If you missed the full tutorial on the painted granite fireplace surround, you can find it HERE.  I almost didn’t take pictures along the way, because I wasn’t sure if it was going to work!  I’m so glad I took the time to document it, though, because it turned out great. Here is how the fireplace surround looked before… …and here is how it looks now!  I’m sure you noticed that we also put in hardwood floors and we’re in the middle of building a faux coffered ceiling. I am absolutely over the moon with how it turned out!  It was a relatively quick and easy process and I was able to complete the project entirely with products I already had on hand for other projects, so it was free to me.  If you had to purchase the materials, it would cost around $120 with lots of leftover paint and

A couple of weeks ago, a stack of hardwood flooring was delivered to our house to acclimate before it’s installed in our living room! I have been wanting to replace this carpet with hardwood floors from the time we moved in, but I was in the minority.  Jeff and the boys like that it’s comfy underfoot and good for wrestling.  I have always disliked carpet simply because it’s difficult to keep clean.  And a cream carpet in a major traffic path is even harder to keep clean.  It doesn’t look bad in the pictures, but I’m not focusing on the carpet… We do take our shoes off and we clean it with a carpet cleaner a few times a year, but there are still stains and a discolored path from over 15 years of use.  The staining is much more evident when I focus the camera on it… Oh, I

Even if decorating comes naturally and you have a great space to work with, there is still the possibility of getting stuck.  It’s just normal and a natural part of the creative process.  Some things come easily and others take more thought, time, and discovery.  Such has been the case with this corner in my living room.  I think this wall is a little tricky because it’s a fairly small stretch of wall between a doorway and built-ins.  Whatever piece of furniture that is placed there needs to allow for the doors to open, work well with the built-ins, and also visually balance out the piece on the other side of the doorway.  In my case, that is an antique hutch… Shortly after we moved in, I hung a collection of ironstone plates over a wood dresser just to fill the space.  I always pictured hanging a mirror there that