From bookcase to bench seating...

I can't really take credit for this project, well the idea at least, I found it on another blog and adapted it for my own use. I have been wanting a breakfast nook with bench seating for ever.  But with all the projects this house needed when I moved in and all the renovations and redo's I've done, bench seating took a backseat. And while this option isn't what I dreamed of, it's a good (and thrifty) solution for now.  Let's look at some pics first and then I'll give the 411...

 

Ok, so, yes it's a bookcase turned on it's side.  An Ikea bookcase to be specific. And to be very specific... this exact  bookcase http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116274/. I did however get it for even less than that, $50, thanks to the Ikea family card.  You can sign up here http://info.ikea-usa.com/FAMILY/?src=ikea_web.  It's pretty awesome, you get nice discounts that are only offered to family members.  Let's face it 10 bucks is 10 bucks!  Back to the project!  

So I brought it home (bring a friend, trust me, it's awkward to load and get in the house) and put it together.  It was a quick assemble, really!  Then I made a trip to my Lowes with the exact measurements of the bookcase from the link above on the bookcase and got a piece of really thin fiberboard cut to the exact size I needed.  (Sidenote, you get the whole sheet of board, so the leftovers go with you for another project!)

Next, a trip to JoAnn's for some foam to make the seat.  It's a little costly, so make sure you have a coupon with you.  JoAnn's is pretty good about coupons and you can usually always get a 40% - 50% off coupon.  I got a 1/2 in thick, but really now wish that I had spent a little more on the 1 or 2 inch to make a really cushy seat.

That fabric?  It's a curtain panel that I got at World Market and I love it.  That's what I love about re-upholstering, you can use a curtain panel, a shower curtain, a bed sheet... anything that has a patter you love, can cover just about anything! 

So with some spray adhesive (really the easiest way to do this!) sprayed on the foam, I attached it to the fiberboard.Then covered with the fabric and attached it with my staple gun.  I think it came out great.  I really love it.  And I know, when I get tired of it in the dining room (which will happen!) I can use it in any other room and recover it with another pattern.

But of course I didn't stop there.  I have some saddle seat stools under my bar in the dining room too.  Why can't I cover them too?  I can and I did. 

Cute, right?!  So here's the finished product.  Until I get inspired again... :)

What's in that fabulous bag?!

I am not a fan of Monday mornings, or Mondays or mornings separately, and definitely not a fan of those too peppy people who start off sentences or e-mails or blogs in this case with Happy Monday!  Yuck!  Shut up!  (That's definitely more me!)

So anyone who has been with me for me than 5 minutes knows that I love a nice bag on my shoulder and have a deep affection for pink.  So what is in that fabulous pink Michael Kors bag of yours you may ask?  Well, here you go my  nosey friends...



 Let's start off with the bag.  It's awesome and I heart it and Michael Kors deeply.  I obsessed over this bag on facebook and finally gave in.  It was well worth the splurge. 

Next the red (I switch bags way too much to have the wallet always match!) MK wallet.  See above for the MK gushing and love.

My make up bag is from www.thirtyonegifts.com as is the sunglasses case.  Note they are not pink!  But they definitely are monogrammed which odds are if something I own is not pink, it will definitely have my name, initials or a big ol' J on it!

Below my make up bag is my purse hanger.  Because lets face it that bag is too pretty to sit on a restaurant floor! Whoever invented those things is a genius.  I know it had to be a woman!

2 note pads, I'm not sure why, just because they are both cute.  My fav pen ever is the Papermate Flexgrip.  Stole it from work of course.

The lemon wipes are from the dollar section at Target.  I think I've mentioned before the dollar section is my first go to spot when I enter those magical red doors.  And yes my hand sanitizer is Steelers hand sanitizer, the best team EVER!

Tissues, because I have the worst sinuses/allergies ever.  The hand lotion is Eucerin and almost gone because I also have the driest hands ever.

Juicy Fruit because I like to go old school with my gum.  No 12 fruity mix, dessert flavors, or teeth whitening promises for me.  Straight up old school gum, thank you.

The baggie of Advil is yes very ghetto and I should totally have a cute pill container in there.  My bad.

And that little tape measure is just because you never know when a shopping emergency will happen and you need to measure a fabulous desk, armoire, dresser, bookcase, etc, etc etc... will occur.  It happens a lot in my world.

And there you go.  That's what in my bag!

Happy Monday!  (that was total and complete sarcasm right there!!!)

My new fav inspiration site...

First and foremost, Happy Freaking Friday!  Summer is here and I am so happy that my Casper like skin will be making an exit and a nice brown hue is in my future! 

I found this awesome site on one of my every day blog reads... http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/.  It's an awesome site where you can design rooms from the floor up.  I plan on creating my dream house!  A dream house that I will most definitely have one day!  Check it out here http://olioboard.com/!

And last but not least, here's today's creation.  My ultimate dream office (for today at least) that I would love to have if my current office didn't have to serve as a guest room/office/gym/storage!

Have a happy and stylish weekend!

Moderation and good choices

I am trying my hardest to make better choices in life.  In all aspects, whether it be food (a biggie for me!), how I spend my time, how I spend my money, etc.  Along with those better choices comes moderation.  So I spend WAY too much on a new bag, my spending is curtailed for awhile, I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  Or I am really craving some 5 Guys burgers and their bucket of fries... when's the last time I had that... 6 months ago??? Ok, go for it and then get on that elliptical!  Meeting a friend for dinner?  Choose a place close to me and walk.  Which is exactly what I'm going to do tonight!  Life does not need to be as hard as we make it.  All the stresses and the money issues and commuting and long work hours, yeah, it sucks.  But when I look back to the issues that women had 40 or 50 years ago compared to now... we women totally rock right now!

So going with my biggest battle... FOOD!  This recipe is the perfect example of choices and moderation.  I don't know about you, but mac and cheese is one of my all time favorites.  Rachel Ray had a great recipe for mac and cheese on her show today.  And it's all about better choices and moderation.  So I love mac and cheese, so what?!  I can eat it and not want to put a gun to my head when I'm finished and feel totally guilty. Check it out...

Mac 'n' Cheese with Parsnips and Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, halved
• About 1/3 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour

• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 3/4 cups whole milk
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Fontina or Gruyère cheese
• 1 pound ziti or Italian-style, straight-cut macaroni

Yields: 4-6

Preparation

Heat oven to 400°F.

In a small pot, combine garlic and oil, heat over low flame and gently cook until garlic is light golden in color and very fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Remove garlic cloves and reserve.

Pile cauliflower on baking sheet and dress with lemon juice, about 3-4 tablespoons of the garlic-infused oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread florets out in a single layer. Roast to brown at edges and tender, 20-25 minutes. Cover with Parmigiano-Reggiano and roast 5 minutes more. Turn oven off.

Meanwhile, boil parsnips in salted water to tender, 10-15 minutes. Purée in a food processor with the garlic cloves.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

In a saucepot, combine remaining garlic oil and butter over medium heat. When butter foams, whisk in flour, cook 1 minute; add stock and milk, and thicken. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; combine sauce with parsnip purée and melt in cheese.

Cook pasta to al dente, drain pasta and toss with sauce. Arrange in a serving dish topped with crispy cauliflower florets on top.


Looks pretty good, right?!  I'm on the fence about the parsnips though!  And to cut back even more, I'd use 2% milk and whole grain pasta.  I think it might be what's for dinner one night this week or next!

You're such a dip!

I am SO looking forward to this Memorial Day Weekend!  Not only because it's a long weekend and who doesn't live for those?  But because we have PA family coming in this weekend.  That always means lots of food and lots of fun! 

I saw this recipe on Nate last week and am going to make this dip for the weekend.  I don't know about you, but me and Nate Burkus go back like babies and pacifiers! I have loved him waaay back in the day on the Big O's show and I still heart him.  He had Katie Lee (Billy Joel's ex) on last week and I love her too, so I was excited.  She made this onion dip that looked really good and Nate looked like he was having  a really good time eating.  And I think I heart chips and dip just about as much as I do Nate and all things pink.  Here's the recipe and the link to it on Nate's page.  Let me know if you give it a try at your weekend gathering too. 

Oh, and PS, she made homemade potato chips to go with it, but since I don't have little cooking fairies like Katie Lee and Nate do, a family size bag of Wavy Lays will do just fine!

http://www.thenateshow.com/howto/detail/katie-lees-garden-party

Caramelized Vidalia Onion Dip With Homemade Potato Chips
8 servings (about 2 ½ cups)
Prep time: 25 minutes
Inactive prep time: at least 30 minutes to chill in refrigerator
Cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1-tablespoon olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, very thinly sliced (if you can’t find Vidalia, use another sweet variety like walla walla, maui, or Texas spring)
¼ cup water
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 scallion, green part only, thinly sliced
Homemade potato chips (recipe follows)
Directions
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium – high heat. Add the onions and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, until beginning to brown. Stir in the water and scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat to low and cook 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown. If the pan ever looks too dry, add a tablespoon of water. Let cool completely.
In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, Worcestershire, garlic salt, onion powder, and pepper. Using a electric mixer beat until smooth. Stir in the reserved onions and the scallions.
Chill until serving time.
Serve with chips.
Homemade Potato Chips
8 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Inactive prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
2 small baking potatoes
About 2 quarts peanut oil
Kosher salt
Directions
Use a mandoline to slice the potatoes 1/8-inch thick. Place the potato slices in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Refrigerate 1 hour. Drain and pat very dry with paper towels.
Heat a few inches of peanut oil to 350°F in a Dutch oven. Fry the potatoes in batches of 10 to 12 depending on the size of your pan, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

A small update for my small kitchen

Another weekend, another project... Thanks to the Lowe's commerical for the inspiration, I painted my bottom kitchen cabinets and drawers a nice "kitcheny" ( yep, it's a word) green.  I think it turned out great.

Matches pretty well with my backsplash and rug, right?  I love it.  There's only so many updates I can do to that tiny little kitchen, I think this one was a winner.

Quick, easy, cute!

Happy Friday!  It's a beautiful day here, I'm heading to 2 tent sales at my favorite antique spots this weekend and I'm feeling good!

Have a work baby shower today and I must admit that the thought of heading to Target to pick up a gift while I was laying on the couch catching up on this week's episode of Revenge at 7:30 last night... a gift card was looming around in my thoughts!  But I mustered up the energy and headed to Target.  After all I have only been once this week, and the red shirts miss me if I don't come in at least twice a week!

So as I rolled in, my creative juices started bubbling and that little jolt I get when I know something cute is about to happen was in full force.  I of course hit up the dollar section first, as I always do when I stroll into that red heaven.  Looking for cute containers to hold a baby gift... a cute polka dotted box with a pink ribbon handle?  A good possibility.  A too cute straw bag that screams summer and little girl and brings me back to my childhood?  Also a very good contender. Of course I take both and make my way to the baby section.  Let me just say, the thrill I get while strolling through the baby girl section far surpasses the thrill I get when I stroll through the boys section for my little men.  I love them, but one less body part and I'd have them covered in every shade of pink, swimming in ruffles and flowers and cuteness!  But I digress... Remember those little cotton jumpers that you had as a little girl?  All one piece, oozing with cuteness.  Add a pink bow barrette to hold my bangs back and you have my summer wardrobe for ages 4 - 8!  Target had SO many cute ones.  I walked back and forth and all around that baby girl section with 2 - 3 different rompers and dresses hanging from my finger every lap around.  I finally decided on 2.  Now I have the polka dotted box, the straw bag and 2 dresses as I stroll to the baby section for what else... accessories.  You can never accessorize too early.  A lesson in life if you ask me! Sunglasses?  The straw bag, the cute romper and a pink (duh!) pair of sunglasses?  Ding, ding, ding, I think we have a winner.  Add the sunglasses to my stash, but more strolling, there could be more.  Hold up... a pink floppy hat that matches the cute little pink sailboats on the dress?! SOLD!  I put the sunglasses back because a good hat just can't be matched when it matches your cute little dress.  Walked by the gift wrap aisle and picked up some tissue paper.  (Stashed the polka dot container and #2 dress in a random shelf because the dollar section was like 50 more steps and it's now like 8:15, I gotta get home for Greys (additional side note... WTF Greys?  Are you trying to make me get no sleep because I'm a basket case?!) anyways... Here's the finished product...

Seriously?  Does it get much cuter or more simple?  So next time you walk into Target for a last minute gift, let your creative juices flow, channel me and think WWJD?  (yes, it works for both me and Jesus!) Don't just grab a baby bag with Noah's ark on it, go through the kitchen aisles and look for a cute jar or the accessories section and look for a cute bag, the toys section, the home section.  The possibilities are endless!  And now I really want to bail on work and spend the morning at Target...

Happy Friday!!!

What does your desk say about you?

I just can't function in a mess.  Whether it be at home or at work, I always need some order.  So my desk pretty much looks like my house.  Pictures of the little man (men now), some pink here and there, and some thrown in girly touches...

I didn't pick the red and black theme, my boss and the designer did, but I luckily I like it.  The lamp being my favorite of course.  A Home Goods find.  I'd love to find a turquoise one for my house.  The vase and flower was my Mother's Day gift from my little men.  You've all seen the Hallmark commercial where the flower opens up...  Very cute, right?

 



My tape dispenser is awesome.  And I know my boss will never steal it.  He refuses to even use it if he's out of tape. He knows how I roll by now...

Onto the other side...

My computer is on the fritz right now, well just the keyboard and mouse.  The polka dotted mouse pad... love it.  It has a big ol' J on it too of course.  Assorted pics from surprise b-days to cruises to Jamaica to weddings.  I can't be anywhere without photos.  The days calendar on the cork board and a pic from a Christmas party photo booth at last years work party.

Pretty predictable right? ;)

Back on track

It's been a long, long time since my last post.  But I've still been hard at work on new projects and ideas around the house.

I did some moving around a few weeks ago and moved the buffet in my dining room to my living room under the tv and I must admit, I love it.  It's one of my favorite things in the world to re-purpose furniture from one room to another.  A dining room buffet or hutch to a living room, a bedroom dresser to the living room or dining room.  It all works and I love it.

Now of course, it didn't look JUST like this in the dining room.  I had to mix it up even more.  I covered the fronts of the drawers with contact paper.  I've used that contact paper in so many projects and I love it! I think it turned out awesome on the drawer fronts.  And even when it was in my dining room, it wasn't meant for a dining room.  It's a bedroom chest of drawers that I got from Ikea about a year ago for my dining room.  See what I mean, I LOVE re-purposing furniture.  And of course I am equally in love with Ikea.

Here's a close up of just what's on top of the buffet...

The stand with green apples resided there in the dining room and I had to bring into the living room as well.I have some green mixes in my living room as well, so the apples fit right in.  The pic is me and my sister at her wedding of course.  The little bag next to the frame, that's what we carried down the aisle during the wedding instead of flowers. Um yeah, that was of course my idea! So now the pic and purse are a pair wherever they get staged in my home.  Art books, I love.  That top Orsay book my friends mom brought me back from Paris, so it's a special one.  The roses are from my front yard and yes I know they have about hit their shelf life!

On the other side is of course a pic of my favorite little man.  That's his 4 year old school pic.  I know, I need one of his new 1 month old brother, what a terrible aunt! More art books of course by my favorite Monet. The bowl is a favorite.  It's from my grandparents (who are no longer with us) china set from when they got married.  My mom gave me the set and I love using them around the house rather than food.  It holds my keys, sunglasses, mail and any other odd or end I have when I come in the door so I can grab it when I go out. And the other small container hold old pics from when I was a baby and old family pics.  I like that they're there for me or anyone to pick up and look through memories. 

And here's the whole look.  I love the empty frames so much, I think it's a look that I will keep for awhile.  The painted blue squares on the other hand have seen their better days and I'm itching to paint the whole LR/DR combo a new color.  I'm thinking grey, just need to actually do it.  I HATE to paint, but love new colors.  The chair I got at an antique store and love it to death. 

Happy hump day!





Closet love

I fell in love with my closet about a year ago when I renovated it due to it's own push for me to do so...

 

Yep, this really happened.  All. At. Once. I was sitting in the living room when I heard it.  And I just sat on the couch thinking, no, that couldn't be what I think it was.  And when I went back and opened the door, this is what I saw.  All at once the entire 3 walls of racks collapsed.  I didn't even know what to do or say. 

So after a few days of shock and clean up, I of course had to find a better solution and quick.  Thanks to Home Depot's Martha Stewart closet designer, the outcome was definitely a sweet one.  And my poor, war torn closet has evolved into this...

And due to my sudden urge to label everything I own, here's a close up of my shelves..

The top shelf is 2 baskets that I got at the Dollar Store for my tanks and a big storage box I got awhile back from Ikea for my sheets. Remember the contact paper boxes I made last weekend?  They made a great linen shelf for my towels.  I unfortunately have no linen closet in my house, so I had to incorporate it into my closet with the redesign.The wash cloth and hand towel baskets are from the Dollar Store too.  The t-shirt shelf consists of a 5 pack set of clear shoe boxes from Target for $7.  I rolled my t-shirts to maximize space and fit them all into the 5 boxes.  Those shelves are kitchen cabinet shelves I got from Wal-Mart to maximize my shelf space in the closet.  And that cute bag with my extra bath supplies is from Thirty One! :)

Can you see why I am in love with my closet?!

My current obsession

Anyone who knows me at all, even just a little, knows my two greatest loves... Pink and Purses.  And what I saw online combined these two loves in the most stylish, blissful, amazing way. 

I am in love.  It's been calling out to me since I've seen it.  It's a splurge, but when you're in love rationality is out the window!  I will find you, and I will buy you and feel no shame or remorse about it. <3 
Happy Friday everyone! 

More labeling fun - pantry edition

The Better Homes and Garden free labels from Friday's post were seriously life changing for me.  Exaggerate much?  But seriously, I was way too excited about them this weekend.  The sickness I suffer from over organizing and controlling issues was in full effect this weekend.  I was in heaven.  I live alone, why I have the need to label every box and container behind every cabinet and on every shelf... it's truly my cross to bear.  I love it.  I get very excited when I open a cabinet and see this...

I know it's only one cabinet, but it's a sign of bigger and better one day, hopefully soon. I have big plans for a laundry/pantry space once I save up enough for a stackable, front load washer/dryer set.  I have entire Pinterest board devoted to pantry inspiration.  I can't wait.  So this one little cabinet is a sign of what's to come for me.

I hit up the dollar store for the plastic containers and those purple bins are from Ikea.  I think I got them in a set of 7 or 8 for $5 or something incredibly thrifty like that. And those labels... I freakin' love 'em!

Here's a close up of the dollar store bins...

Yeah, I need flour and sugar!  I've been on a baking binge thanks to Pinterest. :)

Still working on my closet, pics to come when it's finished.  Happy Tuesday!

Labels + Contact Paper = Heaven

My Friday finally did end and now we're at Sunday.  Time to get ready for a new week.  Having a good weekend is always good prep for a good week.  I'm staying positive about Monday for once.

I told you how excited I was about the labels I found on Friday.  I definitely put them to use this weekend.  And while I was perusing the aisles at my favorite spot, Target, I found some cute contact paper that I really wasn't sure what I'd use it for, but knew I'd come up with something. 

I brought these boxes home from work one day last week thinking I could make some cute fabric covered storage boxes for my closet.  Saturday morning it hit me that the contact paper covering those boxes would be perfect! 

They turned out pretty great, right?!  And those free labels look great!!!  So I had these 2 baskets I picked up at the dollar store awhile ago and thought they'd be perfect for wash cloths and hand towels.  

How adorable is that?!  And all I paid was $2 for the baskets and $5 for the contact paper.  4 pieces of storage for $7! Now maybe I could find 4 storage boxes for $7, but I definitely couldn't find them that cute!

Have a good Sunday!

Nerd alert!

Happy Friday!  Sometimes I feel like that's all I live for anymore.  And now that Spring is "un-officially" here and the weather has been awesome this week, I definately do not feel like sitting in my office all day. 

So going along with the weekend groove I'm in, I came across something completely awesome.  Well, awesome to an organizing nerd like me. :)  Seems the Better Homes and Gardens site has free printable lables!  Nerd paradise! Check 'em out...

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/storage/organization-basics/free-printable-storage-labels/

I don't know about you, but this definately excited me to label and organize every cabinet, drawer and closet in my house this weekend.  Now, where's my glasses and pocket protector...

Jewelry thrill

Happy Hump Day!  The weather is awesome here and I have had a really hard time concentrating on work this week.  I just want to stay home with the windows open (ok, I had to crank on the AC yesterday).  But the blinds were all up and the sun was streaming in at least.  All I've wanted to do is plant flowers and set up the patio furniture these past few days.  I have a small case of spring fever.  Or summer fever I guess I should say! It seems we have skipped right over spring and went right onto summer.  80 degree days every day this week!

Onto the jewelry.  I found this great way to buy jewelry from my bed.  Not QVC, not online shopping, but facebook shopping!  Thanks to one of my fb friends I found this page, Accessory Auctions. http://www.facebook.com/#!/AccessoryAuctions


They have the cutest pieces for arond $20 - $30.  Now here's the fun part.  It's true to it's title, an auction.  Starting 9:00 EST, they're in TX and it's 8:00 CT there, they start sending pics of the pieces they have up for auction (sale) that night.  So every few minutes a new pic with a new piece of jewelry comes up and you can snatch it if you're quick enough!  The thrill of getting your comment in there asap is so much fun! 

So you click on the picture when you see it come up.  REFRESH, REFRESH, REFRESH is the key here.  I was clicking that refresh like mad to be sure I saw the next one come up asap.  Then you comment on that pic and type the following, sold, your e-mail address, OOT for Out of Texas so they don't charge you sales tax.  And shipping is FREE!  It's awesome.  I loved it and of course made my first purchase last Monday.  I'll post a pic when it comes in.  They take the pics down from their fb page after that evening's sale. 

Trust me, like them on Facebook and get involved in this on Monday nights.  Maybe not every Monday night, I'm going to try to forget about it this coming Monday, but definately check it out! After you like them, you'll get status updates with previews on Monday afternoon with what's going up for sale that night.  They usually have about 12 - 30 of each piece.  What a great idea, right?!!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Why I love Target

Who doesn't love Target?!  There are many, many reasons why I heart it so very much.  But in this instance I love it for the inspiration it gave me to give a small wall complete functionality. I'm wasting time waiting for a prescription and roaming the aisles.  I came to the stationery and office supplies aisles.  Of course there was a clearance and of course a light bulb went off for me.

There were Martha Stewart's Real Simple office organizing items on clearance and I picked up a mail holder that was regularly 11.00 for 7.00.  Then I found some wall calendars for less than 3.00 on clearance, along with a small cork board/white board for 2.00.  That's when the light bulb went off..  I have this boring, dysfunctional wall where my thermostat is. It's always bothered me.  I'm not sure how a wall can bother a person, but it really did bother me.  Here it is...

Boring, right?  And that candle holder is pathetic.  I'm ashamed  of it.  And there's never even been a candle in it.  See why this wall has bothered me?  But it took roaming the aisles at Target to be inspired.  Let's start with the cork board.  It was, well, boring.  I can only do function so much before style has to come into play.
Before..















After I glued some ribbon around it...

Much better, right?!  Now onto the mail sorter.  I wanted to come up with a way to hide the thermostat.  After a few tries with long nails and screws, some screw in hangers worked the best.

Pretty awesome, right?!  I can now sleep better tonight because my wall looks so much better!

Hope every had a good weekend!

What else can I make better?

So I classed up my mixer earlier this week and now I found something else to make even cuter.  I renovated a lot in my house last year, new carpet and hardwood being one of the projects.  I had no rugs on the hardwood for a long time just becuase I loved looking at it!  It looked SO much better than that old builder grade carpet and it was just so pretty that I didn't want to cover it up.  But as time went on and my heels scratched it up more and more, it was time for some rugs.  So after much searching I found the perfect fit for my hallway.  It was the perfect size, the perfect length, the perfect color, I loved it.  It's a seagrass rug, which 99% of the time I am not a big fan of.  But in small doses, like a hallway or a kitchen, I can take it.  Here's what it looks like...

Pretty standard, right?  BUT I made it 150% better and of course, cuter.  I got some brown acrylic paint, espresso to be exact.  I had a really cute stencil that I did a hallway wall with and there it was, a new rug reborn.

After I figured out the best configurations of the stencils, I sponge brushed it.  The stencil moves around a lot, so as the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. 

And here it is...

So much better, right?! I'm still looking for a dining room rug, as you can see in that picture above there's nothing there yet.  Nothing has called out to me yet.   
Have a good weekend!  I'm on to the closet this afternoon.  It's a freakin' mess in there.  I have some ideas that I'll share next week.