this morning, alex’s class put on a little show during chapel. all the parents were invited and alex was thrilled to see both mommy and daddy in attendance. they sang god is so good in english and in japanese (!!). it was adorable. and impressive. and a little strange that max wasn’t on the stage, too. such is separate classes, i guess.
alex has been talking about a surprise for us all week. his anticipation was palpable, his excitement contagious. we had a great family morning. god IS so good.
see that? that’s a little bit of board & batten—in our new and improved entryway! ta-da!
but wait, there’s more. the board & batten continues around the entryway, up a few steps and into the powder room. yes! yes it does!
i never disliked our entry or our powder room, but i am in love with it now. the glossy white paint is my new best friend for two reasons. a) it covers the streaks in the paint that we simply couldn’t get rid of from the wallpaper paste that once plastered the bathroom (remember the metallic harlequin paper anyone). even with primer and several coats of matte gray paint, the streaky lines would slowly creep back. now they are covered. yay! and 2) i no longer have to deal with this …
i am no fan of smudgey, smudgey handprints all over my walls. no sir. and you can only magic erase so many times before you have to bust out the paint can. now the boys can touch all they want and all i have to do is grab a clorox wipe and swipe. hooray!
so, to recap. before:
after:
before:
after:
before:
after:
subtle but polished. i like! we paid in cash with the money we made at our yard sale. and we still have $48 left over. maybe to use for a little bench? i’ll keep you posted. i can’t wait to find just the right new accessories. i will miss mr. octopus in the bathroom, but he has already found a new place above our master bathtub. it’s like he was meant to be there.
yay for yard sales!! yay for board & batten! yay for bacon, too!
what changes have you made lately? share with me!
i’m sorry—i’m having issues uploading photos. hopefully this will be resolved soon so i can show you our latest project!
we all know alex and max are not the best eaters in the world. but take them to waffle house and they totally make a liar out of me. those kids sure do love breakfast for dinner!
patiently waiting for his food.
my little sunshine.
carefully pouring his own syrup.
eggs.
bacon.
more eggs.
waffles.
pleased as punch.
i know waffle house is not the healthiest thing in the world, but i am so grateful every time we take the boys there. last night they ate cheesy eggs, three servings of bacon (that’s like nine pieces), hashbrowns, two entire waffles (the size of a dinner plate for those not in the know), orange juice, apple juice and water. hallelujah!! so happy for full tummies.
since moving into our house two and a half years ago, we have made a lot of changes. as you know, we purchased a foreclosure in good condition (though definitely not our taste) and have been very busy making this house our home.
we have redone the boys’ room not once, not twice but *four* times since we moved in. wow. can that be right? yep—first cribs. then cribs to toddler beds. then toddler beds to separate rooms. then back to sharing a room
this also means we have changed up the guest room a few times. first it was a storage closet while we unpacked. then our friends gave us a double bed, which was the lone occupant of the room. then we moved out the double and moved in a queen bed. then it became alex’s big boy room. then it was empty. and now it’s back to a guest room with a single twin bed and a desk.
the playroom has grown up with the kiddos from a baby to a toddler to two four-year-old boys’ dream!!
the dining room has come together slowly—literally piece by piece—and finally looks like a nice place to have dinner.
the family room has also been tweaked and altered, altered and tweaked and finally feels like a place to relax and kick up your feet.
thanks to a few unfortunate leaks, we had to gut our bathroom and rebuild a chimney.
we even changed the outside color of our house.
we’ve been busy, right?
but the one room that hasn’t gotten much love is our room. the master bedroom really feels like anything but a master. i’m sure it’s like this for most parents out there—you spend your time and your money on the places that the whole family lives in. and the part that’s just yours gets neglected. WHY DO WE LET THIS HAPPEN? who knows. but that’s how it is here for sure.
do i think our bedroom is the worst room in the world? no. but it definitely does not live up to its potential.
we have lovely windows and the light just pours in. but we have no window treatments. oooooohhhh man-deeeeeeeeeee!
we have gorgeous nooks (filled with ikea dressers—perfect fit but in need of some upcycling) that make our bed the focal point of the room. but our bed is blah—the headboard and footboard we found on craigslist, and while i do like it, it’s very safe and doesn’t really make much of a statement. it’s forgettable. right? you’ve forgotten it already, so there’s another photo of it below. plus we haven’t been able to figure out what to put over the bed. nothing we try seems to work.
we scored a great deal on a great graphic rug ($100 from our neighbor) and i do love that. it’s bold and interesting and i have the exact same one in my family room!! shhhh. what? i like it.
our mattress is great for falling into every night. thank goodness for that because with twin 4-year-old boys and a fulltime job, i am exhausted most of the time!!
otherwise the room is just piecemeal. even thought i hate to admit it, our dresser is too small for the space. and it’s the wrong color. but it was a great one kings lane purchase (ahem, cheap!!).
we have a 43″ television over the dresser and it looks silly on that huge wall all alone. but what in the world do you put up there with it? (if i don’t win, would someone please share ideas?)
the diy driftwood desk i made, while it makes me proud, is also too small for the wall. and the grid of small art above it isn’t doing anyone any favors.
also, we have four dining chairs in here. why? i’m telling you now, it’s not for breakfast in bed. we simply had nowhere else to put them. so i pretend they are appropriate and just sort of look the other way. this room does seem to become a catchall for things that have no place. it’s large and we don’t spend a lot of time in here so dump it we do. which is just wrong. WRONG. the master bedroom should be our retreat. it should be a room we escape to and enjoy. it should make me say WOW! when i stand in the doorway. it needs an epic makeover.
and guess what? we have a chance to win one!!
</center></div>one of my favorite bloggers, mandi of vintage revivals, and her pal hailee are sponsoring a contest. one winner will be chosen to receive one of mandi’s famous epic room makeovers. on her dime. how great is that? the other part that is so exciting to me is that as the homeowner, you have to help her with all the projects. she is a diy queen!! you know i’ve been dabbling in diy lately. and this is my chance to learn from the best. i will be a really good student and will definitely pay it forward if i win. i promise.
voting begins next week. i’ll be sure to let you know and will beg you daily to vote for me. i can’t think of a better contest to win. well, maybe the lottery, but you know what i mean!!
oh please. let it be so! mandi, come help us. atlanta is lovely in october!! we’ll even take you to a georgia game! go dawgs!
in the meantime, go check out all the other desperate rooms in need of an epic makeover. the competition is fierce!
friday after i dropped the boys off at school, something happened that made me doubly excited. i followed a sign to a yard sale and there smiling really big at me was an old brass side table—with a glass top. here’s a little back story …
lately i’ve had a thing for brass. brass is big right now and i’ve wanted to try a little bit without a huge commitment. i’ve been loving mixed metals and that brass table on the side of the yard was just the thing i needed to make my metals mix. it had a little price sticker with $20 on it. i asked if they’d take $13—what i had in my wallet—and they said yes! so for a ten and three ones, that brass baby was mine all mine.
now here’s the “doubly” of the doubly excited part. the top was glass. woot! right? here’s why … about a month ago i bought some spray paint called looking glass. i’d seen a diy tutorial on how to make an antiqued mirror using a glass pane and this special spray paint. i’d intended on making a mirror to put behind the black chair in the family room, but then i found one already perfect. i’d still been itching to try the antiquing process, so this was my big chance. here’s how it went down.
after the boys were all tucked in friday night, i slipped into the garage with the table, two garbage bags, the spray paint, a spray bottle of half vinegar, half water and a soft cloth. here’s the table before (and sorry for the dark, nighttime iphone pictures).
here’s the special looking glass spray paint.
lay down the garbage bags and place the glass top on top. then apply the looking glass paint in five thin and even coats, allowing the paint to dry in between. it’s very thin, so the drying process takes all of a minute. after the fifth coat, allow the paint to set for about 10 minutes. (while mine was drying i cleaned the brass table legs with vinegar to get rid of any musty smell and old ick.) after 10 minutes, take your spray bottle with half vinegar/half water and gently mist the glass so the droplets bead up. the vinegar will start to eat away at the paint revealing tiny little spots. take your cloth and dab and twist to distress even more. stop when you’re happy with the look. lastly, take the looking glass spray and do a few more light and even coats to make sure no part of the glass is entirely see through (from the rubbing). if you do too much, repeat the distressing process.
voila! an antiqued mirrored top.
i love the look. doesn’t it seem way more expensive than it did when it was just regular old glass? i think so.
i’m so happy with my new $13 table. finally, a place for all the remotes to rest. now, i just have to make sure my boys don’t go crashing through it!!
look at those happy brothers playing so nicely together!! if only it lasted. not five minutes after this picture was snapped there was screaming and crying over mater, the tow truck. sigh. i think i’ll wear a black and white striped shirt today and embrace my role as referee.
ahhhh.
after looking more like a storage room/junk shop for the past three weeks, my dining room is finally clean. yay! but now that i can actually see the floor i’ve realized something is missing. a rug.
the dining room is a large space (the table itself is 10-feet-long). area rugs that large are way out of budget. i’ve heard having a wall-to-wall remnant cut and bound can be much friendlier on the pocketbook. has anyone done that? any recommendations? any other ideas for nice floor coverings on the cheap? my outlet store luck has seemed to run out.
thanks!
tripper took the boys to watch a little bit of football practice today after school. fall is almost here!! i cannot wait! bring on the crisp weather, halloween decorations, football, hockey and holidays. i am ready!
sew, i made a pillow. you guys, it’s terrible. the top and two sides are actually very lovely—even the stripes line up!! but the fourth side is, well, let’s just say that side is face down with the chair—never, ever to be turned. also the pillow insert is too small for the cover by a good inch all around. even still, I MADE A PILLOW y’all!! i sewed with a needle and thread. yay, me!
now, who has advice? how can i do better? anyone want to teach me how to use my sewing machine?
the*shooting*allens 