Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dresser Makeover: Stage One


Don't laugh at me.

For the last 5 years, we have been living with a bedroom dresser that looked like this:


In his bachelor days, Mr. Z's mother had bought this dresser and put a "fun" treatment of gray paint topped with a textured black speckled spray paint. It's been missing one knob for as long as I can remember, and the handle on the top left was never secured properly so it was spinning around and around, leaving a perfect little circle in its path. But we all know how Mother-In-Laws can sometimes be, so I left her lovely dresser alone as she had made it...until I could no longer stand it.

Armed with my trusty CP Hazelnut Cream paint and a brush, I knocked this baby out in a short time, while Dora the Explorer babysat in the other room.

So halfway through the makeover, the dresser now looks like this:


I added two coats of paint - even though it could have used a third coat (or a good sanding previous to painting) over that aweful paint treatment - because I'm lazy I like the texture it adds.


 
I still need to get new hardware, and add a wee bit more distressing, but for now it's shaping up.

As a side note, my favorite tree finally burst open with it's vibrant, pink, spring blooms.








{yeah. I'll leave you with the photo of the trash can, for sale sign and vehicle.}

Have a great day ya'll!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Rambling

I'm finding it hard to find things to blog about this week. I am feeling so in limbo with the house situation. I am torn between just wanting to stay here, or wanting to go. We had one prospect look at our house on Friday night, and said he was going to put an offer in on Monday. We were excited, but tried not to get our hopes up as it wasn't a guarantee. It's a good thing we didn't get our hopes up as the prospect was not able to get his financing from the bank. Sigh. So we are back to square one, and I am starting to worry since we haven't had any other interest in the house. We scheduled an open house for May 1st, the date of my sister's bridal shower, so that should be a fabuolously fun week of getting everything for the bridal shower ready, along with getting the house ready for an open house. Really looking forward to that. Not.

I know we are lucky to have the house we have, and I keep reminding myself that no one at our age, with our income, has a perfect dream home. I'm really just hoping that if we don't get anymore interest we throw in the towel and decide to stay here. I hate this waiting game, and I hate the fact that we won't be starting any projects around the actual house while it's up for sale. Another reason I wish we could just decide if we are staying or going. I am afraid we are going to waste time twiddling our thumbs waiting on buyers that are never going to come.

When this whole ordeal started, a looong 2 weeks ago, I took some time and asked God to make sure, that whatever happens, it's where we are supposed to be. I have faith that whatever is meant to be, is what will become. But most days I am not patient enough to have a solid faith that He has a plan for us. Most days I just want to know one way or another. I want to be able to think of one house or another as our home. I guess I need to start praying for patience instead.

As a side note, our master bedroom is coming along a little bit at a time. Still looking for some perfect accents to finish the room off, and perhaps some retail therapy is just what I need to get my mind off the house-situation.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Crushing

I am totally crushing on this bedroom from Faded Plains. Talk about gorgeous. Simple and stunning.



I am in love with the pale blue paired with the white and cream tones.


The vintage mirrors are to-die-for, and I love the potterybarn-esque desk and chair as a nightstand.



Clean. Simple. Vintage. Totally my idea of what a bedroom retreat should be. Relaxing and calming. I am looking forward to recreating a space like this in our master bedroom, one small step at a time.


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sunshine Award


I sure needed a little sunshine today. I have been stressing about all the possible outcomes with our house hunting. My head has been spinning, and I have been going-going-going non-stop all week, I'm exhausted and it's only Tuesday. Sigh. But enough whining...I have great news!!

The fabulous, beautiful and talented Mrs. Cipolla from Kristina Cipolla Photography has nominated me for the Sunshine Award...aww shucks Kristina, I'm *blushing*! 
Be sure to take a trip over to Kristina's blog and take a looksee. This woman is amazing, she has a little of everything on her blog;  from her own photography shoots to antiquing finds to DIY building products, all with perfectly manicured toes.

The rules of the award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog within your post.

2. Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.

3. Link the nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they have received the award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and the link to the person from whom you have received this award.


AND the nominees are....in no particular order....













Ok I lied, it is in order...alphabetical order. And even that took a lot of thinking on my part.

{did I mention my brain is fried?}

A whole bunch of my fave-wonderful blogs have already been nominated, and you can see all my most favoritist blogs in my blogroll to the right.

And that's the lot of it friends! Enjoy a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!

Monday, April 12, 2010

A Neutral Stance

For the last 3 years, I have been having a love affair...with our purple bathroom. The day we bought the house I knew I wanted it purple, and I never looked back and never regretted that decision.



{blue lines are painters tape, I'm terrible at remembering before pictures.}


But as we inch closer to listing our house on the market, I started wondering how many prospective buyers would actually like a purple bathroom, or how many would look at it as just another change or update they would need to make. So...I took the first step, we bought the neutral paint.

I was having last minute panic attacks, wondering...what if our house never sold, would I be happy living with the bathroom like this? What if I just think everyone is going to hate it, and no one does. I even called our realtor, who reassured me that it was a good idea to make it a little more generic in order to please more buyers.

So I started, and at first I hated it. It looked much to yellow to me. But as it dried and after I got all the decor back in place, I breathed a sigh of relief. I love it.

BEFORE


AFTER





The paint color I used was CP Hazelnut Cream, my go-to neutral apparently, I use this color up like crazy.
So for now, here's to hoping that we can work out an offer on our new house, and sell this one quickly. I'll take all the good vibes I can get!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Home and Harmony

Have you visited the lovely Rie from Home and Harmony? She has the most breathtaking home. Something I someday aspire to accomplish as well. Using whites and grays and adding splashes of color, she creates a relaxing cozy retreat throughout every room. She has what I like to call a "time worn sophistication", in my opinion, her style doesn't fall into any one single category. She isn't all about a cottage style, a shabby chic style, a farmhouse style, no. Rather she uses objects and pieces that have a special meaning to her, or something that speaks to her. When you use this kind of tactic for decorating your home, it's always going to be perfect, because nothing will ever feel out of place. Thank you Rie for the beautiful and constant inspiration, I love reading your blog and I love seeing your wonderful home.









And, if you head on over to Home and Harmony, you can enter yourself to win a fabulous set of bee embossed glasses! I love them wayyy too much, hope I...err...I mean you...win!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Spring Additions - A Gift From my Mom and Fresh Blooms



I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, ours was jam packed with family, food and laughs, just how we like it! This week has been busy so far as we have decided to start looking around for a possible new house. We aren't determined to move for any certain reason, but we would really like to find a house with a little more room to spread out, plus another bedroom. We are viewing 5 or 6 places on Friday, and I am excited, nervous, scared, sad and thrilled all at once.

Aside from that, I also wanted to share a few spring-y additions to the house, I've moved into somewhat of a "staging" phase thinking that we might possibly by showing our house in a few weeks. If this is the case, I'll be doing so majoy purging of accessories, but I think thinning out what I have may be good for me in the long run, whether we decide to show the house or not.

The "easter bunny" (aka my mother) hid Easter baskets for all of us in the house on Sunday. My sisters and I will become competetive over everything, even hunting for grown-up Easter baskets, so the hunt was very, intense, shall we say. :)

I used to get really excited about Cadbury eggs in my baskets, but I squealed, honestly squealed, when I pulled out this gorgeous piece:


It's made out of a metal tin with small antique-looking bird shaped magnets. I swoon over it everytime I walk by. My Mom knows me wayy to well apparently, I couldn't have picked something out I loved more myself.
Just look at the antique detailing on the little bird magnets...swoon!


This afternoon I was happy to come home to a box on the doorstep containing my vase and or candle holder I ordered online from Kohls. I've been seeing these wicker wrapped holders everywhere, like this one from farmhousewares.com:


and these from Ballard Designs:


I ran out to backyard and filled it with some Forsythia which has just started blooming. Such a bright addition to our dining room, I'm in love!



And have I mentioned how much I love my new Better Homes and Gardens plates, bowls and mugs from Wal-Mart? They set a perfect simplistic table for everyday.



Have a fabulous rest of your week friends!