Bedroom Picture Wall Reveal

It's such a good feeling to get our beautiful pictures and art off the bedroom floor and see it on the wall finally. Suddenly, things feel a lot less cluttered. Such a good thing!

We had these picture ledges from our previous house. They lived in our dining room with lots of white vases on them. Now, they fit perfectly in our bedroom and I love how this arrangement takes up the entire wall while allowing various sized pictures to find just the right spot.

Are you ever curious when you see numbers in peoples' homes, wondering why that number? Well, in our case the number 3 stands for the number of words in "I love you!" When we were dating, it wasn't uncommon for John to be standing across the room and suddenly hold up 3 fingers. And guess what I would do back?...

Yep, 4..."I love you, too!" So, it only seemed appropriate to sneak these metal house numbers into the design of our bedroom wall. For all my fellow bargain shoppers out there, you'll totally appreciate how much I paid for these babies. Wait for it, wait for it...20 cents! That's total, not a piece. It pays to scour the clearance section in the back of Tuesday Morning. 

This shot gives you a good idea of how shallow the ledges are. If you have a narrow area, like a hallway, these work great. We purchases ours at IKEA. They also come in white.

I love how the black shelves play with the black in the rug. Guess what else is black?...my hands, my hair, and my clothes after painting with it all weekend. Stay tuned to see they craziness I created. It's different. One of those things you'll either love or hate. Prepare yourself.

Window Trim before and after

I've been best friends with the paint brush recently. After painting our bedroom with Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee (OC-45), I knew our window trim was going to need a little something. The white trim was completely lost against the cream paint, so I went for something with a little more umph and a LOT of contrast...black!

Before:

After:

I used Rust-Oleum's Semi-Gloss paint in oil-base for just the right amount of sheen.

And, this is on today's to-do list...

Wish me luck. This is going to be a beast of a job but the impact is going to be quite something (in my mind's eye at least)!

Enjoy your weekend, friends.

Ceiling mounted mirror

Do you remember this not so beautiful shot of the kids' bathroom? How could you forget, right? The ugliness has to be seared into your memory for sure. Well, after going to town on the wallpaper, I found my fingers just itchin' to get ahold of those mirrors too. 

Let me take you back a few Sundays. Here's what you would have heard had you been fixing yourself breakfast in our home: 

***CRASH!!!***

"Oh man, that's seven years, right? Not good. Not good." I said, as I quickly yelled to John to help me out of the predicament my impatience had landed me in. 

Fortunately, I'm a quick learner and I was wise enough to wait for John's assistance when it came to the 8ft. long mirror hanging out there on the right side of your screen. I know my limits, friends.

So, here we are now, mirrorless and lightless. I was stumped for a little while about how I should approach this space. For starters, it only has one sink and it's awkwardly placed in the corner. Now that I've ripped down all the mirrors, I'm wondering where I'm going to position a mirror since moving the plumbing isn't an option.

I decided the best solution would be to hang a mirror from the ceiling. I made several trips to various stores looking for a mirror John and I could jimmie rig and turn into a hanging mirror, but came up empty handed. I was on the lookout for something fairly inexpensive just in case my bright idea was a flop.

Then, one day the heavens parted and I ran across the perfect mirror and guess what?! It was already made to hang. No jimmie rigging required, just a little black spray paint and swapping out rope with chain. Definitely worth the hunt!

John and his stepdad worked like madmen this weekend transforming mirrors, moving electrical outlets, adding electrical outlets, you name it, they did it! So grateful to have handy men in my life.

Bonus points go to the person who noticed we switched out the faucet as well. 

I found this faucet in the clearance section at Home Depot. It was marked down half off so I snagged it. Then, not even a week later I was perusing the same section and noticed the same faucet was marked down even more, to the tune of $25 more! I happened to have my receipt in my purse still so I went to the service desk and asked if they'd do a price adjustment and they did. Woo hoo! I scored this faucet for $24.00 when all was said and done. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

I ordered the sconces a few days ago, but will have to wait 4-6 weeks before they arrive. I'm a little scared to proceed with tiling the wall without having the exact lighting specs in hand. Who am I kidding...I'm a little scared to tile the wall period! First timers jitters going on!

Pug on a Rug

Maverick wanted to give you a sneak peek at our new rug...

He's thrilled about it. Can't you tell?!

Random Act of Kindness #67

Go ahead, convict me...guilty of slacking like no other. When's the last time I did a RAK post? Ummm, you can't remember? Yeah, me neither. It's been that long.

Fortunately, I was super inspired by a post my friend, Lisa, shared this week. You have to see this video. It's great! Click here to watch it.

After you watch it, you'll be ready for your next RAK challenge, so here ya go...

Did you know you could swing by Little Ceasars and pick up a large pizza for just $5? They're pre-made and ready to go. No ordering required! If there's not a Little Ceasars near you, I bet there's another place with a similar deal, you may need to do a little digging, but someone will love you for it, I promise.

Okay, friends, you know what time it is... go out and be kind! 

It's black and white

I've always been a fan of black and white in decor. Throw in a bit of gold and it's a winning combination in any room. My pinterest board has been heavy with black and white inspiration these days. So much so, that I finally had an "ah ha" moment and realized this is exactly the direction I need to head in our bedroom.

This moment came immediately after sending an on-line client a few inspiration pieces to look over as she decided which way she wanted her living room designed. Here's one of the 3 designs she had to pick from...

She didn't chose this design, but I'll be sharing the look she decided on soon. See the pillow in the middle? It's from West Elm and I've had my eye on it for awhile now.

Are you on board with the black/white/gold color scheme? Take a look below at the images that have my heart doing a little happy dance...

{via}

{Zinc Door}

{via}

{via}

{via}

{etsy}

{Lamps Plus}

{via}

{Tim Balon}

Are you a fan yet?!

Bathroom plans

I had absolutely no intentions of even touching the kids' bathroom anytime soon. It was way, way down on the priority list seeing as how it's upstairs and they're the only ones that use it. But, I couldn't help myself and went crazy ripping down wallpaper. Then, there are the light fixtures literally hanging out of the wall with exposed wires and everything. So, I guess that means I'm starting on their bathroom way before planned.

I've always wanted to learn how to tile. What better place to start than a spot that doesn't see much traffic, i.e. the kids' bathroom is my guinea pig. And that sconce...well, that pretty much sealed the deal. It needs to find a home in our house. Both kids saw it and said, "Oh, that's cool!" Score one for momma. Something both kids agree on that's going to be living in a shared space.

In other house news, I'm pretty sure I've decided on a contractor to start the projects that are too big for John and I to handle. It's a fun feeling knowing we're on the brink of "the fun stuff" beginning to happen.

Happy weekend to you all, friends!

Dallas Shopping

I was oh so excited to hit the Dallas Design District yesterday for the very first time. Apparently, we "didn't even put a dent in it" but I was smitten with what I did see. Resources upon resources upon resources. They can turn anything into something in this town, I tell ya!

There were so many treasures that things were literally hanging from the ceiling. Filing these chairs away for my own design needs. Kinda loving that color! Hummm, now if only I could make up my mind and commit. If I were my own client, I'd be pulling my hair out at my indecisiveness. Commit, already, commit!

And, I'll leave you with something a little random but really funny. Talk about being noncommittal...I posted my chandelier on Craigslist then withdrew the post within 8 hours. Who does that?

Here's the story. I rashly decided that I needed to purge everything that was "getting in the way." Too much clutter and I'd love to build a little stash to buy the "new to me things" that we need, aka want. So, I snap a few shots of the chandelier that was left behind by the previous owners and without any research, decide $200 is a fair price.

Let's take a look...

Well, let me tell ya, I have never had quite the response from any other CL listing. Immediately, people were contacting me. Red flag, red flag! Darn...there must be something about this chandy that I don't realize. Guess I should see what similar chandeliers are listed for...do you realize I'm doing this backwards? Genius, I know!

Uh oh, looks like I've underpriced this piece by at LEAST $145 according to craigslist standards, not to mention, if it's actually a vintage piece, we're potentially talking a lot more than that! While I was out shopping yesterday I took note of other chandeliers that were selling in the $800- $900 range. No wonder people were practically racing to my house. Good thing I didn't list my address...whew!

So, how did I handle this awkward Craigslist moment, you ask? I admitted my stupidity to each interested party and gracefully explained I'd be re-listing this piece after having it appraised. Moral of this story? You can buy a lot more dining room chairs if you're smart enough to do a little research before making your next Craigslist post.

New Art...A treasure

I have another treasure to add to my art collection. It may just be my favorite piece thus far! I mentioned back in March that I was hoping my dad would draw a picture taken at Reed's baptism. Over the summer, he did just that. This piece is priceless on so many levels.

He drew it while we were living with them, waiting to move into our house. It was special being able to walk in and see his progress. Did anyone notice that he's drawing it upside down? He says that helps him with perspective and shading. Interesting, right? And you thought I loaded the picture wrong!...nope, that's really how it's oriented.

There's something so incredibly beautiful about watching someone use their God-given talent. 

This photo was not staged, their dachshund, Charlie Brown, claims my dad's lap as his spot of choice 99% of the time. Spoiled rotten*cough*cough.

{Actual photo}

I took this shot because I wanted to capture the raw emotion oozing out of Reed as John was praying over him. I love seeing John's hands on his shoulders, his wedding ring and even his camo waders. These things are all symbols that connect John to Reed as his earthly father. Then the words of his prayer and the baptism that followed were committing Reed to God as his Heavenly Father. See? There's so much going on in this picture!

{My dad's pencil drawing}

A closeup so you can appreciate the amount of detail. Those tiny tears melt my heart.

I shared my dad's story almost 2 years ago when I first started blogging. If you haven't had a chance to read it, please do. He suffered from a virus that attacked his brain and left him with a considerate amount of brain damage 7 years ago come October. His ability to draw is a gift that God used to aid in his recovery and one that miraculously improved post brain injury. Click here to read more.

Lighting Look for Less

Have you seen Crate & Barrel's new lighting? When I saw this beautiful light...

Dumont Pendant Light

                                        ...it reminded of a picture I posted back in May.

so, so pretty!

The originals are available at Dunlin for $948 EACH! Crate & Barrel's version is on sale for a mere $239.20. That's quite the savings.

These are fun too...

 

                                       Union Pendant                                Fulton Pendant Lamp

Can you tell I'm on the hunt for lights? I need a big 'o chandelier though since the previous owners took theirs with them and left me a bundle of wires. Gotta love that!

Happy weekend, friends. I'm having lunch with a childhood friend and I'm really excited. Remember this Transparent Tuesday post? Yep, we live close to each other now. God just keeps on answering those prayers. Above and beyond, friends, above and beyond!

Entry idea

Happy Tuesday that feels like Monday! Hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. Mine was full of design while my peeps, aka, the family, made it back to Austin to visit friends and celebrate the opening weekend of dove season.

Would you believe me if I told you there was more wallpaper removal going on over here? Will it ever end?! I'd show you pictures, but who am I kidding, those are boring. You want to see the pretty after shots, but sadly, I'm wading through all the middle stuff that isn't very fun to look at right now.

On that note, let's feast our eyes on something that is fun...

Esther Stewart

When I ran across this piece of art by Esther Stewart, I immediately began to wonder how it'd translate on the walls in my entry. So, I whipped out the painter's tape and played a little...

Hummm...a little crazy, right? I'm sure it'd look totally different once some of the shapes were painted and others were left for negative space. My wheels are turning. I have several other ideas I'm toying with and one is very labor intense for my sweet carpenter hubby. I bet his vote is for the painted, geometric craziness. ha!

There are so many "half started" projects going on that it's a bit overwhelming. I think it's time to sit down and prioritize! Will one of my "list making" friends please help me focus?