Rug for Sale

If you're in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and would like to be the new owner of this beautiful rug, give me a shout! My new entry is screaming for a round rug so this one needs to find a new home...is it yours?

Let's get up close and personal...

The color variation in this shot is from the vacuum. See...it's clean!

Expect black and cream and perfect condition. Silky soft. Everyone that walked into our house seemed to be scared of stepping on it, so great efforts went into walking around it!

The details:
Roughly 5ft x 8ft (Specifically, 92.5 in. x 64.5 in.), Price: $275

Send me an email if you're ready to adopt my rug: dfrieling1@gmail.com. Thanks!

Progress...

So, I went into the kids' bathroom this weekend to remove one light fixture and this is what happened...

When I pulled the fixture away from the wall I noticed how easy it'd be to pull back the wallpaper, then suddenly the room looked like a tornado hit!

This is such a beautiful sight! Do you remember where I started? Here's a little something to refresh your memory.

Then, on Sunday, we had out of town family coming over for lunch. Literally, as they walked in the door, I sold my dining room chairs to someone from Craigslist. Woo hoo! Time to break out the folding chairs for lunch.

What's next? I'm still searching, but this is what I've got my eye on...

Low profile and mid-century. Just a little nervous to order something I haven't sat in before. I'll let you know if/when I pull the trigger!

Monochromatic Bookshelves

Bookshelves are styled...for now. I'm not really sure how long they'll stay this way, but they're done and they didn't cost me a penny. That was my goal: don't buy anything for styling, save your money for the big things (cabinet painting, texturing walls, mirror removal, etc.).

They lack color. They're monochromatic. That's on purpose. My best friend in Austin used to ask me when I was going to bring some color into my house. It took me a while to get what she was asking. In my eyes there was plenty of color...gray, black, white, cream. Those are colors, right? ;)

This shelving unit lived outside in our previous house. John and I built it for the patio. Who knew it'd grow up and be able to live indoors one day?!

I like this little section. Read into it as you may, but I see this finger pointing up and it reminds me to keep my eyes focused on what's most important.

Are you tired of seeing sticks and feathers in my house yet? Hope not!

These frames were very inexpensive years ago when I found them at Michaels. They've become one of my favorites and wouldn't you know it...they've stopped carrying them.

Sweet little owl from John's grandma's collection.

Another Grandma treasure. She had good taste, right?!

Goodwill finds and a sweet gift from my sister-in-law.

And, the selves from the Fiddle Leaf Fig's perspective. ;)

So tell me, are you a fan of monochromatic or would the lack of color drive you crazy?

Nursery Design (Ridiculously adorable baby animals)

I was very surprised when my sweet friend/client let me in on the little secret that she's expecting. Luckily, it's not a secret anymore so I'm free to share the sweetness, aka her nursery plans. This is her third child so she's looking for something "clean and classic." No need to go over the top with themes or girly stuff this time around. Third child is lucky to be getting a cutesy room at all, right?

I'm completely in love with the baby animal prints from The Animal Print Shop. So adorable! Sadly, her sister-in-law just used the same prints in their nursery so we had to go with plan B. What are the chances?!

Who wouldn't want to wake up to these adorable faces?...

Lamb Little Darling

Baby Zebra Little Darling

Baby Elephant

Baby Giraffe Little Darling

If you have a second, check out the other projects we've done in their house. Kitchen remodel here and spunky girl room here.

Hope you all have a happy weekend!

Painting Progress

I couldn't take it anymore! Originally, I thought I'd wait until the kids went back to school before I started painting, but the wheat color surrounding us was beginning to feel suffocating. I showed you my top 3 neutral paint picks here. Any guesses which one I decided on?...

I color matched Benjamin Moore's Natural Cream (OC-14) with Behr's Premium Plus Ultra. I'm all about going the easy route and Behr's paint has the primer mixed in so you're only painting one coat instead of multiple coats. Love that!

I'm really pleased with how much brighter the rooms feel. This color definitely reads light gray instead of cream in my opinion. In fact, I don't see cream at all.

So here's the dirt on these colors...Seashell has a slight yellow undertone. Beautiful, but I'm not a yellow person. Swiss Coffee is great and if I had all the mid-century modern furniture I wish I had the budget for, I would have gone this route. It's very light and looks white. Since I live in reality and have to work with my existing furnishings, Natural Cream was the winner. It provides just enough contrast against my white trim and doesn't scare me when it comes to having kids running into gently brushing against it.

How to remove decorative trim from cabinets

I really can't believe this is my last Monday before school starts. This time next week we'll be hurriedly eating breakfast, packing lunches and taking the obligatory first day of school photos. Crazy! I know many of you are already in full swing of things. Is it just me or does summer seem to be getting shorter every year?

We're continuing to tackle projects over here, big and small. Today's post is a small project but it makes a huge difference in my mind. I'm not a huge fan of all the curves present on our kitchen cabinets. Within the first week, I had climbed up to inspect the trim and prayed it'd come down easy.

Here's the before...rope accents not only line the top of cabinets but also run down every edge.

 I was thrilled to learn the small, top piece was merely nailed in with the teeniest of nails. This meant easy removal and zero repair work. Woo hoo!

 I simply wedged a flat head screwdriver between the trim and cabinet. It easily pulled away from the cabinet so with a little more force the pieces ripped right off.

Here's the trim when it's completely detached.

And, the after shot!

Since clean, sleek lines are much more in line with my personal design aesthetic, this simple little change makes a huge difference. Now, if only those big honkin' pieces were going to be as easy to remove! I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Next up? Paint colors for those beautifully green stained babies. Farrow and Ball's downpipe has always been my favorite.

{House & Home}

Farrow and Ball's paint is crazy expensive so I asked my friends at Home Depot if they happened to have the code for this paint in their system and they did!

I bought a sample and I'm currently contemplating if it's right for our space. Since I'm stuck with the countertops due to budget, and I don't have all the beautiful white accents to help balance the dark color, I'm just not sure. Time will tell...

I have a confession...

I'm a selfish person.

I was recently placed in a situation that made me squirm. When we moved, I ended up about 5 minutes away from one of my high school friends. This wasn't on purpose. We were excited to be close to one another and couldn't wait to get together for dinner. And, we did. But, then it came...

"Hey, I don't have anything lined up for my son during the month of August and since we're both working, I was wondering if he could hang out with you guys until school starts?" she asked.

A normal person probably would have been fine with this request, but honestly, it filled me with fear. "Oh my! What am I supposed to do with an extra kid for an entire month?" "What if he doesn't get along with my kids?" "If this doesn't work out is it going to ruin our friendship?" "I can't run around in my pajamas all day doing house projects if someone else's kid is hanging around." "Will my own kids be resentful that I've invited another child into their little world that's brand new?" And, so on...

You see, I've never been a babysitter. Not even when I was younger. I cringed when neighbors would call and ask. I did it, but begrudgingly. My own mom was a bit scared that I'd never have kids of my own because of my dislike towards keeping others'.

But then it hit me. It was as if God was speaking straight to my heart. I said I was going to use this house as a ministry and we've claimed it as God's house, not ours. So if I was going to hold true to this commitment then I had to be willing to help out my friend, even if it meant doing something that made me uncomfortable. 

So, I prayed that God would change my heart and my attitude. Boy, I sure am glad he answered this prayer quicker than he answered my "Help me find a house!" prayer! Within the first week, I quickly realized that I almost denied myself a HUGE blessing simply by being selfish.

My friend's son is a pleasure to be around. He's Bryn's age but Reed's size. He and Reed play beautifully together. This "distraction" has kept Reed out of Bryn's hair therefore; the sibling fighting has been non-existent. Can I get an amen?!! Even though he and Reed spend the majority of the day playing, Bryn has also had a chance to get to know him. They'll go to the same school so there have been many conversations about what it's like and what to expect. This has helped calm Bryn's anxiety about starting a new school in the BIGGEST way.

Once I put aside my selfishness, I was able to see that God knew this little boy was exactly what my family needed! And to think...I thought I was doing my friend a favor.