second coat of black and then the real work begins.

The fabric has been purchased and is exactly what I wanted. A perfect, neutral linen for the girl who changes color schemes once a quarter. (that's me in case you didn't know.)

So this weekend - Commence to start! (one of my favorite lines from Father of the Bride 2. Stop laughing, it was a funny movie...in parts.)

The plan is to do one panel, and then re-evaluate. Making sure its turning out well and I'm not just wasting good fabric by butchering it with my 'skills'.

This will be either really awesome, or really funny. Either way, I'll let you know.

got a light?

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was a good one. We all survived spring break but I will say I was happy for a return to 'normal' this morning.

I was at Lowe's yesterday (surprise, surprise) and once again I couldn't pull the trigger and buy energy efficient bulbs.

Recycling, eating organic, buying locally, low VOC - I'll help mother earth out as much as the next girl. But when it comes to lighting, I'm a bit hardheaded. (ok, I'm really hardheaded about a lot of things, but I won't go there. not without drinks.)

via Restoration Hardware

I like mood lighting. I don't have a bulb in my house that's over 40 watts. We have recessed lighting (halogen) in a few rooms and we have dimmers everywhere we can. But with the government starting to shake me down, and phasing out regular bulbs over the next few years (yes, I am hoarding my 25 and 40 watt bulbs like I'm preparing for nuclear war), I'm realizing that I need to adapt to this wether I like it or not.

So Halogen, CFL, LED. What do you know? What do you use? What do you like?

dressed beds

Let's talk about your bed.

Now don't blush. I know we haven't known each other that long. But I'm interested.

Are you a white bed person?

via Better Homes and Gardens

Or do you like a little color while you sleep?

via Better Homes and Gardens

In pictures, I always seem to be drawn to a crisp, white fluffy bed.

via Lonny Magazine

via Somerset Bay

But in reality, I most often go for a bit of color (no surprise) when I pick out bedding. That of course might be influenced by the reality factor. Having a dog that spends much of her day in our bed makes me think twice about investing in any luscious white bedding. (especially during the rainy spring months when I often find muddy paw prints)

via Elle Decor

via Gus and Lula

via Domino Magazine

So which do you prefer? All white? Color and pattern? Or maybe a mix of both?

grass cloth without the grass cloth

As you all know I've been dragging my flip flops about a paint color for our bedroom for several weeks. And I know what you are thinking - OMG girl, its paint. What's the hold up? Just pick a color already.

Well, one of the reasons it took me so long to pick a color is that I haven't really wanted paint at all. My first choice would be grass cloth. Not only do I love it's texture and color(s)

via Style at Home (hand over your heart for Tommy Smythe's bedroom)

but I love the warmth it gives. And a bedroom, I think, deserves an extra layer of warmth. There is no room that should give you a bigger hug than your bedroom.

My husband/wallpaper hanging partner however, was not hip to the idea. In fact, there was a lot of "no way in hell dude." (dude is a term of endearment. yes it is.)

via LeSueur Interiors

My budget was also saying, "no way in hell dude".

I know when to take a hint, so I took my lemons and made some lemonade. Or my grass and made some...lol. I'll stop there.

via Lonny Magazine

So paint it is. I pulled as many paint chips as I could and laid them out to start narrowing them down. I was starting to go cross-eyed when I (luckily) remembered a post Camila had written about a similar situation several months back. She landed on the color Desert Tan, by Benjamin Moore. I went thru my Benjamin Moore stack and there she was - my little Desert Tan.

Just the right kind of hug. A 'its great to see you old friend' kind of hug. Not a 'lingering, weird guy in a bar' hug. And I've got lots of blue, Morning Star by Pratt & Lambert left over from painting the ceiling in the girls room. So I'll use the rest of that on our ceiling as well.

Picked. Decided. Ready for action. I've already started patching the holes. I can now cross 'make progress on bedroom' off my list. What? Like you don't write evasive things on your list so you can have something to cross off?

The girls are lucky. If they were a few years older this would be a "let's help mom paint her bedroom" spring break. How early can you start child labor? I'll try to get a first coat on in between trips to the zoo, planting gardens and general merriment.

What do you have planned this week? Any big projects? Small projects? Fake projects that you put on the list just so you have something to cross off?