the mud

So, this is our master bedroom.  Pretty bland and boring.  I love my bed, which we bought about 8 years ago from a catalog.  But the old shams and blanket just weren't what I envisioned for our master retreat.  The old wreath too.... it's gotta go.  So we began with a paint color.  I'm all about free paint and Ace Hardware had free quarts of paint on Saturdays during the month of March.  I thought I would only need one because I was only painting the wall behind the bed, but I add to go back the following weekend.  If you remember the rest of the room is wallpapered and we are not into self-torture trying to get it all removed.  So we're working within our limits.  Painting one wall. I found this lovely color at the paint store that coordinates with the wallpaper and the window treatments but isn't too dated.  (Or so I thought...)  It's a pale aqua blue called Crystal Lake, ironic because that's the name of a lake near ...

My brother taught me to play with guns.  Not really.  And in this day and age I really shouldn't joke about that.  I had used a rifle twice before shooting skeet and thought that was my claim to fame, shooting skeet in southern Virginia, but I recently learned how to use a nail gun and now I'm much more proud of that.  I thought I'd share the process.  After we finished painting and hanging pictures in the hallway, we realized it lead to a dead end at the top of the stairs. I had seen some seemingly simple ways of dressing up walls with bead board and decided to give it a try, well really to enlist my brother to teach me how to use a nail gun to put up wooden boards.  I wanted to create an effect of old board and batten.  Here is a link to my inspiration site, Thrify Decor Chick , where she explains step by step how to do this.  I had estimated the cost of this project at about $75 (and we had a gift card from Ch...

 When we moved into the house, my husband and I set the kids' rooms as a top priority.  We thought that by creating spaces for them, we could kind of get them out of our hair as we worked on the rest of the house.  ;)  We had paint, window treatments and furnishings up in the first month.  Then we gradually added the personal touches.  Both boys love the outdoors and exploring, so we started with that as a focal point.  We found sticks in Massachusetts that became curtain rods and wall hooks.  If you paint the hooks with a clear acrylic, they are actually much stronger and will last longer.   Charlie made the explorers' map in art class! (This area is still a work in progress.  The old chair is going up to the attic.  Our plan is to put up the hanging chair and then see what else it needs.) These twill curtains were a real steal at Lowe's last August.  For 4.99 a pair we bought them for all the kids rooms!  I think t...

The other day I drove past a newly sold house down the street and I can see the boxes piled up in the windows.  I remember those days.  A year ago I thought this move would never happen.  Now here we are seven months after moving in and we are reasonably comfortable.  Actually, I should cross that out, we have more blessings than I ever dreamed possible and we are happy and content in our new home.  But I thought before we get to the fun stuff, you might like to see what it looked like this time last year when we were coming in with inspectors to see the house.  So here we go:) Hopefully you get the idea.  Clockwise from top left, the family room, the blue room, the dining room, front bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen.  The theme throughout:  lots of creamy white paint, nice wood floors, old lights and the need for a fresh look.  Tomorrow I'll show you the "Boys will be Boys room," complete with rock wall and (mayb...

We also found another way to write on the walls, by writing directly on the cabinets.  We did not have a lot of wall space for art due to the cabinets, etc., and I wanted to have something fun to look at while doing the dishes.  The old cabinets here are made of tin, or some kind of metal!  Although some of the doors were refaced, they are not the kind of doors you'd be afraid to play with, so I gave it a shot.   What to draw?  Back to my favorites.  I don't know if I could actually paint a lemon freehand and have it look half-decent, but I do love to write.  One of my favorite poems is "This is just to say," by William Carlos Williams.  I drew with pencil first and planned to make it look just perfect, but I just grabbed a Sharpie and it took on a life of its own!  Here is the result: I wish I could start everyday with forgiveness in this way, 'cause by the end of the day, I'm sure I'll need it.  Annie is the "permanent...

One thing I love about the cold January days is all the new awards that are given out.  I'm not talking about Emmy and Oscar, I'm talking about the new Pantone 'Color of the Year.'  Are you ready for it? ORANGE.  Bright, bold red-orange that is.  In colorist jargon, Tangerine Tango.  I think I'm in love.  "Consumers look to spring for renewed energy, optimism and the promise of a brighter day," according to Leatrice Eiseman, director of the institute at Pantone, and that's the message sent by this color of choice for 2012. The interesting thing about this is the amount of time and energy spent by the colorists at Pantone creating this color of the year.  They literally travel around the world to see what people are doing, what they are wearing and talking about, and how they are feeling.  This year they have taken all that wonderful insight into our lives and added this great splash of orange.    Marketers,...

Even though it's after Thanksgiving and all of my decorating energies should be directed toward Christmas, I thought I'd take a step back and talk about the kid's bedrooms.  When we first moved in one of our priorities was to make sure the kids had special spaces.  We loved our old house and simply outgrew it, so it was not an easy transition.  Annie's old room was the perfect little girl room, with "All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all..." stenciled around the ceiling.  I knew that we would have to step it up for her big girl room so for her birthday we painted and refreshed the little girl look. Here are the pictures: Here is the bed we ordered from JCPenney almost 8 years ago.  The circles are chalk-ready - just three coats of acrylic paint!  (No, you don't need special chalkboard paint :)  ) We moved this chair into the room when my mother-in-law visited during the hurricane and it has stuck! This chandelier is from ...

A year ago, almost to the day, we found a new house completely by surprise and it has changed our lives.  We were not looking for a new house - really it found us.  My husband was out running and a few days later took me for a drive (actually we were on our way home from the store).  When we pulled up out front, I looked past the barren yard and broken windows and envisioned the home of our dreams.  I think even our realtor thought we were crazy.  It has been a long year and when we finally moved in last May, the real work was still before us, literally.  Now, almost 6 months later, we've had the plumbers, the electricians, the carpenters come to do their work, but now it's our turn.  I am working to make this house a family-friendly home, the kind you see in movies where all the kids come home for Thanksgiving.  Check out the set of It's Complicated .  (Thanks to Julia at Hooked on Houses!) I don't quite know if we'll ever get there, (I'm...