Move Mountains In Your Home
I did the plank ceiling A.) because we had some sloppy drywall and a strange textured ceiling, B.) because I was hired to write a tutorial on how to install a planked ceiling and C.) because I love the look. I know a lot of you have questions about the installation, but you'll have to wait for the tutorial to get most of those answered. I will definitely link to it when it's live. I did want … [Read more...]
I'm not a scrooge when it comes to Valentine's Day, but to me, it's just overpriced flowers and way too much candy for the kids. We make a point not to go out to dinner and we don't exchange gifts or anything. It did happen to my husband's day off work, so we spent it shopping at Home Depot and had a nice lunch at Olive Garden. Works for me. Anyway, here are my favorites from last … [Read more...]
I have been asked a few times lately how I manage everything on my plate, so I thought I would share. Before I dive into it, I know that everyone is busy. I don't have some overly-busy-I'm-super-important-all-the-time kind of view of my schedule or to-do list. A lot of my busy comes from the fact that I like being busy and productive, so I take a lot on and throw some extra stuff in just … [Read more...]
When I saw this pkauffman artissimo navy fabric on Joanns' website, I was totally in love. I bought it without getting a sample or anything. I just knew it was "me" and would work. The fabric is regularly $59.99, but I caught it on sale for $23.99. (I also got free shipping.) I know that even the sale price of $23.99/yard might be too high for some budgets, so … [Read more...]
When I have trouble with decorating a room, I don't ignore it. I don't shut the door and focus on rooms I do like. Instead, I decorate and redecorate and redecorate to the point of ridiculousness until I get it right. The best example of that is my bedroom. Since I'm walking you through the current makeover, I thought I would share how it's changed over the 6+ years we've lived in this … [Read more...]
The planked ceiling is almost done, but I couldn't wait until we totally finished to share how amazing it looks.. There's still a lot of finishing to do...holes to fill, paint to touch up, I need to make a cord cover for the chandelier cord, we're going to add crown molding (also for a tutorial), and we have about 3 feet of the ceiling left to plank. We ran … [Read more...]
I've been a busy girl the past couple of days, which is why I've been quiet on my blog. Yesterday, I made a cord cover for the chandelier over my vanity in the master bedroom... I just used scraps from the fabric feature wall. It's a small thing that really finishes off the room. Here's the chain without the cover... ...and with... It's easy to make. … [Read more...]
I was looking through the links from last week and I had the urge to look for French chairs and Empire dressers on craigslist. I surfed around and found a pretty Empire dresser for a good price about an hour away. I was asking my husband about the distance for pickup and he leaned into me and said, "Let's just focus on one thing at a time." I'm feeling the itch to paint some furniture, and … [Read more...]
Today was a jam-packed DIY filled day and I have pretty pictures to show for it... I got my fabric yesterday and I couldn't wait to play with it...well, work with it. It is my job after all. This project was something I wanted to do anyway, but it was for an HGTV.com tutorial, so it got bumped up the list. Don't ask me how I did this project, yet. I wrote a full … [Read more...]
I learned pretty early on that I'm in the right profession for a person who loves getting packages in the mail. A part of it is that I live in a rural area, so it makes sense to order things online instead of driving all over the place hunting for something. That's probably how I get most of the supplies for my articles and non-antique items that I sold at Lucketts. I also get "blogger … [Read more...]
This post is a little blog buffet of a bit of this and that of my day. Enjoy the randomness... As I've mentioned the past few days, I have a lot of big projects coming up for freelance tutorials. Some of those projects are tied to others. (Remember the "decorating is like dominoes" thing?) For example, two of the tutorials I'm making are on installing a plank ceiling and crown … [Read more...]
Back in December, I took a whirlwind trip across the continent to the beautiful town of Petaluma, CA. One of my Milk Paint retailers, Genevieve of Gracefully Worn, invited me out and she certainly rolled out the red carpet! It was an amazing trip. It started out with a super early flight from Virginia that got me to San Francisco about 9:00 am their time. We went straight from the airport … [Read more...]
I currently have a huge to-do list of tutorials to make for HGTV.com, so I thought while I was in the middle of making all of these tutorials, I would share some tips with you on making a tutorial. A tutorial on making tutorials, if you will. Good tutorials to be exact. 1.) Pick a good project. Try to show how to make something that's totally original, a hack of something really expensive … [Read more...]
Boy, oh boy. You girls know how to make my heart go pitter-patter. Some of the entries from last week... my goodness. I've said it a couple of times, but we...the furniture refinishers, antique dealers and thrift store scroungers...are making this economy hum. I am always impressed by what I see each week, but this week gave me tingles. There were some pieces I wanted to pluck through … [Read more...]
After a few years of wishing for it, I finally gently asked my husband if he would consider giving up the ceiling fan and letting me hang a chandelier in our bedroom. Let me be clear that I didn't hound him and nag him about it. I said something like, "I know you love the ceiling fan, but would you be okay with having a nice standing fan instead, so I can hang a chandelier? If not, that's … [Read more...]
My new bed was delivered yesterday!! For those of you who have ordered lots of pieces of furniture and had them delivered, this might not be very exciting to you, but it was thrilling for me. I usually dig my pieces out of the back corner of some barn and have to put a great deal of work into it before it's ready to use, so this is a different experience for me. The delivery guys even came … [Read more...]
I am going to admit right away that I am a bit of a nerd. Not as much of a nerd as my husband, but we do enjoy the somewhat nerdy pastime of documentary-watching. Our favorite documentary maker is Ken Burns. His documentaries move me, bring to me tears, make me want to travel the US, visit national parks and give me a new appreciation for the past as well as the age we live in now. He … [Read more...]
Other than a bathroom mat or something to catch drips at the kitchen sink, I haven't really shopped for rugs until recently. I've never had large expanses of hard flooring until we moved to our current home. My decorating budget was always non-existent or super-tight, so the rugs I had were freebies from family, carpet remnants left in our basement from the previous owner or great bargains … [Read more...]
Thanks so much to all who played along with the "before they were bloggers" contest. I was seriously laughing so hard I cried at some of the pictures. I submitted my 7th grade school picture... I don't know if you can tell, but aside from my four front teeth and back molars, I didn't have any other top teeth! I had to have 12 of my baby teeth pulled out in middle school, which … [Read more...]
A few weeks ago, I went on a shopping trip to HomeGoods (and posted about it HERE.) It was an amazing opportunity. I was armed with $1000 gift card furnished by HomeGoods to shop for my master bedroom. I came home with a bunch of things, with the big splurge being this rug for $500. I loved the rug, but there was a nagging thought in the back of my head that was a little … [Read more...]
***We have a winner! Thanks for playing along everyone. There will be a follow-up post soon.*** Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl had a very fun idea that involved several DIY Bloggers submitting pictures of themselves in their awkward years. The frizzier the hair, the better. It sounded like a blast, so I decided to play along. If you want to play along, too, there's a $300 gift card … [Read more...]
Good evening, everyone! It's time for another round up of some of the best furniture on the blogs. I hope you enjoy my favorites from last week and the links for this week. Diane from In My Own Style created this home center with an old card catalog, a shelf, some bun feet and a homemade chalk paint recipe. I think it looks brilliant and super functional. I love the … [Read more...]
I wrote a post a long time ago about the topcoats I used and it's been hanging out in the painting section on my side bar ever since. A reader sent me an e-mail a couple of months ago asking me to update it. I went back and read the post and she was right! I hardly use any of the products anymore. The main reason for that is soft wax. I started using wax and I didn't need to use other … [Read more...]
I don't know about you, but when I see a bright, white room on Pinterest, a blog, in a magazine or in a home decorating book, I start to question all of the color in my house and am ready to paint everything in site in Decorator White or Moonlight White or Dove White and slipcover everything in white linen, preferably vintage French. A few pictures to make my point... Source - Dreamy … [Read more...]
I have to tell you a funny story that relates to this post. When I was at the breakfast event in Houston, I had the chance to speak with many women about how my business started and grew...how it's dramatically exceeded every expectation I had. When I finished telling the story at one table, the woman I was sitting next to look at me with a puzzled face. "So, when did you do the counter … [Read more...]
