This week...

I plan to tell you how we celebrated the 4th Birthday of my first baby!
How I turned this....

into this...

So look forward to posts full of recipes, money saving party shopping and even how to make your own pinata for nearly FREE!

Dining Chair Redo

I have been wanting to recover my dining chairs for a few months now.

I doubt you remember, but my son had a stomach bug and threw up on one of the chairs back in October.

Totally gross, but totally removable since I had already covered the original factory fabric.

You can read about that process HERE. But this is what it looked like the first time.

I love going into fabric stores.

I love being surrounded by the endless rows of bolts....the textures, the thickness, the colors.

Being in the fabric store reminds me of why I love shopping for clothes....

I love to shop by feeling.

I can immediately determine the quality and the comfort....whether or not I love it.

Truly, it is about the experience.

I DO NOT enjoy doing this with my children -- which takes the fun out of the fabric store for me.

But we had people coming to our home and Richard wanted the chairs to be recovered by then, so we had to search for what we wanted.

I had talked of changing the paint color of the dining room when we painted, so instead of trying to match to the awful burgonday color, I decided to with whatever we fell in love.

Richard met me there after his class because he wanted to help choose....after much debating, we settled on this.

We almost purchased another fabric so it wouldn't be so matchy matchy on all the chairs, but we really really adored the pattern and the color of this.

All the chairs now wear the new fabric!

So now, I just have to decide on paint colors....I want to appeal to the masses because I don't plan to paint again before we move.

I am not sure if I should stay neutral -- like a Gold or Orange/Tan.

Or I can do dramatic - like a blue or a navy.

Or ignore the color wheel's complimentary suggestions and do something different all around.

Remember our entry way is a pale green tan color.

Thoughts?!

White and Bright

Do you notice anything different about our home?

Yeah, I didn't figure you would.

You don't visit enough!

How about from this angle?

Several months ago (and I mean SEVERAL - as indicated by the lack of snow and green trees in our yard), we painted our front door.

The door was a hideous burgondany color that the previous owners had tried to color match to the front shutters. The same color was used in our dining room.

The paint was peeling off and looked awful.

So we wanted to wait until fall to paint.

Cooler temperatures meant low humidity (which is rare in Virginia!), so the paint would go on smoother and adhere better.

I put the husband to work.

Primer first....then paint.

I did help. I promise.

I took the photos.

Just kidding! I painted!

The paint took two coats even with the primer!
Ahh!

But the door being white reflects the light, so our home seems brighter when the front door is open!

And for the record, I don't have my Christmas decor up any longer!
Scroll up to reexamine the finished product!

More painting projects to be posted soon!

Rug: Before and After

I have a confession to make.
We have lived in our current home for THREE years come March.
And for the past three years we have lived like this:


Yes, that is a towel on the floor.
A towel rug, if you will....
Do you think I could market it?

Yeah, I didn't think so either.

But we have a dog, and a muddy yard, and it always made sense.
And because I waited for the towel rug fad to catch on, and it didn't, I finally decided to spend the money to buy a real rug for the entryways.

We started off with one.
You know, to see how we would like it.

I found a neutral and light colored rug (our doggie has white hair that sticks to everything)....
The rug also claimed to be stain resistant and came with a gripper on the back, so no additional money spent and it won't slide.



Can you believe what a huge difference a rug made in our life?
LOVE IT!
Instant warmth, and instant dirt catcher.




I went back and purchased the same rug for the other two doors in our home.

Have you ever made a simple and obvious change and wondered how you ever lived without it?
I have a million on them.