happy fall ya'll.

Fall is my FAVORITE season so cheers to the first day of October! And to not being behind on my FALL decorating for once!



Bring on the layers :)

new color.

it took awhile to re-surface all the imperfections in the wall but we're finally toning DOWN the ole orange. The color is Sherwin-Williams' Believable Buff. at first i was worried it was too neutral but as we've put back some of our furniture - i've warmed up more and more!

our next dilema? which new window treatments to pick!

paint splattered trim.

while priming the living room, we really noticed how BAD the previous paint job was. apparently the homeowner before us did NOT believe in any prep work for his paint jobs. our trim and outer edges of the hardwood floors were covered in teeney-tiny paint SPLATTERS. they have just been hard to see all these years with the LUCY hair that covers our floor!

evidence
i googled my little heart out to try and find a way to get latex paint off the wood trim without ruining it. i didn't want to strip it and re-stain.... waaaay to much work. i found a several websites and forums that suggested using Goof Off (or some equivalent) to lightly rub paint off the trim. i immediately thought it would take off the finish on the trim, but i tested it on an inconspicuous corner and voila! it worked magically!

i painfully went around ALL the baseboards, crown molding, windows and doorways with a Q-TIP. i diluted the goof-off with 1/3 part water and used a LOT of elbow grease. in many cases, the paint just popped right off with light grazing of my finger nail! to give you an idea of how long it took, mcallister primed the entire room and i had only accomplished a 16 ft wall with a doorway!

bye-bye orange.

today we primed the living room. i can't WAIT to get a new lighter color on the wall. the previous orangey-yellowey-gold mixture was okay but we really want something that accents the trim a little more.

we primed it so that we could see all the IMPERFECTIONS that come with having 100 year old plaster walls. and there are LOTS so that will be our project for the next week. thoughts on the color?!! i'm leaning towards staying in the same color palette as our kitchen.

christmas tree.

today we dressed Lucy up in her SANTA collar and headed to Wilbert's xmas tree farm to cut down the world's most *perfect* xmas tree. apparently we're a little rusty picking out trees from being gone last year. it wasn't until it was in the stand until we noticed it has curviest trunk ever. i'm just waiting to come down one morning and find it on it's side. (sigh)

check out some more pics on my gallery page.

a norman christmas.

i recently scored this HUGE book of 300+ norman rockwell magazine covers from the back of my mom's vehicle. it was on it's way to the salvation army when i RESCUED it. very coincidental b/c i had JUST been on ebay the week before bidding for a book of his xmas illustrations. (good thing i didn't have too much wine that night cause my bid-happy-buzz could have left me swimming in rockwell books) i cut out one of my fave illustrations and put in this frame for the holidays. me likey!

burlap or bust.

you just HAVE to check out Sondra's burlap projects. they are super duper cute, especially the tree skirt.

she's not the only one making good use of BURLAP. we brought our herbs in a few weeks ago and i plopped them under a window. they were looking mighty drab until i saw a cute BURLAP idea in Country Home.

potted plant + burlap + ribbon = burlap heaven. i even made a burlap BOW for the Turkey Day wreath. check more pics! happiday.

pumpkins.

i haven't given up on my pumpkins yet.

spooky branch.

remember my valentine's day tree? well the tree really isn't so lovey-dovey. it's actually a SPOOKY branch I scored for cheap-cheap at the PBizzle last year.

for it's first halloween debut, i decorated it with orange lights and little skulls to amplify it's spooky effect.



it's crazy how cheap halloween stuff can be the first week of november. i got this FUN batty, table runner with the branches. u forget about it until you pull it out the following season.... it's like CHRISTMAS in October!



i also made a spooky shadow box as a tribute to last year's pumpkin carving contest. go PLAXICO.

spooky front door.

i may not be great in the kitchen, but i found a good idea for an old frying pan. bet ya never thought that could decorate your door!

E A T.

completely unrelated to my week of food themed posts, i finished a quick-n-easy (which is how i like 'em!) craft project today that i started last week. i purchased the LETTERS at joanne's and use the remaining supplies that i had at home. i'd say they were wooden but after lightly sanding them down (per their instructions) i think they were merely some kind of wood-looking fiberboard.

i had seen the word EAT hanging on a kitchen wall in a home decorating magazine some time ago, so I was inspired for our kitchen. we still have loads of BLACK paint left over from painting our kitchen cabinets. i think painting the letters the same color provides balance against the opposite wall of black cabinets.

although i'm not the biggest fan of the letter's TYPEFACE - i do think they look GREAT up over the swing door that leads to our dining room. they add just the right touch of vintage appeal. the letters are the perfect size, not too big for that space between the trim and the ceiling and not too small that they get lost.

what do you think?!

easter decor.

Easter really snuck up on me this year, I've been busy busy busy. I usually don't decorate for Easter. It's just not a holiday that I've managed to acquire decorations for in my recent years of homeownership. That CHANGED this year when I discovered the Christmas Tree Shop.

The store is HUGE and everything in it is 'el CHEAPO'. I managed to spend next to nothing getting some fun Easter decorations. Like a deviled egg tray for $1.99! I can already tell it's going to be one of those stores that I will just keep throwing stuff into my cart. Before you know it, those cheap gadgets can add up fast. I'll to spend some time before I checkout rummaging through it to decide what I REALLY need.

I did notice some fun garden stuff which I'll have to go back for!

v-day decor.

With the fear of being compared to the crazy-lady who leaves her christmas lights out all-year round - I've decided to pro-actively take down the v-day decor.

Last year I put ZERO energy into decorating with HEARTS. This year, I had the heartfelt motivation to make some FUN, simple, and cheap Valentine's Day decorations.

I put my WWMD (what-would-martha-do) hat on AND read her magazine for inspiration. Check out my project page for details!

quick fix.

I found the Listerine container BORING.

So I took a cruet and turned it into a nice looking MOUTHWASH container. It's much prettier now on the sink.

our kitchen cherries.

Recently I bought a canvas-mounted print, from the artist - Rodney White. This was tough for me, as the piece was BIG and wall space is precious for us PHOTO JUNKIES. I was introduced to White through Ballard Designs, a store suggested to me from my close friend Jenn b/c of my affiliation with Pottery Barn.

White is a young, self-taught artist who typically creates his art on canvas. I just HEART his style. He uses amazing TYPOGRAPHY to convey SIMPLE sayings that are so MEANINGFUL. He also has great COLOR combinations and his pieces have such a retro, VINTAGE feel. (This coming from someone who loves OLD things, a self-professing flea market/junk lover).

White named the print I purchased 'The Hardest of Easy Choices'. I'll admit, I was first drawn to the piece b/c of the colors (hello - my new kitchen?!!) and the cherries (as those who know me know, cherries are symbolic given my other half grew up on a cherry orchard). However, I'm quite happy to report these are my new favorite CHERRIES of all time!!

Happiness is truly a choice, and sometimes the hardest of easy choices. The print's 2 short weeks of life in our home have already been been extremely influential to me. It's crazy how a visual concept can produce something so powerful. These cherries and I already have an unique bond (well, we DO have coffee together each morning).

That said, I'd suggest a quick browse of White's Gallery, as you too may find something that strikes your inspiration fancy!!

felt.

Last weekend, i sat in front of the fireplace and sewed some Valentine's inspired CRAFTS. They were so simple, and such a nice accent to our front door.

The project idea was in this month's Country Home magazine. While I'm not super skilled at a sewing machine, I can handle some basic hand-sewn stiches easily. Plus, it made a great use for WINSLOW's STUFFING.

You can see more at my PROJECT GALLERY.

twenty-two.

Twenty-two is the number of cabinet doors we have in our kitchen. With turkey day right around the corner and 15 expected guests on the way, we're cutting it a bit close with our kitchen makeover.

Painting kitchen cabinets is a tediuos (read: time-consuming) process. The cabinet doors are all hanging out in our basement, being painted one side and one coat at time. The black paint starts tomorrow!

Hopefully, we won't be putting the hardware back on with the turkey in the oven.

Who paints their kitchen cabinets BLACK?

When I tell people - their eyebrows furrow, they try to imagine what it might look like, or they wince a little bit and say 'Are you sure'?

I am NOW! Last night I found a tool online @ Sherwin-Williams to help me visualize it.

The Color Visualizer tool is super nifty. You select a room type (kitchen) and then pick from various room layouts. I choose the closest to the kitchen in my 1920's home and then started playing. You select colors for the separate walls, trim, doorways, cabinets, backsplash, etc. So NEAT. It's the next best thing to painting several colors on the wall to decide.

If they had an eSuggestion box - all I would suggest is being able to change your floor and countertop colors.

What does my virtual kitchen look like? I'ts below plus cream countertops and light hardwood floors. FUN. Check back for pics of the real thing!