Annie Sloan Chalk Paint + Ethan Allen Armoire DONE!

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Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antibes plus dark wax plus an Ethan Allen solid wood armoire found at Goodwill = MERRY CHRISTMAS to me! I am thrilled with the results but I must warn you there were a couple of moments I thought it wouldn’t be salvageable. The dark wax can be tricky but once I learned to use clear wax to remove excess dark wax in spots then it worked out beautifully. Also, distressing isn’t as easy as everybody says so I decided to forego much distressing on this piece as the oak beneath showed through rather than the Graphite layer I painted beneath the two coats of Antibes green, and I did not want that.

Meadowville, Bear Lake, Laketown, Woodruff and the ’64 MGB Convertible

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Hubby drove it into this barn 20 years ago — the summer before we were married. It’s about time it was rescued! Lost cattle got into the barn and used it as toilet paper and added a few dings to the body but otherwise, it’s in great condition, except for the interior. I don’t envy Don this restoration job but he sure seems to be excited by it and I hope the boys will get lots of quality time with their dad.

Nantucket Gray Semi-Transparent Fence Stain

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We are in love with our new fence stain! It is from Lowe’s and the Cabot brand. Before we moved, we stained our own deck and it lasted so much longer than those that were spray-stained. Anyway, it’s taken a ton of stain just to do the outside (about $650 worth for the whole fence) but we’ve been rolling and painting it on — and it looks great.

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As we drove around the neighborhood, everyone seemed to have dark stains and we just didn’t want that look. This matches our guttering perfectly and I can’t wait to get some pretty vines over the fence in the spring. Fingers crossed it lasts for quite awhile — we’re not done staining the inside yet and we don’t want to have to redo it anytime soon. We have to hurry and get the inside done before the really cold weather sets in (yay snow!).

New Design Site I Love!

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I found a great new site this morning with inspirational design that I really quite like: cococozy. Take a look, but I’m warning you — you’ll browse for hours!

Addicted to Pinterest

It’s almost better than reading books and much more instantly gratifying:  Pinterest.  I love this site.  It’s the new method of flipping through magazines for ideas and putting them all in one place:  quotes, decor, motivation, design ideas, garden ideas, etc.  Now if I could only get OFF pinterest and start working on my own abode…I’m still planning, okay?! This is everything I love all mixed in one.

Ruffles & Stuff’s Dandelion Puffy Light

I’m baaaack! Briefly. A few more days of overwhelming work and then I will be blogging regularly again. It’s good to be back. I ran across this project at Ruffles and Stuff in my internet meanderings and thought I’d share. It’s a great, cheap, beautiful project. The creator’s name is Disney (what a great name!). She calls it a pom-pom lamp. It’s times like this when I really do wish I had a little girl. Somehow this just wouldn’t work in a boy’s room. However, I’m thinking it could easily be adapted to make something for a boy if you use the interior guts of the project and place it behind clear Legos, a monster mask (well, that could be scary!). I’m sure you can come up with better ideas than I…and if you do, please share.

Scandinavian Design – Lots of White!

I’ve always claimed that I would love a really white house. With padding. White walls with padding…some days that would be a vacation, no? Well…I know there are so many more important things in life but lately with trials small and large, I’ve been trying to learn how to just breathe and these rooms just feel like a clean, organized sigh of contentment. I thought I’d share. I may never see this much organization or cleanliness again in my life so I have to enjoy the pictures when they come. Don’t get me wrong. If my house wasn’t messy and unorganized, I wouldn’t have my family…and I love my family so the rest of it is welcome. Most of the time. But if I EVER need to be institutionalized…please…refer to these photos. God bless those Scandinavians – they do have a wonderful sense of aesthetic. And it does something to lift the mind and spirit, you know? Be sure to click on the pictures to visit the actual blog. It’s chock full of visual goodies.

Settling In…

I’m too tired to even post a picture though I have a few really good ones of piles of boxes. The boys had an 11 or 12 foot tall fort created with boxes IN THE ENTRYWAY so that we couldn’t even get to the door if we wanted to.

We love this house. It feels like a little bit of heaven. We love the paint colors. We love the layout. I adore the kitchen and master bedroom – it is so big that Cole claims we could cut it in half and give him some extra yard outside! I am a bit afraid to go upstairs and see how the boys have unpacked their things! Back to the kitchen…I’ve been there for 2 days straight…it’s not a gas stove or a double oven (both were on my “must have” list) but I am so happy with what is here. I love the tile and the cabinets. I want to paint the inside of them Martha Stewart bluish green (probably the same color the previous owners used on the wainscoting in the laundry room which is DREAMY). Not only did the previous owners leave us a welcome basket of CHOCOLATE (dark, too!), she labeled all the house color paint cans with the room it was used in AND THE YEAR/DATE it was used…seriously, I wish everybody could buy a house from people as nice as we did. We were extremely blessed to meet them. Our own house “touches” will come in good time…I’m going to just enjoy our family being in a home again for awhile first.

The Zellmers really took good care of their home. The only hitch we’ve run into is our fridge won’t fit in the laundry room. Well, it fits in the slot but there is a windowsill in the way…not sure what we’re going to do about that yet. Our chest freezer was going to be sold but now Don thinks maybe that will fit instead. Let’s see…what else do we love? The kids love the big tub in the master bath. It’s not as big as our old one (nor is it a Jacuzzi) but they were all very pleased and seemed to like it more. I think not being a Jacuzzi is a plus.

The dog is in heaven. She keeps trying to sneak off into the field by our home. I bought a new rug for the kitchen today and she has claimed it.

The movers will need to replace 4 things: 1) Ben’s bunk bed headboard/footboard got lost before they even hit Texas (was never received in the warehouse) and 2) The loaders in Gretna damaged a big dresser on industrial wheels that we used to store the boys’ toys 3) my jogging stroller got damaged, and 4) a miscellaneous box of blankets was lost. Not too shabby for 20,720 lbs of stuff, I think. The only thing that breaks my heart is Ben is sleeping in Alex’s old room on the floor for now until his bed can be replaced. It’s okay, though, he is snuggling in blankets and the carpet is very soft. Hmm…as I type this he is sleeping in my bed. Not good.

I hear sawing upstairs. The older boys have taken my serrated kitchen knife and are building cardboard forts in the playroom. They asked for duct tape about an hour ago while I was preparing a lesson for church and I didn’t put two-and-two together…I’d better go take some pictures and see if anybody is bleeding!

More later when we’re coherent again.

Beach Theme at Home Workshop

Look at these pretty beach-y pictures mentioned at Home Workshop. It makes me want a vacation so badly (and boy do I deserve one since hubby left for Houston without us over 2 weeks ago!). The thought of an entire year or longer living like this makes me swoon (and not in a romantic way!)…I’m going to my happy place…in my head, anyway, and it’s A BEACH RESORT!!!

Inspiring Bathroom Remodel

Check out this bathroom remodel from Fly Through My Window. Amazing stuff – and so inexpensively done, really. I like how she kept the orange. The fabric on the chaise thingy really pulls it all together. Lovely and inspirational!